This message is on serving the Lord and being a testimony for the Lord. This is too great a thing in the universe. Whether one considers it from the point of view of serving the Lord, or from the point of view of being a testimony for the Lord, the matter is not small. Both expressions are tremendous expressions.
We say that we are serving the Lord. But who is this Lord? This is not a small thing. If I could meet the head of a state face to face, I would feel quite extraordinary. But this is only to serve man. We have to see that the Lord is higher and more glorious than any man. We serve the Lord Christ. Many times we have spoken about the service of the Lord in too low a term and have considered it too lightly. Furthermore, to testify for the Lord is not a light matter either.
Our thoughts and concepts have to be delivered from frivolity and degradation. Whenever we talk about serving the Lord, we have to be serious. Whenever we mention service to the Lord, we have to consider it a tremendous matter. We are serving a God that is the Lord of heaven and earth and the One who is the highest of all. We can illustrate it in another way. If the President of our nation were going to see you this morning, perhaps your heart would have beaten much faster when you woke up in the morning. Perhaps in the night you would not sleep too well. There is nervousness, and there is fear. However, when we talk about serving the Lord today, often we are quite insensitive. We have to realize that we are serving the Lord of heaven and earth. If any man says that he is serving the Lord yet has no feeling whatsoever, it proves that such a person has degraded. We have to be watchful concerning this.
Following this, we have to see the glorious vision. Everyone who serves the Lord must have a glorious vision. It is not the seeing that is glorious; rather, it is the object which we see that is glorious. This in turn makes the seeing itself glorious. This is what we mean by a glorious vision.
The word vision means something extraordinary, unusual, uncommon, and strange. It also means a scene or a scenery. It is a kind of special seeing. One sees because a scenery is there. A few hundred of you are sitting here. This is a very beautiful scenery. If I had a camera, I would capture this on my film. Hence, a vision is a special kind of seeing. We have to know that to serve God is not an ordinary matter. This is because the Lord is not ordinary. If we do not have any feeling concerning serving the Lord and being a testimony for Him, we are those without a vision.
From the whole Bible, we can see that every servant of the Lord begins by being called. This is like our taking up a job and receiving a letter of acceptance. Our calling is similar to this today. It is not the church which is calling you, nor is it the work of the gospel team which is calling you, it is the Lord Himself who has called you. When you are called, you receive the vision. The calling of the Lord is the appearing of the God of glory to you. He does not appear to you without reason. God’s appearing to you is His calling you. It makes you a called one.
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