Day: July 19, 2021

Truth Messages, Ch. 9, Sec. 3 of 3

Posted on in Corporate Reading, Truth Messages

GOD OVERLAYING HIS RECOVERED PEOPLE 
WITH HIMSELF

Recently, some among us became dissenting, although they claimed to have seen the ground and to be for the Lord’s recovery. Because they had not been solidly overlaid with gold, they caused the oneness to be damaged. The same thing may happen in the future to anyone who is not fully overlaid with gold. Not having an adequate amount of God can create a serious problem with the oneness. The Lord’s recovery is not a movement. We do not desire to gain a large number of people. In the recovery we are concerned for the genuine weight of gold. The important question is this: How much of God do you have? The Lord’s recovery consists of God overlaying His recovered people with Himself.

Whenever I see that any are dissenting, I feel sorry for them. At the same time I realize that such a situation of dissension is a test, an exposure, and a purification. It is a test of what is real, of how much gold we actually have. We all need to gain more gold. It is not sufficient only to have a good heart, to know the truth, and to care for the Lord’s recovery. Everything depends upon how much gold we have. We all can become dissenting if we are short of gold. This should be a warning to us all. Again I say that genuine oneness is possible only in the Triune God.

THE TOP PORTION OF GOD

We need to say a word now about the golden rings. Even after the boards had been overlaid with a heavy layer of gold, they could not be held together without the rings, which were receptacles. The overlaying gold was the ordinary gold, but the golden rings were the top portion of gold. This indicates our need for the top portion of God. For the practical oneness we need this special portion of Him. In order for there to be the oneness among the standing boards of the tabernacle, every board had to have this portion. It was the rings made from this portion of gold that held the uniting bars.

If we seriously consider the picture of the standing boards in Exodus 26, we will be deeply impressed with how much we are short of God. From 1925 I began to read articles in Christian magazines about the overcoming life. Although these articles provided help on how to be victorious, they did not say that we needed more of God. We do not need to learn so many methods. Our need is simply to sink into the Triune God and to gain more of Him. God is our truth, our way, our life, our everything. If we do not have God, we have nothing. Our problem is that we are short of God, and our need is to gain more of Him.

Perhaps you are one who is standing firmly in the church life. This is very good, but what about the oneness in the Triune God? We all need an adequate portion of God for the overlaying of the boards and the top portion of God for the rings that hold the uniting bars. When we have both the ordinary gold and the top portion of gold, we will have no problems with the oneness. However, if we do not gain the necessary gold, sooner or later we will have a problem. We need the solid oneness. This oneness is the adequate amount of God we have obtained. Do not rely on teachings or doctrines. Moreover, do not depend on your own love or your natural affection. Not even your steady will is trustworthy in keeping the oneness. Only one thing is dependable for oneness, and that is the adequate amount of God. Just as the standing boards could be one only in the gold, we can be one only by sinking into God.

Today the Lord needs the genuine oneness. If we do not have this oneness, we cannot go on in the recovery. Hence, the most vital and crucial matter is the genuine oneness. The only way to be kept in this solid, real oneness is to have an adequate amount of the experienced God. This is our need today.

Truth Messages, Ch. 9, Sec. 2 of 3

Posted on in Corporate Reading, Truth Messages

NOT ONE IN OUR HUMANITY

We have pointed out that according to the type of the standing boards of the tabernacle, our oneness is not in the wood but in the gold. Years ago, I thought that if I were humble, gentle, mild, kind, and meek, I could easily be one with others. Eventually, I learned that the more humble, gentle, mild, kind, and meek I was, the more difficult it was for me to be one with other believers. The reason for this is that those who have these characteristics are also very careful and are good faultfinders; therefore, they often condemn others. Those who are rough and tough, however, are not nearly as bothered about the mistakes of others. Whenever I am with the careful ones, I feel as if I am being observed, accused, and condemned. This does not mean, however, that we should endeavor to be rough, for both meekness and roughness cause difficulties.

I used to think that if both a husband and wife were meek, they would have a happy married life. But I have learned through experience that this is not true. It does not seem to matter whether or not both are meek, both are rough, or one is meek and the other is rough. Every married couple has problems. Many married ones compare their marriage with that of others. This indicates that they are somewhat dissatisfied with their marriage. When I made such a comparison in the past, I found out that other married ones were not more satisfied than I. My point here is that in our humanity it is impossible for us to be one. Instead of oneness, there is friction. The picture of the standing boards in Exodus 26 clearly shows that the oneness of the boards is altogether in the gold. And this gold must be weighty, thick, and sufficient to support a heavy board and hold it together with other boards. How important it is for us to have an adequate layer of gold! We need enough gold to bear the weight of the board.

BELIEVING GOD’S WORD 
CONCERNING GENUINE ONENESS

It is not an easy matter to acquire enough gold to thickly overlay a board of acacia wood fifteen feet long and twenty-seven inches wide. Humanly speaking, it is impossible. Likewise, it seems impossible for the saints to be truly one. Nevertheless, the fact that the tabernacle was built in the wilderness indicates that although it is impossible with man, it is possible with God. My experiences in the church life throughout the years have caused me much disappointment and discouragement. The encouragement I have today does not come from experience; it comes from the Word. Nothing written in the Word of God is vain. Eventually, everything written in God’s Word will be fulfilled by Him. With God there are no impossibilities. Therefore, we need to believe what is written in the Word regarding genuine oneness. I believe that the time has come for God to see the actual oneness among us in His recovery.

My burden in this chapter is to point out that genuine oneness is absolutely not to be found in our humanity. Do not think that if you are humble or meek, you can be one with others. No matter whether we are meek or rough, slow or quick, proud or humble, educated or uneducated, we all have a problem with oneness. In ourselves, by ourselves, and with ourselves we simply cannot be one with others. In fact, we are not always one with ourselves. Once again we need to emphasize that the oneness is in the gold, not in the acacia wood. This means that the oneness in the church is not in our humanity; it is altogether in the Triune God. In the past I wondered why the Lord did not mention such virtues as humility, meekness, and kindness in His prayer for oneness. Instead, He spoke mainly about being in the Triune God. The concept of John 17:21-23 is that of oneness in the Triune God. This reveals that oneness is not in humanity; it is only in the Triune God.

PERFECTED INTO ONE BY GAINING MORE GOLD

In no other portion of the Bible is the Triune God revealed in such a practical way as in chapter 17 of John. The various pronouns used—I, Us, You—indicate that the Triune God is related to our oneness. It is in the Triune God that we are perfected into one. To be perfected means to have more gold. Only when the boards were adequately overlaid with gold were they perfected into one. This indicates that to be perfected into one means to gain more of God. Surely mere teachings about oneness can never make us one.

Oneness is not a superficial matter. It is a matter of sinking deeply into the Triune God until we are fully overlaid with gold. We all need a great deal more of God. It is not sufficient simply to be coated with a thin layer of Him. If we truly have light on our need to be overlaid with gold, we will repent and say, “Lord, I repent that I am only gilded with gold. I have not yet been overlaid. What I have experienced of You is merely gilding. It is good for causing others to praise me, but it is not good for the real oneness, for holding me together with others. When even a small problem arises, my layer of gold is not sufficient, and the oneness is damaged. Lord, for the oneness, overlay me with an adequate amount of gold.”

The more we are overlaid with gold, the more oneness we have. Nothing can damage the oneness that comes from our being overlaid with an ample quantity of gold. The more we have of God, the stronger is our oneness.

Truth Messages, Ch. 9, Sec. 1 of 3

Posted on in Corporate Reading, Truth Messages

CHAPTER NINE

ONE IN THE TRIUNE GOD AND 
IN HIS EXPRESSION

In John 17 the Lord Jesus prayed that we would be one in the Triune God. This concept is deep and profound, far beyond our understanding. In verse 23 the Lord said, “I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one.” Such a word surpasses our comprehension. However, if we consider the type of the tabernacle in Exodus 26, we will find it much easier to grasp the meaning of the Lord’s prayer for oneness in John 17.

A PICTURE OF OUR ONENESS 
IN THE TRIUNE GOD

Nearly all the spiritual realities in the New Testament are abstract. However, for most of the spiritual realities there are types or pictures in the Old Testament. In Exodus 26 we have a picture of the oneness in the Triune God. The standing boards of the tabernacle make up a corporate structure. The Ark inside the tabernacle was an individual item, but the tabernacle was a corporate entity. The Ark typifies Christ. However, the same materials used in making the Ark were also used for the standing boards. Both the Ark and the boards were made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. There was a total of forty-eight boards. When these boards were put together, they composed God’s dwelling place. To be sure, God’s dwelling place is a corporate matter. Hence, in the tabernacle with the forty-eight standing boards we see a picture of real oneness. In order to become one entity as God’s dwelling place, the forty-eight boards had to be brought into oneness. They were one not in the acacia wood but in the gold that overlaid the wood.

The Ark is a type of Christ with His two natures: the human nature typified by the acacia wood and the divine nature signified by the gold. We have pointed out that these materials were also used in making the boards for the building of God’s dwelling place. If the gold had been taken away from the standing boards, leaving only the acacia wood, the boards would immediately have fallen down. Even if they had remained upright, standing side by side, they would still not have been one. Rather, they would have been forty-eight separate, individual boards. Their oneness was not in the acacia wood; it was in the gold. This clearly portrays the fact that our oneness is not in humanity but in divinity, in the Triune God. If the divine nature were taken away from us, we would immediately become detached from one another. Although we might still love one another and even embrace one another, we nevertheless would not be one. The oneness of the standing boards of the tabernacle, or this oneness in the gold, symbolizes our oneness in the Triune God.

ONE IN THE GLORY OF GOD

The gold was not only the oneness of the standing boards; it was also their glory. By being overlaid with gold, the standing boards bore the glory of the gold, for the shining of the gold was their glory, their expression. Anyone who entered into the tabernacle could see on every side the shining of the gold. Hence, the oneness of the forty-eight boards was not only in the gold, signifying God, but also in the shining of the gold, signifying the glory of God. In the same principle, our oneness today is in the Triune God and in His glory, His shining.

THE WOOD AND THE GOLD

We all have been saved, washed in the Lord’s precious blood, forgiven of our sins, reconciled to God, and regenerated with the life of God by the Spirit. This means that we are genuine Christians. Let me now ask you this question: As one who has both the human nature and the divine nature, are you wood with gold in it, or are you wood overlaid with gold? In other words, with you, is the gold in the wood, or is the wood in the gold? If you simply have gold in the wood, you are finished with the oneness. If you say that you are wood in the gold, I would then ask you another question: What do others see when they come in contact with you, wood or gold? And if others see gold upon you, how much gold do they see? How much have you been overlaid with gold? Yes, we are wooden boards in the gold, but how much gold do we have upon us? This is a crucial question.

THE NEED FOR 
A WEIGHTY LAYER OF GOLD

Each standing board of the tabernacle was ten cubits high and one and a half cubits wide. This means its dimensions were fifteen feet in length by twenty-seven inches in width. Certainly a large amount of gold was required to overlay a board of this size. If the layer of gold were too thin, it would not have been able to bear the weight of the board. To prepare the wooden boards was not too difficult; however, to overlay these large boards was quite a difficult task. Although we all are boards, we may be overlaid with a very thin layer of gold. Yes, we may be in the Triune God, but we may not be deeply in Him. Instead of being overlaid with gold, we may be merely gilded with gold, like Babylon the Great in Revelation 17. If the standing boards had been only gilded with gold, there would have been no gold for the rings that supported the weight of the boards. In order for the forty-eight heavy boards to be held together, they each had to be overlaid with a heavy layer of gold.

Although gold is glorious and shiny, it is somewhat soft. In like manner, the uniting God is also rather “soft.” If we have just a little of Him, we shall not have a sufficient amount of gold for the oneness. Our experience proves this. Suppose you contact the Lord early in the morning and gain some gold. But when you see an unpleasant expression on the face of your husband or wife at the breakfast table, you are immediately offended. The thin layer of gold that was covering you seems to have disappeared. However, if you have been overlaid with a heavy layer of gold, you will not be offended, no matter how much unpleasantness you may have to face. Nothing can damage such a thick layer of gold. Although you may have a certain amount of gold, the amount you have may not be enough to keep you in the genuine oneness.