And through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.
Let us remember this verse in our hearts.
Let us turn back to our main verse in Ephesians 1:10:
Unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in Him.
We know that the theme of this conference is to gather together in one all things in Christ. The theme is based on the verse we have just read. Here, “all things” refers to heaven and earth. The story here is the story of the universe.
In the fulness of time, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both the things in heaven and the things on earth. Here is the work of Christ to accomplish God’s will. God sent His most faithful Servant, and that is Jesus Christ.
Very clearly, we see a faithful Servant who has a work, and His work is according to God’s will. What is Christ’s work according to? It is that, in the fulness of time, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both the things in heaven and the things on earth.
We know that Ephesians and Colossians were written about the same time. Colossians shows us how Christ is the Head of the church. Ephesians shows us how the church is the Body of Christ. Therefore, these two books interpret each other.
If we are to understand this matter of all things in heaven and on earth being gathered together in Christ, the best interpretation is in Colossians, in the verse that we have just read. That is the story of the cross. That is the story of redemption.
God sent His Son to this earth. He was nailed to the cross for our sins, because sin entered this world. Our Lord had a work to do, and that work was accomplished on the cross.
What did He do? It says that He made peace through the blood of His cross. Why did He have to make peace? Because there was no peace in the universe. Before, everything was harmonious when it was one. But because sin entered the universe, the harmony disappeared.
Heaven and earth were one. Now heaven and earth are disconnected; they are far apart. Therefore, the Lord has a work to do. This is His service before God—the service of the most faithful and ideal Servant. It is according to God’s will.
He had no sin. He became sin for our sake and was nailed to the cross. He should not have shed a single drop of blood, but He did shed His blood. He gave us peace.
What kind of peace is that? Heaven and earth are disconnected, but because of the work of the cross, all things are to be gathered together.
This “all things” refers to that which is to be gathered. How does Scripture describe all things? It says, “whether things on earth or things in heaven.”
In the eyes of scientists, there are thousands and thousands of galaxies. But in God’s heart, even though planet Earth is so small, it occupies a significant place. When God created the universe, heaven and earth were one. All things were created for Christ, because He is to be the Heir of all things. This is all for Him.
According to the Greek, the phrase “gather together in one” means not merely to sum up, but to head up. There is a Head. The root of that word is related to the word for “head.”
When we speak of the summing up, it not only shows us oneness; it shows us what kind of oneness it is. All things are lined up under the Head.
What does that mean? It shows that heaven is the crown of earth. When heaven is the crown of earth, God is the Head of the universe. This earth was created not merely as a great stone.
In the eyes of scientists today, all the planets may appear to be stones or rocks. But is planet Earth merely a rock? When does the earth have meaning? It is when heaven becomes its crown.
God wants men to see His Son. When you look to the heavens, you see the heavens; but on earth you also see heaven, because the earth is lined up with heaven. When there is a cloud in heaven, there is a cloud on earth. When there is glory in heaven, there is glory on earth. Why? The earth reflects heaven.
You do not have to go to heaven to see heaven. You can see heaven from earth. When you see a vine, you are reminded of the true vine. When you see the sun, you remember the righteous One.
All created things are like two galleries: one art gallery on earth and one art gallery in heaven. Whether on earth or in heaven, everything points us to and reminds us of our Lord. That is why God created heaven and earth.
When the Bible speaks of being gathered together in one, it is a gathering into the Head, so that everything is lined up with heaven. Heaven and earth can be distinguished, but they cannot be separated.
Sadly, when sin entered this world, heaven and earth were disconnected. Heaven and earth began to move further and further apart.
Now, when people see beautiful scenery, they merely say, “This is beauty.” They are not reminded of our Lord. This is how far man has come. Man says that there is no God. Man says that God is dead.
But before, it was not like this. Before, when you raised your hand, you touched heaven. If you sense His presence, you touch heaven. This was God’s original universe.
This is the story of the universe, especially when we read Colossians. In Colossians 1:16, it says:
For in Him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible.
Very clearly, “all things” refers to the universe. It is not something abstract. When Paul speaks of all things, he speaks of the universe. Do not make it abstract or unclear.
Sometimes we think that the phrase “Christ is all and in all” is very abstract. But if we know God’s will, then we know that the story is the story of the universe.
Last evening we spoke on Genesis 1. Today we want to go to Genesis 3. Not only is there the tragedy of the universe; there is also the human tragedy.
Why did God create man? Psalm 8 gives us a clear answer. Psalm 8:1 is equivalent to Genesis 1:1:
O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Thy name in all the earth,
Who hast set Thy glory upon the heavens!
God created the earth so that His name would be glorified. His splendor is displayed in the heavens. This was the original heaven and earth.
After six days of work, God created man. Genesis 1 ends with the creation of man. From Genesis 1:3 to the end, we see how God created man and gave him glory and honor as his crown, because man was created according to God’s image.
This speaks of life. The image is our glory, our honor, and our crown. When all things see that crown, they cannot help but acknowledge God’s purpose in man.
Man was not only created according to God’s image; God created man so that man could serve Him and rule for Him. God created man to rule over the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and the beasts of the land.
Not only is man to rule the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and the beasts of the land; all things are to be in subjection under his feet. First Corinthians makes this very clear: God’s purpose is that all things will be under the Lord’s feet.
Why did God create us? Why does He want us to manifest Him? Is it merely to show others how spiritual we are—how we are like Madame Guyon, Darby, or Hudson Taylor? No. Glory and honor are for service.
When God created man, His purpose was to give us a mission: we are to rule and subdue. Someone said that when God created man, He made man the commander-in-chief of the navy, army, and air force. God is King, but He entrusted a commission to man.
There is something man has to do. There is a mission to be fulfilled. That is service. Brothers and sisters, if we are to serve God today, there is a work that He has handed us to do.
Why did God create this universe? Very clearly, He has given us a mission. In the blueprint of God’s creation, we have life and service. Service is the outflow of life.
When God created us according to His image, it meant that we were to serve and rule. How do we rule? How do we serve? God blessed them. We need to look for His blessing. Without His blessing, you and I cannot serve.
We may be busy—busy to death—and yet it may not be God’s work. Only He can do God’s work. We must look to His blessing. When He blesses us, there is one result: we become fruitful and multiply.
This life is higher than animal life and higher than vegetable life. This life has a result: the fruit of the tree of life. God blesses our life so that it may grow and be fruitful.
When life fills the earth, the whole earth will be conquered. All things will be in subjection, and man will fulfill the mission of service. God created man so that we might be servants.
Psalm 8:2 is equivalent to Genesis 1:2:
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou established strength,
Because of Thine adversaries,
That Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
Now do you see why the earth was without form and void? God has an adversary. Not only does He have an adversary; this adversary continues to speak.
Sometimes people ask, “Why did God create Satan?” God did not create Satan. What God created was an angel. That angel became proud and rebelled, and then he was cast down to the earth and outer space.
This territory was lost, and the entire earth is now in the hands of the evil one. Under these conditions, God has a solution.
Many times we ask, “Why cannot God simply crush Satan?” God can crush him, because God is the Creator and Satan is a created being. But there is nothing great about a Creator destroying a creature.
When an adult fights a small child and presses him down, we do not say, “What a great display of strength.” If God were simply to crush Satan, it would display His power, but God says, “I will not do that.”
The universe is not merely to manifest God’s power; it is to manifest His wisdom. Where is His wisdom? He does not deal with a created being simply as the Creator.
His adversaries are fallen angels. Therefore, He created man a little lower than the angels. He uses one created being to deal with another created being.
Amazingly, man is lower than the angels. If man can overcome, then Satan will be ashamed. If God had created man higher than the angels, even man’s victory would not display the same wisdom.
What is man supposed to be? Man is supposed to be like an infant and a nursing child—someone with no strength, yet someone to whom God gives strength.
Remember: all those who serve God have no strength in themselves. Human strength may accomplish great works, but it is not God’s work. God hides His purpose from the intelligent and reveals it to infants.
God did not merely create man; He wants man to be like an infant. Why? Because the life of an infant is a life of dependence.
God placed man before the tree of life. He wanted man to eat of the fruit of the tree of life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents a life of independence, but the tree of life represents a dependent life.
Have you noticed that when an infant is born, his IQ is zero? His wisdom is zero. Yet a calf can stand and nurse shortly after it is born. A baby shark is born with teeth and can survive on its own. But an infant cannot live by himself.
What does it mean to have an IQ of zero? It means, “I cannot live by myself. I am dependent on my mother.” How does an infant live? It only knows how to cry.
Because it cries, it can live. When a baby is born, the doctor wants to hear the baby cry. Crying means, “I give up. I surrender.” If I can grow, it is not because I can do it myself.
When you cry, you surrender. If you have a million dollars in your pocket, you may not pray. But if you have no money in your pocket, your knees will bend. Every time we pray, we surrender.
Brothers and sisters, how do we grow? Once we are saved, how do we grow? We only know how to cry. We say, “Lord, apart from You, we can do nothing.”
Do not forget: God created man not only as man, but so that man might eat of the fruit of the tree of life. That life is the life of Christ.
Our Lord said that apart from the Father, He could do nothing. Whatever the Father did, He did. His teaching was the teaching of the Father. This life is a life of dependence.
When heaven and earth are disconnected, how can God gather them together? He does not only create man; man must receive that life. John tells us that the life is in Him.
Heaven and earth can be reconnected. This is the purpose of God in creating man. God created man so that man might be a servant, but man’s service and God’s service are one, because God wants to sum up all things in Christ.
If man were merely created with spirit, soul, and body, creation would be complete in one sense. But something would still be missing from God’s will. If heaven and earth are connected in you, that is your service. That is your work.
Yet it is not your labor, because service comes from the outflow of life. The life of the tree of life is what enables us to serve.
When we look back at our service, and many have been saved and helped, is it your work or is it His? Do you understand His will?
If we are to accomplish His will, only the infants can silence Satan. When the story is complete, Satan is ashamed, because man eats of the fruit of the tree of life, becomes fruitful, multiplies, and fills the earth.
Why must the earth be filled? Because the entire earth is in the hands of the evil one. What is the work of the church today? It is not merely to have more people. We must know what is in God’s heart.
First, we need God’s blessing. Secondly, we need life to grow. Then that life can fill the entire earth.
When life spreads through the earth, we can rule the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. This is delegated authority. When all things are subject under us, we are the ones who bring all things to the feet of Christ.
Because of sin, this universe has disintegrated. But when, inch by inch, we regain territory from Satan, Satan loses his territory.
In Jerusalem there were one hundred and twenty. Then three thousand were added, and then another five thousand. What does this mean? Satan was losing territory.
As Christ is the Servant of the church, so the church should be the same. What is the mission of the church? It is to take back what is in the enemy’s hands.
Because we have the life of the tree of life, we want Christ to reign. We are under the rule of heaven, and we line up with heaven. We are not the authority; we are under the Lord’s authority.
Then all things naturally come under subjection to us. When you serve the Lord and serve the brothers and sisters, do not merely use positional authority. True authority flows from life.
If your life can fill the entire earth, then you can subdue the earth. In other words, all things will be in subjection under His feet. Then the work of service is accomplished.
Finally, heaven and earth are reconnected. We have spoken as though man did not sin, but let us take one step further. What is the story of our salvation?
Because we ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we need a Savior. We need to accept Jesus as Savior and receive the salvation of the cross.
When we think of the cross, we think that we are sinners saved by grace because we ate of that forbidden fruit. But God’s original purpose was for man to eat of the fruit of the tree of life.
When the Lord was crucified, He was hung on a tree. John describes Him as crucified in a garden. Therefore, that tree was in a garden.
Brothers and sisters, to Him the cross was shame; to us, it is life. When you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are no longer under the judgment of sin. You have overcome the domain of sin.
But do not forget that God’s purpose was for us to eat of the fruit of the tree of life. When you accept His salvation, you eat of the fruit of the tree of life. The tree of life is already in us.
We are the redeemed race. Because of the work of the cross, we have been redeemed. The church is not angels gathered together; the church is redeemed mankind gathered together.
Through the salvation of the cross, we return to the eternal purpose of God. This life is a life of dependence.
If this life is fruitful and fills the earth, then naturally the church stands on the ground that the Lord intended.
When we grow, we regain the territory that was taken. In Taiwan, Christians may comprise only one or two percent of the population. Consider how many people remain in the hands of the evil one. Therefore, life must grow.
We cannot think only of the brothers and sisters in our local gathering. We must think of the millions of souls. Life must grow, be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.
Slowly, two percent may become twenty percent. Perhaps we can reach the proportion of Korea. What is the difficulty? The church has not entered into this burden.
The church is busy doing its own work. We have too many programs. We do not know what God wants us to do.
We say that we preach the gospel, but if only one or two are saved, we must ask: what is God’s purpose? In the fulness of time, He wants to gather together in one all things in Christ.
The cross is the beginning of that work. From His first coming to His second coming, He continues this work.
What is the fulness of time? We need to return to the Bible and to His own Word. The church is the fulfillment of what God originally purposed in Adam.
We have said that there are three passages that speak clearly of the eternal purpose: Ephesians 1, Ephesians 3, and Romans 8. Yesterday we saw Ephesians 1. Now we come to Ephesians 3, and tomorrow we will go to Romans 8.
Ephesians 3:9 says:
And to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery which for ages hath been hid in God who created all things.
Now compare this with Genesis 1, 2, and 3. If man had not fallen and had eaten of the fruit of the tree of life, that would have been the condition God desired.
The church is composed of those who are redeemed, those who have eaten of the fruit of the tree of life. What does the Bible say? Through the church, the manifold wisdom of God is now made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
What does that mean? It is the church that silences the enemy. They may see God’s power and have much to say, but when they see God’s wisdom, they are speechless. These infants silence them.
Where the church silences Satan, the church has entered into its commission. This is what God has entrusted to the church. It is not what you or I can do by ourselves; it is the life within.
All things are gathered together in Christ. When we speak of service, we must ask: Is our service according to the eternal purpose?
Before man fell, man was created in enemy territory. Then God put man in the Garden of Eden. Is that not amazing?
God said that man was to fill the entire earth. Where did that work begin? It began in the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden was a very small place.
God’s purpose is to go from the center outward. We are to preach the gospel to the entire world. We may have slogans about being fruitful and multiplying, but God has a purpose.
When Adam was created, he was put in the Garden of Eden. What is the Garden of Eden? There God could speak to Adam, and Adam did not need to hide from Him. Adam was not afraid of God; he could speak with God.
But when sin entered man, Adam had to hide himself. If someone can live before God’s face and be face to face with God, if that is not heaven, what is?
Wherever God is, there is heaven. Wherever God is not, there is not heaven. If we are to serve God, we must begin from the garden—from His presence and from fellowship with Him.
If you are in that condition, then you are in Eden. But when heaven and earth are disconnected, heaven cannot supply the earth. The water from heaven cannot reach us, and the earth becomes dry. Thorns and thistles grow.
What does the Garden of Eden mean? The reason we can serve Him today is that the Lord puts us in the Garden of Eden: on earth as if we were in heaven.
What is the Garden of Eden? It is heaven on earth. Here we see His presence. Here we see the water flowing from heaven, and we see the four rivers flowing out.
For those who are saved, the garden is, on one hand, an enclosed garden. It is not a public garden. It has a wall, and man is that wall. Everything of Satan is kept outside. We are enclosed in the Lord.
This is the beginning of service. We need to offer ourselves as living sacrifices. That is our service. That is the enclosed garden.
When we are an enclosed garden, the Holy Spirit can flow. The water flows from the throne. When you follow the Holy Spirit, you find gold, bdellium, and the onyx stone.
Gold is the nature of God. Bdellium represents life out of death. The onyx stone represents the work of transformation. Is this not the story of our salvation?
When you follow the Holy Spirit, you have the nature of God, the work of God, and life grows. But do not forget: we are expanding outward. God’s purpose is not merely for us to remain in the Garden of Eden.
Many people want to remain like Madame Guyon, a mystic always in the garden and never going out. But Eden is the beginning. Because we have fellowship with the Lord and receive His power, life becomes more abundant, and we have His work.
This life is more abundant, so it must expand. Then it fills the earth, and all things are under His feet. Thank the Lord.
If we compare Genesis with Revelation, we know that God’s work is not yet complete. It is as though He built a foundation but there is no house upon it, because man fell.
But when you read Revelation, you see that God does not only want a garden. He wants a garden city. He does not want something flat; He wants something built and strong.
He does not merely want us to be spiritual as individual Christians. He wants us to be built into a spiritual house.
When you see the New Jerusalem, the materials are gold, bdellium, and onyx. The work He does in us is not merely to adorn us; it is for the Body to be built up.
What does it mean to be built structurally? It means that we have earth and heaven, the Body and the Head. We are growing into the Head. This is God’s purpose for the church.
What is the New Jerusalem? In the new heaven and new earth, His tabernacle is among men. The New Jerusalem is a testimony.
In the new heaven and new earth, heaven and earth are gathered together in one in Christ. The tabernacle is no longer merely among the Israelites; it is among redeemed mankind. Then God’s purpose is accomplished.
If man had not fallen, this should have been the situation. But man did fall. God’s heart was upon man.
If Adam had eaten of the fruit of the tree of life, become fruitful, and regained all that was lost, then God’s purpose would have been accomplished in man. But man fell. This is the human tragedy.
The first tragedy was that heaven and earth were disconnected. The second tragedy was that God and man were separated. Sin made man far from God.
Therefore, God had to do the work of redemption. Two thousand years ago, our Lord came to earth, and He had to go to the cross.
Where did our Lord’s work begin? Our Lord’s work began near the Dead Sea. When He came out of the river, the Bible says that the heavens were opened.
The original meaning is that the heavens were rent. Ever since man fell, heaven had seemed like bronze and was not open.
The first time the heavens were opened was near the Dead Sea. What does the Dead Sea signify? It shows us that the entire earth had undergone a change.
From Turkey all the way to North Africa, there is a great rift. It is as though the earth bears a great scar. At the deepest point is the Dead Sea.
Why did the Lord’s work begin there? Because God wants to gather together all things in one in Christ. When heaven and earth are reconnected, that sea will no longer be dead, and the surrounding desert will no longer remain desert.
Ever since man was driven from Eden, the surrounding land became desolate. The great deserts are near the region traditionally associated with Eden: the Sahara Desert, the Syrian Desert, and the Arabian Desert.
Scientists have discovered evidence of the Pishon River beneath the Arabian Desert. They have examined pollen and concluded that, thousands of years ago, Saudi Arabia was fertile. The Pishon River was said to have been as large as the Yangtze River.
But ever since man fell, the earth was cursed. Thorns and thistles grew. Where do we find more thorns and thistles? In the desert. If you want a representative place, it is the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea tells us that man fell, and fell to a very deep place. There are two problems: heaven and earth were separated, and God and man were separated.
When the Word came, He had to resolve both problems. He had to go to the cross to deal with sin, but the problem of the universe also had to be resolved. God wants to gather together in one all things in Christ.
Our Lord’s work began at the Dead Sea, and it culminated in His dying for us on the cross. Hebrews uses Psalm 8 and says that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels because He suffered death for us.
He received glory and honor as His crown, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everything. The original does not merely say “for everyone”; it says that He might taste death for all things.
Man needs redemption. All things need redemption. When He was hung on the tree, He dealt with the separation between man and God.
On the cross, on one hand He takes our hand, and on the other hand He takes the Father’s hand. On the cross, we are reconciled with the Father.
We were far from God, but in the love of the cross all things can be gathered together in one. Is that not the work of the cross?
When you read Colossians, you see that He reconciles heaven and earth, and then sinners are reconciled. The order is significant. Heaven and earth were separated, and on the cross the Lord reconciled them.
The Lord is not only our Mediator; He is also the heavenly ladder. He told His disciples that they would see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
Heaven and earth were far apart, but Christ is the heavenly ladder that connects them. On the cross, heaven and earth were reconnected.
What did the Lord say? You will see heaven opened. This means that heaven and earth are gathered together in one in Christ. On earth, it is as though we are in heaven.
Stephen saw that the heavens were opened. Stephen saw the glory of God, not merely an image of the glory of God. Because of Christ’s work, we can live under an open heaven.
This is what the Lord has accomplished for us on the cross.
When you read Romans 8, you hear the groaning of creation, and you also hear the saints groaning. Why? Because all things are subjected to futility.
Creation is waiting for the same day that the saints are waiting for. Not only creation, but man also groans. Even though we are saved and the Holy Spirit abides in us, we still wait for the full redemption.
We have something in us that is incorruptible. We have eternal life. Thank the Lord: this life begins to work in us.
When Adam ate of that fruit, his spirit died. Sin began to expand, and his soul began to break down. Nine hundred years later, he was in the tomb.
We are all groaning. Though inwardly we are renewed day by day, outwardly we are decaying. Is the Lord’s salvation not enough? No. We must understand the fulness of time.
The fulness of time is when the Lord returns. Then all things will enter into liberty. Heaven and earth will be reconnected.
When the Lord returns, our bodies will be transformed. We will be like Him. This is the redemption of our bodies.
A. T. Pierson once wanted a photograph of George Müller. George Müller told him, “If you can wait a couple of years, you will get a better picture.” He was looking toward the day when the Lord returns.
There was a woman who was injured and had to sit in a wheelchair. She attended many faith-healing meetings. She prayed, fasted, and wanted to stand, but she remained bound to the wheelchair.
One day, she read that we are waiting for the redemption of our body, and she understood. She said, “I have a corruptible body. Even if I stand up today, one day I will still fall.”
She thanked the Lord and said, “One day I am going to auction off my wheelchair. I am not taking my wheelchair to glory.”
When the Lord returns, He will not only wipe away our tears; the body will be transformed. Flesh and sin will forever be gone from us. There will be no more groaning.
Not only is man groaning; the universe is groaning. In 1968, a graduate student in Cambridge, Miss Bell, was doing research with a professor.
Suddenly, she discovered a periodic signal coming from the universe. At first they were excited and wondered whether they had discovered signals from extraterrestrial life. But after a few weeks they understood what it was.
There was a star, heavier than the sun, that was dying. When such a star dies, it shrinks. What was once immense can become as small as the island of Manhattan. This is called a neutron star.
As the neutron star turns, it sends out a signal. This was the first time people could hear, through an instrument, something like the groaning of the universe.
Paul told us about the groaning, and scientists have shown that we can hear such signals. A few years later, the professor received the Nobel Prize. Miss Bell, being only a graduate student, did not receive it.
Many people were dissatisfied. A famous scientist publicly praised her, saying that she had made one of the greatest astronomical discoveries of the twentieth century. Yet because she was a Quaker and loved the Lord, she had no bitterness.
She said, “I do not really care. I am surrounded by so many good people. I should be happy.”
Here is a saint. On one hand, we see the groaning of creation; on the other hand, we see the groaning of the saints.
Wrinkles increase, and we begin to age. When you hear the groaning of all things and the groaning of the saints, remember that they are waiting, and we are waiting.
What are we waiting for? Thank the Lord, we have the firstfruits. The Lord died for us, taking our hand on one side and the Father’s hand on the other.
Once we are saved, we may experience something of heaven on earth. Perhaps you are very sick, but wherever you are, if the Lord is there, heaven is there.
Yet when we look in the mirror, we know that we suffer decay. What are we waiting for? We are waiting for His return, when He will wipe away all our tears and all the sounds of groaning will become sounds of praise.
What does the fulness of time mean? It means that when our Lord returns, He will gather all things in one in Christ. Then all things will be free—free from decay.
Our message will continue tomorrow. We want to show a short clip that illustrates the signal of the neutron star, and you will hear its groaning.
You will see an aged person walking and walking, disintegrating and disappearing. What is he waiting for? He is waiting for the Lord’s return.
In the clip, you will see three scenes: how the Garden of Eden became disordered, how Iraq became marshland, how Saudi Arabia became desert, and how the Dead Sea, once like the garden of the Lord, became a desert.
At the beginning, we will see creation groaning. At the end, we will see the groaning of man. Do not forget: we are waiting for the Lord’s return.
After we hear the sound of groaning, we will sing a hymn. The hymn will be on the video clip. It was written by Watchman Nee in 1950.
When we have finished the video clip and heard that voice, let us sing this hymn. Let us turn our feeling into prayer.
We will have a season of prayer with the brothers and sisters. Let that prayer reflect the groaning in your heart.
The good news is that He came the first time, and His gospel tells us that He will come again. We are waiting for the redemption of our bodies. Let us see this video clip.
Why do You still delay?
Why are You so late?
Why will You not quickly come?
Listen to our cry;
Shine Your face in Your love.
Two or three of you, if led, please lead us in prayer.