Crystallization-Study of Exodus (4)
Message Six
The Oneness in the Triune God Typified by the Tabernacle
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
And you shall overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold as holders for the bars; and you shall overlay the bars with gold—Exo. 26: 29.
Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace—Eph. 4:3.
That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me—John 17:21.
Word of Appetizer
In Exodus 26 we have a picture of the oneness in the Triune God. What are the three aspects of this oneness?
The first aspect, the initial aspect, is with the golden rings. I am quite certain that the golden rings were attached to the boards before the boards were overlaid with gold. Thus, the first step was to attach the rings to the boards and the second step was to overlay the boards with gold. The third step was to make the uniting bars, which held the forty-eight boards together and brought them into oneness.
Spiritual Burden
Oneness is a matter of sinking deeply into the Triune God until we are fully overlaid with Him as gold. Our problem is that we are short of God, and our need is to gain more of Him. The Lord’s recovery consists of God overlaying His recovered people with Himself.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The oneness of the Body of Christ is the oneness in the Triune God, revealed in the Lord’s prayer in John 17. The oneness of the Body of Christ is the enlarged oneness of the Divine Trinity.
The oneness for which the Lord prayed in John 17 is the oneness typified by the tabernacle in Exodus 26. Because the forty-eight boards of the tabernacle typify the believers built together to be the dwelling place of God, the tabernacle is a clear picture of the oneness in the Triune God.
The Experience of Life
We are joined into one by our spirit (with our mind, will, and emotion) cooperating with the crossing Spirit; whenever our spirit is one with the crossing Spirit, we experience the uniting Spirit.
Practice and Application
The more we are overlaid with gold, the more oneness we have. The overlaying of gold occurs simultaneously with this transformation; wherever transformation is, there the overlaying of the gold is also. Transformation depends upon our loving the Lord, our contacting Him, our listening to His word, our praying to Him, and our walking according to the spirit. As long as we have these five things, we are living Christ.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me—John 17:21.
And you shall overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold as holders for the bars; and you shall overlay the bars with gold—Exo. 26:29.
The Oneness of the Body of Christ—The Oneness in the Triune God, the Oneness Typified by the Tabernacle
The First Aspect of the Oneness in the Triune God Is Seen with the Three Gold Rings
I. The oneness of the Body of Christ is the oneness in the Triune God, revealed in the Lord’s prayer in John 17; the oneness of the Body of Christ is the enlarged oneness of the Divine Trinity
II. The oneness for which the Lord prayed in John 17 is the oneness typified by the tabernacle in Exodus 26; because the forty-eight boards of the tabernacle typify the believers built together to be the dwelling place of God, the tabernacle is a clear picture of the oneness in the Triune God:
• The first aspect of the oneness in the Triune God is seen with the three gold rings (the receptacles for the uniting bars), which signify the initial Spirit.
Key Verses (2)
And you shall overlay the boards with gold… —Exo. 26:29
But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; …and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ. And be found in Him …To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death—Phil. 3:8-10.
The Second Aspect of the Oneness in the Triune God Is Seen in the Overlaying of the Boards with Gold
• The oneness of the boards of the tabernacle was not in the acacia wood but in the gold that overlaid the wood; this portrays that the oneness in the church is not in our humanity but in the Triune God with His divine nature.
• The overlaying of the gold is actually the spreading of the oneness; the more we are overlaid with gold, the more oneness we have.
• Oneness is a matter of sinking deeply into the Triune God until we are fully overlaid with gold.
• The golden nature of God will never overlay our fallen nature but will overlay only our regenerated and transformed nature, signified by acacia wood.
Key Verses (3)
And you shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle. And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle at the rear westward. And the middle bar shall pass through in the center of the boards from end to end—Exo. 26:26-28.
The Third Aspect of the Oneness in the Triune God—The Uniting Bars
• These uniting bars signify the initial Spirit becoming the uniting Spirit to join all the members of Christ into one Body.
• The uniting bars were made of acacia wood for connecting strength and overlaid with gold for uniting.
• The uniting bars also signify the Holy Spirit mingled with our human spirit—the mingled spirit, which includes both divinity and humanity.
• In order for the uniting Spirit to pass through us and thus join us with others, we need to receive the cross, for the uniting Spirit always crosses the standing boards.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 The Triune God Himself is the fundamental basis and very foundation of our oneness (Eph. 4:3-6)
(Please explain that the Father is the Originator, the Son is the Accomplisher, and the Spirit is the Executor.)
T2 The Triune God is one, and that oneness is a model of the oneness of the Body of Christ (John 17:11, 21)
(Please explain that the oneness of the Body of Christ is just the enlarged oneness of the Divine Trinity.)
D2
T1 The forty-eight boards of the tabernacle typify the believers built together to be the dwelling place of God (Exo. 26:29)
(The tabernacle is a clear picture of the oneness in the Triune God; please explain what the three aspects of the oneness are.) (Please refer to the Outline I. A, B, and C)
T2 The oneness of the boards of the tabernacle was not in the acacia wood but in the gold that overlaid the wood (Exo. 26:29)
(Please explain that the oneness of the boards was not only in the gold, but also in the shining of the gold.)
D3
T1 The oneness is not in our humanity; it is altogether in the Triune God (John 17:21)
(Please explain that in ourselves, by ourselves, and with ourselves we simply cannot be one with others.)
T2 The more we are overlaid with gold, the more oneness we have (John 17:23)
(Please use your experience to explain that the more we have of God, the stronger is our oneness.)
D4
T1 How much of God do you have? (Phil. 3:8)
(Please use your experience to explain that we need to gain more of gold, more of God.)
T2 Oneness is a matter of sinking deeply into the Triune God until we are fully overlaid with Him as gold (Col. 2:19)
(Please explain that our problem is that we are short of God, and our need is to gain more of Him.)
D5
T1 The gold overlays only acacia wood (Exo. 26:29)
(Please explain that the golden nature of God will never overlay our fallen nature, but will overlay only our regenerated and transformed nature.)
T2 Wherever transformation is, there the overlaying gold is also (2 Cor. 3:18)
(Please explain that transformation depends upon our loving the Lord, our contacting Him, our listening to His word, our praying to Him, and our walking according to the spirit.)
D6
T1 The uniting bars (Exo. 26:26-29; Eph. 4:3)
(Please explain the significance of the uniting bars, which held the forty-eight boards together and brought them into oneness.)
T2 The uniting Spirit is seeking to cross through us to others (Matt. 16:24)
(How can we exercise our spirit to cooperate with the crossing Spirit that we may be joined into one?)
