Dear brothers and sisters, I just want to say that I think the Lord was wonderful: when the enemy came in like a flood, the Lord did lift up a standard against him. That teaches us something about the testimony of Jesus in the church.
It was amazing to hear Brother Stephen this morning speak for so long in the power of God. Let this be a lesson to all of us in how we can face the onslaught of the enemy. We can know what it is to overcome by His grace and by His power alone.
Now I wonder whether we could look at the Word of God in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, chapter 1. We have read these verses a number of times, from verse 15.
For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and the love which ye show toward all the saints,
cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him;
having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
and what the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to that working of the strength of His might
which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and made Him to sit at His right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
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.
Ephesians 1:15-23
Then, in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, chapter 1, from verses 16 to 18:
For in Him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through Him, and unto Him;
and He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
And He is the head of the body, the church: Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence.
Colossians 1:16-18
Then one verse from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 12:
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.
1 Corinthians 12:12
Let us just join in a word of prayer.
Beloved Lord, as we come together this evening, we worship You that You have made full provision for us. We thank You that You have not left us to our own gifts, talents, or energy, but You have provided us with an anointing for the speaking of Your Word, for the translating of it, and for the hearing of it.
You have provided that anointing at enormous cost. You died on Calvary, and You finished that work. Upon that basis, You poured out the Holy Spirit. We thank You that that anointing is ours in the Lord Jesus. We stand into it now by faith. Manifest it, Lord, in the most practical manner.
Lord, we need You. You have been with us in these days. When the enemy came in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord raised up a standard against him. We give You all the glory—not the doctors, not the nurses, but to You, Lord. Yes, You did it.
Now we come to this last time. So, Lord, fill it with Yourself. We ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Well, as Brother Stephen said this morning, if you do not know what the theme of this conference is now, it is a little late to tell you. It is the testimony of Jesus in the church.
I was so nervous about my responsibility in this. What does the Word of God reveal? I spoke with Brother Stephen about it, because I thought, “Well, the only pattern I can see in the Word of God is the Lord Jesus.” I suppose that was the only pattern he could see as well.
So I said to him, “Well now, I am probably going to say much the same thing as you.” He said, “Do not worry about it. Just give what the Lord gives you.”
What has been happening is that we have basically been crossing paths the whole time—far more ably than I. Well, he is more elderly than I! But praise the Lord.
This testimony of Jesus in the church is Christ. You have to be blind not to see that. The church is not a human organization, a human institution, a tradition, a denomination, or a set of rules. The church is a Person, and that Person is the Lord Jesus.
It is a question of being in Him, drawing from the Head, experiencing the life, being made wise, growing up into Him as Head, and experiencing the whole body developing as each part functions.
It is a wonderful revelation we have in the Word of God. This is the revealed pattern, but it is very strange to the flesh. We want an organization. We understand that.
Whether it is a bird-watching club, a stamp-collecting club, or some other human society, we understand these societies. They elect their leaders, collect money, and advertise themselves. This is all absolutely normal to us. It is part of this world.
When somebody says, “The church is Christ; it is Head and body,” for a moment we are stunned. How do you handle that? It is handled from heaven.
The moment the flesh gets in on it, it destroys it, paralyzes it, and it dies. All the power of the Head, all the power of His resurrection life, is simply paralyzed and deadened by the flesh.
This has been the focal point of satanic strategy all the way through from Pentecost: bring every great move of the Holy Spirit down to the flesh level. Make it the same as any other organization or institution in the world. Make it something religious. Paralyze the Head. Paralyze the headship. Alienate the body from the Head.
But it is amazing when it begins to dawn on you that the church is essentially and completely a spiritual matter. It has ministries, workers, apostles, prophets, shepherds, teachers, and evangelists—there is no doubt about that—but it is a spiritual matter. It is the calling of the Lord and the appointment of the Lord. It grows out of life.
When you begin to understand this, the flesh is paralyzed. You cannot promote this. You cannot build this organization with the flesh. You cannot perpetuate this tradition. You come up against an invisible wall.
The church is nothing unless the Holy Spirit is the supervisor. From the day of Pentecost, it has been the Holy Spirit’s responsibility to build the church. The Father longs for this. The Son made it absolutely clear:
Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:18
It is the Holy Spirit’s responsibility to manage the whole course of church history. Friends, this is something tremendous. We are not dealing with something small.
Yesterday evening I spoke about the headship of the Lord Jesus. Brother Stephen spoke about His headship in the morning, and I spoke again about it in the evening. Let me emphasize it again: if we, as members of the body, do not hear the Head, the church will die. It is as simple as that.
The intelligence is in the head. Therefore, on every level of the life of the church—whether it is elders, workers, or children’s work—every single level has to have those who will inquire of the Lord.
This idea that somehow or other we just put our heads together, find a Bible pattern, and decide what we should do—what is the difference between that and the pope? There is not any difference. What is the difference between that and the pastor mentality? There is no difference.
You can have a committee, but if that committee gets on its knees and seeks the Lord, something always happens. You can have a church with elder brothers, but if they simply put their heads together, look at the book, and think, “This and this is what we should do,” then the thing dies.
The headship of the Lord Jesus is the most vital element in the testimony of Jesus in the church.
Could there be a more interesting church than Laodicea? Affluent, educated, sophisticated—Bible studies, evangelistic outreach, the Lord’s Table, everything. They sing about the Lord, study the life of the Lord, take the Lord’s name, and the Lord is outside of the whole thing, knocking on the door.
It is one of the most plaintive words ever ascribed to the Lord Jesus:
Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.
Revelation 3:20
Can you believe this? The Head of the church, the Saviour of the body, is outside. He does not say, “If all of you will hear.” He says, “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door.”
This matter of headship is all-important. I will say no more, because we have spoken about it already.
The second thing we talked about last night was Christ as all: beginning and end, Alpha and Omega. Listen to these words from 2 Corinthians 5.
Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new.
But all things are of God.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18
This is the revealed pattern for the church. Everything has to find its source in the Lord Jesus. Once we introduce other things from this fallen world, we introduce another source. Our origin determines destiny.
Humanism is rampant in the church: the philosophy of this world, Darwinism, evolutionary theory. Once we begin to introduce these things, even insidiously in the background, influencing our attitudes, it is another source.
We are not talking about loving people. We are talking about those things which do not find their origin in God.
According to the Western way of reckoning, I am seventy-seven years of age. According to the Chinese, I am seventy-eight. They have given me another year. You know why? Because they date from conception. Exactly what the Word of God says: “I knew thee in thy mother’s womb.”
I must not get onto this too much; otherwise, we start talking about other things. But the fact of the matter is that the church is being influenced by the seductive strategy of humanism.
Here is the third thing I want to underline: the church is the expression of Christ. It is to be the living, powerful expression of the Lord Jesus.
If you look at Acts 1, Luke says:
The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach.
Acts 1:1
That is the Gospel of Luke. What is the Book of Acts? It is the continuation of what the Lord Jesus was teaching and doing. It is the expression of the Lord Jesus.
It does not matter whether it is Peter or John; everywhere we follow them, there are churches expressing the Lord Jesus in one way or another.
Did you notice that verse in Ephesians 1, verses 22 and 23?
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.
Ephesians 1:22-23
If it were not in the Book, it would be blasphemy: His body is His fullness. Your body is the fullness of your head.
My head says, “Your eyes are not too good. You need the glasses.” How does my head get the glasses on? I take the glasses with both hands and put them on. My body is the fullness of my head.
If I want to touch that curtain and see what kind of material it is, how can I do it? My head says, “I am very interested in that curtain. I would like to know what kind of material it is.” My body carries out what the head intends.
Your body is the expression of your head. It is so simple. So the body, which is the church, is the expression of the Lord Jesus.
He wants to touch men and women; He does it through the members of His body. He wants to build up members of the body; He does it through other members.
The church on earth, in time and place, is meant to be the expression of the Lord Jesus in that place. He is in heaven, but we are on earth. By the Holy Spirit, we are joined to Him in heaven, and we are to be the expression of His grace and of His love.
The lampstand is not merely a piece of artistry. It is beautiful—solid gold—but it is not just something you look at and say, “Oh, is that beautiful?” It is not an antique that you merely display.
What is the lampstand for? It is for giving light. If it does not give light, it is meaningless.
The expression of the Lord Jesus is light. He said:
I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.
John 8:12
From the Head, by the Holy Spirit, this life becomes light.
Now let me put it another way. Listen to what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 5, verse 14:
Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house.
Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16
Is this one of those contradictions that liberal theologians tell us the Bible is full of? Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” and then He says, “Ye are the light of the world.” Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify God.
Brothers and sisters, every assembly represented here should be an outshining of the Lord Jesus, light pouring out into the area in which that assembly is found. We should be full of good works.
Do not despise them. We are not saved by good works. The works are the evidence that by grace we have been saved. When people care for the sick, go out to help the injured, and visit people in hospitals, do not despise it. Do not think, “Oh, that is Catholic,” or, “That is Greek Orthodox.” We are the church. We belong to another kingdom. Where are our good works?
The Apostle Paul says, “Ye are sons of light.” Does that mean that we just have doctrinal light? No. The One Who healed the sick, cared for the poor, visited the widow, and cared for orphans is doing the same thing again through us.
How can an assembly live beside tragedy and pass by on the other side like the priest and the Levite? Jesus commended the Samaritan because he stopped, bound up the man’s wounds, put him on his own beast, and cared for him.
You were once darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. That is what Paul says in Ephesians 5:8. Why do we always think of light as cold and uncompassionate?
If Jesus was the light of the world, it is true that He uncompromisingly spoke the truth, but He was full of compassion. He was moved with compassion.
One of the most beautiful pictures in the Gospel is when a leper came to Jesus and said, “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.”
And Jesus touched him. I do not believe that anyone had touched that man since the day he contracted leprosy. He touched him and said:
I will; be thou made clean.
Matthew 8:3
And the man was healed. In that one single incident, you see the compassion of the light of the world—uncompromising and unyielding as to the truth, but full of divine love and compassion.
You know what an assembly ought to be? It ought to be the place where the love of God is expressed. It should be a place where the light of God is expressed and where the life of God is expressed.
Paul speaks of someone in 1 Corinthians 14. He says that an unsaved man will come in and fall on his face and say, “God is among you indeed.” Oh, for assemblies like that.
The testimony of Jesus has not changed. He still wants to touch the leper. He still wants to touch the alcoholic, the drug addict, and the convict. He has not changed. It is the testimony of Jesus.
There is another matter I would like to mention. Brother Stephen has already dwelt on this: the church as the oneness of Christ. Our brother spoke already about this, but if you will suffer me, it is good to hear it again with another voice.
The Apostle Paul says that we should give diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Now, dear child of God, listen to me. He did not say, “Strive to create the unity of the Spirit.” He said, “Keep it.” You cannot keep something you have not got. The unity of the Spirit is already a fact. You were born again into it.
This unity is something we are to maintain. You cannot keep a dog you do not have. You have to have a dog to keep it. So the Apostle Paul is saying, “You already have this unity of the Spirit.” You may contradict it, frustrate it, and cause problems, but the unity of the Spirit is yours. Maintain it.
In the same chapter, in verse 13, he says, “Till we all attain unto the unity of the faith.” The unity of the faith is something we are coming to.
As our brother said this morning, we do not see eye to eye on every single matter. I personally believe in a partial rapture, before the tribulation. I do not fall out with my brothers and sisters who believe we are going to go right through the tribulation and that there is only one coming of the Lord.
You maintain the unity of the Spirit whilst we do not quite see eye to eye on some matters.
I believe in baptism by immersion. I think you must be pushed right under the water—the more you are pushed under, the better—because you are to die. You are crucified with Christ, buried with Christ, and raised to walk in newness of life.
There are some brothers and sisters who sprinkle, with just a little bit of water, or even a jug. I think, “Are you really buried?” But I am not going to fight over it.
I personally believe, as a Jew, that you should have proper wine at the breaking of bread. I mean, to have grape juice! I take a pie at the Lord’s Table—well, for me it is shocking. At least we had unleavened bread, and at least we had a jug of juice, which meant we shared it. You had one; you passed it to me, and I passed it on. That is better than these individual cups.
Those individual cups are a perfect picture of the church: all individual.
When the Lord gave us the bread and the cup, it had tremendous meaning. For me, when I drink the wine, I understand it was the soul of the Lord Jesus that was poured out. But if it is grape juice, why should I fight about it? I wish you would all drink wine, but that is okay.
You understand what I am trying to say. We have to maintain the unity of the Spirit whilst we arrive at the unity of the faith.
You are Chinese; I am a Jew. There is only one Christ. I am in Him; you are in Him. He is in me; He is in you. What is that? It is the unity of the Spirit.
The British believe they are the only people in the kingdom of God, because they always believe that if you really are going on with the Lord, you will get a British temperament. You will become level and unflappable. You never panic! It is the character of the Lord Jesus—that is the British thing.
I think the Chinese think they are the best too. Do not worry. It is not for nothing they call China the Middle Kingdom—the centre of everything: best in food, best in culture, best in history, best in continuity. Nothing like the Chinese! You say, “I feel so sorry for the Africans. I feel sorry for the British. I wish they were Chinese.” Do not worry.
But this unity of the Spirit is tremendous. You have something to give that nobody else can give, and I have something to give which nobody else can give. When we maintain the unity of the Spirit whilst we come to the unity of the faith, the Lord can go on doing a great work.
But when we divide, there is a problem. Let me make this absolutely clear: this oneness of Christ is absolutely inclusive.
Every single person on this planet tonight who is born of the Spirit of God is included in that oneness, whatever their condition, whatever their colour, whatever their race, whatever their background. If they are born of God, they are in the oneness.
At the same time, there is an exclusiveness. You can be unbelievably religious, but if you are not born again, you are not in this oneness. You can know the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, but if you are not born of God, you are not in this oneness.
Listen to what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 15:7:
Wherefore receive ye one another, even as Christ also received you, to the glory of God.
Romans 15:7
How did Christ receive you? As a hopeless, undeserving sinner. Did you hear that? You were received by Christ as a hopeless, undeserving sinner. How am I to receive you? On that minimal basis: grace.
Suppose I say to my brother, “Do you smoke? I can smell it. I cannot have anything to do with you until you stop smoking. I will not have you in my home. I do not want that smell coming in.”
Or suppose I say, “Do you believe in a partial rapture? I cannot accept you. I will give you a booklet on how to be baptized properly, and until you are obedient, there is a blockage between us.”
Dear brother, dear sister, see what it says in Romans 14:1:
But him that is weak in faith receive ye, yet not for decision of scruples.
Romans 14:1
That is, we are to receive one another, but not investigate every single thing: “What do you believe here? How do you believe this? What do you do?” Listen: they are brothers and sisters.
Exclusivism as an idea is absolutely wrong. When we talk about the oneness of Christ, everyone who is not born of God is excluded—that is right. But be careful.
“Are you a Baptist? You ought to leave the Baptists. Are you an Episcopalian? Are you a Catholic? You should get out. I cannot have anything to do with you.” What can you mean?
Let me put it another way. The church down here is, by its very existence, imperfect. If you are looking for the perfect church, you will never find it.
There was a lady who asked D. L. Moody, “I am looking for the perfect church.” He said, “When you find it, it will not be perfect.”
The fact of the matter is that there is no such thing as a perfect church down here. Up there is the city, the precious stones; but down here, it is like a builder’s yard, with things all over the place.
If we were only an elite group, we would not let anyone in because we investigate them before they come. “We are perfect. We are clear on a whole number of major doctrines, and we only let in those who are as clear as us.”
Then one day someone says, “We have never seen a new person saved in this place for years. Should we not pray that God will save?” So we begin to pray: “Lord, multiply us. Save the unsaved. Bring among us men and women who have no Christian background, saved by Your grace.”
The Lord answers. Let us say He saves three thousand. The church is now imperfect. You have prostitutes, drug addicts, divorcees, alcoholics, swindlers, liars—and they have all got saved. Praise the Lord, they are justified in the sight of God. But the problems they have inside them do not all go in a moment. That is where we have all the problems.
It is much easier to be an elite overcoming group.
You know, that one hundred and twenty that Brother Stephen mentioned this morning were perfect in unity, perfect in devotion, Christ-centred, waiting for His coming. Could you ask for anything more?
Then on the day of Pentecost, three thousand were saved. Within a few months, five thousand. It grew in number and number and number. Into that perfect one hundred and twenty came all these very imperfect lives.
Why? Now comes the challenge to the one hundred and twenty. Shall we shut them out? Shall we look down on them? Shall we say, “They are not like us”? Or shall we serve them, care for them, walk with them, help them, and correct them?
Let me mention one other thing. In the Old Testament, there never was a division between the people of God who lived where they should not live and those who went back to the land.
They were all called the house of Israel. Some were living where the temple could not be built and where the prophecies could not be fulfilled. Those who went back were involved in the actual fulfillment of the purpose of God.
They rebuilt Jerusalem. They rebuilt the house of the Lord. They rebuilt Bethlehem. They rebuilt Galilee of the nations. Without them there would not have been Nazareth or Capernaum, where Jesus spent so many of His years.
Those who went back were directly involved with the coming of the Messiah, directly involved in the fulfilling of the purpose of God in all kinds of ways concerning the coming of the Messiah.
But never at any point did a division come between those who went back to the land and those who remained in their very comfortable homes.
The rabbis discussed the Book of Esther for years. There were two books they discussed: Ecclesiastes and Esther. They said, “These two books are not like the rest of Scripture.” They discussed and discussed: should they be included, or should they be left out?
The Book of Esther does not mention the Lord once. It does not mention the house of God, Jerusalem, or the eternal purpose of God. They said, “This book is heathen.” Here is Esther, whose very name was linked to Ishtar. Her real name was Hadassah. They said, “Here she is, married to a debauched sultan.”
But they decided in the end to keep the book within the canon of Scripture, because at the four turning points in the story, in Hebrew, the letters of the Lord’s name are hidden.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, they put it this way: if all the Jews had died in Persia and everywhere else, it would not have affected the Jews in Jerusalem. There were enough who had gone back to defend themselves.
But they said the Book of Esther speaks of the grace of God toward those who are living where they ought not to live.
Do you understand what I am saying? Do not take a superior attitude toward brothers and sisters in other churches and other groupings. We do not touch what is sinful, but we love the believer. We should love them, serve them, and do everything to help them grow.
The time has gone. Brother Stephen spoke about life, and all I would say in closing is this: in this life of Christ, everything the church needs is to be found. How does it come? In the life.
I remember on one occasion, in a country far away from here, I could not believe it. Everywhere I went there was a mess—in every single fellowship, every single assembly. Then I found out what had happened.
A brother I knew, with much flesh in his ministry, had gone into these places and said, “You and you and you are elders. You and you are deacons.” Of course, these dear groups had elders who were not elders and deacons who were not deacons.
Why did Paul leave Titus in Crete? Why did he not just fast and say, “You and you and you, the Lord says you are elders”? He said, “I left thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and appoint elders in every city.”
Why did Paul never appoint elders on his first trip? Only on the return. Is that not interesting? Was he lacking in discernment? Was he not walking close enough to the Lord? No.
It was a question of the organic. It seems to me that Paul had to leave time to see these brothers develop.
Personally, I do not believe that Paul ever simply said, “You, you, and you are elders.” Some people believe that is apostolic. I am pretty sure that Paul asked different people within each of those assemblies, “What do you think about that?” It seems to me that he is growing.
That is why he said to Timothy:
Lay hands hastily on no man.
1 Timothy 5:22
As the life of the Lord Jesus flows through the assembly, it becomes clear who has responsibility. You cannot simply appoint someone and give him responsibility. He is either responsible or he is not.
This matter of life is tremendous. The fruit is in the life. A grapevine always has grapes; you do not get peaches from it, because the life is grape life. You get peaches from a peach tree because it has peach life.
It is wonderful to think that this life, this resurrection life of the Lord Jesus, is the key to church life.
Just look at the history of the church. Every time the Head has been divorced from the body, every time somehow or other the life of the Lord Jesus has been deadened or paralyzed, what has happened? Instead, you get a lifeless church.
In every single move of the Spirit, by the fourth or fifth generation, it has died. The longest living movement that I know from my studies in church history was the Brethren.
How we need to guard the life. How we need to follow the law of the Spirit of life, as our brother said this morning.
If you remember going back to the first evening, those olive-tree branches were pouring gold into the lampstand. They were filled with the Holy Spirit, in whom the nature and life of the Lord Jesus were being reproduced, providing the fuel for the light.
When Ephesus lost its first love, it was not long before it died. That is why the Lord Jesus said:
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent.
Revelation 2:5
These days are on our hearts. Do not let these days pass by, Lord. Make it alive in every one of us. May Your Holy Spirit work in us to the place where we are prepared to be living sacrifices.
Hear this prayer, Lord. We ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.