In Matthew 16:18, build and church are important words: “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church.” In addition, 1 Peter 2:4-5 says, “Coming to Him, a living stone,... you yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house.” These words speak of the importance of building.
As saved ones, we all admit that once we were clay but that we have become stones because of the Lord’s salvation. However, it is not enough simply to be stones; we still need to be built. No doubt, we are living stones, but a question remains: “Have we been built?” This is a serious question. If we have been built, then we, as stones, cannot be independent. Instead, we need to be dealt with and joined together with other stones.
Brothers and sisters, we must ask ourselves, “Have I been built? Am I connected with others? Am I in coordination with others? Or am I a stone, independent and isolated?” Although someone may be a gem, a diamond that is exceedingly beautiful and very precious, he still may be all alone, in isolation, and not built with others. This is not what a Christian should be. The real meaning of being a Christian lies not only in beauty but even more in building. Building is first; beauty is second. There are many brothers and sisters who still have not been built with others, who still prefer to be individually spiritual, pursuing the Lord independently, working alone, preaching alone, and being alone. I do not know how many among the children of God have a consciousness of togetherness, a consciousness of coordination, saying, “It is not enough that I am individually spiritual; the brothers and sisters must also be spiritual with me. I am not happy, nor do I feel beautiful when I am the only one who is spiritual. There is beauty only when the brothers, the sisters, and I are spiritual together. It is not enough to preach well by myself. Rather, the situation is good and effective only when I serve God together with my co-workers, my brothers and sisters.”
When the meetings are always the same, the atmosphere is the same, the condition is the same, and the result is the same, a brother may think that everything would be marvelous if only he were the one speaking. This is a pitiful situation. Since this brother is not the speaker, however, he may have a different feeling and may even criticize, saying, “Not many have come to the meeting, the atmosphere is depressing, and some even fall asleep.” This is an individualistic feeling, a selfish feeling, a pitiful feeling. Although this brother is serving together with others, he has not been built together with them. If our service is like this, it cannot shake the gates of Hades, and we should not expect such messages to be effective and powerful. Our preaching will not be able to rescue the people who are being held in Hades, and our preaching will not be able to release sinners, nor even release believers. We, thus, will have no way to open the gates of the heavenly kingdom and usher people into the kingdom of the heavens to be under its ruling. Look at our flesh! Look at our selfishness! Look at our peculiarity! Look at our individualism! Look at our independence! Look at our self-justification and condemnation of others! All of these conditions prove that we have not been released but are still being held by the gates of Hades. Consequently, we will have no way to release others from the gates of Hades, much less lead them to be under the ruling of the heavens.
I feel that the Lord has burdened me to stress the matter of the building of the church. Brothers and sisters, have we been built? Are we individualistic, or are we coordinated together with the saints? Our strong points, our good qualities, do not count; the only thing that counts is being built with others. Certainly believers who lust after sinful things and love the world have no way to be built with others. But sadly, even the so-called spiritual believers who are spiritually peculiar, spiritually special, or super-spiritual have no way to be built with others. Satan, being crafty, really knows how to work. If he cannot hold someone back, he will push him forward; if he cannot cause someone to fall short, he will cause him to reach beyond. Hence, today in the church and in the service, it is not easy to see built-up believers and real coordination.
Sometimes I find a group of brothers and sisters who study the Bible together, and in the atmosphere among them I sense that each one cares only about his own studies. On the one hand, it is good that each one is studying well, but on the other hand, if a person has been built, dealt with, and is in coordination, he will have a different concept. It is not a matter of whether I study well but a matter of whether I study well with the brothers and sisters. It is not a matter of everything being fine as long as I study the Bible well, as long as I am spiritual, and as long as I can pray. No, rather it should be that the brothers and sisters and I study the Bible together, are spiritual together, pray together, and serve together. Brothers and sisters, when the saints around us are not serving properly, do we feel a heavy burden? If we do, our situation is right. If we do not, we have not yet been built up nor dealt with by the cross; thus, the gates of Hades cannot be shaken nor can the gates of the kingdom of the heavens be opened through us. Although we serve and work, we are serving and working according to our own will. We are caring for our own will rather than God’s will. Therefore, Satan has nothing to fear in us, nor can God accomplish anything through us.
However, if we have been built, the situation is different. The degree of our being built determines the measure of the nature, testimony, and element of the church in us. Only the part of us that has been built is the church. Whatever has not been built is not the church. We should never think that because we are saved, we are the church. Stones are not necessarily a house. Independent stones are merely stones, not a house. Only stones which have been built together are a house. We must ask ourselves, “Have I been built or not? Am I individualistic or corporate? Have I been dealt with, or am I still the same? Have I been broken, or am I still whole? Am I in coordination with others, or am I eccentric and in isolation?” If there is no building, there is no church. If there is no building, there are only individual Christians who are saved, but there is no church. Without building, there are only individual stones, but there is no house. To have the house, that is, to have the church, there must be building. Without building, there is no testimony of the church; without the testimony of the church, there is no ground of the church.
Brothers and sisters, in these last days God intends to recover this matter. God wants to recover not only the ground and the testimony of the church but also the building of the church. Whoever receives grace and mercy will bow his head and say, “Lord, have mercy on me, and have mercy also on my brothers and sisters. Build in us.”
We must see that to be saved is one thing, but to be built is another. To be called by the Lord is one thing, but to be built by Him is another. To be placed in the Lord’s hand is one thing, but to be willing to be broken in His hand is another. To be brothers together is one thing, but to be built with one another, to be built together, is another. For all to serve together is one thing, but for all to be coordinated is another. We need to be broken, dealt with, and delivered from our seclusion. We must see to such an extent that we cannot live, be a Christian, serve God, manage the church, preach the gospel, or edify the saints by ourself. We must see to such an extent that we need others in every step of our actions and in every aspect of our living. Without others, we should be paralyzed. Without others, it should be hard for us to walk even one inch. We need to realize this to such an extent in order to be built with others.
Today’s situation is not like this. Instead, we seemingly say, “It would be easier if there were no brothers and sisters; then I would be able to display all my abilities. It will be more convenient for me when everyone else is gone, and I am doing everything. The brothers and sisters are either a nuisance or a hindrance to me.” I am afraid that some of the brothers and sisters often have this kind of feeling. They feel that it is pleasant to pray alone, wonderful to read the Word alone, convenient to serve the Lord alone, and enjoyable to preach the gospel alone. They also feel that it is troublesome to have the church life because the brothers are annoying and the sisters are burdensome. There are stumbling stones in front and entanglements behind. Do you have this kind of feeling? If you do, you must realize that you are a person without mercy bestowed on you. You are a natural person, and you have not yet received a revelation. You have not yet seen the light, and you have not yet been delivered from your self. A person who has been dealt with, who truly knows the testimony of the church, can no longer be individualistic and secluded. He cannot go on without the brothers and sisters. He cannot work without coordination. He cannot even be a Christian without being together with other Christians. This is not a doctrine. One day the Lord will bring you to such a point and open your eyes to see that you need to be built.
A brother once asked me, “The teaching of the Lord Jesus on the mountain is ‘when you pray, shut your door.’ Whenever I shut the door, I can pray for two hours, but whenever I kneel down with the brothers, I cannot pray two sentences. Why is this?” The only reason for this is because he was used to being independent and secluded. He never depended on others. He lacked dependence in his spiritual life. He did not feel a need for his fellow members. He could be independent, pray by himself, and even read the Scriptures by himself.
Brothers and sisters, forgive me for speaking of my own experiences. Many times when I knelt down to pray, I longed to seek out a few brothers to pray with me after praying only a few sentences. Sometimes I needed a number of brothers and sisters to pray with me in order for the burden within me to be discharged. I could not do it alone. Sometimes I could not understand a chapter of the Bible, no matter how much time I spent reading it. Then I realized that I had to seek out some brothers. It was not enough to find one brother; I had to find several brothers to study together. Amazingly, I was able to understand what I read in a short period of time when I studied with the brothers.
If we really know the church, we will see that the church is a built-up entity, not merely something put together. The church is not put together with many believers, all of whom are in their original condition. Rather, the church is built with believers who have been dealt with and broken. Without building, there are stones, but there is no house. Without building, there are believers, but there is no church. Without building, the testimony, the ground, the warfare, and the victory are not possible. Without building, there is no defeat of Satan, nor is there the ruling of the heavens. Therefore, the building of the church is crucial to the testimony of the church. To have the testimony of the church, there must be the building of the church. And to have the building of the church, we need to be built. May the Lord have mercy on us!