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The bull of the sin offering signifies the stronger and richer Christ as our sin offering to deal with the flesh, the old man, indwelling sin, Satan, the world, and the ruler of the world, for the assuming of our New Testament priesthood; this reminds us that in ourselves we are a constitution of all the aforementioned negative things and need to offer Christ daily as our sin offering for our priesthood (Lev. 8:14):
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The priests were to eat the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary that they might "bear the iniquity of the assembly, to make expiation for them before Jehovah" (10:17).
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The priests' partaking of the sin offering to bear the iniquity of the people signifies that we, the New Testament priests, partake of Christ as the believers' sin offering in the sense of participating in Christ's life, the life that bears others' sins, as our life supply that we may be able to bear the problems of God's people.
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The rich enjoyment of Christ as our sin offering in the church life enables us to minister Christ to the believers as the life that deals with sin, that they may deal with their sins to restore their broken fellowship with God (Gal. 6:1-2; Eph. 4:2).
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As we are enjoying Christ as the sin-dealing life, we must have the capacity to bear away the iniquity of God's people; we must learn to minister Christ to the dear ones who are in sin:
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To minister Christ as the sin-dealing life to someone is not to go to him to point out his fault and condemn him; this will only cause damage.
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A person who sins usually has his heart hardened (Heb. 3:13); if we are going to minister Christ to him, we have to trust in the Lord that we may have the grace with the Spirit to soften and warm up his hardened heart.
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Then the very Christ as life will be actually, really, and richly ministered to him, and this life, which is the Spirit, will work within him; he will then be healed by the very Spirit, the life of Christ, ministered into him through us.
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This is what it means, according to Leviticus, to bear away the iniquity of the people of God; this is the way to get rid of the sins among some saints so that they may eventually be recovered.
Morning Nourishment
Lev. 8:14 And he brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering.10: 17 Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary? For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear the iniquity of the assembly, to make expiation for them before Jehovah.
If a person has a certain physical sickness, you do not need to mention his disease. If you minister the proper medication to this sick man, he will get well. I have experienced this in caring for the saints. I did not talk with the saint about his weakness, fault, or sin, but he was healed. He did not get healed by my word but by the very Spirit, the life of Christ, ministered into him through me. This is what it means, according to Leviticus, to bear the iniquity of the people of God. This is the way to get rid of the sins among some saints. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 3, "A Timely Word," pp. 54-55)
Today's Reading
The work to recover the sinful saints takes time. It cannot be quick. You have to be patient. Even if it took eight months or a year to get one or two sinful saints recovered, that would be a great thing. Galatians 6:1 says that when a brother is overtaken in some offense, those who are spiritual should restore him. We have to do our best to recover a fallen saint. Out of one hundred saints meeting together, maybe two or three are living in a sinful situation. Since you are enjoying Christ, you can pick up the burden to take care of one of them. Another brother may have a burden for the same person. Then you and he can fellowship about this one saint and work together to help him. If you two can work together for half a year to get this sinful brother recovered, this is a great, great help to the church life. This kind of ministry is the element for us to maintain the oneness of the Spirit in the church life.The oneness can be maintained only in love by the Spirit. Criticism only builds up division and destroys the oneness. We all have to avoid negative talk and learn to take Christ as the sin offering, the sin-dealing life, that we may have the measure and the capacity with a certain amount of Christ to minister to the sinful saints. Then these saints, sooner or later, will be recovered. If we recover one brother, we will reduce the problems in the church life related to the oneness. If you get yourself approved before the Lord, try to help another one who has a problem. After six months of your ministering Christ as the sin-dealing life to him, his problem may be gone. This is not only to bear the iniquity of the people of God but also to solve the problems of the people of God. Furthermore, this is a practical way to maintain the oneness of the Spirit among the saints.
Thus, related to the Lord's table, we should practice two things. First, we have to prove ourselves. Second, we should not talk about a sinful saint but pray for him and try to minister the very Christ whom we enjoy to him. Sooner or later, this ministry will be a real salvation to him. Then the church's problem will be solved through us, and we will have no problem in the oneness of the Spirit. By this way we also can have peace within us to take the Lord's table.
Let us all be diligent to keep the oneness and endeavor to live a life of love in the church life. Love builds up, but knowledge kills (1 Cor. 8:1; 2 Cor. 3:6). Always live a life in love. Whether or not you go to help a certain one is secondary. The primary thing is to love all the saints, whether they are good or bad, with the same love. We have a tendency to love the stronger saints but not the weaker ones. We must love all the saints with the same love. As long as someone is a saint, he is a member in the church, and we should love him with the same love that we love the other saints. This will kill the germs, destroy the problems, and build up a permanent, lasting oneness of the Spirit. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 3, "A Timely Word," pp. 55-56)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1988, vol. 3, "A Timely Word," ch. 1