I.　The record in the book of Acts regarding the church reveals that the believers were church-conscious—5:11; 8:1, 3; 9:31; 11:22, 26; 12:1, 5; 13:1; 14:23, 27; 15:3-4, 22, 41; 16:5; 18:22; 20:17, 28:

A.　In their concept there was nothing of individualism; they did everything with a consciousness of the church—2:44; 4:23, 32.

B.　Based upon the record in Acts, we have the principle that whatever we do and whenever and wherever we meet, we must be church-conscious.

II.　We need to have the consciousness of the Body, a Body-consciousness— 1 Cor. 12:26-27; Rom. 12:15; 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:

1.　In the church life, we should learn to have the consciousness of the Body.

2.　Wherever there is Body-consciousness, individual thought and action are ruled out; seeing the Body results in deliverance from individualism—Acts 9:1-19.

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

C.　If we experience and enjoy the all-inclusive Christ revealed in Colossians, we will realize 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.

D.　The more we are conscious of the Body, the more we will care for the feeling of the Body and for the peace of the Body—Rom. 12:4-5, 15; 1 Cor. 12:26; Eph. 2:14-16; 4:3; Col. 3:15:

1.　Since we are members of the Body of Christ, we should have a feeling for the Body—1 Cor. 12:27.

2.　In order for us to have the Body life, we need to be full of feeling for the Body.

3.　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.

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

III.　With Paul there was a consciousness of the universal one new man, and in the Lord's recovery today, we also need to have the consciousness of the one new man—Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10-11:

A.　Colossians 4:7-17 is a practical illustration of the revelation of the one new man and of the consciousness of the one new man:

1.　Both the saints in Colossae and Paul, and those with him, were members of the one new man in actuality and had the consciousness of the one new man.

2.　Paul's word regarding the reading of letters proves that there was no difference between the church in Laodicea and the church in Colossae; his word implies fellowship, oneness, harmony, and intimate contact—v. 16.

3.　In spite of all the differences among nationalities, races, and classes, there was on earth in a practical way the one new man created in Christ Jesus; there were not merely local churches in various cities—there was the one new man in a real and practical way.

B.　"It is shameful for the church in any locality to isolate itself from other churches. How wrong it is for us to have the attitude of standing apart from other local churches, fearing that others may interfere with our affairs or otherwise trouble us. This is utterly contrary to the consciousness of the new man. Any church which holds such an attitude has a consciousness only of itself, not of the totality of the new man. Those who insist on this attitude cause the new man to be fragmented, to be broken into pieces….Those who have this attitude lack the sense, the consciousness, of the one new man" (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 260-261).

C.　Because Christ is the unique constituent of the one new man and the unique person of the new man, there should be no differences among the believers who are part of this new man, and there should be no differences among the churches—3:10-11; 4:16.

IV.　We need to see that all the local churches in the different countries are one new man—Eph. 2:15, 21-22:

A.　All the churches are not merely individual local churches but are the one new man—Col. 3:10-11; 4:15-16.

C.　We cannot say that each local church is a new man; rather, all the local churches on earth are the one new man:

1.　The one new man is not local—it is universal.

2.　The one new man is a matter not merely of individual localities and individual churches but of all the churches on earth corporately.

B.　Since all the local churches are one new man, in deciding a matter in our local church, we need to consider the churches throughout the whole earth—Rev. 22:16a; 1 Thes. 2:14; Rom. 16:4; 2 Cor. 11:28.

C.　"I truly hope that from now on every local church, when it is considering, praying, and fellowshipping about a certain decision, will take care of all the churches on the earth and will realize the fact that we are all one new man. Then your decision and living will certainly be of a high standard, requiring you to pay the highest price.…May we have eyes to see that this is a requirement we have never had before" (One Body, One Spirit, and One New Man, pp. 73-74).