1. The house of God modifies the church, and the pillar and base of the truth also modifies the church; the house of God and the pillar and base of the truth describe what the church is—1 Tim. 3:15.
2. The church is the house of God—1 Cor. 1:2; 10:32; 11:16:
1. The expression the church of God indicates that the church is possessed by God and that the church has the nature of God and is constituted with the element of God—Acts 20:28; Gal. 1:13.
2. The church is of God because it is produced of God as the source and has God as its nature and essence, which are divine, universal, and eternal—1 Cor. 3:16-17.
3. The content of the church essentially is God Himself—1 Cor. 10:32.
3. The church of God is the house of the living God—1 Tim. 3:15:
1. The house of God is the household of God—Eph. 2:19:
1. The dwelling place—the house—and the family—the household—are one entity—a group of called, regenerated ones indwelt by God Himself—1 Pet. 1:3; 2:5; 1 Cor. 3:16.
2. Just as Christ is not separate from the members of His Body but dwells in them, the Father is not a separate member of His household but is in all the children—Rom. 8:16; 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 3:16.
3. The house of God is organic in the divine life, organic in the divine nature, and organic in the Triune God—Eph. 4:18; 2 Pet. 1:4; Matt. 28:19.
4. Because the church is organic, the church grows—Eph. 2:21.
2. In speaking of the church as the house of God, Paul refers to God as the living God—1 Tim. 3:15:
1. The living God, who lives in the church, must be subjective to the church and not merely objective—1 Cor. 3:16.
2. Because God is living, the church as the house of God is also living in Him, by Him, and with Him.
3. A living God and a living church live, move, and work together.
3. As the house of God, the church is the dwelling place of God—the place where God can have His rest and put His trust—Eph. 2:22.
4. The church as the house of God—the Father’s house—is the enlarged, universal, divine-human incorporation as the issue of Christ’s being glorified by the Father with the divine glory—John 12:23; 13:31-32; 14:20.

Hymns: 852, 818

Message 8: The Function of the Church (1)

The House of the Living God and the Pillar and Base of the Truth

2023 ITERO-F 8c

Being

4. The Lord wants His church to know Him as the truth and to receive and enjoy Him as life—1 John 1:1-2, 5-6; John 11:25; 14:6; 18:37b:
1. Truth means “reality,” denoting all the real things revealed in God’s Word, which are mainly Christ as the embodiment of God and the church as the Body of Christ—1 Tim. 2:4; Col. 2:9, 19.
2. The church is built with the divine life in Christ, a life that is indestructible, unconquerable, and able to withstand decline into death from any source—1 Tim. 1:16; 6:12, 19; 2 Tim. 1:1, 10; Titus 1:2; 3:7.
3. Both the truth and the life are Christ Himself—John 14:6:
1. Life is the inward and intrinsic element, and truth is the outward definition and explanation—John 1:4; 18:37b; 8:12, 32, 36; 17:17.
2. The experience of the Lord as life is contained in the Lord as the truth; in order to experience the Lord as life, we must know the truth—John 14:6; 11:25; 8:32, 36.
4. The content of the church should be the growth of Christ in us as truth and life—Col. 2:19; 3:4:
1. Truth is the shining, the expression, of the divine light—John 8:12, 32, 36; 1 John 1:5-6.
2. The standard of the truth should constantly be raised higher among all the churches in the Lord’s recovery—1 Tim. 2:4; 3:15.
3. We need to grow in life, be saved in life, be filled with life, and reign in life—Eph. 4:13-16; Rom. 5:10, 17.
5. The church is the supporting pillar and the holding base of the truth—1 Tim. 3:15:
1. The truth is the Triune God, having Christ as the embodiment, center, and expression, to produce the church as the Body of Christ, the house of God, and the kingdom of God—Col. 2:9; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:16; 1 Tim. 3:15; John 3:3, 5.
2. Truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 refers to the real things revealed in the New Testament concerning Christ and the church according to God’s New Testament economy—Matt. 16:16, 18; Eph. 5:32:
1. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of all these realities.
2. A local church should be such a building that holds, bears, and testifies the truth, the reality, of Christ and the church—Eph. 2:22.
3. The church bears Christ as the reality; the church testifies to the whole universe that Christ, and Christ alone, is the reality—John 1:14, 17; 14:6.
4. As the pillar that bears the truth and the base that upholds the pillar, the church testifies the reality, the truth, of Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ—Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4.
5. In order for the church to function as the pillar and base of the truth, we all need to arrive at the full knowledge of the truth—1 Tim. 2:4; 4:3; 2 Tim. 2:25; 3:7; Titus 1:1.
6. When every brother and sister is full of life and truth, the church will be strong as the house of the living God and the pillar and base of the truth; this is what is needed in the Lord’s recovery today—1 Tim. 3:15.

​

Message 8 (Cont. 1)

2023 ITERO-F 8c

Function

1. The house of God modifies the church, and the pillar and base of the truth also modifies the church; the house of God and the pillar and base of the truth describe what the church is
2. The church is the house of God
1. The expression the church of God indicates that the church is possessed by God because it is produced of God; it has the divine, universal, and eternal nature of God; and is constituted with the element of God. The content of the church essentially is God Himself. [Acts. 20:28] …to shepherd the church of God, which He obtained through His own blood. [1 Cor. 3:16-17] Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? …for the temple of God is holy, and such are you.
3. The church of God is the house of the living God
1. The dwelling place—the house—and the family—the household—are one entity—a group of called, regenerated ones indwelt by God Himself. It is organic in the divine life and divine nature, and in the Triune God. Because the church is organic, it grows. As the indwelling living God, He must be subjective to the church, and the church as the house of God is also living in Him, by Him, and with Him. A living God and a living church live, move, and work together. The church is the dwelling place where God can have His rest and put His trust. The church as the house of God—the Father’s house—is the enlarged, universal, divine-human incorporation as the issue of Christ's being glorified by the Father with the divine glory. [Eph. 2:19] …but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. [Eph. 2:21] In whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord. [Eph. 2:22] In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit. [John 14:20] In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
4. The Lord wants His church to know Him as the truth and to receive and enjoy Him as life
1. Truth means "reality," denoting all the real things revealed in God's Word, mainly about Christ as the embodiment of God and the church as the Body of Christ. The church is built with the indestructible, unconquerable, divine life in Christ that can overcome death from any source. Both the truth and the life are Christ Himself. Life is the inward and intrinsic element, and truth is the outward definition and explanation. We must know the truth to experience the Lord as life. Truth is the shining and expression of the divine light whose standard is constantly raised higher among all the churches in the Lord's recovery. We need to grow in life, be saved in life, be filled with life and reign in life. The content of the church should be the growth of Christ in us as truth and life. [John 14:6] Jesus said to him, I am the way and the reality and the life … [John 17:17] Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. [Col. 2:19] …holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together…, grows with the growth of God.
5. The church is the supporting pillar and the holding base of the truth
1. The truth is the Triune God, having Christ as the embodiment, center, and expression, to produce the church as the Body of Christ, the house of God, and the kingdom of God. Truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 refers to the real things revealed concerning Christ and the church according to God's New Testament economy. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of all these realities. A local church should be such a building that hold, bear, and testify the truth, the reality, of Christ. The church testifies to the whole universe that Christ, and Christ alone, is the reality; it testifies the reality, the truth, of Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ. We all need to arrive at the full knowledge of the truth for the church to function as the pillar and base of the truth. [Eph. 4:16] Out from whom …causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. [Matt. 16:18] …and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. [Eph. 5:32] This mystery is great, but I speak with regard to Christ and the church.
6. When every brother and sister is full of life and truth, the church will be strong as the house of the living God and the pillar and base of the truth; this is what is needed in the Lord’s recovery today

[1 Tim. 3:15] But if I delay, I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.

Bird’s-eye View for Prophesying, a Sample

Message 8: The Function of the Church (1)

The House of the Living God and the Pillar and Base of the Truth

2023 ITERO-F 8c Musing Abstract

Being

Function

Message 8: Appendix

The church is the house of God. The reality of this house as the dwelling place of the living God is in our spirit. We must live and act in our spirit so that God can be manifested in this house as the living God.

The God who not only lives but also acts, moves, and works in His living temple, the church, is living. Because He is living, the church is also living in Him, by Him, and with Him. A living God and a living church live, move, and work together. The living church is the house and the household of the living God. Hence, it becomes the manifestation of God in the flesh.

< Excerpts from “Life-Study of 1 Timothy”, Msg. 6, “The Function of the church”>

​

We in the Lord’s recovery can testify of the great difference between the recovery and today’s organized Christianity. Reconciliation between the two is impossible. All the saints should be encouraged that the situation in the Lord’s recovery is heading toward God’s standard. This standard is that the church should function as the house of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth, and as the great mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. The church life today must be the manifestation of God in the flesh. Every local church must reach this standard and continue according to it. There should be no decline; rather, we should maintain God’s standard until the glorious appearing of our Head, the Savior, Jesus Christ.

< Excerpts from “Life-Study of 1 Timothy”, Msg. 6, “The Function of the church”>

2023 ITERO-F 8c