In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of dedicating oneself to God's work. They explain that just as the hand represents work, God's work requires individuals who are willing to place themselves in His hands. The speaker references Romans 12, where Paul encourages believers to offer themselves as living sacrifices. The sermon also highlights the story of a woman who found a page from the Bible used as wrapping paper and was thrilled by it, prompting her to share the word with others. The speaker challenges the audience to examine their own commitment to the Lord and the gathering of His people. They also discuss the concept of being a watchman, referencing passages in Isaiah and other books.

I was just sitting there with my wife doing the wash of time. And the thought came to me, oh, it's going to be recorded. Don't make any mistakes. But I was just thinking how good it was for us to be occupied with the Lord Himself. And I was just wishing that our wash of time would just go on and go on and forever. Our life's calling, our life's vocation is just to be simply occupied with Him. Because He's the center of our purpose. And He's everything. And I'm standing here by God's grace. When Jerry called me, I think it was Monday, he said, now since you're going to come down here, how about you share with us on the Lord's Day? And I wasn't very sure, I said, well, I'll call you back. And I just feel I'm not worthy. And Jerry said, if you're not worthy, who is worthy then? Well, I said, I'll pray about it. And Tuesday evening happened to be our regular weekly prayer time, so I asked the saint to pray for me. And this last, I just finished reading a book by Christina Chai. Some of you might have heard of her. The first was called The Queen of the Dark Chamber. A Chinese sister who's been crippled for most of her life. And those who lived with her, they were also crippled old ladies. And yet they had a worldwide impact in ministering the gospel, the love of Lord Jesus, to people from all over the world. And one of their mantra was that restful availability. Never get excited. As long as God brings opportunity to you and to your way, serve Him in joy. Even though you're weak, He is your strength. Even though you have nothing, He is your everything. And so I said, Lord, I have no choice. Then I was reading another book this last week. Almost finished. God is the man God brought us forth. Now, if you have read that book, that is a heavy book. On this matter of spirit, soul, and body. And I was reading that chapter on deception. He was saying that the flesh needs to be crucified. The sinner needs to be crucified. But he said, do you know a preacher and missionary also need to be crucified? And our lips need also to be crucified. If this lip is to be a vehicle for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives revelation. The Holy Spirit at the same time gives the utterance. And God answers, I am completely cast at the mercy of the Holy Spirit. And I say to you, those who have served the Lord, we know, the more we know Him, the more we realize how inadequate we are. The more we come to know Him, the more we realize how little we know Him. And so brothers and sisters, I am standing here in fear and trembling, because what can I say apart from what the Holy Spirit has given to me. And now the other thing is that when Father Cohn visited me from time to time, and I do call him often, and I often ask how the things in Richmond, how they are doing, how they say anything to the Lord. And Brother Cohn told me one, he said, a lot of the brothers, most of the responsible brothers here in Richmond, they are all quite gifted. And they are all seasoned speakers. That's from Brother Cohn. Now, I'm sure we in this group, and those who know him, we do value his judgment, don't we? Yes, so when Jerry Cohn, I can't be very hesitant, but by God's grace, I'll share what's in my heart. But what I'll share is more important. It's not just to you, but I'm really speaking to myself. And it's the lesson that we in Glasgow have been learning the last few months. It's the neglect of God's love. The people of the world, they've been neglecting their Creator, their Savior. They did not acknowledge Him as their God, as their Creator. And we, as God's people, oftentimes we have neglected God's house. Now, brothers and sisters, I know in myself I cannot do without the Lord. He is my very life. He is my everything. But at the same time, I need you, brothers and sisters. I need you. If I need God, I'll need you. Now, brothers and sisters, for the last few years, my family and myself, we have a... since we have... the Lord has given us something. That whenever there is a gathering of God's people, we want to be there. Because I believe whenever God gathers His people, He has a very specific reason for it. And purpose for it. Because He wants to say something to them corporately. And I want to be there to hear what He wants to say to us. Unless He prevented me some way, I'll be there. And I'm very thankful. Since in the early 60s, I've been attending many of these conferences. Now, I may not learn as much as I should. But brothers and sisters, their values are there. Those countenances, those gatherings of God provide the ground for the Holy Spirit to work. So, before we share what's in my heart, maybe it's the best thing to just look to the Lord. We look to the Lord. Lord, we are hit with knowledge without everything to us. We take thee as our wisdom. We take thee as our utterance. Lord, we take thee as the organ that's in our heart to receive something from myself. Lord, apart from that quickening of the Holy Spirit, Lord, we have no way of knowing thee. And so we cast ourselves this morning together at thy mercy. Lord, do speak to us. Remove all the obstacles, all the hindrances. We do want to be transparent before thee. Lord, so do speak. And we are here to hear what our head says to us. In thy precious name. Amen. I know the brothers and sisters, this came back from a trip to China. And they met some saints there. And we were talking the other night. They may be very, very poor materially, but they're very rich. On our way back, we stopped in Hong Kong to fellowship with the saints. And at their worship time, many, many of the sisters worshiped in tears. They loved the Lord. They valued the time that saints can gather together. Brothers and sisters, we have problems in this country. We take our gathering very lightly. But those brothers and sisters in China, they risked their lives to come together. And I was really moved by those old saints in Hong Kong when they worshiped in tears. Tears of joy. Tears of joy that they were allowed privilege to gather together with the saints and to worship as the body of Christ. There are many stories I can tell. I'm sure our brothers and sisters will share with you later on. But there's one interesting one. How they valued the Word of God. One sister, one day, went to the market to shop. And she bought something, a very, very small amount of something. And then, of course, it was wrapped in a piece of paper. And so she took it home. And once she got home and saw what she bought, and she discovered that the paper that was used for wrapping was a page from the Bible. And she was thrilled to death. She was thrilled to death. And immediately she contacted all the brothers and sisters that she knew. Encouraged them. Encouraged each one of them to go to the shop and just to buy something and so each of them can have a page of that chapter. So they can share the Word together. Now, when I heard that kind of story, it put me to shame. And it shows how we have neglected the Lord. How we have neglected His people. How we have neglected the gathering of His people. So this morning, that seems to be the theme that the Lord has laid in my heart. Because in Glasgow, we think that way. They have a heart for the Lord, and yet somehow we are neglecting the Lord. There's a contradiction there. We say we want the Lord. We say we desire to seek Him. And yet in our action, we come short. We come short. And so can we look at one of the books in the Old Testament? I notice there's no clock in this room. So I just wonder how. . . You're going to have to try to do it. Because I don't want to. . . It's a shame. I don't want to. . . It's a shame. So we turn to the book of Nehemiah, please. The book of Nehemiah. Thank you. The book of Nehemiah. Chapter 9. We'll begin with Chapter 9. Nehemiah. Chapter 9.32. Nehemiah Chapter 9.32. Nehemiah Chapter 9.32. Now, therefore, our God, the great and mighty and the awesome God, who does keep covenant and loving kindness, do not let all the hardships seem insignificant before thee, which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all thy people, from the days of the kings of Assyria to this day. However, thou art just, and all that thou hast come upon us, for thou hast dealt faithfully, that we have acted wickedly. For all kings, our leaders, our priests, and our fathers have not kept thy law, or paid attention to thy commandments and thy admonition, with which thou hast admonished them. But they, in their own kingdom, with thy great goodness, which thou didst give them, with the broad and rich land, which thou didst set before them, did not serve thee, or turn from evil deeds. Behold, we are slaves to this day. And as to the land which thou didst give to our fathers, to eat of its fruits and its bounties, behold, we are slaves on it. And its abundant produce is for the kings, whom thou hast set over us because of our sins. They also rule over our bodies. And over our cattle as they please. So we are in great distress. Now, because of all this, we are making an agreement and writing. And on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests. Chapter 10. Now, on the sealed document were the names of Nehemiah, the governor, the son of Hekeliah and Hezekiah. Now, we will not read all the names. So can we go on with verse 28. Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all those who have separated themselves from the people of the land to the law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, and all those who have knowledge and understanding are joining with their kinsmen, their nobles, and are taking themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God's law, which was given through Moses, God's servant, and to keep and to observe all the commandments of God our Lord and His ordinances and His statutes. And we will not give our daughters to the people of the land or take their daughters for sons. As for the people of the land who bring ware and any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or a holy day. And we will forgo the crops the seventh year of the Sabbath and execution of every day. We also place ourselves under obligation to contribute yearly one third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God. Please notice this verse. We place ourselves under obligation. And then the other phrase is the service of the house of our God. Not the God of their fathers, but our God. Now if you read previous chapters through the Kings and the Chronicles, many times it refers to their God, their father's God. But in this case, it's our God. They put themselves under obligation to serve their God. Or we put ourselves under obligation to serve our God. Verse 33. For the sure bread, for the continued grain offering, for the continued burnt offering, the Sabbath, the new moon, and the appointed times for the holy things and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel and all the works of the house of our God. Likewise, we cast lots to supply the works among the priests and Levites and the people in order that they might bring to the house of our God according to our Father's houses a sixth time annually to burn on the altar of the Lord our God as it is written in the law in order that they might bring the first fruit of our ground and the first fruit of all the fruit of every tree to the house of the Lord annually and bring to the house of our God the firstborn of our son in our cattle and the firstborn of our herd and our flock as it is written in the law for the priests who are ministering in the house of our God. We will also bring the first of our gold our contributions, the fruit of every tree the new wine and the oil to the priests at the chamber of the house of our God and the tithe of our ground to the Levites for the Levites are they who receive the tithe in all the rural towns and the priests, the sons of Aaron shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithe and the Levites shall bring up the tenth of the tithe to the house of our God to the chamber of the storehouse for the sons of Israel and the sons of Levites shall bring the contribution of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the chamber there are the utensils of the sanctuary the priests who are ministering the keepers and the gatekeepers and the thinkers and the last thing that we will not neglect the house of our God and can we turn to one passage in the New Testament Romans 1 1.14 a very familiar verse most people use this in the preaching of the gospel Romans 1.14 I am under obligation go to the Greeks and to the barbarians go to the wise and the foolish that for my part I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome and maybe just one more passage 1 Corinthians 9 just two verses 1 Corinthians 9 verse 16 so if I preach the gospel I have nothing to boast of for I am under compulsion for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel compulsion I was looking in the dictionary is something impels you a force behind you that impels you now God says whenever you come to the world of the Holy Spirit you put energy divine energy divine power divine force because the Holy Spirit is the power of God that works in us and through us and so Paul he had that compulsion that energy which was not in himself preach is from the Holy Spirit therefore he said I preach if I don't preach I am in trouble and then let's go to another verse down further verse 19 verse 19 for though I am free from all men when you are free you are not obligated to anything so Paul says even though I am free for though I am free from all men I have made myself I have made myself a slave to all that I might win the more he slaves himself under obligation and we take the life of the Lord Jesus he puts himself under obligation to do the will of the Father the very story of incarnation speaks of his obligation to come to this earth to do and to fulfill the will of the Father and Paul says so in Philippians he emptied himself he did it it's not the Father emptied him but he emptied himself he humbled himself he took up the form of a born slave he put himself under obligation now brothers and sisters we all know God desires a house we all know God is building a house we all know that God is longing for a place where he can be at home with his people and thank God for those hearts that are responding to his heart it's a joy to my heart to go to this mini gathering and see those that are responding those that are touched by the love of God are willing to place themselves under obligation to meet God's needs to do his will to please God you know I don't want to put you brothers and sisters in Richmond into a place of embarrassment but this is true this is true every time when I come down to Richmond and to share with some of you brothers and sisters I go back to Glasgow feel very much ashamed because you seem to be moving on in the things of the Lord stably you seem to be gaining ground or the Lord is gaining his ground in you and every time I go back I have to share with my brothers and sisters when I go to Richmond those brethren they put me to shame because I have known the Lord for years and I have to say I have gone to more conferences than any of you have and every time when I come to Richmond I went back I have said thank God for those that are going on thank God they are an encouragement to us but they also bring me to a place of humility and brothers and sisters we need that we need brothers and sisters that we need to fellowship with they will encourage us on the positive side but on the other side we need them to humble us because the Holy Spirit cannot operate on any of the ground on the ground of humility and emptiness that is the thing and there is a danger for us brothers and sisters when we have received some revelation we have received some spiritual knowledge we think we have we think we have come to something and brothers and sisters I meet brothers and sisters in our area who think they are already at the end we think they are already at the end they saw the person they have yet at the end and get brothers and sisters because they thought they have seen the end in fact they haven't begun their first step and there are those who want to go on but because of the fear of flesh they are not moving even that first step and brothers and sisters we need God's mercy we need God's mercy and the conclusion I came to maybe I am wrong is brothers and sisters no matter where you find ourselves it is for our spiritual education if we are working in our office or teaching in school or being a housewife in a kitchen we are there to receive spiritual education in other words we are placing ourselves under obligation to learn what is true discipleship? the true disciple is the one who willingly places himself under the obligation to learn from the master now brothers and sisters God honours our free will salvation is a free gift we can ask for it He gives it to us He gives it to us but everything as we let God's hand and God's power and God's purpose brothers and sisters He the Holy Spirit needs our full cooperation and the problem with that we have understanding in our head that we are not willing to cause what we are causing and so again this matter is the heart matter and when it touches this heart matter it is a matter of love it was such a joy to pray with the brothers down there you know exalting the Lord and brothers I just came to this the Lord was speaking to me the Lord has a place in His heart for all of us do you know that? sometimes as God needs it of all the beings in this whole creation God is most misunderstood He's not just we feel that He had no heart for us if He had a heart for us why I have to go through this go through that to meet up with this brother that brother I have but you see probably the most understanding being in this whole universe is God Himself and therefore do you know that you and I this morning sitting here and not just you and I but every being creature on this earth a human has a place in God's heart has a place in His heart our brothers and sisters the question now is does He have a place in our heart we have a place in our heart because Jesus He is so great He is so loving His love is so infinite no beginning no end He has room for the whole creation He loves the whole creation in fact the day will come the whole creation will be restored because of His love but brothers and sisters we've been loved by Him with this tremendous love but somehow we have very little place for Him in our heart we are not willing to place ourselves under His loving obligation and brothers and sisters this is a struggle a battle between the soul and the spirit between the souls the spirit always says yes yes to the Lord but the soul always says not yet not yet there's still time there's still time recently a group of brothers and sisters visited Christina Tari I just mentioned a Chinese lady lives in Lancaster and she's over 90 and yet she's still ministering and they came back with a pin with a trumpet and I think the girl says it may happen today now what may happen today He's coming He's coming so there is urgency of time the flesh always says there's more time there's tomorrow there's tomorrow but the spirit says now and it's today and our problem as human beings we look back we look to the future we don't look for the present because God is the great I am He is God the present is now to us now if you and I are really honest with ourselves I do often if I look back what do I see failing failing how we fail the Lord miserably we look back you see but the scripture never asked us to look back you know lots of wives look back wouldn't do you any good the Lord never looked to the future because there's nothing to look to to look to in the future if we know anything about the future of this world it's sad very sad it's destined for total destruction but the scripture says we have to fix our eyes to Jesus it's in now it's not tomorrow and the Holy Spirit is saying now now but the flesh often say they get time they get time because we say he is merciful so they get time it's true the reason why God allows us to have a tomorrow is because of his mercy but mercy is not the end mercy in grace is unto something and so forth we are living in a very critical time if the Lord does come how would you and I be able to stand before him we know he's coming but we've been living in a very very careless life as Christians now let's get back to Nehemiah because the house has been neglected if you look through the Old Testament history after Solomon had built the glorious temple and how the glory of the Lord came down and dwelt in the house so that the priest could not even enter into ministry but how long did that last how long did that last it didn't last too long because even in Solomon's lifetime glory, glory had departed he became other than something else other than what God destined him to be at that time in his lifetime the house was already in neglect if you read through the Kings their brief period of restoration and yet immediately there's neglect until Jerusalem was totally in ruins the gates the walls all broken down burned and thank God for those who who were stirred by the Holy Spirit to return to Jerusalem and to restore and to rebuild and all the difficulties they gone through and provinces do you know to restore the house of God fully requires everyone in the nation to have an active heart in ministering to the house because the house is the house of the whole nation it's the God who dwells in the midst of his people it speaks of the nation the people and so provinces do in every gathering in every God's desire is to have every one of us those who have been redeemed loved by him and called to respond to his love and take an active part in the ministry of the body of Christ by faith you know the Lord said it's more blessed to give than to receive and our problem as human beings we always go to church to receive we still have that mentality I go this Sunday to hear someone go speak is brother if somebody will call Jerry is brother going to be here this Sunday is brother going to be here this Sunday then I'll come you see what I mean we come to hear a person now if you look the first book of Israel there are two groups of people that want to build the wall one group was those who were brought from captivity part of Holy Spirit with the group of those who did not but there was a group who always was there and they came and said we want to help you build because they were brought there by somebody else for other reasons we have to be before the Lord and make this thing very clear why does he gather us here together what is your reason for coming is your reason for coming because they have good teaching or the kind of music they sing that suits your taste or style or because you like the atmosphere or you like the people the brothers and sisters often let our natural inclination because I like so and so so and so my friends are there therefore I want to go there my friends but brothers and sisters those who came back with they know exactly what they want they want to restore God's place in the midst of his people and brothers and sisters we have no other reason of gathering together other than to give God his rightful place in the midst of his people that he can get all his followers for himself if we come into the reason brothers and sisters we have neglected our calling we have neglected God's house you know and it's a battle it's a struggle but God is calling again again again and brothers and sisters we must be those who as in Nehemiah says we place ourselves under obligation to serve the house of our God now brothers and sisters it's their God not the God of their fathers so brothers and sisters there is a principle there we come because we we come because we want to serve him we come because we want to please him because he is my God he is our God he is not somebody else's God you refer you know the Old Testament way back you know the God of Jacob the God of Abraham the God of Isaac it's their God so brothers and sisters do you know that that God wants to be our God today that is the whole point and when that that thing is a reality there is a relationship there is a bond there is a bond and inseparable and somehow you are able to sit together somehow you are able to knit your hearts together through thick and thin now I don't know about you Richmond in Glasgow often times we thought some of the brothers are really well with us in heart and spirit but when crises come perhaps they're gone they're gone because the house is not the house of our God because the thing the house is the house the house of God is brother Hosea's house it's my house it's not his the point is we are together in this room we have to bear one another we have to share all this responsibility if God is to go to get what he wants take the case of Paul he placed himself under obligation to preach the gospel he said woe to me if I don't preach and later on he said I preach willingly but I may be one version I may be paid or rewarded by God but he said even though if I preach reluctantly and willingly I still preach because I'm under what? obligation I was committed by God with this trust therefore I have to do it now brothers and sisters this building of the house of God will not come easy if it's easy it won't take this last two thousand years it won't take this two thousand years because it's extremely difficult and God is looking for that quality in you and I spiritual quality that he can trust that he can work that we are willing to call for it and I think the quality he is looking for in this end time is for those who are willing to place themselves under obligation we have to that is the way of the cross that is stop denial that is laying down your life for the brothers place yourself under obligation we have heard of watchman in the book of Isaiah and other places watchman what is a watchman? watchman yes again one place under obligation to do his duty and brothers and sisters you know I just want to encourage myself and you that in this life days God is looking for those who will place themselves under obligation to serve the Lord and to serve in his house and the first last verse of that chapter says that we will not neglect the house of our God otherwise our house of God will be neglected if we don't place ourselves under obligation the house of God will be neglected now just to share a couple of things you know David he was a king he was David who had that desire for his life to build a house for the Lord and because of that God was great in spite of all the faults failures God saw him as a perfect man because many times he said he walked uprightly and righteously before me because David's heart was right he wanted he wanted God to have that place not only in his life but in the nation the house so in a way David's life is really vitally related to the house and therefore God can say he is the man after my own heart because he wants me to have a resting place he knows what I want he understands my heart and he is willing to do it so he provided he provided all the materials for the house of the Lord but just to give you a little story we all love David and Goliath very much and I think they are really tremendous story spiritual principles remember when he was going to encounter Goliath he picked five stones from the book and the scripture said they were smooth they were smooth and you know five now why five? now those who know anything about typology you know number has tremendous significance seven is the number of church twelve is the number of poverty and four is creation and five is divinity and so forth all these things six is the number of man five five stones now in the gospel to the boy he has five loaves and two fishes five is the combination of two and three and two in the scripture always speaks of testimony a testimony of two should stand you see and the testimony should be in the hands of the three now five speaks of what? practical work because we have five fingers and we work people say you work with your hand now the hand means this whole thing you don't work just with your you work with your fingers too so hand speaks of work God does have a work and if God's work is to be done God needs those who are willing to place themselves in his hands and therefore all Romans he said offer yourselves as a living sacrifice place yourself in his hands according to the problem that we are living sacrifice we can walk and so when we hear a very good message on dedication and comfort five loaves and two fishes five is the combination of two and three and two in the scripture always speaks of testimony a testimony of the truth and the testimony should be in the hands of the truth now five speaks of practical practical work because we have five fingers and we work people said you work with your hand now the hand means this whole thing you don't work just with your you work with your fingers too so hand speaks of work God does have And if that work is to be done, God needs those who are willing to place themselves in his hands. And therefore Paul in Romans 12 he says, Offer yourselves up as a living sacrifice. Place yourselves in his hands. But that leads us to the problem that we are living sacrifices. We can walk. And so when we hear a very good message on dedication and consecration, we quickly walk up to the altar. Emotions propel us. And we lie there comfortably. And when we see the path of the High Priest coming down on us, what do we do? We jump off and walk away. Living sacrifice. Because we are living. We can always easily walk to it and walk away from it. And that's the Lord has difficulty with us. Because we are living stones. Either we can come or we can stay home. But God insists if you come, you'll be filled up. You will learn the lesson that you never learned by yourself. And God's purpose for us is not individual. It's corporate life. Corporate testimony. None of us can stand alone. And so David has five stones. And they are all smooth stones. They've been dealt with. There's a history with them. They know the work of the cross. They know something of the suffering of the flesh. They know. And therefore, when David picked those five stones, he easily identified them. He knew which one he wanted. Because he knows. He can see it. And sent it with the Lord. When he used this person as he knows, because that person had the history with him. He knows. Pick this one. Pick that one. Five stones. And I think those five stones represent five things in our... in the placing of ourselves under obligation. So I just share those five points very briefly. Fathers and sisters, we know without faith we cannot please God. There is no way we can please Him without faith. And so if you and I are willing to place ourselves under obligation for His will to fulfill, for His purpose, for His glory, for instance, that placement of yourself under obligation is an act of faith. It is faith. Because without faith, you will never place yourself under obligation. Because we are naturally selfish people. You are not going to serve anyone else but yourself as brother or sister. In fact, you want the whole world to serve you. And so to place yourself under obligation is an act of your absolute faith in God that He can do it and He can do it through you. And you yourself. Therefore, the placing is necessary. Not because you can, it's because you cannot. Therefore, you place yourself under obligation for Him to do it in you and through you. And so it is an act of faith. It's an act of commitment. The second thing is acknowledging His absolute Lordship. Now to me, there's no other way of properly experiencing the Lordship of Jesus Christ until we know the lesson of submission. Submission and the Lordship of Jesus Christ go together. As long as you are not submitted to Him, He is not your Lord. He is not your Lord until we are completely submitted to Him. Therefore, if we place ourselves under obligation, it is our acknowledgement of His Lordship. It is our way of submitting ourselves totally to Him. And those people that sign that document, they openly declare they will submit to the will of God because the law of Moses was mentioned, to the will of God. And so, Father, this is needed. We know all here, but we need to be reminded. You know, Father, sometimes I go to a place, you know, and especially places like Richmond. You've been under such a bridge in the ministry for years, conferences for, what is it, 11 years. And so we need to get to the bottom of this. No, the bottom is we just need to be reminded how forgetful we are as God's people. So the second thing is really acknowledging His Lordship in a very practical way through our practical submission system. Submission. The third thing is a testament to the world that we are a separate people. As long as we don't place ourselves under obligation, we are mingled with the world. The demarcation, the separation is not clear. And therefore, sometimes you say, oh, my testimony is just not, you know, God is going to separate the people of the world. You know why? Because they did not put themselves under obligation to the world. They are obligated. Paul said, we want to be crucified with Christ. We are not obligated to what? To the flesh or to the world. We are not obligated to the spirit. And so, brothers and sisters, it is a testament. And so sometimes we feel, my testimony is so weak and your testimony is so weak, we don't even have a testament to keep all the people of the world. Again, it's because we do not place ourselves under obligation to do His will and His will. And the fourth thing, it's really a confession of our need of the Lord and one for another. But you notice, they put themselves. And if you notice, that document was signed by many, many people. Now, brothers and sisters, it's very true. We need one another. If I want to put myself under obligation, it's more simple. In fact, it's impossible. But if I have a partner, I say, now, would you place yourself under obligation? And he said, no. And he turned around and looked at me and said, would you place yourself under obligation? I said, no. But we said, how about we do it together? It's much easier. Isn't that so? It's much easier. Because we can bear one another. When one's down, I can lift the other one up. We can hold hands and walk this pathway together. Because we are prone to fall. We are prone to fall. And so, brothers and sisters, it's a corporate thing. It's our confession of our need for one another that we need each other in this heavenly walk. And so, brothers and sisters, it's a confession of our need for one another. And it's because of that we're able to sit together and receive one another as Christ has received you and me. And last thing, brothers and sisters, is there any other way of serving the Lord than in his house? Is there any other way to serve the Lord than in his house? Where does he dwell? In his house. In his house. And so, when we put ourselves, place ourselves under obligation, it's simply we acknowledge that the only place we can place him and serve him is right in his house. And therefore, it is the house of our God. The house of our God. Now, to me, that is a precious statement. The house of our God. Not the house of the God of your father. Not the house of the God of Jesus. Or Abraham. Or Isaac. But the house of our God. Now, you probably do too. In this country, you have beautiful homes. And you take pride. You know, you have many projects going on in your house. You want to fix this. When that thing is done, you have another project. You are project-oriented. You want to fix it so nice that you can display it to your friends. And some homes, you know, the living room is forbidden for the kids to be in it. When the kids come in, put it... Now, that way, that way, that way. Fathers and sisters, it's the place where you display. Where you display. And you take pride. You take pride. Now, fathers and sisters, same thing with God. God takes pride of you and of his kids. God takes pride of his house. But fathers and sisters, that house must fit and reflect his character. And therefore, we need to recognize that. The only place that can serve him is in his house. And the only place that can serve him is to be willing to be in his house at all costs. Now, under obligation is the work of the Lord. Is the work of the Lord. And the Lord is looking for those who are willing. He will not force them. He will not force them. He will just simply enter to you from time to time. This is what I want. And see whether we will respond in love or not. And so, fathers and sisters, finally I would say that we all know in God's heart, he has a place for everyone. Including the people of the world. Therefore, the gospel, I'm so thankful that you fathers and sisters have a burden for the gospel. But fathers and sisters, we have to look into our own hearts. Is there a place in our hearts for him? Thank God for that. There is a place. But again, the question is, how big is that? That's another question. We all have a place for him. But the next question is, how big is that? And that place, fathers and sisters, has to be maintained. And that place needs to be enlarged. If we do not maintain it, and do not enlarge it, that place will somehow just shrink. And shrink. And it needs to be maintained. And this last month, some of us went up to New York City with Brother Fashius on the prayer retreat. And one thing he told us is, the light in the kingdom needs to be maintained. And brothers and sisters, the trouble with many of us is that we have experienced it from time to time. But we fail to maintain it. We fail to maintain it. And we neglect it. And I think the only way we can do it, we must face ourselves under obligation to maintain it. To serve it. And thank God, he is a God of service. He has the work to be done. And we are very fortunate, brothers and sisters, you think of that, somehow he called you and I to cooperate. And to do it together with him. Oh yeah, I tell you, you can't take it in. He will not do it alone. He can, but he will not do it alone. He limits himself in you and me. Oh, this is glory. He said, I can, he's the Almighty. He said, but I won't do it. I want you, with your flesh and blood, to do it. Oh, brothers and sisters, we are honoured. And honoured. And we will be eternally honoured. Because our God is God of glory. And let's pray to him. Father, I think we have to confess before thee that we are unworthy. Lord, but we thank thee. Thou art worthy. Thou art a great God. And thou doest great and mighty things. And Lord, we do pray that thou cause our hearts to respond. Lord, to say yes to thee. And to be willing to co-operate with thee. And Lord, do give glory. Do give glory inside of ourselves. Do the work inside of our wisdom. Lord, penetrate through our hearts. Break down all the barriers. Lord, until I can totally capture ourselves, our whole being, spirit, soul, and body for thee. And we give thee praise. For this day, for thy love, thy goodness, and mercy in gathering us together. We give thee praise. Give thee glory. In the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen.