First of all, I just want to tell you what a pleasant thing it has been—other than the fact that I am sick. I do not know if I am allergic to Richmond, or Richmond is allergic to me, or what, but it has just been a really pleasant time for us to be here this weekend.
You know, it is always something special when you get to be with people that you are not normally with, especially people that you have something in common with: that you share the Lord with, and that you only get to see a couple of times a year. It is always a nice time for us, but my testimony is that this year in particular, it has just been a sweet time of fellowship. And I really appreciate it.
The planning meeting yesterday was a little different from any of the planning meetings that I can remember having been in. There was just something different about it. Here again, the word is pleasant. It was just pleasant to be there.
One of the sisters yesterday in the planning meeting—sometimes sisters, without any intent to teach or to make a big statement or anything, will simply share testimony, just in reality, from their heart, about what has been going on in their life. A sister shared such a testimony yesterday.
She simply mentioned how the last couple of years have been difficult for her, and she has been up and down in her own spiritual life. Basically, the end of the thing yesterday was that she just wanted to be engaged with the Lord Jesus. And she used that word: she wanted to be engaged with the Lord Jesus.
That word expresses exactly the burden that is on my heart this morning—not only for the brothers and sisters in Richmond, but for brothers and sisters around the world, in Memphis where I live, and in other places as well.
Over the last couple of years, in the places where I have been and the places where I have relationship, I have been an eyewitness of a lot of testing and a lot of shaking. I have had it confirmed by brothers who have a much bigger sphere of travel and relationship than I do that this kind of thing seems to be present all over the world, in groups like ours, especially where there has been not just teaching, but experience—where there has been reality of the headship of the Lord Jesus.
And yet, all over the earth, we see, in groups like ours, testing and shaking. We all know, really, what the answer is. Every one of us would say that the answer—and rightly so—to every question, every problem, and every need is the Lord Jesus.
As I have prayed and listened to people and borne the burden of people over the last few years, the phrase that keeps coming back to me—the word, actually two words—is spiritual engagement.
May we be those people in this day who are personally, spiritually engaged. You know, it is not a bad thing either, this idea of engagement with the Lord, since He is coming back for a bride. This is the season when the Holy Spirit is calling out to us personally and individually to be engaged with Him, perhaps more than we ever have been before.
In just a moment we are going to look into the Scripture together, and it is a Scripture that I think is very familiar to most of us. In fact, I almost fear that it is one of those things that is so familiar that, as soon as we hear it, we begin to say, “I already know this. I do not need to hear this.”
But I hope this morning, as we look into the Word together, that the Holy Spirit will speak to each one of us personally. He will make us part of the story. You know, when the Holy Spirit draws you into the story, you see things in a different way than you ever have before.
I am not good at telling jokes, but I thought of one. It is so old, I hope it is so old that you have all forgotten that you heard it. And I hope that John did not tell this last year when we were here. I cannot remember. If I cannot remember, I hope you do not remember.
It is especially fitting since we have these rumours of snow today impending upon us. Perhaps you have heard the story about the Baptist church down in Memphis, where on one side of the church building the Baptist preacher lived, and on the other side of the church building a drunkard lived.
Every Sunday, this drunkard would come to the meeting and sit on the back row. The pastor, seeing him back there, would preach a hellfire-and-brimstone message about the evils of drinking and a sinful life, looking right into the man’s eyes. Every week the man would sit there.
When the meeting was over, the pastor would go to the back of the room, wait by the back door, and shake people’s hands. This man would come, shake the pastor’s hand every Sunday morning, and say, “Oh, what a good message. I hope they heard it.”
Well, one day, sure enough, there was a big blizzard in Memphis—a gigantic snowstorm: two inches. The city was crippled. No one could come to the meeting, so the only two people who could come were the pastor and the drunkard.
They both came to the meeting. The drunkard took his place in the back of the room, and the pastor took his place in the front of the room. The pastor preached a hellfire-and-brimstone message, making eye contact with this man the entire time.
When the meeting was over, the pastor went back to the back door. The drunkard came back, shook his hand, and said, “Oh, Pastor, it was a terrific message. If only they had been here to hear it.”
Well, may we not be like that today. May we hear the Word of the Lord.
If you would turn with me to Genesis, chapter 44. You know, this is the story of Joseph and his brothers. This is when the brothers have come down to buy food during the famine. They have gotten their food from Joseph, and now they are about to go back on their way home.
Genesis chapter 44, beginning with the first verse:
Then he commanded his house steward, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.
And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his grain money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.
And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
Is not this that from which my lord drinketh, and whereby he indeed divineth? Ye have done evil in so doing.
So he overtook them, and he spake unto them these words.
And they said unto him, Wherefore speaketh my lord such words as these? Far be it from thy servants that they should do such a thing.
Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?
With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen.
And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my bondman; and ye shall be blameless.
Then they hasted, and took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.
And he searched, beginning at the eldest, and leaving at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.
And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; and he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.
And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? Know ye not that such a man as I can indeed divine?
And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s bondmen, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found.
And he said, Far be it from me that I should do so: the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my bondman; but as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.
Down to verse 27. This is Judah speaking:
And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons:
And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I have not seen him since:
And if ye take this one also from me, and harm befall him, ye will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.
Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life;
It will come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants will bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.
For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then shall I bear the blame to my father for ever.
Now therefore, let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.
For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest I see the evil that shall come on my father.
Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.
And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.
And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
And now be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and there are yet five years, in which there shall be neither ploughing nor harvest.
And God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.
Turning to the New Testament, John chapter 14 and verse 21.
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him.
—John 14:21
That Greek word there for “manifest” means to let oneself be intimately known and understood.
Turning over to John chapter 15, let us read verses 11 through 14:
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Ye are my friends, if ye do the things which I command you.
—John 15:11-14
Let me just have one further word of prayer.
Lord, we just want to tell You this morning that we are so glad to be here together. And Lord, we are so glad that You are here in our presence, and we need You so desperately.
Lord, Your servant is weak and unprofitable, but Lord, You are strong and mighty. Lord, You are able to deliver the Word to us this morning, to speak to us, to help us. Lord, we ask for that right now.
Lord, that You would speak to our hearts; Lord, that You would make Yourself known; and Lord, that You would get all the glory for Yourself. Now, Lord, we do ask this with thanksgiving, in Christ’s precious name. Amen.
Well then, the story that we just read, especially the part about Joseph, is full of imagery, types, and pictures. It is a very interesting thing about pictures and types in the Old Testament: it can just be a story, you know. It can just be a story with a simple meaning.
In a way, this is the good thing about these kinds of stories, because a child can understand, basically understand, the story. But the more the Lord opens our eyes to the meaning of things, and the more the Lord draws us personally into the story and makes it a personal issue to us, everything in the story begins to change.
Let me just give you an example, in case anybody does not know what I am talking about when I say types and pictures. Some of those brothers whom history has called the Brethren, from over a hundred years ago, made a very interesting observation. So I cannot take credit for this. I did not think it up myself, and if it is wrong, I will not take the blame for it either.
One of those brothers, who was a college professor, pointed out over a hundred years ago that Laban, Jacob’s close relative whom he had a lot to do with, is a type and a picture in the Scripture of the outward man. Laban is a type and a picture of the natural man, if you will.
What he does, what he figures in the Scripture, and the way he is expressed in the Scripture is that he is that which tries to keep the man of God from leaving outward and natural things. That is why Laban manipulated things so that Jacob would marry Leah first, because that was the tradition: the oldest had to be married first.
So the outward man, the natural man, if you will, tries to stop the man of God from leaving outward and natural things. Jacob’s actual brother, Esau—an even closer relative than Laban—is said to represent the carnal mind. Not an enemy; he is a member of the family, but he represents the carnal mind.
You all know that when Jacob was on his way to Canaan, Esau came with four hundred men, crossing his path and hindering him temporarily from entering the heavenly land. So the outward man wants to stop the man of God from leaving outward things and traditions, and the carnal mind wants to stop the man of God from entering spiritual things.
My brothers and sisters, the point for you and me is this: these are not far-off enemies. This is not something distant and far away that comes to attack us and stop us from going where we want to go spiritually. This picture of close relatives speaks of something in us, something with us.
The biggest hindrance, I believe, to our going on to higher ground is ourselves. Oh, how the pictures and types in the Bible open this door to us, cause us to see these things, and make it a personal issue for us to see something about ourselves.
Well, in this story that we just read, Joseph, of course, is a type and a picture of the Lord Jesus Himself. Joseph is a picture of the Lord Jesus as Saviour, as Provider, as Overcomer.
The story begins with Joseph telling his house steward to put a silver cup into the baggage of one of his brothers. Brothers and sisters, the house steward represents something too. The house steward of Joseph’s house—who is the steward of our Lord and Master’s house? Is it not the Holy Spirit?
So, in one sense, is not the house steward a picture of the Holy Spirit? It is an amazing thing, saints: sometimes our Lord has the Holy Spirit place a silver cup in our baggage to keep us from getting away with something. I will explain that in a minute.
He puts a silver cup in our baggage to keep us from getting away with something, to keep us from going back to where we came from, and to bring us to another place. I think probably you are familiar with the fact that silver in the Scripture always has something to do with redemption.
It is not a gold cup. It is not a brass cup of judgement. It is not a wooden cup. It is a silver cup.
The Holy Spirit puts a silver cup in our baggage sometimes. It is not to destroy us. It is not to embarrass and humiliate us, although there may be some embarrassment attached. It is very important that we understand that the Lord does this for redemption, because He is committed to redeeming us completely and to giving us the opportunity to deal with all unfinished business.
This is really what this story is about, at least this part of the story and what is on my heart this morning.
Joseph knew exactly who his brothers were. Here they came down—just put yourself in their shoes. Here they came down because there was a famine. There was need in the land. They just came down to get some food. They were conducting their business.
They had no idea who it was they were dealing with. They did not know who Joseph was. He knew exactly who they were. They had probably forgotten about Joseph, even forgotten what they had done. But he knew exactly who they were.
They were just doing business. You know, we in some ways are like these brothers. We want the Lord to bless our business, and He does. We want the Lord to bless our actual business, our daily affairs, our family, our work, our school—whatever it is. We expect the Lord to bless our business, and He does.
We pray for the Lord to give us our daily bread, to bless our work, and to help us in our responsibilities and the things we have to do. And He does, because He loves us and He is so faithful.
But the Lord Jesus is ultimately more concerned that we do spiritual business with Him. Sometimes, when it seems that the Lord is not blessing our business, it is not because He is trying to wreck our business. It is because He is trying to bring us, perhaps, into the place of doing spiritual business with Him—making a spiritual transaction with Him.
Joseph was a man who was able to practise divination. There are a lot of different ideas about what that means. Obviously, I do not think Joseph was practising witchcraft or anything of that nature. I will just tell you what I believe it has to do with.
We deal with a God who sees. We have a God who sees everything, and there is nothing hidden from His sight. You know, we are like children in some ways, are we not? We are His children, and we are like children sometimes.
We come to the Lord and say, “Lord, bless my business. Lord, bless my affairs. Lord, these things I have decided to do—Lord, lead me and bless me and help me.” And we forget, do we not, that the One we call on, the One we pray to and have relationship with, has absolutely nothing hidden from His sight.
He knows everything about us. He knows how many hairs are on our heads. He even knows what we are thinking. He even knows what our motives are. It is a little scary. He knows everything about us. There is absolutely nothing hidden from Him.
This is the One with whom we deal. This is the One who is arranging circumstances so that we can do business with Him. This is what the Lord did for these brothers. He arranged a circumstance so that they had to come back, so that they had an opportunity to deal with unfinished business, and so that they had the opportunity to make what I call a spiritual transaction.
Everybody knows what a business transaction is. You give something, and you get something back—hopefully. A good businessman would say that a good business transaction is one that is good for both parties. In a transaction, you have to give something and you get something back. It is not a gift.
Now, we are not talking about salvation here, by the way. I ought to make that very clear. Salvation is a gift. You do not do anything to deserve it. It is just a gift. What we are talking about here is not salvation. We are talking about something else.
The Lord loves us and He forgives. He has forgiven us, has He not? What happens to us sometimes, because we know that the Lord forgives our sins, is that when the Holy Spirit begins to convict us, when He begins to speak to us a little bit, when there is that little sense of something uncomfortable, we can misunderstand what is happening.
Physiologically, when there is not peace—when there is that feeling of discipline—it feels in my body, as far as I can tell, exactly the same way that the feeling of condemnation feels. Condemnation ought always to be rejected, but discipline should always be embraced.
If we are not careful, we will reject the discipline of the Lord. Physiologically, in our emotions and in our bodies, sometimes we confuse the two. So when the Lord begins to deal with us, sometimes we find ourselves singing fifty rounds of a song about the blood.
Well, it is true: the blood cleanses us from everything. But this is not about our forgiveness. It is about our completion. The Lord loves us so much, and He is so committed to you and me, that He is willing to do whatever it takes to give us the opportunity to go to higher ground. That is really what all this is about.
To me, this is one of the most beautiful stories in the Bible, because when the brothers came back and realised that Benjamin was going to become a slave and have to stay there, Judah brought himself into the light.
He did not have to do it. He did not know he was talking with Joseph. He did not know that the person he was talking to knew all about what they had done. Judah, because of his love for his father and because of his love for the lad, brought himself into the light.
The Bible refers to Benjamin as the lad, the little one. You know who the little ones are? They are not merely children. Children may be included, but spiritually the little ones are not necessarily children. They are those among us who are helpless, those among us who need us to stand up for them.
That is what the lad represents. I find myself asking a question: Am I laying my life down for the little ones?
Judah brought himself to the light. He said, “This will kill my father. If the lad does not go back, if this little one does not go back to my father, it will be too much for my father. We cannot do that to my father.”
Do you see? Do we love our Father so much? Do we realise that our Father is bound with the little ones? Remember, he said, “His life is bound up in the lad’s life.” That is literally what it says. Jacob was bound with Benjamin.
Do we see our Father, our heavenly Father, as being bound with us and bound with every one of us? Those who seem uncomely, those who seem unimportant—He is bound with those. He cares. There is something on His heart concerning the brothers and sisters.
Oh, the Lord orchestrates circumstances, does He not? Judah brought himself to the light. He told Joseph what they had done. Judah brought himself into the light. He said, “Keep me. Keep me as a slave, and let him go.”
When he said this, a couple of things were happening. Judah was making a spiritual transaction right there. He was buying gold refined by fire.
The Lord says to the church:
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked:
I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and that the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest; and eye-salve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see.
—Revelation 3:17-18
Judah made a spiritual transaction. When he did, that was the very thing that opened the door, and Joseph could not contain himself any longer. He sent everyone out, and that is when he revealed to his brothers who he was.
Brothers and sisters, this matter of coming to the light, of allowing ourselves to be brought into the light, is a very personal issue, and no one makes you do it. That is what is really tricky about this thing. You do not have to do it. Nobody will know.
But when we bring ourselves into the light, we receive something that I believe there is no other way to receive. When we come into the light, we see something of the Lord, and we see something of ourselves.
We see something of the Lord that was otherwise hidden to us and would have remained hidden, and we see something of ourselves that was hidden from us. I do not believe that any amount of self-analysis will ever really help us see ourselves.
I hope there are no psychologists in the room; I did not mean that as an insult. But when we come into the light, we do see something. We receive something that we never would have seen. It is just a little bit of life.
Something was mentioned in the planning meeting yesterday. There were some names mentioned: David, Moses, and Paul. What I am about to say was not mentioned in the planning meeting, but I thought of it as these names were being mentioned.
All three of these men have something amazingly in common in a big way, and they speak to us in this matter. The psalmist wrote:
For with Thee is the fountain of life:
In Thy light shall we see light.
—Psalm 36:9
It is an amazing thing: in the Lord’s light, that is where we see light. In Him, in His life, we see light and find light.
Both Moses and Paul, when they met the Lord in their initial salvation experience, if you will, met the Shekinah glory of the Lord. They met the light. Moses met the tree that had the light but was not consumed. Paul met that light, heard a voice out of the light, and was blinded temporarily. That was the beginning experience.
I think it is safe to say that David, Moses, and Paul knew something about the light in a personal and real way. They knew something in a personal and real way about what is in man and about what is in themselves. I believe that the Lord made them safe vessels by showing them something from the light.
One more interesting thing about light, about spiritual light: to me, it is one of the most interesting little verses in the Bible, from 1 John:
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
—1 John 1:7
If most of us were writing that verse—not under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—we would have said, “If we walk in the light, as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with the Scriptures,” or, “We have fellowship with the church,” or, “We have fellowship with Bible study.”
But it says, if we walk in the light, because He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.
I am going to go back just for a minute to this matter of the lad and the little one. Brothers and sisters, it is not just a Bible-story thing. It is a practical thing. It is something very much on the heart of our Lord: that we would find out what it means to lay our lives down for one another.
The thing about it is, I am not sure we can lay our lives down for one another just by deciding to lay our lives down for one another. You cannot do it by willpower. You cannot do it because you know you are supposed to.
But when we love our Father, when we walk in the light, we love the brothers and sisters, and we watch out for our Father’s interests. You know what happens when we are not motivated by love and by light? We do things supposedly on the Father’s behalf, but really they are on our behalf.
But when we walk in the light and are laying our lives down for the brothers, loving the Lord, the Lord’s personal interests are furthered, and we get to have a part in the matter. There is only one way that we can have fruitful ministry and have a part in the things that are important to the Lord: it is always on His terms, never on our terms.
This is the thing that the Lord is calling His people to in this day: personal, spiritual engagement. Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal, and do not be surprised when you find a silver cup in your own baggage. It is the Lord’s intention to bring you to higher ground and to make you a fruitful vessel.
When Judah did this thing, he became shepherd. He became shepherd of his father’s flock. As soon as he brought himself into the light and repented, he became shepherd of his father’s flock.
Oh, brothers, we want to be shepherds. We want to be ministers. We want to accomplish something for the Lord. The only way we can accomplish anything for the Lord is to do business with the Lord.
It is not by our gifts. It is not by manipulating something, or seeing how many speaking invitations we can get, or something like that. Nothing will happen eternally unless you and I do business with the Lord spiritually.
Turn over with me to Philippians just for a moment. Philippians chapter 2, beginning with the first verse:
If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions,
Make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;
Doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself;
Not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,
But emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;
And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
—Philippians 2:1-8
Well, really, this is church life. This is what life in the body of Christ is intended to be: looking out for the interests of others, finding out what it means to empty oneself.
The wonderful thing about the church is that the Lord is Head. We are His body, and He is Head. So He is committed to orchestrating circumstances for us. We are the school of Christ.
As long as we are under the Lord’s headship, He will continually orchestrate circumstances for us that are able to protect us from ourselves, to show us what we are really like, and to bring us to higher ground.
You know what happens to us when things are going the way we want them to go? When we are deluded into thinking that everything is all right and that we do not have any need, we just sort of go along.
But the Lord, out of His great love and out of His commitment, allows things to come that stop us in our tracks. Then we become desperate. Then the Lord begins to point things out to us. He begins to work in our life in a different way.
It seems so difficult. It seems so impossible. But at the end of the matter, we exercise faith, we trust Him, and we do not give up. He certainly does not give up. He brings us into a broader place.
Over the course of my adult life—and I know others have this testimony—I have seen the Lord work in the lives of His people in three areas primarily: in the area of finances, in the area of physical health, and in personal relationships.
The Lord seems to get at His people and have a way into His people’s lives in these three areas. Of course, there are more, but especially in these three areas—in terms of our jobs and our finances, our health, and our relationships—the Lord is continually allowing things that are too big for us.
It is not intended to destroy us. It is intended to show us what is really important and to bring us to higher ground. Oh, well, this is Judah’s story. He came to the light. There is something in it for every one of us.
Joseph’s story is a little bit different. I just want to read one more time what Joseph’s response was, from chapter 45, verse 4:
And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
And now be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
—Genesis 45:4-5
Brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus is so interested in bringing us closer and closer to Himself. That is what all this is about. The Lord is coming back for a bride—not some distant relationship, but the most intimate relationship there is. He wants to draw us into close, personal relationship with Him.
Saints, I wonder: when we are mistreated, or when we think we have been mistreated, when there is difficulty in our assemblies or in our personal lives, what do we see?
I am personally convinced, without any shadow of a doubt, that every man and woman who loves the Lord, who desires to press on with the Lord, and to make an impact on the Lord’s behalf, sooner or later will be misunderstood by brothers and sisters.
The thing that is precious to you—whatever it is; I do not know yours, I only know mine—whatever it is that the Lord has shown you and given you personally, it will be trodden on by your brothers and sisters. I am sure of it.
In that moment, when you feel failed, when you feel unappreciated, perhaps even dismissed, will you see it as an opportunity? Will you see that the Lord has brought you through a place ahead of your brothers and sisters so that you can preserve life for others?
This is the way the Lord gives it to us: to be those who preserve life. It is not just by getting smarter, more capable, or having a better gift. The Lord is working in our lives and leading us in such a way that we can know things not just here, but experientially, in a living way that produces fruit for one another.
Oh, brothers and sisters, unless we enter in and become personally engaged, it will never happen.
Praise the Lord for our sister’s testimony yesterday. May it be the testimony—I want it to be my testimony. I know it is the word of the Holy Spirit in this season that the Lord’s people need.
It is time for every one of us to have this personal, personal relationship with the Lord. When we are lonely, I tell you, we need to find the Lord. I am not talking about dismissing our need for people. I have a heart for those whom I believe are lonely in Memphis.
But when we are lonely, we need to find the Lord Jesus as the One who fills up that void. When we are hurt, we can find the Lord Jesus as the One who has endured the ultimate hurt.
When we feel dismissed, we can find the Lord Jesus as the One who has experienced the ultimate dismissal. We can know the Lord as Saviour, as Preserver of Life, as Overcomer. We can see Him in reality, in a way that we have never seen Him before.
When difficulties come into our life, it is the Lord’s highway. It is the Lord’s orchestrated way for us to come into vision, and it is a real scene. Do not be surprised, along the way, when we see something of Him and see something of ourselves.
This is the Lord’s way of bringing us into revelation and into light. Oh, brothers and sisters, may we be those who, in a personal matter, enter into this matter of preserving life.
I believe the Holy Spirit is asking us a question over and over in these days: Are we preserving life? Do we know what it means to preserve life for our brothers and sisters, for each other?
I just want to close with this matter in John that we read. In John 15:11:
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
—John 15:11
Oh, brothers and sisters, how we must have the joy of the Lord. If we do not have the joy of the Lord, we cannot go on. There is strength in the joy of the Lord.
But we cannot get the joy of the Lord through willpower. We cannot conjure up the joy of the Lord. When we have the joy of the Lord, we sing happy songs, but I am not sure that singing happy songs will give us the joy of the Lord. It might help us to realise how much we need the joy of the Lord.
Here is the wonderful thing: the Lord says, “I have spoken to you that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” The Lord has empowered us. This is not something we cannot do. It is not something we cannot have. It is something we already have. The Lord has empowered us to have joy.
Joy is the benefit of loving the brothers and sisters. He says, “This is My commandment, that you love one another.” We are commanded to love one another. Did you know this? It is not an option. It is a commandment.
And greater love than this has no man, that he lays down his life for his friends. Sometimes we say to each other in Memphis that in our lives there seems to be a doorway. It is like there is a colour in our lives, and it says: “Discipleship. Higher ground.”
Then, in smaller letters, it says: “Personal loss. Suffering. Danger.” But when you go through that door—you cannot see it until you go through—but when you go through the door, on the other side the Lord Jesus has met you in a way that He would never have met you had you not done it.
Well, this is a simple message this morning, and a simple burden. I want to be clear about it. The burden this morning, the Word of the Lord this morning, is that we should simply be those—we must be those—who are personally engaged.
We must be personally bound and attached to the Lord Jesus in a spiritual way, attached to heavenly things in a different way and in a bigger way than we ever have been before in our lives.
It is not enough just to go on with the group. Brothers and sisters, we have to be bearing up personally. This is the way that we will help one another. The Lord has circumstances in every one of our lives that have our name on them and nobody else’s.
The Lord also has empowered us with joy. May we be those in this season who are lights in the world—individual lights in the world. Is it not interesting that the Scripture says, “You are lights,” plural? Each one a light, walking in the light, loving one another.
May we minister to our heavenly Father in this way and receive joy—joy that there is no other way to obtain. It is ours, brothers and sisters. This is what the Lord has called us to in these days. This is what He is after in these days. May it be our possession. Christ the Lord.
Lord, I just do want to thank You this morning again for the opportunity to be here with the brothers and sisters.
Lord, we do want to thank You for Your kindness, Your grace—oh Lord, Your patience. Lord, thank You for the commitment of the Holy Spirit not to leave us alone.
Lord, thank You so much for keeping Your word and not deserting us. Lord, You alone are faithful. Lord, do help us to be listening in these days, to be hearing everything that You say to us, to be following the Lamb wherever He goes.
Oh Lord, we see this morning that we need You desperately. We also see, Lord, that You alone are faithful. Lord, praise Your name. Find us, Lord. Take us on with Yourself.
Lord, in Christ’s name we do pray. Amen.