God’s Glory will Return to the Church as the Built-up and Completed House of God

Hallelujah, God’s glory will return to the church as the built-up and completed house of God!

When the church as the house of God is built up and completed, the glory of God will return; God wants to return with His glory in His house, but He is waiting for the building up of the church as the house of God.

May we be those who have been shown mercy by the Lord to see what is in His heart and realize that the church is His house, and this is what He wants to gain today.

The heavens are the Lord’s throne and the earth is the footstool for His feet, but where is the house where He will dwell? Where is His habitation?

From the beginning to the end of the Bible, the Lord has been seeking this one thing: a dwelling place with and among man.

In the Old Testament, He gained a group of people, the people of Israel, who were built up together and became His dwelling place.

The temple was a type of God’s dwelling place.

But the Lord wants not only a special nation, a particular group of people, who would be His dwelling place; He wants to gain many people in every tribe, tongue, and nation, who would be part of His enlarged dwelling place.

There are millions of Christians on earth who are Christian not only in name but also in essence, for they have been born of God.

However, among the millions of Christians today, where is the house that God is gaining for Himself? Where is His dwelling place?

Once the Lord gains His dwelling place, the church as the built-up and completed house of God, His glory will return upon His house.

May we see the need for the recovery of the building of God’s house, and may we be stirred up in our spirit by the Lord to come and do the work in the house of God.

May we never say, We will build another day – today we’re busy; may we come today to build!

The Lord Jesus as the Desire of all the nations wants to return, but for this, He needs a group of people who not only have returned from captivity in Babylon but also are built up as the house of God, even the completed house of God, so that He may return with His glory.

He is the Desire of all the nations, and He wants to return; we also want Him to return, but the prerequisite for His return is that we are built up as the church, the Body of Christ.

The coming of Christ as the Desire of all the nations depends on our being built up as the house of God.

The enemy is not afraid of individual Christians; he is afraid of a built-up church.

He knows that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under the feet of the built-up church.

The enemy knows that it is the church as the house of God and the kingdom of God that will defeat the enemy, so he is fighting with all his might to hinder the building work. Oh, Lord!

May we give ourselves to the Lord for the building up of the church today so that He may gain a built-up and completed house of God for Him to return with His glory!

The Glory of God will Return to the Church as the built-up and Completed House of God

Hag. 2:7 says not only that Christ as the Desire of all the nations will come, but that the Lord will fill this house – the built-up church, the completed church – with glory. Hallelujah!

Without the completed house of God, without the built-up church as the house of God, the glory of God cannot return.

In his early ministry, Ezekiel had seen the glory of the Lord depart from the house of God and the people of God, and he testified concerning it.

First, the glory of the Lord left the temple and hesitated upon the threshold of the temple (Ezek. 9:3; 10:4), and from the threshold, it went out to the city.

From the city, the glory of the Lord went further out to the Mount of Olives on the east side of the city (11:23), and from there it ascended to the heavens.

But praise the Lord, when the building of the temple was completed (43:1-3), the Lord’s glory returned!

The Lord desires to return to the earth, and He wants to bring in His glory upon His house, but He is waiting for the building up of the church!

Before He can return, He needs a place for the soles of His feet, a place upon which He can set His feet; He needs the built-up church.

Without the built-up and completed house of God, the glory of God cannot come, for the glory of the Lord resides or comes only on the completed house.

Both in Exodus and in Kings we see that, once the tabernacle and the temple were built, the glory of God filled His house.

In the New Testament it is the same, once the church is built up and completed, the glory of God will fill the church.

And in the New Jerusalem, the ultimate and consummate building of God with man in the universe, we see that the glory of God is manifested in full.

The glory of God, the expression of God, is in the building of God, the house of Jehovah (Exo. 40:34-35; 1 Kings 8:10-11; 2 Chron. 3:1; 5:1-2, 13-14; Eph. 3:21; Rev. 21:10-11).

God is not after an individual that is super-spiritual so that He may put His glory upon Him; we are no longer in the age of spiritual giants.

The glory of God is related to His house, and His expression is only in His house.

If the church is not built up, there’s no glory to God.

To Him is the glory in the church and in the New Jerusalem.

When the tabernacle was built, the glory of God filled it to the extent that the priests could not stand there.

The glory was so bright and shining, having a splendid expression.

The same was with the temple, the first temple; the glory of God filled the house.

When the church as the Body of Christ is built up and completed, the glory of God will return and will fill the house of God.

In order for the God of glory to dwell in the church, the church must be built up to become the dwelling place of God (Eph. 2:21-22; 3:14-21).

In the Old Testament, in Ezekiel, the glory of God departed because the people of God did not care for the house of God but rather, they went to worship idols.

They were involved with fornication and all kinds of evil things.

So God gradually left that place; His glory left His people and His house step by step, bit by bit, until there was no glory of God on the earth.

We could say that it is the same in the church today, for the history of Israel is a type of the history of the church.

Where is the glory of God today among His people? Where is the built-up and completed house of God on earth?

The Lord needs a recovery of the building up of the house of God so that with us and among us the glory of God may return.

We need to pray and open to the Lord, opening to Him and allowing Him to cleanse, purge, and purify us, making us fully one with Him for the building up and completion of the church, the house of God.

God wants to have the church built-up on the earth because He desires to have a dwelling place on the earth.

The church is the dwelling place of God. May we have the grace to be built up in the church so that the God of glory may come and live among us.

May we be deeply impressed with the fact that the glory of God returns only after the building up of the church is completed, and may we give ourselves for the building up of the church.

For the glorious God to dwell in the church, the church must be built up to become the dwelling place of God.

Lord Jesus, complete Your building! Build up Your church in us, with us, and among us. We give ourselves to You, Lord, to be those who build up the church and are built into the house of God. Amen, Lord, may Your glory return to the built-up and completed church as the house of God! May the God of glory dwell in the church as the dwelling place of God! We desire to see Your glory expressed and manifested in us and among us today. We open to You. We give ourselves to You. Dwell in us, make Your home in us, and build us up with the saints on the ground of oneness so that You may have a habitation on earth. Grant us the grace to be built up in the church so that the God of glory may live among us! Amen, Lord, gain the built-up and completed church as the house of God for You to return with Your glory!

Living the Life of a God-man to Express God and doing Everything in the Church Life for God’s Glory

Ezek. 43:4 says that the glory of Jehovah came into the house through the gate which faced toward the east. God’s glory left His house toward the east, but it will also return from the east.

The temple has three gates, toward the south, the north, and the east.

The gates on the south and the north are for the people’s convenience, but the gate toward the east is for the glory of the Lord to return.

There are many gates into the church life, but the most important gate is the gate toward the east, the gate toward the glory of God.

We need to have a gate that is open to the glory of the Lord.

This means that everything in the church life should be for God’s glory.

We shouldn’t care only for our convenience but even more, care for the glory of God.

When we consider things such as how to have our meeting, where should we meet, what time should we meet, and many other things, the first consideration shouldn’t be our convenience or the best time for all the saints but the glory of God.

The decisions in the church life must be made primarily according to the Lord’s glory, for Him to gain the glory.

May we live the church life and do everything in the church life being open to the Lord’s glory so that His glory may come into the church!

Ezekiel saw that the river of water of life flowing forth out of the house of God was toward the east, the direction of God’s glory (Ezek. 47:1; 43:2).

If we care for the glory of God, we will have a clear flow of life, and we will be inwardly supplied and nourished.

But if we don’t care for the glory of God, the flow in us will be limited.

The flow of life and the glory of God are related; where there is God’s glory, there will be God’s flow.

The flow within us is always toward God’s glory.

Therefore, in the church life, the first consideration we should have is the Lord’s glory.

The decisions in the church life must be made primarily according to the glory of God and for His glory (Eph. 3:21; 4:20; 1 Pet. 4:10-11; Jude 24-25).

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He as the first God-man said that He did not seek His own glory but the glory of the Father.

His first consideration was not His glory or His convenience but the glory of God.

This One lives in us. He repeats the same life in us.

In the church life we need to live one with the Lord to the extent that, no matter what decisions we make and what actions we take, we would be primarily concerned with the Lord’s glory.

Our consideration should be, Does God gain all the glory? Is this something that causes the Lord to be expressed?

Is this something that will increase the manifestation of God in the flesh?

It’s not our glory, our benefit, or our convenience that are primary; it is the Lord’s glory and His benefit.

The glorification of God is the purpose of our service.

The highest service we can render to God is for us to glorify God by living the life of a God-man (Isa. 43:7; John 7:16-18; 17:1-4; Rom. 9:21, 23; Phil. 1:19-21a; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 10:31).

When we live one spirit with the Lord so that He lives in us, we express God and He is glorified through us.

When we corporately live one with the Lord and one with one another, the Lord is manifested in the church, and the glory of God dwells in us and among us.

The Lord Jesus prayed for this in John 17:22-24, that we would express God in a corporate, built-up way and enter into the oneness in the divine glory.

All our life of service and the purpose of our service should be the glorification of God.

How can we glorify God? It is by living the life of a God-man; by living one spirit with the Lord so that He may live in us.

This means that we live a life that expresses God not only personally but also corporately, for we’re being blended and built together in a way that we enter into the oneness of the Triune God, the oneness in the divine glory.

Here there’s no self-image nor is there the name of any one person.

There is only God’s glory, and in that glory, we are one.

Amen, may the Lord gain such a situation and condition among us today in the church life so that He may return soon and bring in His glory in the church!

Lord Jesus, may our living in the church life with all its decisions and actions be for the glory of God. Save us from trying to do things merely according to our convenience or for others to be happy; we want to do all things for the Lord to gain all the glory! Amen, Lord, we open the gate to the glory of the Lord! We care primarily for God to gain the glory. Our service to You, dear Lord and Master, is for You to gain the glory. We want to glorify God by living the life of a God-man. Keep us one spirit with You today so that You may live in us and we may express You in a corporate way. Amen, Lord, gain a corporate, built-up church that expresses You in the oneness in the divine glory, even as You desire! Hallelujah, in His glory we are one!

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 brother Minoru Chen in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 275-277 (by Witness Lee), 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 4, entitled, The Recovery of the Building of the House of God through the Divine Encouragement of the Prophets of God.
• Further reading on this topic:
  – Glory – a marvellous attribute of God, excerpt from, Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 001-020), Chapter 11, by Witness Lee.
  – Life-study of the Bible radio broadcast on the book of Ezekiel, listen to them via LSM radio.
  – Seeking God’s glory for God’s satisfaction, a portion from, The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John, Chapter 21, by Witness Lee.
  – The Glory of God Becoming Our Experience – article via, Living to Him.
  – God’s need and God’s goal – book review via, Conversant Faith.
  – The word of righteousness – the kingdom of the heavens, article by John Campbell via, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Hymns about New Jerusalem – glory! Read more at, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The return of the glory of God to the house of God, a song via youtube.
  – The New Jerusalem will express God fully for eternity. This expression will be God’s glory. Revelation 21:11 says that the New Jerusalem has the glory of God. The glory of God is the expression of God, God expressed. For eternity we shall bear the glory of God for His expression in the New Jerusalem. Read more via, The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John, Chapter 38, by Witness Lee.
  – The Lord’s recovery – to build up Zion, pdf via, Church in Regina.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – I’ll fill this house with glory, the Lord of hosts has said, / And the desire of nations will be exhibited. / Its glory will be greater than all that’s gone before, / And we will share this glory forevermore. / Be strong, be strong, God’s dwelling place to build! / The Lord of hosts is with us, with His glory ’twill be filled! / Be strong, be strong, and work in one accord, / That all the nations may behold the temple of the Lord. (Hymns #1254, stanza 4 and chorus)
  – Hasten, Lord, Thy work upon us / To restore and build us now. / For this work we give ourselves, Lord; / Here to Thee we make a vow: / “Though our strength is weak and feeble, / Yet our hearts would ever be / From this day, Lord, for Thy building, / Now and for eternity. (Hymns #1253 stanza 4)
  – We have come, we have come to the house of God; / We have come to the house, whence outflows the flood. / On the right, day and night, constant is its flow, / Watering us and causing fruits of life to grow. / From the house, from the house flows this living stream, / From the house, to the earth, with the life supreme. / Yet more deep, Lord, we seek that the flow may be; / Thus we must be measured and possessed by Thee. (Hymns #1115 stanzas 1-2)