Will you please turn to the book of Hebrews?
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus.
May we have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, our hearts bow in worship, knowing that Thou art with us. We thank Thee for Thy precious promise. We are gathered together this morning in Thy name. May Thy presence be manifest among us.
Lord, speak; Thy servants hear. May glory be unto Thee. In Thy precious name. Amen.
Thank God for gathering us together here this morning.
The burden that the Lord has put in my heart is from Hebrews 3:1:
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus.
We know that this book of Hebrews was written to the Hebrew Christians in the early days.
We know that at Pentecost, the church of God began to appear on the earth. Many turned to the Lord.
In the beginning, those who turned to the Lord were mostly Hebrews. After they believed in the Lord Jesus, they were not persecuted by the Roman Empire, because in the eyes of the Roman Empire, Christianity was considered part of Judaism.
Judaism was recognized and protected by the Roman Empire. So, in the beginning, all the persecutions that they suffered came from the Jews and not from the Roman Empire.
But gradually the situation began to be different. Many Gentiles turned to the Lord, so it became evident that Christianity was no longer a sect of Judaism.
Because of this, Christians began to be persecuted by the Roman Empire itself. During those days, the Hebrew believers in the Lord Jesus were persecuted not only by the Jews, but also by the Roman Empire.
The situation was so severe that a number of believers began thinking of returning to Judaism so that they might be protected. It was under this kind of situation that the book of Hebrews was written.
Although we are not sure who the human writer of this letter was, and there are many different theories, one thing is sure: we know that the Holy Spirit is the real Writer.
Now, brothers and sisters, we believe that this letter is relevant to us today, because we live in a time of transition. The age of grace is coming to an end, and the age of the kingdom is coming.
While we are living under that kind of change, we too are under great pressure, because God’s enemy knows that his time is limited. He could not do anything to our Lord Jesus, so he focuses his whole attention upon the church.
We can all realize that living as a Christian in this time is more difficult than when we first became Christians. Even though we too suffer opposition and persecution, it is nothing compared with today.
We especially sympathize with young people, because the temptations and attacks upon young people today are much greater than when we were young.
While we are living in such a time, probably some of us are thinking whether we should go back to the world, because the Christian life is too difficult. In view of this, this letter to the Hebrews is relevant to us today.
Brothers and sisters, I personally feel that this letter to the Hebrews is important to us. If we can understand what it is, I believe that it gives us a secret to Christian living.
Here you find the writer saying:
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling.
First of all, brothers and sisters, we need to know who we are. The Word says, “Holy brethren.” Do you know that you are holy brethren? Do you know that you are saints?
If anyone should tell you that you are saints, what would be your reaction? Oh, you would say, “I am not worthy.” But the Bible says that you are saints.
Of course, this does not mean that you are saints by experience, but it does mean that you are saints by position.
Because once we were in sins and transgressions, but thank God, He has come to us and delivered us. Just as Colossians says, He has translated us out of the power of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
It is true: when we were under the power of darkness, we thought we were doing what we wanted to do, not knowing that we were under the power of darkness. We were under the rule of Satan.
But thank God, He has translated us out of the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of God’s Son.
Positionally speaking, after you believe in the Lord Jesus, you are in a new position. Your position is that you are holy, because holy in the Scripture means that you are separated.
God is holy; therefore, we are holy. He has delivered us out of the world and placed us in His kingdom.
You remember, when you read 1 Corinthians, how did Paul address the believers there? In 1 Corinthians 1:2, you find:
Unto the assembly of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints.
Those in Corinth at that time were sanctified in Christ Jesus, so they were called saints. Now, of course, if you have read 1 Corinthians, probably you will not agree with that. How can these Corinthian believers be called saints?
It is because we are prejudiced by something. You remember, in the Roman Catholic Church, only a few are called saints.
The vast majority, they say, do not have enough merit to go to heaven after death. But a few, in their view, have accumulated so much merit that after they die, they go directly to heaven.
They say that these have more merit to spare, so you can pray to them and they will share some of it, and this will deliver you out of purgatory more quickly.
This Roman Catholic idea has corrupted us. We consider ourselves not worthy to be called saints.
But, brothers and sisters, I would like to call all of you saints, because by position, by the salvation of our Lord Jesus, we are saints. We are holy unto God.
First of all, we need to remember who we are. You are holy. You are different from other people. You have been separated for God, and you are called saints—separated, holy unto God.
Now, that is your position. Not only that, but He says, “Partakers of the heavenly calling.”
Not only positionally are you holy and saints, but you have a heavenly calling.
We all have our so-called earthly calling. Some people may be doctors, some people may be engineers, and some people may be mothers. These are all our earthly callings.
But no matter what earthly calling you have, there is a calling that is common to all believers. Do not think that God saved you without giving you a calling. God has called you, and He has saved you, and He has a calling for you.
No matter what your earthly calling may be, we are all partakers of the heavenly calling.
Now, what is that heavenly calling? In Ephesians 4, you find that we are all called to be the body of Christ.
Think of that. We are not saved without any specific calling, because we all share a heavenly calling. What is that heavenly calling? To be the body of Christ.
What a heavenly calling that is. People such as we are have been separated by God for a positive reason, and that positive reason is to be the body of Christ.
What do you mean by the body of Christ? In Ephesians 1, it tells us that it is to be the fullness of Christ.
All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ Jesus. Can we fathom the fullness of God? When we think of His holiness, there is no limit to it. When we think of His righteousness, it is so absolute. When we think of His love, we cannot fathom it, because God is infinite.
Yet that fullness all dwells in Christ. The fullness of Christ dwells in His body. We are not only to contain the fullness of Christ; we ought to exhibit the fullness of Christ.
That is our heavenly calling. Can you find a calling more sacred, more heavenly, than this? Brothers and sisters, remember: you have such a high calling.
To be filled with the fullness of Christ is for a purpose, and that is to bear the testimony of Jesus. This is our position. This is what God has called us all to be.
If we realize who we are and what our calling is, can we go backward? No. We must drive forward to enter into all that God has purposed for us.
That is the reason why the writer of Hebrews says, “Consider.” To consider is to think it over. Do not let us just pass by. Think. Ponder it until it becomes something in you.
You know, as you read the Bible, Haggai was raised by God to encourage God’s remnant to finish the work of building the temple. It was very difficult work because they were surrounded by enemies, and yet God called them to rebuild the house of God.
Because they did not consider, when they were pressed by the enemy, the work stopped. So the prophet Haggai was raised by God, and he asked them to consider.
If you read the book of Haggai, there are only two chapters, but the word consider is used five times. In Haggai 1:5, we read, “Consider your ways.” In Haggai 1:7, again, “Consider your ways.”
The reason why God’s people seemed to be going backward instead of forward was because they did not consider.
If only we consider, just like Mary, how she put the words into her heart and considered them—we think over and over again what we have, what has been provided for us—our faith will be raised.
Surely, dear brothers and sisters, this time we want you all to consider. No matter what your situation may be, let us all consider.
What should we consider? There is nothing more important than considering Jesus, how He is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.
None can fulfill his or her calling by himself or herself. We have to consider Jesus, because He alone is our Apostle and He alone is our High Priest.
He not only saved us that we may be saints, but He is supplying everything we need to be what He has called us to be.
First of all, let us consider Jesus, the Apostle. We usually think of the twelve apostles, but we have to remember that before there were twelve apostles, there was the Apostle.
The word apostle simply means one who is sent with an errand. In other words, one who is sent by God to accomplish a certain mission. That is what an apostle is.
Our Lord Jesus, in His life on earth, is the Apostle of our confession. He did not come by Himself. He was sent by His Father.
In view of the failure of mankind, God sent His Son into this world to be man. In the very beginning, when God created man, He had a purpose for man.
This is very evident, because God never created anything in His image except man. You can see the great mountains around you—massive—but they were not created according to God’s image. They were created by God’s power. Even the angels were not created according to God’s image.
Man alone was created in God’s image. Why is it so? Because God has a definite purpose for man. God wants to use man, a little lower than the angels, to destroy His enemy, Satan.
I often feel that for a big man to beat a little child, there is no glory, but shame. For God to destroy His enemy directly would not display His glory. But the glory of God is this: He will create one lower than the angels and fill him with Himself to defeat the enemy.
Now, that is the glory of God. Brothers and sisters, we are created for a specific purpose.
But unfortunately, we all know the story. If you do not know the story of Adam, you know yourself at least—how we have failed. Instead of defeating the enemy, we were defeated by the enemy.
But God did not give up. Here you find a marvelous work of God. It is still man, but only because the Son of God became man.
Brothers and sisters, whenever we think of that, it really brings us to worship. How can God’s only beloved Son come down to this earth? He had to lay down everything—His power, His glory, His worship—to become a man such as we are.
Just as Philippians 2 says, He emptied Himself. Of course, He could not empty Himself of His Godhead, because that is what He is. But He emptied Himself of all the things surrounding His Godhead in order to become a man.
Brothers and sisters, this very act should bring us to worship.
When He became a man, what form did He take? The form there is image; image means character. He had the form of God. It does not mean merely outward appearance; it means the inward character. Whatever God is, He is.
When He came to be a man, He took the form of a bondservant.
Brothers and sisters, this reminds us that when God created man, even though he was created in God’s image, he was to be a bondservant of God. This is God’s original idea of man.
You are created in God’s image, but not to try to be God. Rather, you should be the bondservant of God. This is God’s original idea. That is what He means by man.
When our Lord Jesus came to be a man, He took the form of a bondservant. In other words, throughout His life, He was never independent. He was dependent upon God.
He said, “I can do nothing by Myself. What I have seen My Father do, I do. I cannot say anything except what I have heard My Father say. My time is not Mine; My time belongs to My Father.”
Throughout His life, He was obedient as a man, and He was obedient even to the extent of the cross.
Dear brothers and sisters, why did our Lord Jesus come into the world two thousand years ago? Did He come to exhibit to men the man of God’s own heart?
If that were the case, then He should have exited from this world on the Mount of Transfiguration. On the Mount of Transfiguration, you remember how He was changed and was full of glory. He proved to the world that He was a man of God’s heart.
There you find Moses and Elijah coming, and they talked with Him about His departure. We know how He came into this world: He emptied Himself in order to come to this world. Throughout His life, He showed Himself as a man of God’s heart.
So far as He Himself was concerned, He could go back to heaven. But if He did, there would be only one man in heaven.
Thank God, He refused to exit that way. He went to Jerusalem, and He went to the cross. Brothers and sisters, this is what our Lord came for.
Did He come into this world just to seek and save the lost? Of course He did. But, brothers and sisters, there is much more than that.
We find that our Lord Jesus came into this world to find His bride.
Maybe, as you read the four Gospels, you would be surprised. Why is it that when our Lord was on earth, everywhere He went, He healed the sick and even raised the dead? It seems that everywhere He went, these were the people He met.
But, brothers and sisters, He came into this world to find His bride. He could not see His bride anywhere. He had to do a work in us so that we may be His bride.
This is the reason why our Lord came into this world.
We are all familiar with Matthew 28, the Great Commission. What is the Great Commission of the church? We often say, “Go to the world and save people.” Now, I have misquoted.
What the Great Commission says is: go to all nations and disciple all nations. Evangelizing is just the first step. It is necessary, but this is not the purpose of God.
The purpose of God is to disciple all nations. What does discipleship mean? Discipleship simply means: give yourself to Him and allow Him to work in you.
When we believe in the Lord Jesus, in the time of our excitement, how we want to serve God. But how do we serve Him? According to what we think is good. Maybe the more we serve, the more He suffers.
Unless first we become disciples, give ourselves to Him, and allow Him to work in our lives, He cannot be constituted within us. Out of that comes what the Great Commission is.
When you look at the disciples, they were with the Lord for over three years. Yet what happened?
If you read the record of the Gospels, they believed in the Lord Jesus. In Matthew 16, when the Lord said, “Whom do you say that I am?” Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
The Lord said that this was not something shown by flesh and blood, but that His heavenly Father had revealed the Son to them.
Thank God for these disciples. They were with Christ. But look at their situation. What were they talking about among themselves from the beginning to the end? “Who is the greatest?”
Look at these disciples. They were not like our Lord Jesus. When our Lord Jesus talked with them, they did not understand.
When the Lord said, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees,” they immediately said, “Unfortunately, we forgot to bring bread.” But the Lord said, “No, I am not thinking of that. I am thinking of the teaching.”
Throughout their life with the Lord, they did not seem to understand the Lord. They spoke highly of themselves: “If You die, we die with You.” But they all fled away.
Look at this. What happened to them? Are we not just like them?
But thank God, on Pentecost, you find such a change. How did they change?
To me, I think it was through what they gained with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. After our Lord was resurrected, He appeared to the disciples and breathed into them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Brothers and sisters, I think that is a fact; it is not a suggestion. They did receive the Holy Spirit.
How could one hundred and twenty people, so different from one another, be together for ten days, praying with one accord? How could Peter and the eleven stand up on the day of Pentecost and declare that Jesus is Lord and Christ unless something had happened to them?
Brothers and sisters, this is what we find in the Bible.
Look at Paul. On the road to Damascus, he was met by the Lord, and he surrendered his life.
When you read 2 Corinthians 12, Paul speaks about a vision. He said, “Fourteen years ago, I knew a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, but he was caught up to the third heaven.”
He said again, “I know a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know. He was caught away to paradise and heard things that could not be revealed.”
Now, I often wonder, when did this happen? But anyway, you find that it was as important as the road to Damascus, because he was taken to the third heaven. He was taken to paradise. He heard things that could not be revealed.
He did not say that when he was taken to the third heaven he could not reveal what he had seen and heard. But this is what we find in Ephesians and Colossians.
He not only saw the Lord as his Savior; he saw the Lord in the eternal purpose of God. And that makes a great difference.
If you will allow me, I would like to say something of my experience.
I was saved in 1930, when I was fifteen. At that time, I was so grateful to God. I wanted to give myself to Him, and I did.
We organized groups to go to country places to preach the gospel. I still remember that we prayed for a person who was already dying of meningitis. We all put our hands over his whole body and prayed for him, but he died.
When I was twenty, God called me to work together with Watchman Nee. For several years, I traveled from city to city to preach the gospel.
During these years, I am ashamed to say that after people got saved, there were four big things I did:
Of course, we studied the Bible. But after doing that for several years, I got very tired. I thought, “What am I doing?”
Fortunately and unfortunately, I was in Singapore at that time. I was passing through Singapore, trying to take the Burma Road to go back to China, because I had been working there. But the Second World War came.
I was trapped in Singapore. Marvelously, the Lord opened a way for me to escape from Singapore at the last minute.
Then, fortunately or unfortunately, I landed in India. I was there for two and a half months.
God gave me time to be quiet, and I was waiting upon the Lord.
Through the writings of others, my eyes began to open. I began to see that if I could preach Christ, there is no limit.
The Lord began to open my understanding. He revived my spirit. So I told the Lord, “What You show me, I will go back and preach Christ.”
Christ is the purpose, and there is no limit to Him. I am still learning, but thank God, He is the infinite One.
Understanding Jesus as the Apostle not only includes initial salvation. If all we know is initial salvation, our zeal and our service will still be according to our own ideas.
But if we see Christ in the eternal purpose of God, we see what God wants to accomplish, and we are to be a part of it.
This is encouragement. This helps us to press on.
We need to know Jesus, the Apostle of our confession.
May the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Our hearts bow in worship. As the Apostle of our confession, Thou art more than just our Savior.
Thou art the One to whom all things will be summed up. Thank God, we are included.
So, dear Lord, we do pray that Thou wilt continually enlarge our horizon, that we may know Christ more and more, that Christ may be all and in all.
Thy will be done on earth.