Do not take this as a teaching! We must put all these instructions into practice. When we get up early in the morning, we must stay at the offering altar for some time, realizing that we are sinful. Do not think you are a saint. In a sense you are a saint, but in another sense you are so sinful. We all are sinful, and we will be until the day our bodies are transfigured. As long as we are still in this old nature, we are still sinful.
At the altar we confess so many items in which we are wrong: our attitudes, our motives, our intentions, our way of thinking, our way of making decisions, the way we love things, the way we hate things, etc. We are full of dirt, so we must confess to the Lord. But our confession must not be just in a general way. We must confess in a detailed way. Do not simply say, “Lord, You know that I am sinful.” No, we must sometimes itemize our sinfulness. Perhaps I am wrong with my wife in my attitude, in my words, and in my motive. We must confess all our shortcomings item by item, staying at the altar for some time. Then we apply the redeeming blood to cleanse us. If we will do this, we will have the deep inner sense that this redeeming Christ is our enjoyment. We will enjoy Him immediately after confessing and applying the blood.
From applying the blood we turn to feeding on Christ as the showbread table. There we feed on Christ to enjoy Him and to taste Him. We do not simply eat Him—we assimilate Him. This also takes some time. Five or ten minutes for morning watch is not sufficient. According to our experience, we need at least thirty minutes. And it is better to take an hour, if possible. It is just like eating breakfast. We cannot eat an adequate breakfast in two or three minutes. Even if we eat a hot dog for lunch, we need more than five minutes. We cannot eat a good meal in such a short time. We need a longer time, and the longer the better. We must stay at the showbread table to be nourished and filled so that we might be full of the life supply.
Then we will have the light which issues out of the life supply. The things of God will be so transparent and crystal clear to us. Spontaneously, we will know what to say in prayer. And whatever we say will be something of Christ as the fragrant and sweet incense that is so acceptable to God. At this time, we will have a deeper sense, not only of satisfaction, but also that we are accepted by God with the sweetness of the resurrected Christ.
In the ascending fragrance of this sweet incense, we will be one with God. I do not have the human words to tell you what kind of feeling this is, but when you experience it, you will sense how wonderful it is. You will have the sense that you simply do not know where you are—you cannot say whether you are in the heavenlies or on the earth. No human words can explain what a wonderful enjoyment there is when we experience the sweet incense.
The lampstand gives us the light by burning the oil, but there is a real problem with the burning of the oil. The lampstand needs the wick in order to burn the oil for the light. I am afraid that some of the younger ones do not know what a wick is. A wick is a bundle of loosely twisted, soft spun cotton used to draw up the oil of the lamp or the melted wax of a candle to be burnt.
The lampstand is one piece of pure gold. The showbread table is made of gold and wood, as is the incense altar. Even the ark is made of both gold and wood. In the past I thought the lampstand was only gold, and nothing else. But recently the Lord showed me that even the lampstand is not gold alone. If it were only gold, it would not burn and give us the light. The lampstand must have something of the plant life, so soft, thin, and fine to be the wick. Without the wick, how could the golden lampstand give the light? The gold needs something of the plant, the vegetable life, to give the light. The gold, the wick, plus the oil will give the light.
When I was young, we always used either oil lamps or candles. We always had a problem with the wick. When the wick is burned overmuch, it becomes charred. This charred, overburnt wick is called snuff. The snuff must be cut off from the remainder of the wick. Therefore, in Exodus 25, there are the snuffdishes with the snuffer. The priests pinch off snuff with the snuffer, and all the pinched snuff goes into the snuffdishes.
Sometimes we have an enjoyment of Christ as our life supply, and this enjoyment really brings us to the light. But still, it does not give light. This is because the wick has been burnt too much. It is overburnt, too old, and too charred. To dress the lamp means to snuff or to pinch off all the charred remains of the wick.
The lampstand is made entirely of gold. Gold signifies the divine nature, and the wick signifies the refined human nature. It is not only the human nature, but the refined human nature. When the refined human nature cooperates with the divine nature and the oil, there is the light. But sometimes the human nature becomes too old and overburnt. It does not work so well. It needs the snuffing, the cutting, and the pinching.
When we contact the Lord, to begin with, we must stay at the altar of offering to confess our failures and to apply the blood. This is good, for it will cause us to enjoy Christ and will bring us to the table to feed on Christ and receive nourishment. Then the life supply will bring us to the light. But many times when we are under the enlightening, we realize that something is too old. It does not need to be washed or cleansed, but to be snuffed, pinched, and cut off. Yesterday it was a good wick, but this morning it has become overburnt.
Three years ago certain brothers and sisters were fresh wicks. But today they have become charred, just like charcoal. Five weeks ago some of the sisters were so fresh, just like fresh, new wicks, but today they are charred. Now they are not proper wicks. They need to be pinched and cut. They do not need the blood; they need to get rid of all the snuff. Then they will be the fresh wicks to give the fresh light. Perhaps even yesterday I was so fresh, as a proper wick, to burn the oil and to give the light, but this morning I am overburnt. I have become a charred wick, too old to give the right light.
To cut off the snuff means to dress the lamp, and to supply the lamp with oil means to order it. In the morning, after the lamp has been burning for the night, the priests have to dress it. This means that they must cut off all the snuff to get rid of the charred part of the wick. Then in the evening they have to order the lamp by filling it with enough oil. If it is short of oil, it will go out.
Sometimes the wick is fresh, but the oil is short. So we not only need the dressing but also the ordering of the lamp. We not only need the snuffing, but also the supplying of oil. Since the oil signifies the Spirit, this means that we need more and more of the Spirit so that we might burn.
If we will bring all these things to the Lord, I believe the instructing Spirit will show us all our problems. We cannot do a quick job; there is no short cut. The Lord is available, no doubt, but we cannot be so fast. We must stay at the offering altar, then make a curve to the showbread table to enjoy the Lord as our food for a while. Then we must make another curve to the lamp. Sometimes we have to dress the lamp in order to get rid of all the charred part of the wick. And sometimes we must supply it with oil. Then it will give the proper, adequate light. It is then that we will know how to utter something to the Lord and be acceptable to God.
Our shortcomings, sins, and failures must be confessed, and the blood must be applied. The old, overburnt part of the wick must be pinched off. We must be a clean wick and we must take care of the shortage of oil. Then we will have the lamp with the proper wick and adequate oil. This will give the light under which we will know how to pray. In this way we will get into the presence of God.