Read and pray: “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the signs that followed.” (Mk 16:20)
AUTHORITY AND DOMINION
When Christ was ready to ascend to the heavens, He met with the disciples on a mountain and said to them: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:16-19).
The commission the Lord gave the disciples to preach the gospel was a reflection of the authority He had received in heaven and on earth (see also Mk 16:19-20). With this authority He charged them to make disciples of the nations. His first commission to the disciples was to go with His authority.
I can testify to you that when it became clear to me that I should begin the work in the United States, I had the firm conviction that I would be there with the authority of Christ. I was a humble man from China, without prestige or financial support, yet I arrived in the United States convinced that the authority of Christ was with me.
For Christ to have His gospel preached to the ends of the earth, His leadership was necessary. As the Ruler of the kings of the earth, the whole earth is under His dominion.
He arranged world events and daily human activities so that the gospel might spread.
AN EXAMPLE OF CHRIST’S DOMINION
Allow me to illustrate this aspect in a subjective way. More than fifty years ago in China, a group of young people was raised up by the Lord.
We were a young generation, striving to obtain modern education in order to rescue and build our country. The leaders of both the nationalist and communist parties were all the same age as we were. We were all in college at the same time, seriously seeking scientific, political, and economic knowledge.
I, for example, began to study English right after World War I, which ended in 1918. Some from that generation were captivated by communism; we were captivated by Christ.
We came to love the Lord and His Word. We studied the Bible, as well as classical spiritual literature, church history, and the biographies of spiritual giants from the second century until our own day.
Through our study we came to know Christendom, and the Lord opened our eyes to receive some light regarding His Word. The first meeting, or church, was established in 1922. It was not easy at first, but the Lord established us and spread His recovery.
After World War II the recovery prevailed in China. There were between four hundred and six hundred churches spread across the thirty-three provinces. We never thought of coming to the West.
We had a great work before us: a nation of seven hundred million people with one language. Our only burden was for that people, yet we were aware that everything the Lord had shown us would someday be brought to the West.
We understood that the Lord’s move functions like the circulation of blood. First, the Lord sent a few from the West with the gospel to China. Then, in that pagan world, He raised us up and opened our understanding to the Bible.
We realized that our understanding far surpassed what the missionaries had brought us. The day would come, we believed, when the circulation that had begun in the West would flow back, bringing something from the East.
We thought this would happen through other people and not through us. We already had much to do. But shortly thereafter, in 1948 and 1949, the entire situation in China changed.
We were troubled and confused by this complete turn of events. It was then decided that I should leave mainland China. I did not know where to go and ended up heading to Taiwan.
That small island, primitive in so many respects, left me completely discouraged and disappointed. I was working in Shanghai, the largest city in the Far East, then with six million inhabitants.
Taiwan seemed insignificant and backward. One day, however, I traveled across the island by train. The Lord constrained me within and said, “Do not think this place is too small. I will use this island. Therefore, get to work.”
In six years, from 1949 to 1955, our number increased from fewer than five hundred to twenty thousand people. During that time, I spent about four months a year in the Philippines and eight months in Taiwan.
Then, in 1958, I was invited to visit England and Denmark. On the way I passed through the United States. Two years later, the Lord brought me there again. Then in 1962, He brought me once more, and this time He kept me there. Little by little I was impressed.
After some time, it became clear to me that instead of returning to the East, I should begin the ministry in the United States. We started at the end of 1962. There was no organization to support us nor any financial backing, but we started.
This story demonstrates the Lord’s sovereignty. He prepared international events so that we would have to go to the United States, although this was far from my intention.
My thoughts were heading in the opposite direction. Before the end of World War II, I already perceived that Japan would be defeated and that China and the United States would win the war. I then committed myself to evangelizing Inner Mongolia and made a plan to carry out this burden through the northwestern region.
I lived in northern China, where we had a good number of saints who could provide human resources. There were nurses, doctors, teachers, and merchants. The financial resources would be provided by some prosperous brothers from Manchuria, in northeastern China.
My plans were well made. The co-workers called me the general director of the “Three Norths Company”! There were North China, the Northeast, and the Northwest. China indeed won the war, but contrary to our expectations, the communists gained control of the country. My dream of the Three Norths Company vanished, although seventy saints actually migrated into Inner Mongolia.
Some time ago I heard news concerning those seventy brothers. A co-worker, one of the elders in my hometown, initiated that migration in 1943. Now, thirty-seven years later, he is still alive, although he has already been imprisoned fifteen times. Currently there is some freedom there and there are even churches in that district. I was happy to receive such news, although I never had the opportunity to go there personally.
My intention was to head northwest; however, the Lord sent me southeast! I was about to go into Inner Mongolia near Siberia, but the Lord sent me to Taiwan, to Manila, to the United States, and now to Europe. How can this be? This Jesus who is in the heavens is the Ruler of the kings. He governs all the nations. The way He governs is absolutely right. He sent us to spread His recovery, to gain more people for Himself.
Could you have imagined fifteen years ago that the Lord would move this way in Germany? In our midst we have Italians, Spaniards, French, English, as well as Germans. Thirty-one years ago I would have died for the Three Norths Company! Yet the Lord prevented me from going there. I did not need to die! Now I am here in Europe, enjoying the voices of so many different nationalities.
Who prepared all this? The heavenly Christ! It is not your work nor mine. I am far too small to have prepared anything like this. We praise the Lord for this reflection of His heavenly ministry!
Within a few years, all of Europe will be saturated with the recovery. I believe it will enter every major city. In a short time it will spread even back to Jerusalem.
From Stuttgart it will move south to Athens and then cross the sea to Jerusalem. That is where the church began, and in this age it will return there! This is the Lord’s move, from the heavens, reflected on the earth.
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Hymn: Service – “For the Church”
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