The burden that the Lord has put upon
my heart is on this matter of unto
-fullness.
At the beginning of this conference, we had
two sessions on this matter of unto-fullness.
For the sake of those who were not
there during the first two sessions, and also
to refresh the mind of those who were
there but probably have forgotten, I would like
just to very briefly go over what we
already did in the past in order to
lead us to the point we would like
to share together this morning.
On this matter of unto-fullness.
On the first session, at the first session,
we shared together on this matter of the
call to fullness.
Brothers and sisters, God is calling us.
He is calling us unto His fullness.
God's calling is an on-high calling.
His calling is a heavenly calling.
His calling is a holy calling.
And He is calling us to nothing less
than unto His fullness.
Why?
Because this is in line with His own
character.
Our God is a God of fullness.
You cannot think of God other than fullness.
He is full.
He is forever full.
He has no lack.
There can be no improvement upon Him.
He is perfect.
He is complete.
He is whole.
He is full.
This is the very nature of God.
That's the reason why anything and everything that
has any relationship with God, that is related
to God, has to be in this realm
of fullness.
If it is not fullness, it is an
affront to God.
Therefore, when God calls us, brothers and sisters,
and thank God we are all being called,
when He calls us, He calls us to
nothing less, nothing lower than fullness.
Because this is His very nature, His very
character.
But of course here we have a real
problem.
Because we are finite, even fallen beings.
And for us finite beings, to comprehend the
infinite God, it is beyond us.
I think we have to recognize at the
very beginning that so far as we ourselves
are concerned, this calling is beyond us.
It's impossible to us.
And it is for this reason that we
really need vision.
In other words, unless God does reveal Himself
to us, unless God opens up Himself to
us, we will never be able to know
who He is, what He is, how full
He is.
Vision is basic to our understanding of God
and of His calling.
I mentioned during the first session that our
dear brother T.
Austin Sparks, he gives more or less a
definition of vision.
What is vision?
What does a vision tell us?
Now of course by vision I hope that
nobody will mistake it as if it is
something physical.
By vision it simply means the unveiling of
God's heart and mind to our spirit by
the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thank God our God is a God who
reveals Himself.
It is His pleasure to reveal His Son
in us.
And when God reveals, then we see.
Revelation comes from God and vision becomes our
portion.
Now what does a vision, a real vision,
a scriptural vision, tell us about?
A vision that is from God will tell
us three things.
Number one, it tells us of God's purpose.
It has to be related to God's eternal
purpose.
Number two, a vision tells us the principles
that govern His purpose.
Number three, a vision tells us why and
how we are being distracted, led away from
God's purpose.
And when these three things become our understanding
and our portion, we know that we have
received a vision from above.
So in this matter of the fullness of
God, we need vision.
We need God to reveal His fullness to
us.
Otherwise, it is always true that we make
Christ small.
We make Him as small as we are.
And we make the church insignificant because we
do not see the church as the fullness
of Christ.
We need a vision of the fullness of
Christ.
As we find in Colossians, all the fullness
of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily.
And we are complete in Him.
What is the fullness of Christ?
How full is our Christ?
How big is our Christ?
How great is our Christ?
All the fullness of the Godhead.
Anything that you can think of the attributes,
of the character of God, all the fullness
of the Godhead makes its permanent residence in
Christ.
In other words, the fullness of Christ is
nothing less than the fullness of the Godhead.
All the fullness of the Godhead makes its
home in Christ.
This is how full our Christ is.
And that is the reason why it takes
us not only a lifetime to enter into
the fullness of Christ.
It takes eternity for us to do that.
We will never reach the end.
It is from fullness unto fullness.
Because Christ is so full.
And at the same time we need a
revelation of the fullness of the church.
In Ephesians we find that God has made
Christ head over all things to the church,
which is His body, the fullness of Him
who fills all and in all.
Brothers and sisters, what is the church?
The church is the fullness of Christ.
As the fullness of the Godhead dwells in
Christ, so the fullness of Christ makes its
permanent residence in the church.
This is what the church is.
Brothers and sisters, have we ever seen Christ?
We may think surely we have seen Him.
We know Him.
But do we know Him?
Do we know the fullness of Christ?
Do we know Him as God knows Him?
Do we know the church?
Probably we say we do.
We know what the church is.
But do we really know what the church
is?
Have we seen it?
It is the fullness of Christ.
The fullness of Christ resides, makes His home
in the church.
And these are the visions that we need
to see.
Because we know Christ and the church are
the purpose, the eternal purpose of God.
And we need to see the principles that
govern our Christ and the church.
And we need to understand why and how
we are being far away from what Christ
is, from what the church ought to be.
We need such vision.
Now this morning we would like, we have
to continue on, and we would like to
consider together this matter of the way to
fullness.
Let's read two portions of scripture.
Philippians chapter two.
The letter to the Philippians chapter two.
We'll read from verse six through verse eleven.
Philippians chapter two, verse six through verse eleven.
Christ Jesus, who subsisting in the form of
God, did not estimate an object of replying
to be on an equality with God, but
emptied Himself, taking abominable form, taking His place
in the likeness of man, and having been
found in figure as a man, humbled Himself,
becoming obedient even unto death, and that the
death of the cross.
Wherefore also God highly exalted Him, and granted
Him a name, that which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of heavenly and earthly and
infernal beings, and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to God the Father's glory.
And the second portion is in the gospel
according to John.
John chapter twelve.
We begin with verse twenty-three.
We know the background of this verse.
Our Lord Jesus came to Jerusalem for the
last time, before His crucifixion.
And then certain Greeks, they came to Philip,
and they asked, Sir, we desire to see
Jesus.
In other words, when our Lord came into
Jerusalem, a great crowd welcomed Him, and now
even the Gentiles wanted to see Him.
Humanly speaking, it was the most glorious time
to our Lord.
But listen to what the Lord Jesus said.
Verse twenty-three.
But Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is
come, that a son of man should be
glorified.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, except the
grain of wheat falling into the ground die,
it abides alone.
But if it die, it bears much fruit.
He that loves his life shall lose it,
and he that hates his life in this
world shall keep it to life eternal.
If anyone serve me, let him follow me.
And where I am, there also shall be
my servant.
And if anyone serve me, him shall the
Father honor.
May we look to the Lord in prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, it is always Thy delight
to glorify Thy beloved Son.
So, our Father, our prayer today is, glorify
Thy Son in the midst of Thy own
people.
We do pray that Thou will reveal to
us Thy Son, and reveal to us the
way into the fullness of Christ.
We need the spirit of wisdom and revelation,
and we need faith and obedience that come
from Thee.
We ask in the name of our Lord
Jesus.
Amen.
I would like to read to you again
something from the writing of our dear brother
T.
Austin Sparks.
As I consider this matter of fullness, I
find that I couldn't find any material from
any writing by any servant of the Lord,
but in the writings of our dear brother
T.
Austin Sparks.
Now, of course, the books that I have
are limited.
I have to acknowledge that there might be
other writings somewhere in the world that really
teaches us about fullness.
But unfortunately, I searched my own library, a
small library, and I couldn't find any.
So I have to quote brother Sparks again,
again, and again.
I'm reading an article written by him thirty
years ago, called Attaining to God's Full Thoughts.
That was in a witness and testimony in
1956.
And this is what he wrote.
Let us suppose that God had and has
in His heart and mind a certain fullness
of purpose which He has determined shall find
expression by means of a people on this
earth.
Now he is putting in a way of
supposing.
But of course we know this supposing is
really a reality.
Because God does have in His heart and
mind a definite purpose, fullness of purpose.
And this fullness of purpose He has determined
that it should be expressed by a people
on this earth.
Thank God for that.
What do you think?
Would He...
What do you think would be some of
the things that He would do in regard
to such a company?
Now God wants to find expression to the
fullness of His purpose in a people upon
the earth.
Now what do you think He would do
to this people?
In the first place, would He sovereignly do
something inside them?
Would He induce within them a sense of
need?
A right sense of dissatisfaction?
Disappointment?
With existing general condition?
Producing an inward longing for something?
A sense there they should be something more?
That this existing state is not what the
Lord really means.
For His own full satisfaction.
Would He thus reproduce inside these people His
own discontent?
Dissatisfaction?
His own desire for something more in spiritual
measure?
Do you not think that that is one
thing He will do?
What will be the first thing that God
will do to His people?
The first thing He will do is He
will sovereignly do something within them.
It is not something external.
He will stir within them a sense of
dissatisfaction.
Disappointment.
Over the existing general condition.
And producing in them a longing for something
more.
There must be something more.
And it is that dissatisfaction of our Lord
Himself.
In other words, God is not satisfied.
And because He is not satisfied with existing
state therefore He creates in a people a
similar sense of dissatisfaction.
It is not a wrong kind of dissatisfaction.
You know, we can have a wrong kind
of dissatisfaction.
But it is a right kind of dissatisfaction.
That which God is not dissatisfied.
That will be the first thing He will
do.
Then, do you think that possessing perfect foreknowledge
He would work sovereignly to provide for this
inwrought sense of dissatisfaction and need to be
met?
To have the provision in existence so that
there should be no contradiction or inconsistency in
His way.
So that He should not be seen to
be one who causes a desire and a
sense of need but makes no provision for
it.
These two thoughts surely would go together.
Does it sense likely that that is what
He should do in the second place?
In the first place He will create in
us His own dissatisfaction.
And then, being God who knows everything surely
at the same time He must have made
provision to meet that need.
To feel, to take away, to fulfill the
hunger and thirst that has been created.
In other words, He must have made provisions.
You cannot think of God creating dissatisfaction in
us for something more and yet there is
nothing more.
He must have provided for us.
Thirdly, do you think He would act sovereignly
apart from these people so to arrange and
govern their experiences, their lives that they were
really headed up to His fuller thought?
That is, in some way to begin with
perhaps without their knowing why and what it
meant He will bring them within the compass
of that intention and provision of His and
will shut all other doors to them so
that they were unable to become absorbed in
something else.
Something more general.
I do not mean by the letter something
wrong or bad but something that just does
not meet God in that measure in which
He must be satisfied.
In other words, after He has put His
own dissatisfaction in our hearts then He will
make known to us that He has made
provision to meet our need.
And in order to bring these two things
together He will do the third thing and
that is again He will sovereignly even probably
without your knowing He will lead you He
will shut you up to a way, to
a place where you just cannot be distracted
by anything else.
You have to stay put with this one
thing.
Now, not that the other things are not
good there are many many things that are
good there are many many things that we
can be occupied with but because God has
a purpose there so He will not allow
you to go to the right or to
the left He will guide you and shut
you in to the one thing that will
give Him full satisfaction and that is what
God will do.
Dear brothers and sisters we live in the
Laodicean period.
If you take the seven letters to the
seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3
from the prophetic standpoint you will see that
we today prophetically speaking we are living in
the Laodicean period.
Now, what is the feature of the Laodicean
period?
Loqueness.
Neither hot nor cold.
In other words today you will find God's
people are living in a state of complacency,
of indifference.
We do not see our need.
On the contrary probably we are like the
Laodiceans.
We think that we are rich.
We are in lack of nothing.
Now in a sense it is true.
We have a very rich Christian heritage.
Think that we have received through the twenty
centuries all the riches that God has deposited
in His church.
So in one sense it is true.
We have received a very rich Christian heritage.
But is it really ours?
Do we have the vision?
Do we have the righteousness?
You remember our risen Lord?
In writing to the church in Laodicea He
said you are wretched.
You are poor.
You are naked.
You are blind.
And yet at the very same time these
people thought that they were rich.
They lacking nothing.
They knew everything.
They had it all.
And isn't it true that today we are
as God's people in the same situation?
If our Lord Jesus, and He is, if
He is walking into our midst what does
He see in us?
He will not be deceived by outward appearance.
We do.
But we cannot deceive Him with our outward
appearance.
He knows our hearts.
He tries our reins.
He knows exactly what is within you.
Now, if the Lord should come into our
midst this morning what will He say?
Probably at this very moment as we are
here even though we do not verbalize it
probably this is what we feel about ourselves.
Probably we feel that we are rich.
We know so much.
We have received so much.
We are in lack of nothing.
Probably we are comparing ourselves with other people
and think that we are better.
We are holier.
But the Lord will look at us.
He will see us through.
And He says, you do not know how
wretched you are.
You do not know that you are poor.
You are naked.
You are blind.
I have gold for your poverty.
I have white garment for your nakedness.
I have eyes for your blindness.
But you do not appreciate.
In other words, our Lord has much to
offer to His people today.
He has gold to offer us that we
may be delivered from spiritual poverty.
He has white garment, righteousness to give to
us to close our nakedness.
But we do not even know we are
naked.
We think we are covered.
He has eyesalve to open our eyes that
we may see.
But we think that we see.
We do not know ourselves.
He offers Himself to us in a full
way.
But often times we even resent Him.
Because we think He misunderstands us.
We are in a state of lukewarmness.
Neither hot nor cold.
Think of multitudes and multitudes in Christianity who
are so contented with the traditions of the
Father.
How they rely upon the sacraments as a
means to heaven.
They do not desire for anything more.
They are satisfied.
And think of the multitudes and multitudes of
God's people who want nothing but to be
saved, to go to heaven.
That is their only desire.
If they could go to heaven, that's all
they want to.
Nothing more.
They do not even have the desire, the
longing for anything more than just initial salvation.
As long as your two feet are within
the gates of heaven, you are happy.
If we can see it, see the heart
of God.
He is to offer His beloved Son Christ
to us in great fullness.
And yet He finds there is none to
accept His offer.
How much it must have hurt His heart.
But thank God.
Throughout the centuries, and thank God, even in
our days, God does sovereignly do a thing.
He does sovereignly stir the hearts of some
people on earth.
He does put, if I may say, a
holy discontent, a godly dissatisfaction in the hearts
of some of His own people.
We know there are lots of God's people
who are not happy, not satisfied, murmur about
this and about that.
They are not contented, they are not satisfied.
But that is in the wrong sense.
But where are those people who are dissatisfied
in the right sense?
They are more disappointed and dissatisfied with their
spiritual condition before God than with the poverty
around them.
We usually are dissatisfied with what's around us.
But are we dissatisfied with ourselves?
Do we see that we are not what
we should be?
Do we see that we are less than
what God has for us?
Do we realize that there is something more
in Christ?
Or do we think that we have it
all?
There is nothing more He can offer to
us.
Our spiritual progress is seized.
Dear brothers and sisters, God has to create
in us a longing, a longing for something
more.
Now, we may not be able to know
what we are really longing for.
But somehow we feel within the depths of
our being there is an emptiness.
There is a void that needs to be
filled.
This does not make us murmurous.
No.
This does not make us rebellious.
No.
But this only stirs within us a searching,
a seeking, a longing, a desire for something
more of God, for something more of Christ.
Such desire is the beginning on the way
to fullness.
Our Lord Jesus said, Blessed are those who
are hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they
shall be filled.
Unless we have a hunger and thirst after
righteousness, Brothers and sisters, do we feel we
are pretty righteous?
You know, one thing that is a real
snare to God's people, especially for those who
really seek the Lord and who has received
something from the Lord, and that is self
-righteousness.
We can be so self-righteous that there
is no longer a hunger and a thirst
after righteousness.
The psalmist, for instance, Psalm 42, the psalm
of Korah, and there you'll find the psalmist
said, As the heart painteth after the water
brooks, so painted my soul after thee, O
God.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living
God.
Brothers and sisters, this is the kind of
spirit that God has to create within us.
That we will paint after God.
A heart, chased by a hunter, when
he sees a water, he paints after the
water with all his soul.
And that is what God has to create
in us.
Such a painting after the living God.
And of course in Psalm 84, you'll find
the same feeling.
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the
courts of Jehovah.
My heart and my flesh cry out for
the living God.
Brothers and sisters, do you not think this
is the first thing that God will really
do within us?
If we are people who are so contented,
satisfied with what we are, and it is
the grace of God, but we are so
contented that we just sit there as if
there is nothing more, do you think God
can do anything with us?
If he wants to do something with us,
do you not think that he has to
create such a dissatisfaction, such a longing for
himself within us?
That has to be the first thing.
And as our brother has suggested, God will
put that kind of dissatisfaction in us is
the very one who makes provision for us.
And that is when you are really seeking
him with such thirst and hunger.
Brothers and sisters, he will reveal the fullness
that is in Christ.
Do you not wonder sometimes that you have
been saved for ten years, but it seems
that during the last two years God has
never spoken to you, God has never revealed
himself to you, and all your knowledge of
him is just two years old.
Nothing fresh, nothing living, nothing new, nothing more.
Do you not wonder why is it?
Is it because he has nothing more to
offer you?
Is it because Christ is that small, that
limited?
Is it because he does not want you
to enter into his fullness?
Or is it because there is not that
thirst and hunger after him?
When you first believe in the Lord Jesus,
you have such a thirst for him.
You cannot live without him.
You seek after him.
And because of that you find that he
is always available, he is always there.
He answers your heart's desire.
But no more.
Oh, that we may cry to the Lord
and ask him to create in us a
thirst and a hunger for him.
And if it happens, you know revelation is
on the way.
God does not reveal himself to those who
have no desire for him.
God will not waste his revelation on those
who are indifferent, but to those who seek
they shall find.
It is his good pleasure to reveal Christ,
the fullness of Christ.
And brothers and sisters, actually it is a
cycle.
You know, sometimes in his condescending mercy, even
though we are indifferent, we are not seeking,
but in his condescending mercy he gives us
a revelation.
He reveals something of Christ to us.
And that revelation stirs us up to seek.
And at other times you will find when
we are seeking he reveals himself.
When you are seeking, you are looking for
him, you find him.
And it is a cycle.
The more you seek, the more you see
him.
The more you see him, the more you
seek him.
The more he gives himself to you, the
more you long for him, because he is
infinite.
That is the way that you gradually enter,
enter into his fullness.
To the Corinthian believers, Paul is not able
to share with them the fullness of God.
Why?
Because they are very satisfied with the little
of God.
And they make that little a big thing.
But with the Confucian believers, Paul is able
to open his heart and share with them
the whole counsel of God.
But you know, when God does give us
vision and revelation, it requires obedience.
Revelation is a very costly thing.
If you are afraid to pay the cost,
don't ask for revelation.
You know, sometimes we think, well, revelation, that's
glorious.
Because you are being taken to the third
heaven.
And there you see God.
Glorious.
But are you prepared to pay the cost
for it?
Paul, on the road to Damascus, he received
the revelation from above.
He was shown the broad outline of the
fullness of Christ and the fullness of the
Church.
But through the years, that vision increases.
Why?
Because he was not disobedient to the heavenly
vision.
In other words, when the Lord began to
reveal to you His fullness, He demands your
obedience.
And if you obey, then He will reveal
more to you.
And if you do not, then you will
stay where you are.
And maybe go backward.
So this leads us to the third point.
And the third point is, as God has
created in us a desire for His fullness,
and He begins to reveal that fullness in
Christ, because you cannot find it anywhere else,
the Colossians, believers, they want fullness.
But they try to find fullness in something
other than Christ.
They try to find fullness in philosophy.
They try to find fullness in asceticism.
They try to find fullness by keeping certain
rules and laws.
They try to find fullness in mysticism.
But fullness is not there.
All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in
Christ bodily.
In other words, Christ has the exclusive fullness
of the Godhead.
It's exclusive.
You cannot find fullness anywhere else.
Now, it is true, sometimes we seem to
find fullness in the world.
It seems as if the world satisfies us.
But that's only for a short time.
And then you'll find it's vanity of vanities,
all of vanities.
That's what the wisest of men have told
us.
He had experienced it, and he told us
that.
You cannot find fullness anywhere else but in
Christ.
When you find fullness in Christ, that is
fullness.
It is satisfying, complete, perfect.
But, what is the way to fullness?
The way to fullness is by emptying.
Emptying is the way to fullness.
Death is the way to life.
This is the principle that you'll find in
the word of God.
You know, when we have a desire for
fullness, and God begins to open up our
horizon, to see more of Christ, and more
of what the church is to be, now
we think the next step will be we
enter into fullness.
We will experience fullness.
No.
The next step is you enter into death.
You enter into emptying.
And it is the surprise of our life.
This is illustrated throughout the word of God.
You take the Old Testament.
For instance, Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob.
He was given that vase of many colors,
which means the birthright.
Any dream, dreams.
God gave him dreams.
God gave him vision.
But because of that, what happened to him?
You'll find that he went lower and lower.
Before his father put that vase upon him,
probably his brethren were still friendly with him.
But after his father put that vase of
many colors on him, his brother began to
be jealous of him.
Before he dreamed that dream, probably his brother
will still try to live with him.
But after he dreamed that dream, his brother
felt that they had to get rid of
him.
He went lower and lower.
Not only sold as a slave, but even
put into the tower, the prison.
He hit the bottom.
Before God exalted him to the throne.
That is Joseph.
Think of David.
Even though he was neglected by his father,
sent him to take care of a few
sheep, but he lived a very tranquil life.
A shepherd's life is a very tranquil life.
And then he was anointed.
And after he was anointed, one thing after
another came.
We will think that being anointed, he should
sit on the throne.
But being anointed, he became a fugitive.
Humanly speaking, these two things are far apart.
You cannot see the connection between these two
things.
But this is the way of God.
Think of our Lord Jesus.
How He emptied Himself.
Of course He could not empty Himself of
His deity.
That is impossible because that is what He
is.
He eternally is.
But He did empty Himself of all the
glory and honor and position connected with His
deity.
He took the form of a man and
humbled Himself.
Even unto death and then the death of
the cross.
In other words, it is the death of
all death.
But God has highly exalted Him.
And given the name that is above every
name and to that name every knee shall
bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is
Lord to the Father's glory.
So before He went to the cross, when
the Greek came to see, wanted to see
Him, he said, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, unless a grain of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abides alone.
But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
In other words, the way to fruitfulness is
through dying.
And the Lord said, This is not only
true with Me, but He who follows Me.
This same thing will happen to Him.
If you love your soul life, you will
lose it.
If you are willing to deny your soul
life for His sake, you will gain it
to eternity.
And He who follows the Father will honor
Him.
Now, this is the principle that governs the
vision.
The apostle Paul, he told us how he
was raptured, caught up to the third heaven.
How he was caught away to paradise and
heard things that could not be shared.
Glorious!
But the next thing was a thorn upon
his flesh.
We thought that vision would make us strong.
But when you get the vision, you become
weak.
That He may be strong in your weakness.
You remember the story in the Old Testament
of the widow of a son of the
prophets?
Her husband died, left nothing, and she was
so poor that the predators came, wanted to
take away her two sons.
A pathetic situation.
How could the widow of a son of
a prophet sink to such deep poverty?
It reveals the condition of God's people at
that time.
They did not care about the things of
God.
They did not take care of the prophets,
the sons of the prophets.
Not to say the widows of the prophets.
And he came to Elisha and asked what
he should do.
And Elisha said, What do you have?
He said, I have nothing.
There is nothing but a pot of oil.
Now sometimes I wonder why.
Why is it that she evidently had sold
everything, the furniture, anything, everything that can be
turned into money, she had sold them.
But why is it she still kept a
pot of oil?
I do not know if I'm right, if
I'm wrong, please correct me.
I think because her husband is a son
of the prophet.
In other words, his son is trained to
be a prophet.
And of course, a prophet, oil is very,
it's almost like a symbol to a prophet.
In other words, a prophet, he used the
oil, you know, to pour, say, upon the
king, and to do such things.
It is his trademark.
So probably for sentimental reasons, you know, because
her husband died, and her husband is supposed
to be a prophet, he's not yet a
prophet, but supposed to be a prophet, but
he died.
So the wife just kept that pot there
as a kind of remembrance.
It's for sentimental reasons.
The last link.
He said, I have nothing but a pot
of oil.
And the prophet said, go and borrow empty
vessels.
Not a few.
Then shut your door, and pour from that
pot of oil to these empty vessels.
So she and her two sons, they borrowed
many empty vessels, shut the door, and began
to pour from that pot of oil, and
it filled every empty vessel until there was
no more empty vessel, and the oil stopped.
And Elisha told her, go and sell the
oil, to pay your debt, and live on
it for the rest of your life.
Abundance.
Fullness.
Dear brothers and sisters, the reason why we
are not full, we do not know the
fullness of Christ, it is because we have
no empty vessel.
Or to put it another way, we have
vessels, but our vessels are already filled.
Already filled with something else.
Just like the five foolish virgins.
No doubt, these five foolish virgins, they had
vessels just like the five wise virgins.
But probably these five foolish virgins, they filled
their vessels with the precious things upon this
earth.
They think that these are important, these are
precious.
And they filled their vessel with these things,
maybe gold, maybe precious stones, I do not
know.
But evidently, their vessel was already filled with
other things, except oil.
But the wise virgins filled their empty vessel
with oil, and nothing but oil.
Today, people will look at the foolish virgins
and think they are wise.
They will look at the wise virgins and
think they are foolish.
But one day, it will be revealed.
Dear brothers and sisters, are we willing
to be emptied?
As a matter of fact, you do not
know what to empty, unless the Lord reveals
Himself to you.
When the Lord really reveals Himself to you,
in His glorious fullness, brothers and sisters, you
hurry to empty yourself, that you may be
filled.
And this is the way with Apostle Paul.
You know, the Apostle Paul, as the great
Pharisees, he was filled with the best of
Judaism.
He made a boast of all these things.
He was filled.
But when God revealed His Son in him,
and He said, for the excellency of the
knowledge of Jesus Christ, He counts all things
but loss, but dross.
He is willing to empty Himself of all
that has filled Him in the past, so
that He may be filled with the knowledge
of Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, do you have a longing
for God?
Do you see something more in Christ?
And if you do, then your vision challenges
you to empty yourself.
You know, a vision is always a challenge.
The vision will challenge you.
And you will challenge the vision.
Why?
Because God does not give you a vision
of the fullness of Christ just for you
to speculate, to meditate.
When God reveals the fullness of Christ to
you, He means to draw you into that
fullness.
He means to fill you with His fullness.
In other words, the vision has to become
your life, your vocation.
Or to put it another way, you must
be joined into that vision to be a
part of it.
And in order to do that, you will
find you have to be emptied, because you
are already filled.
Every one of us is filled with something.
And when God begins to open our eyes
to see the fullness of Christ, then the
Holy Spirit will convict us and show us
why is it that we are not filled
with Christ.
And this is a time for us to
be emptied.
This is the way of the cross.
It is the way of death.
Humanly speaking, we don't want to go that
way.
And the only reason why we are able
to go through it is because we are
constrained by the love of Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, it is God's love
that enables us to be willing to go
to death, to be willing to be emptied,
to be willing to be purged.
If it is not because of the love
of God within you, you cannot do it.
Nobody will do it.
We love ourselves too much.
We think too much of the things of
the world.
We will not let go.
We cannot deny ourselves.
We cannot.
But thank God we can.
The love of God.
When the love of God constrains us, then,
dear brothers and sisters, there is no cost
too costly.
The emptying is easy.
Because the Lord said, My yoke is easy.
My burden.
Finally, you think of the Song of Songs.
There you will find a virgin.
The reason why she pursues after the Beloved,
because she is constrained by the love of
the Beloved.
Brothers and sisters, when we believe in the
Lord Jesus, it is true.
God loved the world and gave His only
begotten Son to us.
It is God's love.
But do you know that when you believe
in the Lord Jesus, not only He loves
you, but He implants that love within you.
And it is a love that is implanted
in you that will drive you towards Him.
Or draws you.
And as the love draws you to Him,
you find invariably, you experience periods of dissatisfaction
and periods of satisfaction.
You find that He will create in you
a dissatisfaction, a longing for more of Him.
You are not satisfied with what He has
already given to you.
You want more of Him.
You are dissatisfied.
You cry out for Him.
You seek out after Him.
And thank God He satisfies you.
Then after a period, again you become dissatisfied.
He puts another dissatisfaction in you.
And you have to cry out to Him
again and seek after Him.
And when you are doing that, you find
all the time, something of you has to
go to death.
You will find in the process you are
being emptied more and more and more.
In order that you may be filled more
and more with Him.
So that's the reason why you find Solomon,
in the beginning he said, My Lord is
mine and I am His.
And then he said, I am His, but
He is also mine.
And then finally he said, I am the
Lord and His desire is towards me.
In other words, there is no more of
self.
It's all Him.
When we are filled with the love of
God, we are filled with the fullness.
Ephesians chapter 3.
Oh, that the Holy Spirit will strengthen our
inner man, that Christ may dwell in our
heart, rooted and grounded in love, that we
may be able to apprehend the width, the
breadth, the height, the depth, and to know
the love of God that passes knowledge, that
we may be filled to the fullness.
Brothers and sisters, when you are filled with
the fullness of God, you are filled with
love.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, show us Thy way and
may Thy love constrain us to walk in
the straight path that leads us to Thyself,
to Thy fullness.
We ask in the name of our Lord
Jesus.