We all must see a clear vision of the church. The church is simply the expression of the Body of Christ on the proper ground with the experience of Christ. The proper ground of the church includes two aspects. Every local church must be genuinely one in its locality, and every local church must be in fellowship with all the churches throughout the world, because all the churches are the one Body of Christ. If we say that we are a local church but do not care for the other churches, we immediately lose the ground of the proper church life and become a local sect, a division in the Body. We all should ask the Lord to grant us the seeing of this vision. If we do not have this vision, we shall be a wanderer, a traveler in Christianity, journeying all the time. Today you will be in a certain so-called church and, when you are no longer happy with it, you will leave and travel elsewhere. After a time you will leave the second place and begin to wander again, constantly looking for something newer and better. But whatever new thing you find will become old after a period of time and once again you will be unhappy. Many of us can testify of this. In the early years of my Christian life, I traveled through three so-called churches. But praise the Lord that I finally came into my destination—the church. I have been in the church for over forty-four years and I believe that, for eternity, I shall not travel again. This assurance is entirely dependent upon whether or not we have seen the vision regarding the genuine church life. The genuine church life is the expression of the one Body of Christ with the experience of Christ as its content. Also, the church must be genuinely one locally and be in fellowship with all the churches on earth.
If we see this vision, we shall be bound by it and shall be built practically into the church. It is very difficult to remove material that has become part of a building. If you can be pulled out of the church, it means that you have never been built in. When we are built into the church, we are built in for eternity. Once material has become a part of a building, it is wasted. Formerly, a certain board might have been quite useful, but once the carpenter has worked on it, making it part of a door post, it is wasted. On the one hand, to be a post in God’s building is our destiny, and, on the other hand, it wastes us. We can no longer be useful for any other purpose. I thank the Lord that I am only useful for His building and that I have been wasted for any other purpose. Many of us can testify that we have been wasted for Christ and the church life. To be in the church life is a great thing. I am a small man, not even worthy to say that I am less than the least, but whenever I consider the Lord’s recovery in which I have a share, I feel that I am great. Whenever I speak of the Lord’s recovery, I feel glorious.
Probably most of us have heard something concerning our human spirit. However, I am concerned by the fact that not many actually live and work in their spirit. They simply do not practice this. They have this concept in their minds, but it is not fully, actually, and thoroughly practiced in their life and work. We have seen that God’s purpose is to work Christ into us in order to have the church life. Where is the Christ who has been wrought into us? He is in our spirit. Do you realize that the Christ who has been wrought into your being is in your spirit this very moment? If you do, it will certainly affect the way you speak to others. Do you talk to others from your spirit? The most crucial and central point in the New Testament is that Christ, as the embodiment of God the Father, is now in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). This is not a doctrine. We have been born again by God with Christ as life. To be born means to gain a life. Without life, there can be no birth. When we were reborn, we received another life besides our natural life. The life that we received at the time of our regeneration is the person of Christ as the life-giving Spirit. Since the time of our regeneration, Christ as the life-giving Spirit has been in our spirit. We all must see this and believe it.