The Glorious Church

It is a decision, it is a choice to choose the Body of Christ over denomination. God’s glorious church is suddenly awakened with eyes to see what God sees. Each member of His Body is His beloved. Together, all members unify in one accord for His purpose.

“He is not simply one Christian among many, but he is a member of the Body of Christ. He must live as a member with many other Christians. A mutual respect, a ONE body, ONE Spirit, ONE mind of Christ dependence. Relating and appreciation of all Body parts. If we really know the life of the Body, we will see that a Christian cannot live one day without the Lord Jesus, and neither can he live one day without other Christians. Without the Lord Jesus, he can not exist, and without other Christians, he can not exist. God is after ONE Bride, not many single, isolated Christians. God desires a whole Body, not a hand here and a foot there. He created us to dwell within each part. Adam and Eve were ONE in Him. A whole being; a corporate man.

For this reason, all division and individualism must be dissolved, eliminated. The matter of division is not merely something outward — it is a problem of our heart. We must realize that the greatest hindrance to God’s will is not outward divisions but ourselves, as individual persons, who do not know the life of the Body. At this point, we need two different revelations: #1 to see that the Body is one, #2 to see that we are part of the whole, that we are members of ONE Body. When we see that the Body is ONE, we will never dare to be divisive. When we see that as members we are but a portion of the whole Body, we will never dare to justify ourselves, or consider that, as single members, we could be a whole unit. Only the whole BODY TOGETHER can be a UNIT, united in Christ for His glory. We ourselves as members are too small, too insufficient. Oh, may God deliver us from being individualists. Then, we may become those who are useful to our Creator, God Almighty.” Book: The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee.

5 thoughts on “The Glorious Church”

Before a person believes in the Lord, his concept of value is perverted. But once a person is saved, his concept of value CHANGES. He no longer cherishes what he once cherished, and he treasures what he once despised. This is a CHANGE in his concept of value. Anyone who has NOT witnessed such a CHANGE in VALUES is not a genuine Christian.
…Bring new believers to such a CHANGE in value. Show them that what was once worthless is now priceless.

What was once untrustworthy is now trustworthy. Others have rejected Christ, but we treasure Him.

1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

The cross is DESPISED by those who are PERISHING; it is considered FOOLISHNESS by them. To the one who has their heart changed, values the cross and holds onto it by the power of God. This speaks of the great CHANGE in VALUATION of the CROSS. Before a person is saved, he considers the cross useless. After he is saved, he sees it as the power of God, something of great value. Once a person believes in the Lord, his values change.

Matthew 6:32-33 says, “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Before a poor person believes in the Lord, daily thoughts of need plague him. Things pertaining to food and clothing are the greatest concerns of the human life. But as soon as a person believes in the Lord, he turns to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Matthew 13:44 says that the kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hidden in the field. When a man finds it, he hides it and in his joy sells all that he has to buy that field. This refers to the Lord’s discovering the treasure of the kingdom of the heavens and giving up Himself and all He has to by the treasure. Only a believer with the LORD’S VIEW knows the preciousness of the kingdom of the heavens.

Matthew 16:26 says, “For what shall a man be profited if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul-life?”

Today Satan is trying to buy man’s soul, but many people are giving away their soul for free. This is because they do not believe their soul is worth anything. The prodigal son in Luke 15 did not leave his father’s house because of the enticement of a grand feast; he succumbed to mere carob pods. How worthless is the soul in the eyes of an unbeliever! Yet the Lord says that the whole world put together cannot be exchanged for a soul. Satan offered a high price when he took the Lord to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Should a man give up his soul to gain the world or should he give up the world to gain his soul?

Today Satan is not offering to exchange the whole world for our soul. He does not think that our life is worth that much. We have to show the new ones that honesty is worth more than gold, rice, or the whole world. In order to preserve the purity of our soul, we should be willing to forsake anything. We should teach the new ones properly at the very beginning of their Christian walk. We should help them to have a change in their concept of value. We should bring them to the proper pathway. This is very important, and the responsibility is on us.
[Watchman Nee: The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Volume 60, pp.387-391]

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