GOD’S PROMISE TO CRUSH SATAN UNDER THE FEET
OF THE LOCAL CHURCHES
As we were praying, I was reminded that the book of Romans consummates with the local churches (16:1, 4-5, 16, 23). In the last chapter of that book, there is a promise from God to the local churches, that is, that God will crush Satan under the feet of the local churches (v. 20). We need to stand on this promise and believe that our God, the God of peace, will surely crush Satan under our feet. We claim the fulfillment of this promise.
THE INTRINSIC PROBLEM
IN THE LORD’S RECOVERY TODAY
We want to see the intrinsic problem in the Lord’s recovery today and its scriptural remedy. We cannot deny that there is still a problem in the recovery today. The intrinsic nature of this problem is quite hidden; it is an intrinsic problem. To face such an intrinsic problem, we need a clear vision of the genuine oneness of the Body of Christ, which is unveiled in the Lord’s prayer in John 17. As we are trying to find the scriptural remedy for this problem, I have a burden to point out to you this genuine oneness, which the Lord prayed for before He went to die and resurrect for the accomplishment of God’s New Testament economy. I believe that this is the excelling way to obtain the needed remedy.
According to my observation, the problem among us came in because of the shortage of the proper understanding of the genuine oneness. The oneness to which I am referring is the genuine oneness, not the oneness that many Christians talk about so lightly. My burden in this message is to fellowship with you concerning the genuine oneness of the Body.
First, the New Testament shows us that what the Lord desires in His Body is oneness. Then, when the church came into being, there was the need of the practice of this oneness. The practice of the genuine oneness is the one accord. The New Testament reveals that as the churches were practicing the genuine oneness in the one accord, many negative things came in to test the oneness. These tests of the genuine oneness can be seen from the book of Acts, the beginning of the New Testament record concerning the church, to the book of Revelation, the end of the record of the church life in the New Testament. By considering the problems in the early church, we can find some examples that will help us to find a remedy for our present situation.
(Elders' Training, Book 10: The Eldership and the God-Ordained Way (2), Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)
