Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:20-24; John 16:13; Phil. 1:19-21a; 4:4-8, 13; Rev. 3:7-13; 21:2, 12-14, 18-23; 22:1-5, 20-21
Ⅰ
The reality of the Body of Christ is "the reality…in Jesus" (Eph. 4:21), the actual condition of the life of Jesus, as recorded in the four Gospels, duplicated in His many members as the corporate living of the perfected God-men—John 14:6a; Eph. 4:20-24; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:8, 19-21a; 2:19-30:
A
Jesus lived a life in which He did everything in God, with God, and for God; God was in His living, and He was one with God—this is the reality in Jesus— John 5:19; 4:34; 17:4; 14:10, 24; 5:30; 7:18; Isa. 42:4; 50:4-5; 53:2a.
B
The only life that is a delight to God is the life that is the repetition of the life Christ lived on earth; we are being perfected by the Lord to be God-men, living the divine life by denying our natural life according to the model of Christ as the first God-man—Matt. 11:29a; 17:5b; 1 Pet. 2:21.
C
The living of the Body of Christ as the new man should be exactly the same as the living of Jesus; the way Jesus lived on earth is the way the Body of Christ as the new man should live today—Eph. 1:22-23; 2:10, 15; 4:20-24; Acts 9:5.
D
We need to become a corporate model, the reality of the Body, a people who live the life of a God-man; such a model will be the greatest revival in the history of the church to bring the Lord back—Matt. 16:18; Rev. 19:7-8.
Ⅱ
The reality of the Body of Christ, as the highest peak in God's economy, is the Spirit of reality—Eph. 4:4a; John 14:17; 16:13; 1 John 5:6:
A
This Spirit of reality makes everything of the processed Triune God a reality in the Body of Christ; the Spirit of reality in us guides us into the reality of the life of the Body of Christ, the reality of living a God-man life by the divine life—John 16:13-15; Phil. 1:19; cf. Exo. 30:22-25.
B
The All-sufficient God (Gen. 17:1; Phil. 1:19), as the Spirit of reality dwelling in our spirit to be joined as one mingled spirit (Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 6:17), is the secret to all that the processed Triune God is to the Body of Christ; in order to live in the reality of the Body of Christ, we must know, we must use, and we must exercise our spirit (Eph. 1:17; 2:22; 3:5, 16; 4:23; 5:18; 6:18).
Ⅲ
We must learn to take Christ as our secret of sufficiency, as our every-thing, enjoying Him as the unsearchably rich Spirit of reality, the reality of the Body of Christ—Phil. 4:11-13; 1:19:
A
The experience and enjoyment of Christ is the main point in the book of Philip-pians; the normal experience of Christ is to live Him, and to live Him is to magnify Him always, regardless of the circumstances—vv. 20-21a.
B
If we want to enjoy Christ and experience Christ, there is no other way except by the all-inclusive Spirit as our bountiful supply; Paul said the Spirit of Jesus Christ had become his salvation—v. 19.
C
The experience of Christ is the experience of salvation in aspect after aspect; each chapter of Philippians presents a particular aspect of this salvation; Philip-pians 4 reveals that when we live Christ, who is the embodiment of God with all the attributes of God, He fills up all our empty virtues, and God's attributes then become our virtues; thus, living Christ makes us very human; these human virtues with the divine attributes are the detailed expression of the Christ we live and magnify—vv. 5, 8; 1:20-21a; 2:12.
D
The reality of the Body of Christ is the corporate living by the perfected God-men, who are genuine men not living by their life but by the life of the processed God, whose attributes have been expressed through their virtues—4:4-8.
E
Such a life was there originally just in an individual man, Jesus Christ, but this life has been repeated, reproduced, in many men who have been redeemed and regenerated and who now possess the divine life within them—Acts 9:5; 28:9, footnote 1.
F
As Christians, we are people who have been mingled with the divine person, making us one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17); the Christian life is a mingling of divinity with humanity, and the practical mingling of divinity with humanity is carried out by praying—Phil. 4:4, 6; 1 Thes. 5:17.
Ⅳ
Only the recovered church, signified by the church in Philadelphia, can fulfill God's eternal purpose, and only she is what the Lord is after; the overcomers in Philadelphia live in the reality of the Body of Christ to bring in a new revival and bring the Lord back—Rev. 3:7-13:
A
The characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia is their arriving at the highest peak of the divine revelation of God's economy—v. 12.
B
The characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia is their God-man living by enjoying the riches of Christ as their indwelling treasure—vv. 7-8, 14; Phil. 2:11.
C
The characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia is their brotherly love; love prevails among them so that they shepherd people by cherishing them with the cheering presence of God and nourishing them with the healthy teaching of the economy of God—Eph. 4:11; 5:29; John 21:15-17; 1 John 3:14-16.
Ⅴ
The New Jerusalem is the totality of the overcomers to be the wife of Christ for eternity; whatever is ascribed to the New Jerusalem should be both our personal and corporate experience for us to become the New Jerusalem and build the New Jerusalem by the mingling of God with man for the oneness of the Body of Christ to fulfill the eternal purpose of God:
A
To live out and work out the New Jerusalem as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must hold on to this principle: God's presence is the criterion for every matter—Rev. 21:22; 22:4; Exo. 25:30; 33:11a; Psa. 27:4-5, 8; Ezek. 48:35; 2 Tim. 4:22; 1 Cor. 6:17; 2 Cor. 2:10, 13; 4:7.
B
To live out and work out the New Jerusalem as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must be under the throne of God, the ruling of God—Rev. 22:1, 3; Rom. 5:21; Ezek. 1:5-28.
C
To live out and work out the New Jerusalem as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must have the flow and supply of life—Rev. 22:1-2:
１
The flowing river of life and the edible tree of life should be the outstanding features of our Christian life and church life for the enjoyment of God as our real Eden, our pleasure, entertainment, and joy—Hymns, #509; Gen. 2:8-10; Psa. 36:8-9; 43:4a; Neh. 8:10.
２
To drink one Spirit is to be mingled with the Spirit as the oneness of the one Body; this requires us to call on the Lord continually and draw water with joy from Him as the fountain of living water—1 Cor. 12:12-13; Eph. 4:3-4a; Isa. 12:3-4; Jer. 2:13; John 4:10, 14; 7:37-39; Rev. 22:17.
３
To eat the tree of life, that is, to enjoy Christ as our life supply, should be the primary matter in the church life; to enjoy Christ requires us to love Him with the first love; loving the Lord, enjoying the Lord, and being the testimony of the Lord go together—2:4, 7; 22:14.
D
To live out and work out the New Jerusalem as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must be full of the light of life—21:11, 23; 22:5; Luke 11:33-36; John 8:12.
E
To live out and work out the New Jerusalem as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must partake of God the Father in His divine nature, typified by the gold as the base of the city—2 Pet. 1:4; Rev. 21:21b.
F
To live out and work out the New Jerusalem as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must experience God the Son in His death and resurrection, typified by the pearl gates—v. 21a.
G
To live out and work out the New Jerusalem as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must experience God the Spirit in His transforming work, typified by the jasper wall with its foundations of precious stones—vv. 18-20.
H
To live out and work out the New Jerusalem as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must daily experience the Triune God as the triune entry, the triune constitution, the triune existence, the triune living, and the triune enjoyment— vv. 12-13, 21, 18-20; 22:1-2, 5; Matt. 28:19; Luke 15:3-24.
Ⅵ
"He who testifies these things says, Yes, I come quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen"—Rev. 22:20-21.