the meal offering church life with no leaven and no honey is for God’s satisfaction

February 18, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

the meal offering church life with no leaven and no honey is for God's satisfaction [in the picture: unleavened bread]The meal offering in Leviticus 2:1-13 is a type of Christ (as the real meal offering) and the church (as the reproduction of Christ to be the corporate meal offering). After seeing all the aspects of the meal offering, their fulfillment in Christ, and their application in our experience, we just love the Lord for such a wonderful type in the Old Testament! The last two elements of the meal offering are “no leaven and no honey” – God expressedly forbids the people of Israel to allow any leaven or honey in the meal offering.

no leaven and no honey in the meal offering

What is leaven? Based on the usage of this word by the Lord Jesus in the Gospels leaven signifies sin and other negative things (like: the leaven of the Pharisees, the leaven of the Sadducees, and the leaven of Herod, see Matt. 16:6; Luke 12:1; Mark. 8:15). What is honey? Honey signifies the natural human life in its good and even sweet aspect. People aren’t always bad – there’s a good aspect, a good part, in each one of us. This natural goodness is honey, and is not to be added to the meal offering.

Honey is sweet – why is it not allowed to be in the meal offering? According to its nature, after a period of time honey can ferment and the result is leaven. So whether we are good or bad, sweet or bitter, right or wrong, nice or not nice, the result is the same. This is why God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good (honey) and evil (leaven). Even such a sweet and nice thing as the natural human love can ferment and, in the case of divorce, can become something bitter like leaven.

The negative things are leaven, and the good aspects of our natural life are honey – but they eventually ferment and become leaven also. We need to learn to reject our natural man, our natural preferences, and even the good aspects of our natural man, when it comes to serving the Lord. As priests, we cannot allow leaven (anything sinful) or honey (anything natural, even good aspects) to defile us. We need to be salted, living in the resurrection life under the cross, so that any good or bad aspects of our natural man would be annulled.

the reproduction of Christ as the meal offering

With the Lord Jesus there was no leaven (no sinful or negative thing) and no honey (no natural affection, attachment, or preference). Rather, He lived a life of the highest and finest humanity (fine flour) oiled with the Holy Spirit (mingled with oil), having the fragrance of resurrection (frankincense), and living under the cross every day (being salted). This One is our daily food and our supply, our sustenance, and by eating of Him we become His corporate reproduction! We also live a life of the highest humanity mingled with the Spirit, with the fragrance of resurrection, and being daily under the cross. Also, as we eat this One, we will reject any sinful thing or any good aspect of our natural man.

one bread and one cup – the church life

At the Lord’s Table we openly display and testify of the fact that the church life is a corporate meal offering (signified by the one bread, see 1 Cor. 10:17) and we all partake of the cup of blessing. This partaking of the bread and the cup in a collective way is a sign of the church life – it is a testimony that the church life is the reproduction and duplication of Christ as the meal offering. We are men with the highest humanity being oiled with the Spirit, living daily under the cross with the resurrection of Christ as the frankincense, and with no leaven or honey! We testify of this whenever we partake of the bread and the cup.

for God’s satisfaction and for our supply

The top portion of the meal offering is for God’s enjoyment and satisfaction, and the remainder is for us to enjoy as our food in our service to God as priests. This means that God needs the meal offering as His food, and we need the meal offering as our continual serving supply. God desires to have a meal offering in each locality – the meal offering church life satisfies God and feeds us. On the one hand, Christ is our daily supply, but on the other hand, the church life as the corporate meal offering is our supply and sustenance. Aren’t you fed and supplied when you meet with the saints and enjoy Christ, this wonderful One as the meal offering? Praise the Lord for such a church life – the meal offering church life.

Lord, gain such a corporate meal offering church life. Keep us coming to You, Lord, and dealing with any aspect of our natural life. We want to be priests serving You and bringing You food for Your satisfaction. Keep us eating Your humanity until it is being lived out in us as the highest humanity mingled with the Holy Spirit. Lord, more living in the resurrection life. More salt in our living. Oh, Lord, gain a meal offering church life in every locality on the earth!

References and Further Reading

Filed Under: Christ lives in me, Enjoying Christ, experiencing Christ, expounding the truth, feeding on the Lord, God's economy, morning revival, serving the saints, the all-inclusive Christ, the Christian Life, the church life, the Lord's recovery · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

becoming the reproduction of Christ as the meal offering church life today

February 17, 2012 by · 1 Comment

becoming the reproduction of Christ as the meal offering church life today [picture: green grass and blue sky wallpaper]In Leviticus 2:1-13 we see the meal offering, which was ordained by God for the people of Israel – for God’s satisfaction. The meal offering was composed of fine flour mingled with oil, and frankincense on top of it. Also, salt needs to be added – salt shouldn’t be missing from the offering. This type was fulfilled in the person of the Lord Jesus, who had the highest humanity (the fine flour) mingled with divinity (the oil, the Spirit of God), living by the resurrection life and manifesting the aroma of resurrection (frankincense), and always living under the cross (the salt). Today we want to see MORE about each of these elements and how we can experience them, enjoy them, and become the reproduction of Christ as the meal offering church life.

the fine flour – the perfect humanity of Christ

If you read the Gospels you will be impressed with the high standard of humanity the Lord Jesus had. He had the highest and the best humanity, living a life according to the highest standard of morality. Story after story and case after case, we can see that His humanity was so high, and “it was oiled” with divinity, anointed by the Spirit of God. The Lord Jesus didn’t live only by and in His humanity – He lived by the divine life which saturated and mingled His human nature, having a life of a God-man – something that the world has never seen before!

The Lord Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit (see Matt. 1:20 and Luke 1:35), having the Spirit as His essence. Also, when He went out to minister, He was anointed with the Holy Spirit outwardly for His work (Matt. 3:16; John 1:32). Inwardly and outwardly Christ was oiled with the Holy Spirit, living a mingled life – a life of the divine life mingled with the human life. He expressed the bountiful God in His rich attributes through His aromatic virtues, not by living His human life in the flesh but by living His divine life in resurrection.

frankincense – the fragrance of Christ in resurrection

There was an aroma about Christ when He was on the earth – people were inexplicably drawn to Him, absorbing the words coming out of His mouth, wanting to be with Him and around Him to the point that they forgot about their eating, and even desiring to touch the fringe of His garment to be healed… This is frankincense – the fragrance of Christ in resurrection. The Lord Jesus is resurrection and life (John 11:25), and He lived a life in resurrection, constantly denying His natural human life and living in the resurrection life.

Even though the Lord Jesus suffered a lot – He was rejected by His hometown people, His family, the priests, the religious leaders, He was mocked, persecuted, tested, and He did not have a place where to rest His head, etc – what came out of Him as a fragrance was NOT the sufferings but a fragrance of resurrection. The aroma of resurrection exuded out of Him, and people saw a man mingled with God living in resurrection on the earth. Nothing is as sweet, as fragrant, as attractive, and as pleasant as this aroma – it is satisfying to God and pleasing to man.

salt – the cross of Christ

Salt is an element which kills germs, seasons, and preserves. It is a type of the death of Christ, the cross of Christ. God specifically ordained that salt would be added to the meal offering – what was pleasing to God and what satisfied Him was to see Christ living a life under the cross by the power of resurrection. The salt in Lev. 1:13 is the salt of the covenant of God – which is incorruptible and unchangeable. Christ was seasoned with salt – from manger to the cross He lived a crucified life, denying Himself, listening to the Father, and living by the divine life in resurrection (see John 6:57).

In the church life we need to have adequate salt – so that any ambition and natural affection would be crossed out. Anything that is natural is being killed by the germ-killing cross of Christ, and as long as the cross is here, salt is here and there’s no germs! By living a crucified life – one with Christ in His crucifixion – our ambition to be someone, our natural affection to the ones we like, our selective love, and anything of the natural man is being crossed out, salted, and killed. What remains is a sweet fragrance of living in Christ’s resurrection – a satisfying and pleasant aroma…

the meal offering church life

When you consider the life of the Lord Jesus and His living you will appreciate Him and love Him – truly, this One is the Father’s Beloved, so perfect, such a high humanity, living a life under the constant killing of the cross, a life in resurrection, a human life mingled with the divine life. This One is our food – we can eat Him, take Him in, be constituted with Him, and even become Him. By eating Jesus as the meal offering we become the corporate church life meal offering – so pleasing to God for His satisfaction! How we need to eat Him, allow the cross to operate, and live by another life – the divine life!

We are slowly and surely becoming the reproduction of Jesus Christ as the corporate meal offering church life! The genuine church today is nothing else but the corporate living of the believers in Christ who are the reproduction and duplication of Christ – it is Jesus living again in His believers. We are imitating Christ in His life by eating Christ and becoming Christ’s reproduction organically. We all are learning to deny ourselves, remaining in Christ’s death, living under the cross, by the power of Christ’s resurrection. When an unbeliever comes in and sees this, he senses that God is among us! Wow, the corporate God-man living, the reproduction of Christ as the meal-offering church life!

Lord, have a way to reproduce the kind of life You lived among us today in all Your saints! Make us in reality the corporate meal offering church life – a genuine church, emanating the fragrance of Christ’s resurrection! Lord, keep us eating You in Your Word – we want to eat Your humanity and be more mingled with Your divinity. Oil us with the Spirit all the time. We want to know You and the power of Your resurrection, being conformed to Your death!

References and Further Reading

Filed Under: Christ lives in me, Enjoying Christ, experiencing Christ, expounding the truth, feeding on the Lord, God's economy, morning revival, the all-inclusive Christ, the Christian Life, the church life, the high peak, the Lord's recovery · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

a genuine church is a meal offering church life with the fine humanity of Christ

February 16, 2012 by · 5 Comments

a genuine church is a meal offering church life with the fine humanity of Christ [in the picture: Fine Flour, a type of the Fine, Balanced, and Perfect Humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ]I have to admit, if it were not for the ministry of the age, I would have never even thought of associating the church life (fully in the New Testament) with the meal offering (from the Old Testament, Lev. 2:1-16). But – praise the Lord! – now we can see that the meal offering in Leviticus (fine flour mingled with oil, with frankincense and salt added to it, with no leaven or honey) is a type of the pure, satisfying, edible, fine, church life in the focus of the Lord’s recovery! I don’t fully see it, but I am praying that we all would be more mingled with the Holy Spirit, with the cross, and be  in resurrection, to be satisfying to God and to man!

the meal offering typifying the Lord Jesus

The meal offering in Leviticus typifies the Lord Jesus Himself – when He was on the earth, He was fine flour (having a high, fine, perfect humanity), He was oiled with the Holy Spirit (He was essentially filled with the Spirit and economically / outwardly anointed with the Spirit), He was always being salted (He lived a life under the cross, doing the Father’s will), and He lived in resurrection (people sensed frankincense, the aroma of resurrection). Also, with Him there was no honey (no natural affection) and no leaven (no sin, no sinfulness, nothing sinful). What a God-man meal offering He was!

Romans 8 – we are the meal offering today

It should be with us today – we are Christ’s duplication, His reproduction, His continuation, “a xerox copy” of Christ and His life. In Romans 8 we see this in a clear way – here we have Christ’s humanity (Rom. 8:3), the Spirit of life (v. 2), the cross (v. 13), and resurrection (v. 11). This should be our normal day-by-day living today – the same kind of life that Christ lived. We are human – but we need to have the uplifted, the finer, the more balanced humanity of Jesus Christ by eating Him in His Word and allowing Him to live in us.

We have been “oiled with the Holy Spirit” to a certain extent, but we need to be more mingled with the indwelling Spirit by turning to our spirit and setting our mind on the spirit (Rom. 8:6)! Also, we need to continually receive the salt – we need to allow the cross to operate in us as we mind our spirit, so that we may put to death the practices of the body (Rom. 8:13). If we do this, we will live a life in resurrection, having the frankincense for God’s satisfaction and man’s pleasure and delight. The church life is a corporate God-man living of the meal offering for God’s satisfaction!

the fine and balanced humanity of Christ

Today we were specifically appreciating the wonderful, fine, gentle, balanced humanity of Jesus. The fine flour is the base of the meal offering, and it typifies the fine and balanced humanity of Christ. Our humanity is rough – though outwardly we may seem to be “a nice lady” or “a proper gentleman”, and though we may behave nicely toward the ones around us, our humanity is rough. Only Christ is gentle, fine, balanced, and right in every way. While He was on earth everyone tested Him – His brothers, His fellow countrymen, the Pharisees, the priests, and even the Roman officials – but there was no fault or blemish found in Him!

How we love This Fine, Balanced, Gentle, Tender, Even, and Excellent One! The beauty and excellence of Christ’s human living and walk are the fulfillment of the type of the fine flour mingled with oil in the meal offering, and this humanity is for us to eat, partake of, and live! In the genuine church in the focus of the Lord’s recovery we need to eat the humanity of Jesus by eating His Word, and our humanity will be uplifted, resurrected, and balanced. This is why we emphasize Eating Jesus in the church life! As we eat Jesus, we become the corporate Jesus, the corporate meal offering, with a corporate God-man living, for God’s satisfaction!

Lord Jesus, how we love You! Thank You for opening Your Word to us that we may see the intrinsic significance of the meal offering. Lord, how we love Your perfect, balanced, and fine humanity. Thank You for making us the same as You are by eating You in Your Word. Oh, Lord, gain a genuine church in the focus of the Lord’s recovery as the corporate meal offering! Lord, gain the corporate God-man living as a reproduction of the living of Christ today on earth in all the churches!

References and Further Reading

Filed Under: Christ lives in me, Enjoying Christ, experiencing Christ, expounding the truth, feeding on the Lord, God's economy, love the Lord, morning revival, the Christian Life, the church life, the high peak, the Lord's recovery, the Word of God · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

a genuine church is enriched in Christ, awaits the Lord’s unveiling, and enjoys Christ

February 15, 2012 by · 1 Comment

a genuine church is enriched in Christ, awaits the Lord's unveiling, and enjoys Christ [in the picture: God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord!]In the first chapter of 1 Corinthians we see a portrait of a genuine church in the focus of the Lord’s recovery, and yesterday we were enjoying the first 4 verses – this church enjoys God as grace and is called out by God to be the church of God. This morning we were enjoying verses 5-9 from this same chapter, where Paul shows us that a genuine church is enriched in Christ, does not lack any gift, has the sign of eagerly awaiting the Lord’s coming, and is in the sweet fellowship and participation of Jesus Christ! How sweet and how wonderful! Here is 1 Cor. 1:5-9,

That in everything you were enriched in Him, in all utterance and all knowledge, Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, So that you do not lack in any gift, eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who will also confirm you until the end unreprovable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 

enriched in everything in Christ

Praise the Lord, we are enriched in everything in Christ, so that we do not lack any gifts! The genuine church is rich in Christ, and it does not lack any inward gifts which issue from grace – such as the eternal life and the Holy Spirit (see Rom. 6:23; Acts 2:38; Heb. 6:4). Paul doesn’t refer here to outward miraculous gifts but to the Triune God as grace issuing in and becoming the gift – through our continual enjoyment of grace. We enjoy grace upon grace in the church life, and we are rich in Christ, rich in the enjoyment of the Triune God, rich in the eternal life, and rich in the Holy Spirit!

awaiting the return of the Lord

A normal sign of a genuine church and a genuine believer in Christ is that we await the appearing, the return, the unveiling of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ. We are not focused on and we don’t emphasize outward things, careers, high positions, riches, working hard, good schools, etc – we await the Lord’s return! As we enjoy grace upon grace, we are looking forward to the Lord’s second coming! Our clear inward view is that we are only travelers, sojourners, and wanderers on the earth – our real home and the city which has foundations is in the heavens, from which we await to see the Lord’s return (Heb. 11:13; 11:10)!

being confirmed unreprovable

This is what we aspire to, and this is what we live unto, that we may be confirmed until the end unreprovable – in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ! For this, we need to daily grow in life! A genuine church is in a daily process of growth in the divine life – after its initial receiving of grace, the church enjoys grace and trusts in the God who is both the Alpha and the Omega to finish what He has begun in them. God gives us grace and it is He who will also confirm us in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ – He is the giver of grace and the completer of our growth in life at the end. Lord, grow in us daily!

called into the fellowship of Jesus Christ

1 Cor. 1:9 is a very sweet verse showing us that God is faithful (we are NOT faithful, but HE IS!) – He has called us into the fellowship, the participation in, the communion, and the enjoyment of Jesus Christ our Lord! We have been called to enjoy the Lord – He is our portion, Christ is “theirs and ours” (1 Cor. 1:2). This is a sign of a genuine church: all the saints enjoy Christ in fellowship with Him and with one another! All our meetings should be full of feasting and enjoying Christ as the embodiment of the entire Triune God!

“Through whom you were called” implies that God has passed through a process so that He may be qualified to call us and that He would qualify us to be called by Him. This is what Eph. 1:3-6 talks about – the Father chose us and predestinated us (in God’s eternal purpose, before the foundation of the world), the Son came to redeem us (two thousand years ago), and the Spirit seals us in our calling (starting from fifty days after the Lord’s resurrection). The Triune God passed through a process to call the genuine church into the fellowship of Jesus Christ! All we have to do today is abide in Him, stay in this one spirit with the Lord, and enjoy this wonderful fellowship and communion!

Lord Jesus, we love You! Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for enriching us in Christ with all spiritual gifts – especially the eternal life and the Holy Spirit. Lord, keep us enjoying You as grace in the genuine church, so that we would eagerly await Your return. Come, Lord Jesus! Grow in us until we are confirmed unreprovable by You in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ! Keep us in this sweet fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, enjoying all He is!

References and Further Reading

Filed Under: Christ became the Spirit, Enjoying Christ, experiencing Christ, expounding the truth, God's economy, morning revival, the all-inclusive Christ, the Body of Christ, the Christian Life, the church life, the Lord's recovery, the Triune God, the Word of God · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

qualifications of a genuine church: the church of God enjoying grace upon grace!

February 14, 2012 by · 3 Comments

qualifications of a genuine church: the church of God enjoying grace upon grace!It is so encouraging to read the first few verses in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 – right at the beginning of his epistle, Paul paints a wonderful picture of a genuine church in the focus of God’s economy, in the focus of the Lord’s recovery. The church is composed of the called saints (1 Cor. 1:2) – there is no other name or denomination, but the ones called out of the satanic world, the ones who are being continually sanctified! Hallelujah, we are the saints – we do not belong to the world but to the church, and we are being sanctified in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ!

five qualifications of a genuine church

In 1 Cor. 1:2 we see five qualifications of a genuine church. First of all, a genuine church is the church of God – it doesn’t belong to anyone else. Secondly, a genuine church is the church in a certain locality – no other name, no other title, just “the church which is in Corinth”. Thirdly, a genuine church is sanctified in Christ – the church comes from Christ and is in Christ who sanctifies it. Fourthly, a genuine church is composed of the called saints – the church is composed of the believers who are called out and now are being sanctified. Fifth, a genuine church is related with all the saints who call upon the name of the Lord in every place around the globe.

It is very interesting, looking at the situation of the church today and comparing it with what Paul says here concerning a genuine church – there’s no requirement to be baptised by immersion, to speak in tongues, to keep the Sabbath, etc. No, the church is related to ALL THOSE who call on the name of the Lord – the saints in the past, those today, and those coming after us! A genuine church is related with all the saints everywhere, being open for fellowship and welcoming all believers. Being related with all the saints keeps the church from being sectarian, divisive, or isolated. What a beautiful picture of a genuine church – in one single verse!

a genuine church under the dispensing of grace

Another qualification of a genuine church, as seen in 1 Cor. 1:3, is that the church is under the dispensing of grace. Grace is God in Christ as the Spirit for our enjoyment to be our life, life-supply, and our everything. Grace and peace are being continually dispensed from God the Father, from the Lord Jesus Christ, and from the Holy Spirit – the entire divine Trinity flows continually to dispense grace into the church. Today all we do in a genuine local church is enjoy grace – we are rich in the enjoyment of Christ, genuinely rich in the Triune God! Just enjoy Him!

Grace is all that we need for us to live the Christian life and the church life, and in the church life we are under the dispensing of grace all the time. We shouldn’t look at our condition or at the situation around us – the condition may be troubled and messy, but the base of the local church is grace! We are under grace and we are upon grace – we are surrounded by grace, we are continually supplied by the enjoyment of the Triune God! The grace is given not based on our spirituality or condition – but freely, and grace can even be SEEN in the church meetings!

grace upon grace to become His fulness

When the Lord Jesus came, we received of His fulness and grace upon grace (John 1:16). Even though in the church life there may be some “messy situations” and some “storms” or “troubles” may come, there is wave upon wave of grace coming to supply all the saints. In a way, the more storms and troubles there are in a genuine church, the more grace there is there. The Triune God dispenses Himself in His divine Trinity as grace and peace to us – we receive grace, we are at peace, and we praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

One particular aspect I was encouraged with is that a genuine church accepts and welcomes everyone who calls on the name of the Lord – who is THEIRS and OURS! Jesus Christ belongs to and is in all the believers, and He is our all-inclusive portion – we are those who call on the name of the Lord in every place! Oh, Lord Jesus! We flee youthful lusts and pursue with those who call on the name of the Lord out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22). Wherever we are – at home, at work, cooking in the kitchen, walking on the street, shopping, driving, traveling, resting, working, playing sports, jogging, etc – we CALL on the name of the Lord, who is OURS!

Lord Jesus, we love You! We love to enjoy You as grace being dispensed into us! You are our all-inclusive supply to be everything to us. Thank You for making us the church – the gathering of the called-out ones, those who are being sanctified daily. Lord, keep us under the divine dispensing of grace every day. Keep us calling on Your name to receive all that You are into us! We are those who call upon Your name in every place – together with those who from a pure heart taste your grace!

References and Further Reading

Filed Under: Enjoying Christ, experiencing Christ, expounding the truth, God's economy, love the Lord, morning revival, the all-inclusive Christ, the Body of Christ, the Christian Life, the church life, the Lord's recovery, the Word of God · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

seeing what it means to be a genuine church in the focus of the Lord’s recovery

February 13, 2012 by · 6 Comments

seeing what it means to be a genuine church in the focus of the Lord's recoveryThis week is the last of the 6 in a series on, The Focus of the Lord’s Recovery. What is the focus of the Lord’s recovery? Also, what is the difference between being a Christian in the Lord’s recovery and being a Christian in general somewhere else under any other name / denominational umbrella? What is the Lord’s recovery? Is the Lord’s recovery a movement, a sect, a denomination, the name of the move started by Watchman Nee and Witness Lee? Oh, Lord Jesus… we need to see something much higher than the outward matters – we need to see the focus of the Lord’s recovery and be a genuine church in the focus of the Lord’s recovery!

being a Christian in the Lord’s recovery

In my personal experience and in my observation, it is NOT because I was more seeking or more Christ-loving that I am in the Lord’s recovery. It is the Lord’s mercy that we are here, in the Lord’s recovery, and that we are still here under this ministry. What does it mean to be a Christian in the Lord’s recovery? The Lord’s recovery is NOT a movement, an organization, or the name of our church. The Lord’s recovery is the Lord’s move to bring us back to Himself, back to His heart’s desire, and back to His focus.

To be in the Lord’s recovery means that we are Christians NOT just for our own need and not just for ourselves (we don’t focus only on, What can God do for me?) – we are Christians for God’s need, God’s pleasure, God’s heart’s desire, and even God’s goal! Yes, we have our needs, we see what we are, but what about God’s need? What about God’s purpose, His goal, and His economy? We are here learning to lift our view from our petty needs and problems, and look to the Lord to be one with Him for His economy, His need.

the focus of the Lord’s recovery

What is the focus of the Lord’s recovery? It is not something outward, it is not the spreading of the church life – as a thing in itself – but it is the corporate expression of the Triune God, the testimony of Jesus! Our wonderful Jesus is the very Triune God Himself, and the focus of the Lord’s recovery is the testimony of this dear Triune God, His corporate expression, the church, the Body of Christ! Individually and corporately we want to be the testimony of Jesus by eating Him, drinking Him, experiencing Him, allowing Him to live in us and shine in us so that He may be expressed through us!

This is what the local churches are – a genuine local church in the focus of the Lord’s recovery is a shining testimony of Jesus in the locality where the church is! Jesus today has been enlarged, expanded, increased, over all the earth, and everywhere locally there are shining expressions of the testimony of Jesus, the corporate expression of the Triune God. This is what we are here for in the Lord’s recovery by His mercy – we are here not for ourselves, not for a name, and not for anything divisive or outward. We are here for the corporate expression of the Triune God, the testimony of Jesus, expressed locally everywhere on the earth!

a genuine church

Paul starts his letter in 1 Corinthians by giving us an excellent portrait of the church in Corinth, including its nature, standing, element, sphere, and relationship. Even though the condition of the church in Corinth was not that positive, the nature and standing of the church were excellent. Paul loved the church and would never defame or depreciate the church. The church, no matter of its condition, is the corporate expression of the Triune God, the testimony of Jesus, in a certain locality. The church of God is glorious – and we are part of it!

As per 1 Cor. 1:2, the church is the church of God – it is being possessed by God, having God as its nature and essence (which are divine, general, universal, and eternal). We should see the church in what it is in its intrinsic siginificance – it is the church of God, having God as its nature and essence! There may be troublesome people in the church and even some sinning ones (as seen in 1 Corinthians), but the church in its real nature and essence is the church of God!

Also, a genuine local church takes a locality as its standing, its ground, and its jurisdiction and administration. Paul didn’t just say, The church of God… – but “the church of God which is in Corinth“, in a city, a definite locality with its jurisdiction for its administration in business affairs. In this respect, the church is physical, particular, local, and temporal in time – it is not “in the heavens” but in a particular locality. The church is a local testimony of Christ as a part of the universal testimony of Christ! How rich is the intrinsic significance of a local church as a part of the testimony of Jesus! [to be continued in the following days with more on this topic]

Lord Jesus, thank You for bringing us here, in the Lord’s recovery. It is Your mercy that we are still here, in the genuine local churches. O, Lord, cause us to see what the focus of the Lord’s recovery is! May we see this focus and may we be in this focus! May we see what a genuine local church in the focus of Your recovery is. Lord, this whole week, speak to us and unveil us to really see! We are here not for ourselves but for the corporate expression of the Triune God!

References and Further Reading 

Filed Under: Christ lives in me, consecration, Enjoying Christ, experiencing Christ, expounding the truth, God's economy, His heart's desire, morning revival, the Body of Christ, the Christian Life, the church life, the Lord's recovery · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

we are earthen vessels containing a priceless treasure, the Christ of glory!

February 11, 2012 by · 2 Comments

we are earthen vessels containing a priceless treasure, the Christ of glory! [in the picture: the message by brother Watchman Nee, The Treasure in Earthen Vessels]I love the verse in 2 Cor. 3:16 which says, But whenever their heart is turned to the Lord, the veil is taken away. We want to have a heart turned to the Lord with an unveiled face so that we may behold and reflect just like a mirror the glory of the Lord and be transformed from glory to glory – even as from the Lord Spirit (see 2 Cor. 3:18). Our turned away heart is a veil, hindering us from seeing the Lord in all that He is (2 Cor. 3:15). But whenever our heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away! As we behold the Lord with an unveiled face, we see the glorious face of Christ – and this is the treasure infused and deposited into us as the priceless treasure in our worthless earthen vessels…

practicing the divine and heavenly photography

The gospel of Christ is the gospel of His glory shining forth, since Christ as the image of God is the effulgence of His glory (Heb. 1:3). We are like a camera with a lens and with a shutter – when the shutter is pressed, the object / the figure / the image in front of the camera is being impressed on the film / digital memory card. But if the lens of the camera is covered, there’s no image brought onto the film. Satan blinds the minds and thoughts of the people today so that the illumination of the gospel of Christ’s glory would not shine into their hearts. That’s why we need to turn our heart to the Lord!

This is a “divine and heavenly photography” that we practice today in our Christian life and church life. We are learning to have a turned heart to the Lord so that we may receive on the film of our spirit the glorious face of Jesus Christ. As the light shines in the Word of God, the image of Christ is being brought into us – shining into our spirit through our mind. When we speak the Word of God to others we need to pray for the unveiling of their heart so that they may have a turned heart to receive the illumination of Christ – the image of God – into their spirit!

God’s shining brings a treasure into us

When God shines on us through the speaking of His Word, the glory of God in the face of Christ is being infused into us to become the indwelling treasure in our spirit (see 2 Cor. 4:6-7; 1 Pet. 3:4). This is so wonderful! We are earthen vessels – worthless, fragile, temporal, ephemeral, and passing away – but we contain a priceless treasure – the face of Christ, the person of Christ, the image of God Himself – in our spirit (2 Cor. 2:10)! There is nothing more precious and valuable in the whole universe than beholding the face of Jesus (see Gen. 32:30; Exo. 25:30; Psa. 27:4; Rev. 22:4).

Every morning we need to learn to turn our heart to the Lord and deal with any veils that would block our view. We want to see the Lord face to face and “mirror Him” to others, that is, behold Him and reflect Him with no obstacle to the ones around us! This shining of the Lord’s glorious face brings into us more of the inestimable and priceless treasure of glory into us – the very person of Christ in glory. What a privilege to turn to the Lord continually and have a constant inward impression of His glorious image in our heart so that we may express Him!

the source of supply for our Christian life and work

The supply for the apostles as new covenant ministers was this very treasure within impressed into them through the continual shining of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God’s power is manifested in our weakness – we are frail and worthless earthen vessels but we contain a priceless treasure so that the glory and the sufficiency may not be of us but of God (2 Cor. 4:7; 12:10). I am so glad there’s a continual supply for our Christian life and our Christian work – it is the excellent power of this treasure in us!

Don’t you love the Lord even more when you read about these things? All we have to do is cooperate with the Lord to turn our heart to Him, and He as the treasure is being deposited, added, infused, and transfused into our vessel. The more we turn, the more our earthen vessel is being filled with this priceless treasure – until we will become transparent vessels to make Christ visible in us! This is the way the apostles lived – the excellent power of this treasure strengthened them to be capable to live a crucified life that the resurrection life of Christ whom they ministered may be manifested! Wow…

Lord Jesus, save us from having a veiled heart, a heart turned away from You! Keep us turning our heart, Lord, and dealing with anything that stands in the way. We want to receive more of the shining of Your face into us. Lord, bring more of the treasure in our being! May our worthless earthen vessels be gradually saturated and filled with the priceless and glorious treasure until we fully express You by shining You out!

References and Further Reading

Filed Under: Christ became the Spirit, Christ lives in me, contacting God, Enjoying Christ, expounding the truth, God's economy, love the Lord, morning revival, the all-inclusive Christ, the Christian Life, the high peak, the Lord's recovery · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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