Another principle which we must take in our interpretation of the Bible is the principle of four items: Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. The first principle we have seen is a general principle—the Triune God dispensing Himself into His chosen people. The second principle is in more detail—with Christ for the church. Now we see a third principle of Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. Any message or any development of the Bible without Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church is an empty shell with no content. The content of the Bible is Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. At least one of these items must be present in your development of the truth. Also, in your preaching of the gospel at least one of these items should be present. I saw some evangelists in China who preached quite prevailingly, but in their gospel they did not preach much reality of Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. Their prevailing evangelical work attracted a good number of people. However, many of these people turned to the way of the Lord’s recovery to pick up Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. They all remained and became very useful to the Lord’s interest. Those who did not turn this way, including the evangelists, either disappeared or still remained with emptiness. In their gospel campaigns a number were saved, but after ten years many disappeared or remained empty. We must thank the Lord, however, that many also turned this way. The ones who turned this way not only remained but they became solid with the truth concerning Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church.
D. L. Moody’s preaching, comparatively speaking, was more solid than any other evangelist in England. If you compare Moody’s messages to the other evangelists’ messages of his day, you can see that with Moody’s messages there is some solid content, while with the others you can see mostly eloquence. Some evangelists preach with eloquent illustrations to attract people to stir up their interest, but after being interested, all that is left with them is a good story. Many are merely eloquent speakers with very little Christ. Based upon this principle, we should check today’s preaching. How much Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church is in today’s preaching of the Word? This shows us the emptiness of today’s preaching and teaching. You should not develop the truth in the Bible in this way, in an empty way. You must develop the biblical truth in the way of Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. Even if you have a good portion of the Word with a good idea to stir up people’s interest, you must consider whether or not Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church are the content of your message. If they are not the content, you should forget about it. Do not go further to develop anything apart from this governing principle because you will waste your time. Also, you will have no safeguard and you will be led astray.
All the heresies came in by the way of developing the truth in the Bible apart from Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. Any doctrine developed apart from these four items will issue in heresy or division. The Presbyterian church came into existence because they developed the doctrine of presbytery without Christ, without the Spirit, without life, and without the church. If they had developed the truth of the presbytery with the church, they would have dared not set up a Presbyterian church. The Presbyterian church became one among many divisions. Some even developed the doctrine of holiness apart from Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. We, however, should develop the doctrine of holiness with Christ for the church. We need to tell people that holiness is Christ Himself, and this Christ today is the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Not only is His Spirit called the Holy Spirit, but also He is called the life-giving Spirit who imparts the divine life into us for our sanctification. Holiness is God’s nature and is related to life. If you do not have God’s life, you do not have God’s nature, which is holiness. If God’s holiness is going to be increased within you, you must live according to God’s nature and by God’s life. We must also realize that this holy life should not only be for our personal living but it must also be a part of the church life. If we would develop the doctrine of holiness with Christ, with the Spirit, with life, and with the church, we would see a marvelous revelation. Otherwise, a holiness sect will be created. This is why some have established holiness churches. These are actually holiness divisions cutting the Body into pieces.
It is dangerous to develop any biblical doctrine apart from Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. To do this could lead to division. Your doctrine, on the other hand, may not be wrong, but eventually the issue of your practice will be a division. It is always safe to develop any doctrine in the Bible with Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. Even if something is good and scriptural, never develop it apart from Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. While the principle of dispensations helps in interpreting the Bible, it is too superficial. Always remember these three intrinsic principles of developing the truth in the Bible: the Triune God dispensing Himself into His chosen and redeemed people; Christ and the church; and Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church.