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Scripture Reading: Neh. 4, 6, 8—9; 12—13
After recovering the building of the temple, there is still the need to build up the city. Without the city there is no protection for the temple. The temple is complete; it is the place of the Lord’s presence, where we meet and serve the Lord; but it needs protection. The wall of the city is the defense to the temple. Without the wall of the city, there is no protection.
This is a type that we must apply in the New Testament. In the New Testament the building of the church is first mentioned in the Gospels. After Peter declared that Christ was the Son of God, he was told that the church would be built. The church comes after the knowing of Christ; after we experience Christ, the church comes into existence. At the same time the Lord told Peter that He would give him the keys of the kingdom. Therefore, the kingdom follows the church. These three things are necessary: Christ as the rock, the church, and the kingdom. Christ must be experienced, the church must be built up, and then the kingdom will be brought in.
In the Epistles the church is the house of God—this is mentioned in both Ephesians 2:19 and 1 Timothy 3:15. But in the last two chapters of Revelation, there is a city. In that city there is no temple (21:22), because the city has become the enlargement of the temple. We know what Christ is, and in a sense, we all know what the church is, but not many are familiar with the city.
Christ is the divine and eternal center. When He comes into me, into you, and into so many others, there is the increase of Christ. This increase of Christ is the church (John 3:29-30). Christ increased, Christ enlarged, is the church. What is the church? The church is the enlargement of Christ and the increase of Christ. We all are parts of Christ and members of Christ. My hand is a member of me and a part of me; even my little toe is a part of me because it is a member. Regardless of how small you are, as long as you are born of Christ, you are a part of Christ.
Sometimes people ask me what kind of Christian I am. What they really want to know is whether I am a Methodist, Presbyterian, or Baptist. The best way to answer is to say that I am a part of Christ. That is the kind of Christian I am. I am not part of a Presbyterian group but part of Christ. We are all parts of Christ, and all of these parts put together are the increase of Christ. We are all parts of the Body, the fullness of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23). If we look at a certain brother, we see a bit of Christ. All the bits and parts added together become His fullness, which is His Body.
The church is the fullness of Christ, because Christ has been increased and enlarged into so many members. But what is the city? The city is a further enlargement of Christ. The first step of the enlargement of Christ is the church as the house. The second step of this enlargement is also the church, not as the house but as the city. The church as the house must be enlarged to be the church as the city. The city is something larger and safer than the house. Eventually, the whole house becomes the city. Revelation 21:22 says that there is no more temple in the city because the temple has become the city. The city is the tabernacle, the dwelling place (vv. 2-3). The city is the enlargement of the temple, the development of the house to the uttermost.
The building of the house and the city is the center of God’s eternal purpose. This building is simply the mingling of God with man. When Christ comes into us, that is the mingling. Christ mingles Himself with us. Therefore, the church is a mingling of divinity with humanity, a divine mingling of God with man. When this mingling is enlarged and consummated to the fullest extent, that is the city. So the city eventually becomes the mutual building, the mutual habitation, of God and man. God dwells in us, and we in God. Oh, this is really marvelous! This is the universal, eternal mingling of God with man. We are His dwelling place, and He is ours. On a small scale, this is the house, and on a large scale, this is the city.
The Bible from the first page to the last takes this as the central theme. I have mentioned before that the Bible is like a painting of a tiger with thousands of items in the background. The main figure in the painting is the tiger. It is not a painting of a mountain, a bridge, or some trees; it is a painting of a tiger. All these other things simply constitute the background. The Bible is a painting of the mingling of God with man. There are thousands of other items, but they are simply the background; they mean little. The main figure is the divine mingling. The mingling is of four figures: the first is God, the second is Christ, the third is the church, and the fourth and final is the local churches. These are the main figures of this biblical painting. It is the mingling of God with man. If we have the revelation of this mingling, the whole Bible will become transparent from the first page to the last. Otherwise, it will be veiled to us.
What is Christ? Christ is the divine life. Who is Christ? Christ is the very God. Christ is nothing less than God, and Christ as God is our life. Christ is life to us, and He has been wrought into us so that we may enjoy Him as life. This is indeed wonderful! Christ as life is so wonderful! No one can tell the wonder and joy of this life. Life is everything, and Christ is life to us. There is no human utterance to define Christ as our life. Life is a mystery; no one can describe it, yet it is everything to us. If we do not have Christ as life, everything is vain. Christ as life is so much to us. Hallelujah!
Christ as life is signified by the church as the house. I realize that so many of us have partaken of the enjoyment of Christ as our life. But Christ is not only this much; He is more. The New Testament first tells us that Christ is our life, but eventually it says that Christ is our Head, and we are His Body. The Body needs the Head, and the Head needs the Body. Christ is not only our life, but He is also our Head. If we only experience Christ as life, yet do not realize Him much as our Head, we only have the church as the house. There is not the city yet. When we realize that Christ is not only our life but also our Head, then Christ will have the second step of enlargement. Then the church will not only be the house but also the city. The house is mainly with the life, and the city is mainly with the Head.
In the last two chapters of the Bible, there is a city with a throne. Out of the throne proceeds the river of life with the tree of life growing on either side. Out of the throne proceeds life. There is the throne, and there is life. We know what the life is, but what is the throne? This is the headship, the authority, the kingship, and the lordship of Christ. It is easy for us to realize Christ as life, but it is not so easy for us to realize Christ as the Head. The enjoyment of Christ as life is comparatively easy to experience, but to realize the headship of Christ is not so easy. There are some who know a little of Christ as life, but they know nothing of the headship of Christ. The New Testament tells us clearly that Christ is both our life and our Head. The Gospel of John speaks of Christ as life, and the Epistles, especially Colossians, tell us that Christ is also our Head. He is not only our life but also our Head.
We must keep in mind that Christ is these two main items to us: our life and our Head. When we realize and enjoy Christ as our life, we have the church as the house. But if we go further and realize His headship, the church will be enlarged to the city. Then the church will be safeguarded. It is much easier to capture a house than to take over a city. It is easy to break into a house, but it is not easy to get through the walls of a city. The city is the safeguard of the house.
We are all enjoying Christ now as life. Many are having a local church honeymoon. But we all know that a honeymoon cannot last forever. Now everyone feels so happy, but sooner or later this honeymoon will be over. Then you will not feel so happy with some of the brothers, and the local church will not be such a joyful place to you. It is at this time that we need Christ not only as our life but also as our Head. We need not only the enjoyment but also the headship. If we realize the headship of Christ, then the wall of the city will be built up.
In many of the local churches there is the real enjoyment of life in the house, but as far as the city is concerned, there are still some breaches in the wall. They still do not have the safeguard. This is why after Zerubbabel, Joshua, and Ezra, there is the need of Nehemiah for the building up of the wall of the city. The enemy hates this even more than the building of the temple. The adversaries did try to hinder, frustrate, and damage the building of the house, but not nearly as much as they opposed with their subtle wiles the building of the city. The enemy knows that the building of the house can be destroyed, but once the building of the city is completed, there is the safeguard of the wall as a defense to protect the house. So what we need for the long run is the building up of the wall. The wall is part of the city, which is the safeguard to the house.
It is good for all the young brothers and sisters to experience Christ as life. But they must go on to experience Christ as their Head. He must not only be our life but also our Head; not only our enjoyment but also our authority. We should not only be in the enjoyment of life but also under the authority of the headship. There are so many divorces in America today simply because people want the enjoyment of marriage without recognizing the headship. If a couple feels happy, they enjoy marriage, but when they feel unhappy with each other, they get a divorce. If they realized that they are not only in the marriage life but also under the headship, there would be no divorce. Brothers and sisters, under the headship we have no choice. We are under the divine authority. We must all see the life and the headship. Then we will not only have a house, but also a city with a strong and high wall.
If I have realized the headship of my Lord, whether I am happy with the other saints or not, I am simply one with them; I have no choice. I am not only in His life but also under His headship. I see the headship, and I am under it. The real building of the city is to help all the brothers and sisters to realize the headship of Christ.
In the church if we are only in the life of Christ but know nothing of the headship of Christ, there may be breaches in the wall. We may build up the church as the house in the life of Christ, but to have the church as the city, we must realize the headship of Christ. To have a church not only as a house but as a city for protection, we must go further to take the headship of Christ. Having the life of Christ may be sufficient for the house, but it is not sufficient for the city. The city must be built up with the headship of Christ.
We all need to have our will exercised, renewed, and transformed so that it will be under the headship of Christ. Our will must be in submission to the Head. Then we will be settled. As members of the Body, which is expressed by the local church, we must be willing to be under the headship of Christ. Then we will build up our part of the wall, and there will be no breach.
The book of Nehemiah tells us that each one must build up his part of the wall. I cannot build for you, and you cannot build for me. Everyone must build up his own part. With the building up of the wall, the work is mainly with the stronger ones because this is a matter of fighting. This is not a matter of the emotion but a matter of the will. Whether I like it or not, I still must build the wall. Whether it is easy or hard, I still must do it. There is no choice. I must submit myself to the headship of Christ so that the wall can be built up.
All the local churches need the building up of the wall. If we have seen the local church as the expression of the Body, then we must see that the Body is under the headship of Christ. We as members are under this headship. There is no choice; we must all be under the authority of Christ. Then the wall will be built. The wall constitutes the city, and the city in typology signifies the kingdom, the government. The Lord is in the house, but the King is in the city for the kingdom.
There is another point regarding the wall. The wall of a city is not only for protection but also for separation. The wall is a separating line. When the wall is built up, it separates what is within from what is without. In Genesis 2 there was a garden without a wall, so it was easy for the enemy, the creeping one, to creep in. Satan crept in because there was no wall. But at the end of the Bible, there is a city with a wall one hundred forty-four cubits high. That is twelve times twelve, the number of eternal perfection. There is a perfect wall to separate what is holy from what is common. Anything that is common has no entrance into the city.
The separation of the wall is not built up with regulations, but with transformed precious stones. The New Jerusalem is a city built up with transformed stones, not pieces of clay. There is not one brick made of clay. The separation of the wall is the building up of the transformed stones. The more we are transformed, the more we are separated, and the transformation eventually becomes the separating line. It is not by regulation but by transformation. We should not have any regulations in the church concerning how long our hair ought to be or whether our members should shave or not. Today there is quite a discussion not only among Christians but also among unbelievers about the length of ladies’ garments. Some are so devilishly and hellishly short. But should we make regulations about the length of our garments? No, if we were to have that kind of regulation, we would become a long-garment religion. Of course, this does not mean that we agree with the short dresses. But our trust is in the growth in life and transformation. Transformation is the separating line. We do not have regulations, but we do have the transforming life. Praise the Lord! This transforming life will bring forth much separation.
In the wall of the New Jerusalem, there is nothing of regulation, but there is the building of the transformed precious stones. If we would pray-read all the verses in Revelation 21 and 22, we would see so much related to life: the flow of life, the feeding on life, the drinking of life, and the transforming of life. This is the church with the wall built up by transformation.
This is why the enemy hates the building up of the wall. Until the wall is raised up in the local churches, there is no safety, safeguard, or defense. We need the building up of the wall—to have every man realize the headship of Christ. Everyone must keep his position for the building up of the wall and must learn how to work with one hand and fight with the other. Building is not an easy job; it can only be carried on by fighting.
When we begin to build the wall, we will really see the subtle wiles and devices of the adversaries. First, they will pretend to be good to us. They will call a conference and say that we must meet together. This sounds good, but many, many times we will be cheated by this kind of proposal. Do not take it; this is not something of the Lord. I have learned that such conferences are useless. What can come out of such a conference? What can come out from these conferences for the Lord’s interest? You will find that these conferences are just snares set up by the enemy to deceive. We must learn the wisdom of Nehemiah. He told them that he was too busy working on the wall to attend their conference. But they made not just one but four proposals! It is easy to reject the first, but it is not so easy to reject the second, the third, and the fourth. I am afraid that most of us would accept the fourth proposal.
In all the local churches we must learn the lesson to never engage in any conference with the adversaries. If we are in the Lord’s way, then let them take this way. If they do not think it is the Lord’s way, then let them go their own way. There is no margin, no compromise, no conference. We simply do not have the time. If they are willing to take the Lord’s way, they will take it. Never accept the proposal to go down to meet with them. No, they must come up to take this way. We will never go down. Let them come up.
Oh, how subtle the adversaries are! Some of the returned ones even corresponded with them. The high priest was involved in a marriage relationship with them, and some of the priests even opened the temple of God so that the adversaries might dwell there. But when Nehemiah returned the last time and discovered that one of the adversaries was dwelling in a chamber of the temple, he kicked him out. Some might think that this was being too rough, but Nehemiah could pray, “Remember me, O my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people” (Neh. 5:19). The Lord remembers. It is not a matter of what others say, but what the Lord remembers.
After the building up of the wall, Ezra came in again to help the people to be purified once more. Ezra was a priestly teacher and gave the people priestly teaching to help them be purified. He read the Word of God to the people, and they were inspired. They all agreed to sign a covenant that they would give up all the strange mixtures. In the local churches every bit of mixture must be excluded. We must be thoroughly purified from all mixture. Anything common and anything contradictory to the heavenly nature must be cast out. The Lord’s recovery must be pure. After the building up of the house, we need purification, and after the building up of the city, we need to be purified again. This purification was not only realized and carried out by Ezra but also by Nehemiah. There were at least two purifications under Ezra and one under Nehemiah. We need the recovery of the wall, and we need the purification. This is the need today in all the local churches.
