We have seen briefly our need to work upon Christ and make Christ our industry. I believe we are clear regarding this matter, but I am afraid it may be merely a doctrine to many. How can we apply it in a practical way? What must we do to work on Christ daily?
Let me illustrate. Every morning you need to pray: “Lord, I consecrate myself once more to You, not to work for You but to enjoy You.” You must consecrate yourself sincerely to the Lord for the simple purpose of enjoying and experiencing Him—nothing more. From the moment you awake in the morning you need to say, “Lord, here I am. I give myself to enjoy You. Grant me through the entire day, from this moment on, to experience and apply You in every situation. I am not asking for anything tomorrow. I am asking for grace to enjoy You today. Show me how to till the ground, sow the seed, and water the plants of the Lord.” Moment by moment through the whole day you will maintain your communion with the Lord. You will live practically in the Lord, laboring upon Him, applying Him, and enjoying Him. If you do this, consider how fruitful and how beautiful your “farm” will be. The farm of Christ in your daily life will be full of produce. When the Lord’s Day comes and you go to worship the Lord with the saints, you will be able to say, “I am going now to see my God; I am going to worship my Lord. I will not go with empty hands but with hands full of Christ. I have a surplus, and in my right hand is the best part reserved for my dear Lord.” When you come to the meeting, a brother may approach you, saying, “I am having a certain problem. Could you help me?” You can have a little fellowship with him and pass on some of your surplus of Christ. You can give him a little of the produce from the Christ upon whom you have been laboring, the Christ whom you have been enjoying day by day. You have been abundantly satisfied with Him, and you have something over to share with the brothers and sisters. When the meeting begins, you are well prepared to offer your prayers and praises to the Lord from your reserve for Him. This is the best of your surplus, and with the saints you joyfully render it to the Lord for His enjoyment and satisfaction. You have reaped enough of Christ for yourself, for the needy ones, and for the Lord. You have furthermore put aside a considerable portion which will stand you in good stead in future days.
If we are rich with Christ, we must necessarily be rich with work, rich with industry. In Christ we cannot be lazy. We must let God enjoy Christ with us and at the same time with others. If you do this, I do this, and we all do this, how wonderful the meetings will be when we come together to worship the Lord! I will share with you, and you will share with me. You will give me something of the Lord, and I will give you something in exchange. There will be every kind of sharing and mutual enjoyment. And the Lord will have His full portion.
In the world today there are many exhibitions and fairs. At certain times people from all over certain areas and districts and sometimes from throughout the entire world bring their products together for exhibition. This is just what we are doing when we come together to worship God. We are meeting together to have an exhibition of Christ, not just the Christ God gave us but the Christ we have produced, the Christ upon whom we have labored and whom we have experienced. That is the Christ whom we all come together to exhibit. Brothers and sisters, this is what all our meetings should be—an exhibition, a fair, in which all sorts of the produce of Christ are displayed.
Consider again the people of Israel. At the time of the feast of tabernacles, so many from all over the land came together to their center, Jerusalem. All brought with them some of their produce—some fruit, some vegetables, some cattle, and many other things. If we could be there at that time and witness the occasion, we would marvel at the riches of the land. We would behold the abundance of the produce heaped here and there—beautiful, ripened, and in many colors—with the sheep and the cattle on every hand. Everything was put together and mutually enjoyed in the presence of Jehovah, God too having His own portion.
Brothers and sisters, the church life is simply this. It is all the saints enjoying Christ before God and mutually with God. They are enjoying the Christ they produce. Day by day they are working on Christ; day by day they are producing Christ. Then on a certain day appointed by the Lord they come together. Not only are their hands full, but even upon their shoulders, figuratively speaking, they are bearing Christ. They are rejoicing in the abundance of their harvest and in all the riches they have reaped from that “good land” in which they are living. They are not coming empty handed with wrinkled and smileless faces. They are not sleeping in the pews while a poor minister occupies the platform. How miserable is this kind of situation! This is certainly not the worship of the Lord’s people. The worship of His people is when everyone is full of Christ, radiant with Christ, and exhibiting the Christ upon whom they have labored and whom they have produced. One brother could say, “Here is the Christ whom I have labored upon and produced today. He is so rich and abundant to me in this aspect and in that aspect.” A sister could testify, “Praise the Lord, I have experienced the very patience and kindness of Christ in my difficult home situation. He is so sweet and real to me in this way.” This is her produce of Christ. Everyone exhibits the Christ whom they have reaped. What a worship to God, what an edification to the saints, and what a shame to the enemy! This kind of meeting is a great embarrassment to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. The evil forces beholding it are put to shame that Christ is such a Christ. Brothers and sisters, do you have meetings like this in your locality?
I fear that the enemy today is laughing and the wicked forces in the heavenlies are mocking our Christian meetings. But we can turn the tables on them by enjoying the all-inclusive Christ, by laboring diligently upon Him day after day, and by bringing our abundant produce of Him together to share with God and with all the saints. If we do this, the enemy and his hosts will tremble with rage and shame.
This is the life after the possession of the good land. It is a life of working on Christ, producing Christ, enjoying Christ, sharing Christ with others, and offering Christ to God that He may enjoy Him with us. This kind of enjoyment and sharing is an exhibition of Christ to the entire universe. It is a worship to God and a shame to the enemy. Every time after such a worship, not one of the Lord’s children will be poor. Everyone will be rich, everyone will be satisfied, and everyone will go from “Jerusalem” rejoicing. At the conclusion of such a meeting all the brothers and sisters will be richly and abundantly nourished. They came with a surplus, and they leave with a greater surplus. Everything of the life in the land is Christ, but it is a Christ related to us. It is not merely an objective Christ but a very subjective Christ. It is a Christ who is labored upon by us, a Christ who is produced by us, a Christ who is enjoyed by us, a Christ who is shared with others and offered to God by us.