Let us bow our heads for a word of prayer.
Father, we thank You because You are with us. If You are with us, who can be against us? We give You all the praise and all the glory.
O Jesus, we thank You. Your exaltation to the throne of God is a spiritual fact. We thank You that there is a Man in glory, and His life is our life.
We give You all the praise and all the glory. As Your redeemed, may our responsibility be to declare loudly: Jesus Christ is all, and to God be all the glory.
Tonight, we bring our time to You. It is for You that we are here, and we are all here to listen. Give ears to hear and hearts to obey, so that Your will may be fully accomplished. To You be all the praise and all the glory. In Christ’s mighty name we pray. Amen.
I am so thankful to be standing here before you. The assurance from the brothers and sisters is most encouraging: we are standing together.
As Brother Kong shared this afternoon, “I’m not here to preach. We are here to learn Christ together.” That is what we are here for. We need one another, so let us look to the Lord together for Him to speak to our hearts in a clear and direct way.
Before I share on the realisation of what has already been realised objectively in the Person of Jesus—how it can become real in His people and become our experience—I want to share a couple of verses of warning from Scripture.
There are many, many promises in Scripture, and we love promises. But over time, we overlook the warnings.
As I have been meditating before the Lord these past few weeks, I have realised that, in my case, without those warnings, I do not believe the promises of the Lord would be fulfilled in my life. We are such stubborn, stiff-necked people, and we need warnings desperately—especially in these last days.
We are so complacent and laid back. We do not know how to be truly engaged in His business. We are self-occupied in our personal lives, even in our religious lives, and we need to be delivered.
Please turn with me to 1 Chronicles 28.
We will read 1 Chronicles 28:9-10.
As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind;
for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts.
If you seek Him, He will be found by you;
but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.
Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary;
be strong, and do it.
Pay attention to that sentence: “If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.” That is quite a warning, is it not?
“Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong, and do it.” Take up your responsibility, but it is grace. Seek Him, and He will be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.
Those are severe words, but they are packed with divine love. We often fail to see that.
Turn with me to 2 Chronicles 36.
This particular passage has lingered in my heart for many, many years. From 1966 to 1970 or 1971, we had a series of convocations called the Wabana Convocations. Some of the older ones, like me, may remember them; the younger ones may not.
There were three speakers: Stephen Kaung, Albert Funke, and Boris S. From 1966, I think, to 1971, every summer we had a week of holy convocation.
On one occasion, when Boris was speaking, he said, “Even though the mercy of the Lord endures forever, His patience has its limits.” That was a solemn word. I heard that sound, and from that moment it has never really departed from me.
Let us look at 2 Chronicles 36, beginning with verse 14. I hope the young people will take this passage to heart and be before the Lord seriously.
Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more according to all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the Lord which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place.
But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.
That is a real warning—a real warning. In this conference, I hope the Lord will awaken us from all complacency. The time is short. The time is short.
One verse came to me just today. Turn with me to Mark 14.
This concerns what took place in Bethany, when Mary poured that costly alabaster ointment upon the Lord Jesus. We will read Mark 14:6-7.
But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me.
For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good;
but Me you do not have always.”
Pay attention to those words: “But Me you do not have always.” There is a brief time—sometimes a very brief time—available to us.
A conference of this nature should not be taken lightly. When the Lord speaks, He intends His word to accomplish something according to His heart. He speaks because He has a will behind His word, and He wants to accomplish it.
We human beings use casual words. We use our words carelessly, but never God. What He says, He means.
May the Lord have mercy on us. These are just a few words of warning as we live in these last days. We have only a short time. Let us maximise our time for the Lord’s interest, that His will may be fulfilled.
I want to touch a little on what I shared Monday evening concerning the cross. Later, I will share about the work of the cross.
There is no message of the cross without the work of the cross. The work of the cross comes before the message of the cross. The message of the cross is for the accomplishment of what God has already done.
I want to share a few thoughts about the exaltation of Jesus—what has already been secured for us at the right hand of the Father. It is already secured.
As I shared Monday evening, the cross is not merely the forgiveness of our sins, though that is part of it. The cross is not merely His death and burial, or our death and burial with Him, though that is part of it too.
But if you read Scripture, the cross is not the end. Glory is the end. The cross is simply the means of arriving there.
After the cross, we have resurrection, ascension, glorification, and enthronement. We know for sure that He sits at the right hand of the Father. That is a historical fact, and it is something we must settle in our hearts.
Jesus has entered into glory to the glory of God. When the Lord looked at the cross, He did not focus on the suffering through which He would go. For the joy set before Him, He endured.
That joy was not merely that He would receive glory. Through His glorification, He would bring many sons to glory. He is not there for Himself; He is there for us.
All the way from the cross to the throne was not for Himself. It was all for us. That is why He became a Man, the Son of Man. The Son of God cannot die, but the Son of Man could die, take our place, and achieve what God desired.
At the cross, God removed a humanity that could never please Him and put it away. Through resurrection, He brought in a new Man who totally satisfies His heart: the Lord Jesus.
That is secured in the Person of Jesus. Whatever He secured for us through His death, resurrection, and ascension cannot be touched by the earth. It is eternal, not temporal; it is imperishable and glorious.
For example, our justification is because of the Lord Jesus. He is our justification. He is our sanctification. He is our perfection. He is our sonship, and He is the life within us.
He is there, all for us. All that He is is now available to us through the Holy Spirit. That is the gospel: what God has accomplished in His Son, He has given to us.
Paul says in Romans that if God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him for us all, what would He withhold from us? What would He not give us?
These matters must be settled in our hearts because they are the solid ground of our faith and our sure foundation. When we do not have that assurance, we have nothing upon which to stand.
My young brothers and sisters, take note: we must know how to believe. We must know what is there for us to believe. In order to appropriate what is there, we must know what is there for us to appropriate.
An adequate knowledge of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ is absolutely necessary. That is why we need the Lord, His word, and one another, so that we may come into a fuller knowledge of who He is. Individually, it will not happen. We need one another corporately.
When Lance shared this afternoon, I walked out with my wife and said, “Actually, Lance shared almost all that I wanted to share this evening.” Without faith, there is nothing we can appropriate.
Without faith, there is no way to grasp what is already there, receive it into our hearts, and make it real to us. Faith is the means by which these things become real.
Throughout the whole Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, God is looking for faith. Without faith, He is, in a sense, paralysed.
Please turn with me to Hebrews 11. Is my voice carrying better tonight than Monday evening? I appreciate many of your prayers and your standing with me.
We will read Hebrews 11:6.
And without faith it is impossible to please Him;
for he that cometh to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
In Mark 11, the Lord Jesus said, “Have faith in God.” Without faith, no one can please God. No one can approach God. Those who come to God must believe.
If we diligently seek Him—if we truly believe in Him—what He is will become ours. What He is will be realised in us. That is what I mean.
Anything from above—anything divine, spiritual, and eternal—is a great treasure. It is not given away carelessly. You must mean business if you are going to obtain it.
Many of us do not seem to have it because we are half-hearted. The Lord has no way to commit Himself to us.
Boris said that throughout the ages, God has been looking for men and women to whom He can commit Himself. But where can He find them?
Throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, faith is crucial. Faith is the only way. How was Abraham justified before God? By faith. How are we justified? By faith in the finished work of Jesus.
Faith is realising and appropriating—making real here what is already true there. Without faith, there is no completion, because God wants to make Himself real to us.
We were created for Him, to contain Him. Faith is the only way for Him to come to us and for us to go to Him. There is no other way.
He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. If we diligently go after Him, He will give Himself fully to us.
He will not withhold anything. He gladly gives Himself to us when there is real faith. He will commit Himself to that person totally. That is love.
Hebrews 11:1 says:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.
The Darby translation says that faith “substantiates” things—it makes things real. It makes something real and certain to you, as though you have grasped it.
Abraham had faith in God because God is the One who raises the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist. When we speak of future things, to God they are already completely realised. They are already done.
God never does a job halfway. He does it right. In creation, the six days are a beautiful picture. He did everything right, and then He said, “Behold, it was very good.” Then He rested.
When God’s word goes forth, God intends to accomplish something that will bring Him into true rest. When that word comes to us, and we respond and believe, we enter into His rest.
We are all believers, are we not? But what is the measure of our faith? Do not look at it. If you look at it, it disappears. Faith is the gift of God. Thank God for that.
Turn with me to Matthew 9:27-28, where the Lord encountered the two blind men.
And as Jesus passed by from thence, two blind men followed Him, crying out, and saying, “Have mercy on us, Thou Son of David.”
And when He was come into the house, the blind men came to Him: and Jesus saith unto them, “Believe ye that I am able to do this?”
The Lord Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” When did He last ask you that question? When did you hear Him say to you, “Do you believe I am able to do this?”
I know that on the day you were saved, you believed. There is no doubt about that. The day you were converted, you said, “I believe.” But after that, how many times has the Lord said to you, “Do you believe I can do this?”
If we are to live by faith, we need to hear that every day. How can we get through our family life, our church life, and our life in the world without Him?
It is always very practical: “Do you believe I am able to do this?” The two blind men said, “Yes, Lord,” and it happened.
When the word comes, we need to respond. It is a choice. Many saw His miracles and heard His words, but they did not believe in Him. Many did not believe.
The Lord did not say, “Do you think I am able to give you sight?” He gives us, as it were, a blank cheque. You can put anything there: “Do you believe I can do this?”
Whatever you face, the Lord says, “Do you believe I am able to bring you through?” They said yes, and it happened. Faith works.
This response of faith must be instantaneous. Evan Roberts said that when God speaks and we hear, if we hesitate for a few seconds and do not respond immediately, faith is gone.
The moment you begin to reason, “Should I believe? Can I believe?” you have already fallen into yourself. You have already fallen into unbelief.
Whenever the question becomes, “Do I believe or not?” that is unbelief. Faith simply believes. There is no question.
To question God is not honouring to Him; it is an insult to Him. He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Turn with me to Mark 5. There are two miracles from Mark 5:21 to the end of the chapter: Jairus’s daughter and the woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years.
The Lord was on His way to Jairus’s house. Before they arrived, the report came: “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”
To us, it is over. But to the Lord, it is not over. Take that to heart. Many times we say, “It is over now,” but the Lord says, “No, it is not over. It is just the beginning for Me to demonstrate My power.”
They said, “Forget it. Do not bother the Teacher. It is over now.” Then the Lord said, “Do not be afraid; only believe.”
Do we need that kind of faith? We are facing the world, the spirits of the world, and the adversary who is out to destroy us and wipe out the testimony of the Lord Jesus.
In many places, the testimony may seem spiritually dead. I was spiritually dead once—perhaps many times. But spiritual death must not be the end, because the Lord revives. He is the God of resurrection, not the God of the dead.
They went to the tomb and heard, “He is not here. He is risen.” We have to see these things. It is very simple—very simple.
Yesterday afternoon, after Lance shared, a sister came to me. She said that every one of the seven points Lance mentioned applied to her, so she was disqualified.
But I said, “Do not look at yourself. Do not look at those around you. Do not look at your circumstances. Look only to the Author and Finisher. It is done.”
You come out of it because He is the God of resurrection and the God of power. That is why I said on Monday: He is seated at the right hand. It is done. When that is settled, then we can go on.
Lance mentioned this afternoon Peter walking on the water. No one can put it across as vividly as Lance.
When Brother Lance came to visit this country in the 1970s, he came to our home on quite a few occasions. My wife and I treasured our fellowship with our brother. The way he can convey and express something is remarkable.
We said that if Lance were not a loyal servant of the Lord, he would be a tremendous theatrical actor! He can make you laugh, and he can make you weep.
The way he described Peter in that boat was very beautiful. If you want to know more about Lance’s way of telling things, listen to the old tapes when he speaks about Jacob.
Let us look at Matthew 14, beginning with verse 25.
And in the fourth watch of the night He came unto them, walking upon the sea.
And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost”; and they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”
And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee upon the waters.”
And He said, “Come.”
And Peter went down from the boat, and walked upon the waters to come to Jesus.
If we stopped there, it would all be very beautiful. He walked.
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me.”
And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and took hold of him, and saith unto him, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”
Doubt. Doubt is the issue. The Lord can do much, but He cannot do anything apart from faith. He requires full faith—complete faith in Himself.
Doubt questions the Lord’s power. When you doubt, you question the Person: “Is it true or not true? Is He able or not able?”
When the Lord asks, “Do you believe I am able to do this?” doubt is equal to unbelief. The consequence of unbelief is that we sink spiritually.
When there is doubt, we sink spiritually. When there is unbelief, we sink spiritually. We cannot connect with the Source.
The only way we connect is faith and obedience. With doubt, that connection is gone.
Before the Lord was arrested, He said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat; but I made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not.”
That is our greatest comfort. He knows all about us: that we doubt Him, question Him, and fail to believe Him. Yet He says, “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”
If faith is gone, everything is gone. How are we justified? By faith. How are we sanctified? Also by faith. How are we brought into reconciliation? Through faith.
How can we draw near to God? It is also by faith. From faith to faith, from grace to grace, and from glory to glory—all the way.
We begin by faith, and we end by faith. There is no other way.
This evening, I want to share some thoughts which I hope will help us. The question is: Do we dare to believe the impossible?
Anything that is of God is humanly impossible. We must settle that. Unless God acts, there is no possibility.
In Luke 15, there are three parables: the lost sheep, the lost silver coin, and the lost son—the prodigal son.
Watchman Nee has a very good teaching on this chapter, and G. Campbell Morgan, in his exposition of the Gospel of Luke, also has wonderful thoughts for us to consider.
These three parables show the threefold work of God.
First, the shepherd went out to seek the one lost sheep until he found it and brought it back rejoicing. This speaks of the work of the Lord Jesus at Calvary.
The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to lay down His life for the sheep. That speaks of His work.
Then comes the parable of the woman inside the house who lost one silver coin. This speaks of the Holy Spirit’s work within us. The Holy Spirit’s work within is based upon the work already accomplished on Calvary.
The Holy Spirit and Christ are always linked together. The Holy Spirit came for one sole interest: the interest of the Lord Jesus, and nothing else.
The Lord Jesus accomplished His work first, and the Holy Spirit takes that work and makes it real in us. First we have the work of the cross; then we have the message of the cross.
When we hear and respond in faith, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin. We repent, receive the Lord Jesus as our personal Saviour, and enter into what God has prepared.
In the parable of the prodigal son, everything was already ready. The fatted calf was ready, the robe was ready, and the ring was ready. The father was simply waiting for the son to return.
This is the threefold work of God: the work of the Son, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the Father’s love waiting to welcome.
G. Campbell Morgan shared an interesting thought. In Luke 15, we have the father, the prodigal son, and the elder son.
The younger son wasted all his possessions and sank into a very low estate. But when he came to himself, he returned and said, “I am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”
The elder brother remained in the house but never enjoyed what the father had in the house. The father said, “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that is mine is thine.” Yet the elder brother never realised it.
Everything is available, yet some saints live in spiritual poverty. They do not seem to have much of anything. All the riches are available to us, but we do not simply come into the good of them.
The prodigal son appreciated what was in the father’s house because he had gone to the extreme. He came back with such a grateful heart: “I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight.”
But the father said, “No, you are my son. Put shoes on his feet. Put a ring on his hand.” That is sonship.
Morgan said that there is actually a third son not mentioned in the parable: the Son who told the story. He is the true Son, sympathetic with the Father concerning both the prodigal and the elder son.
Because He knew the Father’s heart, He was willing to go all the way to bring the lost one back. He was willing to make everything available to all of us, even to the elder son.
This is a very beautiful parable.
The way God works is that first the work is done. That is the work of the cross. Without the work of the cross, is there a gospel we can preach? There is no gospel.
If the work is only half done, there is no gospel. In Matthew 22, the king prepared a feast for his son and sent out the invitation: “All things are ready; come.”
But unfortunately, those who were invited took the invitation lightly. They did not enjoy what had been prepared.
The work has been done; therefore, we have the true gospel to proclaim. The word tells us what has already been done. When we believe the word, we believe what has already been done.
The message of the cross is based on the work of the cross. When there is a response of faith, the Holy Spirit performs the transformation.
The cross has settled many issues that we can never settle for ourselves. The cross settles the issues we face once for all.
There is a negative side, and there is always apostasy, but the emphasis should not be upon the negative. It should be upon the positive.
Turn with me to Romans 6. In these verses, we have the word crucified: the work of the cross and the power of the cross.
God speaks to us through His word. If something is there but we do not read it, we do not know it is there. How we need to read His word carefully.
God’s word tells us who God is, and God’s word tells us what God has done. I have one regret: when I was young, I failed miserably in this. I did not appreciate God’s word or read it as diligently as I should have.
Even today, I have to confess that I can read carelessly, and then you miss a lot. Sometimes it is good to have a spouse who says, “You have to read more carefully.” If you have a real helpmeet, she will say, “You need to read more carefully.”
Romans 6:6 is a very familiar verse:
Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him,
that the body of sin might be done away,
that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin.
And Romans 6:11 says:
Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin,
but alive unto God in Christ Jesus.
Knowing. Reckoning. Faith.
Do not rely on your feelings. You can try to feel it, but you cannot feel it. Often it is beyond your reason. You simply take it as it is. That is faith.
He who comes to God must believe that He is. That is it. Then He works.
When we believe, we want to look at ourselves and ask, “Am I changed?” We look at one another and ask, “Are you changed?” But faith is one hundred percent God’s word.
Do not look at anything else. Fix your eyes on the Lord Jesus. That is all you have to do: faith.
There are spiritual facts. Faith believes in God’s facts—in Christ and His finished work. Then perhaps explanation follows; perhaps experience follows; perhaps some inward sense follows.
But even without feeling or sensing anything, we still believe. When the Lord sees that kind of true faith, that is the ground upon which He works.
It is difficult because we are sentimental people. We want to see things change immediately. But because we are such rebels and such sinners, it may take a long while for the Lord to change us even a little.
He sees the heart first. When the heart is right, the other things come out gradually.
Brothers and sisters, reckon yourselves dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God. If you want to be alive unto God, you have to be dead unto sin.
Many young people do not truly want to be alive unto God, so they still hang on to sin. But if we want to live in His life and in Him, that life enables us to overcome sin because it is resurrection life.
I do not care how I feel, whether I can overcome sin or not. If He says so, I believe it.
The centurion said to the Lord, “Only speak the word.” He understood authority. He said, “I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth.”
The Lord said, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” The centurion was a Gentile. He saw nothing, but he simply believed, and it happened.
When we have faith, there is no risk because God is faithful to Himself. Even if we are faithless, He is faithful.
That is the cross. The cross will take away our unbelief. By resurrection, God gives faith to believe. If we want to live for Him, we see our sins crucified for no other reason than to live for Him.
Then we see it work. It is God-centred, not self-centred—not so that we can overcome sin and feel good about ourselves or appear spiritual. It is to live unto Him.
Turn with me to Galatians 2:20. There is the living side and the crucifixion side—the death side and the life side.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me:
and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith,
the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself up for me.
“I have been crucified with Christ” is a settled fact. We have to see that. If we doubt, there is nowhere to go. Either we accept it as a fact, or we do not accept it.
Our problem is that we are not convinced it is a fact that we can take, stand upon, appropriate, and believe. We question it because we look at ourselves and at one another.
We say, “I am not crucified. Look what I am. How can I be crucified and still be where I am?” Then we look at everyone else and say, “Nobody is crucified.”
But from God’s side, you have already been crucified. That is the ground of faith, and God works on that ground. There is no other ground.
The old “I” was crucified so that there may be a new “I”: Christ living in me. The cross is very positive—very positive. Thank God for that.
One more passage, because of time: Galatians 6:14.
But far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world hath been crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Paul gloried in the cross. To Paul, the cross was not shame; the cross was glory.
Through that cross, we have finally been emancipated—free once for all. Is that glory or not glory? That is glory. We celebrate our freedom.
I remember that, as I grow older, I have seen documentaries about the Pacific War and the Japanese surrender. It reminded me of my early days in the Philippines.
When we went from China to the Philippines in 1940, shortly after we arrived, Pearl Harbor broke out. The Japanese came in, and we were under Japanese occupation for more than three years.
Before General MacArthur left the Philippines, he said, “I shall return.” All the citizens of the Philippines held on to those few words.
When he returned, there was such a celebration. The people of the Philippines adored General MacArthur because they regarded him as their saviour.
But when he came back to the Philippines, that was not the end of the Pacific War. It was not until Japan signed the unconditional surrender documents that the matter was settled.
Brothers and sisters, on that cross, at that moment, it was settled. Satan’s kingdom was completely overthrown, once for all, and God’s kingdom was brought in.
Christ has done it all. It is a settled thing. Do not doubt it.
The cross is the mark of separation. Through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, the world has been crucified to us, and we have been crucified to the world.
How do we know for sure that Jesus was crucified, glorified, exalted, and seated at the right hand? He said, “I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore.”
He said to Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger, and see My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into My side.” Even in His glory and ascension, He still bears the marks of the cross.
But those are the marks of victory—the marks of a work accomplished. He was there for us, not for Himself.
Whenever the Lord Jesus spoke of the cross, He always had glory in view.
In John 12, when the Greeks came and said, “We would see Jesus,” the Lord said that the hour had come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
How was He glorified? He went into death, was resurrected, and now His life is imparted to all who believe. That is His glory.
We are His glory the moment we possess His life. We must live by that life and allow that life to grow in us, because it is for His glory.
As far as the world is concerned, Paul said, “I am dead.” As far as he was concerned, the world was dead. The cross separates all the old ties and all the old relationships once for all.
It is settled in Christ. With us, we gradually come into the good of it. We move from faith to faith, from grace to grace, and we are transformed from glory to glory. It is a journey ahead of us.
In the last few minutes, let us turn to Mark 14:26-28.
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out unto the mount of Olives.
And Jesus saith unto them, “All ye shall be offended: for it is written,
I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad.
Howbeit, after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee.”
This has to do with our corporate life. Without the cross, and without our dealing with the cross, there is no true corporate life.
Our true relatedness is to Him—the crucified One, the glorified One—and our life together is under His headship.
He said, “I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.” When Judas came with a multitude carrying weapons, the disciples all fled.
Before the cross, they scattered. In view of the cross, they scattered. But after the cross, after the point of resurrection, He came to them. He went here and there, sought them out, and brought them together.
After He was raised, He went before them into Galilee, and they gathered there before Him. They also gathered before His ascension as His witnesses.
Our corporate gathering as a testimony of oneness is based upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ—the cross.
The cross takes away all that is natural and brings us into what is divine. There are two rivers: the Red Sea removes what is not of God, and the Jordan brings us in. It is all the cross.
Through the Jordan, we enter into the fullness of Christ. The cross is absolutely necessary.
I have to say this: there are very few people and very few places where the cross is spoken of. When you speak of the cross, you have no place, I have no place, and we give place only to the Lord Jesus, that He may be all in all.
That is the cross. That is the testimony. That is Christ.
The Lord is doing this recovering work. Do not neglect the assembling of your local saints. If the Lord has gathered you there, no matter what condition you find, if He is gathering, it is precious in His sight.
We may appear to be poor, but to Him we are His treasure, because He is in us. There is no perfect church, but we must see Christ in the midst of His people.
Thank God for the cross, which removes the obstacles that stand in the way of our coming into the good of all that is available to us.
By faith, we appropriate. By faith, we come and taste, and taste that the Lord is good.
Without faith, we cannot please God. Brothers and sisters, our deepest desire is to please Him. Therefore, have faith in God. That is the only way.
Amen. May the Lord bless.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank You for Your presence with us. We thank You for creating in us a hunger for Yourself and for Your word.
We pray that You will purify our hunger. Sometimes our hunger is so mixed; we want many things. Lord, we want to be single in heart. We want to be real worshippers in Your sight.
We pray for all the brothers and sisters gathered here for these few days. Capture our hearts for Yourself. Have mercy on us.
Bring us to a place where we are determined, at all costs, to please You. Give us that faith by which we can please You. Give us that living faith, so that all You have promised us may be fully realised in Your people.
With men it is not possible; with God all things are possible. Thank You.
We are here to give You all the praise and all the glory. For the coming days, we believe You will bring us to the end, because You are faithful to Yourself and true to Your word.
Realise all Your pleasure in Your people. To You be all the praise, in Christ’s mighty name. Amen.