But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear,
and straightway there came out blood and water.
And he that hath seen hath borne witness,
and his witness is true:
and he knoweth that he saith true,
that ye also may believe.
Even as Christ also loved the assembly,
and gave Himself up for it;
that He might sanctify it,
having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
that He might present the assembly to Himself a glorious assembly,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without blemish.
And when the day of Pentecost was now come,
they were all together in one place.
And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind,
and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire;
and it sat upon each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,
and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship,
in the breaking of bread and the prayers.
And fear came upon every soul:
and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
And all that believed were together,
and had all things common;
and they sold their possessions and goods,
and parted them to all, according as any man had need.
And day by day, continuing stedfastly with one accord in the temple,
and breaking bread at home,
they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart,
praising God,
and having favor with all the people.
And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved.
Let us bow our heads and pray.
We worship You because You died for us on the cross. The veil has been torn, and now we have boldness to come into the Holy of Holies and praise Your glory.
May You shine upon us and remove all darkness, so that we may glorify Thy name on this earth. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
This time, as we assemble together before the Lord, we would like to examine Christ, God, and the church.
We know that Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, is the center of the gospel. This is the foundation of all things.
The wisdom to which Paul refers is the church. Christ is the foundation, and upon this foundation God desires to build what He has purposed: the church.
The church is the wisdom of God’s mystery. This mystery was hidden in God and predetermined before the foundation of the world. When the time came, after Christ came to the earth and accomplished redemption, God revealed this mystery to His apostles and prophets.
God desires to prepare a bride for His Son. This is what we shared last time. Yet this mystery cannot be comprehended merely by our natural mind. Revelation is needed; God must open our eyes.
This morning, we want to proceed one step further. We would like to see how this mystery was revealed on the earth—in other words, how the church was produced on this earth and how she was born.
When God created man, He already had the church in mind. How do we know this? Because we know God’s purpose in creating man.
God desired a dwelling place, and He desired to prepare a bride for His beloved Son. This purpose is no other than the church. The church is God’s dwelling place and the spouse of His Son.
Before the creation of man, God already had this purpose. Adam was the first man; Christ is the second Man. Adam typifies Christ, and Adam also stands in contrast with Christ.
The first man belongs to the earth, and all those who belong to him are earthly. The second Man belongs to heaven, and all those who belong to Him are heavenly.
We remember that God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.”
This thought did not originate with Adam. Adam did not say, “It is not good for me to be alone. I need a helper.” No, it was God who had everything in His mind. God said, “It is not good for him to be alone. I will make a help meet for him.”
Brothers and sisters, we see immediately that the church is not of man’s mind. The church is not made by man. The church is out of God; it is God’s own work.
God brought the animals before Adam and asked Adam to name them. Naming is significant in the Bible. Adam named them one by one, but among them he did not find a helpmate corresponding to him.
This is the law of elimination. One after another was eliminated. Nothing among the animals could match Adam; therefore, it was necessary for God to create the woman.
Adam could not find a helpmate. This is the reason God made a helpmate for Adam. The same principle applies to the church. In the whole universe, God could find no other way to obtain a counterpart for His Son.
Everything that man’s hand can make has been eliminated. God Himself must produce a beautiful church.
What method did God use to make the woman? God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. Perhaps this was the first time Adam slept.
God caused Adam to sleep because He was going to perform a surgery. He took a rib from Adam’s side.
Then God made a woman out of that which came out of Adam, and He brought the woman before Adam.
The woman was of Adam himself. Therefore, the two became one. She became his counterpart and his helpmate.
Here we see a wonderful type: how God prepares a bride for His Son.
God loved His only begotten Son. He appointed Him heir of all things and through Him made the worlds. Yet it was not good for Him to be alone. God desired to prepare a spouse for His Son.
All created things were brought before the Son. Even the great angelic hosts were brought before Him. Yet among them God could not find a counterpart for His Son. The angels are ministering spirits; they are not a mate for the Son of God.
In the whole universe, the Son of God could not find one who could be His helpmate. What then could God do?
Two thousand years ago, God sent His Son to this earth. Why did the Son of God come to become man? There was one purpose: He came to seek a bride for Himself.
The living Word became flesh, and He came to seek His bride. Yet during His thirty-three years among mankind, He could not find His bride.
Therefore, God could only do one thing: He put Christ to sleep in death.
The sleep of Adam and the death of Christ are different. When Adam’s side was opened, there was no pain associated with it, because sin had not entered the world.
But when our Lord came to the cross, sin filled the whole earth. God caused Him, who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The cost to our Lord was exceedingly great. On the cross He cried, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” For our sake, He was smitten by God. Before God, He became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God.
The Lord died on the cross. When the soldiers came to break the legs of those who were crucified, they found that the Lord Jesus had already died. To make certain of His death, a soldier pierced His side with a spear.
Out of His side came blood and water. John stood at the cross and saw this. He bore witness so that we may believe.
The blood is for the remission of sins. It is the precious blood of our Lord Jesus that cleanses us from sin. The water represents His life. As it is written in Psalm 22, “I am poured out like water.”
The blood removes our sins, and His life is released to produce His church. Out of Christ’s side came blood and water; through His death, the church was produced.
This corresponds perfectly with Matthew 16. When Peter confessed, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” the Lord said, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
From that time, the Lord began to tell His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer under the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and on the third day be raised again.
The building of the church has a direct relationship with the suffering of Christ. If Christ had not come to the cross and died, the church could not have been built.
The church is the product of the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. The church was made through His pain. This is the spiritual reality.
As far as the history of the church on earth is concerned, the church began at Pentecost.
After the Lord was raised from the dead, He appeared to His disciples for forty days. Then He ascended into heaven and instructed them to return to Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father.
There were one hundred and twenty disciples. They returned to Jerusalem and prayed with one accord in the upper room for ten days, until the day of Pentecost.
Then suddenly there came a sound from heaven, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Pentecost marked the beginning of the history of the church on earth.
If we read Leviticus 23, we find that Pentecost was one of the seven feasts of Israel. On the day of Pentecost, two loaves were offered to the Lord.
After the Passover came the feast of unleavened bread, when no leaven was allowed. This speaks of Christ in resurrection. But on the day of Pentecost, the two loaves contained leaven.
The flour had to be ground and made into bread. The two loaves represent God’s people. Though they have been brought to God and made one, they are still human beings.
Pentecost symbolizes the beginning of the church. The church is composed of people who have been dealt with by God, yet who are still men and women. There is a spiritual principle here for all the churches throughout the earth and throughout all time.
The church began in Jerusalem, but later it went from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Wherever the church is produced, the same spiritual principles must be present.
The first principle concerns those one hundred and twenty disciples. They knew the Lord. They knew Christ, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension.
The Lord appeared to more than five hundred brethren, but only one hundred and twenty remained in the upper room to pray. Others may have seen the risen Lord and heard His commission, but they returned to their own affairs.
The one hundred and twenty were different. They were concerned about the Lord’s affairs. They knew that the Lord was not only their Savior but also their Lord.
The church cannot be produced merely among people who know the death of the Lord. Nor can it be produced simply among those who know His resurrection. We must know His ascension, recognize His lordship, and be mindful of His interests.
Among such people, the church can be produced.
The second principle is prevailing prayer. The church is not organized by human beings. The church must be brought forth through dependence upon God.
Wherever the church is to be produced according to God’s heart, there must be prevailing prayer associated with those who wait upon the Lord. Otherwise, the church cannot be produced.
This is a principle concerning the birth of the church.
The third principle is that, when the Holy Spirit came upon the one hundred and twenty, they were baptized by the Holy Spirit into one body.
Previously, they were one hundred and twenty individual Christians. They were a congregation, but they were not yet one body.
By the Holy Spirit, they became members of one body. This is the church. As one body has many members, so also is Christ.
Pentecost was a historical event. It was not only the birth of the church; it was also the baptism of believers into one body.
We must preserve the unity of the Spirit. If we do not preserve the unity of the Spirit, the church cannot be properly expressed.
We want to mention several characteristics of the church. How can we know whether a church is according to what God has in mind and not merely the product of man’s devising?
The first characteristic is that those who belong to the Lord gather unto the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord is the very center of the church.
Before Christ went to the cross, He told His disciples, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”
Christ entrusted His name to His disciples. Today, wherever believers gather unto His name, He is there.
The name of the Lord is the Lord Himself. It speaks of His person, His authority, His glory, His life, and His resurrection.
We must honor Him as the Head. We must allow Him to take His proper place among us.
At the temple gate, Peter and John met the lame man. Peter said, “Silver and gold have I none; but what I have, that give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
Christianity may have much silver and gold, but if it does not have the precious name of the Lord, it lacks what is essential. The name of the Lord is the church’s treasure.
The second characteristic is unity. In the early church, the children of God were of one heart and one accord.
They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. They remembered the Lord with one heart and one accord.
This fulfilled the prayer of the Lord in John 17: that they might be one, even as the Father and the Son are one, so that the world may know that the Father sent the Son.
Where there are barriers and divisions, there cannot be the practical expression of church unity. But where believers know that they are members of one body and love one another, there is the testimony of the church.
The third characteristic is the clear presence and authority of the Holy Spirit.
The early church was filled with the Holy Spirit, ruled by the Holy Spirit, led by the Holy Spirit, and governed by the Holy Spirit.
The presence of the Holy Spirit was manifested clearly. They did not merely decide for themselves where to go or what to do. They waited upon the Lord and followed the leading of the Spirit.
This is the normal condition of the church: the presence and authority of the Holy Spirit should be clear.
The fourth characteristic is love expressed in holiness. The greatest testimony of the church at that time was that the believers loved one another and lived a holy life, separated unto God.
The people of the world both feared them and were attracted to them. They saw the holiness and power of God among them.
The believers did not testify only with their mouths. Their very lives bore witness for the Lord.
Where believers gather unto the name of the Lord, love one another, maintain the unity of the Spirit, submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit, and live in holiness, there we find the church.
Lord, we praise You. Before the foundation of the world, You had the church in Your heart, and in time the church appeared on this earth.
We praise You for Your Son. Through His death, the church could be born. Through the Holy Spirit, believers were baptized into one body.
Our Lord and our God, may there truly be the expression of Your church among us. May we satisfy Your heart.