Our conduct is versus Christ as life (the bread of the presence table, the showbread table). Our sight is versus Christ as our light (the lampstand). Our virtue is versus Christ as our incense to God (the incense altar). Our conduct, our sight, and our virtue together equal our natural being, which is versus Christ as God’s testimony (the ark). If we have become a heap of ashes, will we still have our natural conduct, our natural sight, and our natural virtue? Certainly not. A heap of ashes does not have any conduct, sight, or virtue. What does a heap of ashes have? It has nothing. To be reduced to ashes is to be reduced to nothing, to zero.
As long as we think that we are something and regard ourselves as something, we are not in the tabernacle. Rather, we are outside the tabernacle. Do you remember what the tabernacle signifies? The tabernacle signifies the incarnated God. Thus, to be in the tabernacle is to be in God. Now we must realize that the requirement for being in God is that we become nothing. We can be in God only if we first become zero. For this reason, I wish to emphasize the fact that if we continue to think that we are something, we are not in God. But when we have become nothing, we are then qualified to be in Him.
How do we know that we are still something and that we have not yet become nothing? We know it by the fact that we still have our natural conduct, our natural sight or view, and our natural virtues. For example, a brother may think of himself as being very pleasant and kind. A married brother, in particular, may regard himself as much more pleasant than his wife. But one who prays at the incense altar in the tabernacle does not think this way about himself. The one who prays in the tabernacle at the golden altar of incense is one who has become ashes. This means that he no longer has his natural virtue. Along with his natural virtue, his natural conduct and sight have become ashes.
If we still have our own conduct, our natural behavior, we do not enjoy Christ as our bread. We cannot enjoy Him as our life supply. Let me assure you that what I am saying here is not merely doctrine. It is something I have learned through experience. From experience I know that whenever I still hold on to my natural conduct, I do not have the enjoyment of Christ as my life supply.
From experience I have also learned that if I still feel that I have my own sight, my own view, my own knowledge of things, I am through with Christ as my light. I cannot experience Him as my lampstand. Christ can be experienced by me as my lampstand only when I no longer have any natural sight.
Often the questions we are asked by others test us with respect to our natural sight, view, and knowledge. Suppose you come to me and ask about a particular brother or a particular church. Your question will be a test to me, and my answer will indicate whether I still have my natural sight. If I hold to my own view, sight, and knowledge, Christ will not be my lampstand. But if I do not have my natural sight or view, Christ will become my lampstand in a very practical way in my experience. He will be my light. Then instead of natural sight, I shall have divine light. I shall have the spiritual light, and this light is Christ Himself.
Too many times we consider the brothers or the church according to our natural sight. But sometimes we may look at matters not by our natural sight, but by Christ as our light. A person who prays, intercedes, at the second altar is one who has spiritual light in place of his natural sight.
Furthermore, anyone who intercedes at the incense altar has Christ as his incense. He no longer has his natural virtue. With such a person, Christ is everything. Christ is his life supply for proper conduct, Christ is his light for genuine sight, and Christ is his virtue for him to have a sweet fragrance ascending to God. This is the kind of person who can pray at the incense altar.
Nothing that we pray at the first altar, the altar of burnt offering in the outer court, can be an intercession. But whatever we pray at the second altar, the golden altar of incense in the tabernacle, will be an intercession. At the second altar we do not pray much for ourselves. Instead, we pray for God’s economy, we pray for God’s dispensation, we pray for God’s move, we pray for God’s recovery, and we pray for the churches and the saints. We intercede in this way spontaneously.
When we pray at the first altar, it is very difficult to pray in such a way that we are not occupied with ourselves or our situation. However, when we pray at the second altar, it is very difficult to be occupied with ourselves. The reason self is not involved with the prayers offered at the incense altar is that in order to pray at this altar we must first become ashes. To intercede at the second altar requires that we first be reduced to nothing. By contrast, those who pray at the first altar often cry out to God concerning themselves. They may call out to the Lord for His mercy and ask Him to help them with various matters. It is very difficult to be outside of ourselves when we pray at the first altar. The prayer at this altar is full of ourselves. But by the time we come to the second altar, we have passed through the cross, the table, the lampstand, and the ark. Because we have experienced the table, we no longer have our natural conduct. Instead, we have Christ as our life supply. Because we have come to the lampstand, we no longer have our natural sight. Instead, we have Christ as our light.
Now we must see what we experience when we come to the ark. The ark signifies Christ as God’s testimony, which is versus our natural being, signified by the veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. We need to be impressed that the veil is our natural being and that this veil is versus the ark. Our natural being is a composition of our conduct, our sight, and our virtue. This natural being is the veil that is versus Christ as God’s testimony.
Have you ever before realized that the veil covering the ark is versus the ark and that it signifies your natural being? Here we have four matters: our natural conduct, our natural sight, our natural virtue, and, the composition of these three, our natural being.
Let us suppose that a certain brother behaves himself as a gentleman. He is a very good husband and father. Furthermore, he has natural sight and seems to have vast knowledge. He is also full of virtue. Many would regard such a brother as an outstanding Christian, for he is full of good behavior, sight, and virtue. However, this kind of Christian is altogether natural; he lives according to his natural being. As a result, he cannot be inside the tabernacle praying at the incense altar. As long as he regards himself as a good person, he is far away from the tabernacle. To be sure, he is not in God.
This is something I have come to know through years of experience. I could not have given this message thirty years ago, for at that time what I had learned from experience was not adequate. The teachings I had learned concerning the incense altar were merely doctrinal. As I have indicated, I do not care to speak concerning the incense altar merely in a doctrinal way. My burden is to see what the incense altar typifies in the way of experience.
What the incense altar typifies is very deep. It indicates that if we would pray intercessory prayers at the incense altar, we must become ashes; that is, we must become nothing. If we have become ashes, we shall not have our natural conduct, our natural sight, or our natural virtue. We shall not have natural conduct replacing Christ as our life supply, we shall not have natural sight replacing Christ as our light, and we shall not have natural virtues replacing Christ as our incense. This means that we shall no longer be natural. Therefore, with us there will be no veil. In place of the veil, we shall have the ark, Christ as God’s testimony. As a result, we shall be qualified to intercede at the incense altar. Having traveled through the various stations of the tabernacle, we may now come to pray, to intercede, at the golden altar of incense.