Beware the Destroyers of God’s Building and Build the Wall to Protect the Church

If the wall is built up in the church, we will be protected from those who are used by the enemy to destroy God’s building work; there are the destroyers of the divine building, and the wall needs to be built up to protect the church against such ones.

We should not think that the enemy only attacks from outside, that is, from the direction of those who are not in the church.

Rather, according to the Bible and to church history, the enemy has attacked in a prevailing way from within the church by using the destroyers of God’s building to damage, divide, scatter, and destroy the building work of God.

We need to beware not only the enemy’s attack by such means as persecution, ridicule, mocking, and his wearing out tactics, but also his attack from within the church by means of some who cooperate with him.

The church life is not a utopia; the church life is to be a miniature of the New Jerusalem, but while we still live in the flesh, we are prone to unwittingly cooperate with the enemy in the church life.

As long as we live in the flesh, the enemy has a way in our being.

As long as we do not exercise our spirit but remain in our mind, the enemy has ground in our being.

If we don’t build up the wall by submitting to the headship of Christ and being transformed to be built up with the saints as the wall, the enemy can deceive us, lure us, attack us, and cause us to not only stumble but become a cause of stumbling.

We should not point fingers at others, saying that so-and-so caused others to stumble and so-and-so brought in division, but we’re alright.

Rather, we need to humble ourselves before the Lord, seek His mercy and grace, and remain in the healthy teaching of God’s eternal economy as revealed in the New Testament.

We need to really be before the Lord concerning our being and our living and our work; we do not want to damage the building of God by what we do, say, or work, and we don’t want to be one of the destroyers of God’s building.

According to the New Testament, there are seven kinds of destroyers of God’s building.

First, there are those who blow the wind of divisive teachings by stressing things other than the central teaching concerning God’s economy (Eph. 4:14; 1 Tim. 1:4).

Second, there are those who preach and teach heresies (2 Pet. 2:1; 2 John 7-11).

Third, there are those who are factious, and sectarian (Titus 3:10).

Fourth, there are those who make divisions (Rom. 16:17).

Fifth, there are those who are ambitious for position (3 John 9).

Sixth, there are the wolves, those who do not spare the flock (Acts 20:29).

And seventh, there are those who speak perverted things to draw away the believers after them (v. 30). Oh Lord!

Many can be stirred up by the enemy to try their best to destroy the building of the church, and we need to stay away from such ones.

If the wall is built up in the church, we will be protected from the destroyers of God’s building, and we will be part of the protection for many saints from the damage from such ones.

Beware of the Destroyers of God’s Building, those who Preach and Teach Heresies

The first kind of destroyer of God’s build is those who preach and teach heresies.

As seen in 2 Pet. 2:1 and 2 John 7-11, there are some who not only believe heresies but teach and preach them in the church.

Those who teach heresies concerning the person of Christ are antichrists, denying both the person of the Lord as the Master and His redemption, by which the Lord purchased the believers (v. 7; John 2:18, 22-23; 4:2-3).

In 1 John in particular we see these destroyers of God’s building being exposed. John calls them antichrists, for they deny that the man Jesus is God, which is a great heresy.

The apostle warned the believers to watch for themselves, lest they are influenced by the heresies and lose the things of the truth.

We shouldn’t think that we’re immune to this; rather, we should stay away from the destroyers of God’s building, from those who preach and teach heresies.

We must reject those who deny the conception and deity of Christ, not receiving them into our house or greeting them (2 John 8-11).

If we read these verses in 2 John we can see that the apostle seems to be very intolerant when it comes to such people.

On one hand, we warmly receive all the believers, and we want to fellowship with those who believe into the Lord Jesus, for He has made us one.

But when it comes to the matters of the faith, when it comes to the purity of the faith, we cannot compromise.

We cannot receive those who preach and teach heresies.

We may be quite close to such ones, that is, we may be friends with them or we may have been in the church life with them for a long time, but as long as they preach and teach heresies, we need to separate ourselves from them.

God is exclusive in this matter; if anything or anyone touches the matter of His person, His being, and His work, if anyone denies Him, He simply wants us to stay away from such ones.

The apostle John is very exclusive and intolerant when it comes to those who teach and preach heresies.

We need to preserve and fight for the integrity of our faith, not allowing any heresy to come in.

As far as Christ, as far as His redemptive work, and as far as the truth of the gospel goes, we need to stand with the truth and reject all those who preach and teach heresies.

Beware of those who are Factious, Sectarian, and Cause Divisions

The destroyers of the divine building are those who are factious, sectarian (Titus 3:10).

A factious man is a heretical, sectarian man who causes divisions by forming parties in the church according to his own opinions.

In order to maintain good order in the church, a factious, divisive person should be refused, rejected, after a first and second admonition.

We must say amen to such a word of righteousness. There may be some among us with whom we have fellowship and whom we know for a long time, and suddenly what is within them is manifested.

They may be sectarian people, those who cause others to be drawn to him based on his own opinion, thus making a sect, a party, in the church. They make divisions.

Such divisiveness is contagious; therefore, we need to reject those who are factious, sectarian, for the profit of the church!

The contact with the divisive one must be stopped, otherwise division will spread.

We see this in principle in Num. 6:6-7, where leprosy must be erased, eradicated, and removed from the house, otherwise, it will spread and affect the whole house.

Paul wrote many verses charging the believers to receive one another in the most open way. His heart was open and broad, even as open and broad as the heart of God.

We need to receive every one whom God has received; however, the destroyers of God’s building must be rejected.

Those whom God has received, those whom Christ has received, we must also receive.

But those who make divisions, those who are sectarian, and those who seek to make a party in the church for their own opinion or ambition, we should stay away from such ones.

We should not receive but rather reject, refuse, and quarantine such ones. This is a very serious matter, because divisiveness is contagious, like a virus.

This rejection is for the church’s profit, so that contact with a divisive one may be stopped. The best thing is to stay away from such ones.

We should not fraternalize or try to be the nice guy, to pacify everyone and be “inclusive”; when God is exclusive, we need to build and be part of a great and high way to protect the church from the destroyers of God’s building.

Lord Jesus, we love You and we love all those whom You receive and love. Enlarge our heart and cause us to have an enlarged and broad heart to receive all believers in Christ. Lord, we want to receive all those whom You receive. Amen, Lord, keep us in the healthy teaching of God’s eternal economy as revealed in the New Testament. Save us from being heretical or sectarian. Save us from trying to receive or understand those who are heretical or sectarian. Keep us pure and single for You, and keep us away from those who preach and teach heresies. We want to stay away and even reject those who make divisions in the church. Amen, Lord, we say Amen to Your pure word. We want to be as inclusive as You are and as exclusive as You are when it comes to Your being, Your person, and Your church. We want to preserve the oneness of the Body and remain in the one accord with all the saints. We want to build up the wall for the protection of the church against all the destroyers of God’s building!

We need to Beware of those who make Divisions, for they are Destroyers of the Divine Building

The destroyers of the divine building are those who make divisions (Rom. 16:17).

In Romans chapter 14 Paul was liberal and gracious regarding the receiving of those who differ in doctrine and practice. He taught the saints to receive those who differ from them either in their practice of the church life or in doctrine.

As long as they hold to the faith and keep the oneness of the Body, we should receive them.

However, in Rom. 16:17 Paul was unyielding and resolute in saying that we must mark those who make divisions and causes of stumbling contrary to the teaching which we have learned, and we must turn away from them. Wow.

The same liberal and inclusive Paul who said we should receive all those whom the Lord has received, now he says we should mark those who make divisions and stay away from them.

The Lord hates those who inject discord among the brothers (Prov. 6:16, 19).

He hates division. He is one; though God is both the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the three are distinct but not separate – They are one.

The Father is one with the Son and with the Spirit, and the Three in the Godhead have one prevailing principle: oneness.

Actually, real oneness is the enlarged oneness of the Triune God.

He has only one church, one Body, and whoever goes against this and tries to make division fights against the very being of God.

Such ones who make divisions – even for the right reasons, must be marked and we need to stay away from them.

There may be some who have the right reasons – they are RIGHT, they are GOOD, and they are completely CORRECT; they may be fully right and the rest of the saints may be confused or not right, but as long as they make a division, we should stay away from them.

The history of the church has been plagued by division after division.

When the enemy could not destroy the church from without, he used the destroyers of God’s building to operate from within the church and cause division.

May we remain in the line of life, being pure and single for the Lord, and being in the healthy teaching of the apostles so that we may be kept in the unique oneness of the Body of Christ, which is the oneness of the Triune God.

Even though division may be so common among Christians today, and even though there are many denominations, sects, free groups, “churches”, and “mega-churches”, there truly is just one Body of Christ, and all those who see the Body will stay away from any division and divisive ones.

There are millions of genuine Christians in all the groups and divisions in Christianity, but so many of them are led by those who cause division.

May the Lord have mercy on so many in divisions today and enlighten them concerning the unique teaching of the apostles and the wonderful yet unique oneness of the Body of Christ so that many of them would return to the genuine ground of oneness and build a great and high way for the protection of the church and the interests of God.

And may we receive mercy from the Lord to not cause division and to stay away from those who cause division.

We should not think that we’re OK, we can deal with this, and we are strong in the faith, so we can fellowship with those who make divisions.

Rather, we should remain in the pure teaching of the apostles and keep the oneness of the Body of Christ together with the saints in one accord. and we should stay away from those who make divisions.

Lord Jesus, we treasure You as the Head and we treasure the oneness of the Body of Christ. We want to keep the oneness of the Body and stay away from all those who make divisions. Oh Lord, keep us in our spirit. Keep us in Your word. Keep us in the one accord. Save us from making division. Save us from accepting those who make division. Oh Lord, we want to remain in the enlarged oneness of the Triune God in the church life today. May the church as the Body of Christ be built up in oneness! May the church life in our locality be preserved in the oneness of the Body of Christ! Oh Lord, we pray for ourselves and for many brothers and sisters all around the world: cause many to see the oneness of the Body and come to the genuine ground of oneness to be the one Body of Christ expressed in the many local churches!

Beware of Ambition for Position: The destroyers of the Divine Building are Ambitious for Position

The destroyers of the divine building are those who are ambitious for position (3 John 9).

We need to realize that we all have ambition in us. Actually, from a little child, we are told and taught to be ambitious to do this or do that.

Every human being has ambition. But when it comes to the church life and serving in the church, we need to learn to not have ambition for position.

Those who have ambition for position are destroyers of God’s building.

Ambition in the Lord’s word nullifies our function and disqualifies us from serving Him; once we have ambition, we’re finished.

It is such a terrible thing to see an elder or a responsible brother be ambitious for position.

In order for the brothers to fulfil the obligations of a co-worker or an elder, they need to have a pure heart, a heart purified from any form of subtle ambition in intention, purpose, motive, and action.

Some brothers may be useful in the church, and outwardly they may behave in a humble way, but in their heart, they are lifted up.

This is natural but needs to be condemned before the Lord, for it is a subtle ambition.

Subtle ambition is like a little fox preventing us from making progress.

The Lord will not entrust anything to someone who desires to have a position in the church life, someone who is ambitious for position.

Only those who are humble and without any ambition can be used by the Lord, can receive gifts from the Lord, and can be entrusted with the Lord’s ministry.

May we receive the Lord’s mercy and allow Him to shine on us to expose the ambition for position in our being.

May He be merciful to us to cause us to be humble, one with Him, to simply serve Him in the church with purity of heart.

There is the need for some to bear responsibility in the church, but we should not have ambition for position as we are given responsibilities.

And if others are assigned to bear certain responsibilities and we are not, we should not be jealous of them, nor should we have the ambition to take their place, for we think we can do a better job than them. Oh, Lord.

There may be the subtle ambition in us and there may be the insidious work of hidden ambition, which works in us to cause us to compete with others.

May the Lord continue to shine on us and expose any ambition, either hidden or manifested, and may we say Amen to HIs light shining, purging, and removing the ambition in our being.

Lord Jesus, save us from ambition for position in the church life. Save us from being a destroyer of the building of God by having hidden ambition for being someone in the church life. We open to You, Lord. We open to Your shining. Expose the hidden ambition in our being. Expose, cleanse, and purge ambition from our being. Cause us to see the insidious work of hidden ambition in us, which causes us to compete with others in the church life. May we never desire to be first. May we simply remain in the church life serving the Lord with purity of heart. Amen, Lord, purify our intention and purpose. May our motive in serving the Lord be purified. May all our actions in all our service be pure, coming out of a pure heart in serving the Lord!

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 Minoru Chen in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “How to Be a Co-worker and an Elder and How to Fulfill Their Obligations,” pp. 269-270, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther (2022 winter training), week 8, entitled, Building the Wall of the City for the Protection of the Church as the House of God.
• Further reading on this topic:
  – God’s building being to obtain a house – a portion from, The Building Work of God, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
  – The word of righteousness – building with gold, silver, and precious stones, article by John Campbell in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – We surely need to build up the wall to protect the church in these days from the destroyers of God’s building. Read more via, A Faithful Word.
  – God’s Faithfulness and Our Perseverance in Prayer, article via, Living to Him.
  – Genesis 2, 1 Corinthians 3 and Revelation 21-22—Enjoying God to Build with Precious Materials, article via, Holding to Truth.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Up from Babylon, where the sects abound, / From division we must all rise up! / Brothers, Babylon’s not the proper ground; / From division we must all rise up! / Rise up! Rise up! / From division we must all rise up! (Hymns #1252 stanza 2)
  – Pray to labor with the Lord; / Self-ambition and self-will / We must ever cast away, / All His purpose to fulfill. / Pray to labor with the Lord; / Let the Lord initiate / All the plan and all the work; / Then thru us He’ll operate. (Hymns #786 stanzas 3-4)
  – We are one in the spirit, yet it goes deeper still, / For this oneness is spreading to our mind, emotion, will, / As we all stand together that His purpose He fulfill. / We are one in the spirit, we are one actually, / Not in talk nor in theory, but in fact, practically, / In the churches we’re all enjoying this reality. (Hymns #1243 stanzas 2-3)