THE COMING FORTH OF THE BODY-CHRIST
Verse 12 says, "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is the Christ" (Gk.). In this verse Paul brings in the concept that Christ is the Body. You may be familiar with the fact that in verse 12 we see the Body-Christ, the corporate Christ, not the individual Christ. Yes, we are the corporate Christ. However, if we are dumb when we gather together in the meetings, Christ has no way to come forth. He cannot come forth when we are silent. But when we are spiritual, speaking and functioning in the meetings, Christ comes out. When you speak for Christ, Christ comes forth in your speaking. If we all speak forth Christ, then the corporate Christ, the Body-Christ, will come forth. This is Christ as the Body. In order to have the Body-Christ, we all need to speak.
POSITIONED TO DRINK OF THE SPIRIT
Now we proceed to verse 13: "For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit" (Gk.). The Body has been formed by the baptism in the one Spirit. In one Spirit we all have been baptized into one Body. So many spiritual terms have been ruined by Christianity. When we speak of the baptism in the Spirit, some immediately associate this with speaking in tongues. But it is not necessary to speak in tongues in order to be in the Spirit. I have not spoken in tongues since 1937. But I can strongly testify that I have the deep sense that at this very moment I am in the Spirit. Are you bold enough to say that you are in the Spirit? We have the assurance that we are in the Spirit because one day, more than nineteen hundred years ago, we were all put, baptized, into the Spirit. Moreover, we have been made to drink of the one Spirit. We have been positioned to drink of the Spirit. As long as we are in the Spirit, we are positioned to drink of the Spirit. For example, everyone who is in the water has been positioned to drink the water. Praise the Lord that we are all in the Spirit and have been positioned to drink of the Spirit!
The way to drink of the Spirit is found in verse 3: "No man can say Lord Jesus, but in the Holy Spirit" (Gk.). Whenever you say, "Lord Jesus," you are drinking. The more you say this, the more you drink. When we come together, we must call on the name of the Lord so that we may drink of the one Spirit. Then we shall be bubbling, speaking, uttering something for the Lord, and making a joyful noise to the Lord. If we do this, the Body will be among us in a practical way through our practice of being spiritual.
(The Spirit and the Body, Chapter 13, by Witness Lee)
