We are truly thankful. It is the sovereign grace that has brought us together. We thank You because we gather in Your name, and we know Your presence among us by Your promise.
This is holy ground, where we take off our shoes and prostrate ourselves before You. Whatever You command us, may Your Holy Spirit move among us. May Your will be done among us. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Thank the Lord for giving us the ninth Christian Service Conference. Because this is a service conference, our fellowship is centred upon service.
The topic for this conference is “Master, Disciples, and Servants.” Whenever we speak of service, we cannot avoid speaking of the Lord. The Master, disciples, and servants are inseparable.
If we speak about the Master but not about service, what are we serving? If we speak about service but not about discipleship, how can we serve? Therefore, every time we think about service, we must first think about the Master.
The matter of service before the Lord is not a simple matter. The purpose of our service is not ourselves; the purpose of service is the Lord.
If we serve today and forget about the Lord, then we may be serving a thing, or we may be serving ourselves. Every time we think about service, we must look at the Master.
If we miss the Master, then we are merely conducting religious services, and they are without value before the Lord.
When we speak about service but are not true disciples of the Master, how can we serve? We may serve according to our own concepts, unable to be considerate of the Lord’s purpose. We may serve according to our own strength and fail to rely upon the might of the Holy Spirit.
This kind of service is not accepted by the Lord. As we speak about service, I hope brothers and sisters will remember the Master and the disciples.
The One whom we serve is the Master. The ones who serve are the disciples. Only within this relationship can we present true service before the Lord.
The difficulty among the churches today is that we pay attention only to service without looking at the Master. At the same time, we are not truly following our Master to be His disciples.
The result is that we see much activity—religious activity and traditional activity—but, as far as the work of the Lord is concerned, it is without benefit.
For instance, in the eighteenth century, we remember John Wesley. He was born into a Christian family, and his father was a pastor. From his youth, he grew up in such an environment.
As he grew up, he felt that he should serve the Lord as well. Outwardly speaking, he was very zealous. He was even ordained to be a pastor.
He felt burdened to go to the New World—to America—to preach, especially to the native Indians. Therefore, he crossed the Atlantic and came to the state of Georgia.
He began to serve and to work among the unbelieving Indians. But at that time, he himself was not even saved. Neither did he know the redeeming Lord.
All he knew was doctrine and tradition. Therefore, he worked without results, and in the end, he failed. He returned to England.
When he returned to England, he began to fellowship with a group of Moravians. These Moravians truly knew the Lord, and he joined their meetings.
One day, they were reading Martin Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. John Wesley heard what was written in that preface, and inwardly his heart began to burn.
He felt that he had truly believed in the Lord Jesus as his Redeemer. Faith arose within him, and he was saved.
From that moment, he began to serve again. He preached justification by faith and paid attention to sanctification by faith. The Lord greatly used this person.
We see, then, that if a person does not know the Lord, he may serve, but what he serves is only a thing. He serves according to tradition. You must know the Lord before your service can be effective.
We know another example in the New Testament: Saul of Tarsus. According to Jewish tradition, when a young boy reached twelve years of age, he went through the ritual of bar mitzvah and became a son of the law.
It is quite possible that Saul went to Jerusalem to receive higher learning, and he became a disciple of Gamaliel. He was very familiar with Jewish tradition.
Though he was a young man, he was full of zeal—more zealous than his contemporaries. According to the teaching of Judaism, he determined that Jesus was a rebel.
Therefore, he rose up to persecute the followers of Jesus, thinking that in doing so he was serving God. Unbeknown to him, such service caused the Lord to suffer.
All the way to the road to Damascus, Saul did not know the Lord. But when the Lord met him, he came to know Him and fully yielded himself to the Lord’s power.
Then he began to be used by the Lord, and he became the Apostle Paul whom we know today.
When we speak about service, the first thing we must know is the Lord, because service issues from knowing the Lord. Secondly, we must become disciples of the Master.
Our Master does not need service from those who are not His disciples. We remember Matthew 8. A scribe came to the Lord and said, “I will follow You wherever You go.”
How did our Master reply?
The foxes have holes,
and the birds of the heaven have nests;
but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.
The scribe came with zeal, wanting to follow the Lord. But the Lord poured cold water on his head, because he had not truly believed in the Lord. The Lord does not need the service of such people.
On the other hand, another said, “Lord, allow me first to bury my father, and then I will come and follow You.” Perhaps his father was not yet dead. In effect, he was saying, “Wait until my father dies; then I will follow You.”
The Lord replied:
Follow Me; and leave the dead to bury their own dead.
If we are not truly disciples of Him, we are not worthy to serve Him and are unable to serve Him.
Though three brothers may each take a topic, the matters we are speaking about are inseparable. First, we must know the Lord. Second, we must be His disciples. Then we can speak about the matter of service.
My responsibility is to share with you concerning service. Today, we shall begin with the commencement of service: How does service begin?
Please turn to several portions of Scripture.
Then the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
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.
So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another.
We know that God created man with a purpose. God created man according to His own image, so that man might receive His own life. Through the life of God within, man could be used by God to accomplish what God desires.
Regrettably, we all know what happened in the Garden of Eden. Our forefathers, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God’s command. Because of sin, man lost the original purpose for which God created him.
Thank God that He sent His own Son to the earth to become a man and to accomplish the work of redemption on the cross. Through redemption, those who had lost God’s original purpose of creation may be recovered to that purpose.
The Lord did not save us merely so that we would not go to hell but would go to heaven. Of course, we thank God that, because of His salvation, we will not go to hell and may go to heaven. But this is not the purpose for which God saved us.
God saved us in order to fulfil His purpose in creation. His purpose was lost because of man’s sin, but through the salvation of the Lord Jesus, He recovers us to the original purpose of His creation.
When we are saved, God desires to bring us back to His purpose of creation. He gives us His own life. Through this new life, we may become useful vessels in His hand and serve God’s desire.
When the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, God sent Moses to redeem His people from Egypt. How did Moses speak to Pharaoh?
He said, “Thus saith the Lord: Let My people go, that they may serve Me.”
The children of Israel were slaves in Egypt. They were in bondage and travail, without hope. God delivered them from Egypt, not that they might become free to do whatever they pleased.
God delivered them with a purpose: that they might serve Him.
Salvation is for the purpose of service. As soon as we are saved, we should rise up to become those who serve.
It is not that, among all whom God has redeemed, only a minority need to serve, while the rest may serve themselves or even serve man. God does not want us to serve this way.
We must be clear about one thing: as soon as we are saved, God’s purpose for us is that we should serve Him. Every saved person is a serving person.
If we are saved and do not serve the Lord, then we have received grace, but God has gained nothing in us.
When God delivered His people from Egypt and brought them into Canaan, Joshua eventually became old. One day he gathered all Israel at Shechem.
He reviewed the history of God’s deliverance, and then he spoke to them: “There is a question that you must answer. You are a people delivered by God. You have come out of Egypt, but you must solve the problem of service to God.”
“Whom do you wish to serve? Will you serve the gods of your fathers beyond the River? Or will you serve the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell? Or will you serve the true God, the Lord, the One who delivered you?”
Joshua declared, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
God’s salvation is often based upon the unit of a household, and the unit of service is also a household. Joshua and his house would serve the Lord.
The Israelites replied that they too would serve the Lord. But Joshua reminded them that the Lord is a jealous God. If they were to serve Him, they must first put away the false gods. Otherwise, they could not serve God.
Unless they forsook all the false gods, the God who saved them would bring judgment among them. This is very serious.
The Israelites responded, “We will serve the Lord. We will put away all the false gods.” On that day, Joshua made a covenant with the people before the Lord: they would serve the Lord God.
I believe all who are seated here have been saved by God’s grace. If this is the case, then we must address the problem of service. We cannot be indifferent toward this matter.
We must come to a decision: What are we living for? Our Lord told us that no one can serve two masters. We cannot serve the Lord and Mammon.
We must choose. If we have not made a choice, then we will be serving Mammon. We must make a clear choice concerning the matter of service before the Lord.
God saved us out of sin. He purchased us with a great price. We are the redeemed ones.
He paid the heaviest price. He gave His only begotten Son, who gave Himself on our behalf. With such a great price, we are not free men; we are those who have been purchased.
We do not belong to ourselves; we belong to the Lord. Formerly, we were slaves to sin. Now we are slaves to righteousness.
We must know this: now that we have been saved, we are not free to become our own masters or to do whatever we please. We have been purchased from a cruel master by another Master who is full of kindness.
Today, we belong to the Lord, and therefore we must serve the Lord.
According to law, we have been purchased. We are not free. This is the fact. Whether we like it or not, we must serve, because we are not free men. We were redeemed with a great price.
God could deal with us according to law, demanding and commanding that we serve. But thank God, He does not do so.
After He redeemed us, He did not treat us according to law. Rather, He encourages us by His grace.
When we come to Romans 12, we read:
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.
Romans 1 through 11 shows us the multifarious mercies of God: how He delivered us who were in sin, without hope, and dead in the world.
By the precious blood and cross of the Lord Jesus, He gave us His own life so that we might become friends of God. He gave us His Holy Spirit to work within us, conforming us to the image of His Son.
How rich are His mercies toward us! We were Gentiles, outside the covenants. Yet God says, “I will encourage you by My grace. I will not deal with you by law.”
By the constraining power of love, we willingly offer ourselves as living sacrifices. In other words, we willingly become His bondslaves. We willingly serve Him.
If we do so, this is our most reasonable service.
Brothers and sisters, when we speak about service, our concept is often, “What are we to do for God?” But service does not begin with doing something for God.
I remember, before I was saved, I was born into a Christian family. When I was young, I was dying from a sickness. I prayed, and my family prayed for me. Thank and praise God, He pulled me back from the brink of death.
Because of my Christian background, I felt that I lived by His grace and therefore had to repay His grace. From that moment, even before I was saved, I began to preach.
My first sermon was not my own. I borrowed a sermon from a famous American preacher, translated it from English into Chinese, memorised it, and went to preach it. I was very happy when I had finished—except that nobody praised me for it.
Even before I was saved, I wanted to serve the Lord. I read a book on prayer, memorised it, and shared it with my fellow classmates. I asked them all to kneel down and pray. No one prayed, so I scolded them.
You cannot do this before God. You may perform some kind of service, but I was not even saved yet. I knew there was a God, but I did not know where He was. He certainly was not in me.
Thank God, one day His grace came to me. I knew that I belonged to Him, and I knew that I must serve Him.
The commencement of our service is consecration. Consecration is not doing something for God. Service is to offer your body as a living sacrifice.
Our bodies are no longer ours. They were purchased by God with a great price. How can we live for ourselves using this body? Neither can we use our bodies according to our own will. Our bodies belong to the Lord.
That is why Scripture says, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice.” Why does it say “body”? Because through your body you have your existence. The body represents your whole being.
In other words, offer your whole being fully to the Lord. As you offer yourself in this way, this is reasonable service.
Service is not to serve a thing. Service is not merely to do a work for the Lord. Service is to offer your body as a living sacrifice.
What is a sacrifice? In the Old Testament, when a man was moved by God and had gratitude in his heart, he selected a bull or a goat from among his herds and flocks and brought it to the temple.
He tied it to the horns of the altar, ready to offer it as a sacrifice to God. Then the priest came, killed and prepared the animal, and placed it upon the altar.
It was consumed by fire upon the altar. In other words, it became food for God, to satisfy God’s heart.
Before the animal was placed on the altar, it could roam freely. But once it was placed on the altar, it could not move. It was to be killed, consumed by fire, and become ashes.
In New Testament times, the Lord does not delight in our cattle or goats. He wants ourselves. We are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. We are the sacrifice.
This is a living sacrifice. In other words, you live for God. You are not there merely to do something; you allow the Lord to do everything He wants to do in you.
You fully yield yourself to His hand. You fully turn yourself over to Him and say, “Do whatever You wish.”
First, God does something in you. It is not that you immediately do something for God. Rather, you yield yourself into the hands of God and allow Him to work in you.
You allow His cross to do a work in you. Whatever does not belong to Him, whatever belongs to the natural realm, He separates by His two-edged sword from that which is of the Spirit.
He removes whatever is not of the Lord and increases Himself within us. In this way, service may issue from our being.
We must remember that when we serve God, we must know Him. How much we know the Lord determines how much our service can be, because service is an issue of life, not merely activity.
Secondly, if we are to truly serve, we must become His disciples. If we are not His disciples, we cannot serve Him.
A disciple is not merely the same as a student. A student may go to school to learn, without having a direct relationship with his teacher. He gains knowledge and remains free.
But a disciple in Scripture is more like an apprentice in Chinese history. In the past, there was a system of apprenticeship.
If you wanted to become a carpenter or learn another trade, you would go to a teacher while young and become an apprentice. Your family would sign a contract with the teacher.
After the contract was signed, you left your house and lived in your teacher’s house. Perhaps it took three years to learn everything.
During the first year, he might not even teach you how to cut wood. You did all the household chores, including sweeping and caring for the children, just like a servant.
Only later would he teach you a little of the trade. When the three years were completed, you had learned all the skills.
You also learned his way of conduct. By that time, you talked like him. Sometimes even the way you walked and conducted yourself was just like your master.
This is what discipleship in Scripture is like. It is similar to the apprenticeship system in Chinese history.
That is why the Lord says, “Lay aside everything, come and follow Me.” You leave your house and live in your teacher’s home. That is truly to become a disciple.
Likewise, when we offer our bodies as living sacrifices, we acknowledge that He is our Master.
As our brother shared last night, we begin to know the Lord’s authority. His authority tells us that He is our Lord. We are not our own men; we cannot do anything according to our own will.
We must obey the Master’s command in everything.
To offer your body as a living sacrifice is to acknowledge that Jesus is your Lord. At the same time, when you forsake all to follow Him, you stand on the ground of discipleship.
You are there to learn His character until His character becomes yours.
We see that service commences from offering our bodies as living sacrifices. If you have not offered your body as a living sacrifice, then you have not even begun to serve. All you do is religious activity.
Consecration is the first thing Christians must face. A redeemed one must solve the problem of consecration.
The Apostle says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren.” All redeemed ones are brethren. Therefore, all must be constrained by the love of God to offer their bodies as living sacrifices.
Have you solved this problem? If you have not solved it, do not speak about service. You may attempt to serve, but you cannot truly serve; rather, you may offend God.
First, we must solve the problem of consecration. Then we come to Romans 12:2:
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.
As you offer your body as a living sacrifice, the Holy Spirit begins to transform your mind. Formerly, your mind was conformed to this world. You followed the world’s fashions and loved the things of the world.
To favour God’s will seemed difficult. I remember asking young people in the past, “What is God’s will?” They replied, “Whatever is opposed to my will is God’s will.”
They could not regard God’s will as good or pleasant. They felt that God’s will was fearful, because their minds had not yet been renewed.
But thank God, as you offer your body as a living sacrifice, the Holy Spirit transforms your mind. Your view of the world changes.
What you formerly treasured, you now regard as dung. What you formerly thought of as God’s fearful will, you now recognise as good and acceptable. You want to prove it, seek after it, and agree with it.
Brothers and sisters, service is to serve God’s will. How can you serve if you do not know God’s will? Otherwise, you will serve according to your own will.
Every time we have a deeper consecration before the Lord, our minds are renewed. Every time our minds are renewed, we know God’s will better.
Service is to serve God’s will, not to serve our own will.
Romans 12:2 speaks of “the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” In the original language, “will” is singular.
We often think of God’s will as myriads upon myriads of separate decisions: “What should I do today? May I go to this place? What is God’s will in this matter?”
Many young people ask these questions because they see too many individual wills. But we have not seen the singular will of God.
God has one all-inclusive will. If we can prove this will, then we can understand God’s heart’s desire in the many details of His will.
All of God’s particular wills issue from His one all-inclusive will. What is this will?
Before the creation of the world, God had a purpose. Ephesians 1 tells us that, before the foundation of the world, according to His good pleasure, He ordained a purpose.
What is that purpose? It is that all things should be summed up in Christ.
This singular, unchanging will of God—from eternity past, through time, and into eternity future—is concerning His Son: that His Son would have all things and would be satisfied.
Therefore, God gave all things to His Son. Among all creation, He also gave man to His Son.
Man is to become His companion, His counterpart, to work with Him, to have the same mind with Him, to suffer with Him, and to be glorified with Him.
This is the singular and complete will of God.
According to Romans 12, verse 1 says, “Present your bodies.” Bodies are plural. Each one of us has his own body.
You must allow the Lord to complete His work in your body, and I must allow the Lord to complete His work in my body. God accomplishes His work through every individual body.
But when we all offer our bodies as living sacrifices, we see the complete will of God: Christ is the Head, and we are members of His Body.
Verse 5 says:
So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another.
We need to see our service within the scope of the Body. Christ is our Head, and His will is expressed through the members of the Body.
Our service becomes the service of the Body; it is not individual service. There are many members in the Body, and God gives gifts to each member.
If He wants me to be a hand, the Holy Spirit gives me the function of a hand. As my hand works under the direction of the head, it serves the head and, at the same time, serves the whole body.
I do not serve independently. I coordinate with all the other members to serve our Head.
Brothers and sisters, remember: our service today is to serve God’s eternal purpose—that Christ may be preeminent in all things.
Our service is so that the Body may build itself up in love, and so that Christ may gain the Bride He desires. The church is His Body and His Bride.
As His Body grows, matures, and attains to the full measure of the stature of Christ, our Lord will return to receive His Body as His Bride, that the Lord may be satisfied.
There is no such thing as a lone-ranger service. Service is in the Body.
I must know where the Lord has placed me in His Body, and I must know what gift the Holy Spirit has given me. Then I may serve in the Body and fulfil my function, so that the Body may grow and build itself up in love.
In reality, this is rather simple. Look at a newborn baby. God gives him a complete body: ears, feet, hands, legs, mouth, and eyes.
When the child is born, he possesses eyes, and God has given him the capacity to see. He possesses ears, and God has given him the capacity to hear. He possesses hands, and God has given him the capacity to handle things. He possesses feet, and God has given him the capacity to walk.
God does not give these capacities only after the child is born. As soon as he is born, God has given everything.
But though the baby has eyes, he does not yet see clearly. Though he has hands, he cannot yet handle things. Though he has feet, he cannot yet walk. He needs the growth of life.
As he grows, his functions become manifest. He begins to see, to use his hands, and eventually to walk. The more he uses these functions, the more strength he receives.
Everything coordinates together as members of one body.
Though gifts may be different, there is only one Holy Spirit. Administrations are different, but there is only one Lord. Operations are different, but there is one God.
As our life matures, the gifts will be manifested. The Holy Spirit will guide us to pay attention to particular needs and to care for specific matters.
You may receive a burden to serve in a certain way. As you try it, the anointing may rest upon you, and others receive benefit. Then you will discover what your gift is. Do not worry.
Just remember one thing: our service today is service in the Body. Only by serving in the Body can we serve God’s eternal purpose.
This is our fellowship tonight.
Our hearts are full of thanksgiving because the purpose You have ordained for us is so great and so glorious. You have saved us so that we may serve You and even serve Your eternal purpose.
We thank and praise You that we cannot do anything apart from You. You have given us Your Holy Spirit, Your own Spirit, so that we may truly serve You.
All grace is from You. All is given by You. We prostrate ourselves before You. Open the eyes of our hearts so that we may see how we may worship and serve You. In the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.