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Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Rom. 8:30; Col. 3:4; 1 Cor. 2:7; 1 Pet. 5:10a; 2 Thes. 1:10
In these past few days we have seen more and more clearly that the church is the result of our subjective experience of the Lord. We have also seen that our subjective experience of the Lord must be entirely in the Spirit and related to life, and it must also be the Lord Himself entering into us not merely as our life but also as the constituent of our spiritual being. These matters are not objective but are subjective experiences within us. Today the Lord is the life-giving Spirit. We can receive Him into us, and He can enter into us as our life and even live in us as our person. Thus, He becomes our element and is the inward constituent of our spiritual being. We all experience the Lord together and are built up together in this One to become the one Body. These matters are absolutely inward, subjective experiences. It is not that we have an outward change or that we merely have a kind of outward expression. Rather, we have become completely new in our essence, life, and nature. This is Christ who died and resurrected and now has been wrought into us to become the constituent of our spiritual being, and this also is the church.
This knowledge of the subjective aspect of the church has been completely lost over the past nineteen centuries. If you read church history, you will see that even after Luther accomplished the Reformation, those pure-hearted Christians did not have such a deep knowledge of the church. They did not see that the church is Christ constituted into His believers. Because this light was buried, this subjective truth was hidden in the Bible and was not released. Over the past several hundred years there have been many believers in the Lord, and all have felt that they were in the church and have become the church. Nevertheless, in reality they have not had the light of the church’s being joined to Christ as one spirit. Today the Lord wants to recover what He planned in the beginning and what was realized at the time of Pentecost.
If you read the book of Acts carefully, you will see that the condition of those early saints described in chapters 2 through 4 was simply Christ living in them. Christ became their life, their human nature, and their person. For them to live was Christ, just as the apostle said. Therefore, according to the revelation of the New Testament, the church is the mystery of godliness, which is God manifested in the flesh.
What is the church? The church is God manifested in the flesh. This is a mystery. At this time, if we are in a normal condition, one that is up to the standard, God will be manifested when we are meeting here together in His name and in His Spirit. Apparently, we are ordinary people who are outwardly no different from any other people, but there is a mystery within us. This mystery is the manifestation of God in the flesh. What kind of mystery is this? It is the mystery of godliness.
In the New Testament, godliness does not refer to being well-behaved, self-composed, or God-fearing. These are not godliness. In the New Testament, godliness is God manifesting His image. When God is manifested, it is because of a certain condition in your being, and that condition is godliness. For example, a person might honor and obey his parents very much, but what is manifested in that person is honoring of parents. Some people are very moral, proper, and righteous, well-behaved in everything, so you see morality in them. However, Christians should not manifest only these things. Strictly speaking, when we truly live in the seven Spirits and walk by the Spirit, the condition that is displayed in us is not only honoring of parents or morality but also God being manifested. This is far superior to honoring of parents or morality. There is a condition in a brother that cannot be described by human language. It is hard to say whether it is his honoring, being humble, or some other virtue. According to the Bible, it is godliness. Godliness is God manifested. God is manifested in that person by a certain condition so that people cannot help but glorify God. This condition is godliness.
What does the mystery of godliness mean? It means that although we are men—some Chinese, some American, and some Japanese—when we sing and praise, a certain condition is manifested that makes people ask, “What is this?” This is not honoring of parents, nor is it morality; instead, it is a kind of indescribable condition. It is not merely noisy activity, nor is it excitement. These people are here in a kind of condition that is hard to describe and very mysterious, so it is difficult for people to understand.
If you get very excited when you watch basketball or baseball games, then others immediately know that you are a sports fan. When a baseball fan watches a baseball game, he gets excited. What about us? Here there is no baseball, basketball, or any other kind of ball. There is just a group of people sitting here who are well-behaved. They are neither too excited nor too formal; they neither laugh loudly nor laugh softly, but simply smile warmly. What is really happening here? Moreover, they keep coming here every morning and every evening just to hear such a person speak. He does not speak about astronomy, geography, politics, or military science, and he does not know anything about mathematics, technology, or other matters. Yet it seems that they are “addicted” and keep coming back to listen. What kind of “addiction” is this? This is “God addiction,” which is a mystery, the mystery of godliness. In this godliness God is manifested—God is here. This is why 1 Corinthians 14 says that if some unbeliever comes to the meeting, “falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that indeed God is among you” (vv. 24-25). This is the mystery of godliness.
This mystery of godliness is God manifested in the flesh. We are here not as angels but as men in the flesh, yet God is manifested in the flesh. Some traditional theologians say that God manifested in the flesh refers to the Lord Jesus, who was manifested in the flesh through His incarnation, and that it does not refer to the church. When we gave this testimony in America, because we spoke so boldly, some traditional theologians said that we believe in man’s evolution into God. They say that we who are in the churches believe that we all are evolving into God, that our speaking is a high theory of evolution, and that we are making ourselves gods. Some say, “In the so-called local churches there is a great heresy because they worship themselves as gods in their meetings. They claim that whenever they meet, God is manifested among them, that they are gods, and that they are one with God. Therefore, this teaching makes them the object of worship.” This is a slanderous word. The opposers say this because they are blind and do not understand what we are teaching.
Yes, we have indeed said that when the condition of our meetings is normal, we can say, “Confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). The critics, however, say that this word does not refer to the church but to Christ. Therefore, at this time I would ask you to please turn to 1 Timothy 3:16 in your Bible. I hope that among us there are no “blind ones.” All the Bible scholars confess that the most difficult matter in expounding the Bible is finding the meaning of the original language. I believe that some of you have a Greek-English Interlinear New Testament. If you look at the Greek-English Interlinear New Testament, you will see that in 1 Timothy 3 between verses 15 and 16 there is the conjunction kai, which equals and in English. The Chinese version, however, dropped this word in its translation. According to the original language, verse 15 says, “The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.” Verse 16 continues by saying, “And...”; this conjunction clearly shows that the church is not only the three items mentioned in verse 15—the house of God, the pillar of the truth, and the base of the truth. And indicates that the church is something more. This conjunction here is a very important word; it is not an empty word. The church is the house of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth, and the great mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh. Therefore, according to the original Greek, He who was manifested in the flesh certainly refers to the church. We can say that He who was manifested in the flesh modifies the church in verse 15. What is the church? It is the house of God. The house of God modifies the church, and the pillar and base of the truth also modifies the church. The house of God and the pillar and base of the truth describe what the church is. Verse 16 continues by saying, “And...great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh.” Just as the house of God and the pillar and base of the truth describe the church, so He who was manifested in the flesh also describes the church. Thus, if the text is read according to the original Greek, no one can deny that God manifested in the flesh here refers to the church.
Furthermore, there is still a solid proof, which cannot be overturned, and that is the five items that follow He who was manifested in the flesh: “Justified in the Spirit, / Seen by angels, / Preached among the nations, / Believed on in the world, / Taken up in glory” (v. 16). I would ask you, “Was the Lord Jesus taken up in glory before or after He was believed on in the world?” We all know that the Lord Jesus ascended to the heavens after His resurrection, so He was taken up in glory before He was preached among the nations and believed on in the world. This would tell us here that He who was manifested in the flesh... / Taken up in glory does not refer to Christ, because Christ was taken up in glory before being preached among the nations. The Lord Jesus was first taken up in glory, then the day of Pentecost came, and then He was preached among the nations.
But here I would ask you to pay attention to the fact that there is a universal man in the universe whose Head is Christ and whose Body is the church. The Head of this universal man is in glory today, but the Body is not yet in glory. The Head is already in the heavens, while the Body is still on earth. Therefore, according to 1 Timothy 3:16, the sequence of being taken up in glory after being preached among the nations proves that this manifestation of God in the flesh does not refer only to Christ but to the two aspects of Christ: the Head and the Body. The Head has already been taken up in glory, but the Body has yet to be taken up in glory. Whether the Head or the Body, both are the great mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh.
I am not here arguing, but I am showing you that traditional theology has deeply damaged people. Those who hold on to traditional theology, on the one hand, confess that the church is the Body of Christ, while on the other hand, they confess that Christ is God manifested in the flesh. Yet they remain stuck in their narrow concepts and are not willing to confess that the Body is also the manifestation of God in the flesh. This is the same as saying that a brother’s head comes from Taiwan, while his body does not. This is a joke. According to ordinary logic, we all know that if the head is Taiwanese, then the body also must be Taiwanese. If the head is American, then the body also must be American. Therefore, since the Head is God manifested in the flesh, spontaneously the Body also is God manifested in the flesh.
The Lord Jesus always considered His members on the earth to be Himself. Remember the record in Acts 9. One day Saul of Tarsus was going to persecute Christians; the Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus and said to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (v. 4). Saul was astounded and thought to himself, “You are speaking to me from heaven, but I have not gone to heaven to persecute anyone. I am only persecuting people on earth, so why is a voice from heaven speaking to me today, saying, ‘Why are you persecuting Me?’” Therefore, he asked, “Who are You, Lord?” The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you persecute” (v. 5). The Lord meant, “When you persecuted Stephen, you were persecuting Me; when you persecute My disciples, you are persecuting Me.” Here we clearly see that the Body and the Head are one. Hallelujah!
What is the church? In the past few days we have learned many new terms. The church is the reprint of the Holy Spirit with Christ and the place of God’s infusion. Now we must say that the church is God manifested in the flesh. What is the church? To put it a little more poetically, the church is the great mystery of godliness, which is God manifested in the flesh. I would ask you, however, “If you are living by your self, and if I am living by my self, and if we all are living by the self, then is the church the manifestation of God in the flesh?” No! That is merely the manifestation of the natural man in the flesh. In order for the church to be the manifestation of God in the flesh, we must live not by our self but by God. If we live by God and take God as our living and our person, then when we come together, it will be the manifestation of God in the flesh.
Let me give a little illustration. Suppose some of the young brothers who live together are talking, laughing, and playing Ping-Pong before the meeting; some are losing their temper, and others are criticizing the saints. Then one brother says, “It is time for the meeting. Let’s go!” You all go to the meeting, and one by one you enter and sit there. Do you think that at such a time this is “Great is the mystery of godliness”? I do not think so; rather, I think that you would have to say, “Woe is the pitiful flesh!” Some brothers and sisters are married; the meeting is at seven thirty, but at six thirty they may begin arguing, and they argue until seven o’clock. At that time a sister who lives next door may come and say, “It’s almost time for the meeting!” Therefore, this married couple reluctantly goes to the meeting. What is this? This is “Woe is the quarreling flesh.” You simply cannot say that these conditions display the great mystery of godliness.
What is the church? The church is a group of people who have been called by God, who have received His life and nature, who live by God, and who have the element of God added into them daily, transforming them and being formed within them. They grow in this life, putting off the old living and putting on the new living, which is the church life. Thus, when they come together, they do not need even to speak; all they need to do is sit there, and the angels will say, “Behold! Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh.” This is the church.
The church is not a religious organization, nor is it a human gathering. The church is a group of people who have been redeemed and regenerated and who live by God. God is their life, their nature, their person, and their living; when they come together, all the angels will say, “Confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh.” This is the church.
We must know the church to such an extent that we know the church as the great “mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh.” Simply put, the church is the manifestation of God in the flesh. Thank the Lord that although I dare not say that every meeting in the local churches is the manifestation of God in the flesh, I do dare to say that many times when the brothers and sisters in the Lord’s recovery meet together, even the angels nod their heads and say, “This is God manifested in the flesh.” They joyfully say, “Devil and little demons, look; is this not God manifested in the flesh?” Even the demons must admit, “Yes, this is God manifested in the flesh.” Tonight as we are speaking here, I believe that there is such a condition. Hallelujah! This is the church.
The church is the Body, and the Head is Christ, so the manifestation of God in the flesh here is applied to both. The Head has already been taken up in glory, but the Body is still on the way of being taken up and has not yet entered into glory. Hebrews 2:10 says that God is “leading many sons into glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect.” He is the Author, the Captain, the Forerunner, and He has already entered into glory. We are on our way into glory. I would like to tell you that even though you may not know this, all the angels know it. Time after time when we meet, we are walking on the pathway of glory. Whenever we meet, on the one hand, we are the manifestation of God in the flesh, and on the other hand, we are heading for glory. We are on our way into glory. Perhaps one day we will be meeting, and the angels will be around us, saying, “Look! God is manifested in the flesh!” Before they have finished speaking, the saints will be raptured one by one into glory. If this happens, I will not feel that it is the least bit strange. I hope that I am not at home looking distressed and complaining to my wife when the Lord comes. Then perhaps my wife will be raptured, and I will be left behind. I hope that I will be meeting together with the saints, experiencing the great mystery of godliness, the manifestation of God in the flesh, when I am raptured. I believe that this will happen, because every time we meet, we are on the proper way to enter into glory. Our meetings are heading toward glory.
The church is the house of God and the pillar and base of the truth. Moreover, the church is the great mystery of godliness as the manifestation of God in the flesh and is being taken up in glory. Thus, 1 Timothy 3:15-16 has a double application. It applies both to the Lord Jesus and to us, both to the Head and to the Body. I hope that our eyes will be opened here to see that the church is not a doctrine. If it were merely a doctrine, there would not be very much to say. However, when it becomes our subjective experience, we can all sing Hallelujah! Every time we come together, it is the manifestation of God in the flesh, and we are heading toward the goal of glory and proceeding toward it. Now we are here allowing God to be expressed; one day we will be taken up in glory. Therefore, the last step of the church’s subjective experience is glorification.
Paul says, “When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4). If today we live by Him and take Him as our life, then one day He will be our glory. Oh, Christ in us has become the hope of glory (1:27)! We are on our way to glory, and with every meeting we are a little bit closer. We meet every day, and we head toward glory every day. Our goal is just glory. When He is manifested, then we also will be manifested with Him in glory.
When you read Romans 8, you can see that those whom God called, these He first predestinated, justified, and conformed, and then He glorified (vv. 29-30). The last step is to glorify us. This glory is neither coincidental nor temporary; rather, God predestined before the ages for us to have this glory (1 Cor. 2:7). In eternity, before the foundation of the world, God had a plan to glorify us.
What is glorification? Today we are all in the flesh, and God wants to be manifested in the flesh. However, when we are raptured, in that instant our flesh will be transfigured. Today God is in the flesh, but in that day our flesh will enter into glory. This will be exactly like what happened to the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration. Before the Lord ascended the mountain to be transfigured, He was Jesus the Nazarene in the flesh, but when He was transfigured, His flesh entered into glory. When He comes, we will be raptured, and our flesh will enter into glory and be completely transfigured so that we will be conformed to the body of His glory. That will be our glorification. Today we are the manifestation of God in the flesh; in that day we will enter into glory, and our bodies will be transfigured into the condition of glory.
This matter is very subjective. You should never think that glory is merely a realm, that today you are a Christian only on earth, but one day the Lord will use His powerful hand to rapture you from the earth to heaven, instantly placing you in glory, at which time you will shine and be glorified. It is not like that. I tell you that today this glory is within you and me, and this glory is actually the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus today is in us as life. Then in that day He will be manifested from within us as glory: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).
Second Thessalonians 1:10 says, “When He comes to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at in all those who have believed...in that day.” When we are raptured at His coming back, not only will we enter into glory, but the Lord Jesus will also be glorified in us. Today the Lord Jesus is still concealed within us and has not yet been manifested, so He cannot come out in glory. But when He comes and raptures us to Himself, He will saturate our entire being to completely glorify Himself from within us. That will be His being glorified in us and being marveled at in that day in all of us who have believed. Glory is a seed that is inside us. This seed within us will grow and develop in us until it breaks forth from our body. That will be the redemption of our body, and that will be our rapture, our entering into glory. Thus, we will be brought into the glory that God predestined for us. Therefore, in the end the church will be a group of redeemed people who have been completely transfigured into glory. This is the ultimate manifestation of the church.
Today the church here is the manifestation of God in the flesh, but in that day the church will be a group of redeemed people who have been transfigured into glory. That is the church. The Lord has already spoken to us, and I hope that we will have the light and vision to see that this is the church. The church is the reprint of the Holy Spirit with Christ, the place of God’s infusion, the manifestation of God in the flesh, and ultimately the flesh transfigured into glory. Hallelujah—this is the church!
