Jacob came to Bethel twice. According to my experience, this indicates that we all come into the church twice. The first time we come in a dream, and the second time we come in actuality. In 1925, I had a clear dream, but it was not until seven years later, in 1932, that I came into the actuality and practicality of the church life. Many of you have had a similar experience. When you first came into the church, it was, for quite a period of time, a dream. You might have been in a dream for a number of years. But after those years, it was no longer a dream, and you could say, "Oh, I am actually and practically in the church life. The past years have been a dream. Thank the Lord for keeping me in this dream, but now I have the actual experience." Firstly, Jacob had the dream. More than twenty years later, he was brought into the experience.
If you compare chapters twenty-eight and thirty-five, you will see a great difference between them. Everything in chapter twenty-eight, being a dream, is somewhat vague; nothing is definite. In the experience in chapter thirty-five, however, everything is definite and practical. Nevertheless, we thank the Lord that the dream in the beginning was a true picture. Everything in the reality is the same as that in the dream. In this, there is no difference. The only difference is that the dream is indefinite and that the actuality is definite. We need both the dream and the practicality. We praise the Lord that today we are in the practicality of the church life.
In the practicality of Bethel in chapter thirty-five, Jacob not only set up a pillar, but poured a drink offering upon it. In chapter twenty-eight there was no pouring out of a drink offering, only the pouring out of oil. But here, prior to the pouring out of the oil, there was the pouring out of the drink offering. This experience is very subjective. In Bethel, we firstly have the dream and then the actuality. In the actuality we build a pillar and pour ourselves upon it. This is very meaningful. Jacob did not pour out the drink offering upon himself or upon the earth; he poured it out upon the pillar. We shall see more of this in another message.
According to 28:18, Jacob "took the stone that he had made his pillow, and set it up for a pillar" (Heb.). The pillar was the stone he had used for a pillow. This stone depicts Christ as our rest. Jacob did not have this dream when he was at home, but when he was traveling on his pilgrim journey. Like Jacob, we also are pilgrims. As we are traveling on our way, we see the vision of the church. Everyone who is on this pilgrim way is weary and needs rest. Where can we find this rest? The answer is the Lord's word in Matthew 11:28: "Come to Me all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." Christ is the stone on which we may lay our weary head and find rest. The Christ on whom we rest is the constituent of the pillar. We ourselves are not the material for building the pillar. This material must be the Christ on whom we rest and whom we experience. It is the Christ wrought into our being who is constituted into the pillar.
In today's Christianity it is very difficult for people to have the constitution of the pillar because few have been instructed how to experience Christ in a subjective way. When you were in Christianity, were you ever told how to experience Christ's being wrought into you? Recently, I told some brothers and sisters that we in the church must not only love the Lord and live for Him—we must also live by Him. Oh, there is a vast difference between living for Christ and living by Christ. If you live for Christ, it is you who do things for Him, but you remain yourself and Christ is not wrought into your being. To live by Christ, however, means that Christ is wrought into us. By having Christ wrought into our being, we become material for the building. The stone for the pillar is firstly Christ. Following this, it is Christ experienced by us and wrought into us. Now this stone is not merely Christ, but Christ within us. Christ is wrought into our being, and we become one with Him. In this way, we become the building material for the pillar.
This experience is only possible in the church life. At the least, we can say that the greatest possibility of having this experience is in the church life. The reason for this is that outside the church, in the so-called Christian religion, very few are taught to have Christ wrought into them. I am fully assured that, from now on, message after message will be given instructing us how to live by Christ. This working of Christ into our being is true transformation. When the element of Christ is added into us, we become the material for the building of the pillar. This all takes place in Bethel, the place where Jacob was.
In 1964, I was invited to speak to a certain group in Dallas. My hosts, who appreciated my ministry, were very kind to me. However, they told me, both in plain words and by suggestions, that the people in Dallas were not ready to hear about the church. They said, "Brother Lee, please sympathize with us and do not say a word about the church." I did not promise to comply with their request. Rather, I said, "I fully realize the situation. But I assure you that the more I talk about Christ and minister Christ as life to the people, the more they will desire to have the church. Even if I do not say a word about the church and only minister Christ as life, they will still have the desire for the church." In the last meeting, I was burdened to speak a word about the church. When I stood up and asked the people to read Romans 12, they were disappointed. But I said to myself, "I don't care whether I offend you or not. If I do not release my burden, I cannot live." I then gave a strong word concerning the church, and they were offended by it. Later, I learned that a certain brother, who had not yet come into the church life, had attended that last meeting. Many had been praying for him. During that meeting, which was the only meeting he attended, he was caught for the church life. Although I had offended those people, the Lord gained this brother. Today, this brother has become a pillar.