«　WEEK 5　DAY 5　»

　　Rom. 12:4-5 For just as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

　　The sense of the Body is very mysterious. If we allow this sense to be enlarged, it will become a universal sense. Strictly speaking, this sense is already universal, but when it comes into us, we limit it. Christ's life is universal, and God's Spirit is also universal. Once this life and Spirit enter into us, we should have a universal sense. This sense is great and far-reaching, but when it enters into us, we limit it. At our salvation this sense caused us to realize our own condition. However, because we have not been broken very much, this sense cannot come out of us. Gradually, according to the lessons we learn, the more we are broken, the more this sense will increase so that we can begin to care for others, for the church, and for the Lord's work. The more we experience the Lord's breaking, learning the deeper lessons and being delivered from ourselves, the more we will discover that this sense is universal. (The Church as the Body of Christ, p. 205)

　　In Colossians 2:17 Paul says that the body, the reality, of all the shadows is of Christ, but in verse 19 he speaks not of Christ but of holding the Head. The reason for the change in terminology from Christ to the Head is that our enjoyment of the Lord causes us to become conscious of the Body. If we enjoy Christ continually, we will not continue to be individualistic. The saints who are individualistic are those who do not consistently enjoy the Lord. The more we enjoy Christ, the more we become Body conscious. We should touch the Lord in the morning, but in the evening we should come to the church meetings. It is not normal to enjoy the Lord during the day and neglect the meetings of the church, which is His Body. Even if our environment does not allow us to attend all the meetings, inwardly we should have the sense that our whole inner being is with the saints in the church meeting. This consciousness of the Body comes from the enjoyment of Christ. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3592-3593)

　　The overflow of the life of Christ is the expression of the Body of Christ. The consciousness of the Body is the sense of Christ's life within us. If we use this sense often, it will cause us not only to sense our own condition before the Lord but cause us also to sense others' condition before the Lord and to be conscious of matters related to the Body. If we constantly exercise, cultivate, train, and use this sense, it will enable us to detect the problems in the Body.

　　In a newly saved believer this sense may enable him to sense only his condition and situation before God. If he pays attention to this sense, cultivating it by fellowshipping with God and obeying the inner sense, it will develop. He will be able to sense his spiritual condition and the spiritual condition of the brothers and sisters. This sense will gradually develop and increase to enable him to sense the condition of the meeting, the service in the church, and the Lord's work. This means that this sense has been enlarged, beginning with himself and then reaching to others, the church, and the church meetings. The sense that has been enlarged in us will enable us to properly touch all these matters. This sense is the sense of the Body.

　　If we use and exercise this sense often and if we love God and care for the church, this sense will become the sense of the Body. We will sense when our fellow members are in difficulty, when they are weak, happy, or victorious in the Lord, and we will share the same feelings with them. We sense their burden so that their burden becomes ours, we sense their experience so that their experience becomes ours, and we sense their difficulties so that their difficulties become ours. In this way we will be in one Body. (The Church as the Body of Christ, pp. 201-202)

　　Further Reading: The Church as the Body of Christ, ch. 19; CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 4, "One Body and One Spirit," ch. 1; Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msg. 58