Scripture Reading: Exo. 25:1-9; 40:1-2, 34-35
Ⅰ
God's building is the desire of God's heart and the goal of God's salvation—25:8:
A
The desire of God's heart is to have a dwelling place on earth constituted with Christ and according to Christ—Eph. 1:5, 9.
B
The purpose of the book of Exodus is to show us that the goal of God's full salvation is the building up of His dwelling place—1 Pet. 2:2, 4-5.
Ⅱ
We need the Lord to deliver us from improper concepts of building and usher us into the divine understanding of God's building—Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:20-22; 1 Cor. 3:9:
A
God's building is the mingling of God with man—John 14:20; 15:4a; 1 John 4:15:
１
The principle of God's building is that God builds Himself into us and builds us into Himself—Eph. 3:17a.
２
The church is God's building composed of God Himself as the divine material mingled with man as the human material—1 Cor. 3:9, 11.
B
God's building is the corporate expression of the Triune God—1 Tim. 3:15-16; John 17:22; Eph. 3:19b, 21:
１
God's desire to be to expressed and represented by man on earth can be fulfilled only when we are built up together—Gen. 1:26; 1 Pet. 2:5.
２
The building up of the saints into one corporate expression is the real testimony—Rev. 1:2, 12, 20.
C
God's building is the enlargement of God—John 3:29a, 30a; Col. 2:19:
１
The proper building is the enlargement, the expansion, of the Triune God, enabling God to express Himself in a corporate way—2:19; John 3:30a.
２
The building of God is the Triune God as life being wrought into us so that we may become His one expression, the enlargement and expansion of God—Eph. 3:17a, 19b, 21.
Ⅲ
We need to be delivered from the world with the satanic counterfeits of the building and be freed to participate in God's building—Exo. 1:11:
A
The world is against God's building, and God's building is opposed to the world—Rom. 12:2.
B
As long as God's people are working for the treasure cities in Egypt, they can have nothing to do with God's building—Exo. 1:11.
C
If God's people are willing to be rescued from the world unto God, God can work out His purpose to have a dwelling place—40:1-2, 34-35.
Ⅳ
If we would see the vision of God's building, we need to spend adequate time in fellowship with God—24:13-18; 25:8:
A
When we stay with God under His glory, we see that the desire of God's heart is to have a dwelling place with man on earth—24:18; 25:8.
B
If we remain in the Lord's presence, enjoying fellowship with Him, we will realize the significance of God's building and know what God is seeking today—Gen. 18:17; Rev. 1:10; 21:10.
Ⅴ
We must build God's dwelling place according to the pattern revealed on the mountain—Exo. 25:9; Heb. 8:5:
A
The tabernacle was according to the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain; thus, it was a heavenly pattern—Exo. 25:9.
B
The pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture signifies the church life with all its details—1 Tim. 3:15.
Ⅵ
The building of God is a pattern, and we need to examine ourselves in light of this pattern—Ezek. 43:10:
A
Our behavior and conduct should be examined not only according to moral regulations and spiritual principles but also according to the house of God—1 Cor. 14:26.
B
Because God cares so much for His building, we also should care for it and fashion ourselves according to it—1 Cor. 12:18-20; 2 Cor. 10:12-13; Rom. 12:3.
C
The Body life is the greatest test of our spirituality; if we cannot pass the test of the Body life, our spirituality is not genuine—Eph. 4:16.
Ⅶ
The materials for God's building are the virtues of Christ's person and work that have been possessed, enjoyed, and experienced by us and offered to God in resurrection as a heave offering—Exo. 25:2-7:
A
The church is built with the Christ who has become our experience—vv. 3-7.
B
The materials with which the church is built are filled with the character of resurrection and are altogether in a heavenly position—v. 2.
Ⅷ
For the building up of God's dwelling place, we need a consecration in which we offer precious things to God—Rom. 12:1; Exo. 25:2; 35:4-9:
A
Without a consecration in which we offer the most precious things to God, the building of God cannot come into being in a practical way—Rom. 12:1, 4-5.
B
For the sake of God's dwelling place, through our labor we should plunder Egypt of its wealth and offer it to God for His building—Exo. 11:2; 12:35-36.