Let us continue to use this brother as an illustration. He was saved in 1938. The next year nothing further happened. He was truly saved, but he was still entirely in the world. For three years nothing happened. Then in 1941 he was revived; something revolutionized him. One day while praying, he dropped everything worldly. He said, “Lord, I give up my knowledge, my job as a judge, my family, and everything of the world. Lord, from now on I love You. I was saved three years ago, but now I know that I need to drop everything worldly.” He gave up the world.
In so doing this brother passed through the first veil from the outer court and entered into the Holy Place. From that very day he discovered how to fellowship with Christ and how to take Christ as his daily manna through the reading of the Bible. The Bible became very precious and sweet to him. Every day he enjoyed taking something from the Bible as food. From that day he not only enjoyed the bread on the table but also was enlightened by the light within. In addition, he had the joy of praying. He told me, “Brother Lee (he never called me Mr. Lee anymore), whenever I close my eyes and pray, I have the feeling that I am in the heavens.” What is this? It is the sweet savor of the burned incense. He felt the presence of God because he had the experience of Christ as his daily manna, as the inner light, and as the sweet savor of resurrection.
At this point we need to be very clear concerning where this experience took place. This brother entered from the outer court into the Holy Place by passing through the first veil. He had not yet passed through the second veil. First, his sins were dealt with at the altar, typifying the cross, but the world and the worldly things were still upon him. Three years later, by passing through the first veil, he dropped the world and the worldly things and entered into the Holy Place. Day by day he began to experience Christ as his life, his food, his light, and his sweet savor of resurrection.
Still, he was not in the Holy of Holies. The sins and the worldly things were gone, but one thing remained—the flesh. Hence, there was still another veil of separation. Through recent correspondence from the Far East, I learned that during the last year or two this brother has been experiencing the breaking of the outer man. The breaking of the outer man is the rending of the second veil. It is the rending, or breaking, of the flesh. The letters reveal that from his experience of the breaking of the outer man, this brother is receiving the real discernment of the spirit. He can discern not only his own spirit but also the spirit of others, because now he is more in the spirit.
When we entered the outer court through salvation, our sins were dealt with. When we entered the Holy Place, the world was put to death. The self, however, is still left if we have not entered the Holy of Holies. Day by day we can enjoy Christ as the wonderful manna, as the heavenly light, and as the sweet savor of resurrection, but this experience is still rather shallow, for everything in the Holy Place is openly displayed. The bread is not the hidden manna, the light is not the hidden law, and the incense is not the hidden rod of resurrection. When we come into the meeting, everyone can see that we are showing the manna, shining the light, and spreading the sweet odor of the burned incense. If this is the case, we should not think that we are deep. Many times when we come to the meeting with the sweet odor of burned incense, some may comment, “What a nice brother!” or “She is such a sweet sister! Whenever she opens her mouth, everyone senses the sweet savor of Christ.”
But this is not the hidden manna, the hidden law, or the hidden budding rod. However, these good experiences in the Holy Place should not be rejected. On the contrary, we should respect them. Praise the Lord that many are enjoying Christ as their daily manna. Day by day they are also enjoying Christ as their light and as their sweet savor in resurrection. But we must realize that this is not the goal; this is not the land of Canaan. This is only the wilderness, where there is the living rock flowing with the living water and where Christ is supplying us with the daily manna. To partake of the manna from heaven and the living water flowing out of the rock does not prove that we are in the goal of God. It proves only that we are not in Egypt, that is, not in the world. In other words, we are in the Holy Place but are not in the Holy of Holies. It is a holy place, but it is not the holiest place. We must press on to enjoy the best. It is not sufficient to be merely out of Egypt—this is only the negative aspect. There is something much more positive. We need to enter into the good land, which is the type of the all-inclusive Christ in our spirit. Neither the passover lamb in Egypt nor the daily manna in the wilderness can compare with the good land of Canaan. The good land of Canaan includes not merely one aspect or one part of Christ; it typifies the all-inclusive Christ.
Again we must point out that when we were saved, unconsciously we exercised our spirit. There is no doubt about this. Now in the Holy Place, day by day we read the Scriptures, contact Christ, and experience the shining of the light. All these things also must be experienced by exercising our spirit, even though we may be a person who lives in the soul rather than in the spirit. We may read the Scriptures in the morning by exercising our spirit and thereby feed on Christ as our daily manna, but as far as we ourselves are concerned, we are not yet in the spirit; we are still in the soul. Finally, one day we will realize that the self must be dealt with and broken. When we realize that we have already been crucified, we will apply the cross to our self; and when we realize by experience that the self has been buried, we as a person will be transferred into the spirit. Then we will not only exercise our spirit to contact the Lord, but our whole being will be in the spirit. Thus, there are three strategic points that we need to pass: the altar, the first veil, and the second veil. At the altar our sins are dealt with, at the first veil the world is dealt with, and at the second veil we ourselves—the soulish life, the natural man, the outer man, the flesh, the self—are dealt with. Then we become a person in the spirit. This is beyond the mere exercise of our spirit to experience something of the Lord.
Let us look further into the geography and history of the children of Israel. In Egypt the people of Israel partook of the passover, which dealt with their sins. They were saved when their sins were dealt with by the passover lamb, but the Egyptian forces, Pharaoh and his army, still enslaved them. Consequently, Israel had to pass through the Red Sea. Under the waters of the Red Sea the worldly forces were buried. As a type, the army of Pharaoh represented a host of people and all the worldly things. With some people, a pair of eyeglasses is a “soldier of the Egyptian army,” because for them it is a worldly item. With others, the matter of dress is not only a single soldier but a whole division of soldiers in the Egyptian army. Many worldly items bind and control us under their tyranny. But when Israel passed through the Red Sea, the whole world was dealt with. The entire Egyptian army was buried under the water of the Red Sea. The water of the Red Sea typifies the first aspect of the effectiveness of Christ’s death. All the worldly things are dealt with and buried in the death of Christ (John 12:31; Gal. 6:14).
Later, after Israel left Egypt, they began wandering in the wilderness and daily enjoyed manna, which was something heavenly as a type of Christ. They could always testify to others how they enjoyed manna, but at the same time they were wandering in the wilderness. One day they passed through the Jordan River, and in the water of the Jordan twelve stones representing the old Israel were buried (Josh. 4:9). Under the water of the Red Sea the Egyptian forces were buried, but under the water of the Jordan twelve stones, representing the self and the old man of the Israelites, were buried. After this, the Israelites entered the third place, the land of Canaan, and enjoyed its all-inclusive riches.
When the people of Israel were in Egypt, they were in the outer court. When they came into the wilderness, they were in the Holy Place. Finally, when they entered into Canaan, they were in the Holy of Holies. The Red Sea corresponds to the first veil, and the Jordan River to the second veil. It is very clear that these two waters typify the two aspects of the cross of Christ. The first aspect of the cross deals with all the worldly things, and the second aspect deals with our soul. In other words, it is the cross that rends the two veils. We must pass through the two veils, just as the Israelites had to pass through the two waters.
Now we must check ourselves and determine where we are. Are we in Egypt, in the wilderness, or in Canaan? In other words, are we in the outer court, in the Holy Place, or in the Holy of Holies? Are we in the worldly atmosphere, where everything is under the sun? Those who are in the outer court do not have the light of the Holy Place—they have only the sun. All worldly things are under the sun. Are we Christians who believe in the Lord Jesus, accept Him as our Savior, and believe that He died on the cross for our sins, yet still have the worldly point of view and live in the worldly atmosphere? Or are we in the Holy Place enjoying Christ day by day as our manna, our heavenly light, and our sweet savor of resurrection?
Or are we deeper than this? In the Holy of Holies we can experience Christ as the hidden One—not as Aaron in the outer court but as Melchizedek in the heavenly Holy of Holies. Here we can enjoy Christ as the hidden manna, as the hidden law, and as the hidden authority of resurrection in order to rule over all things. Everything here is hidden, because Christ is now experienced in the deepest way within us. May the Lord be gracious to us that we may know where we are and where we need to go.