We need to bring up still another point. In the record concerning Moses’ building of the tabernacle, the Bible mentions the dimensions of the various furnishings, but it does not tell us their weights. However, when God revealed the pattern of the temple to David, David not only saw the dimensions of the various furnishings, but he was also given their weights, such as the weights of the golden lampstands, the golden showbread tables, and the golden incense altar. The Bible gives a clear record of all these weights. In particular, there is a very good utterance in 1 Chronicles 28:15, which says, “By weight for each...according to the service of each kind....” In other words, the weight of each item was fitting for its service. The light in the Bible is progressive; it shines brighter and clearer as one proceeds through the Bible. The light concerning God’s building is surely more complete and more advanced with the temple than it is with the tabernacle, because the record of the temple mentions not only the dimensions but also the weights of the furnishings. This indicates that the basic principle in the building of the church is that everything must be balanced. What does the Bible mean when it says that the weights of the furnishings are fitting? This indicates that nothing in the church is too heavy or too light. In other words, nothing weighs either more or less than the measure of its usefulness. Suppose Solomon had built ten very large showbread tables and ten very small lampstands. If he had put all of them together in the temple, would they have been balanced? You would have had the sense that they were so unbalanced! God’s desire is to make all the vessels in the church very balanced, with the proper sizes and the fitting weights.
Perhaps some of you are still unclear about the meaning of being balanced. Let me give you a few illustrations. Suppose a certain brother has gained a little experience of fellowshipping with the Lord as signified by the golden incense altar in the temple. Because of this, he also helps others to pay attention to the matter of fellowshipping with the Lord. It is not at all wrong for him to do this. However, suppose one day a problem arises, and then this brother begins to go around telling the saints that all spiritual experiences are worthless except for fellowshipping with the Lord, which is valuable. Of all the spiritual experiences, he especially magnifies the matter of fellowshipping with the Lord. If he sees a brother studying the Bible, underlining verses and taking notes, he tells him, “Oh, these are all dead letters. This kind of reading is all in the mind. Just read a few verses, and that is enough. It is better to pray more and to fellowship with the Lord more! Only fellowshipping with the Lord is precious!” If he sees a brother coming to listen to messages on the Lord’s Day, Thursday, and Saturday, he admonishes him, saying, “You do not have to listen to so many messages. All that the messages can give you is knowledge, and we know that knowledge puffs up. It is better that you pray more and fellowship with the Lord more!” In this brother’s eyes, nothing is more important than having fellowship with the Lord. It is as if a large golden incense altar which fills up the entire temple has been built! Do not think that that I am joking. I have met this kind of brother before.
Let me give you another example. Suppose a brother has learned some lessons concerning reading the Scriptures. Consequently, he feels that nothing is as important as studying the Bible. When he sees the saints cleaning the chairs in the meeting hall, he tells them, “Oh, do not waste your precious time cleaning the chairs. You will never get into the New Jerusalem by cleaning the chairs. All these things will be burned. It is better to stay home and spend more time reading the Bible!” Such a one no longer has a fitting weight and has become unbalanced, because he considers the matter of reading the Bible to be too great and too important.
In another example, suppose a brother has learned some lessons about obeying the inward feeling and the anointing. This is very good; there is nothing wrong with this. However, even this matter can be overly magnified. I have facts and evidence to prove that there are some believers who have learned to touch their inner feeling daily, yet they made many mistakes which gave rise to problems in the church.
We must properly learn to obey the inner feeling, but we absolutely must not magnify this matter too much. We must keep everything in balance. In the temple there should be the golden lampstands, the showbread tables, the golden incense altar, the bronze altar, the lavers, and especially the Ark. The weights of all these items should be proper and fitting. In the church we should help the saints to pay attention to the experience of fellowshipping with the Lord and at the same time pay attention to spending time to study the Bible. Furthermore, we should help them not to neglect caring for the inner feeling and to obey the teaching of the anointing. However, we absolutely should not make any one of these matters too great or too important. Otherwise, we will definitely cause problems.
Some brothers and sisters are always lopsided when it comes to spiritual matters. They lean either too far toward one side or too far toward the other side. Therefore, we cannot serve independently in the church because we need the other members, our companions, to balance us. This is quite a difficult matter, because all human beings tend to be one-sided and independent. We humans are the most troublesome beings in the universe! Our Lord spent only six days to finish creating the heavens and the earth. As the Scripture says, “For He spoke, and it was; / He commanded, and it stood” (Psa. 33:9). However, in His work to build the church, because He has encountered troublesome people such as we, He still has not been able to finish His building after two thousand years.
Let me describe this matter by giving you a few more illustrations. For example, we always say that Christians should not be independent but in coordination. However, sometimes even our coordination may result in trouble. For instance, the brothers and sisters who have learned the matter of fellowship may seek out and gather together those who have also touched the matter of fellowship. Others who particularly care for the inner feeling may meet together solely for touching the inner feeling. Still others who like outward activities may go out together daily to distribute gospel tracts or stand at the entrance of the meeting hall to serve as ushers. There may be other brothers and sisters who are especially interested in studying the Bible, and they may come together daily to study the Scriptures. As a result, those in the church with the same interests come together and create small worlds for themselves. This is truly a case of “birds of a feather flocking together.” Ultimately, alienation arises in the church, and in more serious cases, the tragedy of division occurs.
We need to see that the weights of the various items in the temple are all proper and fitting. We have to learn to put ourselves to death. Perhaps you like to quietly study the Bible. Although you may not be involved with the ushering service, you can speak with a brother who enjoys ushering. You can ask him how he is doing in his ushering and then ask him how he has been doing in his Bible reading in recent days. In this way the two of you can have some fellowship in a very spontaneous manner, each one having his own weight and not trampling on the other. In this manner the church will gradually be built up.
Our Lord likes to put those who have different dispositions together in coordination. The quiet ones are matched with the active ones, and the quick ones are paired with the slow ones. We can see this kind of arrangement by the Lord in many couples. It is difficult to find a husband and wife who are exactly alike. I believe that the Lord does this to balance us who are often one-sided. It is so in the family, and it is even more so in the church. The utterance in the Bible is, “By weight for each...according to the service of each kind....” The weights are proper and fitting. When we see any of the brothers or sisters in the church doing something for the Lord, as long as he or she is not sinning or going to the extreme, we must not express our dissent, no matter how disagreeable his or her actions are to our taste. We should say, “Hallelujah, thank and praise the Lord!” Remember that the need of the church is multifaceted. Every vessel, great or small, has an indispensable function. The difficulty in the church today is that when someone sees a certain spiritual matter, he then rises up to oppose others, and when another person sees a different spiritual matter, he rises up to oppose the first one.
I heard that in Southeast Asia there is a locality where the brothers use the messages given on the platform every Lord’s Day to oppose each other. On one day one brother opposes another brother, and the next week the second brother opposes the first. For instance, on one Lord’s Day a brother speaks about everything being by faith. Then the next Lord’s Day another brother speaks about faith without works being dead. Then on the following Lord’s Day the first speaker says that a work without faith is a dead work. Thus, one speaks about faith, and the other speaks about work. Both speak against each other on the platform. This kind of speaking is altogether done in a spirit of tearing down, a spirit of divisiveness, which frustrates the church from being built.
If you have been dealt with and have learned some lessons, then when someone talks about everything being by faith, you will let him speak this. After a period of time, when you have the opportunity, you may give a message as a supplement, saying that we should have faith but that in addition we should have the fruit or the work which is of faith. When you speak in this way, you do not have a spirit of contradiction. Instead, your message matches his message. One message complements the other. If someone is speaking heresy or is in serious error, then it is another matter. Otherwise, you should do your best to go along with others and to perfect others.