As believers in Christ and members of the Body of Christ, we need to live in the reality of the Body of Christ by taking Christ’s feeling for the Body as our own feeling for the Body, having the consciousness of the Body and a strong feeling for the Body.
We need to learn from the apostle Paul to live not in our natural inner being but live a life in the inward parts of Christ (Col. 3:12). This means that we need to make a decision before the Lord and tell Him that, for the rest of our life humanly and spiritually, we want to live in the inward parts of Christ Jesus.
Then the Lord, in His mercy, will have a way to shine on us and search our heart and inward parts, and He will show the many aspects of our natural life with all its manifestations.
Our reaction to this will simply be that the Lord would work Himself into us, for in ourselves we cannot get rid of the natural man, neither can we live in the reality of the Body.
The God-man life, the divinely human life lived by Christ in our spirit, is something that only the Lord can live in us, and on our side we can simply open to Him and choose to live in the inward parts of Christ.
When we live a life in the inward parts of Christ we will have a feeling for the Body, a consciousness of the Body, and we will be so one with Christ as the Head that we will take Christ’s feeling for the Body as our own feeling for the Body.
The Lord is willing to shepherd us, train us, love us, and cherish us until we will spontaneously live in the reality of the Body, a life in the inward parts of Christ.
For example, as Peter tells us in 1 Pet. 3, the husbands will honor the wife as a weaker vessel, so that his prayers would not be hindered, and he will love her in the inward parts of Christ Jesus; her response will be that she will join him in prayer, interceding prayers for the saints.
Whenever the husband loves the wife in the inward parts of Christ and the wife responds in love, these two become one, and they can pray powerful, prevailing prayers for the Lord’s interest.
It is the inward parts that can cause the friction in the family life, and it is in the inward parts that we can be so one for the Lord’s move and interest on earth.
May we take the lead, each one of us, to be touched by the love of Christ and let Christ work Himself into our inward parts, so that the love will flow from us to others, and Christ would be expressed, manifested, and glorified among us as we live a life in the inward parts of Christ Jesus!
Living in the Reality of the Body by taking Christ’s Feeling for the Body as our own Feeling for the Body
The apostle Paul lived in the reality of the Body of Christ by taking Christ’s feeling as his own feeling; therefore, the feeling that Christ had for His Body became the feeling that Paul had for the Body (see Phil. 1:8).
We should do the same thing today – we should live in the reality of the Body of Christ by taking Christ’s feeling for the Body as our own feeling for the Body.
It is a serious matter to have our own feelings about the church; having our own opinions and feelings regarding the church life can lead us to speaking something to others about it, and our words will spread death.
We need to learn to not have confidence in our views, our feelings, and our opinions for the Body, no matter what our experience may be.
Sometimes the Body may have a certain feeling, a certain concern, but if we hold on to our own feeling, this may cause or bring in division. The only views, opinions, and thoughts concerning the church that have any value is Christ’s views, opinions, and thoughts.
He as the Head knows the situation of every church and of every member of the Body, and He wants us to live in the inward parts of Christ so that we may take Christ’s feeling for the Body as our own feeling; the result will be that we will pray for the saints and minister to them, and we will not criticise them.
If we see a defect in the saints and have the Lord’s sense, we will pray, and if we have the Lord’s leading, we will minister reality. Since we are members of the Body, we should have a feeling for the Body; our feeling must be our taking Christ’s feeling as our own feeling.
Christ’s feeling must become our own feeling in caring for the Body; this is a most necessary thing for living the Body life. We need to take the feeling of the Head as our own feeling and do so in the principle of caring for the Body.
If we as members of the Body of Christ have Christ’s feeling for the Body in everything, and if we care for the Body, we will take the Body as the rule in our mind, thoughts, words, and actions.
This means that we deny ourselves and identify ourselves not only with Christ as the Head but also with the Body; by doing this, there will be no separation or disconnection from the Body.
When we take Christ’s feeling for the Body as our feeling for the Body, we will fully be in the Body life, and the Lord will gain the expression of His Body.
May the Lord deliver us from our opinions and feelings, and may He save us from the colossal failure of getting older and being opinionated!
May we learn to trust not in ourselves but in Christ and His feeling for the Body. We may have some kind natural feelings but with no reality; reality is Christ Himself, and He cares for the Body, He intercedes for all the members all the time, and He knows what each one needs.
When we live in the inward parts of Christ, we will know what to pray and what to say, for we will take the feeling of the Head as our own feeling. If we as members have the feeling of the Head in everything, we will consider the Body and care for the Body (1 Cor. 12:12-27).
Lord Jesus, we want to live in the reality of the Body of Christ by taking Christ’s feeling as our own feeling. Amen, Lord, may Christ’s feeling for the Body become our feeling for the Body, and may we care for the Body by living in the inward parts of Christ. Lord, save us from having our own feelings and opinions from the church, and save us from having confidence in our views and our feelings concerning the members of the Body. Amen, Lord, we want to take the inward parts of Christ Jesus as our inward parts in caring for the Body of Christ!
Living in the Inward Parts of Christ to have the Consciousness of the Body
The more we as believers in Christ and members of the Body of Christ live in the inward parts of Christ Jesus, the greater will be our consciousness of the Body of Christ, and the stronger will be our feeling for the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:26-27; Rom. 12:15).
Having a consciousness, according to the dictionary, means being in a state of being awake and aware of one’s environment. Having a consciousness of the Body means being aware of the Body and having the feeling for the Body of Christ.
To be conscious is to be aware and have a response concerning our situation. If we are conscious of the Body, we will have a response to the feeling of the Head, and we will pray and fellowship.
But if we are not conscious of the Body, we do not realise that we’re a member of the Body but think we’re a full and complete unit, we live as individuals a life apart from the Body, we care for ourselves and for our own spirituality, and we live independently from other believers, acting as if we don’t need anyone. Oh Lord Jesus!
May we cooperate with the Lord to cultivate a consciousness of the Body by having more fellowship with the Lord; the more we fellowship with the Lord and obey His inner speaking, the keener and richer our inner sense will become.
The Lord within us gives us a certain sense for the Body and for the members of the Body.
On the one hand, the Lord gives us a sense concerning the daily things in our life, and if we obey His inner sense, this sense will become richer and keener; this is to take Christ’s feeling for the Body as our feeling.
Our inner sense is developed through our fellowship with the Lord and our obedience to Him. We need to always use this sense when we touch spiritual matters.
If we exercise the inner sense and have the consciousness of the Body, we will sense from the Lord concerning the situation of the saints. We will then pray for others not because they requested our prayer but because the Lord within us gives us a sense and a burden for the Body.
In the Body there are many needs and many burdens, and when we exercise to take Christ’s feeling for the Body, we will have the consciousness of the Body and we will pray for the saints according to the Lord’s feeling within us.
For example, a person who is Body-conscious can sense that a certain brother has a difficulty and another sister has a heavy burden; this sense is deep within, and his spirit is clear concerning this, so he will pray for them, he is pressed inwardly to feel with them, and he intercedes on their behalf.
This intercession is an intercession that comes from the sense of the Body. Whether we are strong or weak inwardly spiritually is determined by our concern for the children of God, the members of the Body of Christ.
We may hear of some in suffering, and we will pray for them; we may not hear about others, but we may have a feeling to pray for them in a certain way, so we are one with the Lord to do this.
In the Body of Christ, when a member suffers, all the members feel uncomfortable, and when one member is glorified, all the members rejoice. Praise the Lord! May the Lord bring us in such a normal condition in the Body of Christ!
Lord Jesus, we want to live in the inward parts of Christ Jesus so that we may have the consciousness of the Body of Christ and we would have a keen feeling for the Body. Save us from living an individualistic life, a life of not being aware of the Body and having the feeling of not needing anyone. We want to exercise the consciousness of the Body and learn to bear one another burdens, pray for one another’s situations, and intercede for one another in the Body. Oh Lord, may we have a keen inner feeling and consciousness of the Body as we live in the inner parts 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, The Church as the Body of Christ, ch. 17 (by Witness Lee), 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:
# Lord, we want to live You / In the most intimate / And the closest contact, / Closest contact with You. / Acting according / To the index of Your eyes; / A person one with Christ, / Full of Christ. / And one who is saturated / with Christ / One who is so broken / And even terminated / In his natural life, / Softened and flexible / in his will, / Affectionate, yet restricted / in emotions, / Sober and considerate / in his mind, / And pure, genuine / in his spirit. (Song on, Lord, we want to live You)
# 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)
# Your faith in Christ helps me pursue; / My progress depends upon you! / As I seek Christ, with you in view, / My heart, full of prayers, is for you. (Song on, I’m thankful that God has placed me)
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