If we have really seen the Body, we would not murmur or criticize any of the other members. Even a little murmuring that shows your dissatisfaction proves that you have not seen the Body. Even a little word of criticism about a certain member of the Body proves that you have never seen the Body. If you have seen the Body, you would never complain, murmur, criticize, or say anything against any of the members. The condition of some of the members may be quite poor, but, on your side, for you to say that their condition is poor is a proof that you have not seen the Body. This is a real test. A little complaint, a little dissatisfaction, or a little criticism proves that you have not seen the Body. For this reason, Paul speaks of lowliness, meekness, and longsuffering in Colossians 3:12-15 and in Ephesians 4:2-4. We need longsuffering to bear our dear fellow members in love. Longsuffering in Ephesians 4:2 is not toward the persecutors, but toward the fellow members, and it is suffering over a long period of time, not a short period of time.
If we have seen the Body, there will be no more complaints, no more quarrels, no more murmurings, no more criticism. In the place of all these there will be forgiveness. This does not mean that no one will be offended. Many times someone may be offended, but all of the offending will be swallowed up by forgiveness. There will be no complaining, but all of the offending will be chased away by forgiveness with love and with sympathy. A brother may offend me, but I would sympathize with him. I would realize that he has a certain kind of disposition, a certain kind of natural makeup, and I would sympathize with him. Instead of criticizing and complaining, we would have sympathy and forgiveness. Instead of condemnation, we would have love. I would forgive my brother, and I would love him.
Although many people think that it is the youngest child in a family who is loved the most, my mother told me years ago that parents always love the weakest child the most. Now that I am a father, I agree with what she said. The strong ones do not need the parents to love them as much, because they are able to take care of themselves. The weaker ones, however, have many problems. They need the parents’ sympathy, and they need their love.
Nevertheless, many times in the church life we love the strong ones, and we fail to care for those who may need our love more. In our eyes, there are some in the church life who are weak and poor. Their disposition may not match ours, and perhaps they have some peculiar trait. You should not complain about them, for they were made this way. If you want to complain about them, you will have to complain to God, for He created them the way they are. We all need to learn to sympathize with the weak ones, with those who have a peculiar trait. I need to sympathize with you, and I ask you to please sympathize with me, for I have my own peculiarity.
If we learn this lesson and are willing to suffer even the wrongdoings of the fellow members of the Body, this means that we have seen the Body. We are willing to suffer the wrongdoings of the fellow members because they are members of the Body. If we have seen the Body, we will experience the longsuffering, the suffering that extends over a long period of time, even until the New Jerusalem. This suffering is not related to unbelievers or to things, but to the fellow members of the Body. If a certain member of my physical body is weak, it is nevertheless a member of my body. I need to love this member, protect it, and do everything I can to keep it in good condition.
In this message I have given you three tests concerning seeing the Body. If you have seen the Body, you will no longer be divisive, you will not be individualistic, and you will be willing to be tempered, without any complaining, murmuring, or criticism, but with love, forgiveness, sympathy, forbearance, and longsuffering. If such is the case, you will have the Body life. It is with such a Body life that there is a real impact in our service. Although there may be times that the Body is weak, it is only out of the genuine Body life that there can come the service to the Lord with a real impact. In John 17:21-23 the Lord Jesus said that if all the believers would be one as the Triune God is one, as He and the Father are one, the world would believe. This is the impact of the oneness. If the believers are perfected into one, by this the world will know that the Son has been sent by the Father. The oneness is the impact that will cause the world to believe. Being tempered together is the power of the service; the real power in the service comes out of being tempered together.
Suppose there are three brothers serving together, coming together to preach the gospel and take care of the new believers. However, the first brother has been somewhat critical of the second, and the second has been somewhat dissatisfied with the third. When they come together, they cannot pretend that they are one. Sooner or later, the lack of harmony among them will be exposed before the unbelievers and the new beginners. A small amount of criticism will tear down whatever has been built up by their preaching, and the impact will be lost.
However, if we have the genuine oneness with love for one another, this oneness with the love is the impact of our preaching. Praise the Lord, today here among us in the church in Los Angeles there is a genuine oneness and love. Many reports have come back from others who have been influenced and impressed with the love and the oneness they have experienced here. However, what if a day would come that we would lose this oneness and yet still claim to be the church here in Los Angeles? We would still be the church in Los Angeles, but we would lose the impact in our service. There would be no power, because there would be no ground, no base, no foundation for our service. We would have lost the foundation of our service. May the Lord be merciful to us.
We all need to see the Body. For the service it is necessary for us to see the Body. May the Lord reveal this matter to all of us.