In order to reach the altar of incense, God’s people must firstly labor upon the good land. Without laboring on the land we have nothing to offer at the first altar; we cannot even take the first step. We must firstly labor on the land in order to reap the produce, to have the surplus to be brought to God and put upon the first altar as our offering.
Secondly, we need the priesthood. Today we are the laborers on the good land, and we are also the priesthood. The situation in this age is different from that of the ancient time. Long ago there were two groups of people, those who labored on the land and the priesthood. But today there is only one: those who labor on Christ are also the priesthood. First we need to be laborers to reap the produce, and then we must be the priesthood to offer the offerings, to handle Christ.
Thirdly, we need the practice of the offerings. We must know how to offer the trespass offering, the sin offering, the peace offering, the meal offering, and the burnt offering. Do not imagine that these are only things of the Old Testament. These are pictures of what we must experience today as the reality. We need the priesthood to handle Christ as the reality of all these offerings.
Fourthly, we need the washing in the laver, the washing of the cleansing Spirit, to rid us of all the dirt of the earthly touch. Fifthly, we need the showbread upon which to feed. We must experience Christ as the life and feed upon Him as the life supply. Then out of the life comes the light—“The life was the light of men” (John 1:4). So following the table we have the lamp—this is the sixth step. We need the life within and the Word without; these two factors give us the light.
Brothers and sisters, do you see the steps? The tabernacle is called the tent of meeting, and this is the way for us to meet, this is the way for the people of the Lord to come together to worship Him. These are not just practices of the ancient time; these are types of today’s reality. In present day Christianity people speak of meeting merely as two or three coming together in the name of the Lord. But it is not so simple. Consider these steps. No wonder it is so difficult to have a proper meeting in today’s Christianity.
What I am doing is placing a picture before you. By looking at the picture you realize that to pass through all these steps we do need the laboring on Christ as the good land day by day. You realize also that among us we need a priesthood who know how to handle the offerings. And you realize that whenever we would come to contact the Lord, we need the offering altar and the instant, present washing of the Holy Spirit at the laver to free us from all the dirt of the earthly touch. Then you see how following that we need to feed on Christ, the showbread, in the presence of the Lord, and then obtain the light of the lampstand, which represents the Word. I tell you, then we are in the light and ready to burn the incense. By passing through the offering altar the problem of sin is solved, the matter of sin is settled. By passing through the laver we are cleansed, we are filthy no more. We may not be sinful, yet still defiled. But by passing through the cleansing laver, our problem of dirt and defilement is dealt with. Then by feeding on Christ, the problem of our hunger is met; we are filled inwardly and truly satisfied. We can then light the lamp, and the Word without will exactly correspond with the life within. Eventually, we are no more in darkness but in the light and in a position to burn the incense.
If you are still under the condemnation of sin, you cannot come to burn the incense. You must first go to the altar of burnt offering to deal with your sins. Though you have dealt with your sins, if you are still dirty and uncleansed, you cannot burn the incense. You must pass through the washing of the laver. If you are hungry and unsatisfied, you still cannot burn the incense. God can never be satisfied with hungry people. If you are not satisfied, neither is God. If you are still hungry, God will tell you not to come to the incense altar, but to the showbread table to feed upon Christ; then you will be qualified to burn the incense. Of course, if you are still in darkness, it is rather difficult for you to burn the incense. You must first light the lamp; then you will be adequately prepared to burn the incense unto God. You see, all these are the steps through which we must pass.
Now do you see why in today’s Christian meetings the situation is so poverty-stricken and desperate? There is no laboring on the good land, there is a shortage of the priesthood, there is no real dealing with sinful things, there is no cleansing from defilement, there is no feeding on Christ, and there is no lighting of the lamp. How then could people burn the incense? It is impossible! This must not be a kind of teaching to us, but an exposing. We all must be exposed that we may see where we are and what we are. We look to the Lord for His mercy. We all must look to the Lord that He will enable us by His grace to labor on Christ day by day that we may reap a surplus to be brought to Him. We must also look to Him that He will raise up among us a real priesthood, that He will cause every member to function in the meetings in a coordinated and living way. If not, all we have is the clergy-laity system. Furthermore, we need the real experiences of offering all kinds of sacrifices to God—offering Christ as the burnt offering, as the meal offering, as the peace offering, as the sin offering and as the trespass offering. We also need to continually experience the cleansing of the living One, the Holy Spirit. Then we can feed on Christ, and we can light the lamp. Thus we are qualified to offer Christ, the compound, all-inclusive Christ, composed of so many fragrant ingredients, to God as incense. We will be full of praises acceptable to the Lord. Our spirits will be so one with Him. He will meet with us, and we will meet with Him. He will speak to us, and we will commune with Him. This is the proper way for us to meet, and this is real worship to God.
These are the steps to the incense altar. There is the first step—do not be offended. There is the second step—do not be disappointed. There is the third step—do not stop. There is the fourth step—keep coming. There is the fifth step—we need to be trained. There is the sixth step—burn the incense. Now we know where we are and what we need to do. We do need this kind of practical experience. Check yourself. Do you really labor on Christ? Do you really participate in the priesthood by functioning in the meetings? Do you really experience the first altar, the laver, the table, and the lampstand? If so, you have come to the very place where you may be accepted by God and commune with Him. You will be sweetly accepted, and He will be fully satisfied.