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Scripture Reading: Matt. 16:15-19; Eph. 5:32
The burden of the fellowship in this book is twofold. On the one hand, we will cover the building up of the Body of Christ, and on the other hand, we will take care of the urgent need today among the Lord’s children. Hence, the subject of this book is the life and way for the church practice.
I look to the Lord that He will help us see the practice of the church. First, we have to realize that to have any kind of practice, there is the need of a certain kind of life. If you have the life, you have the practice. If you do not have the life, it is impossible for you to have any practice. After you have the life, you need the way, the method, for the practice. The life is the power, the strength, whereas the way is the method. In order to have any kind of practice, we need the life as well as the way. With the Lord’s help, we will cover the life for the practice of the church and the way to practice it.
Now let us read Matthew 16:15-19: “He [Jesus] said to them, But you, who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens. And 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. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens.” In verse 18 Peter means “a little rock,” “a stone”; this rock refers to Christ with the living and real knowledge of Him. Christ will build His church upon Himself as the Son of God and upon the living and real knowledge of Him. In this portion of the Word, we have Christ, the church, Hades, and the kingdom of the heavens.
Let us also read Ephesians 5:32: “This mystery is great, but I speak with regard to Christ and the church.” The great mystery is concerning Christ and the church.
Before we go on to see something concerning the practice of the church, I have the burden to lay a foundation by pointing out the position of the church in God’s economy. If we human beings have our economy, then surely God has His economy. In the divine economy, the church has a tremendous position.
Many times I was told that Christ is the center of the Holy Scriptures. Although I admit that this is true, I would say that the center of the Scriptures is not just Christ Himself. Christ as the center of the Bible is the Head. Physically speaking, we all know that with the head there is the body. You cannot have just the head and forget about the body. The Bible shows us a great man, a universal man (Col. 3:10-11). This universally great man is Christ with His church. Christ Himself is the Head of this man, and His church is the Body of this man. Therefore, we have to realize that the center of the Scriptures is not just Christ but Christ with His Body, the church.
You cannot remove the church from the Scriptures. If you have Christ as the Head, surely you have the church as His Body. It is impossible for me to go somewhere with just my head and leave my body in my house. Yet some people would argue by saying, “Let us talk only about Christ. Don’t talk about the church.” But it is not right to say this. If you are going to speak about Christ, surely you have to say something about the church.
In Matthew 16 the Lord first spoke about Himself by asking His disciples who He is. Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). After Peter received this revelation, this knowledge, immediately the Lord told him that He would build His church upon this rock — Christ Himself with the living knowledge of Him. The church will be built upon the living Christ with the living knowledge of Him. Here we see the principle. If you talk about Christ, then you have to know the church. If you have the Head, you must have the Body.
Now I want to help us see that throughout the Scriptures, there is the line of Christ with the church. There is the line of the church always going together with Christ. There is the church as the counterpart of Christ.
In the very first chapter of the Bible, there is a man created by God. The created man, Adam, was not only an individual man but also an inclusive man, a corporate man (1 Cor. 15:22). Adam as the inclusive man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26). In Colossians 1:15 we are told that Christ is the image of the invisible God. Hence, for man to be created according to the image of God simply means that man was created according to Christ. Why did God create a man? What was His purpose? God’s purpose was that man would be the material for the formation and building up of the Body of Christ.
In the second chapter of the Scriptures there is a wife. After He created Adam, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Gen. 2:18). In other words, it was not good for man to be single. There was the need for man to have a wife, so God created Eve. Eve is a type of the church (Eph. 5:31-32), and Adam is a type of Christ (Rom. 5:14b). Eve came out of Adam and went back to Adam to be one with Adam as one body. In the New Testament we are told that the church is the counterpart of Christ, the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:24-25; John 3:29).
Later in the Scriptures there is the house of God. In Genesis 28, Jacob came to a certain place where he had a dream and saw a vision, and he called the name of that place Bethel, which means the house of God (vv. 11-19). The house of God is the church (1 Tim. 3:15).
When we go on further, we see a tabernacle (Exo. 25:8-9; 40:2). That tabernacle was not merely a tabernacle made of material things; it signified all the children of Israel as a dwelling place of God.
After the tabernacle, there was the temple. There are many types in the Old Testament, and the temple is the last and the fullest of them all.
In the Old Testament there is also the city. At the end of Ezekiel there is a city with twelve gates (48:30-35). It has three gates on each side, which is exactly the same as the New Jerusalem (12-13, Rev. 21:16).
Besides the man, the bride, the house, the tabernacle, the temple, and the city in the Old Testament, the children of Israel were formed together as an army to fight for the kingdom of God (Num. 1:1-3).
If we take away these few items — the man, the wife, the house, the tabernacle, the temple, the city, and the army — from the Old Testament, the Old Testament becomes empty. The whole Old Testament is a record of these few items.
Now we come to the New Testament. The first person we see is Christ Himself, the God-man, the Son of God incarnated as a man. But when we get into the knowledge of Him, He would let us know that there is a need for us to know the church. If you are one of those who, like Peter, know Christ as the Son of the living God, you have to realize the building up of the church.
After the Gospels, there is the building up of the church. From the second chapter of Acts to the last chapter of the New Testament, one thing is dealt with, that is, the church. The church is a man, a new man (Eph. 2:15). The church is the bride, the wife, of Christ (5:24-25). The church is the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15), the tabernacle of God (Rev. 21:3), the temple of God (Eph. 2:21-22; 1 Cor. 3:16-17), the city of God (Rev. 21:2), and the army of God (Eph. 6:11-12). Throughout all the generations, the church has been and still is fighting for God’s kingdom.
Besides these seven items — the man, the wife, the house, the tabernacle, the temple, the city, and the army — there is the Body. This term is not found in the Old Testament; it is a new term in the New Testament. Ephesians 1:22 and 23 tell us that the church is the Body of Christ. We Christians are familiar with many of the biblical terms, but we probably do not know the right meaning of these terms. We may talk about the church being the Body of Christ, but I am afraid that very few can tell us accurately what it means.
Actually, the Body of Christ is simply Christ Himself (1 Cor. 12:12). A person’s body is the person himself. You cannot consider the person as one entity, and his body as another entity. The body is the very person; it is the main part of the person. Hence, the church as the Body of Christ is a part of Christ, even Christ Himself.
Ephesians 1:23 also tells us that the church as the Body of Christ is the fullness of Christ. The church is a great, universal, corporate vessel, a great container, to contain the very Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Triune God is the content of the church as the divine container, the divine corporate vessel. Eventually, in Revelation, the church is a lampstand (1:11-12, 20). If you took away these eleven items — the man, the wife, the house, the tabernacle, the temple, the city, the army, the Body, the fullness, the vessel, and the lampstand — from the Bible, it would become an empty book.
Christ is the image and life of the church. In Genesis 1 is the image of God (v. 26), and in chapter 2 is the tree of life (v. 9). We need the image and the life. The image is Christ Himself. The church is in the form, the image, of Christ Himself, and the life of the church is Christ Himself. Also, the church as a wife needs Christ as the Husband, the Bridegroom.
With a house, there is the need of a dweller. If you have a house and nobody dwells in it, it is an empty house. The church is the house, and Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God, is the Inhabitant, the Dweller. With the tabernacle and the temple, it is the same. With a city, there is the need of government, of ruling. The city needs a ruler. Who is the Ruler of the church as the city of God? This Ruler is Christ, the King of kings (Rev. 1:5; 17:14). Now we come to the need of the army. The army needs a commander, a general. Christ is the Commander of the church as the army of God.
The church as the Body of Christ needs Christ as the Head. With the fullness, there is the need of the reality. Christ is the reality of the church as His fullness. Then with the vessel, the container, there is the need of the content. Christ is the content of the church as the vessel, the container. Finally, with a lampstand, there is the need of a lamp. In Revelation we are told that God as the light is in Christ as the lamp, and the church is the lampstand, the lamp bearer, the lamp holder (21:23; 22:5). The church as the lampstand holds and bears Christ as the lamp shining with God as the light.
If we bring all these things to the Lord and spend some time to consider them, we will be clear about the position of the church in God’s economy. We will see that what God is looking for and what He is working for is the church, the Body of Christ. But throughout all the generations the enemy has been doing his best to spoil, frustrate, damage, and even destroy this church. Look at the situation of Christianity today. There are thousands and even millions of Christians, but it is not easy to point out a group of believers practicing the church life in a proper way.
Suppose you come to Los Angeles or go to New York. We all know that in these big cities there are millions of Christians. But where can you find the proper church? Throughout all the generations this has been a real problem, and it is still a problem today. It is a problem because the church is what God is looking for and working for, and it is also what the enemy hates, spoils, damages, and frustrates. The enemy tries to cover and even to bury the matter of the church. But we believe that in these last days the Lord is going to recover the church life.
The church is the bride to the Bridegroom, and without the bride, there is no way and no purpose for the Bridegroom to come back. Christ will be able to come back by the bride’s being prepared. As long as the bride is not ready, the Bridegroom cannot come back for her. In the book of Revelation, we are told that when the bride is ready, prepared, the Bridegroom will come back (19:7). This is why we have the assurance that in these last days the Lord is going to recover the church life to prepare His bride.
What is the life for us to practice the church, and what is the proper way for us to practice the church life? These are the problems. The burden today is to meet the urgent need by helping us to see the life and the way for the church practice. No doubt, we all would say that the life for us to practice the church is Christ Himself. Many of us have the realization that we need Christ as our life, but very few realize that Christ as our life is for us to practice the church life.
There have been many teachings about life — the victorious life, the sanctified life, the exchanged life, the crucified life, the spiritual life, the divine life, the eternal life, and the life of Christ, the life of God. But it is hard to find a book telling us that this overcoming life, this spiritual life, the life of Christ, is for the church. This life is not just for victory or for sanctification. This life is not just for being spiritual, divine, and holy. This life is for a definite purpose, that is, for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ. Simply speaking, this life is for the church.
For what purpose do you want to be victorious or sanctified? For what purpose do you want to be divine, spiritual, or holy? Look at a building. Every piece of material has been dealt with and cut into a certain size and shape for the purpose of fitting the building. I have seen a number of truly spiritual people, and I did get some spiritual help from them. But one day the Lord asked me, “There are many spiritual persons as beautiful stones, beautiful materials, but where is the building?” You may be spiritually beautiful, but are you just a beautiful stone or have you been built together with others in the house? This is a problem.
In a certain place I met a very spiritual person. But one day the Lord opened my eyes and asked me, “Do I need some individually spiritual persons, some beautiful individual pieces of stone, or do I need a house?” On that day my eyes were opened, and I bowed before the Lord, saying, “Lord, I want to be a stone that is built up with others. I realize that You need a house. You do not need a lot of beautiful stones which are good for exhibition.” What the Lord needs today is not many beautiful stones but a built-up house. While Jacob was wandering in the wilderness, in his dream he saw Bethel (Gen. 28:19). At that time Jacob was a homeless person, and God was a homeless God. What the Lord needs in this universe is a home, a house, a building, a church, a Body.
Suppose a person’s two eyes are removed from his body. They are two individually beautiful eyes, but what is their use outside the body? In a sense, these two eyes are quite beautiful, yet in another sense, they are very peculiar. Honestly speaking, I have met many Christians who are beautiful but who are also peculiar. They are spiritual yet individualistic. Maybe you have been a Christian for many years, but as a piece of material for God’s building, with whom have you been built up and with whom are you really related? I am afraid you are either individually spiritual or spiritually individualistic.
I want to say again that the life of Christ is not just for victory, for sanctification, for being spiritual, or for being heavenly, but for His Body. The Lord can be fully realized as life to us only when we realize that we are members of the Body. When we realize that we are members of the Body and live as such members, we will know the fullness of Christ’s being life to us.
Let me give you a suggestion. Suppose you have a besetting sin that you cannot overcome. You have been trying and trying to overcome, yet you fail again and again. I suggest that you bring your failure, your problem, to the Body. You will see right away that the victory is yours. Sometimes you may say that it is hard for you to be clear about the Lord’s guidance. But if you would bring the matter to the Body and fellowship with the Body, you would be clear about the Lord’s guidance.
Do you desire to have a sanctified life? Just bring yourself to the Body, and you will see that you have been sanctified already. It is easy for you to realize the fullness of Christ’s being life to you if you put yourself in the Body. The isolated members are the poorest members. If you simply abide in the Body, all the fullness of the Body will be yours to enjoy.
Sometimes people have asked me, “Brother Lee, how do you study the Bible? How many hours and days have you spent in the Word so that you are able to receive this kind of light?” Many times I wish to answer, “I spend just a little time. I read the Word in the Body.” One time I traveled to a certain place and ministered to the saints there. After a meeting, someone asked the brothers from which seminary I had graduated. I wish to let you know that I study in the “seminary” of the Body, and I have not graduated yet. I am still in the “university” of the Body of Christ. This is my only university, and this is my only seminary. Day by day I learn something not only from the Bible and through the Bible but also from all the saints.
Another time, after I finished ministering to the saints in a certain locality, a brother came up to me, saying, “Brother Lee, we thank you for your ministry.” I replied, “Brother, I thank you for your being here.” This is because in the Body we learn more and more about the Lord. Just bring yourselves to the Body, and you will see where you are and how wonderful, how rich, and how full the blessing and the experience of Christ can be.
In these days, let us seek the Lord by praying in this way: “Lord, now I realize that Your central thought is the church for Christ. Teach me the proper way to practice the church life.” I hope that you would pray much for this matter.
In conclusion, I would like to point out that in Ezekiel chapter 1 there are the wheels (vv. 15-21). These wheels represent the activity, the move, of the Lord. Today the wheels are the churches with Christ as their hub. Christ is the hub and the churches are the rim. Without Christ, there is no center. But without the church, there is no circumference. Without Christ, there is no hub; without the church, there is no rim. A wheel needs both the hub and the rim.
In this universe, with the wheel of God’s move, God’s activity, there is the need of the church as the rim to match Christ as the hub. When we have Christ as the center and the church as the rim, we will have the wheel of God moving all the time. One may have the strongest and the most beautiful hub, but if there is no rim, there is no wheel. Let us pray for God’s move today. God needs to move on. With the divine move, there is the need of a hub, which is Christ Himself, and there is also the need of a rim, which is the church. If you have both the hub and the rim, then you have a wheel rolling on for God’s move on the earth. May the Lord be merciful to us that we may see these things in a complete way. Christ is the hub, and the church is the rim.
