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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
B. In the Lord’s recovery our work must be part of this mutual constitution:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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.
C. “Today’s world needs a crusade with the preaching of the highest and fullest gospel”—Life-study of Hebrews, p. 157.
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)
Ministry Excerpts:
GOD’S UNIQUE WORK
God’s economy is centered on one thing—God’s unique work. God’s unique work in the universe and throughout all the ages and generations is to work Himself in Christ into His chosen people, making Himself one with them. This involves the mingling of divinity with humanity.
In order to work Himself into us, God became a man and lived a human life on earth. Then He passed through death and entered into resurrection and ascension, becoming the consummated, life-giving Spirit ready to come into us. When He came into us, He regenerated our spirit. Now He is working in us to increase Himself in us and to build Himself into us.
CHRIST MAKING HIS HOME IN OUR HEARTS
The Bible tells us that God is working in us and that Christ is living in us. However, the Bible uses a very striking term—build—to denote God’s work in us. In Ephesians 3:16-17 Paul prayed to the Father, saying, “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith.” To be sure, Christ’s making His home in our hearts involves building. If we would make a home, we must first build a house. To make a home implies being settled in a particular place. However, if we would be settled, we must have a house. The words “that Christ may make His home” are a strong indication that He is doing a work of building in us. Christ is building a home in our inner being.
THE MATERIALS FOR THE BUILDING
Divinity and Humanity
In building a house, it is necessary to have the proper material. When God created the universe, He did not use any material; He created simply by His speaking. For instance, He said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. However, in order to build a home in us, Christ must have the material. On the one hand, this material is Christ Himself as the element; on the other hand, this material includes something from us with our humanity.
Another verse that speaks of the Triune God doing a building work in us is John 14:23. Here the Lord Jesus says, “If anyone loves Me, …My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” The words “make an abode” in this verse equal “make His home” in Ephesians 3:17. The Triune God has come into us to do a building work with Himself as the element and also with something from us as the material. The word concerning building in these verses implies that God’s building Himself in Christ into us has very much to do with what we are.
Our Need to Be Strengthened into Our Inner Man
Since God’s building Himself in Christ into us depends not only on Himself as the element but also on the nutrients supplied by us, we need to be strengthened into our inner man. If we remain in our soul, in our natural man, there will not be any nutrients for the growth of the divine seed. But if we are strengthened into our inner man and if we pay attention to our spirit and exercise our spirit, the nutrients will be supplied. Then Christ will make His home in our inner being.
If Christ’s making His home in our hearts did not need something from us, Paul would not have prayed for us as he did in Ephesians 3. Here Paul prayed that the Father would strengthen us with power through His Spirit into our inner man. This power, referred to in Ephesians 1:19-22, is the power that raised Christ from the dead, seated Christ at the right hand of God in the heavenlies, subjected all things under Christ’s feet, and gave Christ to be Head over all things to the church. Such power operates in us (3:20), and with it God strengthens us for His building. The Spirit through whom God strengthens us is the consummation of the processed Triune God. On the one hand, God strengthens us with Himself as the element and, on the other hand, we afford the nutrients. Through these two God in Christ carries out His intrinsic building—the building of His home—in our entire being.
THE NEW JERUSALEM—
A COMPOSITION OF DIVINITY AND HUMANITY
BLENDED AND MINGLED TOGETHER AS ONE ENTITY
The conclusion of the divine revelation in the Bible is a building, the New Jerusalem. This building is a blending and mingling of divinity with humanity. This is proved by the description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21. Verse 3 refers to the New Jerusalem as “the tabernacle of God,” and verse 22 says, “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” The New Jerusalem as the tabernacle of God is for God to dwell in, and God and the Lamb as the temple are for the redeemed saints to dwell in. This indicates that the New Jerusalem will be a mutual dwelling place for God and man. Furthermore, this building is a composition of human beings. The gates are pearls inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel (v. 12), and on the twelve foundations are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (v. 14). This indicates clearly that the New Jerusalem is a composition of the Triune God, who is the essence, center, and universality, and God’s redeemed people.
The New Jerusalem is a composition of divinity and humanity blended and mingled together as one entity. All the components have the same life, nature, and constitution and thus are a corporate person. This is a matter of God becoming man and man becoming God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. These two, God and man, man and God, are built up together by being blended and mingled together. This is the completion, the consummation, of God’s building. We all need to see this vision.
THE EFFECT OF THE VISION
OF GOD’S BUILDING ON OUR WORK TODAY
The Example of Job
The vision of God’s building will affect our work today. If we see God’s building, we will not try to help others to be more humble or gentle. That is merely something of human virtue, and that is not what God wants. Concerning this, I would ask you to consider the case of Job, a person who had the highest attainment in building up himself in integrity, uprightness, and perfection. Eventually, God stripped Job of all his attainments in order to show him that his only need was God Himself.
Christ Living in Us to Enjoy Himself
as the Good Land
God went on from Job to Abraham, making promises to him regarding a seed and the good land. Who are the ones who enjoy the good land? This question is answered in the prophecy by typology given to David in 2 Samuel 7. The One who enjoys the good land is actually Christ Himself. This means that God in Christ becomes us to be the enjoyer of the good land. David was a man according to God’s heart, but God knew that this was not adequate. Therefore, God revealed that He would build David a house with His Son, who would become David’s seed. On the one hand, this seed is the good land; on the other hand, this seed is the One who enjoys the good land. Who, then, is enjoying Christ? The answer is that it is Christ in us who is enjoying Christ. It is no longer we who live, but it is Christ who lives in us (Gal. 2:20). Christ is living in us to enjoy Himself as the good land.
Our Need to Have God Wrought into Our Hearts
As we will see in a later message, David, a man according to God’s heart, had a great failure. This indicates that merely to be a person according to God’s heart means nothing, for one may be according to God’s heart but still be empty, not having God wrought into his heart. In 2 Samuel 7 God seemed to be saying, “David, you are a man according to My heart, but you need Me to be wrought into your heart. You need Me to be built into your being to make you Me in life and in nature. It is not adequate for you to be according to My heart. You must be able to say, `To me to live is God.'” If David had been such a person, he would not have fallen.
A person may be according to the heart of God and yet be without God, not having God wrought into him. The fall of David illustrates the fact that even if we are a person according to God, if we do not have God wrought into us, we are no better than others. What is the value of being according to the heart of God if we do not have God wrought into our hearts? If we realize that God desires to work Himself into His chosen people and if we realize that this is what we all need, then the goal of our work will be to minister Christ to others so that the Triune God may build Himself into their being.
Ministering the Building God and the Builded God
Our work in the recovery today is to minister God to people. Yes, we need to save sinners and to feed the saints and perfect them. The crucial matter, however, is that we minister God to others. The God whom we minister is not just the building God—He is also the builded God. If we fail to minister God in this way, our work will be wood, grass, and stubble (1 Cor. 3:12).
I would ask you to reconsider the work you are doing for the Lord. Perhaps you have opened up a region or have brought many people to God. But I ask you this question: How much of Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God has been wrought into those whom you have brought to God? If we are sincere and genuine, we will humble ourselves and confess that not very much of the Triune God has been wrought into the ones we have brought to God. Therefore, we need to practice one thing—to minister the processed Triune God into others so that He may build Himself into their inner man. In every aspect of our work—preaching the gospel, feeding the believers, perfecting the saints—the intrinsic element must be that we minister the building and builded God to others. I would urge you to pray that the Lord would teach you to work in this way.
The Processed Triune God
Building Himself into His Redeemed People
The processed Triune God is embodied in Christ and realized as the consummated Spirit. This is the God whom we worship, preach, and minister to others. Today He is building Himself into His redeemed people in order to produce a house with Himself as the element and also with something from their redeemed and uplifted humanity. This house is the church, the Body of Christ. This house is the enlargement, the expansion, of Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God realized as the Spirit. As we carry out the God-ordained way in the four steps of begetting, nourishing, perfecting, and building, our work must be based upon the processed Triune God, who is building Himself into His chosen people. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 30)
The United States, Europe, and all the leading countries need to hear the higher preaching of such a full gospel, the gospel that produces holy brothers of the Firstborn Son of God. If the young people will take up this burden and go to the campuses preaching this gospel, a good number of thoughtful young people will be caught. They will be satisfied. I hope that many of you reading this message will make a deal with the Lord, telling Him that you are willing to be burdened for the preaching of the high gospel. If you are burdened to preach the high gospel, I believe that the Lord will honor your preaching. “Lord, we need more young preachers, more preachers of the fullest gospel!”
Before we go on, I would like to have some fellowship with the young people. I have been fully captured by the Lord and I know what I am doing here. I have seen the vision. In the whole universe there is nothing higher than this. I am doing the most glorious work among the humankind, and you all must do the same thing. This is why I do not care for the department stores—they are too low. I would never trade what I have in my hands for anything in the world. What I have is too high and too glorious. Today’s world needs a crusade with the preaching of the highest and fullest gospel. (Life-study of Hebrews, msg. 14)
OUR NEED TO PRAY THAT THE LORD WILL
GIVE US A NEW REVIVAL
The central thought is, first, to give us a full chronology of God’s move in man’s history by including the genealogy from Adam to Samuel, indicating that God’s move in man’s history to prepare the way for God to carry out His eternal economy in humanity by becoming a man that man may become God is not a matter that concerns only the history of God’s elect but a matter that concerns the history of the entire race of mankind.
We have pointed out that the chronology in 1 and 2 Chronicles indicates that God’s move in man’s history is to prepare the way for God to carry out His eternal economy in humanity by becoming a man that man may become God. If this cannot be accomplished, there is no way to solve the problems of today’s world situation. All the problems on this earth are waiting for one thing—for a good number of men to become God-men. This matter concerns not only the history of God’s elect, Israel, but also the history of the entire race of mankind.
Recently I released the matter of the high peak of God’s revelation—the revelation that God became a man so that man may become God in life and in nature (but not in the Godhead) for the producing of the Body of Christ as His expression. 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)