Exercise thyself unto godliness:
for bodily exercise is profitable for a little;
but godliness is profitable for all things,
having promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come.Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation.
For to this end we labor and strive,
because we have our hope set on the living God,
Who is the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe.
Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in Me.
In My Father’s house are many abiding-places;
if it were not so, I would have told you;
for I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I come again, and will receive you unto Myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also.
So then, my beloved,
even as ye have always obeyed,
not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
for it is God Who worketh in you both to will and to work,
for His good pleasure.
But take heed to yourselves,
lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life,
and that day come upon you suddenly as a snare:
for so shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth.
But watch ye at every season, making supplication,
that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass,
and to stand before the Son of man.
Dear Lord, as we continue in Thy presence, we just want to open our hearts to Thee and say to Thee, “Lord, if Thou hast anything to say to us, speak. Thy servants hear.”
We commit this time into Thy hand. We trust Thy Holy Spirit to quicken Thy word to our hearts, that we may hear what the Spirit says to the churches. We give Thee all the glory, in Thy precious name. Amen.
Well, brothers and sisters, I hope you are not tired of hearing this matter of spiritual exercise. I think the thing that really matters is this: Have we been exercising our spirit?
We mentioned in June that if we exercise our spirit, such exercise will bring to us the promise of life—God’s life—in this age. In other words, spiritual exercise will give us God’s life today, as we live day by day.
Do we enjoy the life of Christ in us? Are we living by the eternal life, the life of Christ in us? Or are we still living our own fleshly, natural life? That makes all the difference.
Whether in our personal life, can we say with the apostle Paul, “For me to live is Christ”? Or do we have to say, “For me to live is myself”? And you can see how different these two kinds of life will be.
And in our family life, it is the same. Are we doing our family life by ourselves, or are we enjoying our family life by the life of Christ? The same is true with our church life and with our social life.
So you find that spiritual exercise is really profitable. It is profitable for everything, and it is profitable for now. I hope that every brother and sister will enjoy it.
Now, starting this morning, we would like to continue on with spiritual exercise. Not only is it profitable for today; it is profitable for the days to come.
Brothers and sisters, our God is an eternal God. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And everything He does is for eternity, not just for a little time.
That is the reason why we who are the Lord’s do not live for time only. We live for eternity.
I always remember that great evangelist, George Whitefield. George Whitefield is considered the greatest evangelist of the eighteenth century, and he said, “I always preach with eternity in view.”
That is to say, it is not just for today; it is for eternity. So, dear brothers and sisters, I believe that every one of us should always have eternity in view, because what you can see today is temporary, but what you cannot see is eternal.
Now, how can we find life and enjoy life in the days to come? We know that our Lord Jesus is coming soon. He will return, and we are waiting for His return. His coming back is a fact.
But you remember, when our Lord Jesus came the first time, what happened to the people? The children of Israel had the Old Testament prophecies with them. They knew that the Messiah was coming.
It was as if the whole nation was waiting for the coming of the Messiah, because they were under Roman control at that time. They hoped that when the Messiah came, the Roman yoke would be thrown away and they would become the greatest nation in the world.
So they were waiting for the Messiah to come. But strangely, when the Messiah did come, you find that they were frightened. Not only frightened, but they even rejected the Messiah, Christ Jesus.
Yet even at that time, there were some—a few—who were really waiting for the Messiah to come. You remember that old couple, Zacharias and Elisabeth. You remember Joseph and Mary. You remember Simeon and Anna.
These few were really waiting for the Messiah to come. And, in a sense, because of their waiting, it seems as if the Messiah came in answer to their cry.
So I believe that when we think of the second coming of the Lord, and that the Lord is coming soon, it seems that every Christian, every believer, is waiting for the Lord Jesus to come back. But are we really waiting for Him?
Do we have that hidden thought in us: “Oh, if He should delay, then I will have more time to make up”? Are we afraid of His coming, of His return? Or are we really looking forward to His return—prepared, ready, hastening His coming back?
That makes a great, great difference. Dear brothers and sisters, the coming of the Lord is a fact. Even though it is still in the future, we know that it will be a fact. He is coming. He has promised, and in the Book of Revelation, He says, “I come quickly.”
But the young brothers and sisters—when He shall come, will we be able to enjoy life?
From 1 Timothy 4, you find that if we exercise ourselves unto godliness, if we really exercise our spirit, we will have the promise of life in the days to come. So this morning we would like to consider together how spiritual exercise will prepare us for the coming of the Lord.
The first question I would ask is this: Has not Christ finished the work that He came for during His first coming? Why should He come again?
Has He not, on the cross, shouted, “It is finished”? That is to say, the mission is accomplished. What He came for is already done. It is finished.
Now, if it is finished, why should He come again?
We are told that He was resurrected and ascended, and He is now seated at the right hand of God, waiting for His enemies to be His footstool. Now, you do not sit until you finish the work.
So this shows that our Lord Jesus, during His first coming, finished the work of redemption. It is done. There is nothing you can add to it.
If that is the case, why should He come again? Is our Lord Jesus in heaven just resting, dozing, having nothing to do because everything has been done? No.
We know from the Word of God that our Lord Jesus, after He ascended into heaven, was anointed by the Father. He was made the High Priest to us.
The Bible says that He ever liveth to make intercession for us, and He is able to save to the uttermost those who approach unto Him by faith. So, in other words, our Lord Jesus in heaven is still very, very busy.
He is busy with another kind of ministry. He is there praying, interceding for us. And as He is interceding for us, the Holy Spirit, Whom He sent to dwell in us, begins to work.
When our Lord Jesus was on earth, He was the Apostle. He came to accomplish a mission: the work of salvation. But now He has ascended into heaven, and there He is our High Priest.
He is praying for us, that all that He has done and finished on Calvary’s cross will become experiential reality to each one of us.
Now, so far as what He has done on Calvary’s cross is concerned, that is objective truth. It is truth. It will never change. It is forever.
But how can the objective truth that our Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross become our experience—our daily experience, personal experience, and corporate experience? That is the work He is doing today.
He is our High Priest, praying for us. And as He prays for us, the Holy Spirit, Who dwells in us, begins to work. As the Holy Spirit works, He is trying to bring the truth into our being and into our experience.
The Holy Spirit is working in us to bring what Christ has done on the cross two thousand years ago into reality in our lives.
Brothers and sisters, this is the time when our spirit has to cooperate. This is the time when we have to have spiritual exercise.
Because if we do not have spiritual exercise, even when the Holy Spirit is working in us, we will neglect Him. We will not listen to His still, small voice. We will not walk in the light with which He has enlightened us. We will grieve Him.
But thank God, He will never leave us or forsake us. He will continue to work in us. Yet we can be so rebellious—not listening, not obedient, not cooperating.
And if that is the case, then what Christ has done on the cross two thousand years ago will not become our personal experience.
There is nothing wrong with what Christ has done. It is a fact, an eternal fact; it never changes. But whether it will become our personal experience or not, we have our responsibility.
The Holy Spirit, Who dwells in us, is so faithful. He is there to show us Christ. He is there to bring Christ into our life. He is there to take away every hindrance. He is there to deal with our own nature, and He will never fail in doing it.
But, brothers and sisters, the problem is: Are we responding? Are we allowing the Holy Spirit to really touch our conscience, touch our intuition, and touch our worship and communion?
If so, then you will find that we are prepared for the coming of the Lord.
Now, brothers and sisters, I know the coming of the Lord is a very popular subject. People like to hear about the coming of the Lord. People like to hear what are all the things that will happen before the coming of the Lord.
In other words, we are all very curious about the future, and our curiosity needs to be satisfied by knowing all the coming events that precede the coming of the Lord.
But, brothers and sisters, in Revelation 19:10 we are told, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
In other words, when we are looking at prophecy merely for future events, we are looking at the letter. Why does God give us prophecy? It is not because He wants to satisfy our curiosity. It is because He wants us to be prepared for Christ.
So the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. We will not approach this matter of the coming of the Lord merely from the prophetic point of view, because I believe every one of us believes that Christ is coming.
But we will approach this matter of the second coming of the Lord from the practical standpoint: How can we practically be prepared, waiting for the coming of the Lord?
Now, you know in John 14, we know that in John 13 our Lord Jesus gathered with His twelve disciples for the last Passover feast.
During the feast, the Lord shared with them how He would leave them, how He would be persecuted and betrayed, and how He would die.
Because of this, the disciples were very sorrowful. They followed the Lord for about three years. The Lord took care of them. The Lord was their guardian, protector, provider—everything to them.
But now the Lord was leaving them, and they would be left as orphans. No wonder they were so sorrowful. If we were there, we would be sorrowful just the same.
So our Lord Jesus tried to comfort them, and He began with John 14. He said, “Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many abiding-places. If it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.”
In other words, the reason why our Lord Jesus went to heaven was to prepare us a place in the Father’s house. And after He has prepared for us, He said, “I will return so that you can be with Me.” That is why our Lord Jesus is coming back.
Now, I am not talking about why the Lord will come back because of the world situation, or because of the Jewish situation. No, I am talking about the reason why the Lord must return: because of us.
He went for us, to prepare a place for us in His Father’s house. After He has prepared it, He will come back and receive us to Himself. That is why He is coming back.
Now, the conventional, ordinary interpretation of the Father’s house is heaven. People say, “Well, one day we are going to heaven. That is the Father’s house.”
To us, heaven is a place. You have the golden street to walk upon, and you have such a wonderful place to live.
But, my brothers and sisters, if we know the character of John’s writing, he is not interested in anything physical. To him, it is always a spiritual reality.
So what is the Father’s house?
You remember Isaiah 66:1. The Lord says, “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool: what manner of house will ye build unto Me? and what place shall be My rest?”
So, you know, heaven and earth, in a sense, are God’s office. But God says, “Where is My home? Where is My house that you are building for Me? Where is the place where I can rest?”
Ever since God began His creation, He already had this in mind. God did everything according to His will, and when He created heaven, earth, and man, He had in mind a house. He wanted to dwell with man, and that is His house.
When you read the Old Testament, you find that after God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt and brought them to Sinai, God began to reveal His mind to them—why He did it. He said, “I want you to be My people. I want to dwell with you. You are My house.”
We have the tabernacle. God dwelt in the tabernacle. Why? Because the people were not holy enough, so He had to use a tabernacle to dwell in. But the purpose was that God wanted to dwell with man. That is His house.
You remember our Lord Jesus, when He started His ministry, went to Jerusalem and saw all this business going on in the temple—selling and making profit for the priests and for the merchants.
Our Lord Jesus began to cleanse that house, and He said, “Ye make My Father’s house a house of merchandise.”
Now, this temple is only a type, and the real house of God is the church. So you find in 1 Timothy 3:15 that the church is His house.
So, brothers and sisters, when you really consider what our Lord Jesus said that night—“My Father’s house”—He does not refer to heaven. He does not refer to something physical. He refers to something spiritual, a spiritual reality.
This spiritual reality that our Lord Jesus calls the Father’s house is actually the church.
He said, “In My Father’s house are many abiding-places.” In some versions it says, “many mansions.” We all like mansions—big houses.
But this is not so. Why? Because He says, “My Father’s house,” not houses. There is only one house, but that house has many apartments, many suites. Every one of us has a suite. Wonderful! But this is one house.
Now, you may not understand it, but I came from an old Chinese family. In my family, there was a big house. My grandfather was a builder, so he built a big house, and in the big house were many suites.
Every son in the family had a suite. Even the married daughters, he built something for them by the side. So, in other words, we all lived under one roof.
It was a wonderful experience. Everybody in the family lived in that house. The grandfather took care of everything, the grandmother managed the house, and all of us just enjoyed it. So we had nothing to do.
Brothers and sisters, that is the idea. In My Father’s house there are many apartments. You have a place, I have a place, we all have a place.
The Lord returned to heaven to prepare us a place. Now, what does that mean? It means that in God’s mind He has a place for you in His house.
Is that wonderful? A mansion, as it were, because He wants us to be conformed to the image of His Son. What a wonderful suite that will be.
Because of that, He has to go and prepare for us. If He does not prepare for us, interceding for us unceasingly, and if the Holy Spirit is not working in us, we will not be transformed and conformed to the image of His Son.
So that is the reason why He is preparing for us. After He has prepared, He will come back and receive us to Himself.
That is to say, anything short of the purpose of God in each of our lives, anything short of our being conformed to the image of Christ, means it is not yet prepared.
Can it be the reason why our Lord Jesus is delayed, and delayed, and delayed—not because He does not want to come back to take us as His bride, but because the Body has not grown to maturity? You cannot marry a baby.
It is not He Who is delaying. It is we who delay Him. So, brothers and sisters, this is a very, very serious practical question.
Our Lord is preparing a place for us, and He cannot fail. The Holy Spirit in us is working, and He cannot fail. But why is there such delay? Who delays? We do. We are the people who really delay the coming of the Lord.
So we have a serious, great responsibility.
We all have a new spirit. We all have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. God has made every provision, not only to save us, but even for us to be like Him.
The Bible says that by His power He has given us everything concerning life and godliness. He has made every provision for us, that we may be able to grow up, be matured, and be conformed to the image of His beloved Son.
But, brothers and sisters, where is our responsibility? Are we responding to the work of the Holy Spirit in us?
When He shows us what is wrong, what is not righteous, what is not holy, what is not glorious in our lives, He will not fail to show us. But when He does, how do we react?
Do we grieve Him, offend Him, rebel against Him? Or do we submit to Him, take up the cross, and follow Him?
So, really speaking, the responsibility lies in each one of us. Brothers and sisters, this is the reason why spiritual exercise is so important. We have to do it daily. If you neglect it, you neglect your future.
In Philippians 2, we are told, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Now, we say that salvation is already given. We are saved by grace. God has already done everything for us. We are saved.
Now, why is it that we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling? Is it because we are not believing? No, because the Holy Spirit is working in us according to God’s good pleasure.
As the Holy Spirit works in us, then we work out our salvation with fear and trembling. In other words, it is not by our work. Even though we are involved in the work, it is not by our work; it is still by grace.
The Holy Spirit, in His grace, begins to speak to us, begins to touch us, and begins to show us wherein we have departed.
As the Holy Spirit works in us, we work out our salvation with fear and trembling. So it is not really we who work; it is the Holy Spirit Who works, and we just cooperate.
When we say yes, then the Holy Spirit will do the work. So, brothers and sisters, it is very, very important. We can enjoy life when the Lord comes back.
You know, our Lord Jesus gave us some parables. In the parable of the ten virgins, you find that they were all virgins.
Now, the Bible only calls those whose sins have been cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus virgins. Otherwise, we were all adulterous.
But there were ten virgins: five foolish and five wise. They all had torches, going out to meet the Lord. You know, no one in the world will go out to meet the Lord. Only Christians, only believers, will go out to meet the Lord.
They all had oil in their torches, because the light was shining. But because the Lord delayed, as it were, you find that they all went to sleep.
Then at midnight they heard a voice: “The bridegroom comes!” They all woke up and trimmed their torches.
The foolish ones did not have extra oil in their vessels. The wise ones had oil in their vessels. In other words, the wise ones prepared for the days ahead, but the foolish ones just lived for today: “Eat and drink, and tomorrow I die.”
Brothers and sisters, the oil in the torch is given, but the oil in the vessel has to be bought.
While the foolish ones went to buy the oil, the bridegroom came. So only the five wise ones went into the marriage feast, and the door was closed.
So, brothers and sisters, this shows us that in our life we not only need to have the oil in us—we have the Holy Spirit in us—we need to have extra oil. And the extra oil has to be bought. It costs something.
Now, are we willing to pay the cost, that we may be filled with the Holy Spirit? If that is the case, then we will enter into the marriage feast of the Lamb. If not, when He comes, the door is already closed.
Brother, sister, there is a difference.
The same thing is true with another parable, about the talents. The owner gave talents to everyone according to their ability: one five talents, one two talents, and one one talent.
The master left, and after a long time he came back to reckon with his servants. The one with five talents was faithful; he earned another five. The one with two earned another two.
But you remember the one who hid the talent in the earth. He even blamed the master, saying, “You are a hard master, so I was afraid.”
Brothers and sisters, God has given us all gifts according to our ability, because if it is beyond our ability, we cannot do it.
But within what He has given to us, according to our ability, we should earn it for the Lord. That is service. We serve with what He has entrusted to us.
If we are faithful, we will be rewarded. But if we are not, we will be cast out into outer darkness.
So, dear brothers and sisters, when we think of the coming of the Lord, it is not that when He comes every believer will be taken up and receive reward.
We will find that some may go first, some will come later, and we will all go through the judgment seat of Christ. Then that will decide whether we will enter into the joy of the Lord during the kingdom age, or whether we will be cast into outer darkness—to regret, to repent, and to receive discipline in order to be matured.
That is the reason why we find in Luke 21 that we are exhorted not to be occupied with eating and drinking and the cares of life.
If we make eating and drinking and the cares of life our way of life, then that day will come upon us suddenly, unawares.
We are not waiting, watching, ready. His coming will be sudden and unawares.
For as a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell upon the face of all the earth. To the world, the coming of the Lord is something unawares. But to us, sons of light, we should be aware of that. We should be prepared for it, ready for it.
“Watch, therefore, praying at every season, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things which are about to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
So, dear brothers and sisters, when we think of the coming of the Lord, let us think of it in a practical way. Are we watching? Are we praying? Are we preparing ourselves for His coming?
If so, then it will be the most joyous time. But if not, the judgment seat of Christ will decide whether we will enjoy life in the days to come, or whether in the days to come we cannot enjoy life.
So what should we do?
Now, I have a slogan. I always say, “Ever ready, never ready.”
If you think you are ready for His return, probably you are not ready. Most likely, you are not ready.
If you are ever ready for His return, then you have to say that you are never ready. That kind of spirit is important as we wait for the coming of the Lord.
So, dear brothers and sisters, let us remember: at the coming of the Lord, whether we can see Him joyfully or sorrowfully depends on whether we exercise our spirit.
It is that important. You know, I do not know how I can impress upon you, dear brothers and sisters, this matter of spiritual exercise.
But the truth is, the Lord is coming, and coming soon—sooner than most people think.
Because, so far as prophecy goes, all the prophecies that precede the coming of the Lord have been fulfilled. There are some prophecies yet to be fulfilled, but these prophecies will be fulfilled at the coming of the Lord and after the coming of the Lord, not before the coming of the Lord.
In view of that, if you look at it from a prophetic standpoint, the Lord can come at any time. Today? Yes. Why not?
But can we enjoy life when He comes?
The only way to enjoy life when He comes is that we need to exercise our spirit and cooperate with the Holy Spirit, Who is so faithful, working in each and every one of us, trying to bring us out of ourselves, out of the world, and into Christ.
So may the Lord encourage us. Let us pray.
Lord, how we long to see Thee face to face. But, Lord, Thou knowest whether we are prepared. Thou art preparing us, but Lord, are we responding?
We pray that none of us will be left out, but that all will enter into the marriage feast of the Lamb. To Thee be the glory, in Thy precious name. Amen.