Being Balanced by the Body by having much Prayer and Fellowship with the Saints

As those who are learning to cooperate with the Lord for His ultimate move today, we need to do everything according to the leading of the Spirit, honor the Lord as the Head of the Body, and are balanced by the Body to be kept in its unique oneness.

On the one hand, we are being very much impressed with the vision of the world’s ultimate situation and the Lord’s ultimate move; on the other hand, we do not just “join the movement to save mankind before the Lord’s return” but we first seek the Lord’s leading in spirit.

Everything we do has to be according to the leading of the Spirit, in the working of the Spirit, and based on the speaking of the Spirit. Even the best thing we would do for the Lord – without the leading, speaking, and working of the Spirit – is mere religion, something rejected by the Lord.

In everything we need to honor the Lord as the Head of the Body; we can’t just initiate something, neither can we or should we give advice to others to initiate something.

The Lord’s move is His move, the Body of Christ is His Body, and God’s economy is His economy; therefore, we need to honor the Lord as the Head of the Body and the Lord of the harvest and come to Him.

We need to spend much time before the Lord to touch Him, live in His presence, and obtain His leading concerning His move. The Lord is moving today, and no one can tell us where to move or what to do except Christ, the Head of the Body.

As we spend time before the Lord, wait on Him, contact Him, remain in His presence, and do everything in our daily living one with Him, He will lead us in a particular way whether to move somewhere or to stay where we are.

We need to stay away from the temptation of trying to give others advice or orders where to go for the Lord’s move, and we should not fall into the trap of taking others’ advice on where to go – without asking the Lord and having His leading first.

May we all learn to honor the Lord as the Head of the Body for His unique move, and may we also check with the Body concerning the Lord’s leading so that we may be balanced by the Body to be kept in its unique oneness!

Being Balanced by the Body by having much Prayer and Fellowship to Know the Feeling of the Body

As members of the Body, we first need to come before the Lord, the Head of the Body, and have His leading concerning where to go and what to do; then, for the Lord’s move we also need to be balanced by the Body.

Suppose the leading brothers, after much prayer, are truly burdened concerning a certain matter such as the Lord’s move to Europe; what they should do then is, through fellowship, pass on their burden to the saints and not direct the saints to go but ask them to pray.

Eventually, as the saints pray, remain before the Lord, and inquire of Him concerning this burden, they may receive a personal leading from the Lord, and some of them may be burdened to move accordingly; in this way no one will be individualistic or rebellious.

There are two sides here: the personal side and the corporate side, that is, the Spirit leading us personally and the Body keeping us in balance.

We need to first fellowship with the Lord and obtain His leading, and then be balanced by the Body by prayer and fellowship to know the feeling of the Body, so that we may check and know whether or not the leading we have from the Lord corresponds to the feeling of the Body.

We may think we have a certain leading from the Lord, but then we need to check if it corresponds to the feeling of the Body.

As the Lord today speaks to us concerning the Lord’s move toward Europe for Him to gain a solid testimony there, and in particular in Germany, we should not “join a movement to Germany for the Lord” but first we should go to the Lord and pray thoroughly, and then we should be balanced by the Body by having much fellowship to know the feeling of the Body.

Fellowship follows prayer; after we have had prayer and fellowship, then we will be clear regarding the Lord’s leading. The Lord’s leading is not only personal but also in the Body.

If we merely are before the Lord, obtain His leading personally, and we go – without being balanced by the Body, that is, without having fellowship with the appropriate members of the Body, then we may cause division in the Body.

If we don’t pray and have fellowship with others, we insult the Lord and usurp His position; furthermore, if we move to a place without prayer and fellowship, when tests, afflictions, and persecutions come, we will be shaken.

When we pray to the Lord and He leads us to move, and then fellowship with the Body and the feeling of the Body is that we should move to a certain place, we will have the assurance that the Lord and the Body sent us to that place, and nothing will shake us.

But if we merely fellowship with the Lord – and we don’t check with the Body, and we move, or if we merely move because a leading brother encouraged us to move – and we don’t check with the Lord, then we will be shaken when tests, afflictions, and persecutions come.

If we pray and fellowship, we honor the Lord as the Head of the Body and we are balanced by the Body; this will give us the assurance that the Lord is leading us. Then, after we move to a certain place, we will have the assurance that the Lord has sent us there, and we will never regret our move no matter what the outward situation may be.

We need to hold the Head, Christ, by staying intimately connected to Him as the Head of the Body, and we need to be balanced by the Body by having much fellowship with the saints, so that we may be richly supplied and joined together for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ (Col. 2:19).

When we move to a place by being intimately connected to Christ, the Head, and by being balanced by the Body, we will be so assured that our being there is the Lord’s will and leading that we will be ready to die there; we will not only have the assurance but we will also be strengthened and endued with the Lord’s authority!

Lord Jesus, we want to cooperate with You in Your ultimate move by honoring You as the Head of the Body and being balanced by the Body to be kept in its unique oneness. Amen, Lord, we want to hold You as the Head, being intimately related to You and seeking to have Your leading where to move in oneness with You. We want to be balanced by the Body by having thorough fellowship with the Body to have the feeling of the Body concerning us. Lord, keep us in prayer and fellowship with You and the saints in the Body for Your ultimate move!

Taking care of the Spirit and the Body in the Churches and with the Saints

This whole week, as a concluding week in the special fellowship concerning the world situation and the Lord’s move, we have been really touched by the Lord in His word concerning how we can cooperate with Him.

In all the churches and with all the saints we must care for two elements: the Spirit and the Body (Eph. 4:4). We need to ask before the Lord, Is this the Spirit? and, Is this for the Body, or does this cause division?

We may be burdened by the Lord in our time with Him concerning a certain country, but we also need to check with the Body and make sure that there’s no division or problem concerning our move there.

We need to do everything in the Spirit, according to the leading of the Spirit, and for the Body in fellowship with the Body.

May the Lord save us from becoming a movement of man; may we be saved from being a repetition of the division and confusion in Christianity, where the matter of the oneness of the Body is not cared for.

We need to really be before the Lord concerning His move, asking in a specific way how we can cooperate with Him for His move; then, we need to stay in fellowship with the other members of the Body so that we may be balanced by the Body as we know the feeling of the Body.

We need to take care of these two elements: being in the Spirit and led by the Spirit, and being for the Body for the keeping of the oneness of the Body. We must be certain that what we are doing is in the Spirit and that it takes care of the unique oneness of the Body of Christ.

We need to be kept in the Spirit and in the oneness of the Body; to be in the Spirit and in the oneness is to be in the Lord’s recovery.

We all need to hear and pray over such a purifying word, allow this word to penetrate our being and shine in us, and let the Lord remove anything that His light exposes, so that the Lord would have a pure recovery and a pure ultimate move.

May we allow the Lord’s speaking to purify us, purge us, and supply us, so that we may be kept in the pure way of God’s economy, in His move, for our whole life.

Lord Jesus, we love You, we love the church, and we love Your move; we care for the Spirit and the oneness of the Body of Christ. We want to learn to do everything according to the leading of the Spirit and in Spirit, and do everything in the Body and for the Body, to be kept in its unique oneness. Lord Jesus, we want to be in the Spirit and in the unique oneness of the Body, so that we may be kept in the Lord’s recovery. Purify us and supply us by Your instant speaking. Keep us in the pure way of God’s economy, in Your move, for our whole life!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, The Spirit and the Body, ch. 1, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Special Fellowship concerning the World Situation and the Lord’s Move, msg. 5 (week 5), Doing Everything according to the Leading, Working, and Speaking of the Spirit, Honoring the Lord as the Head of the Body for His Unique Move, and Being Balanced by the Body to Be Kept in Its Unique Oneness.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # In God’s house and in Thy Body / Builded up I long to be, / That within this corporate vessel / All shall then Thy glory see; / That Thy Bride, the glorious city, / May appear upon the earth, / As a lampstand brightly beaming / To express to all Thy worth. (Hymns #840)
  # Let us fellowship with God in spir’t through prayer; / There is nothing else that can compare. / Lord, we realize there’s nothing we can do, / But all things are possible through You. / Let us move together with the Lord through prayer; For His move on earth we must prepare. / Lord do grow in us ’till we’re matured in life, As Your army fully qualified. (Song on cooperating with the Lord)
  # As in a team we’d never / Act independently, / But in coordination, / Each would dependent be; / Not acting by our choosing / But following the flow, / Distraction never bringing, / The Spirit’s way we’d know. (Hymns #867)