From One Loaf to the Reality of One Body

Today’s Main Verses for Pray-reading

The grain of wheat dies and bears many grains

John 12:24

Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Though many, we are one Body

1 Corinthians 10:17

Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread.

You are the Body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:27

Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually.

Two or three gathered into the Lord’s name

Matthew 18:20

For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.

Death operates in us, but life in you

2 Corinthians 4:12

So then death operates in us, but life in you.

He who loves his soul-life loses it

John 12:25

He who loves his soul-life loses it; and he who hates his soul-life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life.

I die daily

1 Corinthians 15:31

I protest by the boasting in you, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Unless what you sow dies, it does not come to life

1 Corinthians 15:36

Foolish man, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.

Fine flour mingled with oil and frankincense

Leviticus 2:1

And when anyone presents an offering of a meal offering to Jehovah, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it.

Witnesses unto the uttermost part of the earth

Acts 1:8

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Today’s Prayer Burden

The loaf on the Lord’s Day brings us from the revelation of one loaf into the reality of the Body, produced as we are broken and blended in the vital groups; from the personal enjoyment of Christ into the corporate church life typified by the meal offering; and from the expression in one locality into the propagation and spread of the one Body throughout the earth. O Lord, may what You gain be more than bread-breaking meetings everywhere; may there be everywhere the reality of the Body, broken, blended, and full of the life supply!

Today’s Prayer

1. Lord, bring us from the revelation of one loaf into the reality of one Body

Lord Jesus, cause everyone to see that when we meet to break bread, we often praise You for the loaf, yet in reality we may not be one loaf. We grains of wheat have not yet been ground, broken, and blended together. The way to become one loaf is to be blended in the vital groups through intimate and thorough fellowship and sufficient, thorough prayer. It also requires a thorough confession of our sins, transgressions, shortcomings, and wrongdoings, and so forth.

Lord, we may have the truth of the Body yet lack the reality of the Body! O Lord, You were a grain of wheat who passed through death and resurrection to produce us, the many grains. Now You would grind us into fine flour and blend us into one loaf! Save us from remaining whole, independent grains that cannot be blended. Bring us into the vital groups. Through intimate and thorough fellowship, sufficient and thorough prayer, and a daily life and coordination together, expose our natural man, break our self, and cause us to deny our soul-life. The more breaking there is, the more openness; the more openness, the deeper the blending! O Lord, may we not merely see one loaf on the Lord’s Day, but be ground and blended daily in the vital groups and become this one loaf in reality! May we not only break the bread but become the bread; may we not only know the Body but live out the Body!

2. Lord, bring us from the personal enjoyment of Christ into the blended church life typified by the meal offering

Lord Jesus, how glorious! You desire not only to gain many grains of wheat but also fine flour mingled with oil, becoming a meal offering that satisfies God and nourishes people. O Lord, we do not want to have the objective revelation of the Body on the one hand, yet only a personal Christ, personal pursuit, and personal spiritual experiences on the other. We want to enjoy the corporate Christ and enjoy You with the church life as our daily food! Lord, mingle us with the Spirit as the oil; deal with our natural flavor through Your death as the salt; and, in the fragrance of Your resurrection, make us one mass, one loaf, blended together in the vital groups to live Christ together. May this blended church life become a meal offering, first satisfying God and then nourishing all the saints. May we not only eat Christ but also enjoy the church life that is full of Christ!

3. Lord, bring us from the one loaf signifying the church in one locality to see the expression of the one Body throughout the earth

Lord Jesus, broaden our view and enlarge our heart! The loaf we break each Lord’s Day represents not only the church in our locality but all the saints redeemed by You throughout the earth. This one Body began in Jerusalem and spread to Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. This one loaf is organic and living, continually spreading! O Lord, show us that Your spread means more than an increase in numbers and localities; it is the continual enlargement of the reality of the one Body. May we be broken and blended in the vital groups in our locality, so that when we go elsewhere we can be blended with the saints there, without insisting on ourselves, without natural limitations, and without barriers between localities. Lord, multiply the vital groups and raise up churches in place after place, so that the one Body may have a real expression in more localities. From one loaf to the one Body throughout the earth, from blending in one locality to blending throughout the earth; from all enjoying the church life as a meal offering to the fragrance that satisfies God filling the earth! O Lord, may what You gain be more than bread-breaking meetings everywhere; may there be everywhere the reality of the Body, broken, blended, and full of the life supply! May this one loaf continually multiply and spread until the Body of Christ is built up and the bride is made ready to welcome You back!

Ministry Fellowship

One loaf, one Body

“The bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ? Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one bread, one Body.” (1 Cor. 10:16–17) Here we see that God’s children are one. One loaf must represent God’s children in a locality; it must represent the church in a locality. But this is not all. This one loaf includes God’s children on earth. We must see that the one loaf signifies the oneness of all God’s children. Whenever we break bread, we must remember the Lord and have our heart turned toward the brothers and sisters. All God’s children who have been redeemed by the precious blood are included in this one loaf. Our heart must be enlarged by the Lord to be as large as what the loaf includes. Though we are many, we are one loaf. Even the brothers and sisters who do not break bread together with us are included.

The reality of the Body: many grains ground, broken, and blended together into one loaf

The New Testament tells us that we are like many grains of wheat (John 12:24), becoming one lump and eventually one loaf (1 Cor. 10:17). Only after we become one loaf are we meaningful and useful in the Lord’s hand. This loaf is the group. When we meet to break bread, we often praise the Lord for the loaf, but in reality we may not yet be one loaf. We grains of wheat have not been ground, broken, and blended together. The way to become one loaf is to be blended in the group through intimate and thorough fellowship and sufficient, thorough prayer, including a thorough confession of sins, transgressions, shortcomings, and wrongdoings.

The way of blending is to be mingled together like fine flour ground from wheat, with the Spirit as the oil, through the death of Christ as the salt, and in the resurrection of Christ as the frankincense. This requires sufficient and thorough prayer with every member of our group, until we become dough for the Lord (1 Cor. 5:6–7a; Lev. 2:1–13). If, by the Lord’s mercy, we experience this kind of blending, we will be completely different from what we are today. (“The Recovery of the Lord and Our Present Need,” chapter 7, “The Vital Groups.”)

There is only one way for you to experience the genuine breaking of the natural life, and that is to coordinate with others. You cannot simply shut yourself in a room to read the Bible and pray, praising the Lord that you have been broken. The more you declare in your room that you have been broken, the less broken you are. Whether you have truly been broken is tested by your coordination with others. (Basic Principles for the Service in the Church Life, chapter 3.)

Learn to be restricted and broken

If you take this way, you will learn to be restricted, to be broken, and to commit yourself to others. If you do not serve the Lord with others, you will never know yourself. But once you serve with others, you are exposed and see how “good” you actually are. (Basic Principles for the Service in the Church Life, chapter 3.)

The more breaking, the more blending

The greatest lesson is breaking. We may talk about being broken, but the way to be broken is to coordinate with our brothers and sisters to serve the Lord. No openness means no breaking. The more breaking there is, the more openness; the more openness, the more blending with others. Unless we learn the spiritual lessons of being broken, open, and blended with others, we cannot have the church life.

The meal offering shows that we are nourished by Christ and by the church life

In Leviticus 2 we see that the meal offering may take different forms: fine flour mingled with oil, or a loaf. The meal offering of fine flour signifies Christ individually and also individual Christians. The meal offering of a loaf signifies the corporate Christ, Christ with His Body, the church. The New Testament reveals that the individual Christ has become the corporate Christ (1 Cor. 12:12), signified by the loaf. Paul says, “Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17). This one loaf is the “loaf” of the meal offering. Today Christ lives not only in an individual way; He lives together with His Body, the church.

The church life as a meal offering can be burned to produce a satisfying fragrance to God, and the remainder of the offering becomes our food. This means that we are to eat the church life; the church life is to become our daily supply. Thus, the meal offering as our daily supply is not only Christ but Christ with the church life. Today we are nourished by Christ and also by the church life. We eat not only the first form of the meal offering, the fine flour signifying Christ individually; we also eat the second form, the loaf signifying the corporate Christ, the church. I believe that in the coming days we will see in the churches a meal-offering church life, a life that first satisfies God and then nourishes us. (2023 Spring Training, Week 2, morning revival.)