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As we pointed out in the last chapter, the Bible gives us a wonderful picture in the Old Testament. Before we go on to consider the unique place for God’s name and for His habitation, we need to review this picture. The whole revelation of the Bible indicates that God has an eternal purpose, an eternal intention. This purpose is to gain a people to be His expression. In the Old Testament God called the children of Israel, and they became His people to express Him on earth. The children of Israel, however, were a type; they were not the reality. The reality came in the New Testament. In the New Testament we see a people who are the church, the real expression of God. Although we have the reality in the New Testament, we do not have a full picture there. If we had only the New Testament reality, it would be difficult to understand every aspect of this reality. Every reality is present, in type, in the Old Testament. Therefore, we need to consider further the picture in the Old Testament.
God chose the children of Israel. According to the picture in the Old Testament, this people fell into Egypt. At the end of the book of Genesis, we are told that Joseph, the representative of the chosen people of God, was put in a coffin in Egypt (50:26). Thus, the first book of the Bible ends with God’s chosen people being put into a coffin in Egypt. If the Bible had only this one book, we would have to weep for this pitiful situation. But praise the Lord that Exodus follows Genesis. The word exodus means “a going out.” The children of Israel went out of their coffin and out of Egypt. Before we made our exodus, we were in a coffin in “Egypt,” in the world. That was my condition fifty years ago. Hallelujah, we have made our exodus out of our coffin in Egypt!
The exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt included two things: the passover and the crossing of the Red Sea. In the passover there were two main items—the blood of the lamb and the meat of the lamb. The blood covered the children of Israel so that God’s righteous judgment might pass over them. The word passover indicates that God passed over His people who were under the redeeming blood of the passover lamb (Exo. 12:13). Hallelujah for the blood! Although God’s people were covered by the blood, they still had to eat the meat of the lamb in order to be strengthened to escape from Egypt. They had to be strengthened to walk out of the coffin and ultimately out of Egypt. On God’s side, the children of Israel had been redeemed and strengthened. But, on Satan’s side, the side of the evil power signified by Pharaoh and the Egyptian forces, the children of Israel were not allowed to flee. Hence, there was the need for the crossing of the Red Sea.
In contrast to the river of water of life, the water of the Red Sea does not appear to be very pleasant or positive. No one would care to drink water from the Red Sea. In God’s economy there are two kinds of water: the water of the Red Sea and the water of life in the flowing river proceeding from the throne (Rev. 22:1). Although the water of the Red Sea does not quench our thirst, it surely buries the Egyptian army, the evil forces of Satan. By the crossing of the Red Sea, God’s chosen people were delivered from Pharaoh’s tyranny. The blood of the passover lamb did not deliver them from this; the blood that covered them delivered them from God’s judgment. It was the water of the Red Sea that delivered God’s chosen people from Pharaoh’s tyranny. Hallelujah for the passover and for the exodus! Now, having made our exodus out of Egypt, we are on the seashore dancing and praising (Exo. 15:20-21). Praise the Lord, we are real Hebrews, true river crossers. We all have passed through the waters of the Red Sea. Our baptism was our crossing of the Red Sea (1 Cor. 10:1-2).
After the children of Israel had passed through the Red Sea, they found themselves in the wilderness. The wilderness is not as pleasant as Egypt. Like the children of Israel, many of us still remembered the taste of “garlic,” “onions,” and “leeks” when we were in the wilderness after we had made our exodus out of Egypt (Num. 11:5). We enjoyed recalling our experiences in the world. Many times you may have remembered the taste of going to the movies. This is a taste of “garlic.” Perhaps you still have memories of the times you went dancing. This is an “onion.” Before they were saved, some might have gone to the casinos in Las Vegas. After they were saved, however, in times of solitude they might have remembered those experiences. These are “leeks.” If we are honest, we must admit that we all have had such memories.
Although the wilderness does not seem to be a pleasant place, in it there is a certain enjoyment of Christ. In Egypt at the time of the passover, the children of Israel enjoyed the lamb as a type of Christ. In the wilderness they enjoyed manna day by day. They enjoyed something not from the earth but from heaven. When the children of Israel tasted manna the first time, everyone must have been excited. They might have said, “What a wonderful, heavenly food! It is nourishing, rich, and delicious.” But after a while, they became weary of manna. Morning, noon, and night they had nothing except manna to eat. Hence, they complained to Moses, saying, “We remember the fish which we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic; but now our appetite has gone; there is nothing at all but this manna to look at” (vv. 5-6). They seemed to be telling Moses, “When we were in Egypt, we had a variety of good things to eat. Eating manna here in the wilderness is a punishment. Why did you bring us here?” This is not only the history of the children of Israel; it is also our biography. Often in the meetings we praise the Lord, saying, “Hallelujah for the enjoyment of Christ!” But has there not been at least one time when you were tired of enjoying Christ? I doubt that there is anyone who has never been weary of the enjoyment of Christ.
Although the children of Israel did not like to be in the wilderness, there was nothing they could do about it. It was too late to repent and return to Egypt. They had no choice except to go forward. If they wanted something richer than what they had in the wilderness, they had to go forward, not backward. They had to continue through the wilderness and cross another river, the Jordan.
After the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River, they entered into the good land, and the manna ceased. Joshua 5:12 says, “The manna ceased on that day, when they ate of the produce of the land; and there was no longer manna for the children of Israel, but they ate of the yield of the land of Canaan that year.” Even if they had wanted to enjoy manna again, there was no more manna. Perhaps after dwelling in the good land for a few years, many of the children of Israel remembered the pleasant taste of manna. Nevertheless, instead of manna there were the riches of the good land. Their first enjoyment of the riches of the good land was not of fresh produce but of old produce. From that time onward, however, they enjoyed the new, fresh produce of the good land every year.
God charged the children of Israel to keep the tithe, the first tenth, of all the produce of the good land, including the firstfruit and the firstborn, and to offer it to Him in the place of His choice for His worship. Deuteronomy 14:22 and 23 say, “You must give a tenth of all the produce of your seed, which the field brings forth, year by year. And you shall eat before Jehovah your God, in the place where He will choose to cause His name to dwell, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your fresh oil and the firstborn of your herd and flock.” The firstborn were offered to the Lord. The Israelites were not allowed to use them in their work; instead, they were required to keep them aside to offer to the Lord in the three yearly feasts. Deuteronomy 15:19 and 20 say, “All firstborn males that are brought forth in your herd and in your flock you shall sanctify to Jehovah your God; you shall not do work with your firstborn ox, nor shall you shear your firstborn sheep. You and your household shall eat it before Jehovah your God year by year in the place which Jehovah will choose.” If the children of Israel wanted to enjoy their cattle, they had to begin with the second one. Furthermore, they could not enjoy the firstborn of their flocks and herds in the place of their choice. They had to bring them to the place God had chosen for His name and for His habitation (12:5, 17-18). The same was true for the firstfruit of all the crops—the wheat, the corn, the wine, and the oil. The firstfruit had to be set aside to be offered to God in the place He had chosen. If we read the Old Testament carefully, we shall see that God charged the children of Israel to set aside three kinds of tenths for God’s purpose. None of these portions could be enjoyed in the place of their preference. Although they had full freedom to enjoy the remainder at any time, at any place, and with anyone, the top portions had to be offered to God in the place of His choosing.
Now we must consider the meaning of this requirement. In the previous chapter we pointed out that the passover lamb was a type of Christ and that manna was a type of Christ as our food. In Egypt the children of Israel enjoyed Christ as signified by the passover lamb. This means that in “Egypt” we enjoy Christ as our Passover lamb. John 1:29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” In the “wilderness” we enjoy Him as our manna. Furthermore, we may enjoy Christ as our good land, living in Him and walking in Him. Christ is our land, our realm, our sphere, in which we may live and walk day by day. Christ is the sphere, the realm, of our living. We may live in Him and by Him. Christ is also our food, as typified by the produce of the good land. Christ as our food is not of one category but of many categories, like the numerous courses of a bountiful feast. How bountiful are the riches of Christ in the good land! Christ is our good land today. All the riches of the good land are types of the riches of Christ.
Perhaps you have never heard that to enjoy Christ there is the need to set aside the top portion of Christ. We do not have the right to enjoy this portion of Christ at the time and place of our choosing. Only the common portion of Christ, not the firstfruit, can be enjoyed at any time and in any place we desire (Deut. 12:15). This is not a doctrinal matter; it is true to our experience.
There are two aspects of the enjoyment of Christ. The one is the common aspect. Wherever we are, no matter the time or the place, we may enjoy Christ. This is the common enjoyment of Christ. The other aspect of the enjoyment of Christ is the enjoyment of the top portion, the choice portion, the firstfruit or firstborn, of Christ. We can only have this aspect of the enjoyment of Christ in the proper church life. Have you experienced both aspects? Although Christ always remains the same, He nevertheless has a choice portion and a common portion. You may enjoy the common portion anywhere and at any time. You may enjoy Him in this way while you are driving your car. However, you will never enjoy the top portion of Christ alone. Even if you were to fast, pray, and call on Him night and day for three days alone in your home, you would still not be able to enjoy the choice portion of Christ. If you want to enjoy this portion, you must come to the church, the place God has chosen.
In the Old Testament the place chosen by God was Jerusalem, but we need to know the striking features of God’s chosen place. Deuteronomy 12:5 says, “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.” In this verse we see the two outstanding features of God’s chosen place—His name and His habitation. Because the Lord’s name was there, that place was unique. His name was not there automatically; it had to be put there. As this verse indicates, God’s habitation was also there.
Deuteronomy 12:11 says, “Then to the place where the Jehovah your God will choose to cause His name to dwell, there...” In verse 5 God said that He would put His name there, but in verse 11 He said that He would cause His name to dwell there. Verse 11 proves that God’s name is living. The name is not merely a name but a living person who can live and dwell in a certain place. These two matters, the name and the habitation, are the outstanding marks of the unique place chosen by God for our enjoyment of the top portion of Christ.
This matter is so significant that it merits repetition. The children of Israel could enjoy the rich produce of the good land in two ways. The common way was to enjoy the common portion of the rich produce of the good land at any time, in any place, and with anybody. The special way was to enjoy the top portion, the firstfruit and the firstborn, in the unique place chosen by God. The distinguishing features of this place were the name of God and the habitation of God. All this is a clear picture of our enjoyment of Christ. Our enjoyment of Christ is also of two aspects—the common aspect of enjoying Christ at any time and at any place, and the specific aspect of enjoying Christ in the place God has chosen. This unique place has the name of God and the habitation of God.
If we consider our experience, we shall see that we have two kinds of enjoyment of Christ’s riches. Using the terms of this chapter, we may say that we have the common enjoyment of Christ and the special enjoyment of Christ. We have experienced the special enjoyment of Christ in the proper church life. Whenever we come to a meeting of the church, the enjoyment of Christ is high and rich. We all need to enjoy Christ both in our private life and in the church life. Although the enjoyment of Christ in the church life is wonderful, it cannot replace our enjoyment of Him in our private life. Likewise, the enjoyment in our private life cannot replace the enjoyment in our public life, in our church life. Many Christians today do not see these two aspects of the enjoyment of Christ. Some may even think that it is a waste of time to attend the church meetings. When they are in the meetings, they feel restricted. Some have said, “Instead of attending the meetings of the church, I like to stay home and enjoy my freedom. Whenever I attend the meeting, I feel imprisoned. I cannot keep from looking at my watch.” But even those who consider the church meetings a form of imprisonment must confess that many times they have had some enjoyment of Christ in the meetings. Although their enjoyment of Christ in the meetings might not have been very rich, at least they had an enjoyment of Him that they could not have had in their private lives or even with their wives and a few close friends. Only in the meetings of the church can we enjoy the top portion of Christ.
In the early days I spent more time to enjoy Christ in my private life and less time to enjoy Him in the church life. Gradually, however, I have come to enjoy Him more in the church life than in my private life. There is no comparison between the enjoyment in the church life and the enjoyment in my private life. This does not mean that I no longer enjoy Christ in my personal life, but the taste is not as sweet as the taste in the church life. I am always eager to attend a meeting to enjoy the top portion of Christ. How about you? Often in my private life I am tired and need to rest. When I work, I work with every fiber of my being. This tires me out. Thus, my private life is a time for me to rest my whole being—my spirit, my heart, my conscience, my soul, my mind, my emotion, my will, and every part of my physical body. After a time of rest, I am ready once again to attend the meeting for the choice enjoyment of Christ. This is the reason I am so rich in the enjoyment of Christ. Many are rather poor in the enjoyment of Christ because they spend too much time trying to enjoy Him privately and little time to enjoy Him corporately. I encourage you all to spend more time in the church life.
Although there are thousands of places on earth, there is just one place—the church—where God’s name and God’s habitation are. Some of you were formerly in the Catholic Church. Did you enjoy the top portion of Christ while you were there? You probably did not even enjoy the bottom portion. One day, by the mercy of God, you were born again in Babylon. Recently, someone said to me, “After coming into the church life, I have heard a lot about being in captivity. I don’t understand this. I was never captured and taken into captivity.” I replied, “You didn’t need to be captured because you were born in captivity. You were born in Babylon, in captured Christianity.” Those who were reborn while they were in Catholicism were reborn in captivity. After they were saved, some began to realize that not even the smallest portion of the enjoyment of Christ is available in the Catholic Church. Hence, they left Catholicism and became a church traveler, journeying from one place to another. Although in some places they may have heard a little regarding the enjoyment of Christ, what they heard was not very satisfying. Eventually, they came to the unique place, the church. After taking a sample of the enjoyment in the church, they may have said, “What is this? The way these people carry on the meeting surely offends my religious concepts, but I can’t deny that there is something sweet and satisfying here.” Then they may have gone back to some other places, but by comparison they came to know which place had the top enjoyment of Christ. The enjoyment they tasted in the unique place spoiled them for any other place. Thus, they had to return to God’s chosen place. This proves the reality of the special enjoyment of Christ.
When, by the Lord’s grace, we say that we are the church, some criticize us and condemn us as heretical. They ask, “Why do you say that you are the church and that others are not?” I would dismiss their accusation of heresy and ask them if they have the top enjoyment of Christ in their experience. If they are honest, they would have to admit that they do not have this enjoyment. Whenever they criticize the church, they lose whatever enjoyment of Christ they have. Even the common enjoyment of Christ will be lost. As some tried to argue with me, many times I simply smiled and said, “Friend, you are speaking one thing with your mouth, but your conscience tells you something else. While you are arguing with me, your conscience is saying that you have lost everything. The more you try to fight with me, the more you will lose. Please take care of your conscience, of your real feelings and inner sense, and of your enjoyment of Christ.” To tell you the truth, the more I fight for the Lord’s recovery, the greater is my enjoyment of the top portion of Christ. Whenever I minister in the meetings, my enjoyment of Christ is supreme. This is not a matter of doctrine; it is a matter of fact. If this were not the fact, I would not dare to say these things. It is a fact that there are different aspects to the enjoyment of Christ.
Now we must concentrate on the two crucial matters of the name and the habitation. These are deep matters. In Deuteronomy 12:5 the Lord said that He would choose a place out of the tribes of the children of Israel to put His name there. Surely there was not a sign in front of the temple, “Jehovah Elohim.” But have you ever considered how God actually put His name there? It certainly was not His way to put up a sign with His name on it. In order to understand how God put His name in His chosen place, we need to know what the name signifies.
John 14:26 connects the name to the Spirit: “The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name.” This verse says that the Father will send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, in the name of the Son. Here we see that the Spirit is related to the name, and the name to the Spirit. By our experience we have come to realize that the name is the title and that the Spirit is the person. The Spirit is sent in the name of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, whoever calls, “O Lord Jesus,” immediately receives the Spirit. When we call on the name of the Lord, we get the person, the Spirit. No one can say, “Lord Jesus” except in the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). This means that whenever we say, “Lord Jesus,” we immediately are in the Spirit. This is also proved by Joel 2:32 and Acts 2:21. Acts 2:17 says, “It shall be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh,” and Acts 2:21 says, “It shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The Spirit has already been poured out, and the way to gain the Spirit is to call on the name of the Lord. When we call, “Jesus,” we receive the Spirit. When I call a certain brother by name, that brother comes in person. Likewise, when we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, the Spirit comes. The name is the title, and the Spirit is the person. Hence, the name is the title of the person, and the person is the Spirit.
Because the name in Deuteronomy 12:5 is not merely a title but a person and because the person is the Spirit, for God to put His name there means that His Spirit was there. Whenever God’s people call on the name of the Lord, the Spirit is there. This is our experience today. There must be a reason that some Christians oppose our calling on the name of the Lord. The reason is that the subtle enemy knows that when we call, “O Lord Jesus,” the Spirit comes. Do not argue with me about this—try it. Also, I would ask you to try to receive the Spirit by sitting silently for fifteen minutes. Do this and see how much of the Spirit you receive. I can testify that the quickest and most prevailing way to gain the Spirit is to call on the name of the Lord Jesus. When we call on His name, the person, the Spirit, comes.
According to Ephesians 2:22, the habitation of God is our human spirit. Remember that what is found in the Old Testament is a type and that what is found in the New Testament is the reality. The reality of the name is the Spirit, and the reality of the habitation is our human spirit. This is proved by the Lord’s word to the Samaritan woman in John 4. When she asked Him about the worship of God, saying, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, yet you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men must worship” (v. 20), He said, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father...But an hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truthfulness” (vv. 21, 23). Today’s Jerusalem is our spirit. The Father is seeking those who will worship Him in their human spirit.
Much has been said about unity. True unity is the oneness in the two spirits—the Holy Spirit, who is the person of the divine name, and our spirit, which is the habitation of God. In order for believers to be one, they must be in these two spirits. The real oneness of the believers in the Body is this mingled spirit. This is today’s Jerusalem, the place God has chosen. It is possible to be on the local ground and yet not be truly one. We are on the local ground, in the local churches, not in the denominations and free groups. But if we are not in the mingled spirit, we are still lacking genuine oneness. To repeat, real oneness is in the mingling of the Holy Spirit with our human spirit. Because the Holy Spirit indwells our human spirit, these two spirits have been mingled together as one spirit. “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17). This one spirit is today’s unique place chosen by God.
I have passed through many forms of Christianity. I was born into formal, organized Christianity; later, I was saved and brought into fundamental Christianity. Then I was with the Brethren assembly and, after that, in the Pentecostal movement. I also was involved with the matter of the inner life. Praise the Lord that eventually I came to the church. When those in fundamental Christianity come together, they come together with forms, rituals, doctrines, and many other things. During the years I was in fundamental Christianity, I never realized that I needed to come together with others in the spirit. Many of you spent years in Christianity. Did you ever realize that you had to be in your human spirit? Your pastor was in his doctrine, others were in their ritual, and you, with your two critical, observing eyes, were in your mind. In situation after situation some were unhappy with their pastor and tried to oust him. But the pastor played politics like an able politician and was able to retain his position. Since those who wanted to depose him were unsuccessful, they were forced to leave that congregation. This all is a sharp contrast to genuine oneness.
True oneness is not in a practice, a doctrine, a ritual, or a form. True oneness is in our spirit, which is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who is the person of the divine name. Only in this place can we have the proper church life. The church has been divided because so many Christians have not been in the spirit. If in the church life we are not able by His mercy and grace to be kept in our spirit, we shall be divisive. Anyone who is not in the spirit will eventually be a dividing factor. During the past fourteen years in the United States, there have been few of these divisive ones among us. But I must admit that there has been a small number who refused to turn to the spirit. We knew them well, and we knew their way of living. It is a fact that they would never turn to the spirit but always remained in the mind. Even in prayer they continued to exercise their mind, not their spirit. It was almost as if they did not have a spirit but had only an analytical mind. Hence, I became clear that sooner or later these brothers would be divisive. Eventually, the situation turned out to be just like this. Although we tried our best to avoid it, this was the eventual result because they never turned to the spirit. Today’s Christianity has been divided because of one thing—people are not in the spirit.
The human spirit today is Jerusalem, God’s chosen place. The material Jerusalem in the Old Testament was a type of our human spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit and mingled with the Holy Spirit. This is the place where God puts His name and where His being dwells. It is also the place where He builds His habitation.
When the Samaritan woman asked about the place of worship, the Lord clearly indicated that the hour has come to worship the Father in spirit. That the hour has come means that the age has changed. The former age was the age of typology; now is the age of reality. When Christ came, the age was changed from type to reality. In the age of reality it is no longer a matter of a material place but of the human spirit in which all true worshippers of God may contact Him. Jerusalem today is not a place—it is our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit and mingled together with the Holy Spirit as one spirit. This is the place that God desires. Nothing is more desirable to our God than our mingled spirit. Here we have oneness, the church life, and here we enjoy the top portion of Christ.
Since today’s Jerusalem is not a material site but our human spirit mingled with the Holy Spirit, some may wonder why there is still a difference between our enjoyment of Christ in our private life and our enjoyment of Him in the church life. In our private life we enjoy Christ by our spirit, and in the church life we also enjoy Him by our spirit. The difference is that in our private life we enjoy Christ by our own spirit, but in the church life we enjoy Him by our spirit mingled with the Holy Spirit in a corporate way. Your individual spirit can only bear a limited amount of the enjoyment of Christ. To use an example from electricity, our spirit is like a transformer that can only bear a limited amperage. Your spirit cannot bear the unlimited amperage of the divine electrical current. In order to bear a higher amperage, that is, a greater enjoyment of Christ, you need the church. But if the church is very small, composed only of thirty-five people, the capacity of the church to bear the divine current will still be quite limited. Certainly the enjoyment of Christ is higher and richer in a church of five hundred than in a church of thirty-five. If all these five hundred saints are in the spirit, what great amperage of divine electricity there will be! Praise the Lord for the riches of Christ in the church life.
If you have seen the vision of the church, you will never be turned aside or cheated. This is not a matter of doctrine; it is absolutely a matter of the spirit and of enjoyment.
Where the church is, what the church is, and who the church is all depend upon the spirit and the real experience and enjoyment of Christ. We did not come to the church because we were drawn by doctrine, dead letters, or dogma, and we are not held in the church by such things. We are kept in the church by the spirit and by the enjoyment of our Christ in the mingled spirit.
