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We have seen the two altars in the house of God — one for offering and the other for burning the incense; one for redemption and the other for acceptance. Both are united, as we have seen, by the redeeming blood and the consuming, heavenly fire. For burning the incense we need these two things, the blood to redeem and the fire to consume. We all have two problems — our sins and our self. We need the blood, therefore, to redeem us from our sins and the fire to consume our self. On one hand, we need to be redeemed, and on the other hand, we need to be consumed. The sinful things require the blood, and all the natural elements need the fire; otherwise, the burning of the incense could never be acceptable and fragrant to God. Praise the Lord for the two altars. Praise the Lord for the blood and the fire. All these things may be used to compose praises to God.
Now I would ask you to refer to the diagram of the tabernacle on page 188. There you see the outer court and within it the tabernacle, which is divided into two sections. The inner part of the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, is a square area; the outer section, the Holy Place, is twice the size of the Holy of Holies. As we consider the entire picture, we see that there are six items of furniture — two in the outer court, three in the Holy Place, and one in the Holy of Holies. Now let us read Exodus 30:26-28.
With it you shall anoint the Tent of Meeting and the Ark of the Testimony, and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base.
Notice the order of the things which must be anointed. First, Moses was to anoint the tabernacle, that is, the Tent of Meeting; then the Ark of the Testimony in the Holy of Holies. Now note that the Lord does not go on to the altar of incense, but to the table of the bread of the Presence, and then to the lampstand. Following these three items, the two altars are mentioned together, the altar of incense and the altar of burnt offering. Physically speaking, between these two altars are three articles — the table of the bread of the Presence, the lampstand, and the laver. But in the sequence of the Bible these two altars are joined together. If I were doing the writing, I would probably mention the Ark first, then the incense altar, the table, the lampstand, the laver, and last the altar of burnt offering. But the record of Moses is not like that. The two altars must not be separated; they are one thing with two ends.
Both man and God are satisfied with these two altars: they are for our satisfaction and God’s satisfaction. All problems are solved here. It is the first altar that fully satisfies us and solves all our problems. Whatever we need, whatever problem we have, the first altar meets and solves. At the first altar, of course, God also obtains satisfaction. But satisfaction to God is fully realized at the second. The second altar is for our acceptance but not for our enjoyment; it is for God’s. God’s enjoyment is our acceptance. It is so meaningful.
We must note that the entire arrangement of the tabernacle with all the items related to it are just for the burning of the incense. The offerings on the altar are for the burning of the incense; the washing of the laver is for the burning of the incense; the bread of the Presence, the feeding, is for the burning of the incense; and the lighting of the lamp is also for the burning of the incense. Look at the diagram of the tabernacle again: in the arrangement of all the vessels of the tabernacle, the altar of incense is at the center. One end of the Holy Place is toward the Ark, and the other end is toward the laver and the first altar. On both sides, as two wings facing north and south, are the table of the bread of the Presence and the lampstand. In the center is the incense altar. By this we may realize that the altar of incense is the very center, the very place where God is satisfied and we are accepted by Him. It is not till we reach the incense altar that we are accepted by God. Without this place, there is no site in the entire universe where God may accept us with full satisfaction. The acceptance of man by God with sweet satisfaction is at the altar of incense.
In order to reach the altar of incense, God’s people must first labor upon the good land. Without laboring on the land, we have nothing to offer at the first altar; we cannot even take the first step. We must first labor on the land in order to reap the produce, to have the surplus to be brought to God and put upon the first altar as our offering.
Second, we need the priesthood. Today we are the laborers on the good land, and we are also the priesthood. The situation in this age is different from that of the ancient time. Long ago there were two groups of people, those who labored on the land and the priesthood. But today there is only one: those who labor on Christ are also the priesthood. First we need to be laborers to reap the produce, and then we must be the priesthood to offer the offerings, to handle Christ.
Third, we need the practice of the offerings. We must know how to offer the trespass offering, the sin offering, the peace offering, the meal offering, and the burnt offering. Do not imagine that these are only things of the Old Testament. These are pictures of what we must experience today as the reality. We need the priesthood to handle Christ as the reality of all these offerings.
Fourth, we need the washing in the laver, the washing of the cleansing Spirit, to rid us of all the dirt of the earthly touch. Fifth, we need the bread of the Presence upon which to feed. We must experience Christ as the life and feed upon Him as the life supply. Then out of the life comes the light — “The life was the light of men” (John 1:4). So following the table, we have the lamp — this is the sixth step. We need the life within and the Word without; these two factors give us the light.
Brothers and sisters, do you see the steps? The tabernacle is called the Tent of Meeting, and this is the way for us to meet. This is the way for the people of the Lord to come together to worship Him. These are not just practices of the ancient time; these are types of today’s reality. In Christianity today people speak of meeting merely as two or three coming together in the name of the Lord. But it is not so simple. Consider these steps. No wonder it is so difficult to have a proper meeting in today’s Christianity.
What I am doing is placing a picture before us. By looking at the picture, we should realize that we need to labor on Christ as the good land day by day in order to pass through all these steps. We also need a priesthood to handle the offerings. When we come to contact the Lord, we also need the offering altar and the instant, present washing of the Holy Spirit at the laver to free us from all the dirt of the earthly touch. Then we need to feed on Christ, the bread of the Presence, in the presence of the Lord and obtain the light of the lampstand, which represents the Word. Then we are in the light and ready to burn the incense. By passing through the offering altar, the problem of sin is solved; the matter of sin is settled. By passing through the laver, we are cleansed; we are filthy no more. Even though we may not be sinful, we still may be defiled. However, by passing through the cleansing laver, our problem of dirt and defilement is dealt with. Then by feeding on Christ, the problem of our hunger is met; we are filled inwardly and truly satisfied. We can then light the lamp, and the Word without will correspond with the life within. Eventually, we are no more in darkness but in the light and in a position to burn the incense.
If you are still under the condemnation of sin, you cannot come to burn the incense. You must first go to the altar of burnt offering to deal with your sins. Though you have dealt with your sins, if you are still dirty and uncleansed, you cannot burn the incense. You must pass through the washing of the laver. If you are hungry and unsatisfied, you still cannot burn the incense. God can never be satisfied with hungry people. If you are not satisfied, neither is God. If you are still hungry, God will tell you to come to the table of the bread of the Presence first to feed upon Christ and then to the incense altar. Then you will be qualified to burn the incense. Of course, if you are still in darkness, it is rather difficult for you to burn the incense. You must first light the lamp; then you will be adequately prepared to burn the incense unto God. You see, all these are the steps through which we must pass.
Now do you see why in today’s Christian meetings the situation is so poverty-stricken and desperate? There is no laboring on the good land, there is a shortage of the priesthood, there is no real dealing with sinful things, there is no cleansing from defilement, there is no feeding on Christ, and there is no lighting of the lamp. How then could people burn the incense? It is impossible! This must not be a kind of teaching to us, but an exposing. We all must be exposed that we may see where we are and what we are. We look to the Lord for His mercy. We all must look to the Lord that He will enable us by His grace to labor on Christ day by day so that we may reap a surplus to be brought to Him. We must also look to Him that He will raise up among us a real priesthood, that He will cause every member to function in the meetings in a coordinated and living way. If not, all we have is the clergy-laity system. Furthermore, we need the real experiences of offering all kinds of sacrifices to God — offering Christ as the burnt offering, as the meal offering, as the peace offering, as the sin offering, and as the trespass offering. We also need to continually experience the cleansing of the living One, the Holy Spirit. Then we can feed on Christ, and we can light the lamp. Thus, we are qualified to offer Christ, the compound, all-inclusive Christ, composed of so many fragrant ingredients, to God as incense. We will be full of praises acceptable to the Lord. Our spirits will be so one with Him. He will meet with us, and we will meet with Him. He will speak to us, and we will commune with Him. This is the proper way for us to meet, and this is real worship to God.
These are the steps to the incense altar. There is the first step — do not be offended. There is the second step — do not be disappointed. There is the third step — do not stop. There is the fourth step — keep coming. There is the fifth step — we need to be trained. There is the sixth step — burn the incense. Now we know where we are and what we need to do. We do need this kind of practical experience. Check yourself. Do you really labor on Christ? Do you really participate in the priesthood by functioning in the meetings? Do you really experience the first altar, the laver, the table, and the lampstand? If so, you have come to the very place where you may be accepted by God and commune with Him. You will be sweetly accepted, and He will be fully satisfied.
Now we do not need more teaching. What we need is practice. We all must practice in our daily walk, on our job, in our school, at our homes. Practice! Practice burning the incense! Do not fear exposure — to be exposed is a kind of glory. The most glorious among the twelve disciples was Peter — he was so exposed; the Lord continually put him on the spot. He was so open, so bold, and so stupid. But that is exactly what the Lord needs. We all need to be like that; then we will learn something. We will learn to be right by being wrong. That is the only way. The more mistakes we make, the more we will be corrected. In any case, exposed or not, almost everyone knows where we are; so why hide? Let us put ourselves on the altar and allow the High Priest to divide us joint from marrow.
In the early years the church in Taipei grew very quickly due mainly to one reason — a willingness to be exposed; everyone was willing to be exposed. Everyone but yourself knows where you are; you are the only one who does not know your own state. You need to be exposed, not for others’ sake but for your sake. It is so good to be exposed. Let us practice all the time, practice to burn the incense, not fearing to be exposed. Let us practice individually, in small groups, and in the meetings. Practice will make perfect. We should not merely go on according to the stage we have already attained. We must learn something ever new and fresh.
As we have mentioned already, it is really difficult for any Christian to discover the proper way for Christians to meet — this matter is not specifically recorded in the New Testament. The way we have practiced in the past has been more or less traditional; we have either followed the traditions of Christianity, or we have instituted traditions of our own. In the past thirty-five or forty years, we who have been in some responsibility among the Lord’s children have had a deep conviction that the way we have carried on the meetings is questionable. In a sense, we do not know what is right, but we do know what is wrong. We do not know what we should have, but we do know what we should not have.
Brother Watchman Nee is so bold to say in some of his writings that the so-called fundamental Christian services must be done away with. He said on occasion that such services were just “the custom of the nations.” When the people of Israel were brought into the land of Canaan, God clearly told them that they should not adopt any customs or habits of the nations surrounding them. But eventually they did this very thing: they assimilated many things, not from the law of Moses, not from the teaching of the prophets, but from the practices of the nations. Likewise, Brother Nee had the boldness to declare that the modern Christian services spring from “the custom of the nations,” not from the teaching of God. We are all well aware of the general arrangement of these meetings. There is usually an eleven o’clock Sunday morning service, set at that hour so that everyone may have an opportunity to sleep late. Then the church-goers arrive for the time of “worship,” but what is called the “worship service” is almost a period of entertainment and relaxation. The burden of responsibility falls upon the hired pastors. The men of the congregation have been working in their offices, and the women have been laboring at home; therefore, this is the time, they say, for the pastor to do his job. The pastor preaches, and the choir, led by the director of music, sings to the congregation. If any of the pew members are asked to function, with few exceptions they will say that this is not their job but the pastor’s. I am not being critical but just presenting the situation.
Praise the Lord for His recovery. It is a recovery of being in the spirit and on the ground of the church, but it is something more. To be in the spirit and on the proper ground are vital, but these are only preparatory to burning the incense. In the center of God’s dwelling place on this earth is the altar of incense. The goal of the entire service within the sphere of the tabernacle is the burning of the incense. We must have the burning of the incense in the church meetings. We have seen that it is the priesthood, the corporate body of the priests, that burns the incense. Who are the priests? The hired pastors, the director of music, the choir, and the soloists? I believe we are clear that we are all the priests.
To burn the incense we need the priesthood, and we need the sphere of the priestly ministry, the proper tabernacle. The practical expression of the tabernacle today is undoubtedly the local church. There is no other way to interpret the typology. If we do not have the local church, we cannot have the tabernacle. As the people of God, we need such a tabernacle to worship and to serve God. Praise the Lord for His recovery of the local churches. Now in this country we do have some genuine local churches; we do have the reality of the tabernacle. Whether this tabernacle is up to standard or not is another matter — we leave that for the moment. In any case, we do have the local tabernacles. If it were only universal, we could not touch it; it must be local. Just the tabernacle alone, however, is useless: We must have the tabernacle with the priesthood, and since we are the priesthood, we all must learn to function.
Brothers, you must function. Sisters, you must function. If I could, I would be a troublemaker to every one of you. I would give you no rest until every one of you learns to function in the meetings. It is really difficult to be delivered from anything traditional. I know your habit of looking at the ceiling or looking around at the walls in the meetings. You may say that you are more for God than that — you do not look around or care for the adornment of others. You care for the Lord but in a silent way, waiting for either the pastor, the responsible brothers, or the full-time workers to do their job. Am I right? This is the traditional way. So many take this for granted as normal and proper, but we are bold to say that it is one hundred percent wrong, one hundred percent according to tradition. This is Christianity. I challenge anyone to find a verse in the Bible saying that when we come together as Christians we must be silent. On the other hand, we have this word: “Make a joyful noise to Jehovah,” mentioned seven times in the Psalms. Who taught you to be so silent? Not the Lord. You must not bring your traditions into the Lord’s recovery.
For years we have been seeking a way to help all the Lord’s children function in the meetings. I do believe the Lord has begun to show us the way by the corporate pray-reading and praise-reading of His Word. I am not predicting, but I have a deep conviction that there is yet something new awaiting us. In any case, the principle is this: we all must learn to function. Do not still be controlled by the traditions. May the Lord be merciful to fully recover us.
