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In Matthew 16:18 the Lord Jesus prophesied that He would build His church. Following that, in the book of Acts the Lord gave us a pattern by which we can clearly see how He produces and builds His church. We see this pattern of the producing of the church with the one hundred twenty on the day of Pentecost. Originally, all these one hundred twenty were far away from God. Although they were in Judaism, they were nonetheless astray from God. Then the Lord Jesus came and called them. He discipled them. Through the record of the four Gospels we see how the Lord brought them back to God and also baptized them into God. Thus, by the time of the Lord’s resurrection this one hundred twenty had been brought back to God and had been baptized into God.
Many Christians do not see the crucial matter that the resurrected Christ came back to His disciples as the very pneuma, as the life-giving Spirit. They see that Christ was the Word of God; that, as the Word, He became flesh; that when He was crucified on the cross, as the Lamb of God, He took away our sins; that He was resurrected; that He has ascended to the heavens, where He is now seated on the throne of God; and that He is coming again. They see all these matters, and we see them too. But because of the subtlety of the enemy, they do not see the crucial matter that as the resurrected One, Christ came back to His disciples as the life-giving Spirit.
First Corinthians 15:45 says that the last Adam, Christ, became the life-giving Spirit. In the flesh Christ was the last Adam, but in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit. Although all Christians see that Christ in the flesh was the last Adam, not many see that in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit. On the day of His resurrection, Christ did not come back to the disciples as the last Adam in the flesh. Rather He came to them in resurrection as the life-giving pneuma, as the life-giving Spirit. On this occasion He did a significant thing: He breathed Himself into His disciples (John 20:22). This breathing was the breath of the pneuma, and this breath of pneuma was the life-giving Christ, the Christ of resurrection. By this unique act of breathing, the resurrected Christ breathed Himself into His disciples.
First, the one hundred twenty disciples were brought back to God and baptized into God. As those who had been brought back to God and baptized into Him, they were ready to receive the resurrected Christ into them. Therefore, on the day of His resurrection the resurrected Christ came as the life-giving Spirit and breathed Himself into them. Prior to that time, Christ had been among them, but He had never come into them. But that day the resurrected Christ as the life-giving pneuma came into them to be their life, their content, their substance, and their very element for the building of God. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving pneuma is the building element, the building substance, for God’s house. On the day of His resurrection this substance entered the disciples.
Many Christians have the mistaken concept that before the day of Pentecost the Spirit had not come to the believers. This concept is absolutely wrong. According to Acts 1, before the day of Pentecost the one hundred twenty prayed in one accord for ten days. If the Spirit had not been in them, how could they have been kept in one accord for ten days? It would have been impossible. Even many today who have the Spirit find it difficult to be one with others for any length of time. What do you think would happen if more than a hundred Christians tried to meet together in one accord for ten days for the purpose of praying together? Probably after the first day there would be a fight. Some would pray to establish a mission, others to set up a chapel, and others to open a seminary. Eventually, they would end up fighting with one another. The only way the one hundred twenty could have been in such oneness before the day of Pentecost was through the resurrected Christ who had come into them as the life-giving Spirit on the day of resurrection. Therefore, in those days prior to Pentecost, the one hundred twenty had been brought back to God, had been baptized into the Triune God, and had received the resurrected Christ as the pneuma to be their life and content. Before Pentecost they lived and prayed by this life-giving Spirit.
On the day of Pentecost the ascended Christ on the throne poured Himself out as the Spirit of power upon these one hundred twenty believers. Thus, the one hundred twenty disciples passed through three stages: first, they were brought back to God and baptized into Him; second, the resurrected Christ as the Spirit of life was breathed into them; and third, the ascended Christ as the Spirit of power was poured out upon them. Within, they had the resurrected Christ as life; and without, they had the ascended Christ as power. They had the resurrected Christ as their inward content, and they had the ascended Christ as their outward equipment. When they reached that point, they became the church. This is the pattern of the producing of the church. The church is a group of believers who have been brought back to God and baptized into Him, who have had the resurrected Christ as the Spirit of life breathed into them to be their content, and who also have the ascended Christ poured out upon them as their power and equipment. Within, such a group of believers has Christ as life; and without, they have Christ as power. Therefore, they are the church. The principle is still the same today. Wherever there is the church, there is certainly a group of believers who have been brought back to the Triune God and baptized into Him, who have Christ within them as their life, and who have Christ upon them as their equipment.
We must apply all these matters to our situation. Perhaps you are meeting in your locality with a group of Christians. Have you all been brought back to God and baptized into Him? Do you have the resurrected Christ within you as the Spirit of life to be your life and content? Do you have the ascended Christ, the Christ enthroned in the heavens, the One who is Lord of all, poured out upon you to be your power and equipment? If you have all this, then you can proclaim to the universe that you are the church.
The church is not a group of Christians meeting together in a ritualistic way. Neither is it a group of believers sighing and groaning about their condition and trying to make themselves holy and righteous. What kind of Christian are you? Are you one who does not pray, sing, or shout but who constantly sighs, groans, and tries to become holy, clean, and pure? The church is not composed of this kind of Christian. The church is made up of Christians who are praising, singing, and declaring that they are in the Triune God, that they have the resurrected Christ within them, and that they have the ascended Christ upon them. We have no time for sighing and groaning. Rather, our time is for singing and praising the Lord. This is the church against which the gates of Hades cannot prevail. Some may say that we are too proud in saying that we are such a church. I do not care for this criticism. I only care for such a praising, shouting, declaring church. Where are we today? We are in the Triune God! What do we have within us? We have the resurrected Christ within us as our life and content! What do we have upon us? We have the ascended Christ upon us as our power and equipment! Therefore, we are the church.
The Bible reveals that the church is the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23; 1 Cor. 12:12-13). The church can be the Body of Christ only by being constituted with those who are in the Triune God, who have Christ in them as their content, and who have Christ upon them as their equipment. Consider your physical body. Anything that does not have your blood, your life, and your nature cannot be part of your body. A sculptor may fashion a replica of your body out of wood and then paint it to match your coloring. Would you admit that this replica is actually your body? Of course not. Rather, you would say, “This is not my body. Cast it into the fire and burn it. To say that such a thing is my body is an insult to me. My body is just part of me. It has my blood, my nature, and my life.” Just as our body is part of us, so Christ’s Body, the church, is part of Him. First Corinthians 12:12 says, “Even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ.” Christ is not only the Head but also the Body. Because we are members of the Body, we are part of Christ.
Ephesians 1:22 and 23 reveal that the church, the Body, is the fullness of Christ. This term, the fullness of Christ, is deep and difficult to understand. It is easier to illustrate it than it is to define it. Consider a certain brother who is very large physically. If this brother were small and thin, he would not have much fullness. But because he is physically large, when we look at him, we see his fullness, which is his large body. If this brother had only a head but no body, he obviously would not have any fullness. In like manner, the Body of Christ, the church, is the fullness of Christ. Christ fills all in all. As One who is universally great, Christ certainly needs a large Body, the church, to be His fullness.
No matter how large a certain brother may be today, when he was born, he probably weighed less than ten pounds. However, being a full-grown man, he may weigh more than two hundred pounds today. If any brother still weighed the same as he did at birth, he certainly would not have any fullness. What poverty it would be for him to weigh the same year after year! How did a tall and heavy brother grow from being less than ten pounds at birth to being more than two hundred pounds today? He grew by eating the riches of his native land, that is, by eating so much chicken, eggs, beef, and milk. By eating all these riches over a period of many years, he gradually gained weight and grew to be large in stature. This illustrates the fact that the fullness comes out of the riches. To be exact, we need to say that the fullness comes out of the enjoyment of the riches. Without the enjoyment of the riches, we and the riches are not related to each other. But through the enjoyment of the riches, the riches become us.
The book of Ephesians speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ. In Ephesians 3:8 Paul says that he announced to the Gentiles “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” As we have seen, Ephesians also speaks of the fullness of Christ. The riches of Christ are all the many aspects of Christ for our enjoyment. In the chapters on who Christ is and what Christ is in His divinity and His humanity, we considered a great many of these aspects, more than sixty items. By eating, digesting, and assimilating these riches of Christ, we become His fullness. This fullness is the church. The church is the issue of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ.
There is hardly any reality of the church in Christianity today because there is very little enjoyment of Christ. Instead, there is a great deal of knowledge, theological doctrine, and ethical teaching. But there are no practical riches of Christ for the believers to enjoy. Many of you were in Christianity for years. How much of Christ did you enjoy when you were there? Although those you were with claimed to be the church, how much of Christ did they have within them? They might have had the knowledge of the Bible, but they did not have much of Christ digested and assimilated into their being. We do not need to understand Christ. We need to enjoy Him!
For more than seventy-two years I have been eating foods that I know little or nothing about. When I was in Japan, the Japanese saints served me the best Japanese food. However, I cannot recall the name of even one dish. I simply did not know what it was I was eating. I only know that it was good food and that I ate it. When it comes to eating and nourishment, we do not need to know that much. Throughout the years I have eaten many varieties of food, but to this day I know very little about them. But I do know to eat. The Christ in the Bible is not merely for us to know or understand. Our mentality is too limited to understand Him fully. Hallelujah, Christ is for our enjoyment! Thus, we may say, “Amen, Lord Jesus! You are my God, my Creator, and my Lord. Amen, Lord, You are my life, my light, my power, my rock, my wheat, my door, and my pasture. Hallelujah, Lord, You are my everything!”
If your wife gives you a difficult time and you are about to lose your temper, do not try to overcome it. Take this as an opportunity to say, “Lord Jesus, I praise You! You are my life. Hallelujah, You are my righteousness and my sanctification!” If you do this, your temper will disappear, and you will be transcendent, far above your situation. This is not merely the overcoming of the temper; it is the enjoyment of Christ. It means very little to overcome your temper. What truly matters is that we enjoy Christ.
The fullness of Christ comes out of Christ. In the years to come, I expect to see the fullness of Christ coming out of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. The church today is the Body of Christ. This Body is simply a part of Christ. As a part of Christ, it is also the fullness of Christ. As the resurrected One, Christ has come into us, and as the ascended One, He has come upon us. But this is not all. Day by day we need to drink of the one Spirit. To drink of Him is to enjoy Him. First Corinthians 12:13 says, “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.” This verse first says that we all were baptized in one Spirit. Then it says that we need to drink of this Spirit. We need to drink of the Spirit continually. Day by day we must drink of this Spirit, taking in something of the all-inclusive Christ for our enjoyment.
We also need to pray, “Father, grant me to be strengthened into my inner man so that Christ may make His home in my heart, in every part of my inner being, and so that I may digest and assimilate more of Christ and have more of Christ constituted into me.”
In this way we shall eventually become mature. Although you may be in the Triune God, may have Christ in you, and may have Christ upon you, you may still be immature. Because you are immature, you cannot function in the meetings. You have the necessary organs, but because you are lacking maturity, you are not yet able to function. Maturity comes from the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. The more you eat of Christ, the more you mature; and the more you mature, the more you function. This is the church. The church is neither an organization nor a formal assembly. Rather, it is a living organism, a living constitution.
