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.