Lord, there is a Man in the glory. But think of it: His life is in you. His life is in me. He overcame Satan, and now that life is in you and me.
This is how simple the Christian life is. We make it so complicated. We have all these outlines and themes and explanations and thoughts, and it boils down to One who did all, One who will continue to do all, and One who will finish doing all. How wonderful!
And not only will He do everything He wanted for Himself; He will do everything He wanted for us. That’s beautiful.
Well, I have been charged with the closing remarks. I didn’t expect that, but I was told—they didn’t threaten my life—but they told me I had to do it.
What a blessing it is to be together. By the way, I’m going to leave you plenty of time, because we have until eleven. We’re not going to get near that, so you can go and load up your vehicle. You’ll have plenty of time. Don’t worry.
How wonderful it has been to be together in this heavenly fellowship. You know, I heard somebody—I told it—they said, “I wouldn’t be anywhere else, even without air conditioning. I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”
Brothers and sisters, we’ve had the joy and the privilege and the blessing of being able to gather like this for over fifty years. Can you imagine?
Many places in the world, the people of God who know Him just as well as many of you do are only able to gather in twos or threes, in a hidden place, in a living room, whispering the precious Word of God to one another.
Think of the privilege that’s been poured out on you and me. Well, it may not be this way forever, but thank God we had this precious week together. We should treasure it in our hearts and always respond to Him as we return home.
You know, this life is not without conflicts. We’ve had a few this week—this morning. I don’t want to hear the word air conditioning another time.
They reported to me, “Brother Kenny, Brother Kenny, you know the air conditioning’s out in Andrews.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that.”
“Brother Kenny, do you know the air conditioning is out in Birdsong Dormitory?”
“Yes, I’m there. That’s my room.”
“Brother, the air conditioning’s still out. In other places, it’s out even in the dining hall. We have to sweat and eat.”
I said, “I know that.”
They’re little problems we face in life—conflicts, right? Let me tell you a secret. This is a divine secret.
The Lord does not remove all of our conflicts. He wants us, by the power of the resurrection life in us—His own resurrection life—to go through many of those conflicts and, in spite of those conflicts, to overcome in every situation.
That’s the Christian life.
Oh, I love Hebrews 11. I read Hebrews 11 often, and you read about a group of saints who went before us. They endured such conflicts.
You know, I have a little story I’ll tell you. I have people come up to me often and complain about things, and sometimes I just look at them and think of that phrase in Hebrews 11 and say to them:
“And some were sawn asunder.”
—Hebrews 11:37
Brothers and sisters, these are the words in Hebrews 11—that wonderful word—that the world is not worthy of. Wouldn’t you like to have that testimony?
Oh, when I die, forget about putting my name on my headstone. If someone could just put, “Of whom the world is not worthy,” this would be a living testimony of the Lord.
We read in Hebrews 11: what was the result of these people who followed the Lord, this great cloud of witnesses? It says in Hebrews 11:2, “By faith they obtained testimony.” Did you hear that?
They didn’t attain it. They didn’t get it by their own strength. They didn’t, in their own power, in their own wisdom, in their own life, do that. They obtained it from God Himself.
That’s what this life is about. We heard it. We heard it. Our brother Lucio said it: obtaining the testimony of Jesus.
Oh, we read about all these ones—that was their end. That was the record preserved for us in Hebrews 11. Abel obtained testimony. Enoch walked with God, and he obtained testimony.
And let me read you the last verses in Hebrews 11:39–40: “And these all…” You know, the Holy Spirit is very clear about His emphasis in the Word of God. It didn’t say, “Well, a few of these.” In the end, God’s recovery work will be so great that these all obtained witness.
Now, witness is the exact same word as testimony. It’s the exact same. These, in their lifetime, obtained testimony.
What will be the mark of your life? What will be the end of your life? We read the summary in Hebrews 11 about this great cloud of witnesses. What will be your summary?
Will God say of you, when you stand before Him at the judgment seat of Christ, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You obtained testimony”?
It’s not our testimony; it’s the testimony of Jesus. These had the testimony of Jesus. It was really, if you remember, the present tense: have. They keep on having it. They hold it.
This is our testimony. It’s all about Him from the beginning to the end. And the good news, the encouragement I just want to leave with you, is that you will go away knowing that God will do this recovery work in us if we give ourselves to Him and respond and say, “Lord, I’m willing.”
Take my life, and let it be
Wholly consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
“Make my heart,” it says later in that wonderful hymn, “Your royal throne.” This is what we’re looking for.
I was asked, in the closing remarks, if I would read the summary of the burden on page two of the handbook, and I will. Then I’ll close with announcements.
Turn to that if you have your handbooks with you, if you want to see it. This is concerning our theme this week: God’s Cry for This Hour: Recovery and Possessing.
The Bible is a book of divine recovery work from the beginning to the end. Through the work of recovery, the eternal purpose of God will at last be fully realized. And listen to this emphasis we were moved to put in here: because He cannot fail.
That recovery work requires a redeemed remnant. We heard about that from Dana in Isaiah 11:11—a remnant. It requires a redeemed remnant of His people who cooperate with Him.
In 1995, at the Christian Family Conference, Brother Kong said, “Recovery is the cry of the centuries.” He said in another conference in 1989, “There is a call to recovery, and this call is to the whole church, not to a select few.”
When God is doing the work of recovery, He sends a call out to His people, calling them to join Him in this work of recovery. The remnant who responds to this call represent what God is after in His people.
They are a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim His excellencies alone. This peculiar people—this treasure of God, is what that means—have been given a vast eternal inheritance in Christ.
They are the ones to go in, to possess the land given to them—to possess it. In this way, God’s recovery work is completed, and He will have His possession, and we, His people, will have our possession.
This is God’s cry for the hour: recovery and possessing.
Father, we’re so thankful that, in Your mercy, You’ve gathered us in this simple way.
The world would think of us as fools. We would tell You, like Paul said, we want to be fools for Christ.
They would laugh and scoff and say, “How can you waste the holiday week—the big one—the two hundred and fifty gathered in a small, un-air-conditioned room?”
But Lord, we have gathered together unto You, and You’ve spoken to us, and You’ve met us.
And Lord, we have seen You—something new, something fresh. Like Jacob, face to face, we’ve seen You, and we will not let You go. Like Jacob, until we possess You.
Do we possess all of our possession in Christ Jesus? Oh Lord, hear our prayer to complete Your work and come and receive us back to Yourself. For we ask these things in the name of Jesus.
Now, before I make…