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Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-27; 2:15-16, 21-22; 4:11-12; 3:21; 1 Cor. 12:12; Rev. 1:11; Eph. 3:10-11
The first main figure revealed in the Bible is God. Christ is the second main figure. In this chapter we come to the last two main figures in the Bible — the church and the churches.
According to the divine revelation of the Bible, the church is a matter of God’s eternal purpose. God is a God of purpose. He is not a God of nonsense. He is not a meaningless God. Consider yourself. You were made in the image of God, and you are a person with purpose. We are men of purpose because we were made according to God, who is a God of purpose.
God’s main purpose is to have the church. God created the heavens, the earth, and billions of other items, and then He created man. God created all things for man, and then God created man for the church. Thus, the church is the center of the universe. In the first chapter I said that man is the center of the universe. That is right. However, man, the corporate man, as the center of the universe is for the church because eventually the church comes into being out of man. Hence, the church is the ultimate center of the universe. This is according to God’s eternal purpose which He made in Christ (Eph. 3:10-11). The church is of God’s purpose, and God’s purpose is for the church.
In Christianity we all have heard innumerable times that Christ loved us and died on the cross for us. But most of us have not heard a message telling us that Christ loved the church and died for the church. Ephesians 5:25 says, “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” Christ loved the church, not just the individuals but a corporate Body, and He gave Himself up for the church. The death of Christ was for the church.
Ephesians 1 says that Christ was raised from the dead and seated in the heavenlies (v. 20). He had all things subjected under His feet and was given to be Head over all things to the church (v. 22). The resurrection of Christ, the ascension of Christ, the enthronement of Christ, and the glorification of Christ are all for the church. All the main items of Christ’s attainments and accomplishments — His death, resurrection, ascension, enthronement, and glorification — are for the church.
We are too self-centered. We are always concerned about our personal salvation. But we have to realize that our personal salvation is for a corporate church. Ephesians 4 says that when Christ ascended to the height, He led a train of vanquished foes and gave gifts to men (v. 8). He made all the vanquished foes the gifts. The apostle Paul was one of these vanquished foes. When he was Saul of Tarsus, he was a real foe to Christ (Acts 8:1, 3). But Christ vanquished him and made this vanquished foe, Saul of Tarsus, the biggest gift. Christ gave this biggest gift, the apostle Paul, to the church for the building up of the Body of Christ. All the gifts, the gifted persons, such as the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers, are for the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-12).
Ephesians 3:10 says, “In order that now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies the multifarious wisdom of God might be made known through the church.” This means that God puts Satan with all his power of darkness to shame through the church. God would say to Satan, “Satan, look at the church. You gave Me a lot of trouble, but out of all the troubles, I have obtained a church. All the troubles you gave Me became a kind of help to Me. So I am wiser than you. Satan, have you seen My wisdom?” Satan caused so many young people to become hippies. But out of the hippies, God has gained a number of saved saints. God is wiser than Satan. It is through the church that the multifarious wisdom of God is made known. Therefore, here we have to be bold enough to say that even Satan is for the church.
Satan always has been and still is trying his best to damage the church. But all the damage caused by Satan is used by God in His wisdom to build up the church. Satan is a tool used by God for the church. If Satan had never come into existence, everything in the universe would be wonderful. There would not be anything evil. Consequently, there would be no tears, no pain, and no suffering. We have to realize that God, in His marvelous wisdom, allowed all the negative things to happen for this one purpose, that is, to produce a wonderful thing — the church. We will need eternity to understand how much good the darkness, suffering, pain, and tears have done for us. Even the dark and negative things are used by God for the church.
Ephesians 3:21 says, “To Him be the glory in the church.” The glory of God is not only in the church but also for the church.
Thus, we see that God’s purpose is for the church. Christ’s death is for the church. Christ’s resurrection, ascension, enthronement, and glorification are for the church. In other words, all the main things accomplished by Christ are for the church. Furthermore, the gifts are for the church. Then Satan, with all the negative things, is for the church. Finally, God’s glory is for the church.
My burden in this chapter is mainly to fellowship with you concerning the church being Christ. First Corinthians 12:12 fully, clearly, and definitely reveals that the church is Christ. This verse 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.”
When we say that the church is Christ, this Christ is not an individual Christ but a corporate Christ. This corporate Christ, who is the church, is the expression of the individual Christ. In the four Gospels there is the individual Christ, but in Acts and the Epistles, there is the corporate Christ, the church.
What does it mean to say that the corporate Christ is the church? Let me illustrate. We all are members of the Body of Christ. Suppose we all come together to have a meeting. You come with yourself, another brother comes with himself, and I come with myself. We all come here with ourselves. Thus, we are just a group of “selves” coming together. But if you come with Christ, I come with Christ, and he comes with Christ, we are Christ — not the individual Christ but the corporate Christ. We have people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation gathered together (Rev. 5:9) as the church. If they live by Christ, then when they come together, they are the church.
We all have to see what the church is. The church is the corporate Body, which is Christ Himself. The church is the totality of all the saints with Christ added together. The church is not a church building. Christ with His church has been confined by the church building for many centuries. But He is being released from the confinement of the church’s building.
Furthermore, the church is not an organization of many so-called Christians. The church is Christ Himself. In order to have the church in reality, we need to live by Christ. In chapter 3 we saw that we have to take Christ not only as our life but also as our person. If each one of us takes Christ as his person, not living by himself but by Christ, then each one is Christ. So whenever we come together, we come not with ourselves but with Christ. You come with Christ, and I come with Christ. We all come with Christ. Therefore, the church is Christ.
I am also burdened to share with you that in the church there are no ordinances. We have seen that we all are Christ, so we all are one Body (Eph. 2:16), which is Christ (1 Cor. 12:12). But look at today’s situation in Christianity. We see divisions there, not the one Body. We Christians have been and still are divided. Ephesians 2:15-16 tells us that when Christ in His flesh was dying on the cross, He slew the enmity.
Most of us have heard that on the cross Christ took away our sins, and some of us probably also have heard that on the cross Christ crucified our old man and defeated Satan. But here in Ephesians 2:15-16 we are told that Christ on the cross slew the enmity. The enmity here is caused by the ordinances. Verse 15 speaks of the law of the commandments in ordinances, which create the enmity. Then verse 16 says that Christ has slain the enmity. That means that He has slain all the ordinances.
In Ephesians 2:15 the ordinances are the ways of living and religion. The religious people always have their way of living according to their way of religion. In ancient times the Jews had many ordinances. They had to be circumcised on the eighth day, they had to keep the Sabbath every week, and they had to observe their dietary regulations three times a day. These were the main ordinances of the Jews in ancient times. Due to these ordinances, no Jew would associate with any Gentile. On the other hand, the Gentiles also had their way of living. Therefore, all the different ordinances created enmity between the Jews and the Gentiles.
However, Christ created a Body, a new man, of many different people, not only of the Jews but also of the Gentiles. The new man, the church, the Body of Christ, was created with all kinds of people, who have their particular ways of living. The Americans have their American way, the British have their British way, the Chinese have their Chinese way, and the Japanese have their Japanese way. Even with the Americans, the Yankees have their way, and the Texans have their way. All have different ways of living, different ordinances.
I am afraid that most of you have your own ordinances, ordinances not made by Moses but by yourself. You have your self-made ordinances. Furthermore, there are locally-made ordinances among the local churches, such as a Los Angeles ordinance, a Houston ordinance, a San Francisco ordinance, or a Chicago ordinance. One time in a meeting while some of the attendants were excited, some others walked out. No doubt, they did not agree with what was going on in the meeting. We have to be flexible. If we are not flexible, whatever way we have for our meeting becomes an ordinance. If those dissenting ones who walked out insist on not having a certain way of meeting, that means they have a strong ordinance. If the ones who stayed insist on having their way of meeting, they also become a people with a strong ordinance.
The problem today is that we Christians are always self-centered and self-concerned. We do not see the Body or realize that the Body is all-inclusive. In today’s situation everybody has his own choice according to his own taste. A brother may like everything to be nice, quiet, and in a good order in the meeting. He may want all the men to wear ties and all the ladies to be modestly dressed. He wants everyone to come into the meeting one by one and be seated in an orderly way. This is this brother’s taste, so he tries to find such a meeting. Thus, that becomes his choice according to his taste. On the other hand, there is another brother who also has his own taste. He likes meetings that are unrestricted and noisy. So he would also travel around to find a meeting where everybody is so free to dress the way he wants and shout and be excited. Eventually, he will find a meeting of his choice according to his taste. This is the situation today.
All these different tastes create trouble, and all the different choices cause divisions. We may like a certain kind of meeting, but we should not make that a choice for ourselves. Brothers and sisters, the church life is not up to our choice. The church is our destiny. Let us consider two brothers who were born into the same family and have the same family name. The family name is not a matter of choice but a matter of destiny. We all have to see that the church is not a choice but a destiny. If we see this, many problems will be spontaneously solved.
Furthermore, whether or not these two brothers like each other, they are still brothers. The brotherhood is not up to your choice. It is also a matter of destiny. If the first one does not like the second one, he cannot blame the second one but can only go to blame his parents. If you do not like a brother, do not blame him. You have to go to the heavens to blame the Father. That is your destiny. He is a brother to you in your destiny. No matter how you feel, you have to love him. Friendship is a matter of choice, but brotherhood is not. Brotherhood is a matter of destiny.
In the church we have brotherhood, not friendship. Suppose you are a brother in Atlanta. Perhaps one day some of the other brothers in Atlanta would mistreat you. If you decide to give them up, that proves you do not know what the church is. The church is a matter of destiny, and so is the brotherhood. If you see this, you will realize that in the Body of Christ there should not be any ordinances. I may like to be quiet, but being quiet should not be my ordinance. I may like to be noisy, but being noisy should not be my choice. We all have to learn to be general, realizing that the church life is our destiny.
The Lord Jesus has abolished all the ordinances and has slain the enmity. Thus, He can make us all one. Look at the situation when we all gather together. We have many different kinds of people, yet we can all meet together as one. This is the church. There is no such thing as a Puerto Rican church, a Mexican church, a Japanese church, a Chinese church, a Texan church, a Californian church, or an Anglican church. There is simply the one church, which is the unique Body of Christ. The Lord is going to recover this. Without this being recovered, it will be difficult for Him to come back. We all have to see that the church is Christ, and this corporate Christ includes all kinds of real Christians.
Do not put demands on others. As long as someone is a dear brother in the Lord, that is good enough. No matter what he does in the meeting, you have to love him because he is a brother in Christ. Remember that you do not have a choice. If you have seen the church, you will lose all the choices. Do not think that I am an easygoing person. But by His mercy and by His grace, I can say that I am happy with all of the brothers. As long as one is a brother, we all have to be happy with him. Are you ready to give up all your choices? Maybe some of you are always nice and quiet. But the Lord will bring a lot of people who are noisy and who like to jump and shout, “O Lord! Amen! Hallelujah!” If you decide to drop the church because you dislike the noisy ones, this means that you are keeping your choice and giving up your destiny.
What I am fellowshipping with you is not a small matter. By His mercy and grace, we have to be happy with all genuine Christians. As long as they are brothers and sisters in the Lord, we have to say, “Hallelujah!” If some like to shout, we should shout with them. But if we like to be quiet, the ones who like to shout should also be willing to be quiet with us. You should not demand that I shout with you yet refuse to be quiet with me. Neither should I demand that you be quiet with me yet refuse to shout with you. It must be fair. Eventually, we will all say, “We do not care for shouting or for being quiet; we care only for Christ.”
This is the way to have the church life. No one insists on anything. All the leading ones and all the leaders of the different groups here in Los Angeles can testify that throughout the years none among us has ever insisted on anything. We have always been open to one another unto the Lord. We have no regulations. This is why we are changing over the years. Someone said, “Oh, the church in Los Angeles is changing so fast. If you go away for two months and come back, it will be absolutely different.” They are right. Because we do not have regulations, we keep changing, or it is better to say that we are always improving.
We have no regulations, no rituals, no forms, and therefore no ordinances. Sometimes I heard some brothers say, “I think the Chinese people won’t like this.” Immediately, I advised them not to say that. If you say that, it means you are keeping a kind of Chinese ordinance. In the church we have no ordinance. We have only Christ. Since this is the case, we can easily have the oneness. This is why many visitors in the past years were deeply impressed with the oneness of the church in Los Angeles. By His mercy, there are no ordinances in the church here. This is the main point in the Lord’s recovery. The Lord is going to recover the proper church life, not only in Los Angeles but also throughout the world. But this needs all of us to have a strong realization that there should not be any kind of ordinance.
We have seen that the church is the Body of Christ and the expression of Christ. Now we need to realize that this church as the Body of Christ needs the local churches. The church is the expression of Christ, and the local churches are the expression of the church. Without the local churches you cannot contact the church. The church is embodied in the local churches. The church is also realized and experienced in the local churches. So for the practical church life, we all need the local churches. In the Lord’s recovery the local churches are also a main point.
No doubt, in the New Testament the church as the Body of Christ has been fully revealed. Yet if you read through Acts and the Epistles to the last book of the New Testament, Revelation, you will see that the church is fully expressed in the local churches. In the last book of the Bible, what you see is not the church but the local churches. In Revelation 1:11 the apostle John heard a voice saying to him, “What you see write in a scroll and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamos and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” Here are seven churches in seven cities — one church for one city and one city with only one church. These are the local churches. Today the Lord is recovering the local churches. Wherever we go, we are the one local church there. If we go to Houston, we are the one local church in Houston. If we go to Anaheim, we are the one local church in Anaheim. The same is true if we go to San Francisco, Seattle, or anywhere else.
By being kept, preserved, in the local churches, we are being built up. In the local churches we can be built up. If you have your own choice, you do not keep your destiny. When you like this group of Christians, you stay with them. When you feel unhappy with them, you say goodbye to them and go somewhere else. If that is the case, how can you be built up? We all know what it is to be built up. Look at any building. Many pieces of material are all fitly framed together. That is a building. Ephesians 2:21-22 says, “In whom [Christ Jesus] all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.” In whom you also means that we local saints are also being built together. Wherever we go, wherever we are, we have to be the one local church in that locality. Then by being so preserved, we surely will learn the lesson and will spontaneously be built up together.
Since I am now living in Los Angeles, I have to be a brother in the church in Los Angeles. Whether I like you or not, I cannot escape. I have to stay with you. This is my destiny. Therefore, I have to learn the lesson. I have to be dealt with. Even I have to be broken. I have to be transformed so that I may be built up with you. If we all are like this, we all will be built up in the local churches.
Forget about being religious or being “spiritual.” Just take care of one thing — be in a local church and be built up with others. Whether you are religious or not, whether you are spiritual or not, does not mean much to the Lord. What matters to Him is whether or not you are in a local church being built up with others. This is the unique thing that the Lord is after today.
In summary, what are the four points that we want to stress in this chapter? First, the church is Christ. Second, there are no ordinances in the church. Third, the local churches are the expression of the church — one church, one city. This is the only way and the only ground for us to keep the oneness and have the proper church life. Fourth, we need to be built up in the local church. As long as we are built up in the local church, we are in the Lord’s will, we are in the Lord’s recovery, and we are under the preparation for His coming back.
