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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:22-24, 30; 2:2; Gal. 1:15-16; 4:19; Col. 1:27; 2:3; 3:11; Heb. 1:2; Eph. 4:13-16
In this chapter we must see something more important than what we have seen in the previous chapters. We want to see how the church comes into being, how the church grows up, and how the church is built up. As we have said many times, the church is absolutely something of Christ, and strictly speaking, the church is something as Christ. It is not only something of Christ but something as Christ. The church is part of Christ. We have seen that the church is the increase of Christ, something that comes out of Christ to be increased as a bride to match Him. Now we need to go on to see something from the books written by the apostle Paul. Because in Paul’s days many things other than Christ had come into the church, the church was greatly damaged, spoiled, and dismembered. The church was even killed by many foreign things. Today the situation is the same.
If we want to speak about the church, we have to know what the real experience of Christ is. First of all, we have to discern the difference between the gifts and Christ. The gifts are things for Christ, but they are not Christ Himself. You may have a certain gift, yet you may have nothing to do with Christ. Do not think that the gifts are Christ. Gifts are things from God, but they are not Christ Himself. We all need to realize this. For instance, the Old Testament speaks of a donkey that could speak a human language (Num. 22:28-30). No doubt, that was a miraculous and extraordinary gift. If today a donkey spoke in English, the whole city would be excited, and the newspapers would greatly publicize it. However, it would not be something that is Christ Himself. Similarly, although the prophets in the Old Testament time spoke many things concerning Christ, what they had was merely a gift for them to speak for Christ. What they had was not Christ Himself.
Today many Christians pay too much attention to divine healing. I do not like to criticize others, but as one of the Lord’s servants I have to be faithful. In these days different ones have asked me what kind of ministry I have. Because I did not know what they meant, I have been bothered by their question. Eventually, I said, “My ministry is a ministry of Christ.” Some of them went on to ask, “What do you mean by the ministry of Christ? Do you have a healing ministry?” Sometimes we have healings, but we do not say that our ministry is a healing ministry. Divine healing is not bad or unnecessary. In fact, I myself have experienced divine healing in the past years. Moreover, I have to testify to the Lord’s mercy that I have brought divine healing to others, and I have seen a good number of believers among us receiving divine healing. However, dear brothers and sisters, you have to realize that divine healing is something other than Christ. You may have divine healing, yet you may not have Christ.
In the past years I saw a number of people who received divine healing yet did not know Christ. Healing is one matter, while the Healer is another. Do you want the Healer or the healing? Likewise, gifts are one matter, but the Giver is another. Do you want the gifts or the Giver? I am sorry to say, however, that today many brothers and sisters pay too much attention to the gifts but pay very little attention to the Giver. The gifts are for the Giver, but today the gifts have become a frustration to the Giver. The gifts should be a help that brings people to the Giver, but today people are content with the gifts, and they forget about the Giver. In the Old Testament we have the story of Rebekah in Genesis 24. When the old servant of Abraham found Rebekah and presented to her a considerable number of gifts from Isaac (v. 53), she was not satisfied with the gifts. Those gifts served only as a reminder to remind Rebekah of Isaac, the giver of the gifts. Hence, Rebekah agreed right away to go with the old servant to be with Isaac (v. 58). Today, however, many people are satisfied with the gifts, and they have no heart and even no desire to seek the Giver. We know that the story of Rebekah is a type. The old servant is a type of the Holy Spirit sent down by the heavenly Father to seek us as the heavenly Rebekah to marry Christ as the heavenly Isaac. When the Holy Spirit comes to us, He often comes with some gifts, but all these gifts are reminders of Christ, the Giver. When you receive a gift, you should not be satisfied with the gift. You must remember to seek the Giver, who is Christ Himself. By this you can see the difference between the gifts and the Giver, between the many things other than Christ and Christ Himself. You may have many things, yet you may not have Christ.
Concerning this matter, I can never forget the help that I received from Brother Watchman Nee about thirty years ago. One day he spoke with me, saying, “Brother Lee, when I was very young, a little more than twenty years of age, I was under the help of an elderly sister, Miss M. E. Barber. Many times when famous preachers with prominent titles came to our town, Miss Barber would bring me with her, and at other times I would ask her to go with me to listen to these world-famous preachers. The first time we went, in my heart I truly appreciated the preacher. I felt that he was very eloquent, smart, and knowledgeable, and I truly admired him. Then the next day when I sat with Miss Barber in her living room, she asked me what I thought about the preacher the previous night. I said, ‘He is wonderful!’ She went on to ask, ‘Wonderful in what?’ I said, ‘He is surely wonderful in knowledge, in ability, in eloquence, and so forth.’ Then she asked, ‘What is that? Is that something that is Christ Himself? Is that something that comes out of the inner fellowship? Can you realize whether the speaker is really one who is in fellowship with Christ?’” Brother Nee told me that after being asked in that way, he simply had nothing to say except one word: no. Was that something that is Christ Himself? No. Was that something from the inner fellowship? No. Was that speaker in fellowship with Christ? No.
After a certain time another speaker came. This one was more famous than all the ones who had come before. Brother Nee went to Miss Barber and asked her to go with him to listen to that big speaker. While they were listening, Brother Nee was really happy and said within himself, “Miss Barber, this time you have to be convinced. Here is something really bigger and better.” After they came back, Brother Nee had no patience to wait until the next day. He right away asked her, “What about this one?” Miss Barber calmly asked him, “Is this one in the fellowship of the Lord?” Brother Nee told me that her question simply made him clear, and he had to answer, “No.” Since that time I have been greatly helped. I may speak very well and I may preach richly, yet there is the possibility that I am not in the fellowship of the Lord. That kind of preaching is a preaching of gift, not a preaching of Christ Himself. Anything that is of Christ, even as Christ Himself, must be in the fellowship of Christ. You must be in the fellowship of Christ. You must have a living contact with Christ.
Brothers and sisters, we need to realize that not only are the gifts something other than Christ and not Christ Himself, but even the knowledge and the teaching of Christ are not Christ Himself. We have to know Christ in a living way, and we have to minister Christ in a real and living way, not merely in the way of knowledge or in the way of teaching. When you are speaking about Christ, people must be able to sense the presence of Christ. Something from Christ, something out of Christ, even something as Christ must be ministered through you to others. This is the ministry of Christ that is adequate to build up the Body of Christ.
All the gifts are for the building of the church. We have to realize, however, that any gift that is separated from Christ and remains merely a gift is dangerous. It is a damage to the building of the church. I say again, a gift must be for the building of the church, and this gift must be related to Christ. Once a gift is separated from Christ, you may do many things, but this gift will be a damage to the building up of the Body. I do look to the Lord that He would open our eyes to see the difference between the gifts and Christ and between the knowledge of Christ and Christ Himself. Christ Himself is the only factor, the only element, for us to build up the church.
In the past we have seen many things that caused us great sorrow because we have seen a number of gifted people do a great deal of damage to the building up of the Body. The more they work, the more they do, the more they preach, and the more they teach, the more they damage the building of the church. Even the teaching and doctrine concerning Christ can be a dividing factor in the church if you are not in Christ, if you are not exercising your gift by being joined to Christ. By this we can see that there is a real danger with the gifted ones.
From the past to the present time I have noticed that there are some believers who claim to be spiritual. However, I have discovered that the more they claim to be spiritual, the more they cannot be built up with others, and all they can do is simply criticize others all the time. They often say, “I am spiritual, but you are not. I have seen the heavenly vision, but you have not.” I am not imagining this; from the Far East to Europe and America, I have met this kind of person everywhere. They have a so-called spirituality that is not Christ Himself; they do not have the real spirituality that is Christ Himself. Hence, wherever I have met them, the impression I have had is that they are always criticizing others. Wherever they go, they consider themselves to be the best. This is a real damage to the Body. This is why recently when I was in a certain locality, I spoke with the dear brothers there, saying, “Let us be general and not special. Do not think that you are spiritual. If you think that you are spiritual, it simply means that you are not spiritual. If you claim that you have seen the heavenly vision, it simply means that what you have seen is an earthly vision. When you claim that you are spiritual, you have to know that you are fleshy and carnal. When the heavenly light was on the face of Moses, Moses did not see it. It was others who saw it. To be truly spiritual is to be humble and general toward others.”
Brothers and sisters, gifts are not Christ. Knowledge and teachings are not Christ. Even so-called spirituality is not Christ. Only Christ Himself is Christ. You must forget about the gifts that you have, the knowledge and teachings that you have obtained, and the so-called spirituality to which you have attained. You have to forget about all these things. Simply keep yourself in a living communion with the living Lord. Contact Him in a humble way, saying, “Lord, I am nothing. I am not better than anyone. Nothing with me is special. I am very general. I am just a sinner saved by You, and that is all.” Let others discern whether or not we are spiritual.
We need to realize who Christ is. Christ is the One who is simply experienced by us in a living way. I do not mean that we do not need certain kinds of gifts. I do not mean that we do not need knowledge and teachings. We need these things, but we have to realize that they must not be something other than Christ. Only Christ Himself avails for the building up of the church. Therefore, let us be humble to experience Christ. Let us be humble all the time in teaching the real experience of Christ. He is the living Lord. Now He is the living Spirit, and He is embodied in the living Word. We need to humbly contact the Word in the spirit to experience the living Lord Himself. If you will do this, I am sure that you will have a desire for the church life, and you will experience Christ in a real and living way. You will long to have the church life, you will be desirous to be built up together with others, and you will love others. Furthermore, you will never consider yourself special. Rather, you will be very general.
If any one among us still considers himself or herself as someone special, this is a damage to the building up of the Body. If you still consider yourself as someone special, you will have nothing but criticism in your heart. You will be criticizing all the time. You may say in your heart, “This brother’s message this morning is good,” or, “The meetings in these days are not bad,” but you will have something further critical to say. You will always criticize something. This simply proves that you consider yourself as someone superior to others, someone better than others, someone special. I beg you, if you do have the desire to build up the Lord’s Body in a practical way in your locality, give up this kind of thought. Simply be very general and simple.
All the so-called spiritual persons are too complicated. Forgive me for saying this; I hope that you know I am saying this in love. In recent years I have considered giving up my pursuit to be “spiritual.” I do not want to be “spiritual,” because to be “spiritual” simply means to be complicated. The most complicated people are the spiritual ones. When I am not spiritual, I am very simple and I love the brothers, but when I become spiritual, immediately I become complicated and begin to ask, “Is this brother spiritual? Has he seen the heavenly vision?” This is why I say that in recent years I have been afraid to be “spiritual.” I have been nearly quenched by “spiritual” people. Most of the problems and difficulties that come into the church are from those who claim to be spiritual, not from those who are not spiritual. The more someone claims to be spiritual, the more problems and difficulties he brings into the church. In the Far East we did not have any problem before we had certain “spiritual” persons. Only a few years ago, when a small number of people became “spiritual,” the trouble came. I say again, I am afraid to be “spiritual,” and I am afraid to see you being “spiritual.”
What I mean is that there is nothing besides Christ that is good for the building up of the church. Do not pay much attention to the so-called gifts, to mere teachings and knowledge, or to so-called spirituality. Forget about all these things. Be humble to contact the living Lord day by day and to be general and simple. Do not try to analyze people. The “spiritual” people are the best, expert analyzers. They are analyzing all the time. Brothers and sisters, try to be simple and not to be clever. If we are simple, we will love the brothers, and we will not like to analyze them. It is love in Christ that builds. Knowledge does not build but puffs up.
Gifts, knowledge, teachings, spirituality, and even spiritual experiences are not Christ. Only Christ Himself is Christ. You have to experience Christ day by day and even moment by moment. Contact Him. If you have a living contact with Christ today, you will not be proud, and you will not criticize others. I do desire to see that in these days and in this country a good number of believers would love the Lord, contact Him, and live by Him in a real and living way. We may never talk about gifts, yet we may have many gifts. We may never talk about knowledge, yet we may have profound spiritual knowledge. Likewise, we may not talk about our “spiritual” experiences, but we simply contact the living Lord day by day and live by Him. We will simply speak about Christ in love and in humility. We will love all the saints and all kinds of saints. This is the life that can build up the church, and this is the life that can cover all the shortcomings. Moreover, this life is love and light. May the Lord deliver us not only from sins, from fleshly things, and from worldly things but also from gifts, knowledge, and “spiritual” experiences.
The apostle Paul told the Galatians that it was God’s pleasure to reveal His Son in him (Gal. 1:15-16), and he told them that Christ would be formed in them (4:19). This was because at that time the Galatian believers were very much influenced by the teaching of the law, the teaching to keep the law (3:2, 5). The law is something from God. It is good, holy, divine, righteous, spiritual, and perfect (Rom. 7:12-14). However, the law is not Christ. We are not bound to the law at all. We are simply bound to Christ. Christ, not the law, is the central thought of God. The law is not the center, but Christ is. So the apostle told the Galatians how he used to be under the law, but one day God revealed His Son in him. That was something other than the law. From that time on he could discern the difference between the law and Christ, and he gave up the law and kept Christ. He told the Galatians that today with us, the Christians, it is not a matter of keeping the law but a matter of living by Christ. He said, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). He also said, “I through the law have died to the law” (v. 19). He had nothing to do with the law. He was a dead person to the law. As far as the law was concerned, he was dead and finished. He was bound to Christ, and it was Christ who lived in him.
Strictly speaking, no one is teaching the law today, but you have to realize that many times you yourself are like a teacher of the law. Perhaps every morning in your prayer you are a good teacher trying your best to teach yourself to do good. You are the law teacher and the law giver to yourself, and you yourself even become the law. You may set up many laws for yourself to do good. You may set up a law to sacrifice for the Lord and a law to be humble, to love others, and to help others. You may have more laws than the Ten Commandments, and you may be a better law giver than Moses. Do you realize that you have been very much influenced by trying to do good? You must forget about trying to do good. We are not bound to do good. We are bound to Christ. Can you forget about doing good? If you are still trying to do good, you are a “Galatian.”
Not only so, but there is also the case of the Hebrew believers. Hebrews 1:2 says that God “has at the last of these days spoken to us in the Son,” indicating that the Son, Christ, is the center, the focus, of this book. The Hebrew believers held on to a sound, fundamental, good, and even genuine religion — Judaism, which may even be considered a religion from God and from the heavens. However, it is not Christ. Today we are not bound to any kind of religion, not even to Christianity. Inasmuch as Christianity is a religion, we have nothing to do with it. Christianity is not Christ Himself. Often I tell people that there are the words Christ and Christian in the Scriptures, but there is not the word Christianity. Christianity is a human-manufactured word, and I do not like to use it. Christianity is a dead religion, a religion other than Christ.
In the Epistle to the Hebrews there is a big difference between Christ and all the good things of the genuine, fundamental religion. In that religion there were the angels, the apostles such as Moses and Joshua, and the priests, including the high priest. Furthermore, there were the Scriptures and the temple, including the Holy of Holies, the sacrifices, and the rituals. All the good, sound, fundamental, and genuine things of religion were there, yet all these are not Christ Himself. Anything that is not Christ Himself is not good for the building up of the Body of Christ. The building up of the Body of Christ must be something that is Christ Himself. We have to know Christ in a living way. We have to experience Christ in a real way. Christ must be everything. He is the real Angel from God. He is the real Apostle from God. He is the real Priest, the High Priest. He is the temple and the sacrifices. Christ is everything.
What is the church? The church is Christ. It is not a “New Testament church” but a “Christ church.” Today in this country I have learned that many Christians like to use the term New Testament church. The first time I heard this term, I said to myself, “What is the New Testament church? Is this another category of Christianity?” I do not think that this is a proper term for us to use. We should not say that we are going to have a New Testament church. We are not going to have a new movement and form a new church. This is something that cannot please God. There are enough movements in Christianity. There are enough kinds of “churches”; there is no need for us to add another one. What we need to see is that we must experience Christ. Everything must be Christ. Even the church life must be Christ. Even the fellowship among us must be Christ, not a religion or Christianity but Christ.
Now let us go on to the book of Colossians. The problem with the Colossians was pagan philosophy, the worldly philosophy, Gnosticism. Even today there is the danger that some philosophy, some thoughts of pagan teachings, worldly teachings, and worldly doctrines will be brought into the church. Christ is the real knowledge, wisdom, philosophy, and teaching. Christ is everything. The apostle Paul tells us that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ (Col. 2:3) and that Christ is all and in all (3:11).
If you look into the book to the Colossians, you will realize that in the mind of God and in the thought of the apostle there was nothing but Christ — not gifts, healings, teachings, doctrines, philosophies, or worldly elements. Christ is life (3:4), and He is in us as the hope of glory (1:27). He is everything to us. Furthermore, this Christ is the very element, the very factor, for the building up of the Body. If we are going to have the real church life, we must realize Christ in such a living way.
We should also consider the first Epistle to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians the apostle told the Corinthian believers that they did not lack in any gift (1:7). They were exceedingly rich in gifts. Moreover, they were enriched in Christ in all knowledge (v. 5). However, what the apostle preached was neither gifts nor knowledge but Christ. In 1:22-23 Paul says, “Indeed Jews require signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified.” The Jews sought signs, the miraculous things, and the Greeks sought wisdom, knowledge, and philosophy. Today in Christianity, people are still seeking these two categories of things. They are seeking gifts, signs, and miracles, and they also are seeking knowledge and teaching. However, Paul says that he preached Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God (v. 24).
I say again, you may have all the gifts, yet you may not have Christ. You may be very rich in gifts yet very poor in Christ. The Corinthian believers did not lack in any gift. Indeed, they were rich and strong in gifts. However, the apostle told them that they were “fleshy” and were “infants in Christ” (3:1). Some have thought that in the first Epistle to the Corinthians the apostle had a positive attitude concerning the gifts and encouraged the believers to seek the gifts. What we see, however, is exactly the opposite. In 1 Corinthians the apostle’s attitude toward the gifts is very negative. Concerning speaking in tongues, the apostle says that “in the church I would rather speak five words with my mind, that I might instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue” (14:19). To be sure, this word is not encouraging but discouraging toward the gifts. At the end of chapter 12, after speaking a great deal concerning the gifts, he says, “And moreover I show to you a most excellent way” (v. 31). What is the most excellent way? The most excellent way to exercise the gifts is love (ch. 13). If you can speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, you are like sounding brass or a clanging cymbal, in which there is no life and no reality (v. 1). This is surely not an encouraging word concerning the gifts. You may exercise different kinds of gifts and even “play” with the gifts as little children play with their toys, yet you may not have love. I do not believe that the attitude of the apostle here is encouraging. Rather, it is discouraging. The apostle was telling the Corinthians that they needed to know Christ, to grow up, and to exercise their gifts in love. All the gifts have to be controlled by love.
Therefore, the law is not Christ, religion is not Christ, philosophy is not Christ, and even the gifts are not Christ. Christ is something other than these things. These four books — Galatians, Hebrews, Colossians, and 1 Corinthians — were written to deal with all the different things that are not Christ. Galatians deals with the law, Hebrews deals with religion, Colossians deals with philosophy, and 1 Corinthians deals with the gifts and knowledge. Today our burden is for the building up of a living expression of the Body of Christ. We must realize that if we are going to have the real church life, we must forget about all the different kinds of good things that are other than Christ Himself. No matter what kind of good things we pay attention to, as long as they are not Christ, they will be a damage. All things must be related to Christ and must be for Christ. Otherwise, we need to forget about them. The unique way for us to realize the real church life is to experience Christ in a living way. Only Christ will not make us proud. All the other good things, even the so-called spiritual experiences, will make us proud, and that will be a damage to the building up of the church. Only Christ Himself will make us humble, general, and simple so that it will be easy to build up the church. When we are living in Christ, we are simply in the church life.
