Search
In this chapter we need to see what the building of the church is. This matter has been neglected by today’s Christians. Neither fundamental Christians nor Pentecostal Christians care for it. To some degree, certain teachers have been concerned about this. However, their concept of the building is not accurate according to the New Testament. These teachers say that the building of the church is typified by the building of the Old Testament temple. The period of David was for the preparation of the building materials, and the period of Solomon was for the actual building of the temple. They go on to point out that Christ is typified by both David and Solomon, David typifying Him in His suffering and Solomon typifying Him in His reigning. According to their application of these points to the church, during the time of Christ’s suffering, the materials for the building of the church are being prepared. Then when Christ comes again to reign, these materials will be brought together, and the building of the church will be realized.
If you do not consider the teaching of the New Testament, you may be influenced by this teaching concerning the building. Any interpretation of the Old Testament types, however, must correspond to the New Testament teaching. In this light we see that there are two major mistakes in the understanding held by these teachers. The first mistake is that they say that Solomon represents Christ only after Christ’s second coming. But according to Matthew 12, Solomon typifies Christ from the time of Christ’s resurrection. In Matthew 12:42 Christ even said that He was greater than Solomon. Because the greater Solomon was there already, it is not accurate to say that only after His second coming is Christ typified by Solomon. Immediately after His resurrection Christ entered into His reigning, and today He is the King of kings. Therefore, today is not the time of Christ’s suffering. His time of suffering is over; it ended with His crucifixion.
David typifies Christ up until His crucifixion, and Solomon typifies Christ beginning from His resurrection. The materials for the building of the church were prepared not before Christ’s resurrection but after His resurrection, beginning no later than the day of Pentecost. This means that the materials are prepared after Christ’s resurrection, not in the period of His suffering.
The second major mistake made by these teachers regarding the building of the church is that they say that the building of the church does not take place today. But according to Ephesians 2:22, we are being built into God’s dwelling place right now. Therefore, it is not accurate to say that we are being prepared today and that we will be built only after Christ comes again. Ephesians 2:22 says that we are being built, not that we are being prepared. According to the concept of some teachers, the building of the church is not yet; only the preparation of the materials is taking place today. This concept, however, is wrong. Although these teachers did have a concern for the building of the church, their understanding of it was not accurate.
In Matthew 16 the Lord Jesus spoke about the building of the church. After Peter received the revelation concerning Christ, the Lord said, “Upon this rock I will build My church” (v. 18). In saying these words, the Lord certainly did not mean that the building of His church would begin at the time of His second coming. At the latest, the Lord began to build the church on the day of Pentecost. In 1 Peter 2:5 Peter says that we are living stones being built up as a spiritual house. This indicates that the building of the church is taking place today, not only in the future.
We thank the Lord for showing us that the building is taking place now. Moreover, He has shown us the way to have the building. Ephesians 2:21 says that all the building is growing, and the next verse says that we are being built together into God’s dwelling place. Thus, growing equals being built, and being built equals growing. This indicates that the proper building of the church is the growth in life.
In Ephesians 4 we also have the thought of growth. Verse 13 speaks of a full-grown man, and verse 15 says that we should hold to truth in order to grow up in all things into the Head, Christ. Furthermore, verse 16 speaks of the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. Even verse 14 has the thought of growth, for it says that we should be no longer little children tossed by waves. To be no longer children is to have the proper growth. Therefore, in Ephesians 4:13-16 the thought of growth is found in every verse. According to these verses, the building of the Body comes through the growth in life.
In 1954 I first began to minister on the building of the church. At that time, however, the light I received was neither clear nor complete. I pointed out that, although hardly any Christians today care for the building or speak about it, the New Testament emphasizes it very strongly. Therefore, we must care for the building. Using the illustration of the construction of a meeting hall, I told the saints that, like the materials in the building, they must have someone above them, below them, in front of them, behind them, and on both sides of them. I told them that they had to know who was next to them in order to be built up with them. I gave the same kind of messages in the United States. However, after 1964 I discovered the awkwardness of speaking of the building in this way. Prior to that time, both in Manila and in Taipei, I could boast that I knew who was above me, under me, and beside me. However, after coming to the United States, I found it awkward to say this, for I found it difficult to say who was beside me. I came to realize that this illustration is not accurate because it applies only to a material building, a building with lifeless materials. Once these materials are put into a building, they do not move. We, on the contrary, are living building materials and are constantly moving.
Take the example of Aquila and Priscilla. Both in Rome and in Ephesus the church met in their home. Because Aquila and Priscilla had been built in, there was no problem with them wherever they lived. This type of building is much different from a building with physical materials. We are not a material building; we are a living house, living people who move about from place to place.
In the entire universe God has just one dwelling place. The building of this dwelling place began, at the latest, on the day of Pentecost, and it is still going on. The process of building will be completed not at the time of the Lord’s coming back but at the end of the millennium.
According to the New Testament, from the time of Adam until the time of the millennium there are four ages: the age of Adam, the age of the law, the age of grace, and the age of the kingdom. The building of the church takes place during the age of grace and the age of the kingdom. It began on the day of Pentecost, the beginning of the age of grace, and it will be completed by the end of the age of the kingdom. Then the fullness of time with the New Jerusalem will come. Thus, the completion of God’s building will be in the new heaven and new earth, which will appear after the millennium. Although the New Jerusalem comes at the beginning of the millennium, its full completion, the completion of God’s building, will not be until the end of the millennium.
Although the building is going on today, the majority of Christians are not concerned about it and have no heart for it. They neither understand it nor speak of it. But God’s mercy has reached us, our eyes have been opened, and we have a heart for the building. My heart is very burdened for God’s building. My heart has been on this matter since 1954, and I have written a number of hymns about it. Today many of us have been captured by the vision of the building. We have seen that what the Lord is seeking today is the building. Without the building, there is no way for Him to come back.
Now we come to what the building is. The building is simply the growth in life. I would remind you that the title of this chapter is “Building by Keeping the Oneness through Growing in Life.” By considering our experience and by examining the Word, we have found that if we do not keep the oneness, we have no way to grow in life. Breaking the oneness spoils the growth in life. Genuine growth in life is safeguarded by keeping the oneness. In other words, once the oneness is damaged, there is no growth in life. This is not a mere doctrine; it is our experience. Through our experience we have learned that true growth in life is in the keeping of the oneness. We may advance in knowledge or improve our behavior, but we cannot have the genuine growth in life apart from keeping the oneness. The genuine growth in life is regulated by the maintaining of the oneness. Thus, it is crucial that we know how to be one.
Ephesians 4:3 tells us to keep the oneness of the Spirit, and in verse 13 we see that we need to arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God. In these verses we see the two ends of oneness: keeping the oneness and arriving at the oneness. On the one hand, we have the oneness already. If not, how could we keep it? Keeping it implies having it. The oneness we have already is the oneness of the Spirit, and the oneness of the Spirit is the Spirit Himself. Because we have the Spirit within us, we have the oneness. Now we simply need to keep it. For example, the lamps in the meeting hall have the same electricity. The electricity within them is their oneness. They are one not in themselves but in the electricity. Likewise, we have the one Spirit in us. This Spirit is our oneness. Hence, the oneness is called the oneness of the Spirit.
We need to keep this oneness until we arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God. At one end of the oneness is the oneness of the Spirit, and at the other end is the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God. We need to keep the oneness of the Spirit as we go on to arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God.
The oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God is a full-grown man. Arriving at this oneness means arriving at a full-grown man. This oneness is also the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Christ has a fullness, the fullness of Christ has a stature, and the stature has a measure. Thus, Ephesians 4:13 speaks of the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. As a man, I have a stature, and my stature has a measure. The measure of this stature is my fullness. The oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God is both the full-grown man and the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Although we have not yet arrived at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, our destiny is such an arrival. Today we are on the way. Some of us may be very close to this destination, and others may be quite far from it. The way to arrive is by growing in life. The more we grow, the closer we come to the end. When we are fully grown, we will arrive at our destination. This means that full growth is our destination. Thus, the process of coming to our destination is the growth in life.
In a family there are the grandparents, the parents, and children of various ages. According to Ephesians 2:19, we are God’s family. In God’s family, as in a human family, we are at different stages according to our growth. Therefore, there must be differences among us; yet we are all in the same family. The little ones may cry or fight over their toys. This fighting, however, is normal and even somewhat necessary. But as the children grow, they should no longer fight over toys. All the ages are included in the family. The older ones cannot exclude the young people, and the young people cannot exclude the very little ones. If we exclude any, we break the oneness. In such a case, the oneness of the family is damaged.
In Ephesians 4 we can see this matter of differences. Do not be concerned whether these differences are right or wrong; they are normal. Although my wife and I are no longer young, we do not exclude any of our naughty grandchildren. If they never visited our home, we would miss them very much. This is the family life. All the churches in the Lord’s recovery need to be like this.
The problem with today’s Christians is that instead of a family, they have a class as in school. In an elementary school, children are grouped according to age. Nearly every Christian group is a class. But in the church we are not a class; we are a family.
The genuine oneness, the oneness of the Spirit, must come first. In order to keep the oneness of the Spirit, we must have the growth in life. Today we are all in the process of growing in life. As we continue in this process, there will be differences among us. If we do not have the growth in life, we cannot keep the proper oneness, for the oneness of the Spirit is maintained by the growth in life.
It is in the growth in life that we have genuine lowliness (v. 2). Lowliness is not a human virtue. When I was young, the pastor advised us to be lowly. But the more he admonished us to be lowly, the higher we desired to be. Lowliness comes from the growth in life. If we would keep the oneness of the Spirit, we must have lowliness. Never think highly of yourself. The first requirement, the first prerequisite, of maintaining the genuine oneness is lowliness. Instead of considering ourselves so highly, we need to say, “Lord, I would like to be lowly. I do not want to be high.”
The second requirement is meekness. Meekness means not to resist. If we do not resist whatever happens to us, then we have meekness.
Along with lowliness and meekness, we need long-suffering. No place exhausts our endurance more than the church. The church exhausts everyone’s endurance. If you think that you are able to endure, the Lord will bring to you those who can exhaust you. We all need to be exhausted. The Lord’s intention is to exhaust us. The elders may expect the brothers to be nice and lovable and the sisters to be quiet and agreeable. But the more you expect the brothers and sisters to be like this, the more naughty they will be. The elders must be prepared to face the difficulties caused by naughty brothers and sisters. They will exhaust you to the uttermost and then, after exhausting you, will complain that you have no patience or sympathy. Thus, we need long-suffering.
In addition to long-suffering, we must bear one another in love. Instead of vindicating ourselves or justifying ourselves, we need to bear everyone. We should not only bear a few according to our preference but all the saints. We need to bear them in our spirit to the throne of grace and pray for them. This is easy to talk about, but difficult to practice. For this we need the Lord’s mercy. Apart from His mercy we cannot bear anyone. Those who have been elders for five years will agree with this, for they have suffered a great deal in the eldership, having been cut into pieces by the brothers and sisters. But this is our destiny, our life, our way. If an elder tries to drop the eldership, he will be through with the church life.
As we go on to the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, there will be differences among us according to the various stages of life. These differences are unavoidable, and we should not try to eliminate or reduce them. Rather, we need to allow the brothers and sisters to be what they are. This is the way to keep the oneness through lowliness, meekness, long-suffering, and bearing one another in love. There is no other way.
This is true not only among the saints, but also among the churches. Because all the churches are in different stages, we should not expect them to be the same. In a certain church there may be many young ones playing with toys. Instead of troubling them, we need to say Amen to their toys. Today is not a day of unification. We simply cannot unify the saints. If we attempt to unify them today, new ones will come tomorrow. The same is true with the churches. We may have the ability to unify the churches today, but after a period of time some new churches will be raised up that are childish and even babyish. If we attempt to unify them, we will kill them. Instead of unifying the saints or the churches, we should minister life to them and help them to eat well and grow normally. We need to help them to continue on in the unique oneness no matter what their stage of growth is. If we do this, we will keep the oneness of the Spirit. We maintain this oneness by allowing the differences to exist.
If we practice this, the problems among the churches will disappear. The problems are all caused by our attempts to unify the churches. We want every age to be the same. But this is impossible. We are a very large family, and we are all on the way toward arriving at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God.
As we continue on in this process, we should be thankful for all the differences. For example, if in a certain locality you find something childish and babyish, do not be disappointed. Instead, you should praise the Lord for the new ones in that place. Sometimes we may visit a church that is full of experience, filled with grandfathers and grandmothers who are all very qualified. After visiting such a church, we may be convinced that it is the best because everything is excellent and there are no problems. However, a church without problems is a poor church. But a church with many problems is a rich church, perhaps even the best church.
Suppose my wife and I, two elderly people, have no problems. When you visit our home, you find everything quiet, neat, and in good order. After staying with us a few days, you may think that this is the best home. There are no arguments, but mutual love, sympathy, and serving of one another. But is such a family really the best family? The best family is one in which there are many children of various ages. However, you may find it difficult to tolerate such a family and prefer a family composed of two elderly people where everything is quiet and neat. After visiting the home of such an orderly family, you may be influenced to say that your home is poor because it is so noisy. Attempting to make your home like the home of the elderly ones, you kill it. Sometimes, however, the situation is the opposite. Certain ones may think that my home is too quiet and encourage us to adopt some young ones. The point of this illustration is that we need to make allowances for all. Do not go to a place either to change it or to be influenced to change your locality. Let every church be the way it is. Wherever you go, simply minister life to the saints. Do not change them, correct them, or attempt to improve them. This shows our faith in life; we trust in life. Because we believe in life, we can leave the saints and the churches to life, praying for them and ministering the life supply to them. Leave their condition entirely to life. If we do this, we will keep the oneness of the Spirit and we will grow.
The extent to which we keep the oneness of the Spirit in this way tests how much growth in life we have. The more we grow in life, the more we will be able to bear various kinds of differences. However, if you cannot go along with differences, you are still very young. But if you can go along with all kinds of differences, this indicates that you are quite mature. The more we grow in life, the more differences we will be able to take. We will not want to reduce the differences, change things, or correct the saints. Rather, we will minister life to the saints and let them grow. If they give us some difficulty, we will bear them in love. This is a sign of our health, of our growth, and of our maturity. But if we like to unify, to change, to correct, and to adjust, this is a sign that we are still immature. For the keeping of the genuine oneness, we all need to grow.
