We have come to this Easter day with an important message. What does Easter mean? It is a message of liberation.
And this is the key of my message today. It is a message of liberation. A message about freedom. Let me ask you.
Are you a free person? Do you think you really are? If you are a free man, a free person, and today's word of God has nothing to say to you. When the Lord Jesus said something about freedom in John chapter 8 to the Jews, to the Pharisees, they said we are free.
When Jesus said that we have never been slaves, we have never been slaves. Strange that they should say that. The fact is that they were in fact not free. Actually, in fact, they were not free. Not only in the past, they were not free at that moment. They were right at that time under the domination of the Roman Empire.
They were slaves under the Roman Empire. Even worse. As the Lord Jesus told them, they were under a worse slavery than that. And Jesus said that they were in a worse slavery than that. They were slaves of sin. They were slaves of sin.
The word of God is talking to you. I am not speaking to the person sitting beside you. I am not speaking to the person sitting behind you. I am not speaking to the person sitting in front of you. The Lord wants me to talk to you.
Are you free? What kind of sin are you in bondage to? I want to talk about a bondage.
And this morning I was thinking deeply about it. The bondage of darkness. I've been teaching the word of God for quite a number, for quite a long time now, many years. And one thing that never ceases to disturb me is the darkness in which people are found. The spiritual darkness that prevents you from seeing even your true condition and you think you are free.
The Lord Jesus said to the Pharisees, When the Pharisees asked him, Are we then blind too? We are teachers of the Bible, you know. And the Lord Jesus said to them, Because you think you see, that is the reason why you are in your blindness. You are still in your blindness. You are still in your blindness. You are still in your blindness.
You are still in your blindness. You are still in your blindness. You are still in your blindness. You know, the greatest bondage that many brothers and sisters are in today, and I'm talking about brothers and sisters, I don't even want to talk about unbelievers because they are totally blind, I'm sorry to say.
But I'm talking about believers who are in the dark, who cannot see. I tell you what I was praying about this morning. I tell you what I was praying about this morning. Because it was weighing upon my heart. I pleaded with the Lord. Lord have mercy upon us.
We are walking in the dark spiritually. We cannot see, we cannot see even the simplest things in your word. We are still in the dark.
I even have to see the simplest things in your mind. I'm not talking about deep and difficult things to understand. I'm talking about the simplest things. I see through all these years of teaching the word of God that people cannot see. I'm not talking about deep and difficult things to understand. I'm talking about the simplest things.
And as I prayed and pleaded with the Lord about this, I suddenly realized that half an hour had gone. By the time I looked at my watch again, I'd been praying about this for half an hour. When I was like this, I was like this. But I was like this.
I already had to go over half an hour. This weighs upon my heart. This weighs upon my heart. Let me illustrate to you right away, because our time is short, what I mean.
If we are not enough time, let me first tell you. I was sitting in the Bible study group yesterday, with one of the Bible study groups, and as I listened to the discussion, I knew that people didn't understand what they were talking about. I'm sorry. I don't mean any offense to anyone. I just want to point out the problem. I knew that people didn't know what they were talking about.
We were talking around in circles, and at the end, I don't know what it is really we were all talking about. I say this not to shame anyone but to show us the condition in which we are spiritually we don't know what we are talking about May the Lord set us free from this darkness this spiritual confusion in which the whole church seems to be bound the whole church all over the world What does this camp seem about? Maybe you've been here for the last two or three days and you're still scratching your head and you're saying, what are we talking about? But if you think you know what we are talking about maybe your trouble is even worse than the guy who doesn't know what we are talking about Maybe if you think you know what we are talking about Maybe you're still missing Maybe you're still missing Prepare ye the way Prepare the way Prepare the way Let me give you a few propositions straight away Let me tell you plainly from the word of God Whether it disappoints you or makes you happy There is no road There is no way for us to build There is no road No way for us to build Let me tell you Let me tell you What we are talking about What we have been talking about for the last three days The Bible tells us that there is a road But we are not going to build it I was a bit naughty I was a bit naughty in yesterday's Bible study I have to confess I apologize When I get a bit frustrated I get a bit naughty So you will know my character I confess to you After all this talk about preparing a way in the wilderness I asked this question Why does God need a highway?
So everyone is a little puzzled So I ask the question Is God coming to us in a convoy of limousines? Just like Mr... Whoever... Whichever president whichever country comes He comes with all these limousines and all the flags are flying and we stand at attention beside the road and we welcome the Lord along the highway which we have built Yes We are talking about We are talking about We are talking about We are talking about We are talking about Is that the picture you've been having after the last two years? We are all going to build this highway, and God is going to arrive in the convoy of limousines, and we will be clapping our hands.
God is arriving. Hallelujah! He is coming. We built the road for Him to come to us. Is that the picture you've got? I get the impression when I'm listening to all this conversation, that that seems to be the kind of picture.
We are going to build this beautiful highway, and God is going to come to us. We are going to rip down all the mountains. We are going to make the road flat and smooth, and go!
God needs the highway to come with His limousines. When I was listening, I got a印象. Everyone seems to think the book is like this. You see, I'm quite naughty to say this kind of thing in the Bible study.
I was getting a bit frustrated. You want to build the road? I beg of you to tell me something. Why does God need the road?
Why do God need this road? I beg of you to answer me a second question. The second question. I presume that if you build the road, you have to know in what direction you are building it. I guess when you are building the road, you know what direction you are building it? I mean, if we are building a stadium, so for two million people, and we are going to welcome God to the stadium, we can just find any site around here.
But if you build the road, you have to know whether you are going north, south, east, west, which way are we going to build the road? If you want to build a big field, we can build this place. We can build this place. But if we are building a road, then we know that we are building a road.
We know that we are building a road in the wilderness. By the time we spiritualize this, we still don't understand what we are talking about. Let's talk in spirituality.
Then which direction do you build the road in? Let's not waste much more time in talking nonsense. God doesn't need any road. If anybody needs a road, it is us that need the road. We don't have to build a road for God. It's we who need a road to go somewhere.
Let me repeat that in the Bible teaching, there is no road for us to build. You know who will build the road? God will build the road. We don't build any road. You say what about the camp theme? Look carefully at the words once more, please.
What do you read there? Build the way of the Lord? There is nothing about build. It is prepared.
We will build something, yes, but we are not going to build any road. Only God can build the road of salvation. If we can build the road of salvation, we could save ourselves. We don't need God to save us. The road is the road of salvation, and only God can save. Only He can build the road.
You and I don't build any roads. Heroic as that may be to build the road. Unfortunately, we are not qualified. This road is the road to build the road. It is a path of the path.
It is not that we are building. If not, then we don't need to build. We can achieve this path. We can achieve this path. If you read the Bible, you would understand that the road is the road of salvation. We don't save ourselves.
It is God by His grace that saves us. So that we cannot build this road. Everyone will see the Bible when you read the Bible. When God comes to us, you should also have seen that God does not come to us horizontally across some wilderness. Thank you. That part I haven't said yet.
Yes, indeed. God always comes from above. We don't build a highway upward. We would have to build a multi-story building with a road coming down from there. God never comes along the desert. He comes from above.
He descends from above. He always comes from above. He doesn't come from above. If not, then we may build a very high building. To find out He. By now, I hope you understand what I'm talking about.
We've been talking nonsense. If the notion is that we are building a road for God to come to us. As though He needs us to build a road for Him to come. Now, when you are reading Isaiah, brothers and sisters, please, please, when you come to the Bible, ask God to open to open the blind eyes. Isaiah says nothing about us, building a road for God to come to us.
Yisrael,从何都没有说过我们建筑的道路是被主来到我们那里. If you read in the context, it is a road that God opens for His people out of slavery. A road of salvation out of slavery.如果你看清楚的话,就是主开了一条道路是被他们能够从捆绑从奴隸的生活当中是解决出来的. Do you see what it's saying?你看到里面讲什么呢? We cannot build the road. It is God who opens the road right across the Red Sea, right across the wilderness to the land.
It is God who leads. He opens the road. He opens even the road through the sea.主是他跟我们开一条路的,正如是他是在洪海里面开一条路是主着他自己开的. Even the Israelites didn't open any road.在以色列人当时从来没有开过任何的路. And in Isaiah chapter 40, when God speaks through Isaiah prepare the way of the Lord, He is not saying that we are going, that the Jews were to build a road from Babylon from across the desert to Israel.当在上下书第40章是讲到话预备主的道路的时候,他不是讲到话叫那些犹太人从巴比伦一直建立了条道回去. No, He is just saying prepare for the fact that He will open the way.
He is not going to grab you by the neck and drag you fighting and kicking across the wilderness. That's why Isaiah says if you read carefully that a remnant will return not all of them will come back, only those who listen to His call and come out of exile. Not everyone will come out on this highway of salvation. Isaiah makes it clear.
He talks about the remnant again and again. But those who have the ear to hear that call will prepare, prepare their hearts to come out on the road of salvation. And only when those are going to hear their voice when they are preparing to get their heart and that will come. Prepare, not build. Prepare. Prepare to receive the salvation of God.
Prepare to see the salvation of God. Prepare to experience the salvation of God. Do you see now while I was sitting at the Bible study, I was getting quite frustrated with the discussion. The reason is that the very basic principles are not being seen. There is a darkness, a bondage that prevents people from understanding the word of God. If this camp, if anything can be accomplished in this camp, it should be this one thing.
I am really not concerned whether you understand the camp theme or not. Although I do hope that you do now after this explanation. But what I would consider a wonderful thing that God will have done in our midst today is this. It is that if you can cry out to the Lord and say, Lord, I now see my condition.
I've been sitting here three days talking about this camp theme prepare the way of the Lord and I didn't even know what I'm talking about. Just like you to the Lord and you say, Lord, I'm here already for a few days. I'm not in the whole of the whole of the whole of the whole of the whole I don't know what I'm talking about. Oh Lord, please have mercy upon me. Lord, set me free from the darkness that binds me so that I cannot understand eternal things. You're asking me from the dark of the whole of the whole of the whole of the whole of the whole of the whole of the whole what I'm talking about.
This is all picture language. It is metaphorical. It is picture language about preparing.
We can't even understand the picture language in the Bible. Never mind the plain statements of the truth. Now, I want to finish with this particular section and go on to talking about the freedom more deeply. I hope to quickly finish this part and to look more deeply to the!!
But before we do this, when you study the Bible, you must avoid confusing things which are separate. 当大家看圣经的时候,大家千万不要将有些分开的东西混淆了它。 The English word confuse is a very appropriate word. 英文的字是混淆的字。 The word fused means to join two things together in an inseparable way. Fuse it together. 混淆的意思是将两个东西混在一起的意思。 Confuse is to put two different things together to talk about two different things as though they are one and the same thing. Now, there are two different things that we've actually been studying and we've been talking about it as though they're one and the same thing. Yes, we've been talking about it and we've been talking about it and we've been talking about it and we've been talking about it and we've been talking about it and we've been talking about it and we've been talking about it and we've been talking about it in Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 3 Prepare the way of the Lord. 二创夏書第40章第3節 it says 預備主的道路 that everybody is confusing these two verses as though they were talking about one and the same thing. 我在查经里面 觉得个个都以为 这两次经文 根本是一样 是讲一样 是讲一样 Actually they are quite different and when you start doing this you confuse everything by making two separate things into one and the same thing. 其实这两次经文是讲两样不同的东西 当我们这样去将它混淆了的时候 我们就很混乱了 You know I have been often amazed as I said in teaching the Bible 在我一直在教导圣经的经历当中 我看到有些很有趣的东西 I find many people are highly educated people 我看到很多人 都可能受了高深的教育 Oh they have all kinds of degrees Master's, Th.D. Whatever you like 像很多个学位 博士 碩士 诸如此类 I presume that they must be quite good in their particular profession 我想他应该在他的职业里面 当然是很聪明的了 If degrees are anything to go by 如果是确位 是作为一个量度的标准的话 Of course often it doesn't mean very much But if that's anything to go by They should be good in their profession
# Prepare Ye the Way: The Canary and the Slave Mentality (Part 2)
I can't understand the words of the word. What I meant by this being in bondage, it has nothing to do with your level of intelligence. It has to do with a spiritual blindness. From which I have said, if you can accomplish anything in this camp, ask the Lord to open your spiritual eyes, I beg of you. This is not the same with knowledge.
It is not the same with the fact that we are in the dark darkness of the darkness. I hope that we can see the Lord to open your eyes. Isaiah 40 talks about preparing the way.
Let the high things be brought down. Let the brother Isaac Nathan prove repentance that our pride may be brought low before God. But there is the other thing, the valley. The valley in which so many people are stuck in the problem of futility. And this has to be brought out, raised up. You have to be brought out of the pit of futility.
And I will explain later what futility means in the luva. And these people are in the luva. The people who need to be brought back in the luva. They need to be brought back in the luva. Otherwise, I tell you, you can have three or five PhDs in whatever subject you study. And you will not understand the word of God any better than a little child can understand it.
Maybe the child can understand it better than you can. Let me try to put the matter very briefly. Isaiah 40 talks about deliverance, one from Egypt as a model for the deliverance from exile in Assyria Babylon.
In Isaiah 40, it is talking about a time when there was no more temple because the temple in Egypt, when the people came out of Egypt, the temple wasn't built yet. And by the time the exile was the subject, the temple had been destroyed. But in Malachi 3, what does it say there?
The Lord will return to His temple. The temple is in existence. It is two entirely different subjects.
You can see that two different situations. You can see that two different situations. Malachi has nothing to say about any wilderness. In Malachi 3, it has nothing to say about any wilderness. Whereas in the Isaiah passage, there is nothing to say about a temple. The situation is entirely different.
In Eishatel 3, it is not talking about the temple. So you can see that two different situations. In Malachi 3, the point is that God will return to His temple. There has to be a temple before He can return to it. There has to be a temple before He can return to it. That's why it is clear that we have to have a temple before He can return to it.
These are two entirely different things. We cannot be confused in this fashion. You can see that these two are completely different situations. We cannot be confused in this fashion. I said earlier that there is no highway for us to build, and your heart may have sunk. We rolled up our sleeves.
We came here to build a temple to build a highway, and there is no highway to build. That is very heroic. I appreciate your willingness that several hundred people came to build a highway. I would like to be told that you are unemployed. There is no highway to build. All you can do is prepare your heart so that God can save you, can build the highway of salvation for you, not for Him.
But of course, I am sure you are very clever people. You say, ah, wait a minute. I have also been reading my Bible, not only you. I see here, prepare the way for the Lord. Ah, you say He doesn't need the road. Then why does it say, prepare a way for the Lord?
You say, He doesn't need the road. Why does He say He wants to give the road to the Lord? Ah, so clever. I underestimated it. You are really smart. Maybe I have to低估 you.
Unfortunately, that is not what Isaiah means. Prepare the way for the Lord doesn't mean build the highway so that He can travel on it. It is very lucky.
Is Yitzchua not to say that He wants to give the road to the Lord. The point is that it is to prepare a way that the Lord, for the Lord who will build that highway, which is what? That highway for the Lord means that is the place where God will reveal His glory. That is what He says.
All flesh shall see it together. This is the place where God will reveal His glory. This is the place where God will reveal His glory.
For the Lord doesn't mean that He needs to travel on it. It is for the Lord in the sense that it is there where the glory of the Lord will be revealed to all mankind. Let us look quickly, because with translation we are slowed down a lot, so we don't have too much time.
But let me show you very quickly. I am sure you are already very familiar with Isaiah 40, so I will not even read that passage. I am sure you are already very familiar with Isaiah 40, so I will not even read that passage. Let us start at Isaiah 51, and we read only one or two verses.
Isaiah 51 verse 10. Isaiah 51 verse 10. Was it not thou who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea a pathway or highway for the redeemed? He makes the pathway for the redeemed, not us. Let me jump somewhat quickly.
So you can see, I just show you from one verse, that this pathway or highway is something built by God for His redeemed people, not by us. You can see here, it is the主. He is building the road and not for us to build. When the people of Israel were saved out of Egypt, It was God who opened the way, wasn't it?
When the主 was the one who opened the way, was it? But also we know that they had to prepare to leave. He could have opened the sea, but they weren't prepared to leave. So there had to be a preparatory work, so that the people were ready to leave at the proper time.
We must prepare for God to save us. We prepare through repentance. It is in this amazing saving work that God's glory is revealed.
In that sense, our preparation leads to our salvation for the glory of God. It is for the Lord because it is for His glory, not for Him to travel on it. When God sets His people free from slavery. He will make His people free from the sins. Let's look at this beautiful verse in Isaiah 52.
Verse 2. Here is what the preparation is that they have to do to prepare for that way of salvation. Here is what the preparation is that they have to prepare for what they have to do to prepare for this explanation. Verse 2. Shake yourself from the dust. Rise up, O captive Jerusalem.
Loose yourself from the chains around your neck. O captive daughter of Zion, for thus says the Lord, you were sold for nothing, and you will be redeemed. You will be set free without money. Shake yourself from the dust and rise up. The chains of your neck. Plead for the liberty.
Plead for the salvation that comes from God, because only God can save you. But are you ready for his salvation? Verse 10 is the last verse we read, because we don't have time. We read the last verse, the 10. The Lord has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, that all the ends of the earth may see.
The salvation of God is not God being saved, it is God saving us, the salvation of God. He doesn't need the road. It is we who need the highway, we need the highway, not he.
It is he who opens the highway for us, right through the sea, right through the desert. He is in the sea, in the sea, in the sea, in the sea, in the sea, in the sea, in the sea, in the sea. The way of preparing for us to go out means that we must respond to his call. What is the call?
The next verse is right there. Depart, depart, go out from that slavery. Touch nothing unclean. There is something more we need to prepare. You see, we need to prepare some things.
Go out of the midst of her. Purify yourselves. You must be able to come out from that. There are a lot of things we have to respond to. We have to respond to the call to leave, the call to purify ourselves, to get the chains of our necks.
You see, we need to have to prepare for the Lord's message. To prepare for our own, to prepare for our own, to take our own, to take our own. I hope now the picture is becoming clearer to you.
I hope the picture is becoming clearer to you. Indeed, there is something we have to build. It's not the road, it's not the highway. We need to build some things, but not the road.
It's other things. So if you came to build the highway, don't be disappointed. There is something else for you to build. If you came to build the highway, don't be disappointed. Don't be disappointed. You have to do other things.
After all, you won't be out of a job. But first, first you must come out along the highway of salvation that God has made. And that's where Malachi chapter 3 comes in. If God is going to return to the temple, when God will suddenly come to the temple, there must first be a temple ready for him to come to. And that's why the Lord is going to come to the temple. It's the first time there must be a temple in the temple.
The people who are brought out of bondage are given the job to build the temple. The Bible constantly speaks about building the temple, never building the highway. In all the pictures of deliverance in the Bible, Whether it is from Egypt, Or from Babylon, Or from sin, It is always to come out, Through God's saving power, And then what does God say? When you come out, After you come out, Then I will dwell in your midst.
I will be your God. And you will be my people. Where is the beautiful picture? He brings us out to meet with himself. The same picture in the New Testament. It's always the same pattern.
He saves us out of sin. He gives us a task to build the temple, which is his church. So that he will dwell in us, and with us.
And eventually we will meet with him also in the end. This is a second stage, not the same. This second stage of preparation is preparing the temple for his return. Do you see the picture? At this point, we are going to take a break. Sounds like a TV break.
We are not going to have a commercial. But we are going to sing a song in worship to the Lord. Let's go to the stage.
Let's ask some strong men to bring this board onto the platform, so that you can see it better at the back. And I would like to give you a little bit of time to think about what I've said so far. I'll give you some time to think about what I've said so far. I hope this song you will see is appropriate to the camp because it's called exactly Prepare.
Now I hope you can sing this with a better understanding of the camp theme. It's hard to sing a song without knowing what you are singing about. Now we understand Prepare means prepare.
Prepare means prepare your heart. And at the second stage, when you yourself have been saved, then you can prepare other people to be saved too. To help them to see their own need for salvation. That's what we ask the Genesis. We ask, I think some brothers and sisters will teach us this song. So we will retire for a few minutes.
And leave you to take your breath. And let your minds be refreshed after the very texting of time. We ask the brothers and sisters to come up. Now we will take the next time.
Now we will take the next time. Now we will take the next time. Now we will keep the next time.
Now we will keep the next time. Now we will keep the next time. Now we keep the next time.
Now we keep the next time. Now we keep the next time. Now we keep the next time.
Now we keep the next time. Now we keep the next time. 趁此良機,也到他降下恭義恩怡。 詞曲 李宗盛 詞曲 李宗盛 詞曲 李宗盛 詞曲 李宗盛 詞曲 李宗盛 詞曲 李宗盛 I keep the Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Do you want to be free? Do you want to be free? Do you want to be free? Strangely enough, there are people who don't want to be free. I once had a canary. I'm sure you know what a canary is.
It's a yellow bird. Yes, it's a yellow bird. Yes, it's a yellow bird. Yes, it's a yellow bird. Yes, it's a yellow bird. Yes, it's a yellow bird.
Yes, it's a yellow bird. Yes, it's a yellow bird. Yes, it's a yellow bird. Yes, it's a yellow bird. Yes, it's a yellow bird. Yes, it's a yellow bird.
Yes, it's a yellow bird. I will just put my hand in the cage, and gradually learn to stand on my hand. I will just take it out of the cage. It will still remain on my hand. Then I would encourage it to fly. Go on, fly.
Then it will fly onto my shoulder. I will just fly some more. Then it will make a little circle, and you know what? Then it will take a circle, and you know what? It always flies back to the cage. No, no, not so fast.
Come on, come on. Make it fly again. Then I will just fly again. It always wants to go back to the cage. It will always be so dangerous. I thought it was interesting.
I give you the freedom. I will give you the freedom. I will let you fly. And all you want to do is go back to the cage. I ask, do you want to be free? Why does the birds always want to go back to the cage?
Why does the birds always want to go back to the cage? I thought if I open it, it will fly off into the sky. I thought it was open when it was open. Because the cage, that bondage is its security. Because the cage, that bondage is its security. It was brought up in slavery.
It didn't know any other kind of life. It was brought up in slavery. It didn't know any other kind of life. Let me tell you something.
Like the canary, we have all been brought up in bondage. Like the king, we have all been brought up in the cage. So if you tell people, Oh, everybody will run for freedom.
If God builds a highway of salvation, Everybody will go on it. Wrong. If you tell people, If God is looking for this救恩道路, Everyone will be running for it. That's why Isaiah said, Only a remnant will want to go. We keep going. We keep going.
We keep going. We keep going. We keep going. We keep going. We keep going. We keep going.
We keep going. We keep going. We keep going. We keep going. We keep going. We keep going.
We keep going. We keep going. We keep going. We keep going. We keep going. We keep going.
We keep going. We keep going. We keep going. It's good. Good? Why?
Because there used to be onions. Garlic? Chili? How can anybody live without chili?
I mean, if you're from Hong Kong, you may not understand it, but those from Malaysia can understand what I'm talking about. I mean, life without chili is almost not worth living, for some of them. Let's go back to Egypt.
Oh, the smell of garlic. We can't get any garlic in the desert. I mean, we have to eat this food without garlic, without chili. This food can't go down. Not to mention that in Egypt, we still have some water to take a shower with. In the wilderness, where do you have a shower?
I mean, at this time, it's very uncomfortable. No shower. You know, we Hong Kong people used to have shower every day.
I mean, in the wilderness, how do you have a shower? We can't sleep at night. It's too hot in the desert. How long is it going to take us to get to this promised land? Let's go back to Egypt and call it a day.
Just say that we had two or three days of picnic in the wilderness, and we didn't like it too much. We didn't want to come back home again. Now, you know that I'm not exaggerating. That is exactly the picture that you read here in the Bible.
The canary wants to go back to the cage. I see the same problem. We talk to people in the world. Do they say, Oh, salvation! Oh, wonderful! I'm coming!
No, no, no. What's going to happen to my life if I'm safe? What's going to happen to my career? What's going to happen to my business? Worst of all, I go to church every Sunday and listen to boring Bible studies and messages. You call that salvation?
I mean, I sit at home and watch the TV. It's more exciting on Sunday to listen to this boring preacher talking his head off. Oh, our minds already kept... Sometimes I can't blame you. I do admit that sometimes the preaching is very boring. Of course, I can't blame you.
Sometimes the preaching is very boring. This is a surprise. We have to translate the who is preaching as well.
You see, my subject today was supposed to be a qualification for a builder. And you might imagine that by now I have forgotten what I was supposed to be preaching about. You might imagine the problem is I couldn't get to my subject until I clarified the rest of the camp scene first. I want to just talk about one fundamental qualification.
Unless you yourself are free, how can you prepare other people for freedom? For freedom? Look at the Bible again. When God wanted to bring the nation of Israel out of slavery, what did he do? Remember that the Jews were in slavery for several hundred years.
Over 400 years when they lived in Egypt. And much of that time they were in slavery. Like my canary, they had already developed the slave mentality. So when God wanted a person to save them from slavery, what kind of a person did he have to prepare?
He had to prepare somebody. When the Lord was in the church and he had to prepare them for a person to save them. Have you ever noticed? He prepared somebody called Moses. The thing about Moses was that he never had been a slave. He never had the slave mentality.
God had to choose a man who had not been a slave for fear that that slave mentality would make it impossible for him to save others. Moses was brought up in the Egyptian palace since he was a baby. From the age of age, he was born in the埃及 of the king. And even when he fled from Egypt, he was so much like an Egyptian, a free Egyptian, that other people thought that he was an Egyptian, not a Jew. In fact, you see that in Exodus chapter 2. When he went to the land of Midian, far away from Egypt, when he helped a certain person in that person's trouble, that person reported to her father, an Egyptian saved me from the shepherds who came to attack me.
That person said that person that she thought was an Egyptian was in fact Moses and was not an Egyptian or a Jew. God had to prepare a man who was free even in the way he thinks because he had no slave mentality. He had never been a slave. When the Lord Jesus came to save us, Moses said there would come a prophet like himself.
And one of the ways in which the Lord Jesus was like Moses was precisely in this respect. He never was a slave of sin. So that he could be our savior.
Our problem is more serious. When we want to help others to prepare, what is our qualification? We must first be free.
But being freed from the bondage of sin is a very difficult thing. I want to tell you basically what kind of freedom the Bible talks about, but I will not expound it because I have no time to do that. Because I have no time to do that. I have no time to do that. But I will tell you what kind of freedom is the way to do that.
The Bible is all about freedom. It is the book about freedom. The Bible is all about freedom. This is a book about自由.
And there is one book in the New Testament, the key theme of which is all about freedom. In the New Testament, there is a book about salvation. Which tells us that you don't know what salvation is until you experience freedom. That means when I asked you right at the beginning of this message, are you free? I was asking the question, are you saved? So when I was at the beginning of this message, are you free?
I was asking the question, are you saved? So when I asked you, are you free? Because most Christians don't even know what salvation means. Because most Christians don't even know what salvation means. Take this message with you home today, this word of God with you. Understand the Bible teaching that salvation means freedom.
If you are not free, in other words, you are not saved. That's not meant words here. I don't care whether you've been baptized or not. That doesn't interest me here. I don't care which church you belong to. I don't care how many years you've been to church.
I'm not in the least interested whether you've been to Bible school, seminary, or any other full-time training. It doesn't interest me at all. I want to know whether you are free.
If you are not, the Bible tells us, Not me, the Bible tells us. You aren't saved. Because in the Bible, the two are equated. I can take you through the whole Bible from beginning to end to demonstrate this. I know clearly in this message I don't have time for that. I can from the Bible, from the beginning to end to end to the Bible.
What is the book of the New Testament that talks about salvation as freedom? Of course it's the book of Galatians. But it is found in Romans 2.
The whole of chapter 6. For those of you who are being baptized today, keep that in mind. This is the first basic freedom.
Where in Romans 6, Paul says, Do you not know that if you are baptized, you are freed from sin? In Romans 6, the Bible says, You know that you are in the midst of the and if you are in the midst of the peace of the Lord. But if you do not have the freedom from sin within, you are not free in any meaningful sense of that word.
If there are people in bondage to all kinds of sins. of sins. Bound in fornication, adultery, sexual things. As our brother Isaac reminded us. There are people who are externally free, but they are slaves to drugs. There are other people who are slaves to bad temper. They are slaves to all kinds of sins.
How can they be free? To be saved, get it in your minds, brothers and sisters. To be saved is to be free. If you are under bondage to sin, you are not free and you are not saved. If you are still being saved, you are not free. It is not free.
It is not free. It is not free. It is not free.
The Bible says so. You read Romans 6 for yourself or the whole of Galatians or the whole of the Bible, if you like. Let me tell you quickly the eight kinds of freedom that the Bible talks about.
First, give freedom from the power of sin. What a wonderful freedom it is to be free from sin's power. That you don't have to commit the sins that bind you. You run the That means this freedom is the freedom from the point of view of the law. You are acquitted. You are forgiven.
This is from the law and the law and the law. You are acquitted. You are forgiven. The first one was freedom from the power. The second is freedom from the guilt of sin. The first is from the罪 of the power and the second is from the guilt of sin.
The next freedom is freedom from the law. The third is freedom from the law. Freedom from the condemnation which comes from breaking the law of God. It is because it is against the law and the law and the law.
It is because it is against the law and the law. This point applies particularly to the Jews because Gentiles are not directly under the law. This is a particular expression in the Jews.
Because the people are not in the Jews. Free from the... The next point is free from the fear of man. The third is free from the fear of man. Oh, this is a terrible bondage. This is a terrible bondage.
So many people are under bondage because they try to please men. Because many people are under bondage because they try to please men. They want people to praise them. They want people to say good things of them. Are you hurt when people criticize you? Or are you so free?
It doesn't matter if they criticize you. Are you upset because people like you or don't like you? You will not say you are not happy when people like you or don't like you. Oh, we live under bondage. The fear of man. We live under bondage.
The fear of man. We live under bondage. The fear of man. Let's move on quickly.
Let's move on quickly. The next is the fear of death. The fear of death. I am not going to give you many scriptural verses. But for example, fear of man we have in Matthew 10, 26. Where the Lord says, don't be afraid of what man can do to you.
For example, the fear of man is so important that in the Bible we read it among other things The next freedom is the freedom from the fear of death, as I mentioned in Hebrews chapter 2, 14 and 15 and so on. The next freedom is freedom from anxiety. The next freedom is freedom from anxiety. Freedom from anxiety. Look at today. Everyone is in nervous condition.
They have to have sedatives. They have to drink wine to keep their nerves calm. They have to do this and that. Have you seen some people, they don't smoke, their hands are shaking. They need a fact. They need a smoke.
They are in bondage to anxiety. One of the major causes of problems today, even for physical health, is stress, stress, pressure. It causes high blood pressure and all kinds of other complications. The next freedom is freedom from darkness. The next freedom is freedom from darkness. In this point, we mean freedom from oppressing spiritual powers.
Do you go to fortune tellers? Do you have to go to see those people? I know there are Christians who do this kind of things. Do you read your horoscope in the newspaper to see what you can or cannot do today or tomorrow? Do you have to see your星座图? Do you have to see what you should do or not do anything?
Do you have to see how many Christians do things like that? Do you hang charms around your neck? Do you wear a cross as a charm to protect you from evil? Do you wear a cross as a charm to protect you from evil? Superstition. Let me tell you that no cross can protect you.
No golden cross hanging on your neck can protect you from evil. If I tell you that no cross can protect you from evil. The cross has to be in your heart, not around your neck. The cross has to be in your heart, not around your neck. Freedom from darkness and the power of darkness. It is saying you are from the power of darkness and the power of darkness.
I want to come to the last one. I want to come to the last one. Because this one is particularly important for Christians. It is the freedom from futility.
We will read just one verse. Ephesians Chapter 4 Verse 17 Bye-bye. Thank you.
# Prepare Ye the Way: Freedom from Futility (Part 3)
人全虚妄的心行事。 持妄, futile, empty. 这个说到虚妄,空虚。 This one particularly worries me. 这个特别使得我担心的。 So in a full circle, I come back to the beginning of this message. 这个我特别现在回到我开头这个信息你们所说的。 It is this bondage to futility that prevents people from having any spiritual perception. 这个就是说在希望当中被捆绑,以致我们没有任何那个量刚. This is what I mean by the slave mentality. You may, like the Israelites, be physically out of Egypt, but their minds were still in Egypt. 正如好像以色列人,是他们的肉身已经离开了埃及,但是思想仍然回去. Your thinking has not been renewed. Your thinking has not been renewed. Let me come back to this question.
Are you living under stress and anxiety? 让我回到这个问题,究竟你现在是不是在忧虑和压力底下生活呢? Then you are also living under futility. 你仍然都是在虚妄底下生活。 This bondage to futility is a most difficult bondage to break. 这个虚妄底下的那个菌绑是一个最难的菌绑。 Check your thinking every day. Even as you are walking on the road in Kowloon or Hong Kong, wherever you live. Walk on the road and watch what you are thinking. Just look at it and see what you are thinking. And it will see the futility of your mind. 当你是在路上走,无论你在香港九龙走的时候,你留意一下你每一个时刻你想些什么。 当你这样看的时候,你就知道究竟什么是虚妄。 What is the thing you think about most of the day?
Check it down, and you will see it is mostly futility, emptiness, rubbish. 你会留意一下你每天所想的东西,如果你写下的时候,你会画到每天所想的东西,每天所想的东西都是垃圾,都是虚妄的东西。 Let me give you another illustration. 我给另外一个例子. I knew a very intelligent man. 我认识一个是很聪明的人. 很聪明的人. More than one doctorate. 他有多过一个博士学位. Outstanding ability in the academic field. 是在学术界是很出名的. But I noticed the futility of his mind. 但我发现他的思想是很虚妄的.
You know what bothers him most of the time? 大家知不知道什么是经常都使他担心的呢? The fact that he was so short. 即是说他因为很矮. Oh! The whole day long this tree occupied his mind. Why am I so short? Why am I so short? 他经常走在想,为什么我这么矮? 为什么我这么矮?
He was only five foot or five foot one. I can't remember. 我不记得可能他只是级五尺或者五尺一寸左右. And you said, well, so what? 那你说,那又如何呢? So he had to make a pair of shoes with the heels that I don't know how he can walk in those shoes. 因为罗兰是男士,他又不知道他怎么着高跟鞋. 因为罗兰是男士,他又不知道他怎么着高跟鞋. 因为罗兰是男士,他又不知道他怎么着高跟鞋. 因为罗兰是男士,他又不知道他怎么着高跟鞋.
So he got heels that three inches high, and I had problems with how he can walk. 他这个是那个章是三寸高,我也不知道他怎么着高跟鞋. And I could see that so much of his thinking was occupied with this business inside his heart. It never ceased to bother him that he was short. 在他心里面,他整天都想着,整天都使得他很忧累的,就是说他很矮. I tell you something, you know one reason why he did two doctorates is this. To prove that maybe you are physically taller than me, but academically. I am way up on top of you. 为什么他会去读两个博士学位呢? 因为他想证明给人看,可能我身体比你矮,但是在学术上我比你高. 但是在学术上我比你高.
So what happened is that he spent his life trying to impress other people. 究竟他做什么呢? 他整生就想使别人注意他. His great hero was Napoleon. 他那个英雄人物就是纳破仑. 为什么呢? 因为纳破仑也是五尺高而已. 因为纳破仑也是五尺高而已. 他喜欢讲关于纳破仑的故事. 他会说纳破仑其中一个长官,他是很高的. 当时那个长官是很高的. 当时那个长官是说错话了. 他说纳破仑说话了. 他说纳破仑说,我可以在柜里拿些东西,因为我高过你. 他说你不是高过我. 他说你不是高过我. 他说你不是高过我. How to translate. And so he said to this officer, I can shorten you by one head right away with one stroke of the sword. 我以为你能不能断,你就会矮过我了. 他喜欢说你的故事. 你知道原因是什么原因? 大家留意一下自己,当你在路上走的时候. 特别是男孩. 你是男孩. Is there the tendency to see, oh, I'm taller than he is. 有没有有一个的矜向,有一个的矜向就是,我高过他. This guy is a little bit taller than me, but he is much uglier than me. 这个人比我高过我,但是他比我丑弱. 他比我丑弱.
The whole time we are walking around, the mind is thinking futile and silly thoughts. 我们整天在路上走的时候, 脑海中当中只是充满虚妄和一些无谓的想法. Well, I am quite many inches taller than this person that I just mentioned. 当然,我就是高过这个的人是多丑. I don't see any significance in that. 我又看不到有什么关系. A person who is taller simply has longer legs. 当然,那些人高一点只是脚长一点而已. I don't assume that there are lots of brains in the legs. 我不相信在脚里面有多些脑汁. The fact that you have a longer bone in the leg, does it make anybody superior?
I don't understand what is the significance of this. 我都不知道有什么意思,如果你是长一点的时候,脚长一点, 多一点骨而已,有什么意思呢? So why make a big deal? Why does this person make such a big deal of this thing? 为什么一个人要把这件事情是这么夸张,这么大呢?
We see the way our mind works, and yet we know it doesn't mean anything, and yet it keeps occupying us. 你看我们的思想里面就是这样。 我们明知是没有意思的,但是这些事情就整天都是充满我们的脑。 这就是其中一个我们思想的虚妄的例子。 我们要说一会儿子,如果不介意。 如果姐妹不介意的时候,说一下姐妹。 你看来说,我们姐妹在每天的美女都在竞选拳。 你看来,他们常常都在竞选拳,每天都是这样。 Oh, they don't have to go to this Hong Kong,小姐, what kind of... 她们不去那里,不需要去参加,是Mid Hong Kong。 OK. 大家对大家对自己要坦白。 大家对大家对自己要坦白。 是 not this everyday in your mind when you're sitting in the in the MTR or in the train or whatever it is. 大家有没有看到每日是大家搭车的时候, 你会常常都比较究竟是谁漂亮, Who is beautiful, who is beautiful, or his face, is it true? Look at that when I say that our thoughts are in fear, is it true? Do you see what God is concerned about? Actually, everyone is concerned about it, except for yourself. The true beauty is the true beauty. I sometimes look at these news, and then I see there's some film star, there used to be a film star, and you look at who is that?
Oh, twenty years ago, she was so beautiful. Twenty years later, you don't even know who it is. The beauty has gone. The beauty is gone. Where does this text come from? Prepare the way of the Lord Isaiah 40.
This is the text in 2.5. Have you ever wondered why the passage goes on? Do you know here and here and here is what is said? All flesh is as grass as the flower of the field that fades away. So what's the connection with preparing the way?
We can only properly prepare the way. When we understand that these physical things are like grass, they all pass away, we must be free from this kind of thing. When we understand these all the material, all the things will go through.
We must be able to get rid of these ideas. There are people here too who have had relatively little education. And how do you feel? He is the learned gentleman with so many degrees. He has so many students. This gentleman.
And so I always feel inferior. I always feel very self-esteem. He always bothers me all the time. He is so eloquent. He has so much of a good self-esteem. And I can hardly express myself.
I can hardly express myself. He is true. All the time comparing this one is more eloquent than me. I am not as eloquent as the whole bondage again. You see, you always feel like I am not as eloquent.
And so I am not as eloquent. This is another one. All flesh is as grass. All flesh is as grass. It all passes away. Like my beautiful hair.
Like my beautiful hair. Oh, once I had such beautiful hair. Now you only see the remnant.
Very biblical remnant. All flesh is like grass. like a grass wither away. Once I had a nice figure too. I don't know what happened to the figure in the meantime. Also like grass fading away. There is one book in the Bible that talks about futility.
And most Christians don't even want to read the book. Well, I urge you when you go home to read it. The whole book tells us that life is like grass. It is futility.
Unless you have God in your life, that book tells us everything is futile. It doesn't make any difference. This book says that除非 you have God's life in your life, all of this is a fear. All of this is a fear. All of this is a fear. I have shared with many of you.
Time and again, when I passed through Hawaii on the way back to Canada, I visited my father's grave. I had to share with you. I had to go to Canada. I was going to go to Hawaii. I was going to my father's grave. Many times I stood beside my father's grave and looked at it.
I was looking at the little stone on the ground. It was just a small stone on the ground. And there is his name. There is his name. And underneath there are only two words. There are only two words.
Distinguished scholar. It is a very talented teacher. He was another one with more than one doctorate to his name. He had more than one of the teachers. All his hopes for China and for his great plans that he had came to nothing. He is in the hope of all the people of China.
And now it is completely empty. When I read Ecclesiastes, this book about futility, it says there, I was a king. I was a king. When I read the book of the book, in the book of the book, it says that I was a king. Indeed, he is still a king while he is writing the book.
Of course, when I read this book, he still is a king. So if somebody who made a mess of his life said that life is all futile, you can say, yeah, well, you can always chew your sour grapes for yourself. Yes, if someone's life is a little rotten, you will think it's just a little rotten. That's what's going on with the fear of it. But this person who wrote Ecclesiastes, some think it was Solomon, but it may be another king. The people who wrote it, maybe it's a king.
Or some people wrote it, some people wrote it, some people wrote it. He had reached the highest point in life, king of Israel. He said, he is already in the life of the king. He is the king of the king. He is the king of the king. He said, believe me, it is all emptiness.
All flesh is but grass. But he said, you must believe me. All of us are all evil. All of us are all evil. All of us are all evil. All of us are all evil.
He said, yes, as the king, I gathered treasures from all over the world. Great treasures, I stored them up. 沒錯,是我作為一個王,我可以儲了很多金銀珠寶,從世界各地都可以聚集很多金銀珠寶. I had great power. 我有很大的權力. But he said, I realized one thing. 但是, he said, I will fully understand one thing. I came into the world with nothing. I came into the world with nothing.
I will leave this world with nothing. I will leave this world with nothing. Death levels everyone. 死亡, 使得我們每個人都有平等. But only he who lives for God, finally understands what life is about. 而是只有那些, 是為了神去生活的時候, 他最深刻才會了解這個意思. 是傳道書之所以誠書, 是想我們了解到這個虛妄, 以至我們能夠從這個虛妄被釋放出來. 我們時間已經夠了. 最後呢, 跟大家分享一樣東西. 大家可能看報紙都知道, 現在美國特別說到那個國防部長, 在任命那件事. 大家知不知道發生什麼事? 大家知不知道發生什麼事? 大家知不知道, 他們是要求這個道華, 是什麼的資格呢? 你有沒有那個資格? 他們在侵犯了他三點, 而我跟著他們當中的辯論. 大家知不知道為什麼他們不想他成為國防部長呢? 有三點. 其實三點都是一樣東西的. 他們怕他太多了, 他們怕他仍然都在捆綁當中。 他不是一個自由的人。 他不是一個自由的人。 大家會覺得很奇怪, 在世界上, 他們都希望一個自由的人去帶領他們。 第一個原因, 他們被拒絕的就是。 因為是, 他因為是穴酒, 控酒。 一個長官說, 如果他是在我底下的時候, 我絕對不會叫他負責是一個核子彈頭的東西。 我絕對不會讓他做。 當他喝醉酒的時候, 就會有核子大戰。 第二件事。 I don't want to call him a nuclear bomb. I will not let him do it. The second thing.
Bondage to his physical sexual desires. Loose in relation to women. According to these things, according to the FBI reports about this. This is according to the FBI report.
The third thing. Bondage to the love of money. It is a victim of a sexual sexual desire.
Within the last two years, he had been paid $1 million and $29,000 for his services to the military industry. It is said that in the past two years, he had received a lot of money. He had received a lot of money. This was not bribe. This was payment. This is his normal收入.
For services to the industry. It is said that it is especially because of the labor services. It is their services to the industry.
When I read the reasons why they rejected Tower for defense secretary, I almost thought I was reading something from the Bible. When I saw this story about the fact that they were being punished, I thought they were being punished. I told you, brothers and sisters, I feel ashamed. But I told you, brothers and sisters, I feel ashamed.
That maybe the church is in a greater bondage than the world is. It is said that the church may be punished for this world. Today, when anybody invites a pastor, today, when anybody invites a pastor, to pastor a church, to pastor a church, I know of no church that would request an FBI report on the pastor. I don't know any of the teachers need to report on the pastor. Maybe they would be wise if they get an FBI report on their pastor first. Or they should be able to get an FBI report on their pastor first.
To find out whether their pastor, is to find out whether their pastor, is enslaved to alcohol, is not to be drunk to the pastor. That he is a good person. He likes women. He says he is a good person. And whether or not he loves money. He says he is not a good person.
These are the three things that should have been applied in the church. And yet it's applied where? In the United States government of all places. You can see, these things should be used in the church. You can see, these things should be used in the church. Are you free?
Are you free from all these eight things that we mentioned in the Bible? You are free from the Lord's salvation. Who are those who can help to prepare the way for the Lord's salvation, for the salvation that God will work? Who is qualified to prepare for the Lord's return to his temple, to his church? Who is the one who has the ability to prepare for the Lord's salvation? A man who by the Spirit of God has been set free.
He says that the man who by the Spirit of God has been set free. As we read in 2 Corinthians chapter 3. We are from the 2 Corinthians chapter 3.
Verses 17 and 18, for example. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. He says that the Lord's salvation is at that place. That place is free. Have you experienced that freedom? Have you experienced that freedom?
Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.