Many people believe in God, and they firmly believe that God is almighty, all-powerful, and He can do anything He wants, not needing our help to do anything. Genesis 1-2 shows us that God created the heavens and the earth, and then He came in to do a work of restoration and further creation; in all these things, He didn’t need man to help Him or anything like that.
However, for some unknown reason, nowadays it seems that God doesn’t do many things and there’s not too many great works of God being seen around us in country after country. Rather, it seems that now everyone is against God, opposing God, and making sure they replace God with many other gods like games, cars, sports, music stars, entertainment, and many other things and persons.
It seems that everywhere you turn people live their life as if there’s no God, and whenever you mention anything concerning God they immediately tell you they are not religious and don’t need religion.
If we read the Bible carefully, we realize that there’s an important principle God abides by: He would not do almost anything unless He has the human cooperation to do it.
He delivered Peter from prison because the saints prayed. He delivered Paul and Silas from prison because they were fully one with the Lord and the saints prayed. He supplied Paul in prison through the prayers of the saints and the bountiful supply of the Spirit (Phil. 1:19).
Today God is moving on earth at the speed that man cooperates with Him. When there was a Hudson Taylor who was willing to cooperate with God, God moved in China. When there were the Brethren to give themselves to the Lord and get into His word in a pure way, God released and opened up many truths in the word of God. When there was a Watchman Nee who was purely seeking the Lord in His word, the Lord opened the storehouses of the heavens and flowed out as truth and life.
Furthermore, if we today cooperate with the Lord in prayer, He can move. If we pray at the incense altar one with the interceding Christ, God can move in Germany to save the refugees from the Arab countries and bring them into the church life to be functioning members of the Body.
When we pray at the incense altar, the Lord has a way to accelerate the growth in life of the saints and cause them to become an army to fight for God’s interest and move on earth. It really amazes me to see that the almighty God is limiting Himself in His move to the cooperation of His people in prayer.
As a Result of the Prayer at the Incense Altar, the Lord Conducts a “Military Census”
In Exo. 30:1-16 we see that the issue of the prayer at the incense altar is the formation of the army to fight for God’s interests and move on earth. The tabernacle is God’s movable corporate expression and building, and for the tabernacle to move there’s the need of an army; God’s people moving toward the good land through the wilderness were formed as an army to fight for God’s move on earth.
Today the church is the house of God, the corporate expression of God, and the Body of Christ; however, in order for the church to be the fulness of God, the church must be a warrior engaging in spiritual warfare (Eph. 1:22-23; 6:10-11).
This means that, in order for God to move in His recovery in all the local churches, He needs many saints who would experience Him at the laver of bronze, the altar of burnt offering, the showbread table, the lampstand, and the ark, and they go even deeper to experience Christ at the incense altar to pray one with Him for the formation of God’s army.
We need to experience Christ as the washing life-giving Spirit, be terminated at cross, receive Christ as our light, feast on Christ as the bread of God’s presence, experience the breaking of our natural man, and go on to experience Christ at the incense altar to pray one with Him for His move on earth.
The intercessory prayer at the incense altar makes it urgent for God to have a census among His people so that an army can be formed to fight for His move. This means that it is the prayer at the incense altar that leads to the formation of the army. Do not think that this understanding is a product of my imagination. Far from being imaginary, this is a true description of events in the spiritual world. As a result of the prayer at the incense altar, the Lord conducts a military census of the saints in the churches. Here and there, He numbers His people. Those who are numbered are the ones qualified to go to war. However, they must realize that they cannot fight on their own; they need Christ as the ascended One. They need the Christ who is on the throne in the third heaven. (Witness Lee, Life-study of Exodus)
The result of the prayer at the incense altar is that the Lord is conducting a “military census” of the saints in the churches: He releases the growth in life unto maturity, and many are conscripted to be in the army by the ascended Christ to fight in Christ from victory for God’s move on earth.
We need to see that God wants to move on earth, and we need to pray for a military census so that those who are qualified would join God’s army for His move on earth. May the Lord enrol so many who are qualified for the army to go to war for God’s move on earth (Num. 2:32; 4:23; 2 Tim. 2:3).
We can’t fight the battle on our own: we need Christ as the ascended One, and we need to experience Him to the point that we’re fully one with Him in His ascension, joining Him in His victory and looking down on the enemy in the air.
We need to pray for a good number of saints all over the earth would grow in life and be mature to be formed into God’s army to fight for God’s interests on earth.
Lord Jesus, we stand one with You on earth to pray for the formation of the army. Lord, have a way to conduct a “military census” among all Your people and form an army that would fight for Your interests and move on earth. Oh Lord, may many saints grow in life unto maturity and experience You in Your ascension to fight the spiritual warfare! Amen! Release the prayer at the incense altar so that You may number those qualified for the army and form God’s army who would go to war for God’s move on earth!
Paying the Price to Experience Christ as our Redemption to be Formed into God’s Army
All the males twenty years old and up were qualified to be formed as God’s army, and they had to pay half a shekel of silver as “expiation silver” (ransom silver) to join the army. Nowadays when someone joins the army, it is the army or the state that pays him, but in God’s army, you need to pay the price to get into the army – you need to pay the ransom silver.
This means that in our natural man, no matter how good or zealous or fervent we are for God, we are NOT qualified to join God’s army; there’s the need for the ransom silver, the expiation silver, in addition to the blood of the passover lamb.
In our natural man we all are disqualified to be part of God’s army; the only way we are qualified is by paying the price to experience Christ as our redemption, signified by the expiation silver (see 1 Cor. 1:30).
The passover lamb with its blood is available for everyone in God’s people, no matter the age or the stage of growth in life; if they wanted, they all could partake of the lamb and apply its blood. The ransom silver, however, could be paid only by those males who were twenty or over, and it was their military tax to enter into the army. This is very significant.
Christ’s redemption is openly available for everyone to enjoy and partake of, but only those who have a certain level of maturity in the divine life can further experience and offer Christ as their redemption to join God’s army and fight for His interests on earth.
What does it mean to experience Christ as our redemption to join God’s army? We have initially experienced Christ’s redemption when we believed into Him, but after a certain level of maturity in life is reached, we need to experience Christ’s redemption in a further way to be qualified to be part of God’s army.
Christ became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). Christ is our daily righteousness, causing us to be sanctified and separated persons; we are separated from others unto God, and we are being saturated with the element of Christ.
When we are sanctified and separated unto God, we are also redeemed, that is, we are brought back to God. Redemption includes termination, replacement, and being brought back to God.
We need to be terminated by Christ, replaced by Christ, and fully brought back to God in Christ to be one with God for His move on earth; this is to experience Christ’s redemption to be qualified to join God’s army.
When we reach a certain stage of maturity in life, we are being brought back to God, our natural man is terminated by God, and we are reconstituted with Christ; then, we are formed into an army to fight for God’s interest on earth.
We need to be those who pay the price to experience Christ as our redemption, as signified by the expiation silver, to join the army to fight for God’s move on earth.
Lord Jesus, grow in us unto maturity so that we may be qualified to join God’s army and fight for God’s interests on earth. Thank You, Lord, in our natural man we are not qualified to be drafted into God’s army but we can pay the price to experience Christ as our redemption, our “expiation silver”! Lord, bring us fully back to God, cause our natural man to be terminated, and fully reconstitute us with Christ so that we may be qualified to join God’s army fighting for His move on earth!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, brother Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1652-1657 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (3), week 8 (week 32), The Expiation Silver for the Formation of an Army to Fight for God’s Interests and Move on Earth.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# God wants His holy people to become His army; / Rise up, all ages! March on for His testimony; / Christ is our meaning of life, testimony and center, / In everything He’s the way, the goal and the Leader. (Song on God needing an army)
# Like a mighty army / Moves the Church of God: / Brothers, we are treading / Where the saints have trod; / We are not divided, / All one Body we— / One in faith and Spirit, / One eternally. (Hymns #871)
# But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, / Who became wisdom to us from God: / Both righteousness and sanctification / And redemption. (Scripture song)
About aGodMan
Christ as our daily righteousness causes us to become sanctified and separated persons. No longer are we common; rather, we are separate from others. Therefore, in our daily living Christ should be not only our righteousness but also our sanctification.
When we are sanctified and separated unto God, we are also redeemed. This means that we are brought back to God. Whenever a husband and wife quarrel, they are carried away from the Lord. But when Christ becomes righteousness and sanctification to them, spontaneously they are brought back to God. This is redemption….Redemption includes termination, replacement, and being brought back to God. Thus, redemption is actually transformation. (Witness Lee, Life-study of 1 Corinthians, p. 129)