The book of Ephesians shows us clearly that the church is the Body of Christ. And we have seen that this Body comes out of the enjoyment of all the unsearchable riches of Christ. Most Christians have seen the fact that the church is the Body of Christ. So many Christian teachers talk about the church as the Body of Christ. But very few Christians realize that this Body is the issue of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. Therefore, if we don’t know how to enjoy the riches of Christ, we may have the doctrine of the Body of Christ, but it would be impossible to have the real experience of the Body-life.
So we must see that to realize the real church life, the real Body-life, we need the experience of Christ as the indwelling One. There is no other way for Christ to supply us with all His riches. Ephesians 5 tells us that just as people nourish and cherish their bodies, so Christ nourishes and cherishes His church. But how can Christ nourish His church? It is by His indwelling. He nourishes His church by His indwelling. As we enjoy all of His riches, He makes His home in our heart. This is the way He nourishes His Body.
We all know that the basic need in the church life today is the building. Ephesians tells us that there must be the building up of the Body of Christ. But without the proper enjoyment of Christ, there is no possibility of any kind of building up. Building is something that can not be easily separated. Do you believe that anything that has been built into a building could be easily separated? It would be very difficult. If the materials were just piled up, it would be easy to separate them, but once they have been built into a building, it is very difficult to pull them out.
To stay with the brothers and sisters for one or two years doesn’t mean that you have the real building. You have to check whether your building up with the saints is real or counterfeit. It may not be a building up, but a piling up. To check the kind of building you have is to see whether or not you can leave easily. If you can, it means that you have never been builded in.
In today’s Christianity, there is no building. The most that they have is a piling up. And in many situations, there is not even a piling up. Today I can meet with you, and tomorrow I can leave. If this is true, it proves that I have never been built in.
Then how can we have the proper building? Don’t try to do it by yourself. That never works. The only building that avails comes out of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. If we don’t have the experience of Christ nourishing and cherishing the Body, we cannot be built up with others. Sometimes we think that if the Lord would put us together with brother so-and-so, it would be easier to be built up. But God’s sovereignty did not put us with him, and if He did, we would find that he is the same as the rest. It is not a matter of the persons we are with; it is a matter of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ.
I can testify of Brother Watchman Nee, for I was with him for such a long time. Throughout his entire life he never changed co-workers. A small number left him, but he never changed. It was so easy for him to be built up with others.
Whenever we feel that it is difficult for us to be built with the brothers surrounding us, we must realize that we are short of the enjoyment of Christ. We are short of the nourishing of the indwelling Christ. If we experience the nourishing Christ through His indwelling, we can be built up with anyone. Don’t consider that it is difficult for others to be built up. They are not the problem. We are the problem. If we would enjoy the riches of Christ and let Him nourish us, there would be no problem. The problem comes out of the shortage of the enjoyment of Christ. If we have the adequate enjoyment of Christ, His nourishing through His indwelling will solve every problem.
We have found by experience that rebuking others does not help much. If you are wrong and I come and correct you, I may offend you; I would not help you. I did this in the past and it never accomplished much. We cannot do much by rebuking people. What they need, and what we also need, is the real enjoyment of Christ. If we would enjoy Christ more, and then share what we have enjoyed of Christ with people, this would nourish them, and we would see more building up. Rebuking and correcting may work a little, but there is not much help with life. The help with life always comes from the proper enjoyment of Christ.
To experience the proper enjoyment of Christ, we must experience His indwelling. Only Christ can build. Many people talk today about being Spirit-filled, but there is no real experience of the indwelling Christ. Just look at their daily walk. They know how to talk about the Spirit, but they don’t know how to enjoy and partake of all the riches of Christ in their spirit.