The hymn we just sang, hymn 987, was written at the beginning of this century. It was written by an American brother. At that time, the liberal theology was flourishing, which said that the Bible is not the word of God, that miracles are not real, and that the resurrection of Jesus was merely a resurrection of His ideas. It also said that there are neither angels nor demons.
The American brother who wrote this hymn was L. Wilbur Chapman. In this hymn, he said:
One day when sin was as black as could be,
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin....
Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever:
One day He’s coming—O glorious day!
Hymns, #987
This hymn has five verses. The first verse speaks of Jesus’ incarnation. The second tells of His crucifixion. The third verse speaks of His burial, the fourth, of His resurrection, and the fifth, of His second coming. The last phrase of the fifth verse says, “This Jesus is mine!” What the author was saying at the end was “This is my Jesus! My Jesus is not the Jesus that you modernists claim to know. My Jesus was incarnated because He loved me. He was crucified to save me and buried to take my sins far away. He rose to justify me freely forever, and one day He is coming back to receive me.”
Let us also sing another hymn, hymn 680. Both the verses and the chorus are very well written. This hymn is suitable for both the young and old. But to sing this song you need to become young again; otherwise, you will not sense the flavor of the words, “Oh love, wonderful love!” When you come to the chorus of the second verse, you should sing it softly:
He suffered crucifixion, what mercy to me,
Mercy to me, mercy to me;
He suffered crucifixion, what mercy to me,
He died to set me free.
Chinese Hymns, #680
I hope you brothers and sisters would all pick up the burden that from now on, whenever you have some free time at home, you would sing these hymns until you know them well.
Now we still need to see the key point of the home meetings. The crucial point of the home meetings is to exercise to speak. We must be freed from our dumbness by exercising to speak. We know that if a person is healthy, he will have a good appetite. This is according to the biological need of the human life. As far as our spiritual need is concerned, if a Christian is in a normal condition, he will have an appetite for the meetings. Do not think that our coming to meetings is for a worship service. We must realize that our coming to the meetings is for eating.
In John chapter four, when the Lord Jesus left Judea to go to Samaria, He did not go by the usual route. He purposely took a route which led directly to Samaria. After He arrived there, He sat by Jacob’s well. Our Lord is omniscient. He sat there because He had a special purpose; He was waiting for a sinner predestinated by God. The Samaritan woman did come, and the Lord Jesus asked her for a drink. In this way the door for speaking was opened.
The Lord Jesus is an expert in opening doors for conversation. We all must learn this one thing. While the Lord Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman, He showed her need to her. Immediately she asked the Lord for the living water. The Lord then told her, “God is Spirit. He is the living water. You have to drink of Him, enjoy Him, and receive Him. Only this is true worship.” All of you young people who have studied away from home do know that when you come home for vacation, the one thing that your mothers love most to do is to sit you down and feed you the food they have prepared for you. The more you eat, the happier they become.
I have also experienced this. Whenever I would come home from a trip, my mother would prepare for me dumplings, which she knew I enjoyed. As soon as I arrived home, she would sit me down and serve me with the food she had cooked. Sometimes she would even stand right beside me. I was embarrassed by her service. I would ask her to sit down. But she would not feel happy sitting down. Who is the Lord Jesus? He is God. When He came, He was ministering the living water to the thirsty ones. But the thirsty ones did not recognize Him, nor did they understand what true worship is all about. The filthy Samaritan woman acted in a very religious way. She began to discuss with the Lord Jesus the matter of worship: “Our ancestors said that we should worship on this mountain. But you Jews say that worship should be on that mountain.” The Lord Jesus said, “You are wrong. It is neither this mountain nor that mountain. It is something in your spirit. I have the living water. In other words, I am the living water. I am the God whom you worship. I am presenting Myself to you. Just take a drink! If you drink, you are worshipping Me. If you enjoy Me, I will be satisfied.”