THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
God’s Building
Message Eight—The Intrinsic Element of Our Work—
Ministering the Building God and the Builded God
Scripture Reading: 2 Sam. 7:12-14a; Matt. 16:18; 28:19-20a; Rom. 1:1-4, 9a; Eph. 3:17a
I. In every aspect of our work—preaching the gospel, feeding the believers, establishing churches, perfecting the saints—the intrinsic element must be that we minister the building and builded God into others—Matt. 16:18; Eph. 3:17a: (2015 ITERO-S, msg. 8)
A. If we realize that God desires to work Himself into His chosen people, then the goal of our work will be to minister the building and builded God into others so that the Triune God may build Himself into their being—v. 17a. (2015 ITERO-S, msg. 8)
1. The most crucial matter in our work In the Lord’s recovery is to minister the building and builded God—Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:21-22; 3:17a. (2012 ITERO-F, msg. 12)
2. The God whom we worship and minister to others is the processed and consummated Triune God embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit—Col. 2:9; John 7:39; Gal. 3:14. (2012 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
3. God is building Himself into His redeemed people in order to produce a house—the church, the Body of Christ, the enlargement of Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God realized as the Spirit—John 14:2, 10, 16-17, 20, 23. (2012 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
4. Such a revelation should become a principle that governs our understanding of God and of God’s building—Prov. 29:18a; Acts 26:19. (2012 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
B. We should reconsider the work we are doing for the Lord and ask how much of Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God has been wrought into those whom we have brought to the Lord—Gal. 4:19; Col. 1:28. (2015 ITERO-S, msg. 8)
C. We need to practice one thing—to minister the processed and consummated Triune God into others so that He may build Himself into their inner man; we need to pray that the Lord will teach us to work in this way—2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Cor. 3:9a, 10, 12. (2015 ITERO-S, msg. 8)
D. When we build the church with the processed and consummated Triune God, it is not actually we who are building; rather, God is building through us, using us as a means to dispense and transmit Himself into others—Acts 9:15. (2005 WT, msg. 12)
II. As we work for God today, we should participate in God’s building—the constitution of the divine element into the human element and of the human element into the divine element—John 14:20; 15:4a; 1 John 4:15: (2005 WT, msg. 12)
A. As the divine element is constituted into our humanity, we become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead; as the human element is constituted into God, God becomes man; this is the building revealed in the New Testament—Eph. 2:21; 4:16. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 31)
B. In the Lord’s recovery our work must be part of this mutual constitution: (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 31)
1. If our work is not related to this mutual constitution, then in the eyes of God our work is like wood, grass, and stubble—1 Cor. 3:12. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 31)
2. If our work is a part of this mutual constitution, God will regard our work as gold, silver, and precious stones, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem—Rev. 21:2, 10-11, 18-21. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 31)
C. As we endeavor to carry out the God-ordained way in the four steps of begetting, nourishing, perfecting, and building, our work must be based upon the processed and consummated Triune God, who is building Himself into His chosen people and building them into Him. (2015 ITERO-S, msg. 8)
D. If we minister the building and builded God to others for their growth in the divine life, we are building up the Body of Christ, which will consummate the New Jerusalem—Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:15-16; Rev. 21:10. (2015 ITERO-S, msg. 8)
III. The Lord’s burden given to us is that we bear the testimony of His recovery, and one of our main responsibilities is to refute and correct the defects and errors of traditional Christian theology—2 Tim. 2:25: (The Governing and Controlling Vision in the Bible, msg. 3)
A. We must present the truth concerning the economy of God item by item according to the entire Bible; this is the Lord’s special commission to us—1 Tim. 1:3-4; 4:16; 2 Tim. 2:15, 2; Col. 1:28. (The Governing and Controlling Vision in the Bible, msg. 3)
B. The culture in God’s economy can be explained only with the spiritual, heavenly language; hence, we need to learn this new language that we may be able to express the divine truths in a crystallized way—1 Cor. 2:12-13. (The Governing and Controlling Vision in the Bible, msg. 2)
C. We must release this truth that God became a man that man may become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead; we must also release the truth concerning the New Jerusalem—Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4; Rev. 21:2. (Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, msg. 7)
D. We must present the highest truth to protect the interests of the riches of God’s divinity and the attainments of His consummation—vv. 12-18a; Matt. 6:9. (2003 ITERO-F, msg. 2)
IV. The genuine and intrinsic gospel is that God intends to work Himself in Christ into us—2 Sam. 7:12-14a; Rom. 1:1-4, 9a: (2009 ST, msg. 12)
A. If we preach this gospel, we will tell others that they need Christ, the very God Himself, to be wrought into their being—Eph. 3:17; John 14:23. (2009 ST, msg. 12)
B. When we preach the gospel, we must believe that there is a God-created ability within man to receive and understand His gospel—Eccl. 3:11: (2009 ST, msg. 12)
1. We should not preach a gospel that has been lowered down to what we think is the level of people’s understanding; we should preach an uplifted gospel and never lower the concept. (2009 ST, msg. 12)
2. Man was created for God, and within man there is the ability to understand the things of God, and there is a hunger for these things—Zech. 12:1. (2009 ST, msg. 12)
C. “Today’s world needs a crusade with the preaching of the highest and fullest gospel”—Life-study of Hebrews, p. 157. (2009 ST, msg. 12)
V. “Now we need to pray that the Lord will give us a new revival, a revival which has never been seen in man’s history. Such a revival will be something new, for it is related to God’s “hobby,” to His good pleasure, to the desire of His heart. God’s good pleasure is that God would become a man to make man God in life and in nature. This is the desire of God’s heart, the “hobby” in His heart, and He will accomplish it.” (Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, msg. 1)