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We have seen that Jacob twice set up a pillar in Bethel (Gen. 28:18, 22; 35:14). Not only did he set up a pillar, but he called it "the house of God." As we have pointed out again and again, nearly every item in the book of Genesis is a seed of a truth developed in the following books of the Bible. Knowing this principle is basic to our understanding of the book of Genesis. If we would understand this book, we must follow the development of the items it contains throughout the following books of the Bible until they reach their ultimate consummation in the book of Revelation. In past messages we have considered the development of the pillar in 1 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Jeremiah. Now we shall trace this development into the New Testament, where we have a clear word regarding three aspects of pillars: the apostles as pillars of the church, the church as a whole being the pillar, and the overcomers as pillars in the New Jerusalem.
Gal. 2:9 says that James, Cephas, and John were reputed to be pillars. Here Peter is called Cephas. We know that Cephas was Peter and that Peter was Cephas. In using the name Cephas in this verse, the Bible reminds us of the change of Peter's name. When Peter was first brought to the Lord, He changed his name from Simon to Cephas, which means a stone (John 1:42). Undoubtedly, this change of name indicated that the Lord's intention was to transform him into a stone for God's building. Although we are accustomed to reading of Peter and John, in Galatians 2:9 Paul purposely speaks of Cephas and John to show us that, if we would become pillars, we need to be transformed. The natural Simon must be transformed into a Cephas, a stone.
Now we must consider the question of how a natural man can become a pillar of the church. This can only be accomplished through transformation. According to the New Testament, transformation depends upon regeneration. By regeneration a new life is put into us. This life is a life that will transform us. By our natural birth we inherited an old, sinful, natural life. This life is absolutely useless in making us pillars. But thank the Lord that regeneration imparts into us a life different from our natural life. This new life is the divine life, the very life of God. In the Gospel of John this life is called eternal life (John 3:16). The eternal life sown into us at the time of our regeneration is the seed of transformation. Hallelujah, all the regenerated ones have received this divine life! We all have this seed of transformation. However, although many Christians devote a great deal of attention to regeneration, very few pay attention to transformation. Few Christians have ever heard a message about transformation, and there may even be some among us who have never prayed for their own transformation. I strongly urge you to pray for your transformation. Formerly, we needed regeneration; now we need transformation.
A human being is composed of three parts: spirit, soul, and body (1 Thes. 5:23). When we believed in the Lord Jesus, called on His name, applied His blood, and received Him as our Redeemer and our life, the divine Spirit entered into our spirit as the Spirit of life. As a result, we were regenerated and received the divine life, which was sown into the depths of our being as the seed of transformation. But what about our soul, which is composed of the mind, the will, and the emotion? We have the divine life in our spirit, but we still need to be transformed in our mind. Romans 12:2 proves this: "Be transformed by the renewing of the mind." Transformation takes place through the renewing of our mind, emotion, and will. These basic inner parts of our being need transformation. This transformation will make us stones for God's building.
Through regeneration plus transformation we become stones for God's building. Today, God's building is the church, God's house, God's temple. First Peter 2:4 and 5 reveal that Christ is the living stone and that, when we, the regenerated ones, come to Him, we also become living stones to be built up into a spiritual house, which is the church as the temple of God. Today God's building is the church, but in the future it will be the New Jerusalem. If we read Revelation 21 carefully, we shall see that the New Jerusalem will be the enlargement of the temple of God. Today, the temple of God is a house, but in eternity the temple of God will be a city, which of course is much greater than a house. The New Jerusalem will be built with precious stones (Rev. 21:18-20); in it there will be no dust, clay, or wood. Our destiny is to be precious stones built into the New Jerusalem.
Now we come to the crucial matter of how clay can be transformed into stone. We were made clay (Gen. 2:7; Rom. 9:21, 23), but the New Testament reveals that we are stones. There seems to be a contradiction here. From the natural perspective we are clay, but from the spiritual, transformed perspective we are stones. But how does this transformation from clay to stone take place? Transformation is the adding of Christ into our being. To be transformed is not only to have Christ imparted into our spirit; it is to have Him spread from our spirit into every inward part of our being. Very few Christians have seen this.
Recently, I was told of a group of Christians who argue strongly that Christ is only in the third heaven and that He is not in us. The Bible reveals and we also preach that Christ today is in the third heaven at the right hand of God. Nevertheless, He is also in us. Both matters are covered in Romans 8. Romans 8:34 says that Christ is at the right hand of God interceding for us, and Romans 8:10 says that Christ is in us. Hence, Christ is both in heaven and in us. But these Christians ask, "Was not Christ resurrected with a body of flesh and bones? Since Christ has been resurrected with a body of flesh and bones, how could He get into you?" According to the Bible, we definitely believe that Christ was resurrected physically with a body of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). But listen to this: On the day of resurrection the resurrected Christ, having a body of flesh and bones, came into a locked room (John 20:19-20). How did He get into the room? He certainly did not appear as a ghost (Luke 24:37, 39). We must reverently confess that we cannot figure out this matter.
Colossians 1:27 says, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Although Christ was resurrected with a body of flesh and bones, He became the life-giving Spirit in resurrection (1 Cor. 15:45). As the life-giving Spirit, Christ is in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). Furthermore, Christ is growing and increasing within us. The more Christ is added into us, the more we are transformed from clay into stone. I doubt that those who refuse to admit that Christ is in them are able to be transformed. They surely could not deliver a message on transformation. But we are not simply concerned for messages — we are concerned for transformation. We need to be transformed, and transformation is only possible by having Christ imparted into us each day. Morning after morning, we need to gain more of Christ. Each day Christ must be increasingly added into our being.
Consider the example of Peter, a Galilean fisherman. Peter was rough, uncultured, and of a quick disposition. He was quick to talk, quick to act, and quick to make mistakes. Peter also had the good point of being quick to repent, to return. The Peter in the Gospels was eventually changed into another person called Cephas in the Epistles. We may take, as an illustration of this, Peter's slow response to the vision in Acts 10:9-16. There is a marked difference between the slow Peter in Acts 10 and the quick Peter in the Gospels. Furthermore, Peter's two epistles reveal that he had become a cautious person. By this we see that his disposition had been changed and that his being had been transformed. He had absolutely become another person. His word concerning Paul (2 Pet. 3:15-16) proves that he had been transformed and had become another person.
Recall that one day Paul rebuked Peter to his face (Gal. 2:11). If we put Galatians 2 together with 2 Peter 3 we see that the Peter who had been rebuked by Paul spoke kind words concerning Paul and positive words concerning his writings. In most situations today, if one brother rebuked another, the brother who received the rebuke would not forgive the brother who rebuked him. Because this is the practice, one brother rarely rebukes another. In today's Christianity we seldom hear of rebukes, but of political talk. Some may praise others' to their face, but criticize them behind their back. This is the political practice of today's Christianity. Most Christians are politicians. Paul, on the contrary, was not a politician; he was a frank, direct, and straight rebuker. He even rebuked Peter. According to our concept, Peter should have said, "Who are you? When I was the leading apostle, you were still a young man persecuting the church. Now, as a newcomer, you have neither the qualifications nor the position to rebuke me." Peter, however, did not react in this manner. In his word in 2 Peter 3 he acknowledged that he was inferior to Paul in writing of God's economy. He admitted that some things Paul said were deep and difficult to understand. This attitude indicates that Peter was no longer natural, but that he had been transformed into another person. I hope that after a number of years many of you will be so transformed that you will be honest, frank, and straight in rebuking others, and that those who are rebuked will be transformed to receive such a rebuke. By reading the New Testament we clearly see that Peter was transformed into Cephas, one of the pillars of the church. Peter, who himself was a living stone, said that we also are living stones. This means that in order to be pillars we must be transformed by having Christ added into us.
In the New Testament we are also told that the whole church is the pillar. First Timothy 3:15 says, "But if I delay, that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth." It is difficult to understand the word truth in this verse. Some say that truth means doctrine. Although this is correct, it is inadequate. In Greek, the word truth denotes something real and solid. Hence, truth means reality. However, truth is not simply a solid reality, but also the expression of this reality. Truth is not vain doctrine; it is the expression of reality, doctrine constituted with reality and conveying that reality. The church is the pillar bearing the truth, that is, bearing the expression of the reality.
The reality borne by the church is revealed in l Timothy 3:16: "And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness, who was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory." The truth in verse 15, the expression of the reality, is the mystery of godliness in verse 16. The mystery of godliness is God manifested in the flesh. When Christ was on earth, He was God manifested in the flesh. Outwardly, He was a man in the flesh; inwardly, in actuality and in reality, He was God. God in His reality was manifested in the man Jesus. God was reality, and Jesus as a man in the flesh was the manifestation of God. This is the very truth mentioned in verse 15, and this is the mystery of godliness. Godliness means God-likeness. The mystery of godliness is the mystery of God-likeness. When Jesus lived on earth as a man in the flesh, the people who beheld Him saw in Him the likeness of God. Although He was a man, He expressed God. This God-likeness was a mystery. The mystery of godliness must be continued in the church today.
The church is the continuation of the mystery of godliness. In message eighty-six we saw that Christians have a mysterious part in their being. In principle, the whole church should be a mystery. If some unbelievers come into our meetings and survey the situation, they will not be able to understand it. Although we consider ourselves common and simple, the unbelievers will say, "What is this? What attracts them to these meetings? There is no entertainment or outstanding speaker. Who are these people? They seem to be neither modern nor old-fashioned. We cannot say what kind of people they are." The reason for this is that we are mysterious. Do not think that I am referring to our outward appearance. I am referring to something of God manifested in us. Because this is real yet invisible, it is difficult to define. If the church is merely pure, clean, gentle, humble, and holy, we have missed the mark. The church must be the continuation of the manifestation of God in the flesh. To some of our critics, the continuation of the manifestation of God in the church is a form of evolution into God. To accuse us of teaching evolution is a slander to us and a blasphemy to the Lord. The proper church life is a continuation of the manifestation of God in the flesh. This manifestation is the truth held by the church as the pillar. If as the church we hold this testimony, we shall be able to say that we are the continuation of the mystery of godliness.
We do not want to express our own holiness or anything of ourselves. We want only to express our God and to see Him manifested in our flesh. We admit that we are still flesh, but the very God who lives in our spirit will be manifested, expressed, in our flesh. This manifestation must not merely be individual, but corporate. The proper church life is the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh.
The only way the church can be the corporate expression of God in the flesh is by transformation. Everyone in the church must be transformed. Occasionally we refer to the older brothers or to the younger brothers. However, in the church we should not think of some as older ones and of others as younger, for we all are being transformed. Although we may not yet be fully transformed, we are at least in the process of transformation. Forget your age and concentrate upon the fact that you are in the process of transformation. If I still think of myself as a Chinese, I am finished. In the church there is neither old nor young, Chinese nor American, Jew nor Greek (Col. 3:11). In the church we are being changed by having Christ added into us. You should not be an old brother or a young brother, but a brother into whom Christ is being added daily. The older ones may need to remind the younger ones not to call them older brothers, and the younger ones may need to ask the older ones not to speak of them as young brothers. Furthermore, we should not refer to some brothers as "Yankees" and to others as Southerners. There are neither "Yankees" nor Southerners in the church; there are only transformed brothers. There is no black, white, yellow, red, Jew, or Greek; instead, there are only the transformed people — people into whom Christ is being added daily and who are the expression of God in Christ. This is the church as the pillar supporting and bearing the mystery of godliness.
After hearing the messages on Hiram, the builder of the pillars, many young people have been motivated to further their education. This is excellent. In order to be a capable pillar builder you need to acquire a good education and to experience the termination of the source of that education. However, if you earn the highest degree but are lacking Christ, you are still nothing. The basic element that can constitute you into a pillar is not a college degree; it is Christ added into you. No matter how many degrees you have, if you are short of Christ, you cannot be a pillar. The basic element in being a pillar is neither your education nor capability, but your Christ, the very Christ added into your being. This is the essential factor in being constituted as a pillar. A pillar must be the continuation of the manifestation of God in the flesh.
Now we must go on to the pillars in the New Jerusalem. Revelation 3:12 says, "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name." In this verse we see the consummation of the pillar in the New Jerusalem.
According to Revelation 3:12, we all may become pillars in the New Jerusalem. In Revelation 3:8 the Lord Jesus said, "You have a little power and have kept My word and have not denied My name." Then in Revelation 3:11 He said, "Hold fast what you have that no one take your crown." Firstly, the Lord tells those in the church in Philadelphia that they have a little power, that they have kept His word, and that they have not denied His name. Then He tells them to hold fast what they have. They must keep the word of the Lord and not deny the name of the Lord. If we do this, we shall be overcomers, and the Lord will write upon us the name of His God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and His new name. Now we must consider what it means to keep the word of the Lord and not to deny the name of the Lord. These matters are deep and difficult to explain.
A superficial understanding of keeping the Lord's word is that the Lord speaks a certain word and we keep it; He tells us to do something and we do it. This is correct, but it is shallow. In order to keep the Lord's word we must do two things: on the positive side we need to receive all that He is into us, and, on the negative side, we need to kill all our concepts and opinions. It is not simply a matter of the Lord telling us to love one another or to wash one another's feet and of our proceeding to love others and to wash their feet. This understanding is too superficial. The Lord's word represents the Lord Himself. If we would receive the word as the expression of the Lord Himself, we must drop our opinions and concepts.
Your opinions frustrate you from keeping the Lord's word. Probably, you have rarely kept the word of the Lord because you have been hindered by your opinions. In this message we have been speaking about transformation. As Romans 12:2 indicates, transformation primarily deals with the mind. We are transformed by the renewing of the mind, which is the source of our concepts and opinions. To be transformed is to have our concepts and opinions slain. None of us can say that he has no opinions or concepts. Some may ask, "Should we be wooden boards without any feeling, knowledge, or sense?" Of course not. We need to be living. But the more living we are, the more we are filled with opinions and concepts. The more I have prayed about this matter and considered my experience, the more I have realized that to keep the word of the Lord is actually to be transformed.
The way to be transformed is to receive the word of the Lord into us and to keep it. Most of us do not keep the Lord's word because we are hindered by our opinions and our concepts. Everyone is opinionated. Those who minister the Word often pray that the Lord would remove the opinions of those hearing the Word and take away the veils of their concepts. A word may be clearly uttered, but your concepts and opinions may frustrate you from keeping it. If we would keep the Lord's word, we must firstly drop our opinions and then have the Lord Jesus added into our being.
Now let us consider what it means not to deny the Lord's name. A name always denotes a person. When I call a brother's name, the brother himself comes. Therefore, not to deny the name of the Lord means not to deny the Person of the Lord.
All denominational names, such as Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian, must be forsaken. A name means a great deal. Although you may not realize it, if you take a denominational designation, you are actually rejecting the name of Christ, and thus you are rejecting the Person of Christ. Although you may not intend to do this, this is nonetheless the fact. If it is not your intention to deny the name of Christ, then you should not have any denominational name. In the past some missionaries and pastors have consulted me about this matter. They have all told me that they do not care for the denominational names. I told them that, since they did not care for these names, they should forsake them. It is a serious matter to take another name above the Lord's name. Apparently, for many, it is insufficient merely to be a Christian. They take on other names and say, "I am a Lutheran," "I am a Presbyterian," or, "I am a Baptist." To do this is to deny the Lord's name. One hundred and fifty years ago the Brethren saw the light on this matter and forsook every other name and declared that they held just one name — the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the unique name. However, it is not merely a name in letters, but a name in Person.
If we do not deny the name of the Lord, then we have His Person as ours, and His Person becomes our designation. When you go to work, perhaps in a large corporation with hundreds of employees, there is no need for you to label yourself as a Christian. You simply need to express the Person of Christ. To fail to express the Person of Christ actually means to deny His name. We must live in such a way that Christ is expressed through us. If we express Christ, the One we express will, in the words of others, become our designation. Others will say that we are Christians. The Person we express becomes our name, our designation. People will not say that you are Chinese or a "Yankee." The only designation they will give you is that of being a Christian.
Approximately forty years ago, a brother was an employee in a large company. His fellow workers called him "Jesus." When they saw him, they said, "This is Jesus," apparently in a despising way. At the time of the Japanese invasion of China, many of the employees in this company were planning to escape. Having money and other valuables that had to be left behind, they looked for someone to whom they could entrust their possessions. After considering a number of possibilities, they finally decided to entrust their money and belongings to the brother, the one they called "Jesus." This shows that they were trusting in Jesus. The brother, of course, never said that his name was Jesus. Rather, he expressed the Person of Christ in his living, and his life was his designation. This is the true significance of not denying the name of the Lord. The church in Philadelphia lived by the Lord, and His life was lived out by that church. Therefore, His Person became the name of those saints.
To keep the word of the Lord and not to deny the name of the Lord means to forsake our opinions and concepts, to receive the Lord's word into us, and to gain more and more of the Lord Himself. If we do this, we shall live Him out as a Person. The name of this Person is Jesus. To keep the Lord's word is not merely a doctrinal matter, and to confess His name is not simply to utter a few statements. To keep His word means to receive Him into our being, letting go of our concepts and opinions that He may have the ground within us; and not to deny His name is to live out Christ as a Person so that He becomes our designation. This indicates transformation.
In Revelation 3:12 the Lord said that He would write upon the overcomer "the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name." In Revelation Christ called God, "My God" because in this book He stands on the position of a sent One, as One sent by God to accomplish His economy. The Lord also held to this position in the four Gospels, always standing on the ground of One who had been sent by God. He had been sent by God and from with God to accomplish God's purpose. He never acted according to His own will, but always according to God's will (John 6:38). Even when He was on the cross, He said, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). We also must stand on this position today, saying, "I am a sent one. I have been sent by the Lord to accomplish His purpose. I have no other position, opinion, or concept. It is His will, not my will, that must be done." To say, "My God," indicates that we do not act on our own; it indicates that we are doing the will of God. We are not working for our career; we are accomplishing His purpose. Having the name "My God" written upon you designates you as this kind of person. You, like the Lord Jesus when He was on earth, are not doing your own will, but are accomplishing God's will. You do not act on your own, but constantly walk in God's will. This is the significance of the name of "My God."
The Lord also promised to write upon the overcomer the name of the New Jerusalem, the city of His God. This is deep. It means that the New Jerusalem is a building, not according to any man's will, but according to the will of God. All those built into this city are people like the Jesus revealed in the four Gospels. They do not act according to their own will, but according to God's will. Only those who are like this are qualified to be labeled with the name of the city of Christ's God, the New Jerusalem.
Finally, in Revelation 3:12 the Lord promised to write upon the overcomer His new name. If we are the kind of person described in this message, we shall surely have new experiences of Christ. Most Christians have only the limited experience of Christ as their Redeemer. Not many have the experience of Christ as their life. Most of those who do experience Christ as life experience this in a shallow way. How long is your experience of Christ? Your experience of Him should not be a mere fraction of an inch; it must be many miles in length. Christ is not only our Redeemer and our life — He is our King, Prophet, Priest, light, power, righteousness, holiness, transformation, and many other things. Some hymns in our hymnal list more than fifty items of what Christ is to us. The more you experience Christ, the newer He will be to you, and the more His name will be written upon you. Firstly, Christ as Redeemer is written upon you. Later, Christ as life, light, humility, patience, and love will also be written upon you. His name is inexhaustible. The writing of His name upon you depends upon your experience. The more you experience Him, the longer will be the writing of this name. This is like a movie camera that operates as long as the automobile in which the photographer sits is moving. When the automobile stops, the camera stops as well. No one can say what is the new name of Christ spoken of in this verse because it is simply the designation of your new experience of Christ. When you experience Christ in a certain way, that aspect of Christ will become your designation, the new name written upon you. If we would become pillars, we need to be transformed by having Christ added into us again and again. In this way our experience of Christ will be lengthened, and we shall say, "Not my will, but His will"; we shall not act on our own, but according to His heart's desire. Then the name of God, the name of the city of God, and the Lord's new name will be written upon us.
