THE HEART DESIRE OF GOD

THE HEART DESIRE OF GOD We must see that the church is the heart desire of God—the New Testament reveals it as such. God's desire ...

We must see that the church is the heart desire of God—the New Testament reveals it as such. God's desire in this age and in the whole universe is to have the church. His purpose in creation was to produce a church. His purpose in redemption was for the church. In fact, all that God does is for the church. All the work of gospel preaching, all the work of the edification of saints, all the work of teaching the Word—all these various ministries—are for the church.

The gospel preaching must not be for gospel preaching but for the church. The Bible teaching must not be just for Bible teaching but for the church. The edification of saints must not be merely for edification but for the church. All works and ministries in God's intention must serve the church. We are not saved for our own salvation. We are saved for the building up of the church. The church is God's heart desire.

If we are deeply impressed with this, we can no longer be indifferent. The church will be supreme and primary to us. We will be delivered from wrong and distorted concepts, and our entire Christian service will be revolutionized. We will no longer seek just to bring people to the Lord and help them to grow and love the Lord, but we will do everything for the building up of the church. Wherever we are and whatever we do will be for the church.

Consider the apostle Paul. After he saw the heavenly vision and his life was revolutionized, for what did he work? It is more than clear that he worked for nothing but the church. Did he build up his own ministry? He did not. Everything he did was for the church. If you took away the church, there would be nothing left for Paul to do.

Are you such a person? I am afraid that you have many things besides the church. You may be doing a work for the Lord, but it is not church-centered. The church is our test. The church proves where we are. We must see that it is the church upon which God's heart is set and be governed accordingly.

Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee. THE VISION OF THE CHURCH. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA.