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In order to be today’s overcomers, we must enjoy Christ with God on the ground of oneness for the exhibition of Christ, the building of the church, and the preparation of Christ’s bride—Matt. 16:18; Rev. 19:7:
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The children of Israel could enjoy the rich produce of the good land in two ways:
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The common, private way was to enjoy it as a common portion at any time, in any place, and with anyone—Deut. 12:15.
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The special, corporate way was to enjoy the top portion, the firstfruits and the firstlings, with all the Israelites at the appointed feasts and in the unique place chosen by God—vv. 5, 8, 11, 13-14, 17-18, 21, 26-27; 14:22-23; 15:19-20; 16:16-17.
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Likewise, the enjoyment of Christ by His believers is of two aspects:
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The common, private aspect is to enjoy Christ as our God-allotted portion at every time and in every place—Col. 1:12; 1 Cor. 1:2, 9; Eph. 6:18; 1 Thes. 5:16-18; Rom. 10:12-13.
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The special, corporate aspect is to enjoy the top portion of Christ in the meetings of the proper church life on the unique ground of oneness, the place chosen by God—1 Cor. 14:3, 4b, 26, 31.
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We need to live a life of laboring upon Christ, a life of enjoying Christ personally so that we may enjoy Him together collectively for the building up of the Body of Christ as the house of God for God’s expression and as the kingdom of God for God’s dominion—3:16; 1 Tim. 3:15; Rom. 14:17-18:
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God’s will is for us to enjoy Christ; we must seek to enjoy Christ and experience Him in every situation—Heb. 10:5-10; Phil. 3:7-14; 4:5-8.
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Christ is rich beyond measure, but the church today is groveling in poverty because the Lord’s children are indolent—Prov. 6:6-11; 24:30-34; 26:14; Matt. 25:26, 30; cf. 1 Cor. 15:58.
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We must labor on Christ, our good land, so that we may reap some produce of His riches to bring to the church meeting and offer; thus, the meeting will be an exhibition of Christ in His riches and will be a mutual enjoyment of Christ shared by all the attendants before God and with God for the building up of the saints and the church—Col. 2:6-7; 1 Cor. 1:9; 14:3, 31.
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Whenever we come to the meetings to worship the Lord, we should not come with our hands empty; we must come with our hands full of the produce of Christ—v. 26; Deut. 16:15-17.
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We meet together to have an exhibition of the Christ upon whom we have labored, the Christ whom we have experienced and enjoyed—14:22-23.
Morning Nourishment
Deut. 12:15 Yet you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates…according to the blessing of Jehovah your God which He has given you…16:16 Three times a year all your males shall appear before Jehovah your God in the place which He will choose….And they shall not appear before Jehovah empty-handed.
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. If we consider our experience, we shall see that we have two kinds of enjoyment of Christ’s riches….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. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, “Young People’s Training,” pp. 454-455)
Today’s Reading
The life we need to enjoy the good land…is a life first of all of laboring on Christ,…seeking to enjoy Him and experience Him in every situation. The people of Israel after they occupied the good land and all their enemies were subdued…simply labored on the land. They tilled the ground, sowed the seed, watered the plants, nurtured the vines, and pruned the trees….It is a picture of how we must work diligently on Christ that we may enjoy His all-inclusive riches. Christ is rich beyond measure, but the church today is groveling in poverty. Why? It is because the Lord’s children today are indolent. They will not exert themselves to labor on Christ.The Lord told His people that they must come together to worship Him at least three times a year….And He told them that whenever they come together…they must bring something in their hands to Him…of the produce of the good land. If they were lazy and did not work on the land, not only would they be unable to bring anything to the Lord, but they would have nothing to satisfy themselves; they would be hungry.
We have to labor on Christ day by day so that we produce Him in mass production. We need more than just a little of Christ to satisfy our own needs. We must produce enough of Him so that there will be a surplus remaining for others. We are meeting together to have an exhibition of Christ, not just the Christ whom God gave us but the Christ we have produced, the Christ upon whom we have labored and whom we have experienced….Brothers and sisters, this is what all our meetings should be—an exhibition, a fair, in which all sorts of the produce of Christ are displayed.
The life in the land is a life full of the enjoyment of Christ, both personally and collectively with the Lord’s people. May we be diligent to labor on Him, to have our hands filled with Him, and then come to the place that He has appointed, to the very ground of unity, to enjoy this rich and glorious Christ with God’s children and with God Himself. (CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The All-inclusive Christ,” pp. 342-344, 347, 352)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1963, vol. 4, “The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church Life,” chs. 14-15; CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The All-inclusive Christ,” chs. 15-16; CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, “Young People’s Training,” chs. 12-13