A.　David was one who loved God so deeply, one who was devoted to God’s resting place, to God’s habitation.

B.　When Christ came to the earth, He desired to find a dwelling place, a resting place for God, that is, to establish the church as God’s resting place on earth; without the church, God does not have a resting place on the earth.

II.　In Haggai 1, the word of God came to Haggai the prophet, saying, “Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?” (4); “…Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord”—vv. 7-8:

A.　During the years when the rebuilding of the holy temple was interrupted, the children of Israel began to build beautiful houses for themselves and gradually forgot the building of the holy temple. Furthermore, the enemy’s opposition and hindrance steadily increased, and desolation and drought continued to plague the land—Phil. 2:21.

B.　God reprimanded the people through Haggai, telling them to consider their ways because of the disasters and miseries that had come upon them, and to not let the house lie waste, but to go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build God’s house.

C.　Regarding the recovery of the building of God’s house, we cannot be neutral; we must be absolute, either taking care of our houses first or taking care of the Lord’s house first—Matt. 6:33; Phil. 2:20-21.

III.　On the one hand, God’s building is a tabernacle as a dwelling place, a habitation for God, and on the other hand, it is a tent as a meeting place and a composition of the Lord’s children—Eph. 2:22; Exo. 25:8:

A.　With the tabernacle, the emphasis is the dwelling place, the habitation, of God; with the tent, the significance is the place where God’s people meet; the tabernacle points to the place where God dwells, but the tent points to the place where God’s people meet together—Rev. 21:3; Lev. 1:1.

B.　The church is the building, the composition of God’s people; from within, it is the dwelling place of God, and from without, it is the meeting place of the Lord’s children.

C.　whether a church buys a piece of land and builds a meeting hall should depend on the church’s need and on the Lord’s sovereignty; the churches should not be required to follow one another in affairs such as these, but all the churches should be one in all the spiritual aspects concerning the Lord’s testimony.

IV.　In 1 Chronicles 29 David said, “Since I have a private treasure of gold and silver, I give it for the house of my God over…And who will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to Jehovah?”—vv. 3, 5:

A.　Although David did not personally build the temple, because he had set his affection on the temple, he used all of his effort to prepare the materials for the temple of God, even in the midst of the hardships of war; besides this, he also offered his entire private treasure of gold and silver.

B.　After David sounded the call, the leaders of the fathers’ houses, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds with the overseers of the king’s work all responded and offered themselves absolutely and willingly; therefore, when the building of the temple was completed, the temple was filled with glory.

V.　As soon as Solomon was made king, he built the temple (1 Kings 6). This typifies that as soon as Christ was glorified, He produced the church—8:6, 10:

A.　After Solomon completed the temple, the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah into it; it was filled with the glory of God.

B.　God obtained a dwelling place on the earth and caused His glory to fill it; the temple’s dedication is a type of the day of Pentecost; once the church was produced on the earth, the glory of God was expressed on the earth and filled the church.

VI.　“Within those whom You’d call, Put such a restless caring For building to give all—These times are for preparing; The gates of hell cannot prevail, Against the builded Church! The hours are few, the builders too—Lord, build, O build in us!”—Hymns, #1248.

Hymns 1248　Recall how David swore

1

Recall how David swore,

“I’ll not come into my house,

Nor go up to my bed,

Give slumber to mine eyelids,

Until I find a place for Thee,

A place, O Lord, for Thee.”

Our mighty God desires a home

Where all His own may come.

2

How blinded we have been,

Shut in with what concerns us;

While God’s house lieth waste—

Lord, break through, overturn us;

We’ll go up to the mountain,

Bring wood and build the house;

We’ll never say, “Another day!”

It’s time! We’ll come and build!

3

O Lord, against these days,

Inspire some for Your building,

Just as in David’s day—

A remnant who are willing

To come and work in Your house,

Oh, what a blessed charge!

Your heart’s desire, is our desire—

We come, O Lord, to build.

4

Within those whom You’d call

Put such a restless caring

For building to give all—

These times are for preparing;

The gates of hell cannot prevail

Against the builded Church!

The hours are few, the builders too—

Lord, build, O build in us!

(Repeat the last four lines)

WEEK 3—DAY 1

Psa. 132:3-5　I shall not go into the tent of my house; I shall not go up onto the couch of my bed; I shall not give sleep to my eyes, Slumber to my eyelids; Until I find a place for Jehovah, A tabernacle for the Mighty One of Jacob.

In Psalm 132 we see the lovers of God’s dwelling place. David is the representative. He says, “Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob” (vv. 3-5). This means that he would not rest until the Lord obtained rest. If the Lord was homeless, David was homeless; if the Lord was wandering, he was wandering. David was referring to a situation which existed in his time, but this also was a kind of recovery. The ark had been removed from the tabernacle and captured by the enemy. And even when the ark was returned to the children of Israel, it was not yet put into its proper place, the tabernacle. A full recovery was needed. David was one who loved God so deeply, one who was devoted to God’s resting place, to God’s habitation. He said that he would not enter his house until the Lord could find a habitation; he would not take sleep until the Lord should find rest.

Verses 7 and 8: “We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool. Arise, O Lord, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength.” This is figurative of the recovery of the church life. The ark was separated from the tabernacle, which signifies Christ separated from the church life. Christ was with the church, but Christ has been separated from the church. This is the time when we must all say, “Lord, arise; return into Your resting place, the local churches.”

Verse 13: “For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.” Zion, which represents the local churches, is the choice of God, the desire of God. This word in verse 13 is the word of the Psalmist, but when we continue into verse 14, we see that it is also the word of the Lord Himself: “This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.” While the Psalmist was speaking in verse 13, the Lord suddenly intervened to speak Himself in verse 14. David had said, “For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.” Then the Lord immediately continued, “This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.” This is the wonderful way in which the Psalms were written. (CWWL, 1969, vol. 3, “Christ and the Church Revealed and Typified in the Psalms,” ch. 21)

David’s desire was to find a dwelling place for God and to build a resting place for God. This desire typifies Christ’s desire. Second Samuel 7 and Psalm 132 both record that David swore to find a resting place for God. David had a strong desire and made an oath because the Ark of God did not have a dwelling place. The Ark was God’s representative on earth. The fact that the Ark did not have a dwelling place indicated that God did not have a dwelling place on earth. When Christ came to the earth, He desired to find a dwelling place for God and to build a resting place for God, that is, to establish the church as God’s resting place on earth. Hence, the church is God’s dwelling place on earth. Without the church, God does not have a dwelling place or a resting place on the earth.

First Chronicles 22:14 speaks of David’s preparation of the materials. David told Solomon, “Now then in my affliction I have prepared for the house of Jehovah…gold…silver and bronze and iron without weight, for it is in abundance; and timber and stone I have prepared.” In his affliction David prepared all the materials for the building of the temple. According to typology, in His affliction Christ prepared all the materials for the building of the church. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 1: The Meaning of the Church,” ch. 15)

WEEK 3—DAY 2

Hag. 1:4　Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled-up houses, while this house lies waste?

7-8　Thus says Jehovah of hosts, Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain and bring wood and build the house, and I will take pleasure in it and will be glorified, says Jehovah.

During the years when the rebuilding of the holy temple was interrupted, the children of Israel began to build beautiful houses for themselves and gradually forgot the building of the holy temple. Furthermore, the enemy’s opposition and hindrance steadily increased, and desolation and drought continued to plague the land. Therefore, the people of Israel concluded that the time to build the house of Jehovah had not yet come (Hag. 1:2, 4, 6, 10). It was under such a circumstance that the prophets Haggai and Zechariah rose up to deliver the word of God and encourage the returned Israelites to finish the rebuilding work of God’s holy temple.

The word of God came to Haggai the prophet, saying, “Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?…Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages, earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord” (Hag. 1:4, 6-8). God reprimanded the people through Haggai, telling them to consider their ways because of the disasters and miseries that had come upon them, and to not let the house lie waste, but to go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build God’s house. (Truth Lesson, Level One ,Vol. 2, lsn. 13)

In verse 9 Jehovah went on to say that they looked for much, and it amounted to little. When they brought it home, He blew on it because of His house which lay waste, and they each ran to their own house. Therefore, over them the heavens withheld their dew, and the earth withheld its yield (v. 10). Indeed, Jehovah had called for a drought upon the land, upon the mountains, upon the grain, upon the new wine, upon the fresh oil, upon that which the ground brings forth, and upon man, beast, and all the toil of the hands (v. 11).

The word “run” in verse 9 indicates that the people were busy caring for their own houses. Today some saints are so busy caring for their own houses that they have no time to attend the meetings. As we consider this, we need to realize that in the entire universe there is no such thing as neutrality. We must be absolute. We must either take care of our houses first or take care of the Lord’s house first.

Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest and all the remnant of the people responded to Jehovah by listening to the voice of Jehovah their God and to the words of Haggai the prophet, and they were in fear before Jehovah (v. 12). Then Haggai, Jehovah’s messenger, encouraged the people with Jehovah’s declaration, “I am with you” (v. 13). Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the spirit of Joshua, and the spirit of all the people, and they came and did work in the house of Jehovah of hosts (vv. 14-15). What a wonderful response! (Life-study of Haggai, msg. 1)

God’s eternal intention is to build for Himself a glorious dwelling place, a glorious church, among His saved ones through the life of His Son. Therefore, all the work that God is doing upon us who have been saved is for us to be built together to become a spiritual house in which He can live.

I feel that we cannot merely listen to God’s word and see God’s vision yet not have any response or action before God. In the Bible, whether in the Old Testament concerning the tabernacle and the temple or the New Testament concerning the building of the church, God first reveals His heart’s desire to His people, showing them a spiritual vision that they might know that He wants to do something exceedingly glorious in the universe. Then His people respond and take action before God, and as a result, His intention is accomplished among them. (CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 1, “The Vision of the Building of the Church,” ch. 9)

WEEK 3—DAY 3

Eph. 2:22　In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.

Exo. 25:8　And let them make a sanctuary for Me that I may dwell in their midst.

Exodus 39:32-43, as a conclusion to chapters thirty-five through thirty-nine, is a record of all the things made by the people of Israel for the tabernacle. In these verses and in chapter forty, two different terms are used for God’s building: the tabernacle and the tent of meeting. It is difficult to discover the significance of the meaning of these two terms. Actually, the tabernacle is the tent; these are two terms or titles for one entity. With the tabernacle, the emphasis is the dwelling place, the habitation, of God. With the tent, the significance is the place where God’s people meet. The tabernacle points to the place where God dwells, but the tent points to the place where God’s people meet together.

Apparently, the dwelling place of God and the priesthood are two different things. But as we have seen, the priests are the living stones, the materials, for the house of God (1 Pet. 2:5). The building of the house of God is the body of the priests. The priests are coordinated together to form a body, and this body is the building. In God’s original intention, all the people of God are priests. As the priests, the people of God are the materials for the building of the dwelling place of God, and when they are coordinated and composed together, they become the dwelling place of God. Therefore, on the one hand, God’s building is a tabernacle as a dwelling place, a habitation for God, and on the other hand, it is a tent as a meeting place and a composition of the Lord’s children. Everything positive is here in this composition. Christ is here; the church is here; the fellowship is here; the ministry is here; and the revelation is here. This portion of chapter forty is actually a summary of the entire tabernacle with its furniture, showing us the building as the composition of all the Lord’s children.

…From within, it is the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God, and from without, it is the tent, the meeting place of God’s people. The inner layer is the tabernacle, while the outer layer is the tent. These two layers are the basic components; all the other items belong to them. The church is the building, the composition of God’s people. From within, it is the dwelling place of God, and from without, it is the meeting place of the Lord’s children. These are the two characteristics of the building of God. (CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, “Spiritual Applications of the Tabernacle,” ch. 12)

The principle for building the church is consecration. Without consecration, the building of the church will not be accomplished. Consecration does not refer only to offering material riches. Offering material riches occupies only a small part. The greater part of consecration for the building is offering ourselves to God. When David was preparing materials for the building of the temple, he declared to the children of Israel, “Who will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to Jehovah?” (v. 5). This indicates that God’s desire was for everyone to consecrate himself and participate in the building of the temple. Once David made the proclamation, the children of Israel consecrated themselves (vv. 6-9). Hence, the building of the church is in resurrection and in consecration. If the consecration in a certain locality is strong, the building of the local church will be strong; if the consecration is solid, the building of the local church will be solid. On the contrary, if the consecration is weak, the building of the local church will be weak, and if the consecration is poor, the building of the local church will be poor.

Without consecration, there is no building. The building of the church depends upon consecration and not upon looking for people to attract and add to the church. Wherever we do a work and establish a local church, we should not attract people by our human hands; rather, we need to show them our lovely and glorious Lord and how much He deserves our service. He is worthy of our all. We should give our life to the Lord just as Mary poured the ointment on His head (Matt. 26:7). This is the building of the church. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 1: The Meaning of the Church,” ch. 16)

WEEK 3—DAY 4

1 Chron. 29:3　Furthermore, because I set my affection on the house of my God, and since I have a private treasure of gold and silver, I give it for the house of my God over and above all that I have prepared for this holy house…And who will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to Jehovah?

Before the people of Israel built the tabernacle, Moses led them to the foot of Mount Sinai, where God revealed to Moses the heavenly pattern in a vision. Then Moses told the Israelites the vision that he had seen. After the whole congregation knew God’s desire, they immediately responded by committing themselves to Moses and doing their best to offer to God all of the things that they had received of Him. They rose up as one man and coordinated together, each one doing his part to build the tabernacle of God in one accord. Later, when the Israelites built the temple, their response to God’s desire was even stronger and more glorious. David was perhaps the first one to respond. Although he did not personally build the temple, because he had set his affection on the temple, he used all of his effort to prepare the materials for the temple of God, even in the midst of the hardships of war. Besides this, he also offered his entire private treasure of gold and silver, which included three thousand talents of gold from the gold of Ophir and seven thousand talents of refined silver. Moreover, he said to the congregation of the Israelites, “Who will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to Jehovah?” After David sounded the call, the leaders of the fathers’ houses, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds with the overseers of the king’s work all responded and offered themselves absolutely and willingly. They gave five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron for the service of the house of God. In addition, they offered many precious stones. Then the people rejoiced because they had offered willingly to God with their whole heart, and David also rejoiced with great joy. Therefore, when the building of the temple was completed, the temple was filled with glory.

Regrettably, after a short time the people of Israel became desolate, and as a result the temple was destroyed and the people of Israel were taken captive to foreign lands.…In the first year of King Cyrus (at that time Daniel was already quite old), God, in order to fulfill His promise, stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia.…He made a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and put it in writing, saying, “All the kingdoms of the earth has Jehovah the God of heaven given to me; and He has charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him; and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and let him build the house of Jehovah the God of Israe.” Furthermore, he said, “…besides the freewill offering for the house of God, which is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:2-4). After he sounded the call, immediately there was a great response among the Israelites. Verses 5 through 8 say, “The heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites rose up, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred up to go up to build the house of Jehovah, which is in Jerusalem. And all those around them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with cattle and with precious things, besides all that was offered willingly. Also King Cyrus brought out the vessels of the house of Jehovah…and had them enumerated to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.” Thus, the people of Israel traveled in groups from Babylon to Jerusalem. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they gathered together as one man and endeavored in one accord to rebuild the temple.

Before rebuilding the temple, they rebuilt the altar, because the altar was for offering sacrifices. This meant that before the building of the temple could begin, there had to be an act of consecration. The main reason for the consecration of God’s people was not that they would offer their goods but that they would place themselves in the hand of God. We can see from the record in the book of Ezra that the glory of the situation at that time apparently surpassed the glory of the situation at the time when the temple was first built. When the builders laid the foundation of the temple on the original site, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals to praise God. They sang to one another in praising and giving thanks to God. All the people shouted with a great shout, and the old men who had seen the first house wept with a loud voice, having been greatly stirred up in their emotions. The stirring and excitement within the Israelites at that time surpassed their excitement in the past. It was truly an unprecedented event.

…Therefore, I would like to ask you what our response should be and what action we should take. We need consecration! Consecration should be our response to God’s building and the action that we take for God’s building. (CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 1, “The Vision of the Building of the Church,” ch. 9)

WEEK 3—DAY 5

1 Kings 8:6　And the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah to its place, into the innermost sanctuary of the house, into the Holy of Holies under the wings of the cherubim.

10　And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of Jehovah.

In typology, Solomon and David signify two aspects of one person. David typifies Christ in His sufferings, and Solomon typifies Christ in His glory.

After Solomon was made king, the first thing he did was build the temple. This means that as soon as Christ entered into glory, He produced the church. Christ’s glorification is recorded at the end of the Gospels (Matt. 28; Mark 16:6-20; Luke 24:46-51; John 20:19-31). Then in the beginning of Acts, the church was produced. As recorded in Acts 2, the church was produced on the day of Pentecost. This can be compared to the day on which Solomon completed the temple. Solomon’s being made king and his enthronement were his exaltation and glorification by the Israelites; these were absolutely related to the building of the temple. Likewise, Christ’s exaltation and glorification are absolutely related to the producing and building up of the church.

As soon as Solomon was made king, he built the temple (1 Kings 6). This typifies that as soon as Christ was glorified, He produced the church.

After Solomon completed the temple, the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah into it. On the day when the temple was dedicated to God, it was filled with the glory of God (8:6, 10). God obtained a dwelling place on the earth and caused His glory to fill it. Once the temple was built up and God obtained a dwelling on earth, He could fully express His glory. The temple’s dedication is a type of the day of Pentecost; once the church was produced on the earth, the glory of God was expressed on the earth and filled the church. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 1: The Meaning of the Church,” ch. 15)

God’s glory on this earth can only be manifested in and through His building. When the tabernacle was completely set up, God’s glory immediately filled His building. The glory of God was in heaven, but at that time it appeared on the earth in the tabernacle. This was only possible because of the building.

The Lord is longing for local churches to be built up on this earth today, for wherever a local church is built, there the glory of God will be manifested. The manifestation of God’s glory on earth today wholly depends on the building. The manifestation of God’s glory is the very expression of God. The building of God is this expression, the very image of God.

The tabernacle, and later the temple as an enlargement of the tabernacle, were built for the purpose of expressing God. They were both the image of God. The city, which came later, was the representation of God’s authority. We have seen that God’s intention in creating man was that man might express Him on this earth by having His image and represent Him on this earth by having His authority. Later in history, the temple in the image of God was for the expression of God, and the city with the authority of God was for the representation of God. In other words, the temple is the house of God, and the city is the kingdom of God. The glory of God filled the tabernacle and later the temple. This means that they became the very expression of God, the glorious image of God. God is expressed in and through His dwelling-place. Whenever and wherever a local church is built, God’s glory will be manifested on this earth. (CWWL, 1964, vol. 4, “The Vision of God’s Building,” ch. 9)

WEEK 3—DAY 6

Matt. 16:18　And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

The New Testament clearly reveals that in this universe God has focused all His activities on a building project. He has undertaken many other tasks, but the work that is central to all His other work, and the work that is the ultimate to which all His other work is directed, is the structure of which the Lord speaks in Matthew 16—“I will build my church.” All the divine activity in the universe is directed toward this, the building of the church.

Brothers and sisters, I trust you have caught a vision of the church. I trust you see how sacred a thing the church is, how mysterious, how immense. God has laid hold of men and has imparted Himself into them. He is now working to make them one corporate whole, so that in and through them He may manifest Himself in all His glory. This is the task to which God has been bending all His energies, and it is in the light of this that we must read again the words of the Lord Jesus: “I will build my church.”

Once, when I went to Hong Kong, a fellow-worker drew my attention to the high buildings everywhere. But what are those buildings compared to the church? They are mere worthless structures. God is putting up a great building in the universe, and He is using Himself and man as building material. He is putting Himself into the building; He is putting heaven into the building; and He is also putting into it numbers and numbers of men who have been saved through the generations; and He is building all that material together. He was referring to this when He said, “I will build my church.” (CWWL, 1957, vol. 3, “The Kingdom and the Church,” ch. 4)

According to my observation, most of God’s children listen to His words in the same way that unbelievers listen to the gospel. Most believers take care of their personal needs and consider themselves to be the center and the starting point. They happily receive messages concerning God’s comforting, visitation, deliverance, peace, and prosperity. They also respond to messages concerning how to overcome, be spiritual, be sanctified, be well pleasing to God, or grow in life. However, not many respond to or are interested in a message concerning God’s need for a house or for men to be built up as His resting place. This is because human beings always care for their personal needs. Concerning both the material realm and the spiritual realm, human beings are selfish and always want to gain something for themselves instead of considering what God desires.

God needs man, and He needs to gain something constituted of man. God’s need is greater than man’s need and has existed in the universe since eternity past. Our need simply reflects God’s need. Our dissatisfaction reflects His dissatisfaction, and our need for rest and joy reflects His need for rest and joy.

We should pour ourselves out for the building up of the house of God until our whole being is exhausted…We must not focus on anything other than the work of God to build His house in the universe. We need to learn this lesson thoroughly. We must be delivered from material things, our living, spirituality, work, gifts, and service so that we would not pursue these things for ourselves. We must also be saved from the principle of selfishness so that we can take care of the building up of the house of God. We are joyful for anything that causes the church to be built up. (CWWL, 1958, vol. 2, “The Vision, Type, and Practice of the Building Up of the Church,” msg. 9)