Will you please turn to 2 Timothy 1? We will read from verses 8 through 14.
Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God;
Who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,
But hath now been manifested by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel,
Whereunto I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.
For which cause I also suffer these things: yet I am not ashamed; for I know Him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to guard that which I have committed unto Him against that day.
Hold the pattern of sound words which thou hast heard from me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
That good thing which was committed unto thee guard through the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us.
Will you please turn to the book of Acts 2, verse 42?
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.
And finally, the book of Revelation 3. We will read verses 12 and 13.
He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God, and Mine own new name.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, as we gather together this morning, our hearts are full of gratitude, because Thou art so good and gracious to us. It is Thou who hast begun this conference, and we do believe that Thou art the One who will end this conference.
We do pray that during this last session of ministry, whatever is yet unfinished will be finished by Thy Spirit. We pray that Thy Spirit will guide Thy Word to each and every one of us according to Thy wisdom, that Thy will may be accomplished in all of us.
And we desire to give Thee all the glory. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters, we are really thankful to our God, because we believe He has begun this conference, and we also believe that He will end this conference.
I feel deeply in my heart that it pleases Him to end this conference with the Lord’s table, because the Lord’s table really acts out all that we have fellowshipped concerning what God has entrusted to the church.
This is all represented by the table. Here we find that our Lord Jesus shed His blood for us. Here we see how He gave His body to us. In other words, we find how He gave Himself—His all—to His church.
He has not withheld anything from us. He poured out Himself completely to us, that we may have fellowship with Him, that we may have life, and life abundant.
It is only on the basis of that life of Christ that we may be able to bear that witness. We are here to exhibit the death of our Lord. We are here to present, not only to the seen world but even to the unseen world, what Christ means to us.
We are here to declare the victory of Christ, and we are here to wait for His return. His glory shall fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.
This is our testimony. This is where the power of bearing the testimony comes from. It is not from ourselves; it is by Him who gave Himself to us.
So I do feel that this is the right way to end, and also to begin, the days ahead. We have fellowshipped on this matter of what God has entrusted to the church.
This is not a small thing. This is not something that we can neglect. This is something that every redeemed one of the Lord must know—not only know, but also enter into.
What God has entrusted to the church is none other than the testimony of Jesus.
He wants us to see Christ as He sees Him. Christ is the First and the Last. In other words, He is everything. This is not a theory; this is a truth. This is an experience. It is the will of God that we who are saved will see Jesus as the First and the Last of our life.
This is our testimony to the world. We are here to testify that He is the Living One, because He lives in us. His life is an overcoming life. His life is a life of love. Brothers and sisters, this is the testimony that we all bear.
Thank God that our Lord Jesus, for our sakes, died. He went into death in order to rob death of its power. He is resurrection and life, and He wants us to know the power of His resurrection in our daily walk, that we may exhibit the power of His resurrection.
He lives forevermore. He lives in us to show forth His everlasting life. He holds in His hand the keys of death and of Hades.
To us believers, we may go to sleep, but we never die, because God has already, in Christ, taken away the power of death. The Lord Jesus said, “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
And this is the testimony of the church. This is what God has entrusted to us. Isn’t it amazing that God should entrust us with His beloved Son? He has entrusted to us the glad tidings.
Our brother has already explained to us what those glad tidings are. They are tidings of life overcoming death. They tell us of our Lord Jesus: that He is the Living One and lives forevermore.
What God has entrusted to us can also be called the whole counsel of God. All the counsel of God, recorded in the Word, has been entrusted to us. We are not supposed to know only the beginning of the gospel. We need to know the wisdom of God in a mystery—what He purposed for us in Christ Jesus even before the foundation of the world.
This is the trust that God has entrusted to the church.
Oftentimes we find that we are very individualistic. It is true that we are individuals, and it is not God’s will that we should imitate other people. God wants us only to imitate Christ.
God loves variety. You and everyone are different. But, brothers and sisters, in spite of all our differences, He united us as one in Christ Jesus.
Our Lord Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead. Whatever you can think of concerning God—His love, His righteousness, His glory, His almightiness, and His wisdom—we cannot fathom it. Yet our Lord Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead.
And this fullness is to fill the body. No one person can contain all the riches of Christ. No one person can manifest the glory of Christ. It needs a body, a group of people.
It is a new creation, a new mankind. Those who are redeemed by the Lord become members of the body of Christ, and to that body the testimony of Jesus is entrusted.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we have already fellowshipped on the importance of the vision of seeing what the church is, because this is the will of God. This is the only vessel that can contain that treasure—not only to contain the treasure, but also to manifest and express the light of that treasure.
The church is a lampstand. It is made of gold. When you read the Old Testament, when God commanded Moses to build the tabernacle, there were only two pieces of furniture that were of pure gold—nothing but gold.
One was the mercy seat in the Holiest of All, and we know that our Lord Jesus is the mercy seat. Then there was another piece of furniture that was of gold: the lampstand.
We would think that the church is composed of all of us, and so far as we are concerned, we are wood. Yet we find that in that lampstand there is only gold.
Now, what is the church? We say the church is the gathering together of the saved ones. Probably we think that is the right definition. But when all the saved ones are gathered together, we think it is paradise; yet we find it is like hell.
Even though we are saved and have Christ in us, our own nature and our own self are so strong. Oftentimes we think that our brother or sister is rather strong, not knowing that we are just as strong. When we are together, we clash with one another.
That is the reason why we become church on Sunday morning for an hour. We meet together, have some people entertain us, and after an hour we depart. The less contact we have, the better we are.
We are not one body. We are not joined to one another. We are free from being too close to one another because, even though we are saved and have the life of Christ, our natural life—our own life, ourselves—is strong. This natural life is corruptible.
So to say that the church is the gathering of the called-out ones is true. But when two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.
In other words, when two or three are gathered together, that is not necessarily a church. Two or three can get together as a social group, but they have to gather together in the name of the Lord Jesus.
In the name of the Lord Jesus means under His headship. When we gather together and hold fast the Head, then you find the reality of the church.
Dear brothers and sisters, what is the church? Once I was sharing with Brother Sparks. I know that our dear brother was very fearful of anything that sounded like a formula, because he believed that spiritual things have no formula.
But on that day, I thought that in order to help the brothers and sisters, I had to use a formula. So I asked forgiveness first, and then I suggested this question: What is the church?
Supposing in this world we had only three Christians: Peter, James, and John. You could not have better Christians than these three. Now, is Peter plus John plus James equal to the church?
If that is the case, then you find Peter is one who wants to be first. He always leads. Then one day, the two sons of Zebedee outmaneuver him.
When our Lord was going to Jerusalem, they came with their mother, who was our Lord’s earthly aunt, and they asked the Lord, “Promise that You will give us whatever we ask You.”
I think they were ashamed of what they were going to ask. It was as though they handed Him a check and said, “You just sign it.” But our Lord was very wise. He said, “What do you want?”
Their mother said, “In Your kingdom, let my two sons sit, one on Your right hand and one on Your left.” They got it all. No wonder the other disciples became indignant.
Now, that is the church when there is a power struggle in the church. That is something that should never happen. This is not the church.
So what is the church? The church is the Christ in Peter, plus the Christ in John, plus the Christ in James, equal to the church.
But then you find that in the church there are not only Christ, but also Peter, John, and James. As long as these natural elements are in the church, there will be trouble.
So what is the church? The church is the Christ in Peter minus Peter, plus the Christ in John minus John, plus the Christ in James minus James. That is the church.
What does it mean? It means that it is all gold. There is not any wood in it. That is what the church is.
But what is the church for? The church is not for itself. It is a lampstand. The church is to contain and to uplift the light.
Our Lord Jesus Himself is the light, and the church is the uplifting of the light. The church does not speak of itself; the church speaks of Christ.
Brothers and sisters, the testimony of Jesus is entrusted to the church. No individual can bear the testimony. We need a whole body to uplift the Head.
Now this morning, we would like to conclude with another matter: trustworthiness. The trust is Christ, the testimony of Jesus. The trustee is the church, the body of Christ. Now the question is: Is the church trustworthy?
Thank God, Christ has committed Himself totally to the church. It is as if He is willing to rise or fall together with the church. He commits His own destiny to the church. Will the church uplift Him, or will it put Him down? This is a matter of trustworthiness.
Our Lord Jesus came into this world not only to save the lost, but to call us with a holy calling. This calling is into the eternal purpose of God. This call is calling us to be His body.
This is the call of discipleship. The call of discipleship is none other than to be like Him, that we may be transformed and conformed to His image, that we may be gold instead of merely wood.
This is our calling.
When He was in the world, He began to call His disciples. Yet we find that even among His disciples, whenever our Lord Jesus was trying to lift them out of earth into heaven, whenever He tried to tell them of something spiritual rather than natural, even His disciples could not understand it.
Not only that, this was too hard; this was too much for them. Many of the disciples departed from Him. Brothers and sisters, this was not only true when our Lord was on earth; it is true even today.
Our Lord Jesus turned to His twelve and said, “Do you also want to go?” The Lord gave them the liberty to leave.
And you remember how Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and know that Thou art the Holy One of God.”
In other words, here was a person representing the others. He was caught by the vision of the Lord. Once one is caught, there is no escape. Even though he did not understand, yet he trusted.
Dear brothers and sisters, thank God He has called us His disciples. Thank God, in spite of all our weaknesses, we know that He is the Son of God and that He has the words of life. Even if He puts us through difficulties, we will stay with Him.
This is something so important to us today. It is not because there are some people who are perfect or strong. We are all weak. But praise God, if once we have a vision of Christ, once we see who He is, He is not only our Savior, but He is our Lord.
He has caught us, and we have no escape. Other people may have somewhere to go, but to whom shall we go? We will stay with Him.
This is what is necessary. Unless the Lord has caught you, even though you are weak and imperfect, you will not remain. Peter showed his weakness again and again afterward. He even denied the Lord. Can it be weaker than that?
But that is not the problem. The problem is: Are you caught by the Lord? Dear brothers and sisters, may the Lord really arrest each one of us. Yes, He has saved us. He has called us. He has caught us, and there is no escape in our lives.
We may fail, but He will raise us up. And to such people He committed Himself.
On the day of Pentecost, one hundred and twenty gathered together in that upper room and prayed. These are the people caught by Christ.
At the ascension of our Lord Jesus, at one time more than five hundred brethren saw Him. But only one hundred and twenty obeyed Him and stayed in Jerusalem. They waited for His promised Spirit. They prayed with one accord.
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came, and in one Spirit they were baptized into one body. To that body, Christ the Head committed Himself.
Oh, brothers and sisters, when you read the book of Acts, when the early church began, from one hundred and twenty believers it became three thousand. But all these members of the body persevered and continued together in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and the prayers.
Not only the one hundred and twenty, but also the three thousand, and then four thousand—you find that the body began to grow. In this body we find the riches of the Head dwelling, and through that body the testimony of Jesus was borne.
It is very strange. Today we call ourselves Christians, but the name “Christian” was not there at first. It was not until Acts 11, in the church at Antioch, that you find the name “Christian.”
But even without a specific name, you find that all those who believed in the Lord Jesus lived altogether in the same way.
The Jews had their Jewish way of life, and the Gentiles had their Gentile way of life, just as Americans have an American way of life and Chinese have a Chinese way of life. But here you find a people composed of Jews and Gentiles who lived a different way of life, a different manner of life.
It seemed to be so supernaturally natural: how they lived together, how they loved one another, how they rose above their selfishness, how they were willing to share with one another, how they fellowshipped with one another, and how they kept together the teaching of Christ.
They expressed their unity in the breaking of bread, because there is only one loaf. They fellowshipped with one another. They lived for Christ, and Christ lived in them.
So when the world looked at them, they said, “Who are these people?” In the beginning of the book of Acts, you find they called these people the people of the Way.
In Chinese, unfortunately, it is translated a little differently, because the word can be translated as teaching, truth, or a way of life. But in the book of Acts, “the people of the Way” refers to their walk.
In other words, Christ is the Way, and they walked following the Way. Brothers and sisters, you find that the early church had a glorious testimony.
It is true that the early church had problems. But problems were opportunities to them. They were not really problems, because when a problem is solved in the right way, it becomes a blessing.
Within thirty-seven years, when you come to the end of the book of Acts, you find Paul in prison in Rome for the sake of the testimony of Jesus. Yet he was able to live in his hired dwelling, receive people, and preach to them concerning Christ and the kingdom of God. He did it unhinderedly.
That is the history of the early church. It shows us that our Lord was right: He committed Himself to His body, and this body was trustworthy.
But unfortunately, when you come to the end of the first century, you find in the book of Revelation that John, for the sake of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus, was exiled on the island of Patmos.
There he saw a vision. He saw seven golden lampstands, with One like unto a Son of Man standing in the midst of them.
Our brother has already explained to us that these seven golden lampstands represent the church of all ages. You can look at them chronologically, or you can look at them contemporarily. At any time, you will find these different situations.
There you find our Lord Jesus. He was there as the royal High Priest, ministering in the true tabernacle.
What was He looking for? Strangely, at the beginning of each letter, He says something about Himself. In Revelation 1, you find a tenfold description of the Son of Man. Then in each letter, He gives something of what He is to the church.
Because there were seven local churches, you find that even the revelation of Himself is partial. No one local church contains all the revelation of Christ. All the local churches together join to share the fullness of Christ.
Each local church has a specific commitment. Every local church is different. The difference is because Christ has committed Himself in a specific way.
That is why we need fellowship. We need to share, so that we can have the whole testimony.
What is the Lord looking for in the church? He is looking for Himself. It is as if He said, “I have committed Myself to you. Can I find Myself in you?”
You may have many good things, but if I cannot find Myself in you, you have failed in your responsibility.
Dear brothers and sisters, when you read the seven churches, aside from the church in Philadelphia—and also Smyrna—the Lord calls the other churches to repent.
Repentance is not merely because they had committed certain things. Repentance is to return to Christ.
Now, brothers and sisters, you may say, “The church has failed. God is wrong. How can He commit His beloved Son to the church?” Men may fail, but God never fails.
Therefore, you find the last message to the churches: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.” Then you find the word, “He that overcometh.”
God is calling for overcomers in the church. Who are these overcomers? The overcomers are not super-Christians. The overcomers are not perfect ones. These overcomers, as we say, are normal Christians.
What is the normality of a Christian? Christ has given Himself to him, and he lives according to Christ.
When the church seems to fail in general and fails in the testimony of Jesus, then you find the Lord calls overcomers out in the church to stand for His testimony.
The call to the overcomers is personal, but the effect of the overcomers is corporate. They are the firstfruits, and the firstfruits always guarantee the harvest.
The overcomers do not overcome for themselves. The overcomers overcome for the church. The call is personal, but the work is corporate.
By calling the overcomers, God is returning to the first. This is the way that God proves that He is right. This is the way that God will accomplish His purpose.
Now the question is: Who can overcome? What is the secret of the overcomers? Or, to put it another way, how can the church be trustworthy?
You remember in 2 Timothy 1:
Who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal.
It is clear to us here that in order to be trustworthy, it is not according to our works. We are saved and made righteous not according to our works; it is by the grace of God.
Likewise, brothers and sisters, in order to be trustworthy, it is not by our works. It is by the grace which God has given to us in Christ Jesus.
The question is: Do we depend on ourselves, or do we trust in His grace? Whenever God has a purpose, at the same time He provides grace accordingly.
When we are called with such a purpose, to be bearers of the testimony of Jesus, how can we fulfill it? Not by our own effort. It is only by the grace of God.
The grace is there. Whenever there is a purpose, there is grace. Wherever there is a call, there is grace. Those who become trustworthy are those who depend on the grace of God in Christ Jesus.
Now, what is grace? Grace is something freely given. It is the gift of God. You do not work for it. It is not because you are worthy; it is because you look to His grace.
Brothers and sisters, if we depend on ourselves, we will fail. But if we confess that we are weak, that He is strong, and we look to His grace, you will find that His grace is sufficient for our needs.
Now our brother has told us: How can we keep the deposit? We have the pattern of sound words; we have heard it. How are we going to keep it? We keep it in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
The faith here is not my faith. You remember Galatians 2:20:
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.
We do not have faith in ourselves. He is the Author and Finisher of faith. We look to Him, and He gives us faith. We look to Him, and He completes that faith.
The same is true with love. Not like Peter: “Lord, I love You. I am willing to die with You.” Brothers and sisters, that love does not work. It is not the love of God.
When our Lord said, “Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me?” Peter could only say, “Lord, Thou knowest that I have affection for Thee.” He dared not say, “I love Thee,” because he realized that love is in Christ Jesus.
This is grace. Whether it is faith or whether it is love, this is grace. It is all open to all of us.
Then you find in verse 14:
That good thing which was committed unto thee guard through the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us.
Not by our flesh, but by the Holy Spirit. And this is the Spirit of grace.
Brothers and sisters, the only way to be trustworthy is not in ourselves. We cannot depend on ourselves. We confess that we are weak. We need Him. We look to Him, and His grace is sufficient.
Here is a story. A servant of God, Mr. Webb-Peploe, loved the Lord. Once he had his child with him and went to the seashore for rest. Unfortunately, the child died.
So he buried the child and went home. It was Saturday, and usually on Saturday he would prepare the message that he would speak to the people.
In his study he was searching, trying to find something to say. He was such a good man. He wanted to comfort the congregation. Yet no matter how he searched, he could not find a text.
He was sorrowful. How could he comfort his people if he himself was uncomforted?
As he struggled, it happened that he looked up and saw something above the fireplace. It was a Scripture verse on the wall:
My grace is sufficient for thee.
He said, “Lord, Your grace is not sufficient. I am sorrowful. I am not comforted.” He struggled over this matter.
Then he saw that in the text, the words “My grace is sufficient for thee” were in a different color. At that, something was revealed to him.
He had been praying that the grace of God might become sufficient for him. But now the Lord said, “It is sufficient.” That is, it was already given to him.
He believed in the Word of God, and he was comforted. The next morning, when he went to deliver his sermon, he simply told the people what had happened to him.
Brothers and sisters, do you experience the grace of God? It is hard to boast of our weakness, but His power is perfected in our weakness.
We want to be strong. We think only if we are strong will we glorify God, fulfill our responsibility, and bear the testimony of Jesus.
But on the contrary, the truth is that when we confess that we are nothing, that we cannot, and we do not even try in ourselves, but look up to Him—the Author and Finisher of faith—then His grace is manifested.
So, dear brothers and sisters, what is it that God has entrusted to us? It is the testimony of Jesus.
What is the vessel, the trustee of that trust? It is the church, the body of Christ.
Who makes us trustworthy? It is Christ. From the beginning to the end, it is Christ, because this is the will of God.
One day all things will be summed up in Christ. Wherever you look, you will see Christ.
Dear Lord, we do worship Thee. Thou hast not only saved us; Thou hast called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to Thine own purpose and grace in Christ Jesus.
Dear Lord, we are touched by Thy love. We want to surrender ourselves completely to Thee.
We want to thank Thee for the trust that Thou hast given to us. And we want to thank Thee that Thou who hast committed this trust art the One who will keep it unto that day.
Like Paul, we know whom we have believed, and we are fully persuaded that Thou art able to guard the deposit which we have entrusted to Thee until that day.
Praise be to God. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.