GENERAL SUBJECT
THE RECOVERY OF THE CHURCH
Message Six
Jehovah's Commanded Blessing of Life on Brothers Who Dwell Together in Oneness
Scripture Reading: Psa. 133—134
I. The unique ground of Jerusalem, the place where the temple as God's dwelling place was built on Mount Zion, typifies the unique ground of God's choice, the ground of oneness—Deut. 12:5; 2 Chron. 6:5-6; Ezra 1:2-3:
A. In the ancient time all the Israelites came together three times a year at Jeru-salem; it was by this unique place of worship to God, Jerusalem, that the one-ness of His people was kept for generations—Deut. 12:5; 16:16.
B. In the New Testament the proper ground of oneness ordained by God is the unique ground of one church for one locality—Rev. 1:11:
1. The church is constituted of the universal God, but it exists on earth in many localities; in nature the church is universal in God, but in practice the church is local in a definite place, such as "the church of God which is in Corinth"—1 Cor. 1:2:
a. "The church of God" means that the church is not only possessed by God but has God as its nature and essence, which are divine, general, univer-sal, and eternal—v. 2a.
b. The church "which is in Corinth" refers to a church in a city, remaining in a definite locality and taking it as its standing, ground, and jurisdiction for its administration in business affairs, which is physical, particular, local, and temporal in time—v. 2b.
2. Without the universal aspect, the church is void of content; without the local aspect, it is impossible for the church to have any expression and practice; the record concerning the establishment of the church in its locality is con-sistent throughout the New Testament—Acts 8:1; 13:1; 14:23; Rom. 16:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 8:1; Gal. 1:2; Rev. 1:4, 11.
II. Psalm 133 is the praise of a saint, in his going up to Zion, concerning Jehovah's commanded blessing of life on brothers who dwell together in oneness; the blessing that is commanded whenever brothers are united under the anointing is a "life forever," a full, free, unceasing stream of life:
A. The brothers' dwelling together in oneness is likened to the inestimable good-ness of the precious ointment on the head of Aaron and to the incalculable pleasantness of the dew of Hermon on the mountains of Zion—vv. 1-3:
1. As a person typified by Aaron, the church as the one new man includes the Head with the Body as the corporate Christ, the corporate priesthood— Eph. 2:15; 1 Pet. 2:5.
2. As a place typified by Zion, the church is the dwelling place of God—Deut. 12:5-7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 26; Eph. 2:21-22; Rev. 21:3, 22.
B. The genuine oneness is constituted of the spreading ointment and the descend-ing dew for the gradual building up of Christ's Body in the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity:
1. Psalm 133 is equivalent to Ephesians 4; when we are in the Body and are diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit, we have the anointing of the Spirit (vv. 3-6); the anointing oil as the compound ointment is a type of the proc-essed Triune God, the all-inclusive compound Spirit (Exo. 30:23-25):
a. The compound Spirit is the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God with the divine attributes, the human virtues, Christ's death with its effectiveness, and Christ's resurrection with its power—Phil. 1:19.
b. We are in the oneness that is the processed Triune God anointed, or "painted," into our being—2 Cor. 1:21-22; 1 John 2:20, 27.
c. Day by day in the church life, all the ingredients of the divine and mysti-cal compound ointment are being wrought into us; through the applica-tion of these ingredients to our inward being, we are spontaneously in the oneness—Eph. 4:3-4.
d. The ground of oneness is simply the processed Triune God applied to our being; the anointing of the compound, all-inclusive life-giving Spirit is the element of our oneness—v. 4; cf. John 4:24:
1) If we actapart from theSpirit, whoisinour spirit, weare divisive and lose the oneness—Eph. 4:3; cf. 1 Cor. 1:10; 2:14-15; 3:1.
2) If we stay in the life-giving Spirit, we keep the oneness of the Spirit— cf. John 4:24; 1 Cor. 6:17.
e. The compound Spirit is not for those who are individualistic; He is in and for the Body and for the priestly service that builds up the Body— Psa. 133:2; Exo. 30:26-31; Phil. 1:19; Rom. 15:16; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9.
f. We receive the supply of the Spirit, the supply of the Body, by the inter-cession and fellowship of the members:
1) When we are dry and have no way to go on, we need other brothers and sisters to intercede for us before we can get through—Phil. 1:19; 1 Thes. 5:25; Job 42:8-10.
2) We cannot live without the supply of the Body; therefore, we must constantly avail ourselves of the fellowship of the Body—1 Thes. 3:8; 1 Cor. 10:16b; 1 John 1:3.
3) If a man wants to see light, he has to enter the church, the sanctuary— Psa. 73:16-17; Matt. 5:14; Rev. 1:20.
2. The dew of Hermon descending on the mountains of Zion signifies the de-scending, refreshing, watering, and saturating grace of life (1 Pet. 3:7), the Triune God as our life supply for our enjoyment (2 Cor. 13:14):
a. In typology Hermon signifies the heavens, the highest place in the uni-verse—cf.Eph.1:3;Matt. 17:1-2.
b. The mountains of Zion typify the local churches; there is one Zion, one church as one Body, but many mountains, many local churches—Rev. 1:11-12.
c. Grace is God in Christ as the Spirit experienced, received, enjoyed, and gained by us—John 1:16-17; 1 Cor. 15:10; Gal. 2:20; Rom. 5:2, 17, 21.
d. By remaining in the church life, we are preserved in the Lord's grace— Acts 4:33; 11:23.
e. By the grace we receive on the mountains of Zion, we can live a life that is impossible for people in the world to live—20:32; 2 Cor. 12:7-9.
f. The Christian living must be the living of grace, the experience of grace—v. 9; 2 Tim. 4:22:
1) We have faith and love through the Lord's superabounding grace— 1 Tim. 1:14.
2) By grace we receive the salvation in life through Christ's resurrection and ascension—Eph. 2:5-8.
3) We have obtained access into and stand in God's abounding grace— Rom. 5:2.
4) In this grace we can enjoy God's eternal comfort and good hope— 2 Thes. 2:16.
5) We can come forward with boldness to the throne of grace to find grace for timely help—Heb. 4:16.
6) We can receive God's abounding supply of grace—2 Cor. 9:8.
7) We can constantly enjoy God's multiplying grace—1 Pet. 1:2b; 2 Pet. 1:2; Rev. 22:21.
8) We can enjoy God's greater grace through humility—James 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5.
9) In our experience of the grace in God's economy, we enjoy the Lord's presence in our spirit—2 Tim. 4:22; cf. Luke 1:28, 30.
10) We need to live out Christ as God's righteousness by the grace of God—Gal. 2:20-21.
11) We need to experience the perfecting of the Lord's sufficient grace, Christ's overshadowing power, in our weakness—2 Cor. 12:9.
12) By grace we can overcome the usurpation of temporal and uncertain riches and become generous in ministering to the needy saints—8:1-2.
13) The God of all grace perfects, establishes, strengthens, and grounds us through our sufferings—1 Pet. 5:10.
14) We need to be good stewards of the varied grace of God—4:10; Eph. 3:2.
15) Our word should convey Christ as grace to others—4:29-30.
16) We need to experience Christ as grace to be a surpassing one and to labor abundantly for the Lord—1 Cor. 15:10.
17) We need to receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of right-eousness to reign in life—Rom. 5:17, 21.
g. Thegrace giventothe localchurches in thedarkage of thechurch's deg-radation is for the believers who seek to answer the Lord's calling to be His overcomers—Rev. 1:4.
h. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ dispensed to His believers through-out the New Testament age consummates in the New Jerusalem as the consummation of God's good pleasure in joining and mingling Himself with man for His enlargement and eternal expression—22:21.
3. In the church life we are daily anointed and graced; the anointing of the Spirit and the supply of grace make it possible for us to live in oneness— Eph. 1:13, 6.
4. The more we experience Christ as the life-giving Spirit, the more our natu-ral constitution and disposition are reduced; as they are reduced through our experience of the Triune God with His divine attributes, we are per-fected into one—John 17:23; Eph. 4:1-3.
III. As the conclusion to Psalm 133 and as the last of the Songs of Ascents, Psalm 134 is the praise of a saint, in his going up to Zion, concerning the charge and the blessing of the children of Israel to the serving priests in the house of God:
A. This psalm indicates that the highest people, those who are in Zion, can bless everyone and teach everyone—vv. 1-2; cf. Gen. 47:10; 48:20; 49:28.
B. The blessing comes from Zion, from the highest peak, from the ones who have attained to the top, to the position of the overcomers; in every age and century God's blessing has come to the church because of the overcomers—Psa. 134:3; cf.Rev.2:7.