Scripture Reading: Deut. 12:1-18, 20-21, 26-27; 14:22-23; 16:16-17; 1 Cor. 14:26; Psa. 133
Ⅰ
We need to see how to live a life in the eyes of God that will enable us to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ typified by the good land—Col. 1:12; 2:6-7a.
Ⅱ
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 temple, the house, of the living God—1 Cor. 3:17; 1 Tim. 3:15:
A
God's will is for us to enjoy Christ—Heb. 10:5-10; 1 Cor. 1:9.
B
We need to seek to enjoy Christ and experience Him in every situation—Phil. 3:7-14.
C
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; 1 Cor. 15:58.
D
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—Deut. 16:15-16:
１
We must produce enough of Him so that there will be a surplus remaining for the poor and the needy, for the priests and the Levites, and with the best for the Lord Himself—15:11; 18:3-4; 12:11.
２
To worship God with Christ is to worship Him collectively with all the children of God by enjoying Christ with one another and with God—1 Cor. 14:26.
Ⅲ
If we want to be overcomers, we need to labor on Christ as our good land, to gain Christ as our enjoyment:
A
Every morning we must consecrate ourselves sincerely to the Lord for the simple purpose of enjoying and experiencing Him—cf. Phil. 3:13-14.
B
Every day we need to spend time to be with the Lord privately and secretly to have intimate fellowship with Him—Matt. 14:22-23; 6:6; Exo. 33:11a.
C
We need to enjoy the Lord in the Word every day early in the morning to have a new start of each day—Psa. 119:147-148.
D
We need to deal with sins thoroughly so that there is nothing between us and the Lord—1 John 1:7, 9; cf. Ezek. 1:22, 26.
E
We need to maintain our fellowship with the Lord moment by moment, living a life of prayer—2 Cor. 13:14; Phil. 4:6-7; Lam. 3:55-56; cf. Matt. 11:25-26.
F
We need to redeem our time and spend our energy to be saturated and soaked with God's holy Word—2 Tim. 3:16-17; Col. 3:16.
G
We should redeem the time to be filled in spirit by rejoicing always, praying unceasingly, and giving thanks in everything—Eph. 5:18; 1 Thes. 5:16-19.
Ⅳ
We meet together to have an exhibition of the Christ upon whom we have labored, the Christ whom we have enjoyed and experienced—Deut. 14:22-23:
A
The true worship of God by His people is when everyone is full of Christ, radiant with Christ, and exhibiting the Christ upon whom they have labored.
B
We should always have something to speak in all the meetings as a freewill offering to God and to the attendants—1 Cor. 14:26:
１
Before coming to the meeting, we should prepare ourselves for the meeting with something of the Lord, either through our experience of Him or through our enjoyment of His word and fellowship with Him in prayer— cf. Rev. 1:20.
２
After coming into the meeting, we need not wait, and should not wait, for inspiration; we should exercise our spirit and use our trained mind to function in presenting what we have prepared to the Lord for His glory and satisfaction and to the attendants for their benefit—their enlightenment, nourishment, and building up—1 Cor. 14:31-32.
Ⅴ
We must meet with the Lord's children for corporate worship at the place the Lord has chosen—in our spirit and on the unique ground of oneness—Deut. 12:5, 11, 13-14, 18; 16:16:
A
Our spirit is the dwelling place of God, the place chosen by God for His habitation—John 4:23-24; Eph. 2:22.
B
We must keep the unique oneness of the Body of Christ on the genuine ground of oneness:
１
The practice of the church life is the practice of having one church for one city, one city with only one church—Acts 8:1; 13:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; Rev. 1:11.
２
On the genuine ground of oneness, we enjoy the Lord as the anointing oil, the refreshing dew, and the commanded blessing of life—Psa. 133.
C
There are four characteristics of the place the Lord has chosen:
１
The place chosen by the Lord must not have any name other than the name of Christ—Deut. 12:5; Rev. 3:8.
２
The place chosen by the Lord is full of the exercise of the spirit—Eph. 2:22; John 4:24; 1 Tim. 4:7; 1 Cor. 14:32.
３
The place chosen by the Lord is a place of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ—Deut. 12:7, 18; Psa. 36:8-9.
４
The place chosen by the Lord is a place of rejoicing—Deut. 12:7, 12, 18; Psa. 42:4; 122:1.