I.　If we would work with the Lord for the Body, we need to realize that in the Lord's recovery there is only one work—the work of the Body; what we are doing today is not our personal work but the work of the economy of God—the building up of the Body of Christ—1 Cor. 15:58; 16:10; Eph. 4:12.

II.　If we would work with the Lord for the Body, we must know the central work of God—3:17a; Phil. 2:13:

A.　God's central work, His unique work, is to work Himself in Christ into His chosen people, making Himself one with them for the Body of Christ—Gal. 4:19; Eph. 3:17a; 4:16.

B.　The principle in God's work is to gain persons and by gaining them to have a way to go on for the carrying out of His economy—Acts 9:15; 13:1-2:

1.　The right priority is not for us to work for God but for God to work Himself into us—Eph. 2:10; Phil. 2:13.

2.　It is not that we work for the Lord but that He works on us; therefore, we should not be merely the Lord's workers but the Lord's work—Eph. 2:10.

C.　The kind of person we are determines the kind of fruit we produce; if our person is wrong, we may build up something by what we do but tear down more by what we are—Matt. 7:17-18.

III.　If we would work with the Lord for the Body, we need to realize that God's work has certain essential features:

A.　The initiation of God's work must be according to His will—15:13; 1 Cor. 8:6.

B.　The advance of God's work is according to His power—2 Cor. 3:5; Phil. 3:10.

C.　The result of God's work must be for His glory—John 7:17-18; Eph. 3:21.

D.　No work should be initiated by ourselves, no work should be carried out by our own power, and no work should result in our own glory.

IV.　If we would work with the Lord for the Body, there should be no difference between life, work, and move—Mark 1:14-45:

A.　With the Lord Jesus there was no difference between life, work, and move:

1.　The Lord worked everywhere and all the time because His life, His work, and His move were all the same; He lived His work, His ministry.

2.　With the Lord Jesus every aspect of His life was the same; there was no distinction between life and work.

B.　Just as the Lord's life was His work, so our living should be our working—Phil.1:20-21a.

V.　If we would work with the Lord for the Body, we need to work by a life that is all-sufficient and all-mature, able to fit all situations, that is, ableto endure any kind of treatment, to accept any kind of environment, to work in any kind of condition, and to take any kind of opportunity, for the carrying out of the ministry—John 14:6a; Acts 27:22-25; 2 Cor. 6:1-13.

VI.　If we would work with the Lord for the Body, we must be willing to make up what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for His Body, the church—Col. 1:24.

VII.　If we would work with the Lord for the Body, we need to become theShulammite, one who is qualified to work with the Beloved—S. S. 6:13;7:1-13:

A.　In Song of Songs 6:13 the lover, having passed through various stages of transformation, has become the Shulammite, Solomon's duplication:

1.　She is the same as Solomon in life, nature, expression, and function, as Eve was to Adam—Gen. 2:20-23.

2.　This signifies that in the maturity of Christ's life the lover of Christ becomes the same as He is in life, nature, expression, and function but not in the Godhead—2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29.

B.　In Song of Songs 7:1-9a the Shulammite is qualified to be Solomon's co-worker; this indicates that eventually Christ's lovers need to share in the work of the Lord—1 Cor. 15:58; 16:10; Eph. 4:12.

C.　Song of Songs 7:9b-13 reveals that the lover works with the Lord, the Beloved, for the Body:

1.　To share in the work of the Lord is not to work for the Lord but to workwith the Lord—1 Cor. 3:9a; 2 Cor. 6:1a.

2.　To work with the Lord we need to be one with Him; actually, to work withChrist we must become Christ—1 Cor. 6:17; John 15:4-5; Phil. 1:21a.

3.　To work with the Lord for the Body we need the maturity in life—Eph.4:13-14:

a.　To enter into God's New Testament economy requires that we grow and mature in the life of God—1 Cor. 2:6; Col. 1:28.

b.　Maturity is a matter of having the divine life imparted into us again and again until we have the fullness of life—John 10:10b; 2 Cor. 5:4b.

4.　To work with the Lord our work must be for His Body—Eph. 4:4, 16:

a.　The Body is the governing law of the life and work of the children of God today—1:22-23; 1 Cor. 12:4-6, 12-13, 27.

b.　The work of the Triune God in us is to produce and build up the Body of Christ—Eph. 3:16-21; 4:4-6, 12, 16.

c.　Our work in the Lord's recovery is the work of the Body of Christ—1 Cor.15:58; 16:10; Eph. 4:12.

d.　All the co-workers should do the same one work universally for the one unique Body; the starting point of the work is the oneness of the Body—v. 4; 1 Cor. 16:10.

e.　According to Song of Songs 7:11, Christ's lover wants to carry out with her Beloved the work that is for the entire world (fields) by sojourning from one place to another (lodging in the villages); this indicates that our work must be for the Body—Eph. 4:12.

f.　"Whenever God's children see the oneness of the Body, they will also see the oneness of the work, and they will be delivered out of individualistic work into the work of the Body" (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 37, p. 244).

5.　In the churches (vineyards) Christ's lover renders her love to her Beloved—S. S. 7:12:

a.　At the place of His work, she expresses her love to the Lord; in the midst of the Lord's work, we give Him our love—Mark 12:30.

b.　Here we see the relationship between the first love and the first works—Rev. 2:4-5:

(1).　The first works are works that issue from and express the first love.

(2).　When we are filled with the first love of the Lord, everything we do issues from and expresses our love for Him, and we will work with the Lord, the Beloved, for the Body—Eph. 3:19; 4:16.