Is the church built that way? Far from it. That is the way the church is destroyed. What is the source of the trouble? It is the absence of the throne! In the book of Judges we read: "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judg. 21:25). When there was no king in Israel, there was no authority, and the people just did as they pleased. At that time a certain family set up a place of worship in their own home, hired a Levite to be their household priest, and there they instituted a form of "divine worship" (Judg. 17). That is exactly the state of things in the present day! We think if we are just keen enough, we can gather some people together, and you can set up a church on this street, and I can set up a church on that street, and we can hire a preacher to preach for us. Brothers and sisters, what is the cause of all this confusion? The ultimate cause is that we have not subjected ourselves to the Head of the church.

But let us return to our illustration of the two brothers. If those two had both come into subjection to the church's Head, their problems would have been solved, for authority quells all rebellion. Oh, what rebel stuff there is in our make-up! I confess that my own nature is utterly antagonistic to the Lord, but His authority over me has brought me to love my brethren, so that I can truly serve Him together with them. Brothers and sisters, we talk about mutual love, but this love of ours one for the other is very transient. There is only one place where love is permanent, and that is under the Head of the church. Nowhere else is there true harmony or permanent relatedness. When we are willing to be broken under His authority, something tremendous happens—a building process begins to take place. A constant acceptance of the discipline of His government makes way for the flow of His life, and so the building work goes on apace. Those brothers and sisters who have been our problems become our blessings, and it is not long before a company is built up in the life of Christ.

Brothers and sisters, this is what God desires today. It is not enough that we preach the gospel, bring people to a knowledge of salvation, and to a measure of spirituality. We must also bring them under the headship of Christ so that they may be built up. Under His headship we shall cease to reckon with difficulties, for we shall touch fullness of life. Then the specific spiritual function which belongs to each member of the Body will become apparent, and this local church will become a strong church in which, under the direction of the Head, every member, from the smallest to the greatest, will have a contribution to make to the whole.