Scripture Reading: Gal. 1:13-16; Phil. 3:5-8; Col. 1:18-19; 2:2-3, 6-10; 3:10-11

I. The church is the new creation—Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2:15, 24:

A. Ephesians 2:15 tells us that on the cross Christ abolished in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances to create the one new man. The new man is the new creation—Eph. 2:15; 4:24.

B. All the ordinances have been abolished by Christ on the cross for the creation of this new man—Eph.2:15.

C. Any teaching, even scriptural, that distracts us from Christ and the church is a wind that carries us away from God’s central purpose—Eph.4:14.

D. We should not care for distracting doctrines but care for the oneness of the Spirit. We should also be those who are always putting on the new man —Eph. 4:3, 24.

II. The church is completely apart from religion, philosophy, and hierarchy—Col.3:11； Acts 17:18; Rev.2:6：

A. Religion is worshipping God, serving God, and doing something for God without Christ as the Spirit.

B. Philosophy refers to the human thought, the human concept, and the human understanding which is embodied in the human opinion—Acts 17:18; Phil.3:18.

1. We have to be careful not to use our mind apart from the Spirit.

2. We need to be afraid of our natural concept, thought, and understanding.

C. Rank and hierarchy come from the struggle for power—Rev. 2:6.

III. We need a vision of God’s Goal—the church—Pro. 29:18; Acts 26:19; Eph. 1:13:

A. Church history shows us that the so-called church in a general sense became degraded and that those who loved the Lord, who loved the truth, and who loved the Bible did not receive a proper, adequate, clear, and complete vision of the church.

B. If we do not have the vision of God’s goal, we will be happily content with many revivals, but there is not much result for the fulfilling of God’s eternal purpose.

C. We have to be clear what we are here for, we are here for the Lord’s recovery of the church.

IV. In order to practice the proper church life, we have to be in the Spirit, be strong in the Spirit, and be rich in the Spirit—Eph. 3:5, 16; 1:17:

A. In the Church life, Christ as the reality will be within us in a living, inspiring, revealing, subduing, and conquering way. Then the church will be neither loose nor demanding—Eph. 4:15; Rom. 3:7.

B. The church is not a worldly organization or a human society. The church is something of life with power and impact—1Cor. 6:15, 19

C. The church life will be full of liberty, yet there will be the demanding from the inner life and the inner control of the Holy Spirit.