Morning Watch Monday 7/27 The Concern Between the Churches and the Concluding Praise Romans 16:6-27

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1 Morning Watch Monday 7/27 The Concern Between the Churches and the Concluding Praise Romans 16:6-27 Related verses Rom. 16:6-16 (6, 12, 16) 6 Greet Mary, one who has labored much for us. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. 10 Greet Apelles, approved in Christ. Greet those of the household of Aristobulus. 11 Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet those of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. 12 Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Greet Persis, the beloved sister, one who has labored much in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother as well as mine. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers with them. 15 Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. Exo. 21:1-6 1 Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them. 2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; but in the seventh he shall go out free without payment to you. 3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master s, and he shall go out by himself. 5 But if the servant plainly says, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free; 6 Then his master shall bring him to God and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever. Footnotes Rom. 16:10 2 According to the structure and the tone of these expressions, those of the households of Aristobulus and Narcissus could not be members of the families of the two men; they were most likely the slaves of the two men, respectively. According to the ancient custom, slaves were considered the property of their buyers. It is unlikely that the two masters, Aristobulus and Narcissus, were believers, because they were not greeted here. At that time a number of those who had been sold as slaves and had lost their freedom believed in Christ and became saints, but the masters who bought them were not yet believers Rufus was a brother in Rome, and his mother also was in Rome. Paul s referring to her as his own mother was a sign of respect and intimacy The churches are not the personal possession or private work of anyone. They are the churches of Christ. Suggested daily reading The third mention of the church is in 16:5, where Paul says greet the church in their house, referring to the house of Prisca and Aquila. On the one hand this couple was for all the churches; on the other hand they were for their local church in particular. When they were living in Ephesus (Acts 18:18-19), the church in Ephesus was in their house (1 Cor. 16:19). When they were in Rome, the church in Rome met in their house. The church in their house in verse 5 was the church in Rome. To have the church in your home is a very heavy burden. If you try it, you will discover how heavy a burden it is. However, Prisca and Aquila were absolute for the church life; they cared not for the heavy burden. In 16:16 Paul says, The churches of Christ greet you. Suddenly Paul mentions the churches of Christ. Wherever the churches are located, in your city or in my town, they must be the churches of Christ. The church in every locality must be the church of Christ. Do not say that the church is the church of Brother So-and-So. Such a saying is mistaken. We must all learn to say the churches of Christ. The last mention of the church in Romans regards hospitality. Gaius, my host, and of the whole church, greets you (v. 23). Without hospitality there is something lacking in the practical church life. If there is no hospitality in a certain church, that church must be poor. However, the more hospitality you have, the richer your church life will be. Gaius was not only the host of one apostle, but the host of the entire church. I do not believe that he rendered hospitality to the whole church all at once, but that probably the saints who traveled to his city and perhaps remained there for a while, received hospitality from him. His home was open and available to all the saints. The genuine church life depends upon this kind of hospitality. When a home is open to hospitality, it will be filled with the blessing of

2 Morning Watch Monday 7/27 Continued... Christ. We praise the Lord that the more hospitality we render, the greater will be our experience of the church life. This is practical. In summary, we may list these five aspects of the church life: serving the church; risking our lives for the church; having the church in our home; never considering the church as anyone s church, but acknowledging that it is the church of Christ; extending hospitality to everyone in the church and being a host to all the churches. In his greetings recorded in Romans 16, Paul unveiled the crucial indicators of the proper church life both in a particular local church and among the churches. His greetings also underscore the qualities of many of the dear saints. Thus, in Romans 16 we see the churches in localities and the details of the genuine church life expressed in the attributes and virtues of so many saints. This is a complete portrait of the ancient church life. Once again I say that in Romans we do not find the doctrine of the church; we behold the practicality of the church life. Hence, the ultimate consummation of the gospel is the church life. What a great contrast there is between Romans 1 and 16. In chapter one we see sinners, people that are evil, unclean, and condemned; in chapter sixteen we see the churches that are holy and glorious. There is no comparison. How did vile sinners become glorious churches? Through the lengthy process revealed from chapter one through chapter sixteen, the process of redemption, justification, sanctification, glorification, selection, and transformation. As a result of a long process sinners have become glorious churches, churches that are holy and yet so practical. LS Romans Message 30, pg Living Stream Ministry, 1984, used by permission

3 Morning Watch Tuesday 7/28 Related verses Rom. 16:17-20 (17, 19-20) 17 Now I exhort you, brothers, to mark those who make divisions and causes of stumbling contrary to the teaching which you have learned, and turn away from them. 18 For such men do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own stomach, and through smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. 19 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and guileless as to what is evil. 20 Now the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. 1 Tim. 1:3 3 Even as I exhorted you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things Rom. 12:1 1 I exhort you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. Rom. 5:2, 15 2 Through whom also we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and boast because of the hope of the glory of God. 15 But it is not that as the offense was, so also the gracious gift is; for if by the offense of the one the many died, much more the grace of God and the free gift in grace of the one man Jesus Christ have abounded to the many. Phil. 4:9 9 The things which you have also learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace will be with you. Heb. 13:20 20 Now the God of peace, He who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of an eternal covenant, Heb. 2:14 14 Since therefore the children have shared in blood and flesh, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the devil, Footnotes Rom. 16:17 1 Referring to being stumbled and leaving the church life. This must be the result of different opinions and teachings In ch. 14 Paul was liberal and gracious regarding the receiving of those who differ in doctrine or practice. Here, however, he is unyielding and resolute in saying that we must turn away from those who are dissenting, who make divisions, and who make causes of stumbling. The purpose in both cases is the preserving of the oneness of the Body of Christ that we may have the normal church life Here God promises that He will crush Satan under the feet of those who live the church life, showing that the crushing of Satan is related to the church life. Dealing with Satan is a Body matter, not an individual matter. It is only when we have a proper local church as the practical expression of the Body that Satan is crushed under our feet The church life enables us not only to crush Satan under our feet and to experience the God of peace but also to enjoy the rich grace of the Lord. Suggested daily reading After the greeting which shows the fellowship of concern among the saints and between the churches, the Apostle declared that the God of peace would crush Satan, and would crush him soon under the feet of the saints who are in the church life (16:20). This indicates that the crushing of Satan by God is related to the church life. If we are not in the church and do not practice the church life, it will be difficult for us to have Satan crushed under our feet by God. The church life is the strongest means by which God overcomes Satan. Whenever we are separated from the church, we become a prey for Satan, for it is difficult for us to fight Satan individually. But, praise the Lord, that when we are in the church and are one with the Body, Satan is under our feet, and we enjoy God as the God of peace in the church life. We experience and participate in the peace of God by our victory over the troublemaker, Satan. As long as Satan, the troublemaker, is not under our feet, it will be difficult for us to have peace. When he is crushed under our feet in the church life, we have the peace of God as a token of our victory over him. So, both the crushing of Satan and the peace of God are experienced in the church life. Following his declaration that God will crush Satan under the feet of the church people, the Apostle gives his blessing to them, saying that the grace of the Lord Jesus would be with them (16:20). This indicates that it is in the church life that the grace of the Lord Jesus is dispensed to all the saints. A great many believers miss this grace because they are separate from the church life. We all can testify that we have a rich enjoyment of the Lord s grace when we are living in the churches and practicing the Body life with all the saints. The church is the place where the Lord dispenses His grace and where we may partake of it. The church is not only the place where we have Satan crushed under our feet and experience the God of peace, but also the place where we enjoy the rich grace of the Lord. LS Romans Message 30, pg Living Stream Ministry, 1984, used by permission

4 Morning Watch Wednesday 7/29 Related verses Rom. 16: Now the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. 21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you, as well as Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. 22 I, Tertius, who write this epistle, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, my host and host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, greets you, and Quartus the brother. 24 See note 24. Rom. 15:33 33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Gen. 3:15 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman And between your seed and her seed; He will bruise you on the head, But you will bruise him on the heel. 1 John 3:8 8 He who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Luke 10:19 19 Behold, I have given you the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Gal. 6:18 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. 2 Tim. 4:22 22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Suggested daily reading Romans 16:1 says, I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deaconess of the church which is at Cenchrea. This verse discloses a second aspect of the practicality of the Body life: the matter of the local church. If we would have the Body life in a practical way, we must not only receive the believers, but also pay attention to the church in the locality. According to Romans 16, the practicality of the Body life consists in the locality of the church. This chapter speaks not only of the local church, the church at Cenchrea, but also of the churches. In verse 4 Paul makes mention of the churches of the nations and in verse 16, of the churches of Christ. In verse 23 Paul says, Gaius, my host, and of the whole church, greets you. Here Paul names a brother who provided hospitality to the whole church. Obviously, Paul is speaking of the local church, not of the universal church. It is important that Paul points out that Gaius was the host of the whole church, not of all the saints. There is a difference between showing hospitality to the church and showing hospitality to the saints, for we may care for the saints without caring for the church. But Paul s concept in this book is related not mainly to the saints, but to the church. In our giving of hospitality, the church must be in our consciousness and concept. As you extend hospitality to others, what concept do you have? Do you hold the concept that you are providing hospitality to the saints or to the church? If you have the proper concept, you will realize that your hospitality is not simply to certain saints, but to the whole church. In verse 5 Paul sends greetings to the church in the house of Prisca and Aquila. Using this verse as a basis, some say that the church in a house is different from the church in a city. However, if you consider this matter carefully in context, you will see that the church in the house of Prisca and Aquila was actually the church in the city of Rome. The church in Rome held its meetings in Prisca and Aquila s house. If we would have the proper practice of the Body life today, we must be general in receiving all kinds of believers. As long as a person genuinely believes in the Lord Jesus, we must receive him, even though his opinion may differ from ours with respect to doctrine or practice. Furthermore, we need to be in a local church and honor the locality of the church. How I thank the Lord for chapter sixteen! In this chapter the Holy Spirit clearly indicates that for the practice of the Body life, we need to be the local church. Wherever we may be, we must be in the church in that locality. LS Romans Message 59, pg Living Stream Ministry, 1984, used by permission

5 Morning Watch Thursday 7/30 Related verses Rom. 16: Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel, that is, the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which has been kept in silence in the times of the ages 26 But has now been manifested, and through the prophetic writings, according to the command of the eternal God, has been made known to all the Gentiles for the obedience of faith; 27 To the only wise God through Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Eph. 3: But to Him who is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power which operates in us, 21 To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations forever and ever. Amen. 1 Cor. 2:6-7 6 But we do speak wisdom among those who are full-grown, yet a wisdom not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are being brought to nought; 7 But we speak God s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages for our glory, Eph. 1:9 9 Making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, Eph. 3:3 3 That by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I have written previously in brief, 1 Thes. 3:13 13 So that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. 1 Pet. 5:10 10 But the God of all grace, He who has called you into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself perfect, establish, strengthen, and ground you. Footnotes Rom. 16:25 1 See note 10 7 in 1 Pet. 5. In ch. 16 our need is no longer to be saved or to be sanctified but to be established. Since everything has been accomplished, we need only to be established. This establishing is according to the pure and full gospel of God, that is, the proclaiming and ministering of the all-inclusive Christ, and according to the revelation of the mystery, which has been kept in silence in the times of the ages. Only the pure gospel, the living Christ, and God s revealed mystery can establish us and keep us in oneness for the church life I.e., the full gospel, including the teaching concerning Christ and the church and consummating in the local churches, as fully disclosed in this book. See note 1 9 in ch The mystery of God, which has been kept in silence in the times of the ages, is mainly of two aspects: the mystery of God, which is Christ (Col. 2:2), who is in the believers (Col. 1:26-27) as their life and their everything that they may become the members of His Body; and the mystery of Christ, which is the church as His Body (Eph. 3:4-6) to express His fullness (Eph. 1:22-23). Therefore, Christ and the church are the great mystery (Eph. 5:32) In chs. 15 and 16 God is called the God of endurance and encouragement (15:5), the God of hope (15:13), the God of peace (v. 20), the eternal God (v. 26), and the only wise God (v. 27). Our God is rich in all these aspects, and the gospel in this book is the gospel of such a rich God. This gospel consummates in the practical church life. Suggested daily reading Let us read 16: Now to Him Who is of power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which has been kept in silence in times of the ages, but now has been manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the command of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations unto obedience of faith, to the only wise God through Jesus Christ be the glory forever and ever! Amen. This concluding praise is like a melody. Paul refers to God as the One who has power to establish you. In Romans 16 our need is no longer salvation or sanctification; our need is to be established. Everything has been accomplished, and we only need to be established. We are not established according to doctrines or dispensational truths, but according to the gospel, the preaching of Christ, and the revelation of the mystery. Oh, how the saints today need to be rescued from the divisive doctrines and dividing practices and to be established by the pure and full gospel of God, by the preaching and ministering of the living and all-inclusive Christ, and by the revelation of God s mystery! Only the pure gospel, the living Christ, and God s revealed mystery can establish us and keep us in unity for the church life. This mystery, which has been kept in silence

6 Morning Watch Thursday 7/30 Continued... in the times of the ages, and has not been revealed, is mainly of two aspects: one is the mystery of God (Col. 2:2 ASV), which is Christ, who is in the believers (Col. 1:26-27) as their life and their everything that they may become the members of His Body; another is the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:4-6), which is the church as His Body to express His fullness (Eph. 1:22-23). Therefore, Christ and the church are the great mystery (Eph. 5:32). Romans firstly tells us how the believers have been baptized into Christ (6:3), how Christ has been wrought into the believers (8:10), and how the believers have put on Christ (13:14). Then it reveals how all these believers are built together into one Body (12:4-5) to express Christ. Thus the churches have come into existence in many cities in a local and practical way, with all the saints loving one another and fellowshipping with one another among all the churches to express the Body of Christ for the fulfillment of God s mystery. This is the ultimate consummation of the full gospel of God. It is through this that Satan is crushed under the feet of the saints (16:20), that the grace of Christ is dispensed to all the saints (16:20), and that the glory is and will be to God unto the ages of the ages (16:27). The eternal God has made known this mystery to all the nations unto obedience of faith. In Romans 15 and 16 God is called the God of endurance and encouragement (15:5), the God of hope (15:13), the God of peace (16:20), the eternal God (16:26), and the only wise God (16:27). Our God is a rich God in many aspects in endurance, encouragement, hope, peace, wisdom, and being eternal and the gospel in Romans is the gospel of such a rich God. The gospel of such a rich God consummates in the practical church life. Hallelujah! LS Romans Message 30, pg Living Stream Ministry, 1984, used by permission

7 Morning Watch Friday 7/31 Related verses Rom. 16: Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel, that is, the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which has been kept in silence in the times of the ages 26 But has now been manifested, and through the prophetic writings, according to the command of the eternal God, has been made known to all the Gentiles for the obedience of faith; 27 To the only wise God through Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Col. 1: The mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations but now has been manifested to His saints; 27 To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, Col. 2:2 2 That their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love and unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ, Col. 4:3 3 Praying at the same time for us also, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ (because of which also I am bound), Rom. 1:1-2 1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, 2 Which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, Rev 1:6 6 And made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen. Footnotes Rom. 16:27 1 See note 33 2 in ch. 11. In its conclusion this book, which gives a general discussion concerning the Christian life and the church life, gives glory to the wise God. This unveils that all the matters discussed in this book, such as how God selects us, how He saves us from sin and death, how He redeems us and justifies us, how He makes us, sinners who were dead through and through, His divine sons, how He transfers us out of Adam into Christ, how He sanctifies and transforms us in Christ, how He makes us the members of Christ for the constituting of the Body of Christ, and how He causes us to be the local churches appearing in different localities as the expressions of the Body of Christ on the earth in this age all these matters are planned, managed, and accomplished by God s wisdom, in order that He, the unlimitedly rich Triune God, may be glorified, that is, that His incomparable glory may be completely and fully expressed through us who have been perfected eternally by Him and who have become His Body and have been joined to Him as one. The focus of God s wisdom is the working of His Divine Trinity into the three parts spirit, soul, and body of our redeemed being that in His redemption, sanctification, and transformation we may have a full union in the divine life with Him, that His desire for the mingling of divinity and humanity, the joining of humanity to divinity, may be fulfilled for eternity. This truly is worthy of our appreciation and worship! How blessed and how glorious it is that we can participate in this! This is worthy of our unceasing singing and praise for eternity! Both our Christian life and our church life should have this as our center and goal. May God bless in this way everyone who has been chosen and perfected by Him. Through God s divine dispensing in us and His divine union with us, we can experience and enjoy the saving in Christ s life in God s full salvation (see note 10 2 in ch. 5), as conveyed to us in this book, in the following aspects: (1) By the abundance of grace (God Himself) and of the gift of righteousness (Christ Himself) which we received, we are able to reign in Christ s divine life (5:17) over sin, death, the old man, the flesh, Satan, the world, and all persons, matters, and things that do not submit to God. (2) God s holy nature sanctifies our worldly disposition (6:19, 22; 15:16). God sanctifies us dispositionally out of His divine life and unto His divine life that we may enjoy more of His divine life. (3) The indwelling law of the Spirit of life, that is, the automatic and spontaneous working of the Triune God as life in us, frees us from the law of sin and of death, the slavery and bondage of sin (8:2, 11). The operation of this law comes out of God s divine life, and it also causes the increase of the divine life in us. (4) The Divine Trinity s divine dispensing in our spirit, soul, and body causes these three parts to be saturated with the processed divine life (8:5-11), with the result that our entire being is completely united with the processed Triune God and mingled with Him as one. (5) The renewing of our mind by the Spirit results in the transformation of our soul, which saves us from being conformed to the modern style of the world (12:2) and issues in all the

8 Morning Watch Friday 7/31 Continued... virtues and the overcoming, mentioned in chs , as our daily life, a life of the highest standard, and as our church life, a life that is all-overcoming. (6) By the renewing of our mind and the transformation of our soul, we become members one of another with all believers in the Body of Christ and are built up together as the Body of Christ and thereby have the service of the Body (12:1, 3-8). This is the crystallization of our experience of the saving in Christ s life. (7) Based on the revelation and teaching in chs of this book, we live the life of the local church in different localities as the appearance of the Body of Christ, the universal church, in different localities. (8) By becoming the built-up church, a church against which the gates of Hades cannot prevail, in different localities, we afford God the opportunity to crush Satan under our feet that we may enjoy Christ as our rich grace and the God of peace as our surpassing peace (16:20). (9) In our experience of the various aspects of the saving in the divine life, as mentioned above, we are being conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God (8:28-29) through the all things arranged under God s sovereignty, so that we have His divine attributes and His human virtues and thereby express the glory and beauty of Him, the God-man. (10) In the process of our experience of the saving in the divine life, the splendor of the divine life gradually saturates us until it saturates our body, issuing in the redemption of our body (8:23), that our spirit, soul, and body may all enter into the glory of God (8:30, 17). This glorification is the peak attained in us by the saving in the divine life, and it is the climax of God s full salvation. Suggested daily reading Christians today are not only divisive but also divided. Instead of judging divisiveness in others, we should judge our own divisive nature. We have seen that all Christians have the same saving faith, believing in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus. The faith by which we are saved is the same in all believers. But, as we have pointed out, it is difficult for Christians to agree in their understanding of many things in the Bible. Even we ourselves may change in our view concerning certain matters. Forty years ago, I interpreted a particular verse in one way, but today I interpret it in an altogether different way. How then can we expect all believers in Christ to agree in their interpretation of the Bible? This is impossible. For example, some say that the baptism spoken of by Paul in Romans 6 is spiritual baptism, not baptism in water. But others, just as strong in their conviction, believe that it refers to water baptism. Thus, over this matter there have been strong arguments because of differing opinions. Christians also have different opinions about praising the Lord, calling on the name of Jesus, and pray-reading the Word. We should not expect all Christians to agree in their understanding of all things in the Bible. Perhaps not until we are in the New Jerusalem shall we be the same in every respect. There is the strong natural tendency in all of us to insist that all believers be the same as we are. Such insisting does far more than expose our lack of wisdom; it exposes the very element of divisiveness rooted deep within our natural being. Because of this element, we have the tendency to divide ourselves from others and to form our own kind of group. What a mercy it is to be in the church life! Many say that it is impossible to have the oneness today and that it is idealistic to try to have the church life in genuine oneness. Apart from the Lord s mercy, we cannot be one with others. If the Lord had not been merciful to us in China, we brothers could not have been brought into oneness and kept in oneness. But in His mercy the Lord has opened our eyes and has shown us His way. In order to go on, we must take His way. According to God s economy, as human beings we must believe in the Lord Jesus and be Christians. If we are not Christians, life is vain. As Christians, we must take the Lord s way in the church life. If we do not take His way, we shall have no way to go on. We may argue outwardly, but inwardly we shall know that we are off the mark. We shall have no inward rest, no sense that we have found our home. We all have the element of divisiveness within us. Nevertheless, we should never excuse divisiveness, and we should never take occasion to be divisive. Our destiny is to be one with all genuine Christians. This oneness is also our standing in the Lord s recovery. Many are offended by our standing because they prefer a different standing. Some Christians even condemn us and accuse us of saying that we alone are the church and that others are not. In response to such an accusation, I have sometimes said, Suppose a certain woman is married to a man named Jones. As the wife of Mr. Jones, she is Mrs. Jones. But instead of calling herself Mrs. Jones, she calls herself Mrs. Smith. When someone else claims to be Mrs. Jones, she is offended and says, Why do you claim to be

9 Morning Watch Friday 7/31 Continued... Mrs. Jones? How can you say that you are Mrs. Jones and that I am not? If she is Mrs. Jones, why does she call herself Mrs. Smith? Actually, we do not say that we alone are the church. However, if you are the church, why do you take such names as Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, or Episcopalian? If you are the church here, then why do you call yourself something else? Since you call yourselves by these names, how can you be the church in this locality? If we are not the church in this city, then what are we? What a divisive spirit is found among believers today! The various denominations and groups are both divided and divisive. Nevertheless, they want others to be one with them. Certain groups, for example, accept only those who have been baptized by them. What divisiveness! Other groups forbid people to call on the name of the Lord Jesus or to praise the Lord with a loud voice. This also is divisive. If we require the believers to either drop or adopt certain practices in order to be accepted by us, we are divisive. We should not care about any practices, but about whether or not the ones who come to us are real Christians. The basis upon which we receive the saints is nothing less and nothing more than Christ Himself. No matter what kind of background a believer may have, as long as he is a Christian, we must receive him as a brother in the Lord. In order to be saved from divisiveness, we need the growth in life. It is not sufficient merely to understand the teaching concerning oneness. The more we grow in Christ s life, the more we shall be saved in His life. When I was a young Christian, I often asked other Christians what they believed concerning baptism or the rapture. But after I had a certain amount of the growth in life, I stopped questioning other believers in this way. Now when I contact the saints, I do not ask them doctrinal questions. Instead, I appreciate the measure of Christ that is within them. I simply do not care about outward things. If we want to be saved from divisiveness, we need to grow. The greater our measure of Christ, the less divisive we shall be. Because we are still in the old nature with its divisive element, we dare not say that we have been fully delivered from divisiveness. We need to be watchful concerning this divisive element within us. We also need to pray that the Lord will grant us the genuine growth in life so that we may be saved from divisiveness. LS Romans Message 43, pg Living Stream Ministry, 1984, used by permission

10 Saturday 8/1 Rom. 16:6, 12, 16-17, 19-27; Rom. 5:2, 15; Eph. 3:20-21 Lord s Day 8/2 Eph. 4:1-7, I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, bearing one another in love, 3 Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace: 4 One Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 13 Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 That we may be no longer little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error, 15 But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, 16 Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.