The temple is also a type of the church. The tabernacle was neither stationary nor permanent, but the temple was established. Some churches are good, but they, like the tabernacle, are not settled and solidly established. Praise the Lord that some churches are the temple, fully settled and solidly established. In order to have such an established church, we must take Christ, not only as the manna, but also as the good land. We must take Christ as solid food, not just as the manna. German bread is very hard, and babies cannot eat it. Although babies might be able to eat manna, they cannot eat barley bread. Those in some local churches constantly eat manna. Although this is good, it is not good enough. We all must pass through the wilderness and enter into the good land. We must progress from eating manna to eating hard bread. We must also experience Christ as the stone and as the iron and brass. Christ is the stone to smash the enemy and to build the house of God. How we need to experience Christ as the iron and brass for the defeat of the enemy!
Some saints in the church life are very good. Day after day they eat manna. But when the enemy attacks, they are not able to deal with him. They are young, immature, and not at all strong. But some of the saints are very strong. They are like iron and brass. Each of them is a rock that can smite the enemy, build up the temple, and even establish the kingdom.
Christ is the Angel, Moses, the Lamb, the unleavened bread, the manna, and the good land, including water, food, cattle, and minerals. It is by experiencing Christ as the minerals in the good land that we become rock, iron, and brass. If we experience Christ in this way, we are good not only for the building, but also for fighting the battle, defeating the enemy, and subduing all the adversaries. When the enemy and the adversaries are defeated, we have the ground for the building of the house of God and for the establishing of the kingdom of God. This is the church. Once again we see that the church comes out of the enjoyment of Christ.
We have seen two stages of the church: the stage of the tabernacle and the stage of the temple. Is the church in your locality the tabernacle or the temple? I would be very glad to hear that the church in your city is the temple. As we have seen, the tabernacle is good, but it is not very solid or weighty. But the temple is weighty, solid, and settled. In order for the church to be the temple, a good number of saints must become stones, iron, and brass. Only by becoming iron and brass can we fight the battle and defeat the enemy. Are the saints in your locality stones, iron, and brass, or are they wafers that are sweet, delicious, tender, and kind, but not at all solid? If you pour water on a wafer, it will easily fall apart. But if you pour water on stone, iron, or brass, no damage will be done. Those who are solid and strong can stand against any storm or flood. They are able to stand against the enemy. This is the church in the stage of the temple. If we would have the church as the temple, we need to experience Christ as stone, iron, and brass, not simply as manna.
Whether the church is the tabernacle or the temple, the function, the foundation, and the nature are all the same. Both the tabernacle and the temple are unique. There cannot be more than one tabernacle, and there cannot be more than one temple. The tabernacle and the temple both come out of the experience of Christ. If we lack the experience of Christ, we simply cannot have the proper church life.
Thus far in this series of messages we have come to three stations. The first station is at the end of Genesis, the second is at the end of Exodus, and the third is the building of the temple in 1 Kings. At the time of 1 Kings chapter eight, God had gained an established temple on earth. God was able to put His name there, and He could fill it with His glory. Praise the Lord that in Stuttgart and other places God has such a solid temple, a solid church life. This temple is not built with wafers, but with stones. Praise the Lord that a good number of saints are stone, iron, and brass. They are strong to stand against the enemy, to express God, to be His dwelling place on earth, and to satisfy the desire of His heart. This is the kernel of the Bible, Christ and the church.