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God is the Architect of the human body and He is also the
Architect of the Body of Christ. There are two Bodies of Christ:
the Historic Body and the Mystical Body.
The historic Jesus was the habitation of the Holy Ghost (see Luke
3:22; John 1:32), and the Mystic Christ, i.e., the Body of Christ
composed of those who have experienced regeneration and
sanctification, is likewise the habitation of the Holy Ghost.
When we are baptized with the Holy Ghost we are no longer isolated
believers but part of the Mystical Body of Christ.
Beware of attempting to live a holy life alone, it is impossible.
Paul continually insists on the 'together' aspect
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'God hath
quickened us together..,
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and hath
raised us up together,
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and made
us sit together...' (Eph.2:4).
The 'together'
aspect is always the work of the Holy Ghost.
'Be filled with the Spirit,' says Paul. We have all seen the
seashore when the tide is out, with all its separate pools, how
are those pools to be made one? By digging channels between them?
No, wait till the tide comes in, and where are the pools.
Absolutely lost, merged in one tremendous floodtide. That is
exactly what happens when Christians are indwelt by the Holy
Spirit. Once let people be filled with the Holy Spirit and you
have the ideal of what the New Testament means by the Church. The
Church is a separated band of people who are united to God by the
regenerating power of the Spirit, and the bedrock of membership in
the Church is that we know who Jesus is by a personal revelation
of Him.
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