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Scripture Reading: Acts 9:20-28; Matt. 4:18-22; Eph. 1:22-23; 2:22; 1 Pet. 2:3-5; 1 John 2:12-13; John 21:18, 21; Acts 28:23; 2 Tim. 1:15; 2 Pet. 2:1; 1 John 4:1; 2 John 7
This morning I want to talk about four different ministers in the New Testament. The word minister, according to the Greek, refers not only to the deacons but also to the serving ones. All who work for God and the gospel are ministers. So when we say four ministers, we mean four different workers. In the passages that we have just read, there are four different subjects, which are the four main subjects of the New Testament. The ones who preached these four subjects are the four ministers.
There is a special thing in the New Testament: there were three disciples from among the twelve, who were with the Lord all the time. What are the names of these three disciples? I think all of you know their names; they are James, Peter, and John. They were with the Lord on the mount of transfiguration; they went with the Lord to the house of Jairus; and at the end, they were with the Lord in the garden of Gethsemane. Why did the Lord choose only these three from among the twelve disciples? Why did the Lord put them in a more noticeable position? The main reason was that God wanted to establish His works in the New Testament along three different lines. But was it enough to have only three lines? No, it was still not enough! In Acts the Lord brought in another minister besides these three. Who was this man? Was it Matthias? No, even though Matthias was chosen as an apostle by casting lots, he was not the minister. Who was chosen? Our beloved brother Paul was chosen. He was one specially chosen by the Lord. Although many people worked for the Lord in the New Testament, only these four occupy a unique position. There were none besides these four. According to the Bible, the order of these four is as follows: (1) James, (2) Peter, (3) Paul, and (4) John. This is the proper order of the Bible and is recognized by all believers. Today we cannot exhaust the deeper significance of these four lines, but we can consider a little about them. We cannot see everything thoroughly and clearly; but as long as we see a little, some help will be rendered in our walk on earth.
James is the most unnoticed one among the four. He never wrote an epistle. The book of James in the Bible was not written by him, but by the Lord's brother. Peter and John were both zealous men. We can see many accounts of their work, but James did not do anything special. He was a very hidden person. How could he be listed among these four? Why did the Lord choose him as one of the four to represent one special line? James did not manifest the gifts of preaching, healing, and works of wonders, etc. Although these gifts are good, James' outstanding trait was not in any of these things. What do we see in him? He did one thing that was great and extraordinary; he was the first martyr among the apostles! The most extraordinary and crucial line among these four is the line of suffering. No matter how different were the works of Peter, Paul, and John, there was one line common to them all, the line of suffering and rejection. Suffering is something that is basic to every Christian.
Today many people like to read Paul's excellent Epistles; they like to hear about Peter's zealous works and John's wonderful visions. Yet they toss James aside and subconsciously forget about him. They do not realize that every work should be based on James. Peter won three thousand people to the Lord in one day, and Paul established churches everywhere. Yet without James's suffering, the Lord could not be satisfied. When the Lord came to this world, He took the standing of one who was rejected. If we do not suffer with Him, we cannot satisfy His heart no matter what wonderful things we do.
Why did the Lord make James so hidden? He only wanted to highlight one special point of James. Suppose we have many chairs, several lamps, and numerous desks here. We are accustomed to seeing them and do not feel anything special about them. But if the items are moved away one day and the place is cleaned so that only one small desk remains, every brother would immediately notice the small desk. If a crowd is here, you would not notice anything, but once all the people are gone and only one person is left, he will draw considerable attention. This is what the Lord did. He hid every gift of James and only highlighted his suffering. In the Bible Peter said to arm ourselves with a mind to suffer (1 Pet. 4:1). Only suffering overcomes everything and accomplishes God's eternal purpose. Brothers, let me say an honest word. Those who do not want to suffer with the Lord can never expect to be exalted with Him. Only those who suffer are worthy of being exalted. If you want to be highly exalted, you have to follow James's footsteps.
There is more truth concerning James which can render us much help. However, because of time, I cannot go further. Now let us take a look at Peter.
Before we speak about what Peter represents, let us consider the difference between Peter, Paul, and John. Even though we may speak a little here and a little there, and even though it may not be very organized, nevertheless, what we say is very crucial. We do not intend to speak eloquently, but intelligibly.
Peter's work was totally different from Paul's. We only need to look at the Gospels of Mark and Luke and at Acts, and we will find an obvious difference. Mark received his Gospel from Peter, and Luke wrote down his story from Paul. Look again at Peter's testimony at Pentecost and Paul's testimony; each one has its own emphasis, and they are not the same. John's work also stands apart. The Lord's gift to John was different from the gifts to Paul and to Peter. What was Peter's testimony? If we look at Matthew 16 and Acts 2, we know that what he did concerned only one thing — the kingdom of God. His line was characterized by the kingdom of God. What about Paul? I think everyone who has read Paul's Epistles can see that Paul was concerned only about God's house. In other words, he was concerned with God's church. All the testimony and work of Paul, throughout his lifetime, were on this one thing. When we consider John, we can see that his testimony was completely different. He never talked about the things regarding the church. Although Peter did not talk about the church extensively, he mentioned the overseers a little. But he did not mention anything about church organization. Neither did John say a word about church organization. John only spoke about fathers, young men, and little children. What is this? This is the testimony of God's family.
There are three clear lines before us: (1) Peter, on God's kingdom, (2) Paul, on God's house, and (3) John, on God's family. If you understand these three lines clearly, God will give you more light. This does not mean that Peter did not mention anything that John mentioned. He briefly mentioned God's house. But his main emphasis was on God's kingdom. At the same time, Paul also mentioned something about God's family, and John mentioned something about God's kingdom. But as far as their focus, Paul focused on God's church and John focused on God's family. These three lines are not absolutely distinctive, yet each one has its own specialty. Because the scope of today's topic includes the whole New Testament, I cannot speak in detail. I can only touch the subjects briefly.
Peter was the initiator. The first one in the church of Christ to open his mouth was Peter. The last one who spoke was John. Revelation, which was written by John, is the last book among the sixty-six books of the Bible. What about Paul? He was between Peter and John; he was a predecessor and a successor. There is God's kingdom and God's family; in between there is God's house. This is what God established in the Bible. It is a pity that today many people are still ignorant about the kingdom of God and the family of God. They are equally ignorant about the church of God. They only know about man's organization and denominations. If you ask people about the difference between God's kingdom, God's house, and God's family, they think that these are more or less the same. They think that once a person joins the church, he enters God's family which also means that he enters God's kingdom. They do not realize that there is a big difference between these three things. That is why God needs a Peter, a Paul, and a John to express His kingdom, house, and family.
When the Lord gave the keys of the kingdom of the heavens to Peter, it meant that Peter was the one to open the doors, first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. We will talk about this later. But now we want to point out that since the keys of the kingdom of the heavens were put into Peter's hand, he must have been the first to enter into the kingdom of the heavens. The keys were in his hand and he kept them. If the key to our hall in Wen-teh Lane is in my hand, no matter how early you come, you will have to stand outside the iron door. Before you enter, you will have to wait until I open the door with the key and enter. Without the key, you cannot enter first. In the same way, the first to enter the realm of the heavenly kingdom was Peter. This is very clear.
In Matthew 16, the Lord spoke a marvelous thing to Peter. What did He say? He said, "And upon this rock I will build My church...I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens" (vv. 18-19). Brothers and sisters, do you realize what is different about verse 19? Oh! The greatest door handle is here. The Lord gave Peter the keys of the kingdom of the heavens. Peter could control the timing for the opening of the door of the kingdom of the heavens. He bore the responsibility of the kingdom of the heavens. But what about the church? The Lord said, "And upon this rock I will build My church." The Lord will build the church Himself; no one else can touch the church. This is the most distinctive difference between the kingdom of the heavens and the church. What is the kingdom of the heavens? It is God's spiritual domain on earth. God's kingdom is the manifestation of God's sovereignty and His administration. God's house represents God's nature in its glory, love, and righteousness. God's family expresses God's love and His relationship with us. All these stand complete in themselves. They are not the same. Many people lump everything into the church. They think this belongs to the church and that also belongs to the church. They drag everything into the church, as if the church is a warehouse in which they can store everything. This proves that they do not understand the truth of the Bible.
Peter only bore the testimony of the kingdom of the heavens, which was to open the door and let people in. We need to pay attention to John 3:5. What did the Lord say there? He said, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." If we had written this verse, we would have written it, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the family of God." But no, it says the kingdom of God. Whoever enters into the kingdom of God must be born again. Only those who are born again can enter into the kingdom of God. The keys that Peter used at Pentecost were repentance and baptism. As a result, three thousand people entered into the kingdom of God. This was the beginning of God's kingdom. Many people say that the church started at Pentecost. This is correct, but they forget that the kingdom of God also started at Pentecost. What Peter said later in the Epistles about salvation and reward refers to the future kingdom. There was no contradiction between the future kingdom and the entrance into the kingdom of God at Pentecost.
Was the work of Pentecost enough? No! God had to send Peter to the house of Cornelius. At Pentecost Peter exercised the keys and ushered many Jews into the kingdom. God also wanted him to open the door for Gentiles to enter into the kingdom of God. This fulfilled the Lord's word in Matthew 8:11, which says that there would be many people from the east and from the west, who would recline at table in the kingdom of the heavens. Before Peter exercised the keys to open the door for Gentiles to be saved, God prepared Paul. Dispensationally speaking, Peter's work ended at the house of Cornelius. After this, although Peter still bore many testimonies, his work was dispensationally over. Consider how wonderful this is! In Acts 10, Peter went to the house of Cornelius, but Paul repented in Acts 9.
Originally, Paul was a zealous persecutor of the Lord. But on his way to Damascus, the Lord shined a light around him and he received grace. However, his eyes were not yet opened. The Lord sent Ananias, telling him that Paul was the vessel He had chosen. This word expressed the Lord's heart. The kingdom of God was large, and Peter had brought in many people. However, there was still the need for a manager and designer. Therefore, the Lord raised up Paul and made him a vessel. Ananias put it very well when he said, "Saul, brother." This meant that every hatred was removed. Consequently, Paul was able to testify for the Lord and be useful for the work. Later, his work extended from inside the city to outside the city; the scope of his work expanded. How did he get down from the wall? He was let down by the disciples. Although he could have climbed down by himself, he did not. He was willing to have the disciples let him down. This was brotherly fellowship, help, and approval. Paul did not go out alone; he was backed up by others' participation. So many works can be more effectual if they are backed up by others' prayer and help. When Paul originally went to Jerusalem, the disciples were somewhat fearful. Later Paul was able to go in and out among them; there was full fellowship between them with no obstacles. In this way, he was able to continue Peter's work.
Now let us come back to Peter. When the Lord called him to the house of Cornelius, he did not want to go at first. Then the Lord gave him the vision of a great sheet descending from heaven. Inside there were animals, reptiles, and birds, but no fish. Why were there no fish? We see animals, reptiles, birds, and fish all the time. Why were only three things mentioned, the animals, the reptiles, and the birds, and the fish were omitted? According to the type in the story of Noah's ark, fish were never saved. The creatures saved through the ark did not include fish. This is why fish were not included in the things God gave to Peter.
What is the meaning of the great sheet with animals, reptiles, and birds? Let us consider this. The great sheet represents Peter's whole work. The extent of Peter's work was not like a vessel which can only contain a certain amount. It was not like a ship which has its limits. It was like a piece of cloth, a great sheet. What is cloth? Cloth does not have a fixed shape. It has not yet been formed into any shape; it is only a piece of fabric. Who came to make this fabric into something with a shape? Paul came. He specialized in the work of tidying up. We may liken Peter to a person who buys cloth and Paul to a tailor or dressmaker. We should be clear about this. Throughout his life, Peter's work was like a piece of cloth; it was not limited and it did not have any form or boundary.
Let us consider the three things in the great sheet. Birds are the most active animals. Sometimes they fly around, sometimes they rest upon branches or rooftops, and sometimes they take a few steps on the ground. They are the most free and not restricted at all. They are the wildest of all animals. What about animals? They are ferocious and vicious. What about reptiles? They refer to filthiness. In God's eyes, Gentiles are merely animals, reptiles, and birds. But now God has wrapped up the wild, vicious, and filthy ones in a great sheet. He has put us in a new environment. He no longer considers us as animals, reptiles, and birds. In the Bible there is only the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens; there is no such thing as the gospel of the church. We do not hear the gospel and then enter into the church. Rather, we hear the gospel and enter into God's kingdom, which is a new sphere and a new realm. Once you were under Satan's hand; now you are under God's hand. What does it mean to be saved? It means that God puts you in a new position. Today many people make the matter of the church too encompassing. They think that they have everything once they enter into the church, but they forget the matter of entering into the kingdom of God. Being saved does not mean entering into only the church; it also means entering into the kingdom of God to become His children, not by power, but by authority (John 1:12). Everyone can enter because it is not according to what a person does, but according to the authority that God has given to him. All of Peter's work was to bring something from the outside to the inside. In other words, Peter's work was to bring people into the kingdom of God. The meaning of entering into the kingdom of God is to be subject under God's sovereignty. Peter's specialty was to draw people and bring in group after group. When he drew one person in, another citizen was added to God's kingdom. However, he could do nothing to help those who were in the kingdom and needed direction. Paul picked up this responsibility. Paul's work was to help settle down those whom Peter drew in. Can you find the words "born again" in Paul's Epistles? No, he spoke about justification; he never spoke about being born again. What about Peter? He talked about regeneration. He also mentioned "inheritance." Paul only mentioned "inheritance" a little. John did not mention anything about it because his focus was on God's family. The simplest explanation of God's kingdom is that it is the sphere of God's rule.
Acts mentions many things concerning God's kingdom. Even Paul mentioned God's kingdom because at that time many people were saved and had entered into God's kingdom. It would be much better if we were clear about this on the day we were saved. The reason we are in such a degraded condition now is that we have made ourselves the center. The Lord only considers us as a helper. God truly wants to give us blessings. But more importantly, He wants us to enter His kingdom and be under His ruling. O brothers and sisters, salvation is not for our enjoyment; it is for God to deal with us according to His sovereign authority. Originally you lived a carefree and foolish life; now God wants you to be subject to Him. After a person is saved, he cannot live a loose life any longer. Instead, he must be restricted. Salvation is taking up the Holy Spirit as your yoke. When you want to be saved, He puts this yoke upon you. Once you have the yoke, you are a saved person. From a human point of view, when God saves a person, everything that he receives is not all good because God wants to bring him under His sovereignty. This was Peter's work. No matter what you are — animal, reptile, or bird — he took everyone into the kingdom of God.
Paul continued Peter's work. This is why he said he was a master builder to build up the house. We all know that many teachings, doctrines, and expressions of God's purpose are found in Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians. The main subject of Ephesians is God's house. Things had been brought into the house from the outside; now there was the need to put them in order and decorate the house. All of Paul's work was for the purpose of decoration. For example, the book of Romans deals with justification, victory, and obedience. These are not ways to enter into God's kingdom. They are just the carvings, the modifications made on the model. Paul's concluding word is an exhortation to offer oneself and turn fully to God. In the books to the Corinthians, Paul went on to tell us what we should do after we have become subject to God and have entered into God's kingdom. He began to tell us about things related to the meetings, the Lord's table, marriage, communication, receiving, fellowship, and many other procedural matters. He was holding his scissors and was ready to cut some cloth to shape it into some unique form according to specific guidelines. Everything in the house has to be placed in the proper place. What does this mean? This means that the house must be arranged to the point where it will express God's nature. Whether a man is clean or dirty can be shown by the way he manages his house. A person's house is a representation of his character. No other place can expose a person more thoroughly and clearly than his own house. Suppose the books on your shelves are in chaos, and fruit peelings, seeds, and garbage are all over the floor. Suppose the beds are not made in the morning but are piled up like lumps of dough, and the desk is covered with a thick layer of dust. If one of your friends comes in to look at your room, he will clearly see what kind of person you are. You are not exposed when you go to another person's home; but in your own house everything expresses your entire being and naturally exposes your true self. Because your house is the place where you rest and the place in which you abide, you are exposed clearly and thoroughly there. Peter's testimony makes you a person of God's kingdom; it brings you under the authority of God's mighty hand. Peter did not care about the details. There was no need for him to take care of those things that were not within the scope of his work. Paul was the one who followed Peter and took care of this work. Look how detailed Paul was in his work. He mentioned how a husband and a wife should love each other, how a master and servant should treat each other, how brothers should love each other, and so forth. All these matters are in regard to the things a person ought to do in God's house; they show us what is acceptable to God. Not only did he deal with the earthly things, but he also dealt with the things concerning spiritual fellowship, such as meetings, baptism, gifts, the Lord's table, ministry, and all the arrangements within the church. He was indeed a designer and decorator.
Ephesians 2:22 says, "You also are being built together into a dwelling place of God." We see clearly from this verse that the church is the house of God. Each believer is a part of this house, being knit together to become a house. Every person is like a piece of brick, wood, or tile; everyone should manifest the nature of God before he can be built up to become God's house. God put this before us to show us that, as pieces of wood in God's house, we should fulfill our duty and express God's nature.
After we have Peter's foundation and Paul's building, is this enough? Are the things of God completed simply by the two lines represented by these two men? No! Another one, John, comes in.
John spoke about our relationship with God. These are things that concern the family of God. His testimony was full of life, and he never spoke about anything outward. Can you find anything in his letters that speaks about the way to be an elder, the way to pay taxes, or the way a woman should cover her head? Regarding individual behavior, the only thing he said was that we should love one another; he said nothing else. Simply stated, John's testimony was fully in the Holy of Holies, full of spiritual reality. He never touched outward matters. He kept speaking about the things which are true, the deepest things. This is why the word life appears frequently in his Epistles and in Revelation. His specialty was to recover matters after they failed. This is because at the time John wrote his Epistles, apostasies abounded. Many false prophets and false Christs had arisen. Men had overthrown God's kingdom and taken God's house as their own. They held onto only superficial forms and had no reality. Therefore, John came to speak about the inward thing, life. Men can overthrow God's kingdom or God's house, but life can never be overthrown; it will always be there. Once a person has this reality, it is enough. John's testimony is for the latter days and leads men to their innermost being to see what kind of God we have.
I will briefly analyze these three lines. Peter spoke about a new realm, Paul spoke about new laws, and John spoke about a new relationship, which is the relationship between father and sons. How many times did he mention fathers, young men, and little children in his Epistles? All these are members in a family and are related to each other. Paul spoke about the laws in the new position, how to be subject to God and express God's nature. John simply talked about fathers, young men, and little children. What is this? This is the growth in God's family. The whole New Testament can be divided into these three lines. To find the line of the kingdom, we only have to read Matthew, 1 and 2 Peter, Mark, and a part of Hebrews. To find the line of the church, Paul's Epistles are the most complete. At the same time, John's Epistles are all on God's family. I must clarify, however, that this classification is not absolute. I am simply pointing out the areas that each one stressed.
Let us consider how these three lines begin and end. What was Peter doing when God called him? He was casting a net into the sea with his brother Andrew. What about John? He was mending a net on a ship. It is quite marvelous that God had properly arranged their works when they were called. Peter was casting a net when he was called; later he did the work of casting a net. His work was to charge forward to the front of the battlefield. He started the work with the Jews. He was also the first to preach to the Gentiles. He cast a net and caught many Jews. He cast another net and caught many Gentiles. But later the net (in man's view) was broken, and the kingdom was forsaken by the people. Fish were leaking out. Therefore, God called John to mend the net and recover it back to the original new condition.
Let us see what God appointed for Paul when he was called. When Paul was about to persecute the believers, God shined a light on him on his way to Damascus. Paul's first words were, "What shall I do?" (Acts 22:10). His work always involved "what to do." He was not like Peter, who in one day led three thousand or five thousand people to believe in God. He saved only a few or, at the most, a few dozen because his purpose was not to draw people in but to perfect people. The subject of his work was how-to: how to do things right, how to build a house, how to arrange its contents, how to trim the cloth. These were his works. His occupation was tent-making. A tent is a place for a man to dwell. Spiritually speaking, Paul was also a tent-maker. Unlike Peter, who only had a piece of cloth, Paul's cloth became a tent.
But what was men's attitude toward the works of these three persons? It was not good at all! It was very bad! We all will sigh. At the end of their days, men rejected their testimony. Second Peter shows us this matter clearly. In chapter two, the false prophets came. They came especially to do a counterfeit work. Therefore, Peter described them as dogs and sows; they made things worse and caused God's kingdom to be concealed. In chapter three, the mockers came. They despised what Peter preached, treating it as a loathsome and shameful thing! The testimony of the kingdom was completely rejected. Do you know why Peter wrote his second Epistle? It was written because the first Epistle had been rejected and thrown away. This is why he had to write his second Epistle. He described in his second Epistle the final condition of his lifetime testimony. It exposed and proclaimed all of men's rejection. The situation was bad in Peter's time. How much worse has it become in the twentieth century! There is hardly anyone who does not oppose the testimony of the kingdom when they hear about it. There is hardly anyone who does not say that we are foolish. No wonder so many people promote the so-called ideal kingdom; no wonder the counterfeit truth is everywhere. Oh, they were there in Peter's days! It is not surprising or uncommon that they are here today.
Not only did Peter's testimony end this way; Paul's testimony ended the same way. The last Epistle written by him was 2 Timothy. Three to five years after writing it, he died. We can see from this Epistle the condition that existed at the end of his life. He said, "All who are in Asia turned away from me" (2 Tim. 1:15). It was too difficult to manifest the Lord; there were too many restrictions, and it was indeed unbearable. Brothers and sisters, at the time of Paul's and Peter's death, the church was fully degraded in its outward form. It had fallen into the condition described in Revelation 2 and 3. How much worse is the situation today! The Epistle to the Philippians was written by Paul when he was old. What did he say? He said that everyone was after their own things (Phil. 2:21). Men put Paul's testimony aside. They considered their own things to be too important. As a result, they gave up the Lord. If a person takes care of himself, he cannot take care of the Lord. Since he does not have enough time to take care of his own business, he has even less time to take care of the Lord's business. There is nothing else he can do except to ignore the Lord's business! Paul's testimony was rejected and forsaken. Therefore, his last words were to exhort the saints to be watchful and be constantly aware of the intrusion of heresies. Paul's testimony ended this way.
It seems that the testimonies had completely failed in their outward appearance. So the Lord needed to use John. The Lord needed him to take care of the inner works. Consider the Gospel of John. It is not like Matthew's which emphasized doctrines, or like Luke's which stressed morality, or like Mark's which recorded history. John only wrote about the relationship between God and us, a relationship between father and sons. He did not begin his Gospel with Adam or Abraham but with Jesus Christ from the beginning, from the very first beginning. He began this way because outward appearances had failed and neither Adam nor Abraham could turn the situation back. What was needed was that which was from the beginning. Who can shake the beginning? No one can. The beginning can never be shaken. Whatever comes from God can never be shaken. The Gospel of John is on the Word from the beginning, which was expressed in order to lead us back to the condition of the beginning. What was there in the beginning? There was life, light, and love. None of these things can be shaken. Rather, they are the inward realities. John never talked about outward things such as husbands and wives, masters and servants, meetings, and so forth. He never mentioned these things. What he mentioned was just the things on God's side which are absolutely inward. If we do not see this difference, we will not see anything. We still need to beseech God earnestly until we see the difference.
O brothers and sisters, because all things have failed and the church has outwardly fallen into desolation and division, may God grant us grace so that we can turn back to John. Otherwise, everything will be in vain. This does not mean that the works of Peter and Paul are not needed, but at the present time, the urgent need is not for outward things. We must first have the inward reality; then we can have the outward things. We should realize and understand that the net has been broken. The fish can no longer be kept in the net. Therefore, God wanted John to mend this net. He did not patch on something new or invented. Instead, it was there from the beginning. This is why he said, "What I give to you is what you have known already." It was not something they did not know, but something that they knew and had forgotten.
What is it to mend? Mending is not replacing the broken net with a new one, but restoring the broken one to its original condition. In other words, mending is covering the hole with a piece of the original material. Today we mainly need to return to God, gain life and spiritual power, and learn to overcome the world and the enemy. This is a spiritual reality. We need to take hold of John's testimony first. Then we can go back to the testimony of Paul and then Peter. If we do not come back to John first, we will not be able to come back to Peter. Since the net has been broken, how can we use it for catching fish? This is why we have to mend the net first by holding onto the reality, before we can do anything else.
Finally, let us pay attention to three verses in particular. "Another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go" (John 21:18). This is the way the Lord Jesus spoke concerning Peter's end. Peter was such a brave and strong person! According to tradition, he was put on a cross upside down for the Lord's sake. How brave he was! But what did the Lord say? He said that Peter would be bound and taken to a place where he did not want to go. Eventually, the Catholic Church declared that he had been a pope. They say that He sat on a throne in Rome. A huge edifice has the name "St. Peter's Cathedral" written on it. Throughout history, many great persons have flattered, exalted, and applauded him! But would Peter have wanted to be treated in this manner? He would have been extremely unhappy and unwilling. He could never have imagined that he would have been so glorified today. He would never have sat on such a great throne. But he has no say in this matter; he has been bound by the people. His sovereignty has been usurped by nations and individuals. His testimony has been completely buried by them. O brothers! How many people today know that Peter has been bound? They consider salvation to only be liberating and joyful thing. Salvation is truly liberating and joyful. But salvation is not for the enjoyment of pleasure, or to do things according to one's own choice. Rather, it is being subject to God's authority. Only when a person is subject to God's authority will everything be right.
Let us consider Paul's end. "And he remained two whole years in his own rented dwelling" (Acts 28:30). His life ended in a worse manner than Peter's. He even had to rent a house for himself. He could have lived in Ephesus or Corinth. But he had to rent a house because he had no permanent place of his own. His testimony was rejected, and he had to stay in his rented house and not come out. Previously, Paul could go somewhere and find someone to preach to, but now people had to go to his place. Unless they had a heart to go, they could never hear his preaching. Whether or not they believed, Paul could not bother them any longer. They had to make their own choice. Paul was pushed down by men in high positions and kept in a prison in Rome. People had to seek him out personally before they could see his face. Many people today can only recite the "Lord's Prayer" and the creeds of the denominations. But these are "their own houses"; they are not Paul's house. It is not enough to merely have some mint and anise outwardly (Matt. 23:23). We have to dig into the true meaning of Paul's Epistles. The Epistles to the Corinthians were not just for the Corinthians, but for all the churches. Oh! Paul is covered up by men and cannot come out any longer. Let us look for him quickly and seek the truth of his testimony. Do not allow this testimony to pass by in a vague way. I want to say an honest word: all those who do not want to make the effort will never find Paul. Those who do not pay a price will never find the truth.
Finally, let us come to John. He was exiled to an island. What is an island? An island is different from a sea and also different from land. It is not the sea because it is isolated in the sea, nor is it land because it is not connected to the mainland. It is separated not only from the sea but also from land. It is a solitary place. What is the sea? The sea is the world! The land is today's human religion and organization! An island is not connected to either of them. God is not in the world; neither is He in great human organizations. The best achievements of man are just a big piece of land. God put John on an island, not in the world or in a human organization. Instead, He put him on an island. Was he lonely there? Surely he was lonely! He had neither the joy of the world as a surging tide, nor the secure peace of the land. He surely was very lonely. But John was marvelously touched by the Spirit on the Lord's Day; he saw a great vision, heard the Lord Jesus' voice, and was caught up to the heavens. What a wonderful thing! Though he did not have the joy of the sea or the comfort of land, he had the Lord's comfort and was satisfied. No one connected to the sea and the land is able to be connected to the Lord. If a Christian treasures his position and reputation in religion, he will never go to an island.
O brothers and sisters! The Lord is calling for us to go to the island. He wants us to give up all the outward things willingly and come to Him alone. On the island there is no ship to take us out to sea, nor a bridge for us to cross to the land. But the Holy Spirit will carry us away. There are no exits on any side, but the way upward is clear. If the way upward is not clear, you will need ships to go on the sea or bridges to go to the land. If you have these other ways, you can never stay on the island or be caught up to the heavens. Oh! We should go back to John first and stand on reality. Then we can go back to the works of Peter and Paul. We need to learn how to be on the island, in the house, and bound. May the Lord bless us.
