The Recovery of Christ, the Oneness of the Body, and the Function of all the Members

The Lord’s recovery is the recovery of Christ as our everything, the recovery of the oneness of the Body of Christ, and the recovery of the function of all the members of the Body for the building up of the Body.

All the divine truths are in the Bible; we cannot add or take away anything from the divine revelation completed in the Word of God.

What matters is what God says in His word, not what we say, even though we may be quite smart and constituted with the word of God.

As long as we agree with God, as long as we speak the contents of God’s eternal economy, we have a part in the ministry, which is the unique ministry in the New Testament.

There is one ministry but many ministers, and none of the ministers is above others or better than others.

Each one of the ministers has their own portion and function, and every function and portion are necessary in the Body for the building up of the Body.

However, since Christians have lost the divine revelation and the vision of God’s economy throughout the ages, there is the need for recovery. Our God is a God of recovery.

He calls people to follow Him and cooperate with Him for His purpose, and many times these people and their descendants fail God; so He comes in to recover them to His intention, to His word, and to His heart’s desire.

This is the story of the people of Israel and it is also our story as the church.

The people of Israel left God and went after idols, so God let them be taken captive in Babylon; after seventy years, however, He stirred up some of them to return and rebuild the temple and city of God.

There was a need for the recovery of God’s house and His city, and God stirred up some to cooperate with Him for this.

Similarly today, the church needs to be recovered to God’s original intention and standard as revealed in the Scriptures.

There is a need for us to return to God’s intention, to His heart’s desire, as revealed in the word of God.

We need to see what is the present advance of the Lord’s recovery of the contents of God’s eternal economy.

Thank the Lord for His mercy and grace in bringing us into His recovery today.

But what does it mean for us to be in the Lord’s recovery? What is the Lord recovering today?

We need to know what is He recovering and what is He after today.

We are no longer in the time of Martin Luther when the Lord was recovering justification by faith, nor are we in the times of the Brethren, when He was recovering so many aspects of the truth and the fellowship among the saints.

We are now in the last days, and today we need to be up-to-date with the Lord in His recovery so that we may be one with Him to carry out what is in His heart in this age to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom.

The Lord’s Recovery is the Recovery of Christ, the Oneness of the Body of Christ, and the Function of all the Members of the Body

The Lord’s recovery today is the recovery of three main items, which are vital for our practice of the church life.

We need to know what the Lord’s recovery is and what He is recovering today so that we may be one with Him for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem.

Firstly, the Lord’s recovery is the recovery of Christ as our centre, life, reality, and everything in His full ministry of incarnation, inclusion, and intensification (Col. 1:17b, 18b; Psa. 80:1, 15, 17-19; John 1:14; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rev. 2:4-5, 7, 17; 3:7-8, 12-13, 17-22; 4:5; 5:6; John 6:57; 14:21, 23; 21:15-17; cf. Jer. 32:39).

Christ is everything in God’s economy. He before all things, and all things cohere in Him.

He is God incarnated to be a man; He is God tabernacling among us in the flesh, full of grace and reality.

When He came, He brought in salvation, life, and God’s shining.

He went through the process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.

In His resurrection He became a life-giving Spirit to come into us, and now He is the Spirit with our spirit.

Also, He is the Spirit speaking to the churches and ministering to us.

He is the Minister of the heavenly places, and He is the Administrator of God’s economy.

Christ is our life and life supply. He is the centrality and universality of God’s economy, and He wants to be everything to us.

When we eat Christ, we will live because of Him.

When we come to Him in His word, He supplies us, He works Himself into us, and He and the Father makes an abode with us.

And He wants us to just love Him, focus on Him, and let Him be everything to us, in us, and for us.

The full ministry of Christ is in three stages: incarnation, inclusion, and intensification.

He became flesh to be incarnated and bring God into man; in His work in the stage of incarnation, He produces us as redeemed people, for He came to redeem us.

In the stage of His inclusion, Christ became a life-giving Spirit, and as the Spirit, He produces the church as the Body of Christ.

In His ministry in the stage of intensification, He is the sevenfold intensified Spirit to intensify God’s organic salvation to produce the overcomers and consummate the New Jerusalem.

All these matters are in the Bible, but they have been lost, misunderstood, misinterpreted, and put aside.

We need to be recovered to having Christ as our life, our centre, our reality, and our everything.

Second, the Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the oneness of the Body of Christ (John 17:11, 21-23; Eph. 4:3-4a; Rev. 1:11).

The Lord Jesus prayed in John 17 that we may be one, and on the day of Pentecost, all the disciples were one.

However, throughout the past twenty centuries, Christians have been divided again and again.

Count Zinzendorf in the eighteenth century saw the need of keeping the oneness of the Body of Christ, and he recovered this matter in part.

Later the British Brethren also saw this matter and practiced it to some degree.

Then, in 1920 the Lord raised Brother Nee in China, and he saw much concerning the Body of Christ and the oneness of the Body; through his writings, we were brought to a deeper experience of the oneness of the Body.

The Lord is recovering today the oneness of the Body of Christ.

Regardless of differing races, cultures, or levels of education, all Christians must be one; we are one in Christ who lives in us.

We all have the oneness of the Spirit, and we need to keep it in the uniting bond of peace, for there’s only one Body and one Spirit.

There is no reason for us to be divided.

Today in the church life in the Lord’s recovery we need to testify to all that, no matter how different we may look outwardly and how differing our natural background may be, we all are one, for there’s no reason for us to be divided.

Oneness is in our spirit, and we exercise our spirit to be one.

Third, the Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the function of all the members of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:15-16; Rom. 15:16; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9; 1 Cor. 14:1, 4b, 12, 26, 31, 39; Jer. 31:33-34).

This is a major item of the Lord’s recovery today.

The Lord has a Body, composed of all the believers in Christ as the many members of the Body of Christ, and all the members need to function.

He desires to have all the members function in their measure.

However, almost all Christian groups today practice the system of the clergy and laity, with some who are more “qualified” or “zealous” functioning and the rest listening quietly.

The clergy replaces the members of the Body of Christ, and the function of the members of the Body is killed.

All believers are members of Christ, and all need to function; they have a function, a capacity, and usefulness, and they can and should function for the building up of the Body.

In the church life today we all need to learn to function in our measure by speaking for the Lord and being involved in the services of the church.

The Lord’s recovery today is for the annulling of the clergy and laity system and for the development of the gifts, functions, and capacity of all the members of the organic Body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-16).

May the Lord have a way to fully recover Christ as our everything, the oneness of the Body of Christ, and the function of all the members of the Body of Christ so that the Body may be built, the bride may be prepared, and the Lord may return with His overcomers to bring in His sweet and wonderful kingdom on the earth!

Lord Jesus, we take You as our everything. You are our life, our centre, our reality, and our everything. We focus on nothing and no one else but You. You are our Lord, our Savior, our King, our Shepherd, and our Friend. We want to know You, experience You, and enjoy You in Your full ministry of incarnation, inclusion, and intensification. Amen, Lord Jesus, we take You as our life and everything for the church life! May we be recovered to Christ as our everything today. Amen, Lord, recover the oneness of the Body of Christ among us today. Expose any factors of division and eliminate anything that makes us different and thus apart from others. Hallelujah, oneness is in our spirit, and we all have the oneness of the Body of Christ! We exercise our spirit today, Lord, to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace, for there is one Body and one Spirit! Amen, Lord, gain the reality of the oneness of the Body of Christ among us. Lord Jesus, recover the function of all the members of the Body of Christ. May all the members of the Body enjoy Christ, experience Christ, and minister Christ to others in their measure for the building up of the church. Amen, Lord, may all the believers in Christ be released from formality, routine, and the clergy and laity system so that they may function in their measure. Lord, recover the function of all the members of the Body! May there be the developing of the gifts, functions, and capacity of all the members of the Body of Christ for the building up of the Body!

Being Right in Following Others and Having the Complete Vision of God’s Economy

In the matter of leadership in the church life, we need to be right in following others.

We need to be careful when we follow the leading ones, especially being careful in following any co-workers, elders, or leading ones whom we appreciate and to whom we are attracted.

Instead of following others because we like them, we should follow them if they are persons who love the Lord, live for the Lord, and renounce the self, the natural life, their preference, and their ambition.

We should follow such ones. We should follow those who have and hold the complete revelation of the entire Holy Scriptures properly, without any twisting and deforming.

May we be right in following others, and may we have and hold to the complete vision of God’s economy.

On one hand, we need to know that the Lord’s recovery is the recovery of Christ as our everything, the recovery of the oneness of the Body of Christ, and the recovery of the function of all the members of the Body.

On the other hand, we need to have a complete view of God’s eternal economy with all that it entails.

We need to have a vision, even to have a complete view of God’s eternal economy, and this vision needs to be refreshed and renewed in us.

How can we get a vision?

First, we must have a heart for God, for His word, and for His interests.

We need to ask the Lord to give us a heart for Him, for His word, and for His interests.

All those who have a clear vision of God’s economy have a heart for God.

Even Paul, when he was Saul, had a heart for God, but until he met Christ on the way to Damascus, he was persecuting the church, though he had a heart for God.

We may feel, however, that we don’t have a heart for God; but we need to be reminded that we have a new heart, and we should speak the truth.

We should stop living in our feelings and stand on the reality in the word of God.

The Word says that the Lord gave us a new heart, and we say Amen, yes, Lord, we have a heart for You, for Your word, and for the interests of God!

We need to be willing to forsake the worthless and choose the precious (Jer. 15:19).

In our daily life we become preoccupied and occupied with so many worthless things, various entertainments, and different activities.

It doesn’t mean that you take a break once in a while, but dwelling on some of the things we love is worthless, for those things are worthless.

And we may become occupied with social media, the news, etc – this is a waste of time, and it affects our heart and our receiving of the Word of God.

This is why in some cases some believers did not advance in the Lord and did not grow in life for decades, even though they have been in the Lord for such a long time.

We want to advance with the Lord, in our Christian life, and in our service, and we want to have a deeper understanding of the Lord’s word; for this, we need to be willing to forsake the worthless and choose the precious.

May we choose not to be occupied with worthless things and just focus on the Lord and His interest.

If we have the heart for precious things, we will get more of the vision of God’s economy.

But it is possible that we may be in a meeting and receive something, enjoy something, yet we don’t get the central point.

Because we are preoccupied with so many other things, we don’t receive the precious things.

We need to wait on the Lord, for the vision doesn’t come all at once; He reveals the vision to us little by little as we choose the precious from the worthless.

Finally, we need to be open to the Lord, being genuinely open in our inner being.

When we have a clear and complete vision of God’s economy, this vision will direct and guide us in the church life and in our service to the Lord.

Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us a new heart to love You and enjoy You. Hallelujah, we love the Lord with our new heart, and we love the word of God and the interests of God. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to You today to enjoy You, love You, and appreciate You. You are the most lovely One. You are the most precious One. We want to forsake the worthless and choose the precious. Save us from being preoccupied with so many things that are worthless. Keep us in Your precious word, enjoy Your preciousness, and meet with Your precious saints in Your precious church to build up Your precious Body! Amen, Lord, grant us to go on with You. We want to wait on You so that You may impart a clear and complete vision of Your economy into us. We want You, Lord, and we want Your economy. We open to You from our whole being. Have a way in us!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1990, vol. 3, “The Basic Principles for the Practice of the God-ordained Way,” pp. 259-260, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther (2022 winter training), week 10, entitled, The Central and Crucial Point of the Recovery Books of Ezra and Nehemiah — the Proper and Adequate Leadership in the Lord’s Recovery.
• Further reading on this topic:
  – The Lord’s Recovery – via an open letter from the local churches and Living Stream Ministry concerning the teachings of Witness Lee.
  – What are we? Article by Watchman Nee in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The clergy-laity system and divisions, a portion from, Satan’s Strategy Against the Church, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
  – Concerning the Church Life – a corporate life, the headship of Christ, fellowship, oneness, mutual care for one another, the conscience, meetings, and the function of all the members, article via, Local Churches.
  – Assailing the Ground of Oneness (6): The Ground of the Church Being for the Building Up of the Body of Christ, article via, Shepherding Words.
  – An Open Letter from the Local Churches and Living Stream Ministry concerning the Teachings of Witness Lee, via, Witness Lee Lehren.
  – Members of the Body of Christ (glossa) via Affirmation and Critique.
  – Outlines of the messages for the International Chinese-speaking conference in 2021, pdf via, Full-time Training in New Zealand.
  – What is the Lord’s Recovery? The Lord’s recovery today is not a recovery program from alcoholism, substance abuse, or any other kind of vice. Nor is it the name of a Christian movement. Read more via, Holding to Truth.
  – The Factor of the Church Being in the Triune God, the Local Churches Being Expressions of the Body of Christ, and the Believers Practicing the Church Life in the Consciousness of the Body, pdf via, The Church in Regina.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Jesus lived the God-man pattern, / Set the way for us to follow, / He denied His natural man and / Was obedient unto death, / Once He was the only God-man; / Now we are His duplication. / As the many grains we’re blended / As His corporate reproduction. / Oh, may a clear, controlling vision of / The Lord’s economy direct my heart, / And burn in me until my spirit’s wholly set afire! / With spirit strong and active we’ll press on / To consummate God’s goal— / New Jerusalem, Hallelujah! (Song on, God has called us for His purpose, stanza 2 and chorus)
  – We stand as one, and cannot be divided, / Because our oneness is of Christ alone. / We eat as one: one loaf, one cup partaking, / And thus our oneness visibly is shown. / Oh, what a joy to have this blessed oneness! / We sense that Thou, O Lord, art satisfied; / And we too share this blissful satisfaction— / Sweet foretaste of the Bridegroom with His Bride. (Hymns #1107 stanzas 4-5)
  – As members of the Body / Christ we would manifest, / Each learning how to function / His fulness to express; / We would not be spectators / But each as members move, / None bringing death or damage / But each our profit prove. (Hymns #867 stanza 1)