In this chapter we must see something more important than what we have seen in the previous chapters. We want to see how the church comes into being, how the church grows up, and how the church is built up. As we have said many times, the church is absolutely something of Christ, and strictly speaking, the church is something as Christ. It is not only something of Christ but something as Christ. The church is part of Christ. We have seen that the church is the increase of Christ, something that comes out of Christ to be increased as a bride to match Him. Now we need to go on to see something from the books written by the apostle Paul. Because in Paul’s days many things other than Christ had come into the church, the church was greatly damaged, spoiled, and dismembered. The church was even killed by many foreign things. Today the situation is the same.
If we want to speak about the church, we have to know what the real experience of Christ is. First of all, we have to discern the difference between the gifts and Christ. The gifts are things for Christ, but they are not Christ Himself. You may have a certain gift, yet you may have nothing to do with Christ. Do not think that the gifts are Christ. Gifts are things from God, but they are not Christ Himself. We all need to realize this. For instance, the Old Testament speaks of an ass that could speak a human language (Num. 22:28-30). No doubt, that was a miraculous and extraordinary gift. If today an ass spoke in English, the whole city would be excited, and the newspapers would greatly publicize it. However, it would not be something which is Christ Himself. Similarly, although the prophets in the Old Testament time spoke many things concerning Christ, what they had was merely a gift for them to speak for Christ. What they had was not Christ Himself.
Today many Christians pay too much attention to divine healing. I do not like to criticize others, but as one of the Lord’s servants I have to be faithful. In these days different ones have asked me what kind of ministry I have. Because I did not know what they meant, I have been bothered by their question. Eventually, I said, “My ministry is a ministry of Christ.” Some of them went on to ask, “What do you mean by the ministry of Christ? Do you have a healing ministry?” Sometimes we have healings, but we do not say that our ministry is a healing ministry. Divine healing is not bad or unnecessary. In fact, I myself have experienced divine healing in the past years. Moreover, I have to testify to the Lord’s mercy that I have brought divine healing to others, and I have seen a good number of believers among us receiving divine healing. However, dear brothers and sisters, you have to realize that divine healing is something other than Christ. You may have divine healing, yet you may not have Christ.
In the past years I saw a number of people who received divine healing yet did not know Christ. Healing is one matter, while the Healer is another. Do you want the Healer or the healing? Likewise, gifts are one matter, but the Giver is another. Do you want the gifts or the Giver? I am sorry to say, however, that today many brothers and sisters pay too much attention to the gifts but pay very little attention to the Giver. The gifts are for the Giver, but today the gifts have become a frustration to the Giver. The gifts should be a help that brings people to the Giver, but today people are content with the gifts, and they forget about the Giver. In the Old Testament we have the story of Rebekah in Genesis 24. When the old servant of Abraham found Rebekah and presented to her a considerable number of gifts from Isaac (v. 53), she was not satisfied with the gifts. Those gifts served only as a reminder to remind Rebekah of Isaac, the giver of the gifts. Hence, Rebekah agreed right away to go with the old servant to be with Isaac (v. 58). Today, however, many people are satisfied with the gifts, and they have no heart and even no desire to seek the Giver. We know the story of Rebekah is a type. The old servant is a type of the Holy Spirit sent down by the heavenly Father to seek us as the heavenly Rebekah to marry Christ as the heavenly Isaac. When the Holy Spirit comes to us, He often comes with some gifts, but all these gifts are reminders of Christ, the Giver. When you receive a gift, you should not be satisfied with the gift. You must remember to seek the Giver, who is Christ Himself. By this you can see the difference between the gifts and the Giver, between the many things other than Christ and Christ Himself. You may have many things, yet you may not have Christ.
Concerning this matter, I can never forget the help I received from Brother Watchman Nee about thirty years ago. One day he spoke with me, saying, “Brother Lee, when I was very young, a little more than twenty years of age, I was under the help of an elderly sister, Miss M. E. Barber. Many times when famous preachers with prominent titles came to our town, Miss Barber would bring me with her, and at other times I would ask her to go with me to listen to these world-famous preachers. The first time we went, in my heart I truly appreciated the preacher. I felt that he was very eloquent, smart, and knowledgeable, and I truly admired him. Then the next day when I sat with Miss Barber in her living room, she asked me what I thought about the preacher the previous night. I said, ‘He is wonderful!’ She went on to ask, ‘Wonderful in what?’ I said, ‘He is surely wonderful in knowledge, in ability, in eloquence, and so forth.’ Then she asked, ‘What is that? Is that something which is Christ Himself? Is that something that comes out of the inner fellowship? Can you realize that the speaker is really one who is in fellowship with Christ?’” Brother Nee told me that after being asked in that way, he simply had nothing to say except one word, no. Was that something which is Christ Himself? No. Was that something from the inner fellowship? No. Was that speaker in fellowship with Christ? No.
After a certain time another speaker came. This one was more famous than all the ones who had come before. Brother Nee went to Miss Barber and asked her to go with him to listen to that big speaker. While they were listening, Brother Nee was really happy and said within himself, “O Miss Barber, this time you have to be convinced. Here is something really bigger and better.” After they came back, Brother Nee had no patience to wait until the next day. He right away asked her, “What about this one?” Miss Barber calmly asked him, “Is this one in the fellowship of the Lord?” Brother Nee told me that her question simply made him clear, and he had to answer, “No.” Since that time I have been greatly helped. I may speak very well and I may preach richly, yet there is the possibility that I am not in the fellowship of the Lord. That kind of preaching is a preaching of gift, not a preaching of Christ Himself. Anything that is of Christ, even as Christ Himself, must be in the fellowship of Christ. You must be in the fellowship of Christ. You must have a living contact with Christ.
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