The church is
the heart’s desire of God;
the desire of God in this age
is to have the church:
The church is the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy.
According to Ephesians 3:9,
there is a relationship
between creation and the church;
God’s intention
in His creation of all things, including man,
was that man would be mingled with God
to produce the church.
Concerning God’s purpose for the church
in the economy of God,
there are three main items:
God’s purpose for the church
is that the church would have the sonship
and that God would be expressed
through many matured sons:
God’s eternal purpose
is to work Himself in Christ into us
so that He may be
thoroughly mingled with us
and expressed through us.
We were predestinated, marked out, by God
to be sons of God
before we were created;
hence, as God’s creatures,
we need to be regenerated by Him
that we may have His life
to be His sons.
Sonship implies having
not only the life of a son
but also the position of a son;
God’s marked-out ones
have the life
to be His sons
and the position
to inherit Him.
God’s purpose for the church
is to make His wisdom known to the enemy
and to deal with His enemy through the church.
The church is the means
through which God’s multifarious wisdom is made known
to the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies.
The church in the economy of God
is God’s greatest boast
in making known His multifarious wisdom
for the shame and defeat of His enemy.
We need a vision
of how the Lord will use the church
to defeat His enemy
and recover the earth.
God’s purpose for the church
is to head up all things in Christ
through the church :
Verse 22 reveals
that this heading up
is to the church
so that the church may share in all
that is of Christ as the Head.
The church is
for the heading up of all things in Christ
through the working of Himself into us as life
that we may be full of light.
The church is built up by this life,
and we are under the control
of the light of life
under Christ’s headship.
The church is
both universal and local.
We need to be captured
by the vision of the church
and pay the price
to be governed by this vision
and live according to it.
After we have seen the vision of the church,
we need to see the vision of the Body :
The Body of Christ is
the intrinsic significance of the church :
The church of God is the frame,
and the Body of Christ is the organism:
If there were no Body,
the church would have no meaning.
Without the Body,
the church makes no sense,
but with the Body,
there is
the intrinsic significance of the church.
If we consider ourselves
as individual churches or as individual believers,
we are through;
we should consider ourselves
as one Body.
The Body of Christ
is a divine constitution
of the Triune God
with the believers in Christ :
The Father, the Son, the Spirit, and man
are blended and built together
to become the Body of Christ,
a four-in-one corporate organic entity.
The building up of the Body of Christ
is the constitution
of the Triune God and the tripartite man
in the Spirit of God and the spirit of man.
The Body of Christ
is an organism,
both divine and human,
to express Christ.
The Body of Christ
is the means
for God to carry out His administration :
The Body of Christ
is thoroughly and absolutely related to
God’s administration;
apart from the Body of Christ,
God has no means, no way,
to carry out His administration.
God’s eternal purpose
is to have a group of saved and regenerated people
who have become one
to be an organic Body
to carry out His administration.
The Body of Christ, the church,
is for Christ’s move on earth;
the Head is now operating God’s administration
through the Body.
The Body of Christ
is the corporate Christ :
In 1 Cor. 12:12
the Christ refers not to the individual Christ
but to the corporate Christ, the Body-Christ.
The corporate Christ
is composed of
Christ Himself as the Head
and the church as His Body
with all the believers as His members.
All the believers in Christ
are organically united with Him
and constituted with His life and element
and have thus become His Body, an organism
to express Him;
hence, Christ is not only the Head
but also the Body
—the corporate Christ.
The unique Body of Christ, the universal church,
is expressed in many localities
as the local churches :
The one Body
is the one church of God,
manifested as many local churches.
A local church
is an expression of the Body of Christ
in a certain locality.
The local churches
are many in existence
but are still one Body universally in element;
the local churches
are and should be
one Body
universally, doctrinally, and practically.
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Prophecy note, 7 September 2014
The church is
God’s greatest boast.
Although we may not care that much
for the church,
God cares very much
for the church.
In the eyes of the Lord,
Satan has already been defeated.
The Lord Jesus said
if people destroyed His body,
He would build it up
in three days.
The more Satan destroys,
the more Christ will build up.
Satan’s destroying
is just a preparation
for the Lord’s building up.
We need the vision
of how the Lord will use the church
to defeat His enemy
and to recover the whole earth.
In Christ
God is
in the process of
heading up all things
in heaven and on earth.
However, without the church as the Body
it will not be possible.
The heading up of all things
is accomplished by the Head,
but it cannot be accomplished
without a Body for the Head.
When the church is fully grown,
God is able to subject all things
to the authority of Christ.
It is God’s eternal purpose
that through the church,
Christ should head up all things,
but this can only be accomplished
through the building up of the church.
The church must be built up
by experiencing Christ as life,
and in this life
there will be the light
under which everyone
will be controlled.
The church is the frame,
like the apple tree,
and the Body of Christ
is the very organic essence
of the church,
just like the apples.
These two
are one.
The church
is the frame
for existing.
The Body of Christ
is the very organic contents
for people’s satisfaction.
Today God has made those
whom He redeemed, regenerated,
and transformed
to be the outward framework.
God Himself, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit,
is the inward element.
These four
—the Father, the Son, the Spirit, and man—
blended and built together
become the Body of Christ.
The building up
of the Body of Christ
is the constitution
of the Triune God and the tripartite man
in the Spirit of God and the spirit of man.
This constitution
is the union and mingling
of God and man.
It is divinity
constituted into humanity
to be man’s dwelling place,
and it is humanity
built into divinity
to be God’s dwelling place.
Day 6
The organic Body is undivided
and it is also indivisible.
It is not autonomous.
This unique Body of Christ
is expressed in many local churches
in the divine oneness
as it is with the Triune God
and in the divine nature, element, essence,
expression, function, and testimony.
There are many churches,
yet they have
one divine nature, one divine element, one divine essence,
one divine expression, one divine function, and one divine testimony
because they are one Body.
This is why I say
that our troubles
are due to not seeing the Body.
If we have seen the Body,
there will be no problem.
The principle and practice of the one Body
are kept by the believers
in the practical one accord.
Where two or three
are gathered into the Lord’s name
He is in their midst.
When we are gathered into His name,
we enjoy His presence
in a special way.
His presence brings us
enlightenment, grace, supply,
and all kinds of blessing.
In Matthew 18:15-20
we have a picture of a local church.
A local church
is an expression of the Body of Christ
in a certain locality
composed of saints
who mainly meet in small groups.
They meet
in the way of having been rescued
out of all earthly occupations
into Christ Himself.
Having been gathered into Christ,
they meet in Him
and have Him with them.
Because they meet in Him with His presence,
they surely have
the authority of the kingdom of the heavens.
The local churches
are many in existence
but are still one Body universally in element.
For example,
there is a church in Taipei,
a church in London,
and a church in Atlanta.
However, in element
all the churches are one.
We are one church, one Body, one new man.
In element
we are not divided,
and we cannot be autonomous.
The secret in practicality to the one Body
is first the one accord in the local churches.
Although many have said
that the crucial point in Acts
is the outpouring of the Spirit,
the outpouring of the Spirit
came out of the one accord.
Second, the secret of the practice of the church life
is the oneness in the universal Body.
Some insist to say,
“We are local churches.
Every local church has its own jurisdiction.
Don’t touch our affairs.
If you touch our affairs,
you touch our local administration.”
To say such a word
is to make all the local churches
separate from one another.
This is separation;
this is not oneness.
Oneness should be among the local churches,
and one accord should be in every local church.
Then we will have the blessing.
For the Lord’s move in His recovery
both locally and universally,
we all need to be
Body-conscious in one accord
and Body-centered in oneness.
In one accord
we should be Body-conscious.
In oneness
we should be Body-centered.
In our consideration
the Body should be first
and the local churches should be second.
What a shame it is
for any local church to declare its autonomy!
To teach
that the local churches are absolutely autonomous
is to divide the Body of Christ.
All the local churches
are and should be
one Body
universally, doctrinally, and practically.
Otherwise,
where is
the unique church of God
and the unique one new man
for the fulfilling of God’s economy?!
Day 5
The Body of Christ
is a mingling of the Divine Trinity
with all His chosen human beings.
It is a mingling of divinity with humanity.
The Body of Christ
is an organism.
On the one hand,
it is divine.
On the other hand,
it is human
to express
the divine and human Christ,
who is
both the complete God and the perfect man.
The unique mystical Body of Christ
is the means
for God to carry out His administration.
God’s eternal purpose
is to have
a group of saved, redeemed, and regenerated people
who have become one
to be an organic Body
to carry out His administration.
But Satan’s subtle device
is to cut the Body into pieces.
This frustrates God’s administration.
As long as we are in a division,
we are through with God’s administration.
Christians may preach the gospel to save souls
or teach the Bible to help others know the Word.
But this is absolutely not adequate
to carry out God’s administration.
The carrying out of the divine administration
needs the unique Body, the mystical Body.
It is the mystical Body of Christ
which is thoroughly and absolutely related to
God’s administration today.
Apart from the mystical Body of Christ,
God has no way, no means,
to carry out His administration.
This means
that God’s administration
is being carried out
through the mystical Body of Christ.
What are we doing on earth
as the mystical Body of Christ?
We certainly are not working
for the accomplishment of redemption,
for redemption has been accomplished
once for all by the Lord Jesus.
Redemption has been fully accomplished
by the offering
of the physical body of Jesus
on the cross.
But Christ today
has a mystical Body,
and this Body
is for the carrying out of God’s administration.
When we come to the Lord’s table,
our concern is for enjoyment.
We all come to the Lord’s table
to enjoy the Lord in fellowship.
We probably do not have any thought
of God’s administration.
The Lord’s supper, however,
is related to the Lord’s enjoyment and satisfaction.
We should not only care for our enjoyment at the table
but also care for the Lord’s enjoyment at the supper.
If we did not have a physical body,
we could not carry on certain activities.
In the same principle,
the mystical Body of Christ, the church,
is for Christ’s move on earth.
Yes, the Head has gone away,
but the Body remains on earth.
The Head is now operating God’s administration
through the Body.
The church bridges the gap
between the Lord’s first coming and His second coming.
This bridge is also a highway
from Christ’s death to God’s kingdom.
Without this bridge with the highway,
there would be no way
to go from one side of the gap, Christ’s death,
to the other side, God’s kingdom.
The unique connection
is the church as the bridge.
Therefore, we must discern the body.
This means
that we should never damage the bridge.
In 1 Corinthians 12:12,
the Christ refers to the corporate Christ,
composed of
Christ Himself as the Head
and the church as His Body
with all the believers as members.
All the believers of Christ
are organically united with Him
and constituted with His life and element
and have thus become His Body, an organism,
to express Him.
Hence, He is not only the Head
but also the Body.
As our physical body has many members yet is one,
so is this Christ.
Day 4
After we have seen
the vision of Christ and the vision of the church,
we need to see
the vision of the Body.
You may be wondering
what the difference is
between the vision of the church and the vision of the Body.
By the Lord’s mercy
many of us have been brought to the ground of the church
and are now practicing the church life
on the proper ground.
Although we have been brought
to a realization of the ground of the unique oneness,
we still need the realization of the Body.
We need to see the vision
that we are members of the Body
and that we need to be
built up together
and related to one another.
It is not sufficient
just to be brought to a realization
concerning the church ground,
but on this definite ground
we need to be built up
as the Body.
The Body is
the intrinsic significance of the church.
If there were no Body,
the church would have no meaning.
The church makes no sense without the Body.
But hallelujah, there is the Body!
The transcending Christ
is far above all.
He is above Hades, above the earth, above the air,
and even above the third heaven.
This One is transmitting Himself to the church,
which is the Body of Him
who fills all in all.
We need to see
that the church of God
is the frame
and the Body of Christ
is the organism.
We can use an apple tree
as an illustration.
The tree is the frame,
and the apples are the very organic essence of this tree.
The tree is for the apples.
We do not eat the tree;
we eat the apples.
The church is the frame,
like the apple tree,
and the Body of Christ
is the very organic essence of the church,
just like the apples are
the very organic essence of the apple tree.
These two are one.
The church
is the frame
for existing.
The Body of Christ
is the very organic contents
for people’s satisfaction.
In the recovery today
there are over twelve hundred churches around the globe,
yet we all are one Body.
If we consider ourselves
as individual churches or as individual believers,
we are through.
We should consider ourselves
as one Body.
If the parts of our physical body
would keep their own jurisdiction
and be autonomous,
our body would be finished.
The Body of Christ
is the divine constitution
of the Triune God
with the believers
in Christ.
Ephesians 4:4-6 shows us
the constitution of the three divine persons
with all His chosen people.
So we have
the one Body, one Spirit, one Lord,
and one God and Father
mingled together.
Today God has made those
whom He redeemed, regenerated, and transformed
to be the outward framework.
God Himself, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit,
is the inward element.
The Father is the source,
the Son is the element,
and the Spirit is the essence.
These four
—the Father, the Son, the Spirit, and man—
blended and built together
become the Body of Christ.
The Triune God
—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—
is dispensing, transfusing, and building Himself
into the believers
whom He has redeemed, regenerated,
sanctified, renewed, and transformed,
so that they and the God who redeemed and transformed them
can be constituted into a corporate entity,
which is the organic Body of Christ.
The building up of the Body of Christ
is the constitution
of the Triune God and the tripartite man
in the Spirit of God and the spirit of man.
This constitution
is the union and mingling of God and man.
It is divinity
constituted into humanity
to be man’s dwelling place,
and it is humanity
built into divinity
to be God’s dwelling place.
Day 3
The third main aspect of the church in God’s economy
is the heading up of all things in Christ.
We have seen
that the first item of the sonship
is for the church positively.
The second item
is that the church might make known
to the rulers and the authorities
the multifarious wisdom of God,
in defeating the enemy negatively.
Now the third item
is the heading up of all things in Christ universally.
The church has to have the sonship,
Satan has to be subdued and cast out,
and the whole creation has to be brought
into the proper order and oneness.
It is God’s eternal purpose
that in the economy of the fullness of the times
He might head up all things in Christ.
Ephesians 1:22 says
that God gave Christ
to be Head over all things.
This reveals
that the heading up of all things
is to the church
so that the Body of Christ
may share in all
that is of Christ as the Head,
having been rescued
from the heap of the universal collapse
in death and darkness,
which was caused
by the rebellion of the angels
and the rebellion of man.
In Christ
God is
in the process of heading up all things
in heaven and on earth.
However, without the church as the Body
to match Christ as the Head,
it will not be possible
for God to head up all things in Christ.
The heading up of all things
is accomplished by the Head,
but it cannot be accomplished
without a Body for the Head.
Whether Christ can be
the Head over all things,
whether all things can be subjected
to the authority of Christ,
and whether all things can be headed up in Christ
completely depend upon
whether or not the church has been produced
and has grown up.
When the church is fully grown,
God is able to subject all things
to the authority of Christ.
God’s purpose with the church
is to work Himself into us as life
that we may be full of light.
When we are controlled by this light,
then we have oneness and harmony,
which will be the real building.
By this building
God will shine upon all creation
to bring it out of confusion.
Without the building up of the church,
God could never head up all things in Christ.
It is by being life to the church,
and the church being built up by this life,
that the light of God
shines out as the controlling factor.
This will release all creation from confusion
and bring it into a liberty
under the shining of the sons of God.
Then Christ will be
the Head of all things
through the church.
It is God’s eternal purpose
that through the church,
Christ should head up all things,
but this can only be accomplished
through the building up of the church.
The church must be built up
by experiencing Christ as life,
and in this life
there will be the light
under which everyone will be controlled.
The church is
both universal and local.
In the entire universe
there is
only one church, the church of God.
This unique church
is expressed in many localities on earth,
and in each locality
it is a local church.
The universal church
is composed of all the local churches,
and the local churches
are the practical expression
of the universal church.
Regarding the church,
we need to have a clear vision,
and then we must be ready
to pay the price for it,
even the price of our life.
Then from the beginning to the end
we will not change our tune.
If we are willing to take
the proper way concerning the church,
our tune will always be the same.
Day 2
We see
that from the new birth to the manifestation
of the sons of God,
we are under a process.
We have the birth,
and before us
is the goal of the full sonship, the goal of glorification,
which is the manifestation of the sons of God.
Eventually, there will be
the time of full maturity.
So the sonship reaches
from the new birth unto the maturity,
from regeneration unto glorification.
God predestinated us
unto this sonship
through Jesus Christ
unto Himself.
In eternity past,
God predestinated us unto sonship,
marking out a destiny
for His chosen ones
before the foundation of the world.
The goal of God’s predestination
is sonship.
We were predestinated
to be sons of God
even before we were created.
Hence, as God’s creatures,
we need to be regenerated by Him
so that we may participate in His life
to be His sons.
Sonship implies
not only the life
but also the position
of the son.
God’s marked-out ones
have the life
to be His sons
and the position
to inherit Him.
By begetting us as sons
sharing His life
and as sons
matured in His life
to enjoy all that He is,
God makes us His corporate expression
and expresses Himself through us.
This is the first item of God’s purpose for the church
—to express Himself through many matured sons.
The second item of the purpose of God for the church
is to deal with His enemy.
In chapter one of Ephesians
there is the positive side of God’s purpose for the sonship,
and in chapter three
there is the negative side against the enemy,
that the enemy may be subdued
and come to know God’s manifold wisdom.
God is not sorry
that there is such an evil one as Satan,
because without such a one,
God’s manifold wisdom
could not be manifested.
It is through all the troubles
originating from Satan
that God has a chance
to show forth His wisdom.
Ephesians 3:8 reveals
that the church is produced
from the unsearchable riches of Christ.
When God’s chosen people
partake of and enjoy the riches of Christ,
these riches constitute them the church,
through which God’s multifarious wisdom
is made known
to the angelic rulers and authorities
in the heavenlies.
Hence, the church is
God’s wise exhibition
of all that Christ is.
The church is composed of those
who once were ruined, corrupted, and damaged.
Before we were saved,
we were vipers, poisonous serpents.
Furthermore, we were dead in trespasses and sins.
Moreover, we were scattered and divided,
utterly unable to be one.
Thus, all the members of the church
were in a hopeless situation.
Nevertheless, God in His wisdom
is able to make us the church.
Now we are not only redeemed, saved, cleansed,
freed, liberated, and regenerated
—we are also united.
We are one with God
and with one another.
Therefore, we are the church.
The church is
God’s greatest boast.
Although you may not care that much for the church,
God cares very much for the church.
Sometimes God may say,
“Look, Satan,
I have taken the very people
whom you have ruined
and I have made them into the church.
Do you have the wisdom
to do such a thing?
You do not have this wisdom,
but I have it.”
In the eyes of the Lord,
Satan has already been defeated.
If we have this insight,
day by day we will sing,
“Hallelujah for the victory!”
The Lord Jesus said
if people destroyed His body,
He would build it up
in three days (John 2:19).
The more Satan destroys,
the more Christ will build up.
His destroying
is just a preparation
for the Lord’s building up.
We need the vision
of how the Lord will use the church
to defeat His enemy
and to recover the whole earth.
Day 1
We all need to see
the vision of the church.
The vision of the church
is neglected more by Christians
than the vision of Christ is.
In a doctrinal way
Christians may talk about Christ,
but not even in a doctrinal way
do they speak much
concerning the church.
If we read the New Testament carefully,
we will see
the importance of the church.
The New Testament reveals
that without the church
Christ would be
isolated and unable to do anything.
The New Testament especially reveals
that the church is the heart’s desire of God.
God’s desire in this age
is to have the church.
We need to pray
that we may see
the importance of the church.
We were saved
not for ourselves
and not merely for our salvation;
we were saved
for the building up of the church.
The church is God’s heart’s desire.
The first matter
we shall consider concerning the church
is the hidden mystery
in God’s eternal economy.
This hidden mystery
is in God’s eternal economy.
Here we have
two crucial words
—mystery and economy—
modified respectively
by the adjectives “hidden” and “eternal.”
Hence, in the New Testament
we have
the hidden mystery and the eternal economy.
What is a mystery?
We may say
that a mystery is a mysterious story.
A mystery, a mysterious story,
was hidden
in the eternal God
and in His eternal oikonomia.
As we shall see,
this mystery, this mysterious story,
is the church.
Today the word “church”
is very common.
But when Paul comes to the revelation of the church,
he uses certain mysterious expressions.
He calls the church
a mystery, even a hidden mystery.
This mystery is hidden
in God’s household arrangement.
In eternity past,
God the Father had
a household arrangement,
and in that arrangement
a mystery was hidden.
In Ephesians 3:9
Paul speaks of
“the economy of the mystery,
which throughout the ages
has been hidden in God,
who created all things.”
God’s mystery
is His hidden purpose.
His purpose
is to dispense Himself
into His chosen people.
Hence, there is
the dispensation of the mystery of God.
This mystery was hidden in God
from the ages (that is, from eternity)
and through all past ages,
but now it has been brought to light
to the New Testament believers.
If we consider 3:9 in context,
we shall see
that there is a relationship
between creation and the church.
God created all things for the church.
God created
the heavens, the earth, and billions of items
in order to have the church.
There are three main items concerning the church
in the economy of God.
The first is
that the church might have the sonship
and that God might be expressed through this sonship.
Ephesians 1:5 says
that God predestinated us unto sonship.
What does this word sonship mean,
and what does it include?
Briefly, it means
the birth,
plus the growth,
plus the birthright.
God’s eternal purpose
is to work Himself into us
that He may be thoroughly mingled with us
and expressed through us.
When God is born into us,
He begins this mingling process.
However, this is only the start.
There must be the growth.
If we have the birth
but not the growth,
we could never enjoy the birthright.
God is born into our spirit,
which is
the very center of our being.
Then His desire
is to spread from our spirit
to transform all the parts of the soul
and eventually to transfigure our physical body.
By this process
our whole being
will be saturated and permeated
with the essence of God Himself.
This is
the real holiness and the real sanctification
—to be completely mingled with God.