1999春季长老
总题：为着生机建造基督的身体所需要的工作、生活异象（二）
Message One The Church
Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-27; 2:15; Rev. 1:11-12; Psa. 133; Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:15-16; Rom. 8:2, 4; 1 Pet. 2:2; Heb. 5:12-14; 1 Cor. 3:6; 14:4b, 31
I.　The church is the heart's desire of God—Eph. 3:9-11; 5:25:
A.　The church is the house of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth, for His manifestation in the flesh—1 Tim. 3:15-16.
B.　The church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all, for His expression—Eph. 1:22-23:
1.　Christ's Body is constituted of all the believers baptized in one Spirit and given to drink one Spirit—1 Cor. 12:12-13.
2.　Christ's Body is constituted with His unsearchable riches—Eph. 3:8, 10.
C.　The church is the wife of Christ, His counterpart—Eph. 5:25-27:
1.　As the wife of Christ, the church comes out of Christ—v. 30; Gen. 2:22.
2.　The church is one with Christ—Eph. 5:31.
D.　The church is the new man—Eph. 2:15:
1.　In the new man, there is only room for Christ, not for any natural person—Col. 3:10.
2.　In the new man, Christ is all the members and in all the members—v. 11.
E.　The church is the reproduction of Christ and the reprint of the Spirit—Exo. 25:31-39; Zech. 4:2-6: Rev. 1:11-12, 20.
II.　The Lord's word concerning the building up of the church is the greatest prophecy in the Bible—Matt. 16:16-19:
A.　This building up of the church takes place on its unique ground, which is constituted of three crucial elements:
1.　The first element is the unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ, the oneness of the Spirit—Eph. 4:3; John 17:6, 11, 14-21, 22-24.
2.　The second element is the unique ground of the locality in which a local church is established and exists—Acts 8:1; 13:1; Rom. 16:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; Rev. 1:4, 11.
3.　The third element is the reality of the Spirit, who is the living reality of the Divine Trinity—1 John 5:6; John 16:13; Eph. 4:3-6.
B.　On the genuine ground of oneness, we enjoy the blessing of life under the anointing oil and the watering dew—Psa. 133.
C.　The building up of the church is the increase of the Triune God in the believers through their growth in Christ—Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:11-16:
1.　By the believers' being strengthened into their inner man and by their walking according to the spirit to enjoy the law of the Spirit of life—Eph. 3:16-19; Rom. 8:2, 4.
2.　By the believers' feeding on the guileless milk and the solid food of the word of God—1 Pet. 2:2; Heb. 5:12-14; John 6:57.
3.　By the washing of the water in the word—Eph. 5:26-27; S. S. 8:13-14.
4.　By being conformed to Christ's death through the power of His resurrection—Phil. 3:10; Matt. 16:24.
5.　By doing everything through the cross and by the Spirit to dispense Christ—cf. 2 Chron. 1:10.
6.　By the watering of the Body of Christ by its gifted members—1?Cor.?3:6; Acts 6:4.
7.　By the prophesying of all the saints—1 Cor. 14:4b, 31.