Good afternoon, brothers and sisters.
I’d like for you all just to stand up and say hello to the people behind you and in front of you.
Okay, that’s enough. All right, settle down.
Now, were you saying hello and greeting one another up on the mountain or down on the earth?
You know, there was a famous preacher in England named F. B. Meyer. He had a sign in his office, and the sign said, “Look down.”
Brother T. Austin-Sparks was a young servant of God, and he went into Brother Meyer’s office one day and saw the sign. Brother Sparks said, “Why does the sign say, ‘Look down’? Shouldn’t it say, ‘Look up’?”
F. B. Meyer said, “It depends where you’re sitting.” If we’re sitting in the heavenly places with Christ, we look down. May this be our position today.
We want to read this afternoon in Colossians 1. We want to climb the second mountain peak. We will just read six verses, but in these six verses we’re climbing very high. We’re climbing the mountain of Christ.
Some Bible scholars say this is the highest mountain peak in the Bible. We begin reading in Colossians 1:15.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
For in Him all things were created,
both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through Him and for Him.He is before all things,
and in Him all things hold together.He is also head of the body, the church;
and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
so that He Himself will come to have preeminence in everything.For it was the Father’s good pleasure
for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself,
having made peace through the blood of His cross—
through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Now we want to read some verses in Acts 18, the brief story about Apollos. Acts 18:24.
Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures.
This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John.
And he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more perfectly.
And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
Then we want to turn to 1 Corinthians 3, where we see reference made again to Apollos. We begin in verse 4.
For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men?
What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.
So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.
Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.
For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.
If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.
If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Down to verse 21:
So then let no one boast in men.
For all things belong to you,
whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death
or things present or things to come;
all things belong to you,
and you belong to Christ;
and Christ belongs to God.
And 1 Corinthians 4:1-2:
Let a man regard us in this manner: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found faithful.
Verse 6:
Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.
Let’s just have a word of prayer.
Our Father, we gather this afternoon as Your servants, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You for Your precious Word that we read before us.
We would ask that Your Spirit would give us wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of this One of whom we have read. For indeed, the things we read about Christ, eye has not seen nor ear heard; neither has it ever entered into the heart of man, these things.
We come together and pray that the Holy Spirit could reveal to us the height and the depth and the length and the breadth of Christ, and that we could be filled afresh with the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge.
Help us this afternoon, we pray. Quicken our mortal bodies by the Holy Spirit, and we commit this time into Your hands. In the precious name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
When we read these verses in Colossians 1, we are on the high mountain of who Christ is. Our Christ is revealed before us as so great, so large, so glorious. Who can possibly understand these things?
While I was training in school, we read these passages. The professor said that this is the highest Christology in the New Testament. We studied all of these phrases.
He is the image of God. He is the firstborn of all creation. In Him, through Him, and to Him is all creation. He is before all things. In Him, all things hold together. He is the head of the body, His church.
And He has the exclusive preeminence. There is nothing and no one who has greater authority. He is first place. There is no one higher. There is no man, and there is no spiritual being, higher. He has been given this preeminence over everything.
When we read this description of the mountain peak of Christ, we see once again why, as servants, it is so important that we have a spirit of wisdom and revelation to understand something of these dimensions.
Yet no matter how much we study His precious Word, when the Lord of glory reveals Himself to us, we fall down as men dead. Paul fell down before this heavenly vision. When John saw this glorious Jesus in the book of Revelation, he fell down as dead.
If you and I have ever seen something of the glorious Christ, we have been slain in some measure. If we have been traveling, carrying a little flashlight for our light, and then the glory of heaven falls upon our way, we are blinded by the light.
When we look up at this mountain peak of Christ, there is nothing that compares to this vision.
In this modern world, we all travel quite a bit. I like it when I’m flying and I can see some great mountain appear through the cloud. That’s the best time to see Mount Rainier, if you’re going to Seattle, Washington—when you’re up in the plane.
Every time I fly into Tokyo, as on this trip, I hope that I can see Mount Fuji. I saw Mount Everest when we were flying into Nepal, into Kathmandu. This is in the foothills of Mount Everest.
Now, this is the mountain of mountains. You can’t really see the whole thing. And this Christ who has been described to us in the Word of God is beyond what we can understand.
I’m trusting that you have been seated with Christ in the heavenly places, and that in some small measure you have seen this wonderful snow-capped mountain peak of this Christ.
Now, underneath this mountain peak, you can see the rest of the mountain coming down: the body of Christ. This is part of the summing up into Christ. And what a beautiful bride this body of Christ is.
If you look very carefully at this mountain, you may see yourself in there. You understand that although it’s just a little speck in this mountain called the church, you and I have a place in there. It’s a glorious place.
We are royal priests. We are sons of God. We are being prepared to be His bride. We are His servants. We are part of all this that is being summed up and headed up in Christ.
In Ephesians 1, it says that Christ has been exalted in the heavenlies and sits upon a throne. He is now head over all things to the church.
As you can tell, I am a grandfather. My gray hair has come from raising my sons, but my smile comes because I have six grandchildren.
As I watch these grandchildren grow, I love to be around them—except when they come to that stage where they always ask questions: “But why? But why? But why? Why?”
Now we are children of the Lord, and we have many questions. Our Lord has been made head over all things to the church. That means He wants to make the decision about everything.
As a grandfather, I can only take so much of my grandchildren. I say, “Oh, be quiet,” or else I say, “Because I said so.”
But our Lord is so full of wisdom. He loves it when His children say, “But why? But how? But who?”
When it comes to our life in the church, we should be asking the Lord everything, because He knows what to do. Unfortunately, even my grandchildren are coming to the age where they say, “I know everything now.”
Unfortunately, many of us, as servants of God, come to this place, and the Lord has to humble us so that we will let Him be head over all things to the church.
As He is gathering all things up under His head, we see that beautiful vision in Ephesians 4. Paul says you have a very high calling.
What is his emphasis? The church is one.
He says you have one body, one Spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.
Do you get the message? The church is one. One, one, one, one. Yes, the church is one. Under the headship of the Lord Jesus, the church is one. That has not changed.
Then Paul gives us that wonderful picture. Christ descended into the depths and rose again. He was exalted, filled all things, and gave gifts unto men.
There is Christ at the top of the mountain. Then He is distributed: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. They begin to help the members of the body of Christ to grow and to serve one another, and the body begins to grow into maturity, into the Head.
There we see a picture of the servants of God in the midst of this wonderful picture of the summing up of all things in Christ. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are all coordinated together by the Holy Spirit to do one thing: to build that church into the Head, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Lord is in control of this whole work of God. It is a wonderful work. It is beautiful in its picture.
We go to 1 Corinthians 3 and come down to earth with a bump. What do we read in 1 Corinthians 3? We read about carnal, fleshly men. They have ambition. They want to exercise their authority to be head over the church.
The church only has one Head. But then man steps in and says, “I am the head of this church.” So they had a discussion, a difference, a schism.
Some said, “I follow Paul.” Others said, “I follow Apollos.” “I follow Peter.”
Now Peter and Paul and Apollos never said, “Follow me.” Actually, these brothers who are causing the problem are really saying, “I follow Peter, so you follow me.”
You see that this beautiful work of unity is being threatened by man’s flesh. Paul talks to the saints and says, “I am a servant and a steward of the mysteries of God.” The servant of God must be faithful.
“I have faithfully planted the body of Christ in Corinth. Apollos has faithfully watered this plant. Why are you looking at the gardeners? It is God who gives the growth.”
Then Paul gives them a wonderful picture of what things look like from the heavenly place:
So then let no one boast in men.
For all things belong to you.
Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death,
or things present or things to come,
all things belong to you.
You belong to Christ.
Christ belongs to God.
The church of God is being built under the headship of Christ into fullness of stature.
Paul says, “If you look at your situation from the heavenly perspective in Christ, here is what God has given to you. You have been given by God Paul, Apollos, and everything.”
God, by His Spirit, has been coordinating these various brothers who have visited Corinth and have deposited something of Christ during their time there.
But listen to the carnal response of man: “I don’t want the fullness of Cephas, Apollos, and Paul. I just want Apollos. I don’t want fullness. I just want narrowness.”
“I like the way Apollos speaks. He’s a philosopher.” Somebody else says, “I like the way Peter speaks, like a good old fisherman.” Others say, “I like the way Paul speaks, because he speaks on and on and on and on.”
Paul says, “Church of Corinth, you’ve been given all three men. Let the Lord use all of these men, and don’t limit His supply.”
We can see what a problem this is today because of the division within the church. There are many assemblies that will not listen to him or to me because we don’t have the right ordination.
The church today is not being coordinated in unity by the Holy Spirit. There are two kinds of coordination that go on today.
A servant of God is sent out, paid, and told what to preach by an organization of one tradition or another.
Now, if you’re a servant of God and you’re told what you can say, what you can’t say, what you can believe, and what you can’t believe, you’re not listening to God; you’re listening to man.
Even if you’re successful within your tradition, you have not been faithful to the God who calls.
But then there’s a second method, very popular today. A man proclaims himself called of God and goes out based on his own effort, ambition, and gift to be successful in ministry.
If he is gifted, he climbs the ladder until he is the king of a little group. His ambition has borne fruit, but it has not been coordinated by God in the summing up of all things.
I bring up this whole matter of the coordination of the servants because, where we read in the book of Acts about Apollos, we have a beautiful picture of God coordinating His faithful servant.
We want to turn back to Acts 18 and look at this matter of Apollos. We will read verses 24 and 25:
Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures.
This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John.
Now, here is Apollos, a faithful servant.
Some people think that Apollos was a Jew who was not converted yet, that he had not been born again. They think he had repented of his sins, had been baptized with John’s baptism, and was awaiting the Messiah to come. But this cannot be.
Did you notice what it says here? He was instructed in the way of the Lord. Notice what else it says: he was accurately teaching the things concerning Jesus.
So he knew that Jesus had come. He knew that John the Baptist had taught of the Lamb of God who had come to take away the sins of the world. This man was being faithful. He had consecrated his gifts and his life to serve God.
It says he was a learned man. A faithful servant is a student of the Word of God. It says Apollos was mighty in the Scriptures.
He had been studying the Old Testament. He had seen the promises regarding Jesus in the Old Testament. He had committed these words from the Old Testament into his heart, and he could speak upon them with great strength.
It also says he was fervent in spirit. He was being strengthened in his inner man by the Holy Spirit, and he was teaching all that he knew about Jesus. He was a faithful servant.
This is a picture of many servants of God today. They have been saved by God’s grace. They have studied His Word diligently. They are able to preach the Word of God regarding the Lord Jesus. Yet there was something missing.
What is a faithful servant? A faithful servant is one who serves according to the light that they have.
It’s true there was something missing in Apollos, but he didn’t know what it was. Yet he was faithful to God according to the amount of light that he had from the Word of God.
Here we see a first lesson about servants of God. God has sovereignly called Apollos to the truth. Not only did he have gifts, but he had the grace of God to be a student of the Word.
We remember Paul’s exhortation to Timothy:
Study to show thyself approved unto God,
a worker that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
Apollos was zealous for the Lord. He was traveling about and speaking about Christ in the synagogues. You can see he had the heart of a servant.
There are many people who call themselves servants of God, but they’re lazy. They don’t like to study the Word, so they just read a chapter from Watchman Nee. They try to memorize a few things Brother Nee said, and they think that they’re now a teacher.
Of course, everybody in the assembly who has also read that book knows what has happened. But this man Apollos read the Word of God until the Lord gave him light—original light—and he ministered that.
But he was also fervent in spirit. Some people are not very fervent, or if they’re zealous, they’re zealous for the wrong reasons.
There’s an American saying: “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” Some people are very zealous, but they have very little knowledge.
You remember in Romans 10, Paul opens the chapter by saying that the Jews are very zealous, but not according to knowledge. But Apollos was accurate in his knowledge of the Word, and he spoke the things concerning Jesus.
Now we see the sovereign growth of a servant of God. Apollos had many things already in his service, but he lacked an understanding of the more perfect way.
What do you think that means? That he didn’t know certain doctrines? Do you think Aquila and Priscilla took him aside and said, “Now let me tell you about the doctrine of predestination”?
No, his lack was not in doctrine, per se. It does not say in the Scripture what it was that he needed.
But we can see, as we consider the Scriptures and what happens with Aquila and Priscilla, that what he lacked was a heavenly vision of Christ in glory.
He spoke the things concerning Jesus, but now he needed to see the fuller dimensions of Christ.
Many servants of God today go around with a partial, accurate understanding of something regarding the Lord.
In Ephesians 1:3-14, we have what could be the curriculum for a whole seminary training. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. We were chosen before the foundation of the world. We were predestined to become sons. We have been forgiven of our sins. We have been brought into an inheritance. We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit.
I don’t know about here, but in the United States there are churches that only preach on the doctrine of God’s blessing.
The doctrine is very simple: God wants to bless you and make you a millionaire. Here’s what you must do: give everything to me, and you become prosperous.
Now, it’s true we have every spiritual blessing in Christ, but our gospel must be bigger than that.
We have groups that spend all their time preaching about election and predestination. Some churches only preach about grace and forgiveness. Others, every Sunday, speak about the Holy Spirit and the power of God.
All these things are true. But if you take them apart, you take them out of the truth.
All of those things that were mentioned in Ephesians 1 have a missing phrase that belongs to each: in Christ.
You have all blessing in Christ. You are chosen in Christ. You are forgiven in Christ. You have the Holy Spirit in Christ.
The Ephesian Christians may not have known about all these doctrines, but they knew Christ. If you abide in Christ, you have all of these things.
But take any one of these doctrines and press it to the extreme, and it becomes something that is not right.
I believe in predestination, and I believe in election, but I have heard much preaching about that which makes my heart grieve when I hear it.
It’s only when we’re abiding in Christ that we see the balance of all these wonderful things.
Churches are emphasizing all kinds of different things. It’s kind of like a new car.
Have you seen the 2011 model of the Jaguar? Some churches preach on the pattern of the car—the style.
Another says, “No, no. A car is no good without an engine. You must be born again, born again, born again, born again.”
Another church says, “No, no, no. What you need is the gasoline of the Holy Spirit. You need the power, the power, the power, the power.”
Others say, “No, no, no. You’ve got to wash the car and paint the car and perfect the look of the car.” Others say, “You need to read the manual very carefully.”
Some people read the manual, and they also drive a car on the computer, but they’ve never actually driven a car.
We have churches that all emphasize something different. How many of these groups know where this car is going?
You put the gasoline in, you start the engine—where are we going? What is God’s purpose for the church?
They say, “We just keep going around in circles.” But you see, these are just partial understandings.
The Lord wants to bring us into the greatness of Christ and His all-sufficiency.
Now we picture our faithful servant Apollos as he comes to Ephesus. He’s preaching according to the amount of light that he has, because he is a follower of John the Baptist.
Maybe he’s like a lone voice in the wilderness when he preaches in the synagogue. Wherever he goes, he goes to the synagogue and preaches the Messiah. He speaks of the coming of the kingdom of God, but he doesn’t know Christ, the heavenly One.
He probably lives according to the custom of the Jews. He probably seldom preaches to the Gentiles, if at all.
Then he meets God’s servants. Who are the key servants here in this story? He meets Aquila and Priscilla. They are the most important part of this story.
Aquila and Priscilla were a Christian couple who made tents. They were Jews in background, but saved by the grace of Christ.
They were kicked out of Rome, and they moved to Corinth. When Paul came to Corinth, he met Aquila and Priscilla. Paul lived and worked with them for a few months. They made tents together.
On the Sabbath, Paul would go into the synagogue and try to reason with the Jews regarding Christ.
But something wonderful was going on. As Aquila and Priscilla worked together with the apostle Paul, he shared his heavenly vision of Christ—the glorious Christ he met on the road to Damascus.
The King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the Christ whose church was His body.
After a few months, Silas and Timothy came and joined Paul in Corinth. For a period of around two years, Paul, Silas, and Timothy worked together building the church in Corinth.
God poured out His Spirit in a wonderful way, and the church of Corinth was built. Many people got saved, Jews and Gentiles. They received the Holy Spirit, and many of the Corinthians had various spiritual gifts. They began to function as the body of Christ.
Aquila and Priscilla saw it all. They too became members of the body of Christ. They felt themselves connected together with all the other believers, and they became God’s servants.
How? They opened their home and had a church meeting in their house. They used their tentmaking money to help support the work that was going on.
Over these few years, the church of Corinth became a testimony of Christ.
After two years, Paul felt burdened in his heart to go to Ephesus, and he took Aquila and Priscilla with him. They went to Ephesus. Aquila and Priscilla moved their tentmaking business to Ephesus and began to live there.
Paul said, “I have to go back to Jerusalem, and I’ll be back.” There were probably a few believers in Ephesus who believed in the Lord Jesus. Most of them met in the synagogue.
Aquila and Priscilla were there, but they were God’s servants. Why? Because they had seen the heavenly vision of Christ.
During the more than a year that Paul was absent from Ephesus, Apollos came to Ephesus.
Where did he go? That converted Jewish preacher went to the synagogue. He preached a powerful word about Jesus being the Messiah.
But as he was preaching, Aquila and Priscilla noticed something: “He doesn’t see. He doesn’t see yet.”
After he got through speaking, Aquila and Priscilla took him out for dim sum, and they began to explain to Apollos the way of the Lord more perfectly.
Apollos was in the way of the Lord, but only to the degree he had seen. Priscilla and Aquila began to share with Apollos this heavenly vision of Christ.
Actually, we notice something quite common here in the Scripture. When it comes to telling Apollos about these things, it says, “Priscilla and Aquila,” because Priscilla was more of the teacher than Aquila.
Priscilla told him about the largeness of Christ, and Aquila said, “Yep. Amen. Amen.”
Can you imagine what happened to Apollos when he heard of the fullness of Christ?
We know that he was a faithful servant because he was humble to receive this word from this man and woman.
Sometimes today, God’s servants won’t listen to God’s servants. Full-time workers know everything. If a sister and a brother take you out for dim sum and tell you, “We have something more to tell you,” you say, “No, no, no, thanks.”
But our dear brother Apollos wanted to know all he could know regarding Christ.
Priscilla told him about what happened in Corinth and how Paul had shared the gospel of this cosmic and glorious Christ, how they were all baptized into the body of Christ and began to function as members together in one body.
As Priscilla spoke these words, Apollos witnessed in his heart, “All these things are true.” Suddenly he saw. The heavens opened up, and he saw his Lord Jesus.
He saw that He was more than just the Messiah of the kingdom of God. He was the Head of the church. He was the Bridegroom of the bride. He was the all-powerful Lord Jesus Christ.
When Apollos saw this, he rejoiced. Something happened immediately: he became coordinated in this building work of God as an apostle.
If you notice in this passage, what immediately happens? Apollos comes to Aquila and Priscilla and says, “I have to go to Corinth. I have to go to Corinth.”
Achaia means a court. We know that there are two major cities in Achaia: one was Athens, and the other was Corinth. Apollos wanted to go to Corinth.
At that time, even though Aquila and Priscilla were in Ephesus, the church had not really been built there yet. They were still meeting at the synagogue.
The believers in Ephesus sent Apollos over to Corinth with a letter of commendation.
When he went to Corinth, his spirit was expanded as he rejoiced and joined himself with the body of Christ.
Do you remember that time in your life when you saw the body of Christ truly functioning? When you saw the Lord Jesus visible among the saints gathered together?
You saw a simple brother stand up and give a word, and then another brother stand up and add to that word. When they prayed, they prayed in one accord. One sister prayed, and then another brother added to that prayer.
The Christian life was not independent anymore. Apollos was not just a brother who went wherever he wanted anymore. He was now a servant of God being led by the Holy Spirit, and so he went to Corinth.
What happened when he got there? In Acts 18:27-28, it says:
And when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace,
for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public,
demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
No wonder the brothers and sisters loved Apollos. At this time, he had a special ministry of preaching about the Messiah to the Jews in Corinth.
But we remember that Paul later says Apollos is part of God’s building work. “When I came to Corinth, I planted this church, and now Apollos is faithfully watering the church.” This is God’s coordinating work.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is Head over all things to His church. He leads brothers and sisters to various places in service to Him.
He has you, as one of His servants, living in a particular place. You may have some regular job, but do you see the heavenly vision of Christ?
God will send along some hungry person who needs to hear the way of God more perfectly.
We have many servants of God here this weekend. Some of you have been faithful like Aquila and Priscilla.
Paul was a great preacher. Apollos was a great preacher. But the church cannot be built unless there are Aquila and Priscilla.
How we need brothers and sisters to open the Word of God and share the way of the Lord with believers—people who open their homes to the church.
There’s something that happens when you see a vision of the heavenly Christ. After you see such a vision, after you see this great mountain and summing up, you suddenly see something else: God is building right now.
God is using me right now, maybe in some small way, as a vital link, as a connection with other brothers and sisters. The Holy Spirit is coordinating these things as He is summing up the church into fullness.
We need to be saved, brothers and sisters. God is saving thousands of people every day.
According to the statistics, during this time I have been speaking, more than seven thousand people have been saved across the world. There has been a steady increase over these last thirty years, and it is more than sixty million new Christians every year.
This is happening all over the globe. We stand in a position as those who can teach the way of God more perfectly.
Many of these people have turned from the world and been saved by Jesus Christ as Savior. Many of these people serve in the kingdom of God, but they have never seen the heavenly vision of Christ.
They’re all in the foothills of the mountain, but they don’t know the passageway up in Christ.
Surely God has deposited something in our lives, and He intends to use that which we have seen to help other people in this growing into Christ.
You younger students and scholars going to school and university, if you love the Lord and see something of His greatness, do not think you’re just preparing for a secular career.
God is preparing to place you somewhere so you can be an agent in bringing about the summing up of all things in Christ.
Many of you here have migrated and moved from your home to a new place. Do not make the mistake of thinking you have done that to prosper. You’ve been sent by God.
Yours is to share the more perfect way with those brothers and sisters around you.
If it is God’s will that most of the seed He scatters across this globe be Chinese, this is God’s sovereign will. But wherever you go, don’t be Chinese. Live according to the custom of a heavenly citizen.
Our brother shared this morning: we are walking in a different way. Wherever the Lord sends us, we have something to share with people around us.
Many Christians today are in a very confusing environment. But if they can be seated in the heavenly places in Christ, the confusion can break away as they see the Lord’s purpose for His church.
I’m ninety percent Chinese because I eat so much Chinese food.
Back in New York, I fellowship with brothers and sisters in Flushing, Queens. It’s very wonderful to be there. Maybe we have three hundred and fifty people: three hundred Chinese and fifty of the rest of us.
But it’s a very strange assembly, because everything is done in English. Many who come to us are just visiting, and they say, “Well, we have three hundred Chinese here. You should speak Chinese.”
The brothers say, “No, no. We’re in America now. We want our testimony to be here in the United States.” So many Chinese brothers and sisters have to learn English.
I’m glad I don’t live here, because I would have to learn Chinese. But that’s the price you pay to be God’s servant.
We have one of these assemblies where nobody understands who the pastor is. “Well, we have no pastor.” “Oh, wait a minute—my brother Christian Chen goes to the same assembly. He must be the pastor.”
No, no, no. He’s not the pastor. He goes away more than he is home. We are not missing sheep; we’re missing a shepherd.
Maybe some of the others say, “Oh, Brother Dana, he must be the pastor.” No, no, no. We have some brothers who are leaders, spiritual leaders, and they are leading the church toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
When I go there, I see the Lord working now. He is changing people’s lives, and it’s something new. We haven’t been this way before.
The Lord wants us to give ourselves to be His testimony. We have an opportunity to share the heavenly Christ with those who come among us.
We hope, despite our weaknesses, when people come and gather with us around the Lord’s table, they will touch the Lord.
What a wonderful opportunity. We have this chance to live now, because our God is working now.
Don’t tell me what God did years ago. Don’t get nostalgic and weep and say, “Oh, it used to be so good.”
I say, look to the Lord, to the heavenly vision, and you will see He is working now. Don’t say, “There’s nothing going on now, but we hope very soon something will happen.”
As soon as you see the heavenly vision, the Lord, like He did with Apollos, begins to coordinate and lead you by the Holy Spirit.
May we be faithful servants, humble servants, always desiring to see more of who our Lord Jesus Christ really is. That’s why we gathered together this weekend. May the Lord help us.
Let’s pray.
Father, we thank You so much that You’re calling servants to be coordinated by our Head, the Lord Jesus. We want to be faithful stewards of the mysteries.
We thank You for our brother Apollos. He was so humble. He was so willing to receive new light.
We thank You for Aquila and Priscilla, servants who were able to share the mysteries of God in Christ.
Raise up all of Your children, young and old, to be such faithful servants. We sit with Christ in the heavenlies and see how great He is.
We bow before His sovereign will. Lord, lead us, that we may serve Thee.
Help us to be those who know Your will in these last days, and enable us by Your Spirit to live in the fullness and victory of Christ.
We pray in His precious name. Amen.