Will you please turn to 2 Corinthians 4:1?
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we faint not.
Ephesians 2:10.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.
And finally, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.
According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon.
But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon.
For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble;
each man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man’s work of what sort it is.
If any man’s work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, our hearts are thankful for what Thou hast done for us. We do pray that the great love with which Thou hast loved us will constrain each and every one of us, that we may no longer live for ourselves, but only for Thee.
No longer live by ourselves, but only by Thee. And we also pray, Lord, as long as we are all in this world, that we may serve Thy purpose; that our days on earth may count before Thee when we shall stand at Thy judgment seat.
Lord, that we may not be put to shame, but by Thy grace may please Thy heart. We commit this time into Thy hand and look to Thy Spirit to illumine Thy Word to us. Make Thy Word living and operative, that Thou mayest be glorified. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Well, brothers and sisters, if you still remember, before we left for the Far East at the end of last year, we were fellowshipping on this matter of new covenant living.
We mentioned at that time that only one kind of living is Christian living, and that kind of living is new covenant living. By that simply means, “For me to live is Christ.”
If it is we ourselves who are living, you cannot accept it as Christian living, because it does not count before God. Only one kind of living is Christian living: daily, we live not by ourselves, no matter how good we are, but only by our Lord Jesus Christ—His life.
This is the kind of Christian living that God will accept. Our days on earth, whether they will be counted before God or not, depend upon this. If today I live by the life of Christ, it will be counted. If I am living by myself, before God it is not counted.
And that is the reason why you find Moses in Psalm 90:12. He mentions to the Lord, “Teach us to number our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom.”
So, dear brothers and sisters, yes, we are drawing close to the end of this age. I think it is important for us to make every day count. And the only way to have our days count is to live not by ourselves, but by the life of Christ within us. This is new covenant living.
If the Lord will, beginning this morning, we would like to continue this by sharing together on new covenant ministry.
We find the apostle Paul saying in 2 Corinthians 4:1, “Having this ministry.” Even though Paul’s ministry was apostolic, not everyone’s ministry is apostolic; and yet, we are all called to serve.
So we may minister in different ways, but the principle behind our ministry, or our service, is the same.
You remember when God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt? He sent Moses to Pharaoh and said to Pharaoh, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.”
In other words, even though God loved the children of Israel, was concerned with their situation, heard their cry, and wanted to deliver them and set them free, the reason why God set His people free was that they might serve Him.
It is not God’s will that we be saved that we may serve ourselves, or any other purpose. The only reason why God saves us is that we may serve Him.
As a matter of fact, when God created man, that is the reason why He did it. He did not create man that man might enjoy himself and have a good time, even though God does want man to have a good time because He loves us. But this is not God’s purpose in creating man.
He created man with a reason. The Bible tells us that He created man according to His own image. Now, that is a tremendous thing. God created the heavens and the earth, and all the things upon the heaven and earth, but He never created anything according to His own image.
That is a tremendous thing. Why did God create man in His own image, if it is not to serve His purpose? Other than that, it is not worth it. We are created in God’s image. Why? Because He wants us to serve His purpose.
Even though the whole creation can serve His purpose to a certain extent, it cannot serve God’s purpose to its fullest extent. So He created us in His own image.
True, after He created man, He put him in the Garden of Eden, the garden of pleasure, to enjoy life. That is very true.
But He did not want man to be in the garden just enjoying himself, having a good time. That is all. Because to Him that is too low; it is not as glorious as He wanted.
So you remember, when God put man in the Garden of Eden, he was meant to enjoy all the fruit trees. And yet, on the other hand, He did commission man to do something—not only to till the ground, but to guard the garden.
Now, unfortunately, man failed. Man did not guard the garden, and because of that, Satan came in like a serpent and tempted man, and man fell.
But, brothers and sisters, God’s purpose—when He has set His mind—He will never give in nor give up. Man may fail, and always fails, but God never fails.
So this is the reason why we are saved.
You know, brothers and sisters, so far as I can recall my own experience, when I was saved, it was all for myself. I never thought of what God wanted of me. I only thought of what I wanted of God.
Because I did not want to go to hell, I wanted to go to heaven. I wanted to have my sins forgiven. I wanted to be saved so that my conscience would not bother me all the time. It was for myself.
But, brothers and sisters, once you are saved, you are supposed to be delivered from your selfishness—yes, from your self-centeredness—because the very life that has been given to you is the life of God. It is Christ.
And with that life, we ought to be changed. We ought to see that we are not here for ourselves. We are here for God, for His purpose.
The very life that we have received, Christ Jesus in us, is not selfish. It is all toward the Father. How He loved the Father, how He obeyed the Father, how He completed the work that the Father had sent Him to do—never for Himself.
And this very life has been given to us, and we are supposed to live by that life. And if we do, then we will serve God’s purpose.
So you find in Ephesians 2:10, he says, “We are God’s workmanship.” God works upon us. We are the product of His working. He is working upon us.
Now why? Because He is preparing us for the good works. And the good works are nothing but what He purposed to do, what He purposed to have.
So, brothers and sisters, in a sense—and it is very true—everyone who is saved, everyone who is a child of God, no longer lives for himself or herself. If you are still living for yourself, one day you will find how you have failed God’s purpose in saving you.
And at the same time, everyone who is saved is supposed to serve, to minister.
Now I wonder how many of us here, when you come together, have even an idea of serving. Do you come here just to enjoy, to receive?
Do you say, “I cannot do anything. What can I do? I am only a child, so all I do is receive. That is the reason why I am coming. I am coming to hear something that pleases me. I am coming to have my needs met, and if I cannot get it, I go somewhere else just to find my supply.”
Oh, are we as selfish as before we were saved?
Do you ever think that you are being saved, and God has gathered like-minded people together in order that, together, we may better serve the purpose of God?
What is the purpose of our gathering? May we be delivered from selfish purpose. May we see that the reason why God has gathered us together is for a purpose: to work for fulfilling God’s work.
God has been working ever since time began. And when our Lord Jesus was on earth, you know that He was diligently working.
When you read the Gospel according to Mark, there is one word that repeats again and again and again, and that is immediately. Our Lord did things immediately. Immediately He went there; immediately He did this; immediately He did that. He was so diligent in working.
And one day, in John 5, you remember how He went to the pool of Bethesda. Many sick people were lying there because there was a tradition: when the water was moved by the angel, the first one that got in would be healed.
So all these sick people—the lame, the infirm, the blind, all kinds of sick people—were there waiting for the water to move and to be the first to jump in.
And our Lord Jesus visited that place. He saw an infirm man who had been infirm for thirty-eight years. He was there; he could not move. He needed other people to help him move, but he was hoping to be the first one to get there. But he never did.
Still he was there, hoping. And the Lord Jesus said, “Wouldest thou be made whole?” He said, “I have no man to put me in first. I am always late.” I do not know how long he had been lying there.
But the Lord said, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” And at His word, that infirm man of thirty-eight years got up, took up his couch, and left.
And it was on the Sabbath, so he was challenged by people. They said, “You cannot do any work, and to take your couch, that is work. You should not do that.” But he said, “The One who healed me told me to do that.” They said, “Who is He?” He said, “I do not know,” because that Man had left.
So finally, you find our Lord Jesus found him in the temple. Thank God, he began to worship God now. And the Lord found him in the temple and said, “Sin no more.”
And the Jewish people opposed the Lord because, “You violated the Sabbath.” And do you know what the Lord said in John 5:17?
My Father worketh even until now, and I work.
There is a work that God the Father has been doing, and the Lord said, “That is the very work I am doing now.”
Now, of course, our Lord Jesus did many works. He preached. He healed. He visited. He comforted. He did many, many things. As we find, if all the things that He had done during those few years were written, the world could not contain them.
But of all the works that our Lord Jesus has done, all the works that God has been doing, there is only one work.
There is only one work that God has been doing, and there is only one work that our Lord Jesus has been doing.
You remember in John 6, after He fed five thousand people, they wanted to make Him king. And He said, “Work not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which abideth unto eternal life.”
And they said, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?” To them it is always plural, but the answer of the Lord is always singular:
This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.
In other words, God has only one work to do, and that is the work our Lord Jesus was doing on earth.
Now, what is that one work? That is the one work in which we are supposed to be engaged, every one of us. What is that?
Our Lord Jesus did not reveal what that work was until He was rejected by the Jews. He retreated to the border of Caesarea Philippi, a Gentile city.
And then you remember how He asked His disciples a question: “Who do men say that I, the Son of man, am?” Of course, they gave Him all the glorious reports.
Our Lord was not satisfied, so He said, “But who say ye that I am? You have been with Me for three years, day and night. You should know Me better.”
And thank God, Simon Peter, under inspiration, said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” So far as His person is concerned, He is the Son of God. So far as His work is concerned, He is the Christ, the sent One of God.
And you know what our Lord Jesus said? “Simon, thou art blessed, because this is not something any human being can tell you. It is only revealed by My Father who is in heaven.”
And then He said, in Matthew 16:18:
Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
That is it. That is the work that the Father has been doing since creation. That is the work that our Lord Jesus has been doing in His incarnation.
He is building His church—the house of God, a habitation for God and man. That is what He is doing: “I will build My church.”
And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. In other words, it shall be built.
Brothers and sisters, we need to know what is the work that God has been doing since time began, what is the work that our Lord Jesus diligently engaged in while He was on earth, and what is the work that the Holy Spirit is doing today.
It is the work of building His church.
Brothers and sisters, our job is more than building our houses. Our supreme job, our overall job, is building the church of Christ.
This is what our Lord Jesus is doing, even in heaven. And this is what He calls each and every one of us to be engaged in.
May I ask, since you are saved, are you engaged in this work? Are you engaged in the building of the church, the house of God, the body of Christ?
Are you just passively receiving and receiving, and never fulfilling? Murmuring all the time because you are not satisfied? Where are you?
To me, I feel it is urgent because the days are short.
One day, brothers and sisters, we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and at that time our work will all be judged.
So you find the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3. He said he is like a wise master builder. But actually, the word there is not architect; the word is foreman. The Architect is Christ. He is just a foreman, doing according to what the Architect designed.
But as a foreman he has been faithful. He has faithfully laid a foundation, and the foundation is none other than Jesus Christ. He is the foundation.
And he said all of us, we who are saved, are all called to labor in building this house. The foundation has already been laid. We cannot lay any other foundation.
We are building upon that foundation, and we are the workers, the laborers, co-workers, working under our Lord Jesus, under the Holy Spirit, and we are working together upon it.
Now, it is not just a matter of working, or serving, or ministry. Today we may find a difference between secular and sacred, but in the sight of God there is no such division, because twenty-four hours—our whole life—is sacred to God.
And whatever we are engaged in is sacred.
We are all building, whether you are conscious of it or not. Every day we live, every hour we live, everything we do, is building.
Either building the house of God or building the Tower of Babel: the house of God for God to dwell in, the Tower of Babel for man to spread his fame. Either way, we are building.
And when we are supposed to be building the house of God, there are two different kinds of building.
So, in other words, it is not just service. You think, “As long as I serve God, as long as I am doing church work, as long as I am doing something connected with Christianity, I am serving God.” Brothers and sisters, not necessarily.
Because when we are serving, we serve with two different kinds of materials. As a matter of fact, we are the materials.
What we put in reveals what kind of ministry we are giving to God. Surely, you find in Scripture there are two kinds of service, two kinds of ministry.
Remember, outwardly it is all serving God, but in the sight of God there are two different kinds of ministry. One kind we call old covenant ministry. The other kind we call new covenant ministry.
So one day our ministry will be weighed before the judgment seat of Christ. Is it old covenant ministry, or is it new covenant ministry? Now, what is the difference?
Well, the difference is here. Because in 1 Corinthians 3, he says you can build into it gold, silver, and precious stones. That is one kind. Or you can build into it wood, hay, and stubble. That is another kind of material you are using.
And where do you get the material? You are the material.
And that is what the Bible says: we are His workmanship. God is working in our lives. He is continually working Christ into our lives.
And if we allow Him to be wrought into our very being, His character becomes our character. We are really growing in Him. Then the material we are putting into the building will be of Him, so that is gold, silver, or precious stone.
Now, gold in Scripture always represents the nature of God. God is like gold. Why? Because it is not only bright, brilliant, glorious, unchangeable, weighty, and noble.
That represents the nature of God. He is unchangeable, incorruptible, unfading, everlasting. That is God.
So when Daniel saw the Son of God, He was clothed with gold. Wonderful. So gold in Scripture stands for the nature of God.
When God’s nature is incorporated into us, we begin to lose our old sinful Adamic nature and begin to put on the divine, glorious nature of God.
Silver in Scripture always represents redemption. Because you remember in Numbers 3, when God numbered the children of Israel, all the firstborn from one month old belonged to God.
And He numbered all the Levites from one month old, and they found a difference of two hundred and seventy-three. These two hundred and seventy-three persons had to be redeemed, and each one had to pay five shekels as redemption money.
So silver in Scripture represents the redemptive work of Christ.
Brothers and sisters, we need to have the nature of God incorporated into us. He is generous; we are stingy. He is loving; we are jealous. All His virtues need to be incorporated into our lives.
And it is through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus. Unless we receive Him and His redemptive finished work on the cross, we are all done.
And precious stones represent the Holy Spirit, the work of the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit is so patient.
Just like a precious stone is made through pressure, darkness, long days, and years, under all these precious stones are produced. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.
How He works with long-suffering! I always thank God for His long-suffering. If it were not for that, where would we be? We are so stubborn, so rebellious by nature.
So, brothers and sisters, how we need God’s workmanship in us. Do we allow God to work in us continuously, just as He has saved us in the beginning?
Isn’t that ironical? We allow God to work in us to get us saved, but after we are saved, we say, “Goodbye. Now it is our turn.”
Are we still in the hand of God? Are we still allowing the Spirit of God to touch our conscience, soften us, always still denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following the Lord—all thinking that it is too difficult?
Brothers and sisters, where are we?
Or we can work with wood. Wood in Scripture always represents man, human being. A tree is like a man.
Stubble is the glory of man. Hay is the work of man, because man used hay to make brick to build the Tower of Babel.
Brothers and sisters, to God, the source is extremely important. He does not measure a work by its volume. He measures work by quality, by source.
I often think one day, when we shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ, there will be a great surprise. Many who think that they will receive reward shall be reprimanded, and many who are neglected and think themselves as nothing will be greatly rewarded.
If we just live for today—let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. If we live for eternity, do you think that it is time for us to learn to number our days?
The Bible tells us very clearly: one day all who are in the family of God will be gathered up in the air. A family gathering. It is true: we who are saved will not be unsaved.
But, brothers and sisters, even though by the grace of God we will not be at the great white throne, which is a judgment of eternal death and eternal life, because Christ has settled the matter, this does not mean that we may not be judged.
There will be a family judgment to come. We shall all be gathered together as a family before Christ, and there fire will appear.
God is a consuming fire. In other words, God will measure us with Himself. He will measure us with Christ. How much do we measure up to Christ? How much is still ourselves—not only in our life, but in our service?
And if it measures up, thank God, even though it is great, yet it will be rewarded. That is how good God is.
And if it does not measure up, our whole life—so-called Christian life, Christian service—will all be burned up.
But thank God, what He has done in saving us cannot be undone. But what a loss!
So, brothers and sisters, I do tremble for myself and for my brothers and sisters.
May we be serious? This is not a light matter. You cannot treat it lightly. I beg you, be serious.
The days are short. This is time for us to wake up.
So, dear brothers and sisters, this morning is just an introduction. Would you like to know what new covenant ministry is, and how we can get into it?
I think this is extremely important for us as we are living in the last days. So may I beg my brothers and sisters to consider this seriously.
Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, teach us how to live daily before Thy judgment seat, that we may acquire a wise heart. Bless Thy people. Encourage us. Strengthen us. Deliver us, we pray in Thy name. Amen.