Eph 5:27-29: "Christ also love the church and gave Himself up for her that He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of of the water in the word, that he might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things."
1 Tim 3:15-16: "The house of God. which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh."
The church is the house of living God. Hence this is concerned with the matter of life. The church is also the pillar and base of the truth. That means every members in the Body of Christ, the church, bear responsibility to uphold the truth. I enjoyed that the church is also "He who was manifested in the flesh." This is really great. When we see the brothers and sisters around, they are God manifested in the flesh.
Christ so love the church and gave Himself up for her. Today we also love what Christ love. I was touched by what Bro Lee said in the introduction part of this book:
" Over the past thirty years, whenever we brought up the matter of the church, we faced some difficulties for several reasons. First, Satan hates this matter very much. Satan knows that the church will have a devastating impact on him."
"Second, many of God’s children feel that the church is not a matter of personal concern to them; consequently, they do not feel a need to speak concerning it... They think that they should pay attention to spirituality, holiness, piety, and victorious living, which are matters of personal concern to them in their daily life...God has no intention for Christians to be individually spiritual or independently holy because He wants to gain the church as a corporate entity."
"He loves us because He loves the church. He wants to gain us because He wants to gain the church. Therefore, He loved the church and gave Himself up for the church, cleansing the church so that the church might be sanctified and become a glorious church. This is the reason He cherishes, nourishes, sympathizes with, and cares for the church... Do we have this kind of feeling? Are we so considerate of the church? Do we cherish the church this much? It seems that we often care more about perfecting our own spirituality than about caring for and preserving the church. We care for our work and sacrifice the church. How contrary this is to the Lord’s desire!"
"Today we can find many people who love the Lord, meet many people who pursue spirituality, and come in contact with many people who zealously work for the Lord, but it is not easy to find people who pay attention to the church and have the consciousness of the church. "
Lord, open my eyes to see and remain in this revelation. No matter what is the condition of the saints, we are all His glorious church, in which He love and cleanse by the washing of the water. Lord grant me a heart that does not miss the mark and always love the church. Praise the Lord !
