Labouring on Christ to Bring His Riches to the Meetings for an Exhibition of Christ

If we believers in Christ faithfully labour on the all-inclusive Christ, we will have the riches of Christ as the produce to exhibit Christ in the church meetings; our meetings will then be a rich exhibition of Christ, a corporate worship to God, and a great supply to all the saints. Amen!

We are very privileged people, for we have been allotted a portion of the all-inclusive Christ for us to enjoy, partake of, labour on, obtain the rich produce, and grow in life to be built up as the church, the Body of Christ.

Day by day, we need to labour on the all-inclusive Christ to obtain a rich produce of Christ.

What does it mean to labour on Christ? It is not to do a work or anything like that; it is to enjoy Christ, contact Christ, and partake of Christ by exercising our spirit in all situations and in all things.

We may think that we want God to deliver us from certain things, certain situations, and particular environments, and then we can worship God and enjoy God.

But actually, it is in the midst of the situations we’re in, right there in the environment where the Lord has placed us, that’s where we need to exercise our spirit to contact God, enjoy God, and absorb the riches of Christ.

We all need to do this. We all need to labour on Christ by exercising our spirit to enjoy the Lord and partake of His riches so that we may have a rich portion of Christ, even a surplus of Christ, to bring to the meetings of the church.

In the Old Testament, the people of Israel were charged to come three times a year to the place that God chose for them and worship God corporately.

However, they were not to come empty-handed; rather, they were to bring a portion of the riches of the good land that they had obtained by their labouring on the land.

Daily, they had to work on the land, till the ground, obtain its rich produce, and a portion of this produce had to be brought to God and together with the others, to enjoy it with God, to offer it to God, and to worship God corporately.

For this, however, they need to have a surplus.

When we come to the church meetings, we should not come empty-handed; rather, we need to bring the surplus of Christ, the surplus of our enjoyment and experience of Christ, to offer to God for our corporate worship to God and to bring it to the saints for their rich supply.

As Paul said in 1 Cor. 14, whenever we come together, each one has something; one may have a psalm, another may have a word of encouragement, while still others may have an experience of Christ to share with others.

All things must be done for building up.

Faithfully Labouring on Christ to have the Riches of Christ to Exhibit Christ in the Church Meetings

The gospel we have received and believed is the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel; when we saw and heard of these unsearchable riches, we were drawn, and we believed into the Lord Jesus (Eph. 3:8).

Once we receive these riches, however, we become stewards of the riches of Christ, stewards of the rich grace of Christ, and now we announce to others the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.

For us to have the riches of Christ and also give others such riches, we need to labour on Christ.

We need to be those who are faithfully labouring on Christ to have the riches of Christ to not only be inwardly supplied but even more, have a surplus to offer to others and bring to the meetings of the church for our worship to God.

The proper life of Christians is to labour on Christ every day and thus have the rich surplus of Christ to bring to the meetings for a rich exhibition of Christ (1 Cor. 14:26).

We do not come to the meetings to display anything related to ourselves or our natural constitution; we are here to exhibit Christ.

God the Father is waiting for this and the enemy hates this and opposes this, fighting against this with all his might.

So let us put the enemy to shame by faithfully labouring on Christ to obtain His riches and have a rich produce of Christ to bring to the meetings of the church to offer to God and to exhibit Christ.

When we come to the meetings, we need to prepare a certain portion of Christ to share with the saints; we need to come together corporately and exhibit Christ to the whole universe.

We come together in the church meetings to have an exhibition of Christ (Col. 1:18, 27).

In the physical world sometimes there is a gathering of people who bring the riches of a particular culture or ethnic group to exhibit the riches of that group.

Sometimes there is a rich exhibition of the riches of the Chinese people, including their food, hand-made things, jewellery, and so many other things.

When you go there, you get a rich impression of how rich and deep that culture is, and you can taste something.

This is what we should do when we come together with the saints.

We need to daily and faithfully be those labouring on Christ by contacting Him in spirit to experience Him and enjoy Him, and then we need to bring the riches of Christ to the meetings of the church to have a rich exhibition of Christ in the church meetings.

We are meeting together to have a rich exhibition of Christ – not only of the Christ that we see in the Bible or the Christ that the ministry presents, but the Christ that we have laboured on, the Christ we have produced, and the Christ we have wrought into our being. Amen!

What a rich meeting that is!

When all the saints bring their portion of Christ, when all see the riches of Christ being exhibited through the saints not in a doctrinal way but in the way of enjoyment and experience, wow, men will fall on their faces and say, Truly God is among you.

Our meetings should be an exhibition, a fair, in which all sorts of the produce of Christ are displayed.

Just as the children of Israel came together at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles with their rich surplus to offer to God and to enjoy with one another, so we need to regularly come together in the church meetings with the rich surplus of Christ, the Christ we have laboured on and have gained, to have a rich exhibition of Christ.

When we put together our enjoyment of Christ and when the riches of Christ are exhibited in the meeting, the Father is satisfied, the enemy is put to shame, and the Lord Jesus is exhibited. Hallelujah!

Lord Jesus, we want to be those who are faithfully labouring on Christ to obtain a rich produce of Christ and have the riches of Christ to bring to the meetings of the church to exhibit Christ. Amen, Lord, we come to You again and again throughout the day to contact You, enjoy You, experience You, and partake of Your riches. We want to have a proper Christian life, a life of labouring on Christ day by day to have the rich surplus of Chris to bring to the meetings for a rich exhibition of Christ. Amen, Lord, recover this matter among us and in us. Recover us to enjoying the Lord, partaking of the riches of Christ, and obtaining a rich surplus of Christ in our daily living. We want to be filled with You and have more of Your riches wrought into us so that we may have a rich surplus to bring to the meetings of the church for our exhibition of Christ!

The Church Life is filled with the Saints Enjoying Christ, Labouring on Christ, and Exhibiting Christ!

The church life should be a daily life of labouring on Christ by enjoying and experiencing Christ so that we may obtain the riches of Christ to bring to the meetings of the church for a rich exhibition of Christ. Amen!

Through our daily experiences of Christ with His riches, the riches of Christ will be constituted into our being and, when we come together, we will have many riches of Christ to put on display for the exhibition of the rich produce of Christ (Eph. 3:8, 17-18; Col. 2:6, 9-10, 17).

If we allow the Lord to make His home in our heart every day, we will enjoy and experience Him, and these experiences of Christ constitute us with the riches of Christ.

Then, when we come together at the time appointed by God, that is, in the church meetings, we will have something of the riches of Christ to bring forth for the exhibition of Christ.

We will rejoice in the abundance of our harvest and all the riches of Christ that we have reaped from the good land in which we are living!

If we are faithfully labouring on Christ day by day, we will not come to the meeting empty-handed nor will we have wrinkled and smileless faces.

Rather, we will be filled with the riches of Christ and there will be an overflow of these riches to share with others also.

We will not express ourselves nor will we exhibit our eloquence and knowledge of the word of God; we will simply exhibit Christ.

Today Christianity is filled with many eloquent and powerful teachers and preachers who speak something from God’s word but what they express is something of themselves.

There are many Christian superstars, and what comes out of such ones is not Christ and only Christ but rather, Christ together with something of themselves, and what people remember is the person, not the Lord Jesus. Oh Lord Jesus!

We need to be purified in our heart and intentions as we come to the meetings of the church so that we do not exhibit ourselves or even our good heart for the Lord but rather, we would exhibit Christ.

We need to learn to minister Christ and exhibit Christ without glorifying ourselves or drawing attention to ourselves.

Our meetings should always be an exhibition to show forth what Christ is, what Christ has, and what Christ does (Heb. 1:3; 2:9, 14; 1 John 3:8; 4:9, 15; Acts 2:24, 32-33; Rev. 1:17b-18).

We meet to exhibit not only the Christ given to us by God but also the Christ we have produced, the Christ on whom we have laboured and whom we have experienced; this is the Christ whom we come together to exhibit (Col. 1:12-13; Phil. 3:10).

We need to continually and faithfully be those labouring on Christ to be richly supplied with Him and to obtain His riches, and we need to bring the riches of Christ that we have gained to the meetings of the church to have an exhibition of Christ corporately.

We cannot “produce Christ” but we can come to Him, enjoy Him, and partake of Him, and He will produce Himself in us with the result that we will have something of the riches of Christ to bring forth for a rich exhibition of Christ.

For example, a sister may testify how she experienced Christ as her patience and kindness at home with her children and her husband.

A brother may testify how the Lord was so rich and abundant to him in a particular situation, and that will be a portion of the riches of Christ he puts forth.

When everyone exhibits Christ, when all the saints exhibit the Christ they have laboured on and gained, there will be a rich exhibition of Christ, the Father will be glorified, and the enemy will be shamed!

We should not think that we do not have a portion of Christ to share, or that our portion is insignificant.

Each one of us has a unique and vitally necessary portion of Christ; we have been allotted a portion of Christ and, as a result of our labouring on Christ day by day, there will be something of the riches of Christ that only we have to share for the exhibition of Christ.

If we continually labour on Christ, we will have the rich surplus of Christ to bring to the meetings of the church for a rich exhibition of Christ (1 Cor. 1:24, 30; 10:3-4; 14:26).

May we all realize that our rich Christ needs our labour day by day – our exercise in spirit to contact God, partake of His riches, and experience Him in the midst of all the situations we’re in, so that we may obtain the riches of Christ and have His riches constituted into us for us to bring these riches to the meetings of the church!

May we open to the Lord daily and ask Him to give us the portion of grace we need for us to not only live Christ but also labour on Christ, obtain the riches of Christ, and be able to minister something of the riches of Christ into others also!

Lord Jesus, work in us and make Your home in us. We want to enjoy and experience Christ day by day so that we may have the riches of Christ wrought into us. Amen, Lord, keep us turning to You today. We open to You. We want to contact You in all things. Work Yourself into us. Lead us in the experiences of Christ that we need day by day. Show us how to enjoy and experience Christ. Oh Lord, even in the situations You put us in, we want to exercise our spirit to contact You and enjoy You. We want to be faithfully labouring on Christ to gain a rich produce of Christ and bring the abundant riches of Christ to the meetings of the church for an exhibition of Christ! Amen, Lord, gain a rich exhibition of Christ in the meetings of the church for Your glory, the Father’s satisfaction, and the shaming of Your enemy! Praise the Lord! May all the saints labour on Christ day by day and be faithful to bring the riches of Christ to the church meetings for God’s satisfaction, Christ’s exhibition, and the enemy’s shame!

You can read and enjoy this article in the Romanian language – citiți acest articol în limba română via, Ne ostenim asupra lui Cristos pentru a-I aduce bogățiile la adunări pentru o etalare a lui Cristos.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The All-inclusive Christ,” ch. 15, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ Typified by the Good land for the Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ, for the Reality and the Manifestation of the Kingdom, and for the Bride to make Herself Ready for the Lord’s Coming (2023 Winter Training), week 11, entitled, The Surplus of the Produce of the Good Land and the Corporate Worship of God the Father in Truthfulness.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The goal of the church meetings – to exhibit Christ in all the saints, a portion from, Lesson Book, Level 5: The Church—The Vision and Building Up of the Church, Chapter 17, by Witness Lee.
  – What Is God’s Will? Read more via, Bibles for America blog.
  – Knowing, experiencing, and living the all-inclusive Christ for the genuine church life, outline via, Strumien.
  – The Amazing Process of Transformation as Revealed in the Bible, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ—“a Land Flowing with Milk and Honey ”— and Bringing the Surplus of the Riches of Christ to the Meetings of the Church for an Exhibition of Christ and the Corporate Worship of God, outline via, The Church in Markham.
  – Four Faces of Expressing Christ, via, Living to Him.
  – Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ— “a Land Flowing with Milk and Honey”— and Bringing… a video sharing by brother A. L.
  – Let us exhibit Christ – enjoy a hymn via hymnal.net, and see the comments and notes.
  – Our Need to Labor on the All-Inclusive Christ (R.K.), video message.
  – Laboring on Christ that we may have something of Christ to bring to God, a portion from, Life-Study of Leviticus, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – In Christ we live, by Christ we fight, / On Christ we labor day and night, / And with His surplus we unite / To thus exhibit Christ. / Our life and all we are and do / Is Christ Himself, the substance true, / That every time we meet anew / We may exhibit Christ. (Hymns #864 stanzas 2-3)
  – O what a shame—when Christ with all His riches, / Has come into the world, life to supply— / That man would live, not by Him, but by teachings, / So powerless these riches to apply. / But all we need to do is eat the Lord; / He’s marvelous, He’s wonderful! / And as we eat, we’re inwardly restored; / Christ grows in us, grows to the full. (Hymns #1110 stanza 2 and chorus)
  – His glory broke upon us when we saw Him in the church, / For here are all His riches, here we’ve given up our search; / ’Tis here He satisfies our longing spirits o’er and o’er, / And every day He’s dearer than He was the day before. (Hymns #1152 stanza 2)