I was just sitting there with my wife
doing the wash of time.
And the thought came to me, oh, it's
going to be recorded.
Don't make any mistakes.
But I was just thinking how good it
was for us to be occupied with the
Lord Himself.
And I was just wishing that our wash
of time would just go on and go
on and forever.
Our life's calling, our life's vocation is just
to be simply occupied with Him.
Because He's the center of our purpose.
And He's everything.
And I'm standing here by God's grace.
When Jerry called me, I think it was
Monday, he said, now since you're going to
come down here, how about you share with
us on the Lord's Day?
And I wasn't very sure, I said, well,
I'll call you back.
And I just feel I'm not worthy.
And Jerry said, if you're not worthy, who
is worthy then?
Well, I said, I'll pray about it.
And Tuesday evening happened to be our regular
weekly prayer time, so I asked the saint
to pray for me.
And this last, I just finished reading a
book by Christina Chai.
Some of you might have heard of her.
The first was called The Queen of the
Dark Chamber.
A Chinese sister who's been crippled for most
of her life.
And those who lived with her, they were
also crippled old ladies.
And yet they had a worldwide impact in
ministering the gospel, the love of Lord Jesus,
to people from all over the world.
And one of their mantra was that restful
availability.
Never get excited.
As long as God brings opportunity to you
and to your way, serve Him in joy.
Even though you're weak, He is your strength.
Even though you have nothing, He is your
everything.
And so I said, Lord, I have no
choice.
Then I was reading another book this last
week.
Almost finished.
God is the man God brought us forth.
Now, if you have read that book, that
is a heavy book.
On this matter of spirit, soul, and body.
And I was reading that chapter on deception.
He was saying that the flesh needs to
be crucified.
The sinner needs to be crucified.
But he said, do you know a preacher
and missionary also need to be crucified?
And our lips need also to be crucified.
If this lip is to be a vehicle
for the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit gives revelation.
The Holy Spirit at the same time gives
the utterance.
And God answers, I am completely cast at
the mercy of the Holy Spirit.
And I say to you, those who have
served the Lord, we know, the more we
know Him, the more we realize how inadequate
we are.
The more we come to know Him, the
more we realize how little we know Him.
And so brothers and sisters, I am standing
here in fear and trembling, because what can
I say apart from what the Holy Spirit
has given to me.
And now the other thing is that when
Father Cohn visited me from time to time,
and I do call him often, and I
often ask how the things in Richmond, how
they are doing, how they say anything to
the Lord.
And Brother Cohn told me one, he said,
a lot of the brothers, most of the
responsible brothers here in Richmond, they are all
quite gifted.
And they are all seasoned speakers.
That's from Brother Cohn.
Now, I'm sure we in this group, and
those who know him, we do value his
judgment, don't we?
Yes, so when Jerry Cohn, I can't be
very hesitant, but by God's grace, I'll share
what's in my heart.
But what I'll share is more important.
It's not just to you, but I'm really
speaking to myself.
And it's the lesson that we in Glasgow
have been learning the last few months.
It's the neglect of God's love.
The people of the world, they've been neglecting
their Creator, their Savior.
They did not acknowledge Him as their God,
as their Creator.
And we, as God's people, oftentimes we have
neglected God's house.
Now, brothers and sisters, I know in myself
I cannot do without the Lord.
He is my very life.
He is my everything.
But at the same time, I need you,
brothers and sisters.
I need you.
If I need God, I'll need you.
Now, brothers and sisters, for the last few
years, my family and myself, we have a...
since we have...
the Lord has given us something.
That whenever there is a gathering of God's
people, we want to be there.
Because I believe whenever God gathers His people,
He has a very specific reason for it.
And purpose for it.
Because He wants to say something to them
corporately.
And I want to be there to hear
what He wants to say to us.
Unless He prevented me some way, I'll be
there.
And I'm very thankful.
Since in the early 60s, I've been attending
many of these conferences.
Now, I may not learn as much as
I should.
But brothers and sisters, their values are there.
Those countenances, those gatherings of God provide the
ground for the Holy Spirit to work.
So, before we share what's in my heart,
maybe it's the best thing to just look
to the Lord.
We look to the Lord.
Lord, we are hit with knowledge without everything
to us.
We take thee as our wisdom.
We take thee as our utterance.
Lord, we take thee as the organ that's
in our heart to receive something from myself.
Lord, apart from that quickening of the Holy
Spirit, Lord, we have no way of knowing
thee.
And so we cast ourselves this morning together
at thy mercy.
Lord, do speak to us.
Remove all the obstacles, all the hindrances.
We do want to be transparent before thee.
Lord, so do speak.
And we are here to hear what our
head says to us.
In thy precious name.
Amen.
I know the brothers and sisters, this came
back from a trip to China.
And they met some saints there.
And we were talking the other night.
They may be very, very poor materially, but
they're very rich.
On our way back, we stopped in Hong
Kong to fellowship with the saints.
And at their worship time, many, many of
the sisters worshiped in tears.
They loved the Lord.
They valued the time that saints can gather
together.
Brothers and sisters, we have problems in this
country.
We take our gathering very lightly.
But those brothers and sisters in China, they
risked their lives to come together.
And I was really moved by those old
saints in Hong Kong when they worshiped in
tears.
Tears of joy.
Tears of joy that they were allowed privilege
to gather together with the saints and to
worship as the body of Christ.
There are many stories I can tell.
I'm sure our brothers and sisters will share
with you later on.
But there's one interesting one.
How they valued the Word of God.
One sister, one day, went to the market
to shop.
And she bought something, a very, very small
amount of something.
And then, of course, it was wrapped in
a piece of paper.
And so she took it home.
And once she got home and saw what
she bought, and she discovered that the paper
that was used for wrapping was a page
from the Bible.
And she was thrilled to death.
She was thrilled to death.
And immediately she contacted all the brothers and
sisters that she knew.
Encouraged them.
Encouraged each one of them to go to
the shop and just to buy something and
so each of them can have a page
of that chapter.
So they can share the Word together.
Now, when I heard that kind of story,
it put me to shame.
And it shows how we have neglected the
Lord.
How we have neglected His people.
How we have neglected the gathering of His
people.
So this morning, that seems to be the
theme that the Lord has laid in my
heart.
Because in Glasgow, we think that way.
They have a heart for the Lord, and
yet somehow we are neglecting the Lord.
There's a contradiction there.
We say we want the Lord.
We say we desire to seek Him.
And yet in our action, we come short.
We come short.
And so can we look at one of
the books in the Old Testament?
I notice there's no clock in this room.
So I just wonder how.
.
You're going to have to try to do
it.
Because I don't want to.
.
It's a shame.
I don't want to.
.
It's a shame.
So we turn to the book of Nehemiah,
please.
The book of Nehemiah.
Thank you.
The book of Nehemiah.
Chapter 9.
We'll begin with Chapter 9.
Nehemiah.
Chapter 9.32. Nehemiah Chapter 9.32. Nehemiah
Chapter 9.32. Now, therefore, our God, the
great and mighty and the awesome God, who
does keep covenant and loving kindness, do not
let all the hardships seem insignificant before thee,
which has come upon us, our kings, our
princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and
all thy people, from the days of the
kings of Assyria to this day.
However, thou art just, and all that thou
hast come upon us, for thou hast dealt
faithfully, that we have acted wickedly.
For all kings, our leaders, our priests, and
our fathers have not kept thy law, or
paid attention to thy commandments and thy admonition,
with which thou hast admonished them.
But they, in their own kingdom, with thy
great goodness, which thou didst give them, with
the broad and rich land, which thou didst
set before them, did not serve thee, or
turn from evil deeds.
Behold, we are slaves to this day.
And as to the land which thou didst
give to our fathers, to eat of its
fruits and its bounties, behold, we are slaves
on it.
And its abundant produce is for the kings,
whom thou hast set over us because of
our sins.
They also rule over our bodies.
And over our cattle as they please.
So we are in great distress.
Now, because of all this, we are making
an agreement and writing.
And on the sealed document are the names
of our leaders, our Levites and our priests.
Chapter 10.
Now, on the sealed document were the names
of Nehemiah, the governor, the son of Hekeliah
and Hezekiah.
Now, we will not read all the names.
So can we go on with verse 28.
Now the rest of the people, the priests,
the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple
servants, and all those who have separated themselves
from the people of the land to the
law of God, their wives, their sons, their
daughters, and all those who have knowledge and
understanding are joining with their kinsmen, their nobles,
and are taking themselves a curse and an
oath to walk in God's law, which was
given through Moses, God's servant, and to keep
and to observe all the commandments of God
our Lord and His ordinances and His statutes.
And we will not give our daughters to
the people of the land or take their
daughters for sons.
As for the people of the land who
bring ware and any grain on the Sabbath
day to sell, we will not buy from
them on the Sabbath or a holy day.
And we will forgo the crops the seventh
year of the Sabbath and execution of every
day.
We also place ourselves under obligation to contribute
yearly one third of a shekel for the
service of the house of our God.
Please notice this verse.
We place ourselves under obligation.
And then the other phrase is the service
of the house of our God.
Not the God of their fathers, but our
God.
Now if you read previous chapters through the
Kings and the Chronicles, many times it refers
to their God, their father's God.
But in this case, it's our God.
They put themselves under obligation to serve their
God.
Or we put ourselves under obligation to serve
our God.
Verse 33.
For the sure bread, for the continued grain
offering, for the continued burnt offering, the Sabbath,
the new moon, and the appointed times for
the holy things and for the sin offerings
to make atonement for Israel and all the
works of the house of our God.
Likewise, we cast lots to supply the works
among the priests and Levites and the people
in order that they might bring to the
house of our God according to our Father's
houses a sixth time annually to burn on
the altar of the Lord our God as
it is written in the law in order
that they might bring the first fruit of
our ground and the first fruit of all
the fruit of every tree to the house
of the Lord annually and bring to the
house of our God the firstborn of our
son in our cattle and the firstborn of
our herd and our flock as it is
written in the law for the priests who
are ministering in the house of our God.
We will also bring the first of our
gold our contributions, the fruit of every tree
the new wine and the oil to the
priests at the chamber of the house of
our God and the tithe of our ground
to the Levites for the Levites are they
who receive the tithe in all the rural
towns and the priests, the sons of Aaron
shall be with the Levites when the Levites
receive tithe and the Levites shall bring up
the tenth of the tithe to the house
of our God to the chamber of the
storehouse for the sons of Israel and the
sons of Levites shall bring the contribution of
the grain and the new wine and the
oil to the chamber there are the utensils
of the sanctuary the priests who are ministering
the keepers and the gatekeepers and the thinkers
and the last thing that we will not
neglect the house of our God and can
we turn to one passage in the New
Testament Romans 1 1
.14 a very familiar verse most people use
this in the preaching of the gospel Romans
1.14 I am under obligation go to
the Greeks and to the barbarians go to
the wise and the foolish that for my
part I am eager to preach the gospel
to you also who are in Rome and
maybe just one more passage 1 Corinthians 9
just two verses 1 Corinthians 9 verse 16
so if I preach the gospel I have
nothing to boast of for I am under
compulsion for woe is me if I do
not preach the gospel compulsion I was looking
in the dictionary is something impels you a
force behind you that impels you now God
says whenever you come to the world of
the Holy Spirit you put energy divine energy
divine power divine force because the Holy Spirit
is the power of God that works in
us and through us and so Paul he
had that compulsion that energy which was not
in himself preach is from the Holy Spirit
therefore he said I preach if I don't
preach I am in trouble and then let's
go to another verse down further verse 19
verse 19 for though I am free from
all men when you are free you are
not obligated to anything so Paul says even
though I am free for though I am
free from all men I have made myself
I have made myself a slave to all
that I might win the more he slaves
himself under obligation and we take the life
of the Lord Jesus he puts himself under
obligation to do the will of the Father
the very story of incarnation speaks of his
obligation to come to this earth to do
and to fulfill the will of the Father
and Paul says so in Philippians he emptied
himself he did it it's not the Father
emptied him but he emptied himself he humbled
himself he took up the form of a
born slave he put himself under obligation now
brothers and sisters we all know God desires
a house we all know God is building
a house we all know that God is
longing for a place where he can be
at home with his people and thank God
for those hearts that are responding to his
heart it's a joy to my heart to
go to this mini gathering and see those
that are responding those that are touched by
the love of God are willing to place
themselves under obligation to meet God's needs to
do his will to please God you know
I don't want to put you brothers and
sisters in Richmond into a place of embarrassment
but this is true this is true every
time when I come down to Richmond and
to share with some of you brothers and
sisters I go back to Glasgow feel very
much ashamed because you seem to be moving
on in the things of the Lord stably
you seem to be gaining ground or the
Lord is gaining his ground in you and
every time I go back I have to
share with my brothers and sisters when I
go to Richmond those brethren they put me
to shame because I have known the Lord
for years and I have to say I
have gone to more conferences than any of
you have and every time when I come
to Richmond I went back I have said
thank God for those that are going on
thank God they are an encouragement to us
but they also bring me to a place
of humility and brothers and sisters we need
that we need brothers and sisters that we
need to fellowship with they will encourage us
on the positive side but on the other
side we need them to humble us because
the Holy Spirit cannot operate on any of
the ground on the ground of humility and
emptiness that is the thing and there is
a danger for us brothers and sisters when
we have received some revelation we have received
some spiritual knowledge we think we have we
think we have come to something and brothers
and sisters I meet brothers and sisters in
our area who think they are already at
the end we think they are already at
the end they saw the person they have
yet at the end and get brothers and
sisters because they thought they have seen the
end in fact they haven't begun their first
step and there are those who want to
go on but because of the fear of
flesh they are not moving even that first
step and brothers and sisters we need God's
mercy we need God's mercy and the conclusion
I came to maybe I am wrong is
brothers and sisters no matter where you find
ourselves it is for our spiritual education if
we are working in our office or teaching
in school or being a housewife in a
kitchen we are there to receive spiritual education
in other words we are placing ourselves under
obligation to learn what is true discipleship?
the true disciple is the one who willingly
places himself under the obligation to learn from
the master now brothers and sisters God honours
our free will salvation is a free gift
we can ask for it He gives it
to us He gives it to us but
everything as we let God's hand and God's
power and God's purpose brothers and sisters He
the Holy Spirit needs our full cooperation and
the problem with that we have understanding in
our head that we are not willing to
cause what we are causing and so again
this matter is the heart matter and when
it touches this heart matter it is a
matter of love it was such a joy
to pray with the brothers down there you
know exalting the Lord and brothers I just
came to this the Lord was speaking to
me the Lord has a place in His
heart for all of us do you know
that?
sometimes as God needs it of all the
beings in this whole creation God is most
misunderstood He's not just we feel that He
had no heart for us if He had
a heart for us why I have to
go through this go through that to meet
up with this brother that brother I have
but you see probably the most understanding being
in this whole universe is God Himself and
therefore do you know that you and I
this morning sitting here and not just you
and I but every being creature on this
earth a human has a place in God's
heart has a place in His heart our
brothers and sisters the question now is does
He have a place in our heart we
have a place in our heart because Jesus
He is so great He is so loving
His love is so infinite no beginning no
end He has room for the whole creation
He loves the whole creation in fact the
day will come the whole creation will be
restored because of His love but brothers and
sisters we've been loved by Him with this
tremendous love but somehow we have very little
place for Him in our heart we are
not willing to place ourselves under His loving
obligation and brothers and sisters this is a
struggle a battle between the soul and the
spirit between the souls the spirit always says
yes yes to the Lord but the soul
always says not yet not yet there's still
time there's still time recently a group of
brothers and sisters visited Christina Tari I just
mentioned a Chinese lady lives in Lancaster and
she's over 90 and yet she's still ministering
and they came back with a pin with
a trumpet and I think the girl says
it may happen today now what may happen
today He's coming He's coming so there is
urgency of time the flesh always says there's
more time there's tomorrow there's tomorrow but the
spirit says now and it's today and our
problem as human beings we look back we
look to the future we don't look for
the present because God is the great I
am He is God the present is now
to us now if you and I are
really honest with ourselves I do often if
I look back what do I see failing
failing how we fail the Lord miserably we
look back you see but the scripture never
asked us to look back you know lots
of wives look back wouldn't do you any
good the Lord never looked to the future
because there's nothing to look to to look
to in the future if we know anything
about the future of this world it's sad
very sad it's destined for total destruction but
the scripture says we have to fix our
eyes to Jesus it's in now it's not
tomorrow and the Holy Spirit is saying now
now but the flesh often say they get
time they get time because we say he
is merciful so they get time it's true
the reason why God allows us to have
a tomorrow is because of his mercy but
mercy is not the end mercy in grace
is unto something and so forth we are
living in a very critical time if the
Lord does come how would you and I
be able to stand before him we know
he's coming but we've been living in a
very very careless life as Christians now let's
get back to Nehemiah because the house has
been neglected if you look through the Old
Testament history after Solomon had built the glorious
temple and how the glory of the Lord
came down and dwelt in the house so
that the priest could not even enter into
ministry but how long did that last how
long did that last it didn't last too
long because even in Solomon's lifetime glory, glory
had departed he became other than something else
other than what God destined him to be
at that time in his lifetime the house
was already in neglect if you read through
the Kings their brief period of restoration and
yet immediately there's neglect until Jerusalem was totally
in ruins the gates the walls all broken
down burned and thank God for those who
who were stirred by the Holy Spirit to
return to Jerusalem and to restore and to
rebuild and all the difficulties they gone through
and provinces do you know to restore the
house of God fully requires everyone in the
nation to have an active heart in ministering
to the house because the house is the
house of the whole nation it's the God
who dwells in the midst of his people
it speaks of the nation the people and
so provinces do in every gathering in every
God's desire is to have every one of
us those who have been redeemed loved by
him and called to respond to his love
and take an active part in the ministry
of the body of Christ by faith you
know the Lord said it's more blessed to
give than to receive and our problem as
human beings we always go to church to
receive we still have that mentality I go
this Sunday to hear someone go speak is
brother if somebody will call Jerry is brother
going to be here this Sunday is brother
going to be here this Sunday then I'll
come you see what I mean we come
to hear a person now if you look
the first book of Israel there are two
groups of people that want to build the
wall one group was those who were brought
from captivity part of Holy Spirit with the
group of those who did not but there
was a group who always was there and
they came and said we want to help
you build because they were brought there by
somebody else for other reasons we have to
be before the Lord and make this thing
very clear why does he gather us here
together what is your reason for coming is
your reason for coming because they have good
teaching or the kind of music they sing
that suits your taste or style or because
you like the atmosphere or you like the
people the brothers and sisters often let our
natural inclination because I like so and so
so and so my friends are there therefore
I want to go there my friends but
brothers and sisters those who came back with
they know exactly what they want they want
to restore God's place in the midst of
his people and brothers and sisters we have
no other reason of gathering together other than
to give God his rightful place in the
midst of his people that he can get
all his followers for himself if we come
into the reason brothers and sisters we have
neglected our calling we have neglected God's house
you know and it's a battle it's a
struggle but God is calling again again again
and brothers and sisters we must be those
who as in Nehemiah says we place ourselves
under obligation to serve the house of our
God now brothers and sisters it's their God
not the God of their fathers so brothers
and sisters there is a principle there we
come because we we come because we want
to serve him we come because we want
to please him because he is my God
he is our God he is not somebody
else's God you refer you know the Old
Testament way back you know the God of
Jacob the God of Abraham the God of
Isaac it's their God so brothers and sisters
do you know that that God wants to
be our God today that is the whole
point and when that that thing is a
reality there is a relationship there is a
bond there is a bond and inseparable and
somehow you are able to sit together somehow
you are able to knit your hearts together
through thick and thin now I don't know
about you Richmond in Glasgow often times we
thought some of the brothers are really well
with us in heart and spirit but when
crises come perhaps they're gone they're gone because
the house is not the house of our
God because the thing the house is the
house the house of God is brother Hosea's
house it's my house it's not his the
point is we are together in this room
we have to bear one another we have
to share all this responsibility if God is
to go to get what he wants take
the case of Paul he placed himself under
obligation to preach the gospel he said woe
to me if I don't preach and later
on he said I preach willingly but I
may be one version I may be paid
or rewarded by God but he said even
though if I preach reluctantly and willingly I
still preach because I'm under what?
obligation I was committed by God with this
trust therefore I have to do it now
brothers and sisters this building of the house
of God will not come easy if it's
easy it won't take this last two thousand
years it won't take this two thousand years
because it's extremely difficult and God is looking
for that quality in you and I spiritual
quality that he can trust that he can
work that we are willing to call for
it and I think the quality he is
looking for in this end time is for
those who are willing to place themselves under
obligation we have to that is the way
of the cross that is stop denial that
is laying down your life for the brothers
place yourself under obligation we have heard of
watchman in the book of Isaiah and other
places watchman what is a watchman?
watchman yes again one place under obligation to
do his duty and brothers and sisters you
know I just want to encourage myself and
you that in this life days God is
looking for those who will place themselves under
obligation to serve the Lord and to serve
in his house and the first last verse
of that chapter says that we will not
neglect the house of our God otherwise our
house of God will be neglected if we
don't place ourselves under obligation the house of
God will be neglected now just to share
a couple of things you know
David he was a king he was David
who had that desire for his life to
build a house for the Lord and because
of that God was great in spite of
all the faults failures God saw him as
a perfect man because many times he said
he walked uprightly and righteously before me because
David's heart was right he wanted he wanted
God to have that place not only in
his life but in the nation the house
so in a way David's life is really
vitally related to the house and therefore God
can say he is the man after my
own heart because he wants me to have
a resting place he knows what I want
he understands my heart and he is willing
to do it so he provided he provided
all the materials for the house of the
Lord but just to give you a little
story we all love David and Goliath very
much and I think they are really tremendous
story spiritual principles remember when he was going
to encounter Goliath he picked five stones from
the book and the scripture said they were
smooth they were smooth and you know five
now why five?
now those who know anything about typology you
know number has tremendous significance seven is the
number of church twelve is the number of
poverty and four is creation and five is
divinity and so forth all these things six
is the number of man five five stones
now in the gospel to the boy he
has five loaves and two fishes five is
the combination of two and three and two
in the scripture always speaks of testimony a
testimony of two should stand you see and
the testimony should be in the hands of
the three now five speaks of what?
practical work because we have five fingers and
we work people say you work with your
hand now the hand means this whole thing
you don't work just with your you work
with your fingers too so hand speaks of
work God does have a work and if
God's work is to be done God needs
those who are willing to place themselves in
his hands and therefore all Romans he said
offer yourselves as a living sacrifice place yourself
in his hands according to the problem that
we are living sacrifice we can walk and
so when we hear a very good message
on dedication and comfort five loaves and two
fishes five is the combination of two and
three and two in the scripture always speaks
of testimony a testimony of the truth and
the testimony should be in the hands of
the truth now five speaks of practical practical
work because we have five fingers and we
work people said you work with your hand
now the hand means this whole thing you
don't work just with your you work with
your fingers too so hand speaks of work
God does have And if that work is
to be done, God needs those who are
willing to place themselves in his hands.
And therefore Paul in Romans 12 he says,
Offer yourselves up as a living sacrifice.
Place yourselves in his hands.
But that leads us to the problem that
we are living sacrifices.
We can walk.
And so when we hear a very good
message on dedication and consecration, we quickly walk
up to the altar.
Emotions propel us.
And we lie there comfortably.
And when we see the path of the
High Priest coming down on us, what do
we do?
We jump off and walk away.
Living sacrifice.
Because we are living.
We can always easily walk to it and
walk away from it.
And that's the Lord has difficulty with us.
Because we are living stones.
Either we can come or we can stay
home.
But God insists if you come, you'll be
filled up.
You will learn the lesson that you never
learned by yourself.
And God's purpose for us is not individual.
It's corporate life.
Corporate testimony.
None of us can stand alone.
And so David has five stones.
And they are all smooth stones.
They've been dealt with.
There's a history with them.
They know the work of the cross.
They know something of the suffering of the
flesh.
They know.
And therefore, when David picked those five stones,
he easily identified them.
He knew which one he wanted.
Because he knows.
He can see it.
And sent it with the Lord.
When he used this person as he knows,
because that person had the history with him.
He knows.
Pick this one.
Pick that one.
Five stones.
And I think those five stones represent five
things in our...
in the placing of ourselves under obligation.
So I just share those five points very
briefly.
Fathers and sisters, we know without faith we
cannot please God.
There is no way we can please Him
without faith.
And so if you and I are willing
to place ourselves under obligation for His will
to fulfill, for His purpose, for His glory,
for instance, that placement of yourself under obligation
is an act of faith.
It is faith.
Because without faith, you will never place yourself
under obligation.
Because we are naturally selfish people.
You are not going to serve anyone else
but yourself as brother or sister.
In fact, you want the whole world to
serve you.
And so to place yourself under obligation is
an act of your absolute faith in God
that He can do it and He can
do it through you.
And you yourself.
Therefore, the placing is necessary.
Not because you can, it's because you cannot.
Therefore, you place yourself under obligation for Him
to do it in you and through you.
And so it is an act of faith.
It's an act of commitment.
The second thing is acknowledging His absolute Lordship.
Now to me, there's no other way of
properly experiencing the Lordship of Jesus Christ until
we know the lesson of submission.
Submission and the Lordship of Jesus Christ go
together.
As long as you are not submitted to
Him, He is not your Lord.
He is not your Lord until we are
completely submitted to Him.
Therefore, if we place ourselves under obligation, it
is our acknowledgement of His Lordship.
It is our way of submitting ourselves totally
to Him.
And those people that sign that document, they
openly declare they will submit to the will
of God because the law of Moses was
mentioned, to the will of God.
And so, Father, this is needed.
We know all here, but we need to
be reminded.
You know, Father, sometimes I go to a
place, you know, and especially places like Richmond.
You've been under such a bridge in the
ministry for years, conferences for, what is it,
11 years.
And so we need to get to the
bottom of this.
No, the bottom is we just need to
be reminded how forgetful we are as God's
people.
So the second thing is really acknowledging His
Lordship in a very practical way through our
practical submission system.
Submission.
The third thing is a testament to the
world that we are a separate people.
As long as we don't place ourselves under
obligation, we are mingled with the world.
The demarcation, the separation is not clear.
And therefore, sometimes you say, oh, my testimony
is just not, you know, God is going
to separate the people of the world.
You know why?
Because they did not put themselves under obligation
to the world.
They are obligated.
Paul said, we want to be crucified with
Christ.
We are not obligated to what?
To the flesh or to the world.
We are not obligated to the spirit.
And so, brothers and sisters, it is a
testament.
And so sometimes we feel, my testimony is
so weak and your testimony is so weak,
we don't even have a testament to keep
all the people of the world.
Again, it's because we do not place ourselves
under obligation to do His will and His
will.
And the fourth thing, it's really a confession
of our need of the Lord and one
for another.
But you notice, they put themselves.
And if you notice, that document was signed
by many, many people.
Now, brothers and sisters, it's very true.
We need one another.
If I want to put myself under obligation,
it's more simple.
In fact, it's impossible.
But if I have a partner, I say,
now, would you place yourself under obligation?
And he said, no.
And he turned around and looked at me
and said, would you place yourself under obligation?
I said, no.
But we said, how about we do it
together?
It's much easier.
Isn't that so?
It's much easier.
Because we can bear one another.
When one's down, I can lift the other
one up.
We can hold hands and walk this pathway
together.
Because we are prone to fall.
We are prone to fall.
And so, brothers and sisters, it's a corporate
thing.
It's our confession of our need for one
another that we need each other in this
heavenly walk.
And so, brothers and sisters, it's a confession
of our need for one another.
And it's because of that we're able to
sit together and receive one another as Christ
has received you and me.
And last thing, brothers and sisters, is there
any other way of serving the Lord than
in his house?
Is there any other way to serve the
Lord than in his house?
Where does he dwell?
In his house.
And so, when we put ourselves, place ourselves
under obligation, it's simply we acknowledge that the
only place we can place him and serve
him is right in his house.
And therefore, it is the house of our
God.
The house of our God.
Now, to me, that is a precious statement.
The house of our God.
Not the house of the God of your
father.
Not the house of the God of Jesus.
Or Abraham.
Or Isaac.
But the house of our God.
Now, you probably do too.
In this country, you have beautiful homes.
And you take pride.
You know, you have many projects going on
in your house.
You want to fix this.
When that thing is done, you have another
project.
You are project-oriented.
You want to fix it so nice that
you can display it to your friends.
And some homes, you know, the living room
is forbidden for the kids to be in
it.
When the kids come in, put it...
Now, that way, that way, that way.
Fathers and sisters, it's the place where you
display.
Where you display.
And you take pride.
You take pride.
Now, fathers and sisters, same thing with God.
God takes pride of you and of his
kids.
God takes pride of his house.
But fathers and sisters, that house must fit
and reflect his character.
And therefore, we need to recognize that.
The only place that can serve him is
in his house.
And the only place that can serve him
is to be willing to be in his
house at all costs.
Now, under obligation is the work of the
Lord.
Is the work of the Lord.
And the Lord is looking for those who
are willing.
He will not force them.
He will just simply enter to you from
time to time.
This is what I want.
And see whether we will respond in love
or not.
And so, fathers and sisters, finally I would
say that we all know in God's heart,
he has a place for everyone.
Including the people of the world.
Therefore, the gospel, I'm so thankful that you
fathers and sisters have a burden for the
gospel.
But fathers and sisters, we have to look
into our own hearts.
Is there a place in our hearts for
him?
Thank God for that.
There is a place.
But again, the question is, how big is
that?
That's another question.
We all have a place for him.
But the next question is, how big is
that?
And that place, fathers and sisters, has to
be maintained.
And that place needs to be enlarged.
If we do not maintain it, and do
not enlarge it, that place will somehow just
shrink.
And shrink.
And it needs to be maintained.
And this last month, some of us went
up to New York City with Brother Fashius
on the prayer retreat.
And one thing he told us is, the
light in the kingdom needs to be maintained.
And brothers and sisters, the trouble with many
of us is that we have experienced it
from time to time.
But we fail to maintain it.
We fail to maintain it.
And we neglect it.
And I think the only way we can
do it, we must face ourselves under obligation
to maintain it.
To serve it.
And thank God, he is a God of
service.
He has the work to be done.
And we are very fortunate, brothers and sisters,
you think of that, somehow he called you
and I to cooperate.
And to do it together with him.
Oh yeah, I tell you, you can't take
it in.
He will not do it alone.
He can, but he will not do it
alone.
He limits himself in you and me.
Oh, this is glory.
He said, I can, he's the Almighty.
He said, but I won't do it.
I want you, with your flesh and blood,
to do it.
Oh, brothers and sisters, we are honoured.
And honoured.
And we will be eternally honoured.
Because our God is God of glory.
And let's pray to him.
Father, I think we have to confess before
thee that we are unworthy.
Lord, but we thank thee.
Thou art worthy.
Thou art a great God.
And thou doest great and mighty things.
And Lord, we do pray that thou cause
our hearts to respond.
Lord, to say yes to thee.
And to be willing to co-operate with
thee.
And Lord, do give glory.
Do give glory inside of ourselves.
Do the work inside of our wisdom.
Lord, penetrate through our hearts.
Break down all the barriers.
Lord, until I can totally capture ourselves, our
whole being, spirit, soul, and body for thee.
And we give thee praise.
For this day, for thy love, thy goodness,
and mercy in gathering us together.
We give thee praise.
Give thee glory.
In the name of the Lord Jesus.
Amen.