If we do not experience Christ in such a practical way, it is absolutely impossible to build up the church. This is illustrated in the type of Eve, who was brought into being out of Adam (Gen. 2:21-24; Eph. 5:30-32). Eve was a part of Adam, something out of Adam. Only that which came out of Adam could be the wife to Adam. Every part and every aspect of Eve was something of Adam. This confirms that the church can be built up only with that which is out of Christ. Doctrines and gifts do not build up the church. Christ Himself in the saints is the only material with which the Body of Christ can be built up. If we lack the experience of practically living by Christ, we will be only a certain kind of “religious church.”
Furthermore, we must learn to experience Christ not only as our life but also as our food, as the bread of life. He is the food supply within us. Day by day we need to feed on Christ and be nourished by Him. This must not be merely a teaching to us; it must be our daily and hourly experience. In John 6:57 the Lord says that he who eats Him will live because of Him. In order to live by Christ, we must eat Him; then He will be real to us. It is sad that many Christians are not eating Christ daily.
Let me illustrate in this way. A newborn child normally weighs between six and eight pounds. After he is full grown, he will weigh more than one hundred pounds. His body has been built up, but please tell me, by what means? He certainly was not built up by going to restaurants and looking at menus. His body was built up by the things he ate—by many eggs, chickens, potatoes, apples, bananas, and so forth. How, then, can the Body of Christ be built up? It cannot be built up by teaching, for the more we are taught how to eat, the more we will be reduced. In fact, if we learn only the art of eating, we will soon need a funeral. We may learn many things and even be the best dietitian, but we will soon die if we do not eat. In the spiritual realm, we may know all the good, scriptural, and even spiritual teachings and yet be starving from the lack of food. The churches today need “mothers” to nurse the young ones and give them not teachings but something of Christ to eat and drink (1 Thes. 2:7).
If you ask me what is troubling me these days, I will tell you that there are only two things. One is that although so many dear brothers and sisters have truly seen the negative things of Christianity and have seen something concerning the Lord’s way with His church, I am afraid that they will practice the church life by outward methods. Someone may say, “Formerly I pastored a church in a certain way, but now I see that this way is wrong. Therefore, I will drop that way and use another way.” This is still a religious activity, not the building up of the Body of Christ. The building up of the Body of Christ is something from within. To build up Christ’s Body, we must feed on Christ, eat Christ, and drink Christ so that we will be nourished with Christ. When we are full of Christ, we will minister something of Christ as food to others. Then the Body of Christ will be built up.
It is not a matter of method. If we read the entire New Testament, we will discover one method. If I have any method at all, it is this: first, we must be put on the cross; second, we must feed on Christ in the spirit day by day; and third, when we are nourished and full of Christ, we need to nourish others with Christ. Then the church will come into being. The only method is to go to the cross, feed on Christ, and nourish others with Christ.
The other thing that troubles me is this: Though we have been speaking much concerning Christ as our life, I fear that we know this only as a message, as a term, as a subject; we do not have the daily and hourly experience of this. We need to be continually regulated and anointed by Christ. Daily and hourly we must feed on Him and have intimate fellowship with Him. We need to forget about ourselves and contact Him, enjoy Him, be regulated by Him, and be anointed by Him all the time. This is the inner life, the inward experience of the indwelling Christ. I would recommend to you a book written by Andrew Murray entitled The Spirit of Christ. This book will be a great help to you, not to gain knowledge but to experience the indwelling Christ in your daily life. As you allow Christ to be your daily food, you will be able to testify to the whole universe, “I am tasting Christ day by day. I am experiencing an intimate, living fellowship with Him hour by hour. I am under His regulating and His anointing all the time.” We all need to pay full attention to this matter. This is the mark of God’s economy. If we miss this mark of God’s economy in our spirit, how can God’s economy be worked out in the church? When we drive our car, we know where to put the gasoline and how to start the car; that is the mark of operating a car. If we lose that mark, although we may have a very beautiful car, it will not run.
This is the reason that the book of Hebrews includes a verse like 4:12: “The word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The word of God is so living and penetrating that it divides our spirit from our soul. All the experiences taught in the book of Hebrews must be realized by discerning the spirit. The all-inclusive Christ as the good land is in our spirit, and His dwelling in the Holy of Holies also is in our spirit. If we do not know how to discern our spirit from our soul, we will miss the mark and will be unable to enjoy Christ. Every day we must deal with the living Christ, who is subjective to us. Christ is within us, and He is living, real, and practical. When we eat Him, drink Him, and feast on Him as our daily nourishment, we will live by Him and with Him and be under His constant regulating and anointing. This is what we need to experience all the time if we would impart Christ as food to others. If people are fed with Christ, He will become the material in them, and the Body of Christ will gradually grow and be built up (Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:16). I do look to the Lord that our eyes will be opened to see the heavenly vision and the inner revelation of this living, indwelling, subjective Christ in our spirit as the mark of God’s economy.