In Numbers 31 we see a beautiful picture of the one accord among God’s people who had been formed into an army ready for battle; it is a picture of the one accord we should practice in the church life today.
In the church life we experience something very similar to what the children of Israel have experienced toward the end of the book of Numbers: the young generation is being raised up and is formed into an army ready for battle, so that they would – under the leadership of the more mature saints – fight the battle and struggle for all the saints to enter into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ.
Today in the church life we have a rich history together with the ministry of the age, and we are going on with the Lord little by little; furthermore, there is the perfecting going on, so that the young generation would be raised up not only to bear the burden but also fight for the Lord’s move.
There have been many turmoils in the church life, and we may still go through some turmoils, but the Lord wants to gain the second generation who is being perfected, equipped, and made ready so that the Lord may form them into the army He needs for all His people to be brought into the good land.
All ages are needed for the Lord’s move; no age group is un-necessary, and no age group is more important than others.
We had an age-related turmoil reflecting the age-ism of the American culture, that is, the exaltation of the youth and the desire to maintain the youth while putting the old ones down.
Yes, we need to treasure the young ones, and we need to shepherd them, care for them, minister life to them, and train them, so that they may rise up and be formed into the army the Lord desires to gain.
But we all need to rise up, both old and young, and function in our measure; the older ones help the development and bringing into the function of the younger ones, giving them real life responsibility and allowing them room to function, and the younger ones are learning and functioning.
May we all go on like this, the older ones pouring out everything and the younger ones absorbing, growing, being perfected, and functioning in their measure and under the leadership of the more mature saints.
May we all go on together, fight together, bring in the kingdom together, and be under the Lord’s leading in the Body together! And there may be one accord among God’s people for His move on the earth today!
Seeing a Beautiful Picture of the One Accord among God’s People formed as an Army Ready for Battle
After passing through a lot of trials, afflictions, and problems, the people of Israel arrived at the border of Canaan, and there they were formed as an army ready for battle.
In Num. 31:13-54 we see a beautiful picture of the one accord among God’s people who had been formed into an army ready for battle.
The young ones, the young generation which were raised up by the Lord in the wilderness, had no more problems with the authority, no more rebellion against God’s deputy authority; they had no more complaints about the food and drink or about anything else.
There’s a beautiful one accord of everyone in the army and in the older generation that would enter into the good land. The entire situation among the different categories of people was peaceful, pleasant, and harmonious, because they were all in one accord.
The older generation have all passed away except Joshua and Caleb; they imparted their history and the vision into the younger generation, and now these young ones were ready, willing, and also submissive to the Lord’s word through Moses and the leading ones.
None of them was murmuring concerning the manna or the water; none of them lusted after different food, and even when they made a mistake, they were corrected and took the correction before the Lord.
This really shows a beautiful picture of the one accord among God’s people formed as an army ready for battle.
This is similar to the situation in Acts 1:14, where we see that, after three years of the Lord’s discipling, one hundred twenty were gathered in the upper room and prayed in one accord for the Lord to pour out His Spirit.
Just like the people of Israel in the wilderness, the disciples were perfected and equipped by the Lord by His being with them, and their problems, desire to be first, and ambitions were all put away; now they were in one accord praying for the Lord’s move.
In Acts 1:14 we see that the disciples continued steadfastly with one accord in prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
The Lord wants to gain such a situation in the church life today; what He desires is to gain a group of people of all ages and backgrounds who not only pass through a long process of being broken, transformed, renewed, reconstituted, and built up, but also become His army.
The Lord wants to gain the one accord among God’s people who are formed as an army ready for battle. In such an army no one complains; no one has murmurings and reasonings, no one pity themselves, no one sits down without functioning, and no one is hopeless, but all are being perfected and formed into the army the Lord desires.
May the Lord gain a peaceful, pleasant, and harmonious situation among us in the church life, with one accord among God’s people of all generations and backgrounds, so that He may gain what He is after in us and among us.
When He gains this, He has a way to move in us and with us, and He can have the cooperation He needs from us in prayer for Him to do what He wants to do on earth.
Lord Jesus, gain the one accord among God’s people who had been formed into an army ready for battle. Gain the wonderful coordination among all the saints in the church life so that there would be a peaceful, pleasant, and harmonious situation as a result of them all being in one accord. Amen, Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You so that You may gain in us what You are after, and so that You may gain the army You desire, the saints in one accord for Your move on the earth! Amen, do it in us, with us, and through us, Lord!
The One Accord is the Practice of the Oneness of the Body by our Living in the Spirit
What is the genuine one accord in the church? Is it merely us coming together after passing through the process of transformation and forming, and so we are in one accord because we go through similar experiences?
The genuine one accord in the church is the practice of the oneness of the Body, which is the oneness of the Spirit (Eph. 4:3-6).
We already have the oneness; the oneness of the Body is the oneness of the Spirit, and we have been born into this oneness, for the oneness is simply the Body of Christ.
Our oneness is the organic oneness of the organic Body of Christ, which is actually a mingling of the Triune God with His redeemed and transformed people.
Our oneness is in the spirit, and it is God mingled with man; the Triune God – the Father, the Son, and the Spirit – are three divine factors of this oneness, and these are mingled with the human factor, consummating in the Body.
When we apply this oneness, when we practice this oneness, and when we “spend” this oneness by living in the mingled spirit, we are in the one accord.
The one accord among God’s people is our remaining in the spirit, living in the spirit, and doing everything in the spirit; this will bring us into the genuine oneness of the Body of Christ.
But when we are in a meeting and hear our brother pray but do not say Amen to his prayer but rather try to discern whether he’s genuine when he prays or there’s something hidden in his prayer, that is not the one accord.
The one accord is the using of the oneness of the Body, the application of the oneness. When we are in one accord, we can speak the same thing and be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion (1 Cor. 1:10).
How can this be? How can we be attuned in the same mind, speak the same thing, and have the same opinion? It is only by living in the spirit, for when we live in spirit, we will speak Christ, our mind will be the mind of Christ, and our opinion will also be Christ.
In our daily life we need to take Christ as our center and everything, and what we speak, think, and understand will all be Christ.
This is the one accord among God’s people, which is the practice of oneness. When we have the one accord, we can think the same thing, have the same love, be joined in soul, and think the one thing (Phil. 2:2).
If we read the book of Philippians, thinking the one thing and speaking the same thing is related the subjective knowledge and experience of Christ.
This means that for us to be in one accord we need not only to exercise our spirit but also have our mind, love, speaking, and thinking touched and mingled with the Spirit.
When we love the saints, we should check if we love them with the love of Christ or we have different loves, different degrees of love, or different depths of love for the saints.
When we speak, it should be Christ who speaks, not just us. When we allow the oneness of the Spirit to touch every part of our soul, thinking, view, and intentions, we will all have the same mind, feeling, view, perspective, and speaking.
One accord refers to the harmony in our inner being, in our mind and will. To be in one accord is to be one in our whole being, and this results in our outward speaking (Rom. 15:5-6).
In order for us to be in one accord, we need to have one heart and one way; this one heart and one way are the one accord (Jer. 32:39).
For the Lord’s move, all the churches need to be in one accord; we should all voice the same thing, trumpet the same thing, teach the same thing, and be the same in practice (Josh. 1:16-18; 6:1-16; Acts 2:42; 4:24, 32; 1 Cor. 4:17; 7:17; 11:16; 14:34; 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 6:3).
One accord is not mere uniformity imposed on others by some; rather, it is our advancing in our growth in life unto maturity and being in harmony with the saints by living in the spirit.
God’s army is being prepared and ready to go take the good land under the blessing of God in His Divine Trinity, for there’s the one accord among God’s people.
Lord Jesus, thank You for mingling Yourself with us to be the oneness of the Spirit, the oneness of the Body. We want to use this oneness, practice this oneness, and apply this oneness, so that we may be in the one accord. May there be harmony in our inner being, our mind and our will, as we live and walk in the mingled spirit. May our whole being be one with You and also with all the saints, so that there may be the one accord among God’s people. Gain the one accord, Lord, that there may be one heart, one way, one speaking, one thinking, and one teaching, all aiming at the goal of God and being prepared as the army to take the good land under the blessing of God in His Divine Trinity and the blessing of the more mature saints!
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References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1990, vol. 2, ”The Oneness and the One Accord according to the Lord’s Aspiration and the Body Life and Service according to His Pleasure,” pp. 73-76, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), week 12, The Necessity of Spiritual Warfare and God’s People Formed into an Army Ready for Battle.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Fight, saints, for Jesus our Lord! / Take in His life, stand in one accord! / Never fear God’s enemy; / Tread on his head triumphantly! / Pray that the daily church life be strong, / That all the saints in spirit press on, / Fighting as the one new man, / Fulfilling our Lord’s great plan! / (Glory! Hallelujah!) (Hymns #1283)
# For this cause Your Person, Lord, / We take and stand in one accord; / All the members self forsake, / And of the Body-Christ partake. / We in Christ as one new man / Now come forth to take this land. / For this cause Your Person, Lord, / We take and stand in one accord. (Hymns #1230)
# Pray with one accord in spirit / Seeking God in unity; / In the Spirit of the Body / Ever pray in harmony. (Hymns #779)
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