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Scripture Reading: Matt. 16:18; Eph. 4:13-16; 5:26-27; Rev. 19:7-8
In this book we want to see when and how the great prophecy concerning the church will be fulfilled. Please take note of these words: when and how. We have to ask the Lord, our fellow Christians, and ourselves, “When and how?” In the Bible there are many prophecies, and many Bible teachers have pointed them out. In particular, G. H. Pember wrote a book on the great prophecies in the Bible. But strictly speaking, it is hard to find anyone who has pointed out that the building up of the church is a great prophecy.
In Matthew 16:18 the Lord Jesus said, “I will build My church.” You may say that this is a promise, yet we still have to realize that this is a prophecy. Probably none of the disciples, including Peter, had ever realized that there was such a thing in the universe. Suddenly the Lord Jesus told Peter, “I will build My church.” At the time the Lord spoke this word, this was a great prophecy concerning the church, and it still is a great prophecy. This is because nearly twenty centuries have passed since the Lord spoke this word, yet we still cannot see that the church is fully built up. The fulfillment of this prophecy in Matthew 16:18 has not been fully realized, so even today this prophecy still remains unfulfilled.
Some may say that in the book of Acts, the Lord Jesus fulfilled this prophecy by building up the church. Many Christians say that on the day of Pentecost, the Lord Jesus at least partly fulfilled His prophecy because He did build up something on that day. We need to go on, however, from the book of Acts to the Epistles to read what Paul says in Ephesians 4:13-16: “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we may be no longer little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error, but holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.”
By reading these four verses, we can realize that there is a prophecy in them. Paul says, “Until we all arrive” at something. This means that at that time and even now, all the saints, including Paul, were going on and pressing on until they would all arrive. We have to consider whether or not any Christians have arrived at these three things: the oneness of the faith, a full-grown man, and the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Have we seen or can we see the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love? There are thousands of Christians, Christian groups, and so-called Christian churches, but can we see what is prophesied in Ephesians 4:13-16? We have to say no. This was not only a prophecy in the past but also a prophecy that remains unfulfilled today. Even among us, we cannot say that we have had such an arrival. What we can say is that we are pressing on. We are going on toward that goal at which we have not yet arrived. Have you ever realized that in Ephesians 4 there is a great prophecy? This prophecy is not concerning the ten horns, seven heads, seven seals, seven trumpets, or seven bowls, but just concerning one thing — the building up of the church.
Thank God that in these last days He has pointed this out to us. In the past a great number of Christian teachers have seen the prophecies concerning Israel, the prophecies concerning the nations, and the prophecies in a general way concerning the church, the coming millennial kingdom, and the eternal age of the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem. But in these days the Lord has pointed out to us one practical prophecy. This is not just a prophecy concerning the church in a general way but a prophecy concerning the building up of the church in a specific way. We need to emphasize the building up. We are talking about the building up of the church. The prophecy on the building up of the church started by the Lord in Matthew 16 is continued by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4.
In the following chapter of Ephesians, chapter 5, there is also a kind of prophecy. Here it says that Christ will sanctify the church (v. 26). This sanctification is not by the blood, because that has already happened (Heb. 13:12). The sanctifying of the church is by the washing of the water in the word, not the word of letters but the living word. In the living word, there is the living water that sanctifies and purifies the church. This living water washes away not only the dirt of the church but also the spots and wrinkles (Eph. 5:27). A person’s face may be clean, but it can still have some spots and wrinkles. When you hurt your skin, this can leave a spot, and wrinkles come from oldness. How can the spots and the wrinkles be washed away? The precious blood of Jesus surely washes away our sins, but even this precious, prevailing, and powerful blood of Jesus Christ cannot wash away the spots and wrinkles. This is not the function of the blood. This is the function of the water of life. Only life can wash away the spots and the wrinkles. We have such a life within that can wash away these defects in a living way.
When we get the living word from the written Word, we experience the washing away of the spots, wrinkles, and such things so that Christ may present to Himself a glorious church, holy and without blemish. Is there such a thing today on this earth or in the heavens? There is not such a thing, but it is prophesied in Ephesians 5. Here is another prophecy about the perfecting of the church. There is a prophecy about the building up of the church in Matthew 16, and a continuation of this prophecy in Ephesians 4. In Ephesians 5 there is a prophecy of another aspect of the church, that is, of the perfecting of the church as the Body to make it holy, without blemish, and sanctified, without spot or wrinkle or any such things.
Now we come to the last book of the Bible, Revelation. Verses 7 and 8 of chapter 19 say, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.” These verses speak of the coming marriage of the Lamb, when His wife, the bride, has made herself ready. Strictly speaking, doctrinally speaking, that will be the fulfillment of prophecy, but this fulfillment is still not here. So these verses indicate that a prophecy is going to be fulfilled. This prophecy is that the bride of Christ will be made ready. We need to be impressed that there is a great prophecy in the Bible regarding the building up of the church and the preparation of Christ’s bride.
Now we have to ask when this great prophecy concerning the church will be fulfilled. We may have been in the church life for many years and still not know when this prophecy will be fulfilled. We all have to declare, “Now! Now is the time!” Then we need to know how it will be fulfilled. It can be fulfilled by our eating Christ as our spiritual food (John 6:57). We all have to say, “Now is the time, and eating is the way.”
We need to see the contents of this great prophecy. Although the verses that we have pointed out may be familiar to us, we may overlook all the points covered in such a great prophecy. In Matthew 16:18 the Lord first said to Peter, “I also say to you...” He said this to Peter because Peter had already seen something. None of the other disciples had seen what he had seen. When Jesus asked them who men said that the Son of Man was, they answered by saying that some said He was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets (v. 14). But when the Lord asked them who they said that He was, only Peter responded. He declared that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God (vv. 15-16). The Lord then told Peter, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens. And I also say to you...” (vv. 17-18a). Just to know Christ is insufficient and inadequate. The Lord was telling Peter that he needed to see something more.
The Lord said, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (v. 18). Peter means “a stone.” For the building up of the church, there is the need of living stones (1 Pet. 2:5). The first time Peter was brought to the Lord by his brother Andrew, the Lord Jesus immediately gave him a new name. He said, “You shall be called Cephas (which is interpreted, Peter)” (John 1:42). At one time we were pieces of clay. But Jesus told Peter, “You are a stone, and I am the rock. I am the foundation stone, and you are a piece of stone for the building up of the church. The gates of Hades shall not prevail against this church that I will build.”
We have to consider ourselves in the light of what the Lord said. We have to ask ourselves if we are stones. Actually, some of the young brothers are fifty percent stone and fifty percent clay. They become “muddy” easily. Regardless of how much water you pour on a piece of stone, it still remains solid. But if you pour water on a piece of clay, it becomes muddy. If we are stones, we have to ask, “Where is the building up?” Piling many pieces of stone together does not make a building. Is there a real building among us? If you feel that there is some friction between you and some other saints in the church, that means you have not been built in. Once a piece of stone has been built in, there is no friction. To be built into the church, God’s building, is our destiny and even our destination for eternity.
The Lord said, “I will build.” But some Christian teachers like to evade such a word. They say that there is no possibility for us Christians to be built up today in this age. To them the Lord is not able in this age; He is able only in the coming age. To them the Lord is not able on this earth; He is able only when we get into heaven. They say that one day we will be built up but not today on this earth. But the Lord’s word in Matthew 16:18 is not a prophecy that will be fulfilled in the next age and in heaven. Now is the time for the church to be built. We are living stones, and the Lord wants to use us as the material for His building. But we have to ask, “Have we been built up with others?” In his first Epistle, Peter said, “You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house” (2:5). This is all that we need today.
The power of darkness cannot prevail against the built-up church. Look at today’s situation among all the Christians. It seems that nearly everywhere the enemy, the power of darkness, is prevailing. In every direction Christianity has been defeated. The gates of Hades have been and still are so prevailing against today’s Christianity because there is no building. It is only the built-up church, the church that has been built up by Christ, against which the gates of Hades cannot prevail. We cannot see such a thing today. We are still desiring to see the fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy for a built-up church.
In Ephesians 4 Paul said, “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith” (v. 13a). The oneness of the faith is not the oneness of doctrines. Only the Lord Jesus, His person, and His redemptive work are the constituents of our faith. If we have this, we are saved. If we do not have this, we are lost. But this is not the case with doctrines. Whether or not you have the doctrine of absolute grace, foot-washing, head covering, or baptism by immersion does not affect your salvation. The Quakers do not practice water baptism, but many of them are saved. However, they could never be saved without having the faith that Jesus is the divine person, the Son of God, incarnated to be a man, who was crucified on the cross for our sins and resurrected on the third day. He is the Lord and our Redeemer, who has redeemed us by shedding His blood. Without believing into Christ as the divine and human person with His redeeming blood, we could never be saved. This is our faith. Regretfully, Christians today are divided not by their faith but by different doctrines.
Just with the matter of the rapture, there are many different doctrinal interpretations, such as pretribulation, posttribulation, midtribulation, and partial rapture. Regardless of what kind of rapture you believe in, as long as you have the faith in Christ, you are a saved one. Do we still hold on to some doctrine? Is pray-reading our doctrine? By the Lord’s mercy, I do not hold on to any doctrine. We are not on the way of arriving at the oneness of doctrines but at the oneness of the faith, at a full-grown man, and at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we would be no longer children who are tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine. With us there should be no more carrying about. We should hold on only to the faith. Christians are divided because they are for different doctrines. They have been stopped by their doctrines, so they have to go on. They need to go on by leaving the doctrines until they arrive at the oneness of the faith.
Some who hold on to baptism by immersion have become the Southern Baptist Church. Another group of believers hold on to speaking in tongues, so they become a tongue-speaking church. Others who hold on to foot-washing become a foot-washing group. Still others hold on to the doctrine of the presbytery, so they are the Presbyterian Church. All these brothers are divided because of the different doctrines they hold on to. We need to drop all the doctrines and go on to arrive at the oneness of the faith. We do not care for any doctrine, although we have the proper doctrines. We have elders and practice baptism by immersion, but we do not hold on to these doctrines. The believers are scattered and divided by doctrines. They are being carried about by every wind of doctrine. We have left the position of division by doctrines to arrive at the oneness of the faith.
We also have to arrive at a full-grown man and at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Then we will be normal children. We will grow up into Christ, the Head, in all things. Then out of Him, the Head, all the Body causes the growth of the Body through every joint of the rich supply and through the effectual working of every part.
In Ephesians 5 there is the sanctifying and purifying with the living water in the word to wash away all the spots and wrinkles that the church might be glorious. Some day the church will be presented to Christ in such a glorious situation. At that time the church will be ready. This is a prophecy.
Of course, whatever the Lord has prophesied will surely be fulfilled. He can never be defeated. Since the Lord has prophesied that He will build His church, this prophecy will be fulfilled. Without the fulfillment of this prophecy, there is no way for the Lord to come back. If the church were not built, this would be a shame to Him. Satan would be able to say, “You have prophesied concerning the building up of the church, yet You have not been able to fulfill it.” I have the full assurance, however, that the Lord is going to fulfill whatever He has prophesied so that He may come back. Before His coming back, He may boast to Satan by saying, “Satan, whatever I have prophesied, I have fulfilled, so I am coming!” The fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy concerning the building up of the church will bring Him back. Now is the time for the Lord to fulfill His prophecy.
