We do thank the Lord for gathering us together at this time.
As I waited upon the Lord, I felt that the Lord had given me a burden on this matter of unto fullness.
God willing, I will have four sessions. The first session will be on the call to fullness; the second, on the vision of fullness; the third, on the way to fullness; and the last, on some practical applications of fullness.
So this evening, we would like to consider together before the Lord this matter of the call to fullness.
Will you please turn to Colossians, the letter to the Colossians, chapter 1? We will read from verses 9 through 13.
For this cause we also, from the day we heard it,
do not cease to pray and make request for you,
that ye may be filled with the knowledge of His will
in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing,
bearing fruit in every good work,
and increasing in the knowledge of God;
strengthened with all power, according to the might of His glory,
unto all patience and longsuffering with joy;
giving thanks unto the Father,
Who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;
Who delivered us out of the power of darkness,
and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
And again, Ephesians, chapter 3. The letter to the Ephesians, chapter 3. We begin with verse 14.
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father,
from Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
that ye may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man;
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be strong to apprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,
that ye may be filled unto all the fullness of God.Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us,
unto Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
unto all generations for ever and ever. Amen.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee that we have access to Thee through the precious blood of our Lord Jesus, and through the new and living way that He has opened for us. We do praise and thank Thee, knowing that He is our High Priest, interceding for us.
So, Father, we just come this evening into Thy presence with holy boldness, knowing that we are able to see Thee face to face, that we may be transformed from glory to glory by the Lord, the Spirit.
So, our Father, we commit this time into Thy hands and trust Thy Holy Spirit to open Thy Word to our hearts, that Thy Word may become life and spirit to us, to the praise of Thy glory. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
In the two portions of Scripture that we have just read, you find words such as filled, fullness, all, and every. Whenever you see these words, immediately you get the impression that all these words really speak of one thing, and that is fullness.
If you read these two letters—the letter to the Colossians and the letter to the Ephesians—you will find these words spread throughout both letters. Added to these, you find words that suggest completeness and perfection.
All these words impress upon us one thing: this matter of fullness.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, our God is a God of fullness. Our God is full. His purpose is full. His way is full. His work is full. Everything that is related to God is full.
We can say that fullness is the trademark of our God. You cannot think of God without thinking of His being full—full in every way. Our God is a God of fullness.
But, you know, we human beings are very limited. We have fallen, and we are finite. God is infinite, but we are finite. Because of this, it is very difficult for us really to comprehend the fullness of God.
In other words, how often we limit our God. We circumscribe Him. It is not because He is not full; it is because we are so limited. We are also restricted.
So we really need God to enlarge our capacity. We really need God to reveal Himself to us in such a way that we may be delivered from our smallness. Then we may be able to understand the greatness and the fullness of our God.
Let me illustrate it. I think we are all familiar with the story of Jacob.
If you turn to Genesis 28, you will find that Jacob, as he fled from his home, wandered in the wilderness. Night came, and there you find Jacob. He took a stone, made that stone his pillow, and fell asleep.
Now, I often wonder, how can you sleep with a stone as your pillow? But I think probably, if you are really tired, you will be able to go to sleep even with a stone as your pillow.
But when he was asleep, he dreamed a dream. In other words, God revealed Himself to him in a dream.
And behold, a ladder set up on the earth,
and the top of it reached to heaven;
and behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
And behold, the Lord stood above it, and said,
I am the Lord, the God of Abraham thy father,
and the God of Isaac:
the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth,
and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east,
and to the north, and to the south:
and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And behold, I am with thee,
and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest,
and will bring thee again into this land;
for I will not leave thee,
until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
There God spoke to him. God gave him great promises.
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said:
Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.
How dreadful is this place!
This is none other than the house of God,
and this is the gate of heaven.
Now, probably we would say, “How blessed, how beautiful, how sweet, that this is the gate of heaven and the house of God.” But if we are not really ready for it, you will find that this is very dreadful when you see the gate of heaven and the house of God.
Jacob rose early in the morning, took the stone that he had made his pillow, set it up for a pillar, poured oil upon the top of it, and called the name of that place Bethel.
Then Jacob vowed a vow. Now listen to this:
If God will be with me,
and will keep me in this way that I go,
and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
so that I come again to my father’s house in peace,
then shall the Lord be my God,
and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar,
shall be God’s house:
and of all that Thou shalt give me
I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.
Now, brothers and sisters, if you compare what God had promised Jacob with Jacob’s response in his vow, you can see a great difference there.
God gave him great promises. God said, “I am the God of your father. I am with you. The place where you lie will be given to you and to your seed. Look to the east and west, north and south, and all this will be yours. All the families of the nations will be blessed through you and your seed. I will be with you wherever you go, and I will bring you back.”
These were God’s great promises. But Jacob was such a small man. He could only accept a little bit of what God had promised.
All he asked was that God would protect him, give him bread to eat and a garment to put on, and lead him safely back home. That was all he could accept of God.
Not only that, but you find that he even did this in a bargaining spirit: “If God will do this for me, then I will make God my God, and this stone that I have made a pillar shall be the house of God. I will give one tenth of whatever He gives me.”
Now, brothers and sisters, here you see that our God is such a great God. He is so full, and His promises are so great. Yet here is a man who was not able to grasp the greatness and fullness of God’s promises. He could only take a little bit, and even with that little bit, he was bargaining, without faith.
That is how we can limit God.
Let us use another illustration: David.
You know, God took David out of the pasture and made him king over all Israel. Then, in 2 Samuel 7, David the king dwelt in his house, and God gave him rest round about from all his enemies.
Then the king said to Nathan the prophet:
See now, I dwell in a house of cedar,
but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.
David loved God. He dwelt in a house of cedar, but at that time the ark of God was still in a tent that they had set up for God. So David had a desire to build God a permanent house.
Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in thy heart; for the Lord is with thee.” Because the Lord was with David, Nathan thought that whatever David desired to do, the Lord was in it.
But then the Word of God came through Nathan to David:
Thus saith the Lord,
Shalt thou build Me a house for Me to dwell in?
For I have not dwelt in a house
since the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt,
even to this day,
but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.
In all places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel,
spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel,
whom I commanded to feed My people Israel, saying,
Why have ye not built Me a house of cedar?
In other words, God’s heart was deeply touched by the desire of David. David desired to build God a house. God had not asked for it. God said, “I never asked anyone for it.” But David wanted to build a house for Him, and that was actually what God wanted.
God’s heart was deeply touched. Then the Lord said:
I took thee from the pasture,
from following the sheep,
to be prince over My people, over Israel;
and I have been with thee whithersoever thou wentest,
and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight,
and have made thee a great name,
like unto the name of the great ones that are in the earth.
And I will appoint a place for My people Israel,
and will plant them,
that they may dwell in a place of their own,
and be moved no more.
Moreover the Lord telleth thee
that the Lord will make thee a house.
Then He said that it would be David’s son who would build a house for His name, and that He would establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
I will be his father, and he shall be My son.
And thy house and thy kingdom
shall be made sure for ever before thee:
thy throne shall be established for ever.
According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
David, God’s heart was so touched that God said to him, “I will establish your kingdom and your family forever. My mercy shall not depart from you. Your throne shall be established forever.” God gave him great promises.
Now, how did David respond?
Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house,
that Thou hast brought me thus far?
And this was yet a small thing in Thine eyes, O Lord God;
but Thou hast spoken also of Thy servant’s house
for a great while to come.
And is this the manner of man, O Lord God?Wherefore Thou art great, O Lord God:
for there is none like Thee,
neither is there any God besides Thee,
according to all that we have heard with our ears.And now, O Lord God,
the word that Thou hast spoken concerning Thy servant,
and concerning his house, establish it for ever,
and do as Thou hast spoken.
And let Thy name be magnified for ever, saying,
The Lord of hosts is God over Israel;
and let the house of Thy servant David be established before Thee.For Thou, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
hast revealed to Thy servant, saying,
I will build thee a house:
therefore hath Thy servant found in his heart
to pray this prayer unto Thee.And now, O Lord God, Thou art God,
and Thy words are truth,
and Thou hast promised this good thing unto Thy servant:
now therefore let it please Thee to bless the house of Thy servant,
that it may continue for ever before Thee;
for Thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it:
and with Thy blessing
let the house of Thy servant be blessed for ever.
David might not have understood fully what God had promised him. He could not see that far. Yet you find that he responded by receiving and accepting everything that God had promised.
He knew God. God is not like man. This is not the way man would do things, but this is the way God always does. David knew God.
Even though he did not fully understand, he could not see so far as to that Son of his, our Lord Jesus, Whose throne would be established forever. He could not see that part, and yet he came to God and accepted everything God had said to him by faith.
He did not limit God in any way. Because he did not limit God, God was able to bless him to the fullest.
So here you find two different people. When Jacob was faced with the fullness of God, he could only take in a little bit. Yet we do thank God that, even though Jacob could only take in a little bit of what God had promised, God fulfilled everything that He had promised to Jacob. Now, that is grace.
But here you find another person, David. He was able to receive whatever God had said. Because of this, he entered into the fullness of God.
Brothers and sisters, as you read the Bible, you will find that everything related to God is fullness. You cannot think of anything that has anything to do with God as being less than fullness. Why? Because God cannot deny Himself. He is a God of fullness. Therefore, everything He does is full. That is what He is. He cannot do anything less than what He is.
When God created the heavens and the earth, He filled the heavens with stars. He filled the earth with living creatures.
That is the reason why you find the psalmist saying, “The earth and the fullness thereof; the sea and the fullness thereof; the world and the fullness thereof.”
When God created man, He not only gave man a spirit and made man according to His own image, but He also gave dominion to man.
When God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, He gave him a land flowing with milk and honey. Not only that, but Abraham actually had a revelation of the city which hath foundations.
In the New Testament, when God redeems us, it is not only that we may be justified, but we are also being sanctified. Not only sanctified, but even glorified.
Everything—anything—that has something to do with God has to be full, because this is what God really is.
So, from history up to our present time, the calling of God is a calling unto fullness. God is calling us unto His fullness. Or, to put it another way, God is calling us to Himself.
Our calling is an on-high calling, as you find in Philippians 3. It is not a lowly calling; it is an on-high calling. He is calling us into the fullness of Christ.
That is why you find the apostle Paul pressing on. He said, “I want to apprehend that for which I was apprehended by Christ Jesus. I am forgetting what is behind and pressing on towards the goal, the upward calling from above.”
It is according to the fullness of Christ.
Our calling is a heavenly calling. You find that in Hebrews 3. It is a heavenly calling. God is calling us to heaven—that is, to where He is.
Our calling is a holy calling. That is in 2 Timothy. It is a holy calling. It is a calling that is separated from everything unto God Himself.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us from the very beginning understand this: we are all called. Every one of us here is being called by God.
But what is our calling? What does God call us to?
God is calling us to nothing less than His fullness.
If we do not enter into His fullness, then we fail in answering His call, because our very calling is a calling unto fullness.
The problem is not with God’s calling. The problem is with the way we respond.
Let us use the children of Israel as an illustration. God brought them out of Egypt, and God brought them to Himself at Mount Sinai.
God said:
If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant,
then ye shall be Mine own possession from among all peoples;
for all the earth is Mine:
and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests,
and a holy nation.
But you find that after the children of Israel came out of Egypt, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Even though they came out of Egypt, their hearts always went back to Egypt. Egypt was still in them. All their desire was to be delivered from slavery. They had no vision of God’s fullness.
In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul said that they were all baptized in the cloud and in the sea unto Moses. They all ate the spiritual food that came from heaven, and they all drank the spiritual drink, the water that came out of the smitten rock.
But that generation did not please God. They fell in the wilderness. They came out, but they never entered in. They were delivered from slavery, but they never entered into the liberty that is in Christ. They failed in the wilderness.
You know, the Corinthian believers were like that. That is why you find Paul mentioning this in his first letter to the Corinthians.
The Corinthian believers were saved—marvellously saved—but they had no vision of God’s purpose. Paul was never able to share with them the wisdom, the mystery, of Christ.
They had no desire for God’s fullness. They were carnal. They were self-centred. All they wanted was something to satisfy them. They wanted God’s provision, but they never entered into the fullness of God.
Now, brothers and sisters, we find among God’s people today that many are like the Corinthian believers, or like the children of Israel who fell in the wilderness. They are saved, but they wander in the wilderness.
We know that the wilderness experience speaks of one thing: life according to the flesh. They are saved, but they still live according to the flesh. They want to satisfy themselves all the time. They murmur. They love the world. They do not have that heavenly vision. They do not see the fullness to which God is calling them.
Unfortunately, we find that many today are in that category—not because God has not called them to fullness, but because they live in themselves. They limit God. They are not able to take in what God has provided for them. They never enter.
Then we find that after they had wandered for forty years, a new generation was raised up. God finally brought them out of the wilderness. They came to the plains of Moab, ready to enter into the promised land.
Yet, at that very moment, two tribes of the twelve tribes of Israel—the tribe of Reuben and the tribe of Gad—came to Moses and said, “This land, the land of the Amorites on the eastern side of Jordan, is good for cattle, and we have very many cattle. Give us this land. We would rather have this land as our possession. Do not bring us over the Jordan.”
They were already on the verge of entering into the land flowing with milk and honey, yet they refused to enter in. They would rather stay on the other side.
Did they not know that this was not what they should do? They knew. If you read the history, you will find they were always conscious that they were not where they should be. They were afraid that one day the people on the other side of Jordan would not recognize them as God’s people, because they knew they were not where they should be.
Yet they decided to stay there. Instead of letting God choose for them their possession, they chose for themselves what they wanted.
They could see Canaan just over the water, but they never entered in.
You know, brothers and sisters, I think that if you read the letter to the Hebrews, the Hebrew believers were somewhat like that.
These Hebrew believers received some revelation. They saw that Jesus was the Redeemer, the Messiah, the Christ. They believed in the Lord Jesus.
Yet, even though they had some vision of Christ, they were as if standing on the side of the River Jordan, taking a look over the water at the promised land. Yet they held on to Judaism.
They lived under the shadow of the promised land, but they were not in the promised land. They held on to that which is good, and they were not able to get into that which is better.
That is why you find the writer of Hebrews trying to enlarge their vision—their vision of Christ—so that they might be delivered from themselves and enter into the fullness of Christ.
These were Hebrew believers.
Here, brothers and sisters, today we find among God’s people that there are some who are like that. Thank God, we are saved. Thank God, we experience something of being delivered from the flesh. It is as if we have come out of the wilderness, but we are still not in Canaan. We are in the plains of Moab.
We can see the promised land in the distance, but we will not enter it.
You know what they said: “Do not bring us over the Jordan. We have many cattle, and this land is good for cattle. That is what we want.”
They had experienced some deliverance from the flesh because they had come out of the wilderness. They had known some victories of Christ because they overcame the Amorites. They were people blessed by God.
Where did those cattle come from? They were the blessing of God. But you find that they lived in the blessings of God instead of in the Blesser. They were stuck with blessings; they could not enter into the Blessed One.
Dear brothers and sisters, we find that there are some Christians today who are like this. You may have known some victories over the flesh. You may be blessed by God spiritually, blessed with many gifts.
But unfortunately, you may find that you are occupied with the blessings of God—the gifts that God has given you—and that keeps you away from the Blesser.
Do you know the reason why they said, “Do not bring us over the Jordan”? They were afraid to cross the River Jordan. Now, the River Jordan represents death.
In other words, even though they knew some deliverance from the flesh and some victories over the flesh, yet they would not give up their self-life. They refused to go into death, to identify with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.
They were afraid to pay the cost. Because of that, you find that they stayed on the wrong side of the River Jordan. I am afraid that many believers today are still there.
But then you find another category of people. They crossed the River Jordan and entered into the promised land.
Now, it is true that there they met their enemies, the seven tribes of Canaan. But thank God, they had the Lord Himself as their Captain of the host. Therefore, no Canaanite could stand before them. Wherever they put down their foot, that was their possession.
You look forward to the days under David and Solomon, and there you find that they entered into the full possession that God had promised to Abraham their father.
These people entered into the fullness of God.
These two letters—the letter to the Colossians and the letter to the Ephesians—speak of the fullness of God.
Now, it is true that the Colossian believers had a problem. Their problem was not that they did not want fullness. They wanted fullness. They wanted it very much.
They tried to know fullness through human wisdom and knowledge. That was where they went wrong.
They wanted fullness, and that was good. But they did not see that fullness is in Christ. They tried to find fullness in philosophy, in mysteries, and in human wisdom.
When they got into these things, you find that instead of fullness, there was really emptiness. Nothing satisfied. So here you find the apostle Paul trying to lead them back to the way of fullness, and that is to be found only in Christ.
But, of course, with the Ephesians, you find there was no such problem. The apostle Paul was able to share with the Ephesians all that was upon his heart—the whole counsel of God.
The reason why the Ephesians were able to understand God’s fullness was because they approached this by way of love, not by way of wisdom. They loved God. They loved the Lord. Because they loved Him, He revealed Himself to them in great fullness.
Dear brothers and sisters, the only way to enter into the fullness of Christ is through love—not through knowledge, but through love.
So here you find that God’s calling is unto fullness. But how do we respond?
Do we respond as the Israelites who fell in the wilderness, like the Corinthian believers? Or do we respond like those two tribes who stayed in the plains of Moab, in the land of the Amorites, like the Hebrew believers? Or do we respond as the Ephesians and the Colossian believers, entering into the fullness of God?
I would like to read to you some concluding words by Brother T. Austin-Sparks in the book The Pioneers of the Heavenly Way. These are his concluding words:
God has but one end which will bring Him complete satisfaction: the fullness of Christ. That fullness is meant to be found in a people taken out of the nations. By that people, in that fullness, He purposes to rule the creation in the ages to come.
This will not be attained by willy-nilly, but only by infinite cost and conflict. Not all who come out enter into this ultimate. Many will not go all the way, fulfilling all the conditions unto the fullness of purpose.
Pioneers are necessary, and the way of the pioneers is a peculiar way, fraught with experiences, sufferings, perplexities, and testings of which others know little. But God must have His pioneers—individuals and companies—and these are they who wholly follow the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, the calling of God knows no repentance. This we find in Romans 11. When God calls, He never changes His calling.
No matter what happens to us, He will not lower His calling. He will not change His calling. So, brothers and sisters, let us remember that God’s calling knows no repentance. That is to say, God never changes His calling.
Whom He foreknew, He also called. Whom He called, He also justified. Whom He justified, He also glorified. God’s calling never changes.
But there is another verse in 2 Peter 1. It says, “Make your calling and election sure by doing these things.”
In other words, on God’s side, His calling never changes. It is not because of us that He will change His calling to suit us. No. His calling is an on-high calling. He is calling us into His fullness, and into His fullness we must enter.
He Who calls us is faithful. He will perform it.
Now, that is God’s side. But there is our side. On our side, we do have a responsibility. The responsibility is that we need to make our calling and election sure.
We need to be diligent. We need to respond to God’s calling. We need to surrender ourselves. We need to pay the cost. We need to cross the River Jordan. We need to will the will of God.
It is only when we fulfill our part that you find God is able to do, even today, what He has ordained in eternity.
So, brothers and sisters, tonight I just want to put this before you: God has called every one of us unto His fullness.
I hope that we will really consider this before the Lord tonight. Do I know the fullness of God? Do I desire it? What is my response to such a calling? Do I have a vision of that calling?
Or, to put it another way, perhaps we have never known that this is our calling. Perhaps we think that our calling is simply to be saved and to go to heaven one day. That is how we understand calling.
But I want you, brothers and sisters, to consider this: God’s calling is calling every one of us to His fullness—nothing less than His fullness. He wants us to be full, because that is what He is.
Now, how will we respond to that calling? How do you want to respond to that calling? I think that makes all the difference.
So may the Lord challenge us with this, that we may be before the Lord. God willing, tomorrow we hope to share together on the vision of fullness, because we need to have a vision. With that vision, we hope that we will respond in the right way.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee because Thou art our God. Thou art the God of fullness. Everything that is connected and related to Thee is full, and must be full.
Our Father, we do praise and thank Thee that Thou hast called us unto Thy fullness. Oh, create in us a longing and a desire to know Thy fullness.
Lord, do give us that determination from above that, whatever it may cost, we want Thy fullness, because this is what Thou hast called us to, and this is what Thou canst be satisfied with.
So, Father, we pray that at the very beginning Thou wilt exercise our hearts. Lord, if we do not know what this calling unto fullness is, then we pray that Thou wilt open our eyes and let us see it, that we may be drawn to it and seek after it. Create a hunger and thirst in us for it.
Lord, if Thou hast already shown us a little bit of it, then we pray that Thou wilt enlarge our vision, that we may see it fuller and fuller.
Lord, if Thou hast shown us and yet we turn away from it because we do not want to go all the way with Thee, then, Lord, we ask that Thy love will constrain us. Oh, that Thy love will constrain us, that we will press on unto Thyself.
Lord, we do praise and thank Thee because Thou hast called us unto Thyself, and into Thee we must enter. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.