By building the church and entering into the church life, we are saved from God’s judgment on today’s evil generation and separated from this generation to usher in a new age; may we not be afraid to be different but remain in the divine revelation and minister the building and builded God into others for the building up of the church.
Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You today to just enjoy You, experience You, and partake of Your riches. We want to be filled with You. Amen, Lord, make Your home in our heart. Work Yourself into us. Deepen Your work in our being. Keep us in the divine revelation in Your word so that we may be those whom You can use to end this age. Oh Lord, we want to have such a living and work that will cause us to be saved from Your judgment on this generation and will also end this age! Amen!
This week we have been prayerfully considering the line of life with Noah – the life and work that changed the age. Noah was one who believed in God, walked with God, pleased God, and enjoyed all that God is.
Even though Satan corrupted man to the uttermost and God determined to destroy the man He created for HIs purpose, Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah.
It appeared that God was defeated, but Noah found favour in the sight of Jehovah. Noah’s life was a life that changed the age; such a life was by grace and in grace, and it inherited the godly ways of his forefathers.
Because Noah walked with God, God showed him the true situation of the corrupt age in which he lived. But Noah found grace in the sight of Jehovah; we today need to be like Noah, those who find grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Though it seems that the fall of man is so great that the only thing God wants to do is judge man, we need to find grace day by day by coming to the throne of grace in our spirit, enjoying the word of grace, and experiencing the Triune God as grace.
Not only his life but also his work was one that changed the age.
God gave Noah an all-inclusive revelation, even a further revelation than what his forefathers had, and Noah was one with God to work with God and build the ark.
What is the ark? According to 1 Peter 3:20-21, the ark is a type of Christ, for He redeemed us and in Him we’re safe from God’s judgment.
The ark is a type not only of the individual Christ but also the corporate Christ, the church, which is the Body of Christ.
We need to build up the church today as the ark so that we may be saved from this crooked and perverted generation and afford God a way to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom.
Minister the Building and Builded God into others for God to Build Himself into their Inner Man for the Church
We need to do the work of building up the church today. This building is the working of Christ into people to build them together by Christ that they may become God’s manifestation in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:15-16).
This is what our work should be today. We do not only preach the gospel or care for the new ones; our intrinsic work, even the crucial matter in our work, is to minister the building and builded God into others.
We minister the building and builded God into the saints so that the Triune God may build Himself into their being (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:21-22; 3:17a; 1 Cor. 14:4b).
God’s economy is centred on one thing, which is God’s unique work in the universe and throughout all the generations.
This is to work Himself in Christ into HIs chosen people, making Himself one with them and making them one with Him. This involves the mingling of divinity with humanity.
On His side, God went through a process to become the Spirit and work Himself into us.
As Ephesians 3:14-18 shows us, God is strengthening us into our inner man through His Spirit so that Christ may make His home in our heart.
God is doing a building work in us by Christ making His home in our heart.
We may be like David, desiring to build a house for God, but before we can do anything for God, He needs to do a building work in us; He needs to build Himself into our being.
We need to save people and perfect the aints, but ultimately the most important thing is that we need to minister the building and builded God into others.
On the one hand, He is the building God, for He is doing the work of building; on the other hand, He is the builded God, for He builds Himself into us.
As we practice God’s ordained way today by begetting, nourishing, perfecting, and building, we must do it under the divine dispensing, on the foundation of the dispensing of the Triune God into others for Him to build Himself into His chosen people.
The Lord is building His church, and we today cooperate with Him to build up the church.
May we learn to practice this one thing in everything we do for the Lord: to minister the processed and consummated Triune God into others so that He may build Himself into their inner man (2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Cor. 3:9a, 10, 12; Rom. 11:36).
Our work should not be with the wood, grass, and stubble of our natural man, our flesh, and our self, but with the gold, silver, and precious stones as the experience and enjoyment of the processed and consummated Triune God.
May we pray that the Lord will teach us to work in this way, for only this kind of work can change the age. Noah did such a work, and so must we today.
We may think that we have led some people to believe into the Lord, we may have some people under our care, and we may visit some new ones to shepherd them in their homes; however, how much of Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God has been wrought into these ones?
If we consider this before the Lord, we will realise that not much of the Triune God has been wrought into those we care for and have brought to God.
If we’re sincere and genuine, we will simply humble ourselves before the Lord and confess our shortcomings before Him.
We will come to Him as we are and we will first allow Him to build Himself into us and constitute us with Himself.
Then, when we meet others, when we visit the new ones, and when we go for the gospel, we will simply minister the building and builded God into people so that Christ may build Himself into their inner man.
May we pray concerning this so that, in every aspect of our work, we may have this intrinsic element: minister the building and builded God to others.
Lord Jesus, we want to do a work that changes the age by ministering the building nad builded God into others today! Amen, Lord, we open to You. Build Yourself into us. Work Yourself into our innermost being. Constitute us with Yourself. We want to gain more of Christ as the embodiment of God and we want to flow this Christ out to others. May our work for the Lord today is to minister the building and builded God into them so that the Triune God may build Himself into their being! Amen, Lord, may our preaching of the gospel, feeding the believers, and perfecting the saints be a ministering of the building and builded God into them! Make us those who are one with You in Your building work. Build Yourself into us and build us into Yourself. Teach us, dear Lord, to work in the way of ministering the processed and consummated Triune God into others so that He may build Himself into their inner man! We open to You and we allow You to make Your home in our heart. Gain Your building in us and through us!
We’re Saved from God’s Judgment and Separated from this Evil Generation to be Ushered into a New Age by Building the Church and Entering into the Church Life
As we see in Genesis 6:22, Noah not only received the revelation from God but also believed it and practiced it.
He didn’t care about being different from his forefathers and from his generation: he simply followed the vision he received from God. Many around him may have considered him crazy for doing what he did and for preachign righteousness, but he still did it.
We need to follow his pattern today by first coming back to the divine revelation in God’s word to allow Christ to work Himself into us so that we may build up the church and practice the church life.
When we return to God’s revelation in His word, we become different people; we are different from those around us in the world and we’re even different from fellow nominal Christians.
Most Christians lack the divine revelation. When Daniel and his three companions remained in the divine revelation, they were different from others, and they even refused to eat the royal food.
Paul had the divine revelation, and he was different, not being afraid to stand on the side of the divine economy of God.
So was Martin Luther in his time, and so were Watchman Nee and Witness Lee in their time.
The divine revelation makes us different, and it causes us to live a life and do a work that changes the age.
What Noah did was first preach righteousness and then build the ark (2 Pet. 2:5).
He preached righteousness to protest that evil generation, which was filled with violence. He testified of the righteous ways of God.
As he was preaching righteousness, Noah was also building the ark.
We do the same thing in principle; as Noah did in his time, we build the ark today according to God’s revelation (Heb. 11:7).
We build up the church not according to any Christian tradition or religious ways, nor do we bring in our own concepts and inventions but we absolutely do it according to God’s revelation.
May we come back to the pure word of God and build up the church, standing against the tide of this generation.
Even though it may seem impractical and unreasonable in the eyes of those around us, may we live a life according to the divine revelation and stand against the tide in this generation.
It is by building the church and entering into the church life that we can be saved from God’s judgment on today’s evil generation through the great tribulation (Heb. 11:7; Matt. 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-27).
When we pray and open to the Father to strengthen us into our inner man through His Spirit so that Christ may make His home in our heart, God builds Himself into us.
When we exercise our spirit to minister the building and builded God into others, we cooperate with God’s building work to build the ark today.
As we are building the church and entering into the church life, we’re being saved from God’s judgment and we’re separated from this generation to be ushered into a new age, the age of the millennium.
We want to be saved from the coming great tribulation and even more, we want to enter into the age of the millennium to participate in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens.
So we need to do what Paul said in Philippians 2, work out our own salvation.
On the one hand, we are saved, and this is through faith and by grace. On the other hand, we need to build up and work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who operates in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.
We need to be like Noah and his family today, participating with God in His building work; as we are building the church and entering into the church life, this building becomes our salvation.
Amen, we all need to work with God so that what we build becomes our salvation! On the one hand, we come to the Lord and enjoy Him; we come forward to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace for timely help day by day (Heb. 4:16).
On the other hand, we go one with the Lord to others to bring God to them! We come to the Lord to experience grace, salvation, and power, even to breathe Him in.
Then, we go to disciple the nations by infusing them with Christ so that He may save them, regenerate them, transform them, renew them, and build them into His building.
For this, we need to work with God not with anything of our natural being or the self but with the Christ who has been wrought into our being.
We need to minister the building and builded God into others for the building up of the church consummating in the New Jerusalem.
May our life and work change this age and bring in the next age, the age of the kingdom, to usher in the New Jerusalem for eternity.
Lord Jesus, we come back to the divine revelation in Your word. Remove any veils from our eyes, any concepts and religious thoughts, so that we may see what You want to speak to us today in Your word. We want to hear Your word and do Your word. We want to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who operates in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure. Amen, Lord, we stand one with You today to preach righteousness and build the ark, that is, to build up the church. We want to do the work of building of the church and entering into the church life so that we may be saved from this crooked and perverted generation and also from God’s judgment! Hallelujah, today we can allow the Triune God to build Himself into us and minister the building and builded God into others so that God may build Himself into them! Oh Lord, may we enter into Your building work today so that we may be saved and end this age to bring in the age of the kingdom!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers on this topic, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis, pp. 395-397, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Noah, Daniel, and Job – Patterns of Living an Overcoming Life on the Line of Life to Fulfill the Economy of God (2026 International Chinese-Speaking Conference), week 2, The Line of Life with Noah— the Life and Work That Change the Age – day 6.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Be careful lest this age would lead you from God’s heart’s desire. / For Jesus’ testimony must set all our hearts afire. / The local churches are the ark, God’s testimony true. / For this we leave the age behind and give our hearts anew. (Hymns #1268 stanza 6)
– “I will build My church upon this rock,” said the Lord Jesus, / And we see the building of His purpose and His plan; / Setting members in the Body as Himself it pleases, / Building us together in Christ our land. / Now the Lord’s recovery is everywhere proceeding, / All the churches join in one to give the Lord command: / “Speed the day when all the earth will echo with pray-reading / And with hallelujahs for Christ our land.” (Hymns #1236 stanzas 3-4)
– Thru all the transformation work / The triune God performs in them, / The Church a corporate vessel is / And like the new Jerusalem. / How precious she in each respect, / Transparent too in every phase; / Christ with God’s fulness she contains, / Christ with God’s glory she displays. (Hymns #821 stanzas 6-7)
