Some brothers may be silent in the meetings, but this silence may be a virtue that is not mingled with God. Some people are outgoing by nature; whenever there is an opportunity, they are always speaking, continually expressing their opinions. Most sisters have this disposition; it seems that all the time in the world would not be sufficient for them to express their opinions. This is absolutely devoid of God. There are other brothers and sisters who can keep their mouths shut even if they sit with others for three days. They, like those who love to express their opinions, also do not have God in their disposition.
Those who do not speak may condemn those who love to speak. Yet while they condemn the talkative ones and inwardly approve their own prudent speech and careful conduct, the Holy Spirit may touch them, asking, “Is this of one nature or of two natures? Is this only of yourself or is God mingled with you?” Some people are quick by nature, and others are slow; however, slow-natured people are generally praised for being gentle, and quick-natured people are condemned for being irritable. Referring to Exodus 28:33-35, people say that the priest could not allow the bells on the priestly robe to be noisy when he ministered; they say this to indicate that it is unacceptable for fast or hurried movements to cause the bells to rattle incessantly in the presence of God. However, slow people must also allow God to touch them to know whether their slowness comes out of one nature or out of two natures, whether it comes out of themselves or out of their mingling with God. This is a very sober matter.
If we all would allow God to touch us, the slow ones would prostrate themselves, realizing that they should condemn their slowness, and those who do not open their mouths will realize that they should condemn their silence. This is because our natural disposition kills the church, causing the church to be improper. Our natural disposition prevents God from being mingled with man. It is the strongest element of our human nature, and it does not express the mingling of God and man; it is not dual-natured. Hence, our natural disposition needs to be broken and torn down by the cross. Dealing with sins and the element of the world is not the greatest problem in the church life today. Rather, our greatest problem is that we have too many elements of the natural disposition that are praised by men and regarded as virtues. This is the greatest difficulty in the church life today.
The two natures of God and man are built upon Christ and upon breaking; building needs breaking. In relation to Christ, there is building; in relation to us, there is breaking. Breaking is different from nullifying; breaking involves the submission of ourselves under God’s hand. If by nature I am a quiet person in the meetings, I should ask myself whether it is God in me who is being quiet or whether it is I who am being quiet. I should learn to submit to God’s ruling. In the same principle, a talkative person should also submit to God’s ruling. If we would do this in our meetings, others will be able to sense that we have God’s presence in our speaking and in our silence, in our quickness as well as in our slowness. All of our problems are related to how much God has mingled with us and how much we have mingled with God. Only the building of the two natures of God and man is the building spoken of in Matthew 16.
The gates of Hades cannot prevail against such a building. However, if we continue to live in our fallen and earthly personality and disposition, the gates of Hades will overcome us, because these traits will actually be in Satan’s hands. Our gentleness and our irritability will be in the hands of Satan; our silence and our speaking will also be in his hands. Everything natural is in Satan’s hands; they are earthly objects for Satan to devour. When we live in God, when our natural element and personality are broken, and when we allow the mingling of God and man to be built within us, the building cannot be overcome by the gates of Hades. This is the church that has authority.
Matthew 16 says that whatever the church binds on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatever the church looses on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens (v. 19). Some saints often quote Matthew 16 and 18, saying that as long as two or three are gathered into the Lord’s name, whatever they bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatever they loose on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens (16:19; 18:18, 20). If we apply these verses in this way we will be greatly disappointed. We may loose, but He will not loose, and we may bind, but He will not bind. It is not as if these words are a kind of “magic spell” that require the mere utterance of them for them to be fulfilled. This is not the case. It all depends upon whether the one who utters these words has been broken, whether God has been built into him, and whether he has been built into God. This is the crucial point. If Peter, John, James, and Paul met together, they could say that their binding was the heavens’ binding and their loosing was the heavens’ loosing. What they said could be fulfilled because they were persons built with the mingling of God and man; however, what we say may not be fulfilled because we do not have enough of the mingling of God and man within us.
Acts 19 recounts how some traveling Jewish exorcists named the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches,” but instead of the evil spirit leaving, the man, in whom the evil spirit resided, leaped upon them (vv. 13-16). We must be careful, because we may desire to bind the enemy, but instead we may be bound; we may desire to loose people, yet in the end even we are not loosed. This is not a matter of doctrine or of uttering certain words. This is a matter of whether we have been torn down and broken, whether the mingling of God and man has been built into us. Is the mingling of divinity and humanity in us? Is our living a living of the mingling of divinity and humanity? This is the root of all our problems.
Only what has been torn down and built up as the mingling of God and man is the church, and against this the gates of Hades cannot prevail. Only this shows the authority of God and the image of God. This is the enlarged Christ, the enlargement of the mingling of God and man. When people touch this, they touch something that is of both God and man. When people touch the building of God, they will touch not only Christ and God but also all the other lovers of God, including even Paul and Peter. This is something wonderful and special; this is the consummation of the man created in Genesis 1. The full consummation can be seen in the New Jerusalem in eternity. In the New Jerusalem whatever is of man will have been torn down and broken by God, and whatever is of God will have been built into man. In this way, God will be able to shine forth His splendor through man.
Although gold is an exceedingly precious substance in the world, the “gold” we have today is not transparent (Rev. 21:18, 21). However, one day this “gold” will be transparent, and God will be able to shine through it. The Lord said, “Upon this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). In that day the building will be completed; it will be the completion of the building in Matthew 16. When the building is completed, the New Jerusalem will be manifested. Hebrews 11 says that the building is still in the process of being built (cf. v. 16). Ephesians 2:20-22 shows this building on a small scale; however, it will be enlarged to be a city in the future.
Please remember that the church is not a matter of name, position, or stand; neither is the church a matter of belief or organization. The church is a group of people who allow God to be mingled with them and who are mingled with God. This was the situation with the early apostles. They were truly Galileans, but they were also truly one with the God of heaven; they had the appearance of Galileans, but they also had the expression of the God of heaven. The glory of the God of heaven was expressed in uneducated, common people. Uneducated, common people were still present, yet the glory of the God of heaven was also expressed. This is the church. The ignorance disappeared, and common people were broken. A glorious and great God was now mingled with common people, shining forth and being expressed through them. The church had the authority and image of God. If this were our situation, all of the problems in the church would be gone; there would not be the problem of speaking or silence, of being open or closed, or of being quick or slow. All of these problems would be gone.
Everything that is compatible in a natural way is not the Body nor in the principle of the Body. The believers are not manifesting the principle of the Body if they get along with each other simply because they have the same taste. Some may argue and say, “No, they sing with the same rhythm. When one sings, another joins in; when one shares, another says Amen. They are in such harmony.” However, this does not show the Body; in fact, it may be more in the principle of the flesh than of the Body. The principle of the Body is that our person is broken, defeated, and torn down by God and that we are giving God the opportunity to mingle with us and shine forth from within us. This is Christ being born again in the world; this is Christ being multiplied among us; this is the church, the enlargement of Christ. Whenever this is practiced, wherever this is present, there is the expression of the church on the earth—a church that is real, practical, actual, and powerful. Thus, the church with authority and image is a reality.