The Servant of the Lord who is to come, God's Anointed One, His Christ, consists of an exalted Head and also a Body. While the Body is nowhere near as exalted as the Head, yet it is critically important for us to understand that the Body is no longer a group of adamic animals but has been lifted up in glory so that it may do the work of God.

As the human body is one whole so also is Christ. This is what the Apostle Paul has declared.

It is Christ's love that has chosen to make Him dependent on us in this manner. Fruit is borne on the branches, not on the Vine. God showed me by revelation when I was in Iceland that these gestures of God, such as giving us the body and blood of Christ, and making Christ dependent on us, are acts of the unfathomable Divine love, not some doctrinal things we are to get all excited about and become puffed up beyond recognition.

When God spoke to me that way in Iceland every transistor in my personality burned out. It changed my whole way of viewing what God is doing.

We are the Body of Christ with all the expression implies. Let us not stagger at the promise of God but be strong in faith, being fully persuaded that God shall perform that which He has stated!

We are built up by that which every joint supplies. By "we" I mean the entire Body both in Heaven and in earth. The entire body is affected by the actions of one cell.

One of the most detrimental of our church concepts is that concerning clergy and laity. In God's sight there are no clergy, only the royal priesthood, only the Body of Christ.

I am not doing as some (whom I do not criticize), throwing out the pulpit and pews and sitting in a circle so we are all equal. Neither do we wait for the "Spirit to speak." We conduct our church business in the familiar fashion but strive to encourage the ministries and gifts of all the members of the Body. When we say the members of the Body we mean the universal Body as well as the local body.

Gifts and ministries are not given to the local assembly but to the entire Body. If you have been given a gift of prophecy it is not just for your local assembling but for the entire Body of Christ.

A believer may be directed to take charge of a local assembly. But if he is called to be a pastor, or teacher, or evangelist, or to work miracles, or heal the sick, his ministry and gifts will work for all members of the Body of Christ. Right?

Now, when we think that some believers are clergy and some laity we hinder the Body of Christ because the "laity" will not obey the commandment to "covet earnestly the best gifts." He is laity and supposed to attend church and help pay the bills. Why should he or she get serious about ministries and gifts?

To be continued.