When we touch the church, do we touch Chinese, Japanese, British, or Americans? None of these should be in the church. Some people say that the local Taiwanese and the people from the mainland are very different in temperament. However, when we consider the matter of the church and touch the matter of the church, there cannot be local people or mainlanders. Furthermore, there cannot be Chinese, Japanese, and British, because all have been crucified on the cross with Christ.
If the cross cannot do a breaking work in us, the church can never be manifested in reality among us. With the cross, Christ will come forth, and the church will be a reality. Without the cross, Christ will be gone, and the church will lose her true nature. This is a true and concise word concerning the church. If there is the cross, there is the church; if there is no cross, there is no church. When there is no cross, man comes in. This means that you can come in, I can come in, and anyone else can come in. When we all come in, Christ leaves, and there is no church. When Christ is gone, the church loses her true nature, and she becomes the church in name only but not in reality. If we want to keep the true nature of the church, we must touch the cross.
A person once came to see me and said, “After I heard your messages several times, I truly felt the Lord’s presence, but something happened recently. In the place where I worship, I have been elected to be an elder and a board director. I am in a dilemma. What should I do?” I did not answer but instead asked, “How do you feel about this?” He replied, “Well, if people want to give me the position of a board director and an elder, it is impolite and difficult to refuse.” I did not say anything. It seems that we could speak concerning anything, but whenever we spoke concerning the church, we could not go on. Although this person loved the Lord, the cross had no effect in him through putting him to death. We should realize that people use political tactics to retain and gain people for their place. Using the so-called position of an elder or board director is just a political tactic to retain people and prevent them from going to other places.
If a church treats people in this way, it should be chastised by God, because all she has is human politics, human tactics, and human methods but not God’s principle. A person who knows the Lord and lives in the Lord would never be willing to do this, ask others to do this, or allow others to do this to him. Nevertheless, in Christianity today there are too many stories like this.
We need to see that once the human element is present, the church is gone. In order to have the genuineness and reality of the church, man must be terminated. There is no way for man to be terminated other than through the cross. The cross is the place to terminate and end man. The cross has two effects: it terminates man, and it releases Christ’s life. This is true even today. Whoever has the cross has been terminated, but at the same time, Christ’s life can flow out from him. If the cross works in us, our person will be broken and terminated. At the same time, Christ will flow out from us. Because of these two effects, the cross produces the church. When the cross works in us, our person is terminated, and at the same time, Christ has the position in us. In this way the church is produced. With the cross, man is terminated and Christ comes in, and when Christ comes in, the church is produced. We must know this.
When we touched the church, we felt that the church was quite good. We sensed the Lord’s presence, touched the Lord in our heart, and enjoyed meeting here. However, after several months something surely happened to expose our unbroken flesh and active self. Even though we feel the Lord’s presence and are uplifted inwardly, it becomes hard for us to bear the situation after being offended and hurt by a brother or sister. Such things happen all the time.
Two weeks ago a certain brother said to the responsible brothers, “I truly praise and thank the Lord that He has brought me to this church. I truly feel the Lord’s presence and blessings here. I have received much help.” A week later he came and told the brothers, “I feel that our meeting hall should make a change here and an alteration there.” Because his suggestions were not proper, the brothers could only listen to him but not do as he suggested. When he came to the meeting hall several days later and discovered that his opinions had not been accepted, he stopped coming to the meeting because he felt that he had lost face. When the brothers went to visit him, he said that he was ashamed to come because the brothers did not accept his suggestions. This brother was more open than most. When we visit with some, they will not even speak truthfully about the reason for their absence. They only give strange reasons. This shows that they truly have not been gained by the church.
It is possible that a person may love the church today and hate the church two weeks from now. This is because of man’s face and man’s self. If the cross has not done a breaking work in a person—breaking his flesh, self, natural being, and person—he will not be able to be touched or endure any setback. Instead, he will withdraw immediately. Sometimes this kind of brother or sister needs to be disciplined by the Holy Spirit for several years and receive some chastisement and suffering in order to learn the lessons. Then they will begin to regret their past Christian life, a life in which they suffered and encountered many difficulties after leaving the church and Christ. Gradually they will realize that they left the church because they wanted to keep their face, to boast in themselves, and to express their flesh. When they become enlightened, they will come back to the church in shamefulness and humility. At this time, even if we do not speak the word of the cross, they will have some experiences. Thereafter, even if they want to praise the church, they will not be so quick. Many of those who praise us often become the ones who oppose us the most. Therefore, when we go out to work, we should not be moved by man’s praises. The people who praise us today may become the ones who oppose us tomorrow. A person who has learned the lesson and has been broken will not praise others easily. Even if we have received the greatest help from a certain brother, we still need to learn not to be so quick to praise.
The brother with the opinions about altering this and that has come back. He has truly received some help and advanced, and he is serving the church humbly. It is safe for us to say something because he is able to receive it. He knows that he needs to be broken. He rarely gives suggestions and opinions because he has been dealt with and does not dare to speak carelessly. He has been dealt with by the Lord to such an extent that he says, “O Lord, I have said these things. May You guide the brothers in their acceptance, and may You also make me joyful in whatever the outcome may be.” This person has Christ, not himself, and he will be able to remain in the church.
Anyone who does not receive the cross will eventually have problems in the church. Anyone who has not been broken by the cross will eventually be stumbled by the brothers and sisters. The church is produced through the cross, maintained through the cross, and, even more, expressed through the cross. When the cross is present, man goes out and Christ comes in, and when Christ is present, there is the reality of the church. Please remember that the church is the one new man produced by the cross of Christ. In the new man there is no man; there cannot be this kind of person or that kind of person. There cannot be you, I, he, or anyone else. In the new man there is only Christ. Only Christ is all and in all. This word may sound simple and easy to understand, but in order to practice it in our real living, we must go through the cross. The experience of life will not be manifested in reality in anyone who is short of the cross.
Only those who are under the cross can know the church, only those who have been broken by the cross can be in the church, and only those who allow the cross to break them and cross them out are qualified to examine the church. When a person has been terminated by the cross, that is, his flesh has been nullified by the cross, his emotion broken by the cross, his opinion and ideas rejected by the cross, his ability torn down by the cross, and his tactics eliminated by the cross, he will be in the reality of the church. He will be able to understand the church, touch the nature of the church, know the essence of the church, and discern the church. He will be able to judge the church accurately, and his view of the church will be according to the Bible and life. These three—the cross, Christ, and the church—cannot be separated. When the cross is present, there will be only Christ; when there is Christ, there will be only the church. All three are closely related.