In this message and in the messages following we turn to the matter of the reality and practicality of the church. We are not concerned with the church in doctrine or merely with the church in revelation, but with the church in reality and practicality. However, in order to see the reality and practicality of the church, we must have a clear revelation concerning the church. We need to see what the church is. I am especially burdened to help those who have recently come into the church life to see what the church is and to know the church’s reality and practicality in the Lord’s recovery today. Everyone in the church life should be familiar with these matters.
The term “church” has been damaged, polluted, and spoiled by its usage in Christianity. When many people hear the word “church,” they think of a cathedral or of a bungalow with a high tower and a bell. What a shame to understand the church in this way! The church is not a material building. Some have been helped, especially by the teaching of the Brethren, to know that the church, according to the Greek word ekklesia, means the called ones meeting together. This is correct, for the church is a gathering of God’s called ones. However, this understanding of the church is much too superficial. The church revealed in the New Testament is far more profound than this. Hence, we must turn to the holy Word to see the revelation concerning the church.
Before we do this, we need to have some fellowship regarding the fact that the church is according to the desire of God’s heart. I realize that the phrase “the desire of God’s heart” is not found in the Bible. But in Ephesians 1:5 and 9, we have the terms “the good pleasure of his will” and “his good pleasure.” When I was young, I was very troubled by this phrase. I asked myself, “What is the good pleasure of God’s will?” Now, I would address this question to you: Do you know what the good pleasure of God’s will is? Ephesians 1:5 not only speaks of God’s will, but also of the good pleasure of His will. Today, especially in this country, everyone desires pleasure. Holidays are days of pleasure. People attend sporting events in the pursuit of pleasure. If we desire pleasure, then certainly God does also. Only something dead or nonliving has no such need. A wooden table, for example, has no need of pleasure because it is not living. But every living thing desires pleasure. In fact, the more living you are, the more pleasure you need. A child of seven requires more pleasure than an old man who can hardly breathe. Often a child is naughty simply because he is seeking pleasure. The degree of our livingness determines how much pleasure we need. Because God is certainly the most living One, He surely needst he most pleasure. If we, as fallen sinners, require pleasure, then how much more does God, the living One, have a deep need for it? When I was in Christianity, I heard over and over again that we were saved because God loves us. Frequently, the preachers quoted John 3:16. I was merely told that God loves sinners and that He desires to bring them into His heavenly mansion. But I was never told that God has a pleasure.
Unlike the book of Romans, which begins from the perspective of man’s fallen condition, the book of Ephesians does not begin from man’s side, but from God’s side. The book of Ephesians reveals what God needs. God needs pleasure, and this pleasure is according to His will. Do not understand this word “will” in your way. Here, it does not mean that God has a strong will; rather, the meaning here is somewhat similar to a wish. God has a good wish, a desire. He longs, desires, to taste something. God’s desire is a good desire, a good will, and His pleasure is of such a good desire. This is exactly what is meant by the words “heart’s desire.” The biblical term for “heart’s desire” is “the good pleasure of His will.” The good pleasure of God’s will is simply the desire of God’s heart.
What does God desire? The heart’s desire of God is to have the church. It is not to have a group of saved sinners, but to obtain one entity—the church. All students of the Bible agree that the entire book of Ephesians is on the church. In the book of Ephesians the church is described in at least seven or eight aspects. In this message we need to cover all these aspects. I wish to impress you all, especially the young people, with the fact that the desire of God’s heart is to have the church. The church that is in His heart is too wonderful. It is so wonderful and profound that not even the apostle Paul in writing the epistle to the Ephesians had the adequate utterance to describe and define it. No human language can adequately portray the wonderful entity in God’s heart.