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When leading a new believer to take the way of life, we should ultimately bring him to the church because the Lord in His salvation desires to obtain the church. Although this truth has not been clearly seen and is neglected in various denominations in Christianity, the fact is that every believer is a member of the church.
The word church occurs only twice in the Gospels. The Lord Jesus spoke concerning numerous truths in the Gospels, but He spoke of the church only twice, and both instances are in the Gospel of Matthew. The first instance is in 16:18: “Upon this rock I will build My church”; the second is in 18:17: “If he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.” If we read Matthew 16:18 and 18:17 in context, we will see that the truth concerning the church is presented in an all-inclusive and complete way.
In Matthew 16 the Lord Jesus took His disciples far away from Jerusalem, a place with a strong religious atmosphere, and brought them to Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi is at the foot of Mount Hermon in the northern part of the Holy Land and is very close to the border; it is almost in the land of the Gentiles. It had a clear atmosphere. Then in chapter 17 the Lord Jesus took three disciples up to the high mountain, Mount Hermon.
In 1977 some brothers and I visited Israel, and we drove from Jerusalem to Caesarea Philippi. We went to the foot of Mount Hermon and saw the source of the Jordan River. The source is a big fountain with water constantly gushing up. The water that gushed up not only felt cool but also caused the air to be fresh. The air in that area is cool and clean. The atmosphere there is refreshing and clear. The Lord Jesus took His disciples to Caesarea Philippi in order to ask them, “Who do you say that I am?” (16:15). It was there that the heavenly Father gave Peter a revelation, and he answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16).
The context of verse 18 has several important points. In order to know the church, we must leave Jerusalem. We cannot know the church in a place where the religious atmosphere is thick. Jerusalem was permeated with a very thick religious atmosphere. The Lord Jesus had to take His disciples away from the thick religious atmosphere to Caesarea Philippi, where everything was clear. This is where the disciples were able to receive revelation.
This is a basic principle. If we remain in a religious atmosphere, we will not be able to receive a vision of the church. We will neither see nor receive revelation. To speak about the church in a Catholic cathedral will not have any effect. Hence, in order to know the church, we must break away from the religious atmosphere.
In order to know the church, we also must know who Christ is and obtain a revelation concerning Christ. Regarding the Lord’s person, He is the Son of the living God, and regarding His commission and ministry, He is the Christ, God’s anointed One. The Greek word translated “Christ” means “the anointed.” To anoint a person is to commission him, to entrust him with a mission.
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” is an all-inclusive statement. The Son of the living God speaks of the Lord’s person, and the Christ speaks of His commission, His duty, His ministry. In His person and His life, He is the Son of the living God, the expression of God. Just as a son expresses the father, the Son of the living God expresses the living God. He is the effulgence of God’s glory and the impress of God’s substance (Heb. 1:3). He is also the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead (Col. 2:9). This is the meaning of the Son of God. With regard to His ministry, His commission, He is the Christ. He came to fulfill God’s eternal plan, to fully accomplish what God had planned for His economy in eternity. Hence, the Son of the living God and the Christ mean that the One who expresses God and is the embodiment of God came to accomplish God’s economy.
What does God desire to gain in His economy? Ephesians 3:9-11 says, “To enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things, 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, according to the eternal purpose which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God’s economy is His eternal plan, His eternal dispensation, arrangement, to obtain the church.
After Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” the Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens” (Matt. 16:17). Then the Lord continued, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church” (v. 18). The word and at the beginning of the verse is crucial; it indicates that verse 18 is a continuation of verse 17. From this verse we know that the church comes out of Christ. As long as we lead people to salvation and to live the Christian life, we must also lead them to experience the anointing. In the anointing, we experience Christ as life, and we also experience the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit and the all-inclusive death of Christ. As a result of these experiences, the church is produced. Hence, the church comes out of Christ.
Adam and Eve are a wonderful type in the Old Testament. God did not first create a man and then create a woman. Although Genesis 1:27 says that God created male and female, according to chapter 2 He first created a man and then took a rib out of the man and built a woman (vv. 21-22). In these verses we see life, indicated by the rib, and building, indicated by the woman. The rib was something organic, and it came from Adam’s body, out of the life of Adam. This rib was merely the raw material of life. God built this rib into a woman, Eve, who was Adam’s other half. Adam was only a half, and Eve was the other half. When these two halves were put together, they became one flesh.
Adam is a type of Christ, and Eve is a type of the church. On the cross Christ “slept,” and from His pierced side life flowed out (John 19:34), signified by the water, to produce the church. The life that flowed out of Christ is typified by the rib in Genesis 2. However, it still needs to be built. This is life and building. Life is for producing, and building is for accomplishing. The New Testament shows two important matters concerning the church: producing and accomplishing, that is, life and building. To produce is to regenerate so that we may have life, and to accomplish is to build so that the element of Christ may be built into the saints. The result is that the church is not only produced but also completely built up.
The Bible is not easy to understand. The words in Matthew 16:16 and 18 are profound: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God...Upon this rock I will build My church.” We need light in order to see that these simple words are comprehensive. We must be brought out of the thick religious atmosphere into a clear sky in order to receive a revelation from the Father, who is in the heavens, so that we may know the Lord. He is the Son of the living God, the expression of God, the embodiment of God. He is also the Christ, who came to accomplish God’s economy—to produce the church and to build up His unique Body as His unique counterpart. This shows that the church is of life and is building; it is also unique and universal. In God’s creation He ordained that a husband have only one wife. This typifies Christ having only one church. In the universe Christ has only one church, one Body.
The second time that the Lord Jesus spoke of the church is in Matthew 18:17. The context of this verse is quite simple. If a brother sins against you, you should go and reprove him between you and him alone to gain and recover him. If he does not hear you, you should go to him again, taking one or two more brothers with you; and if he refuses to hear them, you should tell it to the church. The Lord is speaking of how to recover a brother. In this context He mentions the church. He then goes on to say that if the brother refuses to hear the church, “Let him be to you just like the Gentile and the tax collector.”
Matthew 16 speaks of the universal church, which is a matter of life and building, whereas chapter 18 speaks of the local church, which is a matter of administration and management. From the context of chapter 18, we know that the church spoken of in verse 17 is involved with administration and management. This is very meaningful. The universal church is of life and building, and the local church is of administration and management. The church has these two aspects. The universal church is uniquely one, and the local church in every locality is the expression of the one universal church. The church in Taipei is an expression of the universal church; so is the church in Hong Kong. No matter in which city the church is expressed, it is an expression of the unique church.
We can use the moon as an illustration. Although there is only one moon, it can be seen from every city. The moon that we see in Taiwan is the same moon that is seen in America; there are not two moons. This is the same with the church; there is only one church. This church is expressed in Taipei, New York City, and Tokyo. What is expressed in every locality is the unique universal church.
Matthew 18 shows the local church. If there is only the universal church and no local churches, where can the saints go when there are problems between the saints and there is a need to tell the church? Hence, on the one hand, the church is universal, but on the other hand, the church is local. If you are in Taipei and you have a problem that you need to tell the church, it is easy to do so. Thank the Lord that wherever we are, there is a church. Our knowledge of the church must include both the universal and the local aspects.
If the Lord would give me another thirty years to speak two messages a day on the church, I would not exhaust this topic, because the entire Bible is on Christ and the church. Christ is the source, and the church is the expression. Christ and the church are the great mystery. Hence, in order to lead new believers, we must learn the crucial points. We should lead them from the experience of life to knowing the church, enabling them to see that the church is a product of Christ; the church is the “Eve” of Christ. God caused Adam to fall asleep and took one of his ribs to build a woman, Eve. In the same principle, the Lord Jesus is our “Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45). When He died on the cross, His side was opened, and water flowed out for the producing of the church. In the Epistles the Holy Spirit is building the church to be the Body of Christ (12:27; Eph. 4:12). This is the universal aspect of the church.
The church’s being universal is mysterious and difficult to comprehend, yet it is easy to accept. Hence, pastors in all the denominations accept that the church is universally one. However, it would be difficult for them to accept that the church is locally one, even though it is easy to understand. Hence, today Taipei is like a “church market” with many “churches.” Not only do pastors find it difficult to accept that there is only one church in one city, but ordinary Christians also do not accept this. They think that those who promote the ground of the church are self-righteous. If we are not clear about the truth, we might waver when people accuse us of being self-righteous. Many saints have been confused by this kind of wind. When such a wind blows, we should go to “Caesarea Philippi” so that our vision may be renewed.
The revival of the church in Chefoo in 1943 occurred when the Japanese invaded northern China. The Japanese army had an internal security agency that was assigned to trouble the Chinese people. As a result of the revival, we had a large number of saints and a large amount of material offerings. This aroused the attention of the agency. After investigating us for about three months, the special agents arrested me and put me in jail for thirty days of interrogation. The official in charge of the interrogation tested me on many matters. He saw that I was indeed a “God fan,” who wanted nothing but God. During that time I experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit. Many miracles and strange things happened. Once they asked me why the other Christian groups in Chefoo criticized me. The Lord gave me wisdom to answer this question. I responded that the Chinese say that people of the same trade are enemies. In Chefoo there were eight other groups, and on the Lord’s Day the number in our meeting was equal to the total number in the other eight groups. For this reason the other groups were jealous and would not say anything good about me.
When we go to a place to preach the gospel, we are willing to dwell in harmony with all the other Christians. The problem is not with us; they are in division. I grew up in Chefoo and came from a Christian family. Although my family was poor, I was able to study in an institution of higher education run by Americans. In those days Chefoo was not a large city; it did not have more than two hundred thousand people. Everyone knew who were the Christians. After I was saved, I pursued the Lord. Therefore, the pastors in the denominations noticed me. Then the Lord raised up a church there, and I was the main speaker. Our number increased very quickly from eleven to more than fifty. Within a year there were more than a hundred in our meetings. This surprised the pastors from the denominations, such that they held a meeting and discussed how I had not attended a seminary but could speak better than a seminary graduate. Moreover, they said that we liked to steal their “good” sheep.
At the end of 1935 the work arranged for me to move to Tientsin to labor in the Beijing and Tientsin area; I was there for more than a year. During this period I visited Chefoo, and the elders from the denominations jointly invited me for a meal with the intention of dealing with me. During this meal the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ upheld and equipped me to answer their questions.
After the first course, one of the elders said that it is right for me to preach the gospel and teach the truth, but it is not right for me to draw people away from other groups to mine. Therefore, they decided to ask me to not do that anymore. The rest of the elders who were present all agreed. I responded that they were all my seniors, and I was grateful to have the opportunity to make this matter clear to them. They all expressed their consent.
I said that in 1 Corinthians 1, Paul rebuked the believers in Corinth because they said, “I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.” Paul asked them whether Christ is divided (vv. 12-13). We can see that in the Bible division is not acceptable. However, today there is a great number of denominations and sects, such as the Presbyterian Church, the Chinese Independent Church, the Baptist Church, and those established by the China Inland Mission. I asked whether Paul or the Bible would approve of this situation. Then I said, “Such divisions were absolutely not allowed by Paul. By the Lord’s grace I received mercy to love Him and to study the truth; hence, I am able to speak the truth and preach the gospel. However, where should I take the people who are saved after I preach the gospel: where should they meet? Most certainly I cannot be in a division; so I cannot go to the Baptist Church or the Presbyterian Church or the Chinese Independent Church. Where should I take the new believers who are saved through my preaching of the gospel? I cannot send them to a place where I myself would not go. Each denomination insists on separating itself; this compels me to meet with those who are saved through my preaching the gospel. You know that my group does not have a name. We are not Presbyterian nor Baptist nor Independent nor the China Inland Mission. We are merely a group of believers who love the Lord and meet together. You are my seniors, and you understand that we meet in this way because you have forced us to. If you, as representatives of the various denominations in Chefoo, can promise me that you will take down your signs, I also promise you that I will tell the believers who meet with me that we will close the door of our meeting place. I will take the lead to close the door if you will take down your denominational names.”
After that they said that they could not do this, and I responded, “If you are not able to do this, you must bear the responsibility.” I continued, “Sirs, you insist on keeping the name of your respective denomination or group, and you are condemning me for drawing your people away. Are these people not the Lord’s sheep? Sheep always look for grass; wherever there is grass, they will go. Believers come to me because there is ‘grass.’ Please do not blame me. If you provide a good pasture, the sheep will surely be drawn to you. This is not a matter of who is drawing the sheep but a matter of where the grass is.” After this the elders had nothing to say.
This testimony is to help us see the ground of the church and to teach us how to deal with this issue. It is not easy for people to accept the church being one on the local ground. Hence, we should be like boxers when we lead new believers. Instead of speaking randomly, we should convince them with clear points of the truth. This requires us to learn.
