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02-02-2013, 11:35 PM
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Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 713
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The Building and a Bride in the Bible
There has been much discussion concerning Witness Lee’s worth as a teacher. Igzy had shared on The Ministry Becomes the Lampstand thread, post #80,
Quote:
www.ourneedtoexamineourselves.com/BuildingandBrideintheBible.pdf The Building and a Bride in the Bible At the beginning of the Bible and through it to the end, the major line of God’s thought is made clear – that He desires a dwelling place with man and to have the man He created as His loving counterpart. This line of thought begins early in Scripture with Adam and Eve, as she was built by God from a rib taken from Adam’s side, and presented to him as his wife; and this thought is found in Old Testament types of Noah’s ark, the tabernacle, and the temple. It is found in the gospels with Jesus being the Tabernacle of God and also the Bridegroom of the Bride; and it continues in Ephesians with Christ and the church as a mutual dwelling place of God and man, with the church brought into being through Him to correspond to Him in life and love. This line of thought is finalized in Revelation with the New Jerusalem prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband. (Genesis 2:21-22, John 1:14; 3;29 Ephesians 2:21-22; 5:31-32, Revelation 21:2-3) Seeking the Place Abraham and David were Old Testament saints who cared for God’s habitation. Abraham, in fact, sought more than a house; he sought a city. “By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:8-10, KJV) Abraham and others who sought a dwelling place “died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth….Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:13-16, KJV) David was a man who sought God and also His dwelling place. When God wanted to remove Saul as king of Israel after 40 years, he said to him, “But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart....” (1 Samuel 13:14, KJV) In Acts Paul said, “And when God had removed Saul, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, „I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.‟” (Acts 13:22, KJV) When David was made king, he right away wanted to take care of what was on God’s heart - to return the ark of testimony to God’s tabernacle and move the tabernacle to a suitable location. And he made a vow, saying, “Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob….Arise O Lord into thy resting place; thou and the ark of thy strength...” (Ps. 132:2-8, 11, 13-14) Many Psalms of David were about God’s house, His dwelling place. He declared, “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever;” and “one thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, to dwell in the house of the Lord….to behold the beauty of the Lord and inquire in His temple.” (Ps. 34:8; 27:4) As believers, we should be seeking Christ and experiencing Him; and our experience will give us the desire to be in God’s house. David had a heart for this, saying, “O taste and see that the Lord is good” and “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Ps. 34:8; Ps. 23:5). Even though David had a great fall, his repentance was received by God, who did find him to be a man after His heart. In that repentance (Ps. 51), David even mentions that which is on God’s heart, His house. His son, Solomon, would take up the task to enlarge God’s dwelling place from the tabernacle to a temple The house of God must be on our hearts also. In the New Testament we have the grace, love, and fellowship of the three in one God for our portion and participation in the building up of the house of the Lord “in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” (Eph. 2:19-22, KJV) Seeking a Counterpart The dwelling place in the Bible is also related to the counterpart God seeks. This is brought to our attention in both the Old and New Testaments, as the building and the bride progress in a relationship with God toward consummation in a marriage to the Lamb of God in Revelation. Prophets spoke of God as being a Husband to a wife, “I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; and…I was a Husband unto them” (Jer. 31:32); and “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you” (Jer. 3:14); and “I will betroth thee unto me in lovingkindness, and in mercies” (Hosea 2:19). The Song of Songs portrays the love relationship God desires with man. The seeker of God says, “He brought me to the banqueting house and His banner over me was love”; “My beloved is mine and I am his”. And the Lord’s response is “Behold, thou art fair my love”; “Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb”; “thou art beautiful, O my love…comely as Jerusalem”. In the gospels John the Baptist said: “He that has the Bride is the Bridegroom”. And, Jesus asked, “Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the Bridegroom is with them?” In the New Testament, Christ and the church are shown as husband and wife, Paul writing, “I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ”; and “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:25, 27, 31-32). The church as the enlargement of Christ, is His counterpart and dwelling place. The New Jerusalem is the Bride The building is further enlarged in “the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” The New Jerusalem is the Bride, and also God’s eternal dwelling place. The Marriage Supper In conclusion to the line of the building and a bride in the Bible, there is a wedding and the wife of the Lamb has made herself ready! And, there is a great supper for those invited. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” (Rev. 19:6-8, KJV). The word in John’s gospel that “He who has the Bride is the Bridegroom” is fulfilled here in Revelation, as God gains both a dwelling place and a counterpart; a building and a bride in what has been His quest throughout Scripture (John 3:29; Rev. 21:2-3, 22:17). Lee like David There has been discussion concerning Witness Lee’s worth as a teacher, and one testified to receiving help from his ministry concerning God’s desire for a dwelling place with man. His ministry is full of the truth of this teaching on God’s dwelling place because his ministry is full of the truth of God’s word and is according to His heart. The subject of my writing today was derived from his teaching, which is much more fully covered by him in his book, The Vision of God‟s Building and his Romans life-study on The Divine Romance. These are not books of straw that should be burned. (He has such a book.) His writings are plentiful, rich, and good for God’s building. Witness Lee, like David, had a heart for God and His building. He, from the beginning, continuously exhorted congregations and readers to experience Christ and to build in the church life with gold, silver, and precious stones the building of God, or their work, he warned, would be burned (1 Cor. 3:12-17). He spoke also of the fine linen of the Bride being the righteousnesses of the saints that adorned her. He worked tirelessly on the building of God and on preparing a bride for Christ. If anyone was to tell of all the righteous acts that he did since the day he became a believer, we would have a more fair and balanced approach in dealing with him publicly about our concerns. Like David also, brother Lee did err. We don’t want to see David’s blots on the record; or Abraham’s; or the children of Israel’s, whose twelve tribes are referred to with honor in the book of Revelation. But the word says of those “children”, “Behold, I see no iniquity in Israel;” and of Abraham, he is our father; and of David, that God “found him to be a man after His own heart.” I sympathize with the frailty of fallen man. I have erred myself and have blots. To point out the failings of Witness Lee and list them in the manner often done on this forum, and wipe out genuine contribution of his to the Lord’s work to build His church, is not properly representing him. He misaimed and misdirected the churches; he mistreated and misrepresented brothers. But we should not misaim ourselves and dismiss altogether his six decades of work of faith and labor of love in bearing heavy responsibility and burdens daily in the churches. He is responsible for his mistakes, and he himself has said, “I have made mistakes, even big mistakes” (Eph. L. S., p. 273). Shall we list them? I have already done so in the link below which I call Mistakes to Contemplate. http://www.hidinghistoryinthelordsre...ontemplate.pdf I don’t list certain mistakes referred to on the forum that were from pre-1974 days in which he showed the propensity to do damage. It wasn’t yet affecting the U.S., until he made the move forward in 1974. His position in the background was fine, even if he might have made some mistakes in that earlier going. His fellowship with elders and helping direct churches and giving conferences might have been as it should be in his capacity and function in the Body. How are we to judge that it was not? His ministry and gift was for the churches. His coming forward later, however, and increasingly upward, was not fine. Paul was involved intimately with the churches when with them, and he wrote letters full of love and intimate concern for them; and he gave direction and instruction to them. He had the capacity and the function to do so. But he never came to the foreground; he positioned himself and his ministry in the background to be for the churches. The churches did not have to be for him and his ministry. Brother Lee changed his position when he came forward in 1974. It is not that brother Lee did not care for God’s building. He did care for what was on God’s heart. But, like David, he had discrepancies in his good testimony that he cared for God’s heart only. There is no anointing in me to speak to any pre-1974 problems. In 1970 thru 1973 - my first 4 years in the church life, there was a moving of the Spirit among us that had been going on increasingly since 1962. In January 1974, Lee and Max stormed to the forefront and the changes that took place outwardly changed the spirit of the move inwardly. The move of the Lord was stopped! I witnessed this and so did Don Rutledge, more intensely, as a leader. Many others testify to this, and brother Lee even pointed to this time as being the beginning of a decline, giving his different reasons for it. See Don and Benson in http://www.ourneedtoexamineourselves...entintheLC.pdf for a closer look. Steve Isitt February 3, 2013 Cagayan de Oro, the Philippines |
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