2022-5丨General Subject：Loving the Lord and Loving One Another for the Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ

General Subject：Loving the Lord and Loving One Another for the Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ

C. The joints supplying and the parts functioning cause the growth of the Body unto the building up of the Body itself in the divine love—v. 16:

Eph. 4:16 Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.

1 Cor. 14:4 He who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but he who prophesies builds up the church.

1 Cor. 14:31 For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged.

2. The growth of the Body of Christ is the increase of Christ in the church, which results in the building up of the Body by the Body itself—Eph. 3:17a:

a. When Christ enters into the saints and lives within them, the Christ within the saints becomes the church—Col. 3:10-11.

Col. 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,

Col. 3:11 Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

b. The Body of Christ grows by the growth of Christ within us and is built up this way—1:18; 2:19.

Col. 1:18 And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things;

Col. 2:19 And not holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.

3. The love in which the Body builds itself up is the love that is the very element, the inner substance, of God; it is the love of God in Christ, which becomes the love of Christ in us, by which we love Christ and the fellow members of His Body—1 John 4:7-8, 11, 16, 19; Rom. 5:5; 8:39:

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God, and everyone who loves has been begotten of God and knows God.

1 John 4:8 He who does not love has not known God, because God is love.

1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God has loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:16 And we know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him.

1 John 4:19 We love because He first loved us.

Rom. 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Rom. 8:39 Nor height nor depth nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

a. It is in the condition and atmosphere of such a divine love that we are saturated with God to be holy and without blemish before Him—Eph. 1:4.

b. It is in such a divine love, realized and experienced by us in a practical way, that we are rooted for growth and grounded for building—3:17.

c. It is in such a divine love that we bear one another for the oneness of the Body—4:2-4.

Eph. 4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing one another in love,

Eph. 4:3 Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace:

Eph. 4:4 One Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling;

d. It is in such a divine love that we hold to truth, that is, to Christ with His Body—v. 15.

e. It is in such a divine love that we need to walk—to live, act, and have our being—as the beloved children of God, who are God-men, born of God, possessing the life and nature of God, and belonging to the species of God, to be imitators of God—5:1-2.

Eph. 5:1 Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children;

Eph. 5:2 And walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.

D. “The direct building of the organic Body of Christ is by the Body itself. The Body is built directly by all the members of Christ functioning, each in his own measure, mainly in prophesying—speaking for the Lord??This direct building by all the members of Christ takes place through the perfecting work of all the gifted persons under the bountiful supply of the divine element of the ascended Christ in His ascension. We need to practice [this] so that we can see the reality of such an organic building on this earth” (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1988, vol. 4, “Further Light concerning the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” pp. 388-389).

Morning Nourishment

Eph. 3:17 That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love.

4:15-16 But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him..., who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body...causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.

To experience Christ we need faith and love (1 Tim. 1:14). Faith enables us to apprehend Christ, and love enables us to enjoy Him. Neither faith nor love are ours; they are His. His faith becomes our faith, by which we believe in Him, and His love becomes our love, by which we love Him. When we are rooted and grounded in His love, we grow and are built up in His life. (Eph. 3:17, footnote 4)

[Love in Ephesians 4:15 is] the love of God in Christ, which becomes the love of Christ in us, by which we love Christ and the fellow members of His Body. It is in such a love that we hold to truth, that is, to Christ with His Body, and are kept from being influenced by the winds of teaching and from bringing in elements that are foreign to the Body. (Eph. 4:15, footnote 2)

In the Body some are joints, like the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. Others are parts, who operate according to their measure. Through these two categories of members, the Body grows, and this growth is unto the building up of itself in love. If we are not a joint, we must be a part...We should not think that only the joints are useful. Every part in the Body is also useful...No member of the Body of Christ should despise himself. We all should praise the Lord that we are either joints or parts in the organic Body of Christ...Through the joints supplying and the parts operating, all the Body causes the growth of the Body, and the growth of the Body results in the building up of itself in love.

In the organic Body of Christ there are organic functions (Rom. 12:4- 8). Because we are in this organic Body, we should be organic... Instead of functioning organically in the church life, we may do things mechanically. We must function either as joints of supply or as parts operating. We must have something with which to supply others, or we should operate in our measure. We must function organically for the building up of the organic Body. When the entire Body is operating, the Body causes the growth of itself, resulting in its being built up in love. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” p. 302)

The direct building of the organic Body of Christ is by the Body itself. The Body is built directly by all the members of Christ functioning, each in his own measure, mainly in prophesying—speaking for the Lord. All of us have a measure, and we can function in our measure...Without my little finger, it would be hard for me to take care of the itching within my ear. My little finger really functions in its measure to comfort me. In like manner, all the members of the Body of Christ can function in their own measure. We all function mainly in prophesying, in speaking for the Lord.

I am expecting to see meetings all over the earth in which everyone is speaking Christ, speaking forth Christ, and speaking Christ into others in the way of dispensing Christ into others. Then an organism will come into existence that can be seen not only by God but also by all His lovers. This direct building by all the members of Christ takes place through the perfecting work of all the gifted persons under the bountiful supply of the divine element of the ascended Christ in His ascension. We need to practice the fellowship in this book so that we can see the reality of such an organic building on this earth. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “Further Light concerning the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” pp. 388-389)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “Further Light concerning the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” chs. 2-4