We are Saved, Enlivened, and have Access to God for the Building up of the Church

Our being saved by grace, being raised up together with Christ and seated together with Him in the heavenlies and having access to the Father are for the building up of the church, His Body, through growing into a holy temple in the Lord. Amen!

This week we come to the third week in the crystallization study of 1 and 2 Kings on the matter of the temple and its building up; the title is, Growing into a Holy Temple in the Lord.

The temple that Solomon built was the temple of God, the enlarged testimony and dwelling place of God, the place where He chose to dwell.

In the wilderness and up to Solomon’s time God dwelt in a tabernacle, a tent, that was portable, and mobile, but hardly something substantial and solid.

When David was building a palace for himself, he thought it is not right for him to dwell in such a palace but God has no house, he dwelt in a palace but God dwelt in a tent.

So he wanted to build a house for God. David is a type of Christ, the incarnated and suffering Christ, a man of sorrows, who has a heart’s desire to build up the church as the temple of God.

God, however, told David not to build the temple, for his seed – Solomon, his son – will build it; Solomon is also a type of Christ, the One who really builds up the church as the temple of God.

The church is the dwelling place of God, a place for God to rest, the house of God, His residence and habitation.

Also, the church is the organic Body of Christ. As the house of God, the church is the temple of God.

When Christ came, He came to tabernacle among men, full of grace and reality (John 1:14).

But in John 2 He spoke of the temple which He will build in three days after His death; this refers not just to the temple of His body but to His mystical Body, the Body of Christ, the enlarged Christ, the corporate Christ.

In this enlarged Christ we see not only Christ as God but also Christ as man, for here divinity and humanity are mingled together.

The materials used for the building of the temple are a type of Christ as the unique material – He is the reality of the different kinds of wood, the stones, the gold, and everything that is in the temple.

We need to enjoy and experience the crucified and resurrected Christ, the Christ who is the Spirit, for us to become suitable materials in God’s building.

The Spirit of God is the transformed and transfigured Christ in resurrection; this One dwells in us, and we are His temple.

We cannot bring anything of the natural man into the church life, for here Christ is all and in all, and He is the unique material and the One who builds up the church.

If we bring anything of the natural man into the building of God, we mar it, damage it, defile it, blemish it, and corrupt it; this brings in God’s judgment.

We cannot bring into the church life anything of Judaism or human philosophies, and we should not bring in anything of the worldly ways or means – all these have no place in the church.

We’re Saved by Grace, Raised up with Christ, and Seated with Him in the Heavenlies for the Building up of the Church, His Body!

Ephesians 2 reveals a marvellous matter related to our experience and enjoyment of Christ for the building up of the church as the house of God, the holy temple of the Lord.

We were saved by grace, raised up together with Christ, and seated together with Him in the heavenlies for the building up of the church, His Body, through growing into a holy temple in the Lord.

God enlivened us together when He enlivened the crucified Jesus; therefore, He made us alive together with Christ (v. 5).

By grace we believers in Christ have been saved out of our wretched position of death into the marvellous realm of life.

Eph. 2 gives us a clear view of how the church as the Body of Christ comes into being and how it is built (in principle).

The church is the holy temple of the Lord and the dwelling place of God. We were sinners and enemies of God, and we were dead in sins and offenses.

As sinners, we need God’s forgiveness and justification (see Romans).

As dead persons, we need to be made alive; this is what God did in Christ’s resurrection – He made us alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:5).

We were forgiven and justified to be brought back to God’s presence to enjoy His grace and participate in His life.

Now, having been forgiven and justified, God made us alive with Christ and enabled us, as the living members of the Body of Christ, to express Him.

God doesn’t want to just justify us and redeem us, reconcile us to Himself and forgive our sins, and give us peace; He wants us to be enlivened with Christ, raised with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenlies for the building up of the church.

He saved us by grace not only so that we may be saved from eternal perdition but so that we may build up the church, His Body.

We were saved not to go to heaven but for God’s building. Going to heaven may satisfy our natural desire, but it doesn’t satisfy God.

God desires to gain an eternal building, a mutual abode of God and man in this universe.

He saved us by grace, He raised us up together with Christ, and seated us with Christ in the heavenlies for the building up of the church, His Body.

We were saved for God’s building. We were raised with Christ for God’s building.

The building of God is everything to God. When Christ was crucified, we were crucified with Him; when He was raised, we were raised up with Him.

He saved us by grace, freely dispensing Himself into us for our enjoyment, for the building up of the church, the Body of Christ.

There’s nothing else in God’s mind except the church, the building of God and man, and the habitation of God; it is for the building of God that He does all things.

We were enlivened not on the day we were physically born or on the day we received the Lord but when Christ was enlivened in His resurrection; we were made alive with Christ for the building up of the church.

We have been saved out of our wretched position of death into the marvellous realm of life for the building up of the church, the Body of Christ.

On the one hand, we were reconciled to God; this is positional. On the other hand, we were regenerated to be the sons of God; this is experiential.

We are Christians not merely by understanding the doctrine of salvation and agreeing with the teaching of Jesus; genuine Christians are those reborn with God’s life for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

Thank You, dear Lord, for saving us out of our wretched position of death and bringing us into the marvellous realm of life. Hallelujah, though we were dead in sins and offenses, God made us alive together with Christ and saved us by grace for the building up of the church, the Body of Christ. We are children of God, sons of God, born of God with His life and nature, and we are members of the Body of Christ to be His enlargement and expression on earth. Thank You, Lord, for not only forgiving us of our sins and justifying us before God but also for dispensing Your life into us to make us members of the Body of Christ. We love You, Lord! We give ourselves to You to grow in life for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ!

Through the Son and in the Spirit we have access unto the Father to Enjoy the Triune God and be Built up in the Church

Eph. 2:18 is an amazing verse; it is a deep verse that applies to our Christian experience in a wonderful way.

Through Christ, we both have access in one Spirit unto the Father.

Through God the Son, who is the Accomplisher, the means, and in God the Spirit, who is the Executor, the application, we have access unto God the Father, who is the Originator, the unique source.

We have marvellous access to the Triune God today; as saved ones, we have access to God to enjoy Him for the building up of the church.

To be reconciled to God is to be saved; to have access unto the Father is to enjoy God.

When we contact God, we come to Him through Christ in the Spirit unto the Father; this is the Triune God in our experience and for our enjoyment.

This marvellous Triune God is both our goal, our target, and our enjoyment; He is also our access to the Triune God, and our destination is God.

The Father came to us through the Son in the Spirit; now the Spirit brings us back to the Father through the Son.

There’s a wonderful two-way traffic from God to us and from us to God, and in this traffic, we enjoy the dispensing of the Triune God (2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 3:16-17).

One day the Father came to us in and through the Son, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

This One passed through several processes to die on the cross and was resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit.

This Spirit was breathed into us on the night of His resurrection; this is how the Triune God came to us as the Father in the Son through the Spirit. This is one way.

Then there’s another way. Now, this indwelling Spirit brings us back to the Father through the Son.

By this two-way traffic – the coming of God and the outgoing of God – we enjoy the dispensing of the Triune God.

When we spend time with the Lord in prayer, even five or ten minutes, we enjoy this traffic going on, for there’s an unseen two-way traffic going on from God to man and the whole Triune God is infusing Himself into us.

The Triune God is engaged and involved with us, coming to us, and we are going to Him; in this way, God is dispensing Himself into us and we enjoy Him.

Through the Son is through the Triune God; in the Spirit is in the Triune God; unto the Father is unto the Triune God.

This is how we experience the Triune God and this is how we can be built up (Eph. 2:18, 21-22).

The more we spend our time in this two-way traffic, in the fellowship of God and man, in the flow between God and man in spirit, the more we are building up the church as the Body of Christ.

We should not be happy with only knowing the fact that we are in the Body; we need to advance and live in the Spirit, for the reality of the Body is in Spirit.

To be in the Body is a fact, but to be in the spirit is an experience; though we may be in the Body, we may not be in the Spirit but rather, in our wandering thoughts.

The way for us to experience the two-way traffic between us and God, the Triune God flowing into us and flowing us into Himself, is by being in Spirit and living in Spirit.

We need to advance from merely knowing and appreciating the fact that we were justified by God, reconciled to God, and forgiven by Him for all our offenses; we need to experience the two-way traffic between God and man in spirit for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

The more time we spend in fellowship with the Lord, the more the building work is going on.

The dispensing of God is actually His building Himself into us. And our traffic back to the Father through this triune access is our being built into Him.

This is why we need to spend time with the Lord in a personal way; this is the way to be built up into the church as the Body of Christ.

The Father came to us in the Son through the Spirit to bring His life into us and make us one with Him organically.

Now in Christ, we have access to the Father through the Spirit; through the exercise of our spirit, we have access to God the Father to enjoy Him and partake of Him.

May we be those who spend time with the Lord and live in spirit, exercising our spirit and living in Spirit to experience the Triune God and the two-way traffic between God and man for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming with the Father through the Spirit to reach us, save us, regenerate us, and make us sons of God. Thank You for bringing us into an organic union with God in spirit. Hallelujah, we now have access in Christ through the Spirit unto the Father! Praise the Lord for this two-way traffic between God and man where we have access to God to enjoy all the riches of the Triune God! Keep us under the dispensing of the Triune God in our mingled spirit. May we daily come to the Father in Christ the Son through the Spirit to enjoy the riches of the Triune God and be built up as the church, the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, we want to spend time with You and live in the spirit to enjoy the dispensing of the Triune God for the building up of the church!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Minoru Chen in the message, and portions from, Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 3, 21, 27, 87-88, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Kings (2022 summer training), week 8, entitled, Growing into a Holy Temple in the Lord.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Buried with Christ, and raised with Him too; / What is there left for me to do? / Simply to cease from struggling and strife, / Simply to walk in newness of life. / Glory be to God! / Risen with Christ, my glorious Head, / Holiness now the pathway I tread, / Beautiful thought, while walking therein: / He that is dead is freed from sin. / Glory be to God! (Hymns #483, stanzas 1 and 2)
  – Growing up together in the Lord, / Saved by grace in life in one accord; / Growing up into a holy temple in the Lord, we gather, / Growing up together in the Lord. / Being raised together through His life, / Seated in the heavenlies with Jesus Christ; / Access to the Father God above, / Building up the church, His Body, / In His love. (Song on, Growing Up Together in the Lord, chorus and stanza 1)
  – What Thy heart desires and loves / Are not precious stones alone, / But together these to build / For Thy glory, for Thy home. / Thou, the all-inclusive Christ, / Dost a builded Church require, / That Thy glorious riches may / Radiate their light entire. (Hymns #839, stanza 3)