Lord, I would be built by Thee
With the saints into Thy temple,
Where Thy glory we shall see.
From peculiar traits deliver,
From my independent ways,
That a dwelling place for Thee, Lord,
We will be thru all our days.
I can grow and be transformed,
With the saints coordinated,
Builded up, to Thee conformed;
Keep the order in the Body,
There to function in Thy will,
Ever serving, helping others,
All Thy purpose to fulfill.
I would not exalted be,
But submitting and accepting
Let the Body balance me;
Holding fast the Head, and growing
With His increase, in His way,
By the joints and bands supplying,
Knit together day by day.
In the inner man with might,
I would know Thy love surpassing,
Know Thy breadth and length and height;
Ever of Thy riches taking,
Unto all Thy fulness filled,
Ever growing into manhood,
That Thy Body Thou may build.
Builded up I long to be,
That within this corporate vessel
All shall then Thy glory see;
That Thy Bride, the glorious city,
May appear upon the earth,
As a lampstand brightly beaming
To express to all Thy worth.
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Church In Worcester, Massachusetts, United States
It is not I but Christ, Lord, transform us into living precious stones, balanced by the Body and holding out the Head for Thy expression! Overcoming saints are buildable! Thank you Lord for revealing Your Grand Plan!
Waco, TX, United States
Just read sister Cosette's commrent this morning from August 4, 2021. Now I must read "Character" by Witness Lee. Thank the Lord for His work in us and on us, that, as Hymn 840 (W. LEE) says, "Ever growing into manhood, that Thy Body Thou may build." He doesn't say, that Thy Body WE may build. Thank you sister for sharing this.
Gainesville, FL, United States
Sorry saints, that’s supposed to say “bearing”, not “beating”. Amen.
Gainesville, FL, United States
In order to be made useful to the Lord, we must first have a love for the Lord and a desire for Him, then we must have a vision of the Lord and an encounter with Him, followed by a vision of the self and a revelation of the cross, and fourth is by beating Christ by our character. (From “Character” by Witness Lee). In our experience, it may be relatively easier to have the first two aspects, but to have a vision of the self needing to be dealt with by the cross is very difficult. I’m encouraged by this hymn “We are freed from self and Adam’s nature”. Hallelujah this has already been accomplished! The Lord dealt with the old man on the cross, and now He’s doing this work in us. Lord, keep us open to your dealing with the self in us each day!
Naivasha, Nakuru, Kenya
Hallelujah we are now free from self Adam nature, now the Body can be built. Self is the greatest impediment to growth of the Body of Christ and by extention the Church.
San Francisco, California, United States
Freed from self and Adam’s nature is the unique way to be builded up into the Body of Christ and to live a genuine Christian life.
Nairobi, Nyandarua, Kenya
How wonderful to be freed from self, it is the main hindrance preventing our growth and oneness.
Evanston, IL
This song is a prayer, a prayer perhaps foreign to many Christians who have not received a vision of God's desire for a dwelling place on this earth. We may think that God only dwells in heaven and is satisfied to remain there. But the revelation of the Bible, in type in the Old Testament with the tabernacle and the temple, and in reality in the New Testament with Christ and the church, is that God desires to dwell in man on the earth. I was struck recently by Paul's description in 1 Tim. 3:15 of the church as "the house of the living God." Without the church, God is a homeless God. Of course there are great benefits to us to be the house of God ("blessed are they who dwell in Your house"), but far beyond that we should realize and respond to God's need for a home. Wouldn't your heart ache for this?
Once we see this vision, we, as the writer of this hymn does, would yearn and pray that we would be freed from our self and Adam's nature to be the living stones built up with all the other believers to be that universal house of our God on this earth. May we present our bodies as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1) that God can realize His glorious economy. Amen.