The book of Revelation is the consummation of the Bible. If we did not have this book, the Bible would lack a proper conclusion. As a book of consummation, nearly everything in Revelation is something previously mentioned in the Old Testament. According to the black and white letters, we do not see anything related to God's building in Rev. 4 and Rev. 5. However, there is the matter of the seven eyes which are the seven Spirits of God. There is a secret to understanding the signs and symbols in the book of Revelation: whenever a symbol appears in this book, find where it is mentioned in the Old Testament. For example, in Rev. 1 we have the lampstands as a symbol of the churches. In order to understand the significance of the lampstands, we must read Exo. 25 where the lampstand is first mentioned, and also Zech. 4 where it is mentioned the second time. In the same principle, if we would know what the seven eyes of God are, we must also go back to the Old Testament.
The seven eyes are mentioned in Zech. 3:9 and Zech. 4:10. Zechariah implies that these seven eyes, which are the seven lamps, are related to the Spirit. When Zechariah asked the angel, "What are these?" the angel answered, "This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 4:4, 6). This word implies that the seven lamps are related to the Spirit of God. The book of Revelation tells us clearly that these seven eyes of God, which are the seven lamps, are the seven Spirits of God. Zechariah reveals that the seven eyes of God, which are the seven lamps on the lampstand, are also the seven eyes of the stone. By means of the seven eyes, Christ as the Lion and the Lamb unveiled in Rev. 5 is connected to the stone spoken of in Zech. 3. Therefore, the One with the seven eyes is not only the Lion-Lamb but also the stone. He is the Lion-Lamb-stone: the Lion to destroy the enemy, the Lamb to redeem us, and the stone to build God's house.
God's economy is not for salvation. Salvation is neither the goal nor the consummation of God's economy. It is simply a procedure, a process, to reach God's goal. God's goal is the building of His eternal dwelling place. This building is the church today and the New Jerusalem in eternity.
Many Christians are familiar with Acts 4:12, which says, "And there is no salvation in any other; for neither is there another name under heaven given among men in which we must be saved." I have used this verse many times in preaching the gospel. I boldly told people that only one name in the entire universe could save them. It was not the name of Confucius or Plato; it was the name of Jesus. In recent years I learned that the Jesus in Acts 4:12 is the stone. The previous verse says, "This is the stone which was despised by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone." If we read Acts 4:10, we shall see that this stone is clearly identified with Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Jesus Christ, the One who was crucified and raised from the dead, is the stone set at naught by the Jewish builders. He has become the head cornerstone, and there is salvation in no other one. Those who rejected Him not only rejected the Savior but also the building stone, even the head cornerstone.
The cornerstone connects the walls of a building. In the corner of a building there are many stones, and among them is one called the head cornerstone. The Jews in ancient Palestine gave attention to three kinds of stones in building their houses: the foundation stone, the head cornerstone, and the topstone. The building was laid upon the foundation stone, the sides of the building were joined by the head cornerstone, and on the roof was the topstone. These three stones held and protected the whole building. In Isaiah 28:16 Christ is the foundation stone, in Zechariah 4:7 He is the topstone, and in Acts 4:10-12 He is the cornerstone. In Acts 4 Peter not only preached Christ as the Savior but also as the building stone, as the leading cornerstone that joins the walls together. Peter had this concept because he realized that God's redemption in Christ is for His building. Thus, in his first Epistle Peter could say, "To whom coming, a living stone, having been rejected by men, but with God chosen, held in honor, you yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house" (1 Pet. 2:4-5).
Of all the gospel messages delivered today, hardly one is concerned with God's building. The preaching of the gospel in Christianity certainly misses the mark. Because we are still under the influence of Christianity, we simply do not have the impression that God's redemption in Christ is for the building. In the concept of many Christians, salvation is everything. A great many hymns praise the Lord as the Lamb, saying, "Worthy is the Lamb." But there is hardly a hymn that says, "Worthy is the stone." If you stood up in a meeting of Christians and praised Christ by saying, "Worthy is the stone," they would think that you were crazy, or that you had taken in a peculiar concept. This is the situation today. However, in the Lord's recovery the Lord has brought us on farther. We not only see, as Martin Luther saw, that the Christ is the Lamb for our redemption for us to be justified by faith in Him. We also see that this Lamb has seven eyes, which are also the seven eyes of the building stone. God's economy is not for redemption; it is for His dwelling with man through redemption. Because man fell, there was the need for redemption. Redemption is the process by which fallen man is brought back to God for the fulfillment of God's economy to build His dwelling place. But pitiful Christianity remains attached to the procedure, forgetting and neglecting God's goal. Due to this, we must trumpet loudly the words, "Worthy is the stone."
Let us now consider some verses in Matthew 21. Verse 9 says, "And the crowds who went before Him and those who followed cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!" This verse, which was uttered in the warm welcome rendered to the Lord Jesus, is a quotation of Psalm 118:26. Psalm 118:26 says, "Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Who is the "he" mentioned in this verse? The answer is in verse 22 of the same psalm: "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner." Verses 22 and 23 of Psalm 118 are quoted by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 21:42. Psalm 118:23 and 24 say, "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." The "day which the Lord hath made" is the day of resurrection. On the day of resurrection the Lord God made Jesus of Nazareth the cornerstone. This is the day the Lord has made and we should rejoice and be glad in it. Every Lord's Day we should rejoice and be glad.
When the Jewish builders were troubled by the welcome given to the Lord Jesus and were jealous of Him, the Lord said to them in Matthew 21:42, "Have you never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the cornerstone; this was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes?" The Lord Jesus seemed to be saying, "Didn't you hear the people praising Me, saying, `Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord'? Their praising was a quotation of Psalm 118. In this Psalm there is another verse. Have you never read it? It says that the stone the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes." By quoting this verse from Psalm 118, the Lord indicated that the Jewish people, as the builders of God's building, would not only reject the Savior but also the building stone. As a result of their rejection, they would have no part in God's building. We must be deeply impressed that we were not saved merely to be saved. We were saved that we might be a part of God's building. When we preach the gospel, we should not only preach salvation and redemption, but also God's building, telling the people that if they do not receive the Lord Jesus, they will not have the leading building stone and will have no share in God's building. God's goal in His salvation is His dwelling place, the New Jerusalem. In our preaching of the gospel, we, like Peter, must tell people that God's redemption in Christ is for them to become a part of God's dwelling place.
In the previous message we saw that God told Jacob to go up to Bethel (Gen. 35:1). Ultimately, the New Jerusalem will be the eternal Bethel. Jacob never built anything, but his descendants firstly built the tabernacle and then the temple. The book of Revelation says that the New Jerusalem is God's tabernacle and that there God Himself and the Lamb are the temple (Rev. 21:22). This is Bethel. God's eternal purpose is to have this dwelling place, and He is working on it today. Even during Jacob's lifetime God was working on Jacob for His dwelling place, for Bethel.
We must be enlightened by and fully saturated with the thought that in this universe God is doing only one thing — building His eternal habitation. He is not interested in anything else. Creation and salvation are both for this purpose. Whatever blessings He has bestowed upon us are also for this purpose. However, many Christians have made other things the goal, things like salvation, spirituality, holiness, and victory. But these are merely individualistic, personal houses, not God's building. Spirituality is an individualistic, personal house. If you do not care for God's goal, even your salvation may become a personal home. If we had a clear view of God's goal, we would feel sorrowful about today's situation. Nearly every Christian is building his own little house. For some, tongue speaking is a cottage; for others, holiness is a house; and for still others, spirituality is a shed. Today, hardly any Christians care for God's building. Because of this, we have the boldness to say that we in the Lord's recovery are the unique Christians caring for God's building. If we all cared for God's building, God would have done a great thing among us. Nevertheless, I am concerned that after reading this message some may still say, "I'm not interested in this. I want to have peace and joy. I wish Brother Lee would give more messages on the Lord's mercy and grace, and tell us how the Lord wants to give us His joy and bestow His blessings on us." It is possible for even joy, peace, and blessings to be drugs. Most of the teachings given out week after week in the chapels and cathedrals are drugs. When you were there, you were drugged. You did not hear a clear word to sober your mind. I hope that through this message all our minds will be sobered and that we will be bold to declare, "I only care for God's building. I don't care for my salvation, my joy, my peace, my holiness, or my spirituality." As long as you care for God's building, everything, including salvation, holiness, victory, and spirituality, peace, and joy, will be yours.
We need to have a bird's-eye view of God's building as it is unfolded in the Bible. The Bible is a large book containing thousands of items. If we do not have a bird's-eye view, we can easily get lost. We need to see the major points in the Bible. After working with the race of Adam, God came in to have a new start by calling out Abraham to be the father of another race, the called race. God was no longer working with the created race but with the called race. Abraham was followed by Isaac and Jacob. If we do not have the bird's-eye view, we shall neither understand God's purpose in calling Abraham nor His purpose with Isaac or with Jacob, the supplanter. As Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau, he had a dream (28:10-22). After waking from that dream, he spoke some words which were a wonderful prophecy. Jacob called the name of the place Bethel and even set up the stone that he had used for a pillow to become a pillar. Hence, Bethel was not merely a place but also a pillar with oil poured upon it. This is the greatest prophecy in the Bible because it governs the entire Bible. After uttering this prophecy, Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house" (28:20-22). God was faithful and brought him back safely. However, Jacob did not fulfill his vow. Rather, he settled down in two places, firstly in Succoth and secondly in Shechem. Eventually, a turmoil arose, and Jacob lost his safety and peace. At that precise moment, God intervened and spoke to him, saying, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there" (35:1). Jacob did not have the actual Bethel during his lifetime. He never saw the house of God. It was not until Moses brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and erected the tabernacle that Bethel was realized among the children of Israel. Later, the tabernacle was replaced by the temple prepared by David and built by Solomon. At that time, Bethel was established on earth.
Prior to the building of the tabernacle, however, there was the house of Israel, which was nearly the equivalent of the house of God, for in the name Israel the name God appears. The last two letters of the word Israel — el — are a Hebrew word for God. When Israel was multiplied into the house of Israel, it is implied that this house was a house for God. Therefore, the house of Israel was the house of God. The only difference was that the house of Israel was not as definitely formed as the tabernacle or the temple. Nevertheless, as long as Jacob's family had become the house of Israel, in the eyes of God it was equal to the house of God. Eventually, among the house of Israel, there was the tabernacle and, following that, the temple, both of which were symbols of the house of Israel as God's dwelling place. This is a history of Bethel. Later, the temple was destroyed by the Babylonian army, and the children of Israel were held in captivity seventy years. Then a decree was issued to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1-3). Hence, from the beginning of the Old Testament until the end, we have just a few main things: Jacob, his house, the tabernacle, the temple, and the rebuilding of the temple. This is a bird's-eye view of the Old Testament.
All these main points in the Old Testament are merely types. Because of this, there was the need for the Lord Jesus to come as the reality. When He came in His incarnation, He set up a tabernacle for God and tabernacled among us (John 1:14). In John chapter two He revealed to the Jews that He was not only the tabernacle but also God's temple (2:18-21). Thus, when He was on earth, He was both the tabernacle and the temple. When Peter, the leading apostle, was first brought to the Lord, the Lord changed his name from Simon to Cephas, which means a stone (John 1:42). In John 1:51, the Lord Jesus said to Nathanael, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." This word indicates that the fulfillment of Jacob's dream rested upon His building the house of God.
After approximately three years with His disciples, He brought them out of the religious realm and atmosphere to the border of the so-called holy land, and there He asked them this question: "Whom do you say that I am?" (Matt. 16:15). After Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," the Lord said, "I also say to you that you are a stone, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:16, 18, Gk.). The Lord revealed that He was the rock and that Peter was a stone. This word must have made a deep impression upon Peter, for some time later he rebuked the Jewish builders, and seemed to say, "You Jewish builders crucified Him on the cross, fully rejecting the building stone. But God has raised Him up and has made Him the head of the corner." In 1 Corinthians 3:11 Paul says that the church is built upon Christ as the foundation, and in his first Epistle Peter says that all who come to the Lord will be living stones built together into a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:4-5). This is Bethel, the house of God. Ultimately, this Bethel will be enlarged to consummate in the New Jerusalem. On the one hand, the New Jerusalem will be the tabernacle of God among men; on the other hand, there God Himself and the Lamb will be the temple. This is the bird's-eye view of God's building.
In looking at any map we must find the main streets. This matter of the building is the main street in the Bible. Throughout the centuries, thousands of Christian books have been written, but most of them have missed the main street. Instead, they concentrate upon the minor streets. Holiness, sinless perfection, spirituality, tongues, and healing are some of these minor streets. All those who concentrate on these things will miss the mark, which is Bethel, the house of God. In Deuteronomy 12:5 and 6, God seemed to be saying, "You must not offer your burnt offerings and tithes at the place of your choice. You must go to the place I have chosen for My name and for My habitation." Today, this place is the church, for in the New Testament we see that the church is the place God has chosen for the Lord's name and for His habitation. Many famous Christian teachers have said that two or three gathering together in the name of the Lord Jesus are the church. They say this because they are blind and do not see the vision of the main street.
This matter of God's building is of great significance. Day and night, the burden is coming concerning the building of God's house. I believe that in the next few years this burden will increase, and that message after message will be given on God's building. Today, the Holy Spirit is digging all the gold for the building out of the mine of the Word.
In the next message we shall see what Jacob did after God told him to arise and go up to Bethel. He made a thorough clearance, not only with respect to himself but with respect to his entire household. Few Christians today have had this kind of clearance. When Jacob and his family stole away from Laban, Rachel, his beloved wife, stole the family idols (31:34). Prior to chapter thirty-five, we are not told that Jacob did anything about it. He simply tolerated his wife's bringing this abomination with her. But after God told him to go up to Bethel, "Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments" (35:2, Heb.). They not only put away the foreign gods; they also changed their garments, that is, they put off the old man and put on the new man (Eph. 4:22-24). Genesis 35:4 says, "And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem" (Heb.). Here we see that earrings are equal to idols and that Jacob buried them both. Jacob made this thorough clearance, telling his people that they were going up to Bethel and that there they would make an altar unto God (35:3).
Much later, the tabernacle was built. Many items are related to the tabernacle. In the outer court there were the altar and the laver; in the Holy Place there were the showbread table, the lampstand, and the incense altar; and in the Holy of Holies there was the ark of testimony containing the golden pot, the budding rod, and the tables of testimony. All this is for Bethel. Every step of Jacob's life was involved with Bethel. This is a type. Today, we have Bethel in the church, because the church is the tabernacle filled with content. In the church we have the altar, the laver, the showbread table, the lampstand, the incense altar, and the ark of testimony. Everything in the tabernacle is for the building of the church.
We all need to pray, "Lord, show me this governing vision. Oh, I need to see this bird's-eye view." Here in this vision we have everything — holiness, spirituality, gifts, healing. Now we can see why, after nineteen centuries, the Lord Jesus still has not come back. He has not come back because Bethel has not yet been solidly built. The Lord has been and still is waiting for the consummation of His building. In Matthew 16:18 He said, "I will build My church." This word cannot be in vain; it will certainly be fulfilled. Our burden today is for this. As I check with my spirit, day after day and night after night the burden is coming. This burden is not a matter of a doctrine, but of the Lord's building of His church. We all must say, "Lord, help me to get through all other things. Lord, I only care for the building of Your church." This is the Lord's recovery today. This is the building of Bethel and the fulfillment of Jacob's dream. We are burdened for this.
I have been attending the Lord's table meeting since 1932. I can testify that I have never enjoyed a meeting at the Lord's table as I have tonight. This is another indication that the Lord is about to turn us from all minor things to His major goal — Bethel. When you were attending the so-called communion in the denominations before you came into the church life, did you ever hear of oneness, of the Body, of Bethel? But tonight at the Lord's table meeting we declared to the whole universe that we are one and that we are Bethel, the house of God. Who can deny this? When we make this declaration, we have the full satisfaction, the proof, that the Lord is satisfied with Bethel, with the building of His house. Brothers and sisters, we all must prepare ourselves for this burden. From now on, we shall see the Lord riding throughout the whole earth for the building of His church. He will absolutely fulfill His prophecy — "I will build My church."
