Please turn to the Book of Revelation—Revelation 2.
Revelation 2:5
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works;
or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent.
Revelation 2:7
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, as we meet together in Thy name, we have the confidence that Thou art here with us. We realize that we are standing on holy ground. Teach us how to remove our shoes, that we may hear what Thou hast to say to Thy servants.
Speak, for Thy servants hear. May we be served, and Thy work be done. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
This morning we fellowshipped concerning the blueprint of spiritual service. We thank God that He has called us to serve Him.
Every time we consider this, we realize what an honor God has given us. Who are we, that He should desire us to serve Him? We praise and thank Him that He has made us worthy. In ourselves, we will never be worthy to serve Him; it is all by His grace.
There is nothing of which we can boast. If we want to boast, we boast in the grace of our Lord Jesus.
When we are serving, the first and foremost question we must ask is this: Is there any blueprint for spiritual service? Are there spiritual requirements? How can we serve Him in such a way as really to satisfy His heart?
We are not merely doing anything. We are serving our Master, and we need to know what our Master really desires.
Our Lord Jesus tells us:
If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be:
if any man serve me, him will the Father honor.
The first matter in service is to follow the Lord. Wherever the Lord is, there we must be. Only in that situation are we able to serve Him.
What is the blueprint of our service? It is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the perfect Servant of God, and as He serves, so shall we serve.
He calls us to bear the yoke with Him and to learn of Him, because He is meek and lowly in heart.
As we serve the Lord, we need to check ourselves again and again before Him, lest our service depart from what God desires.
We need to check whether our service is according to the nature of God. God is a living God. Unless we serve Him in life, our service will not be accepted.
By life, I do not mean our natural life. I mean the life of our Lord Jesus. His life within us is the only way to serve Him.
When we are serving, we need to ask whether there is life, or whether we merely serve as a routine. We can serve in a way that we think we know how to serve, without depending upon the life of Christ within us.
This is the first matter that we need to check.
Our God is Spirit; therefore, we must serve Him in spirit. As our brother mentioned, service is not an outward thing. It is not merely an activity, nor even merely religious activity. It is an inward service.
The Pharisees served God. They studied the Bible and knew the letters of the Word. They even went to the extreme of following all the traditions of the fathers.
The Bible gives us principles. Throughout the ages, rabbis arose to interpret the Bible and tell people how its principles should be applied in every case. For example, the Bible says that on the seventh day there should be no work. But what is work? The rabbis explained it, and later rabbis interpreted the teachings of the rabbis who had gone before them.
Thus, line upon line, they interpreted the Word of God into such detail that even the Word of God was buried.
They thought they were serving God, yet our Lord Jesus said very clearly that they served God with their lips but not with their hearts. Such service is unacceptable.
Brothers and sisters, when we are serving, our heart must be in it. We have to serve Him in spirit; otherwise, it will not be accepted.
God is truth. If we serve Him, we have to serve Him in truth—that is, according to the written Word of God. This is why it is so important to know the Holy Scriptures and to store the Word of God richly in our hearts, then serve Him according to the Word.
When we check ourselves concerning the nature of service, we must ask: Are we according to the standard? This is something we need to consider from time to time.
We also mentioned that, when we serve Him, we have to serve Him according to the vision that He has given us. Thank God that our God is a God of purpose. Even before the foundation of the world, He purposed in Himself according to His good pleasure.
This is the eternal purpose of God. In other words, this is what God desires. This is His heart’s delight; this is what He wants. According to that purpose, He works throughout the ages.
When we speak of vision, we are not thinking of some nebulous or mysterious thing. We are speaking of the very heart of God.
We are speaking of what God desired even before the foundation of the world. Before He created anything, God already had a purpose.
That purpose is that His beloved Son should be everything. He has given all things to His beloved Son, and He wants His beloved Son to have the first place in all things.
Everything in the universe is to reveal, manifest, and express His beloved Son. This is why He put all His fullness and all His riches into His beloved Son, that His Son might have the preeminence over all things.
God loves His Son so much. He said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” It is not good for His Son to be alone. Even before the foundation of the world, God purposed to give His Son a bride, a wife—and that is the church, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all.
In God’s heart there is this purpose, and all His works are according to that purpose. It is in that purpose that we are called to serve.
The great problem among God’s people in the matter of service is that we are ignorant of the eternal purpose of God. In other words, we are lacking in vision. Because we lack that heavenly vision, our service departs from God’s purpose.
We may be very busily engaged in working, and we may be working for God, but it is not working with God because it is not according to the heavenly vision.
Every work done according to the heavenly vision is a service that will last forever. When it is not according to the vision, something is missing.
As we continue to serve, we need to check ourselves: Is our service still in the vision, or has it departed from it?
We also need to ask: What is the outcome of our service? Is life imparted?
Unless we are willing to lay down our lives, the life of Christ within us cannot be released. The apostle Paul tells us that we have this treasure in earthen vessels, and the earthen vessel has to be broken so that the light of the treasure may come forth.
We have to ask the question: Is life imparted? If life is not imparted, we cannot consider it spiritual service.
We must also ask: In what power are we serving? Sometimes we may begin to serve in the power of our natural life, and gradually we learn that God will not accept strange fire.
We have to serve Him with a fire that comes from above, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we find a mixture: there is the power of God, yet there is also much of our own power. This needs to be purified, so that our service may be purely in the power of God.
Serving God is not a simple thing. We have to be always before the Lord, allowing the light of God to shine upon us, that in His light we may see light.
If we really expose ourselves before His light, I wonder whether there is anyone who can say, “My service is wholly according to God.” I doubt that there will be anyone.
Somehow, we find that we always mix up things, and very easily depart from God’s original thought. It is very easy for us to gather many things from outside, to adopt the ways of the world, or even the ways of the religious world. Then we find that our service has deteriorated greatly.
Are you really satisfied with your service, or do you realize that it is not up to God’s desire?
I do not know how you feel. I can only tell you how I feel. The more I serve the Lord, the more I realize how little of my service is really according to God. I realize that I am a failure before God.
When we look into the situation today—when we look at ourselves under the light of God, or look at the churches around the world—what is our reaction? Are we well contented, or do we really feel that we have to humble ourselves before the Lord day by day because our service is unacceptable to God?
Among those people today, especially those who really want to serve God, there is a common feeling: we have failed.
But thank God, we may fail, but God never fails.
This morning we would like to consider together the way of recovery. How can we be recovered to what God originally desires?
For the last two days, we have been talking about service. It seems as if the main emphasis has been on the people who serve rather than upon the work that we do.
We are all called to serve, but when we are serving God there is a definite work to be done. Yet, in God’s work, the work cannot be separated from the person, because it is not a technical thing or an earthly thing. It is a spiritual thing; it is a living thing.
There is such a relationship between the person who serves and the work that he does. That is why the emphasis in the Word of God is always upon being, not upon doing.
Our natural idea of service is doing. We have been redeemed by His precious blood, and now we want to serve Him. Immediately we ask, “What am I going to do? What can I do? What should I do that I may serve Him?” Our emphasis is always upon doing.
Yet the strange thing is that God’s emphasis is always upon being.
One day, after our Lord Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes, the people wanted to force Him to be king because He could solve their food problem.
The next day they found the Lord, and He said:
Work not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which abideth unto eternal life.
They asked, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?” This is found in John 6. Their whole idea was doing.
Our Lord Jesus answered:
This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Do you understand the answer? Their question was, “What are the works of God that we should do?” The Lord said, “Believe on Me. This is the work of God.”
In the work of God, being is the foundation. If the being is not right, no matter what we do, it may appear very religious and very successful, yet it may oppose God and fail to serve God’s purpose.
That is why, during these past days, the emphasis has been upon the people—their being. Unless He first works in us, there is no way for Him to work out through us.
We are familiar with Romans 12:1:
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.
Why should we present our bodies? Because of the mercies of God. He has shown such mercy to us. He has lifted us up and enabled us to sit with princes. We praise and thank Him for the mercies He has shown us.
He has not only washed away our sins; He has delivered us from the power of sin. He has given us the Holy Spirit, that we may walk before Him. He not only justifies us; He will glorify us.
All these mercies of God should constrain us. We cannot live for ourselves anymore. We cannot work for ourselves. We have to live for Him and work for Him. This is presenting our bodies.
To present our bodies as a living sacrifice—what is a sacrifice?
A sacrifice is something laid on the altar and slain. In the old days, when the hearts of the children of Israel were moved by the love of God and they wanted to show their gratitude, they took from their flocks or herds a sheep or an ox and brought it to the temple.
They tied it to the horns of the altar. The priest came and slaughtered the animal, and it was burned as a sweet savour to God.
What does this mean? I am not able to kill myself for God. This animal represents me. I lay my hands on the animal; I identify myself with this sheep, and it dies for God.
That is a sacrifice. When you think of sacrifice, it is not a matter of doing something. How can a dead animal do some work?
Being a living sacrifice is spiritual worship. It is not a matter of doing something; it is a matter of being laid on the altar and allowing God to do His work in you.
Consecration is not doing something for God.
When I was first saved, there was a teaching that if you were saved and really loved the Lord, you should offer yourself to be a preacher.
I still remember it very vividly. It was in 1930, and I was fifteen years old. Thank God, He had saved me. At the last day of the conference, the preacher had a big map of China on the wall.
He said, “If you are saved, and if you love the Lord, you should offer yourself to be a preacher. That is the way to consecrate yourself. Then you can choose where you want to go.”
I was only fifteen years old. I knew I was saved. I had sought salvation for a whole year, and now He had met me. I was so moved by the love of Christ that I said to myself, “I want to go to the furthest place, the most difficult place, to show my love for Christ.”
The preacher said that we could come to the platform, put our finger upon the map, and indicate the place where we wanted to go. I went up and put my finger on Mongolia, because at that time we thought Mongolia was the most distant and difficult place.
I meant it. But even today, I have never been to Mongolia.
Why? Because, to me at that time, serving God meant doing things for Him. I did not care about God’s will. I wanted to serve Him in my own will. I did not care in what power I served; I would put all my power into it and expect Him to be pleased.
Brothers and sisters, is that so? Far from it.
The Lord had to teach me many lessons. He had to reduce and reduce me. He had to put me lower and lower. He had to do much work in my life before I began to serve Him in a small way.
As I look back, I feel so ashamed of myself. How much of my service will last into eternity?
I want to encourage you, brothers and sisters—you who have served Him for years—to allow Him to check you again and again. Is your service really service? Is the work you are doing really out of life? Has He first worked in you, and is this work being worked out from you?
Is it in conformity with Christ? Is it still according to the heavenly vision? Have I compromised? Have I adopted the ways of the world?
If you are honest, if you really present yourself before the Lord again and again, you cannot help but realize that you are a failure. Then, is there any hope?
Thank God, He is the God of hope. In Joel 2, He says:
I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.
As we look back, perhaps we are in despair. We despair of ourselves and of the work that we are doing. We wonder whether God’s purpose will ever be realized with such people as we are.
But thank God, He is the God of recovery. He is able to restore us.
We all know that our Lord Jesus is our Saviour. While He was on earth, He gave His life for us. He shed His blood to atone for our sins. He released life through death, that He might give that life to us.
He is our Saviour and our Redeemer. On the cross He said, “It is finished.” The work of redemption is finished. He has done God’s work; He has accomplished everything. Then He was raised from the dead.
He is now seated at the right hand of God, waiting for all things to be put under His feet. But what is our Lord doing today?
He is doing a great work in heaven. While He was on earth, He was the Apostle, the Saviour, and the Redeemer. Now, at the right hand of God, He has become our great High Priest.
The Bible says that He ever liveth and is able to save us to the uttermost.
As the Apostle, He opened the way for us. As the High Priest, He saves us to the uttermost. Everything that He accomplished on earth, He now applies to each and every one of us.
He has sent His Holy Spirit into this world. He is in heaven, and the Holy Spirit is in each one of us. By His interceding, the Holy Spirit works in us, reveals Christ to us, brings us into the fullness of Christ, and enables us to serve in spirit and truth.
This is the work of our Lord Jesus in heaven, until all the works of God are done. Our Lord Jesus is the great High Priest. We depend upon Him every hour. He is interceding for us.
Remember Peter. Peter thought that he loved the Lord and was willing to die with Him. Other disciples might flee, but not Peter. He said, “I am willing to die with You.”
The Lord 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;
and do thou, when once thou hast turned again, stablish thy brethren.
We thank the Lord that we have a High Priest who is able to bring us through, to bring us into glory, and to enable us to serve God in God’s way. How we need to cooperate with Him.
There is one person in the Bible who, I think, can be a real example of how a broken vessel can become a vessel of honour. I am referring to John Mark.
We know that Mark was born into a family that loved God. His mother, Mary, seems to have been from a well-to-do family. The upper room in which our Lord had the Last Supper belonged to Mary, and it was also in that upper room that the one hundred and twenty gathered to pray for ten days.
Evidently, Mark came to the Lord through Peter, because Peter called him “my son Mark.” This young man seemed to have a heart for the Lord.
When Barnabas and Paul came to Jerusalem to bring the offering from the Gentile Christians to help the believers there, they took John Mark with them upon their return to Antioch. Mark was Barnabas’s cousin, and Barnabas felt that this young man had promise and could be used by God.
In Acts 13, while prophets and teachers were ministering to the Lord, the Holy Spirit said:
Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
These two brothers were separated and went on a missionary journey. They took John Mark with them as a helper in the work.
They went to Cyprus and preached the gospel throughout that island. Then they left Cyprus and went to Perga in Pamphylia. There the Bible says that Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.
Why did Mark leave? I think probably for two reasons. First, this young man was used to a good life. When he went with the two apostles, he found that life was too hard.
The second and more serious problem was this: when Barnabas and Saul were commissioned for the work, Barnabas was leading. Barnabas had found Paul, and he was the leader of the company.
But during their days in Cyprus, God began to use Paul. The Bible began to speak of “Paul and his company.” It appeared that the leadership had changed hands. Paul became the leader.
Perhaps Mark could not accept that Paul, rather than his cousin, should continue as leader. He could not submit himself to Paul, so he left and returned to Jerusalem.
Thank God, God would not let him go. In Jerusalem, Mark received help from Peter. Peter was one who had failed, but the Lord restored him. Therefore, he knew how to help this young man.
Peter also took Mark to Babylon. In 1 Peter, written from Babylon, Peter mentions “my son Mark.”
Later, when Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch after the conference in Jerusalem, they planned to go out again and visit the places where they had preached before. Barnabas wanted to take Mark with them.
Barnabas was the son of consolation. He was a man full of love and sympathy, and he wanted to help this young man. But Paul was a disciplinarian. He felt that because Mark had left and deserted them, he was not worthy to come with them.
There was such a sharp contention between them that they separated. Yet thank God, through Barnabas, Mark was prepared in such a way that later, when Paul wrote Colossians 4, he mentioned Mark as one of his fellow workers who was useful in the kingdom of God.
Then, in 2 Timothy, before Paul was martyred, he wrote, “Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is useful to me for ministering.”
Do not despair. There is such a thing as spiritual despair, but it should work unto salvation. It should cause you to look to the Lord, who can do the impossible.
You have failed, but He never fails.
The first Gospel was written by Mark. In that Gospel, he shows us that Jesus is the perfect Servant of God. This young man came to follow Christ wherever He went.
Thank God, we may fail, but He never fails. There is hope for each and every one of us. The matter is whether we will humble ourselves, accept the discipline God puts upon us, be willing to repent, and do the first works.
Our Lord Jesus said, “My Father worketh even until now, and I work.”
What is the work of God? What is the work that we are called to do? God has only one work. It is the work that God Himself does, the work that our Lord Jesus continues to do, and the work that He calls us to fulfil.
Why did our Lord Jesus come into this world? We often say that He came to seek and to save the lost. That is true, but it is looking outwardly.
If we look more deeply, the Gospel of John gives us the inner history of Christ. It tells us why our Lord Jesus came into this world. He came to seek His bride.
Our Lord Jesus is the Bridegroom. He came into this world to seek His bride. Yet throughout His ministry, the people He met were the blind, the lame, the lepers, the dead, and sinners. He could not find His bride.
Therefore, He had to die in order to make a bride. Not until He had the cross before Him did He begin to reveal what was upon His heart:
I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Our Lord Jesus came into this world to build the church. When the church is mature, it will be His bride.
That is the work of God. That is the work in which our Lord Jesus was engaged, and that is the work He commands us to do.
The requirements for doing that work are so high. It demands the life of the Son; it demands the laying down of life.
The work of God is one. The work of God may involve many things, but the work itself is one: He would build His church, His body, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all. He wants to find a helpmeet like Himself.
This is the work of God, and this is where our service is centered. There may be many different activities, yet all must serve this one work of God.
In the Book of Acts, we find that on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down, and one hundred and twenty individual believers were baptized in one Spirit into one body. That body began to grow, and many more were added into it.
What a glorious beginning it was. The presence of God was so real that if sin entered into the church, it was immediately disciplined.
There was a gathering of people who continued steadfastly in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
But after another thirty years or so, when John wrote the Book of Revelation, we find our Lord Jesus in heaven. In Revelation 1, John received a vision on the island of Patmos. That vision was of the risen Lord as the High Priest.
He not only ministers to each and every redeemed one; He also ministers to all the churches throughout the world.
When you read the seven letters, how do you feel? Only two churches received commendation, and only one church was praised without rebuke. The rest the Lord called to repent.
That picture was not only true in the first century. We are now at the beginning of the twenty-first century, and the same picture is before us.
A brother was once asked, “Which portion of Scripture is the hardest to fulfil?” He replied, “Ephesians 5.”
Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it;
that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
that he might present the church to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without blemish.
What is the purpose of God? What is the work of God? The work of God is that His church will be complete and will be a glorious church.
What is glory? Glory is the manifestation of God. Whenever God is manifested, there is glory.
He is working for the Body of Christ. When that Body is mature, He will come and claim His bride.
For twenty centuries, believers have been looking for the return of our Lord Jesus. But He will not return until the bride is ready.
It is always the bridegroom who waits for the bride. Sometimes we think that we are waiting for the Lord. Do you not know that His heart is more anxious than ours? He has waited for twenty centuries.
We are the reason He waits, because we are not ready. We have not fulfilled our responsibility. The church is still not fully prepared.
How can He recover? God has a better way. When the majority fails, God raises up a remnant.
This is why, when you read Revelation 2 and 3, the Lord speaks to every church. He seeks to see Himself expressed in maturity, but He does not find it. Therefore, He calls them to repent.
What does repentance mean? It means returning to Him. He has revealed Himself to us; we should obey and follow Him.
When the Lord looks at the church in general, He finds Himself outside the door. How that must hurt Him.
It cannot be done by the church in general, but it must be done. How is it to be done?
At the end of every letter He says:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
He that overcometh—
In other words, what He desires from the whole church, unfortunately the majority does not respond to. Therefore, He calls us to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The one who hears is the one who returns to Him. Whatever He has revealed, that person responds and follows Him. These are the overcomers of the church.
In Revelation 12, there will be a man child born. As soon as the man child is born, he is caught up unto God and unto His throne. Then there will be war in heaven. Michael and his angels will fight against Satan and his angels.
The air is the headquarters of the enemy, and Satan will be cast down. The air will be cleared for our Lord to descend from the throne to the air.
Who are these people? They are the overcomers of the church—the bride.
In Revelation 19, the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. She is given to be arrayed in fine linen, bright and pure.
Then, at the end of Revelation, we again find the bride, the wife of the Lamb, the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God.
Why are there two mentions? If you read Revelation carefully, there is a difference of one thousand years. The first mention is before the millennium; the second is after the millennium, when eternity begins.
Before the millennium, the bride is composed of all the overcomers of the church. They represent the whole church. Because they overcome, God considers the work done.
At the judgment seat of Christ, all our works will be tested. If we build with gold, silver, and precious stones, our work will remain.
Today, if we do not respond to our Lord, if we are not obedient to the heavenly vision, if we do not follow the Lamb wherever He goes, we will have no part in His kingdom. We cannot reign with Him for one thousand years, because we are unfit.
He can only gain a minority, not all. Those who are outside the door of the marriage feast will be in darkness; they will be disciplined until they are mature.
If you are not willing to pay the cost today, one day you will pay, because God’s purpose cannot be defeated.
Romans 8 tells us:
Whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son.
Whom he foreordained, them he also called:
and whom he called, them he also justified:
and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
God can never fail. His work must be done. Every redeemed child of God will be mature one day. We will all be in that bride, united with Christ forever. We will all be His servants. We shall see His face, and His name shall be on our foreheads.
Thank God, we may fail, but God never fails. His purpose must be fulfilled. His will must be done.
We are now at a very important time. We believe that the Lord may come at any moment.
Do we follow Him? Do we do the work that He does, or are we doing our own thing?
May everyone here this morning, by the grace of God, put himself in His hands. We are not able. We have failed, but He has succeeded. All we need to do is put ourselves in His hands, and He will fulfil it.
Dear Lord, we do humble ourselves before Thee, acknowledging that we are disobedient children and unprofitable servants.
We know that in ourselves it is impossible. But we praise and thank Thee that Thou wilt not forsake us. Thou wilt not cast us out. When Thy hand is upon us, Thou wilt fulfil Thy purpose.
O Lord, we want to praise and worship Thee. We ask in Thy precious name.