Ⅲ
Because of the apostasy, the high places, and the divisions throughout Christendom, there is the need for the recovery of the genuine ground of oneness—Eph. 4:2-6, 13; John 17:11, 14-23; 1 Cor. 10:16-17:
A
According to the divine revelation in the New Testament, the church ground—the genuine ground of oneness—is constituted of three crucial elements:
１
The first element of the constitution of the church ground is the unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ—Eph. 4:4:
ａ
This oneness is called “the oneness of the Spirit”—v. 3.
ｂ
This oneness is the oneness that the Lord prayed for in John 17—a oneness in the mingling of the processed Triune God with all the believers in Christ—vv. 6, 11, 14-24.
ｃ
This oneness was imparted into the spirit of all the believers in Christ, in their regeneration by the Spirit of life with Christ as the divine life.
２
The second element of the church ground is the unique ground of the locality in which a local church is established and exists—Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5; Rev. 1:11.
３
The third element of the church ground is the reality of the Spirit of oneness, expressing the unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ on the unique ground of locality of a local church—1 John 5:6; John 16:13:
ａ
By the Spirit of reality, who is the living reality of the Divine Trinity, the oneness of the Body of Christ becomes real and living.
ｂ
Through this Spirit the ground of the church is applied in life and not in legality.
ｃ
By this Spirit the genuine ground of the church is linked with the Triune God—Eph. 4:3-6.
B
The church, the organic Body of Christ, is undivided and indivisible; this unique Body is expressed in many local churches in the divine oneness as it is with the Triune God and in the divine nature, element, essence, expression, function, and testimony—Rev. 1:11; John 17:11, 21, 23.
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 4:3-4 Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace: one Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling.John 17:21 That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me.
The church ground is constituted of three crucial elements: The first element... is the unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ, which is called “the oneness of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:3). This is the oneness that the Lord prayed for in John 17. It is a oneness of the mingling of the processed Triune God with all the believers in Christ. This oneness is in the name of the Father (vv. 6, 11), denoting the Father’s person, in which is the Father’s life. This oneness is even in the Triune God through sanctification by His holy word as the truth (vv. 14-21). This oneness is ultimately in the divine glory for the expression of the Triune God (vv. 22-24). Such a oneness was imparted into the spirit of all the believers in Christ, in their regeneration by the Spirit of life with Christ as the divine life. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “A Brief Presentation of the Lord’s Recovery,” p. 408)
Today’s Reading
The second element of the church ground is the unique ground of the locality in which a local church is established and exists. The New Testament presents us a clear picture that all the local churches, as the expression of the universal church—the universal Body of Christ—are located in their respective cities. Hence, we see the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), the church in Antioch (13:1), the church in Cenchrea (Rom. 16:1), the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2), and the seven churches in Asia in seven respective cities (Rev. 1:4, 11). Every city, as the boundary in which a church exists, is the local ground of that church. Such a unique ground of locality preserves the church from being divided by many different matters as different grounds in the way that divisive denominations... are divided.The third element of the church ground is the reality of the Spirit of oneness, expressing the unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ on the unique ground of locality of a local church... The reality of the Spirit... is the living reality of the Divine Trinity (1 John 5:6; John 16:13). It is by this Spirit that the oneness of the Body of Christ becomes real and living. It is also through this Spirit that the ground of locality is applied in life and not in legality. And it is by this Spirit that the genuine ground of the church is linked with the Triune God (Eph. 4:3-6).
The above-defined ground of the church keeps, in practicality, the genuine oneness of the church both locally and universally (v. 3), without any division.
The church of God, as the living Body of Christ, needs the local churches for its existence and function. Without the local churches the Body of Christ has no way to exist and to carry out its function in practicality. Actually, the local churches are the Body of Christ, and the Body of Christ is all the local churches.
The local churches are the many expressions in many localities of the one Body of Christ. The local churches, being the existence of the Body of Christ for its function, are the many expressions of the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ may exist in the heavens, but to express itself, it must become the local churches.
The building up of a local church is not only for its own building up locally (1 Cor. 14:3) but for the building up of the entire Body of Christ universally (Eph. 4:12). Actually, the building up of the local churches is the building up of the Body of Christ because the local churches are the Body of Christ as its expression. Without the building up of the local churches, by what other way could the Body of Christ be practically built up? (CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “A Brief Presentation of the Lord’s Recovery,” pp. 408-410, 412)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Crucial Points of the Major Items of the Lord’s Recovery Today,” pp. 65-67