When we minister to the Lord, having no distance between us and Him, we enjoy Him as the hidden manna, and we let Him have the thoroughfare in our being so that He may be assimilated into us.
What we have in the Holy of Holies is the ark of the covenant, in which there’s the golden pot with the hidden manna (a portion of manna set aside for God in His presence as a memorial), the budding rod of Aaron, and the tablets of the law of the covenant.
When we minister to the Lord and have no distance between us and Him, that is, when we are in our mingled spirit and minister to the Lord directly, we enjoy a special portion of Christ as the hidden manna and we are incorporated into the Triune God for His building.
It is here, in the Lord’s presence in the most intimate and private way, that we receive His commission, His charge, and the desire of His heart.
Only when we have no distance between us and the Lord but are ministering to Him do we really know what He wants to do, and we are inwardly supplied with the hidden manna to do what He wants us to do.
The principle of the work of the New Testament is that the work of the Holy Spirit can be revealed only at the time we minister to the Lord. Paul, Barnabas, and three other brothers were ministering to the Lord and fasting in Antioch, and the Holy Spirit could initiate the work, sending two of them our for the work to which He has called them.
We need to be the priests of today who minister to the Lord, stand before Him, offer Christ to God for His satisfaction and for our standing and covering, and be in the Body, and the Lord will have a way to reveal to us what is the work to which He had called us.
He doesn’t need our initiation, He just needs our cooperation. We cooperate with the Lord when we spend much time privately with Him to be infused with His desire, receive His charge, and be commissioned by Him.
Our ministering to the Lord is the basis and the most critical thing in our Christian life and work. Even as the Lord assigns us to do something in His body, we still have to continue to minister to Him, always being in His presence, and having no distance between us and Him.
When we minister to the Lord, we will go forth to do the work He assigned us to do, and we don’t do it out of our own effort, pleasure, or desire, but we take Him as the source and strength. May the Lord gain us as such ones who cooperate with Him for His building.
Having no Distance Between us and the Lord to Minister to Him and Eat the Hidden Manna
Ministering to the Lord is the basis of our Christian life and the source of our Christian work. When we minister to the Lord Himself and not only to His house outwardly, we come to Him in our spirit, today’s Holy of Holies.
It is here, in our mingled spirit, that we have the hidden manna as our supply, our nourishment, for our service to God. Eating the hidden manna to be inwardly supplied with a special portion of Christ depends on the distance between us and the Lord.
If we are far off from the Lord, we can’t partake of the spiritual food, but when we draw near to Him, deal with Him directly, and touch Him in the mingled spirit, we eat Him as the hidden manna, and we are supplied inwardly with Christ as our food.
The hidden manna is the omer of manna God commanded His people to put in a golden pot and present it to Him in the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies (Exo. 16:33).
The hidden manna is the top portion of the manna given by God and offered back to God, and it was placed in a golden pot in the Holy of Holies. Only the priests could get closer to God and minister to Him, having access to the Holy of Holies.
The Levites were doing many practical things in the outer court, including the slaughtering of animals and offering of sacrifices, but the priests could come forward to God in the Holy Place and even in the Holy of Holies.
Are we merely doing many practical yet necessary things in the church life for God, or are we those who draw near to God to have no distance between us and Him?
When there’s a distance between us and the Lord, no matter how many things we may do for Him, we cannot have access to the top portion of Christ as our supply. But when we have no distance between us and the Lord, we enjoy Him as the hidden manna, our inward supply.
The closer we are to the Lord, the more intimate is our fellowship with Him, and the more we are supplied inwardly with spiritual nourishment, the hidden manna.
The hidden manna was not just for God, for in Rev. 2:17 we see that those who overcome the degradation of the church in Pergamos will be given to eat of the hidden manna.
To overcome the condition of the church in Pergamos is to separate ourselves from the general practice of today’s Christianity and remain in the presence of God, ministering directly to Him and not to anything else.
God wants us to overcome any degradation and come directly to Him, minister directly to Him, and enjoy Him as a special portion of supply, the hidden manna. The hidden manna is that portion of Christ which we enjoy in the presence of God when there’s no distance between us and Him.
When there’s no distance between us and the Lord, we enjoy Christ in the most intimate and hidden way – this is the enjoyment of the hidden manna, the hidden portion of Christ (Exo. 16:31-36).
Lord Jesus, may there be no distance between us and You. We want to draw near to You, come closer to You, and enjoy You in the most intimate and hidden way as the hidden manna in our mingled spirit, the reality of the Holy of Holies. Oh Lord, shine on us and strengthen us inwardly to deal with anything that keeps us away from You. We want to overcome anything that keeps us at distance from You, and we want to remain in Your presence to minister directly to the Lord so that we may enjoy the hidden Christ, the special portion of Christ before God.
Eating, Digesting, and Assimilating Christ as the Hidden Manna to Know His Heart and be Charged by Him
As believers in Christ, we want to have no distance between us and God; we want to be one with Him and even in Him in the mingled spirit, the reality of the Holy of Holies. It is here, in the most intimate contact with the Lord, that we enjoy Him as the hidden manna.
It is very significant that the first thing in our intimate contact with the Lord is Him as our supply, even as a special and hidden portion of food. This shows that the Lord wants us to eat Him so that He may digested and assimilated into our being.
We need to eat the Lord as the hidden manna to digest and assimilate Him, and we will live because of Him. However, it is possible that we eat the Lord and have indigestion, that is, the Lord as food doesn’t get through in our being.
Indigestion means that there’s no thoroughfare for the food, the food can’t get through us, so we have problems.
Spiritual indigestion means that, even though we may call on the name of the Lord, spend time with Him, and pray over His word, the Lord doesn’t get through in our being, and we lose our appetite and taste for eating the Lord.
After calling on the Lord and pray-reading His word, we need to tell Him, Lord Jesus, be merciful to me that my whole being with all my inward parts would be open to You!
We need to open our whole being to the Lord, so that He may speak to us, shine on us, deal with us, and get through in us.
The problem is that after we eat the Lord and He gets into us, our inward being may not be open to Him; we may open to Him a little part of our being, but most of our being is closed to Him.
When we call on the name of the Lord, fellowship with Him, and pray-read His word, the practical and living Jesus will touch our natural being – He will speak to us, expose our defects and problems, and He wants to get through in us inwardly.
But many of us tell Him, Lord, no, don’t touch me in this aspect; You can stay in the living room as my guest, but don’t get into my private bedroom – that’s only for me, not for You. This means that we have indigestion – there’s no way for the Lord as the spiritual food to get through in us.
As we deal with any distance between us and the Lord and get closer to Him by calling on His name, the Lord will work and move within us to touch us in our inward being. He may touch us in the way we dress, comb our hair, speak to others, are late for appointments, and many other practical things.
If we resist Him or are slow to respond to His sense within us, we may not allow Him to get through in us. We need to be on the alert – if we have any sense or feeling from the Lord within, this means that the Lord is moving in us, and there’s a digestion going on within us.
We need to go along with the Lord speaking and feeling within us, and we will be joyful and we will have a better, bigger, higher, and deeper appetite for Christ.
The Lord as the hidden manna wants to come into us as nourishment to be digested and assimilated into our being; He wants to work Himself into every part of our inner being, so that we may digest Him and assimilate Him.
It is when we allow the Lord to break through and get through our inner being with His speaking that we enjoy Him as the hidden manna, we are inwardly supplied, and we have direct fellowship with the Lord.
When we are ministering to the Lord and are enjoying Him as the hidden manna, we have a direct fellowship with Him, and we know His heart and intention.
When we minister to the Lord by being in His presence and letting Him get through in our being, we are charged with Him, with His intention, and with all that He wants us to do. When we are ministering to the Lord, we will have God’s commitment because we’re in His presence, realizing that there’s no distance between us and God.
Lord Jesus, be merciful to us and cause our heart and all the parts of our inner being to be open to You in our contact with You. Have the thoroughfare in our being. May there be no distance between us and You, and may we go along with Your speaking and feeling within us. We want to eat, digest, and assimilate You as the hidden manna, so that You may become us and we may become You. Lord, keep us in an intimate contact with You, ministering to You, so that we may know Your heart, be infused with Your desire, be charged with You, and know what You want us to do.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Hebrews, msgs. 59-60 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Ezekiel (2), msg. 9 (week 21 in the HWMR), Ministering to the Lord to Enjoy Him as the Hidden Manna, the Budding Rod, and the Law of Life.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Will you be an overcomer? / Testimony bear! / Keep away from false religion, / ”Hidden manna” share. (Hymns #894)
# In my spirit deeper still / I would touch the Lord I love, / Touch Him in His hidden depth / And His hidden manna prove. (Hymns #769)
# My every moment is to live unto You. / In everything dear Lord, / You must now break through. / I’m just a vessel, You’re my treasure within. / O Lord, keep spreading in my entire being / By calling, O Lord Jesus, / That name most precious. / Jesus, Jesus. (Song on the Lord breaking through in us)
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The closer we are to Him, the more service we render to Him. Eventually, when we enter into the presence of the divine glory in the Holy of Holies, all service ceases. Here we only have the presence of the Lord and enjoy the hidden Christ, the hidden manna. It is here that we have direct fellowship with the Lord and know His heart and His intention. It is here that we can be charged with Him, with His intention, and with all He wants us to do….We have God’s commitment…because we are in His presence,…realizing that there is no distance between us and God [and having] the deep inner sense that we are enjoying the hidden Christ as the top portion of the produce of the good land. This is the hidden manna. Praise the Lord! (Life-study of Hebrews, p. 673, by Witness Lee)
Draw us near, Lord!
Amen ~
Praise the Lord!Amen
THE NEED FOR A PROPER SPIRITUAL DIGESTION
We need to eat Jesus by calling on the name of the Lord. But after we eat, we also need a good digestion. We do not want to have indigestion. Indigestion first causes stomach trouble and then it may cause a stomach ulcer. This could even lead to stomach cancer, issuing in death. Eating without a good digestion will cause trouble. When we eat Christ, we also need to spiritually digest Him in a proper way. If you have a proper digestion, the food you eat can get into every part of your physical being. There is the thoroughfare for the food to get through. Indigestion means that there is no thoroughfare for the food. The food cannot get through, so you will have problems.
Now we need to consider how this applies to us in a spiritual sense. Some dear saints may enjoy calling on the Lord and pray-reading the Word at first. But after a certain time, they lose their taste and appetite for this. This is because after taking in the Lord Jesus, something happened within them. There was indigestion. There was no thoroughfare for the Lord Jesus to get through. After calling on the Lord Jesus and pray-reading His Word, we have to say, “Lord, be merciful to me. Keep my whole being with all my inward parts open to You.”
I am not speaking something doctrinally, but something which is very practical to us in our Christian life. After you call on the Lord, I have the full assurance that He gets into you. But the problem is this—after your calling on the name of the Lord, after the Lord gets into you, you probably would not be so open to Him. You may be open to Him in a little part of your being, but most of your being is closed to Him.
The Lord Jesus is real, living, and practical. When you call, “Lord Jesus,” He gets into you and fills you up. While you are calling “Lord Jesus,” this practical and living Jesus will touch your natural being. But many of you would say, “No, Lord. Don’t touch me here. Stay where You are. You are my guest and You must stay in the living room. Don’t get into my private bedroom. That’s for me, not for You.” This means indigestion. There is no way for the Lord as the spiritual food to get through in you. There is no free course for the food to get into your inward parts, so you have indigestion.
Today’s Christianity has many teachings, but we do not need these doctrinal teachings. We need to eat the Lord and enjoy the Lord. Suppose I invited you to a dinner, and instead of allowing you to eat and enjoy the food, I taught you about the food. This would be terrible. We do not need the teaching; we need the real nourishment. We need the riches of Christ to get into our being. We can get the riches of Christ into our being simply by calling on Him—”O Lord Jesus.” But after calling on Him, the Lord works and moves within us to touch us in our inward being.
After calling on the Lord, a young brother may eventually have some sense within him that he needs to deal with the way he cuts his hair. If he is slow to respond to this sense, this means that he is not allowing the Lord Jesus to get through. Thus, you have to be on the alert. After calling on the Lord Jesus, if you have any sense within you, any feeling within you, that means the Lord Jesus is moving, and that means the digestion within you is going on. You have to go along with this inner sense. If you go along with this sense, you will be joyful and have a better, bigger, deeper, and higher appetite for Christ. This is because a good digestion brings in a better appetite. If you argue with the inner sense, this will result in indigestion. Then you will not be so eager to pray-read the Word, and calling on the name of the Lord will not be so sweet to you.
But when you respond to and go along with the inner sense, your appetite for the Lord Jesus comes back and your spiritual digestion becomes proper. Then the riches of the Lord Jesus become your cells, and these cells grow into your organic tissues. This causes you to grow in the divine life and makes you strong in the Lord. It is easy for you to stand and not easy for you to backslide, because you are growing in the Lord. It is hard for the grown-up ones to fall down. This is because they have a good digestion to assimilate all the nourishment from the spiritual food they eat.
(The Living and Practical Way to Enjoy Christ, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)
More here: http://www.ministrysamples.org/excerpts/THE-NEED-FOR-A-PROPER-SPIRITUAL-DIGESTION.HTML
Amen! O Lord grace us to enjoy the Top portion of Christ!
Amen. Lord we enjoy your admonishment and subjective righteousness through your holy spirit, we love you Lord, you are our hidden Manna, we do not want to be us, we see so much beauty there within the veil, O Lord beautify us with your presence within us.
Amen Lord. You are the real food to us Lord. We need to get closer to God.
Amen, Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus be merciful…..
We need to learn to CALL on the Lord, but we also need to learn to WALK with Him, taking HIS way.