OVERCOMING IN THE BODY
Let me give you a suggestion. Suppose you have a besetting sin which you cannot overcome. You have been trying and trying to overcome, yet you fail again and again. I suggest that you bring your failure, your problem, to the Body. You will see right away that the victory is yours. Sometimes you may say that it is hard for you to be clear about the Lord’s guidance. But if you would bring the matter to the Body and fellowship with the Body, you would be clear about the Lord’s guidance.
Do you desire to have a sanctified life? Just bring yourself to the Body, and you will see that you have been sanctified already. It is easy for you to realize the fullness of Christ’s being life to you if you put yourself in the Body. The isolated members are the poorest members. If you simply abide in the Body, all the fullness of the Body will be yours to enjoy.
Sometimes people have asked me, "Brother Lee, how do you study the Bible? How many hours and days have you spent in the Word so that you are able to receive this kind of light?" Many times I wish to answer, "I spend just a little time. I read the Word in the Body." One time I traveled to a certain place and ministered to the saints there. After a meeting, someone asked the brothers from which seminary I had graduated. I wish to let you know that I study in the "seminary" of the Body, and I have not graduated yet. I am still in the "university of the Body of Christ." This is my only university, and this is my only seminary. Day by day I learn something not only from the Bible and through the Bible but also from all the saints.
Another time, after I finished ministering to the saints in a certain locality, a brother came up to me, saying, "Brother Lee, we thank you for your ministry." I replied, "Brother, I thank you for your being here." This is because in the Body we learn more and more about the Lord. Just bring yourselves to the Body, and you will see where you are and how wonderful, how rich, and how full the blessing and the experience of Christ can be.
In these days, let us seek the Lord by praying in this way, "Lord, now I realize that Your central thought is the church for Christ. Teach me the proper way to practice the church life." I hope that you would pray much for this matter.
THE WHEEL OF GOD’S MOVE
In conclusion, I would like to point out that in Ezekiel chapter one there are the wheels (vv. 15-21). These wheels represent the activity, the move, of the Lord. Today the wheels are the churches with Christ as their hub. Christ is the hub and the churches are the rim. Without Christ, there is no center. But without the church, there is no circumference. Without Christ, there is no hub; without the church, there is no rim. A wheel needs both the hub and the rim.
In this universe, with the wheel of God’s move, God’s activity, there is the need of the church as the rim to match Christ as the hub. When we have Christ as the center and the church as the rim, we will have the wheel of God moving all the time. One may have the strongest and the most beautiful hub, but if there is no rim, there is no wheel. Let us pray for God’s move today. God needs to move on. With the divine move, there is the need of a hub, which is Christ Himself, and there is also the need of a rim, which is the church. If you have both the hub and the rim, then you have a wheel rolling on for God’s move on the earth. May the Lord be merciful to us that we may see these things in a complete way. Christ is the hub, and the church is the rim.
(The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church Life, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)
