Our brother and sister are here from San Francisco. Brother Wong is a servant of the Lord who shared his testimony last night. It was a very precious and moving testimony, and it was recorded. I encourage you to obtain it if you were not able to come last night.
He also shared a little of his burden for China, which I think is very helpful for us, because we have been praying for the Lord’s work and His testimony in China.
Our brother has been serving the Lord for quite a number of years throughout North America and the Far East. We have had the pleasure of knowing our brother and sister for a number of years, meeting with them in the assemblies in San Francisco. The name of their meeting place is House of God.
I remember the first time we met brothers and sisters from the House of God. We were attracted to them. We were on a bus coming back from a conference in Seattle to the airport, and they were singing all the way to the airport.
It has been a joy to know these saints and to know our brother and sister. We are thankful that they can be with us this weekend.
I will repeat something I said last night. These opportunities to get to know each other, even though we live in different cities, sometimes on two different ends of the continent, are by God’s appointment. They are not accidental; they are not coincidental. This is the Lord’s appointment—that we can be with our brother and sister, and they can be with us—and we are so thankful.
They are little windows into what is ahead. We are all going to be together up there. The Lord gives us these opportunities to get to know each other while we are still down here. So we are thankful.
We pray that our brother will feel at home and that the Lord will give him liberty this morning to share all that is on his heart. Let us have one more prayer for them. Pray for Christine as she translates. Laura really helped her last night. Let us ask the Lord to help them again today.
We do thank You, gracious Father, for this time when we can come to You. We thank You for Your gifts to the church. We thank You for our brother and sister. What a lovely gift to us this weekend, to be with them and to touch Christ in them.
We pray, Lord, that You will cover them and fill them with Your Holy Spirit. Give them a fresh anointing, a fresh equipping of Your Holy Spirit, that they may have liberty and share clearly and fully what You have put in their hearts to share.
Help our sister especially to flow easily with our brother and to give us, in English, the word that our brother has received from You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Peace to you.
It is nice to be in Richmond. Two years ago, in April, I came to Richmond. This is my second opportunity to meet with the brothers and sisters here.
I remember that, two years ago when I came here, Brother Stephen Kong was sharing with us on this topic: “Who Are We?” I am sure many of you still remember.
I am sure God still wants us today to be clear about who we are. What I am going to share with you today also bears on this same topic: Who are we?
Before I begin my sharing, I would like to turn to some Scriptures.
Revelation 21:1-7.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His peoples, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God:
And He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.
And He that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true.
And He said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that thirsteth of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.
One more verse, Revelation 22:7:
And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book.
Those of us who study the Bible realize that, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, God has never ceased His work among men. During all these ages, God has never ceased to speak to man. He speaks out what He has decided in His heart, expressing what He wants to accomplish in this universe.
In the past ages, He called many servants and spoke to them, revealing His will to them. In the New Testament, God not only revealed what He was doing, but He also urged people to accomplish what He had revealed.
From the Old Testament to the New Testament, we can see that all those called by God had a common experience. Their experiences can be linked together to show us the will and plan of God.
If we read from Genesis to Revelation, we can see very clearly both God’s work and His will. This process takes a long time. In all this passing time, among the ones He had chosen, there has been joy and there has been sorrow.
Strictly speaking, in the process of executing God’s will, there seems to have been more sorrow than joy. This does not mean that God does not want us to be joyful. It is mainly because we have not lived correctly before God, and this results in pain and sorrow.
When we study the Bible, one book that brings this out is Jeremiah. Jeremiah raised many questions, and these are not only his questions; they are also our questions.
We see that it is the work of God. It is something He wants to accomplish. Yet there have been so many difficulties. At times, it seemed that there was no hope for the accomplishment of His will.
Jeremiah raised all these questions: “Why? Why? Why?”
We thank God that, although there are so many “whys,” God always lets us see the reason. God never allows us to remain in darkness.
If we look at all these experiences in the Lord, we can see that God’s work may be divided into two stages. From our own experience, we also go through these two stages.
The first stage is that God reveals His will to us. To put it another way, God reveals His eternal purpose. This is very important, because only God knows the things of Himself, and only God Himself can accomplish what He has in His heart.
But in the process of accomplishing His will, God needs our response and our cooperation. If we want to live in His will—or, to say it another way, if we want to see His will accomplished—we cannot allow an obstacle to remain between us and God.
God has to let us know what He desires, and we need to know what He desires. That is the very important reason why God reveals Himself to us.
For us to be able to discern the will of God is very important. If we have no idea what He desires or what He wants, we will not know what to do. We will not know which way to go, and we will not even know which direction to take.
But thank God: He has not hidden Himself. He is ever so willing to reveal Himself, so we have a very good opportunity to know Him.
Throughout the Old Testament and in the beginning of the New Testament, God revealed Himself to His people from many aspects. The saints in the past found their way, and they were assured of their direction.
To receive God’s revelation is very important. Without revelation, we would not know what to do or how to go about it.
But there is one thing that is even more essential: we must live out that revelation. In other words, we must put it into practice.
If we have revelation but fail to walk in it, it is as though we do not know the revelation. Even if we know the revelation, if we do not walk in it, it is just like not knowing it. This is very important.
God has never ceased to remind His children to live according to His revelation and to walk according to His revelation. When we walk in His revelation, this is the key to the accomplishment of His will.
Sometimes we have this troubling thought: did we not say that our God is almighty? Since He is almighty, why does He not simply accomplish what He desires? Why does He want us to respond to His calling and be part of this process?
We believe that He is almighty. He can do it. But He does not want to do it alone. He has been waiting for us to have a part in this work. What is the reason behind this?
You may remember when the Lord taught His disciples concerning prayer. We often mention these words in our prayers:
What things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
And what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Sometimes we pray, “Lord, we would like this to be bound on earth, and we pray that You will bind it in heaven.” Or we pray, “Lord, loose us and free us, so that we may live in the abundance of Your grace.” Then we expect the Lord to accomplish it.
The Lord taught us in this way. But sometimes what troubles us is that it seems as though we have more authority than God. We appear to be demanding that God do something in heaven, or telling God that He cannot do something in a particular way.
But in fact, it is not like this. Some translations of the Scriptures may have misled us. The true meaning of what the Lord said in Matthew 18 is this:
Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven;
And whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
Notice the sequence of timing. In some translations, it seems as though man’s action comes first. Actually, we can see in the Scripture that it is God who initiates first, and then man responds.
God has the desire, and we appreciate that desire. Then we pray about it, and God accomplishes it.
God desires to have His work accomplished. He would like to have a free hand in His work, but He confines Himself under one condition. By His own will, He confines Himself.
Under normal circumstances, this condition has to be fulfilled first. Once the condition is fulfilled, God begins to work. If the condition is not fulfilled, God waits.
What is He waiting for? He waits for someone on earth to know and appreciate what He desires. In response, people pray to the Lord, “Lord, accomplish this.” Then God begins to work.
God is seeking a way for His work to be done on earth. He is seeking the response of people.
Then we come to this question: Why does God place Himself under such restriction? Why does He not remove these restrictions so that He can work freely?
The Bible does not tell us clearly why. But as I study the Bible, I begin to realize something. I cannot say for certain that this is the reason, but I would offer it for your consideration.
We have to go all the way back to the first six days, when God created the earth. After He finished His creation, He put the earth under the authority of man.
If we study this passage carefully, we see that He not only placed the creatures under the subjection of man. He placed the whole earth under man’s stewardship.
Beginning from the time when God entrusted the earth to man, man became the master of the earth. This is something quite critical.
It is not merely that man became the master. What is special is that God Himself, because of His faithfulness, must remain true to His own commitment.
When He comes to work on the earth, seemingly He seeks the agreement of the master of this land. Of course, He could easily ignore all this. But because of His faithfulness, and because He has entrusted the earth to man, He gives due respect to that commitment.
He seeks man’s agreement for His work. If you think this is an acceptable understanding, then you can understand why He said that what is bound on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and what is loosed on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
God already intended to do something, and He communicated His thoughts to man. When man comes to understand and is willing to respond to His calling, God takes this as man’s agreement. Then God begins to work.
I must add that this is under normal circumstances. Under certain unusual circumstances, God may act exceptionally and may not confine Himself in this way.
Very rarely, He may act apart from this ordinary pattern. As far as I can remember, there was one occasion when Samuel was young and the ark had been taken away. God dealt with the idols of the Philistines.
As far as I can remember, that was the only time God did not confine Himself to what He had set down with man. The situation at that time was very special.
Let me return to my train of thought. I said earlier that to receive and understand revelation is very important. But what is more important is to put revelation into practice.
When you walk according to revelation, you allow God the opportunity to work. When He has an opportunity to do His work, He can accomplish His purpose.
If we want to walk in His revelation, it may sound very simple. But if we really want to walk in it in our daily lives, it is not simple.
When God wants to accomplish His will on earth, God’s adversary, Satan, is not willing to let this happen. Therefore, all kinds of difficulties arise.
All these hardships come upon those who are willing to follow God’s revelation. When we look at spiritual history in the Old Testament, those who followed God’s will always encountered opposition. They were not met with the sympathy of men; they were often subjected to persecution.
When we study the history of the church or the history of the Old Testament, we can see that the accomplishment of God’s will has come through the blood and tears of His saints.
We praise and thank the Lord for all these people of God. They walked through hardship, and they were able to satisfy God’s heart.
But this did not happen only in the past. It is still happening right now.
God has let us realize His heart’s desire. Can we simply stop at realizing His desire? We cannot stop there. Failure to walk in revelation is just like not knowing His revelation at all.
I often have this feeling when I read Isaiah 6. To some people these words may not mean anything, but when I heard them, I responded immediately. Those who love the Lord usually respond to them.
God was expressing a burden from His heart. He had something very heavy upon Him, but it seemed that not many people responded to His feeling.
God had this desire, and He said:
Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?
This tells us one thing. There are many people who hear God speak, but comparatively speaking, there are fewer who are willing to walk accordingly.
Therefore, there is so much hindrance to the Lord’s work on earth.
We truly thank and praise our Lord that He has allowed us to live in this age. At this stage, we can say that what He desires to reveal according to His eternal plan has already been completed.
According to my own experience, perhaps one or two generations ago—speaking especially of China, though this may apply generally to other places—those who believed in the Lord knew mainly one thing: if they believed in God, they would go to heaven and not go to hell.
What they knew was limited to this. But I think that in this age we are clearer about salvation, and we have begun to learn a little more about God’s eternal purpose.
We know that the Lord is returning. We know that He will establish His kingdom. We know that when He returns, we will be raptured. We also know that after He establishes His kingdom, there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
In the new heaven and the new earth, God’s eternal will will be completely fulfilled.
We also know that, according to His salvation, God established the church on earth. Through His church, He intends to accomplish His purpose.
That is why we give ourselves to live our lives in the church, so that God may have an opportunity to accomplish His work.
What is more important is that God has also let us know that the foundation for the accomplishment of all this has already been laid: Christ Himself.
Whatever God wants to accomplish has been completed in Christ. We can draw upon what Christ has accomplished, and then we will be able to live out His will.
We know all these things. But now the problem is this: we know, but how are we going to live them out?
If we fail to live them out, God will not have an opportunity to work. His eternal will will not be able to be fulfilled.
When God lets us see this, we have to examine ourselves in His light. He has let us know about His eternal will, but does what we know have any effect in our lives?
We know that through salvation God has put us in Christ. We also know that God has put us together to become His church.
But if all this does not have any effect in our lives, we become merely religious people. We are not truly living as children of God. To put it more seriously, we may become those who block His way of working.
It may not have dawned on you that, as a believer, you might become a hindrance to His work. It is hard for us to accept, but the fact remains. This is a very serious matter.
The passage we read from Revelation reminds us of this important matter. Please take note.
When God makes this proclamation from His throne in the new heaven and the new earth, He says:
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His peoples, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Notice the scope of this proclamation. First, He mentions the tabernacle. Then He speaks of the actual situation that will be realized among many people.
He says, “They shall be His peoples, and God Himself shall be with them.” These words are plural. He is not speaking of one person, but of many people. He desires many to become His people, and God Himself shall be among all these people.
This plural expression points to the church of God. This is in the new heaven and the new earth, and later the Scripture mentions the New Jerusalem.
Then Revelation 21:7 says:
He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.
Notice that the object has now changed. In the preceding passage, it says, “they.” But now it says, “he.” What is the difference? The difference is quite obvious.
The earlier passage tells what God is going to do among all His people. But afterward, God points out individuals. Those who are counted are those who inherit His promise, and they are the overcomers.
These individual overcomers are counted one by one by God.
The New Jerusalem will be filled with God’s glory and honor. This will be the glorious church in eternity. But this glorious church is composed of many individuals.
All these individuals have been individually called by God to follow Him. They walk in the revelation of God. As a result of all these individuals being willing to follow His revelation, the New Jerusalem will appear.
The glory and fullness of God, as manifested in the New Jerusalem, are the end result of the faithfulness of these individuals.
I would like you to turn to another passage: Psalm 87.
His foundation is in the holy mountains.
The Lord loveth the gates of Zion
More than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Glorious things are spoken of thee,
O city of God.
I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon as among them that know Me:
Behold, Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia:
This one was born there.
Yea, of Zion it shall be said,
This one and that one was born in her;
And the Most High Himself will establish her.
The Lord will count, when He writeth up the peoples,
This one was born there.
They that sing as well as they that dance shall say,
All my fountains are in thee.
When you read this Psalm, you cannot fail to see that it speaks of the glorious church in eternity.
When this glorious church is revealed in eternity, God is going to do one very precious thing: He is going to count all these individuals.
“This one was born there. That one was born there. This other one was born there.”
He is going to point out each one, one by one. He will say, “So-and-so was born there.” This birth is the new birth.
Perhaps He will say, “This particular person was born again in 1936. Then, in the beginning of 1937, his heart was enlightened. He followed the Lord without reservation. He began to walk in His will, and until this day he has walked in God’s will. Now he is in the New Jerusalem.”
Then He may point out another one: “Look at him. He was saved in 1940. Then, in August of that year, he began to seek after the Lord. Because he was able to see God’s will, he was willing to forsake everything. Now you can see the glory of the New Jerusalem, and he has a share in it.”
On that day, God is going to count all these individuals. He will mention your name. He will mention my name. He will mention his name.
He will be confirming what we have contributed to the accomplishment of His will.
Brothers and sisters, I personally feel that when God says this to me on that day, it will bring more joy than placing a crown on my head. I can see that I have had a part in the accomplishment of His will.
The crown that He gives signifies that a person has had a part in the accomplishment of His purpose.
God desires that we not merely have revelation. He desires that we walk in revelation.
Let us turn to what the Lord says in John 14. The Lord has spoken some very serious words.
John 14:15:
If ye love Me, ye will keep My commandments.
John 14:21:
He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself unto him.
John 14:23:
If a man love Me, he will keep My word: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.
Brothers and sisters, the Lord made a very precious promise here. He also pointed out the right way.
This way is not merely to know; it is to live out His desire. This way is not just to know what He has said. The reality is more important: we must live out His word.
To such a person, God promises that He will come. Take note: this also is in the singular.
Jesus was speaking these words to all the disciples. There were at least eleven of them. Yet, when He spoke of the reality, He used the singular: such a person.
The Father and the Son will come to him and make Their abode with him. The Father and the Son will disclose Themselves to him.
May the Holy Spirit enlighten us. God desires a corporate testimony, but the corporate testimony has its foundation in the individual.
If individuals do not live correctly before God, the corporate body will suffer.
We pray that we may not be merely members of this corporate testimony. We pray that individuals may become those who bring greater glory and fullness to the corporate testimony.
May the Lord have mercy on us.
Lord, we all look to You for Your light. Speak to us through the Holy Spirit. Draw us near to You so that we may be able to live in Your delight.
Help us and remove all these obstacles from us, so that we may all long to live in Your eternal will.
Keep our steps so that we may not wander away. Day by day, renew our hearts.
Lord, have mercy on us. May we all be able to satisfy Your heart in heaven.
We pray in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.