Prayer: O Lord, we worship You that You have enabled us to see Your light and receive Your revelation. We gather here again to open ourselves to You, Lord. May You also open Yourself to us to speak again a word to us for this age, even a word which You have revealed in the Bible and ordained in eternity. O Lord, make us those who love You, who enjoy sitting at Your feet to listen to the word concerning Your heart’s desire. Lord, may You visit the church in Tokyo and all the churches in the whole of Japan that they may all receive grace and be brought into Your new way for the organic building up of Your organic Body. O Lord, be with us; as we speak for You, be one spirit with us. Speak in our speaking and seal every word with Your Spirit that we may have fresh utterance and the expression that is of You. Furthermore, resist the enemy for us and destroy the power of darkness. May Your blessing and grace be upon all the saints. Amen.
I am burdened concerning the God-ordained way revealed in the Bible. I believe that after the three preceding messages, we have gained considerable understanding concerning the way to worship God as revealed in the Bible and have recognized that this way greatly differs from the practice which we see in Christianity and from the way we have had in the past among us. The difference lies in the fact that the God-ordained way is altogether organic, and since it is organic, everything is a matter of the Spirit. Perhaps someone may ask, “What does it mean to be organic?” A podium is made by putting together several pieces of wood. It is organized, not organic, because it is lifeless. However, the church, the Body of Christ of which the Scriptures speak, is not organized but organic. This organic Body of Christ is signified by our human body. Our human body is constituted with many members, and everything in this body is a matter of life; everything is organic, not mechanical. When we speak, not only does our mouth speak, but in actuality, our entire being is speaking. Our hands, feet, face, and even our hair all help together. If we were robots, our mouth would move when its switch was turned on, but none of our other parts would be involved. However, when we speak, we are organic; regardless of how we speak, our entire body participates in the speaking because an organic element is present in our body. This element is the circulation of our blood. The life of our body lies in the blood; wherever the flow of blood goes, there is the organic function. On the contrary, wherever the flow of blood is stopped, the organic function is lost. People suffer a stroke or become paralyzed when there is a blockage of the blood flow. The better the circulation of blood is in our body, the healthier our body will be. Hence, our body needs a great deal of exercise to improve its blood circulation.
We are living, organic beings not only because of the blood circulation in our body but also because of the transmission of oxygen in our blood. If we do not take any food for eight days or drink any water for three days, we may still live, but if we stop breathing for just a few minutes, we will die. Hence, oxygen is more important to us than water and food. If there is a sufficient amount of oxygen, the blood circulation will be normal, and the entire body will feel refreshed. Likewise, as the saved ones, we all have the essence of the Body of Christ, and that essence is the life of God. We have two lives: the human life and the divine life. Because we have the human life, we know the things in the human kingdom, and because we have the divine life, we know the things in God’s kingdom. This is our organic essence. If all day long we neither call on the Lord nor pray, we become miserable because the organic essence within us cannot operate. However, the more we call on the Lord and the more we pray, the more we feel comfortable and refreshed because the life within us is activated. Hence, we need to move in cooperation with the inner organic operation. The Holy Spirit in us is like the oxygen in our body. We must have the Holy Spirit and always be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit and the divine life are just like the oxygen and the blood circulation that refresh us and make us healthy. Therefore, all our activities in the church must come out of the life of God in us in coordination with the Holy Spirit. This is a basic principle.
The work of the New Testament priests of the gospel includes four major steps: first, preaching the gospel to save sinners; second, nourishing the newly saved ones; third, teaching and perfecting the nourished saints; and fourth, leading them to prophesy, to speak for the Lord. Each of these four steps must be organic; every step must be carried out in life and through our being filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the way revealed in the New Testament. However, in today’s Christianity, all these things are not organic and are not carried out by being filled with the Spirit. They have become practices in ordinances with fixed programs and rigid procedures. Such practices in Christianity according to programs and schedules may sometimes be of life and occasionally be filled with the Spirit, because those who are doing these things are living. Nevertheless, in principle, all the activities in Christianity depend upon organizational arrangement, not upon life and the Spirit. However, in the Lord’s recovery the gospel work we do as priests of the gospel should come out of the organic essence and should be filled with the Holy Spirit.
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