Who Are We? Part 2

Will you please turn to the Gospel according to John, Chapter 1. We'll read from verse 24 through 28. The Gospel according to John, Chapter 1, verse 24 through verse 28. And they were sent from among the Pharisees.

And they asked him and said to him, Why baptize thou then, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water. In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know, he who comes after me, the thorn of whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose. These things took place in Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we do want to thank Thee, for so loving has given Thyself so completely to us. We are what we are today.

We owe everything to Thee. We are thankful. O dear Lord, as we gather in Thy presence, we want to hear Thy Word.

We pray that Thy Spirit will release Thy Word and impress upon our heart that we may through Thy Word be in touch with Thee, the Living Word. Deliver us from everything that is just superficial. Bring us into the reality, the eternal truth.

O Lord, we want to follow Thee. May Thy Name be honored and glorified in the midst of Thy people. We ask in Thy precious Name.

Last Lord's Day, we share on this matter of who are we. Now as we mentioned, last Lord's Day, we do not like to talk about ourselves. There is nothing to talk about because we are sinners saved by grace.

That's all. But the Bible tells us we need to sanctify the Lord, the Christ, in our hearts. And to be always ready to give an answer to whoever should ask us.

And to give them an answer of the hope that is in our hearts with meekness and fear. And that's what we want to do. Last Lord's Day, we mentioned that so far as we ourselves are concerned, we are nothing.

But we thank God that we are identified with Christ. And that's everything. He calls for disciples.

Those who are willing to put under His discipline. He makes those His disciples the people of the way. That is to say, they begin to live a way of life that the world has never seen.

It is not earthly. It is heavenly. And because of this, they are being identified as Christians.

Christ, man, and women. They are those who have the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. And they follow the Lamb wheresoever He goes.

Brothers and sisters, this is what we want to be. And this is the way we are going. Now you remember that those that were sent from Jerusalem, the priests and the scribes, they came to John the Baptist.

They want to know who John the Baptist was. In a sense they came wondering if he was the Christ, the Messiah. But John gave them a very straightforward answer.

There was nothing nebulous about it. He said, I'm not. Then they said, are you Elijah, the one that was sent before the Lord? Well, he said, I'm not Elijah.

Well, if you are not Elijah, then probably you are the prophet that Moses prophesied in Deuteronomy 18, that God would raise up one among their brethren and God would give His word to him and whoever does not listen to him, God would require of it. And John said, I'm not. He knew what he was not.

Then they said, now, what are you? And thank God he knew exactly what he was. He said, I'm the voice crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. I am but a voice, nothing.

But my message is everything. That's what I am. So brothers and sisters, that is how we feel about ourselves.

We are but a voice preparing the way of the Lord. But you know these people, they were not satisfied. Now we knew who you were not.

We knew who you were. But they have more questions. They say, why? Why do you baptize them? Because they were sent from the Pharisees and probably they were Pharisees.

And you know the Pharisees were a sect in Judaism. They studied the law. They interpreted the law.

They were the guardians of the law. So they were very careful about everything. Therefore they say, now, why? Why do you baptize? What right do you have to baptize? On what ground do you baptize people? If you are not the Christ, if you are not Elijah, because baptism was not practiced among the Jews.

To be in the commonwealth of Israel, all you need to do, you need to be circumcised. Even if you were born of Abraham, if you were not circumcised, then you were cast out of the commonwealth of Israel. And you would have nothing to do with God's covenant.

Circumcision was their practice. Baptism was not. But as you read the Old Testament, you do find in Leviticus chapter 8, the priests, those who were set apart to serve God, they had to be baptized.

Why? Because they served, they had to be bathed. Their whole body had to be bathed. That's baptism.

Before they would be anointed with oil. And then they can enter into the sanctuary and serve God. Why? Because God was so holy.

No natural man was qualified to serve God. His body had to be put into water, bathed. And we all know what baptism represents.

It means death, burial, and resurrection. In other words, no one can serve God in their natural man. It has to go to death, buried out of sight, and resurrected anew.

And then they can be anointed with oil. That is, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and serve the Holy God. It was a big thing.

And then, on the other hand, you find in Leviticus, chapter 14, a leper. When he was healed of leprosy, he had to be bathed. Take a bath.

Wash all over. And then he would be allowed to re-enter the camp of Israel. Why? Because leprosy is a symbol, is a sign of sin.

Sin was so defiled before God that you have to go into death, buried out of sight, and resurrected in new life. Then you are able to be in the camp. Aside from that, in Leviticus, chapter 15, when a person has a flux, or copulation, the flesh was defiled.

And he had to wash too. That is, to go through the water. The whole body, the whole flesh has to be washed.

And then he was able to come back to the tent. So, brothers and sisters, you see, that according to the Old Testament, baptism was not the regular practice among the Jews. Because they considered themselves already in the commonwealth of Israel, because they were circumcised.

There was no need for them to go through such drastic ritual as if to deny the past completely and to enter into a new, completely new ground. They thought it was unnecessary. And that's the reason why when John baptized people with water, these Pharisees refused to be baptized.

Because they thought they were above it. They had no need for it. Only those sinners, publicans, they repented and they received the baptism of John.

Now, one thing, the Pharisees will accept. If the Messiah shall come, then he has the right to demand baptism. Or if Isaiah came, Elijah came, he probably will have the right to baptize people.

Or if the Prophet came, then probably he has the right to do it. But you, you are neither Christ nor Elijah nor the Prophet. How dare you practice baptism? And John the Baptist, thank God, he knew not only who he was and who he was not, he also knew what he was doing.

He said, I baptize with water, but there is one who stands among you and you do not know him. He is before me. I even do not have the privilege to untie his shoelace.

I baptize with water to prepare the way for the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. That's what I'm doing. Brothers and sisters, John the Baptist was not only a voice giving a message, but he practiced what he preached and prepared the way of the Lord, not only by a message, but also by baptism.

Apply this to ourselves. If you are not satisfied who we are, then probably you will ask, why do you so gather in Christianity? You have the Roman Catholics, you have the Eastern Orthodox, you have the Protestants, you have the National Churches, you have the denominational churches, you have the Independents, you have the Charismatic, you have every kind of gathering, some with specific doctrines, some with specific practices. Everything that you need, you can find there.

Now, why do you have to meet as another group? Are you not dividing God's people? Do you have the right to do that? Unfortunately today, brothers and sisters, Christians take gathering very lightly. We are like butterflies, flying here and there, seeking for honey. We are like migrating birds, flying all around.

Today in this group, tomorrow in that group. There's nothing. Wherever I can be satisfied, I can be fed, I can receive blessing, that's where I will go.

We do not bother about the truth that God's people are one, one body. We are like the Jewish people. When the temple was destroyed, they invented this marvelous thing called synagogues.

If you have ten Jews, you can organize a synagogue. And if you're not happy with your neighbor, you just find nine others and have one that will suit your taste. You can worship God, you can read the Torah, you can read the prophets, you can pray, and in the synagogues there's much freedom.

Why not? And the same atmosphere is now in Christianity. But we think it's a serious matter. We do not just gather because we like to.

Because we do not agree with other people. Because we want to be ourselves. Brothers and sisters, why do we gather? Now in order to answer this question, you have to forgive me.

I have to go to the very beginning, to the very basic. When our Lord Jesus was on earth, He came to seek and to save the lost. But is that all? Towards the end of His ministry, as He was rejected by the Jews, He retreated to the border of Caesarea Philippi.

Then He asked His disciples, Who do you say that I am? The world said, I'm this, I'm that. But who do you say I am? You are my disciples. You have been with me.

You ought to know me better. Now, who do you say I am? And thank God, Simon Peter, as the spokesman, he said, You are the Christ. The Anointed One.

The One sent by God on a mission, to accomplish a mission. You are the Son of God. That is what you are.

And you remember our Lord Jesus said, Simon Bar-Juna, you are blessed. Because this is the flesh and blood showing you. Flesh and blood can only show you I am like Elijah.

I'm like Jeremiah. I'm like one of the prophets. That's all.

It is my Heavenly Father who reveals it to you. You are blessed. And then, our Lord said, You are Peter.

You are a stone. On this rock, massive rock, I will build my church. And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

That was recorded in Matthew 16. He who, by revelation, confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, a transformation comes into his life. He is transformed as it were, from dust to stone.

And as a little stone, the Lord said, I'm going to do something with you. I'm the rock. You are a piece of me.

And on myself, I will build my church. That's why he came into this world. Unfortunately, the word church that we use today is not a literal translation of the Greek word Ekklesia that our Lord uses.

The word Ekklesia means called out ones gathered. Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord called us out of the world. That's individual.

That's personal. The Father cannot substitute the Son. As people say, God has no grandson.

Everyone has to be called out. We are called out of the world. Just like the children of Israel were called out of Egypt.

Individually, we are called out. Personally, we are called out. But that's not the end.

Because in the heart of God, He wants a corporate body. So the called out ones are to be gathered together. That's real Christianity.

Not just you are called out, and you live independently. Sometimes we hear people say, My Lord and I, that's all. I don't need any brother or sister because that gives me problems.

My Lord and I, that's all. Very spiritual, but very superficial. That's not the will of God.

We have much training, discipline. We have to go through it. The Lord wants the called out ones gathered together.

Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I, in the midst of them. Not just gathered together as a social club, but gathered together unto the name of the Lord Jesus. His name that is above every name.

And to that name every knee shall bow. Every tongue confess Jesus is Lord. During the lifetime of our Lord Jesus, he mentioned the word church, ecclesia.

A better translation would be assembly, only in two places. Matthew 16, 18 and Matthew 18, 17. In Matthew 16 he shows us what the church really is.

The nature of the church. Universal. I will build my church on this rock.

He is the rock. We are the stones. And we are being built up on him.

And be built up by him to be one building, one body, one people. And there will be conflict, spiritual conflict. The gates of Hades will all be open against it.

But the Lord said, because I build it, the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. So this is the church universal aspect. All who are following these principles, they are in that church, universal.

One. Not, I will build my churches. I will build my church, only one church.

Universal. But then in Matthew chapter 18, the Lord said, if your brother sin against you, the problem is no longer in the spiritual realm. Gates of, say, Hades.

The problem is very physical, very practical. In other words, here you will find those who are called out, they begin to gather together. But the world is so big, there is no way for all the believers all over the world to gather together in one place.

That's impossible. We are not in eternity yet. We are still being limited by time and space.

If we are in Richmond, you are not in Washington, D.C., nor in New York, nor in Seattle, nor in San Francisco. So how can we gather together? Now, gather together is not just a theory, it's a practice. Often times we hear people say, I'm not with you, but my spirit is with you.

Very spiritual. But that's not what the Lord means. He means you have to gather together, even physically.

How can it be? And because of this limitation, you will find the church has another expression. And that expression is locally. Where you are.

Wherever you are. And you are with your brothers and sisters. If you are all alone, you will have no such problem.

No one will sin against you. You sin against yourself. That's true.

But no one will sin against you. So that brother must be with you. And probably because he is with you all the time.

Not just once a week or once a month that we can afford to be so kind to each other and not reveal our true self. But evidently the brothers and sisters who are gathered together are very close. Because they are one family.

They are members of one body. Too close. And unfortunately one will sin against another.

You know when you are eating, sometimes you bite your tongue. Why? Because your tongue and your teeth are so close together. But your tongue says, Oh well, I have been bitten so often I'm going out.

No such thing. Impossible. So when your brother sins against you, what do you do? You go to him in love.

Not try to revenge yourself, but you go you love him. You do not want to see your brother in darkness. So you go to him and try to restore him.

If he doesn't listen to you, take another two brothers or sisters people that probably he trusts and together go there and try to restore him. If he doesn't do that, tell it to the church. Now you can't tell it to the church universal.

Where is it? It's everywhere but it's nowhere. So it has to be a local expression of the church. Where God's people are in certain locality and they are together as one body and there something is happening in their midst and tell it to the church.

And of course practically it means tell to those who are responsible in the church. And the church will try to restore him. If he doesn't listen to the church then to you.

He is like a stranger, like a foreigner, alien. But you still love him. That's the local aspect of the church.

Now these are not two churches. The church universal and the church local are one. Because one is the expression of the other.

Now, before the Pentecost a hundred and twenty believers, disciples, they gathered together in that upper room in Jerusalem. Because the Lord when he left returned to heaven. He asked his disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait there for the coming of the promised spirit.

A hundred and twenty gathered together in that upper room. They prayed with one accord for ten days. And then on the day of Pentecost suddenly a wind, literally it means a hard blowing, a hard breathing, just like someone is breathing hard in travail, trying to bring out a baby.

That's the breathing of God. And it filled the house where they were. The Holy Spirit has come.

What is the meaning of Pentecost? The meaning of Pentecost is not in the sound, nor in the sight. The meaning of Pentecost is given to us. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 13 In one spirit ye were baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, bondmen or freemen.

And you were made to drink of one spirit. In other words, that is the beginning of the history of the Church on Earth. In one spirit they were baptized into one body.

Formerly they were 120 individual believers. They may congregate together but they are not one body. But with the coming of the Holy Spirit, they were in one spirit baptized into one body.

They are no longer 120 individual disciples. They are a body with 120 members. Brothers and sisters, you see the difference? It's an organic difference.

Not an organizational difference. An organic difference. They are one.

One body. One spirit. One hope of the calling.

One Lord. One baptism. One faith.

One God, Father of all through us all. Brothers and sisters, that's the unity of the Spirit given to us. On that very same day 3,000 came to the Lord.

The body grows. Then 5,000. God added daily.

But what happened? These people who are now gathered together as one body, they continue persevering in the teaching and the fellowship of the Apostles in breaking of bread and in prayers. They are one. Nobody said, this is mine.

They belong to each other. One body. Then, because of persecution, the believers began to spread and the Gospel spread out to all Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the world.

Instead of just believers gathered together in Jerusalem, you find believers gathered together in Antioch, in Rome, in Ephesus, in many, many places. An expression of the they were together. They did not deny the name of the Lord.

And they keep the word of patience. Everywhere you go, even though they were separated by distance, they were one in fellowship. Not many churches.

One church. One body. But many expressions everywhere.

Thank God. This is the scriptural definition of the church. But unfortunately, even during the time of the apostles, we find foreign doctrines, teachings, began to slip in.

Not only teachings, but even practices. You remember Paul's letter, first letter to the Corinthians. The first item was there were divisions.

Some say I am of Paul, some say I am of Apollo, some say I am of Cephas, and some say I am exclusively of Christ. Is Christ divided? Does Christ die for you? Are you baptized in the name of Christ? God forbid. Human weakness began to come in.

Personal preferences, human affection, friendship, instead of one spirit, one soul, one mind, even one speech in Christ. Not only that, if you read the letter to the Galatians, foreign gospels began to come in. Another gospel.

Grace is not enough. Law and grace. Colossians.

They want to be perfect, but Christ is not enough. Christ plus. Then you are perfect, God forbid.

And these are the epistles written by the apostles, showing that the weakness, when God is doing things, because man is involved, the enemy is able to do his work. If it is the work of Christ, the gates of Satan shall not prevail against it. If it is of man, sooner or later, in that shaking, it will be shaken off.

If you study church history, you find that the purity of the church gradually is lost. Instead of one church, one body, you have many churches, many bodies. Instead of the church as a living organism, you have Christianity today as a giant organization.

Instead of these meek followers of the Lamb, you find lions everywhere. All kinds of teachings, all kinds of doctrines, all kinds of organizations, groups, gatherings. Whatever you want, you can find there.

If it's not there, you invent one. That's Christianity today. No wonder the world said, I do not see Christ, because you people do not represent Him rightly.

But thank God. Men may fail, but God never fails. Men may destroy, but God will build His church.

So when you read church history, you don't find them really in the official church history. Because in the official church history, you see a different light. You find in the days of the Apostles, in spite of all these departures, there were people who were faithful to the Word of God.

And they will not deny the name of the Lord. Post-apostolic age, same thing. Throughout the 20th century, here and there, there is not a lack of a small minority.

Always there, returning to the simplicity and purity of Christ. They will not deny the name of the Lord. They consider the name of the Lord is sufficient for them.

They will not call themselves this or that. They are just Christians. They are brothers to one another.

They keep the Word of God and deny not His name. It is rare. They have been persecuted not only by the world, but by the Christian world.

For instance, like an Anabaptist during the time of Reformation. Thank God for the Reformation because we have an open Bible and we come to know justification by faith. But these Reformers did not go far enough.

And there were people who felt that they wanted to return to the Word of God, to the original God's Revelation. And when they did that, they were persecuted by the Protestant churches. Thousands of Anabaptists were drowned.

You want to be baptized? All right. We'll baptize you. Put a stone around you and drown you.

Many died for their faith. The Lord said, I will build my church on this rock. And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

Brothers and sisters, why do we gather here? If you know our history, to us it is not a casual thing. We pay a cost to do that. Before we began together forty years ago, we were in different denominations.

Some were in Catholic, some were in Charismatic, some were in Methodist, Episcopalian, whatnot. Not because we have any drudge against them, anyone. As a matter of fact, if you may allow me to give my own testimony, I was brought up a Methodist.

My father was a Methodist pastor, bishop. The Methodists have been good to me. I received free education from childhood to college.

And everybody expected me to succeed my father. But God, one day, opened my eyes. I cannot be a Methodist.

Christ is not divided. I have to come out of division and return to unity. A heavy cost has to be paid.

By myself, I couldn't. But His grace is sufficient. The same thing happened to us.

When God began to open the eyes of some of us in the early days, we were zealous in where we were. The Lord began to open our eyes to see the glory of His name. Why should we have a name other than the name of the Lord Jesus? The Bible said, we have to gather together unto my name.

Why are we Methodists? Why are we Lutherans? Why are we this or that? As if Christ is not enough? No. We have to gather together unto His name. You know, when you meet another Christian, usually they will ask you, Are you a Christian? And you say, Thank God, I am.

Are they satisfied? No. They say, What denomination do you belong to? People are not satisfied with the name of Jesus. As if Jesus is not enough.

You have to find something added to Jesus. But they deny not the name. The Lord said, If you do not deny His name, He will not deny you.

Brothers and sisters, we begin to see the preciousness, the all-sufficiency, the headship, the lordship of our Lord Jesus. We want to follow Him, not follow any man. We want to put ourselves under His headship.

Not under any man's authority or headship. He is the head of the body. And we are members to one another in His body.

We want to open ourselves to all God's people. No matter what brand you may be. Whoever the Lord receives, we receive.

Brothers and sisters, we dare not deny the Lord. We dare not keep the word of whatever He says. That's a hard desire to obey.

It's through much prayer, nothing casual, that some of us in the early days, we feel the burden of bearing the testimony to the headship of Christ and the oneness of the body of Christ. So we came out from the religious world and we began to gather together in lowliness and humility only to the name of our Lord Jesus. It's not easy.

Lots of dealings in our lives. Many things in us that is from the world, from the religious world, from the natural, from the flesh, from sin, have to be dealt with. Because that body cannot take in foreign particles, reject them.

But we feel it is our responsibility to do that. Brothers and sisters, that's why when you come to this place, you do not find a sign there telling us, telling you who we are, who are gathering together. No sign.

Why? Because we don't want to put up a sign to separate ourselves from our dear brothers and sisters in this city. People misunderstand us thinking that because we gather separately so we are separatists. We break the body of Christ.

The body has been broken so many pieces already. Why should we break it once more? We dare not do that. The reason why we gather together is because we want to get out of all the divisions and be a testimony to the lordship of Christ and the oneness of the body of Christ.

That's all. Well, some people will say, don't you have a name? Is that Richmond Christian Fellowship your name? Let me explain. That is not our name.

We have only one name, the name of the lord. But because we live in this country and we have to obey the law of this country, the church is heavenly, never registered on earth. It is registered in heaven.

But because we are still on earth and living in this country, we should not be lawless. The bible says, obey the authority that God has set above you. And we are under this government.

And it is required by the government, if you want to have a place to own, a place where you can meet, you have to register it with the government. And in registration you have to have a specific name. Otherwise you cannot register nameless.

So this is the reason why we do have something like an organization called the Richmond Christian Fellowship. It is not a church. It has no control over.

It is just a legal organization before the government to be responsible for the property here. And they allow the church to meet there. So we don't call this a church building.

Because this is not a church. This is just a place where you use to meet. So every year we have to have an annual meeting of that organization.

We usually have it on Wednesday, prayer meeting time. Because in prayer meeting only those who are really concerned will be there. And not just spectators or visitors.

And we always try to explain the name of Richmond Christian Fellowship. It is not the name of the church. It is the name of a legal person that holds the property before the government.

And the church government is not governed by the trustees of that organization. The church government is under those brothers who are raised up by God to be responsible. So dear brothers and sisters I hope in a very little way we can explain what it is.

Now remember we are not nameless because we are named after the Lord Jesus. And that's a name that is above every name. And that's a name that we consider as enough for us.

And brothers and sisters another thing I think we need to clarify. It is true that we gathered here together as a local expression of the church universal. Because the church universal is one.

So it has to have an expression on this earth. And it has to be an expression somewhere to show that Jesus is Lord and we are one body. So that's what we intend to be.

But we are not the church in Richmond. If you read a Bible in the early days you find the church in Jerusalem even though there are thousands of people there. One church.

The church in Jerusalem. The church in Antioch. Even though there are Gentiles there.

Jews there. They are one. You have the church in Ephesus.

The church in Rome. That is the name of the church local. But today because of the confusion of Christianity God's people have been divided into so many pieces.

There is not the possibility of any one group gathering together even in the name of the Lord that can claim themselves as the church in Richmond. That's all right. Let's have a word of prayer.

Commit it to the Lord. Dear Lord, you are Lord and we just commit this into your hand. Pray that thy life will enter into this life and restore it to health and bring glory we ask in thy name.

Amen. So brothers and sisters because of the complication in Christianity today, God's people in the city of Richmond are divided into many many groups. You know, today you find that in many groups called church they not only include those who are really the lords, but they even include those who are not the lords there.

But still you find there are people who are the lords in many groups in this city. And we also recognize that there are people who are not meeting us more spiritually. Now, let us concentrate.

We recognize that there are Christians in many groups in the city of Richmond more spiritual, loving the Lord more, knowing the Lord more than we do. We recognize that. So we dare not exclude our brothers and sisters.

We believe that the church in Richmond includes all God's children in the city. Wherever he is or she is, they are all included. We are included, they are included, but what the Lord has raised up to be is trying to give an expression to it.

Not the expression, an expression to what the church universal is. In other words, all our heart's desire is to return to the Word of God, to what the Lord originally has commanded. We are far from what we should be.

Very imperfect, very weak, lots of things in us that need to be dealt with. We acknowledge that. But brothers and sisters, our desire is we want to return to what the Lord says in His Word.

So, that's why we gather. And I do hope that brothers and sisters that knowing why we gather, that we will have a love for the house of God. You know, those who really love the Lord love His house.

And we hope that seeing what His house is, that we may learn to love it, try to put ourselves in God's hand and allow Him to work out His full purpose. So, that is our desire. And, God willing, next Lord's Day, we will try to share on this matter what is our testimony.

Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we do want to thank Thee for giving us this time that we may be together in Thy presence and learn Thy Word. We pray that Thy Spirit will illumine Thy Word and open our understanding and draw us into Thy Word, that we may be by Thy grace a people who keep Thy Word and deny not Thy Name.

Lord, have mercy, we ask in Thy precious Name.