I.　The main subject of the Bible is God's building; thus, the entire Bible is a book of building—Gen. 2:22; 28:10-22; Matt. 16:18; Eph. 4:16; Rev. 21:2.

II.　The central and divine thought of the Scriptures is that God is seeking a divine building as the mingling of Himself with humanity; He is seeking a living composition of living persons redeemed by and mingled with Himself—John 14:20; 1 John 4:15:

A.　The principle of God's building is that God builds Himself into man and builds man into Himself; God mingling with man is God building Himself into man, and man mingling with God is man being built into God—Eph. 3:17a.

B.　God intends to have a building in which God is built into man and man is built into God so that God and man, man and God, can be a mutual abode to each other—John 15:4a; Rev. 21:2-3, 22.

III.　God's building is the corporate expression of the Triune God—1 Tim. 3:15-16; John 17:22; Eph. 3:19b, 21:

A.　God's intention is to have a group of people built up as a spiritual building to express God and to represent God by dealing with His enemy and recovering the lost earth—Gen. 1:26; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9.

B.　The building up of the saints into one corporate expression is the real testimony—Rev. 1:2, 12, 20.

IV.　God's building is the enlargement of God—John 3:29a, 30a; Col. 2:19:

A.　The proper building is the enlargement, the expansion, of the Triune God, enabling God to express Himself in a corporate way—Eph. 2:21-22; Col. 2:19.

B.　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.

V.　To be built up with fellow believers is the Lord's supreme and highest requirement of His faithful seekers according to one of the divine attributes—the divine oneness—John 17.

VI.　The prerequisites of the believers' being built up in the church, the Body of Christ, include:

A.　Realizing that the Lord, according to the desire of His heart, wants a built church—Matt. 16:18.

B.　Being in harmony with the fellow believers and being in one accord with the Body in prayer—18:19; Acts 1:14.

C.　Practicing the oneness of the Divine Trinity in the Divine Trinity as the Divine Trinity does—John 17:21-23.

D.　Keeping the oneness of the Spirit in the constitution of the Body with the Divine Trinity—Eph. 4:3-6.

E.　Being in the common fellowship of the enjoyment of Christ and having the common thinking and love in one spirit, with one soul—1 Cor. 1:2, 9; Phil. 2:1-2; 1:27.

F.　Living and walking by the Spirit and walking by the mingled spirit—Gal. 5:16, 25; Rom. 8:4.

G.　Being conformed to the death of Christ and magnifying Christ—Phil. 3:10; 1:19-21.

VII.　The book of Ezekiel begins with a vision of the appearance of the glory of the Lord (1:4-28) and ends with a vision of the holy building of God; this indicates that God's goal is the building and that the glory of the Lord, the judgment of God, and the recovery of the Lord are all for the holy building of God—40:1—48:35:

A.　In Ezekiel 40—48, a section on God's building, three main things are covered: the holy temple, the Holy Land, and the holy city:

1.　The recovery of the land signifies the recovery of the experience and enjoyment of the riches of Christ.

2.　The temple is God's house for His rest, and the city is God's kingdom for His authority—48:35b.

B.　Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord coming back to the house of the Lord; the glory could return only after the building of the temple was completed— 44:4.

C.　"This is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever"—43:7a:

1.　The Lord's throne is for His administration, and the soles of the Lord's feet are for His move on earth.

2.　Apart from the temple as the place of His throne and the place of the soles of His feet, the Lord has no base for His administration and for His move.

D.　The Lord instructed Ezekiel to describe God's house—40:4; 43:10-12:

1.　God's intention was to check the living and conduct of His people by the house; in the book of Ezekiel, God measured them by the temple:

a.　Because the house of God was to be their regulation, God charged Ezekiel to show them the form of the house.

b.　The temple of God is a pattern, and if the people examine them-selves in light of this pattern, they will know their shortcomings— v. 11; 41:16-20.

c.　The living of the people must match the temple of God—1 Cor. 3:16-17.

2.　According to the book of Ezekiel the requirements of the indwelling Christ are according to His house; everyone must be measured and checked according to the measurement of God's house—43:10:

a.　Our behavior and conduct should be examined not only according to moral regulations and spiritual principles but also according to the church, the house of God—1 Tim. 3:15-16.

b.　Our main concern should not be with behaving ourselves or with becoming spiritual but with fitting into God's house—1 Cor. 14:12.

c.　If what we are and what we do cannot match God's building, it amounts to nothing in the sight of God—3:10-15.