2 March 1957, at Shanchunpoo, Taiwan.
May I just read a word to you from the
prophecy of Isaiah 59:21: "As for me, this is my covenant with
them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and My words
which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth,
nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy
seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever." These
are the words that I want to leave with you this morning before we
leave.
I like so much the words, "My Spirit"
and in the New Testament it is called "the Spirit of Jesus" and
that very much gives it expression. Just think of this Spirit in
Jesus... we have heard these words so often, "My Spirit," but we
do not always have the inner feeling of what a tremendous thing
this "My Spirit" is. You cannot enlarge upon those two words, "My
Spirit". You know, just before this we heard about Bethany, and
the next thing we hear about is "My Spirit coming upon thee" and
then "My words which I have put in thy mouth". "My words"! It is a
tremendous thing to be a servant of the Lord. It is "thy mouth,"
but it is His words. This is the meaning of service: His Spirit,
His words, and our mouth... and the promise is that that will be so
"from henceforth and forever".
Father, we do want this place to be a
Bethany, in spirit and in truth; such a place for Thee, a place
for Thy Spirit in fullness, a place for Thy words in fullness. And
we lay hold of this promise from the prophet, we commit this place
again to Thee, Father. Never let Thy Spirit, or Thy words depart
from Thy servants, that this place may be a place for the
outflowing of Thy Spirit and Thy words, and make Thy servants here
as Thine own mouth. We do thank Thee for this brief moment with
Thy dear children here. We have felt refreshed to be in this place
of fellowship in this way. Now we want to have responsibility in
the Lord. Do enlarge our hearts to remember one another before Thy
Throne and cause all of us to live a life like that in Bethany.
And we thank Thee for the promise that you have reminded us of,
that Thou art coming. We will use what is left of the day for Thee
and we will prepare ourselves to meet Thee Lord, and to prepare us
to meet again. So we thank Thee and go on rejoicing in Thee, and
in Thy Spirit, and in the true fellowship that all of us may just
bring joy and bring glory to Thy Holy Name. Amen.