Will you please turn to 1 Timothy 4:7-8?
But refuse profane and old wives’ fables.
And exercise thyself unto godliness:
for bodily exercise is profitable for a little;
but godliness is profitable for all things,
having promise of the life which now is,
and of that which is to come.
And again, turn to Ephesians 4:1-16. I will read in English first, and my brother will read it in Chinese.
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called,
with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all, Who is over all, and through all, and in all.But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore He saith, When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men.Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.
And He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ:
till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
but speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him, Who is the head, even Christ;
from Whom all the body, fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth,
according to the working in due measure of each several part,
maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.
Finally, turn to Colossians 3:5-17.
Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
for which things’ sake cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience:
wherein ye also once walked, when ye lived in these things.But now do ye also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth:
lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings,
and have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of Him that created him:
where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.Put on therefore, as God’s elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering;
forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye:
and above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.
And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Let us have a further word of prayer.
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for gathering us together unto Thyself. We thank Thee for Thy presence with us, as Thou hast promised.
Open our understanding and our hearts. Give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation unto the full knowledge of God.
We look to Thee to speak to us and work in us, until Thy glory is manifested. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
We want to thank the Lord for gathering us together this morning. If you still remember, last week we spoke on spiritual exercise and its effect upon our present life.
Spiritual exercise is profitable for all things because it has the promise of life. And the life here is zoe, which is the divine life—the life of Christ in each and every one of those who believe.
How are we going to live our life on earth? Before we believe in the Lord Jesus, we live our life by ourselves, and we live our lives for ourselves.
But now, thank God, we are no longer our own; we belong to our Lord Jesus. How, then, are we going to spend our time on earth?
We will no longer live for ourselves. Just as the apostle Paul said, “For me to live is Christ.” The only way for a Christian to live is to live by Christ.
We have mentioned before that, to unbelievers, the gospel is: “You do not need to die, because Christ has died for you.”
But now the gospel to believers is: “You do not need to live, because Christ lives for you.” If you let Christ live in your life, then you really have a Christian life.
We also mentioned how spiritual exercise will affect our family life. Christ is the Head of our family. Just as Joshua said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
This morning, if the Lord should tarry, we would like to go into another dimension of our life here: how spiritual exercise will affect our church life, and also how it will affect our social life.
Now, this morning we will focus on church life.
As a matter of fact, church life is something very special, only to Christians. People in the world may have a religious life, but, as we have said before, religious life is done by ourselves.
Only Christians—only those who have the life of Christ—are able to live church life. But, unfortunately, many Christians today think that they are living a church life when actually they are still living merely a religious life.
In Richmond, Virginia, on Sunday morning as we went to the meeting, we passed a number of so-called churches. I was impressed by the Catholic church, because the place was already packed, and also by other Protestant churches.
Now, Catholics like to go to early mass. Why? Because after they have attended the early mass, their duty is fulfilled. Then they can use the rest of the day for themselves.
Is that also true with many so-called Protestant churches? People will go to church in the morning, and it will be limited to an hour. When that hour is over, it is over. Then you can enjoy yourself.
There is no spiritual exercise then. You just go there as a religious duty, and you sit there passively. You have no contribution. You are simply trying to fulfill your religious duty, and then you can live for yourself.
Oh, thank God! We who are the Lord’s, we all have His life in us. The Lord has given us a church life, not just a religious life.
Religious life is lived by our own natural life, but church life is to be lived by the life of Christ in us.
Now, you may ask why. First of all, we need to know what the church is. What is the church?
You hear people say, “I go to church.” What do you mean? Perhaps you mean that you go to a special building around the corner, where there will be a religious service going on.
You may say, if it is raining, “I forgot to take my umbrella from the church.”
I remember during the Second World War, when I was in Singapore, one day a brother came hurriedly. He was agitated. He said, “Have you heard that the church was bombed?”
I said, “Brother, the church can never be bombed. It is only a building that was bombed.”
I believe, brothers and sisters, you know better. The church is not a physical building. A physical building is merely a place where the church may meet.
What is the church? Our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 16:18:
Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church;
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
The Lord Himself will build His church, and He will build it upon Himself, the Rock. In that building, even if all the gates of Hades are opened, they cannot overcome it.
Unfortunately, in English, the word church is not an exact translation of the Greek word ekklesia. The Greek word means “called-out ones gathered together.”
We who are called out of the world are gathered together in the name of our Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus said:
For where two or three are gathered together in My name,
there am I in the midst of them.
That is the simplest definition of the church. The church does not refer to one person. The church refers to a number of believers; it is a corporate body.
Those who believe in the Lord Jesus, those who are called out of the world, assemble together under the name of the Lord Jesus. Each one puts himself under the authority of Christ the Head.
When they gather in such a fashion, the Lord says, “I am in their midst.” The Holy Spirit is there, and He directs the brothers and sisters to exhort and encourage one another.
So, the church is an assembly. It is the assembling of the saints.
Of course, we know that it is not merely an assembly like other assemblies. When Christians gather together, we are gathered together in the name of our Lord Jesus.
We do not gather unto John Wesley. We do not gather under Martin Luther. We should not gather under John Calvin. We gather together unto the Lord, and we are the members of His body.
He will direct us and guide us, that we may be able to encourage and build up one another in love.
So first of all, remember: church life is assembling life. We assemble together.
You know, in 1904 and 1905 there was a great revival in Wales. That revival affected the whole world.
The instrument used by God was a young man. He was a miner, working in a mine, but he loved the Lord. He never missed an assembly.
He said, “If the Lord should come in that meeting and I am absent, what a loss it will be.”
So he attended every meeting of the church. One day, while he was praying with other brothers and sisters, he prayed a prayer that started the revival.
He was kneeling before the Lord, and he prayed, “Bend the church and save the world.” May the church be humbled before the Lord, that the Lord may save the world.
The effect of the revival was such that many miners were saved. They no longer cursed. It was said that, when they spoke to the donkeys that carried loads in the mines, the donkeys did not understand them anymore because the miners no longer used the old language.
It was also said that the judges wore white gloves because they had no cases to judge. The liquor stores were affected. That great revival affected the whole world.
It began with a young brother who never missed a gathering.
I know of another brother. He was a banker in China. Before he was saved, he was engaged in many worldly activities. But one day the Lord saved him.
After he was saved, he tried to attend all the meetings of the church. He put a Bible on his desk, and whenever people came to his office, he used every opportunity to share the gospel with them.
As a banker in China, he was invited to entertainment every evening. But after he was saved, he made it clear: whenever the church had a meeting, he would not entertain, nor would he attend any entertainment.
People asked him, “Other people go to church only on Sunday. Why is it that you go to church so often?”
He replied, “Is Sunday worship day?” They said, “Yes.” Then he asked, “But what is Monday? Is it not worship day too? And Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday?”
Does that sound reasonable to you? This is living church life.
But church life is more than assembling together. Assembling together is our outward testimony, showing the world that we meet in the name of the Lord Jesus.
But church life is not limited to assembling together. Even when you are not assembling together, you still live a church life.
Why? Because the church is the body of Christ. Can any member leave the body and live for a day by itself? We are joined together as one; wherever you go, you belong to the body. It is body life.
The Bible uses another word concerning the church, and that word is fellowship.
What is koinonia? It means that we share the same thing. We have the same life, and we share the same fellowship.
In 1 Corinthians 1:9, we are told that God “called us into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
There is a fellowship in the universe which began before eternity. It is called the fellowship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is the fellowship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.
It is the most exclusive fellowship in the whole universe. There are only three Persons, but They share the same life.
But thank God! One day this fellowship was opened to us. The Lord Jesus accomplished such a salvation that He was able to open the door of that divine fellowship to include us.
Without that divine life, you cannot join that fellowship.
Now, brothers and sisters, do not be sorrowful because you cannot join an exclusive fraternity. You may not have the money to join one, but God has called us into the most exclusive fellowship without asking for any money.
In that fellowship, He has shared His life with you. He is sharing His Father with you. He does not withhold anything from you. He draws you into full fellowship with Him.
As the apostle John said in 1 John 1:3, the apostles had fellowship with the Father and with the Son, and they reported that fellowship to us so that we may have fellowship with the Father and with the Son.
Isn’t that wonderful? It is a sharing of the same life.
When God’s people gather together, we share the life of Christ with one another. As we share the life of Christ with one another, the result is that the life of Christ grows among us. That is the growth of the church; that is the increase of God in the church.
But remember: whether you assemble together or fellowship with one another, it cannot be done by our old self-life. It can only be done by spiritual exercise.
You have to open your spirit to the Lord. Let the Lord fill your heart, and then you are able to share with your brothers and sisters. You are not sharing yourself; you are sharing Christ with others.
By sharing, we enrich one another. Do not think that you know it all. We need to be humble enough to receive help from one another.
Dear brothers and sisters, in Hebrews 10:25 we are exhorted:
Not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is,
but exhorting one another;
and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.
It is important that we assemble together. I have seen people who think that they can live a Christian life without assembling with other Christians.
Their slogan is, “The Lord and I—we are enough. I do not need anybody else.” It sounds very spiritual, but it is very selfish.
I have seen people who cease to meet with God’s people. They think that they can live independently of their brothers and sisters. They can just live with the Lord and themselves. But the result is disastrous.
We need the Lord, and we need one another. We cannot do without the Lord, and we cannot do without one another.
So, dear brothers and sisters, do not forsake the assembling together. We need to encourage one another, especially when we know that the day is near. Our Lord is coming. We need to be prepared, and we need fellowship in order to grow.
There are a few principles that we need to understand. How can we assemble together? How can we fellowship with one another?
Number one: the headship of Christ. If you turn to Colossians 2:19, we will read it positively, omitting the word “not,” because the Colossian believers failed in this matter by not holding fast the Head.
Holding fast the Head, from Whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, increaseth with the increase of God.
Christ is the Head of the church, His body. In order that the body may live and grow, the whole body—every member in the body—has to hold fast the Head.
It is from the Head that direction comes. It is from the Head that life comes. Every member of the body has to be related to the Head.
Physically speaking, how are all the members of our body connected with the head? It is through the nervous system. The nerves go to all the members of the body, and all are connected to the head.
Our nervous system, spiritually speaking, is the Holy Spirit. How can Christ be Head over every member of the body of Christ? Because the Holy Spirit dwells in every member of the body of Christ.
The Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. He tells us what Christ is and what Christ means to us. The Holy Spirit who dwells in us does not speak of Himself; He is here to glorify Christ.
He reveals to us all the riches of Christ. It is by obeying the indwelling Holy Spirit that we make Christ our Head.
Brothers and sisters, if we do not obey the indwelling Spirit, we do not truly hold fast the Head.
You remember 1 John 2. We have the anointing, and the anointing speaks of the Spirit of God. He teaches us all things—not only big things, but also small things.
Oftentimes, we take care of the small things by ourselves. But He will teach you all things, even your speech. He will teach you Christ, share Christ with you, and enrich your life with Christ.
But we need to hold fast to the Head. That means we have to put ourselves under His authority.
This is what consecration means. In Romans 12:1, we read:
Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service.
Brothers and sisters, we really need to consecrate ourselves to the Lord. That is to say, surrender ourselves and take Him as our Head. Allow Him to show us what we should do, where we should go, and even how we should behave.
If we all hold fast the headship of Christ, then the whole body will be united. We minister to one another, and there will be increase—and the increase is the increase of God.
Number two: we need to keep diligently the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. This is Ephesians 4.
Every one of us who believes in the Lord Jesus has the Holy Spirit. There is such a thing as the unity of the Spirit.
What is the unity of the Spirit? The Bible tells us that we need to diligently keep it. We have the Holy Spirit in us, and when the Holy Spirit dwells in us, He brings to us a unity. This is called the unity of the Spirit.
Every one of us has it. This unity is explained in seven things.
In Ephesians 4:4-6, we read:
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all, Who is over all, and through all, and in all.
The first three things—one body, one Spirit, and one hope—are connected to the Holy Spirit.
How did we become one body? Remember Pentecost. One hundred and twenty believers gathered together in the upper room for ten days, and they prayed together. But they were still a congregation of one hundred and twenty individual believers.
Then, on the day of Pentecost, something marvelous happened. The Holy Spirit came upon them.
What did the Holy Spirit do to them? Unfortunately, today people think of Pentecost in terms of signs and sounds. They heard a sound as of a rushing mighty wind, and they saw tongues as of fire resting upon each one of them.
We are attracted by the sound and the sight, and that is what some people seek after. But that is not the meaning of Pentecost. The true meaning of Pentecost is something within.
If you turn to 1 Corinthians 12:13, this is the explanation of Pentecost:
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 baptism by the Holy Spirit is for the purpose of joining us into one body.
From the day of Pentecost, those one hundred and twenty were no longer simply individuals assembling together; they were a body with one hundred and twenty members.
Do you see the difference? You may have one hundred and twenty individuals gathered together, and they may pray together for ten days. That is wonderful. But for God, those one hundred and twenty must become one hundred and twenty members of one body.
They are no longer merely one hundred and twenty individuals. They are one hundred and twenty members of the one body of Christ. And all who afterwards believe in the Lord Jesus—the three thousand and many others, even we today—are baptized by the Holy Spirit into that one body.
When you believe in the Lord Jesus, something different happens. Perhaps you were brought up in a Christian family. You had prayed before, and you knew how to pray. I did.
But when you are saved, when you speak to God, the Holy Spirit and your spirit join together and testify that you are children of God. You cry out, “Abba, Father.”
Isn’t that true?
I have a friend, a fellow worker. When he first got married, the first time he went with his wife to his father-in-law’s house, he tried to call his father-in-law “Father.”
According to Chinese custom, you call your father-in-law “Father.” But he said it sounded strange, because he was still not his father.
Before you were saved, you called God “Father.” But now, when you call God “Father,” it is wonderful. Why? Because you are born again. You belong to God. You have His own life.
It proves that you are saved. By listening to your prayer, we can often tell whether you are saved or not.
The same thing is true with other believers. When you meet another Christian—I mean a real Christian—you feel there is a bond.
Because you are bought by the precious blood of Christ, you belong to Him, and He belongs to you. You find that your brother may be even closer to you than your natural brother.
This is body consciousness. We have Christ consciousness, and we have body consciousness. This body consciousness needs to be cultivated.
The more you cultivate it, the more real this body consciousness becomes to you.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we are one body, and we are members of that one body. We need to diligently keep the unity of the Spirit.
Then in Ephesians 4:5, we have one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. These are the three things related to the Son of God. We have one Lord. We believe Him as the Son of God, as Christ. We have one baptism; we are baptized in His name and belong to Him.
Then in Ephesians 4:6, we have one God and Father of all, Who is over all, and through all, and in all.
What, then, is the unity of the Spirit? It is the unity in the Spirit of God, in God the Son, and in God the Father.
This unity has already been given. We need to diligently keep it. If we do not diligently keep it, it is easy to lose it.
When you see a brother or sister, the first question is, “Do you believe in the Lord Jesus?” If the answer is yes, immediately you find that there is a bond between you and that brother or sister, even though you may be from another country.
But unfortunately, we have a second question: “What denomination do you belong to? What special faith do you believe?” If you do not have the same as I do, then we are separated. That is why there are all these divisions among God’s people.
Let us face the fact: we all believe in the Lord Jesus, and we have the unity of the Spirit. But we do not yet have the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
In this chapter, you have two unities: the unity of the Spirit and the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. The unity of the Spirit has already been given, but the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God is something to which we must arrive.
It is like a stick with two ends. The unity of the Spirit is the beginning. If you really follow the Spirit of God, you will come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
The unity of the faith is believing Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. All the teachings in the Bible and all our interpretations of the Scriptures have not yet come to that unity, but it is something to which we must arrive.
We all have some knowledge of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. But in Ephesians 4:13, it is the full knowledge of the Son of God. In the Greek original, it is epignosis—full knowledge.
We all have some knowledge of Christ, but we do not have full knowledge yet. We need to know Christ more and more, until we come to the full knowledge of the Son of God.
As we experience Christ, we will grow until we all share together. You experience Christ in one way; I experience Christ in another way. We share.
The way to reach from the unity of the Spirit to the unity of the faith and the full knowledge of the Son of God is fellowship.
We should open ourselves to all believers and be humble enough to receive whatever is from God. Nobody should insist upon his or her own specialty. If we are all open and seek the Lord together, then we will grow into fullness.
We will not be affected by every wind of heresy, but we will be able to grow up together with the increase of God.
We need to remember the universal priesthood of believers.
We who are saved are all priests unto God. For instance, in Revelation 1:5-6, we read:
Unto Him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by His blood;
and He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father;
to Him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Every believer is a priest unto God. People may not call you a priest, and you may not have the title, but you are a priest in reality.
A priest lives for God and serves God. We all must learn how to live for God and how to serve God.
God may entrust us with different gifts and different areas of service, but we do not serve all by ourselves. We serve together under the direction of the High Priest.
During the time when our Lord Jesus was on earth, it was the custom of the priests to gather together in a room when the temple doors were opened. They cast lots, and by the lot they knew which part of the service of the day they should engage in.
Today we do not cast lots anymore, because we have the Holy Spirit in us. Everything was outward then; now everything is inward.
We serve together under the direction of our High Priest. Our High Priest directs us through the Holy Spirit in us.
Nobody serves independently. We serve together as one. And nobody should simply receive and not serve. We need spiritual exercise.
Fourthly, that which really unites us together is love.
In Colossians 3, we are told that love is the bond of perfectness.
We need to be filled with the love of God in us. Without that love, everything is merely an outward appearance. Nothing will please the heart of God.
The most important thing is that we need to pray that the love of Christ will continually constrain us.
When we serve together, we may step upon one another. We may have conflicts. We need to forgive one another, and we need to forbear with one another.
In 1 Corinthians 13, love suffers long. We need to yield to one another, forgive one another, and continue to serve one another.
When we are doing these things, then you find the body of Christ. This is body life. This is church life.
You can see that church life is intensely spiritual. You need inward exercise in order to be able to live that church life.
Perhaps I should add something here. You know, there is a difference between fellowship and friendship.
Friendship is based upon our natural life. We may have the same background, the same upbringing, the same temperament, or the same interests. Because of this, we are attracted to one another, and we begin to have a friendship. That friendship may grow and grow and grow.
What is fellowship? Fellowship is a sharing of the same life of Christ. It is not based upon natural attractiveness, but upon the same Christ whom we have.
Strangely, you will find that friendship is not greatly emphasized in the Bible.
As a matter of fact, the Bible says that friendship with the world is enmity with God. The Bible emphasizes fellowship; it does not emphasize friendship.
There is only one kind of friendship in the Bible. Our Lord Jesus was a friend of sinners. He even called His disciples, “My friends.”
Isn’t it strange? When Judas came and kissed Him to betray Him, the Lord said, “Friend, do that for which thou art come.”
Friendship in the New Testament has a special meaning. It is the superior who condescends himself to the inferior in order to raise the inferior up.
It is spiritual maturity to call people friends. I simply mention it for your consideration.
Dear Lord, we commit all these things into Thy hands.
If it pleases Thee, Lord, use these words to help us, that we may be led into church life.
May Thy church be built, and may Thy purpose be realized, in Thy precious name. Amen.