THE CHURCH WHICH IS HIS CORPORATE EXPRESSION IN THE EARTH by J W Luman We will be dealing with our relationship to Christ as the Church. Certainly not everything we call "a church" or even "church" is The Church, but that doesn't do away with the reality of that relationship that truly stands for the Church. Because without that vessel, there is and shall be no full expression of Christ in the earth, and the scriptures are clear on that. There is no such thing as getting beyond the Church, because the scriptures teach the Church is that expression of Christ that is ageless and world without end. The Church is that chosen vehicle of God to give Him that expression in the heavenlies, before principalities and powers, and world without end, the scriptures say. What has come to be known as "the church", well, it isn't difficult to get beyond that; in some cases all you have to do is just be born again. In other cases you have to begin to really grow up in the Lord Jesus. But there is a form, and many believers are captive to that form; many ministries even are captive to and serve that form. And it isn't given to you or me to get rid of that form. It's given to you and I to learn Christ and to bring forth a true manifesting of Him in the earth; and in and through and as that manifestation serve Him and one another. And that's what the Church is all about. Without the True Church, there is no real expression of Christ, there is no real ministry of Christ, and there is no real way of serving Christ. I want to share with you concerning that Church which is in reality the expression of Christ; the Church that you and I should be, the Church which you and I must be. Not necessarily the Church which you and I are, but the Church which we must be and should be; the Church which He recognizes, the expression which He by the Spirit calls CHURCH. Anything other than that is not the Church. To be the Church it must be a people in the knowledge and revelation of Him, bringing Him corporate expression in the earth. The Church is not me, the Church is not you individually. The Church is us, but it's not just us - it's us in an expression of Him! The Church is not just people, not even just Christian people - it's Christian people in whom Christ is being revealed and through whom an expression of Christ is coming forth. So the Church is very unique. We sing, "Ye are come to Mt. Zion" - that's in Hebrews. But the Zion you've come to there is not describing a place. Jerusalem describes a place. Isaiah 30:19 says, "For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem." And the reality of that is not all who are in Jerusalem are in Zion. Now all who are in Zion are in Jerusalem, because Jerusalem signifies the city of God. Hebrews says the city of God is found in Mt. Zion. But Zion is the high thought of God. More importantly, Zion is a people who are dwelling in the high thought of God. The high thought of God is expressed in you and I when God reveals His Son in us, because that Son is the high thought of God. It is in Him that the Father hath spoken. He is not only the Word of God - He's the thought of God, He's the idea of God. He is that which God sees when He sees you and I. And He continually seeks to bring us to His point of view. We see ourselves in this and that, but God sees us in The Son. Many believers see that positionally - we are in Christ - but God sees us in the Person of that Son. And He seeks to bring us to where we see ourselves the same way. So Zion represents how God sees, what God sees, the high thought. God tries continually to bring us to that high thought. We don't get there by achievements - we get there through the revelation of His Son! God revealing His Son in us. So Zion represents a people who stand in understanding, a people who stand in wisdom and knowledge, a people who stand in the revelation of Christ, in the high thought of God. More than that, Zion represents a people who in the earth represent the high thought of God. This brings us back to the Church, because you can not in reality have Christ revealed in you without representing in the earth that revelation. The revelation of Jesus Christ is not a teaching that we have and then we live some other way. If God has revealed His Son in you, you are an expression of that to whatever degree that Son is being revealed in you. And if we are not, it is because we have not yet come to see the Son. You can't turn the light on and that bulb not shine. You can't come in a room and turn the light on and then have to run around and chase out the darkness - the light does that. This sounds very simple, but in many believers it isn't that simple, because many who claim the revelation of Jesus Christ simply are not an expression of that. So we have that by teaching, but if the Son is revealed in you, to the degree that He's revealed in you, the soul has been transformed and the mind has been renewed, and to that degree you are an expression - it does make a difference - automatically. So Zion represents a people who are in the high thought of God - not trying to get there; a people in whom Christ is being revealed. Zion represents that revealing in the earth - a people in the earth who are representing that revelation; who are shining out, expressing, manifesting that revealing of Christ. That's what Zion represents. It is God's desire that all they at Jerusalem would come to dwell in Zion. Now in the New Testament we see it is God's desire - particularly through Paul's writings - that all you who dwell in Christ, would come to have Christ revealed in you; that the whole Body would come to be filled with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ! That the whole Body would come to the wisdom of God; that the whole Body would have the eyes of your understanding enlightened. It's the same thing. So when the writer is saying "Ye are come to Mt. Zion", he isn't talking about a place, but a realization, a realization wherein the city of God is also realized, the heavenly Jerusalem is realized, the mystery of God is realized - all of these things are realized in Zion. And the realization of Zion is not a thing, the realization of Zion is a Person! Where is it God reveals His King and says 'Thou art my Son'? Mt. Zion - upon my holy hill I'll set my King and establish his throne. There is the decree concerning Him - Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee, Thou art a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Zion is a people in whom the Son is revealed; in whom that order which Christ fulfilled is revealed. Zion is a people out from which all of that flows into the earth. And the people represent the Church. All of this is descriptive of the Church - that very expression of Christ. The Lord is bringing us to the very foundation of the matter that He may have a sure expression of Himself in the earth. If I could give Him that full expression by myself, I really wouldn't care if the rest of you ever saw Jesus or not. Why should I care, why did Paul care? Because no one can - the many, they are One. Not many for many sake, the many for One sake; bound up in the knowledge and revelation of Jesus Christ. I can not give Him full expression. I am not His Body - I am a member of it. The Church is nothing other than that invisible Body having absolute visibility in the earth. Consequently that Church is not one - it is One in that the One is HIM!. But it is not only lively stones, but those stones brought upon a foundation. We care because without the Church He has no expression in the earth and will have no expression in the earth. It's not up to me to know what kind of number that is, but I know it's more than one - I know it's more than me. I know the measure of it is not measured by numbers. I know the measure is the fulness of Him and it's still a plurality. That's what I want to deal with - THE CHURCH WHICH IS HIS CORPORATE EXPRESSION IN THE EARTH. Then we'll look at the Church which is His Body, and the Church which is His Person - that's the Church in which the I AM THAT I AM has His expression. It must not be a doctrine with us, but an expression. To bring a people to give Him such an expression is a very awesome thing. Friends, Paul said, "I have determined not to know..." You must completely divorce your mind, your understanding from that form what is called the Church, and then let that which is the TRUE CHURCH take it's place. But don't just throw the whole concept of Church out - that's like throwing the whole concept of Christianity out. You can't do that. The Church is a valid vehicle for His expression in the earth, and it must be discerned by those in whom Christ is revealed. And you will be able to discern what is and what is not. That's not a matter of making judgments - it's a matter of a judgment having been made in you. We have to set this old thinking out of the way, and let the Lord bring into our comprehension the reality of not only the word and the term, but the very existence of The Church. Ephesians 1. You know in order for Christ to have Headship, there must be the Church. I keep saying "The Church". I'm not talking about "a church" - I'm talking about "The Church", whether it's The Church in Culpepper or The Church in Denton, it is always referred to as "The Church" in scripture. It is full of plurality, but it is always "The Church". The Church having expression throughout the earth. The Church is the expression of Christ - The Church is the expression of a union He has with His Body, and there's only One Body! So it's the Church meeting here or meeting there - it's always "The Church" or it's not Church at all. If it is not for the Church, Christ is without Headship. Ephesians 1:20, "Which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And hath put all things under his feet, and gave Him to be head over all (the word "things" is not in the original) to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all." THE CHURCH. We're dealing now with the Church which is His corporate expression in the earth. Without the Church He has no Headship. Every place it is written in the scriptures, notice He is never Head over the Body, He is Head over the Church which is His Body. Colossians says "Head over the Body, which is the Church", and an understanding will show you that it is the Church having an expression in the earth over which He is the Head. His Headship is in the Church because the Church only exists on the earth where Christ is revealed in a people. And it is that revelation that gives Him Headship. You are in His Body by new birth, but just because you are born-again does not mean He is exercising Headship over you. It doesn't mean you even know that He's the Head - most believers don't. Over most believers He has no Headship. So it can not be truthfully said that He's the Head of the Body, because the Head is not merely a matter of position, but a matter of relationship. And every believer is not in that relationship, but the Church is. Forget what you call the Church. The Church is a relationship; an expressed relationship in the earth. Where there is not a people in the earth expressing that relationship, you can not call it the Church, because it isn't the Church. It may be a room full of believers, it may be a city full of believers, but unless those believers are there in the revelation of Jesus Christ expressing Headship, it can not be called the Church. He is given to be Head over all (we're not dealing with things) to the Church. It is a relationship that the Church expresses in the earth. You're never going to find Him Head over the Body. No, He's Head over the Church. Is the Body one thing and the Church another? It isn't supposed to be, but it is. Jerusalem and Zion should not be different. The Bible says, Come ye to Zion. That all who dwell in Jerusalem would dwell in Zion. Paul is saying that all of you who are in the Lord's Body would come to know Him; that all who are in the Lord's Body would grow up in Him. But have they? No. The Church and the Body should be the same. In fact they are - in expression they are not. Can you be in the Church and not be in the Lord's Body? Certainly not! But can you be in the Lord's Body and not be expressing Him in the earth as the Church? Most certainly you can. They are two different things only in that one is an expression of Christ, where the other is the very creation of Christ - the Body; that which He has created, that which exists only because we're in Him and He's in us. But unfortunately those who are in Him, in whom He dwells; in most He has no expression. Why do you think Paul is dealing with the Church concerning the revelation of Jesus Christ? He isn't dealing with them about being in Christ - he's telling them you are in Him. He's telling them you are in heavenly places. What is he telling them they don't have? The eyes of your understanding enlightened; that they don't have the knowledge of God working in them; that they don't have Christ revealed; that they don't understand the mystery of God, which is Christ. Paul is telling them to come to the knowledge of Christ - to the revelation of Christ! That they would get saved? No - grow up, mature, come to fulness. Why? That Christ may have manifestation in the earth. Manifestation is not in the heavens - manifestation is a heavenly thing in the earth! It is Christ having an expression, a visibility in the earth. The whole creation waits for what? You and I to be in Christ? No - you and I who are in Christ manifesting Him! The whole creation waits for the witness that only the Church truly is. If you want to see the Church, turn to the book called The Revelation of Jesus Christ. It is in the midst of the Church that He is being revealed, and in the last two chapters it is in the midst of the Church that He is having His outshining. That word "city" there is not describing an object, but a relationship of the bride with Christ, which is the Church. The Church is not a thing, it's not a line of teaching. The Church is not what you are baptized into. Spiritually you are baptized into the Body of Christ. The Church comes by the revelation of Jesus Christ! Where there is no revealing of Him, there can not possibly be the Church, because the Church is the visible, tangible, expressive witness of Christ in the earth. We've made it a visible, tangible expression of religion in the world - the Christian Church. 'What Church do you attend?' That's what we've made it. That is the form, that is the system that has come about; but that's not the Church. Don't look at that and get disgusted with the Church. There is a True Church, a true expression of Christ, and it has to do with believers being bound corporately together in the heavenlies, giving Him that expression in the earth. And then ministries operate, activities operate, but they are the operation of Christ in a people in who He's revealed - not just a bunch of Christian people getting together doing things. There's a difference. And the difference may not even be in the things being done. The difference is who is doing them? Who is being expressed? Because the Church gathers, but wherever people gather is not necessarily the Church. The Church worships, but wherever people worship is not necessarily the Church. I'm not telling you that those who are gathering and who are not the Church are not saved, not Spirit-filled, not believers. I'm not telling you it's not the Body of Christ, or that they are not all in the Body of Christ. I'm telling you that the Church is very uniquely described in the Bible as an expression of Christ in the earth. The question is not whether you and I are part of His Body. The question is whether we are expressing Him corporately in the earth or not. Everyone of us who are in Christ would say we are His Body; there is no one of us who would say, 'I am the Body' or 'You are the Body' or that 'I'm Christ' or that 'You're Christ.' We understand it's a WE. And it's more than just we - it's HE! It is corporate. The Church is that very reality being expressed in the earth. But how does this Body, which is Christ, have an expression in the earth? Only when Christ is revealed! And when He is, those in whom He's revealed are joined together in the knowledge of the Lord - in the faith of the Son of God. "Til we all come in the unity of the faith of the Son of God." It's a coming, it's a gathering. And it's impossible to have Christ revealed in you here in this Body and not be gathered - it's a scriptural impossibility. The whole purpose is the gathering. THAT HE MAY GATHER ALL THINGS IN ONE, AS ONE, WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH, EVEN IN HIMSELF! That's the whole purpose - a coming, a continual joining! What I'm telling you is the Church is never seen except where Christ is revealed in believers - they are joined together in the knowledge of the Lord - and then you have got an expression in the earth called THE CHURCH. The Church is a visible expression of an invisible union. The Church is a visible expression of an invisible Body. You can take believers and put them in any kind of setting you want to put them, and simply because they are in that place does not make them the Church. They are believers - they are all members of the Lord's Body, but the Church is that Body having expression in the earth. There's a difference here that we can only understand through having Christ revealed in us. But the difference comes down to whether it is the Church meeting or not; to whether it is the Church witnessing or not; to whether it is the Church singing, the Church going, the Church gathering or not. The difference is whether it is Christ having an expression in a people, or whether it's a people trying to be like Jesus. And the problem is we have called the wrong thing Church - just because we're all Christians. And then we've divided it up to where to be part of this Church you have to be baptized in a certain way; or to be part of this Church you have to speak in tongues; or to be part of this Church you've got to sign a card. We have made the Church a thing - a religious organization. The Church is an expression of Christ coming right out of the heavenlies in a people; binding a people in the earth just as they are in the heavens. The Church is the very expression of the Kingdom of God in the earth. You don't get beyond the Church and then into the Kingdom. The Church is the expression of the Kingdom. The Kingdom is simply the dominion of the King. Who is the King? He's the Head of the Church! So it is out from the Church that the Kingdom is expressed - out from that into the world, into the universe, into the ages - in ever increasing circles. But what's the center? Christ revealed in a people! And until He's revealed in a people, the Church isn't seen, and the Kingdom isn't expressed, and the world is not filled with the glory of God. The center of it is a Person - who must be revealed in a people. Now the Body doesn't exist by Him being revealed in you; the Body exists through the new birth, through the baptism. But the Body exists for the revelation of Christ - He must have a place to be revealed, so God gave Him a Body - one to die, and one in which He would be revealed. The first one to die, the second one to never die! One by a woman, one coming forth in the Resurrection! But the Body is not by the revelation of Jesus Christ; the Body is for the revelation of Jesus Christ. And everything beyond that is only by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Until He's revealed in this Body, there's no manifestation called the Church; there is no power, there is no rule and reign of His dominion, of His Kingdom. Until He's revealed there is no real witness in the earth of His glory; and there is no witness before principalities and powers. And the center of it is Him being revealed in a people. There are many who are in Him, in whom He is not revealed, and those in whom He is revealed have not yet come to full understanding. But the Church is the result of that. So what is Church growth? 'Well, Church growth is getting some more members.' No! Now listen, you don't get members in the Church, you get members in the Body! You don't get them by signing something - they have to be born again. God hath set members in the Body. He sets ministries in the Church. There's a great deal of difference between members and ministries. God would bring every member to a ministry, but He has to bring them there in the knowledge of the Lord. But most don't come there in the knowledge of the Lord - they come there in the zeal of the flesh. So we have a lot of ministries running around that have nothing to do with the Church because God hasn't set them anywhere. They just got a hold of a Bible and decided they were a preacher, or some other kind of a ministry. God sets members in the Body. He sets ministries in the Church. But what God hath not set is not of God. That's just like people deciding that they are a Christian - well, not until you're born again, you are not. 'Well, I told God I was sorry for the way I lived and I want to do better.' Yes, but have you been born again? "Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" You see you come by death, burial and resurrection to be in Christ Jesus. Now the knowledge of that comes at the revealing of Christ, but that's the way you come - through the faith of the operation of God. God sets members and then in those He reveals His Son. And it is in and through the revealing of His Son that He sets ministries, because God sets no ministry forth but by the revealing of His Son. Paul said, "It pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace..." He did all that "to reveal his Son in me that I might preach him." Not that I might be saved - that I might minister Him. That's a hard pill to swallow, friends, but it's true. God sets members through salvation - new birth, baptism. Then He works in there the work of adoption, which is bringing His Son to recognition. Where? IN HIS BODY! But where does He have expressed Headship? IN THE CHURCH! A people who are His Body, but a people in whom Christ is revealed giving Him in the earth that same corporate expression; living in the earth in union, in relationship with Him; knowing Him as their Head. The Church - given Him to be Head over all to the Church. The Headship comes when He is revealed. So, if Christ is revealed in you, He's going to be manifested through you. And if Christ is revealed in you, you're going to be bound up with those in whom He's revealed. It is impossible for it to be any other way, because He must have in the earth as it is in the heavens. In the heavens He is corporate, so His expression in the earth must be corporate also. Whether it's two or three, or that many hundred or thousand is not what the scripture is concerned with, but it must be that. And then in that expression, however many, He will set ministry through the revealing of Himself - functions. The Church is to function in the earth. The Church gathers, but the gathering is not the Church. The Church functions. We think the Church just functions for an hour and a half once a week. No - it may gather for an hour and a half or seven hours a week, but there's more functions to the Church than just gathering. But it won't gather by dictate, it won't gather by legalism - it will gather in the reality that there's something about Christ being revealed in you that joins us one to another. It's an inexplicable gathering. It gathers you in spirit, in truth, in witness - it gathers you. He gathers up His Body and His Body manifests His Church in the earth. But there's more to it than just gathering. We have called the Church the time of gathering - that hour and a half. And we've called Church Order how we do things for an hour and a half. Isn't that silly? In the first place Church is Christ having an expression in the earth, so Church Order has to start with Christ having preeminence in all. That in all He may have the preeminence - Colossians 1. So that whatever activities you do as the Church, He has preeminence - not priority - preeminence. Priority is having God first, then home and family next, and job third, then social fourth, and on and on. Preeminence is when He has expression in all of that - all of that serves Him. You don't relegate Him to having first and then have your life and all the rest of this stuff. No - preeminence is He having His outshining in everything! Church Order is Him having preeminence in everything. It doesn't make any difference whether you sing three songs or three hundred. It doesn't matter whether you minister first and sing last, or minister, stop and sing and minister some more. It doesn't make any difference whether your service is fifteen minutes or five hours and fifteen minutes! The only thing that matters is that whatever is being done, whatever ministry is operating, He is truly having the preeminence. And if He's not having preeminence, everything you are doing is out of order anyway; so it doesn't make any difference what you are doing. But we've taught Church Order based on a Church service - how ludicrous! But now we're dealing with that Church which is Him having corporate expression. You can look at Ephesians 4:11-13. "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. " Those are familiar passages. Also 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 - these all speak of the Church which is His corporate expression in the earth. We've dealt with what the Church is not. Now Ephesians 1:9-10, "Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself; that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in him; In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will; That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ." Then Ephesians 3:8. We're going to read almost the same thing again, except here all of the mystery revealed and gathering up in His Body through revealing His Son is having expression. " Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ; To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to his eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Look back to Ephesians 1:12, "That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ." Verse 11, "...to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." The gathering up - the mystery that is taking place here in His Body - His gathering through revealing His Son, His gathering in one all things as one, both in heaven and in earth. There is a gathering up of every believer that is in Christ, the gathering up of His body in the knowledge of Christ. Why? He hath made me a minister for this reason. He has given me grace for this. Why, Paul? That all of this mystery might be manifested in the earth and to principalities and powers by the CHURCH! The Church - the visible manifestation of the invisible mystery of God! By the Church! Through the Church - His Kingdom! Through the Church - manifested in the earth. It is all through the Church. Consequently the Church is the one central object of God's divine eternal plan. The Church is purposed for the increase and exhibition of Himself! We just read that. Ephesians 3:21, "Unto him be glory in the church, (how?) by Christ Jesus (when?) throughout all ages, world without end." Everything that is revealed of Christ in His Body comes to be manifest by the Church. And in fact it creates the Church. The very manifestation of this is the Church. And then it is through the Church that the Kingdom is seen in all the earth for the glory of God. Beyond that - principalities; beyond that - ages; beyond that - worlds without end. It all starts here where the mystery of God is gathered in Christ, revealed in a people and manifested as the Church; exercising the Kingdom and the glory of God filling the earth, the witness to principalities and powers - there is no end to the echoes and dimensions of it. It is the expression of the fulness of God in Christ revealed in a people - expressed as the Church. And anything less than that can not be called the Church. What do you call it? I call it Christian people in bondage to a form. I call it God's people in bondage in Babylon. I call it Ezekiel sitting down on the bank without a vision - and then the vision came - the revelation of Jesus Christ! I'm not angry at believers, but believers don't constitute the Church. Christ revealed in believers constitute the Church. Without that there is no vision, and with no vision believers are in bondage to carnality, to form, to religion and to flesh. That's the instrument we're depending on for world evangelization? Not hardly! That instrument has been so lied to and so beguiled so that instrument is sitting down in its form waiting for Jesus to come and get it! It has no intention of ever manifesting Jesus - it has created its own doctrine of dispensationalism, which says that it's not even supposed to manifest Him. The devil loves that. I am speaking about a dispensational chart - it is nothing more than the ever extending expression of Christ that doesn't start until He's revealed in somebody. It has to do with administrations of the Holy Spirit but not blocks of time. There is no such "time" in Christ. He's either the Eternal Day or He's nothing! He's either the Eternal Light or He's nothing! But Him having expression - then you see Church, then you see Kingdom. But that comes out from Him having expression. When it was decided that the intended universe would be the summing up of all things in Christ, the elect Body called the Church was given birth in the very heart of God. When it was decided that the very creation of God in Christ Jesus wherein God will have full and absolute expression; when it was conceived that there be such an expression, in the heart and mind of God, he intended an elect Body called the Church - in and through which such expression would be given. If you eliminate that vehicle, you've killed the expression; you've done away with the vessel of God's expression. If you eliminate the Church you've done away with the Body of Jesus Christ ever giving Him manifestation. For that Body giving Him manifestation, that Body wherein He is revealed is the Church. The Church is the divine expression of Him in the earth - it's not just people doing this or that. It's people in whom Christ is revealed, expressing Him in all that they do. And that is Church Order as well. Church Order has to extend out through that back door. The Church is a corporate expression of Him, but here's what I can not do. I can not in the independence of my own mind, go out here and say, 'I am the Church', no more than I can say, 'I'm the Body'. No - I must realize that I'm bound together in the heavenly realm and it is manifested in the earth - there's the Church. What I can do is go out from there and minister as the Church. For I'm not going out in the independence of my own heart, I'm going out in the realization of a oneness that I have. Ministries go out as an extension of this reality, this union, this fellowship, and that's the only way it will work. In the sequence of spiritual truth, this is the way it has to work. This is the way Paul worked. The first thing the Lord Jesus Christ did, not as the Son of God but as the Son of Man was draw to Himself twelve. He did that as God in Man, the Son of Man. The Son of Man is the forerunner of the Church. When He asked them the question, who do they say the Son of Man is, what was His answer? His answer found itself as the foundation of the Church. When He went to the Mount of Transfiguration, what did He take with Him? Figuratively, the Church. He sent the whole Church to that same mountain, that upper room. What I'm saying is in all of the teaching of God's Word - if it was Abraham, then it was a seed. One seed, but immeasurable; many, many whose measure was not in themselves as many; whose measure was as ONE. Moses - the same way, Joshua the same way. God has never used any individual except that He used that individual in a corporate expression or in a corporate form, because God desires such an expression in the earth. He doesn't find it in many. He finds it in many who function as ONE, in many in whom ONE IS REVEALED! There is a distinction here. I'm not telling you God needs numbers, but His expression demands plurality. So the Church is a plurality, and yet out from that plurality, out from where I'm joined together with you in the knowledge of the Lord, out from there we go - we go forth in ministry, we go to our homes. But I go in union - bound - and I will gather, and I will go. And the whole function is not the gathering. The Church has many functions, but it is never in my idea that this is me, or I don't need that. That's contrary to the whole reality of Christ. So I cannot go out as from the Body and say 'I'm the Church.' But where I'm bound up in the revelation of Christ and I find myself as part of a corporate expression, I function out from that. I function dependent upon that and in obedience to that. I can not think of a punishment bad enough come to me if I go out independent of those with whom I know I am bound up in this gospel. I not only want eldership and headship - it is necessary to the expression of Christ. It's not necessary to me preaching - it's necessary to the expression of Christ. Wherever I am, I am there representing those believers with whom I am joined in the knowledge of the Lord. And if it is not, I do not there constitute a valid expression of Christ. I constitute some kind of an independent thing that will bring forth fruit after it's own kind. Then what is the Church bound by? A building? No! A doctrine? No! An organization? No - THE CHURCH IS BOUND TOGETHER IN THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST! That's my only trust in me or in you. That's our only bonding - that's so locally and then a group of local expressions bound up in an ever greater expression - the corporate expression just goes on and on. Now you and I both know that there are many in the Lord's Body who are no more bound together than these church pews are bound together. But when Christ is revealed they are bound together, and that's when they constitute Church. Well if they are bound together in heaven, the Bible says they are bound together in the earth, and I go out from that binding and I return to it. Why? Because I am never in my heart, in my inner man, separate from it. The Church, which is the corporate expression of Him. We could look from Abraham right on to John and you'll see that the only true expression of Him in the earth is a corporate one. I must be part of a corporate expression. If I'm not I am no expression at all. It doesn't mean I'm not saved and that I'm not in Him; it means that I am not bringing Him an expression in the earth. God did not conceive such a glorious vessel and then anybody - me or anybody else - substitute for it. I rather must be a servant of it. I don't want to be a servant of the form, but I want to be a servant of the Church. I want to be a servant of every genuine expression of Christ. That's the only way that I know I can be a servant of the Lord! Because a servant of the Lord has nothing to do with us being in the Body. The servant of the Lord - Paul says, my sufferings are for the Church's sake. The servant of the Lord is in the Church. Not serving the system, serving that true expression of Him that comes out of a people bound up in the revealing of Him. When we come to that understanding, our fellowship, though it is manifested in the earth, is in the heavens. It's very real and it's very tangible and it's very demanding; and to my flesh it's very restrictive, but it is also the vessel wherewith Christ has His genuine expression in the earth. I have to face this in ministry - I'm either out here running around preaching for Christ and doing a work for God, or I'm a ministry of Christ. I have to face which of those are true. Am I part of an expression or am I trying to create one? Am I trying to substitute something for one? There's the question. We've got a whole system full of this and they're trying to find fellowship in some way. They've never found it; nothing they've ever put together has ever stayed together, and nothing ever will. Invariably flesh is exalted, man is lifted up, and it is always that way. I don't care how sweet and honest and God loving they are - it will be that way, because it's a counterfeit when it starts. It's got to come from Christ being revealed in believers; those believers being bound together in expression of Him, and ministry going out from it. "God is faithful, who has called us unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ the Lord." It's a fellowship that we're called to - the fellowship that is created in the revealing of the Son. It doesn't make any difference what we call a local assembly; the only important thing is whether it is an expression of Christ or not. Lord, give us understanding in this. I haven't got to go join something called the Church, but I've got to be part of an expression of Christ, because that is the Church. And if Christ is to have an expression in the earth, you and I together must be that. And there's no place for that joining to end. It can't be held in the boundary of cities or states or even countries - BELIEVERS BOUND AS ONE TO ANOTHER IN HIM! Father, thank you for this gathering, for I believe this gathering represents those that are being gathered in the heavens. Lord, reveal Thy Son in us. Help us to realize that though this is a heavenly revealing, it must come to have an earthly expression to have validity. For thou dost desire such expression in the earth. You deal with our hearts concerning this matter and lead us ever farther into the reality of Christ - REVEALING HIM IN US! In Jesus' precious name, AMEN.