No, you have not. Let us turn to the Gospel of John.
John 14:6. John 13:36 and John 14:5 provide the background to this verse.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow afterwards.
Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; how know we the way?
Let us bow our heads for a further word of prayer.
Lord, we want to thank You for giving us such a wonderful time. You have called Your children to gather before Your feet. May we truly treasure this time that You have given us.
Lord, we ask that whatever You can gain in this meeting, that You would gain it all. Our prayer is that Your heart will be satisfied. Since You have called us, since You have been gracious to us, since You have never let us go, this proves that You love us.
No matter what our situation is, by Your blood and by Your grace, we can come before Your presence. May Your love indeed conquer us.
At this time, we can come into the holy of holies. We can come to the mount of transfiguration. Lord, we pray that You would show us Your glory.
We bring our difficulties, even our shame. We bring our weaknesses, because we look for Your mercy. We confess that we are people of knowledge. We serve You and we love You, but we love to a point where we have no way, and we serve to a point where there is no way. We have to confess: we have no way.
But we thank You, Lord, that Your Word says that as long as we come before Your presence, we have a way. When we come before Your presence, we have the truth. When we come before Your presence, we see the Spirit. We come empty-handed, but we can go back full.
May we be like those magi who, when they met You, did not go back the same way. Lord, we pray that You would gain us. Do something that man cannot do. If we do not have Your presence, what good are these meetings?
Lord, show us Your face so that we can meet You. Listen to our prayer. In Jesus’ precious name, amen.
We thank the Lord for this opportunity to be gathered once again.
Since 1983, over these twenty-six years, this is the sixteenth meeting. The brothers and sisters in the Far East, especially those who are in service, have gathered together once every one or two years.
We are those who love the Lord, and we are those who serve the Lord. Therefore, when we gather together, we would like to seek the Lord’s face. May the Lord, for His testimony’s sake, not only allow us to serve Him, but may we serve His purpose and walk in His way.
Time does go by fast—twenty-six springs and summers. But the Lord has gathered us together. We know that many in the younger generation have been raised up. If the Lord tarries, we believe that before His return, He will gain His church.
Man will fail. Man is weak. Indeed, we are weak, and we do fail. But we thank the Lord that in a meeting like this, we can be encouraged together.
The theme of this conference is Christ-centered service. We are basing it on the theme verse:
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
We want to see this great matter from three different aspects. In the afternoon, a brother will share concerning service according to Christ as the way. In the morning, another brother will share concerning service in the power of Christ as life. In the evening, my responsibility is to speak concerning service based on Christ as the truth.
When we speak of service based on Christ, this theme is indeed very broad. In my seeking before the Lord, I felt led to the Gospel of John.
When we speak of truth, we know that in the Bible no one speaks more clearly concerning truth than John. In the Greek, the word translated “truth” has different usages. One usage is in contrast to falsehood. Another speaks of substance in contrast to shadow.
If we read the Gospel of John, we can see how the Holy Spirit uses these words. In the whole New Testament, the noun “truth” is used many times. In the Gospel of John it is mentioned twenty-five times, and in the Epistles of John twenty times. John uses this word nearly half the time it appears in the New Testament.
The true is not merely that which is not false; it speaks of reality. John tells us that He is the true light. He is the true bread. The Lord says, “I am the true vine.”
This does not mean that all other vines are false. The true vine means that all other vines are based upon, and point to, the true vine. All the stories of the vines are based on the story of one vine.
A grapevine receives water from the air and water from the earth. The water goes through the entire vine, and when the vine is mature, the clusters of grapes are placed into the winepress. Through the winepress, wine comes forth.
What is the story of the grape? It is the story of water turning into wine. When you see wine, you see the story of water turning into wine. When God created the vine, He gave us an example, because our Lord is the true vine. All the vines speak of the same story.
When the Lord came, His first miracle was at Cana: He turned water into wine. Yet He said, “Mine hour is not yet come.” He wanted to give us the true wine.
He had to wait until the whole earth said, “Our wine is used up.” Then our Lord went to the cross for us. That cross was like the winepress. Not only did our Lord die for us, but He was raised again, and He has given us the best wine.
After we have been saved, we can testify that the wine is indeed sweeter at the end. All the wine shows us why Jesus had to come. Not only was He our Savior, and not only was He crucified, but He gave us life. He gave us a way, and the end of that way brings us life.
This is what John shows us. John uses the word true again and again—not to say that all other vines are false, but to show that the ultimate reality is the true vine.
If we want to know this matter of truth, John has something to say about it. The Holy Spirit touched John in a special way. When we read the Gospel, the Epistles, and the Revelation of John, we find the truth.
Pilate asked, “What is truth?” Yet after he asked, he did not really want to hear an answer. He merely wanted to ask the question. Philosophers ask, “What is true?” but they never answer the question.
But thank the Lord: the Lord said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
When we read, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” this may be one of the greatest phrases ever uttered in mankind’s history. Only the Lord Jesus said this.
Socrates, Aristotle, Confucius, and Mencius could show us where the way is. They could point out the way. They could tell us what they considered truth. They could tell us how to gain life according to their understanding. But none of them ever said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
The entire Gospel of John shows us that Jesus is the Son of God. Outside of the Lord, there is no way. Outside of the Lord, there is no life. Outside of the Lord, there is no truth.
If we are to find a way, that way is not merely a way; it is a Person. That way is the way of life, and it is the way of truth.
If you want to find the truth, truth is not merely an idea. Truth is not merely a thought. Truth is a Person. If you have not touched that Person, even though you may be a great philosopher, you do not know what truth is.
This truth shows us the way, and the result of the truth is to show us life. Wherever there is truth, there is life.
Ever since man sinned, man has been cut off from the way to the tree of life. We lost paradise. But thank the Lord, after we are saved, we can come before the tree of life.
Why? Because He was nailed to the cross. Peter tells us that He hung upon the tree. The cross is a tree. Our Lord was crucified on that tree.
For the Lord, the cross was shame. But for us, that is our tree of life. When you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have received the tree of life. For this reason, paradise is restored.
Brothers and sisters, ever since man fell, we have been separated very far from life. But thank the Lord: He is our way, He is our truth, and He is our life.
When the Lord spoke these words, He did not speak them in public. He spoke them to Thomas. Before that, He spoke to Peter. If we are to understand this phrase, we need to be clear concerning the background.
When we preach the gospel, we tell the whole world that our Lord is the way, the truth, and the life. But why did the Lord speak these words to Thomas and Peter?
Thomas once doubted the Lord. Peter once denied Him. When Peter fled, all the disciples fled; when Peter fell, all of them fell. Yet the Lord spoke these words to disciples who truly loved Him.
Thomas loved the Lord. He knew that going to Jerusalem was dangerous, and he said, in effect, “If we are to die, let us die.” He had the same feeling as Esther: “If I perish, I perish.” For the Lord’s sake, he was willing to give up his life.
Peter also truly loved the Lord. When they said they would not deny Him, they meant it. They wanted to follow the Lord.
When Peter asked, “Lord, where are You going?” he was not asking merely out of curiosity. He wanted to follow the Lord. The Lord had said to him, “Follow Me.” What does “Follow Me” mean? It means, “Come with Me. I have a way, and you come with Me on this way.”
From that day on, Peter and John followed our Lord. When John heard, “Behold, the Lamb of God,” they followed the Lamb. From that time onward, wherever the Lamb went, they went.
They had followed the Lord for nearly three and a half years. They knew that the Lord was about to leave. It was the Last Supper, and Judas had just gone out to betray the Lord. John says, “And it was night.”
From that time on, it was complete darkness. When Judas left, the Lord said:
Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say unto you.
Then the Lord gave a new commandment:
A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
How does the world know that we are His disciples? As long as we love one another. The Lord was about to leave the disciples. He knew what was going to happen to the church. Therefore, He said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.”
How are we to love one another? “Even as I have loved you.” He loves unconditionally. He loves even His enemies. This is the best way to preach the gospel: that people may know that we are His disciples.
Yet this great word did not seem to make an impression on Peter. Peter still said, “Lord, where are You going?” We may hear the Lord’s words, but it can be as though we completely miss the point.
The Lord answered Peter:
Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow afterwards.
The Lord told the Jews, and later the disciples, that He was going. He had come into the world in the flesh to fulfill the Father’s purpose. But He also said that He would go.
To come means that the Word became flesh. To go refers to His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. The Lord came so that He could go, and because He went, we can come before His presence.
The Lord spoke these words half a year before He was crucified, during the Feast of Tabernacles. At first He did not go to the feast, and then He went. He taught in the temple while the people were murmuring concerning Him.
The Lord said that He was going and would return to Him who sent Him. This speaks of His crucifixion, but not crucifixion alone. Whenever John speaks in this way, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension are included together.
The Lord said, “Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, ye cannot come.” The Jews wondered whether He was going to the Dispersion among the Greeks. But John shows us where the Lord was going: He was going to be glorified.
He would not only die and rise again; He would also ascend for us. After His resurrection, He breathed upon the disciples and they received the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit flowed down as a river of water from heaven to earth.
The Lord said:
I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.
In John, the Lord’s hour speaks of the hour in which He went through the winepress—the cross. When He says that He is going, He is speaking of that hour.
The disciples wanted to follow the Lord. If we follow the Lord, then we serve the Lord—not only at His feet, but also at the feet of the brothers and sisters.
If you are willing to be before the Lord, then you can indeed be at the feet of the brothers and sisters. No matter how much they hurt you, no matter how difficult they make things for you, no matter how much they crucify you, you can serve them. You can wash their feet.
In the entire Gospel of John, John 13 is the clearest chapter concerning service. Why did the Lord say that we should wash one another’s feet? When you wash one another’s feet, you love one another. This is our service.
If we are to follow Him, the servant cannot be greater than the master. However the Master is, we should be. The Master has already given us the example: “I have washed your feet. As I have loved you, you need to love one another.”
This is service. If we are to serve God, what is service?
We may think that if we have a good organization, then it is good enough. Many people plan a church as if they plan a school. Especially in today’s mega-churches, people may think that success, numbers, education, and organization prove that service is effective.
But if we return to John, what is service? First, we need to be like Mary at His feet.
We may be like Thomas. We may be like Peter. Thomas failed; Peter failed; we have all failed. The Lord has chosen us, and the Lord wants us to serve. Do you think it is because we are capable that He asks us to serve?
We are so busy. We do so much work. We may gain some fruit. But is that what the Lord wants?
There is a true story of a child in a family. When the father was not home, the child went into the garden to play. The garden had many beautiful flowers, but the child made a mess of the garden.
The neighbor said to the father, “Look at this child. He has messed up all your garden.” Do you know what the father said? “What I want to train and cultivate is my son, not the garden.”
Brothers and sisters, this is a conference on service. We are all here to serve. It does not matter how many successful accomplishments we have had in service. In God’s eyes, His standard of service is the highest.
If you know His standard is the highest, then you know how much we fail. The world thinks that the more people there are, the better. When the five thousand were fed, they wanted to make the Lord king. That could have been the first mega-church.
What is service? We ask the Lord to open our eyes. What the Lord is cultivating is not merely the work; He is cultivating us.
Everything that we have touched may have been corrupted. There was a famous sculptor, Michelangelo, who kept a light on his forehead while sculpting. When people asked why, he said, “I am afraid that my own shadow would be cast upon my sculpture and ruin my work.”
Brothers and sisters, look at the work of our hands. No matter how successful it appears, how much of our shadow is in the church? We are not the truth. We are not the way. We are not the life.
Those who want to follow the Lord feel that they need to do something. The Lord may give you a garden to cultivate. He may give you a group of brothers and sisters. The gospel may be preached, and you may see souls being born again. Yet the Lord wants to do a greater work in His vessels.
This message is for people like Peter and Thomas. The Lord does not call us because we are capable. He calls us because we are not capable. May the Lord open our eyes.
There are many difficulties in the church. The issue is not merely in the lives of the brothers and sisters; it is also in those who serve. In the Old Testament, God holds shepherds accountable for the flock He gives them.
When the whole world is applauding and congratulating you for doing a good job, can you be assured that you have brought these people before the Lord?
The Lord was speaking to people like Thomas and Peter—those who wanted to follow Him wherever He went. The Lord knew that they wanted to follow, but He said, “Where I go, you cannot come now, but you can come later.”
Peter was still a sinner, and he would deny the Lord three times. Thomas was also a sinner. Thomas was like a scientist: unless he could make the experiment and touch the hands and side of the Lord, he would not believe.
But thank the Lord: He had a word for Thomas, and He had a word for Peter.
I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
What is this way? Of course, this way is the way of the cross.
Our Lord went to the cross, and His body was broken. The Bible tells us that the veil was torn. He opened a new and living way through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.
He came to be hung on that cross for us. Before that, the way of life was not open. When our Lord went to the cross, He accomplished the work of redemption. He atoned for us.
At the cross, His death was the death of a Savior. He opened a new way. Only He is worthy to say, “I am the way.” Without His body, without His broken flesh, we do not have this way.
On the cross, our Lord not only died for us, but He also died as us. God saw our flesh, our old man, and saw that there was no way to repair it. It was like a sock full of holes: if there is one small hole, you can sew it; but if it is full of holes, you throw it away.
When our Lord hung on the cross, Peter was there, Thomas was there, and we were there.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me.
Do you remember when the Lord brought the disciples into Caesarea Philippi? The Lord clearly told them that He was going to Jerusalem.
Peter had just declared that the Lord was the Son of God and the Christ. But when he heard that the Lord would be crucified, he could not accept it. His concept was that Christ must be associated only with glory. How could Christ be associated with the cross?
Peter told the Lord, “Have pity on Yourself.” But our Lord rebuked him:
Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me.
Many times, the Lord wants to go to Jerusalem. That is God’s will. But Peter has his own will. Peter’s will is man’s will. Even a brother who loves the Lord can become a stumbling block if he does not know the way of the cross.
Why did the Lord have to go to the cross? Peter wanted to follow, and Peter wanted to serve. But what kind of service would Peter render apart from the cross? It would be service according to man’s will, not according to God’s will.
When the Lord died, Peter also was crucified with Him. Therefore, the Lord said, “You will follow Me later.” As the Lord went the way of the cross, we also go the way of the cross.
The Lord told Peter:
If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
The cross is a stumbling block. When Peter saw that he was crucified with Christ, he realized that he was the one who had been holding back the will of God. Now he could receive the cross from the Lord and confess, “I have been crucified.”
When I stumble over the cross, God’s will does not stop. If I stumble, then the Lord can be crucified and His will can be accomplished. If the Lord is not crucified, then you and I are finished. If Peter’s will succeeds, then you and I have no hope.
The cross does one thing: it makes Peter’s service the Lord’s service. It makes service Christ-centered.
Peter later followed the Lord to the end. He was martyred. Tradition tells us that he said to those who executed him, “I am not worthy to be crucified as my Lord was crucified. Please turn my cross upside down.”
When we read Acts and Peter’s Epistles, we see Peter’s service. It is Christ-centered service.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life” is for those who love the Lord and want to serve Him. In terms of objective truth, we need to understand how the Lord died for us, how He was raised, how He ascended, how He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and how one day He shall return.
His salvation is complete. But how do we serve others? All who serve the Lord must see that our Lord is the way. When we speak of the way, we speak of the cross.
The Lord said, “If ye had known me, ye would have known my Father also: from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.” What does this mean? When you come before God’s presence, you see His face.
You may have served for a long time, but have you seen God’s face? The people of Israel left Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, received water from the rock, received manna from heaven, and saw the Lord fight for them. Yet they had not truly met God.
He is the way, so we can come boldly before His presence. It is because of faith and because of His precious blood that we now know Him. To know Him is eternal life.
When we come before the tree of life and into the holy of holies, we touch life. According to Ezekiel, when God’s glory returns, the temple becomes the source of rivers of life. Wherever His throne is, there is living water.
Whenever you serve, you should bring people before God’s presence. You bring them to know the Lord, and most importantly, to touch life. Then they are revived in life, and the life of Christ abides in them.
This is the truth of salvation—the gospel truth. This truth is Christ-centered truth.
I remember that I was saved when I was fourteen years old. Before I was saved, I would attend meetings, hear sermons, and fall asleep. But after I was saved, I began to meet with some brothers, and I felt that there was life.
When you heard their prayers, your heart would leap. When you came before the Lord’s table, you were truly touched by His love. I was only in my teens, and I said, “This is so wonderful. Why is this meeting so different from others?”
I found that these brothers and sisters were meeting according to the truth in the Bible. When I was young, I gathered my information and concluded that there were four items of truth: the truth of baptism, the truth of breaking bread, the truth of head covering, and the truth of leaving denominations.
I thought I knew all these truths. In front of my high school there was another meeting place that appeared very similar to ours. Their head coverings were white, while ours were black. We had a gospel robe; they had a gospel banner. We called ours a meeting hall; they called theirs a meeting hall.
I went to speak with their elder. I began to discuss and debate with them. Much of what I had learned came from magazines, including a magazine about how to debate denominations. I thought I had all the truth.
When I look back, I feel ashamed. There were truths there, yes. But if we feel that these things themselves are the truth, or that the church represents those truths, that is a great tragedy.
When the Lord opened my eyes, I saw that there is only one truth in the world. We can embrace many truths, yet be very distant from the Lord.
When I debated fiercely with that brother, I gained a victory. But when I look back, I feel ashamed. The Lord needs to open our eyes.
If we are to serve, we must have Christ as our center. Outside of Christ, there is no way. Outside of Christ, there is no truth. Outside of Christ, there is no life.
This does not mean that there is no truth in the world. But when you embrace all these truths, it does not necessarily mean that you live before His presence. If we live before His presence, then these truths will have their proper position.
Even when you speak of truth, your spirit must be one of meekness. You are not one who tries to conquer others by saying, “We are right; you are wrong.” What kind of spirit is that?
When I was young, I used the theme of unity in order to divide. Some said, “I am of Paul.” Others said, “We are of Christ.” We may say that we are not part of any denomination, yet still have a sectarian spirit.
We need the deeper work of the cross. This truth is not merely the truth of the gospel; it is the truth of sanctification.
If we see the Lord as the way and the truth, then we see that it is His way that sanctifies us. It is His truth that sanctifies us. The truth gives us liberty.
Not only are brothers and sisters delivered from the judgment of sin; they need to be delivered from the power of sin. Every day we need to live according to His truth.
The truth gives us liberty. If the Son makes us free, then we are free indeed. The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
You may understand much truth. You may read many books, attend Bible school, or study in a seminary. In your mind you may be very clear. But the question is: in your heart, has the truth given you liberty?
If you have not met the Lord, the truth may remain only in your mind. But if you meet the Lord, then the truth will set you free.
The truth is not only gospel truth. It is victorious truth. It enables us to be born again, and it enables us to grow. The victorious life is the same life received at salvation, but now that life is mature.
When you read the Gospel of John, you see the truth of the church. The Lord says:
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
I am the vine, ye are the branches.
Paul speaks of the church as the body of Christ. John shows us that Christ is the true vine and we are the branches. The connection between the branches is the life of the vine.
The Lord prayed for the church that they would be one. This oneness is not merely organizational. It is the oneness of the vine. It is not two organizations gathering together; it is the saints sharing one life.
God does not tell us merely to belong to an organization. We are members one of another. We have one life. What is the church? It is to love one another, and then the world will know that the Son was sent.
Let us turn to John 1:14.
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth.
The word dwelt means that He tabernacled among us. He was full of grace and truth.
John 1:17 says:
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
And John 1:18 says:
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
This is very important. Many times we forget John 1. The Word became flesh, full of grace and truth. The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
On one side, John says, “We beheld His glory.” On the other hand, he says that no man has seen God at any time. Only Christ has manifested Him, declared Him, and explained Him.
There are two key verses that open the entire Gospel of John. The word bosom is mentioned twice. First, we see the only begotten Son in the bosom of the Father.
John shows us that Jesus is the Son of God. He says, “I and the Father are one.” The Gospel of John shows us that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, the only begotten One. Our Lord is in the Father’s bosom.
In Matthew we see the lion: our Lord is the King. In Mark we see the ox: He is the Servant. In Luke we see the man. In John we see the eagle.
Among all God’s creatures, the eagle’s eyes are special. The eagle can look directly into the sun without its eyes being destroyed. No man has seen God; only the Son in the bosom of the Father has declared Him and manifested Him.
The Gospel of John shows us that He is the Son of God. He is the only begotten. In the universe, He is the unique One.
Yet the Gospel of John does not merely show us a beautiful platter of fruit that we cannot reach. It shows us that life is in Him.
The life in Him is like water high upon Mount Hermon. The deer may see the water on the mountainside but cannot reach it. But when the rock is smitten, the water can flow down. Then that water is no longer merely on the mountain; it is in us.
That life is not only in Him, but in us.
The second use of the word bosom is in John 13. John was reclining in the bosom of the Lord. This is a very important matter.
Objectively, the Son is the only begotten. Eternal life is in Him. But that life must reach us. When we believe in Jesus Christ, not only is the Lord in the Father and the Father in the Lord, but we are also in His bosom.
We abide in the Lord, and the Lord abides in us. This is what John wants to show us—not only Christ objectively, but union with Christ.
Because He is the way, the truth, and the life, we have a way to enter into union with Him. In the first twelve chapters of John, life is in Him, and that life is the light of men. God is life, and we need to walk in that life.
At the beginning, John emphasizes the Word and how the Lord came. Later, the Lord says, “I shall go.” His going means the cross, resurrection, and ascension.
The Gospel of John is different from the first three Gospels. The first three emphasize how the Lord suffered through the cross and then gained glory. In John, when Christ speaks of crucifixion, He speaks of being lifted up and exalted.
The crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension are one. When He was crucified, He was exalted. Therefore, now we have a way, now we have truth, now we have life, and now we can be in His bosom.
On one hand, we see the objective truth. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and He leads us into all truth. We see the Son in the Father’s bosom, and now we can experience being in His bosom.
Then we begin to serve, to live, and to follow Him.
At the beginning of John, the Word became flesh, full of grace and truth. This gives us revelation. All the servants of God must have revelation. If you have no revelation, you have no way.
But if you have revelation without experience, there is still no way. Revelation plus the cross—that is our vocation. That is our service.
At the beginning we see revelation; at the end we see experience. We need to follow revelation. If we do not have John 1, we do not understand John 14. If we do not understand the first bosom, we do not understand the second.
May the Lord open our eyes.
John himself was filled with the Word of God. If you compare John with Paul, Paul had a remarkable memory. He could quote the Old Testament with great precision.
John was different. He always abode in Christ. He would reminisce, and the Old Testament was always behind him. His memory may not have been like Paul’s, but he had the benefit of abiding in Christ. When he spoke, there was always a picture behind his words; there was always a Person behind them.
Why does John speak of Moses? Moses wanted to see God. When Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, brought them to Sinai, and received the law, the people made the golden calf.
Moses was a true servant of God. Yet he saw the people fail before he even came down from the mountain. The law showed them that they could do nothing. They had said, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do,” but they did not know themselves.
Moses came before God full of disappointment. He wanted to bring the people into the land of Canaan, but before they reached Canaan, they had already worshipped the golden calf. How could he continue?
Moses had been a prince of Egypt. He had learned all the wisdom of Egypt. But slowly he saw that only God can do God’s work. No man can do God’s work.
God told Moses that Israel could still go to Canaan, that an angel would go before them, and that they would still become a great nation. But God said, “I will not go in the midst of thee.”
On the surface, there could still be structure and activity. Everything outwardly could appear successful. But spiritually, the condition was bad. Moses realized that without God’s presence, he could not go on.
Moses had two prayers:
Show me now thy way, that I may know thee.
Show me, I pray thee, thy glory.
The one most capable—Moses—said, “I can no longer go on. Please show me Your way. Without Your presence, I cannot continue. Without Your presence, I will not do anything.”
Do we dare, brothers and sisters, to have this prayer? If we have had much work, borne much fruit, and outwardly seen enemies cast out, do we still want to go if the Lord is not present with us?
Without His presence, there is no way. Moses said, “Please show me Your way.” Then he prayed, “Lord, let me behold Your glory.”
This is the prayer of revelation. Many who serve the Lord may feel, “I know the Bible. I have been trained. Therefore I can serve.” Sooner or later, you will see that you have no more way.
At that point, you need these two prayers: “Lord, show me Your way,” and “Lord, let me behold Your glory.” Without revelation, I cannot continue.
Without Your way, I will not walk. If I do not behold Your glory, I will not move on.
God told Moses, “Thou canst not see my face.” No man who has fallen can see God’s face in himself. Yet God said:
Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock:
and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand until I have passed by:
and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back; but my face shall not be seen.
The service of Moses was not yet service face to face; he served in the light of God’s back. That is the Old Testament.
Let us turn to Exodus 34:5.
And Jehovah descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Jehovah.
And Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.
God showed forth His glory. Though Moses saw only His back, God revealed Himself as One full of lovingkindness, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.
The expression in Exodus corresponds to grace and truth. Before Christ came, God had already revealed His Son to Moses. The law came through Moses; grace and truth come through Christ.
Moses was a failed Moses, a Moses with no way. But thank the Lord: now he had a way. He saw the truth, and he knew God because grace and truth come through Christ.
Moses responded:
If now I have found favor in thy sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray thee, go in the midst of us.
Moses grasped Christ. He grasped the revelation that God had given. Though the people had failed, God could still gain them as His possession if their service was Christ-centered.
The Gospel shows us that the Word became flesh, and we have revelation. We have seen His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father. This is the testimony.
Our service today must be face to face. When you see Him face to face, then you know Him, and then you know what truth is.
You come before the tree of life. You come before the water of life. Christ is indeed the way, the truth, and the life.
May the Lord truly put these words into our lives.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Lord, we want to give these words back into Your hands. Even though the meeting will end, may these words not end. May You lay hold of us today. May You speak to each and every one of us.
Even though we have to meet our brothers and sisters, may we truly see Your face. Lord, may it not be that we serve only according to what is behind You; may we serve You face to face.
We thank You. We commit the meetings of this weekend into Your hands. May Your presence be here. May Your presence be here as it has never been before, so that we may be taken to the mount of transfiguration.
Listen to our prayer. In Jesus’ precious name, amen.