In the New Testament we are also told that the whole church is the pillar. First Timothy 3:15 says, "But if I delay, that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth." It is difficult to understand the word truth in this verse. Some say that truth means doctrine. Although this is correct, it is inadequate. In Greek, the word truth denotes something real and solid. Hence, truth means reality. However, truth is not simply a solid reality, but also the expression of this reality. Truth is not vain doctrine; it is the expression of reality, doctrine constituted with reality and conveying that reality. The church is the pillar bearing the truth, that is, bearing the expression of the reality.
The reality borne by the church is revealed in l Timothy 3:16: "And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness, who was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory." The truth in verse 15, the expression of the reality, is the mystery of godliness in verse 16. The mystery of godliness is God manifested in the flesh. When Christ was on earth, He was God manifested in the flesh. Outwardly, He was a man in the flesh; inwardly, in actuality and in reality, He was God. God in His reality was manifested in the man Jesus. God was reality, and Jesus as a man in the flesh was the manifestation of God. This is the very truth mentioned in verse 15, and this is the mystery of godliness. Godliness means God-likeness. The mystery of godliness is the mystery of God-likeness. When Jesus lived on earth as a man in the flesh, the people who beheld Him saw in Him the likeness of God. Although He was a man, He expressed God. This God-likeness was a mystery. The mystery of godliness must be continued in the church today.
The church is the continuation of the mystery of godliness. In message eighty-six we saw that Christians have a mysterious part in their being. In principle, the whole church should be a mystery. If some unbelievers come into our meetings and survey the situation, they will not be able to understand it. Although we consider ourselves common and simple, the unbelievers will say, "What is this? What attracts them to these meetings? There is no entertainment or outstanding speaker. Who are these people? They seem to be neither modern nor old-fashioned. We cannot say what kind of people they are." The reason for this is that we are mysterious. Do not think that I am referring to our outward appearance. I am referring to something of God manifested in us. Because this is real yet invisible, it is difficult to define. If the church is merely pure, clean, gentle, humble, and holy, we have missed the mark. The church must be the continuation of the manifestation of God in the flesh. To some of our critics, the continuation of the manifestation of God in the church is a form of evolution into God. To accuse us of teaching evolution is a slander to us and a blasphemy to the Lord. The proper church life is a continuation of the manifestation of God in the flesh. This manifestation is the truth held by the church as the pillar. If as the church we hold this testimony, we shall be able to say that we are the continuation of the mystery of godliness.
We do not want to express our own holiness or anything of ourselves. We want only to express our God and to see Him manifested in our flesh. We admit that we are still flesh, but the very God who lives in our spirit will be manifested, expressed, in our flesh. This manifestation must not merely be individual, but corporate. The proper church life is the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh.
The only way the church can be the corporate expression of God in the flesh is by transformation. Everyone in the church must be transformed. Occasionally we refer to the older brothers or to the younger brothers. However, in the church we should not think of some as older ones and of others as younger, for we all are being transformed. Although we may not yet be fully transformed, we are at least in the process of transformation. Forget your age and concentrate upon the fact that you are in the process of transformation. If I still think of myself as a Chinese, I am finished. In the church there is neither old nor young, Chinese nor American, Jew nor Greek (Col. 3:11). In the church we are being changed by having Christ added into us. You should not be an old brother or a young brother, but a brother into whom Christ is being added daily. The older ones may need to remind the younger ones not to call them older brothers, and the younger ones may need to ask the older ones not to speak of them as young brothers. Furthermore, we should not refer to some brothers as "Yankees" and to others as Southerners. There are neither "Yankees" nor Southerners in the church; there are only transformed brothers. There is no black, white, yellow, red, Jew, or Greek; instead, there are only the transformed people—people into whom Christ is being added daily and who are the expression of God in Christ. This is the church as the pillar supporting and bearing the mystery of godliness.
After hearing the messages on Hiram, the builder of the pillars, many young people have been motivated to further their education. This is excellent. In order to be a capable pillar builder you need to acquire a good education and to experience the termination of the source of that education. However, if you earn the highest degree but are lacking Christ, you are still nothing. The basic element that can constitute you into a pillar is not a college degree; it is Christ added into you. No matter how many degrees you have, if you are short of Christ, you cannot be a pillar. The basic element in being a pillar is neither your education nor capability, but your Christ, the very Christ added into your being. This is the essential factor in being constituted as a pillar. A pillar must be the continuation of the manifestation of God in the flesh.