I was just sitting with my wife, doing the washing, and the thought came to me: “Oh, it is going to be recorded.”
But I was just thinking how good it is to be occupied with Him. Our life calling, our life vocation, tends simply to be occupied with Him, because He is the centre of our purpose.
When Jerry called me—I think it was Monday—he said, “Now, since you are going to come down here, how about you stay with us on the Lord’s Day?” I was very unsure. I said, “Well, I’ll call you back. I just feel I’m not worthy.”
Surely, he said, “If you’re not worthy, who is worthy then?”
“Well, I’ll pray about it.” Tuesday evening happened to be our monthly prayer time, so I asked the saints to pray for me.
I had just finished reading a book by Christina Tsai. Some of you may have heard of her. The first book was called The Song of a Darkened Room. A tiny sister who had been crippled for most of her life, and those who lived with her were also crippled old ladies; yet they had a worldwide impact, ministering the gospel and the life of the Lord Jesus to people from all over the world.
One of their mottos was restful availability: never get excited. As long as God brings the opportunity your way, serve Him in joy. If not, your weakness is your strength. Even though you have nothing, He is your everything.
I said, “All right, Lord, I have no choice.”
Then I was reading Watchman Nee’s The Spiritual Man. Now, if you have read that book, that is a heavy book—on this matter of spirit, soul, and body. I was reading the conclusion to that chapter. He was saying that the flesh needs to be crucified; the natural man needs to be crucified. But he said, “Do you know a preacher initially also needs to be crucified? And our lips also need to be crucified?”
If the lips are to be available for the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit gives revelation, and the Holy Spirit at the same time gives the utterance. We must be completely at the disposal of the Holy Spirit.
Those who have served the Lord know that the more we know Him, the more we realize how unfit we are. The more we come to know Him, the more we realize how little we know Him.
So I am standing here with great trembling, because what can I say apart from what the Holy Spirit has given to me?
From time to time, I call and ask how the saints in Richmond are doing. What comes back to me is that many of the brothers, and most of those responsible here in Richmond, are gifted and seasoned speakers.
I am sure that we in this group, and those who know him, value his judgment, do we not? So I come with great hesitation, by God’s grace, because what I have to say is not only for you. I am really speaking to myself.
It is a lesson that we in Glasgow have been learning during these last few months: the matter of neglect.
The people of the world have neglected their Creator. They did not acknowledge Him. And we, as God’s people, often have neglected one another.
I know for myself, I cannot do without the Lord. He is my very life. He is my everything. But at the same time, I need brothers and sisters. I need you. If I need God, I need you.
For the last few years, my family and I have had a sense that whenever there is a gathering of God’s people, we want to be there. I believe that whenever God gathers His people, He has a specific reason and purpose, because He wants to speak something to His company. I want to be there to hear what He wants to say to us.
Unless He places me somewhere else, I will be there. I am very thankful that, since the early 1960s, I have been attending many of these conferences. I have learned how valuable they are. Those corporate gatherings provide ground for the Holy Spirit to work.
Before we say what is on my heart, perhaps the best thing is just to look to the Lord. Shall we look to the Lord?
Lord, we acknowledge You are everything to us. We take You as our wisdom. We take You as our utterance.
We recognize in our hearts that, apart from a fresh work of the Holy Spirit, we have no way of knowing You. So we cast ourselves this morning together upon Your mercy.
Lord, speak to us. Remove all the obstacles, all the hindrances. We want to be transparent before You. But also, do speak. We are here to hear what You have to say to us.
In Your precious name, amen.
A brother recently came back from a trip to China. We were talking the other night, and he shared some very moving things.
On our way back, we stopped in Hong Kong. There were many brothers and sisters worshipping in tears. The saints there have problems in that country. We hold our gatherings very lightly, but those brothers and sisters can risk their lives to come together.
I was really moved. There were worship, rejoicing, and tears. There was a joy that they were allowed the privilege to get together as saints and to worship as the Body.
Let me tell you a story about how they value the Word of God. One sister went to the market to shop. She bought something very small, and it was wrapped in a piece of paper. She took it home and, after unwrapping what she had bought, discovered that the paper was a page from the Bible.
She was thrilled. Immediately, she called all the brothers and sisters she knew, encouraging each one to go to that shop and buy something so that each of them might have a page of that chapter. Then they could share it with one another.
When I heard that kind of story, it put me to shame. It shows how we have neglected the Word of God and how we have neglected the gathering of His people.
This morning, that seems to be the burden the Lord has laid on my heart. In Glasgow, we sense that we have a heart for the Lord, and yet somehow we are neglecting Him. There is a contradiction. We say we want the Lord. We say we desire and seek Him, and yet in our actions we come short.
Let us look at a thought in the Old Testament. Please turn to Nehemiah, chapter 9.
We will begin with Nehemiah 9:32.
Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, Who keepest covenant and lovingkindness, let not all the travail seem little before Thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all Thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.
Howbeit Thou art just in all that is come upon us; for Thou hast dealt truly, but we have done wickedly;
neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept Thy law, nor hearkened unto Thy commandments and Thy testimonies, wherewith Thou didst testify against them.
For they have not served Thee in their kingdom, and in Thy great goodness that Thou gavest them, and in the large and rich land which Thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.
Behold, we are servants this day, and as for the land that Thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it.
And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom Thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have power over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.
And yet for all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, seal unto it.
Then, in Nehemiah 10, we will go on to verse 28.
And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinim, and all they that had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one that had knowledge and understanding;
they clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes;
and that we would not give our daughters unto the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons;
and if the peoples of the land bring wares or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy of them on the sabbath, or on a holy day: and that we would forego the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt.
Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God.
Please notice that phrase: “We made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves.” They placed themselves under obligation. And the purpose was “for the service of the house of our God”—not merely the God of their fathers, but our God.
If you read the previous books of Kings and Chronicles, many times there is reference to the God of their fathers. But in this case, He is our God. They placed themselves under obligation to serve their God. How we need to place ourselves under obligation to serve our God.
Continuing in Nehemiah 10:33:
For the showbread, and for the continual meal-offering, and for the continual burnt-offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin-offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.
Then the passage concludes:
And we cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers’ houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law;
and to bring the first-fruits of our ground, and the first-fruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, unto the house of the Lord;
also the first-born of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, unto the priests that minister in the house of our God;
and that we should bring the first-fruits of our dough, and our heave-offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, the new wine and the oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites; for they, the Levites, take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.
And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure-house.
For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the heave-offering of the grain, of the new wine, and of the oil, unto the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the porters, and the singers: and we will not forsake the house of our God.
Let us turn to one passage in the New Testament: Romans 1:14.
I am debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also that are in Rome.
Then 1 Corinthians 9:16:
For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; for woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.
The word there is compulsion. I looked in the dictionary: something is pressing behind you. Of course, when you come to the Word, you put into that divine energy, divine power, divine force, because the Holy Spirit is the power of God at work.
Paul had that compulsion, that energy, which was not in himself but was from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if I do not preach, I am in trouble.
Then, further down in 1 Corinthians 9:19:
For though I was free from all men, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more.
Though Paul was free from all men, he made himself a slave to all. He placed himself under obligation.
Consider the life of the Lord Jesus. He placed Himself under obligation to do the will of His Father. The very fact of the incarnation speaks of this obligation: to come to this earth, to do and to fulfil the will of God.
In Philippians, Paul says that He emptied Himself. It was not that the Father emptied Him; He emptied Himself. He humbled Himself. He took the form of a servant. He placed Himself under obligation.
Brothers and sisters, we all know that God desires a house. We all know that God is building a house. We all know that God is longing for a place where He can dwell with His people.
Thank God for those hearts that are responding to His heart. It is a joy to my heart to go to many gatherings and see those who are responding, those who are touched by the love of God and are willing to place themselves under obligation to do His will and to please Him.
I do not want to put you brothers and sisters in Richmond into any embarrassment, but this is true. Every time I come down to Richmond and fellowship with some of the brothers and sisters, I go back to Glasgow encouraged.
The Lord seems to be moving on steadily in the things below. You seem to be gaining ground for the Lord, or the Lord is gaining ground in you.
Every time I go back, I have to share with my brothers and sisters. I say, “When I go to Richmond, brothers and sisters, you change.” I have known the local churches for many years, and I have gone to more conferences than most of you have. Every time I come to Richmond, I go back with this thought: thank God for what He is doing.
They are an encouragement to us. They are also bringing forth a testimony in unity. Brothers and sisters, we need that. We need God, and we need brothers and sisters. We need fellowship that will encourage us along the positive track.
But on the other side, we need them to come alongside, because the Holy Spirit cannot operate on the ground of division and independence. That is the thing.
It is dangerous for us. We may have received some revelation. We may have doctrinal knowledge. We think we have it. We think we have come to something.
I mean, there are brothers in our area who think they are already at the end. They have seen the purpose. They have seen the end. Yet, because they thought they had seen the end, in some sense they had not begun their first step.
And there are those who want to go on, but because of the fear of the flesh, they cannot move even that question. Brothers and sisters, we need God’s mercy.
The conclusion I have come to—perhaps I am wrong—is that no matter where we find ourselves, it is for our spiritual education.
If we are working in an office, teaching in school, or being a housewife in the kitchen, we are there to receive spiritual education. In other words, we are placing ourselves under obligation to learn.
That is discipleship. The disciple is the one who willingly places himself under obligation to learn from the Master.
God honours our free will. Salvation is a free gift. We cannot earn it; He gave it to us. Everything is of grace. Yet, for His purpose, He needs our cooperation.
The problem is that we understand. We have understanding in our heads, but we are not willing to cooperate.
The Lord has a place in His heart for all. Do you know that?
Sometimes, as fallen men, we say that God is misunderstood. We feel as though He has no heart for us. “If He has a heart for me, why do I have to go through this? Why do I have to go through that?”
But do you know that you and I, sitting here this morning—and every human creature on this earth—have a place in God’s heart?
The question is not whether He has a place for us. He has room for the whole creation. He loves the whole creation. In fact, the whole creation will be restored, because He is love.
But somehow, though we have found Him with this tremendous love, we have very little place for Him. We are not willing to place ourselves under His loving obligation. Brothers and sisters, this is a struggle, a battle between the soul and the spirit.
A group of brothers visited Christina Tsai, the Chinese lady who lived in Lancaster. She was over ninety years old, and yet she was still ministering. They came back with this impression: “It may happen today.”
What may happen today? He is coming. His coming may be today.
There is urgency in time. The flesh always says, “There is more time. There is tomorrow.” But the Spirit says, “Now.” It is today.
Our problem as human beings is that we look back. We do not look at the present fact that God is the great I AM. God is now to us.
If you and I are really honest with ourselves, and we look back, what do we see? How we have failed the Lord.
But Scripture does not ask us merely to look back. Looking back will do us no good. Nor are we to look to the future of this world, because there is nothing in this world’s future to look to. Its destiny is destruction.
But Scripture says that we are to fix our eyes upon Jesus.
It is now, not tomorrow. The Holy Spirit is saying, “Now, now, now.” But the flesh often says, “There is time. There is time.” Yes, He is merciful. The reason God allows us to have tomorrow is because of His mercy. But mercy is not the end. Mercy and grace are unto something.
We live in a very critical time. If the Lord were to come, how would you and I stand before Him?
Throughout the Old Testament history, Solomon built the glorious temple, and the glory of the Lord came down and dwelt in the house so that the priests could not even enter to minister.
But how long did that last? It did not last long, because even in Solomon’s lifetime, that glorious house became something other than what God intended it to be.
In his lifetime, the house was already in decline. If you read through Kings, there were brief periods of restoration, and yet there was neglect again and again.
Jerusalem was destroyed. The gates and walls were all broken down. Thank God for those who were stirred by the Holy Spirit to return to Jerusalem, to restore, and to rebuild.
Brothers and sisters, to restore the house of God requires everyone in the nation to have an active part in ministering to the house. The house is the house of the whole nation. It is God’s dwelling in the midst of His people, and it speaks of all the people.
In every gathering, God is to have every one of us—those whom He has redeemed and called—respond to His love and take an active part in the ministry of the Body.
You know, the Lord said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” But our problem as human beings is that we often go to church to receive. We still have that mentality: “I will go this Sunday to hear someone speak. If so-and-so comes, then I will come.”
You see what I mean? We come to hear a person.
In the return from captivity, there were two groups of people. One group had come back from captivity with a definite burden. Another group had been there for other reasons and said, “We want to help you.”
We have to be very clear: why do we come together? What is our reason for coming?
If your reason for coming is to receive good teaching, or music that suits your taste, or because you like the atmosphere, or because your friends are there, that is our natural inclination.
But those who returned from captivity knew exactly what they wanted: they wanted to restore God’s testimony in the midst of His people.
Brothers and sisters, if we have some other reason for gathering together other than to give God His rightful place in the midst of His people, so that He can gain all that He desires for Himself, then we have neglected our calling. We have neglected the house.
God calls again and again. We must be those who, as in Nehemiah, place ourselves under obligation to serve the house of our God.
Notice again: our God, not the God of their fathers.
There is a principle here. We come because we want to serve Him. We come because it is going to please Him, because He is my God. He is not merely somebody else’s God.
In the Old Testament, we read of the God of Jacob and the God of Abraham. But God wants to be our God today. That is the whole point.
When that becomes a reality, there is relationship. There is a bond—an inseparable bond. Somehow, we are able to stand together. Somehow, our hearts are joined together through these things.
I do not know about you, but in Glasgow we often think some of the brothers are doing really well with us in spirit. But when crisis comes, what happens?
The house is not really the house among us. We think the house is somebody else’s house—perhaps the house of a particular brother. But it is my house; it is not merely his.
Brothers and sisters, we are together in this room. We have to bear one another. We have to share all this responsibility if we are to obtain what He wants.
Take the case of Paul. He placed himself under obligation. “Woe is me if I do not preach.”
Later, he says that he preaches willingly, that he may be rewarded by God. But he also says that even if he preaches reluctantly, he still preaches, because he is under obligation. He was entrusted by God with this stewardship.
Brothers and sisters, this building of the house of God will not come easily. If it were easy, it would not have taken two thousand years. It is extremely difficult.
God is looking for a quality in you and me, a quality that He can trust: that we are willing to cooperate. I think the quality He is looking for in these end times is those who are willing to place themselves under obligation.
We have to. That is the way of the cross. That is self-denial. That is laying down your life for the brethren: placing yourself under obligation.
A watchman is one who places himself under obligation to do his duty.
I just want to encourage myself and you that in these last days, God is looking for those who will place themselves under obligation.
The last verse we read is very clear:
And we will not forsake the house of our God.
Otherwise, the house of God will be neglected. If we do not place ourselves under obligation, the house of God will be neglected.
David was a king who had this desire all his life: to build God a house.
David wanted God to have that place, not only in his own life but in the nation. In a way, David’s life was very much related to the house. Therefore, God could say that he was a man after His own heart, because David wanted God to have a resting place. He knew what God wanted. He understood God’s heart.
David provided all the materials for the house.
Let me give you a little illustration. We all love the story of David and Goliath. I think there is a spiritual principle there. When David went to encounter Goliath, he picked five smooth stones from the brook.
Why five? Those who know something of biblical numbers recognize their significance. Five is a combination of two and three. Two in Scripture speaks of testimony: “At the mouth of two witnesses.” Three speaks of God. Thus, five speaks of the testimony of God.
Five also speaks of practical work, because we have five fingers on each hand, and we work with our hands. Hands speak of work.
If God’s work is to be done, He needs those who are willing to place themselves in His hands.
Therefore Paul, in Romans 12:1, says:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.
Place yourself in His hands. But the problem is that we are living sacrifices: we can walk away.
When we hear a very good message on dedication, consecration, and submission, we may quickly come forward under emotional pressure. But when we see the consequences and a high cost coming down, what do we do? We jump off the altar and walk away.
We are living sacrifices. We can easily walk to the altar and walk off it.
That is the Lord’s problem with us, because we are living stones. Either we can come, or we can stay home. The problem is that if you do not come, you will not grow up. You will not learn the lesson, and you will never learn how to serve.
God’s purpose is not merely individual spiritual life; it is corporate testimony. None of us can stand alone.
I think the five stones represent five things in placing ourselves under obligation. I will share those five points very quickly.
First, there must be faith. Without faith, there is no way we can see. If you and I are willing to place ourselves under obligation for His will, for His purpose, and for His glory, that placing of ourselves under obligation is an act of faith.
Without faith, you will never place yourself under this kind of obligation, because we are naturally selfish people. We do not naturally want to serve anyone else. In fact, we want the whole world to serve us.
To place yourself under obligation is an act of absolute faith, because He can do it, and He can do it through you. You cannot do it in yourself. Therefore, presenting yourself is necessary not because you can, but because you cannot. You place yourself before Him for Him to do it in you and through you.
It is an act of commitment.
The second thing is acknowledging His absolute lordship. There is no other way of actually experiencing the lordship of Jesus Christ except through submission.
Submission and the lordship of Jesus Christ go together. As long as you are not submitted to Him, He is not your Lord.
If you place yourself under obligation, that is your acknowledgement. It is your way of submitting yourself.
Those people who signed that document in Nehemiah declared that they would submit to the Word of God, because they acknowledged the Lordship of God’s Word.
The third thing is testimony to the world. When we place ourselves under obligation, we are declaring that we are no longer mingled with the world. The demarcation is clear.
Sometimes we say, “My testimony is weak.” Do you know why? Because we have not placed ourselves under obligation to the Lord. We say we want to be crucified; we are no longer obligated to the flesh or to the world. We are obligated to the Spirit.
If our testimony before people is weak, again it is because we have not placed ourselves under obligation to do His will—His will.
This is really a corporate confession before the world and before one another. Notice that many, many people signed that document.
If I want to place myself under obligation by myself, it is difficult—perhaps impossible. But if I have a partner, and we say, “Let us do it together,” it is much easier. Is that not so?
It is much easier, because we can bear one another. If one falls down, the other can lift him up. We can walk this pathway because we are joined to God. We are joined to God.
It is a corporate thing. It is our confession before one another that we need each other in this heavenly walk.
Finally, is there any other way of serving the Lord except in His house? Where does He dwell? In His house.
To place ourselves under obligation simply means that we recognize the only place we can serve is in His house.
Therefore, it is the house of our God. The house is not for me, not for a particular brother, not for a particular group, but the house of God.
In this country, people have beautiful houses, and they keep them up. There are always projects to do around the house. You want it to be nice so you can display it to your friends.
Some homes have a living room where the children are not allowed to play. When guests come, everything must be kept very clean, because it is a place of display. People take pride in it.
How much more should God take care of His house? God keeps His house. That house must fit and reflect His character.
We need to recognize that the only place we can serve Him is in His house. The question is: are we willing to be in His house at all costs?
Being under obligation is the working test of discipleship. The Lord is looking for those who will go with Him.
He will not force them. He will not coerce them. He simply presents to you what He wants and sees whether we will respond in love.
In God’s heart, He has a place for everyone, including the people who are outside the gospel. I am thankful that God has given you a burden for the lost. But we must not become occupied only with our own concerns.
We all have a place for Him. But the next question is: will we take that place? That place has to be maintained, and that place has to be enlarged. If we do not maintain it and do not enlarge it, that place will somehow shrink and shrink and shrink.
Some of us went up to New York City for a prayer retreat. We were reminded that the light in the kingdom needs to be maintained. From time to time, we have experienced how we fail to maintain the testimony that we have received.
I think the only way we can do it is that we must place ourselves under obligation: to maintain and to serve.
Thank God, He has a call. He has a vocation. We are very fortunate that somehow He calls you and me to cooperate with Him and to do it together with Him.
He can do it alone. He is Almighty. But He will not do it alone. He limits Himself in you and me. He says, “I can, but I will not do it alone. I want you.”
We are unworthy. No, but let us frankly acknowledge how worthy You are, great God. You do great and mighty things.
Lord, we pray that You would touch our hearts to respond, Lord, to say yes to You, and to be willing to cooperate with You.
Lord, take glory. Still get glory in and through us. Work in us, work through us, penetrate through our hearts, and take out all that is contrary to You.
Until You can completely capture us—our whole being, spirit, soul, and body—we give You praise.
To this end, for Your love, Your goodness, and mercy, lead and guard us together. We keep it in the name of Jesus. Amen.