We have pointed out that the church is the overflow of Christ. In order to be in reality the overflow of Christ, we need to be transformed. Second Corinthians 3:18 says that as we behold and reflect the glory of the Lord with an unveiled face, we are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. Yes, the saints still have their shortcomings and failures, but they are nonetheless undergoing the process of transformation. The more we are transformed, the more we become the overflow of Christ.
It is easy to adjust people outwardly by asking them to conform to certain regulations. But it takes time for the divine life to grow within us. For example, in a very short period of time you can make an artificial flower. But to produce a real flower, a flower that has life and fragrance, may take several months. If we regulate others outwardly, we shall only delay the process of the growth in life. Therefore, we should be patient and allow the Lord to grow in the saints. Eventually, the growth in life will produce the desired change. This is the difference between the church and a social club.
As the Body of Christ, the church is a living organism constituted of the divine life. The divine life came into us at the time of regeneration, and now it is working within us to saturate every part of our being and to swallow up all our negative element. By this process the church becomes the Body in a practical way.
In the recovery the Lord is not working mainly to recover teachings, gifts, or practices. On the contrary, the recovery is a matter of experiencing Christ as life for the church life. If some feel that the goal of the Lord’s recovery is the recovery of certain teachings and gifts, I would say that time will prove that this is a false expectation. More than ten years ago certain ones claimed that the Lord desires to recover the vast field of Pentecostal gifts. Those who made this claim were living in a dream, and they are no longer in the Lord’s recovery. At the time I told them that they were dreaming and that if they would not wake up from their dream, they would suffer loss. They would be deceived by their dream. Those who did not give up that dream have in fact suffered loss spiritually. Today many of them are apart from the Lord’s presence and grace.
The indwelling Christ can keep us safely in the way of the Lord. It is crucial that we all know the indwelling Christ and allow Him to make His home in our hearts. We should not desire to do a great work. Instead, we should be satisfied to allow Christ to live in us and for Him to use us to impart His element into others. If this is our situation, it is not we who work for the Lord, but Christ who does the work from within us. If we experience Christ in this way, then in reality and in practicality the church will be the Body of Christ. The church as the Body comes out of Christ Himself, for it is His overflow, His surplus.
Some years ago I spent ten hours talking to a certain brother. He did not believe that the Lord’s work could be accomplished by the indwelling Christ. Rather, his full confidence was in the recovery of Pentecostal gifts. I told this brother that the Lord does not intend to have a great movement. On the contrary, His move will be on a relatively small scale, perhaps, as it often is, in a hidden way. The Lord will not do anything that is out of proportion to His Body.
Furthermore, anything that is of the Body of Christ must be of the life of Christ. For example, nothing artificial can truly be part of our physical bodies. Not even the best dentures are part of our bodies because they do not have the life of our bodies. Only what is produced by the life of our bodies can be part of our bodies. If you lose an arm, it may be replaced by an artificial limb, but that limb will not be a genuine part of your body. In the same principle, the Body of Christ must be of the life of Christ. There can be no foreign element in the Body. However, in today’s Christianity there are many foreign elements or artificial things. None of these has anything to do with Christ as life. However, as we have pointed out, the church as the Body of Christ is the very fullness of Christ.