Leadership - Part 2

Will you please turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 3, 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 1 to 6. Do we begin again to commend ourselves, or do we need a sum, commendatory letter to you, or commendatory from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men, being manifested to be Christ's epistle, ministered by us, written not with ink, but the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tables, but on fleshly tables of the heart. And such confidence have we through the Christ who is God. Not we are competent of ourselves to think anything as ourselves, but our competency is of God, who has also made us competent and ministers of the new covenant, not of letter, but of Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit quickens. May we have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we want to thank you for gathering us together this morning. This is your gathering, and we just pray that thy presence will be so present, prevalent, that we may really sense that thou art here with us. Dear Lord, we do pray that thou will speak to us through thy word. Thy word is truth. Thy word can release us from all our bondages and set us free. Lord, we commit this time into your hand. Pray that thou will speak to us, touch our hearts, bring every one of us close to yourself, that thy will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. We ask in thy precious name. Amen. Thank God for bringing us together this morning. In the Old Testament ministry, the prophets spoke as the word of God came to them. They were mere voices. They were not primarily involved. That is to say, it was more objective. But in the New Testament ministry, the speakers are deeply involved. They are trained by God's Spirit, and they are being transformed. The word becomes flesh in them. It therefore requires a great cooperation. The word becomes flesh and manifests in glory. It is therefore highly subjective. The indwelling Holy Spirit will so work in us that our life will be changed from glory to glory. Everything is internal, and we are deeply involved. After we believe in the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes within and dwells in our human spirit. He becomes the life of the new spirit. He is therefore responsible for the spiritual life of the believer. He will not leave us nor forsake us. He is always faithful in breaking us. He will work within us first in small things, but gradually in all things. He is responsible for our spiritual life. As we begin to obey him, our spiritual life will grow into maturity. It is therefore most important that we cooperate with the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is the secret of our Christian life. For God was sent, not chosen. Brothers and sisters, after we believe in the Lord Jesus, not only are our sins forgiven, but he has given us a new spirit, a new human spirit. Before we believe in the Lord Jesus, our spirit was dead towards God. It was dead in sins and transgressions. But thank God, the moment we believe in the Lord Jesus, not only our sins are forgiven, but our dead spirit was brought into new life. I believe we all here have this experience. Before I believe in the Lord Jesus, I was brought up in a Christian family. We have devotion every evening before supper. My father, who was a pastor, he gathered all of us, seven children, into the living room. He would read from the Bible, and then he asked all of us to kneel down and pray. He never asked any one of us to pray. He himself would lead the prayer, because he knew at that time, even if we were brought up in Christian family, we were not saved. But by the grace of God, after I was saved, he began to ask me to pray also. So by the grace of God, I was brought up in this way. The greatest thing that I have experienced after I believed in the Lord Jesus was not only that, all my sins were forgiven. Now brothers and sisters, it's very strange. I was brought up in a Christian family. I used to consider myself as better than the world. In comparison with the world, I was a better person. What could I do as a student in high school? So I always had the feeling, you know, I believe Jesus. Jesus is Christ, the Savior of the world. From my childhood, this belief was in me. And yet at the same time, I felt at that time, the world needs Christ as their Savior, but not me. I'm a student. I'm good. I'm in good relationship with everybody. So, let Christ save other people, but I don't need him. That was my situation for a long time until when I was 14. I began to get sick. Now it was typhoid fever. At that time, there was no cure for typhoid fever. It all depends upon whether you can pull through or not. Now as a young man, I did not want to die. So I prayed. I asked the Lord to heal me. My father prayed for me. The missionary prayed for me. And after four months, I gradually recovered. And after I was recovered, a classmate of mine came to me and said, can we have some Christian meeting in our school? Now it was a Christian school, so-called. Now of course, I want to show my gratitude to God. So I said, yes, we will do that. So we began to organize Christian meeting in our school. After supper, we were knocked the doors of the dormitories. Invited our fellow students to come. And even some teachers came. We used the library as our meeting place. I still can vividly recall how I led the first prayer meeting. To a pastor's son, it was easy. Because my father had a library. He had many Christian books. He has books of prayer. So all I need to do is to go to his library. Get a book of prayer. Translate it into Chinese. Memorize it and preach it. I still can remember very vividly the first time I led a prayer meeting. We gathered in the library of the school. I gave the message. And after I did, I had everybody to kneel down and pray. But as you can expect, nobody prayed. Even some began to laugh. Because they were wondering what we were doing. And I, as chairman, I scolded them. I said, we are before God. It was serious. We have to be serious. This was the first time I led a prayer meeting. And not only that, I preached to a pastor's son. It was not difficult. Because my father had a big library. He had many books. So I just chose one. Memorized it. Translated it into Chinese. And I remember on Friday after school, we had a meeting in the church. And I preached that message. I felt good about it. The only regret was nobody praised me. So you can see that I tried to serve God before I was saved. To me, it was just a natural thought to repay my debt to God. But brothers and sisters, God is so gracious. As I began to try to serve him, he began to reveal to me my sins. I usually consider myself as good. As a student in high school, comparing with the world, we were much purer, better. So I always had the wrong idea. I believe Jesus is Savior. But I had the wrong idea. I don't need him. I'm too good to be saved. Let Jesus save the world. But I don't need him. Thank God. As I began to serve him, his spirit began to work in my heart. You know, I never thought myself a bad person. I was in good relationship with everybody, even with the servants. So I always had the wrong idea. Let Jesus save other people. But I don't need him. I don't need him. But thank God, when you begin to serve as you think, the spirit of God began to work in me. He began to show me my sins. As a matter of fact, I was better than before. People called me young pastor. They thought that I will continue my father in the church. But thank God, as I began to try to serve God, the spirit of God began to reveal. To me, my true condition. I began to see my sins. As a matter of fact, I was better than before. But when the spirit of God began to work in you, he will reveal what really you are. I began to feel that there was nothing good in me. You know, I was afraid to die. When I see a funeral, I feel uncomfortable. I know one day I will die too. But I'm not ready at all. Sometimes as a young man of 14 years old, I would sit by myself and wept. I wept for my sins. Who can deliver me from my sins? Who can save me that I will not go to hell? I was from Shanghai. Shanghai was a big city, international city. Many famous preachers all over the world would come to Shanghai to preach. And they usually preached in my father's church because he had a big church there. And whenever a famous preacher came, I went to hear him. I wanted to be saved. But you know, brothers and sisters, the strange thing was, even though I was seeking and searching, it evaded me. I heard all the best preachers in the world at that time, like Patrick Wills. I was touched at what I heard. I went to the altar, kneel at the altar, confess my sins, and wept. I wept a number of times, but nothing happened. After the meeting was over, it was over. This continued for a year. When the summer came, I decided I would go to summer conference in order to get saved. Now it was a battle mission in Shanghai. They loved the Lord. And three young men from America just graduated from Asbury College. They came to preach to us. So I went there with the thought to get saved. But what they preached, I already knew. Nothing was new to me. After a few days, I saw people going to the altar, got saved, but I was not. So I remember, one morning, I sat in my room. I don't know whether I was praying or just speaking to myself. I said, Lord, why is it people got saved so easily, but not me? I did too much. I told the Lord, this is your time. If you want to save me, save me now. If not, goodbye. That very afternoon, I went to the meeting. Mr. Kirkpatrick was preaching on John 3:16. Now I knew it from my childhood. Nothing was new. Nothing touched me. After the meeting was over, he asked everybody to kneel down and pray. So I knelt down. An Indian brother came to me. He knelt by my side. The only thing he did was to persuade me to go to the altar. Now I thought to myself, I had been there a number of times and nothing happened. Why should I go again? But out of courtesy, I went. When I was at the altar, I confessed my sins, all that I could remember. I even wept, but nothing happened. The meeting was over. There are hundreds of people there, a young pastor. If I mention his name, some older ones among you may remember him, Angel Tse. He was at that time a young man, not a pastor yet, just a preacher. He must be noticing me. So when I walked out, he stopped me. Point blankly, he asked me this question, are you safe? Now I had to be honest. So I told him, I want to be safe. So everybody left, hundreds of people, just the two of us in the auditorium. He asked me, do you believe the Bible is the Word of God? I said, from my childhood. He said, alright. Turn to 1 John chapter 1, verse 9. So I did. He said, you read it. Instead of if we, you say if Stephen Cahn, put your name there. Read it twice. If Stephen Cahn confessed his sins, God is righteous. He will forgive your sins and cleanse you from all your unrighteousness. After he made me read it twice, he said, let's kneel down and pray. So we knelt down. I began to pray. I knew how to pray. I confessed my sins. I told the Lord, Lord, there are many sins I have forgotten, but you remember. Now I have done my part. It's up to you. If you want to save me, save me now. If not, goodbye. You know, brothers and sisters, when you are desperate, when you are real, when you're really in business, the Lord knows. Immediately, I felt such peace in my heart. I got up and Brother Chief asked me, are you saved? I said, I am. He said, how do you know? Well, I said, I have such peace in my heart he shook his head. Immediately, the word came to me. I know I'm saved because God says so. He said, right. Your feeling may change, but God's word never changes. He is very wise in leading people. He said, you go out. Tell someone what the Lord has done for you. I did. I went to my room. I opened my Bible. It's 2 Peter, chapter 2. I read it. It was different. It became a new book to me. Every word began to speak to my heart. From that time over 80 some years ago, it never changes. Brothers and sisters, what the Lord has done is everlasting. It is not just for a moment. It has been over 80 some years now, but the Lord has kept me until now. So dear brothers and sisters, my advice to you all is be real with God. Do not play with God. Confess your sins before God. Trusting in the salvation of the Lord Jesus. And you will find a great change will come upon your life. There will be such peace in your heart. You will know within yourself for sure that your sins have been forsaken, forgiven. You have a new life, a new spirit, and the Holy Spirit of God comes to dwell in your spirit. What is the purpose of the indwelled Holy Spirit? His purpose is to lead you all the way in your Christian life. You know, brothers and sisters, even after you are saved, if you are left in this world, you will very soon find that you are no match to temptation. You are no match to the world, to Satan, God's enemy. But thank God after you are saved, he, God, does not leave you alone to fight the battle. God puts his own spirit into your spirit. The indwelled Holy Spirit is a great gift of God. Oftentimes, after we believe in the Lord Jesus, we might think to have our sins forgiven is the greatest thing in the world. But that is not. The greatest thing that God has done is he has put his spirit into your spirit to be your guide. You know, sometimes when we think if I'm saved and by the grace of God, I will be raptured into heaven right away. That will be the best thing for me. Now I will be saved from all the temptations in the world. But brothers and sisters, God knows better. He does not want babies in heaven. What if heaven is full of babies? Now babies are good to look at. But babies can be very troublesome. God wants grown-ups the fullness of the statue of Christ Jesus. So that is the reason why after you have believed in the Lord Jesus, you are still here. You know, sometimes I had that feeling if immediately I was saved, I was raptured. I thought that would be the best thing. But the Lord knows better. After you are saved, after you have a new life, you are still in this wretched world full of temptations, full of the work of the devil. And you are no match to it. So he put his own spirit, God put his own spirit into our spirit to be our guide, to lead us that by his spirit we may follow the Lord Jesus. You cannot fight against the world. You are no match to it. But by the grace of God, when God's spirit within you is leading you, you are more than conquerors. When the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in your spirit, he is not there doing nothing His only work, one work, is to make you the full children, sons of God. He is not only give you intelligence as to know what is of God, what is not of God, he is also the power for you to overcome the world. If after God has saved you and leave you alone to fight against this evil world, nobody can overcome. But then God, he puts his spirit within us and his spirit will begin to guide and lead us. Usually it will begin with small things. For instance, before you were saved, probably you always will go to certain places. But after you are saved, do you have the experience when you go there, there is a still small voice within you. You are now a Christian. Do you think it is the right place for you to go? You probably will not listen to this small voice. You continue to go. But do you have a good time? No. In the evening when you begin to pray, you couldn't. You have to confess your sins. Clear the way and then your fellowship with Christ will be renewed. So brothers and sisters, this is the Christian way. You are now a Christian. You are the Lord's. How will the Lord lead you to be a real sons and daughters of God? By cooperating with the indwelled Holy Spirit. This is the only way. So I hope dear brothers and sisters, that you will remember this. That in your life afterwards, you will not depend upon yourself. Don't. Do not ever try to depend upon your own self, thinking that you can do it. No. The world is too great, too powerful for you. You need to depend upon the indwelled Holy Spirit. Thank God the indwelled Holy Spirit will never leave you, nor forsake you. Even if you do not obey him, even if you do not listen to him, he will not leave you. The still small voice is persistent. He will continue to touch your conscience until you repent, return to the Lord, and do what the Lord has ordered you to do. So, brothers and sisters, this is Christian life. Christian life is cooperating with the indwelled Holy Spirit. He will lead you all the way until you grow up and become sons and daughters of God. Now, this is the will of God. So, this morning, my only plea with you is, you who have believed in the Lord Jesus, you who have the indwelled Holy Spirit, learn to cooperate with him. Learn to obey him in all things. It's not easy, because the temptations can be great. But, blessed are those who cooperate with the indwelled Holy Spirit and follow the Lord all the way through your life. Thank God, when the indwelled Holy Spirit began to deal with you, he would not begin with big things. Because he began with big things, he knew you would fail. He usually would begin with small things. If you obey him in small things, gradually you will learn to obey him in big things. Until, by the grace of God, you become sons and daughters of God. Now, this is the gospel. Have you heard it? Such a wonderful gospel. You know, sometimes I had this strange idea. I said, Lord, after you have saved me, take me to you right away. Then I will be saved from all the temptations of the world. How good that would be. But, brothers and sisters, if that's the case, heaven will be filled with babies. Now, babies are lovely, but babies can be very troublesome. God wants sons and daughters. God wants people after the image of his only begotten son. That's what God wants you to be. So, brothers and sisters, thank God that after he has saved you, he has left you here on earth. This is our opportunity to grow up. This is our opportunity to be sons and daughters of God. This is the lesson that we need to learn every day until we are raptured and see him face to face. Shall we pray? Dear Lord, our hearts do bow in worship because thou dost love us and love us to the uttermost. Thou dost not leave anything to ourselves. Thou hast made provision for us that by the indwell holy spirit, by thy spirit, we are able to live even in this wretched world, a life that will be pleasing to yourself. So, Lord, we want to give ourselves over to you this morning. Take us. Take charge over us. Enable us to cooperate with you, to obey you, that we may really be sons and daughters of God. To the praise of your glory, we ask in your name. Amen.