Chapter 31: "We Being MANY Are One Body"

12/16/1990

“But in a large church we can’t know everyone.”

REST assured, when everyone is truly built on that Foundation of a Living Christ, that apostolic Foundation of “obedience of the Faith,” that “Rock” of Surrender,99 the church of mega-thousands will be ONE, from end to end. “From the least, to the greatest, they shall all know me.”

It can be likened to a piece of cloth four miles on a side. Is every thread directly adjacent to every other thread? No. But every thread is part of the one fabric, and woven in and out in such a way that all are joined and one. While I may not be adjacent to every thread, I do touch every thread through the other threads. We are One, through the current Life and Spirit of Jesus.

Romans 12:1-9

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”

1Corinthians 12:1-31

“Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

“If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts.”

The reality, the visible expression of this Truth, is very special. If we are truly birthed and built in Christ, on His Foundation, by His Foundation-Layers, in God’s Timing — you may find yourself in a crowd gathered further than the eye can see (the “public” of “daily in public and from house to house”). You will likely be standing by someone you’ve never met (they gather in homes and apartment clubhouses on the south side of the city, and you on the northwest). And yet, there will be an immediate joy and camaraderie as you are both (obvious to each other by the depth and purity of spirit) Light-Walking! Confession of sin and bearing one another’s burdens with a “total stranger” is the most natural thing in the (out-of-this-) world! It definitely won’t be “two ships passing in the night” who happen to “attend services” together.

Watch and see!

The Bread and Wine

Taste of the sorrow, confusion, and pain

Press on through dark, though you can’t see the way

He’ll be there before you

Trust and He’ll guide you

Don’t settle for less,

Than what He has dreamed

Join Him in laughter, rest in His peace

See the mirth in His eyes of all that’s to be

Melt at His whispers

And Cherish each day

With Love pouring out

‘Til He has His Full Way

To be one with the Father,

One with the Son.

Bought for a price,

Purchased with Blood.

Now with His Chosen

Because He was broken

He’s brought us together

And He’s made us one

To follow the Master, you must embrace these:

The bread and the wine — the bitter, the sweet.

He longs for a People

Unleavened and Pure

He longs for a Race

And in Him They’ll stand firm

They’ll be one with the Father,

One with the Son.

Bought for a price,

Purchased with Blood.

And as His Chosen

Because He was broken

He’ll bring them together

And He’ll make them one

— Ruth

Footnotes

99 1Cor.3:9-11; Rom.1:1-6; Eph.2:19-22, 4:11-13; Mat.7:13-29. Back

•  Chapter 31: "We Being MANY Are One Body"