To know God is indeed easy. I believe there has never been a person on the earth who has not known something about God. All the Jews know about God, and even the heathen know of God. All people know about God. In the classroom they may say that there is no God, but in private they ask, “What about God?” In the school they may deny the existence of God, but at home they ask themselves, “Suppose there is a God, what shall I do?” When we contact the unbelievers, we should not argue with them about God. They know about God already.
To know God is easy, but to know Christ is not so easy. All the Hebrews know about God, but not all of them know about Christ. They know God, but they do not know about Christ. They know God, but they do not know Christ. All the Muslims know God, but they do not know Christ. To know Christ is a real improvement upon knowing God.
All human beings know about God, but only a small number know both God and Christ, because Christ is a real mystery. He is God, yet He became a man. He was God, yet He was God in man. I do believe He was a small man while He was on this earth in the flesh. Jesus was a small man, yet that small man was God. God was embodied in Him. Is this not wonderful? So we see that to know Christ is not as easy as to know God. But those of us who are Christians know Christ as our God.
However, to go on from Christ to know the church is even more difficult. Many Christians know Christ, but not so many know the church. To know the church is a greater improvement. We all need to be improved again and again. We need to know God first, we need to know Christ second, and then we must go on to know the church. The church is also a mystery. God is in Christ, and Christ today is in the church. God is embodied in Christ, and Christ is realized in the church.
But this is not all. From the church we must go on to see the churches. Comparatively speaking, it is easy to know the church, but it is not so easy to know the churches. Some Christians know the church, but they do not know the churches. They talk a lot about the church, but they have not seen the churches.
How many books do you have in your Bible? Of course, you will say that you have sixty-six. Do you know God, and do you know Christ? If you do, then you have the Old Testament plus the four Gospels. But do you know something about the church? If you do not, you only have forty-three books in your Bible.
Some may say that to know God and to know Christ is sufficient to go to heaven. This is true, but your Bible is still only of forty-three books. However, if your Bible has sixty-six books, you must know God, Christ, the church, and the churches. Only then do you really have sixty-six books in your Bible.
The Bible shows us clearly that the church has become the local churches in many localities. Does this mean that the heavenly church is made earthly by making it local? No; it means the heavenly church is made locally golden. It is local but not earthly. It is local and golden.
In the past some have said that they know God, they know Christ, and they know the church. They are clear from Ephesians that the church is the Body of Christ. But they will not agree to have the local churches. Therefore, they cut off so many Epistles, but especially the last book, from their Bible. Their Bible only has sixty-five books.
If we have sixty-six books in our Bible, we not only have God, Christ, and the church, but we also have the local churches. In the Old Testament we have God. In the four Gospels we have Christ. In Acts and the Epistles we have the church and the churches, and in Revelation we have the churches, which are emphasized as being local. Therefore, to know the churches, the local churches, is the greatest improvement in knowing the four main figures revealed in the Bible.
My burden is that we all must see the last book of the Bible. Revelation tells us about the local churches, not the one church in the heavens. To know God is not adequate. To know Christ is also not adequate. Even to know the church is not adequate. We must go on to know the churches which are local. If we are up to date in following the Lord, we will realize that today is the day of the local churches. In the last age of God’s dispensation, and in the last book of His Scripture, the main thing is the local churches.
I must repeat again that if we are up to date with the Lord, we must be in a local church. The last book of the Bible is written to the local churches. If we are not in the local churches, we are not in a position, and thus not entitled, to receive this book.
We all know that the books of the Bible are part of the divine will given to us. It is a title deed, a testament, a will. The last part of this will is given to the local churches. If we are not in the local churches, we do not have the position to inherit this part of the will. But praise the Lord, if we get into the local churches, we are entitled to this part! The book of Revelation was written to the local churches, so only in the local churches are we in the position to inherit this book. If we have nothing to do with the local churches, we have nothing to do with this book. We must be brought up to this book.