Thus far, we have seen eight aspects of people who live and walk in the spirit in the presence of the Lord: captives, letters, mirrors, vessels, ambassadors, co-workers, the temple, and the virgin. In this chapter we want to see the last two aspects of such people-lovers of the church and tasters of Christ.
If we have really been captured by the Lord, are under His writing in the spirit, are unveiled mirrors reflecting Him all the time, are broken vessels to express Him, mean business with Him to represent Him on this earth as His ambassadors, are bound with Him as one to be His co-workers, are the temple for His rest, and are the virgins to Him for His satisfaction, we are surely lovers of the church because the Body of Christ, the church, is what Christ is longing for. Nothing is so precious in the Lord’s eyes, in the Lord’s feelings, as the church. Ephesians 5 tells us that Christ loved the church to such an extent that He gave Himself up for her (v. 25). Some Christians would say that we should not consider the church so much. They feel that we should be careful not to consider the church more than Christ and not to make the church an idol to ourselves. But if we know what the church is and if we love the Lord and realize what His heart’s desire is, we will love the church more and more than ever before. Today the Lord is for nothing but the church. He desires the church, His Body, to express Him on this earth today among the human race. The church is not something in the future and not something merely in the heavenlies. In the future and in the heavenlies there will be no problems to overcome. But today here on this earth we need to overcome all the problems to realize what the church life is that we may fulfill the Lord’s heart’s desire. Second Corinthians shows us that the Apostle Paul’s heart was fully for the church and on the church. The church was so precious to him because he realized what the Lord’s heart’s desire is.
Second Corinthians was not addressed to individual saints but to the church of God (1:1). It was not addressed to the church in the heavenlies but to a local church in Corinth. In 1:1 Paul said, “To the church of God which is in Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia.” Paul used the expression “with all the saints” not “and all the saints.” We need to see the difference between these two expressions. To use the conjunction “and” means that the church and the saints are two separate entities, but to use “with” means that the church includes the saints. The saints belong to the church. If you are not one with the church, you are not qualified to receive this Epistle. For you to receive this book, you have to be in the position of being with the church. Second Corinthians was not written to any individual. We have seen that the temple is a corporate temple and that Paul betrothed the believers as one corporate virgin to Christ. If you are not with the church, you have no position to receive what is in 2 Corinthians because the entire book is written to the church with the saints. A letter may be written to a school with the students but not to the school and the students individually. The students do not have the position to receive this letter if they are not with the school.
Paul’s letter was addressed to the church in a certain city on this earth not to the church in the heavenlies. You may say that you are with a church, but are you with an abstract, unseen, invisible church in the heavenlies or with a concrete, visible, practical local church today on this earth in the very place where you are? Many people who talk about the church are churchless. They are talking about a wonderful home in the future in the heavenlies, but today they are homeless. All the Epistles written by the apostles were dealing with the local churches on the earth. All of us need to be in a local church where we can practice the proper Christian life today.
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