But with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ:
Who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of the times for your sake,
Who through Him are believers in God, that raised Him from the dead, and gave Him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for gathering us together at this time. We know that Thou hast a purpose in doing this, and we just come to offer ourselves to Thee for that purpose.
May Thy will be done in every one of us, that we live not for ourselves, but for Thee and for Thy will. Lord, we commit this time into Thy hands. Will You, by Thy Spirit, illumine Thy Word to our hearts, that we may be drawn closer to Thee and allow Thy Spirit to work out Thy full purpose in each and every one of us, to the praise of Your glory. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, we want to thank God for bringing us together at this time. Our prayer is that, even though it is a very short period, yet the Spirit of God can do a great work in our hearts.
We want the Lord to have full charge over us. We want to see that His purpose for each one of us will be fully fulfilled, to the glory of God.
So, brothers and sisters, we offer ourselves to the Lord. May His Word fall into our hearts and enable us to serve His purpose as long as He sees fit. This is the reason why we are here at this time.
I would like to begin from the very beginning: “In the beginning, God.” Before God, there was nothing. God is the beginning.
Our God is a Triune God—that is, God in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
To use human expression, we may say that before there was anything but God, there was a consultation among the Godhead. The Father had a longing, a desire, to glorify His Son. He wanted to give everything to His Son.
But, being God, He knows the end from the beginning. So, while He contemplated this, He foresaw the problem. He foresaw that an archangel would rebel against Him.
While God was wondering what to do for His Son, His Son stepped forward, as it were, and said, “Father, if this is Your will, go ahead. I am willing to offer Myself as a Lamb slain from the very beginning, in order to accomplish Your purpose.”
It was on this basis that our God created the universe.
When God created this universe, in the first creation He did not create man as we are. The highest of His creation was the angels, and among the angels He created an archangel, Lucifer, the bright and morning star.
He was created almost perfect—not quite. We find that God had given him talent, beauty, and tenfold perfection. Not twelve, the complete number, but ten: almost complete.
This archangel was created to be God’s anointed archangel, guarding the throne of God, as we find in Ezekiel 28.
When God was speaking about the king of Tyre, suddenly the Spirit of God wrote something which no man on earth could fulfill. In other words, God was revealing to us the archangel that He created during the first world.
He was almost perfect, because twelve in Scripture is a perfect number. But he had ten of the twelve wonderful things that God had given to him. He was to be the anointed angel near the throne of God. He was to lead the angels in worshipping God. He was put in the highest place among the angels.
In the beginning, everything was fine. He led angels in worshipping God. But gradually, because of his talents and because of his many endowments, he began to look into himself.
Brothers and sisters, it is always a trouble when we look into ourselves. What can you see in yourselves? If you see something in yourselves that builds you up, there will be trouble. Unless you see that there is something lacking in you, which only God can fulfill, then that is the safe path.
In the beginning, this archangel led the angels in singing praises to God. He was faithful in his work. But unfortunately, because of his many talents and because of his many endowments, he began to look into himself.
Brothers and sisters, it is always a problem if we look into ourselves. Why? Because if you look into yourselves and see yourselves as so perfect, so good, it will result in pride. If you see imperfection in yourselves, you are easily despondent; and the more you look into yourselves, the more downcast you will feel.
So, brothers and sisters, it is always good to look off unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith. Do not look into yourselves, because it will result either in your exalting yourselves or in becoming despondent and despairing.
Unfortunately, this archangel, in the beginning, did a good work. He did what God had created him for. He led the angels in praises to God. He was the anointed archangel over the throne of God. What a glory that must have been.
We do not know how long this continued. But unfortunately, soon this archangel, Lucifer, the bright and morning star, began to look into himself.
We are told in Scripture, “Look off unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith.” This is what we ought to do. We should not look into ourselves, because if we look into ourselves and see more of ourselves than we should, we will become proud of ourselves.
Or, if we look upon ourselves and see less than what God has created us to be, we will be in such despair that we will fail to do God’s will. So it is always bad to look into ourselves.
The Bible tells us that what we need to do is to look off unto Jesus. The more we look unto Jesus, the more we will be lifted by the grace of God. The more we look into ourselves, we will either become proud or become despondent. It is no good to us.
We find in Ezekiel 28 that the prophet was speaking of the king of Tyre. But suddenly you find that he began to speak about something that no person could fulfill. In other words, the Holy Spirit uses the king of Tyre as a type for the archangel whom God created in the beginning.
We do not know how long this archangel was faithful to God, how long he was humble before God, or how long he led the other angels in worshipping God and in doing the will of God. The Bible is silent.
But the Bible tells us that one day this archangel, Lucifer, the bright and morning star, began to look into himself—at what God had entrusted to him. Pride began to rise up in his heart.
So, dear brothers and sisters, our advice is: never look into yourself. The Bible tells us that we need to look off unto Jesus. That is the way we should live.
The more we look up unto Jesus, the more humble we will be, and the more we will give ourselves totally over to the Lord. On the contrary, if we look into ourselves, there is no good in it, you know.
Do not look into yourself. The more you look into yourselves, you either become proud or you become dejected. Either you feel that you are more than what you are, or you begin to be so despondent that you look down on yourselves, forgetting all the great work that God has done in your life.
So, dear brothers and sisters, the first lesson we need to learn is this: never look into yourselves. Look off unto Jesus. That is the safe way.
When this archangel began to look into himself, what was the result? He began to be proud of himself. He was not satisfied with what God had given him.
Realizing how beautiful and how talented he was, he wanted something more than God had apportioned to him. That is always the case. When we look into ourselves, we will either be despondent and despairing, or we will be elated and begin to think of ourselves more highly than God has given to us.
That is the reason why the Bible always tells us: look off from yourself and look unto Jesus. The more you look unto Jesus, the more you will be attracted by Him. You will be filled by Him. You shall give yourself totally over to Him, and that is the will of God.
But on the contrary, if we look into ourselves, we either get down or get up to where we are not. So I think the first lesson we learn from the Bible is this: look off unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Now, this archangel, I believe, in the beginning did not look into himself. He looked off unto Jesus. He thanked God, who created him in such a way that he might be useful in the hand of God. I believe that was the way he thought before.
But unfortunately, when he began to look into himself, pride began to rise within him. He was not satisfied to be the leading angel among the angels. He wanted something that God had not given to him. He wanted to be equal with God.
I believe, brothers and sisters, you have all read Isaiah 14. There you find that when the prophet spoke of the king of Babylon, suddenly, from Isaiah 14:12, he began to say something for which no man qualified.
He was speaking prophetically of the archangel, Lucifer. Five times this archangel said, “I will, I will, I will.” He said, “I will be equal with God.”
Now, brothers and sisters, when he had that idea, we all know who is equal with God: God’s only begotten Son and the Holy Spirit. They are equal with God because They are part of the Godhead.
But when this archangel, a created being, wanted to be equal with God, he sinned terribly.
Have you thought of whose position the archangel was seeking when he wanted to be equal with God? I think it is very natural: the position of His Son. His Son is equal with God; They are one.
So, when Lucifer wanted to be equal with God, he was desiring the position of the only begotten Son of God. Because of this sin—and it was a grievous thing—he was cast down from God.
Because of this, we believe that the earth most likely was under his domain. So when judgment came upon him, this earth that we know went into disaster.
That explains the ice age of this earth. When God created, He always did it perfectly. He would not leave a created world under water, under judgment. No. When God created, it was perfect.
But it was sin that brought this world into disaster, so that the world of which we learn in history was surrounded with water. That is, it was under judgment. We do not know how long this continued.
But in history we learn that this earth was under water. It was the ice age, most likely because this earth was under the domain of that fallen archangel.
But thank God, He is love. He would not allow this earth to be forever under judgment. God always has a way.
The Bible tells us in Genesis 1 that the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the deep. That is to say, the love of God began to brood upon this earth that was under judgment.
So, brothers and sisters, the six days of creation that we find in Genesis 1 is not the original creation. It was the restoration, in six days, of a destroyed earth due to the sin of that archangel, Lucifer.
God, in His love, began to restore the earth to be habitable. Why? Because God has a plan.
I often say that for a grown-up person to beat a little child for no reason, there is no glory in that. For God to destroy His enemy was an easy thing. God could breathe His breath, and the enemy would be destroyed. But, do you know, God would get no glory from that.
For the sake of the glory of God, He did not destroy Satan by Himself. He decided to make man a little lower than the angels, and with that one who is lower than the angels, to defeat God’s enemy, the archangel. That is glory.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we are created for the glory of God. Man is not created for himself. Man is created to fulfill God’s purpose.
God wants to use man, a little lower than the angels, to destroy Satan, who is higher than man. We know that the angels are ranked higher than men. They are spirits; they can be anywhere.
But man, with this body, cannot be anywhere. You are here in the conference; you are not in your hometown. That is for sure.
So, brothers and sisters, man is created a little lower than the angels. The angels are spirits; they can be anywhere. Man, with a body, is limited to one location.
But the reason God created man lower than the angels, and yet gave him a purpose higher than the angels, is that God wants to use man to defeat the angel who is His enemy. That is for the glory of God.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we must remember that we are created not for ourselves. We are created for God’s purpose. If we begin to live for ourselves, our life is a waste. That is not God’s purpose.
But if we learn to live for God and to be used by God to defeat the enemy, then God’s purpose will be fulfilled, and God will be glorified.
So, dear brothers and sisters, who are we? Thank God, we are not here as men for ourselves. That would completely miss God’s purpose.
We are here as men for God’s reason, because God wants to use us, a little lower than the angels, to defeat the angel, that God may be glorified. That is the reason why we are here.
Unfortunately, the man whom God created has fallen.
God created man according to His own image, according to His likeness. God is free will; therefore, when He created man, He gave man a free will.
Free will is the highest glory of man’s creation. God could entrust man with a free will. And what is free will if there is no choice?
That is the reason why we find in the Garden of Eden two trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They stand side by side.
God put man in that garden. God gave man a command: to till the ground, to improve upon it, and also to guard it, for the garden had no wall.
God wanted man to be that wall, because God knew the enemy, the archangel, was waiting outside. He wanted to get in to entice man.
So God created man not only to till the ground and to improve the ground, but he had the responsibility of being the wall of the garden, to keep the enemy from entering. That is the purpose of God.
But we all know what happened. The man whom God created was perfect. He was put in the Garden of Eden, or, to put it more forcefully, he was placed before the two trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, do not think that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a bad tree. In the Garden of Eden, every tree was good.
Among the good, the best was the tree of life, and next to it was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What can be better than the knowledge of good and evil? It is not the best, but it is the next best.
So, as it were, God put man before the two trees to allow him to choose. Now, what is free will if there is no freedom to choose?
God created man according to His image and His likeness, so He gave man free will. Free will is the highest grant that God has given to man. But how troublesome free will can be.
If you had a will that could only obey God, you would think how good that would be. But you would have no personality.
So God gave man a free will. What is free will if there is no freedom to choose? That is why you find in the Garden of Eden two trees in the midst of it: the best and the better, not the best and the worst.
Now, what is better than everything? Intellect. It is the next best. So God put these two—the best and the better—before man and enabled man to make his choice.
Brothers and sisters, we all know the story.
But thank God, God would not allow this sin to go on. So, in due time, God’s own Son, who had offered Himself before creation, came into this world.
There we find in Philippians 2:5-11 a description of the incarnation of God’s beloved Son into the world.
He was equal with God, and that was not something to be grasped. In this world, you find that there was once a person who tried to grasp at being equal with God, which is Satan.
But here you find God’s only begotten Son, whom He loved and to whom He wanted to give everything. He was equal with God, and that was not something to be grasped; it was His by right.
That is a hint to us, to show us that there was one—an archangel—who had no right to be equal with God, and yet he wanted to be equal with God.
On the contrary, you find the Son of God, who was equal with God, and it was not something to be grasped because it was His by right. Yet He emptied Himself.
Brothers and sisters, when the Son of God came into this world to be a man, He had to empty Himself. How great that emptying must have been.
We sometimes talk about emptying. But how much can you empty? In other words, how much within you can be emptied? We have almost nothing but sin, and yet we do not want to empty ourselves. We would rather keep sin within us.
But look at the Son of God. He was equal with God, and it was nothing to be grasped; it was His right. Yet He was willing to empty Himself.
He could not empty Himself of His Godhead, of His being God, because that is what He is. But He was willing to empty Himself of all the glory, honor, and position connected with God. How great that emptying must have been.
Dear brothers, sometimes we talk about emptying. How much do you have to be emptied? Probably what you need to be emptied of is your sin.
We have no rights, we have no merit, we have no position of any kind but sin. But thank God, He wants us to be emptied even of our sin through the redemption of our Lord Jesus.
So here you find our Lord: He emptied Himself. He could not empty Himself of His Godhead; He is still God. While our Lord was on earth, He was still God.
He could do whatever He wanted to do, and you see Satan tempted Him in that way. But He would not. He had emptied Himself; that is, He put aside His glory. He came upon this earth as a man—weak and limited.
Yet He lived His life as a man, obeying God in everything.
You find in the Gospels how He said, “I can do nothing by Myself. I do it because I saw My Father do it. I can go nowhere by Myself. I do it because I saw My Father do it.”
“Your time is always ready,” He said to His brothers, who did not believe in Him. They said, “Why do You not go to Jerusalem at the feast, so that Your disciples could see You and follow You?”
But the Lord said, “My time is not in My hands. Your time is always convenient, but My time is in God’s hands.” He never did anything out of Himself. He did it because He saw His Father do it and wanted Him to do it.
That is the life of our Lord Jesus. He completely gave Himself over to God.
I think we are all familiar with the four Gospels, and the four Gospels give us enough evidence of how our Lord Jesus refused to do anything of His own. Whatever He said, wherever He went, whatever He did, it was always according to the Father.
That is just like a life totally emptied, totally consecrated to God. That is the life that He has given to us, that we too, by God’s grace, may empty ourselves and allow God to be everything to us.
So in Philippians 2, it says that He emptied Himself to the extent that He went to the cross, where He gave Himself totally over to God. That is redemption.
We do thank the Lord as we read His life upon the earth. What an emptying He did. The enemy tempted Him: “You are God. You could do that.” But He refused, because He stood on the ground as a man, not as God.
So, brothers and sisters, because of what He had done for us on the cross, the Father highly exalted Him, giving Him a name above every name.
At His name every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. How good it is, brothers and sisters, that we may confess Him as Lord today.
If you do not confess Him today, one day you will have to confess Him as Lord. But that day will be a sad day, because you will be in hell forever.
But thank God, this is a wonderful day for each one of us. We can confess Jesus as our Lord. We can exalt His name.
Because of this, we are obligated to listen to Him, to give ourselves totally over to Him, and to allow His will to be done in our life as it is in heaven.
So, dear brothers and sisters, thank God that we can be here this morning to hear these words. We are not our own; we are bought with a price.
It is our responsibility, our duty, and even our joy to listen to the Lord Jesus, to listen to the still small voice that is speaking to us, and to allow Him to deal with us.
We are to learn to obey Him and to follow Him. This is the wonderful life of a Christian.
Dear brothers and sisters, here we are. We are not our own; we are bought with a price—even the life of our Lord Jesus. What a price He paid for us.
Should we neglect Him and decide to live our own lives, knowing that if we live our own lives, we will lose them? But if we are willing to lose our life for His sake, we will gain it for eternity.
So, dear brothers and sisters, this is why we are here this morning: to give ourselves totally over to Him.
“Lord, You have bought us with Your own life. We are not our own; we are Yours. Enable us to follow Thee, not only in great things, but also in small things. In our daily life, may we learn to obey the Lord and let Him live in us and through us, that God may be glorified.”
This is Christian life.
So, dear brothers and sisters, thank God. By His grace He has saved us, and He will save us to the uttermost. We do not want to be half-saved. We want to be saved forever and ever, that we may be with Him throughout eternity.
I believe that is the desire of our heart. So thank God, we will give ourselves to Him and allow Him to do that perfect work in each and every one of us.
May the Lord bless you. Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, we want to thank You because once we were dead in sins and transgressions, and yet You loved us so much. You were willing to come into this wretched world and give Yourself so totally over to God.
You came to redeem us from our sins, to fill us with Your own life, and to enable us to follow Thee. Lord, for this we are thankful.
As we are here today, Lord, once again we give ourselves totally over to You. May Thy perfect will be done in each and every one of us.
We are waiting for Thy imminent return. Lord, come, come quickly. We ask in Your name. Amen.