Prayer: Lord, we worship You again from the depths of our being. How merciful You are to us. In Your mercy we are once again gathered into Your holy name to seek after You in Your Word. Lord, how profound Your Word is! We remind You that we need Your revelation, Your light, and, even more, Yourself, to unveil it to us. Lord, we really thank You that in this last age You have again and again opened Your holy Word to us and have brought us into the depths of Your Word. Tonight, Lord, we especially need You to open the understanding of our heart as well as our eyes, to speak to us and to release Your light, that we may really see the mysterious revelation in Your Word. Lord, may You gain the glory, may we receive the blessing, may the evil one get the shame, and may the church be built up. Amen.
Tonight we come to the second message. This is a long and deep message concerning the elements, essence, and reality of the Body of Christ. First, we will consider three terms: element, essence, and reality. Element is a kind of constituent of a certain thing. Those who study chemistry know that chemistry is mainly the study of the constituents of matter, and the constituents are the elements. Even this podium has its constituent, which is mostly wood. The Body of Christ is something substantial yet mysterious in this universe. Though it is mysterious, it is nevertheless substantial. Therefore, the Body also has its constituents, and the constituents are its elements. Moreover, within every element or constituent there is a substance. Different constituents have different substances. For instance, steel has its own substance and wood has its own. This substance is what we call the essence.
For example, the main constituents of lemon tea are lemon, honey, water, and tea. These four constituents all possess different essences. In pharmaceutics, certain drugs are produced by extracting particular essences from herbs, which in turn give the drugs their special effects. Hence, the effectiveness of a drug depends on its essence. The church as the Body of Christ also has its own elements or constituents, within which are their essences and substance.
Let us consider the meaning of reality. According to the biblical usage of the word, reality refers to the real condition of men and things. For instance, we may hear of a church which is under much blessing, where all the saints love and fear the Lord, serve with zeal, love one another, and are holy and patient. When we go into their midst and truly witness such a situation among them, we may say that this particular church has much reality and that what we heard about them is real. In reading the Bible, we find that God is our love, light, life, power, righteousness, and holiness. We do not merely agree with this but also treasure His richness and all-inclusiveness. However, these riches are not merely printed words to us; they are both true and real. It is here that the greatest difference between the Bible and the writings of Confucius and Mencius lies. While the books of these men also discuss humility, forbearance, kindness, justice, courtesy, wisdom, and faithfulness, these are matters only in words and not in reality. The Bible, on the other hand, is different. When it says that God is holy, it is not merely words; there is such a reality. We are not required to work out a kind of holiness; rather, it is the holy God Himself who works holiness into our being through His Spirit. In this way, God’s holiness becomes our reality. Whatever the Bible says becomes reality in us if we receive it from God.
The Bible says that God Himself is reality (John 1:14-17). If there is holiness, He is holiness; if there is light, He is light; if there is life, He is life; and if there is patience, He is patience. If we believe and receive Him, we will gain the reality of all that He is. If we have only the printed words of the Bible, we possess mere teachings and doctrines without reality. However, we have not only the Word of God but also the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God accompanies the Word of God to work into us as reality what the Bible utters.
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