YOUNG ADULT OUTING
HOW TO HAVE A CHURCH LIFE
Participate, Exercise, Practice
OKLAHOMA
Young Adult Outing
Oklahoma City, October 3-4, 2014
HOW TO HAVE A CHURCH LIFE
PARTICIPATE, EXERCISE, PRACTICE
Friday Evening
6:00
Dinner (Simultaneous separate meals in Fellowship Hall and Meeting Hall)
7:00
Singing/Prayer/Pray-Reading (Warm-up Exercises)
7:15
By Exiting Egypt
7:45
Prayer with 3-4 around you (2-3 minutes); fellowship from message (10 minutes)
8:00
By Enjoying the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
Opening word
8:10
Ministry Reading in Small Groups
8:25
Group Prayer and Fellowship
8:40
Overflow altogether from both messages
9:00
Dismiss/Pick up children
Saturday Morning
9:00
Singing/Prayer/Pray-reading (Warm-up Exercises)
9:15
By Eating the Manna and Drinking the Living Water – Making a Change of Diet and Source
9:45
9:55
Prayer with 3-4 around you (2 minutes); fellowship from message (8 minutes)
By Giving Ourselves to the Tabernacle – God’s Building
Opening Word
10:05 Ministry Reading in Small Groups
10:20 Group Prayer and Fellowship
10:30 Re-speak main points of message to opposite group
10:40 Break
10:55 By Living the Life of the Priesthood
11:25 Small Group Prayer (2 minutes) and fellowship from the message (8 minutes)
11:35 Testimonies and Overflow
12:15 Lunch
Young Adult Outing
Oklahoma City, October 3-4, 2014
Message One
How to Have a Church Life:
By Exiting Egypt
I. God Reveals the Name Jehovah to Pharaoh in Asking to Let His People Go
A. That they may hold a feast unto him in the wilderness
B. To let them go three days’ journey
II. Pharaoh Symbolizing the Usurping Satan and Our Satan-possessed and Usurped Self
A.
B.
C.
D.
Increasing their labor with rigor
Giving them to more straw
Requiring of them the same number of bricks
Moses being bothered and discouraged, Jehovah God reconfirming his name
and his covenant
III. The Rod Becoming a Serpent
A. God exposes their life under Satan’s hand.
B. This was exposure not judgment.
C. The ‘magicians’ are the philosophies of the world.
1. Able to reveal the truth of the human condition
2. Unable to cure it
3. The gospel ‘swallows’ these philosophies.
IV. The First Three Plagues – Water to Blood; Frogs, and Lice
V. The Second Three Plagues – Flies, Murrain, and Boils
VI. The Third Set of Plagues – Hail, Locust, and Darkness
VII.The Final Plague – Death of the firstborn
Young Adult Outing
Oklahoma City, October 3-4, 2014
Message Two
How to Have a Church Life:
By Enjoying the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
In 1 Cor. 5:7-8 Christ is revealed as the Passover and the unleavened bread. In verse 7 Paul says,
“Purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened; for our
Passover, Christ, also has been sacrificed.” Here the word Passover indicates not only that the
judgment of God passes over us because of the blood of Christ, the real Passover lamb (John
1:29); it also refers to the Feast of the Passover. The Passover was a feast in which the children of
Israel enjoyed the roasted Passover lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs. The entire
Passover, including the Passover lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs, is a type of the
all-inclusive Christ in redemption. As our Passover, Christ is the reality of the lamb, the
unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs. Christ as the Feast of the Passover has saved us from God’s
death-judgment. We have been saved from God’s judgment by enjoying Christ as such a feast.
A bunch of hyssop was used to put the blood of the lamb on the lintel and the doorposts. First
Kings 4:33 says that, in his wisdom, Solomon “spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in
Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall.” Hyssop was among the smallest of
the plants. According to the revelation in the New Testament, the thing that is the smallest in
quantity is our faith (Matt. 17:20). Hence, hyssop signifies faith. God does not require that our
faith be as the cedar tree, for none of us could meet such a requirement. God requires that we have
just a little faith. Even if our faith is very small, we still can apply the Passover lamb. If a sinner
prays, “Lord Jesus, thank You for dying for me,” he will be saved. Even such a small amount of
faith will save him. Actually, one can be saved just by saying, “Lord, thank You.” This is faith that
is like hyssop that springs out of the wall. It is by such little faith that the blood of Christ is
applied.
To participate in the Passover, the children of Israel had to enter into and remain in the houses that
had been sprinkled with the blood (vv. 13, 22-23). In the same principle, to participate in Christ
and His redemption, we must be identified with Christ by entering into Him and remaining in Him
(Eph. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:30; John 15:4; cf. Gal. 5:2, 4). The house and the blood were inseparable;
likewise, Christ and His redemption are one.
In Exodus 12:8 the children of Israel were to eat the flesh of the lamb with unleavened bread and
bitter herbs. In the Scriptures leaven signifies what is sinful, evil, corrupt, and unclean in the eyes
of God (1 Cor. 5:6, 8). To eat with unleavened bread means to eliminate all sinful things. To eat
with bitter herbs means to regret and repent, to experience a bitter taste regarding sinful things.
As the unleavened bread, Christ is the spiritual and divine food that makes us unleavened. The
unleavened bread signifies the sinless Christ who is to be dispensed into us, His believers, as the
unleavened (sinless) element. Just as the children of Israel ate the Passover lamb with the When
we take Christ as our life, this life purifies us. This life is an unleavened life, a purifying life. The
more we call on the name of the Lord Jesus and take Him into us, the more we are purified from
within.
According to Exodus 12:9, the children of Israel were to eat the lamb’s head with its legs and
inward parts. The head signifies wisdom, the legs signify activity and move, and the inward parts
signify the inward parts of Christ’s being, including His mind, emotion, will, and heart with all
their functions. Eating the Passover lamb with the head, legs, and inward parts signifies taking
Christ in His entirety, in His wisdom, activities, move, and inward parts (John 6:57; 1 Cor. 1:24;
Rev. 14:4b; Phil. 1:8).
According to Exodus 12, during the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, no leaven was
to be found in the houses (v. 19), and no leaven was to be seen among the people of Israel (13:7).
This signifies that, although it is impossible for us to be completely without sin, we must eliminate
any sin that is seen; that is, we must forsake the sin of which we are conscious (cf. Heb. 12:1). To
deal with manifested sin is to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (1 Cor. 5:7-8). If we tolerate sin
once it is exposed, we will lose the enjoyment of the fellowship of God’s people (Exo. 12:19; 1
Cor. 5:13). The only way to eliminate sin is to daily eat Christ as the crucified, resurrected, and
sinless life, signified by the unleavened bread.
Exodus 12:16 says, “And in the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and in the seventh day
there shall be a holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that
which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.” This verse says that on the first and last
days of the feast of unleavened bread no manner of work was to be done. This signifies that in the
enjoyment of God’s salvation, there is no place for our work. We must learn to stop our doing. We
must cease from every kind of work. Do not resolve to be a loving husband, a submissive wife, or
a child who honors his parents. All this is human work. The only thing we are permitted to do is
eat. This indicates that as we partake of God’s salvation, there is room only for enjoyment, not for
working. Do not try to do anything—just eat and enjoy.
We find it difficult to stop working and to keep eating. Instead of eating without working, our
habit is to work without eating. Some may complain of too much spiritual eating. They may even
say that they are bored with such eating. Talk like this circulated among us some time ago. This
kind of word comes from the Devil, the enemy of God. As soon as a word is spoken against eating
the Lord, it is followed by a suggestion that we work or engage in a certain activity. What a
devilish contradiction of the principle of God’s salvation! I repeat, God’s salvation requires that
we stop our working and do nothing except eat.
It is even possible for prayer to become a work that God forbids. Some of the saints may decide to
spend more time in prayer. In such a case, their prayer may become a work that breaks the
principle of God’s salvation. To one who resolves to pray in this way, I would say, “Do not allow
prayer to become a work. Instead of praying in a natural way, you must eat the unleavened bread.”
When I was young, I engaged in much work for the Lord. I read books about how to be holy, how
to pray, and how to overcome sin. These books encouraged me to work and to do certain things.
Then one day I saw the light that God does not want us to work—He wants us to eat. If we would
feast unto Him, we must stop our doing.
We all must learn to drop our natural doing. However, this is not easy for us to do. As we drop our
doing, we need to maintain our eating. But if we do not eat, we should not stop working. Most
Christians work without eating, but we must learn to eat without doing. Let us drop our doing, but
continue with our eating. (Excerpts from Conclusion of the New Testament Message 309 and Life
Study of Exodus Messages 23-25)
Young Adult Outing
Oklahoma City, October 3-4, 2014
Message Three
How to Have a Church Life:
By Eating the Manna and Drinking the Living Water –
Making a Change of Diet and Source
I. Introduction: (Exo. 16:2-3, 4-5)
A. Egyptian food had run out and they became hungry
B. Jehovah provided food in the form of manna
1. Regulations regarding the manna
C. The children of Israel complained and Jehovah also gave them quail
II. Our Experience Matching the Children of Israel’s Experience
III. Manna is the Reconstituting Element of Christ
A. The manna is a picture of Christ, as the bread from heaven (John 6:51a)
B. Bread with regulation vs. quail without restriction
C. Christ reconstituting us by eating, not by outward rules
D. Eating Christ our appetites and tastes will be changed
E. This time in our life is specifically for daily reconstitution
F. Eventually all the “quail” must be replaced with just the manna
IV. Strong Warning: (Numbers 11:4-6 and 14:29-30)
A. The children of Israel after 40 years still longed for Egypt (Numbers 11:4-6)
B. Spies sent into the Good Land - evil report vs. good report
C. No one that came out of Egypt made it into the Good Land besides Joshua and Caleb.
V. The Importance of Reconstitution
A. How about us? 40 years from now. Do we still want to be yearning for Egypt?
B. Our constitution will determine how we view our situation (Evil vs. Good Report)
VI. The Manna is Christ as the Word and expounded in the Ministry
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
The manna here is Christ as the Word. (John 6:63b)
We need to be in the Word daily. The manna was gathered each morning.
The Word can be opened up by the ministry.
One food and only one ministry.
For example, the four gospels are separated, but they are not ministering 4 different
things. They are ministering just one food.
F. Our need is to eat Christ in the Word and the ministry will help open up the Word and
make it richer and more enjoyable and be able to find Christ.
Verse Sheet for Message Three
How to Have a Church Life: By Eating the Manna and Drinking the Living Water –
Making a Change of Diet and Source
Exodus 16:2-3 And the whole assembly of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and
against Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, If only we had died by the
hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots, when we ate bread to the full;
for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole congregation with hunger.
Exodus 16:4-5 Then Jehovah said to Moses, I will now rain bread from heaven for you; and the
people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they
will walk in My law. And on the sixth day when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice
as much as they gather daily.
Exodus 16:12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, At
twilight you will eat flesh, and in the morning you will be filled with bread; and you shall know
that I am Jehovah your God.
Numbers 11:4-6 And the mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly; and the
children of Israel also wept again and said, Who shall give us meat to eat? 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.
Numbers 14:29-30 …none of you who were numbered…who have murmured against Me, Shall
come into the land, in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb…and Joshua….
John 6:51a I am the living bread which came down out of heaven;
Exodus 17:6 I will be standing before you there upon the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the
rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink. And Moses did so….
Jeremiah 2:13 For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of
living waters, To hew out for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns, Which hold no water.
John 4:14 But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever;
but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water gushing up into eternal
life.
Psalm 36:8 They are saturated with the fatness of Your house, And You cause them to drink of
the river of Your pleasures.
1 Corinthians 12:13b [We] were all given to drink one Spirit.
Romans 10:12b [The Lord is] rich to all who call upon Him;
Young Adult Outing
Oklahoma City, October 3-4, 2014
Message Four
How to Have a Church Life:
By Giving Ourselves to the Tabernacle–God’s Building
I. God’s Building is for His Corporate Expression
A.
Coming Forward to God’s Building (Exo. 26; John 1:14; 1 Cor. 12:12)
“Many Christians, after their conversion at the cross, enjoyed Christ for a time, but then
gradually went back to the world. They wouldn’t go on. They wouldn’t go forward. To go
forward to enter into the tabernacle means to enter into God’s expression.”
B.
Abiding in the Body (John 15; Col. 2:19)
“If we are willing to be vitally related and built up with others, we will find that our
weaknesses and shortcomings will disappear. We must learn to pay attention to one thing:
being built up with other Christians.”
C.
Needing the Practical Reality to Experience the Expression
“As Christians, can we point out other definite members of the Body of Christ with whom
we are related in a practical way? This is not a matter of doctrine or ethereal “spirituality”;
it is a matter of practical reality. Check yourself. If you are an isolated member of the
Body, you are burdened with many problems. The only way to be a victorious Christian is
to be a related Christian.”
II. The Boards of the Tabernacle Showing the Members’ Need to be Related to One Another
in Order to form a Complete Unit (Exo. 26:15-16; 1 Cor. 1:1)
III. Two Egyptian Cities versus God’s Tabernacle
“To share in the building of God we must be separated from Babel, the city of idols; we
must be kept from Sodom, the city of sin; and we must be delivered out of the two
Egyptian cities of treasure and enjoyment. Then we will be in a liberated position,
completely available to share in God’s building.”
IV. The Building of the Tabernacle
“The building up of the local churches today is God’s desire. If we are people after His
heart, we will give our full attention to this matter, to the building of the churches
today on this earth as God’s dwelling place, according to God’s pattern, the pattern shown
by God’s revelation. When the tabernacle was erected, God’s glory covered it and filled it
(Exo. 40:17, 34). Through such a building God could express Himself on this earth. This is
what God is seeking all the time.”
Message Four: Reading One
GOD’S BUILDING IS FOR HIS CORPORATE EXPRESSION
Coming Forward to God’s Building (Exo. 26; John 1:14; 1 Cor. 12:12)
God has only one image, and since His image is one, He can only have one expression. There are
many thousands of Christians on this earth. How then can so many be just one expression of God? The
answer is in God’s building! We must have the building. I do not have words to express what is on my
heart concerning this matter. There is a vision open to me continuously day and night. First,
negatively, it is impossible for any single individual to express God in a full way; then, positively, the
proper and adequate expression of God must be a coordinated, corporate expression. Remember,
God’s desire and purpose is that He be expressed and represented through man on this earth. But this is
possible only when we are being mutually coordinated and built up together. Then God will be fully
expressed. Oh, we must be built up with other Christians as a corporate expression, representing God!
God’s first created man failed to be His one expression, but the principle still holds: the other man
created by God—the new man—is to be that all-inclusive, corporate man, God’s real expression on
this earth.
Abiding in the Body (John 15; Col. 2:19)
Let us be more practical. Christians talk much about being like Jesus, glorifying God, and expressing
Christ. But it is impossible for any individual to glorify God or express Christ in a full way if he is not
built up with other Christians. Consider ourselves. All of our problems are due to one thing: we are too
independent and individualistic; we are disconnected and isolated from others. So we are beset with
failures and weaknesses. Do you have a certain besetting sin which you cannot overcome? You will
never surmount it or overcome it by yourself. You must forget your own efforts and pay full attention
to being built up with others. If we are willing to be vitally related and built up with others, we will
find that our weaknesses and shortcomings will disappear. We must learn to pay attention to one thing:
being built up with other Christians. In the early years of my Christian life I did not see this building
principle. I was struggling and striving, seeking and fighting. One day the Lord opened my eyes. I saw
that there was no need for me to struggle, fight and toil any longer. I need only abide in the Body. As
long as each member of my physical body abides in the body, everything is all right.
Suppose your hand is isolated and separated from your body; yet it continues with great effort to live
and function, to be healthy and useful! Suppose someone should ask the severed hand, “What are you
striving for…?” and it replies, “Oh, I must strive to be healthy, to overcome all the germs, etc., etc.”
Such a supposition is absurd in the extreme. Yet this is the case of most Christians today, probably
including yourself. Yes, we are Christians, but we are not actually related to one another. We are
members of Christ’s Body, but we are not fitly framed together. We are materials, but we are not built
up together as God’s building. Oh, we must forget our personal struggles and just abide in the Body! A
misplaced, detached hand is not only useless—it is ugly and terrifying! Let us forget our striving and
just pay attention to being vitally related to Christ’s Body. Then the germs will be killed, and we will
be living and powerful, healthy and functioning. We will not merely be useful, but fully useful.
Soon after I became a Christian, I read numerous articles concerning the victorious life and how to
overcome sin. I tried to apply what I learned; yet the more I tried, the more I failed! I became very
disappointed. But one day the Lord opened my eyes to see that Christ is within me as my life, that I am
a member of His Body, and that there is no need for me to do anything. Then I deeply appreciated that
Christ was my life, and that I was in the Body. From this realization I experienced victory continually.
There was no need to strive. The whole Body enriched me and strengthened me. I realized I was a
member of the new man.
Needing the Practical Reality to Experience the Expression
At the end of Scripture, as its conclusion, there is one city. And this city is the building, the unique,
universal expression of God. God always has only one expression. As in Genesis 1, there is only one
man, so at the end of Scripture there is only one city, built of gold, pearls and precious stones. An
independent Christian can never be a real, full expression of God. If we cut off our ear, it is an
expression only of death. If I come upon a heap of ears, I will be terrified. Yet there are so many
Christians today just like this, frightening people away. They are “nice” Christians, but practically
speaking they are separated and isolated from the Body.
When we come to the Body, we find that all the besetting sins are under our feet! The issue is not
whether we are a living, healthy, or functioning, individual Christian; but are we vitally and practically
related to the Body of Christ? It is a pity, but it is a fact that very little is heard today regarding the
building of God and the real relatedness of the Body of Christ on this earth. I do hope that we all may
see that it is God’s intention to have a corporate man as a building, a unique expression, with so many
members fitly framed together, members related and built up as one Body. Then, wherever we are, we
will enjoy all the riches of the Body.
(Concerning the Lord's Recovery, Chapter 3, Section 6; The Vision of God’s Building, pp. 14-17)
THE BOARDS OF THE TABERNACLE SHOWING THE MEMBERS’ NEED TO BE RELATED
TO ONE ANOTHER IN ORDER TO FORM A COMPLETE UNIT (Exo. 26:15-16; 1 Cor. 1:1)
Without the boards, the tabernacle could not be erected. Each board is one and one-half cubits wide
(Exo. 26:15-16). This is exceedingly significant. The numbers three and five are the main numbers in
God’s building, and one and one-half is half of three. This means that neither you nor I are a whole
unit; we are just a half of a unit. We need another half to match us. When the Lord Jesus sent out His
disciples, He sent them two by two: Peter was one and one-half, and John was one and one-half. When
they were put together, they equaled three cubits, or a whole unit. We can never be independent; we
must have someone else to match us. Many times when we observe a husband and wife, they look just
like two halves of one whole. In the home, a husband needs his dear wife, but in the church he needs
someone else to match him.
The sending forth of the New Testament disciples two by two clearly reveals that they were not
individualistic persons, but members one of another. Not one individual Christian is a whole body. We
are but members, and we need other members to match us. The primary factor in the church life is that
regardless of what kind of person I am, I am still only one and one-half cubits wide. Someone may be
as big as the Apostle Paul, but he must still remember that he is only one and one-half cubits. Most of
us believe that the Apostle Paul wrote the book of 1 Corinthians alone. However, if we look closely,
we will see that someone else, one who is unknown by most Christians, was his other half writing with
him (1 Cor. 1:1). The Apostle Paul was not independent; he did not write in an individualistic and
uncoordinated way.
We must be definitely and practically related with other Christians. This is why there were forty-eight
rather than forty-seven or forty-five boards in the tabernacle. There was an even number, not an odd
number. We cannot have any odd brothers or sisters in the church; we must all constitute an even
number. Thus, we must constantly realize that we in ourselves are not complete; we are just half a unit.
We must always be related to someone else. For many years I have never dared to act in an
individualistic way. Praise the Lord, under His authority I have always had some brother or sister to
match me. We must be matched with others. (The Vision of God’s Building, pp. 94-95)
Message Four: Reading Two
Two Egyptian Cities versus God’s Tabernacle
We have seen that God’s intention is to have a group of people built up as a spiritual building to
express God and to represent God by dealing with His enemy and recovering this lost earth. Before
God’s building, the New Jerusalem, could come into existence, Satan’s counterfeit cities were built.
Babel was principally a city of idol worship. Sodom was a city of sin. Egypt is the world of enjoyment
and wealth. It is easy for most Christians to be separated from the world of idols. With some, perhaps,
it is also easy to be kept from the world of sin. However, it is not so easy for any of us to be protected
from the world of enjoyment. We may not be found in Babel or in Sodom, but I fear that many of us
are still in Egypt, the world of enjoyment and wealth. American Christians especially know the
meaning of enjoyment… If you ask some Christians why they do not attend the meetings of the
church, they will reply that they do not have time. This is because all their time is spent in labor for the
treasure cities. Is this your occupation? With so many of us, Satan, the prince of this world, is forcing
us to labor in mud, brick and straw. As long as we are working on earthly things, there will never be
anything of a heavenly nature about us. As long as we are in Egypt, working for the treasure cities, we
have nothing to do with God’s building. Day by day we will be busy laboring for the world of
enjoyment. Praise God that we have been separated from idol worship and kept from sin. But are we
still in the fallen state of the treasure cities? May God deliver us from this also into His building.
When the people of Israel were delivered out of the work of those cities and brought to Mount Sinai,
they were completely free. They were free from Babel, from Sodom, and from the treasure cities of
Pharaoh. Their hands were then free to do the work of God’s building. All their possessions, indeed
everything, was freed for God’s building! The tabernacle was erected, and for forty years Israel did
nothing but continuously deal with that tabernacle. More than two million people did nothing but busy
themselves with the tabernacle! …All their activities were with that tabernacle.
To share in the building of God we must be separated from Babel, the city of idols; we must be kept
from Sodom, the city of sin; and we must be delivered out of the two Egyptian cities of treasure and
enjoyment. Then we will be in a liberated position, completely available to share in God’s building.
We must have nothing to do with idols, with sin, or with worldly enjoyment.
There are not many, sorry to say, who are for God’s building today. There are some who have come
out of Babel and Sodom, but so many are still entangled by the treasures of this world, by the lust for
security and enjoyment. It is difficult to find many Christians who are standing in the position of
freedom and availability for God’s building. Some indeed know the teaching concerning the exercise
of the human spirit to contact Christ as life; yet they are still in the treasure cities. In that position they
can surely contact the treasure of worldly enjoyment, but they must give up these cities if they would
contact Christ. This is exactly why so many Christians today have such a problem exercising their
spirit to contact Christ…They are quick to say, “Look, I’m not in Babel, I have nothing to do with
idols. I’m not in Sodom either, I have nothing to do with sin.” But can we say that we are not in Egypt,
that we are not entangled by the world of security and enjoyment?
Peter, in Acts 3:6, could say, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee.” What Peter
had was the mighty name of Jesus. Not many Christians could say this today. Yes, they will confess
the Lord’s name, but the power of that name for them has been lost. They cannot say, “Silver and gold
have I none.” They can afford a considerable amount of silver and gold. If we would share in the
building of God, we must be delivered out of all these cities. If we would exercise our spirit to contact
Christ, we must be disentangled from the enjoyment of the world; otherwise, our spiritual exercise will
be of no avail.
We must always be on the alert, for we are endangered by these three fronts: Babel, Sodom, and the
cities of Egypt. When we are delivered from these, our hands are free for God’s building. When we are
delivered, Christ is so dear and precious to us. It is then that we know how to exercise our spirit to
contact Christ. We can never enjoy Christ as our manna if we are still in Egypt. We can never enjoy
Christ as the living water, continuously flowing to quench our thirst, if we are still in Egypt. When we
are separated from these cities, we are in a position to share in the building of God. (The Vision of
God’s Building, pp. 42-45)
The Building of the Tabernacle
The Lord indicated to Moses the offerings that He desired. The Lord always wants the best. So many
dear Christians love the Lord, but with some reservation. They hold back the best for themselves. We
really do not have a choice; we must let God point out what He wants. He will choose all the things
which fit His purpose: gold, silver, brass, and eventually the onyx stones (Exo. 25:3-7).
Notice the sequence in the items which God requested: gold, silver, and lastly, onyx stones. This
means that from the first to the last everything is precious. If it is precious to you, it is even more
precious to the Lord. The Lord never desires what you do not want. If you discard something, the Lord
will say, “Forget it, I don’t want it either. I want exactly what you want!” If I were an Israelite
listening to Moses convey God’s instructions, I would shrink back and even exclaim in fear, “Gold,
silver, onyx stones? Oh, these are too precious to me!” Here is the test of our consecration.
I am not speaking of the doctrine or theology of consecration. My burden is to show why after the
lapse of over two thousand years there is still no real building for God on this earth today. It is because
some Christians are still in Babel, some are still in Sodom, and many, many others are still being
usurped by the King of Egypt. Some Christians, it is true, have been separated from Egypt, yet they are
not abiding in the presence of the Lord to seek and realize His desire. Still others, who have been in the
presence of the Lord, will not yield to His requests or demands. They will not open their hearts to offer
all the best things to the Lord. This is the problem today. Without this offering, how can the building
of God come into being? Do you realize that God needs you, including all that you are, all you have,
and all you can do? Will you bring all into His presence and say, “Lord, here, everything is available;
You point out anything, and I agree to give it to You.” Have you seen that from the gold to the onyx
stone, including all the items in between, everything God asks for is precious and the best? If these
kinds of offerings are brought to the Lord by us today, His building will be realized.
God’s desire is to have a dwelling place on this earth. He has planned this; He has a pattern, a pattern
according to His pleasure. We must know this; we must realize that God’s intention in the universe is
to have a dwelling place built among His people and with His people on this earth. The building up of
the local churches today is God’s desire. If we are people after His heart, we will give our full attention
to this matter, to the building of the churches today on this earth as God’s dwelling place, according to
God’s pattern, the pattern shown by God’s revelation. When the tabernacle was erected, God’s glory
covered it and filled it (Exo. 40:17, 34). Through such a building God could express Himself on this
earth. This is what God is seeking all the time. (The Vision of God’s Building, pp. 55-57)
Young Adult Outing
Oklahoma City, October 3-4, 2014
Message Five
How to Have a Church Life – By Living the Life of the Priesthood
Serving God as Priests in a Priesthood for the Building up of God’s Dwelling Place
I. Putting on the new man
A. To accomplish God’s eternal purpose
B. To live a life of reality that expresses God
Eph. 4:24 And 1put on the 2new man, which was created according to
God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.
new – The new man is of Christ. It is His Body, created in Him on the cross (2:15-16).
It is not individual but corporate (Col. 3:10-11). In this corporate new man Christ is all
and in all – He is all the people and in all the people.
This book reveals first that the church is the Body of Christ (1:22-23), the kingdom
of God, the household of God (2:19), and the temple, the dwelling place of God (2:21-22).
Here it reveals in addition that the church is the new man. This is the highest aspect of the
church. The church is …in its ultimate, uttermost aspect a new man to accomplish God’s
eternal purpose. As the Body of Christ, the church needs Christ as its life, whereas as the
new man, the church needs Christ as its person. This new corporate person should live a
life like that which Jesus lived on earth, that is, a life of reality that expresses God and
causes God to be realized as the reality by man.
2
II. Three Areas of Practice
A. In our private daily lives, in prayer
B. Coming together, simply to pray
C. Coming to meetings open, functioning & praying
III. Acceptable Prayer
A. Apply Christ as all the offerings
B. Enjoy Christ, feed on Him, take Him in, in the Presence of God
C. Utter something from deep within our spirit
IV. The Breastplate as a Type of the Building of the Church
Exodus 28:29-30 So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of
judgment on his heart when he goes into the sanctuary, for a memorial before Jehovah
continually. And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and
they shall be on Aaron’s heart when he goes in before Jehovah, and Aaron shall bear the
judgment of the children of Israel on his heart before Jehovah continually.
Numbers 4:3-4 From thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, all who enter in the
service to perform the skilled work in the Tent of Meeting. This is the service of the sons of
Kohath in the Tent of Meeting concerning the most holy things.