If we as members of the Body of Christ have the consciousness of the Body of Christ and see others suffer or being blessed, we will identify with them and feel the same hardship or blessing (see 1 Cor. 12:26-27).
When we were regenerated by God with the divine life, we received not only the life and nature of God, but we also have an inner consciousness, an inner feeling, for the Body of Christ.
All genuine believers in Christ are bona-fide members of the Body of Christ, and as they exercise their spirit and allow the Lord to work Himself into them, they become aware of the universal Body of Christ.
As members of the Body of Christ we need to have the consciousness of the Body of Christ and a feeling for the Body; the Body of Christ is universal, and so the consciousness of the Body needs to be also universal.
If we read the writings of Paul we see that, even though he was in prison, relatively isolated and away from the saints, he lived in the reality of the Body of Christ by living in the inward parts of Christ.
Today as we live in the church life, we need to live our daily life and meet with the saints having the consciousness of the Body; we do not only live the practical church life with all the necessary activities but, as we do this and that, and even as we may be not able to do this or that, we should live in the reality of the Body.
How can we do this, and what is this “reality of the Body of Christ” or “living in the inward parts of Christ”?
The consciousness of the Body of Christ is nothing else but the sense of Christ’s life within us.
Living the church life and living the Christian life is not done by us in our natural life or by the self; rather, we need to live Christ, express Christ, and exercise our spirit to allow Christ to live in us.
Only Christ can live the church life, and only by living one spirit with Christ can we live the Christian life and church life.
The more we contact the Lord and pay attention to the inner sense of Christ’s life within us, the more keen we will be concerning the saints, their situation, the churches, and even the work; the result will be that there will be much prayer with much awareness of the situation.
Just as the members of our human body are aware of one another and help one another, and when one suffers all members suffer, so in the Body of Christ we need to live in the inward parts of Christ so that we may have the consciousness of the Body of Christ, feeling with other members and praying for the supply of life.
Cultivating the Consciousness of the Body of Christ by Living in the Inward parts of Christ
We need to cultivate the consciousness of the Body of Christ by living in the inward parts of Christ.
When we have the sense of the Body, we will be one with the Lord to have His feeling toward His members, and when a member is blessed, we rejoice with him and are not jealous.
Then, when another member of the Body is in suffering, we will pray for him and we will suffer with him.
No matter whether the members of the Body of Christ are in our local church or even in the church life, as long as they are members of the Body and we have the consciousness of the Body, we will pray for them, we will bear their burdens, and we will have the same feeling as the Lord does toward them.
If we reach to this stage where we will identify with the other members of the Body and feel the same hardship or blessing with them, we will sense within us the rich flow of life, and we will have the consciousness of the Body of Christ.
Our living is in the local church where the Lord has placed us, but we practice the church life with the sense of the Body, being conscious of the Body.
But if we are only for the saints in our locality, and if we shut ourselves up toward others, we will not enjoy the riches of the Body, and there is no consciousness of the Body.
The Body of Christ is universal, the divine life within us is universal, the Spirit is universal, and the sense of the Body is also universal. It doesn’t matter what locality is blessed, we rejoice with them, and when the saints suffer, we suffer with them.
This is why we need to live in the inward parts of Christ so that we may have His keen feeling toward the members of His Body.
As members of the Body, we preach the gospel as one, we serve others as one, and we administrate the church in oneness; there’s one flow, one Body, and one fellowship with one ministry for the building up of the Body.
If we have Body consciousness, we will immediately see that the Body is one; once we see this, we will no longer be individualistic in our spiritual work, and we will participate in the Lord’s work as members of the Body, one with the saints.
When we live in the inward parts of Christ, we have the consciousness of the Body of Christ, and we no only do not work in an individualistic way, but we no longer consider any work to be our own; rather, we will be one with the saints who do the work, and God gets all the glory.
If we see the Body, we will see that the result is all for the benefit of the Head and the Body, whether we are doing the work or other saints are doing the work; the Lord gets all the glory, and the church gets the blessing.
We all have a portion in the Body, and we should not consider our portion as being greater than others’ portion; rather, we should be faithful to the portion that the Lord has assigned us, and we should honor the portion that the Lord has assigned others.
Once we see the Body and have the consciousness of the Body of Christ, we will not be proud of our work or experience, neither will we be jealous of others; rather, we will love the Lord, give Him all the glory, and be one with those who work for the Lord.
We will be in another realm; sometimes we may feel a weight on us, a sorrow, and we realise it is the suffering of a member in the Body, so we bring it to the Lord and tell Him, Lord, You know where this is, who this is, so I bring this matter to You…
At other times we receive a flow of life that is beyond our level of exercise with the Lord – we’re just flooded with joy and sense rivers of living water flowing, and we realise we have received the supply of the Body.
We cultivate the consciousness of the Body of Christ by living in the inward parts of Christ (Phil. 1:8; Col. 3:10-12, 15; Philem. 7, 12, 20).
Since we are members of the Body of Christ, we need to have the consciousness of the Body and have a feeling for the Body by living in the inward parts of Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 12:26-27).
We may hear that a brother is in prison, and even though he may not be in the church life, we pray for him, we intercede before the Lord, and we suffer with him.
By living in the inward parts of Christ Jesus, taking His feeling and view as our feeling and view, we will practice the church life in the reality of the Body of Christ.
Lord Jesus, we want to cultivate the consciousness of the Body of Christ by living in the inward parts of Christ. Amen, Lord, may we as the members of the Body have the consciousness of the Body and a feeling for the Body by exercising to live in the inward parts of Christ Jesus. May we take Christ’s feeling and view as our feeling and view so that we may practice the church life in the reality of the Body of Christ. Lord, give us Your feeling and view toward the members of the Body, and may we live in the inward parts of Christ so that we may have a keen consciousness of the Body of Christ!
Seven Matters we may Practice related to Living in the Inward Parts of Christ Jesus
As a conclusion to our prayerful study of living in the reality of the Body by living in the inward parts of Christ Jesus, there are seven matters that we may practice – whether sooner or later, whether some or all – depending on the situation.
These are not a requirement, but they are pointers related to what our experience may be like when we live in the inward parts of Christ for the Body.
First of all, we need to be vessels open to the Lord; we need to simply come to Him, open to Him, and receive His dispensing.
Second, we need to live the Lord by living in the divine romance with the life of a personal and affectionate relationship with the Lord; this matter of the inward parts is very personal, very affectionate.
Third, we need to learn to accept the discipline of the Holy Spirit; the anointing Spirit is working in us inwardly, and God in His sovereignty arranges persons, matters, and things to apply His discipline to our being.
We may go through outward situations arranged by God, and something inward will be touched by Him. However, many times we do not receive the Lord’s discipline properly without the Lord grace; in the beginning we’re all the same.
But if we understand that all these things are sovereignly arranged by God, and all we need to do is accept what the Spirit wants to touch in us, then we will simply let Him touch what needs to be touched.
Fourth, we need to learn not to love our soul life. This doesn’t mean that we should try to be a hero or practice asceticism, thus using the self to deal with the self; rather, we should just love the Lord!
Before too long, the Lord will saturate us with His love in such a way that we will love Him more than our own life, even more than our own soul-life; this will terrify the enemy to the uttermost!
Fifth, we need to experience and pray for the growth in life. We need to pray for this, and even pray with our vital companion and with our spouse that the Lord would grow in all the saints for the Body, that all the churches would have an increased growth in life, for only the Lord can cause growth.
Sixth, we need to realise that spirituality is a Body matter; we may seek the Lord to be spiritual and live before Him, but He will teach us the deeper lesson of being broken, so that we may be saved from individualistic spirituality and simply live as a member of the Body.
When we realise that spirituality is a Body matter, we will pursue spirituality in the Body way, living in the inward parts of Christ and having a consciousness of the Body of Christ.
Seventh, we need to consecrate to the Lord for His central work. This doesn’t mean that we should promise the Lord that we do this or that for Him; consecration is not a promise but a decision to allow the Lord to work on us and in us to direct our steps in His way. We can just tell the Lord,
Lord Jesus, we present ourselves to You. We give ourselves to You, Lord, that You may carry out Your central work in us for the reality of the Body of Christ. Lord, build Yourself into us for the reality of the Body. Constrain us with Your love that we may love You more than our own soul-life, so that the Body may be built up. Lord, grant us to see the discipline of the Holy Spirit and accept it so that You may deal with our natural man for the Body. Amen, Lord, we are just open vessels for Your dispensing, and we want to live in the divine romance, having a personal and affectionate relationship with You to live in the inward parts of Christ Jesus for the reality of the Body of Christ!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 37, pp. 244-245, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Reality of the Body of Christ (2018 Thanksgiving Conference), week 5, Living in the Reality of the Body of Christ by Living in the Inward Parts of Christ Jesus.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Limit, Lord, my independence, / Let me to Thy Body turn; / Not just seeking light from heaven, / But the church’s sense to learn. / May we be the stones for building / Not the formless, useless clay, / Gain in us Thy heart’s desire / Corporately Thyself display. (Hymns #1225)
# Built up in love together, / Not one would criticize; / To perfect one another, / We all would exercise. / Each one from self delivered, / The natural life forsakes; / In grace each trained in spirit / The Body-life partakes. (Hymns #867)
# I saw great throngs—each was a brother dear, / Linked with each other in one Body here; / Each in close union with the living Head, / The witness-folk, by Jesus’ Spirit led. (Hymns #826)
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