After you see the Body, spontaneously you will ask, “Where is the Body?” There are many Christian organizations, and many Christian groups. But where is the Body? Many Christians are still wandering because they have not seen the Body. They may talk about the Body life, but they have not seen the Body. Once they have seen the Body, they will raise the question, “Where is the Body?”
The question of where the Body is involves the matter of the ground of the church. Further Talks on the Church Life by Brother Watchman Nee covers the matter of the ground of the church in detail. I strongly recommend that you read and reread this book until you are very clear concerning the ground of the church. Then you will know where to find the Body. The matter of the church ground is very serious; it is something of life and death, not merely a matter of doctrine. I would even encourage you to read Further Talks over and over so that through it and through these messages you may be brought into the heavenly vision concerning the Body and the place where you can find the Body.
Suppose that we have seen the Body, we have found the Body, and we are in the reality of the Body. At this point we need Romans 12. This chapter was written for the purpose of telling us what we should do at this point. The first two verses of Romans 12 say, “I beg you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing to God, which is your most reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, that you may prove by testing what the will of God is, that which is good and well-pleasing and perfect.” First, we need to present our body. Then we need to have our soul transformed by the renewing of the mind. Eventually, we need to have our spirit burned and burning all the time (v. 11). The body needs to be presented, the soul transformed, and the spirit burned and burning, on fire all the time. You may have presented your body already, but you may be short of the transformation of your soul by the renewing of the mind. In addition, you need to be burning in spirit. Even so, there is something more.
If your eyes have been opened and you see the Body, if you have found the Body and realized that you are in it, it will be necessary for you to give up the self, to lose the self-life. The self is a real problem. The self is the real division, the real sin, and the real sect. If you have seen the Body, this vision will require that you lose your self-life, that you give up the self. Christians are divided because they are so much in the self. The self divides, but the spirit unites. Therefore, if we would give up the self, lose the self, and turn to the spirit, right away we would be in the reality of the Body. When you are out of the self and in the spirit, you are in the reality of the Body. It is necessary for us to give up the self, to lose the self. It is not adequate merely to know the doctrine concerning losing the self; it is necessary to lose the self in a practical way, to let go of the self-life. On this point we need more prayer. We need to pray, “Lord, be merciful to me in Your Body, that I may lose the self, that I may let go of my self-life.”
If you intend to argue with the church or with some of the saints about a certain point, you need to check yourself to find out whether your arguing has its source in the spirit or in the self. Your point may be right, but your motive may be wrong, and the instrument or means that you are using may also be wrong. The right thing must come out of the right source and be done by the right means. Merely for your point to be right is not adequate. It is necessary to have both the proper source and the proper means. The spirit is the proper source, and the spirit is also the proper means. If your arguing for a certain point has its source in the spirit and is done by means of the spirit, there is no problem with your arguing. Otherwise, you need to give it up. In the Body we all need to lose the self.
We may talk about oneness, but we all need to realize that the genuine oneness is nothing less than Christ Himself as our life in a practical way. Christ is the oneness, the unity. When I am living in Christ as my life and not in myself, I have the oneness, and I am in the unity. When we all are living in Christ as our life, Christ is the oneness. If this is our situation, then we have the reality of the Body, and then we are also equipped for the service. Romans 12 stresses that without the Body we cannot serve, because each of us is only one member.
Peter tells us that the Body is the building, the house, and that we are living stones. “You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, into a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). Without being built up, the living stones can do nothing, and they are useless. Stones that are not built up are useless. The stones need to be built up into a house that will be useful to God. This usefulness is the service, and this house is the priesthood.
Two different Greek words are translated into the English word priesthood. The Greek word translated priesthood in 1 Peter 2:5 and 9 means a priestly body, a body of priests, but the word translated priesthood in Hebrews 7 means priestly office, priestly function. The spiritual house mentioned in 1 Peter 2:5 is the priesthood, the priestly body, not the priestly office. Strong’s Concordance gives the meaning of this Greek word as a priestly fraternity. There is the need of a priestly body, a priestly group, to offer spiritual sacrifices. If we are not built up as such a priestly body, we are not qualified to offer anything to God. Therefore, if we are not built up, we are not qualified to serve. For the service, we need the Body.