The Experience and Enjoyment of Christ in the Local Churches
The Experience and Enjoyment of Christ in the Local Churches |
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Experiencing Christ in the Local Church22. Experiencing Christ as the One Who Swallows up Death by Life Commenting on Ezekiel 47:8, Witness Lee describes how spiritual death is swallowed up by the divine life in a local church: According to the map the East Sea is the Salt Sea or the Dead Sea (47:8). By the flowing of the river out of the house, the salt water of the Dead Sea will be healed. This means that death will be swallowed by life. Life will swallow up death. Where there is the rich and deep flow of life in a local church, much death is swallowed up. If there is no flow in a church, that church becomes a dead sea full of salt. By the flow of the river, deadness can be swallowed up by life. (Witness Lee, Visions of Ezekiel, 230) In these two chapters, Witness Lee describes the believers' experience of the divine life and its wonderful result in the local churches. 23. Experiencing Christ as the Drink Offering—Poured out for God’s Interest Ultimately our experience of Christ will bring us to the point where we are willing to be absolutely poured out for God’s satisfaction. This experience is prefigured by Israel’s pouring out of a drink offering at Bethel. Referring to this type, Witness Lee says: I assure you that in the church your experience of Christ will bring you to the point where you will be filled with heavenly joy and will become the divine wine and be willing to be poured out upon Christ for God’s satisfaction. This is the reaction of Israel in Bethel. I have the complete confidence that from now on there will be many reactions like this in the local churches. Many dear saints will say, “Lord, I’m so saturated with Your joy that I’m drunken. I have become wine to satisfy my God. Now I am willing to be poured out, even to be martyred.” Recall that Paul said that he was already being poured out upon Christ for God’s satisfaction. In the church life we all must be saturated with heavenly joy so that we might be ready and willing to sacrifice ourselves, to be poured out upon Christ for God’s satisfaction. In the church life we all can experience Christ to the degree that we are willing to be poured out as a drink offering. (Witness Lee, LS of Genesis, Vol. 5, 1023) Continuing his expounding on Jacob’s pouring out of the drink offering at Bethel, Witness Lee says: Before his martyrdom, Paul said, “I am already being poured out as a drink offering.” If our only interest is the church, then we are ready to say the same thing. It has only been through experience that I have come to understand why Jacob set up a stone and poured a drink offering upon it. At Bethel, we who are interested only in the house of God spontaneously become a drink offering. According to Romans 16:3-5, Aquila and Priscilla were such people. This couple was absolute for the local churches. Their only interest was the church, and they were willing to be martyred for it. They risked their necks for the Apostle Paul and for the churches. Because Aquila and Priscilla risked their necks for the churches and were interested only in the churches, they were undoubtedly a drink offering; they were ready to be poured out. (Witness Lee, LS of Genesis, Vol. 5, 1151) | ||||