Scripture Reading: Phil. 2:2; 3:12-14; Eph. 2:15; Rom. 15:6; 1 Cor. 1:10; 1 Tim. 1:3-4
Ⅰ
The one thing, the unique thing, in the Lord's recovery is God's eternal economy with Christ as the centrality and universality—Col. 3:10-11:
A
The one thing that should be focused on, stressed, and ministered in the Lord's recovery is the eternal economy of God—1 Tim. 1:3-4.
B
The content of God's eternal economy is Christ; actually, Christ Himself in His full ministry of three stages is the divine economy—John 1:14; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rev. 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6.
C
God's desire is to have a recovery purely and wholly of the person of Christ— Col. 1:17b, 18b; 2 Cor. 12:2a; 2:10; 3:3.
Ⅱ
The one thing in Philippians refers to the subjective knowledge and experience of Christ; the one thing is the pursuing of Christ to gain Him, lay hold of Him, and possess Him—1:20-21; 2:5; 3:7-14; 4:13:
A
Christ and Christ alone should be the centrality and universality of our entire being—Col. 1:17b, 18b.
B
Our thinking should be focused on the excellency of the knowledge and experience of Christ; focusing on anything else causes us to think differently, thus creating dissensions among us—cf. 1 Cor. 1:10; Phil. 4:2:
１
"Make my joy full, that you think the same thing, having the same love, joined in soul, thinking the one thing"—2:2.
２
"Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue, if even I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward"—3:12-14 (lit.).
３
"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; but there is need of one thing, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her"—Luke 10:41b-42.
４
"One thing I have asked from Jehovah; / That do I seek: / To dwell in the house of Jehovah / All the days of my life, / To behold the beauty of Jehovah, / And to inquire in His temple"—Psa. 27:4.
Ⅲ
The secret of experiencing Christ is to be like-souled in the Body life, genuinely caring for the things of Christ Jesus—Phil. 1:27; 2:2, 19-20:
A
If we would experience Christ to the fullest extent in the Body and for the Body, we need to be like-souled and we need to risk our soul—vv. 20, 30; Rom. 16:3-4.
B
Because Timothy was like-souled with Paul, he was in the position to experience Christ to the uttermost in the Body, just as Paul was—Phil. 2:19-20; 1 Cor. 4:16-17; 16:10.
C
The things of Christ Jesus are the things concerning the church with all the saints—Phil. 2:21.
D
The normal seeking after Christ and the genuine experience of Christ will always cause us to care for the churches and saints—vv. 19-30; 1:24-25.
Ⅳ
We need to consider one new man in Ephesians 2:15 together with one mouth in Romans 15:6 and speak the same thing in 1 Corinthians 1:10:
A
For the church as the one new man, we all need to take Christ as our person in the matter of speaking—Matt. 12:34-37; Eph. 3:17a; John 7:16-18; 8:28, 38a; 12:49-50; 14:10.
B
The entire Bible has one mouth and speaks the same thing—Heb.1:1-2a.
C
In today's Christianity there are many mouths, each speaking a different thing; this is the pitiful situation of every preacher wanting to speak his own thing and thinking it a shame to speak what others have spoken—Gen. 11:7, 9.
D
In the past there were too many mouths because there were too many persons.
E
In the one new man there is one mouth to speak the same thing—Rom. 15:6; 1 Cor. 1:10.
F
There is only one new man, and the one new man has only one person, so the one new man speaks with one mouth and says the same thing.
G
With one accord and with one mouth (Rom. 15:6) means that even though we are many and all are speaking, we all speak the same thing— 1 Cor. 1:10:
１
The church is the one new man with only one person—Christ—and this person controls our speaking; thus, whatever He speaks is surely the same thing.
２
When we are about to speak, we need to resolve a basic question: In this matter of speaking, am I the person or is Christ the person?
３
If in our speaking we do not take ourselves as the person but allow Christ to be the person, then there will be one mouth, and everyone will speak the same thing.
H
In the one new man there is only one person, and only this person has the freedom to speak—Matt. 17:5:
１
In the one new man there is no freedom for us to speak our own things.
２
The Lord Jesus has the absolute freedom to speak, and our natural man has absolutely no freedom to speak.
I
Although we are many and come from many places, we all have one mouth and we all speak the same thing; this is because we all are the one new man having only one person—Eph. 2:15; 4:22-24; 3:17a; Rom. 15:6; 1 Cor. 1:10.
J
Only one kind of ministry builds up and never divides—this is the unique ministry of God's economy—1 Tim. 1:3-4:
１
"Human pride always likes to make the self different from others. You may speak one thing, but I would never speak what you speak because of my pride. I want to speak something different from what you speak, something new and something better. This is the self, and this is fleshly pride" (The Divine Economy, p. 126).
２
The only way that we can be preserved in the eternal oneness for the one new man is to teach the same thing, the economy of God—Rom. 15:6.