弗一17　 愿我们主耶稣基督的神，荣耀的父，赐给你们智慧和启示的灵，使你们充分地认识祂。

　　　 22~23 将万有服在祂的脚下，并使祂向着召会作万有的头；召会是祂的身体，是那在万有中充满万有者的丰满。

　　 什么是基督的身体？基督的身体就是基督生命在地上的延续。当主来到地上生活时，祂乃是借着一个身体来彰显祂自己。现今祂仍然需要一个“身体”来彰显祂自己。正如人要有身体才能显出这个人的一切；基督的身体也是这样，这身体的作用就是作基督一切的彰显。人不能借耳朵、眼睛、鼻子或任何局部的肢体彰显他整个人的性情，照样，基督也不能借个别的肢体彰显祂的自己，祂必须得着整个身体，才能彰显祂自己。我们必须看见，基督的一切乃是借着基督的身体而得着彰显。不仅如此，基督的身体就是基督在地上的延长，在地上的继续。曾有过三十余年，基督在地上启示祂自己，那是个人的基督；而今天祂乃是借着召会将祂启示出来，这个乃是团体的基督。从前是个人的基督，今天乃是团体的基督（倪柝声文集第二辑第二十四册，七二至七三页）。

　　Eph. 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.

　　22-23 And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.

　　What is the Body of Christ? The Body of Christ is the continuation of Christ’s life on earth. When He came to the earth and lived on earth, He expressed Himself through a body. Today He still requires a body to express Himself. Just as a man needs a body to express all that he is, Christ needs a body to express Himself. The function of the Body is to be the full expression of Christ. We cannot manifest our personality through any one member of our body—the ears, mouth, eyes, hands, or feet—alone. Similarly, Christ cannot manifest His personality through any one member of His Body. It takes His whole Body to manifest Him. We must see that everything of Christ is expressed through His Body. This is not all. The Body of Christ is the extension and continuation of Christ on earth. He spent more than thirty years on earth to reveal Himself. He did this as the individual Christ. Today He is revealing Himself through the church. This is the corporate Christ. Formerly, Christ was expressed individually; now He is expressed corporately. (CWWN, vol. 44, “The Mystery of Christ,” p. 793)

　　神所要的乃是团体的器皿，不是个人的器皿。神不是拣选几个工人、几个热心的人、几个奉献的人来为祂作工，因为个人的器皿不能达到神的目的与计划；神所拣选的乃是召会。……唯有召会这团体的基督，才能完成神的目的与计划。……就着人的身体来说，只有一个肢体不能行动。一个身体，若只用一个手，或一个脚，是不行的；另一面，身体上若失掉一个肢体，也不完全。基督的身体乃是由所有信徒合起来而成的；每一个信徒都是基督身体上的肢体，都是不可少的。

　　基督的身体是一个实在的东西，所以召会生活也是实在的。圣经不是说召会好像基督的身体，乃是说召会就是基督的身体。……出于我们自己天然的任何东西，都不能成为基督身体的一分。在基督的身体里，基督是一切，又在一切之内（西三11）。任何非基督的东西，只能拦阻我们里面认识基督，人有罪，就不能看见基督，人有天然生命，就不能看见基督的身体。我们都当看见我们在基督身体上的地位。你若真看见你在基督身体上的地位，你就会像是第二次得救一样。

　　基督的身体不是一个道理，乃是一个范围；基督的身体不是一种教训，乃是一个生命。许多基督徒教导身体的真理，但少有人认识身体的生命。基督的身体乃是另一个完全不同的经历。人可以明白罗马书，却未被称为义；人也可以明白以弗所书，但不一定看见基督的身体。我们所需要的不是知识，乃是看见启示，认识基督身体的实际，进入基督身体的范围里。唯有从神来的启示，能把我们带进基督身体的范围里，这样，基督的身体对我们才能成为经历。

　　在行传二章，彼得与另十一位使徒站起来，好像是彼得一个人开口在传福音，结果三千人得救了。但你必须记得，那天站在彼得旁边的还有十一位使徒。那次的福音，是基督的身体传的，而不是个人在那里传的。我们若有基督身体的眼光，我们就会看见，一切个人主义都算不得什么（倪柝声文集第二辑第二十四册，七三至七六页）。

　　参读：从天上来的异象，第六章；召会生活中引起风波的难处，第二至四章；这人将来如何，第五章。

　　God is after a corporate vessel, not individual vessels. He is not choosing a few zealous, consecrated ones to work for Him individually. Individual vessels cannot fulfill God’s goal and plan. God has chosen the church….Only the church as the corporate Christ can fulfill God’s goal and plan. Consider our human body. No member of our body can act independently. It is impossible for a body to depend on one hand or one leg. However, if the body loses a member, it will not be complete. The Body of Christ is composed of all the believers. Every believer is a member in the Body of Christ, and every believer is indispensable.

　　The Body of Christ is a reality. The church life is also a reality. The Word of God does not say the church is like the Body of Christ; it says the church is the Body of Christ…. Nothing that is of us can ever become part of the Body of Christ, because “Christ is all and in all” in the Body (Col. 3:11). Anything in us that is not a part of Christ frustrates our inward knowledge of the Body of Christ. Sin hinders us from seeing Christ, and the natural life hinders us from seeing the Body. We all must see our position in the Body of Christ. If we truly see our position in the Body, it will be as though we were saved a second time.

　　The Body of Christ is not a doctrine; it is a realm. It is not a teaching but a life. Many Christians seek to teach the truth of the Body, but few know the life of the Body. The Body of Christ is an experience in a totally different realm. A man can know the book of Romans without being justified. Similarly, a man can know the book of Ephesians without seeing the Body of Christ. We do not need knowledge; rather, we need revelation to know the reality of the Body of Christ and to enter the realm of the Body. Only a revelation from God will usher us into the realm of the Body, and only then will the Body of Christ become our experience.

　　In Acts 2 it seems as if Peter was preaching the gospel alone and that three thousand people were saved through him. But we must remember that the other eleven apostles were standing beside him. The Body of Christ was preaching the gospel; it was not the preaching of an individual. If we have the view of the Body, we will see that individualism will not bring us anywhere. (CWWN, vol. 44, “The Mystery of Christ,” pp. 793-795)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1965, vol. 3, “The Heavenly Vision,” ch. 6; The Problems Causing the Turmoils in the Church Life, chs. 2-4; CWWN, vol. 40, “What Shall This Man Do?” ch. 5