It's good to be back home with you
brothers and sisters in Richmond and to worship
together with you this morning.
And as we were worshiping, the Lord was
really speaking to my heart.
You know, our heart and heart, it's all
heart.
We don't know how hard it really is,
but only the love of God can melt
our heart and heart.
And thank the Lord, His love is real.
And if we can respond in any way
in worshiping Him, it's that His love is
so great, so powerful.
He has conquered us with His love.
So thank the Lord for our time together.
We were here in September.
You remember we were here in September?
Okay.
You remember that day, that weekend?
You all remember?
And that Lord's Day, Brother Thornton shared his
testimony.
And we were all very helped by his
testimony.
And afterwards, Mack approached me.
He said, next time when you come back
to Richmond, we'll have the opportunity to hear
your testimony.
And so I was waiting before the Lord,
what do I share?
And I think I'll just share a little
bit of my testimony, the testimony of the
goodness of the Lord, how the Lord is
real, how real He is, how faithful He
is, how loving He is, and how true
He is to Himself.
So I'll share a little bit of the
Lord's goodness.
And then maybe toward the end, I'll just
share with you my burden that I have
received in recent months from the Lord.
And so that you can pray with me
that the Lord's purpose will be fully realized.
And the Lord can get all you want
to get.
All that He's helped in our generation.
Now, my testimony.
Now, I'm glad Brother Kong is sitting here.
Because he knows a great deal about me,
my family.
In fact, I met Brother Kong when he
was a little boy in China.
Can you believe that?
He came to my hometown.
He knew my grandmom.
He knew my parents, my aunts.
And so we have a long, ancient history
together.
And now some brothers and sisters in Richmond
were told that I'll be sharing my testimony.
And my wife said to those people, she
said, his testimony is not all that exciting.
Well, I said, wait and see.
But don't you dare to go to sleep.
But you know that China is a pagan
country.
I was born in China, in a pagan
country.
And I always thought that I was brought
up in a Christian home.
But actually, my father wasn't saved until he
was at the age of 33.
And that was when I was about five
or six years old.
So don't figure out how old I am
now.
And it was amazing how my father got
saved.
He was not looking for the Lord, but
the Lord was looking for him.
Now, isn't that true with most of our
testimony?
We are not looking for him, but he's
out there always looking for us.
So in the early 30s, I'm sure you've
heard of a very renowned Chinese evangelist, Dr.
John Song.
Some of you may have read his biography.
There is a short biography of three spiritual
giants in China, but he needs one.
And John Song is also another one.
Another one is David Young.
But this Dr. John Song, I'm sure some
of you, when you read him, his testimony
was most powerful.
He came to this country to study chemistry
at Ohio State University.
And the Lord got hold of him.
Wonderfully saved.
And so he had a burden to go
back to China to evangelize China for the
Lord.
And in those days, the only way he
knew how to prepare himself to go back
to evangelize China is to go to a
theological school and to be trained and to
be qualified for that work.
So I was told that he went to
Union Theological Seminary in New York to study
theology.
And that was at the height of modernism
in this country in the 20s.
They questioned everything about the Lord Jesus, his
virgin birth, his divinity.
And so John Song went to that school.
But he was such a saint that he
believed every word in this book.
And so we always have a real controversy
with some of the professors.
They just couldn't get along.
What the professor lectured and what he read
out of the Bible, they just don't go
together.
And he did his biography.
The professor and official at the Union Theological
Seminary, they labeled him as psychotic.
He was mentally off.
And they sent him to a mental institution.
And he became very sick.
Now I won't go into any more, but
the Lord recovered his health and he went
back to China.
And on his way to China, just before
the boat docked at the pier, he threw
his PhD diploma into the Pacific Ocean to
finish all that was of the earthly things.
And he went and evangelized.
And he became mightily used by the Lord
in China.
Many, many guys saved through his ministry.
And he happened to come to my hometown.
Now Dr. John Song is a very temperamental
person.
I think Mother Cone knows him personally.
He's a very temperamental person.
So because of his mandarin is not a
proof mandarin, so it's very difficult for people
to understand what he is saying.
So whenever he goes to a place, he
needs a translator to translate his ministry into
the local dialect.
So he came to our hometown.
And he was there to have an evangelistic
campaign.
And the local believers, they introduced him to
several persons.
They hoped they were qualified to translate for
him.
But all those who introduced him to translate
for him, he was not satisfied.
Now I heard that he was very temperamental.
Even right on the stage while he was
preaching and the brother who was translating for
him, if he is not satisfied with him,
he asked him to please sit down and
get somebody else.
And so the local saints, when those who
would sponsor this evangelistic campaign, they were very
uneasy.
Just where can they look for a suitable
person to translate for Dr. John Song?
And then finally my father's name came up
to the committee.
And they said we think we should approach
this Mr. Wu.
Maybe he will be a person who I
can do the translation for Dr. John Song.
So they approached my father and my father
agreed.
Now at that time my father was not
a saint person.
So yes, so he agreed.
And so he became Dr. John Song's translator.
And somehow both of them did very well.
My father, he liked the way my father
was translating for him.
And so he kept my father through the
whole gospel campaign.
And it was then my father got saved
at the age of 33 through translating for
Dr. John Song.
Well, my father got saved first, but not
my mother.
My mother was very skeptical.
And so at that time when my father
got saved, few of his old schoolmates also
got saved.
And miraculously.
But my mother was still resisting the gospel.
And she just not receptive.
And so a friend of my father very
wisely, the Lord give him that wisdom.
He said my mother's just like the old
Jericho.
You know, wars up to the skies.
You know, it's not easy to conquer.
The only way is to follow, is to
take the way that Joshua did it for
Jericho.
So this friend of my father, a very
cuddly man, and also brought a cognosium.
And he was also my father's co-worker,
early co-workers in China.
So he took note of my mother's resistance.
And he knew that talking to her and
convincing her would not do any good.
So this brother, he's a very gentle brother.
So he would come to my home and
he would come and sit and smile.
And for a short while, maybe for half
an hour, then he would say goodbye and
go home.
And he did this seven times.
And then at the end of seven times,
my mother was capriciously to the Lord.
She got saved.
Just by this brother going, coming, coming to
our home and visited us, smiled.
Did not say a word.
Seven times my mother got saved.
Now, this is how my mother got saved.
Then when my father got saved, few years
later, somehow he came in touch with, probably
me, his ministry.
And the Lord seemed to open up to
him something that he never knew before.
He never experienced before.
He saw something more, far more.
So in his heart, had a longing to
want by the Lord once.
And at that time, he was teaching.
And for those of you know the history
of the work in China, for those who
really, in the early days, who really were
in fellowship with the local fellowship of global
assembly, the testing of the Lord once locally,
that Fr.
Ni initiated.
The Lord enabled him to pave the way
for the Lord to come together.
That kind of a gathering is, how should
I put it?
It's something altogether new to the people.
Something unheard of.
Meeting in home.
Just meet together under the Lord.
Meet in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And we call each other brothers and sisters.
No labels.
It was completely strange to the Christians, to
the so-called organized Christianity.
And so when my father was inclined to
follow the Lord this way, suffered much rejection.
In spite or despite.
And I was small.
I noticed some of the persecution that we
went through.
We were labeled.
We were called with names.
And people avoid us.
And they were really, they think we were
very dangerous.
So those are the early days.
Of those who followed the Lord, it was
very costly.
And the misunderstanding, persecution, rejection, did not come
from the world.
But come from your fellow believers, Christians.
It was in those early days, even when
I was small, I witnessed some mighty miracles
the Lord performed.
Sick were healed.
And people possessed with demons were delivered.
When I was small.
And I believe my salvation, my knowledge came
at that very moment.
Because I witnessed the power of God in
lives.
Then of course later, my father, since the
Lord is calling him into ministry.
And he was teaching at a school at
that time.
And so it was a very difficult time.
And the school seemed to have an imposed
on my father condition.
If he would associate with me, then he
would have to resign from the school.
And my father felt the call of the
Lord.
He had no choice.
So he resigned from his post.
And served the Lord in our hometown for
several years.
Before he went to the Philippines.
For those early workers in China, when they
served the Lord, their living, their life is
a life of faith.
They trust the Lord for all their needs.
Now you have to remember, China was a
very, very poor country.
Even the saints in those days, if they
want to give to the Lord's servant, they
would not give.
And even when I was small, I sort
of felt, even when I was small, the
difficulty that my parents went through financially.
Because my father was teaching.
He had steady income.
And so he has some hobbies.
He has a good camera.
He has a few things in here and
there.
But when he stepped up and served the
Lord, we noticed, our children noticed, some of
the things that we have in our home
gradually disappeared.
Because he had to sell this thing into
a pawn shop.
And to, in exchange for some dollars, so
they can put bread on the table of
food, on the table for our kids.
So gradually, my mother's brain was gone.
A few things in the home could disappear.
But in those days, there's such a joy,
such fulfillment, that in my parents' life, that
we never experienced before.
My mother told me, when they stepped out
to serve the Lord, look, Chapter 12 became
very real.
At that time, there were only five.
Three children and parents.
Five sparrows.
And one doesn't count.
And the Lord took care of us.
I remember wintertime, we had no heavy coats
to wear to school.
Then my father, he's quite handy.
He would take his suit jacket and he'll
convert into coats for us children to go
to school.
So that we have something warm to put
on.
And of course, I mean, we were very
not appreciative.
Because all the others, they have such nice
things to wear.
And we have to wear all these hand
-downs from our parents.
I mean, you know, the coat looks okay.
But when it comes to this pocket, it
looks terrible.
You know, it's not fashionable.
So, but anyway, the Lord somehow allowed us
family to go through this.
And as I look back, I can see
the beautiful hands of the Lord.
But anyway, it was in 1938 and 1937,
my father was called to go to the
Philippines to help with the work there.
And he went there.
And in 1940, the family, we migrated to
the Philippines.
And right after we arrived in the Philippines,
then World War II broke out shortly after
that.
And so, of course, the Americans in the
islands were defeated within a matter of a
month, within 30 days.
The Japanese completely captured the whole island of
the Philippines.
And we were under Japanese occupation for three
and a half years.
And those were difficult days.
You know, the Japanese and American, there's a
big difference.
The American troops, wherever they go, they bring
their supplies with them.
But with the Japanese in World War II,
they get their supplies locally.
And so the people locally, they'll deprive everything.
Because whatever they can get locally is go
to the army.
So food was scarce, clothing was scarce, everything
was scarce.
It was amazing how the Lord took care
of his own in those days.
But the most amazing thing is that at
the end of three and a half years,
the Allies troops are gaining grounds in the
Pacific.
And we are all very excited.
We are all waiting, hoping the GIs will
come back and set us free.
But during the occupation, the Lord had done
something tremendously.
I'll just touch a few things.
Because when the Japanese came in, they formed
a military government to control the affairs of
the nation.
And they set up a religious department.
So at that time, they want to organize
all the Christian, Protestant churches into an alliance
under the Japanese ministry of religion.
And so they can keep an eye on
what you do, what you preach, all your
activities.
And when you join this group, if you
join it, then you are allowed to meet
openly.
But once you join this group, they'll put
a picture, photo of Emperor Hirohito right in
your meeting room.
And you have to report to the ministry
of religion what you preach on that Sunday.
They want to know what you do.
So they came and approached my father and
Brother Meek and asked him to join this
religious alliance.
Now, I was told that Brother Meek was
a little bit inclined because if you do
that, you avoid a lot of problems.
But my father resisted, no compromise.
As far as the things of the Lord,
we cannot compromise with the world.
We cannot compromise with the system, so he
refused.
But thank the Lord, because of the ministry,
the man, Japanese, who was in charge of
the department of religion, was most understanding.
Even though we refused to join the alliance,
they still allowed us to meet.
And so it was really a miracle.
You can see the Lord's work, the Lord
alone can do, and the Lord's testimony, he
alone can maintain it.
So it's wonderful.
But anyway, during the Japanese occupation, things were
very, very tough.
But at that time, Chiang Kai-shek's government,
they had a person in the Philippines.
He served as the spy for the Allied
headquarters.
And this person, before he got saved, the
Japanese knew that he was in the island
and he was constantly hunted by the Japanese
troops.
So he moved from place to place.
Every few months, he would move from one
location to avoid being captured.
And living in fear, the Lord saved his
life, saved him miraculously.
And he became very close with my father.
Finally, he moved behind our house.
Every evening, he and my father would pray
together, because he was always very, very fearful
for his life.
Any moment, he was afraid he would be
captured.
And the reason he was afraid, because he
had a set of a shortwave radio transmitter
sending messages to the Allied headquarters.
And so he was living a very fearful
life.
And then the Lord saved this brother and
saved his family.
Now, the amazing thing is that there are
many of the Filipino and Chinese walking under
him.
There's always on the lookout, you know, the
activities of the Japanese.
And one of this brother's men, that day
he was at Manila Harbor.
And he saw there was a whole naval
task force was anchored in the bay.
And this man came back to our brother,
Zhang Jiafu.
Then that informed him about the Japanese are
concentrating their forces, naval force, in Manila Bay.
So he told our brother Zhang, and he
immediately cabled to General MacArthur's headquarters in Australia.
The next day, all the Allies planes, hundreds
of them came to the bay and sunk
all those ships in one day.
So General MacArthur, when he came back, liberated
the Philippines.
He called our brother Zhang to his headquarters.
And conferred him the Medal of Honor, recognition
of his contribution to the success of the
Pacific operation of the Allied troops.
This is our brother.
Then later on, in the interim period, he
was appointed as the envoy, the ambassador for
the Chinese government.
And also under him, several of the brothers
also working with him.
It was at that time, after the liberation,
the Lord somehow gave me a desire.
If the Lord would open the door for
me to come to the U.S. to
study.
Okay.
Now I talked to my father and said,
now I have a desire to go to
the U.S. to study.
What do you think?
He said, no way.
He said, my heart says, my mind says
yes, but my heart says no.
He said, because I have no way to
guarantee financially that you can go.
I have no way of backing you up.
Even though I want to, but financially I'm
incapable of doing it.
So he told me, he said, now if
the Lord wants you to go, the Lord
needs, the Lord has to perform a miracle.
Unless the Lord performs a miracle, there's no
way you can go.
So in my simple way, I simply pray
and say, Lord, if it is your will,
you open the way.
If not, you shut the door.
An amazing thing is that in one of
the Sundays, in the offering box in the
back, there's an envelope containing 800 pesos.
And right on the envelope it marks, it's
for Jose Wu's transport to the U.S.
Now in 1948, 800 pesos is equivalent to
400 U.S. dollars.
Now that's big money in those days.
So when that envelope was given to my
father, my father came to me and said,
you can now proceed to go.
So the Lord really opened it up.
And then, of course, when this came about,
our brother Zhang, he's still the interim ambassador
in the Chinese embassy.
And another brother was his first secretary.
They both are the Lord's and they both,
they met with us in a fellowship.
So I informed brother Zhang and said, the
Lord is opening up an opportunity for me
to go to U.S. study.
He said, don't worry, he said, I'm going
to get you a passport in a matter
of days.
He said, I'll get you a passport.
So he provided me with a passport.
And then this brother Zhou, who was his
first secretary, he said, if you want to
get your U.S. visa, I'll accompany you.
For somebody in the embassy with the official
capacity, I mean, to accompany to the U
.S. council to get a visa, I mean,
it showed how he loves me.
You can see the Lord's hand was upon
this whole thing.
So he walked, he came with, he went
with me to the U.S. embassy to
get visa, we were standing at a counter.
And then all of a sudden, one of
the doors opened and the official, the councilor
saw us there.
And he recognized brother Cai.
He said, brother Cai, Mr. Cai, come to
my office, come to my office.
Anything I can do for you.
And this brother said, this young man, he
wants to get a visa.
He said, come this afternoon, you will have
it.
You can see the Lord just opening up
things for me.
And so I left home in the fall
of 1948.
First time away from home.
And, you know, before you go, I mean,
you're very excited.
You know, you're going to go to a
new country.
All the adventure that's ahead of you, all
the excitement.
But when it comes to the time of,
we are going to go now, leaving now,
you have a mixed feeling.
Was I doing the right thing?
Not knowing anybody in this country.
Not knowing what holds for me in the
future.
Not knowing at all what lies ahead.
It's a mixed feeling.
But now the way is open.
And there's no way of turning back.
I go on.
So I got onto that boat.
And it took me over three weeks to
cross the Pacific.
And my brothers and sisters, those three weeks
were the longest days in my life.
There were hundreds, hundreds of people on that
ship.
It's a passenger ship, a personal liner.
But I was the most lonely person on
that ship.
And many of the students on that ship,
they wanted to be friends with me.
But I was very lonely inside.
I was homesick.
And on many occasions, that loneliness was so
overpowering that I just controlled my tears.
And when you're in that situation, you wonder
if you have made the right choice.
You know?
And my brothers and sisters, it was at
that very moment in the loneliness, for the
first time in my life, I experienced the
sweet presence.
On many occasions, it was when my tear
was beyond control.
Then I cried a little.
I said, oh, if you're real, fill my
heart with joy.
And he did.
So I came to this new country, and
everything is new to me.
You know, I came to study, but the
Lord has a different purpose.
He has a higher purpose.
I came in 1948, and after I arrived
here, I went through a period of real
doubts and questions.
And I thank the Lord for that place
I went to.
Because when I was in the Philippines, I
was under the covering of the fellowship.
I was protected.
And now I'm uncovered.
And I question everything.
And particularly, when I compare the way we
live in the Philippines, and some of the
workers we knew in China, how they live.
And when I'm exposed to the religious system
we have in this country, how the ministers
in this country, how they live.
I have a real problem.
Who's right?
Who's wrong?
If somebody's ordained pastors with their position guaranteed
for life, money guaranteed for life, security guaranteed
for life, and my parents, they have to
live by faith, they don't know what's going
to be meal, things going to be coming
from.
Now, who's right?
Which way is right?
Are my parents and those who serve the
Lord, like Fr.
Ni, Fr.
Kong, are they all very foolish?
I question them.
I question the Lord's table.
I question our worship.
I question everything.
Were we wrong?
Was I just following?
Or is it real?
And thank the Lord.
The Lord gradually making those things real back
to me.
God's, man's ways are for man.
Man's ways are never for God.
Man's way can never be for God.
But God's way is for God's purpose and
for God's glory.
Then I had the privilege.
And you know, Fr.
Kong came to this country in 1952.
And through him, we were introduced to some
saints in the Midwest, in Minnesota.
Then I gradually discovered that what the saints
went through in China is the same as
what the saints in this country went through
if they want to embrace the way of
the Lord.
It's one way.
At first, I thought there were two ways.
But I discovered it's one way.
Those who really want the Lord's way, but
there's only one way of the cross, the
narrow way.
This way was never approved by man.
This way, in fact, segmented.
The flesh will go against it.
But it's a real way.
A real way under purpose.
A real way in life.
So through Fr.
Kong, we were introduced to some saints in
the Midwest.
And one is Esther Bodine.
She was a missionary in Africa for many
years.
And somehow, in one of her trips across
the Atlantic, somebody told her about the Honorable
Fellowship.
And she went there.
And that visit with Fr.
Fox, it transformed her whole ministry, her whole
life.
She came home, resigned from the mission, and
went back by faith.
She was completely misunderstood by her relatives.
They thought she was crazy.
So I met such people.
And there are others.
We also meet the widow of a brother,
Milton Lin.
He was a very renowned Swedish Baptist minister.
A conference speaker.
Very influential person in Minnesota.
But somehow, he got hold of the magazine,
Whitman Testament.
And one of the articles in there touched
him.
It just revolutionized his whole thinking about ministry.
So he wrote to Fr.
Fox.
He said, I have to come and go
across the Atlantic to meet you in person,
to have some fellowship.
And he went, had some fellowship with Fr.
Fox.
And he came back, and he resigned from
his Baptist convention.
And I was told that in their official
organ, in the official newspaper or magazine, they
labeled him as mentally deranged.
They pleaded with him not to resign.
They said, if you resign, what happened to
your wife?
What happened to your children's education?
What happened to your future?
But he said, I saw something.
God wants.
You cannot change me.
And he resigned.
And I was told he was a very
lonely person.
Of all those Christians in that Midwest states,
he, we may say, he alone in those
days saw something.
And he stood alone by himself.
And I was told in Minnesota, when it
was very cold in the winter, they have
no food at all for the children.
And then somebody moved by the horse, or
bring food home, bring to their home a
loaf of bread.
Just to get them through for the day.
In the winter, there's no coal in their
heater.
Then somebody will bring a bushel so that
they can do it again.
You see, so what they went through is
exactly what the Bargain Sisters in China went
through.
It's the way of the cross.
It's the way of light laying down.
And I want to impress upon you, my
Bargain Sisters, what we are in now is
easy to us.
As you look back, there were those who
laid down their lives for us.
This way was never easy.
The Lord himself laid down his life.
But along the way, many, many laid down
their lives.
That's what we are today.
Recently, I listened to a tape of Lance,
and he spoke on what is thought like
a ministry.
Few of us, we knew what caused our
brother to walk this way and to have
this tremendous ministry that we are privileged to
receive.
When he began to preach the cross in
the church, he said the whole England turned
against him.
Not the secular world, but the religious world.
On one occasion, the Baptist Convention in England,
they wanted to have a year of Baptists
reaching out to save the unsaved, but to
convert them and to make them more, to
convert more Baptists into the Baptist Convention.
And they asked Boris Fox to take part
in this venture, the year of the Baptist.
And Boris Fox and a few of those
who shared the vision with him wrote back
to this tape when he said, if you
want to convert Christians, we are for it
100%, but if you want to make more
Baptists, we don't think we can do it.
And within a week, a letter came from
the headquarters, asked him to vacate his place.
So I was told that he'd move out
within a week.
He did not know where to go.
And in England, they wrote books against him.
And those who stood with him on the
same platform in Kansas from some time, they
will not have nothing to do with him.
So brothers and sisters, if we are in
what the Lord wants, if we are in
the footsteps of the Lord Jesus, what the
Lord Jesus went through, we must be willing
to go through.
There is no other way.
It's a way of rejection, a way of
persecution, a way of despise.
They will never approve us.
But brothers and sisters, when the world disapproves
us, as long as God approves us, that's
what matters.
So whatever we do, whatever we are, are
we man-pleasers or are we God-pleasers?
And you want to be pleasers of our
living God and live according to what he
wants, brothers and sisters, it's a costly way.
But it's worth it.
It's worth it.
In the late 50s and early 60s, when
I began to have some appetite for the
Lord's, deeper things of the Lord, so I
began to read a few of Brother Spock's
books.
Then I was told that there's a Christian
bookstore in Minnesota, he carried some Brother Spock's
books.
He's very selective.
What he considered controversial, he will not touch.
So he had a few of Brother Spock's
books and I was told if you go
there, you have to ask him quietly.
Then he will take you to the back
room and open his drawer and show you
his collection.
Because he was afraid to display.
Because that's what, that's about our brother's ministry.
People, they're afraid to display because they think
it's too controversial.
He gets Christians into trouble.
And thank God it was in the, I'm
not so sure when now, but Brother Ernest
Tate.
He was the one who boldly introduced Brother
Spock's books, botanist books, brother boxing books, to
the American Botanist Institute.
He was the first one.
And the Lord laid him a burden to
bring Brother Spock across the Atlantic to this
country.
And at that time, Brother Kong is already
here.
So he had a burden to invite Brother
Spock, Brother Kong, and Brother Fonke to have
some special meetings so that the saints in
this country, those who want the Lord, will
have a chance to hear the prophetic ministry,
God's word to his people.
And Brother Chase himself told me, he said,
Brother Hosea, he said, when I ever mentioned,
approach a Christian conference ground, ask for permission
to use the facility.
And the moment they ask, who are your
speakers?
He said, the moment I mentioned T.
Austin Spock and Stephen Kong, who has some
connection, immediately the door was shut.
Brothers and sisters, the world is against what
the Lord wants.
But the religious world also stands in the
way of our God.
We need to be delivered from the world.
But we also need to be delivered completely
from the religious system.
In some ways, it's easier for us to
be delivered from the world.
It's much harder for us to be set
free from the religious system.
And my brothers and sisters, it's a costly
way.
But it's a way of glory.
Because we touch something for God wants.
And my recent weeks in New Jersey is
that I keep reminding my brothers and sisters,
we gather for what reason?
We meet for what purpose?
And I keep reminding, we meet, we gather
for another reason.
It's for the Lord to get what He's
after.
We meet and gather.
If the Lord is not getting what He's
after, our meeting, our gathering is in vain.
So lastly, I have a few burdens I
want to share with you, brothers and sisters.
You know, in two weeks, Eleanor will be
leaving for the Far East.
We'll be in the Philippines in about three
weeks.
And we need your prayer.
The heartburn of many of those who love
the Lord is that if the Lord delay
in His coming, if He delays, we hope
He will not delay.
But if He does delay, are we preparing
the next generation for Him to go?
Do we have a next generation that are
ready to take up the cross?
Do we have a next generation that really
catch something of what is in God's heart?
And brothers and sisters, that responsibility is on
us.
We cannot escape that responsibility.
That responsibility has become heavier and heavier in
my heart.
So I want to share a few thoughts
from the book of Chronicles.
You know that the Chronicles, the first Chronicles,
the first nine chapters are very heavy reading
chapters because they contain genealogies.
And I have to confess for many years
when I come to first Chronicles and the
genealogies, I always have to struggle.
I have to grind my teeth and somehow
get through it.
I never catch spiritually the significance of that
long list of genealogies until recently.
Why is it so important?
Why God puts it there in the Bible
and so long, nine chapters and all those
names.
If you can pronounce them, I'll give you
a PhD.
Difficult names.
And to trace their genome and genealogy is
most difficult.
But just share a few spiritual principles here
because this has to do with the thought
in my heart about the last words of
David to Solomon.
For David was a man of God.
He saw what God wants.
God wants a house, a resting place.
And he just not want Solomon to do
it but he want a generation to come.
Make sure they possess that land and decrease
it to their size.
Because what?
The land is important because there's a city.
The city is important because God's dwelling place
in the midst.
That's where we gather and meet and worship.
If God is not in this process, all
is ruined.
All is chaos.
All is no value.
Of course, David saw more than that.
He saw the coming Messiah, the true seed
for David.
He saw more than that, the coming kingdom
of that seed, Christ.
So he saw.
And I feel that we are very short
-sighted spiritually.
We think of our generation.
We think if we have more foresight, maybe
next generation.
But we don't see the end.
The end that God is after.
But David, being a man of God, he
not only saw his generation, Solomon's generation, but
he saw the very end.
The Messiah and his kingdom.
He saw that.
And he saw that.
He saw what God gets in the end.
And he takes side with God.
He takes side with God.
There's one thing about the Book of Chronicles.
You know, even though Solomon was a great
failure in a lot of ways, but there
was no mention of his failures.
Even David, some of his failures were just
sort of more or less touching.
So in Chronicles, you can see God was
most positive.
Because he's getting what he's after, most positive.
My brothers and sisters, we have a problem.
Because we are very consumed with our family.
With the condition of our country.
I just want to share a few thoughts.
If I'm wrong, please forgive me.
We should share part of the blame.
God is patient.
He can take a lot.
And he can do a lot.
But that doesn't mean he approved what was
wrong.
He never approved sin.
He never approved rebellion.
Sin and rebellion, God does not choose.
He was patient.
He is patient.
He will tolerate.
So that we will repent.
Just because he's patient doesn't mean he's tolerant.
He allows it.
He approves it.
And so I feel that as parents, as
brothers and sisters locally, we have to be
patient in our brothers and sisters.
Knowing our flesh.
But as spiritually on principle, anything that's not
of the Lord, we have to take side
with the Lord.
It's a very delicate matter.
What is rebellion?
What is sin?
We have to say no.
But on the other hand, there's love.
There's a patience.
But somehow our young generation, they get the
mixed signal.
When you're patient, when you're loving, they think,
say, there's some approval here.
God says, can we, by the Lord's grace,
show that disapproval, what God does not approve.
But somehow in the patience of God, show
our love, our patience for their recovery.
Because at the end of Chronicles, second part,
there's that one, there's that fearful phrase, the
nation Israel, they came to the end, there
was no remedy.
They were taken into captivity.
The Lord endured all he can.
Until there was no way he can endure
anymore, they were brought into captivity.
So there's a time God's patience were in.
We had to take heed to that.
Ahoy me share is much more positive.
In that list of genealogies, there are several
things, very important.
We list, we notice that some of the
names that are, should be in the genealogy,
they were not there.
There are some of the names that should
not be in there, that are there.
And G.
Cameron Morgan said, the reason why those who
are not there are included in the genealogy,
because they have two things.
They have faith in Jehovah and obedience.
Faith and obedience.
Now why genealogy is so important?
Because the land was promised to Abraham.
And he's seed, he's descended.
Only the true seed are Abraham.
That's registered in the genealogy of Abraham.
They have the right to enter into the
promised land.
Now second thing is that once they enter
into the land, the people in the land,
they need genealogies for the dividing of the
lands among the tribes.
So they know who inherit this part, who
inherit that.
So genealogy is also very important.
So without inheritance, you cannot enter and you
have no share of your inheritance.
The other important thing about genealogy is that
prevent them from mixing in with the nations
around them.
So that line will be pure for the
coming of Messiah.
And of course there are others.
The genealogy is absolutely necessary for our worship,
our service.
So all the Levites, they have their place.
The priests, the gatekeepers, they all trace their
genealogy.
Particularly when they came back from captivity.
Because when they were in captivity, they may
be mixed with the nations.
When they came back, they had to trace
their genealogy.
You know, you read Ezra and Nehemiah, how
important genealogy was to them.
And they'll return to get from captivity.
Make sure those who have a part in
worship and their stories are listed in the
genealogy.
My thought is, for those who are older
now, by the Lord's grace, we hope we
are listed in that genealogy.
We are the seed of faith, Abraham.
We can come into our rightful inheritance and
can inherit it.
But brothers and sisters, how about our next
generation?
Do we have guarantee that their names will
be listed in that genealogy and come into
the good of it?
And should we turn to 1 Chronicles, Chapter
28.
1 Chronicles.
Now these are the last words of David
to Israel, to the nation Israel and also
to his son Solomon.
It's so wonderful to read them all but
we don't have time.
Let me just read verse 8.
1 Chronicles 28, verse 8.
Now these are the words of David to
his son Solomon.
So now in the sight of all Israel,
the assembly of the Lord, and in the
hearing of our God, observe and seek after
all the commandments of the Lord your God
in order that you may possess the good
land and be created to your sons after
you forever.
Brothers and sisters, what the Lord has given
to us is not for us.
What the Lord has given to us should
not stop with us.
We are but channels.
And I'm speaking to myself as parent, as
grandparents.
For instance, do we have something of real
value, of eternal value that we can pass
on to our offsprings?
That they can possess that land and stay
in that land and build God's house and
bring his kingdom in if the Lord delays
in his coming in our generation.
And David has four signs.
He said, observe, seek, keep, and possess.
They're already in the land.
They came back already.
But you may possess and be created to
your children because he was a man of
God.
He's foresighted.
He sees the end.
And then verse 11.
Then David gives his son Solomon the plan.
And then we read verse 19.
All this said David, the Lord made me
understand in writing by his hand.
Upon me, all the details of this path.
Brothers and sisters, you see the difference between
what Moses saw on the mountain and what
David saw here.
Moses saw what's objective.
He saw the path he saw.
But David said, what I saw the Lord
wrote in my heart.
Do we have a plan?
Does God's plan is writing in our heart?
If we see, we hear, it will soon
disappear.
Very quickly.
But if we allow the Lord to write
in our heart, it's there forever.
We may fail.
We may come short.
But we'll never get away from us.
It's there forever.
He will do it.
And by fear for the next generation, they
hear much.
They think they know much.
That it will not last.
But we have to give them the example.
We have to show them something the Lord
has written with his fingers in our heart.
That we can pass on.
And David gives a plan to Solomon.
That plan the Lord has written in his
heart.
You know, and David not only instructs Solomon,
but he prayed.
He prayed.
You know, we all can instruct people.
But we all fail miserably to pray for
them.
Pray for them.
We all think there's a need.
Next thing, there's a real need.
But do we really pray?
Do we really pray?
Not so much pray for them.
But interceding on behalf of God, that God
will get them for himself.
And Boris Borg says, he said, very few.
We pray, but we're always interceding on people's
behalf.
The harmony that our priestly, true ministry, who
touch something of the heart, will intercede on
behalf of what God wants.
And David prayed.
It's chapter 29, just a couple of verses.
Verse 18.
29 verse 18.
David's prayer.
Maybe we can start with 16.
Oh Lord our God, all the substance that
we have provided to build thee a house
for thy holy name, it is from thy
hand, and all is thine.
What is given by him can go back.
Again, it's the origin.
Since I know, oh my God, that thou
triest the heart and delightest in uprightness, I,
in the integrity of my heart, have willingly
offered all these things.
So now with joy, I've seen thy people
who are present here are making offerings willingly
unto you.
Willing.
So what God wants.
So what God longs for.
18.
Oh Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Israel, our fathers, preserve this forever in the
intention of the heart of thy people and
direct their hearts.
That's true intercessory prayer.
What is the issue is the heart matter.
If the heart is there, nothing is there.
And so David's prayer is to preserve forever
the intention of the heart of thy people.
What was David's life passion?
God's dwelling place.
If God is not in the midst, they're
scattered.
They experience that.
When God is not central in their national
life, it's ruined.
There's no blessing, there's no glory.
It's the heart matter.
And he said, preserve in the heart that
intention, that desire.
Direct their heart.
And give my son Solomon a perfect heart
to keep thy commandments, thy testaments, thy statutes,
and to do them.
And to do them all.
And to build the temple for which I
have made provision.
Always there.
And now obedience is the way to do
it.
A perfect heart is a pure heart.
A pure heart is an undivided heart.
Singleness.
And brothers and sisters, we need to remind
ourselves, when we gather, what are we doing
here?
Hear messages?
Yes.
Worship them?
Yes.
The brother and sister is to build God's
house.
That's what he's here for.
That's why he has blessed us with so
much.
It's for the house.
Are we gathering all his blessings unto his
house?
For his building.
For his blessing.
There's a lot of this.
If we delay in his coming, brothers and
sisters, do we have something to pass on
to the next generation?
As we pass on what we see, what
we hear, there's something the Lord's finger has
written in our heart.
Yes, we need to talk to our youngsters.
I think the most important thing is to
bring them to see God's purpose.
The root matter is seeing what God wants.
And pray the Lord will capture those hearts
for themselves.
We are problem-oriented.
We're dealing with a surface that God wants
to deal with the heart.
And that's why David was a man after
God's own heart.
And his heart passion is for one thing.
God's dwelling place.
And he wants to see that thing continue
in the next generation.
Because once God is in the center, all
is of no value.
So may the Lord help us.
We can't afford this opportunity to share his
goodness.
We may fail, but he can never fail.
As long as our heart, the plan of
his purpose is good.
Father, we thank you for time together.
We confess what we share is so weak,
so evil, oftentimes just mere human words.
But Lord, we ask your Holy Spirit to
work and to speak beyond us.
Register something deep in our hearts.
It will cause our hearts to respond to
you.
Wholehearted response.
In line with what you want.
Lord, get all you can.
Get what you have to.
And to you be all the glory, all
the praise.
Precious things.