We praise the Lord for showing us that, according to the Holy Word, all believers in Christ are priests to God, those who are qualified and required to be in God’s presence, be filled with God, minister God to others, pray at the incense altar to cooperate with God’s operation and release his will on earth, and receive God’s fresh speaking, revelation, and leading.
The Lord’s leading in the Old Testament came through the priests, as the high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies having the breastplate of judgement with the Urim and the Thummim. The Urim was the illuminator, and the Thummim was the completer. The breastplate of judgement was for God’s leading and it acted as a heavenly, divine, and spiritual typewriter.
However, God’s way of speaking to his people is not according to how we think or expect. We would expect God’s shining in a bright way, exposing us and giving us a strong message, but according to how the breastplate of judgement with the Urim and the Thummim worked, God’s speaking was through the stones that went dark.
God spoke to His people not through the stones that were shining but through the stones that were dark; the stones that were dark became the letters that would compose the message God wanted to convey to his people. This shows us the spiritual principle that God speaks to us not mainly through positive and good situations and conditions but through negative situations.
Because the Lord’s speaking by the breastplate of judgement is through negative situations, that speaking is a judgement. He knows our situation and condition, and He speaks to us when we are not in a good situation; God’s speaking becomes a judgement, and through His speaking, we have a revelation of His mind concerning us, His people.
When we have a negative situation in the church life, especially when there’s turmoil, the Lord has a way to release a rich and high speaking that would expose our condition, reveal His mind toward us, judge the situation, and unveil His divine leading and solution to our problem. For example, He may reveal that all problems in the church life come from not seeing the Body, not knowing the Body, not honouring the Body, and not caring for the body. Without the background of darkness, we may not receive that much light.
Having God’s Instant Speaking and Leading even in Dark and Negative Situations
The twelve stones on the breastplate of judgement were under the shining of the light from Urim, and as the light shined, suddenly one or more stones inscribed with a name would become dark; this darkening of a particular stone was God’s instant speaking. Paul’s Epistles were all written according to this principle, and the Lord’s epistles to the seven churches in Asia in Revelation 2-3 were written according to the negative situation of the churches, not according to the positive things found in the churches.
In Ephesus they have lost their first love, in Smyrna they had to be faithful unto death and the Lord will give them the crown of life, in Pergamos the church was married to the world, in Thiatyra the church is in apostasy, in Sardis they had a name that they are living but they were dead, in Philadelphia they had to hold fast what they had and let no one take their crown, and in Laodicea, we see a degraded church where the Lord is outside the door and the people inside were lukewarm.
These epistles were written with the background of a negative situation of darkness, and what is revealed from the Lord is something very positive and encouraging. When we see a negative situation in the church, when there’s a situation of darkness, we should not be discouraged but pray that the Lord’s speaking would address and enlighten that situation.
In 1 Corinthians Paul wrote according to his reading of the negative situation of the church in Corinth; although his writing is based on the negative things, in this Epistle he ministered positive things – the riches of Christ – to the church.
Paul didn’t condemn or blame the saints, neither did he accuse or criticize them; rather, he unveiled that the only thing that solves all the problems in the church is the enjoyment of Christ through the experience of the cross. In 1 Cor. 1:9 Paul says God is faithful, who has called you into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. The footnote on this verse really helps us see more on this matter,
This book unveils to us that the very Christ, into whom we all have been called, is all-inclusive. He is the portion given to us by God (v. 2). He is God’s power and God’s wisdom as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption to us (vv. 24, 30). He is the Lord of glory (2:8) for our glorification (2:7; Rom. 8:30). He is the depths (deep things) of God (2:10). He is the unique foundation of God’s building (3:11). He is our Passover (5:7), the unleavened bread (5:8), the spiritual food, the spiritual drink, and the spiritual rock (10:3-4). He is the Head (11:3) and the Body (12:12). He is the firstfruits (15:20, 23), the second man (15:47), and the last Adam (15:45); and as such He became the life-giving Spirit (15:45) that we may receive Him into us as our everything. This all-inclusive One, with the riches of at least twenty items, God has given to us as our portion for our enjoyment. We should concentrate on Him, not on any persons, things, or matters other than Him. We should focus on Him as our unique center appointed by God, that all the problems among the believers may be solved. It is into the fellowship of such a One that we have been called by God. This fellowship of God’s Son became the fellowship that the apostles shared with the believers (Acts 2:42; 1 John 1:3) in His Body, the church, and should be the fellowship that we enjoy in partaking of His blood and His body at His table (10:16, 21). Such a fellowship, which is carried out by the Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14), must be unique because He is unique; it forbids any division among the members of His unique Body. (1 Cor. 1:9, part of footnote 2 in Recovery Version Bible)
Paul did address the problems in Corinth, but it was in the context of enjoying the all-inclusive Christ. If we don’t enjoy the Lord, there will be problems everywhere! We need to enjoy the Lord and even pattern to others in enjoying Christ so that they would enjoy Him. We should concentrate on the Lord and not on any other persons, matters, and things. Problems come in when we focus on anything other than Christ.
The saints in Corinth became the letters used by Paul in the spiritual typesetting of his Epistle; in the same way, in a local church, the leading ones need to seek the Lord’s guidance by reading the actual situation and condition of the saints. We need to come before the Lord and ask Him to enlighten us to see the real situation and condition of the saints, and then we need to receive God’s fresh word and leading to minister Christ to the saints.
Lord Jesus, keep us open to Your speaking even in our negative situations and condition. Lord, we want to seek You and have Your fresh speaking and leading in the church. Oh Lord, may Your rich speaking and guidance be released in the meetings of the church so that any darkness would be exposed and eliminated. Lord, thank You for our situations and for all our environment; shine on us, guide us, take us on with You, and release Your speaking through the saints so that we may go on with You, progress in our Christian life, and be matured in life for the fulfillment of Your purpose!
Having God’s Speaking through Things that are Negative under God’s Shining Light
God’s heart’s desire is to be one with man; for this He Himself became a man, lived a perfect human life, died on the cross to redeem man, and became the life-giving Spirit to enter into man and be man’s life and everything. All believers in Christ are those who have received Christ as life, and our Christian life in a normal way should be a constant receiving of the divine dispensing and living out Christ for God’s expression.
However, we all can testify that many times our situation is not that positive but rather, darkness comes in, problems arise, we have some negative things in our being or in the church, and we don’t really live Christ or enjoy Him as we’re supposed to. On His side, God is not discouraged when there’s a negative situation and condition in the church; He uses even the darkness we are in to speak to us and bring us fully in the light. However, the problem among Christians today is that, because there’s so much darkness, there is no way for God to expose darkness; in order for darkness to be made known, there must first be the shining of the light.
If in a room there’s complete darkness and no light is working, it’s not easy to see what is in darkness, but if all lights work properly except one or two, darkness is exposed and the lights can be fixed easily. We need to be in the meetings of the church and exercise our spirit so that we may have the Lord’s speaking, and any darkness will be exposed. If we’re in a meeting of the church and the things that are wrong are exposed, that is an indication that the church is normal.
Many times the Lord speaks to us through the things that are negative; the negative situation becomes an indicator of the shortage of Christ. By “reading” the negative situation and seeing it in God’s light, we come to know God’s leading, we are enlightened, and we get a fresh speaking from God to meet the need. Then we will know in our locality what to do, what God wants us to do, and we follow His leading. When there’s the shining of the light, we are sensitive to the darkness and the dark situations; when we come to the Lord to enjoy Him again and again in the light, it is easy for any darkness to be exposed and eliminated.
May the Lord have mercy on us that we may not be in darkness in our church meetings but would be under His shining again and again so that any darkness would be exposed, any negative situation would be shined on, and we would all know what God wants us to do and follow His leading. When our shortage of Christ is exposed, we will come to Him to be filled with Him, and the Lord will take us on by His up-to-date speaking according to the need.
Lord Jesus, save us from being in an abnormal situation in the church life today; save us from being habitually in darkness. Keep shining on us and among us until all the darkness and negative situations are exposed and eliminated. Lord, speak to us even through things that become negative in the midst of the shining of the light. We treasure Your speaking, Your shining, and Your leading. Lord, may we come to know Your leading, Your judgement, and thus know what You want us to do. Oh Lord Jesus, we seek Your leading and Your guidance in our situation today!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ed Marks’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Exodus, msg. 129, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Recovery of the Priesthood or God’s Building, week 7 / msg 7, The Central and Ultimate Point of the Priesthood.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# As true priests we long to be, / With our spirit sense Thy will, / Thus to serve before Thee here / That Thy plan Thou may fulfill. (Hymns #772)
# I’ve tried my best, but still have failed, / E’en as before I’ve failed and erred; / Thy patience is my only trust / To hold and keep me to Thy word. / Thou art my Savior, strength and stay, / O Lord, I come to seek Thy face; / Though I’m the weakest of the weak, / My strength is nothing but Thy grace. (Hymns #578)
# Pray with one accord in spirit, / Supplicate relatedly; / Seek the Lord, His mind, His leading, / In the Spirit’s harmony. / Pray with one accord in spirit, / Pray and watch persistently; / For God’s kingdom and His glory, / Pray and watch in harmony. (Hymns #779)
About aGodMan
This word that the Lord spoke to the church in Philidelphia in this paragraph, was especially precious to me,
“The Lord’s epistles to the seven churches in Asia in Revelation 2-3 were written according to the negative situation of the churches, not according to the positive things found in the churches.
In Ephesus they have lost their first love, in Smyrna they had to be faithful unto death and the Lord will give them the crown of life, in Pergamos the church was married to the world, in Thyatira the church is in apostasy, in Sardis they had a name that they are living but they were dead, in Philadelphia they had to hold fast what they had and let no one take their crown, and in Laodicea we see a degraded church where the Lord is outside the door and the people inside were lukewarm.”
It is amazing to see that regardless of the dark situation there is hope for Recovery if we listen to what the Spirit is speaking to the churches. I thank God today for His mercy and Grace to bring us back to all the positive aspects and promises that He spoke to the churches especially those who the faithful ones in the churches.
To the church in Philadelphia in Revelation 3: 11 the Lord , Spirit said that, “ they had to hold fast to what they had and let no one take their crown. ”. Here the Spirit had the liberty to speak in the church and the Lord, the Spirit said to overcome the negative situations by holding fast to what they had. What they had was the up to date speaking of the Lord, a living word that was being delivered according to the condition or situation in that particular church. I am so thankful that even today the Spirit is still speaking to the faithful ones in many churches all over the earth. The Lord has given us the up to date speaking and revelation to overcome all the negative situations and conditions just as they were in the seven churches of the book of Revelation. Today we must hold on to the Speaking that we receive daily. Daily as we hold on to the faithful speaking of the ministry that we receive we will enjoy all the riches of Christ through His word as the Spirit and life to nourish and strengthen us so that our church can also receive and maintain the crown of life. Let us continue to hear what the Spirit says to the churches and be faithful to hold on to such a treasure, the up to date speaking from the Lord that is being shared in all the churches today. Living and life imparting messages that are being spoken in the churches and shared over the internet, conferences, local churches and homes all over the earth to reward us with the crown of life.
Let us also let no one take our crown. The footnote 2 in Revelaton 3: 11 of the New Testament recovery version online, (lsm.org), points out “The recovered church has gained the crown already. However, if she does not hold fast what she has in the Lord’s recovery until the Lord comes back, her crown may be taken away by someone”. We need to hold fast to what we have received so that no one can take our crown.
Footnote three in Revelation 2:10 points out that, “ A crown in the New Testament usage always denotes a prize that is in addition to salvation. ( see reference 10J). The crown of Life as a prize to those who are faithful unto death in overcoming persecution, denotes the overcoming strength that is in the power of the resurrection life. (Phil.3:10); it also denoted that these overcomers have attained to the out-resurrection from the dead (Phil. 3:11), i.e., the outstanding resurrection”.
I am so happy to see that the recovered churches today have a crown of life, the experience of the outstanding resurrection of the anointing Spirit within.
Footnote 2 in the book of Philippians 3:11 says, “I.e., the outstanding resurrection, the extra-resurrection, which will be a prize to the overcoming saints. All believers who are dead in Christ will participate in the resurrection from the dead at the Lord’s coming back (1 Thes. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:52). But the overcoming saints will enjoy an extra, outstanding portion of that resurrection. See note 2 in Heb. 11:35”. (http://online.recoveryversion.org)
”To arrive at the out-resurrection indicates that our entire being has been gradually and continually resurrected. God first resurrected our deadened spirit (Eph. 2:5-6); then from our spirit He proceeds to resurrect our soul (Rom. 8:6) and our mortal body (Rom. 8:11), until our entire being — spirit, soul, and body — is fully resurrected out of our old being by and with His life. This is a process in life through which we must pass and a race that we must run until we arrive at the out-resurrection as the prize. Hence, the out-resurrection should be the goal and destination of our Christian life. We can reach this goal only by being conformed to the death of Christ, by living a crucified life. In the death of Christ we are processed in resurrection from the old creation to the new.
“He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches “Amen. (Revelation 3:13).