2019 WT Message Nine

Crystallization-Study of Deuteronomy

Message Nine

Enjoying Christ with God on the Ground of Oneness

Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting

Reading the verses in each day.

Reading the main points in the outlines.

Pray-reading the verses:

Deut. 12:5-7 But to the place which Jehovah your God will choose out of all your tribes to put His name, to His habitation, shall you seek, and there shall you go. And there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices,…and there you shall eat before Jehovah your God, and you and your households shall rejoice in all your undertakings, in which Jehovah your God has blessed you.

Word of Appetizer

Deuteronomy 12 reveals the enjoyment of Christ with God at the unique place of God’s choice, what is the significance for God’s people in the New Testament?

Deuteronomy 12 reveals the enjoyment of Christ with God at the unique place of God’s choice for the keeping of the oneness of God’s people; wherever we may be, we should be gathered into the Lord’s name, in our spirit, and with the cross; if we all do this, we all will meet in the same place, although we meet in different localities; this one place is the ground of the unique oneness.

Spiritual Burden

At the entrance of the church there is the cross, and in order to meet as the church, we must experience the cross for the crucifying of the self, for the overthrowing of “reasonings and every high thing rising up against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:5), and for the exalting of Christ alone so that He may be all and in all for God’s expression and the unique testimony of oneness.

Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting

The Revelation of the Truth

Deuteronomy 12 reveals the enjoyment of Christ with God at the unique place of God’s choice for the keeping of the oneness of God’s people.

The unique ground of Jerusalem, the place where the temple as God’s dwelling place was built on Mount Zion, typifies the unique ground of God’s choice, the ground of oneness.

The church life on the ground of oneness is today’s Jerusalem; within the church life there must be a group of overcomers, and these overcomers are today’s Zion.

In order to be today’s overcomers, we must enjoy Christ with God on the ground of oneness for the exhibition of Christ, the building of the church, and the preparation of Christ’s bride.

In order to be today’s overcomers, we must maintain the ground of oneness, God’s unique choice, without elevating anything other than Christ; in the Lord’s recovery we elevate Christ and Christ alone.

The Experience of Life

As we enjoy Him with God, we will be planted in the house of the Lord, we will grow, and we will flourish. This is the proper way to have the Christian life and the church life. This is the ground of oneness. On this ground it is not possible to have division, for the basis of division has been destroyed. Our temperament, disposition, natural characteristics, and preferences have all been eliminated. Our religion, culture, and particular ways have also been destroyed. In the church there cannot be anything other than Christ. Christ must be all and in all.

Practice and Application

Wherever we may be, we should be gathered into the Lord’s name, in our spirit, and with the cross; if we all do this, we all will meet in the same place, although we meet in different localities; this one place is the ground of the unique oneness; in the New Testament the proper ground of oneness ordained by God is the unique ground of one church for one locality.

We need to live a life of laboring upon Christ, a life of enjoying Christ personally so that we may enjoy Him together collectively for the building up of the Body of Christ as the house of God for God’s expression and as the kingdom of God for God’s dominion; we must seek to enjoy Christ and experience Him in every situation; whenever we come to the meetings to worship the Lord, we should not come with our hands empty; we must come with our hands full of the produce of Christ.

Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline

Key Verses (1)

Deut. 12:5-7 But to the place which Jehovah your God will choose out of all your tribes to put His name, to His habitation, shall you seek, and there shall you go. And there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices,…and there you shall eat before Jehovah your God, and you and your households shall rejoice in all your undertakings, in which Jehovah your God has blessed you.

Matt. 18:20 For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.

I. Deuteronomy 12 reveals the enjoyment of Christ with God at the unique place of God’s choice for the keeping of the oneness of God’s people

• The children of Israel were not allowed to worship God and enjoy the offerings they presented to God in the place of their choice; they were to worship God in the place of His choice, the place where His name, His habitation, and His altar were (vv. 5-6), by bringing their tithes, offerings, and sacrifices to Him there.
• The place of God’s unique choice for His worship in Deuteronomy 12 signifies our meeting on the ground of locality for the expression of the one Body in practicality (signified by Jerusalem) and for the reality of the one Body in actuality (signified by Zion within Jerusalem).
• Wherever we may be, we should be gathered into the Lord’s name, in our spirit, and with the cross; if we all do this, we all will meet in the same place, although we meet in different localities; this one place is the ground of the unique oneness.

Key Verses (2)

1 Cor. 1:2 To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus,…with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place…

Psa. 48:2 Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

II. The unique ground of Jerusalem, the place where the temple as God’s dwelling place was built on Mount Zion, typifies the unique ground of God’s choice, the ground of oneness

III. The church life on the ground of oneness is today’s Jerusalem; within the church life there must be a group of overcomers, and these overcomers are today’s Zion

• In the ancient time all the Israelites came together three times a year at Jerusalem; it was by this unique place of worship to God, Jerusalem, that the oneness of His people was kept for generations.
• In the New Testament the proper ground of oneness ordained by God is the unique ground of one church for one locality.
• As the highlight and beauty of the holy city Jerusalem, Zion typifies the overcomers as the high peak, the center, the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, the beauty, and the reality of the church.
• The overcomers as Zion are the reality of the Body of Christ and consummate the building up of the Body in the local churches to bring in the consummated holy city, New Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies as God’s dwelling place, in eternity.
• The church life is the right place for us to be an overcomer, but this does not mean that as long as we are in the church life, we are an overcomer; it is one thing to be in the church life, but it is another thing to be an overcomer.

Key Verses (3)

Deut. 12:15 Yet you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates…according to the blessing of Jehovah your God which He has given you…

16:16 Three times a year all your males shall appear before Jehovah your God in the place which He will choose….And they shall not appear before Jehovah empty-handed.

Col. 1:18 And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things.

3:11 Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

IV. We must enjoy Christ with God on the ground of oneness for the exhibition of Christ, the building of the church, and the preparation of Christ’s bride

V. We must maintain the ground of oneness, God’s unique choice, without elevating anything other than Christ; in the Lord’s recovery we elevate Christ and Christ alone

• The children of Israel could enjoy the rich produce of the good land in two ways: the common, private way was to enjoy it as a common portion at any time, in any place, and with anyone; the special, corporate way was to enjoy the top portion, the firstfruits and the firstlings, with all the Israelites at the appointed feasts and in the unique place chosen by God; likewise, the enjoyment of Christ by His believers is of two aspects.
• We need to live a life of laboring upon Christ, a life of enjoying Christ personally so that we may enjoy Him together collectively for the building up of the Body of Christ as the house of God.
• The intrinsic reason for the desolation and degradation of God’s people is that Christ is not exalted by them; they do not give Him the preeminence, the first place, in everything; the way to be restored from desolation is to exalt Christ; the enjoyment of Christ with God on the ground of oneness can be maintained and preserved only when Christ is properly appreciated and exalted by God’s people.