The explanation by Brother Onesmas about the house church awakens us to return to the original plan of the church when the Lord Jesus said, ‘I will build My church’. Many Christians equate the Christian world we know today with the church that the Lord Jesus is building. They are not aware that there has been a deviation from the original plan of His church.

Not a few of them argue that because God has blessed the Christian world to become “great” with all its church buildings, its political influence in this world, and everything that is physical—even worldly—then it must mean that the Christian world is the church that the Lord Jesus Christ was building when He said, ‘I will build My church’.

Of course, the Christian world has been greatly blessed by the Heavenly Father, and even the world in general has also been greatly blessed by Him. The Heavenly Father so loved the world that He gave His only Son to redeem the sins of the world. Since the Heavenly Father has loved the world, He has certainly blessed the world in general, including the Christian world. But do all people who are so loved and blessed by the Heavenly Father live holy lives that are pleasing before Him? In reality, the blessings of the Heavenly Father upon humanity do not prove that people walk rightly before Him. His blessings only prove that He is a loving Father. Likewise, the blessings of the Heavenly Father upon the Christian world cannot be used as proof that the Christian world is right before Him.

In truth, the Lord has allowed the church to deviate from the original plan because of the hardness of His people, especially its leaders. This is similar to how Moses permitted a man to divorce his wife in Matthew 19:8: “…Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” Therefore, divorce was not part of God’s original plan, but it was allowed because of the hardness of His people.

As His chosen people, let us return to the original plan of the Lord Jesus concerning His church. Let us return to the early church as written in the Book of Acts. May we continually receive His grace to build the church according to His original plan. Amen.