There are two crucial matters in the New Testament that we all need to pay attention to: the oneness and the one accord. In the New Testament the first time that the oneness among the believers is mentioned is in John 17. In that chapter oneness is covered by the Lord Jesus in His prayer. The Lord’s prayer in John 17 followed His discourse in John 14—16, in which He released the mystery of the Divine Trinity. In the entire Bible there is no higher and deeper revelation of the Divine Trinity than the revelation released by the Lord Jesus in those three chapters. After the Lord completed His work on this earth in contacting His disciples, He was ready to die on the cross. It was at that juncture that He prayed to the Father. The prayer that He prayed was very particular. No mere human being could pray such a prayer. In His prayer to the Father, He used the word We (or Us), referring to Himself and the Father, with the Spirit also implied (vv. 11, 21-22). In verses 20-21 He said, “I do not ask concerning these only, but concerning those also who believe into Me through their word, that they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me.” Here the Lord prayed that all His believers would be one “in Us,” that is, in the Divine Trinity. This is the genuine oneness. The genuine oneness is simply the mingling of the Triune God with His believers. This oneness is also the Body of Christ, for the Body of Christ is the mingling of the processed and consummated Triune God with His believers.
In Matthew 18:19-20 the Lord said, “Again, truly I say to you that if two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens. For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.” Here the Lord said that if His disciples pray in one accord, their prayer will surely be heard and answered.
Now we need to ask, what is the one accord? One accord appears to be a less significant matter than oneness. Apparently, oneness is a great thing, whereas one accord is a smaller matter. It is easy to define oneness: oneness is the Triune God mingled with all His believers, and this oneness is just the Body of Christ. However, it is difficult to define one accord.
In Matthew 18:19 the Greek word sumphoneo is used for one accord. It means “to be in harmony, or accord” and refers to the harmonious sound of musical instruments or voices. Eventually, the one accord, or the harmony of inward feeling among the believers, becomes like a melody, like music. Every proper melody is harmonious. When we have the one accord, in the eyes of God we become a melody to Him. We become a poem not merely in writing but in sound, in voice, in melody. Our one accord must be like a harmonious melody. Such a one accord is the nucleus of the oneness. In other words, oneness is like a nut, and the one accord is like the kernel of that nut. In Acts 1:14 another Greek word, homothumadon, is used for one accord. This word is from homo, same, and thumos, mind, will, purpose (soul, heart). The word denotes a harmony of inward feeling in one’s entire being.
Today some Christians may claim to have oneness. I have heard some pastors say that since all the denominations have one God, one Savior, Christ, and one Bible, they are one. According to their concept, denominations are not divisions; they are merely means used by Christians to carry out their work. In their view denominations are like the different kinds of bowls and utensils that people use to eat their food. They argue that since different kinds of eating utensils, such as chopsticks and forks and spoons, do not divide people, denominations do not divide Christians. I am afraid that some of the saints in the recovery may not be able to withstand this kind of argument. After listening to such an argument, they may be subdued and agree with the claim that the denominations are not divisive. Those in the denominations may also turn the matter to us and ask, “Are you not a division? Before Watchman Nee and Witness Lee were on this earth, there might have been one thousand one hundred divisions, but now you in the local churches have become another division. Now there are one thousand one hundred and one divisions on the earth.” It seems difficult to know how to respond to such an argument.
My response to them is this: “Yes, you may have the oneness, but do you have the kernel? Do you have the one accord? The families who use forks and chopsticks for eating also use the same utensils to fight with each other. You may have oneness, but where is the one accord?” Some among the denominations may turn the question to us: “Do you have the one accord among you?” If we examine our situation, we will have to admit that even now we are not adequate in the matter of one accord.
If among those in a group there is no one accord, what can the Lord do with them? This is why my burden concerning the vital groups is so heavy. I am very clear that we do not have the full and complete one accord among us. Therefore, in a sense it is hard for the Lord to move freely among us. If we are not in one accord, God has no way to answer our prayer. If God does not have a way to answer our prayer, what can He do with us? Without the one accord, it is difficult to get people saved, converted, and regenerated by the dynamic salvation of God. Thus, our inadequacy in the one accord is a sickness that is more than serious. We have been sick for years, yet we might have been unconscious of our sickness. We may come to the meetings, praise the Lord, and prophesy, but we may do all these things without being conscious of the fact that we do not have the adequate one accord.
Although I have studied the Bible for many years, I did not see until recently that oneness is like the body, and one accord is like the heart within the body. Our sickness is not just like a sickness in the outward, physical body; our sickness is like a sickness in the heart within the body. I am speaking the truth frankly and honestly, according to what the Lord has shown me and according to my pure conscience. We need to know what our sickness is. The sickness among us is that we do not have the one accord adequately. Therefore, we maintain only a oneness with a sick “heart.” In these past four or five years even this unhealthy oneness has been broken by the dissenting ones. They would not even care for the oneness. We are still here for the oneness, yet within us there is an inadequacy in the one accord. Because of this, it is hard for the Lord to answer our prayer, especially in the matter of fruit-bearing for the increase of the Lord’s recovery. For this, surely we need to humble ourselves before Him.
The grouping of the saints together in the vital groups is to recover us, and to recover us means to heal us, to cure us. We have become sick; thus, we need the healing. The healing that we need is to be grouped together in the adequate accord. The way to touch the sickness that is among us is to have the vital groups.