Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, even Jesus.
—Hebrews 3:1
For consider Him that hath endured such gainsaying of sinners against Himself, that ye wax not weary, fainting in your souls.
—Hebrews 12:3
Let us have a short word of prayer.
Dear Lord, as we gather here this morning, our hearts bow low before Thee. We do appreciate and thank Thee for all Thy mercy and patience with us. We thank Thee for this time of meeting, that we may hear Thy word and be better prepared for Thy imminent return.
So, dear Lord, may Thy Spirit take charge of this time. May Thy Spirit send Thy word into the innermost part of our hearts, transforming us and claiming us for Thyself. We want to give ourselves to Thee totally, that Thy purpose may be fulfilled and Thy return be nearer. We ask in Thy name. Amen.
Thank God for gathering us together here this morning.
Our theme this time is Christ Our Vision. This morning I would like, brothers and sisters, to turn to the book of Haggai.
We find that after seventy years of captivity, God, in His mercy, allowed His people to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. And thank God, when Cyrus gave this command, a number of the children of Israel—the exiles—were stirred by the Spirit of God. They returned to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem at that time was completely destroyed. They went back with one purpose only, and that purpose was to rebuild the temple, that the name of God might have a testimony on this earth.
After they returned to Jerusalem, they gathered together to lay the altar, that they might sacrifice to the Lord. Later on, they came together to lay the foundation of the temple.
But we know the enemy was not happy with this. Their neighbors tried to prevent the building of the temple. Unfortunately, they succeeded in doing that.
So the children of Israel who had returned, after they could not build the temple, began to build their own houses. They thought they were waiting for a better time when they could return to rebuild the temple. But now was not the time, and they had to do something. So they began to build their own houses—ceiled houses, good houses—in order to enjoy themselves.
While they were doing that, God raised up an old man called Haggai. He began to speak to the returning remnant, and though his words were few, he asked them one thing:
“Consider.”
He wanted the returning remnant to consider why, when they worked very hard for their living, they received such poor reward.
Again and again in his short message, he used the word consider. Now, consider. Think about it. Really think of it. Why was it that they worked hard, and yet received very little? There must be a reason for it, and he asked them to consider—to find out the reason why.
God used this word, consider, to renew the effort of the returning remnant to build the temple. So it is the burden of my heart this morning: this matter of considering.
Consider. Think about it. Do not let things pass casually. Think about your situation. Think about your spiritual condition. Think about what has happened to you. Why is it that they sowed much, but brought in little? There must be a reason behind it.
This old man told them to consider. And after he had asked them to consider, we find in Haggai, chapter 1, at the end of it, that on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king, the remnant listened to the word of God through Haggai and began to work again on the temple.
As they were working on the temple, they very soon realized that what they were building could never be compared with the temple built by Solomon. Solomon’s temple was such a gigantic, wonderful beauty—the marvel of the world. But what they were doing, in spite of all their effort, was only a small temple. It could never be compared with the glory of the former temple.
Because of this, they became a little discouraged. Again, during that time, in the seventh month, Haggai spoke to them, encouraging them not to look at the outward appearance, because God was with them. God would raise His temple to such glory that it would be a marvel to everyone.
In Haggai 2:15-19, we find these words:
And now, I pray you, consider from this day and backward, before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord.
Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the winevat to draw out fifty vessels, there were but twenty.
I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the work of your hands; yet ye turned not to Me, saith the Lord.
Consider, I pray you, from this day and backward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider it.
Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, the vine, and the fig-tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive-tree have not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
—Haggai 2:15-19
From that day onward, God would begin to bless His people.
So, dear brothers and sisters, what we are trying to do this morning is to consider. We want to think about it. We do not want to let things go by without thinking why, without trying to find out the reason. We want to know where we really are spiritually.
I wonder, brothers and sisters, do we ever spend time to consider? Or do we continue to live our lives casually, as if everything is all right?
Do we really review our lives and think about what has happened to our spiritual life? Is it in the right relationship with the Lord? Or are we just living day by day without thinking of the purpose, the reason why we are here, and why the Lord has saved us?
Brothers and sisters, have we ever considered our situation before the Lord? And when we consider, what do we find? Are we in the right relationship with the Lord? Do we let the Lord be everything in our life, or are we just living for ourselves? No wonder we find that our lives are not satisfactory.
This morning I want all of us to spend some time to consider. Consider your spiritual situation. Are you satisfied with your spiritual condition? If you find that your life is not satisfactory, why is it?
Is it because you concentrate your whole time upon yourself? You forget that you are not your own; you belong to the Lord. You have believed in the Lord Jesus. You are His, and you are here not for your own sake. You are here for His sake.
I think, brothers and sisters, it is a very important matter in our lives. As we think of the imminent return of our Lord Jesus, this is especially the time for us to consider.
When we look into the life of John the apostle, we know that of the original twelve apostles of the Lord, he was the only one remaining toward the end of the first century.
While he was in his old age, he served the Lord in Asia Minor. But because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, he was exiled to the island of Patmos.
Patmos was a small island off the coast of Asia Minor, and he was exiled there to do work in the mines. But thank God, on the Lord’s Day, he had some time for himself.
We find that on that morning he must have been sitting on a rock, facing Asia Minor and thinking of the churches to which he had ministered before he was exiled. While he was doing that, he heard a voice behind him. He turned to look at the voice, and what did he see?
He saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven golden lampstands stood One like unto a son of man.
Now, brothers and sisters, of all the people at that time, probably no one could be compared with John in his intimacy with Christ. He knew Christ on earth so well. But here we find that he was given a vision of Christ that he had not known before.
Unfortunately, many times when we look at the so-called Patmos vision, our attention is turned to the seven golden lampstands. We are thinking of the churches.
But if you read it carefully, you will find that even though seven letters were written to the seven churches in Asia, the One to whom God wants us to pay special attention is not any of these churches. It is One like unto a son of man.
Why is He called “like unto a son of man”? John knew Christ so intimately, but here he said that he saw One like unto a son of man.
Why? Because the One John knew while Christ was on earth was so humble. He came into this world to be a sacrifice for the sin of the world.
John was the only one of the twelve disciples of Christ who was at the cross. He saw how the soldier thrust a spear into His side, and there came out water and blood. He testified of it.
We can almost say that no one knew the Lord more deeply than John the apostle. But here he was given a vision of Christ in heaven.
When Christ ascended from this earth, the disciples saw Him going up, and then a cloud received Him out of their sight. They were still looking up, even though they could not see Him anymore. Then two men in white appeared, and these two men said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven?”
This same Jesus, whom they had seen going up, would return in like manner. In other words, the way He went is the way He is coming back.
Today we know that our Lord Jesus has arrived in heaven. He is now seated at the right hand of God. How do we know? Where is the proof? The proof is at Pentecost. Because Christ ascended on high, He was anointed by His Father, and at Pentecost the anointing with which He was anointed came down even to His body.
That is the reason we know Christ has arrived in heaven. But John did not know Christ in heaven as fully as he came to know Him through this vision.
In Revelation 1:17-18, when John saw the Lord Jesus walking in the midst of the seven churches, when he saw the glory of the Lord, he fell down as dead. Then the Lord touched him and raised him up. The Lord began to reveal to him who He really is.
Brothers and sisters, this is what we need to see today.
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as one dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last,
and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
—Revelation 1:17-18
What is the revelation of our Lord Jesus in heaven? Here we find that He said, “I am the first and the last, and the Living One.”
This refers to what Christ was from eternity, before He came into this world. He is the first, and He is the last. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is first in everything—not only in time, but in all things. Before Him there was nothing, and He was the beginning.
So far as we are concerned, what is our relationship to Him as the First? Is He first in our life?
He has saved us. He has given Himself so totally to us. I believe, brothers and sisters, we are grateful for what has happened to us as we have believed in the Lord Jesus. But the point is: Is He first in our life?
Is He the beginning of everything? When we are doing something, has He begun it? Or have we ourselves begun it and then asked Him to bless us? This is something we need to consider.
We can never understand why He should love us to such an extent that, even before the foundation of the world, He offered Himself as the Lamb for our sake. We can never fathom how He loves us.
Yet, brothers and sisters, as we consider our own lives, I am afraid we will find that He is really not first in our life.
Sometimes we wonder why He challenged His disciples:
He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
—Matthew 10:37
You know, brothers and sisters, we do not think about it. We may comfort ourselves by thinking that we love the Lord. But when we are really challenged, do we love Him more than our father and mother?
Now, it does not mean that the Lord does not order us to love our father and mother. On the contrary, that is His commandment: “Honor thy father and thy mother.” Yet He is challenging us with this: Do we love our father and mother more than we love the Lord Jesus?
I hate to confess that I loved my father, and that is the reason that, after I was saved, even though I was zealous for the Lord, somehow I could not really come into the center of the Lord’s heart.
I have given this testimony a number of times. After I was saved, I was very zealous for the Lord, but there was one thing I could not do. It was this matter of baptism.
You know, I was a Methodist before. My father was a pastor in the Methodist Church. When I was a baby, I was sprinkled with a few drops of water on my head. That was supposed to be baptism unto Christ.
After I was saved, people began to tell me that I needed to be immersed, because sprinkling a few drops of water on your head is not baptism. It is a human way. I always argued with them. I said, “No, because when my father sprinkled water on my head, he sprinkled me in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I cannot deny that name.”
So, even though I was very zealous for the Lord, for a number of years I resisted this matter of baptism by immersion.
Until one day I was visiting my friend. He lived next door to Watchman Nee. Again, he began to talk with me about immersion. Again, I argued with him. He found that I was just hopeless, so he gave me up and went to sleep.
I was in his room, sitting there praying. I said, “Lord, I have read the Bible. I know that immersion is the right form of baptism, but it was not convenient for me. My father was a Methodist pastor, and what would he think if I were immersed?”
So I told the Lord, “I promise You, after I graduate from college, after I become independent, I will be immersed—but not now.”
You know, this was the first time I heard the Lord speak to me distinctly. As I was praying in this manner, suddenly a word came to me, as if Someone were speaking to me:
He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.
—Matthew 10:37
Brothers and sisters, after I was saved, I always wanted to be a disciple of Christ. So when that word came to me, it touched me so deeply.
Immediately I told the Lord, “Lord, I want to be Your disciple. Now, if this is the way You want it to be, I am willing.”
So I came down from the room of my friend, next door to Watchman Nee’s house. I knocked on the door. He came down and opened it. Now, he knew me. He said, “What do you want?”
I said, “I want to be baptized by immersion.”
He said, “Does your father know?” Because he knew my father. I said, “No, but I feel the Lord has spoken to me.”
Thank God, I was baptized by immersion the next day. Dear brothers and sisters, I have to confess that that was the beginning of opened eyes. I began to see more and more of the will of God in His Book than ever before.
From there on, He began to lead me. So, to me, baptism by immersion is a door. It opened the door of spiritual revelation to me.
So, dear brothers and sisters, what do we need to consider? Number one: we need to consider whether Christ is really the first in our life.
Have we begun something and then asked the Lord to bless it? Or do we wait upon the Lord and let Him begin everything? He is the first in our life.
But more than that, He said, “I am the last.”
Sometimes we do take Him as the first, but who will be the second? I will be second. But here we find the Lord says, “I am not only the first of your life; I am the last of your life. I am the conclusion of your life. I am the result of your life.”
Because I live in you, you are Mine, and you do everything according to My will. So I am the last of your life, the end of your life.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is something that we need to consider very seriously before the Lord. We may begin something by Him, but gradually we take over. We do not allow Him to be the last.
We do not give all the glory back to Him. We try to share the glory with Him. So I think this is another thing that we need to consider: whether, in your life, He is the last. He gets the glory. He gets His way. We do not deviate from His purpose.
Furthermore, He said, “I am the Living One.” Who lives today, brothers and sisters? Are we living today, or is Jesus Christ living in us today? How do we live our life?
Aside from Him, there is no life. So if we live, we live because of Him. “For to me to live is Christ.” That is the testimony of the apostle Paul.
Now, is it our testimony? Can we say, “For to me to live is Christ”? Why? Because He lives in me. It is not I who live; it is Christ who lives in me. I have been crucified with Christ. Do you have this, brothers and sisters?
Here we find a challenge—a challenge to each and every one of us. The Lord Jesus must be everything to you. He must be the first. He must be the last. And He must be the life in between.
That refers to His past. Then He said, “And I became dead.” That tells of His incarnation—how He came into this world for one purpose: to go to the cross.
Not for Himself. So far as He Himself was concerned, He lived such a perfect life that on the Mount of Transfiguration He was ready to leave the world. Yet He did not go back. He came down from the mountain and went to Calvary to be crucified for us. That is His love.
“I became dead.” I hope we will meditate on this word. Why? Why did He become dead? He who is the first and the last and the Living One—we would expect Him to live on for eternity. Death has nothing to do with Him.
Yet He told us, “I became dead.” Not for Himself. He became dead for each and every one of us. Are we grateful for what He has done for us?
Then He said, “And behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
Thank God, after our Lord Jesus was crucified, bearing in His body the sins of us all, He atoned for us. He has saved us. On the third day, He was raised from the dead, because He could not be held by death. He had overcome death and all that death means.
So He said, “I am alive for evermore.” Thank God, He is living. He is living today. He is living in each and every one of us, and that is unto eternity.
He has the keys of death and Hades. Whoever holds the key has overcome. He has overcome death and Hades.
So thank God, we who are here will never die spiritually. We live, and we will be raised from the dead, because our Lord Jesus today holds the keys of death and Hades.
Brothers and sisters, this is, I believe, what the Lord wants us to consider as we speak of Christ. This is something we need to consider: Is this true with each and every one of us?
Thank God, the Jewish remnant at that time heard the exhortation given them by Haggai. God also raised up a young man, Zechariah, to testify to them.
Through their testimony, the remnant continued to work on the building of the temple in spite of all the troubles they had gone through. By the grace of God, we know that the second temple was built.
It was this second temple that our Lord Jesus visited when He came to earth.
So, dear brothers and sisters, this morning I have only one burden, and the burden is: Consider.
If you have already considered, thank God for that. Now, what can you consider? If you do not consider, you can live on as usual. But once you really give thought to it, you will see how absurd it is that we who are saved should live for ourselves.
There is only one way we can live: live by the life of Christ in us. So may the Lord help us, that each and every one of us will consider.
If we do consider and yield ourselves to the Lord, then the rest of our life will be meaningful and will fulfill the purpose of God.
Otherwise, dear brothers and sisters, hear the warning. If we do not consider and live on as usual, what will happen to us?
The Lord is returning. We do not know when. We have been expecting Him to return at any moment. All the prophecies that precede His return have been fulfilled.
Today we do not look for any prophecy to be fulfilled before the beginning of His return. Everything has been fulfilled. Indeed, there are still prophecies to be fulfilled, but these prophecies are concerned with His return and afterward, not before.
So what are we waiting for today? Are we waiting for Him every day?
Every day can be a day when He shall return for us. He will come as a thief. He will never blow the trumpet for us beforehand.
You know, often when we sing hymns concerning the coming of the Lord, a number of hymns tell us that when the trumpet blows and the angels sound, then the Lord shall return.
When I sing it, I often say to myself, “It is a little bit too late.”
If the Lord has mercy upon us, we do not need to wait for that time. Before that, He will come as a thief. We will suddenly be taken away.
Here we are. Do we know what will happen in the next moment? It is possible that in the next moment, hopefully none will remain here, because we have been taken by the grace of God.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, as we gather here this morning, we are considering a most serious question. We cannot afford to be careless.
Lord, may Thy Spirit search our hearts. See whether within us there is still ourselves in charge.
Dear Lord, Thou hast given Thyself for us, and we want to give ourselves totally over to Thee. Lord, take us. Work in us. Take away anything that stands in Thy way in our lives.
We want to be wholly Thine. We want to declare, “For to me to live is Christ.” Oh, dear Lord, have mercy upon us. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.