Many believers, when they read verses such as, “that you all speak the same thing…but that you be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion” (1 Cor. 1:10) or “that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 15:6) think that it is impossible.
How is it possible for many people who think differently, speak differently, act differently, are from a different background, and look differently, all speak the same thing, with one accord, with one mouth, and thinking the same thing?
With man this truly is impossible, but with God all things are possible, and in Acts 1-2 we see an example of a group of 120 brothers and sisters who were in one accord and who received God’s blessing for the increase of Christ.
The one accord which was practiced among the early disciples has been lost throughout the ages, but the Lord wants to recover it today in His recovery. We need to seek, think, and speak one thing: the subjective knowledge and experience of Christ, that is, pursuing Christ to gain Him, lay hold of Him, and possess Him (Phil. 1:20-21; 2:5; 3:7-14; 4:13).
Christ should be the centrality and universality of our entire being: He needs to be the preeminent One and the One who fills all in all.
If our thinking is not focused on the experience of Christ and the excellent knowledge of Christ, we will think differently and may create dissensions among us (see 1 Cor. 1:10; Phil. 4:2). But when we focus on Christ and Christ alone, and when we seek to experience Him, gain Him, and lovingly pursue Him, we will be in one accord with Him, and the one accord will rise up in our being so that we may be one with the saints.
We already have the oneness of the Spirit: this oneness is in our spirit; what we need to do is keep the oneness by practicing the one accord in the church life today. When all the saints are in one accord in the church life, the Lord can pour out His blessing and there will be an increase of Christ.
The One New Man (Eph. 2:15) Speaks the Same Thing (1 Cor. 1:10) with One Mouth (Rom. 15:6)
We need to consider the one new man in Eph. 2:15 (which Christ created in His body on the cross, tearing down any division to create the Jews and the Gentiles in Himself into one new man) together with one mouth in Rom. 15:6 (that with one accord with one mouth we may glorify God) and speak the same thing in 1 Cor. 1:10 (that there would be no divisions among us).
When we arrive at the one accord, we participate in the one new man, and the new man has one mouth, speaking the same thing; all the constituents of the new man speak the same thing with one mouth.
For the church as the one new man, we all need to take Christ as our person in the matter of speaking (see Matt. 12:34-37; Eph. 3:17a; John 7:16-18; 8:28, 38a; 12:49-50; 14:10). The church is not only the Body of Christ but also the one new man; for the Body, we need to take Christ as our life, and for the new man we need to take Christ as our person.
The entire Bible speaks the same thing with one mouth (Heb. 1:1-2); even though there are 40 authors who wrote over a span of 1600 years in different countries and languages, we all can testify that the Bible speaks the same thing, the one thing.
In today’s Christianity, however, there are many mouths, each speaking a different thing; this is the pitiful situation of every preacher wanting to speak “his own thing”, bringing something original to the table, and not desiring to speak what others have spoken (Gen. 11:7, 9).
We need to be saved from such a pitiful and divisive situation and take Christ as our life, breathe Him in, open our heart to Him, and take Him as our person for the one new man.
We need to let Christ make His home in our heart, making our heart His home; when Christ is at home in us, He is the person living in us, and He is the one who speaks in us (Eph. 3:17). Then, when we speak, we will speak in oneness with the Lord; this is not about “being original” or merely about “speaking what others speak” but about speaking one spirit with the Lord so that He as the Person of the one new man would speak in us.
In the past there were too many mouths because there were too many persons; there’s no “policeman” in the church life to make sure everyone speaks the same thing, but there is a living Person in us who supplies us, lives in us, controls us, governs us, and desires to speak in us the same thing, the one thing.
When we are in one accord, we take the Lord who indwells us as our person, and He is able to originate every thought and word. In the one new man there is one mouth to speak the same thing (Rom. 15:6; 1 Cor. 1:10).
There is only ONE new man, and the one new man has only ONE person; so the one new man speaks with ONE mouth and says the SAME thing. Hallelujah!
Lord Jesus, we take You as our person for the one new man. Make Your home in our heart and be the Person living in us and speaking in us. We don’t want to speak our own things and propagate our own ideas and opinions. Lord, we take You as our person in the matter of speaking. In whatever we do and say, we want to be one spirit with You! Lord, bring in the one new man where Christ is the one person speaking the same thing with one mouth. Bring us into the reality of the one new man in the church life today!
Speaking the Same Thing with One Mouth in One Accord as the One New Man Today
The fact that we speak with one accord and with one mouth (see Rom. 15:6) means that, even though we are many and we all are speaking, we all speak the same thing (1 Cor. 1:10). We need to be those speaking the same thing ith one mouth in one accord as the one new man today.
The church is the one new man with only ONE person – Christ; this person controls our speaking, and whatever He speaks is surely the same thing. Just as our mouth speaks the same thing, the one thing, so the Lord as the person of the one new man speaks the same thing through all His members.
When we are about to speak, we need to resolve this basic question, In this matter of speaking, am I the person or is Christ the person? If in our speaking we do not take ourselves as the person but allow Christ to be the person, then there will be one mouth and everyone will speak the same thing, which is the Lord’s speaking in us.
Everyone knows that what limits you the most is the matter of speaking….In the church, in the Body of Christ, and especially in the new man, neither your natural man nor my natural man has freedom of speech. This is because we ourselves are not the persons. In the one new man there is only one person. Only this person has the freedom to speak, and our natural man has absolutely no freedom of speech. The Lord has the absolute freedom to speak, and I absolutely have no freedom to speak. Witness Lee
One of the highest points in a family life between the husband and the wife is when, before she speaks, the wife looks at the husband and, based on what she sees in his eyes, she speaks something (or does not speak something), and what she speaks is in one accord with him. This is a sweet and loving one accord expressed in the matter of speaking.
As we pursue the subjective experience of Christ in our mingled spirit, loving the Lord and laying hold of Him, seeking Him in love, we are able to – before we say anything – look at the eyes of our Husband Christ and ask Him,
Lord, am I the one speaking or are You speaking? I want You to speak. I love You. Speak in me or keep me quiet as You desire. Speak what You want to speak.
When we say, Lord Jesus, I love You! – we check with Him, we depend on Him breath by breath and word by word, and we speak what He speaks – and do not speak when He doesn’t speak.
In the one new man there is only one person – Christ, and He is the One who has the freedom to speak (Matt. 17:5); we as members of the new man delight in Him, find all our pleasure in Him, and let Him speak in us when He wants to speak.
Although we are many and come from many places, we all have one mouth and we all speak the same thing because we all are the one new man having only one person (see Eph. 2:15; 4:22-24; 3:17a; Rom. 15:6; 1 Cor. 1:10).
What a glory to God and what a shame to the enemy for us all to be one spirit with the Lord and practice the one accord by speaking the same thing with one mouth as the one new man today!
Lord Jesus, be the One speaking in us when You want to speak and what You want to speak. We acknowledge that we have no freedom to speak our own things in the church life, but You have the absolute freedom to speak. Lord, in the matter of speaking, we take You as our person. We love You, Lord, and we depend on You breath by breath. We pursue You in love, seeking to gain You and experience You in a subjective way. Lord Jesus, keep us one spirit with You. We want to speak the same thing with one mouth in one accord as the one new man for God’s glory and the shame of the enemy!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by brother R.S. for this week, and portions from Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, vol. 3, “One Body, One Spirit, and One New Man”, chs. 5, 7, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Increase of Christ for the Building up of the Church (2016 Memorial day Weekend Conference), week 4 / msg. 4, The Increase of Christ for the Increase and Spread of the Church through the One Accord with Prayer, the Spirit, the Word, and the Homes.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Breathe Thou upon us, Lord, / Thy Spirit’s living flame, / That so with one accord / Our lips may tell Thy name; / Give Thou the hearing ear, / Fix Thou the wandering thought, / That those we teach may hear / The great things Thou hast wrought. (Hymns #902)
# Lord, You’ve shown You’re rich in mercy / To those saints who stand together / In Your plan, one new man. / So grant us all a single heart; / A heart that just loves You / A heart that’s true. (Song on being one in Christ)
# For this cause Your Person, Lord, / We take and stand in one accord; / All the members self forsake, / And of the Body-Christ partake. / We in Christ as one new man / Now come forth to take this land. / For this cause Your Person, Lord, / We take and stand in one accord. (Hymns #1230)
About aGodMan
You have to consider one mouth in Romans 15:6 and speak the same thing in 1 Corinthians 1:10 together with one new man in Ephesians 2:15….Humanly speaking, this is absolutely impossible. However, we must see that in Romans 15, Paul is speaking of a local church. In a local church there must be only one mouth….When there are many persons, there are many ideas; when there are many ideas, there are many opinions, but we thank the Lord that now there is one mouth and one person here….You may be about to speak, but something “pinches” you from within, telling you not to say anything. All you can say is, “Thank the Lord!” When you want to speak again, the Lord pinches you again, so you simply say Amen!
In our moving we take Christ as our life, and in our living we take Christ as our person. In the Body, Christ is our life, and in the new man, Christ is our person. In the Body we are members one of another, and in the new man we all have one mouth to speak the same thing. This is the church. (Witness Lee, “One Body, One Spirit, and One New Man,” p. 316)
We should not be anxious about what we should speak for we are not the one speaking but the spirit of the father is speaking in you.