The meal offering, at least in part, was for God’s food. The greater part was for the priests’ food. It was the same with the peace offering. A part was for God’s food and a part was for the offerer’s food, and another part was for the ministering priests’ food.
Even with the sin offering the inside, the inward parts, were burned sweetly to God for God’s satisfaction. The same principle applied to the trespass offering. When we get into Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy in our life-study we will get into the details of all these offerings. We will see much more clearly.
But in this message I would like to impress you that this people in their meeting did nothing but feed God. In the feeding of God they themselves were fed. Their meeting was just a feeding. Firstly, they fed God. In the feeding of God, they got fed. They presented something for God to eat. God enjoyed a part, and the rest was for them to eat and enjoy before God. This is to hold a feast unto the Lord.
We all know that the feast was a type. How can we apply this today? It is so simple. Don’t you have Christ? We all have Christ. So day after day we all should come together. Deuteronomy 16:16 says that we should not appear before the Lord empty. This means not to appear before God without offerings. You must come as the children of Israel did. You must come to God with some surplus, some produce, from the good land. These are the burnt offerings and the tithes, the tenths. These are the free-will offerings and the offerings of your vows. All these you must bring with you to the meeting for God. Whenever you come to the meeting you must have a deep realization that you have come to the meeting with Christ. Don’t come to the meeting empty-handed.
In our Life-study of Exodus we have seen that to sanctify the priests to serve God is to fill their hands. This means to fill their hands with the offerings, with Christ. We all need to come to the meeting with Christ. Could you say that you don’t have Christ? You might say you don’t have much of Christ, but still you have some of Christ. You have something of Christ that you can offer.
When we come to the meeting we have to realize that God requires us to bring something of Christ as food for Him and for ourselves and for all the dear ones in the meeting. You have to feed them with Christ. You may say that you don’t have much of Christ. But at least you have some amount of Christ. You have to exhaust what you have of Christ. Although Christ in Himself is exhaustless, you have to exhaust what you have of Christ. This is very much like our love feast. To come to the love feast empty-handed is a shame. If you just bring your two shoulders with one mouth ready to eat to the love feast, that is a shame. You must come to the love feast with something in your hand. Even if you bring only some donuts or some grapefruit, still that is good. Don’t come to the love feast empty.
Based upon this principle our meeting time should always not be sufficient. This is why many times we may divide our meetings into many home meetings so that we may have more time for every one to feed God, to feed others, and to feed himself. This is not like today’s situation. In the Christianity services of today there is very little feeding. There is just a speech or a sermon. But when we come together, you must come with Christ. When you get into the meeting don’t wait or you will miss your time. Right away you need to feed, to serve, God with Christ.
Even the young sisters can come to the meeting with Christ to serve God. You can offer a short praise or a short prayer or a short testimony. Surely you can give a testimony in every meeting. If all of us would offer a short praise, a short prayer, a short testimony, there would not be sufficient time in the meeting. But there would be a lot of feeding.
How then should we praise or pray or give a testimony? I would say forget about how-to! Just remember that when you get into the meeting, open up your mouth. The Bible promises us that when we open up our mouth, He will fill us (Psa. 81:10).
I can testify that a number of times when I was walking up to the platform I still didn’t have any idea what I was going to speak. But when I opened my mouth something came. When you open up your mouth the Lord will fill you. Surely you have something to say. Be encouraged, be bold. I know that you have a lot of testimonies, but you hide the testimonies, keeping them as mysteries for eternity. It seems you want to keep these mysteries to tell us in the New Jerusalem. That will be too late! The testimonies given in this age all are pleasant. If you wait till the New Jerusalem, that will be a little too late. I encourage you all to praise, to pray, and to testify in the meetings.
Let me repeat: the church is just the meeting life. How shall we meet? Just bring Christ with you and present this Christ by praising, by praying, and by testifying. Do this by faith. You have it! I feel we all must be the forerunners to cut the way into a proper meeting life. Even up till today at the end of the Twentieth Century the Lord hasn’t got what He wants. He wants a people meeting as the church to bring Himself to all the meetings and to present Himself to God and to man for God’s satisfaction and for man’s satisfaction and even for their own satisfaction. The Lord wants such a people to come together day after day to be a living testimony in the entire universe. We must be the forerunners to pioneer the way, to cut the way. Let us forget about the Christianity services. Let us forget about religious services. Let us be impressed that we are God’s people meeting with Christ. We come to the meeting with Christ to present Him to God and man that the meeting might be so living, so rich, and so uplifted.