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Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Witness Lee and Watchman Nee
The hidden manna was placed in a golden pot. Gold
signifies God’s divine nature. Thus, placing the hidden manna in the golden
pot signifies that the hidden Christ is concealed in the divine nature. The
open manna is for all the people of God, but the hidden manna is for those who
are intimate with the Lord, those who have forsaken the world and every
separation between them and God. They come into the very intimacy of God’s
presence and here in this divine intimacy they enjoy the hidden manna in God’s
divine nature. This is deep. It is not outward; it is absolutely inward. It is
so inward that those who eat of the hidden manna are actually in the divine
nature enjoying the hidden Christ.
How can we eat the hidden manna? This is something
absolutely outside of the world. While the worldly church is going down into
union with the world, we are coming up from Egypt to the wilderness, from the
wilderness to the good land, from the good land to the tabernacle, from the
outer court to the Holy Place, from the Holy Place to the Holy of Holies.
After we have entered into the Holy of Holies, we must still dive into the
ark, touch the golden pot, and enjoy Christ as the manna hidden there. The
more the church becomes worldly, the more we need to enter into the Holy of
Holies to eat the hidden manna. The manna is in the golden pot, the golden pot
is in the ark, and the ark is in the Holy of Holies. By this we can see how
inward it is. If we would enjoy it, we must abide in the deep intimacy of
God’s presence. We must be in His divine nature where there is nothing worldly
or distracting and where there is the intimate fellowship between us and God.
Here we enjoy Christ as the hidden manna. Some of us have had this experience
of the hidden Christ. We have said, “Lord, I don’t care for the world. I only
care for You, Lord, not for any human relationship or friendship. Lord, I am
willing to drop every tie. Lord, now I’m thoroughly free, and I love You from
the depths of my being. I love You without anything frustrating me.” When we
say this to the Lord, we are immediately in the golden pot, in the intimacy of
the divine nature, partaking of the hidden Christ. Oh, we must eat such a
Christ!
This promise of eating the hidden manna is also
prophecy. In the millennium some overcomers will have a special portion of
Christ for their enjoyment. That special portion is what is promised here as
the hidden manna. However, in principle, even today we can enjoy Christ in
such an intimate and hidden way. We enjoy Christ in a way in which those who
only enjoy the open manna cannot understand.
The Lord also promised the overcomer, saying, “I will
give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one
knows but he who receives it.” Enjoying Christ as the hidden manna produces
transformation. How can we say this? Because after referring to the hidden
manna, the Lord speaks of a white stone. A stone in the Bible signifies
material for God’s building. Man was not made with stone but with dust (Gen.
2:7). In a sense, man is just clay, and Romans 9 reveals that man is simply a
clay vessel. However, when the Lord first met Simon Peter, He immediately
changed his name from Simon to Cephas, which means “a stone” (John 1:42).
Recall Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28. When he awoke from that dream, he took the
stone which he had used for a pillow and called it the house of God. In 1
Corinthians 3 Paul indicates that precious stones are to be used for the
building of the church, and in Revelation 21 we see that precious stones are
materials in the New Jerusalem. As we put all these verses together, we see
that a stone signifies a transformed person. We cannot understand a verse like
2:17 by itself; we must consider it in the context of the whole Bible. The
Lord promises the overcomer to eat of the hidden manna and to give him a white
stone. This indicates that if we eat the hidden manna, we shall be transformed
into white stones.
In our natural being we are not stones, but clay.
Because we have received the divine life with its divine nature through
regeneration, we can be transformed into stones, even precious stones, by
enjoying Christ as our life supply (2 Cor. 3:18). By eating Jesus as the
hidden manna we shall be transformed into white stones for God’s building. If
we do not follow the worldly church, but enjoy the Lord in the proper church
life, we shall be transformed into stones for the building of God. These
stones will be justified and approved by the Lord, as indicated by the color
white, while the worldly church will be condemned and rejected by Him. In the
book of Revelation the color white denotes approval. When we are transformed
into a stone, we shall be approved by the Lord. This will make Him very happy.
The white stone is for God’s building. God’s building, the building of the
church, depends upon our transformation, and our transformation issues from
the enjoyment of Christ as our life supply.
The Lord said that “on the stone” would be “a new
name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.” A name designates a
person, and the new name here is the designation of a transformed person.
Every transformed believer as a “white stone” bears “a new name…which no one
knows but he who receives it.” Such a “new name” is the interpretation of the
experience of the one being transformed. Hence, only he himself knows the
meaning of that name. A certain brother may still be quite muddy.
Nevertheless, he loves the Lord, has forsaken the world, and has given up
every separation. Thus, the Lord would say to him, “I shall give you to eat of
the hidden manna.” The more this brother eats the hidden manna, the more he
will be transformed into a white stone. As this brother eats the Lord Jesus as
the hidden manna, he will have certain experiences and the Lord will write a
new name upon him. This new name is simply the new designation of what this
brother is. Since this new name is based upon what this brother is according
to his experiences, others cannot know what it is.
(Witness Lee, LS of Revelation,
141-154) |