The Church is the Supporting Pillar and Holding Base of the Truth, the Divine Reality

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

This week in our morning revival we come to the matter of, 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.

This is a weighty matter, for the church has been chosen by God to support the truth and uphold the truth, and the church is the manifestation of God in the flesh in a corporate way.

The church has this particular commission and responsibility, to both hold and support the truth, and to manifest God in the flesh.

As believers in Christ, we need to be constituted with the truth and also live out the truth. Even more, the truth is related to the church, for the responsibility of the church is to be the pillar of the truth and the base of the truth.

On one hand, we can enjoy the truth, dive into the truth, and be constituted with the truth; on the other hand, we need to become a corporate entity that upholds the truth, supports the truth, and corporately manifests God in the flesh.

The truth is not merely for our personal spiritual edification; the truth is for us to uphold, stand for, and live out, so that God would have a corporate manifestation in the flesh.

Especially in these days, which are so evil and so dark, we live in a crooked and perverted generation full of lawlessness and corruption.

God desires that the church would a pillar and a base for the truth, upholding the truth, living out the truth, and standing for the truth.

This doesn’t mean that we all should memorize and recite verses or spiritual quotes; rather, truth refers to the divine reality, which is the Triune God Himself, as expressed through His word.

In this universe only God is reality; everything else will fail and pass away. We may think that the physical things we have are real, but they will perish.

We may think our human relationships are so real and sweet, but even these will end.

People may think that entertainment and pleasures will satisfy them, but even these are not real, for only God is reality. Christ is reality.

And the commission of the church is to be the bearer of this divine reality of God Himself. The church is here to uphold the truth, support the truth, and live out the truth.

The truth is not some kind of doctrine or teaching; the truth is the divine reality, which is God Himself, Christ Himself, even the Spirit of reality.

This divine reality needs to be upheld by being lived out to be expressed in humanity.

The Lord Jesus did this first; He was the way and the reality and the life, and He upheld the truth and stood for the truth, living out the truth and speaking the truth.

The Church is the Supporting Pillar and Holding Base of the Truth, the Divine Reality

In 1 Tim. 3:15 Paul uses the metaphor of a pillar, saying that the church is the pillar and base of the truth; the church is the supporting pillar and holding base of the truth.

A base is something solid, something that stands and upholds the entire building; it is something strong that stands upright and holds the house.

In spite of the downward current of the age today, the church is a holding base for the truth, and it is a supporting pillar of the divine reality.

The first mention of a pillar is in Genesis 28 with Jacob, where he had a dream and after waking up, he turned the stone-pillow and made it into a stone-pillar, pouring oil upon it, for it was the house of God, the place of God’s speaking.

This signifies the mingling of God with man for the testimony of God in man.

Then in 1 Kings 7, we see the two pillars in the temple, Boaz and Jachin; one means that God will establish and the other is that in God is strength.

These are two great pillars, magnificent and imposing, upholding the house of God.

The church is the supporting pillar of the truth; the truth here is not mere doctrine or teachings but the divine reality of God Himself, Christ, and the economy of God, as expressed in the holy word of God.

The truth is something standing tall, upright, not being shaken but solid, standing throughout the ages.

In the last two thousand years, many things changed: kingdom came and kingdoms fell, men rose and men died, and cities were built and cities were destroyed; what stands throughout the ages is the truth, for the truth is a strong base.

The pillar supports the building, and the base holds the pillar; the church is a supporting pillar and holding base of the truth.

The truth refers to the real things revealed in the New Testament concerning Christ and the church according to God’s New Testament economy.

When we read this verse in 1 Tim. 3:15, we may think that the truth needs upholding and supporting, so the church upholds the truth, being a solid base of the truth.

Many believers think that the church needs to proclaim the truth and teach the truth so that the church would uphold the truth and be the pillar and base of the truth.

However, if we read 1 Tim. 3:15-16 and pray over these verses, we will be clear that the church doesn’t merely objectively teach the truth and proclaim the truth but rather, the truth is constituted into our being, built into us, so that we may become the constitution and embodiment of the truth, thus upholding and proclaiming the truth.

To uphold means that we present something that everyone can see, to stand tall, upright, for all to see; the church is the supporting base and upholding pillar of the truth.

The truth is solid and strong, nothing can shake it; we need to be the supporting base and upholding pillar of the truth to testify to the truth not only in an objective sense but in a subjective way.

The church as God’s collective people is His house, the Body of Christ, and the church must be constituted with the truth to even become the truth itself; we all need to become pillars in the temple of God, supporting and upholding the truth in order to testify concerning the divine reality to the universe.

Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You to be constituted with the truth and experience the truth so that we may become the upholding base and supporting pillar of the truth. Amen, Lord, may we know how to behave in the house of God, the pillar and base of the truth, so that God may gain His corporate manifestation in the flesh. Make us pillars in Your house, supporting pillars constituted with the truth and inwrought with the truth. Save us from merely knowing the truth in an objective way; may the truth become our constitution so that we may become the manifestation of God in the flesh, the embodiment of the truth in this universe!

The Church Bears Christ as Reality, Testifying to the Universe of the Divine Reality – Christ and the Church

The truth is not merely things that are true and sound but the reality and contents of God’s New Testament economy, which is composed of Christ and the church.

The economy of God is composed of two great mysteries: Christ as the mystery of God (Col. 2:2) and the church as the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:4); together, Christ and the church are the great mystery.

The church bears Christ as the reality; the church testifies to the whole universe that Christ and Christ alone is reality (John 1:14, 17; 14:6).

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 (Eph. 1:22-23; 4:16; 1 Tim. 3:15; John 3:3, 5).

Just as a pillar that bears the building and the base upholds the pillar, so 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).

The church bears Christ as the reality; God has committed Himself to the church, for He wants the church to bear the reality of the Triune God as revealed in His word.

All that God is, is embodied in Christ, and all that Christ has and is, is realized as the Spirit; this Spirit is contained in the Word of God, and the church is the upholding base and supporting pillar of the truth as revealed in God’s word.

God doesn’t use His angels to experience and uphold the truth; He entrusts all that He is, the divine reality, to the church, so that the church would bear Christ as reality, testifying to the universe of Christ and the church.

These two mysteries – Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ – together form a great mystery, which is God’s economy, Christ and the church.

The kind of church that we build up depends on the kind of truth that we teach; if we teach or dive into peripheral and auxiliaries doctrines in the word of God and not God’s economy, the church cannot be the supporting pillar and upholding base of the truth.

There is a desperate need for us to have the living truth for the church to be produced, for the church to be brought into existence, and for the church to be built up.

If we merely teach that men are justified by faith and we can believe into the Lord to have eternal life, if we merely teach how to care for the family life and have obedient children, loving parents, and submissive wives, or if we teach a family-oriented church life, all of which are very biblical, but we don’t teach God’s economy, we fall short of being the pillar and base of the truth.

What the Lord needs in His recovery today is to have His testimony, the church as the supporting pillar and upholding base of the truth. He needs the church to be the mystery of Christ, upholding the truth concerning God’s economy, Christ and the church.

We all need to not only know the truth but also be trained in the divine knowledge and be able to uphold the divine truth.

Every member of the church is part of the pillar and base that upholds the truth; every believer needs to learn the truth, be constituted with the truth, and be able to speak the truth in a living way.

It is not only the elders or the more mature ones that need to know the truth; all the saints, from the youngest to the oldest, from the smartest to the ones that don’t seem to be so smart, from brothers to sisters and to young people, all the saints need to know, experience, and speak the truth in a living way, testifying to all concerning the divine reality, Christ and the church.

Lord Jesus, we want to learn the truth, experience the truth, live in the truth, and speak the truth concerning God’s economy, Christ and the church. We want to internalize the truth in a living way, being constituted with the crucial points of the truth and having God’s economy as our governing vision so that we may be the upholding base and supporting pillar of the truth. Show us the desperate need of the living truth to be our enjoyment, constitution, experience, and living, for the producing of the church, the existence of the church, and the building up of the church!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 3: The Way to Carry Out the Vision,” chs. 1, 9-11, 13, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing the Truth, being Absolute for the Truth, and Proclaiming the Truth in this Present Evil Age (2021 Memorial Day Weekend Conference), week 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.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – 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, / The church of the living God, / The pillar and base, / The pillar and base of the truth. (Scripture song)
  – As the body is the fulness / To express our life, / So to Christ the Church, His Body, / Doth express His life. / E’en as Eve is part of Adam / Taken out of him, / So the Church is Christ’s own increase / With Himself within. (Hymns #819)
  – No longer does one heed mere formal phrase, / Or seek for others’ creeds through winding maze, / For in Himself was truth made manifest. / And out of every tongue and every land / He formed one Church to meet His own demand— / His Body, where His fulness is expressed. (Hymns #828)