We do have such a wonderful person living in us! He is the greater temple, the greater Jonah, and the greater Solomon. But regardless of how wonderful the One who indwells us is, religion will never change, and politics will never agree. When Jesus came to His own country, all the religious ones were offended. “And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him” (Matt. 13:54-57).
Furthermore, in Matthew 14, Herod had John the Baptist killed. Because of this, Jesus realized that He must leave. “When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities” (Matt. 14:13).
Religion and politics will never take the proper Christ, and they will never accept the proper church. This is the destiny of Jesus, and this is also the destiny of today’s church. The church way is not a way that is welcomed by religion and politics. Rather, the church way will always be neglected by religion, even by today’s Christianity, and the church way will be persecuted and troubled by politics. But this will not stop the Lord. The Lord is going to build His church, and the gates of Hades can never prevail against it. “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).
Today, many people talk about Christ building the church. But if we would know the way Christ builds His church, we must realize all the things that have been mentioned in this message. If we would let Him build His church, we must learn to take such a wonderful person as our life. We all have been put into such a wonderful person, and now He has come into us that we may live by Him. Only in this way will we have the life that is qualified for the church building.
Nearly all Christians today are not qualified for the building of the church. They are qualified for other things, such as certain Christianity movements, free groups, organizations, and denominations, but not for the proper church life. The proper church life is built with those who take Christ as their life. They live in the life of Christ, and they walk by the life of Christ. To have the church life, we need to be qualified with this wonderful person. In other words, we must be the real Nazarenes, the real fulfillers of righteousness, and the real feeders on God’s Word. We must also be a light shining over the people where we are, and have the greater temple, the greater Jonah, and the greater Solomon. This is the very life that qualifies us for the church life.
When Jesus said that He would build His church, He did not say it in the second or third chapter of Matthew, but in the sixteenth chapter. It was after He became the Nazarene, the fulfiller of righteousness, the One who daily feeds on the Word of God, the great light, the greater temple, the greater Jonah, and the greater Solomon. After He had been revealed in such a way, He said that He would build His church. May the Lord open our eyes that we may see the reality in the Lord’s recovery. It is not a new way to meet together. It is the reality of taking Christ as such a wonderful person.
Matthew eighteen also tells us something about the church. In this chapter we read that if we have some problem, we must go and tell the church. “And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen and a publican” (Matt. 18:17). This is the proper church life. There must be a place where we can “go and tell.” Many people talk about the universal church in Matthew sixteen, but they miss the words of Jesus in Matthew eighteen. This is not the universal church. This is the local church in a practical place to which you can go and tell your problems. Praise the Lord! There is a place where we can “tell it unto the church.” So we see that eventually Matthew becomes a book of the church.
In Matthew twenty-one, we see that Jesus was rejected not as the Savior or Redeemer, but as the building stone. “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?” (Matt. 21:42). Many Christians think that Jesus was rejected by the Jewish people as the Savior and Redeemer. But Jesus tells us that He was rejected not as the Redeemer, but as the cornerstone for God’s building. His main purpose was not merely to be the Redeemer, but to be the cornerstone for building up God’s house. The whole book of Matthew is for this purpose. He said that He would build His church, but the religious ones rejected Him as the cornerstone for God’s building. Therefore, they could never be a part of the building of God, for they rejected the cornerstone.
But, Hallelujah, we accept Him! We not only accept Him as the Savior and Redeemer, but also as the cornerstone. This is why the Lord told His disciples to go to the Gentiles and baptize them into His name. “Go ye therefore, and disciple all nations [Gentiles], baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19, Gk.). (In Greek, the word for “nations” and the word for “Gentiles” is the same.) The Jewish religious ones rejected Him, so He told His disciples to take Him to the Gentiles. They would receive Him. By being discipled and baptized into the Triune God, they would become a part of the church, learning to take Christ as their life and thus being qualified for the building up of the church. All of this has been missed by most Christians, but the Lord is recovering all of these things.
Praise the Lord that we have such a wonderful person in us! By taking Him as our life, He will fully qualify us for God’s building, because everything He is, is for the producing of the church.