The Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene first, and in the same day He showed Himself to Peter. Do you know the reason in these two cases? The reason with Mary Magdalene was positive, and the reason with Peter was negative. According to the record of the four Gospels, Mary Magdalene never was backslidden. Ever since she was saved, she followed the Lord continually. She loved the Lord, served the Lord, and was so much for the Lord. On the resurrection morning she was the first at the empty sepulcher, and she was the first to pass on the information. What about Peter? That is another story. Just a short time before, he denied the Lord thrice. Now he heard that Jesus was risen, and he and John came to see the empty sepulcher. Many times I’ve told people that we brothers are just so definite: when we behold the fact, we admit the thing. “The Lord Jesus is not here; so let us go home.” When Peter and John saw the empty sepulcher, they just went away. But Mary Magdalene remained there. Her tarrying was a positive act, a proof of her love for the Lord, and it was through this act of hers that the Lord Jesus revealed Himself to her. You see, the reason the Lord Jesus revealed Himself to Mary was entirely positive. But the reason He revealed Himself to Peter was negative, for Peter had backslidden. We do not have the record of what the Lord Jesus said to Peter nor what Peter said to the Lord Jesus. I am glad of that.
Many times we have this experience: the Lord visits us, not for some positive reason, but, unhappily, for a negative one. He comes to us sometimes, but to us it is a shame. I have learned of some actual incidents: some of the brothers have gone to a movie, and while they were coming home, on the way the Lord Jesus revealed Himself to them. You know what I mean. “Where have you been?” He says. What would you say? Would you say, “Lord, I went to the movie”? Sometimes, immediately after you lose your temper with your wife, the Lord Jesus comes to you. Many times He visits us not for some positive reason, but for a negative one. We have backslidden, we have denied Him, we have failed Him in many things. When He reveals Himself to us in this way, we are covered with shame. On that resurrection day He not only appeared to the positive Mary, but also to the negative Peter. When we take into account all the record of Jesus meeting with His disciples after His resurrection, we see that this living Christ is with His disciples anywhere, anytime, regardless of the situation. Whether you are positive or negative, whether you have had a victory or a failure, He is always there. He not only appeared to Mary, but also to Peter. He not only appeared to the positive one, but also to the negative one. What a Lord!
The proper way for us to meet is to realize that Christ today is so living. Let me check with you: Do you really believe that the Lord Jesus is on this earth today? Do you really realize that the Lord Jesus today is so living within you? You see, if we would have a proper meeting, a living meeting, it must not be something religious, not something of teaching or of keeping certain forms and rituals. The proper meeting of Christians is just to meet with the resurrected Christ who is so living within us. So we need the practical, daily experiences of such a living One. Do we really believe that the Lord Jesus is the resurrected One? Do we really experience the resurrected Christ living within us? Hallelujah! Whether I am victorious or defeated, whether I am a success or a failure, whether I am positive or negative, He is with me! Whether I am conscious of His presence or not, it does not matter—He is within me!
Acts 1:3 says that before His ascension Christ was seen of His disciples forty days. Do you know what the meaning of forty is in the Bible? It means the period of a full test. The people of Israel were tested in the wilderness for forty years, the Lord Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for forty days, Moses stayed on the mountain for forty days—there are many forty’s in the Bible. Forty means fully tested, fully approved. This means that Christ’s living and being present after His resurrection was fully tested and fully approved. He was seen by His disciples, not for one or two days, or even ten days, but forty days. His presence with His disciples was tested and approved for forty days.
The way to have a proper meeting is to realize such a present, living Christ. He is just so present; He is just so living. After His resurrection He became such an omnipresent One. Whether you are on the street or in the room, whether you are on the mountain or at the seashore, whether you are prepared for His presence or not prepared for His presence, He is there. He is always with you. If you are by yourself, He is with you. If you are with another, He is also with you. If we are in the meetings, He is with us.
So many of us have been in Christianity, attending services over a long period of time. Let me ask you, at those services did you have much realization of the Lord’s presence? We always went to those so-called Christian services in a religious way. But do we come to the church meeting in this way? Surely not! We must come to the church meeting with the realization that all the day the Lord Jesus has been with us. Regardless of whether we have failed Him or not, He has been with us. In fact, even after our failure, He is more with us. We should come to the meeting with the living Jesus, the resurrected Christ. If so, be assured we will have some living meetings.
If you come to the meeting in such a way, could you keep yourself so silent? Could you sit there waiting, watching, observing, expecting? You may answer, “No, I would function.” But when we say that we would “function,” we must be careful. We may use this word in a merely formal way, meaning that we must do something in the meetings. Strictly speaking, it does not mean that we should do anything in the meeting. It means that we have something of Christ, so living, so present and so bubbling up within us. I do not sense that I am functioning, but that I am overflowing with Jesus. It is so living, so spontaneous. There is nothing timed, nothing as a form to keep, nothing as a rule to follow.
Of the twelve instances, according to our reckoning, of the Lord Jesus appearing to His disciples, five of them were to individuals and seven to the corporate body. If we examine the situation of His meeting with the individuals, we will realize that these meetings were with the purpose of bringing those individuals into the corporate meeting. Firstly, He did not meet with all the disciples together, but with individual believers. In the morning He met Mary; then in the morning again He met those few sisters. During the day He met Peter, and in the afternoon He met the two brothers. Then in the evening He came to meet with them all together. The last appearance was not to an individual, but to the entire body of His disciples. All the personal, individual contacts were for the meeting. The meeting was the goal.
Christ today is the resurrected Christ, the living One. This living Christ is so present with us, regardless of the situation. We have been taught that if we are right with the Lord, He is with us, and if we are wrong, He is not with us. But we have seen that regardless of the situation, He is with us all the time. He is present with us that we may come to the meetings, not to keep the forms, the rules or to learn the teachings, but to meet with the resurrected Christ. We have to come to the meeting to tell how we have met with the Lord and how He has met with us during the day. The Lord is recovering something on this earth which is absolutely different from Christianity and any religion. He is recovering a people who realize that Christ is the resurrected One, that He is so living, so present, and so available to them all the time. We should come together not to have a religious worship, not to learn anything of Christianity, not to perform any duty or keep any form, but just to tell people how we have been meeting with the Lord Jesus today. He is so living and present to us all day long that we cannot contain Him, we must share Him with all the people. If we come to the meetings like this, our meetings will be revolutionized.
We have the full assurance that the Lord is going to renew everything. Forget about the old Christianity, forget about the old teachings. Even these stories are not old stories to us; they are altogether new. Bring all these verses to the Lord in a new way. Do not consider that you became familiar with these stories when you were in Sunday School. Forget that. Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20 and 21, and Acts 1 are so new to us. The Lord is recovering something more of the proper meeting life from these chapters.