The theme of our camp is what is a truly wise man? After I listened to our dear brother Andrew speaking yesterday, I thought that I was not really qualified to speak on this subject. And why do I say that?
Well, because he said, look at the dog. Have you ever seen a dog without having had enough sleep? Look at the cat.
Have you ever seen a cat without enough sleep? But I'm sure many of you have seen me without enough sleep. I think there are many people who have seen me without sleep. That means to say, if we follow this line of reasoning, that my level of wisdom is much lower than that of the dog and the cat. According to my thinking of the path, my ability is more than a dog and a cat.
And I think that in this area, this is absolutely true. I think that in this area, this is absolutely true. So that is why I say I'm not really well qualified to speak on this subject of wisdom in this method.
I think that in this area, I'm not really well qualified to speak on this subject of wisdom in this method. What indeed constitutes wisdom? What is wisdom? What is wisdom? What is wisdom?
What is wisdom? What is wisdom? What is wisdom? What is wisdom? I was looking at the newspaper the other day, and this is the Sunday morning post of Hong Kong, November the 20th, 26th of last year.
That is what I saw in the newspaper. The newspaper is the 11th, 26th of last year. Look at this.
This is a section in the Hong Kong Sunday Post which has Believe It or Not or Not. It's color, you see? You believe it? This newspaper is a color. You see, the children of course like to look on the other side.
That is the cartoon side. There are some movies. This side is about Believe It or Not. It tells you all kinds of strange and wonderful things. This is the信不信由你, which is about some very strange and special things.
And one section speaks about some person called Charles Boaz. Yes. Here, there is a child. You can see that he is maybe a two-father back. I put it somewhere.
He looks like a clown. I think everybody knows what a clown looks like. Or maybe people don't see it. His face is a little like a little. I think everyone knows what a little.
Actually, he is a clown. He's dressed up. He really works as a clown. What's unusual about a clown? What is a clown?
Clowns are people there to entertain, to make fun, to joke, at least relieve what Andrew spoke about, the stress in life. A clown's job is to enjoy people. It's to give you a chance to get a future. And nobody is likely to think of a clown as a wise man.
I mean, you think of him as a fool. His job is to be a fool, not to be a wise man. You don't think that a clown is a very smart person. A clown is a dumb person. He's a dumb person.
He's a dumb person. He's a dumb person. What's the point of talking about a clown in some believe it or not section? What's their heart to believe about being a clown? What is the reason why is the fact that this clown, Charles Boers is a PhD.
That is Dr. Philosophy. Normally one thinks of somebody with a PhD as having at least a reasonable level of intelligence. And what is more goes on to say that this Dr.
Boers was assistant professor of economic geography at the State University of Michigan? And that he gave up this profession to become a fool, a clown. Quite interesting. You start to think, here are so many young people who are students. And you are trying hard enough maybe to get your school cert.
And by the time you can collect some sort of bachelor's degree, you think you already have something quite important in the world. But by the time you get to a PhD, you think you have really arrived. You have really achieved something. But here is a man who has achieved all of this and decided to throw it all away in order to become what?
A clown. Now a clown historically goes back to the times, especially in the European courts, the courts of Europe, where the kings, you see, were suffering from stress just like the people today. And so what they needed was to have a clown there at the end of the day or beginning of the day or whenever the stress was getting too great, is to have this clown making some jokes and relieve the pressure.
I mean there was no TV in those days or soap operas. And so what you need is the clown. What do they need? They need a clown. They need a clown.
In the evening or night or night or night or night, the pressure is the biggest. They need to have a clown. Because they don't have a clown. So actually he performed, in a sense, quite an important function.
In some way they have a very important character. But that is all passed now. Now that is already over.
Nowadays the clown really just entertains children so that the parents can have less stress and go and suck their ice cream cone. Now that is today, the clown is a little bit of a kid. Because that is when parents have a lot of feelings of the kids. So when they have a lot of feelings of the kids, they can be able to eat food.
But let us come back to this question. Now we will come back to this question. What makes a wise man a PhD? By the standards of this world, a wise man. What makes a wise man want to become a fool?
But the problem is that this wise man, according to today's standards, a wise man, is a wise man to become a fool? Can you put yourself in his position and think, what would you do? Under what kind of circumstances would you be willing to put behind you your academic achievements? Because it is not easy to become a professor or assistant professor. In order just to be pulling around in some circles with the donkeys and the horses and the monkeys.
Could it be that he felt that this whole question of the meaning of life was really a joke? And he might as well live the joke out in his own life. It is a joke, so let's make a joke of the whole thing. Would it be that he felt that the person is just a joke, a joke, a joke? It could be that he was clever enough as a man.
Clever enough to see life is just a joke. So just let's live it like a joke. Or is it not because he is too smart and is too smart to see the real problem. It is just a joke. He would live it like a joke.
Maybe the whole reality, the whole problem of mankind is that we are neither too clever to see the real problem. Nor too stupid to find an answer to really get to the root of the problem. In other words, we are caught at both ends. We cannot see the problem clearly, either because we are too stupid or because we are too clever, and we just really also can't find an answer to that question. So we are caught, like in that Bible study we had yesterday morning, in the cycle of stupidity, the cycle of futility, the cycle of going absolutely nowhere, and so this man decided that if there is nothing to be had in this futility, at least you can have a joke.
So it has all to do fundamentally, this question of wisdom or foolishness, to do with the answer to the question of meaning, the meaning of life. The Bible tells us that there are two ways to solve this problem, and this is one of the ways that this Dr. Boer solved the problem. One way the Bible says is this, let us eat, let us drink, let us be merry, have a good time, for tomorrow, tomorrow we die. So why not laugh tonight?
Let us be happy, just for one night. Let us laugh. Tomorrow we die. That is the mentality of many soldiers in the trenches. Before a major battle, they know that most of them, by tomorrow this time, they won't be alive.
They will all be dead. This is the last night, so let's open the bottle of beer, open the bottle of whatever there is to drink, to eat the last chocolate bar, have a good time, have a good laugh, let's live it up for the last two hours. Tomorrow we'll all be dead. So that is one solution to the problem, you are living in this world, you know that the time is short, so live it up what you've got, live it up.
You've got one house, buy two. You've got one car, buy another one. What are you driving? Some mini, whatever it is, get yourself some Jaguar, get yourself some real good car, you can sit in, line the leather, drive in there. Live it up.
You've only got that many years to live. That is the time that you live in this world, in this world, that you can live in this world, that you can live in this world. You want to buy a couple of houses, buy two houses, buy a car, buy two houses, buy two houses, don't have a car that small. You want to buy a car that small. You want to buy a car that small.
You want to have a good car. That you will have to be in this world. Yes, the Bible has that solution too. There is nothing new. You didn't invent that solution.
It is there in the Bible. It doesn't mean the Bible recommends this method, but it tells you that that's one of the methods. Well, there is the other method that the Lord Jesus mentions. That's why Jesus says, that's another way. Because then he compares being in this life, like building a house.
How you live is how you build your house. Day by day, you are adding another brick, you are adding another piece of decoration, you are adding something more to this house. Everybody is building their house, the house of your life every day. Jesus will use your life to build a house. For example, Jesus will build a house every day.
Every day you will build a house every day. You will add another piece of decoration. And so there are two ways to build.
So there are two ways to build. And he ends the sermon on the mount like this. You can build your house, the house of your life, either on the rock or on the sand. There are two ways to build it. Jesus will at the end of the mountain, the end of the mountain, the end of the mountain, the end of the mountain.
So at the end of your life, one person looks at you and says, Ah, here is the house of your life. Beautiful, excellent house. A house is an achievement, isn't it? It is a status symbol. This is a very practical status symbol.
Because that's where you live. You live in that place. This is a very practical status symbol. Because you live in this house. It is also extremely practical.
I mean, there are lots of things you don't need to buy. You don't have to buy a flower vase. I mean, you can buy a flower. You can put your flowers in a bottle. You don't have to have a nice vase for that.
But a house is something practical. You don't feel you waste your money in a house. A house is where you live, and your children live, and your grandparents live. And maybe all, you know,世世代代, everybody, all your generations can live in this house.
But, but, how are you, what are you building on? And the Lord Jesus puts it like this. You see that at the end of Matthew chapter 7, very familiar. You can from the Mark 7th chapter 7. This is our very familiar.
In fact, I'll just ask our sister Margaret to read it to refresh our memories in this section while I go on to the important principles to be drawn. We read from verse 24 to 27. We run the doorstep This is what every child learns in Sunday school, very simple. But like all the simple words of the Lord Jesus contains a deep meaning, that is the most important thing.
Now, that we build our houses upon rock is something that is easy to understand. That is because we want the house to last. We don't want to build a house and tomorrow it falls down. We want to build a house on the ground. We want to build this house on the ground.
We want to build this house on the ground. But would any of you here build a house on sand? Do you just think of how much it costs to build a house, the materials, the stone, the lights, the chimneys, all the things that go into the house? Would any of you want to put all this investment in building your nice house on sand? Do you think of the Australian people who like outdoor life?
I think of the Australian people who like outdoor life. We are taking a walk with Helen the other day in a shopping center. We saw a very big, big department store. And a large section of it is selling this kind of outdoor camping equipment tents and things of this kind.
Some tents have one room, then have two rooms, and some have two rooms and a porch. And so it goes on. That day I was with Helen the other day at a shopping center. I saw a house on the house that was selling the house on the house. There were some shops, there were some shops, there were some shops, there were some shops.
I wonder why anybody bothers to build a house. All you go is to buy one of these tents and you get the two room house with the porch on it. I mean this is wonderful. When you want to leave, you just roll it up and you move to the next place. I wonder why you go to so hard and you want to build a house.
I'd like to buy a box. There's a room, two rooms, three rooms. If you don't like to turn it up, you can go to the other room. So if your job moves you from Melbourne to Sydney, you just pick up your house and carry it to Sydney.
Put it up there. Your two room house is ready for you in 10 minutes. Wonderful. If you can go to the house and you can go to the house and you can go to the house. Then you can go to the house and you can go to the house.
You can go to the house and you can go to the house. This kind of house, you can build it on sand. You can build it on anything you like. It doesn't matter because if the whole thing is falling apart, you pack it up and move it to another place. This is a very nice thing.
That why you still need to build it on the house? You can build it on the house and you can go to the house. If you don't have to build it on the house. If you don't have to build it on the house, you can go to the house. But the Lord Jesus says, those who listen to my words which you are doing here today.
If you are listening to my words and you do not do them, then you are like a man building a house, not a tent. Building a house and you are building it on sand. Jesus said, if you are listening to my words like you are sitting here, you are listening to the house. If you are listening to the house, you will be able to build it on the house. If you are listening to the house, you will be able to build it on the house.
He said surely there is nobody so stupid to build houses on sand. He said no one is so stupid to go to the house and look at the house. I think the Lord Jesus doesn't think that most people are that stupid either. He said no one is so stupid to be able to build it on the house. A few years ago I saw in a news magazine.
Maybe you also saw it in a news magazine. I saw it in a news magazine. I saw it in a few years ago. And this photographer took the picture of this house at that angle which is very striking.
A photographer from the other side of the house is very striking. Now where would you like to buy a house in Melbourne? If you would like to buy a house in Melbourne? Well I know in Hong Kong where they like to buy the house.
I saw that in Hong Kong where they like to buy the house. In the countryside. They would like to buy the house in Melbourne. You have the price of the house goes up. You can look at the sea view.
Oh beautiful out there. If you would like to buy the house in Melbourne. The house in Melbourne would be higher. And then in every country it seems they would like this house in Melbourne.
They would be able to study the sea out there. That's the most common sense of the land. And so they would like to build it near the sea.
On the cliffs or anywhere or somewhere they would like to look out there and see the beautiful things. They would like to build it in the sand. They would like to look at the sea. And this photographer took a picture of this house.
And you know what? Half the house was sticking in the air. This film is a house that was in the air. There was a house that was in the air. And half the house was balancing here.
And the other half was balancing over the sea. And it was not a very old house. So it was a house maybe 20 years old.
That this is not a very old house for about 20 years. You see, when the architects first designed and built this house. There was a calculation error here. And what happened is that during those 20 years, the sea began encroaching on the land and eating away, eating away the mud and the rocks on which this house was built.
And so that this beautiful dream house that they saved up all their life to have this beautiful high-king over there, you see? Was there being eaten away literally underneath the whole thing was going gone. So in the beginning there was this beautiful garden reaching out from the house to the sea cliff there.
The cliff going down. And then you know what happens? The beautiful big garden begins to get smaller and smaller. And then you know what happens?
The beautiful big garden begins to get smaller and smaller. And then the next horrible thing happens is that the whole garden is gone. And then you know what happens?
When you open the door, you're not careful, you step into the sea. If you open the door, you're careful. You're not careful, you're not careful, you're not careful, you're not careful, you're not careful. Now this house, being quite wealthy, was quite well built.
This house is definitely a wealthy house to live. Because otherwise, room by room, it would have fallen into the sea. Or if a house is falling into the sea. At least it had quite a strong, stable, sort of concrete platform underneath. At least it had a strong, stable, sort of concrete platform underneath.
So by the time the photographer was taking the picture of this house, What you have is the concrete platform and the house built on top. And underneath here, all this earth is gone. You see, the front door is still left. The front door is still left. And they were wondering when the whole thing would collapse over and the whole building just drop in the sea.
You see, what time will the front door be gone? The front door will collapse down. So when I was looking at the picture of this house, I thought, that's what the Lord Jesus was saying.
I was looking at this picture of the picture. I thought, this is what Jesus said. They put their whole life investment to build on this beautiful house with this high景. And they are left now with what?
With any moment they are going to lose the whole house in the sea. And they were trying to figure out how they are going to save the house. Because the sea will continue to eat away the rocks and the mud underneath that house. And they will think about how to save the house.
Because the water will continue to sink in and keep the water into the sea. And do you know that house is not worth one cent? I mean, would you want to buy a house like this? You know that house is not worth one cent? You know that house is not worth one cent?
You know that house is not worth one cent? You know that these kind of houses on the sea shore, they cost a fortune to buy. You might not be able to get it for a quarter of a million dollars. This is a very expensive house. I think you have about 25,000 dollars.
But by this time, if you give it to somebody as a present, nobody wants it. Now, if you want to give it to somebody as a present, nobody wants it. Because by the next morning, you might be sleeping in the sea down below. Then the next morning, you will fall into the sea. Most people want to go to the sea, but they don't want to swim in the early morning.
Many people like the sea, but they don't like to swim in the sea. Especially not to swim in the house on top of them. If you don't like to swim, the sea is not going to be on the top of the sea. What kind of message does the Lord want to give to us about this theme, about being wise? That Jesus Christ, in this to be a person's guest, the question of the people, do you have any information to tell us?
We must conclude very quickly, since our time is going. That we are very fast to get started, because our time is almost. The rock in the Bible, of course, symbolizes God Himself, the eternal one. The rock is eternal. This is the word of the Bible.
The rock is eternal. The rock is eternal. The rock is eternal. It occurs so many times in the Old Testament. The Lord is my rock, and He is my salvation.
In the Bible, we see that the Lord is my rock, and He is my salvation. The message is that everything in this world changes. Everything will pass away. But God, the rock, He does not change.
He does not pass away. The rock is the symbol, the symbol of eternity. The world is the world. The world is the world. The world is the world.
The world is the world. The world is the world. The world is the world. The world is the world. That is why you can see that, for example, in the Psalms, Psalm 89 verse 18.
You can see from the verse 89, the verse 18, and in verse 26 of the same Psalm, He is my salvation, my King. He is my rock and my King. Now, I would like you to notice these two things, my rock and my King. We can see these two things, my rock and my King. The two verses of the Bible tell us, the Lord is my king, and the Lord is my king.
I want you to notice these two things, the Lord is my king and the king. That is why Paul says in Timothy, God, King Eternal. God is the eternal king. So, in the Psalms, the Lord is the eternal king. Now, to build one's house on the rock, is to build one's life on the eternal God.
That does not change. Everything in this world changes, and is changing at an ever increasing speed. Now, the world is becoming more and more. One year ago, could you imagine the kind of things that are happening in Eastern Europe today? You couldn't even begin to imagine it.
In one year, Europe has changed beyond recognition. Even the Berlin Wall, which is rock, human rock, but human rock doesn't last, has been torn down.
# On Being a Wise Man (Part 2)
But sand in the Bible, of course, is a symbol of that which is transient, which is passing away, that does not abide. If you build your life on these temporary things, you will have nothing left at the end of the day. Now, I have said earlier that the Lord Jesus does not underestimate our intelligence. He is our creator. He knows he did not create us stupid.
I am sure that he does not suppose that anyone of you will go and deliberately build your house on sand. And why do people build on sand? Why do people build on sand? Miscalculation. Miscalculation.
Miscalculation. Miscalculation. A failure to grasp the realities of life. More seriously, an unwillingness to grasp the realities of life. Today, man is totally adrift because he has become cut loose, cut loose from the rock of his salvation.
And when you are cut loose from the rock of salvation, you are left with nothing but sand. Nothing left else to build on. Please be absolutely honest with me at this moment as we are preaching, because we are talking about things of eternal importance. Please be honest for a moment. Even more important, please be honest with God for one moment.
If it's only the one moment in your life that you can be honest with God. Please be honest. The third thing I ask of you, please be honest with yourself. If you cannot be honest with anybody else. Are you in touch with the eternal God?
Can you answer this question honestly? Are you in touch with the eternal God? You can't be honest with me. Can you answer this question? Is it really with the eternal God?
Now, if you are not in touch with the eternal God. If you are not in touch with the rock of salvation. Then what have you got left except sand? Tell me. What else have you got left except sand?
There is either rock here or there is sand. There is nothing in between the two. You are not impressed with the eternal God. If you are not with the salvation of life, what is left of you? It is only some sand.
If you are not with the salvation of life, there are no things that are left behind. So if you cannot build your life on rock, it is not because you are stupid that you have to build on sand, it is because there is nothing left. There is nothing else for you to build on except sand. If your life is not built on the salvation of life, it is not because you are a fool, it is because you are not left behind, you have left some sand. To be wise is a question here, as far as this camp theme is concerned, to be wise is to get away from the sands, the shifting sands of time in this life, and get back to the rock which is God.
To build your life on the rock that will not move. to build your life in a non-movement of the rock that will not move. When the empires have come and the empires have gone, you will still be there because your God is the one on whom you have built. If you are still alive, you will still be there because your life is built in the eternal earth. So the wise man is what kind of man?
What kind of man is? What kind of man is? By now we know the man who builds on the rock. That is what kind of man is built on the rock. But what does that mean?
That means that he is somebody who is in touch with the building is built on the rock, it is founded on the rock, it is drilled into the rock, it is related to the rock. Are you? This person is his life built on the rock, and his life is built on the rock. You are not a kind of man. The Bible doesn't say the wise man is a man who builds a house that balances on top of the rock.
This book doesn't say the wise man is a man who builds a house that balances on top of the rock. It doesn't say that the wise man is somebody who drilled a few screws. He went and got a black and decker drill from the late hardware shop. He drilled a few screws down there, then he tied the building with a few wires to the rock. That is the wise man.
In the Bible, there is no one smart person who is using a few screws to the rock. He is integrated to that rock. His life is in the rock. Let me ask you, is that a picture of your life?
You are in touch, and you are in touch with the living God? What I am asking is, is your life is not being in the rock? We are dealing with something of extreme importance to your life. If we cannot solve this question, if we cannot answer this question, then we have come to this camp to waste our time. Now, we are trying to deal with a very serious problem.
If we cannot answer this problem, then we will be able to get to this hour of the hour of the hour of the hour. We didn't even get enough sleep. What did we come here for? We are not even in the morning of the hour of the hour of the hour. I see some of you struggling here.
I think we should pass out the toothpicks. You know, just at least... I mean, we had too much fellowship last night. The great pity is you're not building your life on your friend that you talked to all night last night. The great pity is you're not building your life on your friend that you talked to all night last night.
He is not the rock. The rock is God. He is not the rock. The rock is God. We've got to get the answer to this question.
We need to find out the answer to this question. How do I get to know the living God? How do I get to know the living God? Let me try to summarize this as briefly as possible in the remaining minutes that we have.
I will simply try to focus on this. I want to summarize this in terms of the royal law. Notice these words. I'd like these words to stick in your mind. If you forgot everything I said today, remember the words, the royal law.
If you forget what I'm talking about today, I'll remember this. This is the royal law. Yes. Royal law. Royal.
The king's law. The law of the king. The king's law. Here, law, we are not speaking of law in a legal sense. We are speaking of law in terms of laws of physics.
That is, principles of the king. Now I'm talking about law. I'm talking about the law and the law. It's our own law. We find this expression in James chapter 2 verse 8.
Which we don't need to turn to now because we are running out of time. We can open the law in the book of the king's law. There you will find the expression which is translated as the royal law or the law of the king. We can see this as the king's law. And notice I quoted from James chapter 2 verse 8.
Because I'm quoting from the New Testament, not the Old Testament. And the book of James has a lot to speak about wisdom. This book of James chapter 2 verse 8. Let me try to show you what the situation of mankind is today.
I'm telling you what the situation of mankind is today. And why it is that man today has lost touch with the rock and now ends up living on the sand. Why the situation of mankind is today from the earth's life and now ends up living on the sand. To tell you this is to give you a lesson about the whole Bible in five minutes. I'm telling you what the Bible is about the whole Bible in five minutes.
This is wonderful. This is a Bible school in five minutes. What? Five minutes. In the Bible school in five minutes.
After this you can get a diploma. Then you can get a diploma. When we go back to Genesis, what happened? When we go back to Genesis, what happened? And you read the whole history of the Old Testament, one simple thing emerges.
If you read the whole history of the Old Testament, one simple thing emerges. Man does not want God to be king of his life. And because of that, they don't have the rock on which to build.
When Adam sinned in the garden, he declared already by his sin that he wants to go his own way and he doesn't want God to tell him how to run his life. When Adam's sin, the sin that he wants to go his own way and he wants to go his own way and he doesn't want God to control his life. This situation simply went from bad to worse as you read the Bible. This situation simply went from bad to worse as you read the Bible. By the sixth chapter of Genesis, only six chapters later, man was already so much in rebellion against God as king that the situation was irremediable.
It could not be remedied. In the end of the first chapter of Genesis, only six chapters later, man's situation is called the Holy Spirit. Let me ask you another question.
I am a very straightforward preacher. I ask people questions. I'm a very straightforward teacher. I'm very passionate about this. Is God king of your life at this moment?
Is He king of your life at this moment? Is this one of the Lord God of your life? Do you even know what it means to have God as king of your life? Do you know what it means to have God as king of your life? If not, you don't know what being wise is because you don't know what building on the rock means.
If you don't know what is what is wise and what is wise, because you don't know what is a life that is built in this book. The Bible tells us in Proverbs, This is wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the foundation, the beginning of wisdom. Why do you need the fear of the Lord? Who do men fear?
They fear the king. They fear him and what is the result? They obey because they fear. But man has long passed such childish notions of fear.
The great German philosophers who have never underestimated their marvelous intelligence. This great German philosophers who have never underestimated their marvelous intelligence. developmental Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. And when I fear God, I honor him as king.
But the history of the Bible is man all the time, always rejects God as king. When Israel became a nation, what did they want? They didn't want God as king. When Israel became a nation, what did they want? They didn't want God as king.
They want someone else. Who do they want? They want Saul. They want other people. They want another.
They want Saul. Why do they want Saul? Why do they want Saul? Why do they want Saul? Who?
So tall. Ah, well, he's too tall. Maybe they like to twist their neck more. They want to twist my head more. The Bible says that Saul was head and shoulder above.
Not just the head above most people, head and shoulder above. I'm trying to think how tall is he? He's a big man. He's a big man. He's a big man.
He's a big man. He's a big man. He's a big man. I have a very good friend in Canada who is a professor of theology. I have a very good friend in Canada who is a professor of theology.
He is six foot six. He's a big man. Six foot six. When I'm talking to him, I need the back support. I have a standard joke.
I said to him, Clerk, how is the weather up there? I told him, how is the weather up there? What is the weather up there? What is the weather up there? So once I gave him a lift from the university to the town, and I was trying to see how he managed to get into my car.
I was trying to see how he managed to get into my car. I was trying to see how he managed to get into my car. I told him how to get into my car. So I moved the seat as far back as I can, and he was struggling to get one leg in and struggle the other leg in.
So Saul, head and shoulders above everyone. They want this kind of king. He's a king. He's so tall. That's why he's king.
If a person is so tall, he can be king. They didn't seem to ask how many brain cells he had. They didn't seem to ask how many brain cells he had. It's only important that he's big size, huge. But for God, we don't want God.
We want this guy to be king. The Lord, we don't want that guy. What they didn't know is that God could kick him out tomorrow. He didn't know that God could kick him out tomorrow. In fact, that's what exactly he did.
He kicked Saul out. That's what he did. He kicked Saul out. He got a little boy called David. David was maybe my size.
I'm not quite comfortable. The Lord, who's the king of the king? He's a king of the king. Where everybody doesn't have to twist their neck to talk to me, you see. Yeah, people don't want to talk to me.
So, we can see that all through human history, we reject God as king. We don't want him as king. In human history, we always have to fight against God. We don't want God to be the king of the king. But I want to tell you, if you want to understand the Bible, there is one central principle you must grasp.
I tell you, if you want to understand the Bible, there is one central principle you must grasp. There is a principle that you must understand the Bible. There is a principle that you must understand. The whole Bible teaches one thing. Just don't want to say the same thing.
From the beginning to the end. Just from the beginning to the end. God is king. If you don't like the word king, it doesn't matter. You can call him chairman.
You can call him sovereign. You can call him president. You can call him supreme commander-in-chief. Call him whatever you like. But he is number one.
Or you don't like the name of the king. You can call him president. You can call him president. You can call him president. You can call him president.
You can call him the king of the king. Or whatever. The king is the first one. I have been reading a book. A huge book like this.
I am reading a very thick book. Many of you know I love to read. And I have been reading this book.
The whole book is expounding this one thing. Or you know I really like reading this book. This one is to explain the same thing. Written by a professor of theology in Scotland. It is the professor of theology in Scotland.
And this professor says the title, the book that he has written is called this. It is the biblical doctrine of the reign of God. This professor of theology is the biblical doctrine of the reign of God. He is expounding from the beginning of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, the one central truth about God. God is king.
Whether you like it or not doesn't matter. You may not like it. You may hate it. You may say I don't believe it. I am sick of it.
I don't want to hear it. It makes no difference. That's what the Bible teaches. He will decide what happens to your life. He will decide what happens to your life.
And that's why I spoke of James chapter 2 verse 8, the law of the king that James talks about. The wise are those who fulfill the law of the king. So I'm going to mention the law of the king.
This is the law of the king. And this kingship is not something hard to bear. This law of the king is not something hard to bear. Because the Bible constantly teaches us that he calls us into his friendship to be the friend of the king. The Bible says that he is going to bring people to become his friend.
Now I'm not really interested whether a person is a king or not. But if someone is not a king, I don't know what kind of king is he. What kind of person is he. What I'm interested in is what kind of king is he. What kind of person is he.
What I shared with some of those in the Bible study group is that I am a person who grew up in power. I was impressed with some developmental in the former government. He commanded an army of nearly 40,000 men. He commanded an army of nearly 40,000 men. He had two generals under his command.
One of them became commander-in-chief of all armed forces in Taiwan. And the other one became the Taiwan of the army. He was a very outstanding general. If you have a little bit of knowledge of the Chinese of the army, he was a very outstanding general. Even more interesting was the fact that my father's armies were not under the command of the central government.
They were directly answerable to him. And do you know the fact that most of his armies were stationed near Nanjing, which was the capital of China before the communist war? The majority of the army were stationed in Nanjing. Now, if any of you remember the the 64th incident, the June 4th incident, you will know what it means to have an army stationed near the city. If you know what the happened in the 64th incident, you will know what the city of the army of the army is going to be in the city.
You can surround the city with 20,000, 30,000 men with your tanks and your armies. You could simply bring the government down. If you have a military army or 300,000 men with your army to destroy the city, you can destroy the government. Upon the waters, on the coastal waters of China, he commanded 100 gun boats, that is speed boats armed with very high firepower and moving very very fast. In the Chinese war, there are 100 men with high-level weapons.
I know what it is to live in power. I know what it is to live in power. I know what it is to talk with generals and with ministers of finance and ministers of this and ministers of that, even as a boy. developmental I still remember once when he came to visit us, he was a very very tall man, maybe a bit like Professor Pinnock. He was a very tall man and he stooped down and he talked to me and he said, you know what is my name? And he said to me, my name is Layton.
He said, would you remember Layton? I said, okay, I remember you Layton. I didn't know he was the ambassador of the United States. I didn't know he was the ambassador of the United States. He said, always remember me, will you please?
I said, I will try. He said, you remember me, I will try. So I fulfilled my promise, I remember him.
I will follow my promise, I will remember him. You will see his name in history books today. You will see his name in history books today. I know what is power, I have mixed with men of power. I know what is power.
I know what is power. I have接触 with the power. I think God has some purpose in all this. I think God has some purpose in all this. I think because of this, I have no fear of any man of any position whatsoever.
I don't care who they are. I don't care who they are. I don't care who they are. I don't care who they are. When we had a dinner of the cabinet of China, the United States, the United States, we had a dinner of the cabinet of China, the United States.
You see, I was very useful to have around because politicians are always politicians. I always have a situation. I always have a situation. Because the government is a government. And the question often was, who do you ask to sit at dinner, at a small dinner table, beside the Prime Minister or Vice Prime Minister of China?
That time it was Wang Yunwu. The question is, you would sit with who? With the President, the President, the President, or the President? Well, of course, if you put the defense minister next to him, then the economics minister is unhappy. If you put the government minister in the other side, the government minister would not be very happy.
So all these ministers are jostling for rank, as to who should sit on the right-hand side. Notice the Bible speaks of being on the right-hand side. The right-hand side of the Prime Minister. That everyone is holding on the right-hand side. The problem was solved.
They invited me. Then the President, they put me on the right-hand side. So I sat next to the...
On this side, I sat on the right-hand side of the... of the... of the... at that time, Vice Prime Minister who became Prime Minister. And then his wife sat on the other side. So I was sandwiched between the Prime Minister and the wife of the Prime Minister.
That I was placed on the right-hand side of the other side. The other side is the other side. I was sitting in the right-hand side. The important point is not whether you are king or Prime Minister or defense minister or general or whatever you are. Because I had people walking in and out of the house, I don't know who is the defense minister.
I don't know who is the Prime Minister. I have to count the number of stars. I just showed it. If he... The important point is not what office they hold.
It is what kind of a person they are. The important point is not what office they hold. It is what kind of a person they are. The important point is not what office they hold. It is what kind of a person they are.
The important point is not what office they hold. It is what kind of a person they are. The problem is not what they are taking. What place they keep taking place. What place they keep taking place.
What place they keep taking place. What place they keep taking place. What place they keep taking place. What place they keep taking place. What place they keep taking place.
What place they keep taking place. What place they keep taking place. What place they keep taking place. What place they keep taking place. What place they keep taking place.
What place they keep taking place. What place they keep taking place. What place they keep taking place. What place they keep taking place. What place they keep taking place.!
What place they keep taking place. I feel the Lord is the Lord. I want to tell you that for me, to know God as king is to know him as a living person with whom I can talk everyday. I can fellowship with him. I can thank him.
When I look at the beautiful scenery, I say, God, how wonderful you are. That is God. His person, not his office. When I thought about the Lord, the Lord was my king. I was able to communicate with him, to talk with him.
I saw such a beautiful view, and I said, God, you are a very unique person. I can communicate with you. Do you know this God? Do you know this God as a friend? Do you know this God as a friend?
It doesn't matter if you have a friend who is a general, somebody or other, or Prime Minister or Ambassador. To me, these are things that are irrelevant. I'm not even interested in that. Do you know what your friend is, or what your friend is, or what your friend is? I'm not interested in that.
I don't even understand why these people want to make friends with me. For some reason, they are drawn to me. They want to discover what's the reason for this. Do you know why there are people who like to be with me as a friend? In London, I had a general who came to me, and he wanted to make friends with me.
I couldn't figure out why he wants to be, he's old enough to be my grandfather. In London, there was a gentleman who said he wanted to share a friend. He was able to do my friend. I thought it was a reason. For some people, they think it is so glorious to have a general as a friend.
Some people thought, ah, to be with him as a friend is so glorious. In fact, I knew two generals in England, in London. In fact, I knew two generals in England. I never bothered to perform to build up a friendship with them. They were the ones who always wanted to talk to me.
I never bothered to perform to build up a friendship with them. They were the ones who always wanted to talk to me. When I went to Israel, I was given the name of the chief of the Israeli Army Chief of Staff, General Yigal Yadin, very famous as a scholar and as a general. In Israel, there was someone who gave me a friend, which was the Israeli Army Chief of Staff. I didn't even bother to visit him.
I didn't even bother to visit him. I only for the sake of my friend picked up the phone and talked to him over the telephone and greeted him. For my friend's purpose, I was calling him a phone call. I am not interested in General's Prime Minister, so let me tell you the truth. I am not interested in the truth.
I am not interested in the truth. But I want to love as God does, the simplest brother and sister. But I want to love as God does, the simplest brother and sister.
The Lord Jesus, King of Kings, He is interested in a blind beggar, are you? That's why I tell you, He is different from all leaders of all nations. He is something entirely different. His character is different. He is different from all nations.
He is different from all nations. He is different from all nations. His personality is different. We have recently read the reports of Ceausescu in Romania. The rottenness, the corruption, the brutality of this kind of man.
We have recently seen the ruler of the king of the king of the king. I will tell you why I am not interested in all these kind of people. Because human beings are too small to be great. They are not great enough to take the load of power and remain pure. They become arrogant, proud, corrupted.
But my king and my God remains the friend of people who are weak and lowly. But my king and my king are weak and lowly. So as we close, I want to ask you this question as we close for today.
Do you know the king? If not, do you want to know him? Do you want to build your life upon him, the rock that will never change? Do you want to build your life upon him, the rock that will never change? In closing, I want to just give you the principles of the royal law which I will try to expand more fully tomorrow.
At the end, I will keep the commandment of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of the king of If I do it, I will be very carefully to explain it. The royal law, the word royal is the key that I would like you to remember of how to get in touch with the living God. Today's word is the word君王. This is our today's word's key. It is how to understand this who is the God.
You know you have a wonderful privilege. You know you have a wonderful privilege. The whole world has rejected God, including most of the church. This whole world is a lot of抗拒 God. And I might say especially the church.
I have a little bit more to say about this tomorrow. I will be more careful. Why do I say you have a special privilege? Because God has few friends today. Why does God have few friends?
Why does God have such a little children? Because everybody wants to run away and do their own thing. Because people are going to go away and do their own thing. They don't want God as king. They don't want God as king.
When they crucified the Lord Jesus, they said, we don't want this man to be king over us. We don't want this man to be king. When they put them on the cross, they said, we don't want this man to be king over us. You know what all this means? It makes it very easy for you and me to be his friends.
That is why you become my friend. Because there are so few friends. Because there are so few friends. I would like to be one of his friends. I would like to be one of his friends.
If only I can sit at the bottom of the table, at the lowest place beside his feet. I would like to be one of his feet in the lower seat. Because I have seen the beauty of his face. Because I have seen the beauty of his face. The royal law.
And this will be a little bit difficult to translate, but I know given our sister Margaret's great ability, she will handle this with ease. So the first word, royal, is spelled R-O-Y-A-L. The first word, it is called royal. The first word, I would like you to remember, is the word repentance. The second word, O-O-Bedience.
The third word, the third letter, Y for royal, Y is yoke. The first word, A-Y-A-L, is for all or absolute. The third word, A-Y-A-L, is for all or absolute. And the last letter is L for royal.
The last letter is L for royal. For L, the word be is launch, to launch out. It is to spread out. Now these five letters, I would like to expound, because if you can grasp them, you will be able to build your life upon the rock that does not move.
Let us be quiet before God in prayer. Before we continue, let us worship the Lord with another song. In our first song, we'll also worship the Lord with another song. That is song number 12. The words of this song have always been very precious to me.
The song song is very precious. Give me the faith which can remove. and sink the mountain to a plain We are facing mountains today You have mountains in your life I have mountains in my life The world is full of mountains And let me tell you the church is full of mountains My heart is very heavy today A little bit later in the message I will try to explain to you why It's because of the mountains that surround and are within the church And so we need the faith that prays this prayer Give me a faith which can remove the mountains For the church, brothers and sisters, it may be too late I hope it's not too late for you So my message is two parts today The first part relates to you, each person individually The first part is that you have a relationship with each other That truly it will not be too late for you The second part relates to the church of Christ To which you and I, we all belong The second part relates to the church of Christ To which you and I, we all belong If you are truly a Christian For which unfortunately, for the most part of the church It is too late I hope to do the most part of the church It is too late The Lord has given me over these recent months A prophetic message and a prophetic insight If you are in the past, you will be able to see the past That it is too late It is too late It is too late I remember just only a few months ago When I got up, I said to my wife Helen I said to her And I think she couldn't quite understand what I was saying I said it is finished I remember a few months ago When I woke up, I said it is finished I said it is finished I said it is finished I repeated it several times It is finished I said it is finished And I will explain a little further on why this is so When we continue to do it I will explain why this is so If it is entirely hopeless Then why do we still sing this song Give me the faith If we are not sure Why do we still sing this song Give me the faith There is a very small element of hope We keep You and I are living in very very important days that you and I don't even begin to understand how important it is. If all you can think about in this camp and through your life and through the coming days when you leave this camp is how to proceed with your profession, how to make more money, how to earn more degrees, let me tell you, you don't know the day or the hour in which you are now living. If you continue to live in your past life, you will be able to read more books, how to continue to continue to progress. You don't know what you have been living in your life.
You don't know how long we have been living in your life. And you will be among those five foolish women that we saw in the play yesterday. You will be like the five of the young men. Should say men should I have it? Just like the five of the young men, who got locked out.
And lost the hour of opportunity. Anyway, before we continue the message, let us make this our prayer. Lord, give me the faith that can be. Let us sing again in English or Cantonese or whatever language.
We have time only to sing the first and the last stances. We will sing it over the first time in English, first time in Chinese, Cantonese or whatever Chinese you can speak. The first time in Chinese and the second time in English. Let us rise together to worship.
Let us rise together to worship. Let us rise together to worship. The first part of this message then concerns what we did not finish yesterday. How do we enter into a living relationship with the rock of our salvation? First part of this message then concerns what we did not finish today.
And I wondered how many people in this room today, if I asked you to stand up, let us know that you are in a day-to-day living relationship with God. How many of you would dare to stand up? If I ask you today, who is in a day-to-day living relationship with God? I would ask you to stand up. I am not going to ask you to do that, because my purpose is not to embarrass anyone.
I would not ask you to do that, because I would not want to make everyone feel ashamed. Much less that you should feel proud of yourself when in fact your relationship to the Lord may be quite weak. And the more painful is that there is a lot of people who are angry, and think that you are with God's family.
It is a very bad situation. I know as one who has been in the pastoral work for many many years, as one who has been in the pastoral work for many years, I have been in the work of the pastor for many years. As you all know, the priest in the church has been in the pastoral work for many years. I know that there are very few people in any church who have a deep and living relationship with the Lord. I know that in a church in a very few people, there are very few people in any church, who have a deep and living relationship with the Lord.
Now of course the church is made up of individuals. Of course the church is made up of individuals. And if this is true, that there are so few Christians, maybe including yourself, whose relationship to the Lord is very weak, then what happens to the church?
If the church is so small, and the church is so small, the church is so small. I don't like to be unkind. I don't want to be a very苛刻 person. You will notice in the song, the last song that the song team led us in worshiping, song number 13 in our hymn book, you will remember, we just sang the last song that the song team led us in worshiping, and if your mind is a little bit logical in thinking, if you have this逻辑 of thinking, you will see some kind of contradiction. You will see some kind of contradiction.
The title is, Awake, Awake, Church of God. The word is, The word is, What does that tell you? What does that tell you? The church is asleep. The word is, You don't ask people to wake up when I'm awake.
I mean, nobody would come in front of me when I'm preaching here, and say, Would you please wake up? Now, of course, if you see I'm gradually dozing over the pulpit, you might say, Excuse me, you're supposed to preach. Would you please wake up? The fact that I am preaching should be sufficient proof that I am awake, at least to some degree of being awake. I am sitting here saying, I am awake.
I am awake. This song is telling us that the church is asleep. I am awake. I am awake. But of course, as we read on a little bit, we find it a bit humorous.
We keep hearing the developmental developmental