It is a privilege to be with you, dear brothers and sisters, after so many years. It is good to see you all.
Will you please turn to the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 16? Matthew 16:18.
And Jesus—[I cannot see very well. I cannot see.]
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father Who is in heaven.
Now verse 18:
And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Dear Lord, our hearts are full of gratitude. We praise and thank Thee that Thou hast kept us all these years. We praise and thank Thee for gathering us together tonight. We thank Thee that we may gather unto Thy name, and that we have the confidence that Thou art here with us.
Lord, we truly are standing on holy ground. We want to bow ourselves and worship Thee. And, Lord, we want to say to Thee, “Speak, for Thy servants hear.” May Thy name be exalted. All glory be unto Thee. We ask in the name of our dear Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
For some time now, the Lord seemed to burden my heart with this one word: build.
The Lord said, “I will build My church upon this rock, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
Now, this word build is a technical word. It is used in construction. It conveys to us that it is not just something that happens by chance. It is not just something hurried together. It is something built.
It is not a heap of ruins; it is a building—the house of God.
This word build is first used in Genesis 2:22. The Lord God took the rib that He took out of Adam and built it into a woman; then He brought her to him.
Now, according to the law of first mention, we usually find that whenever a word is used first in the Bible, it gives us the right meaning of it. So, when you read that word, build—the Lord God built—it conveys to us at least five steps:
Because in this story of the building of the woman, you find all these five steps involved.
First of all, you find that there is a purpose behind this building. In Genesis 2:18, the Lord said:
It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.
So, in other words, the woman did not come by chance. It was something that God conceived in His thought, because it was not good for man to be alone. God purposed to make man a helpmeet, his like. It was the thought of God, preconceived by God. There was a purpose involved in building this woman.
Now, how would God do this work? Definitely, you find that God had a design. After God said that word, He led all the animals of the field and the fowls of the air to Adam, and let Adam see all these living things and give each its name.
But the Bible says Adam did not find his like. In other words, God knew what would be the pattern for that building, and God wanted man to understand it. So God brought all these living things, these created beings, before man to show him that there was none like him.
Because there was none like him, Adam could not find his counterpart. All these living things were eliminated. Why? Because God had a pattern. God had a design for the building of the woman, and that pattern was none other than Adam himself. Adam was the pattern.
So, if it was not like him—exactly like him—it could not be his counterpart. God had that pattern in His mind in the building of the woman.
Now, as God had this pattern, the third thing you find is that He began to prepare for it. He wanted to find material for it. How can you build a counterpart, his like? Where can you find the material?
Of course, the only material you can find is in Adam. So, instead of God going somewhere else to find material for the building of the woman, God found it in Adam himself. He was the material.
Then, fourthly, the process: God put Adam to sleep, and God performed an operation. Out of his side, God took out a rib, or something out of him, and He used this to make a woman.
Then finally, you find that the woman, being built, was not just left there. God brought her to Adam. Presentation: because God’s building has a definite purpose, and it has a definite use.
So you find in the building of Eve the first mention of this word in the Bible.
Now, we know that Adam and Eve are only types. The antitype we find in Christ and His church.
Because in Ephesians 5:32, the apostle Paul, when he was talking about a man and a woman, said:
This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ and of the church.
So that brings us to this point: our Lord Jesus said, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
You find the same principles. These five stages happen in the building of the church. Now, first of all, of course, it is the Lord Himself Who builds the church: “I will build My church.”
But how does He build His church? You know, today we think rather lightly of the church. Ekklesia: the called-out ones, gathered together. “Where two or three are gathered together unto My name,” the Lord said, “there am I in the midst of them.” That is what the church is.
But today we think very lightly of the church. In a sense, it seems that our attention is focused upon ourselves—personal, individual. Now, of course, that is important. We need personal building up. We need to develop personally in our life with the Lord. That is important.
But, my brothers and sisters, so far as God is concerned, the ultimate does not lie in the individual and the personal. The ultimate lies in the corporate, because God is so great. It takes a corporate body to manifest His glory.
Furthermore, we find that among God’s people we are more need-oriented than purpose-oriented. We are always asking the question, “How can my need be met?” Even in our spiritual pursuit, that is what we are aiming at: “What can I get, even spiritually?”
We very seldom ask the question, “What can God get?” We are not purpose-oriented. We are self-centered instead of God-centered.
But when we go back to the Word of God, we find that, “In the beginning, God.” He is the First and the Last, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. Everything is centered upon God Himself and upon His own purpose. What will He get eventually? That is the mindset that we should have.
So, in this matter of the church, I think we need to realize that if we really love the Lord and really desire that God may be glorified, then we need to be delivered from our individualistic concept and delivered from our need-oriented orientation. By the grace of God, we need to be more God-centered and purpose-oriented.
So here you find, when our Lord Jesus builds His church, He says, “I will build My church.” First of all, you find there is a definite purpose behind it. The church is not something that just happened in human history. The church is not a product of history.
Even before there was history, in the heart of God, in the mind of God, God had already conceived this idea.
You know, God loved His Son. If you were able to look into the heart of God, what would you see there? Do you think that, when you look into the heart of God, you see yourself there?
Not in the first place. If you look into the heart of God, all you see is His beloved Son.
God created all things for His beloved Son. He created the heavens, He created the earth, He created angels, He created all the living things. He created everything for His Son.
But somehow God knew that, even with all the creation, they could not satisfy His Son’s heart. There was a vacuum in His Son’s heart. It was not good for His Son to be alone. He needed a counterpart. He needed a like—something that would really answer to His very heart.
The heavens could not answer to the heart of His beloved Son or satisfy His Son’s heart. The earth, with all the fullness in it, could not satisfy His Son’s heart. His Son was still lonely, longing for something that would really answer to His own heart—His like, His counterpart.
And God said, “It is not good for My Son to be alone. I will make Him a helpmeet, a counterpart.”
That is the reason why, in the first place, God created man. You know, I often wonder why, when God created man, He created man in His own image and after His own likeness.
God did not even create angels in His likeness, in His own image. Nothing was created in His image, after His likeness—nothing.
But when God created man, there was a consultation among the Godhead—the Father and the Son talking to each other, as it were, in the Spirit. The Father said, “How can I really satisfy Your heart, My beloved Son? You need a counterpart. You need a like.”
And They decided that They would create man in His own image, after His likeness. In other words, God would create a man who had a spirit.
God is Spirit, so God created man with a human spirit, so there could be communication between God and man. God created man with a heart—a heart that could feel after God, a heart that could love God.
God made man with a mind, a mind that could understand and comprehend; with emotion that could truly show affection toward God; and also a will that could choose God. He also gave man a body that could express and manifest God’s glory.
So God created man with all the potential and all the capacity. In His own image—that is, His character—and after His likeness.
Because man was created in such a way, immediately after God created man, God put man in the Garden of Eden.
God planted all kinds of good fruit trees in the garden, and God said, “You can enjoy them.” That was for the need of man’s body.
And in the midst of the garden, God planted the tree of life, and beside it the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said, “Of all the trees in the garden, you may freely eat, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Now, I believe that if you had heard this, what would it mean to you? Certainly, the center of the garden is the center of affection. Of all the trees, probably the one tree that would really attract your attention is the one in the center. That is the tree of life.
When God put another tree beside it and said, “You shall not take this,” it suggests that you should take that. I think it is very, very suggestive.
God was actually suggesting to man, “You are created in My image, after My likeness. You have all the capacity, all the potential, to receive My life into you. You do not have My life yet, but you are created with all the capacity and potential there.”
The angels are spirits, but they cannot receive God’s life into them. The heavens and the earth manifest the glory of God, but they cannot receive the life of God into them. They do not have that capacity.
But man was created with that capacity. Immediately God put man in the garden before the tree of life, and said of the other tree, “You shall not eat.” Now, that is clear enough, I should think: eat of the tree of life, that you may receive My life into you.
Then you will begin to have My nature and develop My character. You will be like Me, and you can be the counterpart of My beloved Son. That is the purpose of God.
But, of course, we know, unfortunately, man, instead of obeying God and eating of the tree of life to fulfill God’s purpose, ate the forbidden fruit.
Man was driven out of the Garden of Eden. But thank God, He did not give up man. He began to work. He came to the garden to seek Adam: “Where art thou?”
God began to work to bring man back to His original purpose. He even sent His only begotten Son into this world to seek and to find the lost.
So, brothers and sisters, you find that there is a purpose behind the creation of man. That purpose is that man may be a counterpart, the like, of His beloved Son, so that man can be joined into one with His beloved Son.
Man can receive all the riches in His Son and manifest all His glory.
That leads us to Ephesians 3. You know, in Ephesians 3, the apostle Paul talks about the mystery of the Christ.
He said there is a mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages, but now revelation has been given to the apostles and prophets of New Testament times, so that this mystery, this secret that has been hidden in the heart of God, can be revealed.
You know, there is a secret in the heart of God. He conceived this secret even before the foundation of the world. God is a good secret keeper. It is such good, glorious news—probably we could not keep it for one minute—but God kept that secret for centuries, for ages.
It is a hidden secret, a mystery. God worked toward it through time, until Christ had accomplished the work of redemption. Then revelation was given to the apostles and the prophets, so now this mystery of the Christ has become an open secret. Everybody should know it now.
And this mystery concerns us.
In Ephesians 3:9-10, you read that God gave the apostle Paul such an understanding of the mystery that, even now, through the assembly—through the church—the principalities and authorities may learn the manifold wisdom of God.
God purposed in His Son before the foundation of the world, and that purpose concerns the church. The church is to teach the principalities and authorities—that is, the angels.
You know, the angels are of a higher rank than we human beings. We are a little lower than the angels. They are more intelligent than we are. But even here, you find that the angels have to learn to know the manifold wisdom of God through the church.
Now, what does that mean? It means that all the riches of Christ, which are infinite—Christ is the fullness of God; all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily—and all this fullness is to dwell in this Body of Christ.
Now, how can God do that? It is His manifold wisdom. We, the rebellious; we, the fallen; and yet, by His grace, by the redemption of our Lord Jesus, He can bring us to a point where we become the Body of Christ that contains all the riches of the Head.
And not only to contain all the riches, but to manifest them. Brothers and sisters, this is something the angels are learning from the church. The angels marvel at the wisdom of God and what God has done. It is so glorious. It is so wonderful.
But do we realize it? The angels today are learning something from what God has done in bringing the church into being, but we who are in the church completely ignore it, as if it were nothing.
We do not know God’s purpose. We live outside of God’s purpose. We receive all the benefits, and yet we do not know what these benefits are for.
They are for the Son—to satisfy the heart of His Son. So a definite purpose is here with us in this matter of the church.
Now, having settled on purpose, that is God’s purpose concerning the church. The church is not a small thing, something insignificant. You can have it or not have it; you can leave it or take it; you can play with it, or you can completely ignore it. No.
It is the eternal purpose of God. Unless our life is related to that purpose, our life is purposeless; it is meaningless.
So it is very important, brothers and sisters, that we who are the redeemed of the Lord should be related to God’s purpose. Then our lives on earth will be worthwhile. Then we know why we are here.
Then we know why God spends so much time and energy on us: in order to bring us into that purpose for His beloved Son.
We are involved in something so universal, so beyond space and even beyond time. It is gigantic. Brothers and sisters, it should expand our hearts. It should bring us to our knees to worship God that He should do something like this to us.
So this is the first point in the building of the church.
Now, secondly, for the purpose of building, you need a pattern—in other words, a blueprint. If you want to build a house like this, you have to have a design. You have to know why you want to build such a building. What is the use of it? What is the purpose of such a building?
After you have decided on the purpose of the building, then you draw a sketch, make a diagram, and begin to have a blueprint as to how the building is to be built—what material should be used and how the material should be fitted together.
Often you find that, so far as the architect is concerned, the building is a living thing because it expresses the character of the architect.
You know, when we built a warehouse in Richmond, unfortunately our architect was very artistic but not practical. So it did not serve our purpose very well and gave us many headaches. A building usually expresses the character of the architect.
Now, the same thing is true concerning the building of the church. How is the church built? It is built by none other than God Himself, by Christ: “I will build My church.” Certainly, He has a pattern for it.
You know, through the church ages, people have been concerned about this matter of the pattern of the church. Some people say there is no pattern for the church. God leaves the pattern to man, to the genius of man. The church is the product of history, and through the ages it varies, changes, and is organized and formed according to the genius of man. So there is no pattern.
Now, I believe you are wiser than that. Where is the pattern?
Some people say that you find a pattern in the Old Testament. In other words, Christianity today is organized according to the pattern of Judaism.
You know, in Judaism you have a code of laws, the Ten Commandments. So, if we want to have a church, we have to have a creed—what we believe.
In Judaism, you have a form of worship. There is a certain form in which people should worship. So, when we worship God, we have to develop a certain form, and of course different people develop different forms.
Then, in Judaism, you have a definite place of worship: the tabernacle or the temple. That is the place you go to worship. So we need a sanctuary, a place that we call the sanctuary, the place of worship. We go there to worship, as if, if we are not there, we are not worshiping.
Then, in Judaism, you find a system of priesthood. Only the Levites, out of the tribes—only the house of Aaron—could be priests. All the others were laymen, and they left all the spiritual service to these priests, a sacred class.
So, in Christianity, you find the same thing. In Roman Catholicism, you have the so-called fathers after the Old Testament rabbis. In the Protestant church, you have the pastor-clergy system. In other words, we try to find the pattern of the church in the Old Testament.
Do you realize that, as we are drawing close to the end of our days, Christianity is returning more and more to the Old Testament to find everything there?
Let me give you some illustrations. If you want to have a church, you need a choir. Now, where can you find the scriptural basis for a choir? You find that in the Old Testament. You remember, David organized the choir—people especially trained for singing praises to God.
No longer is it the singing of the whole assembly, but some special people singing unto the Lord.
In the old days, the Roman Catholic system had priests with robes and all these things. Now, in Protestant churches, you find these things becoming more and more popular. I remember when I was a boy, I was raised in a Methodist church, and in the Methodist church the pastor never wore any special robe. But now they are wearing them.
So, ever since, you find men’s minds trying to find a pattern for the church. More and more they try to go back to the Old Testament to find it, because they never find it in the New Testament.
But we know the Old Testament is a type; it is a shadow. When the reality has come, the shadows pass away. If you are still holding on to the shadow, then you too pass away.
So where can we find the pattern? Where is the pattern? Ah, I remember in the 1960s there was a movement in this country—perhaps in other countries too—saying, “We want a New Testament church.”
They had ten people. Well, elders had to be plural, so at least two; deacons, three; and the other five, the congregation. When you had that, they said, “Oh, we have a New Testament pattern. Wonderful.”
And you know, such movements usually end in disaster. I think the older ones among you may still remember. So today you hardly hear about the New Testament church anymore, because disaster has happened.
So, brothers and sisters, do you think God, Who purposed such a purpose even before the foundation of the world, would give us no pattern for the New Testament church? Can you believe that?
There must be a pattern. God never does anything by chance. He is the best Planner and Designer. Where do you find the New Testament pattern?
Well, open the New Testament. What do you find? The first four books are called the Gospels. The Gospels give us the story of Christ. Then follows Acts, the story of the church.
I think there is a hint. Where is the pattern of the church? The pattern of the church can be found in the four Gospels. In other words, the pattern of the church is Christ. He is the pattern, just as Adam was the pattern of Eve.
God does not go anywhere else to find a design. The pattern is right here.
The reason you find the four Gospels before us is to show us the living Christ. The living Christ is the pattern, because the church is a living church.
The church is not an organization; it is an organism. It is living. The church is not an earthly institution; it is heavenly, spiritual, and of life. The church is not mechanical or technical. The church is spiritual, heavenly, living—the living church of God.
Many years ago, I went to England and visited Westminster Abbey. I do not know what your impression is, but when I went to Westminster Abbey, I came out with the feeling that it was the church of the dead, because everywhere you find tombs and tombstones, even though these were all great men.
What is the church of the dead? That is not the church. The church is the church of the living. It is patterned after the living Christ.
So unless we know Christ in a living way, there will be no church. The testimony of the church is the living Christ.
Because of that, you find it is not technical; it is not mechanical. It is living, for life—the life of Christ Himself. As the life of Christ increases in measure, the church increases in measure.
He is the pattern. I think that is wonderful. You cannot pin the church down to a fixed position, a dead position. It is living, it is reviving, it is increasing; and it increases as the increase of Christ among His people.
The living knowledge of Christ is the pattern of the church.
So how much is the church built? It depends on how much the life of Christ is in the midst of God’s people, how much we follow His life. That is where the pattern is.
You know, even in the Old Testament, when you come to the matter of types—for instance, the tabernacle—you find the same principle.
God led the children of Israel out of Egypt and brought them to Sinai. There, in Exodus 19, God revealed His mind to His redeemed people. Why did God deliver them out of Egypt? Not just to set them free so they could live their own lives. No. God delivered them out of Egypt unto Himself, to make them His people.
So God gave them His law. By the law they would be known as God’s people. But after God gave them the law, He did not stop there.
In Exodus 25:8, God said:
And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
In other words, God began to reveal what was in His mind. The reason God wanted to have a people for Himself was that God might dwell among them. God wanted a dwelling place, a home, among His people, so that His people might have a home in God.
So God said, “Make Me a sanctuary.” God gave the pattern on the mount for that tabernacle.
You know, Moses learned all the learning of Egypt, and Egypt at that time was noted for its architecture. Even today, you go to Egypt and see the pyramids. They are not only gigantic, but how did they bring all those huge stones to such heights? It is an engineering feat, and even an astronomical genius.
Egypt was noted for its architecture, and Moses was a great architect. If God had said, “Build Me a tabernacle,” Moses might have said, “That is easy. I can build a palace, and a tabernacle is nothing to it.”
But no: God gave all the details to Moses—the whole pattern. Not only the materials, the amount used, and the color, but everything to the minutest detail. God warned him again and again to do all things according to the pattern on the mount. Do not deviate from it. Do not think that you are wiser than God.
The Bible says Moses was faithful in God’s house. Why? Because he followed every item according to the pattern on the mount. Such faithfulness!
Brothers and sisters, there is a pattern, and it behooves us to follow that pattern.
Even in the building of the temple in the Old Testament, you find the same thing. David was not allowed to build the temple because he had shed too much blood, but God gave him the pattern.
In 1 Chronicles 28, David said that God used His finger to draw the blueprint for David. Every detail was given to David, and the temple had to be built according to the pattern.
So that is true with the Old Testament type. Brothers and sisters, how much more is it true in building the reality—the church?
It is not something left for us to decide what to do. We need to go to the Word of God to learn Christ—not merely as knowledge, but as life. We must have a living knowledge of Christ Jesus, and that living knowledge is the pattern for the New Testament church.
So I think maybe tonight we will end here, and, God willing, tomorrow we will continue with the rest. Shall we have a little prayer?
Dear heavenly Father, we want to thank Thee for gathering us together here tonight, and we thank Thee for Thy precious Word. Thy Word is so precious to us.
Dear Lord, we pray that Thou wilt draw our hearts toward Thy heart, that we may really seek to understand Thy glorious purpose concerning Thy Son and concerning us.
Lord, we do pray that we will be faithful to the pattern that Thou hast revealed to us, even Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
We pray that we may have a living, vital relationship with Him, that His life may grow in us, as the pattern grows in the building of the church. We want to give Thee all the glory. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.