The Experience and Enjoyment of Christ in the Local Churches
The Experience and Enjoyment of Christ in the Local Churches |
|
||||||
|
|
Enjoying Christ in the Local Church7. Loving, Treasuring, and Receiving the Believers in the Lord As we enjoy God’s salvation in life saving us from our own views and goals, and as we live a life of loving the Lord, we begin to love, treasure and receive all the believers. Here Witness Lee testifies of this mutual “life of love” in the local church: The book of Romans not only has a rich content regarding God’s complete salvation conveyed in His full gospel; it also has a definite goal, which is the practice of the church life. The experience of the first six aspects of being saved in the life of Christ, which we have seen in the first thirteen chapters of Romans, makes it possible to enter into the experience of the living of a proper church life in many localities. This is according to God’s desire as the good pleasure of His heart, which He arranged in eternity in His eternal economy (Eph. 3:9-11). The living of the church life in a locality saves us from our self-view, self-goal, and divisions (Rom. 16:1-25). Each of us has his own view and goal. In the church life there should be only one view and one goal. Without a unique view and a unique goal, it is impossible to have the genuine church life. We will be divided because of our different views and goals… The living of the proper church life in a locality will save us from our different views and goals. Eventually, by being saved from our own views and goals, we are saved from division. The church life is altogether a life of love. The Lord has charged us with this more than strongly in John 13:34-35 and 15:12 and 17; the apostles also repeated the Lord’s charge to us (1 Thes. 4:9; Heb. 13:1; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 2:10; 3:14; 4:7). In receiving the believers, we must do it in the principle of love (Rom. 14:15a). Whatever we would do and say to other believers must be based on and controlled by the divine love that we have enjoyed and continue to enjoy all the time. We must not forget that all the believers are a treasure to the Lord in His affection because He has obtained them with His own blood in His love (Acts 20:28; Eph. 5:25b). We need to walk in love toward them. We should not destroy by anything the believers for whom Christ died (Rom. 14:15b). This kind of receiving of the believers for the proper church life is according to the kingdom life. Romans 14:17 says, “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The church life which is God’s kingdom life today is a matter of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. God’s kingdom life is not a matter of diet, nor of the keeping of days, nor of any kind of formality and custom, but a matter of the reality of the divine life in the Spirit of God, such as righteousness in strictness toward ourselves, peace in the all-embracing love toward others, and joy in the exulting praise toward God. Our receiving of the believers must be in such a sphere with such an atmosphere. Our receiving of the believers should also be according to Christ (Rom. 15:5), who did not please Himself (Rom. 15:3). We should take Christ as our pattern, our center, and our everything in the practice of the church life. Whether or not we receive someone depends on whether or not Christ has received him. If Christ has received someone, we must receive him, as Christ also received us to the glory of God (Rom. 15:7). (Witness Lee, To Be Saved, 32-34) 8. Enjoying the God of Peace Crushing Satan under Our Feet Furthermore, as we live a life of love and receive all the believers, gradually the church is built up. In the built-up church, Satan is crushed under our feet. The more we enjoy the God of peace in the church life, the more God’s enemy Satan is destroyed. Commenting on this truth in Romans 16:20, Witness Lee says: We are saved in the life of Christ from the aerial power of darkness, by destroying Satan (Rom. 16:20; Eph. 6:12). We need to be saved from the power in the air; this power is Satan. Romans 16:20 says, “Now the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Today, Satan should not be in the air above us; he should be under our feet (Eph. 1:22). When we are in the proper church life, Satan is under our feet. In Matthew 16:18 the Lord Jesus said, “And on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” If we would overcome the power of Satan, we must be built up, that is, we must have the church life. The built up church can overcome the power of Satan. In the proper church life, Satan is crushed under our feet so that the kingdom of God may be brought in. The church life in a locality is the kingdom of God (Rom. 14:17), even the kingdom life. This kingdom is in contrast with the power in the air, the power of Satan. In the church life Satan is crushed under our feet by the God of peace being our portion (Rom. 16:20). When we enjoy our God as the God of peace, He has the opportunity to destroy His enemy, Satan, and He crushes him under our feet that we may partake more of His fullness in abundance. (Witness Lee, To Be Saved, 36-37) | ||||