The church is something very great. It is something very mysterious yet very practical and tangible. For this reason, the church needs an appearance. This is like the radio waves that pervade over the whole earth and fill all the air space. They are mysterious yet tangible. But in order for the radio waves to become tangible, they must have an appearance. If you install a radio receiver and tune to the right frequency, the radio waves will "appear." The church is a mystery. It includes time and space, yet it also transcends time and space. Nevertheless, at the same time the church has a tangible appearance in the localities. In the Bible, we can find the church in Jerusalem, the church in Antioch, the church in Ephesus, and the church in Corinth. There are the many churches in the different localities. The church has its appearance on earth.
We should not only know the position of the church in God's plan, its nature, its function, and its appearance; we must also know the ground of the church. If the brothers and sisters know this, wherever they go, they will be able to discern under what kind of condition a place is a church.
Today's Christianity is too confusing. Men can put up a sign everywhere and call themselves the church. If the brothers and sisters have been taught, they will not be deceived by this kind of device. They will have the clear discernment to know what is the church. Hence, the ground of the church is also a big issue.
We must also know all that the church has passed through from Pentecost until now. We have to know a general sketch of what the church has passed through, and we have to know the present condition of the church. We have to tell the brothers and sisters what the Roman Catholic Church is and what Protestantism is. We have to let them know what the different denominations, sects, and groups are, and what the church is that God is after on earth. We have to acquaint the brothers and sisters with the history and the present condition of the church.
While you are helping the brothers and sisters to know the history and the present condition of the church, they will see that the church today has fully departed from the condition at the beginning. However, God has a recovery. The recovery of the church is a big subject. You can begin from the recovery of Martin Luther, and consider how the pioneers of the Reformation four or five hundred years ago began the recovery, and how the recovery came down through the ages, through Zinzendorf, then the British Brethren, until it reached the East, and how God recovered His church. You need time to dig out the background material concerning all these. You yourselves have to know these things, and you have to help the brothers and sisters to know these things also.