The first of these visions is the vision of Christ. To have the vision of Christ is to see that Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God and the center of all things related to God. Christ is the center of God's plan, of God's eternal intention. Christ is also the center of God's work, God's creation, and God's redemption. Christ is the center of all that God has planned to do. Christ must have the preeminence in everything; He must have the first place in all things. We need to apply this Christ to our life, ministry, and church life. Christ must be the essence, the substance, of our Christian walk and the reality of our work, service, and ministry. Our ministry should be a ministry of Christ, full of Christ. Furthermore, Christ must be the content and expression of the church life. The church should be an expression of nothing other than the all-inclusive Christ. We all need such a vision of Christ.
In order to see the vision of Christ, you may need to pray earnestly for a period of time. You may need to cry out to the Lord day by day, saying, "Lord, reveal Yourself to me that I may see. Lord, I do not just need to know—I need to see. I need to be impressed by the vision concerning Yourself." Eventually something like a veil will be opened to you, and within you there will be an inner revelation, an inner unveiling. Then, as was the case with Paul, "something like scales" (Acts 9:18) will fall from your eyes, and you will be able to say, "Before now I knew something about Christ, but I did not have the vision. Now I see!" Once you were veiled, but the veil has been lifted and the curtain has been opened. No human word can explain this; it is something that you must experience.
You may hear messages about Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God, as the center of the things of God, as the One who has the first place in everything, as the essence of our Christian life, as the reality of our service, and as the content and expression of the church life. You may hear about all these matters, but one day the veil will be opened and you will see the vision of Christ. Once you see this vision you will be caught by it. From that time onward your burden will be to minister Christ to others. If you speak about something other than Christ, you will not have the inner anointing. But the more you speak concerning Christ, the more you will have the inner anointing. You are now "shut in" with Christ, kept away from mere knowledge, for your eyes have been opened and you have seen the vision of Christ.
If you would be a proper Christian, you need to see not only the vision of Christ but also the vision of the church. You need to see that God's desire is to have the church. The Holy Spirit will point out to you that God's purpose in creating the universe was to produce the church. Redemption also is for the church. All that God does is for the church, and every kind of work and ministry should be for the church. Gospel preaching is for the church. Edifying the saints is for the church. Teaching the Bible is for the church. We have been saved for the church, not for ourselves nor for any other purpose. The desire of God's heart is to have the church, and we were saved to be built up as the church. We must have this vision.
I believe that if you really mean business with the Lord and take sides with Him, sooner or later He will open your eyes to see that His desire in this universe is to have the church. All other things are secondary. The primary thing is that the church is God's heart's desire.
Seeing this will not only rescue you from the wrong concept and understanding; it will revolutionize your Christian service. You will see that God's intention is to have the church, not just to have the gospel preached that others may be brought to the Lord, nor just to have others helped to seek the Lord, love the Lord, and be spiritual. Everything you do in your work and service for the Lord will be for the building up of the church. Whatever you are and whatever you do will be for the church.
Consider the ministry of the apostle Paul. What did Paul do after he had been changed, revolutionized, to this way of vision? Everything he did was for the church. Strictly speaking, he did not have what we may call "a piece of work." He simply did everything for the church. Apart from the church, Paul did not have anything. Whatever he was and whatever he did were for the church. If the church had been taken away, Paul would have had nothing left.
I would ask you to check yourself by comparing yourself with Paul. I am concerned that you have many things besides the church. You may have some good works, but these good works are besides the church. This proves that you are wrong. The church is the real test that proves what we are and where we are. The church is God's desire.