Good evening, brothers and sisters. On behalf of this conference, we want to welcome you—those from the local assemblies and those who have come from overseas—to this beautiful city of Sydney for our Fourteenth Christian Conference on Service.
For the past thirteen Christian conferences on service, the Lord has faithfully given us a specific theme for each conference. We are very thankful for His faithfulness.
After much prayer and fellowship among the brethren, we feel that the Lord is directing us to re-examine our service before Him. There is a great urgency and a great need for this.
Throughout church history, there have been many instances in which a group began well with the Lord, but somehow ended not quite as they ought to have ended. Just because we have had a good beginning does not guarantee that we will have a good end.
There is a real urgency for us to return to the Lord Himself and to find out from Him firsthand what He would have us do, especially in these last days—days of great confusion and great mixture among God’s people.
The theme of this conference is that we need to re-examine our service before our God. If there are ways in which we have deviated, we ask His grace to bring us back to His way. If our work has fallen into routine and we are simply carrying it on with natural energy, we ask Him to revive us, refresh us, and restore what needs to be restored.
This is the purpose for gathering during these next few days. We believe that the burden given to our three brothers is from the Lord Himself. Their responsibility is to help us see what kind of spiritual service is according to God’s heart.
If our service is not according to His heart, it is all in vain. I pray that the Lord will richly anoint our brothers and enable them to release His word to us, especially in these last days.
We need to know what is in God’s heart for us and what service is acceptable in His sight. One brother will share on God’s equipping for spiritual service. Without His equipping, what is there with which to serve Him?
I encourage you to take good notes, to read them, and to come to the fellowship times with something to contribute.
Service acceptable to God must come through God’s equipping of us. The natural man has absolutely no contribution to make in spiritual service. Spiritual service must be according to God’s way. He knows what is in His heart and how He equips us to serve Him.
This is the Fourteenth Christian Conference on Service, and there is no guarantee that we will have another one, because the Lord’s coming is very soon. All the events taking place in this world show us that Christ is at the doors. He could be here with us at any moment.
But the issue is this: are we prepared for His coming? He needs a people to whom He can return—a people detached from the world, detached even from themselves, and detached from merely Christian work; a people simply looking to Him and prepared for His coming.
This evening, my burden is that we would know that God is always ready to speak to us. The question is: are we prepared to listen? Do we have an ear to hear? Do we have a heart prepared to obey?
The obstacles are not on His side; the obstacles are all on our side.
We are here at this particular time for a particular purpose. We are not here by chance. We do not just happen to be here. By God’s sovereign arrangement, we are gathered here for these next few days.
There is a sense of urgency. We should not miss this opportunity. We must gain all that we can. To be together in the presence of the Almighty God is not a small thing; it is a great thing.
Would you turn with me first to Psalm 65, verse 4?
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee,
That he may dwell in thy courts:
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house,
Thy holy temple.
“Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest.” God makes a choice. Being chosen is one thing, but being caused to approach is quite another thing.
You may be chosen, but you may not be willing to come. But when God chooses you, He intends to draw you to Himself. Unfortunately, many of us know that we are chosen, but we hesitate in coming to Him.
We are all chosen ones. Without His choosing us, we would not be meeting here this evening. The reason we are chosen is that He wants to draw us to Himself.
There is another passage I would like you to consider: Jeremiah 30:21.
And I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me;
For who is he that hath had boldness to approach unto me?
Saith the Lord.
Unless God invites you, there is no way for you to come to Him. But if He invites you, He intends for you to come. And when you do come, the Lord takes notice of your coming, because He wants you to come to Him.
He has been waiting for us to come for a long, long time. Whenever there is a response from our heart, it touches God’s heart deeply.
Who is this who comes with a heart prepared to approach Him? This is a matter of promise; it is like a vow. Just as a man and a woman, when they marry, give themselves to each other, so Christ, on the cross, gave His all to us. He is waiting for us to do the same.
When there is such a response, He takes notice. “Who is this coming?” The one who comes has a prepared heart.
I know that all three brothers have already prepared themselves before the Lord. The Lord has already given them something, and we should pray that He will enable them faithfully to discharge what is in their hearts. But how about us?
Unfortunately, for many of us, meeting to hear a message has become routine. It is simply a habit: we go to hear a message because that is what we do.
But the Lord’s heart is toward those who come to Him with a prepared, devoted heart. He takes notice of such a heart.
After this sharing, we will spend some time in prayer. If the Lord burdens your heart to pray, do not pray only for yourself. Pray for the whole conference. This is a corporate prayer time.
Your prayer is not merely your own prayer. Your prayer is on behalf of all the brothers and sisters. Whoever prays, we all pray together.
Our heart condition is important. We are not here by chance. You have been invited to draw near to Him. Let us draw near to Him with a devoted heart, a whole heart.
This conference is very important. There is an urgency about it. We may not have another opportunity. What God will share with us during these next few days, He intends to fulfil in us.
Before we go to our prayer time, I would like to share a few thoughts from Matthew 13.
We do not know how far we have gone with the Lord. We have been given so much, and we often take it for granted. Oftentimes, we fail to re-appropriate and make good use of what has already been given to us.
God will not give us more if we do not appropriate what He has already given us. If we make good use of it, then there will be increase. We have to be thankful stewards of what has been entrusted to us. We need to be faithful, beginning with small things.
Matthew 13 begins:
And on that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
And there were gathered unto him great multitudes, so that he entered into a boat, and sat; and all the multitude stood on the beach.
And he spake to them many things in parables.
Now let us turn to verse 10.
And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
That is a tremendous promise. We who have put our faith in the Lord Jesus, we who are His followers, have been given something: it has been given to us to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.
We have a privilege. What will we do about it? Do we want to know? Do we want to take advantage of what has been given to us?
Now turn to Matthew 13:16-17.
But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not;
And to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not.
We have been given the ability to hear, to see, and to understand. If we knew all that we needed to know, we would not be here tonight. If we had seen all that we needed to see, we would not be here.
We need to see more of Him. There is much more of Him that we need to know, much more that we need to hear, and much more that we need to understand and obey.
We are blessed with an ear to hear and an eye to see. You cannot ask for a greater privilege than that: to see Him and to hear Him. Nothing can surpass that.
Thank God for giving us this privilege. Let us pray that the Lord will give us a good beginning and a heart that is right to approach Him.
When we are found in that condition, God takes notice, and we will be blessed.
Let us spend some time in prayer. If the Lord moves your heart to pray, pray a few words. Pray that our hearts will be purified, that our ears will be open to Him, and that we will see Him.
Do not hesitate. Pray in any language, but pray a short prayer. We will all say amen together, because whoever prays, it is our prayer together.
Let us have a time of prayer.
Lord, it is by Your choosing that we are gathered in Your presence this evening.
Your choosing of us is because You desire us to come and draw near unto You. We thank You for such a high calling.
We pray that through these next few days our hearts will be tender. We will learn to respond to Your love and Your grace.
Lord, we look to You to purify all our hearts and remove all idols, so that You may occupy the first place in our midst.
You are waiting for us to draw near to You. Have mercy on us during these two days, for Your own glory.
We praise You. You have promised, and You will surely fulfil Your promise. We give You all praise and all glory.