EP572 The Church is foreknown by God
God has prepared Christ for us from the eternity past
  1. The church has only existed for about 2000 years, yet she has been in God’s love thoughts since eternity past. 
  2. We are in His foreknowledge. 
  3. Abba had prepared Christ for the church. 1 Peter 1:20: God prepares the best for us, which fully satisfies all our needs for this life and eternity. 
  4. God prepared the body for His Son, who would die for us. Ps. 40:7-8, Hebrew 10:7. 
  5. The Lord came to do God’s will and God’s will is the cross. Through the cross salvation was accomplished and it's once for all. Now we are perfect before God. 
  6. The Lord is passionate to do God’s will as well. Luke 12:50: The Lord was distressed for the baptism of the cross. He already saw the joy ahead. 

God’s plan is before the creation
  1. The eternal God has love thoughts for us since eternity past. We are His joy ahead. He always sees it and He continues to go forward. 
  2. His love plan is to gain us completely. He wants the deepest union with us. 
  3. We are the ones He foreknows since eternity past. Ps.103:17: God’s lovingkindness is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him . 
  4. This love is eternal and is unchanging. Even death cannot stop this love. Song 8:6.

His love is unchanging
  1. Nothing can change this love or separate us from this love. Romans 8:38-39
  2. Peter denied the Lord 3 times and other disciples fled. Yet in Acts we see the Lord still used Peter by giving him the key of the heavenly kingdom. Peter’s preaching helped many to believe and enter into heavenly kingdom. 
  3. No matter how people look at you or how you look at yourself, He only sees the good things in us.
  4. God makes us glorious as His children. We inherit all with the Lord. 
  5. We are waiting to completely enjoy the identity as His sons. Romans 8:23: we groan, waiting for adoption as sons, the redemption of the body.
  6. Now we are children of God. We can enjoy all. 1 Corinthian 3:21 
  7. When the Lord comes we also will have the glorious body like the Lord. Now only our souls are saved; the body needs redemption.
  8. We will see the Lord.
  9. We are the first born in this universe. 

  1. He is happy to see His plan done. Isaiah 53:11: He will see and be satisfied. 
  2. You can sweeten the Lord’s heart by saying “Lord, I love You.”
  3. When you are on the way to draw near to God, He delights in you. He knows you are going to a special place to have fellowship with Him. 
  4. He even asks us to let Him see our face and hear our voice. 
  5. At the end of Song of Solomon, the believer is mature, to the point that he has vineyards to take care of. Many would like to hear his sharing. Yet the Lord said, “Cause me to hear your voice.”
  6. The vineyards represent the churches. He is in the vineyards and serving the Lord with the same heart. He involves himself in the church.
  7. Vineyards can also represent the mission field. We should have the same heart as the Lord to serve in the church and also the mission field that He leads us to. It’s so precious that we can accomplish His will in this generation.  
  8. The Lord asked Peter, “Do you love Me? Shepherd My sheep.” John 21.
  9. If we love the Lord we should involve ourselves in the church and His will.
EP573 The Church is Body of Christ
Bible passages about the Church
  1. Eph chapters 1-3: the church is the eternal plan of God. It’s the core of His love plan. 
  2. Many people do not know what church is; they say they “go to the church” and they may have the misconception that the church is a building. 
  3. All the books of the New Testament were written either for the church to solve problems or to the workers of the church to instruct them what to do in the ministry. 
  4. 1 Corinthian 1:2: we are believers in (place) that we do not follow division or denominations. 
  5. 1 Corinthian 12:13: in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. 
  6. Eph 1:23 the church is the body of Christ. This is what God had revealed to Paul. 
  7. Eph 5:23 , Col 1:18: Christ is the head of the church and the church is the body. We are united with the Lord. We need His guidance. We need the head to coordinate the body so that the whole person can function well. If the brain has any malfunction, the whole person’s actions will be affected. 
  8. The head and the body cannot be separated. We are so close to the Lord as the body is to the head. 
  9. We need the head to lead us. The Lord is real and He is leading us. He is our counsellor and wisdom. 
  10. The body executes what the head decides to do. The body will manifest the head. We listen to the Lord to carry out what He wants. 
  11. The bread in the bread-breaking meeting represents the body of Christ. 
  12. Christ suffered so much for the church. He gave thanks and broke the bread at the last supper. He had many wounds on His body. His pain caused His heart to be broken. This is the love of the bleeding heart. He prayed in the garden and His sweat was like drops of blood. By the Holy Spirit He sacrificed Himself.   
  13. Book of Ruth-the union of Boaz and Ruth as the union of Christ and the church. 
  14. We cannot find Him but the Lord humbled Himself to come near to us. He became a man forever. He became the closest to us, like how Boaz is the nearest kinsman to Ruth. Boaz spent to redeem Ruth and her property; the Lord also paid the ransom to save us. 
  15. He became a man forever.  He became our high priest. He died so that He could accomplish His love dream. It’s not that we asked Him for it, but He came to bridge the gap. He made the impossible possible. He raises us up from the lowest–like a slave girl–to become the nearest to His heart.
EP574 The Preciousness of the Church (Ephesians 1-2)
  1. Eph 1:4: the church has existed for around 2000 years after the coming of the Holy Spirit. However, the fact is, before the foundation of the world, God has chosen us in Christ. 
  2. Eph 1:22-23: God made Christ the head of the church. Christ holds all the authority for the church. The church is His body that He wants to fill all in the church. 
  3. The church is His body, which will glorify Him and do His will in the whole world. It’s like how we use our bodies to execute what we want to do. 
  4. We are the members of the church to carry out different functions. It’s beautiful that though we are many, we are one in unity. 

The beauty of the unity of the Church
  1. Eph2:13-14: God moulds us and transforms us from a charcoal to a precious stone. We are His master piece. 
  2. We were once enemies—like Jews and Gentiles, but in God we can draw near and become one. 
  3. In God’s plan, God made Jews His chosen nation and the priests to be the bridge and bring many nations to draw near to God. Yet they were proud and blind. They even crucified the Lord. The Jews also despised the Gentiles and made a wall of separation. 
  4. What the Jews failed to do God raised the church up to continue the work. Romans chapter 11.
  5. The Jews were the chosen nation and the priesthood. Now the church becomes the chosen nation and the royal priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9.
  6. Today the church can proclaim the glory of God to the world. 
  7. The rival situation in the Middle East shows the enmity. Yet now in the church we can embrace one another as one family. 
  8. How great is the Lord’s salvation, which has made us one family in the Lord. We have the Trinity living in our hearts. We have a new identity. 
  9. In the church there is no racism or segregation. 
  10. It’s so precious that we have expanded our work to different parts of the world and we can still maintain our unity. 
  11. After men sinned, we were separated from God as well as from one another. 
  12. In Genesis, Cain murdered his own brother. 
  13. Nowadays there are wars, different new weapons and different problems in the society and families. 
  14. If we are not near to God, we would have problems. This is the root of man’s suffering. 
  15. The love of the Lord melts our hearts. We can put aside all hatred and enmity.  

How we were and How we are now
  1. Eph 2: in the past we were dead in our iniquities and transgressions. We were under the devil and evil one’s control. The whole world is in the devil’s hands. 
  2. Though some ways seem to work to help others, like self helped programs, yet they cannot solve the root problems. They do not mention relying on God. We cannot overcome our problems with those therapies or programs. We need God Himself. 
  3. Apart from God all is vanity of vanity. The whole book of Ecclesiastics is telling a message–people’s life is like catching wind. 
  4. Under the sun means being away from God. 
  5. Col 3:1-2: now the Lord is in the glory. We can seek things from above. He is near to us. He is more real than things in this world. It’s more real than things you can see. 
  6. Psalm 41:12: He is everywhere, surrounding us.

EP575 We are Reconciled in One Body
  1. Eph 2:15-18: Jew and Gentiles: according to the Law, there is difference, but they misused it and made the distance more. Through the Lord we can be one as a church.
  2. We have our access to the Father through one Spirit. If the Gentiles and the Jews could come to God as one, those who are in hostility can have peace with one another. 
  3. It’s not friendship built by hanging out together, but we can feel the oneness in God after we believe. 
  4. We are God’s children and the members of the household. By the cross, we have peace with one another. We love one another. 
  5. Through the cross, at the end, we will experience the unity of everything. We will see the harmony of the whole universe. 

  1. After man sinned, the whole universe lacks harmony. The animals are fighting one another. Ants eat your food. Mosquitoes bite you… now it’s not possible to have all creation obey you. Yet one day everything will be revived. Eph1:10: all things will be under Christ. 
  2. In the millennium, we will see a beautiful picture that wolves and sheep can live together.

We are members of His household
  1. Eph 2:19-22
  2. 1 Timothy 3:15
  3. We are not strangers but members of God’s household. 
  4. He is the living God and He will supply all we need. He is the head of the family. Other gods are dead but our God is the living God. 
  5. God is affectionate with us and He is now working and walking with us. 
  6. In the meetings we can feel His presence, for He dwells in His household. 

In meetings showing the family of God 
  1. Matt 18:20: personally we have God living in us. When we come together as a family, we gather unto His name and He is in our midst. 
  2. When two or three of us gather together, He is in our midst. He is the centre. 
  3. Ps 132:8: the church is His resting place. 

New Jerusalem is our heavenly home
  1. There are many precious things and it’s the most beautiful. It is God’s tabernacle. Yet the most precious is us–His family. NJ is a garden city.
  2. My heart is a garden to Him.
  3. When we come together, the church is His garden as well. We give to Him the fruits and love. 
  4. Now He dwells in His church. In the whole world you can find His special presence in our meetings.

EP576 Preciousness of the Church (Ephesians 3) (1)
Eph chapter 3- the preciousness of the Church
  1. Eph 3:6 the mystery of Christ is the Church
  2. Through Christ we are the fellow members of the body no matter our nationality or races. 
  3. We joined together and inherit all with Christ and all members of the Church 
  4. We are the partakers of the promises. One of the greatest promises is to enjoy the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will stay with us to the end and be our good Comforter and Guide. Through the work of the Holy Spirit we can be more glorious. From the day we believed He has been guiding us and helping to open our spiritual eyes.
  5. Eph 3:8 to preach the unsearchable riches  of Christ. How precious we can continue to discover the unsearchable riches of Christ. Every day we draw near to God and for brother Fish, he went to the hillside to draw near to God. In man’s eye, it is ordinary but in us we know we are experiencing the greatest treasure. He will draw near to us and supply all we need. It’s much better than all the courses and help that you can get from this world.


Eph 3:9-11–the hidden mystery of God— the Church
  1. Before the foundation of the world, God has a plan. 
  2. His plan is to make known His wisdom, power and glory to all, including angels and all authorities, through the Church. 
  3. The enemies were frightened and had no ways to stop the Lord to accomplish the salvation. The devil made the betrayal by Judas; he wanted the Lord to die, but at the same time, he had no full understanding of the salvation plan. So, he also tempted the Lord to come down from the cross. He could not understand what God was going to accomplish. 
  4. From eternity past, God had a plan to make known His glory through the Church.       Man is ignorant and wants to be an angel. There is a song about this. 
  5. Do you treasure your ID now, or you want to be the archangel?
  6. We are God’s true born sons and the angels are ministering us (Heb 1:14). No matter how glorious the archangel is, they are like the head of the servants. 
  7. Man is much more precious even though angels have power that man may not have. Yet only through the Church God’s glory and wisdom are manifested. 


Eph 3:20-21–the glory of the Church to eternity 
  1. Christ and the Church are not separated 
  2. We will tell God’s glory together with Christ till eternity. 
  3. Man will continue to give birth in the coming generations, so the population will continue to increase. Man will move to the new heavens and new earth. There will be no more tears, curses and sorrows. Man will not sin anymore, for they will see the glory of the Church. We testify how good God is and how we overcame all through Him. 
  4. Man will also see clearly God’s love and faithfulness in the Church. Through the cross and all He had done, man will give all glory to God. 
  5. Man still has freedom like Adam but the life of Christ and the journey of the Church show clearly God is the best. 
  6. All will be convinced and trust in God. Everyone will be filled with love. This is the world of love. Everyone can live happily ever after.
  7. We will reign with the Lord. This is the great thing that the Lord had mentioned– one day we will reign with Him. Things we are doing now are comparatively small.
EP577 The Preciousness of the Church (Ephesians 3) (2)
About New Jerusalem Rev 21:4
  1. Many Christians do not know that those mentioned in Rev 21 are not the church but the people who are in God’s kingdom. They are our people and come to see us with gifts like giving tribute. 
  2. We don’t need to wait until new heaven and new earth time to stop weeping or death. The time when the Lord comes to receive us we will have no more tears. We also have the resurrected bodies. 
  3. We eat the fruits of the trees of life but our people eat the leaves. We use the leaves to make them healthier. 
  4. The Lord mentioned He went to prepare the place and would come back when the home is ready. We will live in this new home, the New Jerusalem.
  5. We are the firstborn. We are the most blessed. 
  6. God has this wonderful plan before the foundation of the world. How can angels imagine God would do so much to turn things around after man sinned?! The devil could never understand. 

Through the Church God’s wisdom, glory … is shown 
  1. When man sinned, it seemed hopeless. What could man do? What would God do? If God just forgave us without any conditions, He would be unjust. 
  2. There is no other way to forgive sins but by His salvation. (Acts 4:12)
  3. When man sinned, man must be punished. How could anyone imagine God became a man?! How could He become a baby? A child is born (Isa 9:6). How could it be that He took the name Jesus for us. 
  4. Jesus — this name tells us that He is willing to die for us to forgive our sins. 
  5. For us He was born, and He died and resurrected. 

Two impossible things:
  1. The infinite glorious God became a man for me forever. 
  2. God laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Ish 53:6: God the Father chastised His Son. 
  3. This is the only way to solve man’s sin problem. 
  4. In the garden of Gethsemane, the Lord expressed He was willing to take this cup, for He knew there was no other way. 
  5. The only safe and righteous way to solve our problems–1 John 1:9 
  6. God cannot forgive us without a price (unrighteously), for this would give a wrong message that sin is not a problem, or that God is unjust. 
  7. The cross is the safest way, and it stops people from sinning. 
  8. The Lord said 3 times He was willing to take the cup. 

The Lord was willing to take the cup from the Father 
  1. John 17:1: the time came. It was the time for the cross. 
  2. The Lord asked the Father to glorify Him. Taking up the cross was the time to glorify Him. 
  3. The salvation of the cross really shakes heaven and the earth. The infinite God became a man. God prepared Him a body.
  4. Like Boaz covered Ruth with his cloak. 
  5. Like His robe covered the temple (Isa 6: 1), the Lord covers us. 
  6. We are united to the Lord and we have the warmth and love in Him. 

Know God’s wisdom–Eph3:10
  1. The Church is still under construction and not yet finished, but already showing the wisdom of God. This really amazes the angels and the enemies. It’s beyond man’s imagination and anyone’s imagination. 
  2. God causes all things to work together to accomplish the salvation. 
  3. Man sinned and became hopeless, but God can save us in the most righteous, wise and loving way. 
  4. Also, by the cross our conscience would not feel any guilt or have any shadows. 
  5. God saved the captives and set us free. 
  6. Now we can stand on God’s side. 
  7. We can be in God’s team, saving many together with God. 
  8. We support and work together to make God’s will be done. 
  9. It’s not to boast about sinning but we boast of His love and wisdom. 
  10. Even now all the enemies' attacks can train us to be stronger and gain more rewards and benefits at the end. 
  11. No one can ever think of this perfect way to settle all the problems and bring forth all the glory and blessing to God and man. 
  12. The Lamb of God is worthy of all praises. Rev 5:12
  13. Give glory to the One who sits on the throne and the Lamb. 
  14. From a sinner, we not only regain the paradise, we gain the New Jerusalem, to be home with God. We can call God Abba, become the children of God and the bride of the Lamb. We have the union with the Trinity… all will say we are blessed.
EP578 God’s Mysteries and the Church
The Church is the most precious in God’s plan
  1. There are 10 mysteries of God in the New Testament that are related to the Church. Some are indirectly related. 
  2. The greatest mystery is related to the Church. Then we know how precious the Church is in God’s heart. 

The mystery of God is Christ 
  1. Christ is the mystery of God. The Holy Spirit comes to bring us to know Christ. 
  2. 1 Timothy 3:16: great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh…. It’s a great great great mystery that God became a man. 
  3. Had not the Lord become a Man, there wouldn’t have been the cross or other things. 
  4. How precious God the Father prepared the body for the Lord. He loved us and gave His beloved Son to us. A child is born for us. 

The mystery of Christ is the Church
  1. Eph 5:32: another great mystery is concerning Christ and the Church. 
  2. The translation is “of the assembly” and its best description of the Church–we gather together unto His name. 
  3. The Trinity God is one and now we are united to the Lord in one spirit. How close is man with God!
  4. There is no other blessing that can be compared to the union with Christ. We have the deepest love union with Christ.
  5. This is the most precious mystery. 

Other related mysteries
  1. Matthew 13:11: the mysteries of the Kingdom of God 
  2. Eph 3:3, 6:19-20: the mystery of the good news (gospel). It’s not directly related to the Church but with the gospel. People are saved to be the members of the Church. 
  3. Romans 16:25: the mystery was kept for long ages; it is also indirectly related to the Church.
  4. The mystery of the Church: Eph 3:9 
  5. Col 1:26-27: Christ is in us. In the past when David sinned, God took away the Holy Spirit. Now, however, the Holy Spirit lives in us forever.
  6. Romans 11: 24-25: the mystery of the olive tree. In the Old Testament, Israel is the chosen nation, but because of their unbelief, disobedience and rejection to the Son of God, they were broken off. The church is grafted into the tree. We should learn the lesson and have faith in God. Let the Church be the blessings of many. We should live out this new nation in Christ. This time we will gain the victory for we are the last team. 

  1. Ps 68:11: hope that we have a big group to go to preach 
  2. We need to go to the vineyard and work. Haggai 1:8: go up to the mountain and take wood. It’s an analogy; today the wood is we go to preach and bring people to believe. We need to become the stone and wood for the building of the temple / the church. 
  3. We need to carry out the essence of cell group–to live as a family.  We need to coordinate and love one another.  
  4. The mystery of the rapture of the church: 1 Cor 15:51-54.
  5. he mystery of His will is made known to us, that Christ will sum up all things: Eph 1:9. Then Christ and the Church will reign together and lead all who are under Christ.
  6. From all the above we know how precious the Church is. 

What generation is this generation?
  1. Now is a super special generation. It’s the generation of God’s core plan. 
  2. The past generations were for preparation. God prepared so much and how did he prepare? He had prepared many object lessons and types/ examples to explain the core of His plan.
  3. Now is the age of Grace. Before it was the age of the Law. It’s so precious we received grace. Now we don’t look at ourselves but God Himself. 
  4. Now is the age of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came it was the Church’s happy birthday. 
  5. It’s the age of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit sends us to the world. He is waiting to work with us to save souls. He has prepared many people’s hearts. 
  6. Now is the age of the Church. God’s family has appeared. It is the core plan of God from eternity to eternity. We need to build the Church. 
  7. Not only are we saved as individuals but we need to come together as the Church. 
  8. Eph 2: even those who were enemies could come together as one. We can love one another. 
  9. We are members of the body. We are not individual saints. We are branches on the vine. We work together to bear fruits. We are the living stones which come together to become the spiritual house. He will build this family as the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. 
  10. God is glorious and there are many witnesses to glorify Him. There are different members of the church and everyone is different, but still we love one another, which really shows His glory. 
  11. Now is the age that people can call Abba. Even David was not calling God as his Father. He only called Him his Shepherd. (Ps 23:1)
  12. Now is the age of Darling and Beloved. The Lord lives in our hearts. It’s the most precious that the Lord is the nearest to us. We have the deepest union.
  13. When the church is accomplished, the Kingdom of God will come. There is a process for the church to be finished. Throughout the whole journey, there are different obstacles or challenges, yet all these will become good memories.