Knowing the church is a very practical matter. Today everyone would admit that the situation in Christianity is chaotic. After believing in the Lord, we must know the church and the proper way of the church. We cannot know the church merely by studying the truth but rather by taking the proper way to follow the Lord after we are saved. We will cover this matter in a clear and concise way in six messages. First, we will cover what the church is.
Christians often have the incorrect concept that a chapel is the church and that going to a chapel is going to church. In the Western world, the word church is often understood to be a chapel. This is an erroneous concept. Chapels, gospel halls, evangelistic halls, and assembly halls are not the church. According to the Bible, the church can fear and pray (Acts 5:11; 12:5); therefore, the church is a living entity, not a dead structure. Considering a dead structure to be the church is not only wrong but also very nearly heretical. Hence, we should not think that this is simply a matter of speech and that it is a small thing.
The church is not a physical building; neither is it an organization or a group in Christianity. It is not a mission, evangelistic society, or a denomination. In any large city there are many denominations, such as Presbyterian, Baptist, Lutheran, Wesleyan, etc., and numerous missions and evangelistic societies. These Christian groups and organizations are not the church. The Bible says that the church is the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18). A body is an organism with life, a living organism, not a dead organization. The numerous groups in Christianity are religious organizations that emphasize formalities and neglect life. Considering these organizations and religious groups as the church is also wrong.
The Greek word for church in Matthew 16:18 and 18:17 is ekklesia, which is composed of two words. The first is ek, meaning “out of,” and the second is klesia, meaning “calling.” When these two words are combined to form one word, the meaning is the called-out congregation or the assembly of the called-out ones. Thus, according to the literal meaning, the church is the congregating, the gathering together, of a group of people whom God has called out of the world.
Although the Old Testament does not speak of the church explicitly, using the Israelites, it presents a picture of the condition of the church. The children of Israel left Egypt, arrived at Mount Sinai, and were arranged and grouped by God. Thus, they were coordinated together and gathered before God. They formed a corporate body with the Tent of Meeting at the center and the twelve tribes encamped around the Tent of Meeting (Num. 2). That was the ekklesia, the gathering of the called-out ones. Therefore, the New Testament also calls the children of Israel an ekklesia in Acts 7:38. The word assembly in this verse is ekklesia in the original text. On the one hand, God called them out of Egypt, which typifies the world; on the other hand, they were a congregation gathered before God. Of course, the children of Israel did not have the nature of the church. They were only a type, a picture, showing that the church is an assembly of people whom God calls out of the world to gather before Him through His redemption and the power of His salvation. This is one aspect of the meaning of the church.
The book of Ephesians is the one book in the Bible that speaks specifically concerning the church. Ephesians 1:22-23 says that the church is the Body of Christ. This is a divine revelation showing what the church is in a thorough and distinct way. We will cover this in six points.
Ephesians 1:22-23 says that the church is the Body of Christ and that the church is “the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” This shows that the church as the Body is the fullness of Christ. We all understand that the human body is the fullness of a human being. We identify a person mainly by his face. Without seeing the head of a person, it is not easy for us to identify him. Hence, the distinction of a person is in the head and the face. However, the fullness of a person is his body. If a person has only a head without a body, he will have no fullness. A person’s fullness is manifested in his body.
Fullness and body are not two items but one item. The fullness equals the body, and the body equals the fullness. When people speak of the church being the Body of Christ, they usually emphasize ability and function. Rarely do they realize that the Body is the fullness. But when Ephesians, which is a book on the church, speaks of the church as the Body of Christ, it emphasizes fullness and building, not ability and function. Fullness is the expression of the Body, and building produces the fullness. If there is no building, there will be no expression of the fullness.
May the Lord intensify our feeling so that whenever we speak concerning the church as the Body of Christ, our first feeling would be that of the fullness. The Body of Christ signifies not only that the church is spiritual, living, heavenly, and functioning, but it also signifies that the church is the fullness of Christ. The church as the Body of Christ is the fullness of Christ. Christ is full, and the overflowing of Christ from His fullness is the church. If Christ does not have the church, there would be no way for His fullness to be expressed in the universe. When the fullness of Christ is expressed, it becomes His Body, which is the church.
When the Bible says that the church is the Body of Christ, the primary significance of the church is its fullness, not its functions. Whereas our emphasis on function is often according to a natural human understanding, the emphasis on fullness is according to God’s revelation. Without the revelation of God, man has no way to realize that the Body is a matter of fullness.
The first thing people see when they look at a person is not his ability and function; rather, they see his proper appearance. This is a matter of fullness. If we take a photograph of only a person’s head, there is no fullness. If it were possible for four people to place just their heads side by side on a bench, would it look nice? It would scare people away! However, it would be a pleasant sight to have the four of them sitting on the bench as complete persons. Therefore, a man without a body lacks something. He does not look like a man. The church is the same to Christ. The church is the fullness of Christ, just as a man’s body is his fullness.
Ephesians 1:23 says that Christ fills all in all. Sometimes people translate this word all as “pan.” For example, pan in “Pan American Airlines” is Greek for the word all. Christ is the One who is “pan” in “pan”; He is all in all. This shows how rich Christ is.
The verses prior to Ephesians 1:23 also show how great and high Christ is. Verses 20 and 21 say that God raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand, far above all rule, authority, power, lordship, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. This is His greatness, His height, and His transcendence. Not only so, God subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church. He is above all, and all things are under His feet. He is the Head over all things. We cannot fully realize His greatness and His transcendence.
Brothers and sisters, we need to know our great and surpassing Lord. Only when we realize His surpassing greatness will we know His fullness. His fullness requires a large vessel in order to be expressed. This vessel is the church. However, because the church has not been built up, it does not completely express His fullness. When the fullness of the times comes and God’s chosen ones have been filled, the church will truly be the fullness. Today the church is still being filled. The church needs more saved ones and more local churches. Christ is so full that He needs an immeasurably large vessel to express Him. This vessel is the church. Therefore, the church as the fullness of Christ is a tremendous matter.
Even though Satan has damaged the church and done a divisive work, we can still see the great matter of the fullness of the church. In spite of Satan’s dividing and damaging work, we cannot deny the greatness of the church in its nature and condition. This is the fullness of Christ.