Let us turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 12.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
—John 12:24
If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be: if anyone serves Me, him will the Father honor.
—John 12:26
Here our Lord says that if somebody is to serve Him, then he needs to follow Him. We do not have the way; He has the way. Do we want to serve? Where is the way? The Lord says that He has a way, and He wants us to follow Him.
He says, “Where I am, there shall My servant also be.” Where is our Lord?
He told us that He is on the cross, just like a grain of wheat that falls into the earth, dies, and then resurrects. He gave and poured forth His life.
In resurrection, He bore much fruit. This is the path and the way of our Lord. Wherever He is, there we should be as well.
If we are to serve, there is only one way, and the Lord has told us that this is the way of the cross.
So, the way of service is not only an inner way; the way of service is also the way of the cross.
Let us have a further word of prayer.
Lord, we want to thank You because You are the One who calls us to follow. You know that we, by ourselves, have no way. We thank You that You have told us that You want to walk the way with us.
We thank You that wherever You are, we are there as well. When we feel that we have no other way, we thank You that You have given us a way.
Just as You were that grain of wheat that fell into the earth, died, and bore much fruit, You want us also to die and resurrect with You.
Lord, we want to thank You because You have pointed out a way for us, and that is the way of the cross. Tonight, we ask that You would use Your word to enlighten Your children.
We have to confess that we are but foolish. We ask that You would open up Your word so that we who are foolish can understand, so that we can rise up and follow You.
We give You praise and love in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
We know that we are gathered here for a couple of days to consider this matter of service. Our desire is to review what the Lord has already pointed out in the Scriptures.
My responsibility is to speak on the way of spiritual service. Last evening, we spoke of the fact that the way of service is the inner way.
When we speak of service, we often think of Martha. We think of many outward activities. But something very simple can become very complicated. We serve, but we lose our peace.
We have many burdens, yet the weight is all upon us. So the Lord reminded us that we are troubled and worried about many things, but there is one thing that we should not neglect.
That is what Mary chose: the good part, which no one can take away. Why? Because Mary sat at the Lord’s feet.
On the surface, she was doing nothing. Yet the most important thing she had done was to sit at the Lord’s feet.
If we understand the picture in the Old Testament, to sit before the Lord’s feet is to come before the ark. It is to come before the Holy of Holies. It is to draw near to God. It is to stand before God.
Brothers and sisters, this is service. When God sees our service unto Him, He regards this higher than merely outward service for Him.
So the Lord said that Mary chose the better part. When we come to the depths of our spirit, we come to the reality of spiritual service.
Paul said, “I serve God in my spirit.” When Paul was before the Lord’s feet, that was how he served God. So this way is an inner way.
This evening, by the Lord’s grace, we want to see another aspect. What we have just read is very clear: we servants have a way. It is not a way that depends upon us; that way is the Lord’s way.
As long as we follow Him, we have a way. All those who serve the Lord must not walk their own way. Nobody can successfully walk his own way; sooner or later, he will reach his end.
Maybe you are smarter than others. Maybe you are wiser than others. Maybe you are better than others. But at best, it is still your own way.
Brothers and sisters, if we are to serve our Lord, the Lord has told us that there is a way. Thank the Lord: the way is the way in which the Lord was crucified.
The Lord Jesus was God’s beloved, only begotten Son. In the universe there is but one true life. All other lives are shadows of that one life. Only the Lord Himself is that true life.
That life is the life of His beloved Son. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Him. This is the greatest wonder in the universe.
The Lord was in the bosom of the Father. He was the only begotten Son, and all the fullness was in Him.
In the universe there is but one life, and this is the life of the grain of wheat. If there is to be a harvest in the universe, that one life must be imparted.
God has a purpose: to lead many sons into glory. This is His purpose.
If the life of the beloved Son is merely put before us as an exhibition, we may admire it, but the more we admire it, the more we see that we are not like Him. The more we see His beauty, the more we see our own ugliness.
If that is glory, then this is our shame. This is the glory of the Beloved, and nobody can share in His glory by natural ability.
But thank the Lord: God has an eternal purpose, a glorious purpose. We do not know why the Lord loves us. We do not know why, when God first loved, He loved us. Yet He gave His only begotten Son. How is this possible? This is the greatest mystery of the universe.
God not only wants to save us. He wants to give the life of His beloved Son to us so that He can bring many sons into glory.
How is this accomplished? This is God’s work. Through His Son, God wants to accomplish this work, and the final result is a great harvest in the universe.
Because we are sinners, from our point of view we say that the Lord died because God loved us and had pity upon us. We were going to hell; we could not go to heaven. Therefore, the Lord was nailed to the cross, and He solved the problem of sin.
That is beyond doubt. The Lord loves us. Sin had made us distant from our Lord. Our Lord was nailed to the cross, His body was broken, and He opened a new and living way.
Behold, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.
—John 1:29
We are sinners, but the Lord loved us, and He bore all our sins. This is the story of love.
But from God’s point of view, in this matter of salvation, He has an eternal purpose. When He created man, He put the tree of life in the midst of the garden.
The only life in this universe is the life of the Beloved. This life was not merely for exhibition, for people to admire. God intended that man should partake of it.
Before man fell, God had a desire: God wanted man to experience the life of our Lord.
How do we gain this life? John chapter 1 tells us that life was in Him. John chapter 4 tells us that this life becomes a well of living water springing up within us.
Today we can be called the children of God. The Lord has given us His life, and we have God’s life within us.
How could the life that was in the bosom of the Father come within you and me? What is this story?
This is the story of the cross. If the Lord had not been nailed to the cross, there would forever have been only one grain of wheat in the universe.
But thank the Lord: through His death and resurrection, He led many sons into glory. When a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, then in resurrection life is released.
When our Lord resurrected, He poured out His life and led many sons into glory.
I remember when I was young. In our garden we had many longan trees. Because I was the eldest and the only son at that time, I was told that the whole longan tree was my tree. I could eat its fruit, and that entire tree belonged to me.
But then my mother had another six children. Among the seven children, I was the oldest. One day my mother bought seven bananas, and I had only one banana.
Now I had to share with my brothers and sisters all that my parents had.
In the same way, because we are saved, we see the Lord doing a mighty work. Our Lord is the most perfect Servant of God. He said, “I have come,” because the Father gave Him a body, “to accomplish Your purpose.”
He came not only to be our Savior, but also to impart His life to us.
That is why He did not ascend from the Mount of Transfiguration. As to our Lord’s life and work, on the Mount of Transfiguration He was at its apex. He could have risen directly into heaven.
Peter said, “Let us build three tabernacles,” because it was near the Feast of Tabernacles, the time when the grapes were ripe.
As to the Lord Himself, He could have ascended to heaven. But if He had ascended, what would have happened to us? His ascension at that point would have condemned us even more.
For you and me, and for our sin, He descended all the way from the Mount of Transfiguration down to Golgotha and onto the cross.
On the Mount of Transfiguration, our Lord was like the grape at its fullest ripeness. It represented the fullness of life and the beauty of life.
But because our Lord wanted to share His life with you and me, the grape had to go through the winepress.
Once the grape goes through the winepress, it pours out its life entirely. This life is a poured-out life; it is an imparted and shared life.
If we are to share or impart life, there is one kind of suffering that we must understand: undeserved suffering.
That suffering is like the suffering of a mother. In order to impart life to her child, a mother goes through the pains of travail.
The Lord said, “Where I am, there shall My servant also be.” On the cross, our Lord went through this way. We have to walk that way.
But there is one work in which we have no part, and that is the work of atonement. Only the Lord could do that. Nobody else has any part in accomplishing atonement.
Why do we serve? Is not the purpose of our service to see how the Master uses us in order to impart life? We have no other service.
If we want to walk the same way the Lord walked, there is one suffering in which we have no part: the suffering our Savior went through in His atoning death.
But because the Lord has a will concerning our life, He brings us into one work, and that work is the Lord’s work.
The Lord’s work is that there would be much fruit. How is there much fruit? God’s purpose is harvest.
God’s purpose is not merely one life. That life is without sin; that life is perfect. He wants to impart that life.
To impart that life, there must be suffering. The grape must go through the winepress, and then its life is poured out.
This is what Paul speaks of concerning the body of Christ. Paul says that he fills up that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for the sake of His body, the church.
Does this mean that the suffering of Christ was lacking? Of course not. On the cross, He saved us. Through His pierced side came forth blood and water, and through birth pains and travail the church was born.
But do not forget: not only was the church born, but the church must grow into the fullness of Christ.
Here is the work of building the body—from its birth until it grows into maturity. This is the work that enables the body to grow.
Just as the Lord went through birth pains to bring us forth, the Lord calls us to follow Him so that we may participate in the growth and building of His church.
Brothers and sisters, here we see that the way of service is the way of the cross.
There is a universal law, a biological law: a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, and as a result it bears much fruit.
The student cannot be greater than the master. Why is our Lord the greatest fisherman in the universe? Throughout two thousand years, countless people have entered into the Lord’s net.
Our Lord is indeed the faithful Servant. He did not use guns or weapons to force us to believe. He did not send angels to compel people through fear.
You see, the flag of the cross makes many people willing to surrender before Him.
Queen Victoria said that when the Lord returns, she would be willing to take off her crown and cast it at His feet.
Thank the Lord: we have been saved. That is His work. Our Lord is the most faithful Servant.
This law applies to the Lord, but this law also applies to us. There is a way, and this way is called the way of the cross.
Let us turn to 2 Kings chapter 6.
Now the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we are dwelling before thee is too strait for us.
Let us go, we pray thee, unto the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.
So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood.
But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed.
And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and made the iron to swim.
Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.
—2 Kings 6:1-7
This is a very interesting Old Testament picture, but there is a very important principle in the background. Here we see Elisha and his disciples.
These disciples came to the end of their way, but Elisha had a way. Through the life of their master, they could learn many lessons.
The disciples said to Elisha, “Behold, the place where we are living is too limited for us. Allow us to go to the Jordan. There we will build another house.”
Each person would go and take a beam, and then they would build a house in which to live.
But do not forget: there is only one work, and that is to build the body of Christ.
If we speak about building, here is a very important principle: everybody has a part. Everybody has to go to the Jordan. This building must take place by the Jordan.
What was the difference between the people of Israel and the Philistines? Both peoples left Egypt and went into Canaan, but the Philistines took a direct route into Canaan.
The people of Israel had to go through two bodies of water, and these two bodies of water are very important.
On the surface, the Philistines and the Israelites were alike. Their point of origin and their destination were the same. Yet the difference was in the process, and that process is very important.
What were those bodies of water? When Israel crossed the Red Sea, the world was left behind. The world was buried in the Red Sea.
When they crossed the Jordan, they buried the twelve stones. They went into Canaan with the testimony that they themselves had been buried.
Crossing the Red Sea means that the world is buried. Crossing the Jordan signifies another work of the cross: we ourselves are buried.
All the building has to be beside the Jordan. When we speak of building the body, we must remember that to build, we need to be beside the Jordan.
Each one was to get a beam, and then they could build a house. But there were no beams already prepared. There were only trees.
If you are to build a house, you have to turn the tree into a beam. Everybody took an axe, and everybody was to use the axe to bring down a tree.
That tree represents us. If you want to build a house, if you want to find building material, this tree has to fall.
The axe has to be placed at the root so that the tree can fall. Then you have the material, and then you can build a house.
When we read Ephesians chapter 4, all the saints gather together to do this. Everybody has a work. This is our service.
How is the house built? The tree before us has to fall. If that tree does not fall, there is no building.
But what happens? One of the men was felling a beam, and the axe head flew off.
In Deuteronomy, it says that if two people go into a forest to cut down trees and the axe head flies off the axe, the tree may not fall, but the other person may fall.
This is very important. When we come to serve, we see the vision and we want to participate in the building. But do not forget: everybody has to go to the Jordan, and everybody has to cut down the tree.
Then we have the material with which to build a house. Where is our difficulty?
Many times, when we throw our axe, that axe is supposed to strike the root of the tree. But we are not good at using the axe, and the axe head flies off.
Instead of the tree falling, another brother or sister falls. But thank the Lord: in this story, the axe head fell into the Jordan.
Is this not the difficulty in the building up of the church today? We think that other brothers are difficult. We think that a certain sister is difficult. We think that if they were not there, everything would be better.
We never think that we ourselves are the difficulty. We want to find a perfect church. But if there were a perfect church, once you joined it, the church would become imperfect.
Before, the cake was delicious, but now there is a fly in it.
So what is the lesson of the cross? The cross has to deal with this fly.
Every single person has to allow the cross to work within him.
The axe in the Bible speaks of authority. The work of the cross in us is the work of God’s authority.
Our life has to grow. On the one hand, we need love; on the other hand, we need authority.
The Lord loves us, but if we are to grow in life, He must also deal with us in authority.
I have a granddaughter who is one year old. I see her growing up. On the one hand, we use love to help her grow, but it cannot be only love. If you do not have authority, you fail.
She loves picking up small things to eat, and this is very dangerous. Therefore, the mother has to say, “No, no.”
The mother saying “no” is not mistreating her. Sometimes authority prevents her from being harmed.
She is only one year old, but she is already a small sinner.
One day her grandmother was playing with her. There was a Russian doll, with a doll contained within another doll, and then another doll within that one.
She loved playing with this toy. When she came to the smallest doll, she naturally wanted to put it in her mouth.
Nobody taught her to do this. Her grandmother was beside her, so she turned her face away and tried to hide from her grandmother so that she could put it in her mouth.
Brothers and sisters, authority can help her.
When man fell, man no longer knew what authority was. Authority is for service.
If the church has no authority, the church cannot grow. Sooner or later, the flesh will enter in.
But thank the Lord: we see the discipline of the Holy Spirit. This proves that He is exercising authority. He corrects us. He deals with our self.
He does not allow the world to enter the church. He does not allow the flesh to enter the church. He does not allow the self to enter the church.
All of us have to accept this work. If the church is to be built, all of us have to go through the work of the cross.
It is not that others will fall; we must fall. When we fall, then the church can be built.
Here is the problem. We say that we want to help brothers, and we will use authority. But do not forget what the man said: “Alas, my master, for it was borrowed.”
All our authority is borrowed. Only God has authority. Nobody else possesses authority in himself.
Because we do not recognize authority, many times the axe head falls before our own feet. We are the ones who need to change.
The Lord allows us to use His authority, but here is the problem: authority belongs to God alone.
The Lord was a carpenter. There were many wooden beams in a carpenter’s workshop, and there would also be sawdust.
The Lord used this as an example. He said, “Why do you see a speck in your brother’s eye, but do not see the log in your own eye?”
That speck is actually a piece of sawdust. Of course, we need to remove the speck from our brother’s eye. That is service; there is no question about that.
But here is the problem: do you want to be an optician?
If somebody comes to you and asks, “Can you please take away the cataract in my eye?” you must first ask, “How are the eyes of this doctor?”
If his cataracts are worse than yours, you do not want him to operate on you. That is what the Lord is saying.
You think that you will take out the speck in your brother’s eye, but you have a log in your own eye.
What does the Lord say? Allow the Lord first to take away the log from your own eye. Our Lord is the best optometrist.
If we allow the Lord to take away the log in our eyes, then we can take away the sawdust from our brother’s eyes. Then we can use authority to serve brothers and sisters.
When the church is being built, on one hand we need love; on the other hand, we need authority.
But authority and love cannot be separated. What the Lord has joined together, nobody can separate.
Many people use authority and forget love. Many people are full of love but forget authority. If the church is to be built, authority and love must be closely connected.
Now we see that the axe head has fallen into the Jordan. We need a miracle.
What is a miracle? In Exodus, there is a definition: the finger of God. Whenever He moves His finger, something happens. That is when a miracle occurs.
Now the Lord is to work in our lives. How is He going to do this? Elisha cut off a stick and threw it into the water, and the iron floated up.
Brothers and sisters, do you remember? After the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, for three days they could not find water. Then they found water, but it was bitter.
What did God say? He showed Moses a tree, and Moses threw it into the water.
In the original language, it is a tree. Here, the stick is also a tree. Do not forget: our Lord was hung on the tree. He was nailed to the cross. He was nailed to the tree.
Of course, this tree represents the work of the cross. The water was bitter, but when God put that tree into the water, the water became sweet.
Again, another piece of wood was thrown into the water, and it made the iron float.
I do not know how the iron floated; the Bible does not tell us. But one thing is clear: because of that stick, the iron floated.
What does that mean? Here we see that the cross must be joined to authority.
The axe head floated, and it became connected to that piece of wood. If it is in Elisha’s hand, the axe will eventually strike the root of our self.
Then we will fall. Then we will have building material, and then the building can be built.
Brothers and sisters, in the church today we need love, but it must also be joined with authority—in other words, with the work of the cross.
Many times, when we use authority, we are separated from love and separated from the cross. But love, authority, and the cross must be joined together.
When the axe head is in the Master’s hand, it will eventually strike the tree. Every tree will fall, and the church can be built.
Today we are in Australia. Let me use an Australian example.
Australia can be proud because it possesses one of the largest living structures in the world: the Great Barrier Reef.
The Great Wall of China is great, but it is dead. The Great Barrier Reef is great, but it is also alive.
It can be seen from outer space. It is the Great Barrier Reef.
How great is it? It is as large as Italy. It stretches for many miles along the eastern coast of Australia.
Think about it: a living structure. Everything is alive.
In the southern part of the reef, about six hours from Brisbane, you arrive at the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef. There are several very special islands there.
These islands are built upon coral. They are coral cays, having nothing to do with the continent.
You can have an island resting upon coral. Around the coral is green water, and on the islands are many trees, birds, and other animals.
What picture does this give us? This life is built upon death. It is life out of death.
When you arrive at such a cay, you have to ask, “How does life exist here?” The Lord uses His creation as a reminder that there is life out of death.
We visited one of these coral cays. We saw many trees, almost like a forest, and many other kinds of vegetation surviving there.
The environment is surrounded by seawater, and there is very little fresh water. If there is no fresh water, how can this life grow?
There is one bush called an octopus bush. It has many leaves, growing in clusters.
All the clusters of leaves are green, but in every cluster there is always one leaf that is yellow. That leaf is dying.
What does that mean? In God’s creation, that one leaf absorbs all the salt water. It takes the salt from the water, and the remaining water goes to the other leaves.
This reminds us of Paul’s word: “So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” This is Paul’s service. This is the way of the cross.
When we arrived at the coral cay, I thought that there had been a great typhoon, because many of the trees were fallen.
But then we learned that it was not because of a typhoon. It was a forest, and in order for the entire forest to survive, many trees had to fall.
There was very little fresh water. The only fresh water came during certain rains, and a particular tree had the ability to absorb water.
Normally, when you cut a tree, you see rings in the wood. But when you cut this tree, it has no rings. If you touch it, it feels like a sponge.
Scientists have discovered that this tree absorbs fresh water into itself. But when heavy rain comes, because it has such great absorbing power, it becomes top-heavy.
Then the tree collapses. But when it collapses, the water it has absorbed is given to others.
Beside the fallen tree, you see other trees growing. In an environment where survival seems impossible, the forest is built up through these fallen trees.
When you look from a distance, you see the green waters and the forest. It is quite amazing. Again, we see life coming out of death.
Brothers and sisters, this is only an example from God’s creation. If we are to experience life out of death, there is one way.
If the forest is to be built up, many trees have to fall. They give their lives to others.
This is the principle of the cross. This is the way of the cross.
What does the cross have to do with harvest? When we speak of bearing fruit, on one hand the Lord requires harvest, but there is another requirement.
Let us turn to John chapter 15.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from Me ye can do nothing.
—John 15:5
Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be My disciples.
—John 15:8
The Lord says that if a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it bears much fruit. That is harvest.
But if we are to serve the Lord, His requirement is not merely harvest. There is another requirement.
Ye did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide.
—John 15:16
To bear much fruit is one thing, but for the fruit to remain is another. Many people may know how to bear fruit, but that fruit does not last.
The Lord has one requirement: not only bear fruit, but bear fruit that remains.
If you read the Song of Songs, the Shulamite is described as one who sits in the garden. In that book there are gardens and orchards.
The last orchards speak of choice fruit: new fruit and old fruit.
The new fruit is fruit that has just come out. The old fruit is fruit from the previous season. It has gone through the winter, yet it is still there.
By the Lord’s mercy, we may bear fruit, but our fruit may not last through the winter. The Lord does not only want harvest; He wants lasting fruit.
If we are to understand this, I believe the clearest example is Paul’s life.
Paul’s spiritual life was divided into three periods of eleven years. The first eleven years were hidden years before God.
He spent about three years in the wilderness of Arabia and eight years in Tarsus. We do not know exactly what happened during those eleven years.
But thank the Lord: during those eleven years, Paul was like Mary, sitting before the Lord’s feet.
After the eleven years, the water of life sprang up. The dam was removed, and Paul entered into the second eleven years.
Because the dam was removed, the water of life was able to flow forth.
The first eleven years were hidden years. The second eleven years were years of public service.
During those years Paul made three missionary journeys. He walked through all of Asia Minor and through much of Europe.
The distance he traveled was immense. Paul indeed bore much fruit.
First, the gospel entered the religious world of the Hebrews. Then it entered the Greek cultural world. Finally, it entered the Roman imperial world.
The Lord wanted to send the gospel to all the corners of the earth. Paul bore much fruit.
But do not forget: what was the secret? How did Paul have such a great harvest?
If you read 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, you see how deeply the secret of the cross worked in Paul.
He says that there is a treasure in earthen vessels. We are but earthen vessels, but the treasure is in the vessel in order to manifest the surpassing greatness of God’s power.
Paul said, “So then death worketh in us, but life in you.”
Speaking to the Corinthians, Paul said that the apostles were set forth last of all, as though they had become a spectacle.
Paul was like a mother to the Corinthian church. But the travail of a mother is much more than the pain of giving birth.
When you read 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, you clearly see the work of the cross.
At the very end, Paul speaks of a thorn in the flesh. This represents the work of the cross.
That thorn made him weak, but when he was weak, then he was strong.
One who serves must have wisdom, and one who serves must have power.
If he has power but no wisdom, what can he do? If he has wisdom but no power, what can he do? We need wisdom, and we need power.
But do not forget: to the Jews, the cross is weakness. To the Greeks, the cross is foolishness.
If the Lord Jesus had nailed the Roman Empire to the cross, then the Jews would have believed in Him. But Jesus Himself was nailed to the cross. Therefore, to the Jews, it was weakness; to the Greeks, it was foolishness.
But Christ crucified is the wisdom of God and the power of God.
God’s weakness is more powerful than men, and God’s foolishness is wiser than men.
How do we serve the Lord? Do we take worldly wisdom and worldly power? No, no. Thank the Lord.
This is how the cross works in us. We experience weakness, and then we experience the power that is revealed in weakness. That is the power of the cross.
Perhaps you think that you are wise and have many ideas. Yet in the Lord’s hand, you become foolish. But thank the Lord: that is the wisdom of foolishness.
In God’s weakness and God’s foolishness, there is His wisdom and His power.
Therefore, Paul was able to bear much fruit. But here is the question: does this fruit last forever?
Paul bore much fruit, and he had the experience of death and resurrection. He was knocked down, but not destroyed, because the power within him was resurrection power.
What enabled Paul’s fruit to last? Our time is gone, so we will have to wait until tomorrow.
When we see Paul’s third eleven years, then we understand.
At the end of his second eleven years, Paul wrote Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, and other epistles. Paul had reached an apex in revelation and usefulness.
A brother once said that if a person is to be useful, he needs to be trained for twenty years. When I considered Paul’s life, I began to understand.
When Paul wrote Romans, he had been trained for about twenty-two years. By then, he was useful, and he was determined to go to Rome and then to Spain.
He had indeed gone to many corners of the earth. But God does not only want harvest; He asks whether the fruit will last forever.
That was the lesson Paul learned in the third eleven years.
When Paul was at his most useful, suddenly he lost his freedom and was bound with chains.
During the last eleven years, he was under the shadow of death.
Brothers and sisters, did not the Lord say, “Those who serve Me should follow Me”? Paul followed his Master.
He said, “It is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me.”
Why did Paul go through these three parts: a hidden period, a period of bearing much fruit, and then a period under the shadow of death?
Brothers and sisters, it was not his own way. It was the Lord’s way.
Our Lord began in the manger, and at the end He was on the throne. But He had to go through the cross. No cross, no crown.
Twice heaven said, “This is My beloved Son.” The first time was when He was baptized. Our Lord had been hidden for thirty years.
Then He bore much fruit. On the Mount of Transfiguration, heaven again declared, “This is My beloved Son.”
At that point He could have ascended. But in order to impart His life to us, He walked the final portion of His life in the way of the cross.
After our Lord accomplished His will, there was no longer merely a voice from heaven; there was an action in heaven. Our Lord was received into heaven.
The student cannot be greater than the Master. Our Lord is the best example of a servant.
He is the standard. He has given us a blueprint, and Paul followed this blueprint throughout his entire life.
First, Paul was like Mary before the Lord’s feet. Then came eleven years of bearing much fruit. But not only that: in the final eleven years, the cross continued to work in his life.
His experience became higher and deeper. His revelation became greater.
More importantly, through those final eleven years, his fruit was able to last.
His fruit was not just for those in the first century. If it were not for Paul’s third eleven years, the church today would not have a way.
Today the church has a way because Paul found this way. Even though the work of the cross is heavy, the life within gained the victory.
The way of serving is the way of the cross.
The cross has to do with two things: one is harvest, and one is lasting fruit.
To reach these two points, we need God’s weakness and God’s foolishness.
For this reason, the way of the cross becomes our way.
As it was in Paul’s life, as it was in many brothers and sisters throughout history, may the Lord make this way clear to us.
Before us is a new year. If the Lord tarries, He has not given up on His work.
Do not accept defeat as fatalism. You should be a survivor. Do not say, “I have been defeated here, and I have failed there.”
Our Lord never tells us that He has given up. Before the Lord returns, He wants to gain a glorious church to be presented unto Him.
Who is willing to go by the Jordan? Who is willing to participate in the building? Who is willing to accept the work of the cross?
Who is willing for the authority of the Lord to serve us? May the Lord call us to serve, and to serve according to His way.
Let us pray.
Lord, we commit these words into Your hands. Even though this meeting is passing away, on this first day of the year, may all the words You have spoken to us throughout this day take hold of us and not let us go.
We confess that many times we waste the opportunities You give us. Yet You have given us another year. This means that You have not given up.
It means that You want to accomplish what is in Your heart.
Lord, we believe that You call us not without a purpose. Even though we come by the Jordan, may we not go back to our own way.
May we be truly servants of Christ. May not only individuals, but the entire body, serve Christ.
In Jesus’ precious name. Amen.