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Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:22-23
After we spent time before the Lord, seeking His will concerning the different aspects of the church, the Lord in my spirit has given me the sense that we should touch the matter of the church according to the actual situation of the saints. In principle, we can divide this topic into two aspects: the first aspect concerns the Bible, and the second aspect concerns the inner life.
Every genuine Christian has a Bible in his hand. To us the Bible is so clear, secure, and reliable. As long as God’s children have some reverence and godly fear in their hearts, they will never object to the Bible. Everyone must respect the position of the Bible before God and treasure the authority of the Bible among God’s children. We need to praise God for giving us the Bible outwardly as our greatest heritage and a priceless treasure. The Bible has been passed down to us and translated into our language so that we can easily understand it; this is a great blessing that the Lord has given us. Hence, when we speak of the matter of the church, we must check with the Bible concerning the condition of the church. We should examine the Bible when we measure a church. All the children of God who are godly must confess that we cannot accept anything that is not according to the Bible, that cannot stand up to the scrutiny of the Bible, or that clearly violates and is against the teachings of the Bible. Thus, every person who is godly and belongs to God must eventually examine the matter of the church according to the Bible.
About one century ago the Lord raised up a group of brothers in England. Because they had many questions concerning Christian groups, they began to check whether their condition was according to the record and teaching of the Bible. After comparing the situation with the Bible, they discovered that all the Christian groups they encountered had some problems. These Western saints had a simple slogan: “Back to the Bible!” They hoped that the condition, content, and activities of the church and all their work would be according to the teaching of the Bible. However, after these brothers passed away, their so-called church degraded into unseemly Christianity, which has gone astray from the Bible in many things and does not match the Bible.
One hundred years ago the Holy Spirit raised up a group of brothers to come back to the Bible. They wanted to drop everything that was not in the Bible, and by the Lord’s grace, they wanted to recover everything that was in the Bible. Even today, both in the East and in the West, there are still many godly people among God’s children who are answering the Holy Spirit’s call and bringing the matter of the church back to the Bible. They want to drop everything that is not in the Bible and recover everything that is in the Bible, according to what they have seen in the Bible and according to the grace that they have been shown. The church must be according to the record of the Bible. Whatever man can see and touch related to the whole condition and situation of the church should be according to the teaching of the Bible.
Today, in this age of confusion in Christianity, the first question we should ask, regardless of which Christian group we contact, is whether their condition is pleasing to God. We should not quickly accept that they are on the ground of the church. We should compare the condition of every Christian group with the Bible. This means that we should use the Bible to determine the matter of the church. If we judge according to the will of man, we get into trouble because everyone has his interpretation and view. If we try to answer the question of the church according to man’s view, we will only become more and more confused. We must all learn to drop our views, cease from our opinions, and bring the question of the church to the Bible.
Some people may say that even though there has been one Bible throughout the ages, everyone has different interpretations of the Bible and different definitions of the meaning of its words; therefore, there will still be many arguments. This word sounds very logical, but actually it is not. In the past twenty years we have met thousands upon thousands of people who belong to the Lord. We can testify that as long as a person has a godly fear before God and is willing to put himself aside, not having his own prejudice or opinion, then when the Bible speaks of the number ten, he will not read it as nine or eleven. Unless a certain person has some prejudice, his reading of the Bible will not be different from what it actually says.
For example, there are two methods of baptizing in Christianity: one way is to baptize by sprinkling water, and the other way is to baptize by immersion, burying a believer in the water. If a person reads the Bible without any prejudice, he should not have a second view concerning this matter; he would surely regard the view of baptism by immersion. In the past I was baptized by sprinkling. I had no feeling at the time, and because I was not serious, I did not pray. Strictly speaking, I was not saved. My name appeared on the list to be baptized only because I passed an interview with the pastor and attended a communion worship service. I stood before the crowd, and as I held a bronze basin, I was sprinkled with a few drops of water and then received the communion. However, I was not saved. The following year, however, I touched the Holy Spirit and was genuinely saved. Then I began reading the Bible. Because of the Lord’s grace, I desired the Lord’s word like a newborn babe who desires milk (1 Pet. 2:2).
One day I saw the matter of baptism in the Bible. When I read that the Lord was baptized into the water and came up from the water (Matt. 3:16), I began to wonder, “Have I not been baptized? Why did I not go into the water and come up from the water?” I went to my pastor and asked him. He answered that it was proper to be baptized by immersion, but some people think that baptism by immersion is too troublesome and that it is more convenient to be sprinkled with water. He said that when the weather gets cold, and both men and women need to change clothes, it becomes troublesome. This reply did not satisfy me, but I did not want to argue with him, because I was a young person. So I asked, “Is it not true that we should follow the Lord’s footsteps? If we do not follow the Lord in the matter of baptism, on what matters should we follow the Lord?” This pastor was very eloquent in answering, so he said, “If you truly want to imitate the Lord, you should go to the Jordan River.” I did not answer him, but inwardly I was not happy, and I felt that he was arguing irrationally.
After I went home, I read the Bible again and discovered that John the Baptist was baptizing in Aenon “because there was much water there” (John 3:23). This shows that baptism does not have to be in the Jordan River, and “much water” undoubtedly indicates that the people were baptized by immersion, not by sprinkling, because baptism by sprinkling does not require much water. Then I read in Acts 8:37-39 that Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch, and they both went down into the water and came up out of the water. I felt that I had more ground, so I went again to the pastor. After he listened, he did not argue, and he said, “There are two ways in our church. If someone wants to be baptized by sprinkling, we baptize them by sprinkling, but if you want to be baptized by immersion, we will baptize you by immersion.” I could not be satisfied with his answer, and I could not agree with him inwardly because the truth can be only one, not two. If the Bible says that we should baptize by immersion, we should not baptize by sprinkling, and if the Bible says that we should baptize by sprinkling, we should not baptize by immersion. I could not agree with his way of speaking, because once we practice this, it will only produce problems, including problems in matters other than only baptism. There are many areas in which we might not be according to the Bible.
From that day on, I stopped trusting what that pastor said, and I listed all the situations that I saw and compared them one by one to the Bible. Because I began to look into the matter of baptism in the Bible, I began to look into many other matters, including the church. As a result, I found that many items were not according to the Bible. One day I read in George Müller’s biography that he too had been baptized by sprinkling. When a sister spoke to him concerning baptism by immersion, he did not agree with her. She only asked him to read the Bible thoroughly, and because Müller paid attention to the Word of God, he read the New Testament again. Müller concluded that the Bible speaks concerning baptism by immersion more clearly than it speaks concerning prophecies. Therefore, he was baptized by immersion. If we bring a matter to the Bible and put aside our own views and opinions, and if we examine and compare the matter with the Bible in a thorough way, we will become clear and understand it without any dissension.
Today the confusion in Christianity is not because the record in the Bible is confused; instead, confusion is produced by man’s opinions, ideas, and ways of doing things. If we are careless, we will be led in circles by the confusion of Christianity, but if we are serious, we will bring all the matters concerning the church to the Bible and compare them with the Bible. We should accept everything that is in the Bible, and we should reject anything that is not in the Bible. If we have a fear of God and if we compare all the matters of the church to the Bible, we will discover any situation in Christianity that is not according to the Bible. If we are not serious Christians, there is not much else to say, but if we want to be serious Christians, we must fear the Lord and respect His Word, bringing all the matters concerning the church under the light of the Bible to obtain God’s rule and standard. Then we will have God’s final decision. Everything other than this belongs to man’s opinions, views, standards, and ways of doing things. Anything that belongs to man or follows the world will be rejected by God. The Bible is great and divine; everyone who fears God should come back to God’s Word in this way.
The most precious thing to a Christian is that we have not only the Bible outwardly but the life of God inwardly. Every life has its particular demand and taste. As God’s children, we have God’s life with its demand and taste in us. For example, a chicken has a life with a demand to eat. If we try to feed a chicken unclean things, however, it will refuse to eat because they do not match its taste. A duck likes water, and its life demands that it be in water because water matches its taste. Every life has its particular demand and taste. Similarly, as saved ones, we have Christ’s life in us, and His life demands that we receive supply and satisfaction in the church; furthermore, this demand also has a taste.
After I was saved and began to read the Bible, I compared the denomination where I was with the Bible, and I found that there were many situations that were not according to the record in the Bible. I still went to meetings, but I felt depressed and uneasy after every meeting. Before I was saved, I had always felt quite good after a meeting because the chapel was very quiet. It was much better than the theater. After I was saved, I began to pray, pursue, and have fellowship with the Lord, and I realized that the life in me truly had a demand and taste for receiving the supply of life. The messages in those meetings, however, could not supply me inwardly; I could not receive food there, and I was not satisfied inwardly.
One winter at Christmas, everyone was celebrating in the chapel. Although I was saved, because I was still young, I went to see the show with everyone else. Afterward, however, I felt very sad inwardly, and I decided that I would never go there again. This was due to the taste and demand of the life in me.
Within every saved person there is a taste and demand related to life. This is just like the life in a little child that spontaneously causes him to want to eat. Furthermore, he has a certain taste. If he is given food that is stinky and tastes bitter, he will spew it out, but if he is given food that smells good and is sweet, he will eat all of it. The taste of life in genuine Christians tells us where we should meet to please the Lord — where there is spiritual food, where there is the Lord’s presence, and where God feeds His children. There is a demand and a taste in us. We cannot merely judge the matter of the church outwardly according to the doctrines of the Bible, but also we must judge it inwardly according to the taste and demand of life.
When I gave some messages in Tsingtao, someone asked, “Which Christian group is right? Every group says that they are right, so how do we judge?” I answered that we first need to measure a group with the Bible. If we cannot find anything wrong in this regard, we must judge it according to the demand and taste of life. For example, there are many groups in Tsingtao. If a group preaches the gospel, has the Lord’s name, and helps people to be saved but lacks the element of the Lord within, its testimony will not be bright. When a person is newly saved, he may feel good about meeting with this group because the Lord’s name is there and because he received help by this group to be saved and know salvation. Nonetheless, since it gives only a little ground to the Lord, he cannot receive any deeper grace. Even though there is only a small amount of the element of Christ, he can still be satisfied with this kind of group because he is newly saved.
However, a need in him will increase, and when he grows and knows the Lord more, he will not feel satisfied in these meetings. One day he may go to another group, and it may be that this group gives the Lord a little more ground, and their leading ones may be consecrated and pursuing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. After this brother experiences consecration and pursues the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, he will feel full of the Lord’s presence and able to touch the Lord’s presence more than in the first group. This will temporarily satisfy his taste. However, after a while there will be a further need in him that cannot be satisfied, so he will look for another group. The third group may truly be more spiritual and have more of the Lord’s presence. But after a year or two a need will again arise in him. Then he will find a fourth group with more spiritual weight that satisfies him. Eventually, he will be led to where the Lord wants him to stay. The taste and demand of life will tell him that he has reached the highest place, the place where he can touch the Lord’s presence the most and receive the most life supply.
Full-time servants of the Lord should never argue with people about which place is right or wrong. We need only to show them the principles of being according to the Bible and according to the inner demand of life. If people fear the Lord, they will bring the matter of the church to the Bible and resolve it according to the Bible. They will also take care of the taste and demand of the life within them; they will go wherever this life requires.
In 1947 in Shanghai, there was a brother who often criticized the church. In one meeting he was openly critical of the church. After he spoke, I stood up and said, “Brother, I dare not say that we do not have the shortcomings that you spoke of, but if you can find a place in all of Shanghai that is better and more correct, I will surely follow you.” He shook his head and stated that he could not find such a place. Then I said that he should stop his criticizing if he could not find such a place. This word seems so simple and unsophisticated, but I want to present it to you because it is the simplest and easiest way to measure the matter of the church.
On one hand, with a godly fear we should put aside everything that is not according to the Bible, and on the other hand, we must touch the inward sense to see whether we are supplied and can touch the Lord’s presence in fellowship. We cannot merely measure everything according to the Bible in an outward way and ignore the existence of the inward spiritual reality and the Lord’s presence. We need to know the Lord’s Spirit and life, and we need to allow the Lord to rule so that the cross can break us more deeply. If we do not have this, we merely have some outward rituals, and we are according to the Bible merely in an outward way. By themselves, these things do not have much value. We should allow the cross to break us inwardly and to dig into us more deeply so that Christ can have more ground in us and so that the Spirit can have more authority in us. Then when people come into our meetings, they will be able to touch the living Christ and the heavenly reality. Only this is the genuine church.
Outwardly, the church must be completely according to the Bible; inwardly, the church must be completely filled with Christ and the Spirit. If we want to test whether a church is according to God’s desire, we must test according to these two aspects. We need to use the Bible outwardly and the Spirit inwardly; we have the light of the Bible without and life’s demands and tastes within. We should not despise either of these two aspects; both aspects are principles for solving the question of the church.
Since the church is the Body of Christ, the church is Christ Himself. Christ is the embodiment of God, and He is God becoming flesh, taking the likeness of a man, and living the life of a man. Anything that relies upon man’s ability, organization, and way of doing things cannot reach this goal. Whenever we touch the matter of the church, we need to stop our whole being. When people touch the matter of the church, all the Is, like “I think,” “I view,” “I want,” and “I will,” begin to come out. We need to stop them. We should not say, “Baptism is indeed according to the Bible, but I think...” This should not be our response.
In the past there was an older sister in a certain locality. She was very educated, bold, and eloquent; furthermore, she loved the Lord very much. One day she came to me and asked, “Why does 1 Corinthians 14 forbid women from speaking?” When I heard this word, I replied in a calm way because I sensed that something was not right: “I only know that this is clearly recorded in 1 Corinthians 14, but just like you, I do not know the reason.” Then I asked, “Although neither of us knows the reason, is 1 Corinthians 14:34 the commandment of the Bible? If it is not the commandment of the Bible, it can be removed, but if it is the commandment of the Bible, what can we say?” Then she said, “But I think...” I responded, “You do not need to think. Who needs you to think? If we need to think, there would be no Bible.” These words truly shocked her, but is our view worth anything? Do we have the position to give an opinion? If we had the position to give an opinion, we could abandon the Bible. We must all learn the lesson of stopping our reasonings and simply saying Amen to God’s Word without anything else.
Often those who ask why do not want to submit, and usually those who ask why are proud and arrogant. This kind of person will say, “I think,” “I view,” “I thought,” “I want,” “I decide,” and “I want to do this.” This kind of attitude is not from the heavenly Jerusalem but from Babylon, the abyss. Those who fear God will not say anything before His Word, and they know that only what God says counts. We may not understand the reason, but we must still bow and confess that He is the Lord, that we are His servants, and that our attitude is simply to receive.
Whenever we touch the matter of the church, we should prostrate our whole being, because if man is present, there is no church, and in order for there to be the church, there cannot be man. If we are, there is no church, and if there is the church, we cannot be. The Bible is a strong, outward requirement; however, there is something stronger within us — the Holy Spirit and life. The requirement within us is more subjective and personal, and it touches us more. In the case of the older sister spoken of earlier, I used the Bible to calm her down, but I also asked her, “Sister, does the feeling within you agree with me or does it agree with your words?” She replied that her inward sense was not in agreement with her view and that its demand was for her to accept 1 Corinthians 14 even though her outer man did not want to accept it. This shows that although I used the Bible to deal with this matter, the life within her was dealing with it as well.
Concerning the church, the Bible is the standard, and life is the demand. Often people argue with us about the matter of the church, but as they argue with us in their mind, the feeling in them agrees with us and speaks for us. Consequently, we sometimes need only to point out certain things and then let their inward feeling continue to speak to them. If we want to touch the matter of the church, we need to drop everything of the world and everything of human relationships, organizations, methods, views, and opinions. We should not give these things any ground, because neither the Bible nor the Holy Spirit gives them any ground. The Holy Spirit has only the demand of life.
We do not need to argue concerning the matter of the church; instead, we need only to discern. Discernment requires an inner feeling. If we fear God and pursue the Lord, we should use the Bible as the outward standard, and we should use the taste of life within as the inward demand. If we want to meet the Holy Spirit’s requirements, we must walk according to the truth of the church. If we do not want to pay the price and if we care about human relationships, positions, or the acceptance of the world, trying to maintain ourselves in Christian organizations, we can only look to the Lord for His mercy. May the Lord be gracious to us so that our hearts would remain clean, our spirits would remain open, and we would keep following life and taking the proper way of the church.
