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Scripture Reading: John 6:57; Eph. 4:11-16; Col. 2:19
As we saw in the previous chapters, God’s purpose concerning the church is revealed in three portions in Ephesians. We will review these again, because we need to be truly impressed with God’s purpose.
The first aspect is in Ephesians 1:5, which says that God predestinated, foreordained, us unto sonship. Included in sonship are birth, growth, and birthright. Birth plus growth and birthright equals sonship. These are not small matters; they all include many items.
Jacob had the proper birth, but at first he did not have the birthright. Eventually, he gained the birthright, but he did not enjoy the birthright until he had more growth of life, until he was transformed from a supplanter, a heel holder, into a prince of God. This transformation comes from the growth in life. Jacob’s transformation took more than twenty years. When he was young, he was a true supplanter, a robber. He robbed his brother, and he robbed his uncle Laban. However, when he went down to Egypt, the supplanting hand of Jacob became the blessing hand of Israel (Gen. 47:7, 10; 48:15, 20; 49:28). Instead of supplanting, he blessed. He blessed even Pharaoh, the highest person on the earth. At that time the whole of Egypt was under Jacob’s hand. He could have taken anything he liked, but he did not. Rather, he stretched out his hand to bless. He came down to Egypt not to snatch, supplant, or rob but to give and to bless. He was a truly matured man before God, so he enjoyed the birthright and the full sonship.
Sonship is a matter of life. We were predestinated unto sonship so that we may have God as our life, grow in this life, and have the full birthright in this life. The final step of our full sonship will be the redemption, the transfiguration, of our body (Rom. 8:23). In the New Testament, sonship simply means that God mingles Himself as life with the tripartite man. First, God comes into our human spirit to regenerate us. This is the divine birth in our spirit. To be born of the Spirit in our spirit is to be born of God (John 3:6; 1:12-13). The divine birth is the beginning of life within us. Then from the time of our divine birth, if we open our heart—our mind, emotion, will, and conscience—the Lord will have more opportunity to fill us and spread from within us. This is our growth and transformation. The transformation of the soul is the real growth of life. It is also the real salvation of our souls (James 1:21) and is related to our reward. If we have the growth in life, we have transformation, and at the Lord’s coming back He will give us the reward, which is the birthright.
Hebrews 12 warns us to be careful not to lose our birthright (vv. 15-17). We have the birthright, but we may lose it. At the Lord’s coming back, whether or not we enjoy the birthright depends on our growth and transformation. If today we live in our soul, in our self, and by sight, we do not have faith. On the other hand, if we forget our self, deny our soul, and live in the spirit, we have living faith, and the Lord will have the opportunity to fill us from within and spread Himself to saturate our soul. This is to transform our soul, and this is also to save and uplift the soul that we have denied. When the Lord transforms our soul, He uplifts it. When we meet a spiritual person who is transformed in his soul, we can realize that his mind, emotion, and will have been uplifted. Moreover, due to this growth and transformation, the Lord will grant us the birthright as a reward at His coming back.
Many things are related to the birthright, including the priesthood, the kingship, and the inheritance of a double portion of the good land (4, Rev. 20:6; Heb. 2:5-6). As the firstborn son of Jacob, Reuben should have had the birthright, but due to his sin, he lost his birthright (Gen. 49:3-4; 1 Chron. 5:1). The birthright was divided among three other sons of Jacob. The priesthood went to Levi (Deut. 33:8-10), the kingship went to Judah (Gen. 49:10), and the double portion of the land went to Joseph (1 Chron. 5:1-2).
We are saved to be kings and priests. Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 tell us that we are saved as kings and priests, and Hebrews 2:5-6 tells us that one day we will inherit the earth. To be kings and priests and to inherit the land are the birthright. Today we may experience this a little, but the full experience will be at the time the Lord returns. When the Lord comes back, He will grant the full birthright, including these three items, to the overcomers. The Lord will grant the overcomers to be the kings and priests and to inherit the whole earth. That will be a reward. However, those who have the divine birth but do not grow in life will lose the birthright at that time, because they will not be mature. They will need a certain period of time to finish growing. After the thousand years they will be fully grown, and in the new heaven and new earth they will enjoy the birthright. That will be too late to enjoy the birthright in the millennium, but it will not be too late to enjoy the birthright in eternity.
If the Lord were to return today and say to you, “Come, be a king in My kingdom,” you might say, “Lord, You have come to the wrong person. I am not ready to be a king.” Kingship requires maturity. As we have said, Jacob received the birthright, but he did not enjoy the birthright due to his lack of maturity. Later, when he went down to see Pharaoh, he had matured, so spontaneously he was a king; he was Israel, the prince of God (Gen. 32:28). Jacob spontaneously enjoyed the birthright, and he exercised the birthright.
Ephesians 3:10 says, “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.” This is the display, the demonstration, of God’s wisdom to the rulers, the authorities, the forces of darkness, Satan, and all his followers. The more life we have, the more built up we will be. Eventually, we will be a display. This will be a real challenge to the enemy, a shame to him and a glory to God.
The enemy Satan is subtle. Today he causes many children of God to say, “It is impossible to have the church built up on this earth. The built-up church must be something not on this earth but far away, not today but in the future.” This thought is the subtlety of the enemy. Ephesians 3:10 is not only for the future. Rather, it includes something even in this present age on this earth. In many places the Lord must work out something that is a challenge to Satan. The Lord wants to say, “Satan, look. Even in your territory, in the territory utilized and usurped by you, I am working to build up a vessel, a lampstand to shine Me out and to bring all things into order.” The built-up church is a real display, challenge, and shame to Satan and a glory to God.
If our eyes are truly opened, we will be ready to pay any price for this. We will tell the Lord, “Lord, I am willing at any cost to be for the building up of the church in the place where I am.” This is not a small matter; it is something very strategic. I know too well that the enemy is struggling over this strategic point. Satan would allow people even to be saved and to seek spirituality as long as they would not be built up. According to the sixty-six books of the Bible, the ultimate conclusion and goal of God’s intention is a building. Satan knows this, so on the one hand, he strives to build up something of himself, and on the other hand, he does whatever he can to damage the real building of God.
This is why there is a real struggle here today. The brothers in the Far East, even today, have been much opposed and criticized simply because we stand for the church, the building. No one can criticize us for preaching the gospel or teaching the truth wrongly. The only point of criticism is that we stand here for the building up of the church. We have been suffering, and still we are suffering. All the evil reports about us are due only to this one matter. If we would drop the matter of the church and merely preach the gospel and help people to be spiritual, everyone would praise us. They would say, “Those people are wonderful and broad-minded!” However, once we pick up the matter of the church, right away our reputation is blackened. People find nothing wrong with us except that we care for the church. Because of this, every kind of criticism comes to us. Some say we are sectarian, narrow-minded, and small. Oh, the subtlety of the enemy! However, all these evil reports one day will become a diamond in our crown.
In the subtlety of the enemy, people in certain places have said even worse things to me. I simply answered, “I want to stay this way until the end.” I stress this matter because we all have to realize what God’s goal today is. If we are men after God’s heart, as David was, we have to seek His goal. I am not satisfied simply to see persons saved. I am not satisfied only to see the dear saints seeking the Lord and being spiritual. I will not be satisfied until I see a real building up among the saints. This is the goal of God and the target of the enemy. If we are standing for the church, we will become the target. However, regardless of how much we are criticized, if we are faithful to stand with God, we will be a blessing even to those who criticize us. Today they criticize us, but tomorrow they will preach what we preach. They will receive all the teachings and all the blessings that we minister, and they will help others with them. The only thing they will not preach, however, is the church. We have to realize that to care for the church is a blessing, and we have to suffer for others’ blessing. Our main aim is to have the building, and this building is a real display and challenge to the enemy.
Another aspect of God’s purpose concerning the church is seen in Ephesians 1:10: “To head up all things in Christ.” God created the heavens and the earth as the universe, and within this sphere, or realm, He created millions of creatures. At the center of His creation God created man as a vessel to contain Him. Before God could come into man, however, Satan, the enemy of God, came in and injected himself into man as the leading part of creation, particularly into man’s body, by tempting man to use his body to take the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When man took the fruit of that tree, the fruit entered into his body. This is why Romans 5 through 8 speaks of sin in the members of man’s body. The apostle Paul said, “Now then it is no longer I that work it out but sin that dwells in me” (7:17). Sin here is personified; it is something living because it can dwell, have dominion, and reign as a king over us. Moreover, with this sin there is the law of sin (8:2).
Satan injected himself into the human body. This brought in death, death brought in darkness, and confusion followed darkness. Sin, death, darkness, and confusion influenced the whole universe. Man as the head of creation was damaged, and this damage influenced the whole universe. This is why today even the little mosquitoes trouble us. We need pest control only because everything is upside down and confused. This is due to darkness; darkness comes from death, death comes from sin, and sin is the satanic life, Satan himself.
Now God has come in to impart Himself into man, specifically into his human spirit as life. Life is versus sin. When life comes, light follows, so light is versus darkness. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). Following light there is order, which is versus confusion. When Christ comes into us as life, we have the light. Light brings in regulation, and under this regulation we have order, which is the building up under the headship of Christ. From the Triune God as life, the light shines, and under this shining light all things are brought into order under the headship of Christ. Eventually, all things will be headed up in Christ. God has started this work, and He will now finish it. One day the New Jerusalem will be completed. Within the New Jerusalem will be God as life, filling the whole city, and this life will shine in and through the city upon all the rest of the creation.
Revelation 21:24 tells us that all the nations will walk by the light of the city. Christ is the Lamb to be the lamp in the center of the built-up holy city (v. 23). God is within Him as the light, and God in Christ shines through the transparent city. The city will be crystal clear and transparent. There will be no more clay or anything opaque, because every piece of clay will have been transformed into precious stone. This transformation to make us transparent will be the real salvation of our souls.
Because God shines in Christ through the city, all the nations will walk by the light of the city. This means that the shining light will bring all creation into order under the headship of Christ. By this time Satan will have been cast into the lake of fire. Furthermore, there will be no more sea, signifying that Satan and his evil followers will all be dealt with and will not be found in the new heaven and new earth (21:1). Satan, death, and darkness will all have been done away with. The Triune God will mingle Himself with the redeemed, regenerated, and transformed persons, and God as life will shine in them, through them, and upon all the rest of the creation to bring all creation into order under the headship of Christ.
Thus, Christ as the Head to head up all things in Himself is the ultimate consummation of the sixty-six books of the Bible. However, never forget that His heading up of all things is through the Body and ultimately through the New Jerusalem. This is the fulfillment of Ephesians 1:10. We must have the real experience of the sonship, which is the experience of life, and we must realize the headship of Christ. Then we will be built up, and we will have the proper order in the building.
By all of the above we can see clearly that in order to realize the church life, we first must know the real experience of Christ within us as our life. We need to experience Christ to such an extent that He is truly our life. This is a matter of the mingling of God and man. Some have criticized our use of the word mingling, asking, “How can God mingle with us?” These dear persons are too preoccupied by traditional theology. Whenever I hear others criticizing our messages, I am not subjective. I try to be objective to see their point of view and further consider what we are teaching. Many times I take the attitude that we could be wrong, and I check this teaching again. Even this morning I checked again whether or not something might be wrong with it. However, the Lord told me, “Look at John 6:57: ‘As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.’” Can we eat something without it being mingled with us? If we eat a chicken, the chicken and we are joined together. Whatever we eat is digested and mingled with us. The Lord Jesus is the bread of life, and He said, “He who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.”
The New Jerusalem has four sides, and on each side there are three gates (Rev. 21:13). This is not three plus four but three multiplied by four. The number three signifies the Triune God, and the number four signifies man as the leading one of all the creatures (Matt. 28:19; Ezek. 1:5, 10). These figures signify that the Triune God mingles with man. The first time I gave a message about this picture was in 1941 in my hometown. Now, because I have been criticized for this teaching, I went back to check with the writings of Brother Watchman Nee. In The Glorious Church (ch. 5) Brother Nee speaks about four women: Eve in Genesis 2, the wife (the church) in Ephesians 5, the universal woman in the vision of Revelation 12, and the New Jerusalem, the wife of the Lamb in Revelation 21. Brother Nee pointed out that these four women are actually one woman, signifying God’s redeemed people composed together. Concerning the last woman, Brother Nee said, “In the New Jerusalem, the union of God and man is no longer seven, but twelve. It is no longer three plus four, but three multiplied by four. Multiplication is a perfect union, something which can never be separated. When the Creator mingles with the creature, it is twelve, and twelve is the number of perfect union” (ch. 5). When Brother Nee spoke this message in Chinese, he used the word mingles.
In order to have the church life, we must realize Christ as life to us, not merely in a general way but in the way of food to be digested by us. We must eat Christ and digest Him. “He who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.” This is the word of the Lord in John 6:57, which we must never forget. We need to experience the Lord as life in the way of food to be digested by us, thus becoming our very constituent. Then spontaneously we are in a proper order under His headship.
The thought of life and building runs throughout the entire Scriptures. In Genesis 2 there is the tree of life, and there is also the building implied by the precious materials of gold, bdellium, and onyx stone (vv. 9, 11-12). At the end of the Bible, in Revelation 21 and 22, there is again the tree of life and the building with precious materials (22:2; 21:18-21). In the seven parables in Matthew 13 there is also the thought of life and building. In these parables the seed sown is the seed of life which grows to be wheat (vv. 3-8, 24). Even the mustard seed and the three measures of meal are related to life (vv. 31, 33). On the other hand, the treasure hidden in the earth and the pearl of great value are the precious materials for the building (vv. 44-46). Similarly, 1 Corinthians 3 tells us that, on the one hand, we are God’s cultivated land, and on the other hand, we are the house of God (vv. 9-12, 16). As the cultivated land we need life to grow, and as the house we need to be built up. Throughout the entire Scriptures we have these two matters—life and building.
In the Old Testament there are a number of types of the church. However, all the types are in two categories. The first category is the women. A number of women are types of the church. Eve is the first type of the church (Gen. 2:22; 3:20). Rebekah also is a type of the church (24:15, 64-67). Most of the positive women in the Old Testament are types of the church. The women are a matter of life. Eve came from Adam. She received her life from Adam, and Adam was life to her. This typifies that the church receives life from Christ, and Christ is life to the church. The second category of the types of the church is the house of God, the tabernacle, the temple, and even the city. All these are a matter of building.
The book of Ephesians contains both of these aspects. On the one hand, Ephesians tells us that we are the house, the dwelling place, of God (2:20-22). On the other hand, it tells us that we are the wife, the counterpart, of Christ (5:25, 32). As the counterpart we need to grow, and as the house we need to be built up. A single verse, Colossians 2:7, mentions both aspects. This verse says, “Having been rooted and being built up in Him.” To be rooted is a matter of life, and to be built up is a matter of building. Here again is life and building.
We need to grow, but merely to grow is not good enough. Growth is for the building. Although Christians today pay some amount of attention to the growth, they mostly neglect the matter of building. Ephesians 4:15 speaks of growth, and verse 16 speaks of building. These two verses say, “Holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.” Similarly, Colossians 2:19 says, “Holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.” Ephesians 4:16 mentions the joints of the rich supply, and Colossians 2:19 speaks of the joints and sinews. Joints are for nourishment, the supply, and sinews are for knitting together.
We need to grow into Christ the Head in all things. If we do not grow into Christ, we cannot receive anything from Him, but the more we grow into Him, the more we receive something from Him to minister to others. In the Body the joints are the members of supply, the members of nourishment that supply nourishment to other members. In the Body some members are also the sinews to knit together. Without the sinews, all the members are scattered. It is by the sinews that all the members are joined.
The verses mentioned above speak of four categories: the Head, the joints, the sinews, and all the other parts. First, we have Christ as the Head. We all have to grow into Him and receive something from Him as the Head, the source of supply. Second, there are the joints who receive the rich supply from the Head to minister to the other members. Third, there are the sinews, whose main ministry is not only to supply but to knit together. It is by them and through them that the many members are joined together. Fourth, Ephesians 4:16 says, “Through the operation in the measure of each one part.” Besides the Head, the joints, and the sinews, there are the many parts, the many members who are neither the Head, the joints, nor the sinews. The eyes, ears, nose, and hands are not joints or sinews, but they are parts of the body that have their operation. With every member there is the operation in its measure. We need to know the Head, Christ. We must learn to experience Him and grow into Him. Then we will receive something from Him. As we grow into Him and receive something from Him, we are in our function. It is by our function that the whole Body is built up.
Some people claim that according to Matthew 16 it is only the Lord Himself who can build His church. According to their thought, we are too proud when we say that we, the members, build up the church. This sounds good, but the Lord Jesus does not build up the church directly. He builds up the church through the gifted persons mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 and 12. These verses say, “He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.” The Head does not build up the church directly. The Head builds up the church through the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers.
Strictly speaking, even the gifted persons do not build up the church directly. According to verse 12, they perfect the saints, and the saints build up the church. Verses 13 through 15 go on to speak of the growth, and verse 16 speaks of the building up. The real building up is by all the saints, that is, by all the members. The building up of the church is not directly by the gifted persons nor directly by the Head. The Head builds the church through the gifted persons, the gifted persons perfect the members, and the members themselves directly build up the church.
We can use cooking to illustrate the function of the gifted persons and all the members. If a brother’s wife is not at home to cook for him, he may go hungry. Spiritually speaking, though, we all must be the “cooks” day by day. Even if we are not experts in cooking, we still have to cook. Sometimes we may have to invite an expert to teach us how to cook, but he should not replace us in cooking. The gifted persons should not replace the saints. No one should say to a gifted person, “You are the expert. Please do the cooking for us.” The expert should say, “Since I am the expert, let me teach you how to cook. I will do the teaching; you will do the cooking. Do not expect that I will replace you as the cook. You have to do it. Perhaps I will do it for you once or twice to show you the way, but to be sure, the third time you will have to do it. Then, if you do not cook, you will not eat.” This illustrates the way the gifted members perfect the saints so that the saints can build up the church directly. The church, the Body, is built up directly by the saints who are perfected through the ministry of the gifted persons.
As we have said, the members are of three main classes: the joints, the sinews, and all the other parts. The joints are for supply, for nourishment, the sinews are for knitting and uniting, and all the rest of the members are for the different kinds of operations. All these three classes of members must be under the headship of Christ. If we are joints, we must do our duty to supply and to nourish, and if we are sinews, we must be faithful to join the Body together in love. In the Body we need the joints to supply and the sinews to knit together. The joints cannot knit together; they are good only for nourishing and supplying. There is the need of a group of sinews to bind and knit together all the members. Many times the members need the supply, but after they are supplied, they need someone to join, knit, and bind them together. The problem today is that many want to be only the joints to supply but not the sinews to knit together. When this is the case, we have nourishment, but we are lacking the knitting. Even the more, we lack the many other operations of the members. For each kind of member to be faithful is the proper way to keep the order in the Body. We all agree that we must be under the headship, but we may not properly keep the order in the Body. If we are out of our function, we are out of the proper order. We may be a sinew that tries to supply or a joint that tries to knit together. If so, then we are out of our function and not in the proper order.
Many today talk about the “Body ministry.” At first, I thought that this was a good term, but now I do not like to use it. When many people speak of the Body ministry, they are referring to meetings in which everyone opens his mouth to say something, as if the Body had only a mouth with no eyes, ears, nose, or other members. It is an ugly thing for the eyes of the Body to try to speak. The most beautiful situation is that the hands do the work of the hands, and the feet do the work of the feet. The Body ministry is not merely a speaking ministry. The genuine Body ministry is all the members of the Body functioning in various ways.
God created only one mouth in our body. If there were two mouths, they might quarrel with each other. On the one hand, 1 Corinthians 14:31 says that all can prophesy, so we must all prophesy properly. On the other hand, though, the foot should not function as the mouth. We may have the wrong sense as to whether or not we are the mouth, but the other members can discern. If the foot tries to function as the mouth, the members will sense that something is wrong. They may say, “Brother, simply be a foot. That is sufficient. Do not try to be the mouth.” The ministry of the Body is not that everyone speaks to function as the mouth. Rather, Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 tell us that the Body has many members, and all the members do not have the same function (Rom. 12:3-5; 1 Cor. 12:14-17).
There is a certain brother among us through whom many people have been saved. He always realizes what and who he is, so he prepares a meal in his home and invites people, but he does not try to speak to them. Rather, along with the unbelievers he also invites certain brothers and sisters to speak. This is the proper coordination and cooperation of the differing operations. Even in gospel preaching we need this kind of coordination. If one person is a mouth but he cannot prepare a meal in his home, he needs the cooperation of the Body in order to preach the gospel. This is a small illustration of the proper ministry in the Body. The genuine Body ministry is the mouth speaking, the hands working, and all the members in their operation.
We all are under the headship of Christ, but we need to learn to keep the order in the Body. If by the Lord’s mercy we know what we are and where we are, and we remain there, this will be a great help for the building up of the Body. There is no doubt that we all have the sincere desire to build up the church, but to do this we must keep the proper order. If we are the sinews, we have to keep this order; if we are the joints, we need to do our duty; and if we are one of the other members, we must operate within our measure. This will have a living effect on people. The main thing that impresses people is not our messages but the situation in our meetings. This is a matter of the true building up. This situation among us must be enriched, uplifted, strengthened, and improved. To this end we look to the Lord for His protection. The enemy is not willing to see the prevailing building up of the Body on this earth and in our locality. Nevertheless, the Lord will work this out. Then it will be very easy to bring people to be saved. They may be saved as soon as they come into the meeting. It will also be easy for other Christians to come in. When they come into the meeting, they will be impressed. They will realize that something is different. In actuality, what they will sense is the real building up.
The Lord will work this out not only in one locality but also in every place where the seeking ones are. This is a matter not of mere doctrine nor of something outward but of the real building up in life. Nothing can prevail against this. The Lord said, “Upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). The true built-up church is the strongest testimony of the Lord. We all must realize the need today. We are under the headship of Christ, but we also must learn to know and to keep the proper order in the Body. This will result in the genuine building up. Then through this the Lord will bring others into the same order, and Christ will head up all things in Himself. This requires that we be built up together.
