* The commission of the church

1. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of the truth—1 Tim. 3:15:

[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.

1. The Lord wants His church to know Him as the truth in order to testify con­cerning Him as the truth—John 14:6; 18:37; 1 John 1:6; 5:20.
2. Truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 refers to 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. 3:15; Col. 2:9, 19.
3. 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. 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.
5. 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.
6. There is the desperate need for us to live out the truth for the building up of the church—1 Tim. 3:15:

The kind of church that we build up depends on the kind of truth that we teach; thus, there is the desperate need of the living truth to produce the church, to help the church to exist, and to build up the church.

7. The greatest need that we must meet is to bring the saints into the truth; all the saints should be trained in the divine revelation—1 Tim. 2:4.

* Every member needs to testify to the truth

2. All the saints need to uphold the truth—1 Tim. 3:9, 15; 2 Tim. 2:1:
1. The supporting pillar and holding base of the truth are the entire church, includ­­ing all the saints; every member of the church is part of the pillar and base that uphold the truth—1 Tim. 3:15.
2. The church being the pillar and base of the truth implies that every member of the church should know the truth; thus, we should make a decision to learn the truth—1 Tim. 2:4:
1. The church, including every believer, must uphold the truth—1 Tim. 3:9.
2. In order for the church to be strong, every brother and sister must uphold the truth by learning the truth, experiencing the truth, and being able to speak the truth—1 Tim. 2:4.
3. If we practice the truth in the daily church life, we will be able to bear some responsibility in upholding the truth—2 John 4; 3 John 3-4, 8.

Hymns: 976

Message 5: Upholding the Truth and Testifying to the Truth That the Church Is the Pillar and Base

of the Truth and the Corporate Manifestation of God in the Flesh

2021 MDC 5e

Our

being

Our

testimony

Our

responsibility

Message 5 (Cont.)

* The church is to testify to the truth corporately

3. We need to uphold the truth and testify to the truth that the church is the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh—1 Tim. 3:15-16:

[1 Tim. 3:16] And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.

1. God’s manifestation in the flesh individually — God’s manifestation in Christ—Col. 2:9; John 1:1, 14:

God’s manifestation was first in Christ as an individual expression in the flesh:

• The New Testament does not say that the Son of God was incarnated; it reveals that God was manifested in the flesh—1 Tim. 3:15-16:
• God was manifested in the flesh not only as the Son but as the entire God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
• The entire God and not only God the Son was incarnated; hence, Christ in His incarnation was the entire God manifested in the flesh.
• In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily—Col. 2:9:
• All the fullness of the Godhead refers to the entire Godhead, to the com­plete God.
• Since the Godhead comprises the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the fullness of the Godhead must be the fullness of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
• That all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily means that the Triune God is embodied in Him—John 14:10.
• As the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead, Christ is not only the Son of God but also the entire God.
• God’s manifestation in the flesh corporately — God’s manifestation in the church as the house of God—1 Tim. 3:15-16:

First Timothy 3:15-16 indicates that not only Christ Himself as the Head is the manifestation of God in the flesh but also that the church as the Body of Christ and the house of God is the manifestation of God in the flesh—the mystery of godliness:

• Godliness in verse 16 refers not only to piety but to the living of God in the church, that is, God as life lived out in the church to be expressed:
• Both Christ and the church are the mystery of godliness, expressing God in the flesh.
• The church life is the expression of God; therefore, the mystery of godli­ness is the living of a proper church—1 Cor. 1:6; 14:24-25.
• God is manifested in the church—the house of God and the Body of Christ—as the enlarged corporate expression in the flesh—Eph. 2:19; 1:22-23:
• The manifestation of God in the flesh began with Christ when He was on earth—John 14:9.
• The manifestation of God in the flesh continues with the church, which is the increase, enlargement, and multiplication of the manifestation of God in the flesh—1 Tim. 3:15-16.
• Such a church becomes the continuation of Christ’s manifestation of God in the flesh—Christ lived out of the church as the manifestation of God.
• The great mystery of godliness is that God has become man so that man may become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead to produce a corporate God-man for the manifestation of God in the flesh—Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4; Eph. 4:24.

2021 MDC 5e

* The commission of the church

1. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of the truth

[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.

• The Lord wants His church to know Him as the truth in order to testify con­cerning Him as the truth.

[John 14:6] Jesus said to him, I am the way and the reality and the life;…

• Truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 refers to 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; 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.
• The church testifies to the whole uni­verse that Christ, and Christ alone, is the reality; the church testifies the reality, the truth, of Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ.
• There is the desperate need for us to live out the truth for the building up of the church; The greatest need that we must meet is to bring the saints into the truth; all the saints should be trained in the divine revelation.

[1 Tim. 2:4] Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.

* Every member needs to testify to the truth

2. All the saints need to uphold the truth

[1 Tim. 3:9] Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

[2 Tim. 2:15] Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman, cutting straight the word of the truth.

• The supporting pillar and holding base of the truth are the entire church, includ­­ing all the saints; every member of the church is part of the pillar and base that uphold the truth.
• The church being the pillar and base of the truth implies that every member of the church should know the truth; thus, we should make a decision to learn the truth.

[3 John 4] I have no greater joy than these things, that I hear that my children are walking in the truth.

* The church is to testify to the truth corporately

3. We need to uphold the truth and testify to the truth that the church is the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh

[1 Tim. 3:16] And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.

• God’s manifestation in the flesh individually — God’s manifestation in Christ.
• The New Testament does not say that the Son of God was incarnated; it reveals that God was manifested in the flesh; God was manifested in the flesh not only as the Son but as the entire God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

[John 1:1] In the beginning was the Word,…, and the Word was God.

[John 1:14] And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us …, full of grace and reality.

• In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily means that the Triune God is embodied in Him. [Col. 2:9] For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
• God’s manifestation in the flesh corporately — God’s manifestation in the church as the house of God.
• Godliness in verse 16 refers not only to piety but to the living of God in the church, that is, God as life lived out in the church to be expressed.
• God is manifested in the church—the house of God and the Body of Christ—as the enlarged corporate expression in the flesh.

[Eph. 1:23] Which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.

• The great mystery of godliness is that God has become man so that man may become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead to produce a corporate God-man for the manifestation of God in the flesh.

[Eph. 4:24] And put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.

Daily Musing for Prophesying, a Sample

2021 MDC 5e

Message 5: Upholding the Truth and Testifying to the Truth That the Church Is the Pillar and Base of the Truth and

the Corporate Manifestation of God in the Flesh

Message 5: Appendix

2021 MDC 5e

The church life today must be the manifestation of God in the flesh. When visitors, including those who have not yet believed in the Lord, come to the meetings and behold such a manifestation, they will no doubt be greatly surprised. They may say, “What is this? It is different from anything we have seen elsewhere. It is even different from the church services in religion.” Yes, the church is different; it is the house of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth, and 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”, Message 6, “The Function of the Church”>

​

The church in the Lord’s recovery must be full of life and strong in the truth. The church as the pillar is composed of all of us. Therefore, even the young sisters must know the truth. This is the reason that I encourage everyone, especially the young people, to get into the Word. All the divine facts are contained in the Word and conveyed to us through the Word. When the Spirit shines upon the Word, we have the heavenly television. The light shines upon the facts in the Word, and we know the truth. Then we should always be ready to rise up and practice the truth. From now on the whole church must be armed with the truth. If we are all under the heavenly television regarding matters such as the constitution of the church, the headship of Christ, and hierarchy, the church will be strong. It will be not only a house of life, but also a pillar of truth.

In 1 Timothy 3:15 the Apostle Paul says that the church is not only the pillar of the truth, but also the base of the truth (Gk.). A pillar, which is a standing column, needs a solid base. The Greek word for “base” in this verse actually means a bulwark, a solid structure that upholds the pillar. As the pillar of the truth, the church must also have a solid base, a strong bulwark. A bulwark affords protection and defense, especially during a time of war.

The church must be so solid in the truth that it will be a bulwark of the truth during times of fighting. This bulwark should be so solid that nothing, not even the “bombs” of the enemy, can shake it. The pillar rests upon such a bulwark. In order to be the pillar and base of the truth, we all must be solid, strong, clear, and rich in the truth. Every local church must be a solid bulwark and a high pillar. In every locality the pillar must be built up higher and higher to testify the truth to the whole universe.

<Excerpts from “Truth Messages“, chapter 2, “The Definition of the Truth”>

To head up all things in Christ

Eph. 1:10; Phil. 2:9-11; Rev. 11:5; Jer. 23:5-6; Dan. 2:35

Christ fulfills God’s eternal economy in three stages of His full ministry

The Lord’s recovery

The divine revelation

Aletheia (truth -> reality -> truthfulness)

• The Lord’s recovery is the recovery of Aletheia, which is the recovery of the divine revelation

The speaking of the Lord’s recovery in revelation 🡪

The present truth (8 items)

• 1. The eternal economy of God, which contains 4 items … the mystery, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God,
• The triune God processed and consummated as the Spirit …. (God became a man)
• To dispense the eternal life as the Spirit into His chosen people, to be their life, life supply and everything,
• To produce and build up an organism, the Body of Christ, the one new man, for His fullness and expression,
• The Body of Christ will consummate in the New Jerusalem

so that man may become

God in Life and nature

(but not in the Godhead)

• 2. The processed and consummated Triune God
• 3. All-inclusive and all-extensive Christ
• 4. The consummated Spirit
• 5. The eternal life
• 6. The Body of Christ: church
• 7. The God-man living: God became a man so that man may become God
• 8. The New Jerusalem

• God’s complete salvation: judicial redemption + organic salvation
• Christ’s full ministry to accomplish God’s eternal economy in three stages
• The mystery of God is Christ / Col. 2:2
• The mystery of Christ is church / Eph. 3:4

The Spirit of reality moves in Paul: to complete God’s word

The practice of the Lord’s recovery in leading 🡪

Shepherding in love

PSRP to be constituted with truth 🡪 the God-man living 🡪 to function in the Body of Christ for everyone

• To have morning revival (everyday): to read the bible/call upon the Lord’s name/pray read
• To have vital groups (Friday): to love one another: to forgive with one another/pray for one another/shepherd one another, to open the scripture with life-study for the practical enjoyment
• A life of PSRP to muse upon the Lord’s word (everyday): a person of prayer/prophesying/blending (Sunday) to build up the church -> the vitalized ones who are burning in body

To preach the gospel of the kingdom with the present truth; burning in the spirit: to proclaim God’s New Testament economy

in the ministry of the word

To be watchful in life

To be faithful in service

Matt. Cha.25

Matt. 7:24 Every one therefore who hears these words of Mine and does them shall be likened to a prudent man who built his house upon the rock.

/ 2 Pet. 1:12

Cf. The conclusion of the New Testament