Stirred in Spirit for the Building up of the Church for the Desire of the Nations to Come

We need to be stirred in spirit for the building up of the church as the house of God so that Christ, the desire of all the nations, may come!

May the Lord stir us up in our spirit to respond to His call and come and work in the house of the Lord for the recovery of the building up of the house of God, and may we enjoy and experience Christ as the Desire of the nations day by day! Amen!

Haggai chapter 1 is such a wonderful chapter containing God’s speaking concerning what is in His heart: the rebuilding of the house of God.

In His mercy and by His grace, we have returned to the genuine ground of oneness, we are not in division, and we are with the saints in the church life to enjoy Christ and build up the church.

However, many times we may get weak, discouraged, and disheartened, for there are many attacks from the enemy, many discouraging things that are happening in our environment, and many things we need to take care of besides God’s house.

Like the children of Israel who returned to Jerusalem, we may also take care of our own house.

We actually may be so busy taking care of our own house that we may not have much time to take care of God’s house.

So the Lord comes in to speak to us, call us, and even warn us concerning our busyness in the things related to us and not being busy in the things of His house.

If we take care of all these things that we need to take care of, things related to our own house, our family, our possessions, etc but we don’t take care of God’s house first, we have no real enjoyment or satisfaction.

We all can testify that, as we are so busy with the things related to our family, our business, and our affairs, but neglect the church, there’s no real enjoyment or satisfaction there.

There’s always something more to do. There are always more activities to be engaged in and things to cover.

May the Lord shine on us and may He stir us up in our spirit so that we may see the desire of God’s heart, His house, the church, and we may rise up and come up to build up the church.

May we be those who are absolute for the Lord and for His house.

In ourselves, we’re not absolute for the things of God, but we can take Christ as our burnt offering and be consumed by the zeal of the house of God even as He was.

Christ as the One who builds up the church lives in us, and we can cooperate with Him to care for the house of God, build up the church, and be involved in the things related to God’s building.

Amen, may we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, knowing and being assured that all these things will be added to us!

We do need to take care of human responsibilities, and our family needs us to do so many things and be involved in so many activities.

But our heart should be for God’s house, our seeking must be first for God’s kingdom, and our desire should be one with God’s desire, even in taking care of all these things.

Being Stirred up in our Spirit to be Occupied by the Lord Jesus for the Building up of the Church

Haggai’s word in chapter 1 was so penetrating and convincing, and the Lord stirred up the people of Israel’s spirit that they would return to the building up of God’s house (Hag. 1:14).

For the recovery of the building of God’s house, we as God’s elect need to be stirred up in our spirit to come and do the work in the house of God.

How can we take care of our own affairs and labour on our houses when God’s house lies waste?

May the Lord shine on us and infuse us with a desire to come and build the house of God.

It is not that we are more zealous or temporarily stirred in our emotion; we need to receive the Lord’s word and be shined on by Him concerning His house.

He is charging us to build the church as the house of God.

The Lord Jesus said, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18).

Today the Lord Jesus cares for the building up of the church above all things.

And He is looking for some who are open to Him and respond to His call.

May we respond to the Lord’s charge and be occupied by the Lord Jesus in the work of building up the church.

May we come to the Lord and open to Him so that He may stir us up in our spirit for the work of the building up of the church as the desire of God’s heart.

In the times of Haggai, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel and the spirit of Joshua, and the spirit of all the people, and they came and did the work in the house of Jehovah (Hag. 1:14-15).

The work is not initiated by us but by the Lord’s coming in.

We need to hear the Lord’s word and be stirred in our spirit by the Lord for the work of the building up of the church.

He has an ordained way to build up the church, and this way is clearly revealed in the word of God.

We can build up the church by preaching the gospel so that we may find material for the building up of the church.

We can build the church by feeding the new believers so that they grow in life unto maturity and function in the meetings of the church.

We can build the church by perfecting and shepherding the saints in their function, helping them to function in their measure in the church for the building up of the Body of Christ.

We need to seek the Lord’s kingdom first and be stirred up in our spirit by the Lord to do the work of building up the church.

May we all be those who have a proper response to the Lord’s charge by going to visit our neighbours and relatives for the gospel, contacting people to bring them to the Lord, and feeding and perfecting the new ones for their growth in life for the Body.

May we be occupied not with the things of this life but with the Lord Jesus for the building up of the church, being actively involved in caring for the new ones, visiting the saints, and building up the church (John 21:15-17).

We have to admit that, in the light of the Lord’s word, we need to reconsider our way.

May we take some time, even take a few hours to be with the Lord, and reconsider our way.

Consider what the Lord’s need is.

Consider what you are doing, consider the house of God, and consider what should be our attitude and response in regard to the Lord’s need to have the church built up today.

May the Lord stir our spirit up today so that we may come up and build up the church, one with Christ and one with the saints!

Lord Jesus, stir us up in our spirit for the building up of the church! We open to You. Infuse us with Your zeal and desire for Your house. We give ourselves to You, Lord, to come and work in Your house. We will never say, another day; we come today to build! We want to be those who are occupied by the Lord Jesus in the work of preaching the gospel, feeding the new believers, and taking care of others for the building up of the Lord’s house! Amen, Lord, You are building up the church today, and we want to be one with You in this work of building! We are here not for ourselves, for our family, or for our business and affairs; we are here for God’s house, for the church as the Body of Christ!

Returning from Captivity and Building God’s House for the Desire of the Nations to Come

The first part of Haggai 2:7 says, I will shake all the nations, and the Desire of the nations will come. What a word!

It speaks concerning the Lord’s coming.

The Lord has two comings – the first and the second coming. In His coming, Christ is the Desire of all the nations.

Even though the nations do not know Christ, they still desire Christ.

All men desire such things as light, love, joy, righteousness, goodness, peace, and delight, and Christ is the reality of all these positive things.

The reality of all the positive things is Christ. All nations, unconsciously, desire Christ (Mal. 3:1).

God created man in His own image and according to His likeness, and He put man in front of the tree of life.

Man was created with human virtues such as love, kindness, patience, and humility; however, man needs the divine attributes – God as life – to come in and fill his virtues to make them real.

Our human virtues are like a “glove”, and the divine virtues of Christ are like the “hand” that fills the glove and makes it real and full of meaning.

It is futile for us to cultivate our love, our joy, our patience, or our kindness, for in themselves these virtues are empty and will run out.

We need Christ as the Desire of all the nations to come in with His attributes to fill and saturate our human virtues.

Some people in the world today think they don’t need God and rather they curse Him, denigrate Him, and reject Him; deep inside, however, they desire Christ.

All men desire Christ, for He is the desire of all the nations.

The coming of Christ as the Desire of all the nations depends on the return of God’s people from their captivity in Babylon and the recovery of the building of God’s house (1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Pet. 2:5).

For Christ as the desire of all the nations to come the first time, there was the need for some among God’s people to return to Jerusalem from captivity and for them to rebuild the temple of God.

Then, Christ came. It is the same today. For Christ as the Desire of all the nations to return again, there’s the need for many among God’s spiritual people, the church, to return from any captivity and build up the church as the house of God.

For the Lord to come a second time, there needs to be the recovery of the building of God’s house, the church.

Why is the Desire of all the nations not yere yet?

All men desire Him, and He desires to come back.

The reason He is not here yet is that the church is still not built up.

In the church life in the Lord’s recovery, we are a small number, not great, and not that powerful or well known.

But the Lord has shown us that He wants to return as the Desire of all the nations, and we can hasten His return by giving ourselves to build the church as the house of God today.

We need to practice the church life in the Lord’s recovery day by day to build the house of God and hasten the coming of the Desire of the nations.

On one hand, we are nothing and can do nothing, and we are a small number of people who have been shown mercy by the Lord concerning the way to cooperate with Him for His return.

On the other hand, it depends on us.

How we build, whether we build, and how quickly we build – all these are up to us.

May we have a new consecration, a new burnt offering altar, taking Christ as our consecration to live absolutely for the Lord and for the building up of the church.

We want the Desire of the nations to come, and we want to hasten His return by building up the church as the house of God after returning from captivity.

Lord Jesus, we are here to build Your house so that You can return as the Desire of all the nations. Amen, Lord, have mercy on us. Be gracious to us in the church life today. May all the saints be stirred in their spirit by the Lord to rise up, come up, and build up the church as the house of God. May all the saints seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Come, Desire of the nations, come! Fix in us Your humble home. Stamp Your image on us. Transform us into Your image and build us up with the saints for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ. We desire You, Lord Jesus Christ! We desire that You would come as the Desire of the nations. Amen, Lord, shake all the nations, and the Desire of all the nations will come! We want to cooperate with You for the hastening of Your return!

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 Haggai, msg. 1, 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:
  – Unity of division, and being stirred up, rise up, and go up; a portion from, The Recovery of God’s House and God’s City, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
  – Our spirit needing to be stirred up, to be burning, and be the faculty of our prayer; a portion from Basic Lessons on Life, Chapter 17, by Witness Lee.
  – God desires to make the nations the kingdom of God through the church, a portion from, Authority and Submission, Chapter 6, by Watchman Nee.
  – We must go to disciple all the nations, a portion from, Lesson Book, Level 5: The Church—The Vision and Building Up of the Church, Chapter 23, by Witness Lee.
  – The Allotted Portion in the Old and New Testament Revealing the Varied and Measured Functions of the Members of the Body of Christ, an article by John Pester in Affirmation and Critique.
  – The Present World Situation – 6 Ways for a Christian to Respond, an article via, Holding to Truth.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – So let us give our all for this, / And hold ourselves not dearly; / The church life is the will of God, / Let’s take our standing clearly. / Oh, we have found the will of God; / Christ died and rose to win it. / The church life is His glorious will, / And, praise the Lord, we’re in it! (Hymns #1249 stanza 4)
  – Within those whom You’d call / Put such a restless caring / For building to give all— / These times are for preparing; / The gates of hell cannot prevail / Against the builded Church! / The hours are few, the builders too— / Lord, build, O build in us! (Hymns #1248 stanza 4)
  – Come, Desire of nations, come! / Fix in us Thy humble home: / Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring seed, / Bruise in us the serpent’s head; / Adam’s likeness now efface, / Stamp Thine image in its place: / Final Adam from above, / Reinstate us in Thy love. (Hymns #84 stanza 4)