We need the Lord’s mercy in order to see the vision of the self so that we may deny it, abhor it, and repudiate it, identifying ourselves with Christ and with the Body of Christ and rejecting our self.
Toward God, the self is independent. Toward ourselves, the self is our soul life being expressed, especially through our opinions. Toward Satan, the self is the embodiment of Satan in our soul. Toward the Body of Christ, the self is the greatest hindrance to the Body.
The Body of Christ is a corporate entity, and there’s no “I” in the “Body”; there’s no “I” in “we” or “us”. The main reason the Lord Jesus didn’t finish building up His church, as promised in Matt. 16:18, is that most believers have been caught up with the self. The enemy of the Body is the self, and the greatest problem to the practice of the church life is the self.
The self is the soul declaring independence from God and from the Body of Christ, and even if we do good things for the Lord in the church, as long as we do them in our self, we are independent from the Body and they are damaging to the Body.
We need to realize that the Body is versus the self, and the self is versus the Body of Christ. If we have the self, we don’t have the Body; when the self is denied, the Body of Christ is built up.
We need to come to the Lord again and again and let Him shine on us and expose our self, and under His light we need to NOT stand with the self but deny it, reject it, and renounce it. Whenever the Lord in His mercy exposes our self we need to deny it and renounce it, and the Body of Christ will be built up.
When we realize that we are just members in the Body – and nothing else, not great speakers or evangelists or apostles – we will be happy to just be a normal functioning member in the Body, depending on the Head for the life-supply and depending on the other members for fellowship, direction, supply, and everything.
The Self is the Enemy of the Body of Christ
The hindrance to seeing the vision of the Body and to practicing the Body life is the self.
Christ is versus Satan, the Spirit is versus the flesh, the Father is versus the world, and the Body of Christ is versus the self. In order for us to build up the Body of Christ we need to realize that the self is the greatest hindrance to the building up of the Body, and the Body of Christ is versus the self.
If we are independent from the Lord and from the saints, we are in the self, and we are versus the Body.
We may see something of God’s economy, His purpose, and His desire to build up the church, and we may be burdened to help serve in the church life; but if we do this independently from the fellowship with the saints and with the Head, we act in our self, and we rather damage the Body than build up the Body.
In order to be built up with others in the Body of Christ our whole being needs to be opened, exposed, and broken, and we need to present ourselves to others in fellowship to do whatever is necessary to be built up with them.
The Lord Jesus today is building up His church, His Body on earth, and what makes this so challenging and difficult is the believers living in the self. Why has the Lord not yet finished to build up His church, as He promised in Matt. 16:18? It is mainly because the believers have been caught up in the self and have been living in the self (besides problems such as the world, sin, division, etc).
We may have been delivered from sinful and worldly things, and we may live a good Christian and church life, but how much of a genuine building work has been carried out among us? How much of our self has been denied? As long as the self is preserved, the building up of the church is impossible.
In the practice of the church life today the main thing is to honor the headship of Christ, taking Him as the head and the source of supply, direction, and guidance. The direction to do this or that should come from the Head and not from our feeling to do so many necessary works for God.
All the things we do need to be initiated by the Head and in the fellowship of the Body. Christ is the Head of the Body, the church (Col. 1:18), and we need to hold the Head (Col. 2:18), out from whom all the Body, being knit together through every joint of the rich supply, grows with the growth of God.
However, it is possible that saints would be in the church life had would have a “self-chosen lowliness” or “self-imposed worship” (Col. 2:23). Lowliness, meekness, and worship are necessary, but if they are self-chosen and self-imposed, they are a display of the self.
If in the practice of the church life so many things are done in the self, how can the church be built up? We need to see that the Body of Christ is versus the self, and the self is the enemy of the Body. Because the self is something independent of the Lord and of the Body, the self is the greatest problem to the building up of the Body of Christ.
We shouldn’t look at others and point out “their self” but come to the Lord and humbly realize,
Lord, this is my problem. I have been regenerated for a long time and I have been in the church life for some time now, but I still have not grown in life enough because of the self. Lord, I have to admit, I am not that much built up with the saints because of the self. Shine on me, expose the self, and cause me to hate my self and deny my self and be one with You! Lord, grant me the vision of the self, the hidden independent soul doing things apart from God and from the Body.
We Should Deny Ourselves and Identify Ourselves with the Body
We should deny ourselves and identify ourselves with the Body; if we do this, the life we live will fully be the Body life, and the Lord will gain the expression of His Body.
Oh, how we need the vision of the Body! We need to be burdened to pray, “Lord, help me to see the vision of the Body. It is not good enough just to be a Christian and a member of the church. I must be built up in the Body. In a practical way, I must be a member of the living Body. I must have fellowship with others and be related to others in the Body.” (The Heavenly Vision, p. 37, by Witness Lee)
What the Lord desires to gain and build up is the Body of Christ, the church. There’s nothing more precious to Him than the church, His Body. Therefore, we should deny ourselves and identify ourselves with the Body of Christ.
We are not merely Christians – Christians can be individualistic, there are millions of Christians on earth separated from one another; we are members of the Body of Christ. We are believers in Christ and members of the unique organic Body of Christ.
We are not complete in ourselves: we need the other members of the Body! We are not self-sufficient: we need the fellow saints to minister to us and encourage us! We need to be completed by the other members of the Body. We are just a part, a member in the Body of Christ, and we should be happy with this (1 Cor. 12:27).
We shouldn’t desire others’ function or do things by ourselves to accomplish something; rather, we need to deny our self and identify ourselves with the Body, and the life we will live will fully be the Body life!
In order for the Body of Christ to be built up, the self must be condemned, denied, rejected, and renounced (see Matt. 16:18, 21-26; Luke 9:23-25).
We may have the right motive and do things out of a good heart for the Lord, as Peter did in Matt. 16 when he tried to stop the Lord from going to the cross; but as long as we are independent from the Lord and from the Body, we are in the self and we do not build up the church.
The Lord has a higher regard for our dependence on Him than for our doing great works for Him. If we depend on the Lord, we will spontaneously depend on the Body of Christ, and we will deny the self and identify ourselves with the Body.
Lord Jesus, may we see a vision of the Body of Christ that will expose our self and cause us to deny the self and identify ourselves with the Body! May we realize the importance of the building up of the Body of Christ, the church. Save us from doing many things for You apart from You and from the saints. Lord, we want to depend on You and rely on the Body in everything. May we do everything in fellowship and dependence on You and on the Body. Save us from our independent self. Cause us to depend on You and on the Body!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. James Lee’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1965, vol. 3, “The Heavenly Vision,” pp. 37-38, 45, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Heavenly Vision, week 4 / msg 4, The Vision of the Self.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Not the individual Christians, / but a corporate entity— / God must have it for His full expression now; / Not just individual churches but the Body corporately— / Hallelujah, we are in the Body now! (Hymns #1226)
# In my knowledge and experience / I would not exalted be, / But submitting and accepting / Let the Body balance me; / Holding fast the Head, and growing / With His increase, in His way, / By the joints and bands supplying, / Knit together day by day. (Hymns #840)
# 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)
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