I really do not know how to follow what has transpired and happened this morning already. I think the Lord really wanted to impress upon all of us His great love in the power of one look—how it can change a life.
Now, it can change our lives. It changed my life. He looked upon us. Thank the Lord for that.
This morning, I wanted to share on A Look into the Heart of God. Now, look into the heart of God in Christ. He has looked upon us, and may we look upon Him this morning.
Lord, we just come to You. Lord, I honestly do not know how to convey what You have put in my heart. But, Lord, we come and depend on the Holy Spirit to anoint not only the ability to speak, but also to hear.
Lord, we come under Your precious blood this morning, that blood that so avails before the throne and allows us access to Your very presence. Lord, we thank You this morning. Continue, Lord, to pour out Your love and Spirit upon us this morning as we look into Your Word, in Jesus’ name.
Well, when I was at the CFC this year, David P’ing was speaking. While he was speaking, he made mention of this thought of looking into the heart of God and looking into the heart of Christ. At the time, that really struck me and has been with me ever since.
You know, it is a bit astounding to think about being able to look into the heart of God. Think about that: God, the Almighty God, the Creator—to be able to look into the heart of God.
We are mere humans, brothers and sisters, mere mortals. He is the Immortal, so far above us. He encompasses the whole universe. He fills it. Brothers and sisters, just think of the privilege of being able to look into His heart.
And there is something yet more astounding to me: God wants us to look into His heart. He desires that we look into His heart. He wants to reveal what is in His heart to us. I think that is quite amazing.
Brothers and sisters, He made evident this morning His great love for us. We know that His heart, as it were, exploded with love and said, “I so love the world, I’ll give My only begotten Son.”
I cannot quite express how amazing it is to me that God is really interested in us and desires that we look into His heart, that we see what His heart is.
In 1 Samuel 13:14, speaking of David, of course, He says, “The Lord hath sought Him a man after His own heart.” Brothers and sisters, He wants us to look into His heart. He desires that we seek His heart, and He is especially thrilled when He finds one who is after His heart.
Not only does He want to reveal His heart to us; He desires a response. Brothers and sisters, to me, that is very profound: to be able to look into the heart of God, and the fact that God wants us to see.
You know, Proverbs 4:23 says:
Keep thy heart with all diligence;
For out of it are the issues of life.
The heart is the key to everything. It is the key to your life. Out of God’s heart come the very issues of life—the very things that He is concerned about, that are on His heart all the time.
Brothers and sisters, the issues that are preeminent in God’s heart should also be preeminent in the hearts of those who are given the privilege to look into it, to see His heart.
And so, what do we see when we look into God’s heart? I think that was what was on David P’ing’s mind and heart when we came to that conference. What do we see when we look into God’s heart?
First of all, from the Old Testament, I will say this much: you can only look into God’s heart by the Spirit, by the Holy Spirit. If you do not have Christ, if the Holy Spirit is not in your life, you cannot see into the heart of God. It is impossible. You must be born again to seek His heart.
We also find that the Lord has revealed His heart in His Word. So, through the Spirit and the Word, we can actually look into the heart of God. I would encourage anyone who wants to know who God is to look into the Word, asking Him to open that Word to you by the Spirit—particularly the Gospels, and in particular, the Gospel of John.
The Lord says, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” Brothers and sisters, may the Lord open our own hearts this morning as we come before Him.
When God created the heavens and the earth, and all the living things, He said it was good. In other words, it brought Him satisfaction. He was pleased.
In Revelation 4:11, speaking of Christ, His Son, it says:
Thou art worthy, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honour and the power:
For thou didst create all things,
And because of thy will they were, and were created.
The Father’s pleasure, brothers and sisters, is in pleasing His Son. All of creation was created for His Son, including man, including you and me, who have been made after the image and likeness of God. No other creature carries the image and likeness of God.
But, brothers and sisters, we know that to come into the fullness of God, we have to receive Christ, our Savior. His desire is that His Son would be the center of everything, of everything that He did. It was for His pleasure.
What else do we see in that first book, in Genesis? It is amazing: right off the bat, we see a marriage, when Eve is brought to Adam.
You remember the story of how Eve was brought to Adam. He was put to sleep. God took something from his side, and He made Eve and brought her to Adam. Adam said, “Bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.”
Brothers and sisters, we know this is a foreshadowing of Christ looking for His bride. His bride will come out from Christ. His bride will be a result of Calvary’s cross, where the spear pierced His side. Out came water and blood: blood for the redemption of man, and water for life, to give His life for us.
His bride would come out of Calvary’s cross. So, even in Genesis, we see what was on God’s heart for His Son, whom He wanted so to please: a bride for His Son.
Remember, in Revelation it says, “The bride hath made herself ready.” In the beginning, we see a bride. In the end, we see a bride. We see the fullness of what that bride will be like when we look into the New Jerusalem that John was given revelation of.
“Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
What else was a prominent feature in Genesis? The tree of life. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden. It was in the midst of the universe, basically. That should give us a hint that this tree of life becomes the center of everything, of the creation.
Of course, we know the tree of life is Christ Himself, right? So, right in the very beginning, we have an insight into what is in God’s heart: looking for a bride for His wonderful Son.
Christ was to be the source of life for this universe, the source of life for man. Brothers and sisters, we know that eternal life only comes to those who know Christ and have Christ. He is to be the center of every man’s life.
But unfortunately, not every man has partaken of the tree of life, who is Christ. I would encourage anyone who might be here this morning, who has not partaken of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, to do so this morning. This is in God’s heart. This is what we see when we look into God’s heart.
Jesus Christ is everything to God. I can say it another way: Christ is God’s everything. And He means for Christ to be our everything. Christ consumes God’s heart. All things are centered in His Son in His eyes.
After the fall of man, unfortunately, God’s plan encountered a problem. Man fell into sin. In fact, man became so evil that the Word of God says every thought in his heart was evil.
So much so that God could no longer bear it. He said, “I am going to have to judge the earth. I am going to flood the earth. I am going to take away everything, all living things.”
At that point, we might think the hope and desire of a bride for His Son would be lost in the judgment. But God spared Noah and his family. Remember that? He said, “They are righteous before Me.”
How were they spared? They were spared from God’s judgment because they were in the ark. All that was in the ark escaped God’s judgment.
Once again, a foretaste of God’s heart: that His Son be everything. Even the redemption and salvation of mankind would come through His Son, Jesus Christ.
But once again, even after the flood, that fallen nature of man began to do its work, and it brought much evil and darkness into this world. In the end of time, in the fullness of time, evil will reach its fullness. Once again, God will come and have a final judgment upon mankind.
In Matthew 23:33, speaking of judgment, these are the words of Jesus Himself:
Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell?
That is judgment, the final judgment. Brothers and sisters, God looked on His Son and said, “I am going to bring a final judgment on earth and on mankind. But You, I want You to be the ark. I want You to be My way of deliverance.”
“You are going to be man’s only hope of deliverance from My judgment. All that I find in the ark, all that I find in You, shall escape My judgment.” This is the heart of God.
Once again, we look at the nation of Israel. When they went into bondage in Egypt for four hundred years, God used Moses to lead Israel out of their bondage.
We know it was by that last plague that finally broke Pharaoh, when the Lord said, “I am going to bring death upon all the firstborn of Egypt.” It would have applied even to the Jews, but the Lord, through Moses, told them, “Take a lamb, a spotless lamb. Take its blood and put it over the door.”
“When I see the blood—when the angel of death sees the blood—he will pass over you.”
Brothers and sisters, the Word of God is very clear. Once again, God looked upon His Son. He said, “You are My Lamb. You have been the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. You are My everything, but You are also to be My precious Lamb—the perfect, sinless Lamb.”
I do not know exactly what God might have said, but He probably said, “Son, You are going to be My precious Lamb. I am going to send You to earth as the Son of Man. You will be the Man I have always been looking for, the perfect Man.”
“I am going to have to offer You up in sacrifice for the sins of man, for that corrupt nature that we see in man. Only You can pay the price of death for every man. You will have to take their place in death, that they might be spared.”
“Your precious blood—when I see Your precious blood on the heart of any man, I will pass over.” Thank the Lord.
Jesus Christ became God’s Lamb. Your shed blood, Lord, is the only thing that can pay the debt of my sin. You are the only One, Lord, who can overcome the sin nature that I have within my flesh.
He must have said to His Son, “Look, the great suffering that You will have to go through, only I can understand. You are precious to Me. But My desire is to recover man, to recover everything back to Me that has been lost through man’s fall.”
Once the people of Israel were delivered and went out into the desert, God decided that He wanted to dwell with them—not just to lead them, not just to direct their lives, not just to provide for them, but He wanted to dwell in their midst, brothers and sisters.
How would He be able to do that? Where was the place that He could dwell in the midst of His people and feel at home among His people?
God instructed Moses to build a tabernacle. We know, brothers and sisters, that tabernacle was Christ. Christ in the wilderness was God’s dwelling place.
Look at the outer court. The bronze altar of sacrifice was there, and the laver for cleansing: Christ our sacrifice. The blood of the Lamb is what cleanses us.
Look into the holy place. The lampstand was there: Christ, the Light of the World. The table of showbread: Christ, the Bread of Life. The altar of incense: unbroken communion with God.
Look into the holy of holies: the ark of the covenant. Brothers and sisters, that wooden box overlaid with gold speaks of the humanity, the perfect humanity of Christ, and the gold speaks of God Himself. It speaks of Christ as the Son of God. It is all Christ.
That is where God was pleased to dwell as they moved about through those forty years in the wilderness.
Brothers and sisters, I do not know if you have ever thought about this, but when Christ was on earth, we know that really the Spirit of God was no longer in that earthly temple. So where was God dwelling? He was in His Son.
That is how God was able to dwell among His people in those days, in the days of Christ on this earth. Christ was the temple of God.
We know this because when the disciples told Jesus, “Look at this great, wonderful temple,” the Lord looked at it and said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” He was talking about Himself. His body was the temple of God. Christ is God’s temple.
Today, God dwells in Christ. But where does Christ dwell? God dwells in Christ, but where does God dwell?
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
— Matthew 18:20
Brothers and sisters, this is amazing. Two or three gathered together in His name as the church—that is where Christ is pleased to dwell among His people. Of course, God is dwelling in Christ.
Today, God’s dwelling place is the Christ, which is Christ the Head and Christ His Body, the church. Do you see what I am trying to get at?
1 Corinthians 12:12 says, speaking of the church:
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.
Now, I hope you caught that. He does not say, “So also is the church.” That is what He is describing—the church—but He says, “So also is the Christ.”
So, the Christ is Christ the Head and the church His Body. Member by member, we are members of the Body of Christ. Once again, brothers and sisters, we need to see that He says, “So also is the Christ,” instead of “the church,” because we have all been baptized into one Body, the Body of Christ, by the Spirit.
You are all members of that precious Body, the tabernacle of Christ Himself, that which is out of Christ and is an extension of Christ Himself.
Now, brothers and sisters, this is not just knowledge I am trying to show you. This is a profound reality. The church is the Body of Christ, and you are members—members.
You are not members on a list with your name on it, like a church membership roll. You are a living member, a joint of supply, in the house of God—His dwelling place, brothers and sisters. That is the importance in God’s heart that you and I have.
You know, when you look into God’s heart, all you see is Christ. I mean, we experience the love, but that love comes out of Christ. What you see when you look into God’s heart is Christ.
Brothers and sisters, now, we are there. But when God looks at us, He sees us in the Body of Jesus Christ. I hope you get the difference. We are there, but what He sees is Christ when He looks upon us. Amazing.
From the New Testament, what do we see? The place that the Son of God has in His heart. We need to see the place of Christ.
I am going to read parts of Hebrews 1. It says:
God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners,
Hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son.
His Son is the final Word. His Son sums up all that the prophets have said and tried to reveal to us. His Son is the revelation of everything that God wants us to know and see.
It says He has appointed Him heir of all things. Everything was created for His Son. He is to be heir of everything.
It goes on to say in verse 3 that Christ is:
The effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance.
Read the Gospels. Christ was the express image of God. Do you want to see God? Do you want to know God? You have got to look at Jesus Christ. You have got to know Him. Have your eyes opened as you read through these Gospels to see the person of Christ.
Then in verse 5, He says:
Thou art my Son;
This day have I begotten thee.
And again, I will be to him a Father,
And he shall be to me a Son.
Again, in verse 6:
And when he again bringeth in the firstborn into the world he saith,
And let all the angels of God worship him.
Christ—what honor He gives to His Son. He commands all the angels to worship Him.
But unto the Son, verse 8, He says:
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever;
And the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
And:
Sit thou on my right hand,
Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet.
This is the honor. This is the place that He has given to His Son. This is the place of His Son that we should recognize as well.
While on earth, in John 8:58, Jesus testified of Himself:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was born, I am.
“I am.” Where else did you hear that word, “I am,” in the Scriptures? I think most of us already know. God told Moses that when they asked what His name was, tell them, “I AM THAT I AM.”
Christ is testifying of Himself, basically, saying, “I am the I AM. I am God.” Of course, the Pharisees immediately recognized what He was saying. They challenged Him, saying, “You have no witness to Your testimony.” He said, “Oh no, I have a witness. The Father is My witness to the testimony that I am.”
Brothers and sisters, God has made His Son, Christ, the I AM.
We remember from the Scriptures that Christ Himself testified, “I am the Bread of Life.” There is no way to have life apart from the Son. Eternal life is by the Son. All who believe on Him shall have eternal life.
He says, “I am the Light of the World.” The world has no light; it is in darkness. But I am the Light.
He goes on to say, “I am the resurrection and the life.” You may experience death, but I can raise you from the dead. I am the resurrection and the life.
He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” We live in a world full of lies, brothers and sisters. But Christ says, “You want to know the truth? You need to know Me.”
“I am the Good Shepherd.” I think we have all experienced what it means to have Christ as your Shepherd. “I am the great I AM. I am the door. I am the way in. You have got to open that door.”
“I am the true vine,” the true sustenance of your life. “I am the pleasure of your life. I am.”
Brothers and sisters, the Father has given to the Son the place of being the I AM—for you, for me, for every need, for every problem, for everything that is needed. He is the I AM.
Do you see the place that the Son has in the Father’s heart? The immense value the Son is to Him, how much He loves the Son. He has given His Son all the responsibility of carrying out His will: for the redemption of man, for the restoration of all things, and the provision of life into eternity.
He has bestowed all honor, power, and glory upon His Son. This is the place He has for His Son: immense love for His Son. I cannot use a word big enough to express the love that God has for His Son.
Brothers and sisters, all of us in Christ—that love flows down to us. Christ said, “The Father loved Me.” He loves you. Is that not amazing? It is all because we find ourselves in Christ.
Three times, when Jesus was on earth, the Father’s voice broke through the heavens: “This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
The first one is in Matthew 3:16-17, when Jesus was baptized:
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him,
And he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him;
And lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
At Jesus’ baptism, He was committing Himself to the way of the cross. He was committing Himself before the principalities and before men: “Look, I am here to accomplish redemption on this earth, and I am committed to that.”
Brothers and sisters, God broke the heavens. He looked on His Son making that commitment before men, before angels, principalities, and powers, and said, “I am well pleased.”
In Matthew 17:5, at the Mount of Transfiguration, you remember Peter, James, and John. The Lord had taken them up to the top of the mountain, and Elijah and Moses appeared. They began to talk to Jesus about His departure, by which He was to go back to the throne.
As they were talking, Peter broke in and said, “Oh, wow, this is so wonderful. I want to make a tabernacle for Jesus, for Moses, and for Elijah.”
Immediately, a cloud came over them, and they could no longer see Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. God, frankly, was a little displeased with Peter. Then a voice broke from heaven:
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Then the cloud lifted, and all that was there was Jesus and those three disciples. No one else can even be in the same place as the Son.
As great as Moses and Elijah were, they had no place in being compared with the Son. He is saying, “No one can take the place of My Son. I am well pleased. Hear ye Him.”
The last time is in John 12:27-29. I think it was the day before Calvary. The Lord said to His disciples:
Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.
But for this cause came I unto this hour.
Father, glorify thy name.
Then the voice from heaven thundered:
I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
The Father spoke. It was thunderous. If you read the Scriptures, it says the people standing by heard it and said that it thundered. The voice of God—they heard the voice of God. He was going to glorify His Son.
These three times, the Father was so pleased with His Son that He just broke through the heavens. It is like a father who can no longer contain himself, saying, “This is My beloved Son. This is My heart—My beloved Son.”
In Ephesians 1:20-21, it says that God raised Him from the dead and set Him down 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.
God raised Him from the dead. He was so pleased with His Son, and He enthroned Him at His right hand. Brothers and sisters, He did glorify His Son again. His Son now has the double honor of being the Son of God and the Son of Man. His glory has increased through the work of Calvary and the resurrection.
In Colossians 1:18, it says:
Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
This is the Father’s heart: preeminence, brothers and sisters, in your life and mine. First place means just that. He is to have preeminence not only in our lives, but in the church itself.
Then, in verse 19, it says:
For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell.
All the fullness dwelt in Christ Jesus. Think about that. When He was on earth, in that earthly body, all the fullness of God dwelt in Him.
The Lord says, “I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!” In other words, brothers and sisters, all of the Godhead was dwelling in Him bodily, and He was restrained by space and time.
What a restraint. But thank God, through Calvary’s cross, all of those restraints were thrown off, and now He is enthroned. All the fullness of God dwells in Him.
But there is more that God says about that. In Ephesians 1:22-23, speaking of the fullness that fills Christ, it says:
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.
It does not say the church is like a body. It says it is His Body. That should show us something of the importance of the church, of you and me, brothers and sisters, joined together as the Body of Christ.
That fullness which is now in Christ needs a Body to be fully expressed, not only to the things on earth, but in the heavens and to the principalities and powers. It takes the entire church to express all the fullness in Christ.
Brother Sparks has a lot to say about fullness, much better than I can. But all I can say is that this fullness has no end. This fullness is an infinite fullness.
Brothers and sisters, we will go into eternity being an expression, bringing out all the fullness of Christ. What else will be revealed and seen, I do not know. But I do know that this is a tremendous responsibility that Christ has put upon His church.
God has given His Son a Body, an organic spiritual Body, that is to be an expression of all the fullness of Christ. This is God’s will for His Son.
In Ephesians 1:9-10, it says:
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him,
Unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ,
The things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in him, I say.
What do you see when you look into the heart of God? You see Christ.
Brother Sparks spoke on the immensity of Christ. Somehow God opened his eyes to see something of the immensity of Christ. It overwhelmed Brother Sparks, but his whole ministry was to reveal what God had shown him of the immensity of Christ.
He said this. If you read his daily devotional, it always has this at the beginning: “The best I can hope is that this has just opened a window, that as you look through it, you are seeing one thing: how superior is Jesus Christ to all else.”
Brother K. in his testimony said that, as a co-worker with Brother Nee, he traveled all over China preaching the gospel, getting people saved, baptizing them, gathering them together to break bread, teaching on head coverings, and the need to come out of division and stand on the ground of Christ alone.
He said, “I did this for many years. Then I considered before the Lord, ‘What more can I do, Lord?’” It seemed like, as I remember in his testimony, he said, “I just began to think there must be more.”
Think of that. This man had given his life to moving all through China, preaching the gospel, bringing together saints around the table. Yet he said, “What more can I do?” He was burdened by that.
During World War II, the Japanese invaded, and he was in Singapore at the time. He testified to us that, as he was leaving Singapore, bombs were being dropped on Singapore. The dock that he escaped from was on fire from the bombs, and the Lord spared him.
He was led to South India, where he stayed for two and a half months. He testified there that, for the first time, he began to read some of Brother Sparks’ books. The Lord opened his eyes to see the immensity of Christ.
He said it revolutionized his heart and his ministry. We know, brothers and sisters, because he met with us for fifty years, no matter what he shared on, he always showed us Christ. It was always Christ.
Anyway, just the thought of how important it is to see—to have our eyes opened to see who Christ is, the immensity of who He is. May the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, brothers and sisters, really open our eyes to look into the heart of God and to see Christ, His Son.
Well, what do we see when we look into Christ’s heart?
In Matthew 16:17-18, Christ shares His heart with Simon. He was asking His disciples who people said He was. They said, “Well, Lord, some people think You are Elijah, or one of the prophets.” The Lord said, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The Lord responded immediately to Peter:
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven.
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.
Peter had received one of the great—perhaps the greatest—revelations any man can see: that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. His eyes were opened to see who Christ really was, that He came from God Himself.
But the Lord said, basically, “Peter, there is more to this revelation that you need to see.” What is it? He says, “I am building My church.”
The revelation of who I am as the Rock, and your testimony of the revelation that you have had, is the foundation on which I will build My church.
You see, this revelation of Christ and the revelation of the church are not two separate revelations. You may see them separately. In fact, unless you have revelation of Christ, you will never see revelation of what the church is. But they are inclusive.
The revelation of the church only comes out of revelation of Jesus Christ. Then He goes on to say, “Peter, all hell is going to come against this revelation that you have had. All hell is going to come against the church that I am trying to build. But it will not prevail.”
Brothers and sisters, this verse should give us the significance of what the church is in Christ’s heart. He says all hell is going to come against it. The enemy so hates and attacks the church, but Christ says, “I will prevail.”
Brothers and sisters, I have always been reminded—I cannot remember whether Stephen Kaung or Brother Sparks said it—but if there were only two Christians left on this earth, Satan would do everything in his power to divide those two Christians.
That is how much he hates Christ. And if he hates Christ, he is going to hate His church.
Once again, Ephesians 5:25-27 says:
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it;
That he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
That he might present the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing;
But that it should be holy and without blemish.
This tells us, brothers and sisters, that He died, yes, for you and me. Thank God, His love was extended to you and me. But He died because He loved the church.
What does that mean? He loved the church, and He was going to give Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church.
He loves the church. He loves it right now. He is working on it right now to remove all the spots and wrinkles. Brothers and sisters, when we look at ourselves, when we look at one another, we say, “What an impossible task.” But with God, all things are possible.
Look at the passion He has for His bride, brothers and sisters. That is what I want us to see. He has a passion for you and me.
But you know what? When God looks down and sees the church, you know what He sees? He sees Christ. He sees Christ’s Body. He does see you and me, but He sees us as part of the Body of Christ.
Christ consumes all His thoughts and heart. In Ephesians 1:22-23, He says the Father has put all things under Christ’s feet and has given Him as Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.
Brothers and sisters, this bride, the church, will be His companion in full union with Him, expressing the fullness of His character and nature. The bride will be the Son’s pleasure.
Brothers and sisters, when you look into God’s heart, you see Christ. When you look into Christ’s heart, you see His church. The issues of life come out of the heart of God in Christ.
These are the issues that are so preeminent in Their hearts. This is the reason for creation, the reason for mankind, the reason for you and me—the preeminent issue of life for every man and every woman. It is Christ and His church.
Now, brothers and sisters, I believe there are some, and maybe many, in Christianity who would agree with me wholeheartedly that Christ is the issue of life, what God is after. But what of the church? I think many see it as optional.
After all, if you are really in the Body, if you are living in the reality of the Body in church life, it is very difficult. It is not just meeting together, but being built together, being of one heart and one mind. It seems almost impossible—difficult.
What makes it so difficult is that we are still in the flesh. We still have the flesh. All those spots and wrinkles are being removed, and the way He does it is through the life of the church.
We know we should commit ourselves to Christ. That is an absolute. There is no doubt. We may not do it, but it is an absolute requirement that we commit ourselves fully to Christ.
But what of our commitment to God’s heart for His Son? What of our commitment to the church, to the future bride of His Son?
I am not just talking about the universal church, brothers and sisters. We see the universal church in the New Jerusalem, complete. It is wonderful when you read that picture. But what of the local church?
Brothers and sisters, the local church is absolutely necessary, for that is where the process of building the bride is worked out.
When the Lord revealed the church to Peter, He was speaking of the universal church. But there is only one church, not many churches—one church, the universal church—and we are a part of that because we are in Christ.
But when building the one church, He builds it through local assemblies. That is what we see in the book of Acts. We have been reading that. In the beginning, we see the disciples working among the local assemblies. That is where the church grows.
That is where there are problems, spots, and wrinkles. But through the work of the Holy Spirit, through love and prayer, the problems are overcome. The problems become the means of the church being matured.
In the book of Revelation, in the first three chapters, where do we see Christ? He is in the midst of the seven local assemblies in Asia. He is examining them. Are they measuring up? Are they measuring up to God’s divine intention for His church: to be the Body of Christ, to be an expression of Christ?
They are not perfect, and He is admonishing them to overcome.
Without the practical outworking of the testimony of Christ in the local church, the universal church will never be matured into the bride of Christ. I will say that again: without the practical outworking of the testimony of Christ in the local assembly, the local church, the universal church will never be matured into the bride of Christ.
So what is the church? It is not a gathering of Christians just organized together. It is the organic Body of Christ, and that is what is necessary to satisfy the Lord’s heart.
Two or three, brothers and sisters, gathered together unto Him, gathered in His name, in love, willing to be built together, being a joint of supply, being adjusted together, willing to allow the cross to work in your lives together, to be matured into the Body of Christ.
Many, and probably most, Christians think this matter of the local church is optional. They say, “I love the Lord. Christ is all I need.”
You know what? I think there are many Christians who really love the Lord, but they have not seen what is in Christ’s heart. Real church life they consider optional.
“He is all I need.” In a sense, that is true. But, brothers and sisters, to become what the Lord wants us to be, we are going to have to be living stones in the house of God.
For those who might think that church life is optional, I guarantee you Christ would say, “No.” I am going to repeat Ephesians 5:25. He would say, “I love the church. I gave Myself for it.”
“I am daily sanctifying and cleansing it with the washing of the Word, the living Word that gives life, that she might be a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish—My bride and My companion forever.”
Now, lastly, we will take but a few minutes. What of your heart? What of my heart? We look into the heart of God. We look into the heart of Christ. But what of our heart? Is it in line with God’s heart, with Christ’s heart?
Matthew 6:21 says:
For where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.
I think we need to deeply consider this. Where is your treasure? What is your treasure? God’s treasure is Christ, and Christ’s treasure is the church. What is our treasure?
If Christ is really your treasure, how is it that the church, the local assembly, is not also your treasure as well?
2 Chronicles 16:9 says:
For the eyes of Jehovah run to and fro throughout the whole earth,
To show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
What is He looking for? His eyes are looking throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him. A heart perfect toward Him. It does not say a sinless heart, but a heart perfect toward Him—a heart that wants what He wants.
In Acts 13:22, speaking of David, He says:
I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who shall do all my will.
That is what He is looking for. That is what He found in David. We know David’s heart was not perfect, but he was after God’s heart. Read the Psalms. If you read the Psalms, you will see David’s heart was after God’s heart. God was everything to David.
In 1 Chronicles 28:9, David, speaking to Solomon, said:
And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind;
For Jehovah searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts.
If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
Take heed now; for Jehovah hath chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it.
Finally, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15:
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died;
And he died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again.
The love of Christ constrains us. That is what we were fellowshipping in this morning: the love of Christ. Brothers and sisters, it is the constraining love that will bring us to God’s heart, to see into His heart.
Lord, we just come to You this morning. Lord, I once again want to thank You that this morning I really felt like You were doing all that You could to show us how much You love us.
Lord, we want to love You. Lord, we want to have a heart that is after Your heart. Lord, we want to see something—to be given revelation of the immensity of our Christ, of Jesus our Savior; not only our Savior, but our Lord.
But, Lord, we see so little. Lord, we want You to be immense in our hearts and in our eyes. Lord, we do not want to fail Your heart.
Lord, we want to be willing to walk the way of the cross, Lord, to be an active part of what You are doing in building Your bride through the local assembly.
Lord, only You—only Your constraining love—can keep us on this path. Lord, we thank You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.