Lord, as we are before Thy Word, we ask Thee that Thou wilt give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation, without which we can never know Thee nor know Thy mind. So, Lord, we cast ourselves upon Thee this morning.
We ask Thee that Thou wilt be gracious to every one of us. We pray that Thou wilt open our eyes, that we may see; that Thou wilt quicken our ears to Thy heart. We ask Thee that Thou wilt unite our hearts with Thy heart, that we truly may be one, because Thou dost say, “He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.”
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
This being the first of the morning ministry times, I think probably I should explain a little bit. First of all, I would like to mention this: this is not just a time that we come together to hear the Word of God, though that is important.
We hope that, as we come together, we are not only coming here to hear the Word of God, but actually we are coming here to fellowship together in the Word of God. So I hope we will not have that meeting complex—in other words, that you just sit there and listen to somebody preaching to you.
I am not going to preach to you this morning. I am going to talk with you this morning. So get away from this meeting complex, and try to enter together into the Word of God, even though I may do the talking and you may do the other thing.
As we wait before the Lord during this month, we feel that it may be of the Lord that we should devote all our morning ministry time to just one subject. It is a subject that concerns every one of us. None of us here can be just an observer, because we are going to talk about you.
We are going to talk about ourselves—not ourselves in ourselves, but ourselves in the grace of God. Now, that is what we are going to talk about. What are we? Who are we? Where are we? What has the grace of God brought us to, and brought us into?
We hope that we may have some thorough fellowship together concerning these things.
You remember when John the Baptist came to the scene in the land of Judea. People came to him—those priests and Levites—and asked him a very important question. They wanted to know who he was. They said, “Tell us, who are you?”
John the Baptist knew very well who he was not, and who he was. So John the Baptist told them very frankly, “I am not the Christ. I am not Christ. Do not make any mistake about it. But I am a voice in the wilderness, proclaiming the coming of the Lord.”
And you remember, when our Lord Jesus came into the picture, He was also asked the same question: “Who are You?” People wondered, people puzzled, people tried to define who this Man was.
Even our Lord Jesus Himself asked this question. He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” Then He turned to His disciples and said, “But who do you say that I am?”
It is very important to know who you are, because without knowing who you are, you do not know where you are. Without knowing what you are, you will not be able to be a strong testimony for the Lord in this world.
Again, I repeat: we are not going to talk about ourselves. There is nothing to talk about. The less you talk about yourself, the better. I think every one of you will agree with me.
Well, unfortunately, people talk a lot about us, even if we do not want to talk about ourselves. But we do not want to come together to talk about each other or to talk about ourselves—that is, ourselves in ourselves. There is nothing good to talk about.
But I believe we have a great deal to talk about when we realize what the Lord has done to us, in us, and for Himself. I hope that there will be no ending to our talking. The more you talk, the better.
What is it that we are going to talk about? What is our subject? Well, we are not talking about you as an individual, because God’s thought is always corporate.
It is true that a corporate body is made up of individuals and is very much related to individuals. But God’s ultimate thought is the collective, the corporate. So you know what we are going to talk about these mornings: the church, because we are all members of the church of God.
Therefore, this concerns us. This concerns every one of us. We ought to know what we are. We ought to know who we are. We ought to know where we are and wherefore we are, that we may glorify the Lord and enter into His full thought.
I would like to read two passages first before we go on: Ephesians 1:3-14 and Ephesians 3:9-11.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ:
according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love;
having marked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath taken us into favor in the Beloved;
in Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses, according to the riches of His grace,
which He hath caused to abound toward us in all wisdom and intelligence,
having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
for the administration of the fullness of times, to head up all things in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth;
in Him, in Whom we have also obtained an inheritance, being marked out beforehand according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things according to the counsel of His own will,
that we should be to the praise of His glory, who have pre-trusted in the Christ;
in Whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the glad tidings of your salvation—in Whom also, having believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Who is the earnest of our inheritance, to the redemption of the acquired possession, to the praise of His glory.
I believe every one of us is lost—lost in the riches of the grace of God.
And to enlighten all with the knowledge of what is the administration of the mystery hidden throughout the ages in God, Who hath created all things;
in order that now to the principalities and authorities in the heavenlies might be made known through the church the all-various wisdom of God,
according to the purpose of the ages, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul is getting very difficult. Usually Paul has very clear thoughts and very clear words. But as you read Ephesians 1 and Ephesians 3, you will find that Paul does not seem to have his usual clarity. He seems to be lost himself in thoughts and in words, and that is exactly the case.
The reason is, of course, the magnitude of that which he is going to fellowship concerning, and the riches of the subject that he is dealing with.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, let me ask you from the very beginning a question: What do you think of the church? What is your idea, your reaction, or your impression when you hear the word church? What kind of a picture comes to you when you hear the word church?
You can see the church from a historical viewpoint. In other words, when you hear the word church, probably you think of the church in its two thousand years of history.
You remember how the church of God had a glorious beginning. You remember the story on the day of Pentecost, and that was a wonderful beginning. You remember that you have read the Book of Acts, and you find that, even though there are some spots here and there in the Book of Acts, yet the church as you see it there is really glorious.
Probably you may also remember how, during the first two centuries—the second and the third centuries, to be exact—the church of God went through persecution, and yet came out victorious and glorious.
Then you think ahead, and you think of the history of the church. You find that the history of the church is like a checkerboard. Sometimes you find it glorious, something to be admired. Sometimes you find it not as glorious, and even disgraceful. It is a disgrace.
You find that the history of the church is a history of ups and downs. It is almost like reading the Book of Judges. Sometimes you find the people of Israel seem to be in ascendancy, seem to be in a good state, but it does not last very long. Then declension and degeneration come in, and God has to raise up another judge to deliver them from their bondage.
You find revivals after revivals, declensions after declensions. You find it is a mixed history. When you come to the end of that history, you find everyone just does what seems good in his own eyes.
As you think of the church in its historical relationship, probably it will give you the same idea. In the history of the church, there are things to be admired and there are things to be ashamed of. There are times when there are revivals; there are other times when there are declensions.
Because of the declension of the church in general, God has to raise up a vessel, or a corporate vessel, for some recovery. We do thank the Lord for all these vessels of recovery. But within a very short time, these vessels of recovery need to be recovered.
So you find in the history of the church just ups and downs, ups and downs—revival and declension, recovery and more recovery. Sometimes you wonder where it will end.
Seeing the church from the historical standpoint does not give you too much comfort. It does not give you too much confidence.
Well, maybe you are not looking at the church from the historical standpoint, but you may be looking at the church from the contemporary viewpoint. That is, you look around yourself at this present moment, and what do you see of the church of God today?
Probably you will come to about the same conclusion. There are certain things that are commendable, but there are more things that are very depressing. And you wonder whether the Lord Jesus has that which He is really after.
You know, this matter of the church, during these recent years—or recent decades—has arrested the thoughts and the hearts of many believers. I may even say that all Christianity, the whole of Christendom, is now involved in this very matter of the church. What about the church?
God’s people everywhere are beginning to realize that it is not right for God’s children to be divided and separated. Why should we be divided? We ought to be one.
Therefore, during these years, you find a great ecumenical movement sweeping Christendom today. Many books are written, many conferences are gathered, many committees are formed, many compromises are made, many agreements are negotiated, and you find there is a coming together.
Not only Protestants, but Catholics; not only Catholics, but Orthodox; not only Greek Orthodox, but even Mohammedans and Buddhists. You find there is an attempt at gathering together. Why? Because they feel we ought to be one. We should not be separated.
There is a grouping together of Protestant denominations. Small denominations combine into a great one. There is a coming together of Catholics and Protestants. Communication is tried to be opened to see if anything can be done. You find all these things sweeping Christianity, Christendom, today.
It is, of course, right that God’s people should not be divided. It is, of course, right that we should be separated from the world, but not separated from each other.
But the trouble is, the more you try to combine and unite, the less reality you have of the church and of its fellowship.
The more you try to combine many groups together, you find that you have to make so much compromise that the truth of God is sacrificed. As you try to unite all these different ones, you find that, even though outwardly there is a greater union, inwardly there is less union. There is no reality there.
Because of that, many of God’s people—those who really love the Lord—find that they are in a predicament. They find that, for conscience’ sake, they have to separate from these unions.
They belonged to these denominations before, but after these great unions they have to separate themselves. They seem to go backward instead of forward, and yet their backward step is a forward step so far as they are concerned, because they are looking for reality. They are looking for fellowship.
They do not find the truth, the reality, or the fellowship in these big movements. Therefore, they gather together in little homes, in small places, in groups of five, in tens, and in thirties.
There they come together with single spirits. They come together to pray together. They come together to read the Word together. They come together to share with one another the Christ that they have known. They find some reality there. They find some fellowship there.
But the trouble is, even though they find good fellowship among these few, it always bothers their conscience that they are separated from their other brothers and sisters. How can God’s people really be one?
I remember our dear brother Nee once said that these home meetings are like the midway inns. They are not homes; they are midway inns. It is all right to spend a few days there, and the Lord has only made provision for a few days. You remember that story? He has to take us home.
Therefore, I believe many of God’s people today are deeply exercised concerning this matter of the church. What is the church? Where is our home today? How can God’s people really be one?
How can we be separated from the world and yet really be one in Christ Jesus? How can the reality of the church and the fellowship of the church be something that is really satisfying?
I believe these are things that are exercising many of God’s people’s hearts, and I hope that is what is exercising your heart today.
Dear brothers and sisters, you cannot understand what the church is if you only look at the church from the historical standpoint. You will be involved in tradition. The more tradition accumulates, the less place there is for the truth of the Word of God.
If the historical viewpoint is your viewpoint, then you are just living in tradition—the tradition of the fathers.
If you are looking at contemporary Christianity, it is true that you live in current time, but what do you see? There does not seem to be too much. The more you look at contemporary Christianity, probably the less you are assured that God can ever get what He wants.
Therefore, this morning, we feel that if we want to know what the church really is, we have to get away temporarily from history. We have to forget temporarily our contemporary situation.
Now, it does not mean that by forgetting history and by neglecting the contemporary situation we get into a kind of unreality. No, we will come to all these later on.
But I think the first thing for us to do, as we are gathered here this morning, is this—and may I make an earnest request? Try to forget the church according to history. Try to forget the church that you see around you.
That is to say, let us try to forget time. Forget space. Let us try to go back to eternity, and there in God may we see what the church really is.
That is the only way to know the church of God. Dear brothers and sisters, the reason why we cannot understand the church today is because we are too involved with contemporary Christianity. We are too much influenced, or prejudiced, by historical Christianity.
We are too much bound by what we see. We are too much bound by tradition. That is the reason why we cannot see the church as God sees it.
Dear brothers and sisters, we must be delivered—delivered from tradition, delivered from situation, delivered from ourselves. We must be taken in our spirit, as it were, by the Spirit of God to God Himself, and there in Him we shall see.
Why must we take this viewpoint? Why is this eternal perspective so basic and important? Because the church is not an accident.
The church goes way back, way back to eternity past. There, in the mind of God, is the concept of the church. Therefore, unless we go back to the very beginning, we will never be able to understand what it is.
Dear brothers and sisters, as you open the Book of Ephesians, you find the Apostle Paul trying to bring all of us back into eternity. When you go back into eternity, when you go back into God, you find even the Apostle Paul is lost in words and in wonder.
What is the church from the eternal perspective? When you look at the church from the viewpoint of God, what do you see? You find that the church, in the eternal concept of God, is called a mystery.
In Ephesians 3, Paul says he knows the mystery of Christ. The church is the mystery of Christ. Who is Christ? What is Christ? Christ is the mystery of God.
As Christ is the mystery of God, so the church is the mystery of Christ. Why do we call it a mystery?
A mystery is not something merely mysterious. When you think of mystery, perhaps you connect it with something obscure, something hidden, something not too bright, something not open. But you do not have this thought here.
The church is called the mystery of Christ. What do you mean by mystery? By mystery, it means something conceived by God in His thought before the foundation of the world, in eternity past, and then hidden throughout the ages, waiting for the right and proper time to be unveiled and made known to us.
That is a mystery. A mystery simply means that it is conceived in God’s thought, hidden through the ages, and waits to be revealed and known.
Let me use an illustration. I came from a family that dealt with houses for three generations. My grandfather was a builder, my uncles were builders, and my older brother was a builder. But I have to tell you, I know nothing about building.
I visited the buildings that they built, but I do not know how to build. But anyway, you find that if you are going to build something—not just a barn or a hut, but something magnificent, something that can express yourself—what must you do?
First of all, there must be an architect. An architect conceives an idea.
I may conceive an idea as to how a house should be built, but if my idea is put into practice, probably it would be an upside-down building. But an architect—an architect who has all the training, all the knowledge, all the talents, and, I want to say this, all the personality—conceives an idea of beauty.
The beauty is according not only to his thought and his concept, but even to his character. That is the reason why every building is organic, because it is not just dead things, stones tied together. It is the idea of an architect.
An architect projects his character, projects his personality, projects his thoughts, his ideas, his values—for beauty, for strength, and so forth. He projects all these. He conceives something.
When the building is in the mind of the architect, it is a mystery. Why? Because it is only known to the architect, but it is unknown to the whole world.
Oh, in the mind of the architect, he carries a beautiful and glorious building, but nobody sees that beauty. Nobody knows of that building. It is a mystery—a concept, an idea in the architect’s mind.
This may be in the architect’s mind for years, until the time is right. Then you find that he tries to translate his ideas into drawings. You have the blueprints.
Oh, the blueprints. If you have ever seen an architect’s drawings, I have seen a lot. I remember my brother used to carry rolls after rolls of these drawings, and he would spread them on that big table, look at them, and study them.
As I looked at them, all I could see was lines after lines, lines after lines. I did not understand anything. But there you find the architect beginning to put his ideas, his beautiful thoughts, into drawings—into lines, into squares, and into all kinds of furnishings and funny forms.
You put all these there, pages after pages, pages after pages. I cannot read these things. But my brother came—oh, how he pored over these things, studied them, and computed! He knew what every line meant and what everything meant.
To me, it was nothing. I could not see the architect’s idea there. I could not see any beauty there. I could not see anything there. But to my brother, he saw a beauty. He saw before him a building standing up on these lines, standing up on these squares, and standing up on these cubes.
Why? Because he was a man with vision. A mystery was being revealed to those who could see. But to those who were unlearned, it was nothing. It was nothing.
Then, after all these things are there and have been studied, the builders come—those who know how to read these drawings. They begin to work. They begin to put these blueprints into concrete, into bricks and mortar, into steel beams, and so forth.
They take long years until these lines begin to be transformed, and then finally that building is before us. I go to that building, and then I appreciate it.
Dear brothers and sisters, do you know that is exactly what happens? What is the church? The church is not something that suddenly comes up as if by accident. The church is not something that man is trying gradually to shape and form until finally it becomes something. No.
What is the church? The church is that idea, that concept, that thought, which is in the mind of God before the foundation of the world.
Before you and I ever existed, before the first mountain, before the universe was formed, there in the mind of God He had a beautiful and glorious idea.
The church does not begin with time. The church begins before time began. The church begins in eternity past. The church does not begin with man. The church begins with God.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, remember this: the church is not the outcome of time. The church is not the result of man. The church comes directly from God, and it is before the foundation of this world that God conceived an idea—the church.
Probably you would like to ask the question, “Why is it that God conceived the idea of the church?” I do not know too much, but I think the reason why God conceived such an idea, even before time, is because of two reasons.
First, God the Father so loved His only begotten Son that He wanted to give something to His Son. You know, love always likes to extend and expand.
The love of the Father is so great that He wanted to expand His love to His Son. He wanted to spend His love upon His Son. How was He going to express His deep love for His Son? He wanted to give something to His Son.
Yes, He created the universe. He created the heavens and the earth. He created all the things in between. These are His gifts to His beloved Son.
But these gifts, good as they are, cannot communicate with His Son. Because they cannot communicate with His Son, they cannot satisfy the heart of His beloved.
Dear brothers and sisters, because of God the Father’s great love for His Son, He had to give some gift to His Son that would really answer the heart, that could respond, correspond, communicate, be united, have fellowship, and be one with His Son.
What is it? It is not an angel. It is not heaven. It is not the earth and the fullness of the earth. No, it is man. It is the church.
That is why we are here. That is why we are in the mind of God.
Secondly, in the foreknowledge of God, He knew that some of the angels He had created would rebel against Him, and that Lucifer, the archangel, would fall and become Satan, the adversary of God.
He knew beforehand that this whole universe would be thrown into chaos. He knew that Satan would set up for himself an opposing kingdom.
How was God going to deal with this situation? God conceived the idea of the church before time, before anything was created. It is on the basis of His strategy.
The church is not only His gift to His Son; the church is God’s strategy concerning His enemy.
It is easy for God to wipe out Satan and all his host. How often we ask this question. How often people who do not know God ask this question: “Why is it that God does not wipe out Satan? There would be less trouble. The world would not be like this today, and we would not suffer so much today.”
“Oh, if only God would be good enough to wipe out Satan.” God could just turn His hand and say, “He is finished.” There is no trouble to it. Why does He not do that?
Ah, God has His strategy. It is no glory to God if He just turns His hand and wipes out His enemy because He is greater. There is no glory to Him in that.
Therefore, in God’s strategy, He made man a little lower than the angels. Yet with man, who is a little lower than the angels, He destroys the angel who is higher than man. That is God’s strategy, and because of that He gets all the glory. Only God can do that.
What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? What is man, that Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and yet hast crowned him with honor and glory?
So, dear brothers and sisters, you find that in eternity past God conceived the idea of the church: on the one hand, as His gift to His Son; on the other hand, as His answer to the enemy.
I am just getting to the point, and my time is over. Anyway, let me point out to you just a few phrases and leave them with you.
If you read Ephesians 1, you will find there are a few key phrases there that explain the church as the eternal purpose of God in Christ Jesus.
The first key phrase is found in Ephesians 1:5: “according to the good pleasure of His will.” First, the good pleasure of His will.
The church is according to God’s good pleasure. It is God’s pleasure. God has a will. God is the supreme will, and God wills what He wills. God is pleased to have the church.
It is not your pleasure nor my pleasure primarily, but it is His pleasure. It is His sovereign will.
Number two, in Ephesians 1:9: “according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself.” After He has a good pleasure, then He makes a purpose.
You may have an idea, then you come to a decision and say, “Now, this is what I want. I will have it.” So remember: the church is the purpose of God, which He purposed in Himself.
In Ephesians 3, you find that it is the purpose of God which He purposed in Christ Jesus. It is a purpose that concerns Christ. It is a purpose that is to be fulfilled in and through Christ.
Number three, Ephesians 1:11: “according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things according to the counsel of His will.” The counsel of His will.
First, the pleasure; second, the purpose; and then, the counsel. That is, God has a plan. God has a definite plan concerning the church.
Finally, also in Ephesians 1:11, He “worketh all things according to the counsel of His will.” Then in Ephesians 1:19, there is “the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of the might of His strength.”
After He has a counsel, He puts it to work according to the might of His strength.
Dear brothers and sisters, if you try to meditate on these four points, then you will know what a big place the church has in God. If the church has such a big place in God, it ought to have a bigger place in each one of our hearts.
Oh, Heavenly Father, we do look to Thee for the spirit of wisdom and revelation, that we may know the mystery of the Christ, which is the church.
We ask Thee that Thou wouldst deliver us from ourselves, from our environment, even from history. We pray that we may enter into Thy thought, enter into Thy mind, and there we may join our hearts with Thee and give glory to Thy name.
In Thy precious name. Amen.