For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.
For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit.
The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach,
until the day in which He was received up, after that He had given commandment through the Holy Spirit unto the apostles whom He had chosen.
And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.
Dear heavenly Father, we do want to praise Thee that we can gather together in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee because we know that where His name is, there is His presence.
We thank Thee that we are in Thy presence, and we do look to Thee to speak to each one of us. We ask Thee to open our understanding, open our eyes, open our ears, and open our hearts, that Thy word may fall into good ground and bear fruit a hundredfold unto Thyself.
We commit this time into Thy hands, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
This is the second session of three sessions. We feel that it is of the Lord that during these three sessions we would share together on this matter of the church.
In the first session, we shared on the birth of the church. This evening, we would like to share on the meaning of the church. Tomorrow morning, we would like to share on the expression of the church.
As I mentioned last time, when we approach this subject of the church, there is something that each one of us must do. We have to lay aside all that we have known of the church. We have to lay aside all that we have seen and heard about the church, that we may return to the word of God and see what the church really is.
Because the church that we see and hear today is so different from the church of the word of God.
We mentioned last time that the church was conceived in the heart of God even before the foundation of the world. The church is not a product of history. It is not something molded and fashioned by time. It has its beginning in God Himself. It is eternal. It is a mystery that has been hidden in God throughout the ages.
But now we do thank God that it has been revealed to us. In other words, we do not know what the church is until it is revealed.
What we have seen and heard of the church—is it a result of revelation? Or do we know the church without the need of revelation from above?
If we know the church without revelation, that knowledge of the church must be false. Because the only way to know the church is by revelation: revealed in the word of God and revealed to each one of us by the Holy Spirit. Then the church becomes a reality.
Brothers and sisters, I will make the same request this evening. Let us start from the very beginning, because the will of God is revealed to children and hidden from the wise and prudent.
So we need to humble ourselves as little children, acknowledging that we know nothing about the church. Then we are able to return to the word of God and, by the Holy Spirit, to know what the church really is.
Now this evening we would like to share together on the meaning of the church. The very word church in the Greek original is ekklesia.
The word ekklesia comes from ek and klesis. Ek means “out of,” and klesis means “a calling.” So the very word means “those who are called out.”
During the Greek days, this word ekklesia was applied to the assembly of the citizens of a city. There would be a call to all the citizens of that city to assemble together, to discuss and decide upon certain matters.
You find this word used in Acts 19. There was a turmoil in the city of Ephesus, and the people gathered together in confusion. The town clerk quieted the crowd and said:
But if ye seek anything about other matters, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.
—Acts 19:39
The “regular assembly” is the regular ekklesia. It was a gathering of citizens assembled to discuss a certain matter.
In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the word is used of the assembly of the children of Israel. In Acts 7:38, the children of Israel are called the assembly—the ekklesia—in the wilderness.
So when this word is applied to the church, it means the gathering together of God’s people. It is used to include all God’s people throughout the centuries, from the first century until our time: all those who are called out and gathered together.
Sometimes it is used in a local way. When God’s people in a certain locality are assembled together, that is the ekklesia.
By the very word ekklesia, we know that the church refers to a people. It does not refer to a building.
Today we say, “We go to church.” What do we mean by going to church? Usually, it means that we are going to a building set apart for religious activities. But that is a human concept.
The divine concept of the church refers to the people. It does not refer to a house; it refers to a people—not just any people, but a people who have been called out.
Out of every tribe, every tongue, every people, and every nation, God has called a people unto Himself. Therefore, in Acts 15:14, we find that it is a people called out of the nations. These people who are called out assemble together. That is the church.
Now, in 1 Corinthians 12:12, we find:
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.
This is a very strange verse. There is one body, but this one body is made of many members. Even though there are many members, there is only one body.
We know that this refers to the church, because that is what the church is. The church is the body of Christ. The church is composed of many members.
We mentioned last time that on the day of Pentecost there were one hundred and twenty believers gathered together in the upper room. They were there praying and waiting for ten days.
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and in one Spirit they were baptized into one body. That is what happened on the day of Pentecost.
Before the day of Pentecost, there were one hundred and twenty believers. Yes, they gathered together, but they were merely a congregation of one hundred and twenty members. When they were together, there was a congregation; but after they scattered, they were each on their own. There was no organic relationship.
But on the day of Pentecost, a marvelous thing happened. These one hundred and twenty believers became one hundred and twenty members of one body.
This is very different from a congregation of one hundred and twenty members. A congregation of one hundred and twenty members is an organization, but a body with one hundred and twenty members is an organism.
So there are many members, but one body; one body, but many members. If we were writing the Scripture, we might say, “So also is the church.” But strangely, the Holy Spirit uses different words. He says, “So also is the Christ.”
Those who know Greek tell us that there is a difference between “Christ” and “the Christ.” When the Scripture uses “Christ,” it refers to the personal Christ. But when the Scripture uses “the Christ,” it refers to the body of Christ, with Christ as the Head.
Now, brothers and sisters, what is the church? The church is the Christ. The church is Christ in His corporate expression.
We know that Christ came into this world. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among men, full of grace and truth. The Son of God came into this world and took upon Himself the form of a man. He is Jesus Christ.
But after He ascended, the Holy Spirit came down. Then Christ took upon Himself another body—a corporate body formed by the baptism with the Holy Spirit. That corporate body is the church, and that corporate body is the Christ.
Why do we call the church the Christ? Because actually it is Christ Himself.
When you look at the church, outwardly you see many members. You see this brother and that sister. You see this believer and that believer. These believers gather together in the name of the Lord Jesus.
But inwardly, it is not merely this brother or that sister. It is Christ in that brother and Christ in that sister. It is Christ dispersed among His people and gathered together into one. So it is Christ in His corporate expression.
Let us use an illustration. When we gather together to break bread, there is one loaf. Before we break it, that one loaf represents the personal body of Christ—how He took upon Himself a body and, in that body, accomplished the work of redemption.
That body was broken for us. His body was broken for you; it was broken for me. That is what the bread represents before it is broken.
After each of us has taken a part of that loaf, and we have finished the breaking of bread, you do not see the bread on the plate any longer. It has now been scattered among all of us. There is a bit in you, and there is a bit in me.
But do you know that when God looks down from heaven, He still sees one loaf? For He says, “One loaf, one body.” This is 1 Corinthians 10.
Even though we are many, yet we are one loaf, one body. After we have broken the bread, where is the loaf? The loaf is still there, but it is in all of us. God looks down and He sees Christ. It is Christ in all of us.
Let me use another illustration. I will try to make it very simple so we can understand. Suppose that today, on this earth, there were only three believers. Suppose these three believers were Peter, John, and James.
These three come together. Do you call this the church? You have Peter, John, and James, and you put them together. Do you now have the church?
If that is the church, you have many problems. Among the disciples there was constant striving over who was greatest. Peter always wanted to be first. Whenever there was an opportunity, he was the spokesman. He wanted to be the head of the three.
John and James were brothers. If they joined hands together against Peter, Peter would be in the minority.
You remember when our Lord Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. John and James asked their mother to come to the Lord Jesus. The disciples had been contending over who was greatest, but they could not settle the question.
John and James tried to seize the last opportunity. They thought that the Lord was going to Jerusalem to be crowned King. So they sent their mother to ask who would sit at His right hand and at His left.
If the church were simply these three people, you would find constant quarrelling, because everyone wants to be the greatest.
Peter was very impetuous and outspoken. John and James were called by our Lord Jesus “sons of thunder.” Are you afraid of thunder?
When the Samaritans did not receive the Lord Jesus, John and James came to Him and said, “Lord, wilt Thou that we bid fire to come down from heaven, and consume them?” If you had these three together, you would have lots of thunder and lots of lightning. There would be no peace.
But that is not the church. The church is Christ in Peter, plus Christ in John, plus Christ in James.
Now, is that the church? No. Why? The church is Christ in Peter minus Peter, plus Christ in John minus John, plus Christ in James minus James. That equals the church.
This is the Christ. The problem with the church today is that there are Peters, Jameses, and Johns. No matter how spiritual they are, there is still the flesh there. They may bring Christ, but at the same time they bring themselves.
Because they bring themselves in, they spoil the church. So the cross has to work in each one of us. It is true that it is Christ in me, but the cross has to work in my life. Then what remains is Christ Himself.
So the church is called the Christ. How often we think that the church is merely the assembly of God’s people.
Why do we have so many problems and difficulties? We have one Christ. The Christ in you is the same as the Christ in me. Why are we divided? Christ is not divided. If you and I are divided, it is because we are divided.
We have to come under the cross. Only when we come under the cross, then, when we assemble together, Christ will be manifested. There will be no division, and there will be no problem.
Let us reinforce this. Luke wrote two books. The first discourse is the Gospel according to Luke, and the second discourse is the book of Acts.
In the first chapter of Acts, Luke says:
The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach.
—Acts 1:1
The first discourse refers to the Gospel according to Luke. We do not know exactly who Theophilus was, but we know that his name means “lover of God.” The Gospel of Luke was given to the lover of God.
What did Luke write in that first discourse? He said, “All that Jesus began both to do and to teach.” The Gospel of Luke records the teaching and the doing of our Lord Jesus.
When our Lord was on earth for thirty-three years, what He did and what He taught were recorded in the first discourse. He did and taught in the body that He received from Mary.
But notice that Luke said he recorded what Jesus began both to do and teach. In other words, what Luke wrote in the Gospel refers only to the beginning of what the Lord does and teaches.
Then Luke wrote the second discourse, which we call the book of Acts. Strictly speaking, to call it “the Acts of the Apostles” is not very accurate.
The first part of Acts is mainly the acts of the apostle Peter, and the latter part is mainly the acts of the apostle Paul. In the original text, there is no title there.
What is the book of Acts? The book of Acts records approximately thirty-three years of the history of the early church, from the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem until Paul was in Rome for two years as a prisoner.
But what is the real matter? It is what the risen Lord continued to do and teach in His corporate body.
The Lord is still doing, and He is still teaching. But instead of doing and teaching in His personal body, He is now, as the risen Head, doing and teaching in a corporate body through the Holy Spirit.
That is the book of Acts. All the books in the Bible have endings, but the book of Acts has no ending.
Paul was in his own rented house, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Then the account stops, and you wonder, “What happened next?” There is no ending because the Acts continue on.
Our Lord Jesus, the Head in heaven, is still teaching and doing in His corporate body by the Holy Spirit. A new chapter is being written today, and it will continue until the second coming of our Lord Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, what is the church? The church is the Christ. The church is the body of Christ. In that body, the risen Lord continues to do and to teach until His work is done.
The letter to the Ephesians reveals the mystery of the Christ, and that mystery is the church. In the letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul uses various figures to describe the church.
When we speak of the church, we need something more tangible—something that we already know—so that by it we can understand what the church really is. These figures are not the reality itself, but they help us to understand.
Paul says that God:
Made Him to be head over all things to the church,
which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.
—Ephesians 1:22-23
First of all, Paul uses the word body. We all have a body, so we understand what a body is. What is my body? My body contains all the riches of my head, and my body expresses all the will of my head.
Brothers and sisters, what is the church? The church is the body of Christ. It is the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
In Colossians, we are told that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ, and that we are complete in Him because we are His body.
All the fullness of the Godhead is beyond comprehension. God is so full—full of wisdom, full of love, full of power. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ, and all the fullness of Christ dwells in His body, the church.
Brothers and sisters, all the fullness of Christ, which is the fullness of the Godhead, is now in His body. You see how rich the church is. The church is a body that contains the unsearchable riches of Christ.
The church we know today is often so poor, spiritually speaking. Yet the church according to the word of God is tremendously rich, because it is the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Not only is the church the fullness of Christ; it is also to express the glory of Christ. Just as my body is filled with the fullness of my head and expresses the glory of my head, so the church expresses Christ.
My physical body is temporal. It will disappear very soon. But the body of Christ is eternal. It will not pass away.
Which is more real: your body or the body of Christ? The body of Christ is the true body.
Our Lord Jesus said, “I am the true vine.” The vine that we see today is only a figure; it is not the reality. The real vine is our Lord Jesus.
So the church as the body of Christ is not merely a figurative way of speaking. It is not that the church is like a body. We say that the church is the body because that is the reality.
In Ephesians 2, we read:
Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; that He might create in Himself of the two one new man, so making peace.
—Ephesians 2:15
In this old creation there are many divisions, distinctions, and differences. There are differences in race, culture, social status, age, education, and background. All these distinctions divide us.
Of all the distinctions, two were particularly severe: the Jews and the Gentiles. The Jews considered the Gentiles unclean, and the Gentiles hated the Jews. There was a great wall of partition between them.
The Jews considered themselves the chosen people of God, and they considered the Gentiles the outcasts. God was for them, they thought, but not for the Gentiles.
In the old days, in the temple, the Gentiles could go only as far as the court of the Gentiles. Beyond that was the court of the women. There were signs declaring that a Gentile should not cross that line; if he did, his life was in danger.
In other words, they were completely separated. That partition was so strong that it could not be broken.
But thank God, on the cross of our Lord Jesus, He broke down the wall of partition. He brought the Jews and the Gentiles together into one new man.
The Scripture says that there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither barbarian nor Scythian, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, neither bond nor free; but Christ is all, and in all.
All the natural distinctions in the old creation were eliminated by the cross of our Lord Jesus. We are now a new creation.
Not only are we individually a new creation, but corporately we become one new man. All distinctions have vanished. We are one new man. This is the church.
Therefore, there is not a Chinese church, nor a Canadian church. There is only one church.
In the world, you have Chinese and Canadians. But in the church, there is neither Chinese nor Canadian. You have only Christ—the one new man.
Then, in Ephesians 2:19, we read:
So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.
—Ephesians 2:19
After you believe in the Lord Jesus, so far as the world is concerned, you become a stranger and a foreigner, because God has delivered you out of this world. In this world, we are strangers and foreigners.
But in the church, we are no longer strangers and foreigners. We are fellow citizens with the saints.
Christ has delivered us out of the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. What is our citizenship? Philippians 3 tells us that our citizenship is in heaven.
We belong to that heavenly kingdom. We are under the rule of our King, Jesus. We are a holy nation.
Is that true with us? In the earthly world, you have all kinds of nations. Some are citizens, and some are strangers and foreigners.
Especially for people who migrate to a nation, before they receive citizenship, they are aliens. They cannot enjoy the privileges of citizenship, and they long to receive it.
Sometimes it is hard to become a citizen of Canada. But thank God, you have citizenship in heaven. By believing in the Lord Jesus, you become a citizen of heaven. Now you should live under the rule of heaven.
When you meet another believer, we have the same rights and the same responsibilities. That is what the church is.
Fourthly, the same verse says that we are “of the household of God.” We belong to one family: the household of God.
In this world, you have your household and I have mine. But thank God, He has delivered us, brought us together, and made us one great household.
Our family is the largest family in the world. Our Father is God, our elder Brother is our Lord Jesus, and we are all brothers and sisters because we belong to the same family.
In a family, the thing that impresses people is love. God loves us and gave us His only begotten Son to make us members of His family.
Christ loved us and gave Himself for us. Therefore, we need to love one another. He loves us and gave Himself for us, and we need to love our brethren and give ourselves to our brethren.
Unfortunately, today the church has become institutionalized. You go to an institution, and you find law everywhere. But when you go to a family, you find love.
So we must learn to love one another as He has loved us.
In Ephesians 2:22, we read:
In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
—Ephesians 2:22
What is the church? The church is a habitation of God in the Spirit. God wants to dwell among His people. We are His dwelling place.
Because God is holy, we must be holy. The holy God cannot dwell in an unholy habitation. We need to be holy because He is holy.
This habitation is filled with living stones. We are living stones, and by the Spirit of God we are built together to become the habitation of God.
One living stone is not a habitation. Many living stones piled together are not a habitation. But when all these living stones are organically built together, there is a dwelling place.
There is your place in that house, and there is my place in that house. We are all related together and built together in love. Then God can dwell there. The church is a resting place of God.
If you read on to Ephesians 5, you find that the church is the wife of Christ.
Today, the church is the body of Christ. When that body is fully grown, Christ will come back and claim this body as His bride.
There will be an eternal union. We will be united with Him for eternity. This is what the church is.
That is the reason why we have to grow. If we do not grow, if we are not mature, how can we be the bride of the Lamb?
He is waiting for us to be mature. Then He will come and claim us as His bride.
Finally, in Ephesians 6, you find that the church is a spiritual army. God has a work to be done, and there is an enemy resisting God.
Christ has overcome the enemy on Calvary’s cross. Now He calls His church to be a warrior, to execute His will upon this earth in spite of opposition.
The church is to stand, withstand, and stand. God’s purpose is to be fulfilled through Christ in His church.
The vision of the church is tremendous. Are we fulfilling God’s mission? That is what the church is according to the word of God.
As Christ is victorious, so the church is the church triumphant. Yet the church that we know today often seems defeated, and the church seems defeated on all sides.
But if you see the church according to God’s will, you find that it is the church triumphant.
The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
—Matthew 16:18
On the contrary, the church is to execute the will of God, fulfill God’s purpose, and bring in the kingdom.
This is what the church is. Brothers and sisters, may the Lord really stir our hearts, that we may know this church and that we may be an active part of that church.
May the Lord deliver us from the church that we know today, and by His grace bring us into the true church of God.