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The New Testament reveals to us that the Lord’s universal church is manifested locality by locality, and in every locality the church’s meetings are mostly in the homes of the saints. Hence, the home is the basic unit of the church life. Undoubtedly, the church’s meetings include big meetings and medium-sized meetings, but the basic meeting place is the home. The basic pattern for meeting is the meeting in the homes. Acts 12 mentions that while Peter was in prison, the church was praying for him fervently. After Peter came out from the prison, he went to the house of Mary, a sister, the mother of John, where there was a considerable number of people assembled together and praying (vv. 5, 12). Here we see the prayer of the church carried out by the assembling of the saints in a home. This record does not tell us that the church held a big meeting to pray for Peter. Rather, it says that it was in a house where a considerable number of people assembled together to pray. We believe that this home was only one of many that was very close to Peter, a home that cared for Peter very much.
It is hard to determine at what time Peter arrived at that house, but it is likely that it was late at night (v. 6). This shows us that the church meeting at that time was not similar to today’s religious worship, which is almost always in the same place on definite dates and at set times. Of course, having definite dates and set times is more convenient for the sake of scheduling our daily living and activities. However, the Bible shows us that the church meetings are not regulated and rigidly organized. Rather, they are meant to meet the needs. Whenever there is a need, there is a meeting, and the meeting can be in any of the homes.
The revelation of the Bible is that the meetings of the church are not religious; rather, they are the activity of the Body. The church is the Body of Christ. If the activity of a body is too regulated and organized, the body will seem more like a puppet or a robot. Although the regulations of our training are rather strict, we should exercise some liberty. If we are too regulated, we may easily become like puppets. The church meetings are not basically in the big meetings or in the meeting halls but in the homes of the saints. This requires us to be spiritual, to have the divine life and the work of the Holy Spirit, to be transformed in life, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
As we all know, the purpose of any religion is to have an object of worship and to teach according to that object. Due to man’s desire to worship God, he feels the need for a place of gathering in which one man speaks and all the others listen. As a result, a religion is produced. However, religion does not require spirituality or the divine life, and neither does it require transformation in life or the filling of the Holy Spirit. Instead, it requires only man’s presence. There is no need of training, growth, or learning. It is sufficient that people merely attend the meetings. For a person to come every time is an honor to the meeting, and for him to make a material offering is excellent. This is religion. Today’s Christianity, including Catholicism, Protestantism, every sect, and every denomination, is in such a condition. They establish seminaries to train theological students to preach. Then these become assistant pastors, then pastors, and finally hold higher offices. The clergy perform their duties and manage the things regarding the worship of God. The remaining ones are all laymen. They need neither to learn the things concerning worship nor to do much during the meetings.
We may use planting flowers as an example. For a flower to grow properly, much effort and even special care are required. After the seed is sown, there must be no lack of water, fertilizer, weeding, or pesticides. If the flower is soaked with too much water, it will die, but if it is watered too little, it will wither. Often, attention should be given even to the amount of oxygen required by the flower. If the flower is always kept inside the house, its leaves will turn yellow; then it will need to be placed outside. All these matters require much time and energy. Therefore, some people simply buy artificial flowers. Then there is no need to worry about insects, watering, and the condition of the air. By spending a little money, people can enjoy their flowers without any labor. To speak a frank word, today’s Christianity is mostly doing the work of “artificial flowers.” We are laboring here in an earnest way while certain ones are laughing behind our backs and saying that we are bringing trouble on ourselves. It is true that we are laboring and have troubles. All our labor is to produce not artificial flowers but the real items.
As people in the world all know, to do something well involves many difficulties. We may illustrate this by the difference between a doll and a real child. To buy a doll and keep it at home is very easy. Today many dolls are made to look like real children; some not only can walk but can also sing. With only a doll at home, we do not need to cook and to feed it, and we never need to change its diapers. This saves us much effort. However, when a real baby is born, many troubles come. Then we need to change his diapers, bathe him, and feed him, and if he gets sick, we need to find a doctor for him. Parents all know that to raise a child is truly not easy. It is inexcusable to give birth to a child but not raise him. Parents will regret very much if they are unable to keep their child alive. We have taken the new way to gain many new ones, but if we cannot raise everyone properly, we will owe something to the Lord, and we will also lose our credibility. Hence, we must feed these new ones so that they become healthy and functioning members. This is our burden.
The Lord said that He will come quickly (Rev. 22:20). From the time He spoke this until now, two thousand years have passed, but He still has not come. What has delayed Him? It is the condition of the church. If we study the history of the church and the situation of today’s Christianity, we will groan deeply because the Lord has not gained what He wants. If we look at Catholicism carefully and go to their masses, we will understand the real situation there, and if we go to the Vatican, we will understand the Bible’s prophecies in Revelation, which say that one day the Lord will burn up all those things. The Lord truly has gained nothing in all of that. We have also observed the situation in Protestantism, at least in the Far East. Even though Protestantism preached the gospel and taught the truth, the Lord was able to gain very little from that in actuality.
The Lord prophesied that when He comes again, He will come as a thief (3:3; 16:15). As we all know, a thief comes to steal not the refuse but the treasure. If the Lord comes today, where can He find a treasure to steal? He can find it almost nowhere. It is not necessary to speak of the outward situation in religion; even among us in the Lord’s recovery there is not much treasure. For years we have been struggling, fighting the influence of Christianity. The background, environment, and situation of Christianity today have too great an influence. Some who came from New Zealand and Australia told us that they were deeply oppressed there and restricted by Christianity’s background and environment, which was very hard for them to overcome. Here in Taiwan it is the same. This causes the Lord’s work to be very limited. This is the reason why we need to change our system.
Those who have been to the United States know that flying from Taiwan to Los Angeles takes only eleven hours, but flying from Los Angeles back to Taiwan takes thirteen hours. There is a two hour difference due to the direction of the wind. When going along with the wind, the arrival time is two hours earlier. When going against the wind, arrival is two hours later. The situation in today’s Christianity is the same; it is almost always “against the wind.” Today we are taking the new way of knocking on doors to lead people to be saved. This is a hard job, but we have succeeded. However, following this we need to perfect the home meetings, which is an even harder job. Therefore, the burden on us is truly heavy, and our feeling is even heavier. I hope that we will all rise up to bear the burden together to perfect the home meetings.
When we go out to perfect the home meetings, we need to be aware of the needs of the new ones. This can be compared to a mother raising children. She needs to know when to change their diapers and when to nurse them. Generally speaking, all these things have a set time, but in reality children also have urgent needs that must be taken care of. Similarly, in the matter of perfecting the home meetings, we also need to take care of the urgent needs. At present we are facing an urgent need. Sooner or later the newly saved ones will all ask, “We have been baptized, but where is the church? Where do we go to meet?”
According to the principle, we have not wanted these newly baptized ones to come to our existing meetings right away. Once they come to our existing meetings, they may see our old religious condition and be affected. Since we do not want them to be infected, we have preferred to slow down, not mentioning the church too soon and not letting them know about the church too quickly. Nevertheless, this is like teaching a mother how to raise her children, telling her when to change diapers and when not to change them. If a new mother, who has never raised any children before and has had no experience, receives this teaching, her child may suffer. When his diaper is wet, she will not change it because she is strictly following the teaching to not change diapers until the prescribed time. This causes many problems. At this time many newly baptized brothers and sisters have a need — they want to know the church — but due to our keeping the old fellowship, no one will answer their questions.
In our application we must learn how to be flexible. When a child’s diaper is wet, we should still change it, even if it does not seem to be the right time. If we continue to wait, problems will arise. Thus, if people ask where our church is, we should tell them honestly where our meeting hall is located. Usually, good doctors do not have too many regulations in their treatment. Doctors who strictly follow rules and regulations are novices; experienced doctors usually adapt to the circumstances with boldness and attentiveness. Thirty years ago a certain brother among us was a good, flexible doctor. On the one hand, he absolutely had the view of Western medicine; on the other hand, he also fully understood the effectiveness of Chinese medicine in healing sickness. Therefore, many people received his help. We should be like him, not being rigid. Rigidity kills people. Only adaptability, flexibility, and pliability can render genuine help to people.
At this time we need to lead the new ones to know the church. The church is a great topic in the New Testament. The Old Testament does not expressly and clearly speak about the church, but it does have many types and prophecies concerning the church. It is in the New Testament, in Matthew 16:18, that the Lord Jesus used the word church for the first time. This is the first mention of the church in the Bible. Therefore, this is a revelation and very important truth in the New Testament.
In 1957 we invited a famous preacher from abroad to speak to us in Taipei. This gave rise to a problem regarding the ground of the church. After that we released thirty-six messages concerning the ground of the church and published them in a book called The Testimony and the Ground of the Church. This is a very great topic, and we should not take it lightly. However, when we go out to preach, we must speak in a way that is easy to understand, just as a mother becomes a “good doctor” who makes important nutrients and medicines into something very convenient and easy to take in. As far as we know, there are already one hundred fifty homes among us beginning to have the Lord’s table meeting. In principle, once we begin to have the Lord’s table meetings, we should speak to the saints concerning the church, letting the ones who break the bread know what the church is. The breaking of bread, the church, and the Body of Christ are different aspects of one thing. Therefore, since we break bread in the homes, we need to mention the church.
In meeting the needs, we need to be adaptable and flexible, just as a coach teaches people how to play basketball. Having learned the basic techniques of carrying, passing, and shooting the ball, the players still need to be adaptable when they play on the court. I hope that when we go to perfect the home meetings, we will definitely put this into practice. On the other hand, we must not be too rigid in following regulations, because this will kill people. Following rules too closely kills people, but transgressing them too much also damages them. We must turn back to our spirit and follow our spirit. This basic fellowship is to help us to apply what we have in the home meetings.
When we speak about the church to the new ones, we first need to help them to understand what the church is. In Chinese culture and history there was never such a thing as the church. Because of this, there is no such term even in the bigger Chinese lexicons and dictionaries.
What is the church? Simply speaking, the church is first of all the called-out congregation, or assembly. The Greek word for church, ekklesia, is composed of two words, ek and klesia. Ek has the meaning of “out,” and klesia refers to a calling. Together these two words mean “a called-out congregation.” When the leaders of ancient Greek cities wanted to gather together all the people in the city, they would call them out. This assembly was the ekklesia, the called-out congregation.
In the New Testament, when the Lord Jesus came out for His ministry and spoke of the church (Matt. 16:18), He used this term — ekklesia, a called-out congregation. The Lord Jesus’ use of this term was proper and very significant. Two to three centuries ago Christianity was spread to China. When the people in Christianity wanted to translate this term, they were influenced by Catholicism and Protestantism in a religious way, thinking that ekklesia was a religious gathering. Therefore, they translated it into chiao-hui, “religious gathering.” While hui (gathering) was correctly translated, chiao (religious) was a misinterpretation. The English usage of the word church may also be inaccurate, because most people consider the church as a chapel. Beginning from 1829 when the Brethren were raised up, including J. N. Darby, they carefully studied this word and learned that ekklesia refers to a called-out congregation. After that they no longer used the word church; rather, they changed it to assembly. Though the word assembly is very good, its meaning in the English language is not as rich as that in the Greek language.
The Open Brethren arrived in China very early, but they did not correct the use of chiao (religious) in chiao-hui (religious congregation) and continued to follow the usage of Christianity. Then in 1915 the Assemblies of God were raised up in the United States. They followed the Brethren in using the word assembly in their name. After that, around 1930, they came to China. When they landed in China, they immediately translated the word assembly into chao-hui (assembly). This translation was good and accurate.
At this time while we are translating the New Testament, we hope to eliminate all religious concepts as much as possible and translate according to the Greek language. Hence, we have translated chiao-hui (religious gathering) into chao-hui (assembly). We hope that gradually in our utterance and nomenclature we will change from chiao-hui into chao-hui. While chao-hui is scriptural, chiao-hui has a religious color. The church is the called-out congregation of God. God has given Christ to be Head over all things to the church (Eph. 1:22).
Second, Ephesians 1:23 tells us that the church is the Body of Christ. Some Bible expositors have said that Body is a metaphor, an illustration. This is incorrect. The Body in Ephesians is a fact. The church is a Body, the Body of Christ. The Body may appear to be an organization, but in actuality it is not. A table assembled together from twenty interlaced pieces of wood is an organization. A mere pile of wood, however, is not considered an organization. It is only when we organize this pile of wood piece by piece that it is an organization, such as a table or a bookshelf. Our body may look like an organization, but it is not; it is an organism. An organization does not have life and activity, but our body has both life and activity. If life ceases, all our members can no longer move. When life is gone, there is no activity. The church is not an organization. The church is an organism in the divine life of God. It is joined and knit together as an organism.
Ephesians 1:22-23 says, “The church,...the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” This Christ is the One who fills all in all, and the church is His fullness. We may illustrate fullness with a cup of water. There may be water in a cup, but people cannot see it. If the cup is not full, the water is hidden in it. When the cup is filled with water to its limit and the water overflows, there is the fullness of the water, which is also the expression of the water. Now what is in the cup can be clearly seen by all. Similarly, the church is the overflow of Christ, and the overflowing of Christ is the fullness.
Fullness is the expression of the overflow of the riches. Fullness is not something that an organization can express. Rather, fullness is a condition of life. When life grows to a certain extent, there is an expression. We may illustrate this with a newborn babe. A newborn is small, short, and very thin; this is its expression. However, when he grows unto the fullness of life, he is expressed in his tallness and strength. This is the expression of his fullness. The Chinese express the riches of China, and the Americans express the riches of America. When many American brothers were young, they were small and thin, but now they have all become very big, being filled with American eggs, chicken, steak, oranges, and so forth. All this food passed through them in digestion, producing organic changes and becoming their constitution. Now they are the aggregate of all these riches, and this aggregate is the expression of the riches of America. The more we eat Christ and enjoy Christ, the more we become His overflow and expression. This is the church.
If we have this light and see the church according to this light, we will realize that the church cannot be found in Christianity. The church is not merely the accumulation of all the baptized ones. This is an organization, a gathering, but not the church, the Body of Christ. Today in the Lord’s recovery we do not want an organization or merely a gathering. Instead, we need an organism. For this reason, we are hoping to change the big meetings, because it is easy for the big meetings merely to be a gathering, an organization, which lacks the element of life. We want to have many small home meetings to allow life to grow from within. This is not a matter of work but of growth. As life grows, it produces a condition — the fullness of Christ to express Christ. This is the called-out assembly of God, the church.
Third, the church is the house of God. We should not understand the meaning of house completely according to our human concept. House can refer both to a dwelling place and a family. The family is a house, and the dwelling place is also a house. In the Greek language these are the same word with the same meaning. The house of God is the dwelling place of God, His family, and also the members of His household. The church is not only the house of God, but also the household of God. The church is this group of family members as a household.
What is the function of this household, this house? Paul says that the church is the pillar and base of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15b). This word is based on the architecture of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, the land of Judah and of ancient Greece. Jewish and ancient Greek constructions began with a base, pillars were built on top of it, and then the rest of the building continued upward. Therefore, the entire construction was supported by the pillars on this base. This is what it means to be the pillar and the base. To God, the church has this kind of function to bear all that God is as the reality, the truth, of the universe. The word reality is better than truth in conveying the proper meaning, because truth can be misunderstood as doctrines. This may cause people to think that the church holds doctrines. No, the church is not for holding doctrines but for holding the reality of all that God is. In the universe, only God is reality; all that He is, is reality, which is borne by the church. We are here as the church, the house and household of God, holding the reality of all that God is.
First Timothy 3:16 says, “Great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh.” This word refers not only to Christ but also to all the elements in the church. In other words, not only is Christ the great mystery of godliness, but in principle the church is the same; the church is God manifested in the flesh. When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, God was manifested in His flesh. Today God is also manifested in the flesh in the church on the earth. We can prove this from the sequence in these verses. The end of this portion says, “Preached among the nations, / Believed on in the world, / Taken up in glory.” If this mystery refers only to Christ, then Christ’s being taken up in glory should precede His being preached among the nations. Here, however, being taken up in glory is after being believed on in the world. This proves that the great mystery of godliness includes the church.
This gives us a comprehensive understanding and knowledge concerning the church. In application, however, we need to lead the new ones item by item according to their condition. We have to let them know that the church is the called-out assembly of God; the church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of Christ as His expression; the church is the house of God, which holds all that God is as the reality; and at the same time the church is the manifestation of God in the flesh. Perhaps they cannot fully understand all this, but after a while they will know it spontaneously. This is similar to learning mathematics. In the beginning we learn addition, finding it very easy. Then we learn subtraction, feeling that is a bit more difficult. After that we learn multiplication and division, and we may find memorizing the multiplication table to be even harder. At the time we are learning all these things, we do not thoroughly understand them, but through more learning, we gradually come to understand. Our leading the new ones is in the same principle. At the beginning they may not understand, but gradually they will. We simply should sow the seeds into their being and teach them. One day these seeds will blossom and bear fruit.
The church has two aspects: the universal aspect and the local aspect. As far as the universal aspect is concerned, the church is as big as the universe. Ephesians 1:23 says that Christ is the One who fills all in all. Since the church is His fullness, certainly it is also universal. In Matthew 16:18 the Lord Jesus spoke of the church, referring to its universal aspect; the Lord will build His church on “this rock,” the revelation Peter received concerning Christ as the Son of the living God. Since the Lord is building the church upon this revelation, the church is certainly universal. Modern physicists such as Einstein define the universe as all space and time. The Chinese refer to the whole universe as “ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign.” In the church, which encompasses “ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign,” Paul was ancient, and you and I are modern; Paul was foreign, while you and I are Chinese. This is the universal church. The universal church has a progression of two thousand years. Regardless of time and space, all those who have believed in the Lord — from ancient to modern, from Chinese to foreign — added together are the universal church. This is the church in its universal aspect.
The church in another aspect is local. The local aspect is very easy to see. When we are in Taipei, we are the church in Taipei; this is local. Simultaneously, there are the church in Kaohsiung and the church in Hong Kong. This is the local aspect. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 18:15-17 that if a brother sins against you and he does not listen to two or three witnesses, you should tell this to the church. This certainly does not refer to the universal church, the church that encompasses ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign. Rather, it refers to the church that is in your locality. If a brother sins against you, it would be very troublesome to tell it to the universal church, because it is difficult to find the universal church. But praise the Lord, there is an expression of the universal church right in your locality! This expression is the church in your locality. If you are in Taichung, you can go to the church in Taichung conveniently. Today many countries have established district courts for deciding local affairs. Similarly, the universal church is expressed in the local churches. This is the local aspect of the church.
In referring to the church, we speak of a designation but not a name, because the church in fact has no name. For example, the moon does not have a name; the moon has only a designation, which is “the moon.” At most, we may say that the moon in Taipei is rounder than the moon in Kaohsiung, or the moon in the United States is bigger than the moon in Taiwan. In reality, though, it is the same moon. The one seen in the United States is the moon in the United States, and the one seen in Taiwan is the moon in Taiwan. Apart from this, the moon is unique and does not have any special name. It is the same with the church. Sadly, the various denominations in Christianity all have their special, unique names, such as the Baptists, the Presbyterians, the Methodists, the Anglicans, the Lutherans, and the Evangelical Lutherans. Once there is a difference, there is a separation, and once there is a separation, there is a sect. For this reason, we realize that we cannot hold on to any names. The church is uniquely one in the universe without any special name.
The Bible shows us that since the church is expressed in a locality, we can use the locality as a designation. For example, the church located in Taipei is the church in Taipei. The one situated in Hong Kong is the church in Hong Kong, and the one positioned in London is the church in London. To designate a church according to its locality is for people in the world to know where the church is. This is clearly indicated in Revelation 1:11. In the New Testament there are many of these designations. For example, in Acts 8:1 there is the church in Jerusalem, and in Romans 16:1 there is the church in Cenchrea. There are also the church in Colossae, the church in Ephesus, the church in Smyrna, and so on. All of these are the one church in each locality.
Question: Since the church can have a designation, when the meeting hall needs to put up a sign, how should we designate it? This is a testimony to let the newly baptized ones know which church they belong to.
Answer: Due to administrative government regulations, every meeting hall requires a registration. Churches also require registration, so for this purpose we need a name. Therefore, we use “Assembly Hall” as our name to register with the government. For example, the church in Taipei is registered as the “Juridical Party of Taiwan, the church in Taipei Assembly Hall.” This is due to the requirement of the law, society, and administrative procedures.
If the newly saved ones ask questions concerning the church, we need to give them a proper answer, telling them what the church is and the two aspects of the church. At the same time we need to tell them that in Taipei there is only one church, and since the church in Taipei has so many people, it is subdivided into different district meetings. There are meetings in the hall, meetings in the districts, and also meetings in the homes. We can go to home meetings during the week, district meetings on the Lord’s Day, and if we are willing, we can also go to the meetings in the meeting hall. In this way we will answer the questions in their heart.
