There are many more important details to consider concerning the spirit and the soul, but now our attention must be focused on the building of God’s dwelling place. We have put much emphasis on the tabernacle, God’s dwelling place. We have seen that it was composed of the outer court and the two parts of the tent of the tabernacle—the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Let us briefly review the contents of these three places.
In the outer court there was the altar, which typifies the cross of Christ, and the laver, which typifies the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Place contained the table of the bread of the Presence, the lampstand, and the incense altar. These three items are types of the various aspects of Christ as our life. The table of the bread of the Presence reveals Christ as our daily life supply—He is our very bread of life. The lampstand typifies Christ as the light of life. The supply of life that we enjoy becomes the light, which shines within us. Next, the incense altar typifies the resurrection savor of Christ.
The Holy of Holies contained one thing, the Ark, a type of Christ Himself. There were three things within the Ark: the hidden manna, which is the inner life and the inner life supply; the hidden law, which is the inner enlightening within us; and the hidden rod with sprouted buds, which is the inner resurrection power and authority. The hidden manna, the hidden law, and the hidden authority are all in resurrection and are much deeper than the three corresponding items in the Holy Place.
All these things were the contents of the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God. The experiences of all these eight items in the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies are the real contents of the true building of God, the church. If we desire to be the building as God’s dwelling place, we must experience what Christ has accomplished by His cross and the cleansing of the Holy Spirit. We must also adequately experience Christ as our life, our light, and our resurrection savor. Furthermore, we must have real experiences of Christ Himself as the hidden manna, the hidden law, and the hidden authority. The experience of Christ in all these aspects forms the real content of the building of God and provides the very materials for the building.
In these last few years people have been talking much about the New Testament church. However, the New Testament church is not a church according to a certain pattern, but a church constituted of life and of the experience of Christ. We may attempt to manufacture a man according to the pattern of another man by making an arm out of wax, a head out of marble, a torso out of wood, and legs and feet out of clay. Once these are put together in the exact size and shape and painted the exact color, we may have a true pattern of that man, but we do not have the reality of that man. The real man was not manufactured according to a certain pattern, but was born and matured by the growth of life. This man was first born of a living mother and then grew by receiving daily nourishment. Ultimately, he became a man with a certain form. If a man is produced by any other means, the result will be a “man” in a certain pattern, but not a real man.
One time when we were in Pittsburgh, I said to a friend, “Let us forget about the pattern and pay full attention to life. For example, you have a nice little boy. You don’t pay much attention to his outward form. You don’t try to shape him day by day in a particular way. First, he is born of his mother, and then you nourish him with milk and baby food. The baby then grows and grows, assuming a certain shape and pattern. That pattern comes out of his birth and the growth of life. Just as you could do nothing to form your child, neither can we form a New Testament church. If we try to form a church, all we will have is a pattern without life. It is possible for us to form a church according to a certain pattern, but we cannot form a church of life.”
During the last few years I have been continually urging people and pleading with people, telling them, “Do not form anything.” Whatever we form is not the real church. Not one living person on this earth through the past six thousand years has been formed; every one was born and grew in life. The church is the Body of Christ, and no human hand can form it. We can form many things, but we cannot form a living Body composed of living members. We are never commanded or instructed in the New Testament to form the church, but we are exhorted to experience Christ, to minister Christ to others, and to bring forth many children by spiritual birth. The real church, the Body of Christ, comes only out of spiritual birth and the growth of life. This is why we stress the principle that the tabernacle comes out of the experience of its contents.