The Believer and His Body 657
We need to call to mind one point, however. We should at no
time harbor the thought that because the body is the member of
Christ we must therefore physically feel every spiritual fellowship
and affair there as though we must have evidence in the body. If we
must feel the presence of God in our fleshly frame—if He must take
direct control of it and shake it—if the Holy Spirit must fill our frame
and make His will known through it—or if the Holy Spirit must
assume management of the tongue of the body and speak—then our
body has supplanted our spirit in the latter’s works. And the result
will be that our spirit loses its operation as its work is taken over by
the body. But our earthen vessel is not capable of enduring such
strenuous labor, hence it often becomes weakened. Furthermore, the
evil powers as disembodied spirits crave human bodies. Their chief
aim is to possess man’s physical frame. A Christian who has his
body extended beyond its normal capacity gives opportunity to the
evil spirits to work. This is in accordance with the law of the spiritual
realm. Assuming that God and His Spirit will commune with him in
the body, the Christian naturally anticipates experiencing such
fellowship there. But God and His Spirit never communicate directly
with one’s body; God communicates through His Spirit in the
believer’s spirit. If a child of God persists in seeking to experience
God in his body, the evil spirits shall seize the opportunity to come in
and shall accord him what he nai/vely seeks. The consequences can
be none other than occupation by evil spirits. But as to the union of
the believer’s body with Christ, this fact explains how it is able to
receive God’s life and be strengthened. Owing to the spirit’s noble
position, one must be doubly cautious lest he allow his body to usurp
its work!
“Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is
outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body”
(v.18). The Bible considers immorality or fornication as more serious
than other sins because it has a special relationship to our bodies
which are the members of Christ. Need we wonder why the Apostle
emphatically and persistently persuades Christians to avoid