In a meeting of the church, we may have the boldness to declare that we are humanly divine. However, after the meeting, a husband may complain to his wife. When the husband complains, is that the church complaining? This complaining one, this natural person, is not part of the church. In the church there is no room for any natural person. Colossians 3:10 and 11 point out that in the new man, the church, there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and free man, but Christ is all the members of the new man and in all the members. In the church, the new man, there is only room for Christ. He is the new man, His Body (1 Cor. 12:12). There is no Chinese, Texan, or Californian in the church. The church is not merely human but divinely human.

The church is the one Body of Christ with the one Spirit as its divine essence. Paul said in Ephesians 4:3, “Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit.” Then in verse 4 we see that the church is the “one Body.” The oneness of the Spirit is in the Body. The essence of the one Body is the one Spirit. This essence is of the one element, and the one element is the “one Lord” (v. 5). The one element is of the one source, who is the Father in His divine life with the divine nature. The element of this source is the one Lord, Christ, and the essence of the element is the Spirit. The essence, the extract, of Christ as the divine element, is the Spirit. The Spirit is the extract of Christ.

We may use watermelon as an illustration of this. In order to eat watermelon, one must cut it into slices. Then when the slices are eaten, they become juice. The juice is the extract of the slices, and that extract is the essence. Today the Spirit is the extract, the essence, of Christ as the element. Christ is the element of the source, who is the Father. The Father may be likened to the watermelon, Christ to the slices, and the Spirit to the juice. When we drink the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13) as the juice, we enjoy Christ as the element and the Father as the source.

The Body is the issue of the Spirit who is the essence, the Lord who is the element, and the Father who is the source. The church is the issue of the Triune God. In Ephesians 4:4-6 there are four persons-the one God and Father, the one Lord, the one Spirit, and the one Body. The church as the Body is the issue of the essence, the essence is the extract of the element, and the element is of the source. The issue of the three of the Divine Trinity is a fourth entity-the Body of Christ. The Father is divine, the Son is divine, the Spirit is divine, and Their issue is also divine. The issue of the Triune God is the church as the Body of Christ.

In China when I was young, I was told that the church was a physical building with a high tower and a bell. That is certainly not the church. I was corrected by the Brethren when I was with them. They taught me strongly that the church is the assembly called out by God. They taught that this was the meaning of ekklesia, the Greek word for church.

Later, I left the Brethren and came into the Lord’s recovery. When I was in the church in Shanghai, Brother Nee helped us to see that the church is not just a congregation called out by God and gathered together. In one message he pointed to the brothers and sisters and said, “The church is Christ in you, in you, in you, and in you. The church is Christ in the sisters, in the brothers, in me, and in all of us. The totality of this Christ is the church.” His speaking opened my eyes.

Without Christ, there is no church. We may be called a congregation of Christians, but if we do not have Christ within us, we are not the church. The very constituent of the church is Christ. Before we were saved, we were not the church. After we were saved, we became the church. Once we were not the church, but today we are the church. What is the difference? The difference is that in the past we did not have Christ, but today we have Christ. Regardless of how weak we may be, as long as we have Christ, we are a part of the church.

Therefore, the church is Christ mingled with us. Sometimes the divine essence of Christ becomes very bright and manifested in us. At other times, the human part becomes very prevailing to such an extent that we do not look like the church. When we come to a meeting, Christ may be so shining among us. After the meeting, however, the husband may complain to his wife, and the wife may complain to her husband. This is not the church.

The church is the issue of the Triune God: the Father embodied in the Son, the Son realized as the Spirit, and the Spirit mingled with us. Therefore, in Ephesians 4, there are the Father, the Lord, the Spirit, and us, the Body. This is not to make ourselves deified, to make ourselves God. We are divine only in life, in nature, in element, and in essence, but not in the Godhead. Only one in this universe is God in the Godhead-that one is the Triune God.
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