Message Nine

The Will of God and the Building of God

Scripture Reading: Matt. 7:21-23; 6:10; 12:50;
16:18-19; 21:42, 44; 5:14

1. In order to enter into the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the coming age, we must do the will of our Father in this age—Matt. 7:21-23; 6:10; 12:50; Rev. 4:11; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 1:5, 9, 11; 5:17; Col. 1:9; 4:12:
   1. God is a God of purpose, having a will of His own pleasure, and He created all things for His will that He might accomplish and fulfill His purpose—Rev. 4:11; Eph. 3:9-11; Col. 1:9:
      1. God’s will is His heart’s desire, His mingling with man, and the fulfillment of His eternal plan—Eph. 1:5, 9, 11; 5:17.
      2. The will of God is to obtain a Body for Christ to be His fullness, His expression—Rom. 12:2, 5; Eph. 1:5, 9, 11, 22-23.
   2. The kingdom is absolutely a matter of God’s will and completely fulfills God’s will; in fact, the kingdom is God’s will—Matt. 6:10.
   3. The ultimate issue of the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens is the will of the heavenly Father—7:21.
   4. As the kingdom people, we are on earth to do the Father’s will—7:21; 12:50.
   5. In order to do the will of the Father, we need to enter in through the narrow gate and walk on the constricted way—7:13-14:
      1. The narrow gate excludes the old man, the self, the flesh, the human concept, and the world with all its glory; only that which corresponds with God’s will can enter in.
      2. As we walk on the constricted way, we are restricted by a mysterious, invisible, inward control, and we live under this control.
   6. Whoever does the will of the Father is a relative of the Lord Jesus—12:50:
      1. Christ, the heavenly King, always submitted to the Father’s will, taking God’s will as His portion and not resisting anything—11:28-30; 26:39.
      2. Whoever does the will of the Father is a brother who helps the Lord Jesus, a sister who sympathizes with Him, and a mother who tenderly loves Him.
   7. The kingdom people need to pray for the Father’s will to be done on earth as in the heavens; this is to bring the kingdom of the heavens to the earth—6:10.
2. The Father’s eternal will is to build up the church upon Christ the Son as the rock—Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:21-22; 4:16:
   1. God’s building is the desire of God’s heart and the goal of God’s salvation—Eph. 1:5, 9; 2:8, 10, 21-22; Exo. 25:8:
      1. The desire of God’s heart is to have a dwelling place on earth constituted with Christ and according to Christ—Eph. 1:5, 9; 2:21-22.
      2. God’s building is the Triune God as life being wrought into us so that we may become His corporate expression—3:17a, 19b, 21.
      3. God’s building is the mingling of God with man; the principle of God’s building is that God builds Himself into us and builds us into Himself—John 14:20; 15:4a; Eph. 3:17a.
      4. God’s building is the enlargement, the expansion, of the Triune God, enabling God to express Himself in a corporate way—Col. 2:19; John 3:30a.
      5. We need to be enlightened by and fully saturated with the thought that in this universe God is doing only one thing—building His eternal habitation— Matt. 16:18; Rev. 21:2-3.
   2. The Lord’s word in Matthew 16:18 is the greatest prophecy in the Bible: “I will build My church”:
      1. In His heavenly ministry the ascended Christ is directing and managing the building up of His church—Eph. 1:19-23; 4:8-16.
      2. The rock in Matthew 16:18 refers both to Christ and to the revelation concerning Christ; this means that the church is built both upon Christ and upon the revelation concerning Christ—Eph. 2:19-20.
      3. As the stone for God’s building, Christ is the foundation stone, the topstone, and the cornerstone; in Him and through Him, we are becoming living stones to be built up as a spiritual house—Matt. 21:42, 44; Isa. 28:16; Zech. 3:9; 4:7; 1 Pet. 2:4-5.
      4. The Gospel of Matthew is concerned with the kingdom of the heavens, which is a matter of authority; thus, the church in this book represents the kingdom to reign—16:18-19; 18:18:
         1. In the church there is the heavenly rule and government, and there is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens.
         2. Both aspects of the church—the universal and the local—indicate that the church represents the kingdom of the heavens, having authority to bind and to loose—16:19; 18:18.
         3. The Lord Jesus declared that the gates of Hades will not prevail against His church; Satan’s power of darkness cannot prevail against the genuine church built by Christ—16:18b.
   3. The Lord’s word about “a city situated upon a mountain” indicates that the kingdom people need the building—5:14:
      1. The light is not an individual believer; the light is a corporate city built up as one entity to shine over the people surrounding it.
      2. The city is the light; if there is no city, there is no light—Rev. 21:23-24a.
      3. If we are divided, we are finished with the shining; in order to be a shining city, we must keep the oneness and remain one entity, a corporate Body—Eph. 4:1-6; 5:8-9.
   4. To be built up with fellow believers is the Lord’s supreme and highest requirement of His faithful seekers according to the divine oneness of the Divine Trinity—John 17:
      1. The constitution of the kingdom of the heavens is not for individuals but for a corporate people— Matt. 5:3-16.
      2. Being built up with fellow partakers of the divine life is the highest virtue of one who pursues after Christ according to God’s eternal economy—Eph. 2:21-22; Phil. 3:7-12.