CHAPTER ONE
WEEK 1 - SUNDAY
Read and pray: "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." (Matt. 16:18)
THE BUILDING OF THE CHURCH
In this chapter, we will share something regarding the building of the church. Over the past two thousand years, people have not given due attention to this matter. In the past few centuries, God has already restored many items. These items of restoration have kept God's people so busy that they have not had enough energy to perceive what was still lacking in God's restoration. Strictly speaking, there has not yet been much restoration concerning the building. Only in recent years has God led His people to consider this matter more seriously.
We had difficulty finding Christian publications related to the topic of building. Many speak of perfecting or instruction, but few speak of building itself. For this reason, in English versions of the Bible, the Greek word for building is often translated as “edification," which merely means "instruction, moral improvement, or spiritual benefit" [in the sense of producing something constructive], rather than "building-up," which conveys the sense of "construction, building" from the original Greek.
This is also the case with Chinese versions of the Bible. In many passages where the Greek word is translated by the Chinese term corresponding to "building" or "construction" (similar to the English term "building-up").
In Greek, the verb "to build" shares the same root as the noun "house." If the word used for building is translated by a term meaning to instruct, it will convey only the idea of education, rather than building, construction, or formation. We need to recognize the difference between building and instruction.
In the past, we were very concerned with instruction but not with building. Our understanding of instruction was based on individual experience, as we were not aware of its relation to corporate building.
However, in the Bible, building refers not only to individuals receiving instruction but also to the saints being built together collectively. In other words, according to the Scriptures, building includes not only personal learning but also the building up of the saints as a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5). Instruction is necessary for individual matters, and building is necessary for aspects concerning the Body.
BUILDING THE BODY OF CHRIST
Since the words for "building" and "house" share the same root in Greek, to build means "to construct the saints as one builds a house." Spiritually speaking, it means to build them up into a Body (Eph. 2:20-22; 4:12). The human body can be compared to a house. Second Corinthians 5:1 refers to it as a tabernacle, because it is temporary. This verse also indicates that the transfigured body we will have in the future is a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens.
The church is the house of God (Eph. 2:22) and the Body of Christ (4:12). Although they indicate two aspects of the church, they refer to the same thing because the Body of Christ is a spiritual house. First Corinthians 6:19 teaches us that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Our body is a temple, a building. When the Lord Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19), He was saying that if the Jews destroyed His body and killed Him, He would rebuild it in three days. This shows that in the Bible, body refers to house, and house refers to temple. The church is the house of God and the Body of Christ, and these two aspects refer to one and the same thing.
If the church were only the Body, we might think there is no need for building; however, the Body is also a house. Therefore, there is a need to build. The Bible speaks of building a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5), building a dwelling place of God in spirit (Eph. 2:22 - lit.), and also the building up of the Body of Christ (4:12). If we do not grasp the fact that the Body is a house, we will surely question the need to build it.
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¹ This book is composed of messages given by Brother Witness Lee in service meetings held in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, in September 1957.
Enjoy more: Hymn 392
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