Title: What Church Is His Body?
Contents
The body has a physical body and also a spiritual body. The physical body is known to the world, and the spiritual body is known only to those of Christ Jesus, who was raised with Christ. Therefore, there is a church of the world, and there is a church of heaven.
As it is written, “This Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and is like the present Jerusalem, and she is in bondage with her children, but the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother” (Galatians 4:25-26). Jerusalem is the carnal church, and the Jerusalem above is the spiritual church.
What comes out of the barn in spring is the seed, and what enters the barn in the fall is the fruit. No one knows this seed and fruit, only the master knows. The seed is sown downward and the fruit is grown from above. Therefore, the present Jerusalem (the earthly church) does not enter the treasury (salvation), but the Jerusalem above (the heavenly spiritual church) enters the treasury (salvation).
Therefore, the true church is not the (physical) children of Hagar who came out of the present Jerusalem, but the (spiritual) children of Sarah who came from the Jerusalem above.
The Holy Spirit spoke through the apostle, saying, “But not first the spiritual, but the physical, and then the spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46).
All the churches in the world today are fleshly churches and not perfect churches. Now is not the time of spring to plant, but the autumn when you need to harvest. Seeds are seen in spring and wheat is seen in autumn.
The Bible reveals to us the seed of spring in detail as the Holy Spirit. It is written, "The believers were of one mind and one mind, and all things were in common with one another, and no one claimed that even a little of their possessions were theirs" (Acts 4:32). This is because the time of God's planting has passed since then.
It was the first church to be the first church where the believers were of one heart and one mind and shared all things with each other, and no one claimed that any of my possessions were mine. Do such churches exist now? There is not. This is because now is not the time to plant, so you cannot see the true seed. This first physical church was so glorified, how much more glorious the later spiritual church?
The Bible prophesied about this, "The latter glory of this temple shall be greater than the former glory, saith the LORD of hosts, I will give this place peace, saith the LORD of hosts" (Haggai 2:9).
Therefore, the church of Ishmael who was born below and the church of Isaac who was born above are different. Ishmael's church is a church that has nothing to do with sin, and Isaac's church is a church that has nothing to do with sin. Therefore, when the Lord first came into the world, He came without regard to sin and took away the sins of the world, but when He comes again, He will appear a second time, regardless of sin, to those who wait for Him. Therefore, it is written, “In the same way Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, and will appear a second time, free of sin, to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:28).
Although the church born of the flesh and the church born of the spirit are brothers, the church born of the flesh mocks the church born of the spirit. This is the same as it is written, “Sarah saw that the son of Abraham, the son of Hagar the Egyptian, was mocking Isaac” (Genesis 21:9).
Therefore, the church in the world now mocks the church in heaven. It is as if “Tobiah the Ammonite stood by and said, “The wall they are building, even if foxes go up, it will soon fall down” (Nehemiah 4:3).
Therefore, the spiritual church (the Bride of the Lamb) is not a church of this world, but a holy church above. Regarding this, the Bible says, “And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2).
This holy church, the Bride of the Lamb, will be revealed when the covenant of marriage comes. All things are looking forward to the appearance of this divine body (the church), the bride of the Lamb. Therefore, the holy brethren who are together with the heavenly calling are the glorious church. Those who know this and wait for it are truly blessed. It is as it is written, “He set before him a glorious church, without speck or wrinkle or such, holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:27).
“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed, but we know that when he appears we will be like him, because we will see him as he is. He purifies himself as he does” (1 John 3:2-3).
little brother kim yoon-goo