If we would be a proper Christian, we all need one day to see the vision of the church.
The vision of the church is more neglected by Christians than that of Christ. In doctrine people talk much about Christ, but even in doctrine they do not talk much about the church. But the New Testament reveals to us that without the church, Christ is isolated and even paralyzed. Without the church, He can do nothing. Read the New Testament again from this standpoint, and you will see the absolute necessity and tremendous significance of the church to Christ.
We may divide the vision of the church into four parts:
We must see that the church is the heart desire of God—the New Testament reveals it as such. God's desire in this age and in the whole universe is to have the church. His purpose in creation was to produce a church. His purpose in redemption was for the church. In fact, all that God does is for the church. All the work of gospel preaching, all the work of the edification of saints, all the work of teaching the Word—all these various ministries—are for the church. The gospel preaching must not be for gospel preaching but for the church. The Bible teaching must not be just for Bible teaching but for the church. The edification of saints must not be merely for edification but for the church. All works and ministries in God's intention must serve the church. We are not saved for our own salvation. We are saved for the building up of the church. The church is God's heart desire.
If we are deeply impressed with this, we can no longer be indifferent. The church will be supreme and primary to us. We will be delivered from wrong and distorted concepts, and our entire Christian service will be revolutionized. We will no longer seek just to bring people to the Lord and help them to grow and love the Lord, but we will do everything for the building up of the church. Wherever we are and whatever we do will be for the church.
Consider the apostle Paul. After he saw the heavenly vision and his life was revolutionized, for what did he work? It is more than clear that he worked for nothing but the church. Did he build up his own ministry? He did not. Everything he did was for the church. If you took away the church, there would be nothing left for Paul to do.
Are you such a person? I am afraid that you have many things besides the church. You may be doing a work for the Lord, but it is not church-centered. The church is our test. The church proves where we are. We must see that it is the church upon which God's heart is set and be governed accordingly.
Secondly, we must see that the church is very practical. It is not just a vision. It is not just a teaching or something in the heavens, but an intensely practical matter. We must have a practical church. We should not have a church in our thoughts, in teaching, or even in vision, but in practice. We all need to pray that we will see the practicality of the church. The New Testament does not give much doctrine concerning the church, but it does give us a full picture of the practice of the church. People today may have the doctrine of the church, but the Bible has the practice of the church.
Most Christian teachers in the past century and a half have taught that it is impossible to have the real church today. The real church, they say, is invisible and in the future; what we have today is just the visible church, and that is not real. But, I would ask, in the Bible do we have the visible church and the invisible church? And do we have the church in the future?
The age in which we are living is the dispensation of the church. If we do not have the church now, when will we have it? The dispensations of the future are dispensations of something else. The next dispensation is the dispensation of the kingdom. After that comes the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem, and in the New Jerusalem there will not only be the twelve apostles but also the twelve tribes of Israel. The present dispensation is the dispensation for the church. To say that the church is a matter of the future is entirely unscriptural and absolutely wrong. The church must be today.
The church in Jerusalem in the early days was visible, real, and practical. The church in Antioch was visible, real, and practical. The church in every city today must also be visible, real, and practical. We cannot say that the church is invisible and for the future.