Churchwork
02-04-2006, 06:24 PM
Serving God the Highest Glory
When I was in England I heard that someone once sent one of brother C. A. Coates’s books to the Queen of England and that the Queen was much helped after reading it. Now Coates had written eight books. So I asked the brothers and sisters in England why the person had not also sent the Queen the other seven books by Coates. They all fell silent as though I had said something wrong. Later I inquired and found out that the English people cannot just casually give books to their Monarch. The latter might not accept the books people send.
Consecration is the King of Heaven’s favor to us, not our favor to Him. It is God who accepts our persons, being favorable to us in receiving that which we offer. It is not we who do God a favor; rather, it is God who does us a favor. In His mere acceptance of us, He is bestowing upon us a great favor. If I kneel before God and He sends down fire, this is His favor to me in accepting my service. Do not think that you humble yourself in offering to God. You may not realize that this is actually the mercy of God. Why, then, do you count the cost in serving God? You should learn to crawl on your knees into His presence in order to serve Him. Let us learn to bow before God and beg to be accepted into His service.
The blind today are not those who cannot see, but those who do not see. We are fearful lest we give God too little, fearful lest He will not accept. Does our consecration profit God or profit us? Is it we who favor God or God who favors us? When we come before Him, our fear arises in our not being accepted. All who know God will say, "O Lord, here is something more." All who have met the Lord will gladly give half to the poor. The Lord said to rich Zacchaeus, "Today is salvation come to this house" (Luke 19.9). Today’s problem lies in our not seeing the greatness of the Lord’s salvation. Salvation is more than the saving of our souls. It means coming out of the former things. Let us recall the meaning of baptism. Why are we baptized?
In baptism we declare that we have come out of this world and the things of this world. The issue of service is not resolved by asking three or five people to serve.
Today for the sake of the gospel we need the whole body to rise up and do the work of the gospel. We need to have our consecration renewed. What the Lord did in the first century must also be done today. We dare to believe in the first-century gospel; we dare to preach the first-century gospel; and we dare to do the first-century work. During that early period people could not freely preach the gospel and there were no church buildings to go to. People of the world believed in the gospel because they saw it portrayed right before their very eyes: they saw the Christians. In that very early time, Christians met in homes. But when for their faith they were burnt as torches, people heard them and saw them. The result of seeing the gospel far exceeds that of hearing it. For such a gospel shows that salvation is not a casual thing. The prayers of the martyrs became their gospel. In fact, history tells us that in the city of Rome the believers were at first killed but later the rest were exiled because of the tremendous public impact the martyrs were having!
Today Christianity has no power on others because it has no power upon us Christians. In the Church’s early days people came to the meetings in spite of their fear. Today lukewarm Christians have little effect, whereas the testimony of the early believers frightened the spectators on the one hand but attracted them to such a gospel on the other.
Today we must bear all responsibilities. If the Lord cannot get through with us workers, how can He get through with the others in the churches? The Lord has been preparing us for the past twenty years and we have been waiting in prayer. Let us give to the Lord all our wealth, time and heart that He may have His way in us. This way will lead us to our destination. Let not money block our hearts, nor let it block the way of others to God. All brothers and sisters must participate in spiritual work. And thus this will provide the Lord a highway. (Watchman Nee, Revive Thy Work).
When I was in England I heard that someone once sent one of brother C. A. Coates’s books to the Queen of England and that the Queen was much helped after reading it. Now Coates had written eight books. So I asked the brothers and sisters in England why the person had not also sent the Queen the other seven books by Coates. They all fell silent as though I had said something wrong. Later I inquired and found out that the English people cannot just casually give books to their Monarch. The latter might not accept the books people send.
Consecration is the King of Heaven’s favor to us, not our favor to Him. It is God who accepts our persons, being favorable to us in receiving that which we offer. It is not we who do God a favor; rather, it is God who does us a favor. In His mere acceptance of us, He is bestowing upon us a great favor. If I kneel before God and He sends down fire, this is His favor to me in accepting my service. Do not think that you humble yourself in offering to God. You may not realize that this is actually the mercy of God. Why, then, do you count the cost in serving God? You should learn to crawl on your knees into His presence in order to serve Him. Let us learn to bow before God and beg to be accepted into His service.
The blind today are not those who cannot see, but those who do not see. We are fearful lest we give God too little, fearful lest He will not accept. Does our consecration profit God or profit us? Is it we who favor God or God who favors us? When we come before Him, our fear arises in our not being accepted. All who know God will say, "O Lord, here is something more." All who have met the Lord will gladly give half to the poor. The Lord said to rich Zacchaeus, "Today is salvation come to this house" (Luke 19.9). Today’s problem lies in our not seeing the greatness of the Lord’s salvation. Salvation is more than the saving of our souls. It means coming out of the former things. Let us recall the meaning of baptism. Why are we baptized?
In baptism we declare that we have come out of this world and the things of this world. The issue of service is not resolved by asking three or five people to serve.
Today for the sake of the gospel we need the whole body to rise up and do the work of the gospel. We need to have our consecration renewed. What the Lord did in the first century must also be done today. We dare to believe in the first-century gospel; we dare to preach the first-century gospel; and we dare to do the first-century work. During that early period people could not freely preach the gospel and there were no church buildings to go to. People of the world believed in the gospel because they saw it portrayed right before their very eyes: they saw the Christians. In that very early time, Christians met in homes. But when for their faith they were burnt as torches, people heard them and saw them. The result of seeing the gospel far exceeds that of hearing it. For such a gospel shows that salvation is not a casual thing. The prayers of the martyrs became their gospel. In fact, history tells us that in the city of Rome the believers were at first killed but later the rest were exiled because of the tremendous public impact the martyrs were having!
Today Christianity has no power on others because it has no power upon us Christians. In the Church’s early days people came to the meetings in spite of their fear. Today lukewarm Christians have little effect, whereas the testimony of the early believers frightened the spectators on the one hand but attracted them to such a gospel on the other.
Today we must bear all responsibilities. If the Lord cannot get through with us workers, how can He get through with the others in the churches? The Lord has been preparing us for the past twenty years and we have been waiting in prayer. Let us give to the Lord all our wealth, time and heart that He may have His way in us. This way will lead us to our destination. Let not money block our hearts, nor let it block the way of others to God. All brothers and sisters must participate in spiritual work. And thus this will provide the Lord a highway. (Watchman Nee, Revive Thy Work).