I would like, in the time available to us, to quickly turn to the passage that we should all be familiar with in Micah. I think this is one part of the Bible that you must know very well after several days of exposition on Micah. And I would like to cover a lot of ground, and I would like to do it quickly, because our time is short. And I have so much that I would like to share with you, which is of the greatest importance, because this is a tremendously exciting passage.
And I use the word exciting advisedly. It is truly an exciting passage and very significant. We are living today in very exciting times. Even if you are not one who listens to the news every day, which you ought to do, by the way, every Christian should be fully aware of what is going on in the world.
Well informed. Well instructed. Conceptive of what is happening in the world. And we are living in very significant times.
Every day, almost every day, something unusual happens. One year ago, I was speaking to you here too. Just try to think what has happened in one year. How many things in this one year has happened, which boggles the mind.
More has happened in one year, you can say. More significant things have happened in one year than almost in one century put together. One hundred years in the past put together can hardly have produced so many things so quickly in one year. Who could have imagined in this short time that the war, the Iron Curtain would have collapsed?
Who could have imagined that a divided Germany could have been united? Who could have imagined that the Cold War is over? Who could imagine that today, the Germans and the Americans, the greatest enemies of the Russians, are sending thousands of tons of food supplies to provide for the needs of the Russians. Mind-boggling.
That's incredible. But for those who are in touch with the Bible, yet more incredible is what is going to happen very soon, it looks like. Perhaps in three weeks or four weeks' time, we're going to have a war on our hands. The outcome of which nobody can even fully understand.
But more significant even than that, is that perhaps a few months ago, if I asked you where on the map is Iraq, you wouldn't even know where is Iraq. Iraq. I've heard of this name vaguely. Some speak of it as Iraq.
Don't even know how to pronounce the name. And today, suddenly, it is the focal center of the whole world. So what's significant about Iraq? Well, anyone who reads the Bible will know.
The story of Iraq begins in Genesis and ends in Revelation. It goes through the whole Bible. And yet, only a few months ago, most people hadn't even heard of Iraq. They heard vaguely of an Iraq-Iran war, and we hardly know where both of those countries are.
Maybe somewhere in Africa, for all we know. Maybe in the Arctic Circle or whatever. But now, everybody knows about Iraq. A few months ago, who knows?
If somebody said, Hussein or Saddam Hussein, you say, who is he? Is he the shopkeeper next door? The guy who sells some kind of hardware or food or what? Who is this?
Oh, president of Iraq. Oh, that's the one. What's significant about Iraq? You may not know that the biblical name of Iraq is Babylon.
If I say Babylon and you read your Bible, you know things a little bit better. And if I say Babylon and Assyria, which were both in the same area of where Iraq is today, you might know even better. And if I tell you that Abraham in Genesis came from where Iraq is today, Oh, really? And when you get to the book of Revelation, and Abraham, of course, is in Genesis.
When you get to the book of Revelation, what do you read? You read about Babylon again and again. It's all the time Babylon. You know where Babylon is?
Well, Babylon is only about 12 miles outside of Baghdad, which is the capital of Iraq. Oh, yeah. We are living in significant, exciting times. And if you want to know the Bible, as I have said before, you've got to read your newspaper too.
Because the newspaper is probably the most significant commentary on the Bible, if you understand your Bible. And that's what we will try to understand a little bit better today. We are living in significant times. I wonder if you even understand what is going on.
Things are moving so fast that we are having a hard time grasping what is going on. You see, it comes full circle from Genesis all the way around to Revelation. Moving back to where it all began in the first place. We are now at the end of what had a beginning in Genesis.
We are indeed, as this passage says, in the last days. Not, notice here, the latter days. But the last days. Last means the very end of this age.
You and I have the incredible privilege of living in these last days. Now, I want to, in this context, draw quickly a number of important points. And as the time allows, I will try to develop only some of these points. Look at this passage in Micah again.
And if you read your Bible with any perception, you will see certain very exciting and remarkable things in this passage. And I would like to draw your attention to the fact that this prophecy given by Micah, the great prophet of the Old Testament, a contemporary of the great prophet Isaiah, lived when? Do you know when? In the 8th century before Christ.
That is to say, one of the most striking and exciting things is that this prophecy was given nearly 3,000 years ago. Think of it. This is the amazing thing about the Bible. The newspaper cannot even tell us what will happen tomorrow.
Every time you open the newspaper, you have another shock. You have another surprise. I had the surprise the other day suddenly to see that Shevardnadze, foreign minister of the Soviet Union, had resigned. What a shock.
He thought he was the great partner of Gorbachev and suddenly he's gone. You wonder what else is happening. We can't tell what will happen tomorrow. Can you tell what will happen next month when the United Nations deadline for Iraq expires on the 15th of January?
Can you foresee what will happen? You try to be a prophet and try to prophesy what will happen. That there could be an attack and a war, which is not surprising. But what will be the result of that war?
What will be the international effect? How will it affect the whole world, including you and me? Can you imagine? And what place does all this have in biblical prophecy?
Do you know? But think of it. This prophecy here was spoken nearly 3,000 years ago. It boggles the mind.
The word of God can speak to us 3,000 years later. We are reading this thing. Spoken 800 years before Christ. Now let us notice in this remarkable, astonishing prophecy.
I want to keep stressing this word remarkable and astonishing because our minds are so dull that striking things don't seem to get through. Verse 12 of chapter 3. Therefore, on account of you, Zion will be plowed as a field. Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins.
And the mountain of the house, that is the house of the Lord, the temple, will become high places of a forest. You know what that means? Jerusalem will be plowed like a field. This city of God will be no more.
And the temple of the house of God will be deserted where trees will grow. Nothing will be left. It will be wiped out. Because of you.
Because you, the people of God, the prophet is saying, make me sick. You have failed of your mission. I spill you out of my mouth. I will destroy the temple of God.
God says. And trees will grow there. There will be no more. And suddenly, suddenly the next verse, we find another statement.
The mountain of the house of the Lord will be established. You say, wait a minute. There is no more house of the Lord. The verse before tells us that it's wiped out.
It's gone. Where the house of the Lord stood, there are the only trees. You see, we read the Bible. And we read with utter dullness.
We are half asleep. Something has happened. Between verse 12 of chapter 3 and verse 1 of chapter 4. Something amazing has happened.
The house that was destroyed. The rejected, wiped out, dead, finished. Exists again. How come?
We haven't been given any explanation in between. Something has happened in the intervening stage. And that something, of course, is the New Testament. That something is the New Testament.
Where the Lord Jesus says in John chapter 2. Destroy this temple. It's time to destroy it. Finish with it.
Exactly as Micah says here. But I tell you what. In three days. I will raise it up.
There is a miracle. There is a miracle. For you to behold. You ask for a sign.
I give you a sign. This is the sign that you will see. I could spend the whole message expounding just that one verse. Full of riches.
Unbelievable riches. And significance. But I have no time. Suffice it to say.
That in the meantime. A new house has come into being. Now. The second thing.
You strike your notice. By the way. Something significant here. It says.
That the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established. It doesn't say that the mountain will be raised. It doesn't say that the mountain of the Lord will be raised. Please notice carefully.
The mountain of the house. The house. Of the Lord. Don't leave out the word house.
Otherwise you have missed the entire message. It is not just the raising up of some mountain. It is a specific mountain. It is the mountain of the house of the Lord.
It is the place of the people of God. The place where God manifests himself. In the midst of his people. If you have missed that.
You have missed the message as well. Otherwise we are only talking about the mountain. It is not just the mountain we are talking about. That is important.
But it is the mountain of the house. The mountain. As previous co-workers rightly saw. Has to do with God's kingdom.
That is one part. And the basic part of the meaning. But the crowning point of it. About the kingdom of the crown.
Of the kingdom of God. Is the house. The temple. The church.
That is the crowning aspect. Of God's kingdom. And what is that house? You.
It is talking about you. And me. If. If indeed.
We are truly. Christians. In the biblical sense of the word. By the way.
If we are truly his temple. As Paul speaks about it. In 1 Corinthians 3. And 5 Corinthians 6.
You. Are the temple of God. Therefore this passage. Is exciting.
Because it has to do with you. We don't need to waste time. Reading this kind of thing. The next exciting point.
You can say the third point. If you like numbers. This. This passage is unique in the Bible.
For another reason. Because it is the only prophecy. In the Bible. That is repeated.
Almost word for word. Alike. In two of the major prophets. Isaiah chapter 2.
And Micah chapter 4. It is the only prophecy of its kind. That is repeated. Almost.
Not exactly. But almost. Word for word. The same.
In Isaiah it says. The mountain of the Lord. Shall be raised. In Micah it says.
It shall be established. Minor differences. But. It is almost.
Word for word. The same. That is to say. What is the meaning?
What is the significance of this? It means that it is a double. Barreled prophecy. Like a double barreled shotgun.
Maybe you have seen shotguns. Two barrels at the same time. You pull the trigger. You have two blasts.
At the same time. Now when this kind of thing. Happens in the Bible. It stresses its unique importance.
It is trying to tell us. When it is repeated in this way. By two major prophets. That this prophecy.
Is of particular importance. Take careful note of it. It is rather like. When the Lord Jesus says.
Truly. Truly. I say to you. The repetition.
Is designed to warn us. Or to make us take notice. That he is saying something. Unusually important.
Another thing. That makes it so exciting. But let's go on to another point. Another astonishing thing happened.
In the words of Isaiah. The mountain of the Lord. Shall be raised up. Well that's a miracle.
Where have you ever seen. A mountain raised up. Of course. It is using picture language.
We are not talking about. Some volcanic activity. By some earth. By some earth shaking.
Volcanic activity. Which often happens. Where suddenly. Where there was no mountain before.
Through volcanic activity. A mountain is raised up. Here is something much more powerful. Than any volcanic activity.
I can tell you. It is the power of God. The rising up. This mountain.
It is a miracle. If you still don't have eyes. To see how exciting. And astonishing.
The message is here. You really don't have eyes. To see anything. Imagine.
Just picture this. Here you see all these. The hills. Of Jerusalem.
The hills of Judea. And all of a sudden. You see a mountain. Being lifted.
That's the picture. The prophet wants you to see. A mountain lifted up. Higher and higher.
Going up and up. And the whole world's attention. Is drawn to this mountain. What's going on here?
Something astonishing. Is happening. God's power. Is being revealed.
In a most remarkable way. Now. It has been mentioned before. That the raising up.
Of course. Is a term. Often used. In the New Testament.
To refer to resurrection. That is entirely correct. But again. We must be careful.
To notice. That we are not talking about. The resurrection. Of an individual.
It is the mountain. Of the house. Of the. It's the house.
Of the Lord. That is being resurrected. That takes us back. To what I just said.
About John 2. Verses 18 and 19. Jesus said. Destroy this temple.
This body of mine. In three days. I will raise it up. What will be raised up.
Is the church. I have tried to expound this. In another message. Some time ago.
That I will not repeat this again. And that is said. In that same passage. The Lord says.
That is the sign. That will be given to you. It is not the resurrection. Of some individual.
It is the resurrection. Being brought into being. By God's power of resurrection. That is.
A whole new community. Community. The house of the Lord. Represents the temple.
The community. Of God's people. Which is you. Which is all.
Of those. Throughout the world. Who acknowledge God. As savior.
And king. The door.
# Behold the Mountain of God (Part 2)
The resurrection power transforming them which the Bible calls regeneration. How many exciting things have we seen that we haven't finished yet? Oh, more yet. This passage full of exciting things.
And it says here, when this thing happens, when, here we are talking about something chronological. We are talking about a time factor. Then it says, the people will stream to it. That is to say, there will be some remarkable, astonishing power of attraction that draws the people in.
We see this happening in our churches. We can speak of this from experience as a reality. Not as something that is just read in the Bible that we don't know about. We experience this.
I just mentioned that in five years our churches in Hong Kong have grown by some 300%. But do we do this by evangelistic techniques? By gimmicks? By sending out leaflets or putting advertisements in the paper?
By having campaigns in some stadium? No way. No way. We do nothing of the kind.
What happens? People are drawn in. They say there is something unusual here. We sense the presence of the Lord.
We see that these people are different. That God has done something in their life. And we are trying to find out what have these people got that makes them different. The power of the Lord has raised these people up into a resurrection life.
A new kind of life. And it is drawing people in. Many churches resort to all kinds of gimmicks. Sorry to say.
Put on various kinds of entertainment. Jazz bands. Bingo. Lottery.
Jumbo sales. Film festivals. And all this kind of stuff. And they can't even maintain their existing congregation.
Never mind grow by 300% in five years. There are no gimmicks here. When God's power begins to work in the church. What does it say here?
The people. There is another miracle. People are streaming in. Streaming in.
And verse 2 says. And many nations will come and say. Come. Let us go.
Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. And to the house of the God of Israel. The God of Jacob. Did they see some gimmicks on the mountain?
No. What is attracting them? His word. Believe it or not.
It is his message. His word. It says here. That we may.
That he may teach us. That God may teach us about his ways. And that we may walk in his paths. You see something about the life.
Of these people. Of this temple. On the mountain of God. Something about their life quality.
Drives these nations. People from all nations. And I said. That our work.
Overseas has multiplied from four to six. From four to ten churches. In the last five years. The nations.
This is not just in Hong Kong. We are talking about Canada. We are talking about Singapore. Malaysia.
Australia. Elsewhere. The nations. Will come and say.
Come. Let us go. There is something in there. We got to get this thing.
For the word of the Lord. It says in verse two. In the last part. For the word of the Lord.
Goes forth from Jerusalem. When has the word of God. Been so exciting to anybody. It is only when it starts.
To transform people's lives. They feel its power. That it draws. Because of them.
They meet with God. When you experience your power. That is when you meet with God. The living God.
The God of glory. And of majesty. Very exciting times. And then verse three.
I told you. We go on point by point. Here is the next point. And it says here in verse three.
And he will judge between. Many people. That is God will judge. And render decisions.
For mighty nations. Then they will hammer their swords. Into plowshares. And their spears.
Into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up. Sword against nation. And never again.
Will they study. For war. These words are very interesting to me. Study.
For war. As many of you knew. That that was my ambition. When I was a non-Christian.
To study military science. That was my ambition. To build up a great army. To make of China.
A great power. And you can't become a great power. Without a great army. You can talk a lot.
But as long as you don't have power. Nobody listens to you. You don't have power in this world. Without a mighty army.
And I intended. To make of China. A great nation. But something exciting.
Here happens. Men will study war. No more. It won't be necessary anymore.
Nobody will oppress. Anybody anymore. And all this. Please notice.
The exciting thing about it. is because of the church. Did you notice that? It's because God will exalt the church. In such a way.
By his power. That people are drawn to God. Through the church. And the result.
Is astonishing. Sociopolitical. And economic consequences. You know.
We preach often times. The kind of Christianity. That is so spiritual. If it's supposed to be that.
It has nothing to do. With practical daily living. It has nothing to do. With the problems of this world.
And of this life. And those of us. Who are concerned. About the problems of this world.
And this life. Will find no use. For a gospel. That only promises eternal life.
In an age to come. We are looking at the problems. Of this world. The starvation.
That goes in. In Ethiopia. We are looking at the situation. Of the arms problem.
Where nation. Goes to war. Against nation. Where the killing.
Goes on. Bringing on disease. And famine. And poverty.
As a consequence of this. As you may know. The problems of Ethiopia. The famine.
Is due to the civil war. It is war. Between the fighting factions. That is causing the famine.
And the starvation. And the disease. And the suffering. Of innocent people.
Who only want a bowl of food. And couldn't care less. Who is trying to get into power. I am so glad.
The Lord taught me. Not to study war. But to study his word. To study what makes for peace.
A peace. That is enduring. Because it is a peace. Of the heart.
Have you got that kind of peace? Or are you torn apart within? And if you are. It is this kind of people.
Who make war. Let me tell you a few statistics. To show you how significant. This exciting passage.
Verse 3 is. Because you can read this kind of passage. When it simply says such nice words. And they will hammer their swords into plowshares.
And they will turn their spears into pruning hooks. And that sounds all very nice. Let's talk in practical terms. About people who understand the situation in the world today.
And what this really means. What happens when people. Turn their swords into plowshares. When they put down.
Their AK-47s. And stop spending money. On nuclear weapons. On chemical weapons.
On biological weapons. On airplanes. On stealth fighters. And stealth bombers.
And radar systems. And star war programs. You know what would happen? Let me read to you.
A statistic. Just to give you an idea. What will happen. If we beat our swords into plowshares.
You know how much the world spends on swords? Do you know how much? We spend on weapons in this world. Every year.
I don't think you have a clue. Neither did I. Until I read this astonishing report. A special study was done.
And was published as World Military and Social Expenditures. For 1987 to 1988. That means it's two years out of date. Because every year the expenditure goes higher.
But in that. In those years. 87 to 88. The global military outlay. Reached.
Listen to this figure. 900 billion. United States dollars. For one year. Does that figure make any sense to you?
Talk about astronomical. 900 billion. Do you know how much is a billion? That is a thousand million. Nine hundred thousand million dollars.
Are spent on swords. On weapons. In one year. Read your newspaper.
That's why I say your newspaper. Is your best commentary on the Bible. Otherwise you read. Beating swords into plowshares.
If you can turn. Tank factories. Into tractor factories. That is the equivalent of turning swords into plowshares.
If we can stop spending. Nine hundred thousand million. Dollars on swords every year. The famine in Ethiopia.
Would be peanuts. And peanuts. We dealt with that problem. With a few tens of millions of dollars.
Famine is in the world. And suffering and poverty. You know that today. The Soviet Union.
Is going. Has to be bailed out financially. Because they spend all their money. Trying to put rockets into space.
And military hardware. And in the newspaper. Just two or three days ago. I was reading in Malaysia.
In the Malaysia newspapers. Telling us. That for the year 1991. Next year.
The world is going to try to bail out. The Soviet Union. From its starvation. To the tune of ten billion dollars.
Ten billion dollars. To save the Soviet people. People from starvation. This coming year.
Because they put all their money into swords. Not into plowshares. Now ten billion. Is nothing.
Compared to the nine hundred billion. That is spent on weapons. Around the world. It's the exciting thing.
And all this. Brothers and sisters. Try to grasp. This beating of swords into plowshares.
Will not happen. Don't think we have a thought at the moment. And everything is going to go wonderful. We are at the beginning of the golden age.
Not yet. Not yet. I told you. We cannot foresee the outcome of this Iraq war.
If you think that will be a simple matter. You don't quite understand the complexity of the issue. We have not yet reached the golden age. The collapse of the iron curtain.
Is not yet the beginning of the golden age. And how long Gorbachev can stay in power. Is far from certain. But God.
Has his plan. The golden age. If you might call it that. When swords will be beaten into plowshares.
Will only happen. Will only truly begin. When? The mountain of the house of the Lord.
Will be exalted. In other words. It will be accomplished only by God's power. Not by some United Nations resolutions.
We are all happy for a time of peace. If it lasts. And we don't know how long it lasts. And we are grateful if it lasts a few years.
But those who know their Bibles. Know. That we are not there. We are not there.
The church. Has not yet become what it is meant to be. But before I finish with this item. Verse 3.
I want to stress again. That this. Marvelous passage here in Micah. As well as the parallel passage in Isaiah.
Has very much to do with life in this world. And if you are concerned. As I am concerned. About famine and starvation.
And sickness and disease. And problems of this kind. And warfare and killing. As we ought to be.
And understand this. The solution. Is not by some social program. Not by some military alliance.
Or pacts. Or whatever. It has to be. Through the transformation of human nature.
Until man is changed. The world situation cannot be changed. You don't have to be a genius to understand that. As long as man is still man.
In his egocentricity. His greed. His arrogance. His pride.
There will always be wars. The solution. Is when God's power. Is revealed through his church.
In such a way. As to bring about. A transforming effect. Even upon the world.
There will be peace. A peace established. By God's power. Working.
Amazingly. Through the church. Not the church. As we see it around today.
We heard from the first message. Already about this. But through a new creation. Well.
Just to finish on this point. We are still living. Don't forget. In this present age.
Even with the relative. Thor of the cold war. With a nuclear arsenal. Still in existence.
Which this same. report tells us. Has the explosive force. Two thousand. Six hundred times.
Of all the armaments. Put together. During the second world war. These figures.
Hardly make sense to us. Isn't it? The destructive power. That is right now.
Existing right now. Hasn't been destroyed yet. They will keep on talking about it. For a long time.
Is enough to destroy this world over. Many times. By an overkill of many many times. To wipe out the entire earth.
So. We look forward to this. Marvelous prophecy being fulfilled. Only then.
We can come to verse 4. And each one of them. Will sit. Under his vine.
And under his fig tree. With no one. To make them afraid. For the mouth.
Of the Lord. Of hosts. The Lord of hosts. The Lord of armies.
The Lord in command. Of all. The spiritual might. Of all the heavenly armies.
Of all armies. The Lord of hosts. The word host means armies. The mouth.
Of the Lord of hosts. Has spoken it. There will come the day. Nobody will make you afraid.
Fear. Fear. Brothers and sisters. Is the prevailing factor.
In the world today. If you want to look for statistics. And you read your newspaper. As a bible commentary.
As your bible commentary. You will know. How many sedatives. Are being issued out.
How many billions. Of dollars. In the United States. Alone.
Is spent. On sedatives. Drugs. Because people's nerves.
Are falling apart. And even those. Who are not taking. These kinds of sedatives.
Live in fear. The fear. Of failing their exams. The fear.
That their business. Will collapse. The fear. That tomorrow.
When you go to the doctor. The doctor. Will say to you. My dear friend.
I'm sorry for you. But you've got cancer. The fear. That exists.
In families. Between husband and wife. The wife going home. To be beaten up.
By the husband. The fear. The children have. Of the parents.
The fear of parents. Of their children. That they will not make it. In life.
Everywhere is fear. But when this happens. Fear will be no more. Or there will be a new society.
In which fear doesn't exist. It boggles the mind. You don't know. What kind of a society it is.
There's one way. Of course. To overcome fear. The most foolish way.
Is just to ignore it. The Bible. Is very realistic. To be a Christian.
Is not to be an escapist. It is to look. At the reality. Squarely in the face.
And say. How do I deal with this? If you want to become a Christian. Because you want to escape.
From life's problems. Forget it. Christianity is not for you. It is much too realistic for that.
Then it goes on. And I will come to. Very quickly. Because my time is fast running out.
To verse 6 and 7. And here comes another astonishment. Another amazing thing. This passage is full of surprises.
And amazing things. If only we have eyes to see. In that day. Verse 6.
In that day. Declares the Lord. Which day? Well that's the day when.
When these things are going to happen. When the mountain of the. Of the house of the Lord. Will be exalted.
Will be lifted up. Will be raised up. Declares the Lord. I will assemble.
What? The lame. I will gather the outcasts. Even those whom I.
Have afflicted. I will make the lame. A remnant. And the outcasts.
A strong nation. And the Lord will reign over them. In Mount Zion. You see.
It's back to this Mount Zion. That we are talking about. Where will these people be? They will be in Mount Zion.
Who will be there? The lame. The crippled. Like me.
Praise be to God. You see. The Lord well prepared me. For this message.
Otherwise. I couldn't be talking about the lame. And the outcast. I'm outcast.
Yesterday. We were all. Singing here. Christmas carols.
Clapping. And having a good time. And I was outcast. I was lying on my bed.
In the motel. And it says. And the Lord will reign over these cripples. And these outcasts.
From now on. And forever. Oh. Marvellous words.
When will all this begin to happen? It says. In the last days. In the last days of this age.
Oh. Then we can wait. Wait. No.
No. No. No. From now on.
The process has begun. God is now gathering. The people. Over whom he shall reign.
Now what's surprising about that? Nothing. Except this. Look at what kind of people he's gathering.
He is going to gather. The Mr. Universes. The Miss World.
No. The lame. It's repeated twice here. Notice this.
Just in case you didn't get the message. We are so dull of understanding. That's why. Like these prophecies.
In Isaiah and Micah. Here it's repeated twice. The same thing. So that you get the message.
The kind of people. That God is going to raise up. On that mountain. Are going to be the people that nobody wants.
Nobody wants. If people come to you to be employed. Do you want to employ the lame. The cripple.
The outcast. You want to look at his qualifications. BA. BSC.
MB. BUS. Whatever. Whatever.
You just keep on going. What qualifications? Lame? Bye bye.
Get it. Outcast. This kind of people. The scum of the earth.
The garbage. I mean this belong to the garbage heap. We thought we are going to have a super race. That was what Hitler was trying to make.
Make his. His 1000 year Reich. His 1000 year kingdom. Out of super people.
He didn't read his bible. Foolish man. What does it mean? It brings us.
To a vital principle. Without which. You do not understand. The way God works.
What principle? The principle. Which I have elsewhere. Called.
The principle. A principle of dipolarity. That is to say. There are two poles.
The one pole. The high. And mighty. The other.
The low. And the low. Outcasts. The nobodies.
And what God does. As he brings down. The high and the mighty. He tramples them into the dust.
And he picks up. Gently. The lame. The outcast.
The nobodies. That is the kind of God he is. You don't like that kind of God. Christianity is not for you.
If you come to him. And say God here I am. Look at me. Look at my muscles.
I have been working in the gym. You think God is impressed. Oh yeah yeah. Great guy.
I need people like you. On my mountain. You haven't got the picture. One principle.
That goes through all of the Bible. Is this. All through the Bible. It is always like this.
It is that he takes the lowly. The insignificant. And he lifts them up. So when it says here.
The mountain of the Lord. Will be raised up. You know what will be raised up? The mountain of the Lord.
You just said. Right. Have you seen the mountain of the Lord? Have you seen the mountain of the house of the Lord?
Some of us have. If you have been to Jerusalem. You will know what it looks like. It is one measly.
Pitiful. Little thing. Whenever I take people to Israel. I watch their face.
When I bring them to the temple mount. They look in astonishment. In utter disappointment. Where is the mountain.
Of the house of the Lord? This little hill. This insignificant little thing. Is called the mountain of the Lord.
I recall only a molehill. You are really making a mountain. Out of a molehill. That is really what is happening here.
But it takes a lot of power. To make a mountain out of a molehill. You see that is it. When God chose.
Of all these mountains. Round about. Why didn't he put his house. On Mount Lebanon.
The snow covered peaks. Of Mount Lebanon. There surely you can build. The mountain of the house of the Lord.
There is the house. Build the temple up there. No. He didn't choose Lebanon.
With its snow covered peaks. Which is not very far away. Instead. What did he choose?
This pitiful little hill. So pitiful. That sometimes you don't even know. That it is a hill.
You have to look real hard. To discover that it is a hill. You have to stand at certain vantage points. Before you discover.
That is really a hill. It is this pitiful little thing. That God is going to raise up. Above all the mountains.
Including Lebanon. With its snow covered peaks. That is the way God works. Why?
In one word. I can summarize all these principles. That I have been speaking about. All these exciting points.
I can summarize in one thing. What is this whole message. Trying to tell us? It is that God.
In the last days. Is going to reveal himself. In a most remarkable way. In a way that is going to catch the attention.
Of all the nations of the world. He is going to raise this pitiful little hill. Which is called the mountain of the Lord. With its house on it.
With the temple on it. By his power he will lift it up. And by this. He will make a final.
Revelation of himself. And this brings me to my concluding point. There is no point. Being a Christian at all.
There is no point. Being in the church at all. Unless God. Is the living God.
Unless. Not only he is the living God. With all power. To lift mountains up.
To change the face of the earth. To put the stars in their orbit. To awe us. With his awesome power.
Which he could easily do. But what is remarkable. About this God. Is his loving kindness.
His loving kindness. Oh so great. As the psalmist sings. It is a word that is repeated in the psalms.
Again and again and again. The loving kindness. Of the Lord. He picked me up.
The psalmist says. Out of the miry clay. When I was stuck in there. Groveling in the sinking sand.
Helpless. And hopeless. He picked me up. And he set me upon the rock.
And he made my feet. Like hinds feet. So that I wouldn't even slip on the rock. He made me steadfast there.
He clothed me with his beauty. He took away my rags. And put on me the garments of salvation. Is it his power that impresses us?
I am more impressed with his love. And his wisdom. His kindness towards the foolish. His patience with the weak.
His gentleness with the lame. The crippled. His loving welcome. To the outcast.
What a God. What a God. You know. During these past two weeks.
In order to teach me some lessons. The Lord had to cripple me for a while. And as I lay on my back. I thought.
About God. And his work in my life. Over the past. Many many years.
Since that Christmas day. As I mentioned earlier. That he gave me the greatest present of all. God so loved the world.
He gave his son. He gave me his son. And I thought back. From the day I first met with him.
I first experienced the Lord. In his majesty. I have shared my testimony. In various tapes.
And these are available. I don't have to repeat. Many of these things. And then I tried to count the instances.
To recount all the Lord had done in my life. From the day I came first. To know him. By his grace.
And I thought about the miracles. The miracles. So many miracles. I began to lose count.
They go into the hundreds. And hundreds of miracles. But every one of these miracles. As I thought about it.
Was not just an expression of his power. But much more importantly. Of his loving kindness. When he released me.
From that communist jail. Loving kindness. I. Who mocked Christians.
Who ridiculed. The leaders of the church. That came to talk to me about Christ. Why did he take me.
Why did he take me. This scoffer. This sconer. This arrogant person.
Confident in his own intelligence and ability. Who could tie the church elders up in knots. In argument anytime. They could never beat me in an argument.
This arrogant person. Now stranded pitifully in jail. When he had humbled me to that condition. In his loving kindness he picked me up.
And through the years. Miracle. After miracle. After miracle.
Hundreds. By the hundreds. Too many to recount. And even though in Melbourne.
The other time. I tried to recount some of these. On three tapes. I barely scratched the surface.
There were too many more. That I left out. That were equally important. And of course I stopped.
After three tapes. Way back years ago. I haven't mentioned. Of all the miracles.
The Lord has done. And I mean miracles. Without exaggeration. We often use the word miracle.
In a diluted sense. We call everything miracle. When I say miracle. I mean.
Something that cannot be explained humanly. There is no human being. Human explanation for it. I could give any number of examples.
Of these. There is no way to explain it. The loving kindness. Of this living God.
Is what draws. Eventually the nations. They are not impressed. Simply by his power.
They frightens. Power frightens people. What draws people. When he lifts up the mountain.
Is the loving kindness. That they see. In the house. Of the Lord.
They are drawn. To this God. That doesn't terrify. The lame.
And the outcast. This is the beauty of it. God wants to reveal himself. And you know.
From the first. Book. Of the Bible. Genesis.
To the end of the Bible. He has been trying to reveal himself. To mankind. Including you and me.
Ceaselessly. Except that we have no eyes to see. That is the tragedy of man. From Genesis.
The Bible tells us. That God was made. That man. Was made in God's image.
What does that mean? Why did he make man in his image? Well to reveal himself. What's an image for?
An image is to reveal something. What's a photograph for? To show you something. God already made man in his own image.
So that he could already reveal himself. By looking at one another. Man could reveal God to one another. That was his purpose.
But man has no eyes to see. Cain. Instead of seeing God's image in Abel. Promptly killed him.
And man has been doing this kind of thing. Ever since. And what happened? God continued to reveal himself.
In spite of man's rebellion. And hostility. Revealed himself. Revealed himself.
All through the Bible. Prophet after prophet. Miracle after miracle. He revealed himself to Israel.
He did marvels for them to see. He separated the sea for them to come through. He fed them with manna in the wilderness. He gave them water to drink.
In what the Bible describes as the terrible wilderness. And that is no exaggeration. I have been in that wilderness. Some of our co-workers have been in that wilderness.
I took them there to look at that wilderness. I said look at that wilderness. This is where the Israelites spend 40 years. You try spending 4 days.
And see how you get on. Never mind 40 years. No food. No water.
The sun beats down on you mercilessly. And yet God provided their every need. For 40 years. But this nation.
This nation that experienced God's loving kindness. Turned away from him. Just like Christians do today. It's a tragedy.
He tried to reveal himself. And he chose Israel. And he told Israel why he chose them. It's because you are the least of the nations.
You are the lowest of all the hills. The nations often represented by mountains. You are the lowest of the hills among all the mountains of the world. I chose you because you are nothing.
I chose Israel because he is nothing. And I poured out my loving kindness to you. I showed you mercy and miracle one after the other. And what has happened?
Israel turned away from the Lord. As I lay on my back. Recounting the mercies of the Lord and his miracles. I say Lord may it never be with me.
May it never be. You know Christians have experienced God's mercies. And they can't see it. And they don't respond.
I will never forget the case in Liverpool. I've recounted this story to some of you. I will repeat it one more time. Because many of you will not have heard it.
The case in Liverpool. Where a lady came to me to tell me that her mother. Was diagnosed as having cancer. In the womb or in the uterus.
A great tumor was there. And she was due to be operated upon. But she was suffering such intense pain. That the painkillers could not stop the pain.
And she came to me and said. Please would you pray for my mother. I said yes I will. I never met her mother before.
Her mother had never come to our church. Only the daughter came. The daughter was already about 40 some. The mother was 60 some.
I said I'll come. So I came and prayed for the mother. Together with a co-worker of mine. I said to the lady.
The old lady. I said understand clearly. I am no special person. I am a very ordinary servant of the Lord.
I do not heal you. It is the living God. In his loving kindness. Who heals you.
Do you understand me? She said yes. I said only on this understanding. I will pray for you.
She said I understand. We prayed for her. Two or three days later. It was Sunday.
She turned up in church. To worship the Lord. Because the pain was gone. She was due to be operated on.
A few days later. She went to the hospital. They x-rayed her. The tumor was gone.
They couldn't find any tumor there. The tumor that they were due to operate on. Had vanished. When I say miracle.
I mean miracle. I do not use this word in any diluted sense. There is no human explanation. No tumor vanishes.
As any doctor knows. They had x-rayed her beforehand. She had already been. Had the appointment for the operation.
But. You would think. That anyone who experienced. This kind of power.
And this kind of loving kindness. From the Lord. Would follow him. All the days of their life.
But not so. Yes. The daughter. Who was a business woman.
Invited. Out of thanksgiving. The whole church. The whole Liverpool church.
At that time. I was pastoring. The Liverpool church. In England.
Invited the whole church. To her restaurant. For a meal. A thanksgiving meal.
But she seemed to think. That by giving this. Thanksgiving meal. She had already.
Sort of settled the account. With the Lord. You know. She has paid the Lord off.
As it were. And it's finished. It's like the Israelites. They experienced.
The loving kindness. Of the Lord. But what do they do? They turn away from him.
That woman. Out of love for money. I heard a few years later. Had gone to the United States.
Set up business there. And turned away from the Lord. Completely. I don't know.
I don't know. What happened to her mother. That is like. The Israelites.
It is like the church. It is for this reason. Up to this day. I don't like to pray for people anymore.
For their sicknesses. Because you know why? Their condemnation. Will be greater.
For all the mercies. They have already experienced. And turned away from him. Their condemnation.
Will be greater. I seldom pray for people anymore. Since then. I did pray for two other cases.
Who are also. Miraculously healed. But apart from that. I seldom do this anymore.
Because. Human beings. Are so ungrateful to the Lord. You remember the Lord.
Healed ten lepers. And out of ten. Only one. Came back.
To thank him. Ten. And only one. Came back to thank him.
And that is why. As I lay on my back. Recounting the mercies of the Lord. A song came to me.
That I had. Learned as a young Christian. I never sang again. Because I didn't have the hymn book anymore.
And it says. That the song. It says. My saviour's praises.
I will sing. And all his love express. And the chorus goes on to say. Every day.
Will I bless you. Every day. Will I bless you. Forever.
And ever. My time is gone. And I must conclude. But what I want to say here.
In conclusion is this. God wants to reveal himself. To you and to me. And to the whole world.
And he wants to do this. Through the church. He wants to reveal himself to you. Not just so that you can say.
God revealed himself to me. But so that you can reveal God to others. That was what Israel was called to do. God revealed himself to Israel.
So that Israel could reveal God to the whole world. But it failed. So what happened? God revealed himself to a new people.
The church. He revealed his loving kindness. His saving mercies in Christ Jesus. And what happened to the church?
The church failed again. Disastrous failure. We Christians are a disgrace in the world. Who told disgrace?
I say we. We. Not they. We.
Because we are all Christians. But thanks be to God. We have this passage before us. God will choose out a remnant.
That's what it says here. He will choose out a remnant. Verse 7. I will make the lame a remnant.
He will take out. Of this corrupt church. A remnant. And he will purify that remnant.
And you know how he is going to purify this remnant? Through suffering. If you want to become a Christian. Let me tell you this.
If you are not lame. You are going to be lame. If you are not yet an outcast. You will become an outcast.
Because that's the only kind of people. God is going to use as this remnant. And it is this outcast. That he will make.
A strong nation. In verse 7. I want to close with the account of Jacob. You know about Jacob.
You read about this. In the book of Genesis. Chapter 32 onwards. Where God met with him.
A striking passage for you to study sometime. And I don't have. I don't have time to go into the details of this. But with this I want to close.
Because I deeply want to impress this message upon you. And this is what it says here. In that passage. Which I'll leave you to study for yourself.
You remember that Jacob. Met. With an. With what he thought was a.
Was a person. And he wrestled with that person all night. It's a well known story. Which anybody who's been in Sunday school.
Will know. And he wrestled with him all night. And the man. In the process of wrestling.
What he thought was a man. Touched. His hip. His thigh.
And crippled Jacob. It says there that his thigh was out of joint. Though he was not a cripple before he. God made him lame.
It says at the end of the passage. That he was. He walked away limping. But the point here is this.
If we read that passage. We know that if. You are well. And that's the power of that person.
That Jacob was wrestling with. He just touched the hip. And his hip was out of joint. That shows the power of that person.
And the pain must have been unbearable. Because I know it. From the past two months. The pain must have been unbearable.
But the amazing thing about Jacob. Is that he refused to let go. He hung on to this person. Who had already crippled him.
And said bless me. Or else I will not let you go. You know what would be the danger? The danger was the man would touch his other hip.
And cripple both his legs. And if he still doesn't let go. He'll cripple his arms as well. And if he still doesn't let go.
He'll cripple his whole body. If he still doesn't let go. He'll kill him. Jacob won't let go.
And he hung on all night. In spite of the intense pain. And said I will not let you go. Please bless me.
And finally. He was blessed. To be blessed means to be saved. That's what I mean.
If you are not yet a cripple. In order to break down your pride. And your arrogance. And the old nature that you have.
God has to cripple you. That's what it means to die to the old self. In other picture language. Because only then can you be part of this remnant.
That constitutes the house of the Lord. That's how I run.
# Behold the Mountain of God (Part 3)
Every true Christian will become an outcast, even outcast by the church. You know why? It says this. The Lord said this.
If you belong to the world, the world would love you. But because you do not belong to the world, the world will hate you. And if they persecuted the Master, they will certainly persecute his disciples. If they have hated me, they will hate you.
You will become an outcast in this world. But people who, like Jacob, are willing to be crippled. Their old man is destroyed. Who are willing to become outcast in this world.
It is this kind of people God is looking for. So that he can show his loving kindness to them by blessing them after he has transformed them by this crippling operation. That is why though I was crippled over the last two months, suffering at the beginning such pain. I do not mean pain, I should say agony.
I have suffered pain before, but I haven't suffered agony. Agony such that just to stand up was enough to make the sweat run down from my face. And I'm talking not about Malaysia. I sweat all the time in Malaysia.
I'm talking about Hong Kong, which is in winter season right now. It's quite cold. Agony. And yet I experienced his loving kindness precisely like Jacob did.
I was hanging on to the Lord and I said, Lord, you crippled me. That's fine. I will not let you go until you bless me. And then the Lord has taken me into deeper levels of spiritual experience that I have never experienced before.
That is why I was able to conclude at the end of these two months of suffering, I could say. To say, I will, my Savior's praises, I will sing and all his love express. Such a wonderful, amazing God that we have. And it is this kind of person that constitutes the temple.
That is the crown of the mountain of the Lord that will be raised up. And you and I are part of that house. Because it is through you that God wants to reveal his glory to the world. Now the last days.
This is a process, of course, that we are reading about in Micah. And this process is now in progress. And in the chronology of time, we can say that what will happen immediately after this, when God has done this amazing thing, which we are in the process of seeing him do now, and will be brought to a climax. The rising of the mountain doesn't mean it will shoot up in one second and suddenly, hmm, there's a mountain up there.
It will rise. It's a process, rising up. But one more thing, which is striking, that I must mention as I close. The temple on the mountain of God is built by whom?
Think about it. There is the other astonishing and remarkable thing that we have no time to examine now. A temple is never built by God. The temple is built by man.
If you read in the Bible, the first temple was built by Solomon. The second temple was built by whom? By Nehemiah. It is man who builds the temple, but it is God who raises it up.
And when we come to the New Testament, the same is true. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul says, I laid a foundation. The foundation that is laid is Christ, but I laid the foundation. And every man builds on it.
What does that mean? You and I are called to the task of building this new house, this new church. And what God needs to do in this building process is to raise up his efforts. Notice the word raise up.
These are the words in Jeremiah chapter 23, verse 4, that I will leave you to read. And I see God doing this very thing. To build this new temple, this new house that God will raise up. He has to do first to call out the lame, those who are willing to be lame and willing to be outcast.
And then he must raise up shepherds for the people. That is leaders. The term shepherds, leaders. That is where the word pastor comes from.
Pastor is simply the Latin word for shepherd. God will raise up the mountain, but he must first raise up the shepherd. To look after the lame and the outcast. God is doing this very thing.
Maybe he is speaking to you. And calling you out. To raise you up to be one of the shepherds. So that this new house can be built.
Because if the house has not been built, the mountain will be raised. But there is no house. It can't be called the mountain of the house. There has to be a house that crowns the mountain.
That is why the mountain has first to have the house built on it. And that house is now in process of being built. And you and I, if God is pleased, will be part of that house. So that through you, God can reveal himself in such a way.
This final climactic revelation. That is what this passage is speaking about. That will draw the whole world to God. Not to us, but to God.
That is your high calling. When you go out of this camp. Think of this amazing, marvelous passage. And think.
That you and I have been given the job. The task. To reveal God. To those in your family.
To those in your place of work. To the whole world. And by revealing God in your life. You will be drawn to God.
You will be part of this marvelous plan. That is mentioned here. What a glorious function we have. What a task we have in front of us.
In the next few years still to be accomplished. Together. To build this house that will be lifted up. To be willing to let God.
To make us the kind of people he wants us to be. To make us crippled. Where we have to be. To be willing to be outcast from this world.
To show forth his glory. Because the church is meant to be a sign. What is a sign? Well a sign is what points the way.
The miracle here is a sign. A sign that points to God. But not like a road sign. It is something that is unique.
Something that is happening. You and I are meant to be unique. When we speak of you and I becoming unique. It means you and I will become a sign.
A miracle. In ourselves. That draws people to God. Now a sign is something extraordinary.
Something unusual. Are you unusual? Are you extraordinary? Or are you so ordinary that nobody bothers with you?
Your kind of Christianity is worth nothing. Nobody bothers. You have to be extraordinary. That is what you are called to.
Now extraordinary means something unusual. For example. If a snake bites a man. That is nothing extraordinary is it?
But if a man bites a snake. That is extraordinary. Take a look at this picture. Maybe you at the back will have a hard time seeing.
Your brother soon provided me with a newspaper. So I thank him for this. Now you see what is happening? This man here is biting a snake.
More than that he is biting the head of the snake. I mean it might be safer to bite the tail. And keep the head away. But he has got the snake's head in his mouth.
What he actually does is he bites the head of the snake right off. What is the story here? It says Hong Kong restricts snake import. You know how many snakes Hong Kong imports?
It says here every year it imports 100,000 snakes. Many of them poisonous ones. Why? Because Hong Kong people like to eat snakes.
It's supposed to do all kinds of things. Make you very virile or something. Sexually active or other kinds of stuff like this. But for some unknown reason which is not explained here.
In order to make these kind of snake soup. The guy who prepares the snake soup. Prepares the snake first by biting his head off. Well I never knew that.
It's quite new to me. And what he is biting here is a cobra. Now I've heard of cobras biting people. I haven't heard of people biting cobras.
This is entirely new to me. So this is really extraordinary. It really causes you to sit up and take notice. That's why I looked at this and I thought.
Wow this is amazing. But God's purpose is much more significant than that. His purpose is to do something that makes us really much more extraordinary than that. It makes us so extraordinary.
I would try to conclude with this one verse that I'd like to leave in your mind to think about. And that is the first Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 12. I wonder if you can live up to this calling. And just those few words.
You needn't even turn to it if you haven't got your Bibles ready. Because we are out of time. And there is. I would like to sum it up in this one way.
This one word. When we are reviled. We bless. Astonishing.
What kind of people is this? The people of God are so unique. That when they are reviled. That is slandered.
Sworn at. Abused. Spat upon. Ridiculed.
We bless the person who does that to them. I tell you. I tell you. That is much more amazing than biting a snake.
Oh. This is incredible. Nobody can do a thing like this. Except by the power of God.
I would like you to set this as your standard. As well as my standard. Of the Christian life. This is the equivalent of the.
Of what the Lord tried to get across to us. We are to be so unique. That we can turn the other cheek. How many of you can do this?
How many of us can be so remarkable. That it draws the astonishment of the whole world. And somebody spits at you. And you say the Lord bless you.
What? What did you say? The Lord bless you. Do you know what I did to you just now?
Oh yes. I know. That is. Why the church is called to be a sign.
And that is why the Christians cannot do it. That is why the church fails. That is why the Lord has to cripple us. Before he can get this thing into our hearts.
And into our minds. If you and I can go out of this camp. With this as our motto. When reviled.
Bless. When reviled. Bless. If this is the motto.
That comes out of this camp. Then we have really understood the theme of this camp. The mountain of the Lord will be exalted. How?
By the church. The house on there. Being the sign of God's power. His beauty.
And as I said. His loving kindness. Because no one can bless somebody. Who curses you.
Unless you manifest the overwhelming power. Of God's loving kindness. Which was shown on the cross. Which was shown on the cross.
Our time is more than gone. And we must close. But I hope. That I have managed to summarize.
Some of this most exciting. And marvelous. And practical elements. Of the Christian life.
If you can't face the calling. To manifest his glory. By being so extraordinary. That you show his loving kindness.
Even to those who abuse you. Then don't bother to be a Christian. Because we have enough mediocrity. And second and third rate.
Christianity in the world today. We don't need any more of this. This is our calling. And if we fail.
We will be rejected. But if by God's grace we succeed. God will do wonderful things. Not only for us.
But he will transform the world. To us. As this passage promises. Let us pray.