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Scripture Reading: Deut. 12:5-8, 11-15, 17-18, 20-22, 26-27; 14:22-23; 15:19-20; 16:16-17
In this chapter we will go on to see something in more detail concerning the way for the practice of the church life.
Deuteronomy is a book that shows the proper way for the children of Israel as God’s people, after their entrance into the land of Canaan, to have a life, a walk, and a living according to God’s mind that would be well pleasing to God Himself. The holy living mentioned in the book of Deuteronomy is a living of worship, or service, to God. Our life must be a life that is absolutely dedicated to the worship, the service, of God.
The things that the people of Israel experienced in the Old Testament are pictures, types, figures, and shadows, pointing us to the reality of the things in the New Testament time (1 Cor. 10:6, 11). The land of Canaan, into which the children of Israel entered, is a type of the all-inclusive Christ (Col. 1:12). God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and transferred them into the land of Canaan to worship and serve Him. This typifies that God has delivered us out of the world, out of the authority of the darkness of Satan, and transferred us into Christ (v. 13). Now we are walking, living, working, and worshipping and serving God in Christ (2:6).
When the children of Israel were in Egypt, they had the lamb of the Passover, which is a type of Christ as the initiation of our experience of Him (1 Cor. 5:7). Our experience of Christ begins with the experience of Him as the redeeming Lamb. Then after the children of Israel came out of Egypt, while they were wandering and traveling in the wilderness, they had the daily manna and the rock out of which flowed the living water (10:3-4). These are further types of Christ. After we experience Christ as the redeeming Lamb, we enjoy Him day by day as the daily manna and the living rock. Later on there was the tabernacle with all its furniture. All these are types of the different aspects of Christ. Today we enjoy and experience Christ in the different aspects typified by the tabernacle and all its furniture.
This, however, is not all. After the children of Israel entered into Canaan, the manna stopped, and they had to eat the produce of the land (Josh. 5:12). When the children of Israel entered into Canaan, everything that they needed for their living was taken from the land. They ate the things produced by this land, they drank something from this land, and they even had a building as their house from this land and on this land. Everything necessary for their living came out of this land. Hence, the good land is the all-inclusive type of Christ, that is, Christ as everything to us in an all-inclusive way.
The enjoyment of the produce of the good land was definitely regulated and ordained by God. There were two ways for the children of Israel to enjoy the produce of the good land — the personal way and the corporate way.
We need to consider the passages from the book of Deuteronomy listed at the beginning of this chapter. On the one hand, the children of Israel had the full liberty to enjoy the produce in a personal way at any time and in any place. There was, however, another aspect, a corporate aspect. When they enjoyed the produce of the land of Canaan for their worship to God and for their fellowship with the people of God, they had to be regulated, ruled, and governed. They had no freedom to choose any place according to their desire. They had to go to the one place appointed, chosen, and ordained by God.
In these verses which we listed from Deuteronomy, the phrase the place which Jehovah will choose occurs repeatedly. On the one hand, the children of Israel had the full liberty to enjoy the produce according to their desire, but that applied to only ninety percent of the produce. On the other hand, they had no right to enjoy the top one-tenth of their produce at any place of their choice. They had to bring all these things to the very place which the Lord chose or appointed. The appointed place of God’s choice is a type, the significance of which we must see. If we are fair, we must apply all the types to Christ.
First, we know that the good land is a type of the all-inclusive Christ. Then the produce of Canaan is a type of the experiences of Christ. God gave the good land to the children of Israel, but they had to labor on it — they had to till the ground, sow the seed, reap the harvest, and take care of the herds and flocks. This typifies that since we have been transferred into Christ, who is the allotted portion of the saints in the light (Col. 1:12-13), we have to work, to labor, on Christ day by day. In the morning we have to pray to Him and fellowship with Him. By laboring on Christ, we will have something produced out of Christ for our enjoyment. Many Christians, although they have Christ and are in Christ, are lazy. They do not labor on Christ. Day by day they neither pray nor have fellowship with Him. They do not have something out of Christ as their spiritual food to nourish their spiritual life. Due to their laziness, they have become poor.
Since we are in Christ and Christ is our portion, we have to cooperate with God by laboring on Christ, just as the children of Israel did. God gave the children of Israel the good land, and He also gave them the air, the rain, and the sunshine. They, however, had to cooperate with God by working on the land so that they might have something produced from the land. All of the produce is a type of the experiences of Christ. If we labor on Christ and work together with Christ, we will have many things produced out of Christ as food to us for our enjoyment, and we will have a surplus of Christ.
As we mentioned earlier, there are two ways ordained by God for His people to enjoy the produce of Christ. One way is that in our personal enjoyment of Christ we have the full liberty to enjoy anything of Christ at any time and in any place as our food for our own nourishment and spiritual supply. The second way to enjoy Christ is related to our corporate enjoyment. The children of Israel had no right, no freedom, to choose any place for them to bring their tithes, their burnt offerings, their heave offerings, and their vows to God as their worship to God in fellowship with God’s people. They had to go to the place chosen by God.
Only in the place chosen, ordained, by God could the oneness of the children of Israel be kept and maintained. This means that when we enjoy Christ with God as our worship to God in the fellowship of His children, we have to be in the unique place ordained by God — the place of the oneness of God’s children. Hence, it is clear that for us to enjoy Christ personally is one thing, and for us to enjoy Christ with others as a worship to God is another thing. For thousands of years in their history, the children of Israel had never been divided in their worship of God because they had no right to choose any place according to their desire. They had only one place where they could go to worship God in fellowship with one another. Even when the nation was divided into two, they were not allowed to have two places to worship God; they had only one place.
In the thousands of years of Israel’s history throughout the generations, there have never been two temples built up for them to worship God. There has always been only one temple because there is only one place for the people to legitimately build the temple. One could not say, “You can build a temple in Jerusalem, so we can do the same thing in Babylon. Let us build the same thing with the same pattern, the same style, and the same materials but in a different place.” The temple in Jerusalem on the very piece of land appointed by God is right and acceptable to God. However, if one were to build exactly the same thing in another place, that would be wrong.
Suppose that after the children of Israel entered into the land of Canaan, there was not such a regulation about their worship to God. If they had had the freedom to choose any place for their worship to God, they would have been divided into many groups within a short time. The people of the tribe of Benjamin would have said, “We don’t like to have the people from the tribe of Judah.” Then the people of the tribe of Dan in the north would have said, “Since we are too far from Jerusalem and it is simply too inconvenient, let us build another place in our territory.” Eventually, other tribes would follow and build other places within their own territories. This is the reason that, according to God’s ordination, although they were free to enjoy the produce of the land for their personal enjoyment in any place, they were required to go to the unique place of God’s choice to enjoy the top produce of the good land for the worship of God in fellowship with God’s children. They had to keep the oneness of the people of God.
This signifies that for our personal enjoyment, we can enjoy Christ in any place at any time, but if we are going to enjoy Christ as our worship to God in fellowship with the other saints, we have to be careful because it affects our oneness. We do not have the freedom to do whatever is right in our eyes. If we disregard this, we will bring in divisions. There is only one place ordained, appointed, chosen, by God for His people to come together to share Christ with one another in the worship to the Father. This one place is the place of oneness. We have to keep the oneness in the worship to the Father in fellowship with one another. Otherwise, we will bring in divisions. I like the warning that is given in Deuteronomy 12:13: “Be careful that you do not offer up your burnt offerings in every place that you see.” Brothers and sisters, be careful! This is a type which we must honor. We cannot apply other aspects concerning our experience of Christ and simply ignore this particular aspect. We have to apply this aspect too.
Suppose that I am a Hebrew in ancient times. For the whole year I labor diligently and have plenty of produce from the land for myself and my family to enjoy. For this we are really grateful to the Lord. Then I say to my wife and children, “Dear wife and children, you know the Lord is so good to us. We have to worship Him. Let us go to Jerusalem and have a feast before Jehovah.” My wife agrees with me wholeheartedly, but the children are against our going to Jerusalem, because it is too far. Then I say, “All right, maybe it is better if we just go to our farm, which is only one mile away from our house.” So we go to our farm and even invite some of our neighbors to join us. We say to ourselves, “How nice it is that we do not have to travel such a long distance to Jerusalem. We can just worship God right where we are since God is everywhere. Let us enjoy the tithes. Let us also set up an altar and put all the burnt offerings and the heave offerings on the altar. If they can build an altar in Jerusalem, why can we not do the same here in our place? This is very nice and very convenient.”
Then another Hebrew will hear about what we are doing, and he will decide to gather some of his neighbors to do the same thing. Eventually, the people of Israel will be automatically and spontaneously divided, and there will be no end to their divisions. However, God did not allow this for the children of Israel. They were regulated strictly by God in their worship to Him; three times a year they had to go to worship God in the place which God chose (Deut. 16:16). If they offered their offerings in other places, that would be considered sinful to God.
We need to apply this type to ourselves. The place of oneness is the unique ground, or standing, of oneness. When you go to any city, you do not have the freedom to set up any meeting you like for the worship or service of God. You have to be limited, ruled, and regulated. This is the church life. This is the reason why many people do not feel happy to talk about the church life, because with the church life there is limitation.
When we talk about our personal enjoyment of Christ, everything is so nice because we are absolutely free to enjoy Him wherever we are. The Lord is the Spirit, who is everywhere, so we can enjoy Him without any limitation. But do you think that as Christians we have the liberty to do whatever we like in our worship to God in the enjoyment of Christ in fellowship with others? This is the misuse of freedom in the church’s history. It seems today that it is easy for any Christian to set up a meeting. If you can come to Los Angeles to set up a meeting, so can I. You and I, however, need to consider that if we do this, we just bring in more divisions and thereby damage the oneness of God’s children.
Suppose a brother who is of the tribe of Benjamin has been offended by a brother who is of the tribe of Judah. When the Feast of Tabernacles comes, the brother from the tribe of Benjamin does not feel happy about going to Jerusalem since the brother who has offended him is also going there. What can the Benjaminite do? Can he set up an altar on his farm and offer his tithes and burnt offerings there? The answer, of course, is no. Here is a picture of the test to the flesh and to the natural intention. Here is the need of the application of the cross to the natural man.
But look at the situation today. When people cannot get along with others or do not feel happy about one another, they just set up different meetings according to their taste or preference. Where is the limitation to the flesh? Where is the regulation to the natural man? There is nothing limiting or regulating people. Every man does whatever is right in his eyes. Everyone can offer his burnt offerings in any place he chooses. So the oneness of the people of God is gone. As a result, there are all kinds of complications and divisions. We need to have a real repentance before God.
Do we really know the right ground for the children of God to worship God with Christ in the fellowship with one another? We should not be more liberal than what has been ordained by God. We have to keep the oneness. This is why many times, by the mercy of the Lord, I have declared to the Lord’s children that they have no right to form anything, to start anything, according to their own convenience and preference. There is only one proper ground for the Lord’s children to share Christ with one another in fellowship as a worship to the Father. That proper ground is the ground of oneness.
Suppose you come to Los Angeles, and there is already a group of believers meeting together on the proper ground in worshipping God and in fellowshipping with one another. Then you do not have the freedom to set up another meeting. You have to submit to them because there is only one ground of oneness, one place ordained, appointed, by God for His people to worship Him and share His Christ in fellowship with one another. If you start another meeting according to what you prefer, you simply break the regulation, the rule, of the oneness of the Lord’s people.
In the history of the Jewish nation, there was a person who did this thing. His name was Jeroboam. Jeroboam not only divided the nation but also tried his best to divide the people’s worship to God (1 Kings 12:20-33). By this he damaged the oneness of God’s people and brought in a great curse from God (14:6-16).
For the practice of the church life, we need to learn to take care of the oneness. If we give up the ground of the oneness of the Body of Christ, there is no need for us to talk about the church life. If we do whatever is right in our eyes, any talk about the church life is meaningless. If we mean business to practice the church life, we have to make a definite decision concerning the proper ground of oneness.
Now we need to go further and consider another thing. Whenever we come together to worship God in sharing Christ in fellowship with one another, we have to come with something of Christ. We should not come with our hands empty. There were only two rules for the people of Israel in their coming together to worship God. One was that they had no right to choose the place of worship, but they had to take the place chosen by God. The other was that they were not allowed to come with their hands empty, but they had to come with their hands filled with the produce of the good land (Deut. 16:16-17). Today this means that whenever we come to the meeting with others to worship God by sharing Christ in fellowship with one another, we have to bring something of Christ as a surplus in our hands.
In ancient times when the children of Israel came together three times a year, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles, that was a big exhibition of all the different kinds of rich produce of the good land. This is a type. Whenever we come together, we have to come with our hands filled with Christ. When we all come in this way, we have an exhibition of Christ. We have the proper ground of oneness for the worship of God, and we also have the reality of the riches of Christ for the worship of God. All the surplus of the produce of the good land of Canaan was not only for the enjoyment of the children of Israel but also for the enjoyment of God. God enjoyed all the things together with His people. Likewise, we have to bring Christ into our worship of God and let God enjoy Christ with us. When we share Christ with one another, we offer Christ to God as an enjoyment to Him.
The situation today, however, is pitiful. On the one hand, there are divisions upon divisions, and on the other hand, there are empty hands upon empty hands. We need to come back to the proper situation revealed in the Scriptures. On the one hand, we have to keep the oneness of the Lord’s people, and on the other hand, we have to be full of the surplus of Christ in our hands. Whenever we come together, we come with an abundance of Christ. In our gatherings a sister could give a testimony telling us how Christ is her strength in her sufferings, and a brother could testify of how he has experienced Christ as his joy. Then others, one by one, could testify something about their experience of Christ. This is a meeting full of the exhibition of Christ. This is also the real practice of the church life that is acceptable and well pleasing to God the Father.
But how can we be full of Christ? This depends on our daily laboring on Christ. We have to labor, to work, on Christ. Without laboring on Christ, we will have nothing to share with one another when we come together. Since we have nothing of Christ, our worship will be a poor worship. However, if we labor on Christ, if we experience Him day by day, fellowship with Him, and pray to Him, we will come together with the surplus of Christ. When we come to the meeting, we will have something to offer, to contribute. We will be able to say, “Father, here is something of Your Son, whom I have experienced; I offer Him to You.” We will also be able to share what we have experienced of Christ with others, and others will also do the same. This is the real worship.
The real worship today is that when we come together, we come with something of Christ to offer to the Father and to share with others. This is the real worship that is well pleasing to the Father. Even while we are preaching Christ and ministering Christ to the sinners, this kind of preaching, this kind of ministry, is the real worship to the Father. Whenever we share Christ with others, we render the real worship to the Father. Without offering Christ to the Father and without sharing Christ with others, our worship to God cannot be well pleasing to Him. When we enjoy Christ with the Father and let the Father enjoy Christ with us, this is the genuine worship.
Do you know the difference between the worship of God rendered by the angels and that rendered by Christians? The angels prostrate themselves, or bow down, before God to worship God, but there is no need for us Christians to do that. In our spirit we realize that the proper worship for us Christians today is to bring Christ to offer to God the Father. We let the Father enjoy His Son with us, and we also enjoy Christ with one another in fellowship.
This depends on our daily experience of Christ. We have to labor on Christ day and night and let Christ give us much produce. Then we will have rich experiences of Christ that not only are enough to take care of our need but also allow us to have a tithe, a surplus, to bring to God and to serve others. Whenever we meet on the proper ground of oneness in this way, we have an exhibition of Christ. This is the glory and worship to the Father, the enjoyment to the saints, and the shame to the enemy. This is the church life.
Let us learn something from the type of the good land. We are in Christ. We have to experience Him diligently so that we may have plenty of Christ for our personal enjoyment and also have a surplus for us to offer to God and share with others. Then we have to come together by taking care of the oneness of the Lord’s children. The proper and real church life is the life of a corporate body meeting together on the proper ground of oneness with the fullness of Christ for the worship of God and fellowship with others.
