We the believers are joined to the Lord as one spirit. This is a great mystery, perhaps the most mysterious matter revealed in the Bible. Who can explain such a mystery? Can you explain how it is possible for us to be one spirit with the Lord? Although we cannot explain it, we can surely experience it. Often I pray in the morning, “Lord, thank You for another day in which to practice being one spirit with You.” What a wonder that sinners such as we can be one spirit with the Lord! The more we consider this matter, the more we realize how wonderful it is.
In 6:17 Paul plainly declares the fact that we are one spirit with the Lord. But few of us have paid adequate attention to this. We need much time to study this verse and explore it in an experiential way. We need to experiment and learn how to be one spirit with the Lord in our speaking and in all that we do. As we do various things, we need to consider whether or not we are one spirit with the Lord.
Because I have seen the vision of being one spirit with the Lord according to 6:17, I have come to realize that what Brother Lawrence practiced was altogether an Old Testament matter. He exercised to be in the presence of God, but he did not practice being one spirit with the Lord. There is a great difference between being in the presence of God and being one spirit with the Lord.
We have seen that in chapter six Paul covers three vital matters. These matters are so great that it takes much exercise of the spirit for us to assimilate them adequately. How marvelous that our bodies are members of Christ, that we are one spirit with the Lord, and that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit! The vision concerning this is becoming so clear that sometimes I can hardly contain myself. The burden of this vision is so heavy that I can hardly bear it. I cannot bear to think that some churches and some saints may go on in an old way, carrying on a Christian work but neglecting the central vision of Paul’s completing ministry. We urgently need to see the vision that our bodies are members of Christ, that we are one spirit with the Lord, and that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
I am troubled by the situation among Christians today and also by the situation among us. Everywhere Christians are listening to sugar-coated sermons, sermons that distract and even drug them. Even some among us have been distracted by scriptural messages. Certain brothers may use parts of the Life-study Messages as materials for speaking, but still not see the central vision. As a result, both the speakers and the listeners may miss the mark. The meetings may seem very good and even helpful, but are the saints being helped by the central vision of Paul’s completing ministry or by John’s mending ministry? In some cases this is doubtful. It is possible that we are missing the mark in our ministry, work, and effort to help the churches. If we pay attention to things other than God’s economy, there is the danger that we would actually help the saints to be distracted. What the Lord desires today is a remnant who see the vision He has shown to his faithful steward, the apostle Paul, and who carry out the completing ministry concerning Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ. However, these matters should not be presented to the saints as mere doctrines; they must be ministered as a reality. If we would minister the reality of these things to others, we must first touch the reality ourselves.
Because of the vision and the burden, I have no heart for messages that contain nothing but doctrine. The three crucial matters covered in this message should not remain doctrines to us. I am deeply concerned that some among us have not yet touched the reality of these things and thus do not have an experiential realization concerning our bodies being members of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit and of being one spirit with the Lord. If the brothers who minister in the churches see this vision, their speaking will be radically changed. They would never again speak in a way of giving mere doctrines to others. Spontaneously they would determine not to know anything other than Christ and His Body.
It is not my burden in these messages to teach doctrines. Forty years ago I would have given many messages on subjects such as the reward, the suffering of loss, being saved through fire, and the various categories of people who should be excommunicated from the church. But I have no burden to give messages on these things. Instead, I am burdened that the saints enjoy Christ as their feast of unleavened bread. I am especially burdened for those who have been in the recovery for years and still do not see the central vision. Instead of grain, these ones only have husks, and they minister these husks to others. Those under their training do not receive any nourishment, any life supply, and as a result do not grow. If we would all see the vision, our situation will be altogether different. We shall testify that we are one spirit with the Lord and that our bodies are members of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. However, we are still short of experience, still very limited in our capacity to receive these things and understand them. Thus, we all need to humble ourselves before the Lord and say, “Lord, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to repent, I don’t know how to confess, and I don’t know how to pray. Lord, I am simply here before You. Have mercy on me. I need to see a clear vision of Your economy. Have mercy on me, Lord, that I may touch the reality of this vision and help others to do the same.” Let us all look to the Lord for His mercy that we may see the vision shown to Paul. Only when we see such a vision can we be kept from the abuse of freedom in foods and in the body.