Ephesians 4:11-13 says, “And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ, until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
John 17:20-24 says, “And I do not ask concerning these only, but concerning those also who believe into Me through their word, that they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And the glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, even as We are one; I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me. Father, concerning that which You have given Me, I desire that they also may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
Hebrews 11:16 says, “But as it is, they long after a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” Revelation 21:2 says, “And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Hebrews 11 says that God has prepared a city for them; again this verse says that the city is prepared. Verse 9 says, “I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
Verse 7 of chapter 2 says, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.” Verse 12 of chapter 3 says, “He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.”
We have pointed out to the brothers and sisters that on the one hand, we are God’s crop and, on the other hand, we are God’s building. As God’s crop, we need to grow and mature; as God’s building, we need to be built. Our growth as God’s crop is our being built as God’s building. When we have grown to maturity, we are prepared to be built. Therefore, in order to be built, we have to pay attention to growth and maturity.
If you read the Bible carefully, whether the Old Testament or the New Testament, whenever the harvest is mentioned, a great emphasis is put on the matter of maturity, because only the ripened harvest can be gathered into the barn. Yet there is a sequence to the ripening of the harvest, so the Bible mentions the firstfruits and the reaping of the majority. Revelation 14 clearly shows us that the reaping of the firstfruits to God and the reaping of the majority of the harvest are at different times. The first-ripe ones are reaped first, and then the majority of the harvest is reaped afterwards.
In Leviticus 23 there is a feast called the Feast of Firstfruits, which required people to reap a small amount of the harvest that had ripened first and bring it before God. After some time, when the majority of the harvest had ripened, it would then be reaped.
We all know that the persons, things, and events in the Old Testament are not merely the persons, things, or events themselves. Every person, thing, or event is a spiritual type. Accordingly, Leviticus 23, in speaking about the feasts to be kept by the children of God, greatly emphasizes the firstfruits and reaping. In principle, this shows us that God’s harvest must be ripened; only when it is ripe can it be reaped. Although the reaping times are different, in principle, all must be mature. The ones to ripen first are reaped first; the ones to ripen later are reaped later. The unripe ones must wait in the field until they are ripened. The harvest must be ripe before it is reaped. This is very clear in the Bible.
The account of reaping in the Old Testament points out that if we are to participate in the building of the New Jerusalem, we need to mature. We should not think that a believer, whether he has matured in life or not, will be reaped by the Lord as soon as he dies. Nor should we think that a believer has matured when he dies and therefore has been reaped by the Lord. It is ludicrous to say that once a believer dies, he has matured and has been reaped. Obviously there are many believers who have had no progress after being saved for many years; whenever you meet such ones, you sense that they are immature, tender, and often even withered. Some have died in this kind of condition. Can you believe that they have been reaped because they have matured? There is no such thing.
We have to know that death is not the solution to everything. This is as true for the believers as it is for the unbelievers. In regards to the unbelieving descendants of Adam, when they die, their bodies are left in the dust, and their souls go to Hades to be tormented while they are waiting for the coming of the great day of judgment. Therefore, their death today is merely the end of one stage. The day they will be cast into the lake of fire will be the conclusion. In the same principle, the death of the believers today is not the conclusion. It is true that when a believer dies, his body is left in the earth, and his soul is comforted in Paradise in Hades. However, his problems are not yet solved; he has to wait until the coming resurrection. When the Lord comes again, all the saved ones will resurrect and stand before the judgment seat of Christ to be judged. This judgment is not the judgment of the great white throne, which determines whether you are saved or will perish. This judgment at the judgment seat of Christ is to determine whether you have matured or not, whether you will receive a reward or suffer loss. If you receive a reward, it is because you have matured. If you suffer loss, it is because you have not matured.
What if you have not matured? Please remember that God has a way to make you mature. After all, if you are not ripened, God cannot gather you into the barn. Therefore, by no means should you assume that believers can live meaninglessly and carelessly their whole life, and yet when they die, the precious blood of Christ will bear all their responsibilities. There is not such a thing. It is true that no one can come before God without being redeemed by the precious blood. The blood reconciles us to God so that we may approach God. However, please remember that those who can be reaped into the eternal house of God, those who can eternally abide in the house of God, are those who have allowed God’s life to grow and mature within them. To be redeemed by the blood is one thing; to grow and mature in life is another. Only those who are fully ripened can be gathered into God’s barn in the future. You should by no means think that since you are saved, you are already a living stone and therefore have already become part of the building. A stone cannot be built in unless it has been dealt with.
As I have said elsewhere, a local church is a built-up entity, but it is often in a condition of not having been fully built. For instance, a church may have two hundred brothers and sisters, yet it rests altogether on the shoulders of only fifty of them. It seems that only the fifty have been built, while the remaining one hundred fifty are like materials that are piled next to a building and are not yet built up. However, in eternity, in the new heaven and new earth, you will not find a pile of materials around the city of New Jerusalem. All who are represented by the twelve tribes and by the twelve apostles will have been built into the city.
I will not discuss, for the time being, at what point in time all these people are built into the city. However, I have to say that you surely are not built into it as soon as you die after living a meaningless life as a carefree Christian. There is no such thing. I say again that as the harvest, you need to be ripened, and as the building, you need to be built. You are a sheaf on God’s farm. You need to grow and mature, and only then can God reap you into His barn. You are also one of the stones to be used by God. You need to be dealt with and built up in order to be fitted into the building of God.
In His last evening with the disciples, after the Lord Jesus spoke to them about the union between Him and them, He prayed for all those who believed in Him. What did He pray? He prayed to the Father that they all may be one. Please remember that in this prayer the Lord asked God to bring all whom He redeemed throughout the ages into God one by one to build them into one entity, to become one. Strictly speaking, this oneness is the building of God. This oneness does not come out of our calling to each other, “Come! Let us be one.” This will not work. Oneness comes out of God’s building. Consider a physical house; the many materials in it are one. Formerly all these materials were scattered about in piles and were not one at all. It is by being built that they have become one. Therefore, the building is the oneness. All those who are in the Lord will one day be one in the Triune God. This was the intent of the Lord’s prayer.
Now I would like to ask you, are you one with all the others who are saved? There is no need to speak of being one with all who are saved; sometimes even five people—two responsible brothers and three responsible sisters of a home meeting—cannot have oneness among themselves. Why is this? It is because they have not been built. Now please consider, as such a one who has not been built and who cannot be one with God’s children, when you leave this world one day, can you then immediately be in the New Jerusalem? You certainly cannot.
Therefore, will the prayer of the Lord not be fulfilled? We should believe that eventually the Lord’s prayer will not be in vain and will be fulfilled in the universe. Eventually, we will see that all who belong to the Lord will be absolutely one in Him. Paul believed this. He said that the Lord has given various gifts for the building up of the Body of Christ, until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:11-13). You can see how great the apostle’s faith was when he spoke this word! When he wrote the Epistle to the Ephesians, he was locked away in a Roman prison. He also saw how very desolate the churches were in all the places. Not only were they desolate; they even rejected his teaching. All who were in Asia would turn away from him. This was becoming the situation when he wrote Ephesians. Yet he could still say, “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Consider how strong Paul’s faith was! What he believed was completely contrary to what he saw, but he could still joyfully declare this.
Therefore, we do not have to be worried. One day the Lord’s prayer will be fulfilled. With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Matt. 19:26). God always has a way. Nevertheless, since you are a saved one, you have to grow, mature, and be built. If you do not mature in this age, God still has the next age waiting for you. In any case, He will cause you to mature. If you, being the harvest, are not ripened today, tomorrow God will cause the sun to scorch you. If you are not ripened, God will have to leave you in the field. If you are not ripe, you cannot be gathered into the barn. Do not be deceived by the erroneous doctrine in Christianity, thinking that you will go to heaven immediately after your death if you believe in Jesus. If you want to be in God’s barn, you need to be matured. Please read your New Testament again so you may be clear that this is a fixed principle. It is true that everyone who has been washed by the Lord’s blood will eternally be saved and will not perish forever. However, in order to go to God, enter into God’s dwelling place, and be gathered into God’s barn, one must be matured. Sooner or later, one will nevertheless be matured. This is a fixed principle.