Jeremiah 51:9-10. “We would have healed Babylon, but she was unwilling to be healed . . . . Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.” Babylon cannot be healed; in its corruption its only hope is in God’s grace. Attempts have been made to heal Babylon, but they had to be stopped. She cannot be healed. Babylon’s inhabitants must stay in their country, and we in ours. But let us go to Zion and declare the works of our God. Let us declare them to those who love righteousness. They will receive our words. You will seek to heal Babylon in vain. Many attempts have been made previously, but they have never succeeded. However, the Lord’s work shall succeed with us. Break up the fallow ground. We do not know where this ground is as individuals, but we do know it as an assembly. Philippians 3:14. “But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” A righteous man’s mind and interest is in only “one thing.” A person’s mindset is the main thing. Let us say together with Paul: One thing I do—I press toward the goal—to obtain what I have still not obtained. This describes an attitude of mind—a personal attitude. One is more interested in being made perfect than in anything else between heaven and earth. This mindset does not exist in Babylon; there is no such work or any such goal. If there should be anyone in Babylon who possesses this mindset, he is in captivity. Babylon’s interest is in everything that is great, such as song and music that can tickle the feelings, besides everything else that is human. In Babylon they hate righteousness and sanctification. Of course they can sing, “Nearer my God to Thee,” but it is hypocrisy. They hate righteousness and truth. Even the person who does righteousness is hated; they put their entire heart and mind into this hatred. Babylon hates sanctification. Babylon is incurable when it concerns a life in God. They simply do not want to hear about it. Their main concern is to evade as much as possible. The thought of their hearts is not to work and not to suffer. But not so the righteous person, the one who agonizes night and day over the way in which Babylon misuses the promises. Knowledge increases pain, and where there is much wisdom, there is much pain. The person who has found wisdom is grieved because of his own folly, because his righteous soul pursues only this one thing: to be made perfect. As many of those who sit here today and have this mind, are one with this assembly. It is not fitting to sing “Nearer my God to Thee” as long as heart and mind desire anything of this world. It will not bring a person nearer to God; neither does God want people with such an attitude near Him. If you have love, interest, and gifts and do not know what to use them for, go to Zion; there you will be used and there you will be heard. James 4:5; Colossians 1:28-29. Here it is written that God yearns zealously for the spirit He let dwell in us, and those who are working for God do the same. God desires to cleanse and make alive the human spirit, and the servants of Christ co-operate with Him in this matter. God desires to free our human spirit from sin. This is a difficult topic, but I thought that it could still be a blessing. God is zealous with a fervent zeal. He zealously frees everything that can be freed. On extremely rare occasions—and at long intervals—He shakes us up powerfully. He is so extremely desirous of laying hold of us. Then why doesn’t He lay hold of us more thoroughly and more often? Because of our free will with which He has to co-operate. Therefore He uses much patience and longsuffering, seeing that it is difficult for Him to get us to co-operate. But then we could think that God does not desire us with such great zeal. On the contrary, that is precisely what He does. This is also the case with a servant of the Lord. Not infrequently one says about him that “he does not meddle in my personal life. He doesn’t speak very much with me.” Paul was careful and on guard according to the perfect law of liberty. You cannot intrude into another person’s life unless it is with their consent. The person becomes sick if you get too close to him; he has a heart attack; but nothing will become of him if you do not lay hold of him. It is extremely difficult to serve people, and it is difficult to speak about it; nevertheless, I had a desire to say this. This is the puzzle: If I press someone too hard, he dies; if I do not press him hard, he remains just the same. Paul certainly thought about this when he says, “Teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” To urge someone on at suitable intervals, to wait suitably long, always be between a rock and a hard place so that you do not ruin anyone—that is the wisdom that is necessary in order to present “a pure virgin.” All this within the laws of liberty. Being able to make something out of a person is an extremely interesting work. Always hard pressed, for who knows whether one should step in or not. Who knows if the person himself will not come and open up on his own? Who knows what the most perfect thing is? Hebrews 10:5-10 Jesus came with a new order, a new covenant. A body was prepared for Him. Think about that: a body that was meant to be offered. The sacrifice is in our will. Jesus came in order to do God’s will and to exclude His own will from consideration. In this way His body became a sacrifice. A mere man would like to sacrifice; he would like to be obedient, but he cannot get his body (his nature) to go along with it. But Jesus was able to do it. People speak often about forsaking everything and sacrificing everything. They would like to do that, but in the strength of their self-will. But God requires from us that we sacrifice our self-will, which is nothing other than sin in the flesh. A wife would like to be in submission to her husband, if only she could do it as long as she wants to, and when she would be in a good mood. A servant would like to be obedient, as long as he could do things the way he wants them done. However, Jesus came to do God’s will, and because He fulfilled this will, we are also sanctified (separated) to do God’s will. For this reason we have been taken out of the world to live with a will that is dedicated to doing God’s will. When God says, “My son, My daughter, give Me your heart,” He does that knowing that it includes your will. When I, by God’s grace, come into situations from which my flesh recoils, I stand face to face with God’s salvation.