The church is the mystery of God’s eternal economy. This mystery was hidden throughout the ages in God, who created all things. It was not made known in the Old Testament times to the sons of men. However, the church as a mystery has been revealed to the New Testament believers, and many prophecies concerning the church are recorded in the New Testament. In this lesson we will see the prophecies concerning the building up of the church and the stages of the church.
In Matthew 16:18 the Lord Jesus said, “I will build My church.” The Lord’s word here is a prophecy that concerns practice; it is a prophecy concerning the building up of the church. Twenty centuries have passed since the Lord spoke this word, but the building up of the church has not been completed. Therefore, up to this day Matthew 16:18 remains a great prophecy yet to be fulfilled.
The building up of the church began at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4, 41-42). At the first Pentecost after the Lord’s ascension, the compound Spirit was poured out upon those who called on the Lord’s name, as prophesied in Joel 2:28-29, and the church was produced (Acts 2:16-18). Before that time there were only the Jews and the Gentiles, but through the Triune God pouring Himself out, the church was produced (1 Cor. 10:32).
In Ephesians 4:13 Paul says, “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Then in verse 16 he says, “Out from whom [Christ, the Head of the Body] all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.” These verses are Paul’s prophecy concerning the building up of the church and are a continuation of the Lord’s prophecy in Matthew 16:18. This prophecy is being fulfilled in the church age. Without the fulfillment of this prophecy and without the church being built up, the Lord does not have a way to come back. Believers should yearn to see the fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy concerning the building up of the church.
The seven epistles to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 are prophecies concerning the stages of the church (1:3-4). Seven is the number for completion in God’s operation. Hence, seven churches signify the complete stages of the church. In His sovereignty God specifically chose seven churches among the churches existing in Asia at that time to apply these prophecies so that they would accurately represent all churches, thereby making known His purpose throughout the ages for the church. Therefore, these seven epistles are not merely a record of the actual situation existing in the seven churches at the time these epistles were written (vv. 19-20), but they also contain signs with a prophetic nature, prophetically signifying the seven stages of the church. Even though what is recorded in these seven epistles has become history, the seven epistles were prophecies at the time John wrote the book of Revelation. In these seven epistles the Lord repeatedly proclaims that He will come quickly, without explicitly indicating that the seven epistles are stages of church history because He wants the believers to be watchful (Mark 13:35) and not settle in the world and thus lose the nature of being a sojourner on the earth and the hope of the Lord’s coming.