There should be no competition in the church service. Competition never works. The more you compete to be the first, the less you are qualified even to be the last. The more you compete, the more you will remain in your dead condition. It is not a matter of competition; it is a matter of being judged and of having the self, the natural life, and the natural element burned. Then at the altar there will be a reminder that our natural life must be dealt with and eliminated. Hundreds of us can testify that whenever we competed with others, we were killed. Whenever we say, “Why does God use him and not me?” we are finished. The more you say this, the less God will use you. The more competitive you are, the less qualified you will be. During the past years I have not seen an exception to this among the Lord’s children. We all need to say, “There’s nothing good in me. I’m filled with Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and with so many natural things that must be judged on the brass altar.” Whoever is willing to be judged will immediately be brought into the Holy of Holies and have the budding rod, the resurrection life. When you are such a person, whatever comes to you, even if it is a dead situation, will issue in life.
Many Christian organizations are unhappy with us. They say, “How can you claim to be the church? Are we not the church also?” Being the church is not a matter of what we say; it is a question of where the budding rod is. Whether people appreciate us or oppose us means nothing. The only thing that counts is the budding rod. If this is the church in Anaheim, the Lord’s testimony in Orange County, it will bud, blossom, and yield almonds to nourish others with resurrection life. Whenever some rumors are spread about us or some papers are written against us, I tell the brothers that those rumors and papers mean nothing and that we should forget about them. The only thing that matters is whether or not we have the budding rod. The budding rod is God’s vindication. Of the twelve rods laid up before the Lord, only one budded, blossomed, and yielded almonds. What will you say about this? Although Aaron’s rod budded, the rebellious ones were still not convinced. They continued to murmur. Do not think that when the budding rod appears everyone in Orange County will be convinced. No, the more our rod buds, the more murmuring there will be.
What we need, and what the church needs, is the budding rod. Competition, promotion, position, and ambition mean nothing. From now on, in the church service there will be no number one, number two, nor any other number. Everyone is number nothing. We have no number because we are nothing; we are nobody. We all must be judged, and then we all must have the budding rod.
Having authority is not a matter of what we can do; it is a matter of how much we bud. You may do a great deal, but there is no blossoming. Instead of budding, you die; instead of blossoming, you kill others; and instead of bearing fruit, you deaden everyone who contacts you. This proves that you do not have the authority. However, if you have the budding rod and a dead one contacts you, he will be revived and become living. This proves that you have the authority. The authority is not in our capability or skill. The real vindication is in our budding, not in our doing. Doing means nothing, but budding means everything. In our church life and in the church service, we all must bud, blossom, and yield almonds. This is our need today.
Now we come to a very crucial point—the way to have the budding rod. The budding rod follows the hidden manna. This means that if we enjoy the hidden manna, we shall bud, for the issue of enjoying the hidden manna is the budding rod. How much you will bud with life depends on how much you eat of the hidden manna. We all need to exercise our spirit to contact the hidden Christ and to enjoy the topmost portion of the Christ hidden in the divine nature. The more we enjoy the hidden Christ as the highest portion in the divine nature, the more our rod will bud. There is no need for you to compete for any position, nor to care for anything. Simply enjoy the hidden manna which will nourish you and cause you to bud. As long as you are budding, you are the authority. If you bud, blossom, and yield almonds, others will know that you are the authority.
The authority among God’s people today is neither capability nor position; it is the budding, the blossoming, and the fruit-bearing. We need to forget our past concern with competition, position, and promotion and have a new start. Among us in the Lord’s recovery, we should not be concerned about position. We should only care for the enjoyment of the top portion of the hidden Christ, that we might be able to bud even during the dark night. Although the night is dark, we are budding, blossoming, and yielding almonds to nourish others. The one who buds, blossoms, and yields almonds is surely the authority among God’s people.
In the book of Hebrews, we see that we must experience Christ at the altar, at the laver, at the showbread table, at the lampstand, at the incense altar, and at the ark in the Holy of Holies. Here in the Holy of Holies we enjoy Christ in God’s presence. This enjoyment causes us to bud, not with our ability but with the resurrected life. In this way, God can exercise His authority for the building up of His people. I have the full assurance that this is exactly what God is doing among us. He is causing us all to realize the judgment of the natural element and to participate in the resurrected life that we may bud, blossom, and yield almonds.