To meet with Christ, we need to breathe in Christ as life, but to meet for Christ, we need the rushing mighty wind to blow upon us (Acts 2:1-2). To meet for the ascended Christ we need power to demonstrate that the One whom we serve is now in the heavens and has been made Lord and Christ (Acts 2:33-36). We need to declare this to the whole universe. This is the second kind of Christian meeting. Our meetings sometimes need to be like this. We meet not only with the resurrected Christ, but also for the ascended Christ. Our Gospel meeting must be a meeting for the ascended Christ, declaring to the universe that the very Jesus whom the world has rejected has been made Lord and Christ. He is with us and He is within us, but for the unbelievers He is in the heavens. Matthew and John tell us to meet with Christ; Mark, Luke, and Acts tell us to meet for Christ. We need the breathing, and we also need the blowing. We need the breathing of the air for life and the blowing of the mighty wind for power.
For these two kinds of meetings we must pay a price. After the resurrection the disciples were in Jerusalem: they were frightened, they were under threatening and persecution. That was the price they had to pay. They were Galileans; yet they stayed in Jerusalem in an atmosphere of fierce opposition. They paid a price.
Then at a certain time the Lord Jesus told them to go to a mountain in Galilee. If I were Peter, I would have asked, “Lord, why must You ask us to go to a mountain in Galilee? I have a large guest room. If You could meet with us here with all the doors shut, why could You not do the same there in Galilee? Why must we go to a mountain?” But it is not up to us. If He says to go up to the mountain, what should we do? We should say, “Amen.” To say this, however, is easy, but to go up is not so easy. If I decided that we should all go up to the mountain tomorrow, I think that all the sisters would leave me first, saying that I do not care for the children. But the Lord Jesus said, “Go to the mountain,” and they did.
Then the Lord Jesus again took the lead and went back to Jerusalem. Why did He not ascend into the heavens from the mountain in Galilee? Why must He go back to the Mount of Olives for His ascension? It is quite interesting. This involves much of the Scriptures. Firstly, it involves His second coming. Two angels told the disciples, “Why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Zechariah 14:4 tells us that Jesus will come the second time upon the Mount of Olives. So His ascension from this mount has to do with His coming back and His administration in the whole universe. This is not a secret matter, but something official, something governmental. He had to ascend from the Mount of Olives; therefore He asked all His disciples to go from Galilee to Jerusalem to see Him off.
After they should do this, He requested them to tarry in Jerusalem, informing them that something would happen on this earth for His administration, for God’s economy, for God’s governmental activity. This could never be done in Galilee; it must be done in Jerusalem. We must realize that Peter and all the others were not men of wealth, but poor fishers. How could they afford to go so far and stay so long in addition to being in a situation of threatening and persecution? But that was the price they were called upon to pay.
Concerning the meetings after the resurrection or ascension, we can never discover any sense of lightness. Every meeting was so weighty, quite unlike the meetings of today’s Christianity. People say today, “Let us go to the eleven o’clock Sunday service. We have been working so hard during the week—Sunday morning is the best time for us to sleep in.” What I mean is this: if we take the Lord’s way to meet, we must meet at a cost, we must pay a price. I am so happy to tell the universe that here in Los Angeles there are many dear ones who have come from a distance just for the purpose of meeting. So many have settled here and gotten jobs, but their main purpose is not to get settled and find jobs, but to attend the meetings. This is really good. There is a reason why we enjoy the Lord’s presence so richly here. So many have really paid the price to attend the meetings. I have full assurance that many migrating from here to spread the church life to other cities will be greatly blessed with the Lord’s abundant presence. They are willing to sell their homes, give up their jobs, forget about their future and social welfare, and go at a cost to spread the church life. Praise the Lord!
Brothers and sisters, we must be here not for our business, not for our schooling, not for our families, but for the meetings. We are the meeting people. We would like to pay any price to keep up the standard of the meeting. We would rather lose our jobs than lose the meetings. Some say that our meetings are too frequent and ask how the mothers can properly care for their children. But I have no word to say. It all depends upon what is more precious and worthwhile in your lives. If the church is more precious than your children, you know what to do. If your children are more precious than the Lord Jesus and His church, you also know what to do. There is no need for me to say anything. If we really mean business for the church, we must realize that the church is in the meeting. To be here for the church means to be here for the meeting. We do not care for the passing things of today; we care for eternity. Hallelujah! We are looking for the eternal consummation.
Our certified public Accountant is in the heavens working out our account for eternity. Whatever we make in this world as a profit means nothing—eventually that will be a loss. The heavenly, eternal C.P.A. will say, “Sorry, your account shows a loss. You feel that you’ve done well; you have been making a lot of money, but you lose.”
What are we here for? Look at Jesus and all His disciples. Consider the way they met and how they were willing to pay any price to maintain good meetings. We all have to meet with the resurrected Christ and for the ascended Christ, and we must be willing to pay the price to keep these kinds of meetings.