Ministry Excerpts -Young People's Training

THE CHURCH AS CHRIST’S COUNTERPART

The church is also Christ’s counterpart, His wife (Eph. 5:25-27, 32). The church as the counterpart of Christ implies satisfaction and rest in love. Every husband needs satisfaction and rest, which are found in love. The brothers who are husbands can testify that our satisfaction and rest can only be in our wives. If we say that we are the church, then we must ask if Christ has His rest among us. This is serious. Do not be so quick to claim that you are the church. To be the church is to render to Christ the adequate satisfaction and rest in love. Christ needs such a wife. The church is not merely a gathering of God’s called ones. It is a satisfaction and rest to Christ in love.

THE CHURCH AS THE TEMPLE

To God the Spirit, the church is the temple. First Corinthians 3:16 says, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” The believers as a corporate unit in a certain locality are the temple indwelt by the Spirit of God. Hence, to God the Spirit we are the temple filled with Himself. It is not simply a matter of having the manifestations of certain gifts, such as healing and speaking in tongues. It is a matter of having the corporate indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is the reality of the church life.

THE CHURCH AS THE ARMY

To the enemy, Satan, the church is an army (Eph. 6:11-13). Being the army is not an individualistic matter. At most, you and I can only be soldiers. But all the soldiers must be formed and constituted into an army. Whenever we are detached from the army, we are in a very dangerous situation. We must have the protection of being in the army. Because many Christians today are not in the army, they are constantly under the attack of the enemy. The church is absolutely a corporate entity. All the aspects of the church we have covered—sonship, family, Body, counterpart, temple, and army—are corporate entities.

THE CHURCH AS THE NEW MAN

In addition to all these aspects, the church is also the new man (Eph. 2:15-16). The church as the new man is for our living. Hallelujah, on earth there is such a new man living here! To the Father, the church is the sonship and the family; to the Son, the church is the Body and the counterpart; to the Spirit, the church is the temple; to Satan, the church is the army; and for our living the church is the new man. Praise the Lord that we are the new man! Individualistically we are not the new man. God has one corporate new man—the church.
After seeing all these aspects of the church, can we still be individualistic? I can testify that after I saw all this, my individualism was killed. I have seen that the church is absolutely a corporate entity. With respect to the Father, to the Son, to the Spirit, to the enemy, and for our living, the church is a corporate entity. Hallelujah, the church is the sonship, the family, the Body, the counterpart, the temple, the army, and the one new man!