IX.　If we would understand and enter into the life of the Body, we must know the authority of the Head—Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:15; 5:23; 1:22, 10:

A.　Only Christ is the Head, and only He has the authority to direct the moves of the members of the Body:

1.　For Christ to be the Head means that He has the authority in the Body—Col. 1:18; 2:19.

2.　If we desire to live in the Body, we must learn to submit to the authority of Christ—Matt. 28:18-20.

B.　If we would have the Body life, whatever we think, feel, and do must be under the control of the Head:

3.　We should take the Head as our life and as the center of our whole being—Col. 3:4, 11.

4.　Like Paul, we should take care of the Body of Christ by taking the feeling of the Head as our own feeling—Phil. 1:8.

5.　If we as members have the feeling of the Head in everything and care for the Body, we will take the Body as the rule in our mind, thoughts, words, and actions—Col. 3:15-16.

X.　Spirituality is a Body matter—Eph. 4:16:

A.　According to the revelation of the New Testament, a person who truly touches God's heart and is an overcomer in the eyes of God is one who is living in the Body and practicing the Body—Rom. 12:4-5:

1.　He is not spiritual individually and is not overcoming individually.

2.　He understands clearly that he is a member of the Body, not a complete unit.

B.　God is not after a group of spiritual or sinless people—He is after a Body—Eph. 2:16:

1.　The most important thing is whether or not we are living in the Body.

2.　In order to seek after spirituality, we must be in the Body:

a.　God never intended that we would be individually spiritual.

b.　Individual spirituality spoils and damages the building of the church.

c.　If we see that God's ultimate intention is to have the Body as a corporate vessel to contain Christ, we will pray that the Lord will save us from our individual spirituality.

C.　The Christian living is corporate and of the Body; it is not individualistic—Eph. 3:6:

1.　If we have seen the Body, we will realize that we cannot live without the Body, that we cannot serve without the Body, and that we cannot have a spiritual life outside the Body.

2.　The strongest proof that we have seen the Body is that we can no longer be individualistic—1 Cor. 12:12, 14, 21-22:

a.　As soon as we see the Body, our life and work as individuals cease.

b.　Everything we have is in the Body, through the Body, and for the Body; nothing is for the individual.

XI.　We need to care for the feeling of the Body and the peace of the Body—Eph. 4:3; Col. 3:15; Eph. 2:14-16:

A.　Since we are members of the Body of Christ, we should have a feeling for the Body.

B.　In order for us to have the Body life, we must care for our fellow members and must be full of feeling for the Body.

C.　We need to realize that whatever we do involves the Body, and we should not do anything without taking care of the Body.

D.　The feeling for the Body is very precious, and it is closely related to one's frame of mind, that is, to one's perception of things—Rom. 12:3:

1.　If we do not have an adequate understanding of the Body of Christ, our frame of mind is not proper, and we will not be able to have the common recognition of the Body of Christ

2.　If we would be suitable for the building up of the Body of Christ and have the proper feeling for the Body of Christ, we need to be transformed by the renewing of the mind—Rom. 12:2, 5.

XII.　We need to have the consciousness of the Body, a Body- consciousness—1 Cor. 12:26-27; Rom. 12:5; Eph. 4:16; 2:21-22:

A.　In order to live and move with other members of the Body, we need to have the consciousness of the Body.

B.　The more we enjoy the all-inclusive Christ revealed in Colossians, the more we will realize experientially that the Christ whom we enjoy is the Head of the Body, and this realization will make us conscious of the Body and cause us to love all the members of the Body—Col. 1:18; 2:19; 3:12-14.

C.　For the Lord's move in His recovery both locally and universally, we all need to be Body-conscious in one accord—Acts 1:14; 2:46; 4:24; 15:25; Rom. 15:6.