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In this chapter we will continue to look at the practice of the church. In the previous chapter we saw the degraded situation in Christianity. Although there are good things in Christianity, in relation to the ground of the church it has deviated from God’s original intention. Revelation 17 says that even though there are some good things in Babylon, it is filled with unclean things (vv. 1-6). Verse 4 says that the woman has “in her hand a golden cup full of abominations.” Gold signifies God’s nature. This indicates that there are good things in Babylon. However, the golden cup is full of abominations. This is a situation of mixture. We cannot say that there is nothing good in Christianity. Nevertheless, Christianity has deviated from God’s original intention and thus has brought in division and confusion.
First Corinthians 3:3-4 repudiates division. In addition, Galatians 5:19-21 speaks of the works of the flesh, one of which is sects. Sects is listed among the negative sins; it is even listed with idolatry, sorcery, and enmities. Hence, the Lord’s Word shows that division is condemned by God. When we speak with believers concerning the church, we need to show them pertinent portions of the Word. We should speak according to the revelation in the Word of God, not according to our view.
We have been commissioned by the Lord to bear the testimony of oneness. This testimony of oneness is the most important matter in the Lord’s Body. Ephesians 4:3 speaks of keeping the oneness of the Spirit. The oneness of the Spirit is based on seven items found in verses 4 through 6: one Body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father. These seven items can be formed into three groups. The first group is one Body, one Spirit, and one hope. The Spirit is the essence of the Body, and through the Spirit the Body is produced. Hence, the Body is the expression of the Spirit. Through the Spirit’s regenerating, saturating, and filling, we have the hope of being in the likeness of Christ. The second group is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. Through one faith and one baptism we are joined to the Lord. The third group is one God and Father, who is the Originator and source of all. The oneness of the Spirit in these verses is based on the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Father is the Originator of the Body, the Son is the Creator of the Body, and the Spirit is the Executor of the Body. This is the ground of oneness.
Verse 13 says, “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God.” Even though we are in the oneness of the Spirit, we still need to arrive at the oneness of the faith in practicality. By virtue of our believing into the Lord and entering into Him, we are one. We are one with all the believers in the Lord, whether they are in Protestantism or Catholicism. However, in addition to the oneness of the Spirit, we need to be one in practicality. This is what it means to arrive at the oneness of the faith. As long as we are children of God, we have the same faith. The faith does not refer to doctrine, neither does it refer to practices. The faith is related to our salvation, and it includes the person and work of Christ. The addition of other items to the faith, such as a special view concerning head covering or a special explanation about speaking in tongues, makes it impossible for the children of God to be one. The Lord has commissioned us to drop all the other items so that we may arrive at the oneness of the faith.
Based on the ground of oneness, we have the ground of locality. The New Testament shows that the church is expressed on earth locality by locality. Acts 8:1 speaks of the church in Jerusalem, 13:1 speaks of the church in Antioch, and 1 Corinthians 1:2 speaks of the church in Corinth. These churches are all local. Revelation 1:11 says that what John saw would be written in a scroll and sent to “the seven churches.” It then lists seven localities. The letters were for the seven churches, but they were addressed to seven localities. This clearly shows that the seven localities are equivalent to the seven churches.
Furthermore, Acts 14:23 speaks of appointing elders in “every church,” and Titus 1:5 speaks of appointing elders in “every city.” If we put these two verses together, we see that appointing elders in every city is the same as appointing elders in every church. All the above verses are basic and can be used to explain the ground of oneness and the ground of the church. We should hold on to these expressions. Even if the whole world rises up to oppose us, as long as we stand on the Lord’s Word, we are standing on the truth.
Now that we are clear concerning our ground and concerning the situation in Christianity, we will consider what kind of attitude we should have toward all God’s children. If our attitude is wrong, our testimony will also be wrong. First, we should love all God’s children, considering them as brothers and sisters in the Lord. The Bible says that we should love the brothers; it does not say which kind of brothers we should love. The Bible does not say that we should love only the brothers who are meeting with us, the brothers in the local churches. The Bible simply tells us to love the brothers (Rom. 12:10; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 3:14). We have a love for sinners; we love them and want to preach the gospel to them. We also love the brothers; we love them and desire to fellowship with them. We should have only these two kinds of love: a love for the sinners and a love for the brothers. There is not a third kind of love. As long as a person is regenerated, we should love him, regardless of whether he insists on baptism by sprinkling or baptism by immersion, or whether he insists on a vegetarian diet or a meat diet. Whether or not a person stands on the proper ground of the church depends on the truth and light he receives from the Lord. However, even if he does not stand on the proper ground, we must still love him with the Lord’s love.
Second, we must be clear that we cannot join an organization. This is not because we are proud or exclusive but because we are restricted by the truth that the Lord has given us. We are restricted; we are not free. As slaves of the Lord, we can do things only according to the light that He has given us. Hence, we must be clear that we fellowship with all believers, but we will not join any organization, any divisions. We must have faith in the Lord that this does not mean that we are proud or exclusive but rather that we are standing on the ground of the church. In doing anything, it is necessary to have a ground, without which it will be easy to lose the goal. Our ground is the ground of the church. Therefore, we cannot have any association or cooperate with any group that is in division. Our conscience will never allow us to ask any organization to join us in preaching the gospel. However, we are willing to pray for all sinners to be brought to the Lord.
We should speak the riches we have obtained to all God’s children. Many riches have been released among us through the ministry of the word. These riches in life and in truth are not only for us to enjoy but also for all God’s children to enjoy. They are the common possession of all God’s children. We should therefore speak these possessions so that others may also inherit them. Because of their blindness, some believers cannot receive these truths and even oppose these truths. We should not blame them; instead, we should spread these truths. The Lord’s recovery needs to spread. Hence, we should speak forth the light that we have gained in the truth and in life so that all the Lord’s children may have the same light, the same nourishment, and the same supply. Whether or not they will take this way is up to them. We do not force anyone to take this way.
Some groups accuse us of going out to steal their sheep. In response to this we should say that the truths that the Lord has given to us are very rich, but we are not building up our own group; instead, we are spreading the riches of the Lord’s truths to all believers.
One brother said that those in Christianity are like the prodigal son who left home and that we encourage them to continue wandering, instead of returning home, by our giving them food. He said that he would rather let them starve until they have the feeling to come home. This thought is not right. Whether or not a prodigal son returns home does not depend on our giving him food. It depends on whether God, through the Holy Spirit, has given him a heart of repentance (Luke 15:17-18). If God does not give him a heart of repentance, even if he is starving, he will not return. We must not have a narrow heart. On the contrary, we should speak what is in the Life-studies to others and read the Recovery Version of the Bible with them. If they do not understand, we should try our best to help them. There is a scarcity of the truth and of life. However, the Lord’s recovery is like Joseph’s storehouse (Gen. 41:56-57). We should not keep the riches in the storehouse. It is our responsibility to distribute the riches.
Do not worry that others will not take the way of the church. We should believe that if a believer receives life and the truth, sooner or later he will seek after the church. At that time, we should present the matter of the church to him so that he can choose the way he wants to take. A believer may choose to take this way, or he can remain where he is and serve the Lord according to the light he has received. If he chooses to remain where he is, we will not condemn him.
These points explain the attitude we should have when we go out to preach the gospel. If we maintain such an attitude, we will bear a proper testimony among God’s people. Whether we are speaking for the Lord or preaching the gospel, we will be full of life and the life supply, and others will realize that we uphold the truth and practice the truth.
Question: Why do we not participate in joint gospel preaching with other Christian groups on college campuses or with the denominations?
Answer: The oneness that other Christians speak of is not the genuine oneness. It is a kind of unity. We desire oneness, not unity. In their practice of unity, each group is maintained as a separate unit and unites with other groups for a particular activity. After that activity is over, the groups return to being divided. This practice is not a genuine oneness. The oneness we desire is not a “halfway shelter.” In order to practice the ground of oneness, we first must reject division. If we are in division, we will not be able to practice the ground of oneness. If we are united with the Presbyterians, we will be divided from the Baptists. If we are united with the Baptists, we will be divided from the Methodists. The ground of these denominations is division. We cannot take part in the ground of division.
Question: We say that the Presbyterians, the Baptists, and the Methodists are in division, but is it not true that the local churches are separate from other groups?
Answer: The Presbyterians, the Baptists, and the Methodists have a dividing line; they have set boundaries. Those of us who stand on the ground of locality should not have a dividing line. On the surface, it seems that we are separating ourselves from other believers; however, it is they who have separated themselves from us. We do not have any dividing lines. We are a group of Christians who stand on the ground of locality and serve the Lord together. If you say that we are separated from other believers, it is because their dividing lines have cut us off. We do not separate ourselves from others.
On the one hand, we do not take part in the ground of division; on the other hand, we accept all Christians in the denominations. We are one with them because they are children of God. When we contact them, we should be as open and warm as when we see the saints who meet with us. Hence, there are two aspects to practicing the ground of oneness. First, we reject the ground of division. Second, in our practice we are one with all God’s children in the fellowship of life. Both of these aspects are indispensable. If we participate in any ground of division, we divide ourselves from others. Hence, in order to keep the ground of oneness, we cannot participate in any divisive ground. Nevertheless, we should have fellowship with all of God’s children, and we should love all of God’s children. We must not treat a believer differently simply because he is in Catholicism or in a Protestant denomination. If we show affection only toward the saints who meet with us, we have a sectarian spirit.
We need to be clear concerning the principle in these two aspects. If we are not wise, we will suffer spiritual loss and cause the church also to suffer a loss. There are many Christian groups on the college campuses. The brothers and sisters in these groups are God’s children, and they love the Lord. It is reasonable for us to have fellowship with them. However, if we are not careful, we will affect the other brothers and sisters who meet with us. We must be careful. We should let the saints know the reason for our going to fellowship with the other believers. It is easy for us to become so busy that we forget the commission that we have received from the Lord. God raised us up for His recovery, for a corporate testimony on earth. We must be wise and follow the Lord’s leading. Furthermore, we need to fellowship with the saints with whom we coordinate.
Question: Should we wait until our gospel friends ask us about the church, or should we take the initiative to speak to them?
Answer: We should speak the truth concerning the church and the practice of the church. However, we should not have the attitude that we are recruiting them to join us. Such an improper attitude will be conveyed unconsciously in our words. However, we should not refrain from speaking this truth simply because we want to avoid the appearance of recruiting. We must present the truths item by item to new believers. There are many aspects of the truth. The truths in the New Testament include God, Christ, the Spirit, the believers, the church, the kingdom, and the New Jerusalem. These are the truths in God’s New Testament economy. Just as we should speak concerning God, Christ, and the Spirit, we should also speak concerning the church. We should not have the attitude that we use this truth to recruit people. Rather, we are presenting the truths to new believers so that they may know these truths. As we present the truth, a believer may have a positive or negative response. We should not be bothered by a negative response. The enemy is also doing a damaging work. If our gospel preaching is strong, we will gain some people. Whether or not other believers are prejudiced against us or the new ones are damaged, eventually, the truth will prevail. We should not blame anyone. We need only to bind the enemy in our prayer.
After we lead people to salvation and lead them to know the gospel and life, we should lead them into the church, because every believer must not only know the Lord, but even more, he should know the Lord’s heart’s desire. This is clearly seen in the Bible. Through the words released in this ministry, we see Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ (Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4). These two truths are what Paul refers to as the great mystery (5:32).
The Lord has commissioned us to preach the gospel and to lead new believers to know that the church is His heart’s desire. Hence, if we help a believer only to know Christ, we are giving him only half of the gospel. We should also help him to know God’s desire and God’s way. There are many matters related to the practice of the church. Nevertheless, we must receive the Lord’s light. We must study the truth concerning the church so that we are not confused. We must also learn how to properly present the truth concerning the church with the Word so that new believers may know the church and eventually be built up in the church to fulfill God’s desire. This is also the ultimate goal of the gospel.
