We must also see the inward essence of the church. Without the inward aspect, the church is a mere organization. The church, however, should be an organism. We believers are not only composed together, but we are organically united together. As a result, we are not an organization but an organic composition which is an organism. We are not merely together, but we are growing together. We do not grow together separately like the trees in a forest, but we grow together organically like the members of a person’s physical body. A particular member of a person’s body organically grows together with all the other members. In like manner, we, as members of the Body of Christ (Eph. 5:30), are growing with the growth of God (Col. 2:19).
It is essential that we go further to see the inward essence of the church and its function. First, the church is the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15; Eph. 2:19; 1 Pet. 2:5), God’s dwelling place, God’s temple, which is in Christ, in resurrection, and in the heavenlies. The church is also the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23a) because Christ Himself is God’s temple, God’s dwelling, God’s house (John 2:19-22). To be the Body of Christ is to be God’s dwelling, God’s house, God’s temple. Jesus told the Jews in John 2:19: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” In this verse the Lord was speaking of the temple of His body (v. 21). In resurrection, this temple has been enlarged (1 Pet. 1:3; 1 Cor. 3:16-17). Now the house of God is in its expansion. God’s dwelling expanded is Christ with His Body (Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Cor. 3:16). This Body is in Christ, in resurrection, and in the heavenlies so this Body is the composition, the constitution, of all the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8). Such a constitution, such a composition, becomes the fullness, the expression, of the One who fills all in all (Eph. 1:23b). The church is also the new man, which is corporate and universal (Eph. 2:15). There are many believers, but there is only one new man in the universe. All the believers are components of this one corporate and universal new man.
This one in function is Christ’s Body, and in love, in satisfaction, this one is Christ’s counterpart, His wife (Eph. 5:25, 29, 32). His Body is for His expression. His wife is for His satisfaction. This church is also a warrior, fighting with Christ against God’s enemy to destroy him (Eph. 6:10-17). According to the vision we have seen concerning the church, the last aspect of the church in this age is the lampstand which is the very embodiment of the Triune God (Rev. 1:12-13, 20). The house, the Body, the fullness, the wife, and the warrior eventually are the very embodiment of the Triune God. The lampstand embodies the Triune God in His divine essence, in His divine shape, and for His divine expression.
When the church arrives at the state of being the very embodiment of the Triune God, the church will be ready for the marriage of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7); this is the readiness of the bride for the bridegroom to come to marry her (John 3:29). This wife will be a composition of all the faithful, overcoming, matured believers who will inherit the kingdom of God and Christ in the millennium to share Christ’s joy and feast with Him for a thousand years (Rev. 19:7-9). These ones will be the wife of Christ in the millennium and will not include the defeated ones, the unfaithful ones, since the unfaithful ones still will not be matured during the millennium. Their maturity will be built up during the millennium. After being dealt with by the Lord during the millennium, they will participate in the New Jerusalem for eternity. After the millennium, in the new heaven and the new earth, this church who is the wife of the Lamb in the one thousand years of the millennium, will consummate in the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem will be the consummation of the church which includes all the Old Testament saints. This is a vision concerning the church in its essence and in its functions.
In its practice the church exists in different localities on this earth during this age, so the universal church in its practicality becomes local. In its universal nature it is one, but in its local practice it is many. There is one universal church in essence, but there are many local churches in practice. In any locality there should only be one church (Rev. 1:11). In its universal aspect (Matt. 16:18) the church is composed of all the believers in all places at all times (1 Cor. 12:13). In its local aspect (Matt. 18:17) the church is composed of the believers in one locality at one time (Phil. 1:1; Acts 8:1; 13:1; Rom. 16:1). Anything more than one church in one locality is not proper.
We must see the church in its essence, its function, and its practicality. This vision will govern us and rule out all other elements. Any natural, fleshly, or ambitious element will be ruled out by this vision. Under this vision we do not have the boldness to exercise anything of our natural man. In this respect, such a vision paralyzes us. Most Christians realize that the church is a constitution, a composition, of all the believers in Christ. By the Lord’s mercy, however, what we have seen in this message is a higher vision concerning the church. We have seen that Eve as the wife of Adam is a type of the church as the wife of Christ. Just as Eve was a pure product out of Adam so the church must be a pure product out of Christ. Someone may ask how the church today could be such an Eve, a pure product out of Christ. This is why we all need to see the vision. When you see the vision, you are Eve. Without the vision, it would be hard for you to be Eve. All things other than the pure element of Christ are ruled out by this vision. This is why we should not remain under the influence of the traditional teachings. We need the vision. When we see the vision that the church is in resurrection, in Christ, and in the heavenlies, it will rule out everything other than Christ, resurrection, and the heavenlies.
We all need to praise, thank, and worship the Lord for His mercy in showing us such a vision. It is absolutely the Lord’s mercy that He has opened up His Word to us in such a way. The light we have received from the Lord’s holy Word is nothing but His mercy.