It is a wonderful joy to be with you again. I have been looking forward to coming back ever since I was here last year. I cannot help but look at all the faces we have known through the years and do some reminiscing.
Would you allow me for a moment to thank you for praying? One of the things that has come to my attention so much in the last couple of days concerns the years when I was privileged to minister with Brother T. Austin-Sparks.
For about ten years, I was very privileged to minister at various times with Brother T. Austin-Sparks. Just the thought of him brings real fond remembrance of the hours we spent together. He taught me many things whose real value I am only now beginning to discover.
As I look back through the years, I recognize how little I grasped of what he was saying. Our wives would be visiting in the kitchen, and he would sit in our living room when he came to Indianapolis. He would say, “Now, Brother Frankie, in order that we do not dissipate the day, let us bow and pray for an open heaven.”
That was not too meaningful to me at the time. I expected that he was saying, “Lord, give us a revelation and some insight.” But through the years, I have come to appreciate in a new way what an open heaven really is. God Himself comes to minister and to speak, to make Himself very real.
He also had one more thing that he kept saying to me, and it has grown in importance. He would say, “The anointing is everything.” The anointing is everything. I am learning, I think, a little of what that means.
But the thing that has been so significant to me these last couple of days is a principle he shared one day. I believe we were in Switzerland together. He said, “You know, I was off in an isolated ministry, far from London and Honor Oak, and I suddenly was gripped with an awful fever. I believe it was a sickness of some kind.”
He said, “There was almost a horror of darkness that came upon me. Here I was, away from the body. And for the very first time in my life, I learned to stand in the value and the good of the prayers of all the saints. I knew the time they would be praying back in London for me.”
He said, “I somehow entered into the value of that and claimed their prayer on behalf of that situation. Within an hour, the darkness and heaviness lifted. My temperature changed. I believe God touched me.”
I heard him say that on a couple of occasions as we were fellowshipping, and it left a real impression on my heart. Since that time—and that was many, many years ago—I have had opportunity to cry out, “Oh, God, I need the value of prayer. I need to stand in the good of the prayers of all the saints.”
This has been one of those weeks. We came with great anticipation, only to discover that we had a bronchial condition and have been washed out, really in bed quite a bit of the time. I have had to say, “Oh, God, help me to know how to stand in the good of the value of the prayers of all of you.”
I want to report to you tonight: your prayer works. Can you say amen to that? God has, in a very real way, demonstrated to me the fact that He has a family who are concerned.
I looked forward to coming, and then I got here questioning whether I would be able to do much sharing. But we are starting out, by the grace of God, to share with you the theme that has been given to me. Actually, I guess I chose it. I have to confess.
You see, there were three subjects: serving the Lord, serving the house, and serving one another. I understood that Brother Ed had chosen—or been given—one of them, and then I looked at serving the house and said, “How in the world could I speak for three hours on serving the house?”
Then I said, “But I know somebody who can.” Dane and I have been together quite a little ever since we first met on Long Island—what is it, forty years ago? Pretty close to it. We have been in Bradenton and California, then in Brazil together, and who knows where else?
Anyway, I have discovered that Moses is not so slow of tongue as I thought. So here we are tonight. My particular burden is to share with you concerning serving one another.
I am convinced that God usually gives us a picture in the natural first, and then He gives us the spiritual. Tonight, I would like to take you back to a little parable in the Old Testament. If you will turn to the book of Judges, please.
Here is a very lovely lesson. It has to do with how God, in creation, has a lesson to teach us. In Judges 9, beginning with verse 8, we read:
The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them;
and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.
Look at me a moment, please. Do not peek ahead. How many of you think you know what the olive tree is going to say? I think the olive tree might have said, “Well, I am glad you found me. I would sure like to be king.” But let us read and see what the olive tree’s response was.
But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness,
wherewith by me they honor God and man,
and go to wave to and fro over the trees?
Something interesting is taking place. The olive tree is finding fulfillment in fulfilling its purpose, and there is contentment.
So the convention goes on. Verse 10 says:
And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.
What do you think the fig tree is going to say? Some of you know the story, do you not? Well, let us see what the fig tree says.
But the fig tree said unto them,
Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit,
and go to wave to and fro over the trees?
Then the trees said unto the vine:
Come thou, and reign over us.
And the vine said unto them,
Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man,
and go to wave to and fro over the trees?
All three of these have a contentedness in fulfilling their purpose. I think God is saying in this little parable in the Old Testament, “Oh, if I could bring some of My people to understand that fulfillment in fulfilling purpose brings contentment. Everything else leaves man with great emptiness.”
You see, I understand that from the very beginning, God, Who created all of us, is the great Caller. Brother Kong has been speaking about the human spirit. The human spirit is reaching out for something to fill the emptiness within.
I believe it is God Who does the first calling to man. We might think we are calling to Him, but the psalmist said:
Deep calleth unto deep.
I believe it is God Himself calling to the human spirit—the Spirit of God calling to our spirit. There is an empty room, a place that He wants to come and dwell, to occupy. He made it for Himself. Somebody said it is like a God-shaped vacuum. Only God will fit there.
God has made man with this longing for fulfillment, to reach purpose and meaning and value. This is why I believe the human spirit is crying out and calling out. It says in another place that God has placed eternity in their hearts. This is His way of saying, “I have made man for something much more than just this earthly life—eternity in their hearts.”
There is a responsiveness within man that calls back and says, “Oh, God, why am I here? How can I fulfill purpose? How can the calling that You have be accomplished through my life?”
The trees do it naturally. It is built into the fabric of the way they function. Of course, these trees—you understand—are His natural way of saying, “First the natural picture, then we get hold of the spiritual.”
One translation of “Deep calleth unto deep” says, “At the call of the fountainhead.” I said, “Oh, God, You are the fountainhead, the Source, the Beginning of everything. The fountainhead is calling out, and our response is back to You.”
I am believing tonight that God has been bringing some people together these days. In the midst of our calling out, “Oh, God, what do You want in my life? How can I fulfill the purpose for which You brought me here?” God is saying, “I have a unique gifting and calling for each one of you.”
That is my burden tonight as we look into this little portion: the gifting and calling of God, in order that we might better be able to serve one another.
I thought I would take you back to the book of Romans for a little bit. It was so appropriate today as Brother Kong was moving through Romans 5 and 6, dealing with the saving work of the soul and all that God is doing, getting us to the place where there will finally be the presentation of our body to Him as a living sacrifice.
So we come into Romans 12, and we are introduced to service. All the preparations from Romans 1 through 11 bring us to chapter 12, where service is presented to us. We are not only going to serve the Lord and the house, but discover how we can better serve one another in the daily ministrations.
Let us begin reading:
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.And be not fashioned according to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.For I say, through the grace that was given me,
to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think;
but so to think as to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt to each man a measure of faith.For even as we have many members in one body,
and all the members have not the same office:
so we, who are many, are one body in Christ,
and severally members one of another.
Here are the particular verses I want us to consider:
And having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us,
whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith;
or ministry, let us give ourselves to our ministry;
or he that teacheth, to his teaching;
or he that exhorteth, to his exhorting:
he that giveth, let him do it with liberality;
he that ruleth, with diligence;
he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.
I am quite aware of the fact that in years gone by there was quite an emphasis on gifts. I have moved beyond that, but it seems that the Lord keeps bringing me back to the fact that there are some very interesting lessons we can learn from the way the Lord gifts individuals.
I like to think of us as a tree that God is going to make fruitful. In many ways, every tree has a particular root life, very distinct. Many individuals who have studied and taught on this have suggested that these seven gifts mentioned here are motivational gifts.
They are the unique gifting an individual has in order that he can fulfill his calling—the thing that God has for him. For example, I think there are individuals who have a definite gift to speak, a prophetic gift. The words flow out. If this were their taproot, we would say that individual is gifted to the body to minister through speaking.
Then we read of serving, or ministering. There are individuals who, I believe, are uniquely endowed with the ability to see the needs of others. They are always there serving.
I look back at our ministry and fellowship throughout Indiana, at the variety of individuals God brings into an assembly. We particularly have one brother and his wife who are, I believe, so uniquely gifted in serving through their ministry that we do not know what to do when they are gone—especially to Cuba.
Then there are those who have the ability, or gifting, to teach—the ability to take concepts and develop them, with the concern that God’s people will be well-principled and understand the things of the Lord.
What I want us to see tonight is this: through the years, the emphasis has been that everybody needs a main taproot. I believe we will serve out of that main taproot, and everything we do will have its focus there.
But I have come to recognize that if God is going to develop us as well-rounded individuals, then in some ways we need side roots to balance our life out. Let us say that tonight you discover that you are a teacher by gifting, with a desire to see principles. This is the way you function.
In one sense, God wants to balance us as individuals. I think He says, “Well, we will just teach you a little bit of mercy too. We will teach you how to organize. We will teach you how to serve. We will teach you how to give. We will teach you how to exhort or encourage.”
There are seven different gifts, and I think in some ways we can see the need for the balancing of life. Do you not believe everybody ought to be a little merciful, even though that might not be the taproot by which they function?
I look back at my dear mother. Watching her through the years in the little town where we grew up, I think about half the people died in her arms. Mother had a ministry of mercy—always, always showing mercy. Probably that is why my brother became a doctor. I think he inherited some of it. His three sons are doctors too.
There are what we might call side-balancing factors. If you have developed a taproot in your life and are able to function through it, we thank God that He is enabling us by the grace given to function.
We are asking tonight that God will help us begin to recognize that if there is going to be real functioning in our life, it will often be found in the thing we do most easily. I think there are people who would like to take on certain taproots, but it is not the easy thing. It is not the way God gifts them; the grace is not there.
Let us take a little test tonight and see how many of us can figure out our own response—how we would react in a given situation. Here are seven individuals seated at a table, representing the seven different giftings we have just mentioned. A young lady comes in with a platter, the dessert falls off, and immediately you have seven different responses.
The prophet is apt to say, “That is what happens when you are not careful.” I see some prophets already out there. Some wives are getting pointed at—I mean, some husbands. You know who you fit.
The one gifted in serving says, “Oh, let me help you clean it up.” There is the desire to fulfill a real need.
The teacher says, “The reason that it fell is that it was too heavy on one side,” seeking to discover the principle behind it.
The exhorter says, “Next time, let us serve the dessert with the meal,” seeking to correct the future.
The giver says, “I will be happy to buy a new dessert,” responding to a tangible need.
The one gifted in mercy says, “Oh, do not feel badly. It could have happened to anyone,” relieving the embarrassment.
And guess what the organizer says: “Jim, would you get them up? Sue, please help pick it up. Mary, help me fix another dessert.”
How many of you think you know what your response would be? You do not have to tell me. Do you think you know what you are? I think if we know ourselves at all, we begin to recognize the immediacy of how we would respond to a situation.
We need to encourage one another, if that is true, to recognize, “This is my taproot.” But just in case you need some balance, you need mercy. You need all the side roots to keep you in a balanced way.
So we are saying tonight that God has a wonderful way of balancing out service in the church.
I discovered years ago from a friend of mine in Yakima—and I have never gotten away from it—that people generally fall into one of three categories. People like to work with ideas. Some people like to work with things, or their hands. Some people like to work with people.
I have observed that through the years. Some find it very easy to work with people. Some like to work with ideas and concepts. Some like to work with their hands.
This brother who shared it with me had three sons. Would you believe they fit into one of those three categories? I watched him one day give a job deliberately to the three boys down in the basement. He said, “Within an hour, you go down and see what is happening.”
The fellow who worked with people had convinced the other two. One had the concepts, and the other fellow was doing the work. I saw that with my eyes, and I thought, “Oh, God, this is really true.”
Why did You do this, Lord? In order that there can be a diversification, so that we get the broadest scope of things. The trouble is that so many of us pick something we would like to do, and sometimes it is not according to our gifting. We do not do it easily.
Let us take another illustration. Someone moves into the hospital. The one gifted in serving says, “Here is a little gift I brought in your mail. I fed your dog, watered your plants, and washed your dishes.”
Mercy says, “I cannot begin to tell you how I felt when I learned you were sick. I really prayed you would feel much better today.”
The organizer says, “Do not worry about a thing. I have assigned your job to four others in the office, and they are doing very well.” That is comforting, is it not, if you want to get out right away?
The prophet says, “What is God trying to say to you through this illness? Perhaps there is some sin you have not confessed yet. Let us just take a look.” How many prophets do we have?
The teacher says, “I did some research on your illness, and I believe I can explain what is happening. Consider this principle.”
The giver says, “Do you have insurance to cover this kind of sickness? If not, I can help.”
The exhorter says, “How can we use what you are learning to help others in the future avoid this sickness?”
Now, I am not just wanting to have fun tonight. I am convinced that God has a way of building into the very fabric of things so that we do not run over one another, and so that the fellowship of people will find their place.
I thank God for this because I would rather teach than anything else, but I am not very organized—as you will see before we get through. But I am working on it, knowing I need some side roots.
The principle we are after tonight is this: God, in His wonderful way, imposes some things into our life. He has a way, from the very beginning, of building into us.
One of the things that has amazed me through the years is what I like to call the “according to” principle. I want you to turn to the book of Ephesians for a moment. We need to get a little glimpse of how God designs and how He works from the beginning.
Let us begin reading in Ephesians 1:3:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ:
even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love:
having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto Himself,
according to the good pleasure of His will.
There is the first “according to”—according to the good pleasure of His will. Then, in Ephesians 1:7:
In whom we have our redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of His grace.
And in Ephesians 1:9:
Making known unto us the mystery of His will,
according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him.
I would like to call your attention to this so that every time you read it from now on, you will get hold of what I call the “according to” principle. God does everything according to—according to—according to.
The best way I can explain it is to say that way back in His Father-heart, in eternity, there is a picture of all that He wants to work out and accomplish in His eternal purpose.
The problem we run into is that individuals have a tendency to have a reference point, a touchstone, a reckoning base in God, and they start with some aspect of God’s nature, character, or function.
For example, there are those who start with God’s sovereignty. The touchstone with which they begin is that God is sovereign. We all believe that.
There is another touchstone, or reference point, with which people begin: the moral nature of God. Out of this moral nature, we have the freedom, the choice, that God gives to man.
So we have two things that are in constant warfare. I call it the conflict of the ages. One is what we call control, and the other is what we call freedom.
Both are a part of God’s program. Yet, when you start with one of these and make it your main touchstone, your fundamental reference point, you will discover something. If man is free to choose and do anything he wants, and you push it far enough, pretty soon you can have man as the master of his own fate.
Man determines what he is going to do. He is the one who makes all the choices. On the other hand, there are those who say, “Oh, but God is the sovereign God of the universe. He is in control, and what will be, will be.”
Pursue either of these as your point of reference, and eventually you are going to run into difficulty. Freedom can bring us to the humanism of the day: man in control, everything centered around man, man totally in dominion. At the opposite extreme, you finally come to fatalism.
The reason I am emphasizing this tonight is simply because Deuteronomy says:
Their rock is not as our Rock.
Their God-concept is not our God-concept. I am merely alerting you to the fact that the great majority of the religious world has a reference point in something that God does—something of His function, His nature, or His character.
But they have somehow missed what we call the Pauline vision of Who God is chiefly, before, above, and beyond all else: that He is Father.
This is why, as we read a little bit ago, I like to say that God is a Father. From the beginning, He is a Father. He did not do anything to become a Father. He has been Father by nature and heart.
You will discover that the only way you can really reconcile the conflict of the ages is to start with the proper touchstone, the proper reference point. It gives meaning to everything that God does.
When you look at the conflict raging today, there are two basic streams in the universe. There is a whole system that says Allah is sovereign and submission is everything that matters. They look at the West and at all the rest and say, “That is Satan. They do not understand God.”
Then, in our area, humanism has been reigning pretty much, and the two are in mortal conflict.
For years I struggled with the question: was I really a Calvinist? Was I really an Arminian? I grew up hanging on to God to keep saved.
It was the most wonderful day when the grace of God came into my life and I saw, “Oh, God, I am not hanging on to You; You are holding on to me. That which I have committed, You are the One Who does the holding.”
For the first time in my life, I came to rest. I saw the grace of God. I saw what He was doing. I moved from trying to hang on to recognizing the wonderful privilege of His grace.
But I have discovered through the years that if you start with some touchstone in God other than His Person Himself—Who He chiefly is—you are going to end up with difficulty.
This is why I have said before, and said last year, that I believe the central theme of the Book, the central theme of the universe, is the Father, His Son and sons—what we call sonship—and the family that will eventually be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus.
This brought real rest and confidence. I read one day that one of the Reformers had said God could cast a million infants, a span long, into hell without blinking an eye. I said, “That is not the God I know.”
That is a god of raw sovereignty, but there is no divine nature behind it. The conflict that is raging everywhere is between two main streams. How do we reckon with the fact that God is a Father Who exercises control?
How much control does He exercise? All the control that a father needs to exercise. I used to say it this way: the only safe sovereignty is paternal sovereignty.
Let me say it again: the only safe sovereignty is paternal sovereignty. It is the Father-heart limiting control. How much does He control? All that the Father knows is needed.
Likewise, the only safe morality is paternal morality. God extends just so much liberty, just so much freedom—not total freedom—to the moral universe.
So we say tonight that the “according to” principle is that God does everything according to the secret desire, the hidden purpose, the something in His own heart from the beginning.
What was it that our Father desired? What was it that He planned from the very beginning to have? I believe that if I understand something of His Father-heart, He did not want to sit in the universe and enjoy it all by Himself.
This brings us to another principle that will round things out tonight: what I like to call the ultimate glory of God.
Let me take you back to a day in Switzerland. We were at Aesch, Switzerland. I will never forget Brother Sparks walking out before perhaps two hundred people—French on one side, English-speaking in the middle, German on the other side, with double translation.
I remember him looking over that group and saying, “What is glory? What is glory? Give me a definition of glory.”
My heart was responding, and I was glad I did not have to answer because I knew he was going to. But he waited four or five minutes. Then he said, “I am not going to tell you until you think it through.”
I thought of all the stupendous, colossal, enormous things that come when all things finally reach the culmination of fulfillment. What is glory?
He did finally tell us. He said this: “Glory is best described by one word: satisfaction.”
I thought, “You know, I can improve on that.” I did not tell him that. But I have been thinking about it ever since: satisfaction.
When you begin to consider the fact that God, in the very beginning, with all the universe and all that He could have done, had something of an ultimate glory that He was going to bring about, I think the key is this little word: mutual satisfaction.
You cannot really enjoy something alone. I was thirty-four years of age before I was married the first time. Every time I traveled across the country in those early years—I made a hundred trips, driving back and forth—I would come to Boulder Dam and various other places and say, “I cannot enjoy this. My mother needs to see this.”
We were very close. There was something within me that said, “If she could just see this, I would enjoy it. We would enjoy it together.” There is what I call the mutuality of enjoyment.
I did take her many places—Canada, all the places we could. It was something of the satisfaction that comes in mutuality.
Then I got married, and many of you knew Nita and loved her. We had a wonderful time for forty-four years, until the Lord decided He would pluck the flower and take her home.
But I went through the same thing. I could not enjoy things alone. I needed to have her see them too. Anybody on the wavelength with me? How do you really enjoy something alone?
Imagine God sitting off in heaven, Father, all alone. The nature and character of Who and what He is requires that there be somebody to enjoy it with.
After forty-four years, I discovered once again the empty seat inside my car. “Oh, God, I cannot enjoy these things alone.”
Enjoyment has a mutuality about it. It requires others participating with you in it.
I said, “Lord, I really planned to finish the race alone, but it would sure be nice to have somebody in that empty seat next to me.” God began to work in my heart. The whole body of Christ began to pray about that time, because I got calls from all over.
This is the family room tonight. I am being very open with you. We are brothers. Some of us have been together forty-seven years or longer. This matter of mutuality began to work in my heart.
I began to say, “Oh, Lord, I know the principle: he that has a wife has more distractions.” That is what Paul says in Corinthians. My heart had been gung-ho: “I will finish the race one hundred percent, with no distractions.”
But one of my dear friends, who had lost his wife, kept phoning me and saying, “It is not good for man to live alone.” Have you ever read that in Genesis? So I was in conflict between two principles.
I kept saying to Jack—some of you might know Jack Taylor, my close friend—“Jack, it is all right for you. You lost your wife a couple of years ago. You are ten years younger. But I think it is a matter of wisdom, and so you just pray. I do not have any intentions.”
One day he phoned and said, “I need to tell you a story.” It was the story of Mary and James.
James lost his wife, and he was so lonely. He would walk through the park, and one day he noticed a lady sitting on a bench. He walked up and said, “Would you mind if I sit here and visit with you a little bit?”
Mary responded, “No, James—I think you told me your name. Sit down. Let us visit.” Within three or four minutes, Mary and James really had a conversation going.
Mary’s husband had died just a few years before, and James had lost his wife. They discovered they were both Baptists. James said, “I am a Baptist.” Mary said, “I am a Baptist, but I am a born-again Baptist.”
James said, “Born again? Well, I can do better. I am a separated, born-again Baptist.” Then he said, “Well, to be very honest with you, I am a Spirit-filled, separated, born-again Baptist.”
Mary said, “So am I.” You talk about two people finding wavelength in a matter of fifteen minutes. It was as though God had been bringing them together.
James got to the point where he was so encouraged that he took out his handkerchief, spread it down in front of Mary, knelt, and said, “Mary, I need to ask you two questions.”
“Mary, I really believe God has brought us together. I am so sure of it. Will you marry me?”
Mary said, “Well, you know, we have only known each other fifteen minutes, but I think maybe it is God’s will.” She said, “Yes, James, I will. What is your second question?”
And he said, “Would you help me out?”
Mary said, “James, I am waiting for somebody to help me out.”
Well, it was a process of weeks and months that sort of went on like that. My heart was beginning to be drawn and concerned. I thought, “Well, Lord, if the body is praying and all my friends are praying, maybe there is a Mary someplace for James.”
But I really needed more assurance than that. One day I got a call from Richmond. It was a name you would recognize. It was Max.
Max’s words were something like, “Vern, are you sitting down?” I said, “Yes, I am, Max. What are you going to tell me?”
He said, “Did you know Brother Kong was married?” Now we are having fun tonight, are you following me? I thought, “Oh, God, there is somebody I honor.” We will not get into all that.
The essence of what I am saying is this: satisfaction has to have mutuality in it.
God has built into the fabric of the universe the desire to serve, the desire to give, and the desire to be part of something. When I recognized what Brother Sparks was saying, it came back in a whole new way.
“Oh, God, glory is the satisfaction of God. But God, as a Father, could not be satisfied alone.”
I suppose He could have enjoyed His Son in eternity, but He decided He wanted many more sons just like Him. In fact, this is why He speaks of the whole vast family that is going to be conformed to the image of the Pattern Man, the Lord Jesus.
That is why I really believe that the central theme of the universe is fatherhood, sonship, and the final consummation of a family that is going to enjoy Him forever.
One day I began to discover why the old divines, when they were dealing with the Westminster Confession, said that the chief end of man is to glorify God.
The chief end of man is to glorify God—and the little phrase, “and enjoy Him forever.”
You may have discovered that sweeping the country now is a new emphasis on the fact that perhaps they should have said, “The chief end is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.” If you know John Piper, you will be interested in what I am saying.
Here we have the whole principle of God building a universe for a family with whom He can have mutual enjoyment and satisfaction.
When Brother Ed Miller yesterday was saying that the God Who enjoys our giving is the God Who also enjoys giving back to us, I said, “Oh, God, that is the mutuality principle.”
So much of my life has been an enduring instead of an enjoying. I have to tell you tonight, God has done a whole new circumcising work in my heart. It is all right to enjoy.
Is there a place to endure as good soldiers? Oh, yes, there is. But there is also enjoying. I have come in a whole new way to understand: enjoy the Lord. Enjoy His presence.
As we round out our concern tonight, the theme developing in the universe is that God is, before, above, and beyond all else, a Person. We have come to His personhood.
As we said last year, there are principles and there is purpose. It is a person-centered universe that uses principles. It is a principle-governed universe, but it is purpose-fulfilling.
One of our struggles comes when people get hold of a principle. Is sovereignty true? Certainly. Is morality true? Certainly. But do not let either one become your reference point. Do not let anything else become your reference point.
God is love. Yes. God is holy. Yes. You can name all the various touchstones or reference points people use. But I have appreciated the folk here because I believe our emphasis from the beginning has been that God is a Father.
Fatherhood, sonship, and the family He is bringing about help us realize that this is a person-centered universe. It is the Father Whom we exalt in His ultimacy. It is the Person of the Lord Jesus Who is central in the Father’s whole plan and purpose. The Holy Spirit is more than merely Someone Who works; there is the honoring of His Person.
I have been particularly aware of this over the last few days. If there is anything that I believe has gripped my own heart, it is the sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit—the Person of the Holy Spirit.
We sat this afternoon after Brother Kong finished, and there was a holy hush. It was not imposed. He was there.
Dr. Tozer used to say that the emphasis is often on the work of the Holy Spirit, not on the Person—honoring Him. I have been trying these last few months to say, “Oh, God, teach me how to really honor the Person of the Holy Spirit.”
He is here in His own way to exalt, honor, and lift up the Lord Jesus. Then, as you exalt and lift Him up, you become occupied with the Lord Jesus, and He says, “Oh, by the way, have you seen My Father?”
People often come to me and say, “I do not know whether I am giving too much emphasis to the Spirit, or to the Son, or to the Father.” But when I go to the Spirit, the Holy Spirit says, “Behold the loveliness of the Lord Jesus.”
I go to the Son, and He says, “By the way, have you seen My Father? I want you to be occupied with Him.” I go to the Father, and He says, “Behold My lovely Son.” I call that the divine runaround.
There is no problem in heaven. Why? Each is for the other.
There is the Person of the Father in His ultimacy; the centrality of the Son in His rightful place of preeminence; and the availability and sensibility of the Holy Spirit at work.
We do have tomorrow, do we not? I simply needed to say to you tonight that there is the “according to” principle. You can read it. I hope that when you see over and over again “according to,” you will understand.
Romans says that we are called according to His purpose. Everything that God does is according to something. It has its roots back in Person, fulfilled through principles.
The principles of tension are always there, and the conflict goes on. But there is only one way you can recognize the final fulfillment: the mutual satisfaction that God is going to bring about when one day ultimate glory is realized.
The Father is satisfied. The Son is satisfied. The Holy Spirit has a dwelling place that we are all beholding.
Father, we bow this evening to acknowledge that we are gripped by the fact that You long to share Yourself with us through the Lord Jesus, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
We are so privileged tonight. I look out over my friends, many of them with their own gifting, their own unique calling. It is our desire that, as we learn to serve one another, the whole mutuality principle will be flowing.
We will discover that the satisfaction we receive in sharing, in giving, in exhorting—whatever our particular part might be—the mutuality of it brings a deep inner joy.
Oh, Lord, what I am not able to explain tonight, I pray You will impart. Make very real to us the fact that we are in a tremendous thing that You are doing today, so much bigger than we could ever have realized.
The conflict of the ages is upon us. We refuse to give place to mere principles that are in conflict. We make our reference point Your own Father-heart tonight, and all that You plan to do in and through the Lord Jesus.
We look to all that You are eventually going to accomplish in a family in whom there will be mutual delight and joy in one another throughout all eternity.
Seal this to our hearts tonight. We will give You the thanks, the praise, and the honor that You are worthy of. Amen.