THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE

The Church

Message Five
Planting the Church Tree for the Universal Spreading
of the Testimony of Jesus

Scripture Reading: Gen. 2:9; John 11:25; 15:1; Eph. 4:15; Col. 2:19; Rev. 1:11-12, 20

I. For the universal spreading of the church as the testimony of Jesus, we need to experience and enjoy Christ as the tree of life—Gen. 2:9; Rev. 2:7:

A. The tree of life in Genesis 2:9 signifies the Triune God embodied in Christ as life to man in the form of food.

B. We may experience Christ as the tree of life in our regenerated spirit; the church, the kingdom, the New Jerusalem, and all spiritual and heavenly things issue from the experience of the tree of life—John 11:25; 15:1.

C. Eating the tree of life, that is, enjoying Christ as our life supply, should be the primary matter in the church life—Rev. 2:7.

D. In Revelation 22:1-2 there is the river of water of life and the tree of life:

1. Because the tree of life is in the water of life, the way to enjoy the tree of life is to drink the water of life—John 4:14; Isa. 12:2-6.

2. The essence of the tree of life is in the water of life; thus, in order to enjoy Christ as the tree of life, we must drink of the river of water of life—John 4:14; 7:37; 1 Cor. 10:4; Rev. 22:1-2, 17b.

E. The principle of the tree of life is dependence on God; the experience and enjoyment of the tree of life causes us to be dependent on God—John 15:5.

F. The Lord wants to recover the church back to the beginning—to the eating of the tree of life—Gen. 2:9; Rev. 2:7; 22:14.

II. For the universal spreading of the church as the testimony of Jesus, we need to grow Christ as the tree of life within us—Col. 2:19; John 11:25; 15:1:

A. Christ as the embodiment of God is our tree of life, and this tree is growing in us—Col. 1:27; 2:9, 19; 3:4.

B. God in Christ has sown Himself into our spirit as the life seed to grow a tree, a miniature of the tree of life—Mark 4:2-8, 26-29.

C. In Genesis 2:9 the tree of life was unique, but today the tree of life grows in all of us, causing each one of us to be a small tree of life; as small trees of life, we need to grow in life—1 Cor. 3:6-7; Eph. 4:15-16; 2 Pet. 1:5-11.

III. For the universal spreading of the church as the testimony of Jesus, we need to plant “church trees” for the corporate expression of the Triune God as life—John 5:26; 11:25; 1 John 5:11-12; Rom. 8:2; 1 Cor. 1:2; Rev. 1:11-12, 20:

A. In the eyes of God the universal church, the Body of Christ, has been formed; now, after the formation of this universal church as a complete entity, there is the need for the spreading of the church—Acts 8:1; 9:31.

B. Although we cannot form the church, we have the position, the right, the opportunity, and even the commission to go to the uttermost part of the earth to establish local churches—Acts 1:8; 13:1-3; Gal. 1:2; Rev. 1:11.

C. What we are doing today is simply establishing churches in different localities by planting “church trees”; this planting of church trees is the establishing of the church—1 Cor. 1:1-2; 1 Thes. 1:1.

D. The local churches as church trees are golden lampstands, which are actually living, golden trees—Rev. 1:11-12, 20:

1. The golden lampstands signify the local churches as the reproduction of Christ and the reprint of the Spirit—Exo. 25:31-40; Zech. 4:2, 6, 10; Rev. 5:6; 1:11, 20.

2. The symbol of the golden lampstand indicates that the Triune God is a living tree, growing, budding, and blossoming, and the description of the lampstand conveys the idea of growth—Exo. 25:31-32; Eph. 4:14-16:

a. The lampstand is growing through the branches and within them; this indicates that Christ is growing in us—Col. 2:19; John 3:29a, 30a.

b. The more the lampstand grows in the branches, the more it will blossom and shine, and the more light there will be—v. 15; 5:8-9.

IV. Our burden is to bring the church as a tree to every city, town, and village and plant a church there—Acts 8:1; 13:1; Col. 4:15-16:

A. We all need to be faithful to carry out the burden to establish local churches by planting church trees—Rom. 16:16b; Gal. 1:2; 1 Thes. 1:1; 2:14.

B. The married couples should be like Prisca and Aquila, who planted a church tree wherever they went; wherever they were, they were willing to bear the burden of the practice of the church by opening up their home—Rom. 16:3-5a; 1 Cor. 16:19.

C. If we all have the desire to establish churches by planting church trees, the establishing of the churches will be very fast and prevailing—Acts 19:20.

 

Ministry Excerpts:

GOD HIMSELF DESIRING TO BE OUR LIFE

The truth concerning the tree of life is sown in Genesis 2, and this truth is reaped in Revelation 22. In between Genesis and Revelation there is the development of the truth concerning the tree of life. The tree of life is for God to dispense Himself into His chosen people. The tree of life signifies God Himself as life to us. God Himself desires to be our life. We have to realize that life is mysterious, abstract, and altogether invisible. You cannot see life, but it is so real, living, organic, and powerful. Our physical life is an invisible entity, but it can be realized. Life is living, organic, vigorous, energetic, and powerful.

The Embodiment of Life

God desires to be life to us, but how can we realize and touch this life? It is for this reason that God as life has to be embodied. Electricity is real and powerful, but no one can see it. For the electricity to be appropriated and applied, the electricity needs to be embodied. A cable or a wire is the embodiment of electricity. The electricity is embodied in the wire. When we have the wire or the cable, we have electricity. In like manner, the tree of life is the embodiment of life. The tree is the embodiment of the divine life just as your physical body is the embodiment of your physical life. The tree of life is the embodiment of God as life, the embodiment of the divine life. The Bible reveals that the embodiment of the divine life is Jesus. Where is God? He is embodied in Jesus. Outside of Jesus there is no God. Outside of Jesus you cannot see God or find God. This is the same as saying that outside of the cable or wire you cannot see electricity or find electricity. God is embodied in Jesus, and this very God embodied in Jesus is life. This embodied God makes Jesus the tree of life.

In the Old Testament the tree of life is mentioned only once. Its mentioning in Genesis 2 is a seed of the divine truth sown there. Due to the fall of man, there is a long history of silence concerning the tree of life. Then in the New Testament we are told that God became a man. The Word in the beginning was God Himself, and this very God became flesh, a man in the flesh by the name of Jesus. In John 1:4 we are told that “in Him was life.” When God became a man, life was no longer abstract. Life was embodied in the flesh. In Jesus was life. The tree is the flesh, and the flesh is the tree. John tells us that the apostles saw this tree and touched this tree (1 John 1:1). When they touched Jesus, they touched the tree of life. They received life because in Him was life. He told us that He came that we may have life and that we may have life abundantly (John 10:10b). He did not only want us to have a small amount of life but the abundance of life. Jesus is the divine life embodied. In Him was life. Life was His content.

From my youth I was taught by many Christian teachers that Jesus came to save sinners. First Timothy 1:15 tells us that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. This is a wonderful fact in the Scriptures, but very few Christian teachers told me that Jesus came that we may have life. Jesus came not only to be our Savior but also to be the embodiment of life. When we believed in Him, we not only got saved, but we also received the divine life because He is the embodiment of this life.

The Tree of Life Growing on the Two Sides of the River

Jesus also told us that He is the true vine (15:1). He is the vine tree. We all know that a vine tree is not a tall tree. If Jesus were such a high and tall tree, His fruit would not be available to us. But Jesus is a vine tree who is so available for man to eat and enjoy. He is not a tall tree but a long tree. In John 15 Jesus told us that He is the vine, then in Revelation 22:2 we see that the one tree of life grows on the two sides of the river, which signifies that the tree of life is a vine, spreading and proceeding along the flow of the water of life for God’s people to receive and enjoy.

Enjoying the Tree of Life Today as the Foretaste

In Genesis 2 there was the tree of life, and in Revelation 22 there will be the vine tree, the tree of life. On the one hand, the tree of life was an item in the past. On the other hand, the tree of life will be an item in the future. But we must also realize the good news that the eating of the tree of life is something for today. Revelation 2:7 says, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.” The tree of life is available in the church life today. There is a basic principle in the New Testament that what we will enjoy in the future we should enjoy in this age, and what we enjoy in this age will be our enjoyment in the future.

In the New Testament there is the principle of the foretaste. The foretaste is a sign of the full taste to come. God has prepared the tree of life for our eternal enjoyment, but today we have to enjoy the tree of life as a foretaste. If we do not have the foretaste today, we could never have the full taste in the next age, the age of the kingdom. Undoubtedly, we will enjoy the tree of life in the New Jerusalem in the future as the full taste. But today in the church life we can enjoy the tree of life in the way of a foretaste. If we do not enjoy the Lord Jesus today as the tree of life in the way of a foretaste, we will miss the particular enjoyment of Him as the tree of life in the New Jerusalem in the coming millennial kingdom as a reward to the overcoming believers.

The Paradise of God in Revelation 2:7 refers to the New Jerusalem, of which the church is a foretaste today. Today’s church life is a miniature of the Paradise of God, the New Jerusalem. The church life is a small paradise. In this paradise we enjoy Christ as the tree of life. Without eating, there is no enjoyment. To eat of the tree of life, that is, to enjoy Christ as our life supply, should be the primary matter in the church life. In today’s Christendom there is very little eating and very little enjoyment of Christ. In the Lord’s recovery we need to have the enjoyment of Christ every day. All day long we need to eat Jesus and drink of Jesus. While we are enjoying the foretaste of the tree of life, we are looking for the full taste to come. We are enjoying Him by eating Him as the tree of life and the bread of life.

Abiding in Him and He in Us

We not only eat Him, but we also are united to Him. We are now His branches and are a part of the great vine. We enjoy the fruit of this vine, and we also enjoy the very life-juice as the branches. We are not only the eaters but also the branches. As the branches of the great vine, we can abide in Him, and He abides in us. What an enjoyment! We not only eat Him, but we also abide in Him. Christ as the tree of life is for the divine economy to dispense God Himself into you and me. As the branches of this great vine, we are abiding in Him, and He is abiding in us. Then there is a dispensing of God into us, a dispensing of life from the tree into the branches. The tree of life is the very embodiment of God as life to us. Now we are united to Him organically. As we abide in Him and He abides in us, this embodied God is dispensing Himself into us to make us God-men. Furthermore, this embodied God is dispensing the divine gold into us to make us gold men. Praise Him for the divine dispensing of the divine gold into our being to make us all gold men! Praise Him for the tree of life, the embodiment of God as life, to be eaten and enjoyed by us to make us men of life! (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “The Divine Economy,” msg. 4)

THE INCREASE OF THE CHURCH

The increase of the church is to impart Christ to others and make them a part of Christ. The branches of the vine bear fruit by imparting the life of the vine to others and making them a part of the vine. If the branches of a vine do not bear fruit, there will be no increase of the vine. The fruit-bearing of the branches is the increase of the vine tree. So the increase of the church is by the fruit-bearing of all the members. All the members must bear fruit; otherwise, there will be no increase of the local church.

Today in Christianity, nearly everything is abnormal, even the preaching of the gospel. Christianity today depends upon the giant preachers with huge gospel campaigns, but this is not so in the Bible. In the Bible, especially in the Gospel of John, the real gospel preaching is the fruit-bearing of every member. Here in Los Angeles the church does not have any kind of gospel campaign, yet every month there are a good number of new converts that come into the church life. It seems that apparently there is no preaching of the gospel, yet new ones are continually brought in. It is just like the tree of life in the New Jerusalem: it bears new fruit every month. This is the proper preaching of the gospel, and this is the increase of the church. It does not depend upon great preachers and large gospel campaigns. The normal daily life of the members of the church is simply to bear fruit; then there is the increase of the church.

The proper way to preach the gospel is to impart Christ into others as life. We should not trust in the great preachers; we have to trust in ourselves. Every member of the church is a branch to bear fruit. Consider the fruit tree. Every kind of fruit tree bears fruit at least once a year—this is a natural law. I do believe that as living members of the local church, we must bring at least one new convert a year to the Lord. Suppose a branch of the vine does not bear fruit year after year. What do they do with it? They prune it or cut it off. Every local church must encourage every member to bring at least one new convert to the Lord every year. Even to bring in ten or twelve a year is not too many, for that is simply like a cluster of grapes.

In the local church we should be fruitful. Whenever we come to the church meeting, we must come with some new ones. Do not come to the meetings alone—that is not a glory; that is a shame. We need to come to the meetings with others for the increase of the local church.

Some of the young brothers here in Los Angeles are of Japanese origin and were recently saved. They were not saved by gospel-preaching meetings, but through the daily contact of members of the church. This is the proper bearing of fruit.

The Church Needing the Increase Locally, and the Spread Universally

Locally, it is the increase; universally, it is the spread. The church needs the increase locally, and the spread universally. If the church in Los Angeles has been existing locally for ten years without any increase, and there is still only one church in this country without any spreading, we are wrong. The church must be spreading from city to city. I expect that in the near future, there will even be an expression in Mexico City.

Some may say that this is contradictory to what I have said about being concentrated. No, it is for experience that we are concentrated to be trained. We come together for the strengthening of the testimony and that we might be trained and experienced. Then at a certain time, we will migrate out to spread the church life from city to city.

If we read the book of Acts carefully, we will see that the spreading of the gospel had two lines. The first line was the migration of the saints—not the going out of the apostles. Acts 8:1 says very plainly that all the saints were scattered abroad, except the apostles. We have always thought that the apostles had to go out and the saints had to stay. But the Lord scattered all the saints and kept the apostles in Jerusalem. The sent ones stayed, and all the others were sent out. This was the first spreading of the gospel. It was not by the apostles going but by the scattering of the believers. This is what we call migration. The spreading of God’s kingdom really does not only depend on the apostles, but also on the believers migrating from city to city.

According to Luke 21:24, Jerusalem has been returned to the people of Israel. This is the strongest fact indicating that the time of the Lord’s return is very near. Therefore, locally we must have the increase, and universally we must have the spreading. As a local expression we must have many saints going out. We are not here for our interest; we are here for the Lord’s recovery. The time is near; the Lord is coming back. We must take care of His interest. We must look to the Lord that some will be burdened to go, and all of us should be willing to be burdened to go. We are the descendants of Abraham. Abraham was a stranger who continually sojourned on the earth. It is not right for us to be so settled in one place. We have to move from one place to another. We must be here for the Lord’s interest. If we are here as a local expression of the Lord’s Body without an increase locally and a spreading universally, we are wrong. We should not think that we are more spiritual than others. If we do, we are too proud. We must be so living and burning all the time for a certain amount of increase locally and for a measure of spreading universally. (CWWL, 1968, vol. 1, “The Practical Expression of the Church,” ch. 21)

The Faster, the Farther, and the More the Church Spreading, the Better

God’s intention is that there would be a church in the universe; He does not want the church to be in only one locality. In other words, the church that God wants is a church in the whole universe and not simply a church in one place. Even though the church has representative manifestations in many different localities, it is universal, not local. Thus, when the church was produced on the day of Pentecost, even though it was produced in Jerusalem, its nature was not merely that of the church in Jerusalem. The church is universal, not only in Jerusalem. The church was produced in Jerusalem, but it could not be kept in Jerusalem. The church was produced in Jerusalem, but it did not grow only in Jerusalem. The church can be produced in one place, but it is impossible to continue the church in one place forever and force it to grow only there. Because the church is universal, it must not only be produced, but it must also spread. The church is universal, so it must spread.

Both the cross and the Lord’s incarnation at Bethlehem have a universal impact. Although the Lord was born in Bethlehem, His birth was not merely for Bethlehem. The incarnation was not local; it was for the universe. The church is the same; even though it was produced in Jerusalem, it is for more than Jerusalem alone. The church is for the whole universe; it is eternal, and it transcends time and space. The church can appear in time and in a certain place, but it is not merely in time and of that place. The church transcends time and place; the church is universal.

Therefore, if a local church does not spread, the nature of that church is too low, and it will lose its universal and eternal character. In principle, the church must spread, and the faster, the farther, and the more it spreads, the better. But when we speak of the spread of the church, we must be careful. This spreading is not promoted by human methods, nor is it worked out by human hands. The spreading of the church is brought about by the growth in the Lord’s life. On man’s side, the church cannot grow quickly, and we should not be greedy for speed. However, on God’s side, the church must spread. Not long after the church in Jerusalem was raised up, God caused His children to be scattered to various places by persecution.

The Spreading of the Church Breaking Through Many Barriers
and Eliminating Many Undesirable Practices

The spreading of the church can break through many barriers and eliminate many undesirable practices. In many places where the church is raised up, however, the saints may be narrow-minded. This was the case in Jerusalem. They had many Old Testament traditions and teachings that caused them to close themselves off from others. If we were to say that there was a people on the earth who were closed and sealed up, we would say it was the Jews. They sealed themselves up and despised other people; moreover, they did not communicate with others.

Peter was the top apostle who saw the vision of the mystery of God and heard the prophecies of the mystery of Christ. Despite the fact that he received the revelation, he almost brought the church into the limitations of Judaism. In Peter’s mind the church belonged to Jerusalem and to the Jews and should not go to the Gentile lands or to the Gentile people; however, the church had to spread. When the church begins to spread, erroneous concepts are shattered, regardless of whether the concepts are regional, racial, or mutually discriminatory. When the church begins to spread, concepts are smashed and cease to exist. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 2: The Course of the Church,” msg. 2)

ESTABLISHING CHURCHES IN DIFFERENT LOCALITIES
BY PLANTING “CHURCH TREES”

There is an important difference between the formation of the universal church and the establishment of the churches. The universal church is not established; rather, it is formed with two categories of elements: all the believers as the extrinsic element and the all-inclusive Christ, the embodiment of the processed Triune God consummated as the all-inclusive, compound Spirit as the intrinsic element. Instead of being established, the universal church is formed by these two categories of elements.

The local churches are established, not formed. Establishment is different from formation. We should not say that we are going to a certain place to form a local church there. On the contrary, we go to a certain city not to form a local church but to establish a local church. The church as a whole was altogether formed more than nineteen hundred years ago on the day of Pentecost and in the house of Cornelius. This means that, in the eyes of God, the universal church, the Body of Christ, has been formed. This is an accomplished fact. Now, after the formation of this universal church as a complete entity, there is the need for the spreading of the church. The way to spread the church is to bring it to a certain locality and plant it. This planting is the establishment of a local church.

The entire church as the Body of Christ, including all the Jewish and Gentile believers, has been formed once for all universally. This is an accomplished fact. What we are doing today is simply establishing churches in different localities by planting “church trees.” This planting of church trees is the establishing of the churches.

No one is able to go to a place to form a local church. Assuming to do such a thing would be abominable in the sight of God, for it is presuming to do something that only God Himself can do. But although we cannot form the church, we have the position, the right, the opportunity, and even the commission to go to the uttermost parts of the earth to establish local churches.

Bringing the Church as a Tree to Every City, Town, and Village

The Lord has formed the church. Our burden is to bring the church as a tree to every city, town, and village and plant a church there. We all need to be faithful to carry out the burden to establish local churches by planting church trees. We should be burdened not just for the saving of sinners but for the establishing of churches. The married couples should be like Prisca and Aquilla who planted a church tree wherever they went. If we all have the desire to establish churches by planting church trees, the establishing of the churches will be very fast and prevailing. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 197)

The Need for a Strong Testimony in a Metropolitan Center

First, we must build up a strong testimony of the local church in a metropolitan center. It may be the Lord’s mind that we establish more than one meeting hall there. The church there will have a greater membership to prove to people that it is absolutely possible to build up one church in one city, regardless of how big the city is, how many members there are, and in how many places they meet. Such a local church may have thousands of members, but it is still one church. Likewise, it may have hundreds of home meetings, but it is still one church. This is absolutely possible, and it is a glory to the Lord and a complete fulfillment of His word in the New Testament. Throughout the centuries and even today, many people have said that it is impossible to have one church in one city. They have said that we may have one church in one village, but it is very hard to have one church in a metropolitan city. Nevertheless, the Lord will work this out to testify to the enemy that He is able to do it.

Those who took part in the visit to the Far East in 1968 have seen what the Lord has done there. The church in Taipei is a model, with many home meetings and a number of meeting halls in districts within the city. However, all those there are still one church. There are over two hundred deacons and deaconesses who serve to care for the local home meetings, and in addition to them, there are many elders and co-workers. Over three hundred elders, deacons, deaconesses, and co-workers meet together for the service meetings but they are still in one church. It is reasonable to believe that the Lord may do something even greater than this in a metropolitan center of millions of people to build up a testimony. By this, He will prove to the whole universe that prior to His coming back He is able to fulfill what He has spoken in His Word.

All, Except the Apostles, Being Scattered
Throughout the Regions of Judea and Samaria

Acts 8:1 begins, “And Saul approved of his killing. And there occurred in that day a great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem.” The reference to Saul in this verse reminds us that the Lord can turn an adversary into an apostle. We should not be afraid of those who oppose us. We will see that many “Sauls” will turn this way to become “apostles.” Likewise, we should not be afraid of persecution; persecution and opposition help us. Verse 1 continues, “And all were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” The phrase except the apostles establishes a principle. The apostles were not scattered, because at that time the Lord needed the church in Jerusalem as a model. Therefore, all the disciples could migrate, but the apostles could not. The apostles were the first group of persons in the building up of the local church in Jerusalem. For them to migrate out of Jerusalem might have been a great loss to the church there. All the others, however, were scattered. We have been before the Lord very much about who should migrate. If some would ask me who should stay and who should go, my answer would be, “I do not know.” We must be before the Lord to the extent that He shows His will to each one of us. However, as I have been considering this matter in the presence of the Lord, a principle has risen up within me. The principle is that all the disciples were scattered except the apostles. The brothers and sisters who are in the first group to build up the local testimony in a metropolitan center, in principle, must stay. In principle, they are the “apostles.” If they migrate out, the impact of the testimony there will be affected. This is a governing principle among us in the matter of migration.

The two goals of which we have spoken are equal, but to build up a strong testimony may be more important and more basic than the spread of the testimony. If we lose the strong testimony in a metropolitan center, we will lose very much, and it will be hard for us to spread, to move on. Based upon this principle, it is not wise for some of the dear ones who are most involved in the building up of the testimony to migrate. However, ones who have not been in the active and practical building up of the church to the greatest extent can be spared to go out. Their going will not affect the basic building up in the center as much as others’ going. This is the first aspect of this governing principle.

SPREADING THE CHURCH LIFE TO THE STRATEGIC CITIES
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY

Such a testimony is not for the metropolitan center alone but for the whole earth. Therefore, the second, equal goal is to spread the church life from this center to all the strategic cities in this country. All the disciples among us must bring to the Lord the matter of whether they should stay or go. We deeply feel that we should not take this matter in a light, quick way. Anything that is of the Lord need not be fast because time in the Lord’s eyes does not mean much; a thousand years are like one day to Him. To the Lord, to wait for ten years is like waiting a few minutes, so we must be patient. This is not to pour cold water on us, but on the one hand, we all have to be burdened to go out, while on the other hand, we should not be in a hurry. We should go on not hastily but steadfastly. (CWWL, 1964, vol. 3, “Fellowship concerning Migration,”)