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Scripture Reading: Eph. 2:15-16; Col. 3:9-11
Ephesians 2:15-16 clearly shows that the Lord created the Jews and the Gentiles in Himself into one new man through His death. Through His death on the cross He created Jewish and Gentile believers into one Body. There are at least two significant points here. First, the Lord’s death on the cross not only accomplished redemption and dealt with our sins, but it also created two peoples, Jews and Gentiles, into one new man. Second, the new man that the Lord created through the cross is His Body. In Ephesians 1:23 Paul speaks of the church as His Body. Then in chapter 2 Paul indicates that the Body is the new man that the Lord produced on the cross; it was created by Him through His cross.
The church as the Body of Christ is the new man, a new creation, and it was created by Christ through the cross. The new man created by Christ through the cross is a corporate man. There are not many new men; rather, the many believers have been constituted into one new man through Christ’s cross. This new man is the Body of Christ, which is His church.
Colossians 3:9-11 speaks of the new man having the same image as the Lord who created him. Verse 11 says, “Where there cannot be Greek and Jew...” Where refers to the new man in verse 10. In the new man “there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all” (v. 11). This is a very crucial verse. Verse 9 says that those who are saved, who belong to Christ, and who are in the church have put off the old man. Then verse 10 says that we “have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” In other words, the new man and the Lord have the same image.
Verse 11 says that “there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man” in the new man, “but Christ is all and in all.” In other words, the new man is not composed of different people who no longer have certain distinctions; rather, there cannot even be different people. In the church as the one new man, there cannot be the highly educated or the uneducated, and there cannot be slaves or free men, but Christ is all and in all.
The church must be according to the Bible and according to the life in us. From an outward perspective, a church that is on the proper ground blessed by the Lord and on the path under His leading, must be according to the clear teaching of the Bible. From an inward perspective, the church must be according to the sense of life within the saints. Therefore, when we examine and study the condition of a church, we must consider the Bible from an outward perspective and life from an inward perspective. A church that matches the teaching of the Bible and the inner sense of life is a church that is on the pathway of God. This is the most basic principle we must apply when examining a church.
The church is the Body of Christ. She shares the life of Christ, and she is joined and mingled with Christ as one. Therefore, the church is Christ Himself. However, I am afraid that the brothers and sisters may not understand this simple yet crucial word in a deep and thorough way. If we have a deep and thorough understanding, we will realize and see that the church is Christ Himself. For example, because this podium is made of wood, its substance is wood. Because this microphone is made of metal, its substance is metal. Because the church comes out of Christ and is formed by the life of Christ, the essence of the church is Christ. Since this podium is made of wood, its substance is wood. Since the church is constituted with Christ, her essence is Christ.
In the past some have said that the church is an aggregate of all Christians. This means that the church is the aggregate of all those who believe into Jesus. Based on this, it would seem that the church is composed of Mr. Huang plus Mr. Chang plus Mr. Lee plus everyone else who has believed into Jesus. Many people have this impression of the church, but actually this is not true. It may be correct to say that the church is the aggregate of all the Christians, but what is a Christian? This is the crucial matter. Being a Christian is not simply a matter of a title and should not be used lightly. Christian refers to people who have Christ mingled with them. A Christian is one who is mingled with Christ.
According to the Greek text, Christian may be rendered “Christ-man,” but what does Christ-man mean? A Christ-man is one who has been mingled with Christ inwardly. Before tea is added to a cup of water, the water is plain water; however, after tea is added into the cup, it becomes tea-water. It is called tea-water because tea has been mingled with the water. In China there are many tea shops around the region of Nanking and Hankow. These tea shops mainly sell tea-water, yet they are not called water shops but tea shops. Even though people are drinking water, it is called tea because tea is a crucial element in it.
In the same principle, those who believe into Jesus are called Christians. We are Christ-men, but the crucial element in us is Christ. Although we are humans, Christ has been added into us. Hence, we are human, but Christ is the primary element. Our humanity is not the main element. We all need to see that after believing into the Lord, we become Christ-men, and the aggregate of all the Christ-men is the church. In other words, the church is produced by the aggregate of Christ in many people. The church is Christ. The essence of the church is Christ.
Colossians 3:10 tells us that the church is the one new man. In this new man there cannot be this one or that one, but Christ is all. In the church life we often address each other by our surnames, such as Brother Huang, Brother Chang, and Brother Wu, but actually there should be no Brother Huang, Brother Chang, or Brother Wu in the church, because this is all part of the old man. Every saved person should be a Christ-man, a person who is full of Christ inwardly, who is mingled with Christ inwardly, and who is filled with Christ. The aggregate of all the Christ-men is the church. The church is the Body of Christ, which is a mysterious corporate new man. In this new man there cannot be you and I; there can be only Christ. Christ is all and in all. This word may sound simple, but we need to let this word saturate the church. This is not the word of man but the word in the Bible, the word of God.
The essence of the church is Christ. Through His death on the cross Christ released His life to produce His mysterious Body. This mysterious Body is a corporate new man. In this new man there cannot be this kind of person and that kind of person, but Christ is all and in all. The condition of the church is according to the nature and essence of Christ.
Regrettably, the condition of the church today is totally different from the church revealed in the Bible. The condition of the church today is full of man’s element; thus, the church has many things that come from man. We all know that human beings are very troublesome. If a place has never been visited or inhabited by people, it retains its natural scenery. However, once it has been visited and inhabited by people, its condition quickly changes. A certain mountain area may have many trees and flowers and look very beautiful. After people begin to live there, however, it gradually becomes disorderly and different. When people first live there, everything is still quite clean. After a while, however, it becomes messy. The longer people live there, the more it resembles a marketplace that has many things of man. This shows that man is the source of uncleanness, and man is a troublesome problem. Once the church contains the things of man, there will be trouble and disorder in the church. Once man is in the church, the church begins to resemble a market. This is abnormal.
The church is Christ, and the essence of the church is Christ. In today’s so-called church, however, the exact opposite is the condition. This is because man, not Christ, is in the church. The church is filled with man, not Christ. If Christ is in the church, the church is pure, clean, spiritual, heavenly, and full of life. However, today’s church is full of human elements. Human feelings, human thoughts, human views, human ways, and human organization have come into the church, and even the society of the world has come into the church. The things of man, the natural being, and everything attached to man have been brought into the church by man. Thus, there is mixture in the church, and she has lost the essence of Christ.
When Christians speak of the matter of the church, not many of them will take the Spirit as their goal. When they speak concerning the church, they are all mixed with man’s element. Some Christians who truly love the Lord even say, “I am very clear that the place where I worship does not please the Lord, and I do not receive any spiritual help and supply there, but I cannot help but go there. What should I do?” It is better for us not to answer such a question, because they already know the answer. We should not be foolish. What they need to know, they already know, and what they should feel, they already feel. Nevertheless, they cannot do anything because they care for human feelings and human friendships. There is no cross, and there is no Christ. This is the flesh, this is human feelings, and this is the world in disguise.
Such people do not see that human feelings, the flesh, and the world have all been put on the cross. As a rule, those who love the Lord should put all these things to death by the Holy Spirit through the cross; they should be condemned and put to death on the cross.
The church is Christ, and the church is under the cross. Wherever there is the cross, there is Christ, and wherever there is Christ, there is the church. Today the church has lost her reality, and her nature and form have changed because man rejects the cross and does not allow the cross to deal with his feelings, face, and worldly ways. When the things of man remain, Christ is gone, and the church is changed in nature. We need to see that once we touch the church, we must touch the cross. The church is joined to the cross.
When we touch the church, do we touch Chinese, Japanese, British, or Americans? None of these should be in the church. Some people say that the local Taiwanese and the people from the mainland are very different in temperament. However, when we consider the matter of the church and touch the matter of the church, there cannot be local people or mainlanders. Furthermore, there cannot be Chinese, Japanese, and British, because all have been crucified on the cross with Christ.
If the cross cannot do a breaking work in us, the church can never be manifested in reality among us. With the cross, Christ will come forth, and the church will be a reality. Without the cross, Christ will be gone, and the church will lose her true nature. This is a true and concise word concerning the church. If there is the cross, there is the church; if there is no cross, there is no church. When there is no cross, man comes in. This means that you can come in, I can come in, and anyone else can come in. When we all come in, Christ leaves, and there is no church. When Christ is gone, the church loses her true nature, and she becomes the church in name only but not in reality. If we want to keep the true nature of the church, we must touch the cross.
A person once came to see me and said, “After I heard your messages several times, I truly felt the Lord’s presence, but something happened recently. In the place where I worship, I have been elected to be an elder and a board director. I am in a dilemma. What should I do?” I did not answer but instead asked, “How do you feel about this?” He replied, “Well, if people want to give me the position of a board director and an elder, it is impolite and difficult to refuse.” I did not say anything. It seems that we could speak concerning anything, but whenever we spoke concerning the church, we could not go on. Although this person loved the Lord, the cross had no effect in him through putting him to death. We should realize that people use political tactics to retain and gain people for their place. Using the so-called position of an elder or board director is just a political tactic to retain people and prevent them from going to other places.
If a church treats people in this way, it should be chastised by God, because all she has is human politics, human tactics, and human methods but not God’s principle. A person who knows the Lord and lives in the Lord would never be willing to do this, ask others to do this, or allow others to do this to him. Nevertheless, in Christianity today there are too many stories like this.
We need to see that once the human element is present, the church is gone. In order to have the genuineness and reality of the church, man must be terminated. There is no way for man to be terminated other than through the cross. The cross is the place to terminate and end man. The cross has two effects: it terminates man, and it releases Christ’s life. This is true even today. Whoever has the cross has been terminated, but at the same time, Christ’s life can flow out from him. If the cross works in us, our person will be broken and terminated. At the same time, Christ will flow out from us. Because of these two effects, the cross produces the church. When the cross works in us, our person is terminated, and at the same time, Christ has the position in us. In this way the church is produced. With the cross, man is terminated and Christ comes in, and when Christ comes in, the church is produced. We must know this.
When we touched the church, we felt that the church was quite good. We sensed the Lord’s presence, touched the Lord in our heart, and enjoyed meeting here. However, after several months something surely happened to expose our unbroken flesh and active self. Even though we feel the Lord’s presence and are uplifted inwardly, it becomes hard for us to bear the situation after being offended and hurt by a brother or sister. Such things happen all the time.
Two weeks ago a certain brother said to the responsible brothers, “I truly praise and thank the Lord that He has brought me to this church. I truly feel the Lord’s presence and blessings here. I have received much help.” A week later he came and told the brothers, “I feel that our meeting hall should make a change here and an alteration there.” Because his suggestions were not proper, the brothers could only listen to him but not do as he suggested. When he came to the meeting hall several days later and discovered that his opinions had not been accepted, he stopped coming to the meeting because he felt that he had lost face. When the brothers went to visit him, he said that he was ashamed to come because the brothers did not accept his suggestions. This brother was more open than most. When we visit with some, they will not even speak truthfully about the reason for their absence. They only give strange reasons. This shows that they truly have not been gained by the church.
It is possible that a person may love the church today and hate the church two weeks from now. This is because of man’s face and man’s self. If the cross has not done a breaking work in a person — breaking his flesh, self, natural being, and person — he will not be able to be touched or endure any setback. Instead, he will withdraw immediately. Sometimes this kind of brother or sister needs to be disciplined by the Holy Spirit for several years and receive some chastisement and suffering in order to learn the lessons. Then they will begin to regret their past Christian life, a life in which they suffered and encountered many difficulties after leaving the church and Christ. Gradually, they will realize that they left the church because they wanted to keep their face, to boast in themselves, and to express their flesh. When they become enlightened, they will come back to the church in shamefulness and humility. At this time, even if we do not speak the word of the cross, they will have some experiences. Thereafter, even if they want to praise the church, they will not be so quick. Many of those who praise us often become the ones who oppose us the most. Therefore, when we go out to work, we should not be moved by man’s praises. The people who praise us today may become the ones who oppose us tomorrow. A person who has learned the lesson and has been broken will not praise others easily. Even if we have received the greatest help from a certain brother, we still need to learn not to be so quick to praise.
The brother with the opinions about altering this and that has come back. He has truly received some help and advanced, and he is serving the church humbly. It is safe for us to say something because he is able to receive it. He knows that he needs to be broken. He rarely gives suggestions and opinions because he has been dealt with and does not dare to speak carelessly. He has been dealt with by the Lord to such an extent that he says, “O Lord, I have said these things. May You guide the brothers in their acceptance, and may You also make me joyful in whatever the outcome may be.” This person has Christ, not himself, and he will be able to remain in the church.
Anyone who does not receive the cross will eventually have problems in the church. Anyone who has not been broken by the cross will eventually be stumbled by the brothers and sisters. The church is produced through the cross, maintained through the cross, and, even more, expressed through the cross. When the cross is present, man goes out, and Christ comes in, and when Christ is present, there is the reality of the church. Please remember that the church is the one new man produced by the cross of Christ. In the new man there is no man; there cannot be this kind of person or that kind of person. There cannot be you, I, he, or anyone else. In the new man there is only Christ. Only Christ is all and in all. This word may sound simple and easy to understand, but in order to practice it in our real living, we must go through the cross. The experience of life will not be manifested in reality in anyone who is short of the cross.
Only those who are under the cross can know the church, only those who have been broken by the cross can be in the church, and only those who allow the cross to break them and cross them out are qualified to examine the church. When a person has been terminated by the cross, that is, his flesh has been nullified by the cross, his emotion broken by the cross, his opinion and ideas rejected by the cross, his ability torn down by the cross, and his tactics eliminated by the cross, he will be in the reality of the church. He will be able to understand the church, touch the nature of the church, know the essence of the church, and discern the church. He will be able to judge the church accurately, and his view of the church will be according to the Bible and life. These three — the cross, Christ, and the church — cannot be separated. When the cross is present, there will be only Christ; when there is Christ, there will be only the church. All three are closely related.
