In working to build up the church we need to take heed what materials we use; if we use wood, grass, stubble (works coming out of our natural man, our flesh, or our self) we will mar the temple of God and not build it, and this is not pleasing to God (we may even bring in God’s judgment).
But if we daily experience the Triune God and allow Him to work Himself into our being in His divine nature (gold), enjoy His redemptive work and daily apply His blood (silver), and allow the Spirit to transform us to be precious stones for God’s building, we will build the church as the temple of God with gold, silver, and precious stones.
In God’s eyes it is far better to build with a little gold, silver, and precious stones than to try to bring in a lot of wood, grass, and stubble. It is better for us to pay the price and gain the precious Christ, allow the Spirit to work in us to transform us, and be overlaid with more of God to be mingled with God, so that we may be constituted with the Triune God, than for us to do a lot of outward “good works” for God which amount to nothing.
We need to be mingled with the Triune God more and more every day for the church as the temple of God. In the temple in the Old Testament most of the furnishings were of wood overlaid with gold; what we should see today in the church life is men overlaid with God, that is, saints having the strong humanity of Jesus (typified by the acacia wood) overlaid with God’s divinity (typified by gold) so that what is expressed is God’s divine nature in human beings.
The way for us to keep the oneness in the church life is not merely to agree or do our best to be one with others but to sink deeply into the Triune God until we are fully overlaid with gold, that is, to experience God day by day and have Him wrought into us so that we may be organically and intrinsically one.
Today we want to see another material used in the tabernacle and in the temple: the bronze, its significance, and its application to our Christian life.
The Judging and Renewing Spirit Washes away all our Negative things for God’s Building
In the temple the altar, the molten sea, and the lavers were all made of bronze; in the Bible, bronze signifies God’s judgement (see Exo. 27:1-8; Num. 21:8-9; John 3:14). The bronze used to overlay the bronze altar came from the censers of the 250 rebellious ones who were judged by God (see Num. 16:37-39), and so this altar was a reminder of God’s judgement on rebellion.
Also, the bronze in Exo. 27:2 signifies God’s righteous judgement on Christ as our substitute. Christ died in our place on the cross to be our Substitute, and He was judged by God, burned by the fire of His judgement, in our place (see Isa. 53:5; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 3:18).
The more we take care of Christ who is the life-giving Spirit, the more we are one with the One who took the way of judgement and death so that life may be displayed and resurrection may be exhibited.
Christ died on the cross as the bronze serpent: the Son of Man came in the likeness of sin and concerning sin, and He condemned sin in the flesh; now when we look away from anything to Him, we are filled with Him as life and are spared from God’s judgement.
The bronze molten sea was for the priests to wash in, and it had twelve oxen upholding it (see 1 Kings 7:23-26; 2 Chron. 4:15; Exo. 38:8); the ten bronze lavers were for the priests not to wash in but for the washing of the sacrifices (2 Chron. 4:6).
This bronze was a particular bronze, coming from the mirrors of the women serving with the tabernacle (Exo. 38:8), showing that it doesn’t denote judgement but the Holy Spirit’s enlightening us – based on God’s judgement on Christ.
The bronze sea with the ten bronze lavers (see 1 Kings 7:23-40) signifies the convicting, judging, and renewing Spirit of God who, based on the death of Christ on the cross, washes away all the negative things from those participating in the dwelling of God on earth (see John 16:8; Titus 3:5; Heb. 10:22).
We need to be washed not only from sinful things by the blood of the Lamb but also from old things, natural things, and earthly things; we need not only the redeeming blood but also the washing of the water in the Word so that we may become a new creation.
Many times when we come to the Lord and open to Him, the Holy Spirit as light shines on us, causing us to sense that we were wrong or defiled in certain matters, or that we have sinned against God, or that we are unable to bring some things before the Lord to open to Him.
Based on the Lord’s death on the cross, the Holy Spirit shines on us, exposes us, and convicts us, showing us that we still practice certain things that Christ already put to death on the cross, we still live in a certain way that was already crucified with Christ on the cross, and we still are in an improper situation.
When we receive such an enlightening and reproving, we seek for cleansing, and the Holy Spirit does the work of washing and renewing in us, completely purging us and cleansing us from any filthy and improper things.
This is our experience of the washing at the laver, where the Spirit exposes us, convicts us, washes us, and cleanses us so that we may participate in and build up God’s dwelling on earth, the temple of God.
Lord Jesus, we are here to build up the church as the temple of God. We consecrate ourselves to You and we open to You without any reservation. Lord, shine on us as the Spirit and expose any impurity, defilement, and filthiness that would hinder us from building up the church. We want to have the enlightening and reproving of the Spirit so that any filthy and improper things would be washed away by the washing of the water in the word. Lord, wash us, cleanse us, and add Yourself to us to make us a new creation, those serving You in newness of spirit!
A Pillar is a Sign, a Testimony, of God’s Building through Transformation in Practicing the Body Life
A major item in the temple that was not in the tabernacle is the two pillars, which were built of bronze, signifying God’s judgement (see 1 Kings 7:14-15; Rev. 3:12; 21:22).
In Genesis we see a pillar of stone, upon which Jacob poured oil, calling it Bethel, the house of God; in 1 Kings 7 the pillars are of bronze. Stone indicates transformation, and bronze indicates God’s judgement.
In order for us to be pillars in the house of God, we need to realize that we are those under God’s judgement, and we need to have the realization that we have been crucified with Christ, and we’re qualified only for death – now Christ lives in us.
In the Scriptures the pillar is a sign, a testimony, of God’s building through transformation in practicing the Body life (see Gen. 28:22a; 1 Kings 7:15-22; Gal. 2:9; 1 Tim. 3:15; Rev. 3:12; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:11-12). God’s house has pillars, and we need to be those who are transformed through practicing the Body life to be a testimony of God.
The church is the pillar and base of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15); if we are filled with Christ and constituted with Him, we become His corporate enlargement as the man of bronze, the man who was fully under God’s judgement, and the man who testified and displayed God in all His living (1 Tim. 3:15).
The Lord promises the overcomers that He will make them pillars in the temple of God, they shall by no means go out, and He will write upon them the name of His Father, the name of the city of God, and His new name (Rev. 3:12).
God’s desire is that we would be written and inscribed with God a little more today to become His testimony. We may have a little power, but we want to care for Christ and His testimony, the church, and overcome by being filled with Christ and experiencing Christ daily.
God’s perfect and good will is that we would be filled with nothing but Christ for God’s enlargement, so we should not be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of the mind so that we may prove and become the proof of what God’s perfect will is (Rom. 12:2).
All our function is for the building up of the Lord’s house; we want to be pillars cooperating with the Lord and with each other for the building up of the Lord’s temple (Eph. 4:11-12).
On the one hand, we need to realize that we’re bronze pillars, that is, we’re crucified with Christ and Christ should live in us, and on the other hand, we should seek to be filled with Christ, constituted with Christ, and mingled with Christ so that we would become His enlargement as His testimony on earth, the pillars in the house of God.
Lord, Amen, we have been crucified with Christ – we are not good for anything in God’s economy, but we have been replaced by Christ and we are being reconstituted by Christ to be made pillars in the house of God! Lord, transform us in practicing the Body life so that we may become Your testimony. Write Yourself on us, inscribe us with Your name and the name of Your Father and the name of the New Jerusalem, and make us Your corporate testimony. Lord, we don’t want to be conformed to this age but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind so that we may prove and become the proof of the will of God: the church as the enlargement of Christ!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, bro. Dick Taylor’s sharing in the message for this week, and The Vision of the Building of the Church, pp. 51-52 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Church as the Temple of God – The Goal of God’s Eternal Economy (2015 Thanksgiving Conference), week 3 / msg. 3, The Intrinsic Significance of the Materials of the Temple (2).
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic:
# God’s economy and His eternal plan, / His heart’s desire and intention is to be one with man. / Yet man has failed completely throughout all history. / But hallelujah! Praise the Lord! God’s life is now in me. / Now this life in me is flowing as the river of water of life, / Washing away all my sins, my cares, and all my strife. / This life is overcoming situations in my day. / Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! For this is what I pray. (Song on being washed by the Spirit)
# Lord, we’re wholly for Your heart’s desire— / Make Your church sanctified. / Through the washing in the pure word’s water / May You gain Your glorious Bride. [Eph. 5:25-26] (Scripture song)
# Hallelujah, overcomers, / “In the temple of My God, / I will build them in as pillars, / Nevermore to go abroad.” / God’s own name is written on them / And the new name of the Lord. / With the triune God they’re blended; / They’re the city of our God. (Hymns #1275)
About aGodMan
After we are redeemed by the Lord and consecrate ourselves to Him, the Holy Spirit as light continually shines on us, causing us to sense that we were wrong or defiled in certain matters or that we have sinned against God or are unable to present ourselves before God in other matters. This kind of reproving by the Holy Spirit is based upon what the Lord accomplished on the cross. The Holy Spirit may show us a certain matter and say to us, “Since such a matter, action, and living has already been judged by the Lord on the cross, why is it that it is still in you today?” After we receive this kind of enlightening and reproving and seek for cleansing, then the Holy Spirit does the work of washing and renewing in us, completely purging us of all the filthy and improper situations. This is our experience of the washing at the laver. (Witness Lee, The Vision of the Building of the Church, pp. 51-52)
Amen. We should not only be under God’s judgement but also under our own judgment. Like Paul in Galatians 2:20, we must say, ” I have been crucified. I have been crucified because I am not good for anything in God’s economy. I am only qualified for death.”