As we have stated, God has two principal purposes during the Church Age. The first is to build the Body of Christ. The second is to bear witness to the nations of the soon coming of the Kingdom of God. He who believes in the Lord Jesus and is baptized will be saved when the Kingdom comes. It can be seen from this that the greater part of the efforts of Christendom are misdirected. We are attempting to revive the sea of mankind instead of bearing witness to the nations, as we have been commanded. The reviving of the dead sea of mankind will come later, according to the Scriptures.

But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. (Revelation 11:2)

"The court [representing that which is not consecrated to the Lord at this point] leave out, and measure [judge] it not."

The task of today is the development of the Church, which is a valley of dry bones.

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:11-13)

The purpose of the Christian ministry is to build the saints into the one Body of Christ.

First God must build up the members of the Body of Christ, the Wife of the Lamb, and bring them into the waters of His Life. We enter the waters of salvation, then into the waters of sanctification, and then into the waters of consecration. Finally we arrive at the waters to swim in—the life wholly given to God (Ezekiel 47:3-5).

As soon as the victorious saints of the Church attain the waters to swim in, which is the fullness of eternal life, God will return them to the bank of the river as trees of life. Now it is time for the waters to pour forth from within them into the dead sea of mankind. This is the schedule of events of the Church Age as it moves toward the Kingdom Age.

The world is groaning in the chains of the servitude imposed on it by Satan. No release can come to the world until the sons of God have come to maturity (Romans 8:19).

There are three elements that will lift the curse from the sea and bring into view the Paradise of God. The three elements are the city, the tabernacle, and the wall. These are set forth in the last two chapters of the Book of Revelation.

The city represents the government of God through His elect.

The tabernacle speaks of the abiding Presence of God and of His Christ.

The wall portrays resistance to uncleanness and rebellion, the separation of the holy from the unholy.

To be continued.