Whenever we speak of the testimony and the ground of the church, we need to look at the history of the church and the actual condition of the church today. Everyone who truly desires to know the church must look at it not only from the standpoint of the Word of God and the light of God but also from the history of the church and the actual condition of the church. Only when we have looked at all these aspects can we have a complete and thorough view of the church. Therefore, we need to spend some time to look at the degradation and the recovery of the church, that is, to look at the history and the present condition of the church.
Before we look at the degradation and the recovery of the church, we need to consider the original condition of the church. Only after we understand the original condition of the church can we know how the church has degraded and deviated, and only then can we know the matters that have been recovered and corrected and even what matters still need to be recovered and corrected.
I need to say a few words here. Today when matters such as man’s salvation and the pursuit of spirituality are spoken of among most Christians, most people quickly respond because they feel that these matters are related to them personally. But when the matter of the church is brought up, they feel that it is not related to them personally. As long as they are saved and spiritual, it is good enough for them, and it seems unnecessary to be concerned regarding the church. There are also some who think that the matter of the church can never be made clear because it is too troublesome and too complicated. But brothers and sisters, if we know the word of God, we can clearly see that the goal of God is to obtain the church. God saves people for the church, and God edifies people for the church. In the age of the church everything God does is for the church. God’s desire is to gain a church in each locality in this age so that He may express Himself through the church. We should not remain in our own feeling; rather, we must enter into God’s feeling. Our feeling may be that it is sufficient to be saved and spiritual, but God’s feeling is related to the church. Man’s salvation is a procedure and so is man’s spirituality; only the church is the goal of God. If we only pay attention to the procedure and neglect the goal, we will be “halfway” people. If we pay attention only to matters that we feel are closely related to us and do not care for God’s intention to focus on God’s goal, we are somewhat lacking as the children of God. Everyone who understands God’s heart cares for God’s desire. A fundamental principle for being a Christian is to seek God’s heart in everything and to obey God’s will. Since this is the case, we cannot be loose in the matter of the church; we cannot simply ignore it. We need to ask: What is God’s intention concerning the church? What is God’s purpose for the church? This is very reasonable. Therefore, brothers and sisters, I beg you to not consider that this matter is unrelated to you. As Christians, we cannot be alone; we must be in the church and serve the Lord together with all the saints. After we are saved and become Christians, we are confronted with the matter of the church, and we must deal with it properly.
The church is still a mystery, even though it is a matter involving revelation. However, in the past two thousand years the church has passed through many places, many people, and even the hands of many people so that it has become something exceedingly complicated, confused, and divided. Under the present circumstances, in order to know this mystery, something with such a long history and with such a broad sphere, we cannot be clear if we look at it only in a simple and brief way. We need a strong desire and a willingness to make an effort; we also need a pure and simple heart and a sober and careful mind. Finally, we need patience to study it point by point.
In the foregoing chapters we looked at some of the points spoken of in the Word of God concerning the church. We looked at God’s desire concerning the church, specifically how God desires the church to be the Body of Christ as a vessel to express Him. We looked at how God is working in this age to build up churches in locality after locality. We also saw how the church is an entity of oneness, how the ground of the church is related to oneness, and how everything sectarian results in the loss of the ground of the church. We saw that the ground of oneness rests on the locality of place, that whatever is greater than a locality loses the ground of the church, and that whatever is smaller than a locality also loses the ground of the church. We briefly covered these important points. Now we need to look at the original condition of the church and then look at the degradation and recovery of the church.