At this point a problem arose. Since both the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Church were state churches, they naturally contained many unsaved people. A person cannot be saved by birth. If a person could be saved by birth, we would only have to make Christianity the state religion of China and then all the Chinese would be Christians. Becoming a Christian by regeneration would become unnecessary. However, this is impossible. Being born is one thing, but being born again is quite another. As a result of such a practice, all the state churches were filled with unsaved people. Thank God, there were also many saved ones. But the unsaved people, in spite of their education and background, were still unsaved.
There then is a problem: Is the Anglican Church the church? If it is the church, how could there be so many unsaved people in it? Surely this is quite strange! In this church there are quite a number of unbelievers. How could this be? Consequently, a certain doctrine of the church emerged. According to this doctrine, there are two kinds of churches: visible and invisible, that is, a church with a form and another church without a form. In this doctrine the church spoken of in the Scriptures was regarded as invisible and spiritual, but the church on the earth was regarded as visible and with a form. In the visible church there could be false Christians, but in the spiritual church everyone was genuine. Brothers, we must know that all doctrines have an origin. The doctrine of the spiritual church, that is, the doctrine of a visible and an invisible church, was brought in just as we have mentioned. Since man brought in so many false believers, the visible church, of course, became untrustworthy. Since all the British people fell into one net, there had to be both “good fish” and “bad fish.” This is wrong. The Scriptures teach that the church is the Body of Christ and Christ is the Head of the church; thus, only believers can be the church. How can there be unbelievers in the church? Since so many unbelievers filled the church, what else could be done except to produce a doctrine about two kinds of churches, a visible one which is unreliable and an invisible one which is real? It was inevitable that this kind of doctrine would be produced. It was essential to justify their existence; otherwise, it was impossible for them to go on. Brothers, do you see the point? It is by necessity that this kind of doctrine was produced. The visible church became too loose; anything could be found in her. As a result, such a doctrine was compelled to be produced.
Supporters of this doctrine quoted the Scripture where it says that Satan sowed tares after the Lord sowed the seed. It says that we should not remove the tares, but “let both grow together” (Matt. 13:24, 30). These ones said that the invisible and spiritual church consists of those who are born again, among whom not one is false. But in the visible church there are tares, which should not be removed. Many brothers and sisters reading this passage thought that this was right, that there was a difference between the visible and the invisible church. They did not realize that such evil can never be covered up by the doctrine of the visible and invisible churches. These ones made the church too inclusive. The Lord Jesus was speaking about the wheat and the tares growing together in the world (Matt. 13:38), not in the church! Since the church was expanded to be as large as the world, naturally tares were included in the church. Consequently, the only way to explain the church was to say that there is a church with form and a church without form. It is true that these ones acknowledged that the Anglican Church is too big. But there is another church, the church in the Bible, which only consists of spiritual and regenerated persons.
What was the condition of the churches on earth in Revelation 2 and 3? They were the seven golden lampstands. What is a golden lampstand? It is a place where light shines forth. When He was on earth, the Lord Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men.” What is the use if the light shines, but men cannot see it (Matt. 5:16)? Tonight, we can be here because there is visible light. What could we do if it were invisible? An invisible light is a joke, a big joke. How can there be an invisible light? Furthermore, if light is visible, it must have a form; it cannot be without form. A light without form is a lie. The church on the earth must be seen by men. The Bible has no thought of the church being an invisible light. But today, the church is spoken of not in relation to putting a lamp under a bushel, but of shining forth invisible light from a lampstand! The word that the Lord Jesus spoke to us is clear enough. He said, “You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city situated upon a mountain to be hidden” (Matt. 5:14). This is visible, not invisible. The Lord wants us to be manifested on the earth and seen of men.
We must see, therefore, that what is called the visible church is actually the world. Because some insist on calling it a church, they explain that there is another church within this outward church. However, the church spoken of in God’s Word is one that comes out of the world and is separated from the world. Since this is so, we only can acknowledge the existence of a spiritual church, not an outward church.
The problem today is that there are many brothers and sisters who think that the unity among Christians is a “spiritual” unity. According to this spiritual unity, there are some people in the church who are spiritual and some who are not. Thus, in every church there is an outward aspect and a spiritual aspect. With spiritual unity, a group of spiritual brothers can have fellowship with another group of spiritual brothers, and they can all be one with each other. I want to point out that the reason there is a need for this kind of spiritual unity is that there are some who are of the world. If everyone is brought forth by the word of God, the question of spiritual unity would never need to arise.
This matter is very important because it touches a basic problem. If you ask someone how many are unsaved in his denomination, he would probably say about half of them. Several denominations may tell you that they would be very happy if one in ten is saved. These denominations are not much different from the state church. They are like an onion which has many layers that can be peeled off. What they mean is that the nine outside layers mean nothing; only the center counts. Undoubtedly, the principle of the denominations is still the principle of the state church because many in their midst do not belong to the Lord. For this reason their fellowship must, by necessity, be limited to spiritual ones, not to the whole church. If the whole church were to fellowship together, many unbelievers would be involved. In order to have spiritual fellowship, the whole church cannot be included. But the Bible includes the whole church as the boundary of fellowship. Because the condition of the church is murky and the boundary of the church is ill-defined, there is the need of “spiritual” fellowship.
Today many kinds of peculiar churches exist in the world because many non-Christians were brought into them. Since many unbelievers and false Christians are in the “church,” Christians in these churches have to maintain an invisible fellowship; all their fellowship is invisible. They say that they have fellowship of the heart, that their hearts are joined to each other. Let me say this: The very need for this kind of fellowship is a mistake. We must understand and see through this. This need for “spiritual” unity exists only because the position is wrong. If we stand in the right position, we are already one. If the church is proper, the invisible would become visible, and there would be no need for invisible fellowship. The Lord said that the church is a lampstand, but they say that the light it sheds is only an invisible light. This is strange. This kind of spiritual fellowship and spiritual unity was produced by mixing unbelievers in the church.
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