This is Monday morning, May 8, 1972. Ministry given through Brother Stephen Kong in Richmond, Virginia.
Oh, how long, Father! This is the prayer of our hearts: that Thou wilt cause us to come to Thine own river. Thou wilt cause us to drink of Thy river. Oh, how we praise and thank Thee!
There is life—life abundant—that comes from the throne of God and of the Lamb. How we praise and thank Thee that we may come to Thee, drink of Thee, and live by Thee.
This morning we do come together once again to drink of Thee. We pray that Thou wilt open Thy Word to us. Make Thy Word living and operative in our lives. Give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation, that we may know Thee in a real way; and, knowing Thee, we may be filled with Thyself.
Lord, we do commit ourselves and this hour into Thy hands, trusting Thee to break Thy Word to us. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Let a man so account of us, as of servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you Gentiles,—
if so be that ye have heard of the dispensation of that grace of God which was given me to you-ward;
how that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote afore in few words,
whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ;
which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;
to wit, that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of His power.
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
and to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery which for ages hath been hid in God Who created all things;
to the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God,
according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
in Whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in Him.
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body’s sake, which is the church;
whereof I was made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which was given me to you-ward, to fulfil the Word of God,
even the mystery which hath been hid for ages and generations: but now hath it been manifested to His saints,
to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ;
whereunto I labour also, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily.
We speak wisdom, however, among them that are full-grown: yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nought:
but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory:
which none of the rulers of this world hath known: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory:
but as it is written,
Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not,
And which entered not into the heart of man,
Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love Him.
But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God.
But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God.
Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words.
Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged.
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, and he himself is judged of no man.
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
We are stewards of all the mysteries of God. We are not owners; we are managers. God has entrusted His secret to us, and we are to manage that secret faithfully and wisely.
I think this is the greatest privilege and the greatest responsibility that we have. Just think for a moment: God has revealed His secret to us—something that has been hidden in God for ages and generations, something toward which He has been working all the time. Yet He had never made known that secret to man. Now, by His Spirit, He has revealed that secret to us.
As for the less than the least of all saints, that is what we are. Yet God has revealed His mystery, His secret—that which has been in His mind and heart for centuries—to us. Having received that secret, we have become stewards.
We are not only to receive that secret, but we are to manage that secret in all faithfulness and wisdom. Brothers and sisters, to me, I feel that this is one of the greatest things that can happen to us.
The mysteries of God—of course, that mystery is so tremendous that Paul has to use the plural number, the mysteries of God. It is not that there are many mysteries. There is only one. God has only one secret.
But that secret is of such dimensions that it covers tremendous ground. There are so many facets to it, and that is the reason why it is called the mysteries of God.
Last night we began with the mystery, in the singular number: the mystery of God. The mystery of God, as we mentioned last night, is Christ. God has only one secret, and His secret is His Son.
When we know Christ, we know God. If we do not know Christ, God remains a mystery to us. The mystery of God’s will is in His Son. He wants His Son to be Head over all things. All things will be gathered together in Him. That is God’s mystery.
This morning we want to go on with a mystery that we find in God’s Word. The mystery of God is Christ, and the mystery of Christ is the church.
You find this in the passages we have read this morning, whether in Ephesians 3, Colossians 1, or 1 Corinthians 2. Paul mentions a mystery, and this mystery is called the mystery of Christ.
What is the mystery of Christ? After you have read these passages, you know that it is the church.
When Christ walked on earth, He was truly a mystery to the people of His day. He lived among them, yet He was a great puzzle to them all. They just could not figure Him out.
As you read the record in the four Gospels, you find time and again that people said, “We know His parents. We know His brothers and His sisters. We know Him. We know that He is a carpenter. We know that He lives among us. Where does this wisdom come from? He has never gone to school. How can He teach like that?”
They knew that He was one of them, yet how could He say that He was from heaven? At other times, the scribes and Pharisees said, “We know Moses, but we do not know where this Man comes from.”
Sometimes people tried to lay hands on Him, and yet somehow they could not do so. Even the officers who were sent to take Him came back and said, “Never man so spake.” They could not lay their hands on Him.
Throughout the life of our Lord Jesus, He was a mystery to the people. In the very beginning, the Pharisees and the council seemed to be favourable toward Him in a sense, because they thought He might be the Messiah. He might be the One who would fulfil all their aspirations.
They watched very carefully and found that He was so different from their idea of the Messiah. He simply did not fit their concept. They thought that, when the Messiah came, He would revive the nation of Israel, throw off the yoke of the Roman Empire, and make Israel the first of nations. Yet He did not do that.
So finally they rejected Him. In the beginning, the Jewish people flocked to Him. Wherever He went, a great multitude followed Him. Why? Because they wanted Him to be their king. He fed them with five loaves and two fishes.
But gradually they discovered that His words were too hard. They simply could not receive them, so they left Him. They not only left Him; finally they rejected Him. They said, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him! We will have nothing to do with Him.” He was a mystery.
He was a mystery not only to the people, but even to His disciples—those who were supposed to know Him. Time and again, you find that they misunderstood Him completely. They just could not understand Him. Even to the very end, they did not understand Him.
After He was resurrected, you remember that He walked with two disciples on the way to Emmaus. They were talking, and the Lord joined them and said, “What are you talking about?”
They said, “You must be a stranger in Jerusalem. Do You not know the news that everybody is talking about?” The Lord said, “What things?” They said, “There was a Man, Jesus. We hoped that He was the hope of Israel, but something happened. He was crucified. He died. Our hope was dashed to pieces. Then some women said that He had risen from the dead. We just do not know what it is all about.”
These were disciples of our Lord Jesus. Yet even to these disciples, the Lord was a mystery. They simply could not figure Him out. They did not understand Him.
Brothers and sisters, Christ will remain a mystery to us if we do not see the church.
This may sound strange in your ears, but let me illustrate it. In Matthew 16, the Lord said, “Who do men say that I am?” The people had different things to say. Some said that He was Elijah; others, Jeremiah; others, John the Baptist come back to life; or one of the prophets.
In other words, they saw what He did, heard what He spoke, watched His manner and His compassion, and drew all kinds of conclusions. They said that He must be this one or that one because He did this, said that, and expressed Himself in a certain way. People gave all kinds of judgments concerning the Lord Jesus.
Then the Lord asked, “But who say ye that I am?” You who are My disciples, you who are supposed to know Me, who do you say that I am?
You remember Peter. Through the revelation of the Father, he said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Peter knew Christ. Immediately after he said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” the Lord said to him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father Who is in heaven. Now I am going to reveal something more to you. Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
The Father revealed the Son to Peter. The Son immediately revealed the church to Peter. Why? Because the Son is the mystery of God, and the church is the mystery of Christ.
When you know the Son, you know the Father. But unless you know the church, you do not know Christ in His fullness. You may know Christ in a certain way, but if you want to know the full meaning of Christ, you have to know the church.
Here was a man named Saul. He was brought up in Judaism. Indeed, he was a representative man in Judaism, perhaps the best specimen of Judaism. He knew the prophets and the law. So far as the righteousness according to the law was concerned, he was blameless.
But he simply could not understand Christ. He thought Christ was an impostor, so he persecuted the Christians, the believers. By doing that, he thought that he was serving God. He was doing a good service to God with all sincerity and honesty.
There on the way to Damascus, the Lord appeared to him. The first question Saul asked was, “Lord, who art Thou? I do not know Thee. Who art Thou?”
The Lord said, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? Why persecutest thou Me? I am Jesus Whom thou persecutest.”
Brothers and sisters, how did Saul come to know Christ? He came to know Christ by His church. Saul was persecuting the believers. He was persecuting the members of the Body, and the Head in heaven said, “Why do you touch Me?”
In other words, he knew the Lord through the church. He immediately saw that, in touching the believers, he was touching the Head. The Head has the Body as His own. From that time on, he received further revelation concerning the mystery of Christ, and he became one who truly knew the mystery of Christ, which is the church.
Why is the mystery of Christ the church? First, Christ will remain a mystery to us if we do not see the reason why He came into this world.
Why did the Son of God come into this world? Why did He die on the cross? Why did He accomplish the work of redemption? If we do not see the church, we will never fully know the meaning of Christ.
Sometimes we know Christ in a personal way, and thank God for that. We should. Sometimes we say, “He is Christ because He is my Saviour. He died on the cross for me, for my sin.” This is correct, and thank God for it.
Sometimes we say that Christ came into the world that He might give us life, and life more abundantly. This also is correct, and thank God for it. Sometimes we think of Christ as our Shepherd—how He guides us, protects us, and takes care of us. Thank God, that is true.
Sometimes we think of Christ as our Friend. He is indeed our Friend. He knows us. Thank God for that. We come to know Christ in His many and various aspects.
But, brothers and sisters, if you want to know the full meaning of Christ, you have to see something bigger—something bigger than the personal and individual. There is a place for the personal and individual, but your vision must be enlarged to see something far bigger.
Christ came, and He includes you. He includes me. But you are not the whole need, and I am not the whole purpose.
Sometimes, as far as personal experience is concerned, we say, “Christ just loves me. He died on the cross just for me.” Everyone who has experienced the love of Christ will speak this way—as if Christ came into the world just for you and nobody else. Thank God, this is very true.
In one sense, you are very precious to Him. That is true. It is as if you are the only one, and He treats you that way. But in another sense, you are not that important. He has something far bigger in view.
Why did Christ come into this world? What is the meaning of the cross? Why did He give Himself in this way? You find that the Bible says, “Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself up for it.”
The whole Book has this viewpoint: the Man Who came into this world is looking for His bride. That is the viewpoint of the whole Book.
In the Gospel of John, Christ came into this world as a bridegroom. He was seeking for His bride. The bride was not there. He had to form that bride, make that bride, and gather that bride, so that He might have her for Himself.
He came to seek and to save that which was lost. For what purpose? That He might gather unto Himself a people who would become His bride. That is the whole outlook in the Gospel of John.
Brothers and sisters, Christ is for the church. This is the meaning of Christ. He is for the church—not just for you and for me, but for the church. You and I are included as parts of that church, in that bride, in that Body, and in that kingdom.
Peter may put it this way: Christ is the King, and He comes to reveal His kingdom on earth. Paul puts it this way: Christ is the Head; He is finding His Body and building His Body. John puts it this way: Christ is the Bridegroom; He is seeking His bride.
Whatever way you put it, you find that the corporate purpose is always in view, not merely individuals. He is not just saving you and me as individuals. He is saving you and me to make up a Body, to make up a kingdom, and to make up the bride.
Thank God, we are included. But unless we can see it in this way, we cannot explain Christ.
Secondly, Christ is not only for the church; He is in the church.
Very often, when we read 1 Corinthians 2, there is one verse that is used very much. We say, “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” Sometimes we boast of it and say, “I know nothing. I only know Christ crucified. That is all I know.”
But, brothers and sisters, if you read the context, you know that this is not really what Paul meant. Paul said that when he came into their midst—when he came to Corinth, knowing the situation there—he determined to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
It was not that Paul did not know anything more. But, judging their situation, he determined to know nothing but Christ crucified because that was what they needed. They lived in the flesh. They boasted of their own cleverness and wisdom. What they needed was the cross of our Lord Jesus. They needed to see Christ crucified.
Immediately after mentioning this, in 1 Corinthians 2, Paul said, “We speak wisdom, however, among them that are full-grown.”
The Corinthian people talked about wisdom. They sought after wisdom, but it was the wisdom of this world, and it made them very puffed up. They thought that they were somebody. Therefore Paul said, “I know nothing among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” You have to see the cross. You have to be reduced to nothing.
But Paul said, among the mature, after the foundation has been received, then you can build upon the foundation. The building truth is mystery—God’s wisdom in a mystery.
Sometimes you hear people say, “I know nothing but Christ crucified,” and they really know nothing more. That was not Paul’s attitude.
When you come to the foundation, there is nothing but Christ crucified. That is true. We should preach nothing but Christ crucified. But among the mature, we speak wisdom.
The word perfect in the Bible does not mean sinless perfection. It does not mean that there is nothing wrong or lacking any more. The meaning of the perfect here is in contrast with babes.
To babes, we know nothing but Christ crucified because that brings them into birth. That makes them babes in Christ. That gives them life. But when the babes grow and become more mature, then they need the building truth upon that foundation. The building truth is God’s wisdom in a mystery.
The mature ones are those who are growing in the grace of God, those who have left their babyhood, those who are going on with the Lord. On the basis of Christ crucified, on the foundation of the cross, they begin to see God’s purpose.
The meaning of Christ coming into this world, the purpose of Christ crucified on the cross, the meaning of Christ, and the meaning of the cross begin to be revealed. That is God’s wisdom in a mystery.
Why is it called a mystery? Because it is something hidden. There is a time for its revelation. The Corinthian believers were not able to receive that mystery.
Paul had received the mystery, and he would have loved very much to fellowship with them concerning it. But he could not, because they were still babes. They needed the cross to work more deeply in their lives before they could appreciate God’s wisdom and see God’s purpose in the cross of Christ.
Paul said, “Among the full-grown, we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery.” He described that wisdom as something which ears had never heard, eyes had never seen, and which had never entered into the human heart. It concerns our glory.
It must be revealed by the Spirit of God because it is the deep things of God. Who knows the deep things of God but the Spirit of God? It must be revealed, and it must be interpreted and explained with spiritual words. It is the mind of Christ.
After Paul gave such a description, he did not come out and say what it was. Why? Because they were not ready. They were not ready to know God’s wisdom in a mystery. They had not yet received the mystery of Christ.
This had to wait until Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians. When you read Ephesians and compare 1 Corinthians 2 with Ephesians 3, you find that the descriptions of the mystery are almost similar: a mystery hidden and then revealed, a mystery concerning our glory, and all these things.
In Ephesians, Paul said that it is through the church that the wisdom of God is made known, even to principalities and authorities—to the angels.
The mystery of Christ is the church. But you do not see the church unless, first, you allow the cross to work in your life.
Someone has said, “If you preach the cross, you get the church. But if you preach the church, you get the cross.”
If you preach the cross of the Lord Jesus and the cross really works in you, then you will be delivered from individualism, from a self-centred life, and from the flesh. Then you will be brought into God’s purpose. You will see that you are part of God’s purpose, a member of the Body of Christ, related to Christ and related to one another.
But if you preach the church—if you tell people that they belong to the church, that they belong to the Body, that they are members—and the cross has not yet worked in their lives, they will discover that the cross begins to work. Why? Because without the cross as the foundation, you cannot have the superstructure.
The cross has to work in your life in order to make the church a reality to you. The church is not something merely to appreciate or admire. The church is a reality. It is the mystery of Christ.
Christ is in the church. The church is Christ in His corporate expression. That is the church.
Because Christ has put Himself in the church, and because the church is Christ in His corporate expression, anything that is not of Christ in us must be dealt with by the cross. That is why, when you preach the church, you get the cross.
By this way, you really enter into the meaning of the church.
Thirdly, the church is the mystery of Christ because Christ is known by the church. How are you going to know Christ?
If you try to know Christ individually, you will find that there is a great limitation, because our capacity is limited. By the grace of God, you may know Christ to a certain degree. That is all you can know as an individual.
Some know Christ as their Saviour. Others know Christ as their Healer. Others know Christ as their Counsellor or their Comforter. Through our personal experience, we can know Christ to a certain degree individually.
But it takes the whole church to make Christ known. Therefore, in Ephesians 3, Paul says that with all the saints we may apprehend the breadth, length, height, and depth, and know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. Christ is known by the church.
That is the reason why we need fellowship with one another. We need to share with one another the Christ that we know. By sharing the Christ that we know, we are able to be filled with all the fullness of God. That is the reason why we need one another.
Brothers and sisters, how we thank God for all the brothers and sisters. It is through all the brothers and sisters that we come to know Christ. Christ is known by the church.
Christ is known by the church not only among God’s people, but also to this world. You remember the Lord said that if we love one another, then the world will know that the Father sent Him.
Our personal testimony and witnessing to the world are important. But there is a greater power in our testimony to this world, and that is seen in the church.
In the early days of Christianity, people pointed to the believers and said, “See how they love one another.” Because of that, many were drawn to the Lord.
This does not mean that we should neglect our personal witnessing or responsibility. Not at all. Each individual should witness for the Lord. That is true.
But, brothers and sisters, when there is a Body on earth, when there is a golden lampstand on earth, when there is the church on earth, then the light will shine far and wide. The testimony will be strong and effective.
The reason why our testimony is so weak today is because God’s people are so divided. There is not that one lampstand. There is not that love for one another—that brotherly love.
We love one another for one reason: we are brothers. There is no other reason for that love. If we can love one another because we are brothers, then this is the love of God, and the world will immediately see that God has sent Christ into this world.
Christ is made known by the church, not merely by one or two individuals.
Christ is also made known by the church to the principalities and authorities. The testimony of the church reaches far beyond this material, physical world. Our testimony touches the spiritual world.
Even the principalities and authorities learn the wisdom of God through the church. This can be explained in two ways.
When you think of the principalities and authorities as good angels—angels who are serving God—you find that Peter says even the angels are very desirous to look into what God is doing.
Here God raises up men, who are made a little lower than angels. Through these men, who are lower than angels, God uses them to accomplish His purpose. The angels rejoice in seeing what God is doing in the church. The angels begin to see the wisdom of God, and they praise God because of the church.
Of course, there are also the principalities, authorities, powers of darkness, and spirits of wickedness. They are destroyed by Christ and His church.
Satan was defeated by Christ in person on the cross. Now the whole power of darkness is to be destroyed by the church. Through the church, the enemy of God is to be brought to his end.
The church will even teach the angels the wisdom of God. And not only teach angels: Paul said, “Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” We will judge angels because we are made heirs and co-heirs with Christ. God has not subjected the inhabited world to angels, but He has given it to the seed of Abraham.
In these three aspects, you can see how the mystery of Christ is the church: Christ is for the church, Christ is in the church, and Christ is known by the church. Through the church, the mystery of Christ is made known.
No one truly knows the Father except through the Son. When you know the Son, you know the Father. No one really knows Christ except through the church. When you know the church, you know Christ.
What is the church? Very briefly, in the whole letter to the Ephesians, Paul is trying to show us what the church is.
Today, the word church may not mean much to people. Even among Christians, the word church may not mean very much. But if you really know what the church is, then you find that the mystery of Christ is there.
It is in the church that you know Christ.
First, in Ephesians 1, Paul says that Christ is Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of Him Who filleth all in all.
What is the church? The church is the Body of Christ. Christ is the Head, and He is to fill that Body with Himself. Everything in the Body speaks of Himself. He is all and in all. That is the church.
The church is Christ Himself expressed in a corporate way. That is the truth of the Body.
Think of the Body of Christ. Scripture does not use the word corpse. Our body has life in it. It is not a corpse. It is not something of the past. It is a living Body. It is in the present. It is Christ Himself filling all in all.
The church is not only the Body that contains Christ in all His fullness, and we thank God for that. It is not a little bit of Christ and a great deal of other things. It is all Christ and nothing of any other foreign element.
But through the Body, Christ expresses Himself. What is my body? My body is not only the vessel of all the riches of the head; my body is also the expression of the head.
All the actions of my body express what my head is thinking and what my head desires. That is the church. The church is the Body filled with Christ Himself, and through the church He expresses Himself.
In Ephesians 5, you find that He is the Saviour of the Body. This goes back to Genesis 2. Even before sin entered into the world, God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” He put the man to sleep, took something out of his side, and made a woman, who was his body.
Christ is the Saviour of the Body. By the death of our Lord Jesus on the cross, God took something out of Him and made His Body, the church.
How He nourishes and cherishes it! How He sanctifies it with the washing of water by the Word, that He may present the Body to Himself a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. That is the Body. That is the church. That is His expression.
Then you go on to Ephesians 2, and Paul says, “What is the church?” The church is the one new man.
The old man is corrupt and divided. There is enmity in the old man. You see this especially demonstrated between the Jews and the Gentiles. They had nothing to do with each other.
But here, through the cross, by the blood, in Christ, He has made the Jews and the Gentiles into one man—not only one man, but one new man, a new creation entirely. This one new man is reconciled to God and is one with God. That is the church.
Brothers and sisters, the church is a new creation. All natural enmity and all natural distinctions and discriminations are dealt with on the cross.
The Jews and the Gentiles are neither Jews nor Gentiles when God brings them together in Christ. When they are brought into Christ, they lose their Jewishness and their Gentileness. There is neither Jew nor Gentile; in Christ there is a new man—Christ.
They are one with one another and one with God. That is the church.
That is why we need to keep diligently the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That is why we cannot move away from the new ground that God has given us. If we get back onto the old ground, we are not only divided, but we are enmity and negative toward one another.
But it is one new man. That is the church. One new man—it is Christ.
In the same chapter, Ephesians 2, you find that the church is the house of God. We are being built together into a habitation of God in the Spirit.
God not only dwells in each one of us; God dwells in our midst. “Where two or three are gathered together unto My name, there am I in the midst of them.” There is an additional portion of Christ when God’s people are together.
We are the house of God. We need to be built one to another—not merely scattered, but built. In the process of this building, much work needs to be done. If we are really built together, then we can house God. In other words, the presence of the Lord will be there. He is able to rest upon His people.
Every house, in a sense, is the expression of the owner of the house. You go to a house, and you can see the character of that owner, because only that which corresponds to the owner will make him feel comfortable in the house.
You can go to a hotel or motel and spend a night there. But if you lived there forever, you would not be comfortable, because it does not correspond to what is within you. You transform that room into something that corresponds to your taste, and then you feel comfortable. You can rest.
Brothers and sisters, what is the church? The church is the house of God. He is the Son over His house. His taste will be expressed in the arrangement of everything in the house, and that will make Him comfortable. Otherwise, He will not enter into rest.
Then you go on and find that the church is the bride of Christ. In Ephesians 5, the church is the bride of Christ. The idea of the bride is the thought of union. There must be such a union between Christ and the church.
Lastly, in Ephesians 6, you find that the church is a warrior. Very often we take chapter 6 as a personal matter. We say that every Christian is engaged in a spiritual conflict and that, in order to meet that conflict, each one must take the whole armour of God.
There is a side to that. Just as soldiers fighting on the battlefield each have a place in the battle, so each believer has a place. But remember, the battle is greater than that which one individual soldier is facing.
The warrior in Ephesians 6 is actually a corporate warrior. It is the church. The church is a warrior. The church is clothed with the armour of God, and the church enters into the spiritual conflict in order to withstand and to stand.
We need one another in spiritual conflict. In battle, if one soldier exposes himself and moves beyond the other soldiers, he will be shot. He becomes a target.
We have to move on together as the warrior.
God has promised us that He will put Satan under our feet. Satan is not only to be made the footstool of Christ, but God will put Satan under our feet—that is, under the feet of the church. This is in Romans 16.
The first time I noticed this was years ago, when I was a young Christian. I met Brother Nee and asked him to write something in my autograph book. He wrote that verse. At that time, I could not understand it. I had not noticed that verse in the Bible: “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.”
As you go on with the Lord, that meaning becomes clearer and clearer. Why? Because the church, in union with Christ, is the warrior.
God has not only put Satan under the feet of Christ, but He will soon put him under our feet.
This is the church. If you see the church in these various ways, is it not something tremendously great? No wonder it is the mystery of Christ.
If you want to know Christ—what He is, what He means, what He is all about—you have to know Him in the church, by the church, and through the church.
Brothers and sisters, this is the mystery of Christ.
We do praise and thank Thee because it is Thy good pleasure to reveal Thy Son to us and in us, that we may know Thy mystery. We thank Thee for sharing Thy secret with us, for giving Thy Son to us.
All our prayer is that we may always see Him, that we may not look away from Him, and that we may be fully occupied with Him and with Him alone.
O Lord, how we praise and thank Thee because Thou dost further reveal Thyself to us in Thy church. By seeing Thy church, we see Thee in a fuller way.
So, Lord, we pray that by Thy grace Thou wilt reveal the mystery of Christ to us, that we may not only see it, but may diligently keep it. May we also learn to toil with it, labouring, as it were, to present every man perfect before Thee in Christ.
Lord, help us to be good stewards of the mysteries of God. We ask all in the name of our Lord Jesus and for His glory alone. Amen.