As members of the Body of Christ, we must allow ourselves to be limited by the other members, and we should not go beyond our measure, which measure God has allotted to us in the Body.
This week we have seen three main principles of the Body of Christ, three organic principles that we need to keep in life so that we may live in the reality of the Body of Christ.
First, we have seen the supply of the Body, which is nothing else that the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. When we remain in the Body, enjoy the Lord, and serve as priests part of the priesthood, we enjoy the compound Spirit supplying us with whatever we need.
When we dwell in oneness with the saints in the church life, there’s a compound precious ointment that is inestimably good and incalculably pleasant anointing us.
Furthermore, this supply of the Spirit comes to us by the intercession and fellowship of the fellow members in the Body. As we remain in fellowship with the saints and open our being toward them before the Lord, they pray for us, and there’s a supply being dispensed into us; this supply is the supply of the Body, which is the bountiful supply of the Spirit.
We can’t live without the supply of the Body, so we need to constantly avail ourselves of the fellowship of the Body. When we depend not only on the Lord but also on the other members of the Body, the whole Body is built up together.
The second principle of the Body we have seen is the fact that we are members of the Body, and as members we cannot be independent or individualistic, for the members of the Body cannot live in detachment from the Body.
Hallelujah, every genuine believer in Christ is a member of the Body of Christ, and every member is indispensable. If we see our position in the Body, it will be as though we were saved a second time, for we will treasure the Body and we will honor the fellow members in the Body.
By honoring the other members we mean adding comeliness to them, adding beauty to those who are not so comely; this means that we minister Christ to them, we supply the riches of Christ to the fellow believers in Christ, so that they may be beautified with Christ Himself.
When we have a revelation of the Body, we will be conscious of the Body, and any individualistic thought and action are ruled out. This means that our self is exposed and denied, rejected, and renounced, for us to live in the Body of Christ.
Furthermore, we will depend on the Body, realising our need for the function and portion of our fellow members in the Body; when a member renders us help, it actually Christ helping us.
Allowing Ourselves to be Limited by other Members in the Body and Accepting the Limitation of the Body
If we are simply a believer, we can act as we please, but when we see that we are members of the Body, we will allow ourselves to be limited by other members in the Body. In our physical body the different members not only function in their measure but they are also limited by the other members, and they accept the limitation of the other members.
It is essential, therefore, that in the Body of Christ we each recognise our measure and do not go beyond it. In order for the Body to develop and be built up, we need to allow the other members of the Body to limit us, and we need to accept the limitation of the Body.
On the one hand, the Body of Christ is a protection to all the members in the Body and a supply to all the members; simply by remaining in the Body, we are richly supplied with the bountiful Spirit, and we are also protected.
However, the Body of Christ is also a limitation to all the members.
As believers in Christ we are not just individual Christians but members in the Body of Christ; therefore, we must accept the limitation of the Body. This means that we may want to do something or go somewhere, we may want to speak something or initiate something, but as we open to the Body in fellowship concerning these things, the Body may not agree with these things – so we need to stop.
We should not allow ourselves to go our own way; we should not just think of something and go ahead and do it, but we should allow ourselves to be limited by the other members in the Body.
We need to learn to be blended with the other brothers and sisters in the Body. Our natural instinct, however, is to resist limitation, especially in this age when everyone fights for their rights and their freedom.
But in our human body there’s no member that wants to fight for its freedom and independence, and no member has special rights and freedom from the Body.
Our human body can operate properly when, on one hand, all the members function, and on the other, all the members are limited. Our heart beat is limited. Our body temperature is limited.
The function of each organ is within certain limits, and everything in our body is under a certain kind of limitation. If anything goes beyond a certain limit, we have health problems.
In the Body of Christ we all need to learn to function, but at the same time, we all need to accept the limitation of the Body.
Every member in the Body should function, but every member also has a limit; being limited in our function causes the Body to live well, and Christ can be properly expressed.
Thank You Lord for putting us in the Body to be members one of another. We want to learn to not only function in the Body but also accept the limitation of the Body. Lord, save us from going beyond our measure. Save us from over functioning or under functioning. Save us from overstepping others’ function. May we see that we are members of the Body and may we accept the limitation of the Body. Amen, Lord Jesus, may all the members in the Body function for the building up of the Body, and may all the members accept the limitation of the Body for the building up and development of the Body!
Recognising our Measure in our Function and not going Beyond our Measure in the Body
A basic requirement for the growth and development of the Body of Christ is that we recognise our measure and not go beyond it (Eph. 4:7, 16).
Christ, the Head of the Body, sets us in our special place in the Body and points us to our special function (see 1 Cor. 12:18). It is essential to have order in the Body for the growth and building up of the Body.
When we speak in the meeting, we cannot just speak for the entirety of the meeting; rather, we should speak according to our measure of faith and according to the leading of the Spirit. We need to know what is our measure in our function and not go beyond our measure in the Body.
We need to know whether we overstep in our speaking, and we need to not under-function as members. We shouldn’t boast without measure; when we testify of what we have learned of the Lord, there should be a limit, a measure.
In 2 Cor. 10:13 we see that we have a measure, that is, we are being ruled by God. God allots each one of us just so much for our work, experience, and function; when we give testimony about our work experience, or enjoyment of the Lord, we must testify within measure, that is, within a certain limit.
We may expect the Lord’s work to spread, but at the same time this spread is under God’s restriction; it is not without measure (see vv. 13-15). If the spread is without measure, it is certainly not within the limit of a walk according to the Spirit.
When we work for the Lord, the work will spread, and inwardly we have the consciousness of the extent to which the Lord wants to spread, and outwardly the environment will cause matters to restrict the spread of the work.
Inwardly we don’t have the peace to spread the work beyond a certain point, and outwardly the environment doesn’t allow us to go beyond a particular boundary line.
The Lord in particular wants to restrict the young people. If a young believer doesn’t have a heart to serve the Lord, He will stir him up to serve Him; but then, once he has been stirred, He will limit him.
God first stirs us up, then He limits us; He speeds us up and then He slows us down. When we are down, He wants to lift us up; when we are up, He allows us to come down again. We may not tolerate these ups-and-downs, but this is how the Lord deals with us.
He uses all things, including our marriage, our family life, our children, our job, and our responsibilities, to slow us down from our natural zeal, to calm us down from our natural fervency, and to calm us down from being excited.
We need to realise that God has only measured out so much to us, so we shouldn’t overstretch ourselves.
Paul knew his measure; he knew that the saints in Corinth were assigned to him from the Lord, for he brought the gospel to them, so in his writing to them he did not go beyond his measure. We all need to know our measure, the measure assigned to us by God; we need to know our measure and not go beyond our measure.
A servant of the Lord who loves the Lord and wants to pursue the Lord needs to know his measure and not go beyond his measure.
For example, brother Watchman Nee desired to compose the best and most comprehensive commentary of the Bible, even 100 volumes long. Then he became ill, and after he completed the Spiritual Man, he realised that the task of expounding the whole Bible was not for him.
We may read his book, Song of Songs, or, Scriptural Notes on Revelation, and we realise that he’s full of light in expounding the Bible, but he realised that this was not his portion, this was not his measure.
Here we see a brother who could do these things, but he did not go beyond his measure, for he knew this was not his portion.
Like Paul we should move and act according to how much God has measured to us, staying within the limits of God’s ruling, God’s measuring (2 Cor. 10:13).
In the church service we need to realize that God has measured out only so much to us, and we should not overstretch ourselves (Rom. 12:3-4, 6a).
It’s not that the Body of Christ is limited; rather, the Body is as great as Christ is, so because Christ is immeasurable, the Body is the same. When we speak of the limitation of the Body, we speak of the members of the Body; as the members of the Body are limited, the Body can be unlimited.
The Body can be immeasurable, allowing Christ to be fully expressed because every member stays within its measure. All the limitation of the members is for Christ to be glorified; it is not for the members to accomplish something and gain the glory.
We all should stay within our measure, accomplish God’s commission, and be ruled and limited for the divine life within us.
Eventually it is the Lord who gains the glory, and He is properly expressed through the Body. May the glory be to Christ in the church unto all the generations forever and ever!
Lord Jesus, may we as members of the Body recognise our measure in the Body and not go beyond our measure so that the Body may grow and be developed! Amen, Lord, may we see our special place in the Body, recognise our measure, and function within our measure. May we as members learn how to be under God’s restriction and not expect the work would spread without measure. May we move and act according to how much God has measured to us, staying within the limits of God’s ruling, His measuring.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by the brothers for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msg. 51 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living in the Reality of the Body of Christ by Keeping the Principles of the Body (2019 ICSC), week 4, The Supply of the Body, the Members of the Body, and the Limitation of the Body.
- Hymns on this topic:
# By Thy life and by its flowing / I can grow and be transformed, / With the saints coordinated, / Builded up, to Thee conformed; / Keep the order in the Body, / There to function in Thy will, / Ever serving, helping others, / All Thy purpose to fulfill. (Hymns #840)
# Not the person spiritual / In an individual way, / But the corporate life expressed / Will Thy heart’s desire display. / Members separate and detached / Ne’er express Thee perfectly, / But Thy Body tempered, built, / Ever shall Thy fulness be. (Hymns #839)
# In our ministry and service, / From the Body, our supply; / If detached and isolated, / Out of function we will die. / ’Tis by serving in the Body / Riches of the Head we share; / ’Tis by functioning as members / Christ’s full measure we will bear. (Hymns #913)
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