Message 117
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Scripture Reading: Exo. 28:1-4; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6; 5:9-10
In the book The Vision of God’s Building we pointed out that the main subject of the Bible is God’s building. God created man with a spirit to receive Him as life. According to the second chapter of Genesis, the divine life is presented to man in the form of the tree of life. Verse 9 speaks of “the tree of life also in the midst of the garden.” Verse 10 goes on to say, “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.” From the place where the tree of life was, a river flowed to reach the four ends of the earth. Verses 11 and 12 speak of gold, bdellium, and onyx stone. As The Vision of God’s Building makes clear, these matters are related to the crucial points of life and building. In Genesis 2 we have the tree of life and the materials for God’s building.
It is very interesting to compare this record with that of the last two chapters of Revelation. In Revelation 22 we also have the tree of life and the river of water of life. But by the time we come to the end of the Bible, the building materials are in the building, the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem will contain the same three materials mentioned in Genesis 2: gold, pearl (bdellium), and precious stones.
If the Lord grants us the time to complete the life-study of the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, we shall see that these books are books of building. Furthermore, the historical books, all the books from Joshua through Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, are concerned with the building. In fact, the main subject of these books of history is God’s building. When everything was right with God’s building, the situation of the children of Israel was very good. But when the building was damaged, the condition of the children of Israel was also very poor.
In the books of the prophets the building is also a major subject. The book of Ezekiel contains many chapters that record a vision of the building. Actually, the book of Ezekiel is a book on God’s building. We have much to say regarding this in the book entitled The Visions of Ezekiel. Because the building is what God desires, the entire Old Testament is on the subject of God’s building.
There is no doubt that the Bible has much to say concerning salvation. Salvation, however, is not the ultimate consummation of the Bible. The ultimate consummation of the Bible is God’s building, the New Jerusalem. Throughout the Bible we have various matters related to the building. In Genesis we have the materials for the building, and in Exodus we have the building of the tabernacle.
The three precious materials in Genesis 2 — gold, pearl, and onyx stone — are found in the tabernacle and the priesthood. To be sure, there is an abundance of gold in the tabernacle. We have seen that on the breastplate and the shoulder plates of the ephod worn by the high priest there were precious stones. But instead of pearl, with the tabernacle there is silver. Silver signifies redemption. In Genesis 2 there is pearl, but there is no silver, because at that time sin had not come in. Furthermore, in the New Jerusalem there will likewise be pearl instead of silver, for by then there will be no further need of redemption. But in between Genesis 2 and Revelation 21, there definitely is the need of redemption signified by silver. For this reason, in 1 Corinthians 3:12 Paul mentions gold, silver, and precious stones; he does not speak of pearl. The reason Paul includes silver and not pearl is that in this present age we need redemption. Moreover, with the building of the temple in the Old Testament, the same precious materials were used.
Paul received a marvelous revelation from the Lord concerning God’s building. His mentioning of gold, silver, and precious stone in 1 Corinthians 3 exactly fits in with the thought that in the beginning in Genesis there was no sin and thus no need of silver. But after sin came in, there was the need of redemption. In eternity, however, there will no longer be the need for silver, for there will no longer be any sin. But during the time after the fall and before the New Jerusalem in eternity, we must have silver. Once again we see how consistent the Bible is. What Paul wrote concerning the building is consistent with the full revelation of the Scriptures.
True spirituality is a matter of the building. Without the building, the spiritual house, there is no sanctification, spirituality, or spiritual power. A certain brother may seem to be kind, holy, and spiritual. But if this brother is not built into God’s building, his apparent spiritual wealth will become spiritual bankruptcy. The reason for such a condition is that without the building there is no protection or covering.
We can refer to the meeting hall in Anaheim to illustrate how God’s building is our protection. Suppose all the materials used in building the meeting hall were still lying on the ground. Then in case of a storm or heavy rain, the materials would be damaged. They would not have any protection. But since the materials are now part of the building, they are protected from the weather. The principle is the same with God’s spiritual building. If we want to be protected, we need to be built into God’s building. Our protection is not our spirituality; our protection is the building.
In my early years as a Christian, I did not see the crucial importance of the building. By the Lord’s mercy, I have loved the Lord from the time I was saved. For more than fifty years, my love for Him has never ceased. Furthermore, I have spent much time to seek Him. I have also pursued holiness, spirituality, and power. I read a number of books on these subjects. However, my pursuit of holiness, spirituality, and power resulted in failure. Eventually I learned that the only way to be holy, spiritual, or powerful is to be built into God’s building.
In the perfecting training messages we dealt with the problems of opinion and peculiarity. But no matter how much you may exercise yourself to solve the problems of opinion and peculiarity, if you are not built up, none of those messages will be of any help to you. Only as we are built up together can the matters of opinion and peculiarity be dealt with. As long as you are willing to be built into God’s building and actually are built in, the problems of opinion and peculiarity will disappear. Do not try to overcome these things by your own effort. Our unique need is to be built in.
As one of the leading apostles, Peter certainly learned a great deal in his life with the Lord. In his first Epistle, a short book of only five chapters, he speaks clearly of the building. He tells us that we need to be nourished in order to be built up into a spiritual house. In 1 Peter 2:2 he says, “As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word, that by it you may grow.” Then in verse 5 he goes on to say, “You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, into a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” According to these verses, the nourishment is for the building, the spiritual house, and the spiritual house is for the holy priesthood. In verse 9 Peter speaks of a royal priesthood: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for a possession, so that you may tell out the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” When we are nourished and are built up as a spiritual house, a holy and royal priesthood, we shall show forth the excellencies, the virtues, of the One who has called us.
To a very great extent, the efforts of today’s Christians to be holy, spiritual, and powerful are in vain. Many “how-to” books have been written to help believers to be holy and victorious. How much help is actually offered by these books? I would say that the help rendered is very little, if any. I can testify that I have read books in different categories of spiritual and biblical teachings. Furthermore, I tried to practice the methods recommended in these books. As I have already indicated, the result was failure.
Throughout the centuries there have been a number of believers who were truly spiritual. However, many of the biographies of certain spiritual giants are not altogether accurate. A biography does not always present a full and clear picture of a person’s life. After a particular spiritual giant dies, someone may write his biography. That biography may exalt that spiritual person too much. This kind of biography is different from that found in the Bible. For example, the Bible speaks of Abraham’s shortcomings and even exposes David’s sins. If you were to write a biography of David, would you mention his sins? Would you not rather hide them and perhaps exaggerate a little on David’s behalf? Sometimes a believer’s autobiography is more honest and accurate than the biographies.
Even with those who are pious and spiritual, there have been a number of shortcomings. Failures, of course, are different from shortcomings. A person may not have many failures, but he still may have a number of shortcomings. The shortcomings in the lives of even the most spiritual Christians are due to the lack of building up.
Years ago I stayed for a month at a place in England that was famous for spirituality. Yes, there was a certain amount of spirituality among the believers there. However, there was no building. There was much talk about spirituality, but there was no building at all. The dear ones in that place under the Lord’s hand had learned different spiritual lessons and had some spiritual experience. They learned how to trust in the Lord, how to be dealt with by the Lord, and how to experience the cross. They also learned about the life principles of resurrection. But even though they learned all these things, the result eventually was tragedy because there was no building.
In the Bible and in the Christian life, life and building are the most basic matters. If we do not allow the Lord to have the building among us, we shall be a failure as far as God’s purpose is concerned. The building is God’s unique goal. For eternity, He wants the New Jerusalem. Today He wants the church.
Even in the Old Testament we can see that God’s goal has always been the building. In the wilderness He required that a tabernacle be set up. Then in the holy land, the land of Canaan, He wanted a temple to be built. Many verses in the Psalms refer to the temple. This indicates that, according to the experience of the psalmists, spirituality, victory, and power were all related to the temple. The principle is the same with us today. For us, the temple is the church. Our spirituality, victory, and power must be related to the church. However, it is very sad, even tragic, that many Christians do not care for the church and some even oppose it.
The situation among the Lord’s people is not very encouraging. This is true even of those groups of believers that are spiritual. The reason the situation is disappointing and discouraging is the lack of the building.
The Lord has not yet been able to gain His goal of the building. Without the building, how can we have the priesthood? It is impossible to have the priesthood without the building. The priests are not individualistic believers. On the contrary, the priests are a corporate body; the priesthood is composed of priests who have been built together. Furthermore, the service of the priesthood is a body service in coordination. This corporate priesthood is what the Lord is seeking today.
If we are off from God’s goal, what shall we be able to accomplish? We shall not be able to do anything for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
In messages to come we shall consider in detail the priestly garments. Then we shall see that the expression of Christ signified by the garments is actually a building. The ephod was not worn by the high priest to protect him from cold and to keep him warm. Instead, the ephod was altogether for building; it was for the linking together of the breastplate and the two shoulder plates. These plates, no doubt, are a sign strongly pointing to the building. The breastplate worn by the high priest signifies the building. The precious stones on the breastplate were set in gold. Then the breastplate itself was linked to the ephod. The two shoulder plates on which were engraved the names of the tribes of Israel were also connected to the ephod. This shows that the ephod is related to the building.
When the high priest stood before the Lord to seek His leading, he had to wear the breastplate with the Urim and the Thummim. This means that he had to wear the building. If the high priest did not have the breastplate, he could still worship God, burn the incense, and light the lamps. However, he would not have the way to receive the Lord’s revelation. Receiving revelation from God required the breastplate with the Urim and the Thummim.
Without the building the priesthood will collapse. We cannot have the priesthood without the building. Because of the lack of the building, the situation among Christians today is very discouraging.
My heart is saddened by the condition of the Lord’s people. I am disappointed not mainly by the opposition to the Lord’s recovery, but by the shortage of the building. But although the situation is not encouraging, we need to believe that just as the Lord preserved seven thousand at the time of Elijah, so He has preserved a remnant today. When Elijah was disappointed, thinking that he alone had remained faithful to the Lord, the Lord told him not to be disappointed, for He had preserved seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Today the Lord has also preserved a number of His people. He is sovereign, and we should worship Him for His sovereignty.
Because of our human frailty, our expectation may be that the Lord’s recovery would increase and multiply rapidly. However, a large increase in numbers could corrupt and ruin the recovery. Therefore, in His sovereignty, instead of allowing this to happen, the Lord would permit the recovery to be opposed and also to be purified. The result is that those who do not have a genuine heart for the Lord do not take the way of the recovery. In the past we saw how the Lord came in to purify His recovery. That purification was a test to prove which ones truly have a heart for the Lord’s interests.
We all need to see that the goal of the Lord’s recovery is to recover Christ as life and everything to us so that we may be transformed and built up. When we are built up together, God will have a building. This building is the priesthood.
