CONTENTS

1. God's Intention
2. The Steps to Attain God's Goal
3. Satan's Counterfeits
4. A Bird's-Eye View
5. The Experience of the Outer Court
6. The Experience of the Holy Place
7. The Experience of the Holiest of All
8. The Building of the Tabernacle
9. From the End of Exodus to the Beginning of First Samuel
10. The History of the Tabernacle and the Ark
11. The Recovery and Enlargement of God's Building
12. The Struggle Over God's Building and Further Enlargement
13. The Building of God in the New Testament
14. Christ as Life for the Building
15. Gifts and Functions for the Building
16. The Revelation of the New Jerusalem Throughout Scripture
17. Aspects of the Church Life as Seen in the New Jerusalem
18. Aspects of the Church Life as Seen in the New Jerusalem (Continued)
19. Aspects of the Church Life as Seen in the New Jerusalem (Continued)

PREFACE

To fulfill His eternal purpose God must accomplish two categories of work: the work of creation and the work of building. Scripture opens with God’s creation and finishes with His building. God’s creation is for His building, and God’s building is the ultimate consummation which fulfills His purpose in creation. The principal means for accomplishing God’s creation is His divine power. But the main element utilized for God’s building is the divine life. We were born into God’s creation, but we are reborn for God’s building, which is the church, the ultimate consummation of which is the New Jerusalem. This building is of life, by life, and with life. Regeneration in life is the beginning, growth in life is the continuation, and maturity in life is the consummation of life for this building of God. Eventually, in the New Jerusalem, God’s ultimate building, there is a river of life flowing for those who participate in God’s building to drink, and the tree of life growing in the river of life for them to eat. These signify that the building of God is produced, nourished and sustained by God Himself and with God Himself in Christ as life to us. Hence, for us to partake of God’s building, there is no other way but by life and with life.

Life and building are the two key words in the entire Bible. Life is God in Christ as the living content, and building is the corporate expression of the Triune God. What a pity that both life and building are almost altogether neglected by today’s Christianity! For the proper church life, both must be fully recovered. In recent years the Lord has begun this recovery in the U.S.A. We have full assurance that He will swiftly accomplish it to the uttermost for the fulfillment of His purpose.

The following chapters are messages given in the winter conference of 1964 at Los Angeles. They are maintained in the simple spoken form. May the Lord use them for the building up of His seeking ones.

Witness Lee