THE CHURCH - WHICH IS MANIFEST RELATIONSHIP 
- THE MYSTERY OF GOD 
 
                                    by J W Luman 
 
We are going to be dealing with a very unique view of Christ. Up until 
now, if there has been any real view of Christ, it has been with regard 
to this Body that we are. That view is contained and pretty much retained 
in the heavens. It isn't much earthly good. Several years ago the Lord 
dealt in my heart with His desiring a manifestation, not a teaching. The 
teaching is necessary, breaking down barriers and bringing us to a 
knowledge of the Lord. But Christ must go beyond a teaching - He desires 
manifestation. The Lord has begun to bring my attention upon CHRIST, THE 
CHURCH - because that in reality is what it's all about. And I've begun 
to see that it is the Church that gives Him this manifestation in the 
earth. Not as we have known it to be, certainly not that which has been 
called "Church"; which has been something really reduced by the mind of 
man from what God understands the Church to be. It is there that the Lord 
would take us in view of Christ.  
 
In most of the lines of Sonship and Kingdom, the idea is that we are 
getting out of the Church, getting beyond the Church. See how cunning the 
enemy is? And this teaching has produced a lot of individualized 
ministries heaping upon themselves great importance. And it has pictured 
the Church as being the poor, sickly form that everyone refers to as 
Church, but that isn't the Church at all. And it has disassociated 
believers with one another, in any manifestation of Christ at all. It has 
robbed believers of true fellowship in the earth, in any expression of 
Christ at all. But the revealing of Christ on the contrary, rather than 
doing away with the Church, produces the Church - brings into existence 
the Church! Because there is not given of God another vehicle or vessel 
for the expression of Christ in the earth than the Church - the Church as 
it should be, and as it is in reality. It isn't given to you and I of God 
to go out and reform the form - just let the form alone! It will die of 
its own starvation. You don't try to bring Jesus into it - He isn't going 
to enter into it. It has become a tomb, a shell, a form of godliness - 
but it isn't given to me to go out and revive that. But it is given to 
you and I to express Christ in the earth as the Church! 
 
Leave the form alone - it's neither here nor there to the eternal plan of 
God. You don't get people out of it by fighting it. You get people out of 
it by declaring the Truth which is Christ, and exhibiting Him in the 
earth! Those who have a heart to know Him will turn and come to it. And 
those who don't aren't going to go anywhere, anyway. We're not trying to 
capture people - we're to express Christ in the earth, and those that 
have a heart to know Him will join themselves to that expression in the 
heavens and in the earth. That's the order scripturally. I have begun to 
see that most all of our teaching has been very much concerning our 
relationship to Christ in the heavenlies. And that is a necessary 
comprehension, because until we comprehend our relation to Him as His 
Body, there is no basis or foundation for the Church. Until we have a 
heavenly relationship with Him, we don't have anything to express in the 
earth. I've come to realize that we have related to one another in the 
idea that our relation is in the heavenlies. Well, it is in the 
heavenlies, but what about it in the earth? It suffers greatly in the 
earth. We need a greater view of Christ! 
 
When was it when John was given the revelation of Jesus Christ concerning 
the Church? It was when the Church was under great persecution, and was 
scattered abroad; when the Church was without true relationship one with 
another, when the Church was hiding in caves and running amuck. It was 
when a form of godliness had already begun to be established. It was then 
that God gave to John the revelation of Jesus Christ, but concerning the 
Church. Christ was revealed to John in the midst of the Church! Same 
Christ - a greater view of Christ! A view that must affect lives in the 
earth, a view that must be made manifest in the earth, not just in the 
heavens but in the earth. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as 
it is in heaven. Everything that is true in heaven being manifested in 
the earth by the Church. Not by what we've called the Church, but that 
true expression of Christ in the earth.  
 
Friends, God is by the Holy Spirit pressing you and I to a greater view 
of Christ than we've ever come to before. We have found liberty in the 
heavenlies, we have found great joy in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 
but most all of that has been individually. It has set me individually 
free, it has brought me individually in union with Christ. "For God has 
set every member in the Body as it hath pleased him, and ye are members 
in particular." (1 Corinthians 12) And the revealing of Christ is in us 
here in the heavenlies - and we realize we're in heavenly places and not 
of this earth, that we're sons of God, God is my Father, Christ is my 
life - the liberating view of that is beyond measure! But it is still in 
the heavens, and it is still dealing with me individually more than 
anybody else. It isn't as God would have it - it isn't dealing with me 
concerning YOU! 
 
I am secure in my understanding that Christ is my life - whether He's 
yours or not. I'm secure in my understanding that God is my Father - 
whether He's yours or not. All of this must be, but there's got to be an 
ongoing view of Christ as was given to John. There's got to be something 
that brings all of that reality into the earth. And that calls for a 
corporate expression, because this Body that I'm secure in, is a 
corporate Body, and sooner or later I've got to realize that. My concern 
has got to come to be as great for you as it is for me. It was with Paul. 
Colossians 1:24. His concern was as great for the Church. He said I take 
joy that I can suffer for the Church - my concern is for the Church. Not 
for that form - he wasn't praying for a Jewish synagogue, but for the 
Church; the Church which is truly His Body having an expression in the 
earth. We have to realize that as far as the Body is concerned, Christ is 
never going to get out of the heavens. He gets out of the heavens and has 
expression in the earth through that vessel called the Church. And while 
Body and Church are the same, they are separate only in that the Body is 
heavenly and the Church is an earthly expression of the heavenly. Beyond 
the Church, meaning beyond in expression, is the Kingdom. The Kingdom is 
not some object in and of itself - it is the dominion of Christ 
established in the earth. That's going to be through the Church, by the 
Church. Until we begin to function as the Church, forget about talking 
about the Kingdom. You can't go out and set up something called the 
Kingdom when you don't even have a functioning Church. And then forget 
about the glory of God filling the earth - because until His dominion is 
established in the earth by the Church, the glory of God won't fill 
anything. Then forget about that witness reaching into principalities and 
powers.  
 
It all comes right back to Christ being revealed in His Body. Until that 
fulness of God in Christ, which is in you His Body, begins to have its 
manifestation corporately in the earth - forget about anything else 
taking place! It's through the vessel called "The Church". What is the 
Church, then? It's a greater view of Christ, it's Christ being revealed 
in you in a greater dimension, to give Him greater expression. It moves 
all of this out of the heavens and brings it right into the earth. It is 
the Church which is the corporate expression of Christ. We can work out 
from that, like my hand works out from my body. I don't cut off my hand, 
throw it out on the floor and say, 'now hand - do something!' It's like 
the Kingdom is not an object other than the Church, but it is His power 
and dominion being expressed through the Church. When Christ, to whom it 
is given to be Head actually is Head, then - THY KINGDOM COME! 
 
Look in the book of the Revelation - when is the Kingdom come? When that 
Church is under the Headship of Christ! Not when that Church is done 
away, but when that Church is expressing His Headship. Now thy Kingdom is 
come - there is a sequence of Christ being revealed. It's not a 
chronological or dispensational sequence - it's a spiritual sequence of 
Christ being revealed, and Him having expression - finally having 
expression in all things. That is by the Church, which is His Body! Not 
the Church which is some form - the Church which is His Body.  
 
It starts in His Body. It starts with you and I as His Body. It starts 
with Him being revealed in us in the heavenlies. And there must be a 
tremendous work done in our hearts, because we have to be separated from 
the earth before we can ever manifest Christ on the earth. The carnal 
view is that He's going to take what we call the Church and set it on a 
cloud somewhere and separate it from the earth. No, you are separated 
from the earth through the revelation of Jesus Christ! You are caught up 
with Him in heavenly places - but all of that has to do with His Body, 
and that's the reality where we've been and shall continue in it, but it 
must have greater expression.  
 
It's got to get out of the heavens now, and it's got to get into the 
earth. HE MUST HAVE HIS COMING IN THE EARTH! And that is through the 
Church! The Church is expressly for such a coming, such a dominion. The 
Church is not going to stand back and watch that happen. The Church is 
the exhibition of it! A greater revealing of Him. That's where the Lord 
is bringing those who in their hearts are separated from the earth, 
caught up with Him in the heavenlies. But many have failed to comprehend 
that and many have refused to find themselves only in a New Creation. But 
this is where the Lord is working with us. 
 
What of His coming anew? What we call the Church world and theology has 
made an event out of that, instead of a realization of Christ manifested 
in a people. But what of that? That's in the Church, that's through the 
Church! The Church which comes right out of heaven; the Church which is 
manifested right out of the heavens into the earth. I'm telling you that 
the Church is that manifestation of Christ - that which comes out of the 
heavens into the earth is the Church. IT IS A CORPORATE MANIFESTATION OF 
HIM! We can't get caught up in an understanding that we live in the 
heavenlies and it has nothing to do with the earth. We live in the 
heavenlies on earth! "The life that I now live in the flesh I live by the 
faith of the Son of God." That is Him having an expression in the earth. 
 
I want to deal now with the mystery of God - THE CHURCH WHICH IS BY 
REVELATION OF HIM. The issue here is one of relationship. If I were to 
give another name to the Church other than the expression of Christ, I 
would write "RELATIONSHIP". The Church is manifest relationship. Now 
if there isn't a relationship formed here in the heavens, there is 
nothing to be made manifest in the earth. We've got an instrument on the 
earth today that everybody calls the Church, that talks a lot about 
relationship. We have sermons that we preach on love, sermons we preach 
on joy, on commitment - all of these things, trying to get people to do 
them. Get people to love, get people to give, get people to commit, get 
people to gather. And if we can get them to do that we call it "The 
Church". But you see, the Church is those very things which are natures 
and characters of Christ being formed in His Body in the heavenlies. The 
Church is those very things being made manifest in the earth - not a 
bunch of people in the earth trying to learn how to do it - the Church is 
the manifestation of it! The Church is the manifestation of love; the 
Church is the manifestation of joy; the Church is the manifestation of 
peace; because the Church is the manifestation of Christ! It comes out of 
a people! Love, joy, peace, righteousness, faithfulness, commitment - all 
of those things are established in us in the heavens. When we come to a 
certain relation with Him in the heavens, that relation will be made 
manifest in the earth! 
 
God is pressing you and I to a greater view of Christ in the heavens - a 
view that will manifest itself in the earth. He's pressing us to a 
greater relationship with Christ in the heavens. He is bringing us to a 
greater view of Christ - a view that heaven can not contain! Bringing us 
into a relationship in Christ one with another that heaven can not 
contain. So it's not a bunch of Christian people trying to learn how to 
do those things so they can call it something. No sir, but it's that 
revealing of Him in the heavens, that relationship coming right out of 
heaven and finding a manifestation in the earth. Yes in people, because 
He's not manifested in rocks and trees, called the Church. We make 
sermons out of those things, preach it and say, now this is what you've 
got to do. You'll never learn to do it. Nobody has or ever will learn to 
do it, because in their truest form, those things are the expression of 
Christ. It comes to this one word - RELATIONSHIP. 
 
Relationship starts in the heavens but it can't be contained there. The 
greater relationship of Christ exhibits itself as the Church. The Church 
is in relationship throughout the Word of God. The Church is defined by 
the term "relationship". Relationship is important because if we don't 
have relationship, then we're just doing things in the flesh. And if 
we're doing things in the flesh, then it's just acts of flesh. If 
everything that we do is not out of a relationship, then it's not worth 
doing - we just go through the motions! We've got enough of that already. 
The whole creation is waiting for that relationship, which is Christ, to 
be expressed in a people! A relationship against which the gates of hell 
can not prevail; a relationship against the accuser of the brethren can 
not prevail; a relationship against which flesh can not prevail. That's 
the relationship. It's brought forth here in a view of Christ, but it's 
made manifest in the earth. 
 
The Church is such a relationship. And moreover, when that relationship 
is not existing, the Church does not exist. You've got believers there, 
but the Church is not just believers. The Church is believers in 
expression of Christ; believers gathered up in Him, but believers in whom 
Christ is revealed; believers who are giving Him expression. There's the 
Church. Where that relationship is not operating, there the Church is not 
found. You and I may be found there trying to make it work, but the 
Church is not found. We must see that the Church is not a bunch of people 
learning how to be like Jesus. The Church is the real expression of 
Christ in a people, and then and then only can you call it the Church. I 
know by the move of the Holy Spirit and the testimony of other brethren 
that God is bringing a people in the heavens to a view of Him that will 
not be contained in the heavens, but will give Him a manifestation in the 
earth. And it will firstly be a corporate manifestation, and that 
manifestation will begin to be seen throughout the whole earth - 
believers bound up in the knowledge of the Lord! 
 
But secondly, it is the expression of divine relationship - a people 
bound up in a divine relationship. The setting of this is in Revelation 
1:12-20 - Christ revealed in the Church. The Church there is seen by the 
revelation of Jesus Christ. I mean that where Christ is not revealed, the 
Church is not seen, and where the Church is not seen, Christ has no 
expression. The Church is for the expression of Him. The whole book of 
the Revelation of Jesus Christ is Him having an expression in a people. 
It affects heaven, it affects earth, it affects people, it affects 
nations, it affects creations - there's nothing it doesn't touch or 
affect. But until He has such a revealing in a people, nothing is 
affected. The Church is necessary not only to that expression, the Church 
IS that expression. Now Ephesians 1:22," And hath put all things under 
his feet, and gave him to be the head over all to the church, which is 
his body, the fulness of him that filleth..." That's the term I want to 
look at because that term expresses relationship - the fulness of Him 
that filleth. "The fulness of Him" has two meanings. First it means 'that 
which is filled'. Secondly it means 'that which fills it'. So we're 
dealing with fulness. The Church which is His Body, the fulness of Him 
that filleth. This means that the vessel of the fulness and the fulness 
of the vessel are the same thing! So it means that the Church is not some 
vessel waiting to be filled, the Church is the expression of His fulness. 
And where His fulness is not being expressed, the vessel, the Church is 
not being seen! 
 
In God's view, when you see the Church, you see Christ! The vessel of His 
expression, and the expression in the vessel are the same. Take away the 
vessel - that is, a people in whom He is revealed, and He has no 
expression. But take away Him - being revealed in a people, and there's 
nothing to express! The Church is a people giving Him expression in the 
earth, and what you're seeing is not the people, but the expression of 
Christ through the people! It's not people trying to be like Jesus, but 
it's people who have already come in a heavenly view to understand, it's 
Not I, but Christ! I have no life but Him! It's a people who have already 
been caught up together in Him, seated in Him in the heavenlies. It's a 
people who have already been separated from the earth and this creation. 
But more than that - it's a people who are in exhibition of Him in the 
earth! That's why I said, THE CHURCH IS CHRIST! But it is Christ having 
an expression in a people. We've said it's a people, that it's not a 
building, it's a people. But it's not a people either. It is Christ 
having His expression in a people. It's the fulness - the fulness - and 
if it's not, it's not the Church. The Church, which is His Body, the 
fulness of Him, who filleth. That's talking about relationship.  
 
It gets to the point that collectively we're not seen. It is a state of 
the heart, but it is a very real manifestation in the earth. A people 
gathered whose agenda is only one thing - to give HIM expression in the 
earth. Their agenda is not to take Mexico for Jesus - their agenda is to 
give Him expression in the earth - all the earth. One is the Church, the 
other is people trying to do something. This is the Church, the fulness 
of Him! That which is filled, and that which fills; one becoming the 
expression of the other.  
 
So it's not a matter of having a Church and trying to get it filled. No - 
it's a matter that until that fulness is expressed, there isn't a Church. 
There can be believers, but they are not in that view of Christ that 
constitutes The Church. They may be in a view of Christ that has 
separated them from many things, but many times that view has separated 
us from one another. We need a greater view of Christ! We can not say 
we're all one in Him, but not have anything to do with a manifestation of 
Him in the earth - that's where the Church comes in. We can't separate 
ourself from that expression.  
 
We're all one in the heavenlies, that's true, but what ministry does that 
leave Christ, what expression does that leave Him? Yes, that's done a 
work in us, but when will He have expression in the earth? When will what 
we say exists in the heavens ever have some kind of a tangible reality in 
the earth that the world might know that He is come? "That the world may 
believe that thou hast sent me." Read John 17. What is all this about? 
'That they see my glory. That they be with me where I am. That they be 
one as we are one'. What is all that about? The Lord said, "That the 
world may know thou has sent me." That it have some expression in the 
earth. 
 
I realize that in our hearts it's just easier to be part of the 
heavenlies, but like anything else, if you resist the greater revelation 
of Christ, you're not going to remain in that state of being, because it 
will become stale and stagnant. I've seen that happen. You can't stagnate 
the revealing of Christ. You can't say I want to be a believer, I want to 
join with Him in the heavenlies, but I don't want to be a part of any 
expression of Him in the earth. You can't do that. And you can't withhold 
His expression in any of the other realms in which He will have 
expression in and through a people, because the minute you do that, you 
stop the expression of Christ, and Christ is an ongoing expression; an 
ongoing light, an ongoing life! And any place you and I stop it and 
refuse to have any further part of it, we've killed the whole thing. 
We've cut ourself off from that flow of life! Don't think you'll remain 
where you are - you won't do it. "How shall we escape if we neglect, if 
we refuse, if we turn aside?" 
 
Israel had gotten out of a great bondage. They were thrilled to death 
that Pharaoh wasn't beating them any more. They were thrilled to death 
over getting manna every day - just go out, pick your food up and eat it. 
Don't worry about your clothes or shoes - they're not going to wear out. 
Don't worry about all these people roaming around out here - God will 
defeat them all. Don't worry about where you're going - God had a light 
at night and a cloud in the day time to guide them. Well, let's just stay 
here, this is a good place to be. And they refused to enter into that 
greater view of Christ, where there was tremendous responsibility, 
tremendous administration of ministry. They refused and they all died. 
They didn't die because they weren't delivered; they were delivered. They 
didn't die because they weren't God's people; they were God's people. 
Hebrews 3 and 4 tells you why they all died - they died in disobedience, 
they died because they refused to enter into the greater rest, into the 
greater realm and realization. You and I today can't afford to do that. 
We can't afford to not let God bring us to a view of Christ that will 
weld us together as an expression of Him in the earth as well as in the 
heavens. We can't afford to refuse that kind of view! 
 
He is going to have that kind of view, and I want to be part of that 
view. I'm not that expression, but I want to be part of it. He is going 
to have that expression in a people - somewhere, someplace - and 
throughout the earth, and I want to be part of it. Because I see no point 
in being His Body if we do not give Him His expression as His Church. I 
see no point in being seated with Him in heavenly places if we don't give 
Him expression in all the earth, and express His Kingdom, ages to come. 
We all know that He hasn't got a greater place to take us. He's taken us 
to the greatest place there is - IN CHRIST JESUS, IN HEAVENLY PLACES! 
What He's after now is an expression of that place - everywhere! So that 
place come into the earth and fill up the earth and fill up the ages, 
because there isn't any greater place. We're not going to a better place 
- we're there in Him - NOW! But how much of that is finding 
manifestation in the earth?  
 
We can't have our cake and eat it too. We can't say we know He's not 
going to jerk us off and take us beyond the cloud - and all of that. If 
we know that's not it - then what? What is the purpose of the Church? 
We've got to face it. If we don't believe the one thing, then we're going 
to have to believe something. We can't just believe nothing. He's got to 
have expression in the earth. The reality of the Church is just that.  
 
The fulness of Him that filleth - that which fills up, to fulfil, to 
complete, to carry out to the full. Also translated "perfect". The word 
"all in all" means 'the whole' - everyone and everything, collectively. 
What is the Church to express? The fulness of Him that filleth - what? 
ALL! All - not all things, but all - everything and everyone 
collectively - each as a whole together - ALL. It's this fulness that 
filleth all that the Church is the expression of. It's not this fulness 
that the Church is to have, it's this fulness that the Church is an 
expression of. Giving that fulness expression in the earth. You and I 
giving that relationship expression in the earth. That which is filled or 
made complete, and that which fills up and makes complete - one being the 
expression of the other. Need I add, that even in the Greek language, 
those terms are active words - they express an ongoing relationship.  
 
Look at the Lord's little parable with the waterpots. There sat the 
waterpots. There's more than one, and that's significant because of the 
plurality of the situation. There's a wedding going on, and they are out 
of wine. Wine there is the very essence of life and the spirit of life. 
They are out of it. There sits the waterpots with a Jewish measurement of 
water in them - a measurement prescribed by the law. That's like the form 
of the Church today. When they said they were out of wine why didn't He 
just say, 'Cups, be filled and never empty.' He could have done that just 
as easily. No, the whole order of His expression has been violated there. 
It would then just have been another miracle. What we see here is not 
just another miracle, but a truth relating to the mystery of God which is 
Christ in a people, being given without measure. "Fill up". The Greek 
says "fill up to the brim". In other words, there's no measure to it. How 
full is full? Just until full! How much of His fulness is in the Church? 
The fulness of Him! The Church is the expression of that fulness coming 
right out of the heavens. Fill them up! And when they were filled to the 
brim, beyond measure, with no measure - for He's the measure of it; then 
He said 'Now draw out of that fulness, and serve it'. That's the ministry 
of the Church!  
 
The ministry of the Church is always out of fulness - the fulness of Him! 
That's not the carnal idea of the Church, but that's the scriptural idea 
of the Church. God views the Church as a relationship, a very active 
relationship. Let's look at Ephesians 5. Everywhere in the scripture 
where there is a teaching concerning the Church, the Church is there 
always being taught in terms of relationship. The Body of Christ is 
always being taught in terms of the fact of our union with Christ, and 
that we need to come to know Christ. But where the Church is mentioned, 
that expression of Him in the earth is always taught in terms of 
relationship. We are baptized into His Body, but until He's revealed in 
us, there is no such thing as the Church. We are the Church by revelation 
of Him; we're the Body by baptism, being born again. The Church is always 
taught in an expressed relationship. The fulness of Him that filleth - 
that's a relationship. Here in Ephesians 5 He brings it right into a 
marriage, to a husband and a wife. But the mystery of this is not found 
in a man and a woman, the mystery that He's talking about here is found 
in a husband and a wife. What we're dealing with is the Church as the 
very mystery of God! 
 
Ephesians 5:23, "For the husband is head of the wife, even as Christ..." 
I know we've made our earthly standards, but let's forget them. "...even 
as Christ is the head of the church; and he is the savior of the body. 
Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to 
their own husbands in every thing." Remember the parallel here. We're not 
just talking about a man and a woman; we're not talking about male 
dominance or women's servitude. We're talking about Christ and the Church 
- we're talking about something that has to come out of Him. " Husbands, 
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself 
for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the 
water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, 
not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy 
and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own 
bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself." What is said here is 
that the wife, which is seen here as the Church, is to be the expression 
of the husband. But in what way? The wife is to be the expression of the 
husband's love for her! She is to be the expression of the husband's care 
for her, the expression of the husband's protection for her. You should 
be able to look at the wife and see the husband's love, care, concern, 
provision and thoughtfulness. She is to be the expression of her 
husband's relationship with her! Husbands, love your wife as Christ! 
 
The Church in the earth is to be found as an expression of the 
relationship that you and I have with Christ, but not only with Him; by 
Him, with one another. And where that relationship is not found, then we 
can't call it the Church - not yet; because the Church is that 
relationship. And in that relationship the Church is subject to Christ, 
because the Church is an expression of it. But we've taken that 
relationship of husband and wife, like we have the Church, and we've made 
a thing out of it. We've made the Church a people trying to be like 
Jesus. We've done the same with the husband and wife - we've made it 
everything from the woman walking ten paces behind, to the woman 
declaring I'm just as good - and it's none of that. It's about one caring 
for the other, and the other being the expression of that one. And that's 
what the Church is all about.  
 
And where that expression is not found in the earth, the Church is not 
there. We have not yet learned Christ in that way. We have not come to 
that view of Him yet. Where we have come to that view of Him, that 
relationship will be there, whether it's there between two or three, or 
between ten and twenty - it doesn't make any difference. It's the 
relationship that must be there. And where that relationship is there 
being and growing - there's the Church! How does the Church grow? IN 
EXPRESSION OF CHRIST! To what does God add? God adds to the Body. He 
adds members to the Body. The Church is a growing expression of Christ - 
getting people in it isn't going to help it any unless they are in union 
with Christ. You don't get people into the Church - you get people into 
the Body! You get people born again, baptized into Christ. The Church is 
constituted only by those in whom Christ is being revealed, by those who 
are being joined together in the heavenlies in the revealing of Christ, 
and who are a living expression of that in the earth! So how does the 
Church grow? As an expression of HIM! 
 
Now as the Lord is revealed in more members of the Body, then there are 
more in the earth giving Him expression. You get members into the Body so 
that God can reveal His Son in them, so that they can be an expression of 
that Son in the earth. Church growth is in the expression of Christ, not 
in the number that is there or isn't there. We're far more concerned with 
getting people in our building than we are about getting true believers 
in Christ. And we're more concerned with trying to have a Church than we 
are with getting Christ revealed in believers. You get Christ revealed in 
believers and you'll have Church! If you don't get Christ revealed in 
believers, you're just going to have ignorant believers. God help us! God 
sets members in the Body. He sets ministry in the Church - He raises up 
expressions of Himself. The thing is those ministries minister to His 
Body, that His Body may have greater expression. But most of the time we 
have those ministries running around trying to get people into what they 
call 'the Church'. Those ministries should minister to the Body so that 
the Body give Him greater expression and you've got Church growth! 
 
So in the truest sense, not as it is in the world, the wife is what her 
husband has made here to be - THE CHURCH IS WHAT CHRIST MAKES IT TO BE! 
That's why He washes it - to present it to Himself! The wife is an 
expression of the husband - what He has made her to be. We read in 1 
Peter 3:1-4 that a woman should not seek a beauty in and of herself, but 
rather to find that beauty in her husband, and become an expression of 
Him. Her beauty is to be an expression of his love for her, his care for 
her, his gifts to her, his provision, his attention - the object of his 
eye. And in that she is made beautiful. That she not seek her beauty in 
the braiding of her hair or in what she wears, but rather in the hidden 
man of the heart. That's using again Christ and the Church! Where does 
the Church today find its beauty? The ten million dollar building? The 
hidden man of the heart is totally ignored - they don't even know who He 
is! 
 
The woman is not to seek a beauty in and of herself, that is, to make 
herself alluring to others than her husband. She is to look nice, but her 
true beauty is in the expressing of his love for her. Her beauty is unto 
him and of him. The whole thing is about a relationship between the 
husband and the wife, and the writer is saying don't try to make it 
something other than that, don't look for it someplace else. Don't do as 
the world does. That's exactly what we've called the Church has done - in 
competition with bigness. Oh, but the hidden man of the heart! 
 
This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning CHRIST AND THE CHURCH! 
AMEN.