Good evening.
We do praise and thank Thee that we are on holy ground. Lord, we do remove the shoes of our hearts and bow before Thee. Yes, speak; Thy servants hear. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
We do thank the Lord for giving us this time. We thank you, dear brothers and sisters, who come from different places to be with us.
I think probably a brief explanation is needed. When you received the notice, you found that it is a local conference. The reason is because we felt the need of such a time.
We welcome our brothers and sisters from other places to come and stand with us, to help us in seeking the Lord together.
By the grace of God, we have been meeting here for twenty years. And if history can teach us, we feel that twenty years is a critical moment—maybe twenty, maybe thirty, maybe a generation. But we find that oftentimes, during that period, it is a time for God’s people to return to the Lord and to reflect before Him.
Moses, in Psalm 90—a prayer of Moses—most likely looked back through the forty years of experience in the wilderness, and he reflected before God. He declared that God has been our dwelling place in all generations.
He prayed that God would teach us to count our days, that we may acquire a wise heart. And he asked God to return to them and to establish His works among us.
And brothers and sisters, this is how we feel. Twenty years ago—actually, it began more than twenty years ago—some of us, after waiting before the Lord, humbling ourselves earnestly, felt that the Lord wanted us to gather together as a testimony to His name.
It was not done in any hurry. After much prayer and waiting, we felt the calling of the Lord. We thought God was calling us together for His own sake.
And since then, we have been gathering for these twenty years. Now twenty years have passed. We begin to wonder whether we are faithful to what the Lord has called us; whether, in some way, unconsciously, we have departed; whether we are being distracted; whether our vision has become dimmer; or whether we have lost our vision.
We feel the need of coming apart, waiting upon Him, and letting His light shine upon us, that we may repent and that we may return.
We are glad that our brothers and sisters from different places have come to help us. In this way, we are together.
We are often asked, “Who are you?” And we believe we must give an answer. But we wonder: do we know that answer? Are we sure? Are we clear?
Knowing ourselves is very important—not only personally, but collectively. Self-knowledge is important to the knowledge of God, and vice versa. If we do not know ourselves, we are not able to know God. If we do not know God, we cannot know ourselves.
It is important for each one of us to know who we are. It is important for all of us to know who we are.
We cannot go by what people say we are. Turn to 1 Corinthians 4, verses 3 and 4.
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.
For I know nothing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but He that judgeth me is the Lord.
The Apostle Paul says, “It is a very small thing if I am examined by people.” People will either underestimate you or overestimate you. They will either praise you or curse you. You cannot go by what people say you are.
But can we go by what we say we are—what we think we are? Turn to Isaiah 50, verses 10 and 11.
Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about with firebrands, walk ye in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of My hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
If we kindle our own fire and encompass ourselves with the sparks that we have kindled—in other words, if we try to judge ourselves by our own light—what will be the result? The Lord says, “You will lie down in sorrow.”
Introspection never helps us. It either depresses us or elates us beyond measure. It is very dangerous to try to figure out ourselves, because our hearts are deceitful above all things, and incurable. Who knows them?
The only way to know ourselves is not by what people say, nor by what we ourselves think, but by what God says. Psalm 36:9:
For with Thee is the fountain of life:
In Thy light shall we see light.
So, dear brothers and sisters, the only way to know who we are is to place ourselves in the light of God. Let His Word examine us. It is only when we are in His light that we know who we are as He knows us. This is the only safe way to know ourselves.
You know, whenever there is a new move of the Spirit of God, it always raises many questions—not only in the world, but especially in the religious world.
Let us read the passage first: John 1, verses 19 through 23.
And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent unto him from Jerusalem priests and Levites to ask him, Who art thou?
And he confessed, and denied not; and he confessed, I am not the Christ.
And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elijah? And he saith, I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No.
They said therefore unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet.
After the children of Israel returned from Babylonian captivity, they rebuilt the temple. During that time, they gradually developed into a system of worship. Judaism began to take its proper form.
They had not only the law and all the temple services, but they had the interpretations of the law and the traditions of the fathers. It became Judaism—an “ism”—instead of a living faith.
A religious hierarchy was established, at the top of which was the Sanhedrin, composed of the high priests, the scribes, and the elders. The religious life of the Jewish people was under strict control—very legalistic, with little or no life.
But it was smooth and peaceful. For four hundred years there was no voice from heaven, and yet they went on very smoothly, very peacefully. It was a spiritual vacuum—little or no reality in it, though there was a form.
Then suddenly, a voice came out of the wilderness. God had spoken to His people. That voice electrified the whole nation. People flocked to the wilderness to hear the voice. It was powerful, but it disturbed the peace.
The Jews in Jerusalem represented the religious system of that time. They were the ecclesiastical authority. They could not allow this to go on without carefully examining it. It was a challenge to them.
So they sent emissaries—priests and Levites, professionals—to go and inquire and examine that unorthodox voice, speaking of John. They said, “Now, who are you? Who are you?”
During those days, people were expecting the Messiah. Therefore, some people thought, “Could this be the Messiah?” Luke 3:15 tells us this, though you need not turn to it.
So evidently they asked John, “Now, who are you? Are you the Messiah, the Christ?” John confessed and denied not. He confessed, “No, I am not the Christ.”
He was not in any way flattered by their question. He was not in any way deceived by his success. He knew who he was not. He came out very clearly and put an end to that kind of guessing: “I am not the Christ.” Thank God.
Then they said, “If you are not the Christ, are you Elijah?” Because the last word in the Old Testament, in Malachi 4, tells us that God would send Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord.
Certainly John came in the spirit and power of Elijah, but he knew he was not Elijah. Why? Because before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, thank God, there is the glorious and merciful day of grace.
If Elijah should come in that particular sense, that would be the people’s last chance before judgment. So John the Baptist said, “No, no. I am not Elijah.”
Then they went down the list and said, “Are you the prophet?” You remember that in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 Moses said that one day God would raise up a prophet among them like himself.
When God spoke at Sinai, the people were afraid. They were afraid of His voice and afraid of the fire. They said, “You, Moses, be our mediator, because we cannot stand.” So Moses said that one day God would raise up a prophet like him, and if they did not listen to Him, they would perish.
John said, “No, I am not the prophet.” Why? Because the prophet prophesied by Moses—the Mediator—is none other than Christ Himself. So he said, “I am not the prophet.”
The practical emissaries had gone through their list of theology. They had exhausted their systematic theology. So they began to say, “We have to give an answer to the ones who sent us. Now, you tell us who you are. We do not know.”
The religious authorities did not know. Now, is it not true that this thing happens again and again? They even did it to our Lord Himself.
You remember when our Lord went to Jerusalem, He cleansed the temple. He said, “You have made My Father’s house a house of merchandise.” Then the authorities came and said, “Show us a sign to prove that You can do such things.”
At the end of our Lord’s ministry, He had to cleanse the temple a second time. Again they came and said, “By what authority are You doing that?”
In the beginning, even the Pharisees wondered. Nicodemus came to our Lord Jesus at night and said, “We know You are a teacher from God. You are different.” They were willing to hear Him.
They followed Him everywhere He went. They examined Him very carefully, with a magnifying glass. Gradually they discovered that He did not fit their theology. He did not fit their tradition or their concept of the Messiah.
They were offended by Him. They became more and more hostile to Him. They wanted to get rid of Him, because if He lived, they would die—the system would die.
They thought they had gotten rid of Him. But lo and behold, on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down upon one hundred and twenty believers.
The Lord returned to heaven, but a body of Christ was born on earth. They began to testify and witness of the Lord. How powerful was their testimony: “The Lord is risen. He is alive. Therefore, we are here.”
The religious hierarchy thought that they had gotten rid of Christ and could now live peacefully. To their surprise, they were again challenged and disturbed.
So they took Peter and John and said, “In what power, and by what name, did you do this?” A lame man had been healed.
Peter and John knew who they were not. They said, “Do not look at us. It is not by our power. It is the name of the Lord Jesus that healed that man, because there is no other name on this earth but the name of Jesus that is given by which we shall be saved.”
The apostles were challenged and persecuted because they were unorthodox. Of course, this happened not only to Peter and John. As you read in the book of Acts, you find that it happened to Paul.
“Unorthodox! Preaching to the Gentiles! How dare you do that?” But the testimony of Paul was, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”
You know, in church history, you can go through two thousand years of church history and find that this thing has happened throughout church history. I cannot go with you through two thousand years—you would stay a thousand days here if we did that.
But in church history, you find this happening again and again. Whenever there is a new move of the Spirit of God, it always challenges the existing religious system. Those involved are questioned and examined: “Who are you? How dare you? In what name and authority are you doing that?”
Take, for instance, the Reformation in the sixteenth century. After Luther posted those ninety-five theses on the door of the cathedral, the whole Catholic system was disturbed and stirred up.
One day, Martin Luther was called before the emperor and all the secular and religious authorities. He was called to the Diet of Worms and ordered to retract his writings.
I will read to you a little of what he said at that time. When Luther was ordered to retract his writings, he responded with humility:
Yet I am but a mere man, and not God. I shall therefore defend myself as Christ did. If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil.
How much more should I, who am but dust and ashes, and who may so easily go astray, desire every man to state his objection to my doctrine?
For this reason, most serene Emperor, and you most illustrious princes, and all men of every degree, I conjure you by the mercy of God to prove from the writings of the prophets and apostles that I have erred.
As soon as I am convinced of this, I will retract every error and be the first to lay hold of my books and throw them into the fire.
What I have just said plainly shows, I hope, that I have carefully weighed and considered the dangers to which I expose myself. But far from being dismayed, I rejoice to see that the gospel is now, as in former times, a cause of trouble and dissension. This is the character and destiny of the Word of God.
Since your most serene Majesty and your highnesses require from me a clear, simple, and precise answer, I will give you one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the Pope or to the councils, because it is clear as day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other.
Unless, therefore, I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture and by the clearest reasoning, unless I am persuaded by the passages I have quoted, and unless they render my conscience bound by the Word of God, I cannot and I will not retract. For it is neither safe nor right for a Christian to speak against his conscience.
Then, looking around at the assembly before which he stood, and which held his life in its hands, he said:
Here I stand. I can do no other. May God help me. Amen.
Who are you?
“You do not seem to fit into the Catholic system. Neither do you fit into a Protestant system. You do not belong to mainline Christianity. What are you? Are you a heresy?”
“Well, you preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Are you a cult?” Well, if following the Lord alone is a cult, then we are a cult, because we do not follow men.
“Are you an occult, dealing with evil spirits?” No. We obey the Holy Spirit of God.
“Are you mystics?” Yes, we believe in union with God through Jesus Christ. But we are not contemplative, nor are we purely subjective. We believe in the Word of God. We are not mystics.
“Are you charismatics?” Yes, we believe in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, but we honor the Spirit Himself more than just gifts.
“Are you the Brethren?” Yes, we agree with them in many teachings and ways, but we do not belong to them. As a matter of fact, sometimes, somewhere, we were excommunicated.
“You are not this. You are not that. Who are you?”
Let me give you an illustration. When the Lord first raised up a new move in China in the 1920s, some brothers and sisters in China began to meet together.
It began with a few in Shanghai in 1927. The Lord gave them a vision, a burden, and a testimony. Gradually it began to grow. The Spirit of God moved in other parts of China, and people began to see the same thing.
It was so different from traditional Christianity that the question began to be asked, “Who are you?” The religious world in China tried to figure out who they were, but they could not.
Finally, they hit upon something. “You are not this; you are not that. Then who are you? Well, you have a hymnbook. It is called Hymns for the Little Flock. Ah, you are the little flock!”
That is how the name “little flock” came about. We never called ourselves the little flock. We dared not, because the little flock in Scripture is found in Luke 12:32. The Lord Jesus said:
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
In comparison with the world, the church is a little flock. So when we used the hymnbook and called it Hymns for the Little Flock, we meant hymns for the church—the whole church.
But then we were labeled “little flock.” When we heard that, we quickly erased “little flock” from the hymnbook. So our hymnbook became simply Hymns.
But unfortunately, “little flock” stuck, and it sticks. Even today, people think we are the little flock. We dare not say we are the little flock. That is too bold. It includes the whole church—all the people of God.
I wonder whether it is because, when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that tree came into us. So we have to know. We have to figure out. If we do not know, we feel unsafe and uncomfortable. We have to know who you are. That is the knowledge of good and evil.
So I hope people will not say that we are the little flock anymore. If people in China cannot be called the little flock, surely here you cannot call us the little flock.
They came to John and said, “Now, John, we have exhausted our systematic theology. We do not know who you are. Now tell us who you are.”
Thank God, John knew who he was not, and he knew who he was.
He said right away to them, “I am the voice in the wilderness, to prepare the way of the Lord,” as said Isaiah the prophet—Isaiah 40:3.
Brothers and sisters, John knew who he was by the Word of God, by the Scripture, by the revelation from above.
You know, when his father Zechariah was in the temple, burning incense at the golden altar of incense, he was there to pray the prayer of the nation: “O Messiah, come.”
The archangel Gabriel appeared to him and said, “You shall have a son. He shall be called John.” In Luke 1:17, we are told:
He shall go before His face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for Him.
Then when John was born, Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit, burst out in praises. In Luke 1:76, he said:
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High:
For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready His ways.
Evidently, Zechariah shared this revelation with his son John. John spent his growing years in the wilderness, alone with God. No doubt, during those days God spoke to him.
The Spirit of God spoke to him through the prophet Isaiah and said, “You are the voice in the wilderness, to prepare the way of the Lord, to make ready for Him a prepared people.”
Based upon the revelation of the Word of God, John said, “That is what I am. I am a voice in the wilderness.” But a voice for what? A voice.
How do we know ourselves? Who are you? Who are we? Brothers and sisters, our emphasis is not on who I am or who you are personally. Of course, this is important. We need to know who we are individually—not by what people say, not by what you think, but by what the Word says and what the Spirit of God reveals to you. That is what you are.
In the same manner, we believe that who we are corporately has to come from Scripture and has to be revealed by the Spirit of God. Otherwise, it will not be true.
The Scripture is our only justification and our only measurement. The revelation of the Holy Spirit through the Scripture is the only foundation on which we stand. Who are we?
In order to know who we are, dear brothers and sisters, we have to go back to the Word of God and, hopefully, receive revelation from above.
Turn to Ephesians 3, verses 10 and 11.
To the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God,
according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What are we ordained to be? Our God is a God of purpose. He never does anything by chance. No accident ever overtakes Him.
Even before the foundation of the world, in eternity past, He purposed a purpose in His Son. It is called the purpose of the ages.
That is to say, it was purposed before the foundation of the world in eternity past; it is perfected throughout the ages; and it is to be realized in eternity to come. It is an eternal purpose—an everlasting purpose—never changing and forever new.
With that purpose, God laid a plan. It is called the counsel of God. With that plan, He applied all His wisdom and might to bring that plan to pass, so that His purpose may be realized.
God’s purpose never changes. He may change His ways, but He never changes His purpose. God’s counsel never fails, and God’s power never weakens.
That purpose is called the mystery of God, the mystery of Christ. It is hidden in the heart of God, most precious to Him. And yet it is hidden.
He never told anyone plainly what His purpose was, though He dropped enough hints behind Him. He created the heavens and the earth and made them habitable. Then He created man.
He created man in His own image, according to His likeness. This is something He had never done before. The angels wondered, “Why did God create this creature in this manner? God has not created us this way. God has not created the whole creation this way. Why man?”
“Why did You create man in Your own image and after Your own likeness? What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? What is the son of man, that Thou dost regard him? Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and yet crowned him with glory and honor. Thou hast put all things under his feet and made him ruler over all that Thy hands have made. Why? Why man?”
The creation came under the curse. Did God give up His purpose? No.
From the garden of Eden, a lamb was slain. Man was clothed with skins. After the flood came the call of Abraham and the raising up of the nation of Israel.
Finally, in the fullness of time, God sent His Son—His only begotten Son—into this world, to be born of a woman, to be born under the law, to deliver people from the curse of the law, and to give them sonship.
Out of every nation, every tribe, every people, and every tongue, God began to gather a people. On the finished work of Christ, God began to raise up a people—a nation—for Himself.
Brothers and sisters, who are we, individually and corporately? Ephesians 2 tells us.
The first part of Ephesians 2, from verse 1 through verse 10, describes us individually. Individually, we were once dead in sins and transgressions, in which we once walked according to the age of this world—that is, according to the current of this world.
Outwardly, we followed the current of the world, trying to be fashionable and joining the crowd. But actually, we were pushed on by the evil forces of darkness in secret.
We also once had our manner of life in the lusts of our flesh, doing what the flesh and the thoughts willed to do, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. In other words, we lived by the lust of the flesh. We were children of wrath. That is what we were.
Far from what God had created us for—hopeless. But thank God.
But God, being rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us,
even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace have ye been saved—
and raised us up with Him, and made us to sit with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus:
that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Thank God, that is what we are today.
But that is individually. It does not end there. From verse 11 onward, it goes to the corporate aspect. We are not only saved individually by grace, quickened and receiving life, having the resurrection life of Christ in us and the ascension life, seated with Christ in the heavenlies. That is where we are today.
But more than that, He has brought all those whom He has saved, quickened, resurrected, ascended, and seated—He has gathered us all together into one new man.
That is the man to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. All earthly distinctions are gone.
The Jews and the Gentiles—that is the greatest gap in mankind, not only racially, but religiously and in every aspect. Yet God brought the Jews and the Gentiles together and made them one new man in Christ Jesus.
This is the man that God is after. This is the purpose of God that He purposed in Christ Jesus: a new man.
This is what we are called to be. This is what we are ordained and destined to be.
There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus.
Outside of Christ, there are Jews and Gentiles. But when Jews and Gentiles come into Christ, there is no Jew and no Gentile.
Outside of Christ, there is circumcision and uncircumcision. But when we come into Christ, there is no circumcision and no uncircumcision.
Outside of Christ, there are barbarians, and even worse than barbarians, Scythians—the barbarians of barbarians. But when you come to Christ, nobody is uncivilized anymore.
Outside of Christ, there are freemen and bondmen. But when the freeman and bondman come into Christ, we are brethren.
In Christ, there is no one and nothing but Christ—all and in all. That is the church. That is what we are all called to be. That is what is ordained for us.
Brothers and sisters, do you know what you are now? Are you what you are?
Let us listen to Peter. Turn to 1 Peter 2:9.
But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.
Now, brothers and sisters, who are you? Not what people say, not what you say, but what God says. Who are you? You are a chosen race.
The old Adamic race was finished on Calvary’s cross. It cannot be redeemed, repaired, improved, refined, or reformed. God said, “Finish it,” and it is finished.
Now you are a chosen race—a new race, a new beginning, a new life, a new origin, and a new destiny. You are chosen by God. A chosen race: that is what you are.
A kingly priesthood. You are not only given life to be a chosen race, but that life is given for service. You are a kingly priesthood. Everyone is a priest to serve God.
Why is it a kingly priesthood? Because you serve not out of duty; you serve out of love. That is kingly.
A holy nation. You are a nation—a nation above all nations, a nation under God. Christ is our King. We are under His kingship. He rules over us.
A holy nation, separated from all the nations of the world. That was what Israel was supposed to be, but they failed. Now the church is that holy nation.
A people for a possession. Whose possession? His possession. We are here for Him, not for ourselves. Oh, that He may possess us and find in us the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.
What are we going to do? To declare—to set forth—the excellencies of Him Who has called us out of darkness into His marvellous light.
Brothers and sisters, we were in utter darkness, but now He has called us into this wonderful light. Is it not our privilege to declare His excellencies? We are here to exalt Him and glorify Him. We are here to tell the world that He is everything to us.
This is what we are. This is what you are. Do you realize this?
Let us hear what Paul says concerning what we are. Go back to Ephesians 1, verses 22 and 23.
And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.
Dear brothers and sisters, we are called to be the body of Christ.
The Son of God came to this world to be a man. He took up a body in the likeness of sinful flesh—not sinful flesh, but the likeness of sinful flesh.
In that body, He did many things. He offered that body, a pure body, sinless and pure, to God as a sacrifice for our sins.
He was raised from the dead and ascended on high. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down.
Our glorious ascended Head, Christ, took up a corporate body on earth for Himself. In that body, He continues to do and to teach even to this day.
We are the body of Christ—the fullness of Him Who fills all in all. What a privilege.
The Head, Christ: all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily, and ye are complete in Him. The church becomes the fullness of Christ, as Christ is the fullness of God.
What a privilege that is. But what a responsibility. That body should manifest His character. That body should do His work. That body should teach His teaching. That body should glorify Him.
That is what we are: the body of Christ.
A new man—we have already mentioned this. All distinctions are gone. When you come to the church, there is neither white nor black, nor brown nor red.
When you come to the church, there is neither Chinese, American, Irish, nor Jewish. When you come to the church, there are neither Ph.D.s nor illiterate people, neither employers nor employees.
When you come to the church, all are one in Christ—one new man.
You are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are fellow citizens with the saints. We belong to the same country. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are fellow citizens.
This speaks of how we need to receive one another and fellowship one with another.
We are of the household of God. We belong to one family. God is our Father. Our Lord is our elder Brother. We are brothers and sisters.
We are the house of God, built together as a holy habitation of God. God is to dwell among His people. Think of that. That is what we are. We are God’s dwelling place. We are His home.
Are you home? Is God at home?
That is what Paul says. Let us hear what John says. In 1 John, we are told that we who believe in the Lord Jesus belong to one family.
In that family, there may be little children, saved in Christ. There will be young people, spiritually speaking. And there will be fathers, more mature in the Lord. But it is a family.
You cannot expect the church to be all white-haired people. That would be an old folks’ home. What a failure that would be.
You cannot expect the church to be all young people, like the Marines. You cannot expect the church to be like kindergarten, with all children crying here and crying there.
But thank God, you have little children, you have young people, and you have fathers. We are one family. The law of the family is love.
You know, the Apostle John is called the Apostle of Love. “Little children, love one another.”
Both in the Gospel of John and in the book of Revelation, John tells us that our Lord Jesus is the Lamb of God. Because He died for us, we are redeemed to be ready for Him as His bride.
One day the cry will come, “Behold, the Bridegroom!” Let us rise up and meet Him with a cry. This is what we are.
Brothers and sisters, not what people say. Let them say what they want. Do not be disturbed by them.
Not what we think we are. We are deceived if we so think. But, dear brothers and sisters, let us be before the Lord in His light, that His light may shine upon us, that we may see what we are ordained to be and what Christ has made us to be.
The Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:10, says:
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not found vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Dear brothers and sisters, we do not pretend to declare that we are all that we are ordained to be. Far from it.
We repent in dust and ashes. We repent because we are not what we should be. Our desire is to be what He wants us to be. That is our sincere desire.
If this is what the Lord has done for us, if this is what He has called us to be, how can we be other than that?
Anything less than that grieves the heart of our Lord. Anything less than that will not satisfy us. Brothers and sisters, God has shown us very clearly what He has purposed for us in Christ Jesus, and He has made it possible through Christ Jesus.
How can we be other than what He wants us to be?
We cannot, for the grace of God is sufficient. So, brothers and sisters, may we say, “We are what we are by the grace of God.” May we say that in humility, and may we say that with a repentant spirit, knowing that we have failed Him.
But thank God, He never changes His purpose. His counsel stands. His power is there. His grace is sufficient. May we look to Him and let His grace make us what we ought to be.
Shall we pray?
Dear heavenly Father, we do not understand why Thou didst purpose in Thy beloved Son such a purpose for man. We do not understand, but we know Thy Son has come and has accomplished what needs to be done.
O Father, we do not know why, of all people, Thou shouldst call us, Thou shouldst ordain us to be what Thou hast purposed for us.
Lord, we repent in dust and ashes. God knowest; Thou knowest. We are a testimony to Thee. We want to be what Thou hast called us to be—nothing less, no more.
O Lord, we look to Thy grace to bring us there, that we may declare Thy excellencies. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus and for Thy glory. Amen.