The Testimony of the Church Life in Maturity (1)


	PSALM 133: The Testimony of the Church Life in Maturity (1) Our Maturity Results in a Glorious Oneness Psalm 133 is a psalm we all know very well because we often sing it as a hymn. However, we may not truly know this psalm as it was meant to be known. Psalm 133 was meant to be a display of maturity, not a display of emotion. But we often enjoy this psalm in a very emotional way. We sing, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" Then after singing it so joyfully in a meeting we may think that we are one. We need to realize that this is not an emotional psalm. Rather, it is a display of the maturity that results from all the previous experiences in the Psalms of Ascent. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity!" (v. 1). How is it possible for us to experience the oneness described in this verse? We can only be one by exercising our maturity as portrayed in Psalm 132, in which Christ becomes everything and we disappear. In other words, we can only have the genuine oneness when we lose our individuality. When we are no longer individuals, when we no longer have anything for our selves, then together we can become the Lord's habitation in which we dwell together in unity. This is to have the display of maturity. We have all tasted this oneness from time to time, but it seems we are never able to maintain it. Our experience of oneness is often inconsistent. However, we should not be discouraged and think that oneness is only theoretical. Oneness comes from our maturity in life. It is not theoretical, but it is something we must grow into. As the Lord continues to transform us and work Himself into us, and as we strive for the Lord to be the substance of the church life so that He can enter into His rest, then eventually the true oneness of the Lord's testimony will be produced among us. We will have what is spoken of in this psalm: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity!" Our Oneness Causes Us to Enjoy the Divine Anointing Psalm 133 continues, "It is like the fine oil upon the head that ran down upon the beard, upon Aaron's beard, that ran down upon the hem of his garments" (v.2). This fine oil that was poured upon Aaron's head was the anointing oil, as described in Exodus 30:22-33. According to this psalm, what should characterize our unity? Our unity should be accompanied by the enjoyment of the divine anointing. For us to be under the divine anointing means that we are filled and saturated with the living presence of Christ. Even though we may not have this consistently, we often have a foretaste of this in our meetings or in our fellowship with the saints. Sometimes we have the deep realization of the Lord's presence because the divine anointing has come in and saturated us. Then we become more than joyful. We think, "Oh, how rich! How marvelous!" We may even enter into a kind of ecstasy, to the point where we forget who we are. Such a deep sensation shows that we are under the divine anointing. For This Oneness We Need the Headship and Person of Christ The enjoyment and experience of the divine anointing comes from our oneness. According to this psalm, the anointing oil runs down upon the head. This means that we need the headship of Christ. The anointing oil comes down upon the head, and then runs down from the head to the body. In the Bible the head also refers to the person. When we have Christ's headship, we also have His person. The oneness described in this psalm can only be displayed in the church life if all of the saints are in submission to Christ's headship. Every saint must be under Christ's headship for true oneness to be realized. This oneness will cause us to enjoy the divine anointing. For this reason we need to remember that oneness is not merely an emotional experience. We tend to enjoy this psalm in an emotional way, but then we live our own life apart from the Lord's headship. This can never work to bring in the Lord's blessing. If we want such a reality of oneness, then we need the experiences from Psalm 132. Our house should be God's tabernacle. Eventually we lose "our house" and only His tabernacle remains. This means that we lose everything of ourselves. But when we experience the ark of testimony as the reality of God's habitation, then in such a condition we can testify, "Behold! Oh, behold! How pleasant it is! Look at all the dear saints! They are all just for Christ! They are under His headship! They don't express themselves! They only express the person of Christ!" It is when the saints are in such a condition that we can truly testify, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity!" When we are all living Christ, taking Him as our person and as our Head, then the church life becomes glorious. We enjoy oneness with the divine anointing. For This Oneness We Need the Maturity of Christ with His Priestly Serving Life The ointment that was poured upon Aaron's head ran down to his beard. In the Bible the beard signifies maturity, because a young man cannot grow a beard until he becomes mature. For the ointment to run down upon the beard signifies that we who are in oneness not only possess Christ's headship and person, but also His maturity. Furthermore, this is not just any beard, but "Aaron's beard." Aaron was the high priest. "Aaron's beard" represents the maturity of a priestly serving life. A mature priest is one who brings God to man and man to God. This should be our serving life. We must have the headship, the person, the maturity, and the serving life of Christ. Aaron's beard represents a mature exercise in the priestly serving life. When all of the saints are exercised in such a way the church life becomes a corporate serving life. In such a condition we have the oneness which brings in the divine anointing. What is described in these verses should become very practical for us. We often feel it is too much for us to serve in the church life, even for just one time a week. We especially look down upon the practical serving, such as cleaning the hall, setting up chairs, or mowing the lawn. If this is the case, then how can we have "Aaron's beard" among us? It often seems instead that we have "Jacob's beard," because we always murmur and complain. We complain that some saints do too much, while others do too little. But this is contrary to Psalm 133. We should desire to see a harmonious church life in maturity, with the divine ointment flowing down upon us, so that we can declare, "Behold! How good and how pleasant it is!" For this to happen we need to have Christ as our Head and as our person. We need to grow until Christ Himself is our maturity. This maturity will cause us to serve as a priest in the church life. When there are many saints among us who exercise in maturity, then the church life will become a priestly serving life. Suppose all of the saints were desirous to serve, whether by preaching the gospel and having home gatherings, or by cleaning the meeting hall and mowing the lawn. Then we would surely have "Aaron's beard" among us. This would allow us to experience the flow of the divine anointing. There would be no murmuring, complaining, withdrawing, or backsliding. All of the saints would exercise with the headship of Christ, the person of Christ, the maturity of Christ, and the priestly serving life of Christ. Then we would all declare, "Oh, how good and how pleasant it is!" We would enter into the rich enjoyment of oneness as described in this psalm. Our Oneness Produces a Marvelous Testimony of Christ Eventually the anointing oil ran down from Aaron's beard to the "hem of his garments." A person's garments signifies his outward expression, his testimony. For the ointment to reach the "hem of his garments" means that eventually there is a wonderful testimony produced from our oneness in the church life. The divine anointing reaches the very hem of our garments. The church life becomes a glorious display. On one hand it is a display of our maturity, but it is Christ Himself who is expressed. When people look at our oneness they see the marvelous testimony of Christ. In this One Testimony We Experience the Freshness of Christ's Resurrection Psalm 133 continues, "Like the dew of Hermon that came down upon the mountains of Zion" (v. 3a). Our oneness is like the "dew of Hermon." Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains, and Mount Hermon is the highest of them all. Mount Hermon in the Bible signifies the ascended Christ. We know that Christ went through death and resurrection, and now He is in ascension. In His ascension He is likened to "dew." Dew is produced after a cold, dark night. The Lord passed through the cold, dark night of death and entered into resurrection and ascension. In ascension the Lord now possesses the freshness of resurrection. The dew of Hermon is the ascended Christ with the freshness and fragrance of His resurrection. The dew of Hermon descended upon the mountains of Zion. Saints who are in the stage of maturity are all like mountains. But although there are many mountains there is only one Zion, which means that there is only one testimony. In this testimony we experience the descending dew, which is the freshness of the resurrected Christ. In the stage of maturity we eventually see nothing but resurrection in the church life. Every dear saint becomes a testimony of resurrection. We no longer see the flesh, the self-life, or the natural things; instead we only see the resurrected Christ. Based upon our oneness in maturity, the ascended Christ renders us the freshness of His resurrection for us to enjoy and experience. Praise the Lord for such a church life! The Lord Commands His Blessing upon the Church Life in Maturity Psalm 133 concludes, "For there Jehovah commanded the blessing: Life forever" (v. 3b). This verse is so sweet and so precious. When the church life enters into maturity the Lord commands His blessing. In His testimony there is life forever more. Just a glimpse of this will make our heart leap for joy! After reading Psalm 133 we should all pray, "Oh Lord, we don't want to be emotional about Your testimony. Grant us the reality of oneness under Your divine anointing! We want to exercise with maturity until we have the display of such a marvelous church life!" 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