Matthew 16:16-19 says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered...upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.” In these verses we need to pay attention to the Lord’s speaking, “Upon this rock I will build My church.” The building up of the church by the Lord, or we may say, the church that is being built up by the Lord, is related to two matters. On the one hand, there are the gates of Hades, and on the other hand, there are the keys of the kingdom of the heavens. Keys and gates are closely related; however, in this passage the gates are related to Hades, and the keys are related to the kingdom of the heavens. This is to say that the church being built by the Lord is very much related to Hades and to the kingdom of the heavens.
Ephesians 1:22-23 says, “He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” Please note that the Lord is the Head over all things for the sake of the church.
Ephesians 3:9-11 says, “To enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things, in order that now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies the multifarious wisdom of God might be made known through the church, according to the eternal purpose which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord.” These verses show that the church has been brought into existence according to the eternal purpose that God made in Christ.
Ephesians 3:21 says, “To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations forever and ever. Amen.” This verse shows us that the glorification of God in the church is a matter unto all the generations forever and ever.
Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.” Ephesians 5:25-27 says, “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her that He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word, that He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things.”
First Timothy 3:15-16 says, “The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh.” All these verses show the importance of the church before God, which is the subject we want to cover in this conference. Now I would like to give an opening word.
Over the past thirty years, whenever we brought up the matter of the church, we faced some difficulties for several reasons. First, Satan hates this matter very much. Satan knows that the church will have a devastating impact on him. God’s great purpose in establishing and building up the church is to deal with His enemy, Satan, through the church. Those who understand the Bible know that without the church, God cannot eliminate Satan because He will not deal with Satan directly. The church is the means and the instrument through which God will deal with Satan. Therefore, Satan hates the church very much. He is not afraid of tens of thousands of individual believers, but he is afraid of the built-up church. Even if there were tens of thousands of individual believers, none of them would be able to deal with Satan. The only thing that can bruise Satan and deal a death blow to him is the church. Therefore, for two thousand years Satan’s work to destroy the church has been the focus of his work on the earth. Therefore, whenever we discuss the matter of the church, we also sense Satan’s efforts to make trouble, disturb, undermine, and attack.
Second, many of God’s children feel that the church is not a matter of personal concern to them; consequently, they do not feel a need to speak concerning it. A good number of devout believers think that they need only to be spiritual, holy, and victorious over sin, the world, and the flesh. They think that it is enough to overcome and to have a spiritual, holy, and godly living. They think that they should pay attention to spirituality, holiness, piety, and victorious living, which are matters of personal concern to them in their daily life. But they do not consider that the church is related at all to their spiritual life. Moreover, they think that it is better to avoid talking about the church, because it is too complex, too high, too broad, and too involved. Whenever we speak of the church, those who do not pursue or care for the Lord do not respond, but even those who pursue the Lord and have a heart for Him pay attention only to their personal spirituality and neglect the church as a corporate matter. This phenomenon is a result of either man’s insufficient seeing or Satan’s spiritual deception.
We need to realize that a person is saved in order to become a living stone for the building up of the church. God saves so many sinners so that they can be materials for the building up of the church. God wants believers to be spiritual, holy, and victorious so that they might become glorious and shining materials for the building up of the church. God has no intention for Christians to be individually spiritual or independently holy because He wants to gain the church as a corporate entity, not millions of individual believers, from the human race. He does not want many individual members; He wants one Body. He gains members in order to gain a Body. He does not just want millions of living stones; He wants to build the living stones into a spiritual house, which is the church (1 Pet. 2:5). We need to see that God’s work on us, the saved ones, is to build each one of us into His spiritual house. At the end of the Bible we do not see individuals in the presence of God; we see the New Jerusalem built up and manifested. Today God is doing a building work. While He is building up individuals, He is building up the church even more. His building up of individuals, in fact, is for the building up of the church. Christians lack the revelation of God concerning the church, because they do not have a clear revelation, a far-sighted view, and because they are under Satan’s blinding veils (2 Cor. 4:3-4). Satan uses spirituality, holiness, and victorious living as blinding veils to cause many who love the Lord to be near-sighted, to have a narrow view. They see only a little about being spiritual, holy, and victorious; they do not see the crucial matter—the church. In their near-sightedness, they see only individuals; they do not see the church, which is much higher. We need to beware of good things and spiritual things, including even a holy, victorious life, because these things can be used by Satan to blind us, causing us to have a limited rather than an ultimate view, a partial instead of a complete view. A considerable number of people in Christianity are pursuing spirituality, holiness, and victory, but very few really care for the church, know the church, and pursue after the church.
There is another problem with many who zealously serve the Lord; they value their work more than the church. Whenever we speak of the church, they have a certain attitude and say, “As long as we preach the gospel, save souls, minister the word of God, edify people, and lead them to love the Lord, that is good enough. Do not bring up the matter of the church. Whenever this matter is brought up, it is difficult to avoid different views and different opinions, and it is also hard to avoid contention, debate, and strife. This matter is too complicated; it is better not to talk about it.” We have met many people who serve God but avoid this issue. If we speak of preaching the gospel and holding evangelistic meetings, they are very interested. If we speak of revival meetings or meetings for spiritual edification, they fully agree. If we speak of having a Bible-study class or other Christian endeavors, they also say Amen. But as soon as we raise the issue of the church, they lower their heads and contract their brows, saying, “This is troublesome; this is too complicated. It is better not to speak concerning this. If we speak of other topics, we can still be polite and at peace with one another. But if we speak concerning the church, we have no way to be together. This is a matter that stirs up contention; it makes everyone uncomfortable. Therefore, it is better not to speak of it.” Other people say, “The matter of the church is too vague. The church is universal, transcendent, and in eternity; hence, it is impossible for those of us who are in time to touch it and speak concerning it. Let us speak of the work, which is more personal and practical to us.” Brothers and sisters, we need to see that this substitutes what is good for what is best; it substitutes a half-way station for the final destination. God does not want just a work; God wants to gain the church. All work is for the church. However, due to Satan’s blinding, Christians consider the work and the procedure as the ultimate goal, neglecting the matter of the church. They even intentionally avoid touching it.
Recently, I had some contact with a brother who very much loved the Lord and who had this view. He came especially to seek me out and say, “Brother, I would like to have some serious fellowship with you concerning a certain matter. I have a desire to do some gospel work and form a fellowship group with the saved ones, but I do not want this fellowship group to belong to any ‘church.’” When I heard that, I could not help but open up my heart and say, “Preaching the gospel to save souls is really precious, and it is something we should do. But I cannot agree with your desire to form those who are saved into a fellowship group that is apart from the church and has no relation to the church. I disagree because God saves people for the building up of the church. You think that saving souls is the final step, but for God this is only the first step. The building up of the church is the ultimate goal.”
Brothers and sisters, just as Satan uses spirituality as a veil, he can also use the work as a veil. Strictly speaking, God has no intention to establish any work. In the Bible we cannot find the work having a great place. In the Bible there are no evangelistic societies, revival meetings, or fellowship groups. In the Bible there is only the church. In the Scriptures the workers—the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers—did not consider themselves as separate units; rather, they were all serving the church and serving for the building up of the church.
We all need to receive mercy to see that the church is the only thing that matters. It is not our spirituality, holiness, or overcoming that matters, but the building up of the church. It is not the work, evangelism, spiritual endeavors, or Bible study that matters, but the building up of the church. I am not belittling these matters. I absolutely agree that a saved person should pursue spirituality, holiness, and victory; this is a definite need and should not be despised in any way. But spirituality, holiness, and victory are not the goal; they are the procedure for reaching the goal, which is the building up of the church. Being spiritual is for the building up of the church, being holy is for the building up of the church, and being victorious is for the building up of the church. All these matters are for the building up of the church. I also agree that those who love the Lord should preach the gospel, save souls, and work for the Lord. How good it would be if we could lead sinners to be saved, and how glorious it would be if we could help believers grow. We must remember, however, that all these matters are not the goal but the procedures for reaching the goal. If we regard these procedures as the goal, then we are near-sighted and veiled by the enemy. By the mercy of God, our seeing must match God’s view.
Almost all of the Epistles in the New Testament were written to churches. Even those written to individuals such as Timothy and Titus were related to the administration of the church. It is hard to find an Epistle that was written to an individual that was purely for an individual. Every Epistle was written either to a certain church or to a certain individual for a certain church or churches. The work of God is for the church, and the word of God is also for the church. If there were no churches, in the eyes of God nothing would have meaning; everything would be empty. May the Lord give us grace to see this!
Concerning the church, many brothers and sisters also refer to another problem, saying, “It is true that the church is higher than everything. It is higher than being spiritual, higher than being holy, higher than being victorious, higher than preaching the gospel, higher than saving souls, higher than edifying the saints, and higher than any other kind of work, but this matter is very complex. It is not easy to make it understandable. Talking about the church only wastes our effort and asks for trouble.” I admit that this is really true. However, brothers and sisters, should avoiding problems be the attitude of those who serve the Lord? Should we avoid a certain matter simply because it is difficult? The question is not whether it is difficult; the question is whether it is necessary, whether it is important. If this is God’s desire, then we should pay attention to it and deal with it even though it is extremely difficult.
Some brothers and sisters also say, “Without bringing up the matter of the church, everyone can work together in love, but once the matter of the church is brought up, everyone becomes contentious and the one accord is gone.” Then I must ask, “What kind of one accord is this?” Forgive me for saying a strong word. This kind of one accord is one accord in discord; that is, it is agreeing to disagree; it is a one accord that is outward, not inward. In other words, it is a false one accord. If there were genuine one accord, we would not be afraid to speak concerning this matter; even more, we would not avoid this matter simply because it is difficult and might stir up problems. Here we need to ask, “What does God want to gain in this age? Does He merely want to gain individuals? Does He merely want to gain people who are spiritual? Does He merely want to have a work? Or does He want to gain the church?” Our eyes must be opened to see this one fact: The work that God is doing in this age is to build up the church.
In Matthew 16 the Lord said that as the Christ, the Son of God, He was for the building of the church. The church He is building, on one hand, deals with Hades, whose gates cannot prevail against it, and on the other hand, the church brings in the kingdom of the heavens, whose keys, whose authority, depend upon it.
Ephesians 1 shows us that God subjected all things under the feet of the Lord, and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church. If it were not for the church and if there were no need for the church, then the Lord would not need to be Head over all things. The Lord is Head over all things in order to gain the church as His Body, His corporate vessel, to express His fullness.
Ephesians 3 tells us that God’s eternal purpose, which is also the economy of the mystery that was hidden in Him throughout the ages, is to gain the church so that His wisdom might be manifested through it. Therefore, the church will glorify God throughout all the generations forever and ever.
Ephesians 4 says that the gifts given by the Lord, whether apostles, prophets, evangelists, or shepherds and teachers, are all for the building up of the Body of Christ, which is the church.
Ephesians 5 says that the Lord gave Himself up for the church. We often think that the Lord gave Himself up for us as individuals, because we usually consider only individuals, not the church. We need to see that even though the Bible speaks of “the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20), it also speaks of Christ, who “loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25). He gave Himself up not only for us individually but even more for the church. He gave Himself up for us individually so that we could become the church. He loves us because He loves the church. He wants to gain us because He wants to gain the church. Therefore, He loved the church and gave Himself up for the church, cleansing the church so that the church might be sanctified and become a glorious church. This is the reason He cherishes, nourishes, sympathizes with, and cares for the church. Ephesians 5 refers to all of these points. Do we have this kind of feeling? Are we so considerate of the church? Do we cherish the church this much? It seems that we often care more about perfecting our own spirituality than about caring for and preserving the church. We care for our work and sacrifice the church. How contrary this is to the Lord’s desire!
First Timothy 3:15-16 reveals that the church is the pillar and base of the truth. The great mystery of God being manifested in the flesh is altogether entrusted to and rests upon the church.
All these Scriptures show us that the church is an exceedingly great matter. As Christians, we should not pay attention only to individuals, to the work, to spirituality, or to holiness but neglect the matter of the church. If we do not allow God to gain the church in us with the function of the church, then we will delay God’s purpose and become a great hindrance to Him. We need to see that it has always been God’s intention to have the church. Only the church can accomplish God’s purpose, meet God’s need, deal with God’s enemy, and express God Himself, thereby satisfying God’s desire. With these matters, individuals do not have much standing or much usefulness. Everyone who has truly been enlightened and has truly received grace will be able to say Amen.
Today we can find many people who love the Lord, meet many people who pursue spirituality, and come in contact with many people who zealously work for the Lord, but it is not easy to find people who pay attention to the church and have the consciousness of the church. Today it is not easy to meet people who care for the church and who are for the church. Perhaps some may say, “Even though we do not declare that we are for the church, we are for the church as long as we work for the Lord and pursue spirituality.” No, this is still not sufficient to gain the church. Others have even said to me, “Brother Lee, we will attain to the same objective but with different methods; in the end we both are for the church.” But brothers and sisters, my question is this: Is the result of our work individualistic, independent, or is it from the Body, from coordination? We must receive God’s mercy to see that today in Christianity there are many who pay attention to spirituality and work, yet they are scattered. There are very few who really see the church, have the consciousness of the church, and are in the coordination of the church.
Therefore, we are going to spend ten days or more to specifically look at the matter of the church. We cannot possibly look at all the aspects of the church; we can look at only the two most important aspects concerning the church—the testimony of the church and the ground of the church. The testimony of the church is the real content and the real function of the church. The ground of the church is the outward appearance and the position of the church in practicality. These two aspects—one inward as the content and the function and the other outward as the appearance and the position—match each other, and both are indispensable. Having only an inward testimony without the outward ground is insufficient; having only the outward ground without the inward testimony is also insufficient. This is comparable to the Ark in the Old Testament, which had an inward reality and the tabernacle as its outward match; neither could function properly without the other. In this book we will look at the inward reality of the church and its outward match, that is, the inward testimony and the outward ground. First, we will look at the testimony of the church.