Dear Lord, this is a song that our dear brother dearly loved to sing at the closing of every conference. Even though he is not here this morning, we know his spirit is still with us.
He is longing for every one of us to be ready for Your imminent return. May this prayer of our brother be answered fully among us, that every one of us here this morning, by Your mercy and grace, will be ready to welcome You in Your return.
Dear Lord, it is the cry of our hearts: “Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly.” We ask in Your precious name. Amen.
Will you please turn to 1 Corinthians? First Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 1.
And I, brethren, have not been able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as babes in Christ.
I have given you milk to drink, not meat; for ye have not yet been able, nor indeed are ye yet able.
For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there are among you emulation and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk according to man?
Brothers and sisters, the apostle Paul, having worked in Corinth for a year and a half, saw many converted and brought to the Lord Jesus.
But in his first letter to them, he reminded them that he could not treat them as spiritual. In other words, having been with them for a year and a half, and having seen them believe in the Lord Jesus, they ought to have been spiritual.
Now, we may think that to be spiritual takes time. But so far as God is concerned, He who has saved us has saved us not to be carnal, but to be spiritual.
So, in a sense, it was a regret to the apostle Paul that, after a year and a half with them, these Corinthian believers were still carnal and not spiritual.
You know, brothers and sisters, soon after the Lord has saved us, soon after He has given us His indwelling Holy Spirit, He has made every provision for us to be spiritual. And that is what God is expecting of all of us.
Among us, I believe many of us have believed in the Lord Jesus for a number of years. But can you say, by the grace of God, that you are no longer carnal, but spiritual? That is what we ought to be.
But sadly, as with the Corinthian believers, after Paul had been with them for a year and a half, when he wrote the first letter to them, he said, “I cannot consider you as spiritual, but as carnal.” Why?
The Corinthian believers were very gifted. They had knowledge. They had wisdom. But unfortunately, they were still carnal.
How did Paul know? Paul knew they were carnal because there were divisions among them. They boasted of their gifts, but they took sides with one another.
Some said, “I am of Paul. It was Paul who brought me to the Lord.” Others said, “I am of Apollos, because it was Apollos who helped me to grow in the Lord.” And some said, “I am of Cephas. I came from the original apostles.” Another said, “I am of Christ. I am better, higher, than every one of you.”
Brothers and sisters, Paul says, “Is this not carnality?”
True, Paul planted and Apollos watered, but He who caused them to grow is Christ. Paul is nothing. Apollos is nothing. But Christ is all in all.
And because the Corinthian believers remained carnal, Paul finally sent Titus to them.
Now, brothers and sisters, we know Titus came from an entirely Gentile family. But after he was brought to the Lord by Paul, this Christian man grew spiritually in the Lord. He sought the Lord earnestly. He became a specimen of Christian character.
You know, when Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem for the Jerusalem council concerning whether a Gentile who had become a Christian should be circumcised or not, Paul went to Jerusalem bringing Titus with him.
If you read Acts 15, you find Titus did not say a word, but he was there especially as an example of what the Lord could do with a Gentile without his being circumcised.
So, in this first letter to the Corinthians, Paul knew the carnal situation of the Corinthian believers, and he sent Titus to them.
He knew that this young man, not by his eloquence but by his life, would show the Corinthians wherein they were wrong.
Paul and Titus agreed that, at a certain time, they would meet together at Troas. So at that point in time, Paul went to Troas, but he did not find Titus there.
There was opportunity, an open door, for Paul to work there. But because he could not find Titus, he left Troas and went to Macedonia.
Now, why was Titus delayed? Because this young man was a very thorough person. He was among the Corinthians, highly intellectual people but quarrelling among themselves, and he stood before them as an example, showing them what Christian character is: love.
They should love one another instead of quarrelling against one another. But it takes time. So that was the reason Titus was delayed. He was a person who did a very thorough work, not work half done.
So he stayed there, setting an example before the Corinthian believers, until these Corinthian believers began to realize what Christian character really is. They began to repent of their quarrelling. They began to seek for oneness among themselves.
When Titus saw what had been done among the Corinthians, he felt his work was done. So he left and met Paul in Macedonia.
When Paul realized what had happened with the Corinthian believers after the ministry of Titus, he sent Titus back to Corinth to finish the work there. So we thank God for this young man, Titus.
You know, during the lifetime of the apostle Paul, he was not only used by the Lord greatly, but he had talent. He knew how to help young people.
He knew how to surround himself with promising young people, train them, help them, and send them out for the work of God, that a second generation might be raised up after the first generation had gone.
That was a special ministry of Paul.
Brothers and sisters, what is carnality?
Carnality is that which comes from our fallen soul. You remember, when God created man, He created man in three parts: spirit, soul, and body.
After man sinned, his spirit was dead to God. Now, that did not mean that he did not have a spirit. The spirit as an organ was still there, but its proper function was not there.
God created our spirit for God-consciousness. He created man with a spirit that we may communicate with God, who is Spirit. The only thing that can communicate with God is our spirit.
But unfortunately, because of sin, man’s spirit was dead to God. Now, that does not mean man’s spirit does not exist anymore. The spirit as an organ is still there, but its proper function is missing.
You know, in China, people can communicate with the evil world, but they cannot communicate with God.
I remember when my grandfather died, I was in Hong Kong. We had been praying for him for many years. We had talked to him and testified to him. He always said, “I am too old to change my religion.”
But strangely, when he was sick, he would put the Bible under his pillow. He would not allow anybody to talk to him about Christ, but my aunt was able to talk to him about the Lord Jesus.
I was in Hong Kong at that time. When I heard the news, I said, “Lord, we have been praying for our grandfather for many years and testifying to him. Will he be saved or not?”
Now, what could I do? You know, in China, when a person dies, you can ask for a witch or a necromancer to come to you and say that you want to talk with the dead one.
And indeed, the voice of the dead one will be heard by you. You think he is dead, and he will usually tell you how he suffers in Hades. He wants you to burn paper money so that he will not be in such poverty.
Now, you who came from China know about all these things.
So my grandfather had a concubine. He did so many good things to people, and people were grateful to him. So a person insisted that his daughter become his concubine.
My grandfather, every afternoon, would go to his concubine, but he never stayed there. He always came back at night.
So after my grandfather died, the concubine, being a Buddhist, asked for a necromancer. She wanted to talk to my grandfather.
You know what happened? After she had used her magic, she got this response: “Don’t call me. I do not belong to you.”
Thank God, my grandfather was saved. He belonged to the Lord, not to the devil.
So, brothers and sisters, after we are saved, what does salvation initially mean? Probably we would think that it is to receive forgiveness for our sins. Thank God, He does that.
But to be saved is more than that. To be saved, our dead spirit was quickened into life.
That is to say, our spirit became alive to God. And that is the reason why, when you are saved, your prayer is heard by God, and immediately you feel there is a connection between you and God.
Even though I was brought up in a Christian family, my father was a pastor. He loved the Lord. He had seven children.
Every night, he gathered us in the sitting room. He would read from a big Bible, and after that he asked all of us to kneel down, and he would lead us in prayer.
But he never asked any one of us to pray—not until I was saved. Then he began to ask me to pray too.
So, brothers and sisters, what do you mean by being saved? From our standpoint, the biggest thing to us in being saved is to have our sins forgiven, and that is true.
But that is not the biggest thing that God has done to us. When you are saved, your dead spirit is quickened into life.
In other words, formerly your spirit was dead in sins and transgressions. It had lost its contact with God. But now your spirit is quickened into new life. Immediately, you sense a connection between you and God.
Now, I was brought up in a Christian family. My father loved the Lord. Every night he gathered us seven children in the sitting room, and he would read from the Bible. We all knelt down, and he would lead us in prayer.
I read the Bible when I was young. I knew about all the teachings, but I was not saved.
I was, at that time, fifteen years old, in high school. I believed in the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, but I said, “I don’t need Him. I was too good to be saved. Let Him save those sinners in the world.”
But thank God, when I was fourteen, I was sick, almost unto death. My pulse became irregular. At that time, there was no medicine for such a disease. It depended upon whether you could pull through.
After four months, I recovered. And in my natural mind, I said it was God who healed me. I must do something to repay His kindness to me. And that was how it all began.
We began to organize Christian meetings in the school.
In the evening, before evening study, we would knock on the doors of the dormitory and ask our fellow students to come to the library for a reading. A number of them came; even the teachers came.
And I was the one who would lead them in prayer, even though I did not know God personally. But that was easy for me, because my father had a big library.
I just went to his library, got a book of prayers, translated a chapter into Chinese, memorized it, and went that night to preach on prayer.
After I finished preaching on prayer, I said, “Let us all kneel down and pray.” So we all knelt down—some students, some teachers—but none of us were saved. So none of us prayed.
After a little while, some students began to laugh. And I, as chairman, scolded them. I said, “We are before God. We cannot be so impious.”
When I preached to people, I would say, “Every Friday after school, we will have a preaching meeting.”
And it was easy for me, because my father had a very large library. I went to the library and got a book of preaching. I still remember, after so many years, that it was J. Wilbur Chapman, who was a famous American preacher at that time. He had a book called Noah’s Ark.
I translated it into Chinese, memorized it, and that Friday after school, I preached my first sermon. I felt good about it. The only thing I regretted was that nobody praised me.
But, brothers and sisters, thank God. Yes, I was trying to repay God for all His goodness to me, but the Spirit of God began to work in my heart.
I began to feel myself to be a great sinner. From head to feet, there was nothing good. As a young man, I could sit by my seat and weep for my sins. I longed to be saved.
I knew the gospel, but somehow it evaded me. Whenever there was a famous preacher from abroad coming to Shanghai to preach, they usually preached at my father’s church.
I went to hear them. I was touched a number of times. I went to the altar a number of times. But nothing happened.
This continued for a whole year.
Until the summer, I decided to go to a summer conference in Shanghai to get saved. That was my only purpose. I went there. Three young men from America came to preach to us.
But after a few days, I was not touched, because what they preached I already knew. There was nothing new.
One morning, I was sitting in my room. I did not know whether I was praying or speaking to myself. I said, “Why do other people get saved so easily, and I could not? Am I so hardened?”
So I told the Lord, “Lord, if You want to save me, save me now. Otherwise, goodbye.”
That afternoon, I went to the meeting. I heard Mr. Kirkpatrick speak on John 3:16. Now, I knew this by heart. Nothing happened.
After he finished preaching, he asked everybody to kneel down and pray. An Indian brother came and knelt by my side. But all he did was persuade me to go to the altar.
Now, I thought, “I have been there a number of times, and nothing happened. Why should I go again?” But as a courtesy, I went.
I went to the altar. I wept. I confessed. But nothing happened, and the meeting was over.
As I was walking out with hundreds of people, a Chinese pastor—he was not a pastor yet; he was only a preacher at that time—must have noticed me. So he stopped me, and point-blank he asked me a question: “Are you saved?”
I think he thought I must be saved. But I had to be honest. I said, “I want to be saved.”
So he stopped me there. Hundreds of people had left. We two were alone in the auditorium. He asked me, “Do you believe the Bible as the Word of God?” I said, “I do, from my youth.”
He said, “All right. Turn to 1 John 1:9 and read it. Put your name into it.”
If Stephen Kaung confess his sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive Stephen Kaung his sins, and to cleanse him from all unrighteousness.
He asked me to read it twice. Then he said, “Let us pray.” So we knelt down. I knew how to pray, so I started to pray.
And you know, brothers and sisters, again I confessed all the things that I could remember. Then I told God, “There are many things I have forgotten, but You know.”
“Now I have done my part. It is up to You whether You will keep Your part and save me.”
Thank God, when I prayed in this fashion, immediately a peace came into my heart. I stood up.
And he asked me, “Are you saved?” I said, “I am saved.” He said, “How do you know?” I said, “I have such peace in my heart.” He shook his head.
Immediately, the Word of God came to me. I said, “I know I am saved because God says so.” He said, “Yes. Your feelings may change, but God’s Word stands forever.”
And he asked me to go out and tell someone what the Lord had done for me.
Brothers and sisters, salvation is such a wonderful thing, because it restored my dead spirit and enabled me to communicate with God.
And this has been happening over eighty-some years. God is true. His Spirit is true, and is working in our hearts to bring us closer to Himself.
Brothers and sisters, what is spirituality? If carnality is self, then spirituality is Christ.
Christ in you, the hope of glory.
We who believe in the Lord Jesus do not rest our hope upon ourselves, whether we will be a good Christian or not. We cannot.
But thank God, we have a blessed hope: Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Thank God, Christ is in every one of us. He is in our spirit. He is the life of our spirit.
And His Spirit dwells in our spirit to guide and lead us in our daily life, that we may grow in Christ.
Brothers and sisters, when you believe in the Lord Jesus, that is not the end. That is the beginning.
You know, oftentimes people think, “How good it would be if, as soon as I am saved, God would take me to Himself. Then I would be delivered from all the temptations and problems in this world.”
But, brothers and sisters, if that were the case, heaven would be full of babies. God wants grown-ups—grown-up in Christ Jesus. That is the reason why we are still here.
This is the opportunity we have to grow in Christ Jesus. After you are saved, God is expecting you to obey the leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit in you.
And if you are cooperating and working with His inward Spirit, He will gradually sanctify you, enabling you to be like Him. And that is Christian life.
Brothers and sisters, after you are saved, do you notice something special? Do you know that there is a voice within your spirit, showing you, as a Christian, what you should do or not do, where to go and where not to go?
Suppose, before you believed in the Lord Jesus, you were a person who liked to talk. Whenever you talked, you always boasted. You always said something more than was real. You felt good about it.
But after you are saved, when you are starting to do the same thing, what happens? Somehow you feel someone within you telling you, “It is a lie. It is not true. Now you are a Christian. You should not tell lies.”
But probably you will fight against it. Then, in the evening, when you go to pray, your prayer is hindered. You are not able to pray until you confess, have your sins forgiven, and your relationship with God is restored.
Brothers and sisters, this is the way that the Lord will lead us on and on until we see Him face to face.
Every day there is a lesson to learn. Every day is a day of growth in the Lord.
That is the reason why the Lord has left us on earth after we are saved. He does not want babies. He wants grown people. He wants people like His beloved Son—grown men and women.
Whom He foreknew, He called. Whom He called, He sanctified. Whom He sanctified, He will glorify.
So, brothers and sisters, our days on earth after we have been saved are glorious days. The Lord is preparing you for Himself. He wants you to grow up as He is.
He begins with small things, because He knows that we cannot stand it if He begins with big things.
He usually begins with small things: something in our attitude, something in our speech, somewhere that we go, something that we do.
He will begin to deal with us, purify us, and enable us to grow in Christ until we are like Him. And that is the purpose of God.
So, dear brothers and sisters, thank God for having saved us. Thank God for having left us behind. Thank God for giving us opportunity to grow in grace and in truth.
Even though in this Christian life it is difficult, sometimes it is a battle, but by the grace of God we will follow Him wherever He goes.
And if we do, brothers and sisters, when we shall hear the call, we can look up and go in peace, just as did our brother, Jose Wu.
So, brothers and sisters, my last appeal is this: now you are saved, follow the Lord in all things. Allow Him to work out His full salvation in your life, that when He shall return, we will not only see Him, but we shall reign with Him for eternity.
So may the Lord have mercy upon each and every one of us. Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, we want to thank You for the homegoing of our dear brother, Jose Wu. He is now resting before You, waiting to be wakened up and to receive his reward.
Lord, we know that what You will do with him, You now do with every one of us here. So we commit ourselves to You and pray, Lord, that You take each and every one of us and work in our lives.
By Your Spirit, lead us on. In spite of all the difficulties we may encounter, keep us faithful, that we may follow You all the way until we see You face to face, to the glory of God. We ask in Your name. Amen.