Building a Local Church

Today morning as we fellowshiped, the Lord’s speaking was so intense and clear on the person of the one who build a local church. It has all to do with the person. No improper person can build up a church irrespective of whatever methods or ways he uses.  The church is a living organism and the building up has to do with the persons who constitute the church and the builders themselves. 

The manifestations of a builded local church are:

1. The saints love the Lord more than before
2. The saints love the word of God more than before
3. The saints love one another and be one with one another more than before 
4. The saints functions for the building of the church 
5. The church meetings will be rich, high, and full of life
6. The church will be filled with men like a flock

If the church I serve do not manifest the above points, the church is not being builded up as it should be. These check points are enlightening to see where I stand in my service. If I lack in any of these, I must go before the Lord and seek for His mercy to deal with all frustrations so that I must be a proper person. The person is more important than the way or the method used as evident from Bezalel, who was a builder, and it has all to do with his person.

Exodus 31:2

See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 

Footnote from The Holy Bible, Recovery Version

Bezalel was a master builder, a leader in God’s building. His name means in the shadow of God, indicating that as a master builder, Bezalel was a man under the shadow of God’s grace (cf. 1 Cor. 3:10a; 2 Cor. 12:9). Uri, the name of Bezalel’s father, means light of Jehovah, and Hur, the name of Bezalel’s grandfather, means free, noble, white (signifying clean and pure). These three names indicate what kind of persons the builders of God’s dwelling place should be.

To be a builder of a local church we must have a pure and clean spiritual source. No one is born pure and clean. We all have, by default, been impure and unclean. We need to be thoroughly dealt with by the Lord. And God is able to deal with us and cleanse us. Otherwise, we will become a problem in the church. In fact, all problems in a local church is due to brothers who did not learn their lessons well in the matter of being dealt with by the Lord. For the dealing we need the word, the living and operative word. We must open to the Lord’s dealing by amening the word of God. Trust in the heart of God, trust in the word of God, to become clean, pure, white, noble, and free from within from our own evil heart. Hidden love for the world make our hearts impure. The Lord can deliver us from such impure heart. The Lord’s shining light can deliver us from such impurity. 

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 

Son of Uri, is to be son of light. The Lord can enlighten us and shine on us as we open to the Lord and the Bible and indeed become the son of light and live under the shadow of His grace.

The way the Lord deals with us today is through His speaking. Therefore, we must come to the word, read and pray-read the word until it becomes our living constitution that transforms our lives.

Lord, deal with my heart and make be today's Bezalel to build up Your church.