I am not talking about doctrine. By His mercy I am trying to impress you that all these dealings with sin, the world, and the self are vital to the church life. Whenever we are with the brothers, the self must be crossed out. The veil has to be torn down and broken. If it is not, there is no way for us to practice the priesthood. The priesthood, strictly speaking, is not in the outer court or the Holy Place, but in the Holy of Holies. It is only in the Holy of Holies that the priests can be saturated with the shekinah glory of the Lord. In the outer court the priests are enlightened by the sunshine. In the Holy Place they have the light from the lampstand. But in the Holy of Holies, there is no sunshine and no lampstand. There is no natural light or humanly manufactured light. There is only the Lord Himself as the shekinah glory, shining and saturating them with Himself. When they become the real priests in the priesthood, they have the real expression of Christ.
This expression is not just some kind of good behavior or good conduct. It comes from dealing with sin, the world, and the self. Then we are with the Lord in the Holy of Holies, where nothing as a veil or covering can keep us from being thoroughly saturated with Him. It is not that we are adjusted, corrected, or balanced by Him. Instead, we are saturated with Him. We must be so saturated with His shekinah glory that He will shine through us. Then His very expression will be upon us, and this expression of Christ is the genuine church life.
For more than twenty years I have been trying to find the best utterance to speak about the genuine church life. I believe that the best expression and definition of the church life is the priesthood. When the priests are full of Christ, then He becomes their garments, their outward expression, and on their garments are all the precious stones built up together as a body. The building up of the Body is in the expression of Christ, and the expression of Christ comes from the inner enjoyment of Christ.
When we have passed through all these dealings, we are spontaneously in the Holy of Holies, and we are at the mercy seat. We will obtain mercy and find grace. The mercy and grace are the hidden manna and the budding rod. The rich, hidden supply of the all-inclusive Christ and His resurrection power is the mercy and grace, and it is also the flow of the living water. In Hebrews the mercy and grace flow out of the throne of grace, and in Revelation the water of life flows out of the throne of the Lamb. The water of life in Revelation is the mercy and grace in Hebrews. These are the hidden manna and the budding rod, the unsearchable riches of Christ and His resurrection power.
Let us go back to the illustration of arguing. We have made it quite clear that the more we argue, the more we lose the mercy seat. That means that the flow within us is stopped, and we lose the mercy and the grace. In other words, we lose the bountiful, rich supply of Christ and His resurrection power. But suppose we learn the lesson of dealing with the self, and crossing out the flesh. Outwardly, we may suffer by not arguing, but inwardly, we are in the Holy of Holies. We are at the mercy seat, and the rich supply of Christ becomes our portion, with the resurrection power strengthening, sustaining, and uplifting us within. We are enjoying the budding rod and the bountiful riches of Christ. He is so sweet, so rich, so strengthening, so satisfying, and so refreshing. This is the mercy and grace.
However, many times when we pray we do not have the sense that we have the inner flow. Instead, we sense that the flow within us is stopped. There is some blockage within, because we are hindered by sins, the world, or the self. We may have done nothing wrong or worldly, but each has his “self.” The self is the problem. The self is the separating barrier. So we must learn the lesson of crossing out the self.
The first time I spent a few months with Brother Watchman Nee, he said to me concerning a certain matter: “In any case we must lose the case. We shouldn’t try to win the case, for if we do, the flow within will be stopped.”
Are we going to win the case or keep the flow within? Do not try to win the case with your dear wife. Do not try to win the case with your husband. We may win the case, but we will lose the inner flow. To win the case means to treasure the self. The self has to be crossed out. Do not hate others, but hate the self. Do not hate your husband or wife, but hate your self. Do not hate your brothers or sisters, but hate your self. Do not condemn others, but condemn your self. To say or read this is easy, but when the case or cases really come, it is not so easy. Then we will be exposed. Many times we are simply in the self, not in the Holy of Holies.
I have the sense that if only this one message were engraved into us, all the problems in the church would be gone. When the self is gone, we are not in the wilderness, but in the good land of Canaan. When the self is gone, we are in the heavenlies, and the real expression of Christ will be our genuine church life. The church is in the Holy of Holies under the mercy seat, enjoying the bountiful riches of Christ and His resurrection power. We must all keep ourselves in the Holy of Holies at the mercy seat, enjoying the hidden manna and the budding rod all the time. Then we will be so rich and powerful in the spirit.
Therefore, to be practical priests is to experience these three categories of dealings. There is no other way. We must have our sins dealt with at the altar by the blood, and our worldliness dealt with by the working and washing power of the Holy Spirit. Then we must have our self dealt with by the cross. Spontaneously, we will be in the Holy of Holies at the mercy seat enjoying Christ as the hidden manna and resurrection power. Here we receive mercy and grace which flow within us all the time as the water of life. Here we have the expression of Christ and the genuine church life. May the Lord be gracious to us that we all may be willing to be such priests.