In these messages we will consider the one Body and the one Spirit. We all know that in Ephesians 4 there are two great matters: One is the Body, and the other is the Spirit. Because in the church many of you have received much help and have had many experiences, you know what I am talking about when I speak of one Body and one Spirit. However, if someone in today’s Christianity were here and heard these terms, one Body and one Spirit, he may ask, “There are thousands of bodies here. How can there be only ‘one Body’? And what kind of spirit is the ‘one Spirit’? Does this refer to man as ‘the spirit of all creation’ or perhaps to a kind of cure-all?” If such a one thinks in this way and begins to roll his eyes, the speaker on the platform is not able to continue his message. This is truly the case.
However, the Lord is always with the spirit of the speaker. While I am speaking, in my spirit I can understand your situation. Even though you have no outward expression to tell me whether you are opposing my words or receiving them joyfully, I know your considerations. The spirit of the speaker is very sensitive. I do understand that you need some foundation in order to understand what the Body and the Spirit are, of which we are speaking here.
On your side, your heart should be pure, your spirit open, and your entire being ready to receive. If this is the case, then there will be a deep calling unto deep between you and me. The things within me will be able to flow out, and also the things within you will be able to flow out. In this way what should be released will be released.
Ephesians 4:4a speaks of “one Body and one Spirit.” Is it correct to say “one Spirit and one Body?” Absolutely not, because in this verse Body is mentioned first. According to our understanding, we may ask, “Is the Spirit not greater and higher than the Body?” Yes, the Spirit is higher. Then why is the Body mentioned first and the Spirit second? This is because the topic of Ephesians 4 is not the Spirit but the Body. In other words, the entire book of Ephesians with all its six chapters is particularly on the Body. The Body is the subject, and the Spirit is the content of the subject. This is why chapter four speaks first of the Body and then of the Spirit. The Body and the Spirit are two great matters.
Before the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2, and before the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus, did the Body exist in the universe? No, because at that time the church was not yet there. The Body is the church. Before the day of Pentecost there was no church, so there was no Body. We speak of one Body and one Spirit. It is very clear that the Body was not there before Pentecost, but before Pentecost and before the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus, was the Spirit there? No, for John 7:39 says, “But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” The Spirit of God was there, but the Spirit was not yet.
To explain this we can use the illustration of making tea. If I have only a cup of plain water without any tea in it, I can say, “At this time the tea is not yet.” There is water, but there is no tea yet. If I put tea leaves into the water, and after a minute or two the element of the tea has dissolved into the water, then there is tea. Five minutes ago there was water but no tea; now there is not only water but also tea.
Before the Lord Jesus resurrected and ascended, the Spirit of God was there, but we may compare Him to plain water. Then what is the “tea”? Figuratively speaking, the tea is the Lord Jesus in His humanity passing through death, entering into resurrection, being glorified, and being exalted. At this juncture, the whole process of the Lord Jesus being mingled with the Spirit of God was completed, just as tea is mingled with plain water. Thus, before the Lord Jesus was resurrected, the Spirit was not yet. This is not my view; this is what John 7:39 says. Furthermore, this verse explains why the Spirit at that time was not yet. It was because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
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