The Recovery of Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Church as the House and City of God

The recovery of the church includes the Lord’s recovery of the experience and enjoyment of the different aspects of Christ and the recovery of the church as the house of God and the kingdom of God.

The return of the children of Israel from their captivity shows us in type that God desires to recover the church today; the church is not according to God’s original intention and purpose, and God wants to bring in a recovery of His people back to what He desires, what He envisions as the church.

Something was there originally – God had something in mind and heart concerning the church, but this has become lost and damaged throughout the centuries, so now there’s the need to bring that thing back to its original state.

If we read the book of Acts we see that, fifty days after the Lord’s resurrection, on the day of Pentecost, He descended as the Holy Spirit outwardly upon His disciples, and the church was formed.

Then the church simply increased and spread again and again, until this gospel reached the whole inhabited earth.

However, even during the time of the apostles, degradation started to come in; there was a decline in the church, and it got worse and worse year after year, decade after decade, and century after century.

It was so bad that at one point the Bible was locked by the Roman Catholic Church, and no one could read the Bible unless it was a priest and he knew the Latin language.

Those were truly dark days, dark times; however, the Lord came into having a recovery, starting with Martin Luther who saw the matter of justification by faith, and all the way until these days, the Lord has been recovering the truth, the life practices, the church life, and the church.

God would not be defeated; though everything seems to be lost or damaged, and though the church today is not up to God’s standard, what we know is that our God is a God of recovery, and He is in the process of recovering the church until the church becomes His bride, His counterpart, to bring Him back.

Just as the children of Israel were recovered to the land and the city, so many believers in Christ are being recovered by the Lord back to His original intention, until He gains the church that He is after.

He wants His people to return from any divisive ground, from any scattering and division, and come back to the genuine ground of oneness so that the church may be built up with the experience of Christ by all the members of the Body.

May the Lord have a way to bring many back to His original intention – out of anything of Babylon the great (the degraded Christianity today) and to the unique ground of His choice where they can build up the church as the Body of Christ, so that the bride of Christ may be prepared and He will have a way to return!

Having a Recovery of our Experience of the Various Aspects of Christ for the Church

One particular aspect of the return of the children of Israel from captivity to the good land was that they brought the vessels of the temple of God – which had been brought to Babylon – back to the temple of God.

When the children of Israel went back to Jerusalem, the God-ordained unique ground, they brought all the vessels of the temple of God with them, as God arranged and as the king decreed (2 Chron. 26:18; Ezra 5:14; 6:5).

The Babylonian king took these vessels and brought them to Babylon and put them in his idol temples; this is such a terrible thing, for they defiled these vessels.

Jerusalem was the center for God’s people to worship Him, and this unique center preserved the oneness of the people of God; for this reason, it was necessary for God’s people in the Old Testament to be brought back to Jerusalem, the unique ground ordained by God (Deut. 12:11; 16:2; 26:2).

However, even though we return to the genuine ground of oneness in the Body, we still need to recover one more thing: we need to enjoy the riches of Christ and experience the various aspects of this all-inclusive Christ.

The many vessels of silver and gold which were used in the temple signify the riches of Christ and the various aspects of the experience of Christ (Eph. 3:8).

Today’s Babylon – the degraded Christianity – has not only captured God’s people but also robbed all the riches from God’s temple; now the Lord wants not only to call His faithful people out of Babylon and bring them back to the proper church life, but He also wants to recover all the different aspects of Christ, which have been lost (Eph. 3:17-19; Col. 1:15-20; 2:16-17; 3:4).

If we look around in Christianity and we listen to the speaking, singing, and sharing that many of the preachers utter, at most we see how to live a prosperous life, how to be blessed by God, how to do this or that, how God wants to bless you, how to have more of the Spirit, how to be healed, how to think what would Jesus do, and so many other things.

But where do we see the genuine enjoyment and experience of Christ today? Even if some would experience something of Christ in Christianity, where can they bring their experience to share it with others?

At best Christians today care for a social gathering around the Bible, some sound doctrines, and preaching the gospel to save man from hell and bring them to heaven.

But who is speaking of the unsearchable riches of Christ? Who leads others into the enjoyment and experience of the many aspects of what Christ is?

To God, Christ is everything; He only gives us Christ, and Christ as the Spirit is everything we need. In the church life we need to return not only to the genuine ground of oneness; we also need to recover all the different aspects of Christ, which have been lost.

We are here caring only for Christ: we want to enjoy Christ, experience Christ, know Christ, pursue Christ, gain Christ, be gained by Christ, obtain Christ, be found in Christ, and offer Christ to God for His satisfaction.

This is the genuine church life today – it’s all about Christ – Christ in me, Christ in you; Christ experienced and enjoyed by me and Christ experienced and enjoyed by you.

When we do this, we bring the vessels back into the temple of God, the church, to serve in the house of God and to enjoy Christ with God and with one another.

Thank You Lord for being so rich, so sweet, and so enjoyable! Recover us to the enjoyment and experience of the many aspects of what Christ is to us and in us. Amen, Lord, may there be a recovery of the enjoyment and experience of the all-inclusive Christ in the church life, so that we may have the vessels of gold and silver in the temple of God, enjoying Christ with God and with one another, and serving God with Christ and in Christ! Lord, we care only for Christ; we want to enjoy Christ, possess Christ, and offer Christ to God for His satisfaction. Recover Your people back to the ground of oneness and recover the genuine enjoyment and experience of Christ!

The need for the Recovery of the Church as the House of God and the Kingdom of God

In the books of Ezra and Nehemiah – books on the recovery of God’s people – we see the rebuilding of the house of God and the wall of the city.

The recovery of the church is typified by the rebuilding of the temple of God and of the city of Jerusalem (Ezra 1:3; Neh. 2:11, 17; Psa. 26:8; 36:8-9; 46:1, 5; 47:2, 6-8).

The church is both the house of God, the temple of God (typified by the temple in Jerusalem), and the city of God, the kingdom of God (typified by the city of Jerusalem).

The church is nothing else but the enlargement of Christ, the increase of Christ in man.

The first step of the enlargement of Christ is the church as the house of God; as such, the church is the enlargement of God and the increase of God to be His fullness (John 3:29-30; Eph. 4:13; Col. 2:19).

The church is the enlargement of God and the increase of Christ to be the fullness of the One who fills all and in all. This is the first step.

The second step of the enlargement of Christ is the church as the city of God; the church as the house must be further enlarged to be the church as the city of God (Matt. 5:14; Rev. 3:7, 12; 21:9-10).

A proper church life must have these two aspects – the dwelling place of God, the house of God, and also the city of God for the kingdom of God.

The temple, the place of God’s presence, needs protection; the wall of the city was the defense of the temple.

Similarly, the church as the house of God today must be enlarged and strengthened to be the church as the city with great and high walls to protect the interests of God.

The building of the church as the house of God and the city of God is the center of God’s eternal purpose (see Eph. 2:21-22; 1 Tim. 3:15; Rev. 21:2-3).

The Lord’s recovery of the church involves the recovery of the house of God and the city of God so that God may have His rest, satisfaction, and expression, and He may also have His kingdom, dominion, and representation on earth.

In Rev. 21:2-3 we see that there’s no temple in the New Jerusalem because the entire city is the temple; the temple of God, the house of God, is being enlarged to such an extent that the entire temple becomes the city of God.

The Lord’s recovery of the church has to advance from the church as the temple and house of God to the church as the city and kingdom of God.

The building of God is actually the mingling of God and man; the church is the mingling of God with man, the mingling of divinity with humanity that will be enlarged and consummated to the fullest extent, that is the city, New Jerusalem.

May the Lord have a recovery of His people from Babylon the Great to the church life so that He may have a way for Christ to carry out His second coming (Rev. 1:7).

The reason the Lord, at the end time, is working to have a recovery of the church, is so that He may carry out His second coming (Rev. 3:7-10; 22:16; 1 Cor. 12:27; 1:2).

This recovery will be a preparation and a base for Christ’s coming again (Rev. 1:7; 3:11; 19:7-9; 22:7, 12, 20).

If there is no recovery of the church on the earth today, if there’s no return from Babylon the Great – the fallen Christianity – to the church life, then there’s no way to carry out His second coming.

This thought should humble us; we should come before the throne of God and receive grace and mercy, for we want to be the remnant of God’s people who return to the proper ground of oneness for Him to gain the church as the house of God and the city so that He may hasten His return.

Shall we not consecrate ourselves to Him and give ourselves for His recovery of Christ and the church, the recovery of the house and the city? Shall we not give ourselves to the Lord for the recovery of His expression and His kingdom on the earth?

Lord Jesus, You have brought us back, You have returned us according to Your promise. You have made us part of Your remnant, and You are here doing a work of recovery in us and among us to gain the church as the house of God and the city of God. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to You for Your recovery work on earth today. We consecrate to You so that You can work out the recovery of the church as the house of God and the city for You to gain Your expression and Your dominion! Amen, Lord Jesus, gain the church as the house and the kingdom of God so that You may have a prepared bride for which to return to the earth! Dear Lord, come soon!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2451-2455 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of Jeremiah and Lamentations, week 10, The Promise, the Prophecy, the Remnant, and the Recovery.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Platters full of Christ, bowls with Spirit filled— / All the vessels of the Lord bring up! / Bring them to the church as the Lord has willed— / All the vessels of the Lord bring up! / Bring up! Bring up! / All the vessels of the Lord bring up! / In Jerusalem, chosen of the Lord, / Now the temple of the Lord build up! / Serve with all the saints, share in one accord, / Now the temple of the Lord build up! / Build up! Build up! / Now the temple of the Lord build up! (Hymns #1252)
  – And the kingship we must see / With divine authority— / To this rule we’ll all agree, / O glory be to God! / To the Spirit we’ll submit / For the church’s benefit— / This is His prerequisite / In the local churches now. (Hymns #1251)
  – In God’s house and in Thy Body / Builded up I long to be, / That within this corporate vessel / All shall then Thy glory see; / That Thy Bride, the glorious city, / May appear upon the earth, / As a lampstand brightly beaming / To express to all Thy worth. (Hymns #840)