Today's situation is not much different from what happened in the past history of the church. Some free groups are just for the study of the Bible. Others are for spirituality. Although these things are good, they are not God's goal and should not be an excuse to form divisions. Church history shows us that the so-called church in a general sense became degraded and that those who loved the Lord, who loved the truth, and who loved the Bible did not receive a proper, adequate, clear, and complete vision of the church. Although they defended the truth, they made mistakes that resulted in more division in the Body of Christ. Thus, it was difficult for the Lord to find vessels to carry out His purpose. This is the reason that the history of the church is generally a sad story.

If we do not have the vision of God's goal, we will be happily content with many revivals. One of the most prevailing revivals in the history of the church took place in Wales in 1904 and 1905. One story speaks of all the theaters in Wales being closed and of no one going to any worldly entertainment on Sunday. All of the people went to church meetings. But it did not last too long. It was only a revival; not much was accomplished for the fulfilling of God's eternal purpose, that is, the building up of the Body of Christ. That revival was wonderful, but we also need to consider what was carried out through it. Revivals are very positive for bringing people to salvation, but there is not much result for the fulfilling of God's eternal purpose.

We have to be clear what we are here for. We are not here merely to be separated from the world. We are not here merely to be spiritual. We are not here for revivals, mission work, or the study of the Bible. We are here for the Lord's recovery of the church. By His mercy, we have to defend the revealed truths in the Bible, but in our defending we should not make mistakes that will damage the Lord's Body. The way to be kept from making any mistakes by our defending is to take care of the church. Surely we should not be worldly and surely we have to be in the Spirit. The church should have no religion, no vain teachings, no philosophy, no human organization, no clergy, no hierarchy, no worldliness, no human power, and no flesh. But we should not defend anything of God's kingdom by making serious mistakes. In order for us to be safeguarded from making any mistakes in defending something of God's interest, we need to see the church.