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Scripture Reading: Lev. 1:1-3; 2:1; 3:1; 4:2-3; 5:5-6; 8:1-13; Exo. 40:17, 21
We have begun to see the way to enter the land and take possession of the all-inclusive Christ. We have pointed out that if we would possess such a One, we must begin by enjoying Him little by little. The people of Israel began to enjoy the types of Christ with the lamb of the passover — that is the place where we all must start. Then they moved on to enjoy Him as the heavenly manna and then as the rock flowing with the living water. All these are types of Christ, but they are elementary types; they are not so deep and rich. To our realization they may be quite sufficient, but we must realize that they are just the start.
We have seen the Ark and the testimony of God within it. The Ark is another type of Christ, one that is much more solid and full. If you compare the Ark with the lamb, the manna, or the rock flowing with living water, you can see what an improvement there is. Much more of Christ is manifested by the Ark. In the lamb of the passover you may realize Christ only as the redeeming One, the One who died on the cross, shedding His blood for our sins. The manna is an improvement and really a good experience. In it you taste the vegetable life and the animal life, and at the same time you touch something of the pearl as the transformed material for God’s building. These experiences are indeed good, but they are no match for the Ark. The experience of the Ark is much more solid, and its content is incomparably more full. You can read something within it. There is something written about God Himself. By the content of the Ark you may know the very nature of God.
With the Ark there is its embodiment, its increase, and enlargement — the tabernacle. The tabernacle is the enlargement and expression of Christ, for the major part of the tabernacle is of exactly the same nature as that of the Ark. The Ark was constructed with wood overlaid with gold, and the tabernacle was made in the same way with the same materials. But how may we realize that the tabernacle is the enlargement and expression of Christ as His Body, the church? This is because it was composed of forty-eight wooden boards. It was constituted of so many boards, typifying the members of the Body. In the church many members are built together by being overlaid and bound together with the divine gold. They are one in the gold. They are covered with gold and joined one to another in the golden rings and bars. If they are out of the gold, they fall to pieces and are alienated from each other. They are pieces in the human nature, but in the divine nature, in the Triune God, they are one. Furthermore, they are all covered by the fourfold Christ, just as the tabernacle was covered with the four layers of curtains. The church, which is the enlargement of Christ, the expression of Christ, is under such a covering. All these forty-eight boards were standing on silver sockets, or bases, meaning that they are based on the redemption of Christ. The redemption of Christ is the basis upon which they stand to be overlaid and bound together with the divine gold and covered over with the fourfold Christ. This is the church, the increase and expression of Christ.
We can realize that this is much more than the lamb of the passover, the manna, and the rock flowing with the living stream. Here is something solid. Here is Christ with the testimony of God within and His enlargement as the real expression of Himself without. This Christ is the center of those who are going on to possess the land. If we would take possession of the all-inclusive Christ, we must have such a Christ as our center, a Christ with the testimony in Himself, a Christ who is the manifestation and the explanation of God. And we must be the enlargement of this Christ, the tabernacle for this Christ, the expression of this Christ. We should have such a center, and we should be such an enlargement. This is the way for us to possess the land. This does not mean that we have a tremendous amount of the experiences of Christ but that our enjoyment of Him is increasing and enlarging all the time.
We start by enjoying a lamb. We must say a “little” lamb. It is perfect and complete, but it is little. Then we learn to enjoy Christ daily as the manna, as our food supply, and as the rock flowing with the living stream. Christ becomes more to us. Then we begin to experience Christ as the testimony of God, the manifestation and explanation of God. Christ is being formed in us to a fuller extent and in a more solid way. When people come to us, they realize that this is our center; they read the nature of God Himself. We become Christ’s enlargement, His fullness, His Body. This should be our experience and our testimony.
When we have the Ark as our center and we are built together as the tabernacle to embody this Ark, then the glory of God comes down and fills the tabernacle. It is not until we have this testimony, until we experience Christ as the Ark, as the manifestation of God, and until we are the expression of the Ark, the enlargement of Christ, that we are filled with the glory of God. We should experience Christ in such a way. He is the expression of God, and we must be the expression of Him. Then the glory of God will fill us. We may be sure that whenever we reach this point, it matters not when or how we meet, formally or informally; the very glory of God will be with us. What is glory? As we have already mentioned, it is the presence of God realized by human sense. When you can sense the presence of God, that is glory. Where is this glory? It is where the Ark is the center and where the tabernacle is built up as the enlargement and embodiment of it.
The glory of God may be illustrated by an electric light bulb. The bulb is a vessel to display the glory of the electricity. When not connected to electricity, it has no glory and is rather meaningless. But when everything is in order and the electricity is switched on, the glory fills the bulb. Everyone can see it. Everyone can recognize it and sense the glory.
When the point is reached where we have such a Christ as the manifestation of God and we are the expression of such a Christ, the glory of God will fill us whenever we come together. People can sense it. They can sense the very expression of God because God is glorified among us. Not until we attain this stage is there such reality. When we take Christ as the passover lamb, there is not such an expression of glory. Even when we enjoy Him as the daily manna and as the rock flowing with the living stream, the shekinah glory is missing. It is not until one day the Ark is put into the tabernacle and the tabernacle is raised up upon the silver sockets and covered with the fourfold covering that the glory of God descends.
This is a clear picture of the real expression of Christ. The real expression of Christ is the enlargement of Christ Himself. It is Christ as the manifestation of God mingled with us. It is neither the little passover lamb, nor even Christ as the daily manna and the rock, but Christ, the manifestation of God among us as the center, mingled with us, enlarged within us, and increased among us. Every one of us has been saturated with the nature of Christ and built up together in Him. Christ is of two natures, the human and the divine, and we are the same: we are of the human nature but covered with the divine. He is the God-man, and we are the God-men. He is the Ark made of wood covered with gold, and we are the boards made of wood covered with gold. In number we are different, but in nature we are exactly the same. Christ is the manifestation of God, and all these boards combined together as one in the gold are the expression of Christ. When this point is reached, the God of glory comes down and fills us. This is the testimony. We are testifying nothing but this Christ who is the manifestation of God and who has been enlarged through us, thereby filling us with the glory of God.
I can relate numerous stories to illustrate this point. Many times I have experienced such a glory, a wonderful glory. Many times when I have been with a group of believers who have come to such a stage, the glory has come down. Everyone knows it. When we experience Christ, not just as the passover lamb and the manna but together in this fuller and solid way, we always have the glory among us.
But this is not all. This is not the end of the story. Even if we have this, we are still not qualified to enter that good land. We must have something more. We started with Exodus 12 by enjoying Christ as the redeeming lamb; we have also seen what it means to go on and enjoy Him as the daily manna and as the rock flowing with the living water; and we have seen the enjoyment of Christ as the Ark, as the manifestation of the living God, and us as the expression, the enlargement of this Christ, so that the glory of God fills us. We have finished the book of Exodus, and we come now to the next book, Leviticus.
After the tabernacle is raised up, we must deal next with the offerings. How rich Christ is to us in all the various offerings! Perhaps you are saying, “We have seen so much of Christ already; it is sufficient.” But no, we must go on. There is much more. The tabernacle is raised up, but how may we get in contact with this tabernacle? Here is the testimony, here is the manifestation of God, here is the expression of Christ, but how can we contact these? We cannot go on to contact this testimony in ourselves. Never. There is an entrance, but the only proper way for us to approach this entrance and contact the tabernacle is by the offerings. To contact the tabernacle without the offerings means immediate death. When we come to contact this tabernacle, we must have some offerings. Christ is so rich. On one hand, He is the manifestation of God, and on the other hand, He is the way by which we can contact this God: He is the offerings. He is the very means by which we may contact the manifestation of God, which is Himself. He is everything.
What are the offerings? There are five: the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. They are all Christ. Whenever we would deal with the testimony, whenever we would contact the expression of Christ, we must offer Christ once more; we must apply Christ once more. Sometimes we need to apply Him as the trespass offering, sometimes as the sin offering, sometimes as the meal offering, sometimes as the peace offering, and sometimes even more as the burnt offering.
When should we apply Christ as the trespass offering? It is quite clear. Let me illustrate. Suppose we are having a meeting, and you are coming to the meeting; you are coming to contact the tabernacle with Christ as its center. But in your heart you have the registration that you have done something wrong. Perhaps you have been wrong with one of your brothers. Yes, you saw him today and even smiled at him, but that kind of smile was an expression of hatred. When you come to contact the tabernacle and the testimony, the Holy Spirit causes you to sense your trespass. You have sinned; you have trespassed. The Lord has told you to love your brother, but you have loved him in a false way; you have smiled at him with hatred. Thus, you must apply Christ as the trespass offering.
Many times you can tell the truth but with a lie. In other words, you lie with the truth. Sometimes I ask a brother concerning the state of another brother. He replies that the brother is quite well, but by the tone and the sense of the spirit, I can detect that, on one hand, he is telling the truth, but on the other hand, it is a lie. I may ask if you love a certain brother, and you may reply that by the grace of God you do. If so, I know you do not love him. I may ask if you are a good brother, and you may answer that you are not so good. It seems that you are being humble and honest. But in your heart you are saying that you are the best brother. Brothers and sisters, we are trespassing all the time.
How selfish we are! We are selfish to such an extent that when we come to the meeting, we choose the best seat. Here in America you have separate seats, so you cannot take advantage of others, but in Taiwan they have long benches. All the benches are of sufficient length to seat four persons during the usual meetings. But when they have a conference, they ask the brothers and sisters to sit as closely as possible in order to make the bench available for five. Some, however, knowing this, spread out and occupy one fourth of the bench, compelling others to take less. What kind of way is this to contact the tabernacle and testimony of the Lord? How sinful we are! How much we need to apply the Lord as our trespass offering!
Brothers and sisters, I believe that if we are faithful and honest before the Lord, when we come to contact this tabernacle, this testimony, His Spirit will cause us to sense all our sinfulness and all our trespasses. We will sense what we have done, and we will say, “O Lord, forgive me. Cleanse me. You have died on the cross as my Redeemer, so once more I apply You as my trespass offering.” It is wonderful. Whenever we apply Christ in such a way, we immediately sense that we have been forgiven and cleansed. We are at peace in our conscience. We have good fellowship with the Lord and with the Body. This is the application of Christ as our trespass offering. Do you have this kind of experience?
Every time, without one exception, when I am preparing to minister, I must ask the Lord to cleanse me once more. Otherwise, because of the condemnation in my conscience, I will not have the anointing and will not be able to minister in a living way. I must apply Christ every time as my trespass offering so that my conscience will be pure, and I will be at peace. Then I have the boldness to claim the anointing of God. Where the blood cleanses, there the anointing will come. The anointing of the ointment always follows the cleansing of the blood. We have the ground of the blood to claim the anointing, the working of the Holy Spirit, so that we can minister in a living way. When I apply Christ as my trespass offering, it matters not how much I have trespassed. Praise the Lord, I am forgiven and cleansed. Whenever I come to minister, whenever I come to serve, and even when I contact some brothers, I have to say, “Lord, forgive me and cleanse me once more. I apply You as my trespass offering.”
Sometimes it seems that we have not trespassed. By the protection of the Lord we have been kept through the entire day in His presence without any trespasses. It is possible. We do not sense that we have trespassed, but we have a deeper feeling. It is quite strange. When we are saying, “Lord, I praise You; You have kept me through the whole day; by Your protection I have not trespassed,” we have a deeper feeling that within us is something sinful. We sense that deep within is something that is more sinful than trespasses. It is Sin, capitalized Sin. It is the sinful nature. Although we have been saved and have peace with God and with one another, within us is a sinful nature. This is the Sin that is dealt with so extensively in Romans 5, 6, 7, and 8. Sin dwells within me. I am not speaking of sins, but Sin — capitalized, singular Sin. I hate to do what I do. It is not I that do it, but Sin that dwells in me. There is an evil but powerful, living matter within me called Sin. It can conquer me; it can defeat me; it can cause me to do things that I detest. It is a living nature; it is the nature of the evil one. For this there is an offering — the sin offering.
One day I was reading in the newspaper concerning a man who robbed a bank. I said, “O Lord, I thank You that by Your mercy and grace I have never done such a thing; I have never robbed others.” But deep within me was a sense that I should not say this, for the very robbing element is in me. True, I have not had the robbing act, but I have the robbing nature. On one hand, I can say, “Lord, I thank You that by Your protection I have not engaged in the act of robbing others.” But on the other hand, I must say, “Lord, I have a sinful nature, a robbing nature, but You are my sin offering. Although I have no trespasses outwardly, I have a sinful nature inwardly. Although I do not need to apply You now as my trespass offering, I still need You as my sin offering.”
Brothers and sisters, whenever we, as fallen creatures, come to contact the testimony of the Lord, we must at least apply Christ as the sin offering. In the Scriptures we see that the children of Israel had to offer the sin offering to contact the Lord. It does not matter how good you feel you are. You must realize that since you are still in the sinful nature, you must still apply Christ as the sin offering.
Praise the Lord that He is also the peace offering. Day by day and even moment by moment, as we enjoy Him as our trespass offering and our sin offering, we also enjoy Him as our peace offering. Through Him and in Him we have peace with God, and we have peace with our brothers and sisters. Christ Himself is our peace. We enjoy Him as our peace with God and our peace with men. He is so sweet, He is so satisfying; every one of us may enjoy Him in the presence of God and enjoy Him together with God. This is Christ as the peace offering.
Sometimes we must apply Christ as the meal offering. Many times after we have applied and experienced Him as the trespass offering and as the sin offering, we will immediately apply Him as the meal offering. We simply enjoy Christ. We enjoy His life on earth — how He was so perfect, so fine, so pure, and so spiritual. We enjoy Him as such a One. We say, “Lord, how we enjoy You as the meal offering to God.” This is the way to offer Christ as the meal offering.
We must also apply Christ many times as the burnt offering. We have to say, “O Lord, I realize how You have wholly offered Yourself to God as a sacrifice to do His will, to satisfy Him, to have a life absolutely for God. I enjoy You as such a One.” Many times at the Lord’s table we have this sort of experience. We apply Christ as the meal offering and as the burnt offering. We see that wondrous life of the Lord when He was here. We see Him when He was twelve years of age. We see Him as a carpenter in that poor family in Nazareth. We see how He acted when He came forth in His ministry for God, how He conducted Himself before others and how He treated them so kindly, so gently, so humbly, and so holily. We apply Him as our enjoyment, as our meal offering and as our burnt offering for God’s satisfaction. We can say to the Lord, “You lived on this earth absolutely for God. You are the burnt offering. I apply You as my enjoyment and God’s satisfaction, not only here at Your table but also during the day. Sometimes in the morning and sometimes in the evening, I enjoy You as the meal offering and the burnt offering.”
Praise the Lord that He is all these offerings for us to enjoy. The more you and I apply Christ as the trespass offering, as the sin offering, as the peace offering, as the meal offering, and as the burnt offering, the more we feel that we are in the tabernacle. The more we apply Christ in such a way, the more we feel we are in the glorious presence of God. This is not just a doctrine but something so real. It can be proved; it can be experienced. If we do not have such experiences, something is wrong with us.
Now you see how much of Christ we have to experience. We have to experience Him as the lamb of the passover, as the manna, as the rock, as the Ark with the tabernacle, and as all the offerings — trespass, sin, peace, meal, and burnt. We have to experience Christ and apply Christ hour by hour, instance by instance, in such a way that we will be qualified, enabled, and strengthened to go on and take possession of the all-inclusive Christ. Gaining possession of this good land does not take place suddenly or instantaneously. It is a gradual process. First, we must enjoy Him as the lamb; then we must enjoy Him as the manna, as the rock, as the Ark with the tabernacle; and then day by day and instance after instance we must enjoy Him as all the various kinds of offerings. Then we will be qualified and matured to gain possession of that all-inclusive land. But there is more to follow.
Immediately after the offerings in the first part of Leviticus, we are introduced to the priesthood. Aaron and his sons were all adorned and qualified to serve as priests to God. We must have this; we must have Christ as our Aaron, Christ as our High Priest, and all of us must be His sons, the priests to serve the Lord. This is something more to enjoy, something more to experience and apply. When you come to the meeting to enjoy the Lord, do you serve, do you function, do you minister? Perhaps you will answer, “Brother, I am not a minister; I don’t minister. You are the minister.” But if you tell me that you are not a minister, I will tell you that I am not a minister either. I am what you are. You are a brother, and I am a brother too. But, brothers and sisters, you must realize that you have to minister. We all have to minister. What should you minister? You know. If you are sincere and faithful to the Lord, you will know what you have to minister. You are a priest.
If you are not serving as priests, you can never take possession of the all-inclusive Christ. If you would enter into that good land, you must be a priest. There must be a priesthood among the Lord’s children before the entrance into the land will be available. Perhaps you will say that many of the children of Israel were not priests. But you do recognize that they were all profited by the priesthood. In any case, there was a priesthood among them, and there must also be a priesthood among us.
What is a priest? Please do not consider that the priests among God’s children today are those so-called ministers, pastors, preachers, etc. I am afraid that many of them are not genuine priests. Who are the priests today? They are those who are living in Christ and by Christ to manifest Christ. It does not matter what you do or what your job is. You may be a schoolteacher, a businessman, a doctor, a nurse, a student, or a housewife. The essential and basic thing is that you live in Christ, walk in Christ, enjoy Christ, experience Christ, and apply Christ to all your life. This makes you a priest. Consider the sons of Aaron when they were brought to Moses. What did Moses do? He removed their clothes and put upon them the priestly robes. What are the priestly robes? They are the manifestation of Christ. Christ manifested upon you is the robe of the priest. What the priests eat represents Christ, what they wear represents Christ, and all their living represents Christ. To be a priest you must live in Christ and serve with Christ. When you teach in school, you teach in Christ; when you do business, you do business in Christ; when you take care of your home, you do it in Christ. You are in the robe of a priest.
A sister recently came to us from a distant city. She sent us a telegram, indicating her time of arrival and her flight number, but none of us knew her or had ever met her before. To further complicate the situation, it was a holiday season, and the airport was crowded with travelers. The brothers were very much concerned and talked with me, saying, “Brother, how will we be able to recognize this sister? How will she know us?” “Be at peace,” I said, “there will be some signs; we will know her.” When the plane arrived, and the passengers began to deplane, we were waiting at the entrance. Several ladies went by, and then several more. As we watched them pass, I said to one of the brothers, “This is not the one. This is not her. No, not that one. No...no...” Then another one was coming, and I said to the brother, “This is her; this one must be her. Go ahead and speak to her.” And this very one was smiling at us. She was the right one. I recognized her from her “priestly robe.”
About thirty years ago another sister came to us in north China by boat from Shanghai. The ship could not dock at the pier, so many small ferries brought the guests to shore. A multitude of friends and relatives were there, shouting and welcoming this one and that one. But we had never seen this sister; we did not know her. We looked at this one, and we looked at that one. We scanned and searched every ferry that arrived, but we could not distinguish anyone as the sister. Finally, another ferry came carrying a lady, and when she came within eyesight, we all said it was her. We were right. How could we tell? It was just by a certain kind of manifestation. I cannot explain the signs, but I can realize them; I can sense them.
There are many stories like this. If you are a priest, there is something about you that is not ordinary; you have distinct and distinguishing characteristics. You are equipped with Christ; you are adorned with Christ; Christ is your robe. You must experience Christ in such a way; then you will be a priest. Whatever you handle, you will handle with Christ; whatever you do, you will do with Christ. You will manifest Christ. If you are a sister, and you are handling Christ all the day, think how much you will be able to minister to the Lord. You will help people to know Christ; you will minister Christ to your family. When you come to the meetings, you will be able to minister many things. Whether you clean or arrange the seats or kneel down with two or three other sisters to pray for the meeting, it is all a ministry, a ministry fulfilled in Christ, with Christ, and by Christ. Perhaps you will prepare some food for guests who will come for special meetings. That is also a ministry that must be filled with the Spirit. In Acts we are told that those who served the tables had to be filled with the Spirit. It is not an easy matter to handle the preparation of food. It is an excellent opportunity to apply Christ and minister Christ.
There are many ministries for the priests to perform. You can come and sit here in the meeting, and although you may not be taking an active part openly in the meeting, you may have a powerful and prevailing ministry every moment. In Shanghai, during the period from 1946 through 1948, I delivered the greater part of the messages. I can tell you that whenever I was releasing a message, some brothers and sisters — not a small number, perhaps one or two hundred — were sitting there ministering. They were ministering by the spirit, by a praying spirit, by a receiving spirit. They were sitting there to draw out my message by their spirit. That was their ministry, and it was most effective and valuable. There were hundreds of people crowded into that meeting place, but they were my backers, my supporters. They were so one with me. Without them I could not minister in such a living and released way.
One time we arranged some special meetings to preach the gospel to unbelievers. All the brothers and sisters considered it best to reserve the seats for their unsaved friends, so they withdrew to another room. Hence, all the hall, especially in the front, was filled with unbelievers. When I arose to minister, I looked around and received a real shock. Not one backer, not one supporter, was there. I had to fight the battle all by myself. The weight of all those unbelievers, those sons of the devil, was exceedingly heavy. They crowded around me, and their sins rose against me. The next day I told the brothers and sisters, “No, no, you must never do that. At least two hundred of you must stay to support me. I cannot fight with hundreds of people single-handedly. You must come back. You must sit with all the people to pray and receive.”
With such a supporting spirit, what boldness and authority there is! Everyone is subdued, not by me but by the Body, by the priesthood. On the day of Pentecost Peter did not stand alone, but he stood with the eleven. See his boldness. See his authority. See the prevailing results.
One year in Taiwan we had a large conference with more than two thousand in attendance. As I faced it, a great burden was upon me. I was deeply burdened. I said to the elders, “You all have to come with me to the platform.” Thus, when we arrived at the meetings, they all came up to the platform, and while I stood to deliver the messages, there was a resounding Amen, Amen. They supported me; they backed me. I had much boldness, and the entire congregation was subdued. The fear of the Lord and the love of the Lord are stirred up by this kind of atmosphere. This is the ministry. Brothers and sisters, we can never fool the enemy, we can never fool our conscience, and we can never fool the Lord. If those elders on the platform were not priests, if they were worldly people, it would have been impossible for them to say Amen in such a way. There would be no peace in their conscience. They might have said Amen softly and weakly, but that is meaningless; there is no support in that. But they were serving the Lord in Christ; they were living in Christ, with Christ, and by Christ. Therefore, they had great boldness. When the occasion arose that a brother must minister, they could say, “Let us go with him to the platform as an army.” Not just one brother was ministering but a team, an army. When he spoke, they all said Amen with a strong spirit and drove the enemy away. There was no room for the enemy, and the whole meeting with the entire congregation was conquered and captured by the Lord. If you have had such an experience or have been in such a meeting, you can testify to the reality of this.
Brothers and sisters, this is the real ministry. It all depends on how much you live in Christ, walk in Christ, and take Christ as your food, your clothing, and your everything.
Now we have finished Leviticus. How many items of Christ we have to experience! How rich, how wonderfully rich He is! We must experience Him more and more. Now we not only have the Ark with the tabernacle but also the offerings and the priesthood. We are much more qualified to enter the land, but we must not be proud. We have to practice all these things day by day and experience them in reality. By enjoying Christ as the lamb, the passover feast, the daily manna, the rock with the living water, the Ark with the tabernacle, all the various offerings, and all the equipment and supply of the real priesthood, we are qualified to enter that good land.
