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In order to eat Christ as the solid food, as the produce of the good land, we must first have a harvest. The Lord has given us the land and the seed, and the rain is coming; however, He cannot give us a harvest. For this, we need to do the work of farming. Otherwise, we cannot grow Christ, and there will be no harvest. We have seen that manna comes altogether from the Lord’s side. He gives it, and we gather it and eat it. The eating of the solid food of the good land, however, is different. Although the seed and the land have been given, and although the rain has been promised, there will be no harvest unless we work the land.
It is the last stage of eating, the eating of the solid food in the good land, that constitutes the genuine worship of God. If we do not have a harvest, we not only have nothing to eat but also nothing with which to worship our God. Both our daily living and our worship of God depend upon eating the harvest. Therefore, the harvest is crucial. We must farm the land and grow Christ so that we may have a harvest.
To have the harvest is simply to have something to eat. We do not yet have the way to eat it. Thus, after we have reaped the harvest, we must still learn how to eat the produce. According to our natural concept, once we have the harvest, we may eat it in any way, at any place, and at any time we choose. But according to the divine revelation in the Bible, there are some restrictions pertaining to the eating of the produce of the good land. Hence, we need to be very careful about this matter.
Some may say that because these restrictions are an Old Testament matter, they have nothing to do with us, the New Testament believers. I beg those who hold this view to change their mind. All Scripture was written for our benefit (Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:6, 11). The spiritual things concerning Christ and the church are so mysterious and abstract that, in addition to the plain words in the New Testament, God in His wisdom has given us the pictures in the Old Testament. These pictures portray the spiritual things revealed in the New Testament. The apostle Paul allegorized the Old Testament. For instance, he allegorized the crossing of the Red Sea, the eating of the manna, and the drinking of the water that flowed from the rock (1 Cor. 10:2-4). According to Paul’s allegorization, the crossing of the Red Sea was baptism, and both the manna and the rock were Christ. If Paul had had the opportunity, he probably would have allegorized every item in the Old Testament. In order to understand the New Testament adequately, we must consider the figures found in the Old Testament. Take the example of the golden lampstands in Revelation 1. If we would understand the significance of these lampstands, we must consider the first mention of the golden lampstand, the lampstand in Exodus 25.
The entire history of the children of Israel is a type. The falling away of Israel into Babylon is a type, an allegory, of the fallen church, called the great Babylon. In Revelation 17 the Roman Catholic Church is called Babylon the Great. In like manner, the regulations concerning the eating of the harvest are all allegories, types, and shadows. Hence, they are full of meaning for us today.
Deuteronomy 12:17 and 18 say, “You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or of your new wine or of your fresh oil, nor the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, or any of your vows which you vow or of your freewill offerings or of the heave offering of your hand; but you shall eat them before Jehovah your God in the place which Jehovah your God will choose.” In these verses the Lord seemed to be saying, “Tell the children of Israel that, when they enter into the good land and reap the harvest, they must set aside one tenth of the harvest. They have no right to eat this in the place of their choice. At the time of the feast they must bring this top tenth to the place I have chosen for My name and for My habitation. This will be the unique place, and they all must bring the top tenth of their produce to that place.” If the children of Israel had eaten the top tenth of the harvest in any other place, it would have been a serious sin in the eyes of the Lord. If they had done so, it would have meant that they were doing what was right in their own eyes (v. 8). They had to learn to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord commanded them, saying, “Be careful that you do not offer up your burnt offerings in every place that you see; but in the place which Jehovah will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer up your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you” (vv. 13-14). The Lord seemed to be saying, “Don’t eat the tithe in the place of your choice — eat it in the place I have chosen.”
Eventually, the unique place chosen by the Lord was Jerusalem. No matter in what region an Israelite lived, he had to set aside the top tenth of his harvest and bring it at the set time to Jerusalem. He had no right to eat this portion at home. Although this practice may seem quite awkward to us, it was a test of whether the Israelites would act according to their sight or according to God’s sight, whether they would do things according to their choice or according to the Lord’s choice. From God’s point of view, the practice of bringing all the tithes to Jerusalem was very economical.
Perhaps you would say, “This does not seem economical to me. It was awkward for people to travel so far with their produce. Why didn’t God allow His people to enjoy the top tenth where they were?” Do you think that you are wiser than God, that you are more intelligent than He? You must renounce your thoughts concerning this matter and take the word of the Bible. God’s economy is for oneness, for unity. The children of Israel went to Jerusalem three times a year in order to be united. If there had not been this place of oneness, those in the north would have said, “It is too far to go down to Jerusalem to worship. Let us establish a center here in our territory.” Then those in the south would have said, “It is not convenient to go to Jerusalem. Let us have a center in our region.” Suppose the tribe of Naphtali said, “Let us establish our own center,” and the tribe of Dan said, “We don’t like those in Naphtali. Let us establish our own place of worship.” If this had been permitted, the children of Israel would have been divided. However, throughout the centuries the children of Israel have not been divided as far as their worship is concerned. Although the nation of Israel was divided into the northern and southern kingdoms, they were still united by the unique place of worship chosen by God.
All the Israelites had to go to Jerusalem to worship three times a year, and they had to go not just for an overnight visit but to dwell together for several days. Suppose two Israelites, neighbors, had trouble getting along with each other. In fact, they were enemies. Nevertheless, at the time of the Feast of Passover, according to the law, they both had to go to Jerusalem to worship. Although they might travel to Jerusalem by different routes, they had to approach Mount Zion by the same pathway. Furthermore, as they were ascending Mount Zion, they had to sing Psalm 133: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is / For brothers to dwell in unity!” Thus, these two brothers had to forgive each other and be reconciled. Otherwise, they would not be able to offer their sacrifices to the Lord. If they had attempted to offer their sacrifices while still at enmity with each other, the Lord would have said, as the Lord Jesus did hundreds of years later, “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and first go and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matt. 5:23-24). By this illustration we see that the requirement to gather in Jerusalem at the time of the appointed feasts forced the children of Israel to be one. If there had not been this regulation, these Israelites who were at enmity would never have been reconciled. The one may have said, “If he goes to Jerusalem, then I will go to another place of worship.”
This is precisely the practice of today’s Christianity. There is no unique place of worship, and every Christian worships according to what is right in his own eyes. Whenever a Christian is unhappy with others in a certain group, he feels free to go to another group. If after a period of time he is no longer happy with those in that group, he will look around for a third group. Perhaps, he will eventually start a meeting in his home. When after a few years those in that group are no longer happy with one another, some will start a meeting on the next street. This is the confusion of today’s Christians. Where is the unique place of oneness? There is no such thing among Christians. In fact, if you talk about it, you will be condemned as narrow-minded. Today nearly everyone feels the right to establish a worship center as he chooses. Instead of the proper restriction and regulation, there is confusion. But no man-made worship center is recognized by God. Rather, every such center is sinful in His eyes, for it is the practice of the principle of Babel. The principle of Babel is division and confusion. Babel is the origin of Babylon, and the very characteristic of Babylon is division resulting in confusion. In the eyes of God the division and confusion among Christians today is Babylon. Nevertheless, many Christians persist in talking about love and the oneness of the Body. But hardly any will give up their divisions. Instead, they justify their divisions. If you rise up and tell them to forsake the divisions and eliminate the confusion, they will accuse you of being narrow-minded and of causing more divisions. What a deplorable situation!
Consider again the Lord’s regulation regarding coming to His chosen place to worship Him with the top tenth of the harvest. In Deuteronomy 12, 14, and 16 God said words such as The place I shall choose fifteen times. In Deuteronomy 12:5 He said, “To the place which Jehovah your God will choose out of all your tribes to put His name, to His habitation, shall you seek, and there shall you go.” Verse 11 of the same chapter says, “To the place where Jehovah your God will choose to cause His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I am commanding you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the heave offering of your hand and all your choice vows which you vow to Jehovah.” In these verses the Lord seemed to be saying, “You must go to the place I have chosen, the place where I put My name, the place of My habitation. You have no right to offer sacrifices in the places you see. You must be regulated by Me and go to the place I have chosen.” That place was the uniting factor. For thirty-five centuries it has kept the children of Israel one. If Christians today observed such a uniting principle, no one would dare cause division. Whether or not we liked one another, we would still have to be one. If I were a loud brother, you would have to be one with me, and if I were a quiet brother, you would also have to be one with me. You would have no choice. But where is such a regulation in Christianity today? Instead of this regulation, there is lawlessness. Because of this lawlessness, Christians cannot eat the top portion of Christ.
Praise the Lord, this top portion is to be eaten by the people of God! But it must be brought to the uniting center, where it is honored and respected by God and enjoyed by Him. When the Israelites brought the top portion of their produce to Mount Zion, it was offered to God, and a portion of what was offered to God became His food. The expression My food is found in Numbers 28:2: “Command the children of Israel and say to them, My offering, My food for My offerings by fire of a satisfying fragrance to Me, you shall be careful to present to Me at its appointed time.” At the uniting center, both God and the Israelites enjoyed the top tenth.
In all the years you have been a Christian, have you ever heard of such a regulation? As far as Christian meetings are concerned, all Christians today do whatever is right in their own eyes. Some do not like meetings where people say Amen or praise the Lord in a loud way. Some like to have a quiet or formal service with a sermon. These dear Christians do not like to meet with other Christians who have meetings that do not fit their concept. They prefer to meet in their own way. But is Christ divided? Do we serve different Gods or have different Bibles? Are there different ways of salvation? No, there is one Christ, one God, one Bible, and one salvation. Any Christian who has seen the church, the Body, knows that the church is one. Whether some saints are noisy or speak in tongues, they are brothers in the Lord, and we must be one with them. Our attitude toward all believers should be that we care only for Christ and that we love them because Christ is in them. We should not be bothered by any who speak in tongues or who say Amen in the meetings.
Because there is no uniting principle, no unique center for oneness, among today’s Christians, there is no enjoyment of the top portion of Christ. For this reason today’s Christian meetings are very poor. Some are so pitiful that they use performances of rock music and drama in their meetings. How could the Lord be in these meetings? Furthermore, those who meet in this way do not have the Lord’s speaking. Today in neither the United States nor Europe is there a Christian paper with a rich message. The reason for this is that Christians do not have the speaking of the Lord. They lack His speaking because they do not have the temple with the Holy of Holies. The Lord speaks only from the Holy of Holies. Who can deny that this is the actual situation of Christianity today?
Recently, by the Lord’s grace, we have put out the Life-studies of various books, including Genesis, John, Romans, Hebrews, and Revelation. Although some oppose the local churches, they use our materials for their own purpose. For example, a few weeks ago a brother heard a certain radio preacher conducting a study of Revelation. One of his messages was exactly according to Message 18 in our Life-study of Revelation. Another example is that of an itinerant preacher who has written a tract opposing the local church. This preacher has reprinted some of my material. However, although he gives credit to other writers for material taken from their books, he does not give me credit for the material from my book. Furthermore, not long ago he conducted a study of Romans. One brother who is familiar with that study told me that he used the materials from my Life-study of Romans.
My point in relating these incidents is to show the poverty-stricken condition of Christianity. Christianity is poverty-stricken because of its division and confusion. Will God speak in a meeting where there is division and confusion? Certainly not! There is no need to say that most Christians do not have the top portion of the harvest; they do not even have the harvest. In fact, I doubt if they even have manna.
Nothing touches the Lord’s heart as much as the recovery of the church life. This is His recovery today. The Lord desires to recover the church life so that He may have a people who have come out of every division, so that He may have a place for His name and for His habitation, and so that He may have the Holy of Holies in which and from which to speak to His people today.
We have seen that the top tenth of the harvest had to be kept separate, brought to the unique worship center, and enjoyed there with God. However, the Israelites could enjoy the remaining ninety percent of their harvest at any time and in any place. We in the Lord’s recovery can testify from our experience that we always have something of Christ to enjoy. Daily we are nourished and illuminated by the Word. Daily we enjoy the riches of Christ, the ninety percent of the harvest. But no matter how rich is the enjoyment of the ninety percent, it cannot compare with the enjoyment of the top ten percent. This enjoyment is found only in the church meetings. The children of Israel went to Jerusalem three times a year for the feasts. But we feast in the meetings of the church at least three times a week. I do not like to miss even one church meeting. No matter how much I enjoy the Lord at home or in other places, this enjoyment can never replace the enjoyment I have in the meetings, where we eat the top portion of Christ. Do you want to taste this top portion? Then do not stay at home, for you can never enjoy it there. Come to the church meetings.
Suppose, however, that no one in the church labors on Christ. When they all come together in the meetings, they will be empty-handed, without Christ. This does not mean that they do not believe in Christ. It means that they have not experienced Him. In other words, they have no wheat, barley, wine, figs, pomegranates, or olives. Although the brothers and sisters may have their Bibles and hymnals, they have no harvest of Christ in the spirit. Hence, nothing of Christ comes out of their mouth in the meeting. Instead, they sit there like a flat tire and wait for a certain brother to deliver a message. This kind of meeting is pitiful; it is a return to the old tradition of a speaker and an audience. Praise the Lord that the church in Stuttgart is not like this! So many of the saints in Stuttgart are full of Christ. They do not just have the Bible in their hand — they have Christ in their spirit. Thus, in the meetings there is an abundance of wheat, barley, and the other items of the riches of the good land. What a wonderful meeting it is when the brothers and sisters stand up one by one to testify of their experience of Christ!
If the church meeting is to be living and filled with Christ, the testimonies should not drag on and on. Such slow, dragging testimonies kill the meeting. We all must do our best to release the spirit so that Christ may come forth to nourish the saints. When we do this, we enjoy the top portion of Christ. This is a very important matter. Since we all have something of Christ, let us come together to exhibit Him. When the children of Israel gathered at Mount Zion, they brought their tithes together. Although each Israelite might not have had very much, there must have been a heap of firstfruits when all the tithes were put together. Eventually, there was an exhibition of the rich produce of the good land. Likewise, we need to put our riches of Christ together and exhibit them in the meetings. In order to have such an exhibition of Christ, we must do three things: first, we must have the harvest; second, we must come to the unique place that God has chosen, not to a place of division or confusion; and third, when we come to the church meetings, the unique place, we must release our spirit.
When you give a testimony in the meetings, do not relate your personal history in detail. The saints do not want to hear your history; they want to eat Jesus. They want to enjoy Christ out of your spirit. Long testimonies filled with details about your personal history will simply put the brothers and sisters to sleep. Two years ago in Taipei we held a conference attended by more than nine thousand people. In order to give as many as possible the opportunity to testify, the elders decided to limit each testimony to twenty seconds. Because the attendance was so large, a microphone was used for the testimonies. At the end of twenty seconds the microphone was turned off, and the one speaking could not continue. Nearly everyone was caught. But they received an excellent training. When you testify, forget the unnecessary details. Simply say, “Praise the Lord! Christ is my life and my light. How sweet He is, and how good He is to me! This morning my wife was giving me a difficult time. But the Lord strengthened me, and now I can shout Hallelujah!” Testimonies like this, easily given in twenty seconds, are very nourishing. By giving this kind of testimony in the church meetings, we eat the choice portion of Christ.
In order to eat the top portion of Christ, we must have the harvest, we must go to the unique place, and we must exercise our spirit to testify in a quick, direct way. It is impossible to have the harvest overnight. For this, we must labor on the land. If we labor diligently, we shall eventually have a harvest. I believe that you all love the Lord and the church. Now the Lord is telling you that you must learn to grow Christ, to let Christ grow in you. If you do this, you will have a harvest of Christ to bring to the church meetings.
When you are in the meeting, be prepared in spirit. In some respects, functioning in the meeting of the church is like playing basketball. The members of a basketball team come to the basketball court prepared to play. Even their attire indicates that they are players, not spectators. However, many come to the church meetings dressed as spectators, not as participants. They have no intention of participating in the meeting. They are neither prepared nor equipped for this. Rather, they watch others play. Furthermore, they may be not only spectators but also critics, judging some for using poor grammar, others for being too emotional, and still others for being too sharp. Eventually, such people are not happy with anything or anyone. If we come to the meeting like this, it is impossible to practice the church life.
We are still too much under the influence of Christianity. We need to be recovered, to be brought back to Christ. Day by day we must live in Christ, by Christ, with Christ, and for Christ. If we labor on Christ day by day, we shall certainly have a harvest of Christ to bring to the meetings.
