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According to His economy, God created man, accomplished redemption, and produced the church. His desire, however, is that out of those whom He created and redeemed He would gain a group of people who truly live for Him on the earth. Yet two thousand years after God accomplished redemption and produced the church, He has yet to gain this group of people that He longs for.
History shows us that in the Old Testament, God had gained the patriarchs throughout the generations and also the people of Israel. Later, the Israelites became degraded. God was greatly disappointed, so He judged them. Even today, the Israelites are still under God’s judgment. Although God in His grace left them a seed (Rom. 9:29) and also allowed the nation of Israel to be restored in 1948, the nation of Israel in the present generation is in a condition far away from God, not knowing God at all. What they have passed down through the generations consists only of the Old Testament, which is a book of letters, and Judaism, which is a religion formed with Old Testament laws and regulations. If we travel to the land of Israel, we will see that everything is according to the letter, superstition, ritual, and religion. They do not know God in reality, nor do they know God’s economy and what He wants to gain on this earth. There is a very great gap between what they possess and what we have received in the church in recent years.
For the last two thousand years we have seen the Catholic Church, the Protestant churches, and the Orthodox Churches. Like the Jews, they have mainly the letter of the Bible. They may read it, but many comprehend only the letter with nearly no understanding of the spiritual significances contained in it and without the knowledge of even the basic truths. Christianity has become a great and formal religion. Even today in Taiwan, there are many pastors and believers in Christianity who are no different from the people in the world. Therefore, even though God created man, accomplished redemption, and produced the church, He has not gained His heart’s desire.
Throughout the ages God has been doing a continual work of recovery. He recovers again and again. However, the degradation of the church keeps going downhill. We all know that when a torrent of water rushes down a mountain, nothing can withstand its force. It is impossible to reverse the flow of the water. In one sense, it is truly quite glorious that you and I were born in this age, but in another sense, it is painfully sad, because all that we encounter is corruption, degradation, and a downward situation.
Shortly after World War I ended, when I was a young teenager, I began to pay much attention to the world situation; it has been nearly seventy years since then. When I was studying in junior college, by coincidence, I came across a Chinese news magazine. By reading it my eyes were opened, and I started to understand the world situation. While I came to understand historical events from books, I also observed the development of the world situation. I came to the United States in 1961. In 1963, at a meeting where life and truth were released, I spoke a prophecy to all the people there. I said that one day the military forces of the world will gather in the Middle East to fight for the oil fields; because of the oil fields, the world’s wealth and its center will shift to the Middle East. This is what I came to understand through many years of observation of the world situation and my study of history and biblical prophecies.
We can say that the entire world history is a fulfillment of the prophecies in the Bible. However, the Bible does not have a prophecy concerning a great revival of the church at the end of this age. A century earlier a group of teachers who expounded the Bible claimed that there would be a great revival. Although I believed their claim at the time, after reading the Bible again, I gradually realized that there is not such a thing. Those teachers said that the “early rain” in the Old Testament denotes the Holy Spirit coming in an early stage, and the “late rain” denotes the Holy Spirit coming in a later stage, typifying that there will be a revival in the church at the end of this age (Deut. 11:14; Jer. 5:24; Joel 2:23; Zech. 10:1). They have misinterpreted the Bible. In the Bible the early rain and the late rain are mentioned not in reference to the church but in reference to the children of Israel.
The last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation written by the apostle John, contains seven epistles. The seven epistles are not long. They point out the errors of the churches, that some commit fornication and others practice idolatry. In principle, almost every epistle tells the church that she should repent and that if she will not, the Lord will come to her in a negative way. Then afterward there is always this word: “To him who overcomes,” or “He who overcomes.” This shows us that the Bible does not have a prophecy concerning a final revival; rather, it contains promises to the overcomers.
Now we would like to see what recovery is. Simply speaking, recovery is to overcome. Therefore, to be in the Lord’s recovery is to be in the Lord’s overcoming. To be in the Lord’s recovery is to turn around, by the Lord’s grace, and stand against the tide that is going downhill. This is not to say that we can reverse the tide but that we can stand in the middle of the current and not be carried away by it or flow along with it. This is to be in the recovery. We desire that the churches in the Lord’s recovery would all be able to stand against the tide. However, we are displeased and disappointed by the fact that the Lord’s recovery has been among us for only a little over sixty years, but in less than a century’s time, to our shame there have been some cases of failure every ten years. Some came into the flow of the Lord’s recovery, yet after a period of time they failed. Decade after decade, a group of people came in, and another group dropped out. Therefore, with great sorrow we say that to this day, even in His recovery, the Lord has not been able to gain the group of people He wants to gain.
For this reason we have initiated the practice of changing the system and taking the new way. By changing the system and taking the new way we mean that we drop the old things and begin anew with a new way. What is the new way? It is the way that fully meets the Lord’s standard. What the Lord desires today is to gain a group of people that fully meets His standard, living on the earth for Him.
In Genesis the first matter mentioned after God created man was related to eating: “Behold, I have given you every herb that produces seed that is on the surface of all the earth and every tree which has fruit that produces seed; they shall be for you as food” (1:29). Food is of supreme importance to the Chinese, and it is even more so to God. In the past in China, when we went out to invite people to hear our gospel preaching, we were frequently asked by some naughty ones, “Does Jesus provide meals? If He does, I will definitely go.” Of course, Jesus provides our meals; in God’s ordination man needs to eat for his existence.
The second matter mentioned in the Bible is marriage (2:18-25). Eating is for man’s existence, while marriage is for man’s continuation. The Bible does not say that eating should be held in high regard, but it says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all” (Heb. 13:4). The third matter mentioned in the Bible is clothing. God made for man coats of skins to cover his body (Gen. 3:21). The traditional but incorrect concept is that when we begin to love the Lord, we do not care about eating, marriage, and clothing. In other words, we give up everything and care only for the Lord. In actuality, eating, marriage, and clothing are three great necessities of human life. We are not to give them up, but we should not be occupied with them. We do not live for eating, marriage, or clothing; we live for the Lord. Today, however, two thousand years after Jesus accomplished redemption, God still has not gained such a group of people.
According to our study of biblical prophecies and the world situation, we truly feel that today we are in the last days. God will speed up His move in these last days. The nation of Israel has been restored, which is a fulfillment of a great prophecy in the Bible. Israel was taken captive in about 606 B.C., yet after twenty-five centuries it stands again as a nation. Israel lost the land and was carried away to the nations. The Jews lost their nationality and were naturalized in different countries, becoming immigrants in the nations. It is incredible that for such a group of people their nation could be restored after twenty-five centuries.
In 1948 in Shanghai, my heart leapt when I saw the headline on the newspaper: “The Nation of Israel Restored.” I had studied this prophecy since 1925, and after twenty-three years I witnessed the fulfillment of this great prophecy in the Bible — the restoration of the nation of Israel. What a miraculous event! Jerusalem, the capital of the Jews, was trampled by the Gentiles, but the Bible says clearly that in the last days Jerusalem would be returned to Israel. In about 606 B.C. King Nebuchadnezzar trampled Jerusalem and desecrated its temple. Eventually, he brought the vessels of gold and silver, which were used in the worship of God, and put them in the temple of his gods. Babylon is the present Iraq, and Iran is Persia in the Bible; the present war between Iran and Iraq is a war between Persia and Babylon.
In June 1967, nineteen years after the restoration of the nation of Israel, on the last day of the Six Days’ War, Jerusalem was returned to Israel. Prior to that time, much of Jerusalem was in Jordan’s possession. I can never forget that day. I was in the hospital for a surgery, lying on my hospital bed, but when I saw the news of Jerusalem being returned to Israel, I almost jumped out of bed. I truly wanted to sing Hallelujah! Nineteen years before, in Shanghai I saw the headline “The Nation of Israel Restored” in the newspaper; nineteen years later, in a hospital bed in America, I heard the news that Jerusalem was returned. From that day on, surrounding the small nation of Israel, there have been more than twenty Arab, Islamic nations whose armies exceed the total population of Israel. These nations have been watching Israel like a tiger eyeing its prey. However, they have had no way to defeat Israel. Who is doing this?
We know that the sign of the Lord’s second coming is the consummation of this age. Matthew 21:19 and 20 say that the Lord Jesus became hungry, and seeing a fig tree on the way but not finding any fruit on it, He cursed the tree so that it would no longer bear fruit, and it instantly dried up. The fig tree is a symbol of the nation of Israel. When the Lord came to the children of Israel, He could not find any fruit among them; consequently, they came under His curse. Therefore, after the Lord ascended, the nation of Israel began to suffer many hardships.
According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Jerusalem was completely destroyed by the Roman armies under the Roman prince Titus in A.D. 70. The Lord prophesied in Matthew 24 that the temple would by no means be left a stone upon a stone, which would not be thrown down (v. 2). From that day, the Jews have not had an easy time in the world. They lost their citizenship, wandering on the earth and being persecuted by others. The greatest atrocity occurred during the Second World War when Hitler gathered millions of Jews from within countries under German occupation and executed them in gas chambers. This caused the Jews all over the world to be united. Since they realized that even if they became German citizens, Germany would not protect them, they knew they must be united. These things are laid out before our eyes, which cause us to realize that today we are in the end times. In Matthew 24 the Lord said that when you see the branch of the fig tree becoming tender and putting forth its leaves, you know that the summer is near (v. 32). The summer is the day of the Lord’s coming, and the branch’s becoming tender and putting forth its leaves is the restoration of the nation of Israel, which will be the time of the Lord’s second coming.
In such a time the Lord must take the quick way. He must quickly gain a group of people whom He has not gained before to be His overcomers on this earth and His bride to welcome His return. These days, in a formal wedding the bridegroom always arrives first, and the bride enters a few minutes later. It is considered inappropriate for the bride to arrive earlier than the bridegroom. In the wedding in the New Testament, however, instead of the Bridegroom waiting for the bride, the bride is waiting for the Bridegroom. In the parable in Matthew 25 it is the ten virgins who take their lamps to go forth to meet the bridegroom (v. 1), but who is going forth to meet the Bridegroom today? We have yet to meet a group of Christians who are going out of the world to meet Christ, the Bridegroom. Instead, most Christians are in the world. Today the Lord wants to gain a group of people who take their lamps and go forth to meet Him, the Bridegroom. May we be that group of people.
Today even the pastors and preachers may not realize that we need to become the group of people whom the Lord desires. If you go and ask a pastor, “Is there a statement in the Bible concerning virgins going forth to meet the bridegroom?” He may answer, “Is there such a statement? I just know that we have to love our parents, we have to love others as ourselves, the husbands have to love their wives, the wives have to submit to their husbands, and we have to be humble and patient.” This is the condition of Christianity today. Therefore, regardless of what we are busy with in our daily living, we should not forget that the most important thing is to properly adorn ourselves and be prepared to go forth to meet our Bridegroom. We need to be the group of people who is preparing to meet our Bridegroom. We all need to go forth, to go out from this world, to meet our Bridegroom.
How do we prepare to meet our Bridegroom? Matthew 24 says, “But learn the parable from the fig tree: As soon as its branch has become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that the summer is near” (v. 32). In the same chapter it also says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” (v. 14). On the one hand, the end, the summer, is near, which is this age; on the other hand, the gospel has yet to be preached in the whole inhabited earth. Some Christian fanatics have said, “The Lord Jesus is coming tomorrow.” According to both sides of the prophecy in the Bible, that is still not possible. Back in 1936 I was working in Tientsin. At that time there was a brother in England, D. M. Panton, who was gifted in interpreting prophecies. Many who pursued the Lord read his biblical interpretations and prophecies. However, Panton made a big mistake. In his publication he displayed two pictures. One picture was that of Nero, whom Panton claimed would become Antichrist; this was also the Caesar Nero who killed Paul. The other picture was that of the Italian prime minister Mussolini, whom Panton speculated to be the coming Antichrist. I very much admire Mr. Panton’s biblical interpretations, but for some reason he made this big mistake. At that time the Antichrist could not have appeared, because spiritually the preparation of the gospel was still inadequate.
Fifty-one years afterward, which is half a century later, the gospel still has not been preached in the whole inhabited earth. The gospel has not been fully spread even in the little island of Taiwan. Whose responsibility is this? Do you believe the gospel can be fully spread in Taiwan by those who are in Christianity? Can we do it according to our old way? We practiced the old way for over thirty years. In the first ten years we were quite successful, but in the last twenty years we have been a complete failure. Therefore, we have initiated a change, changing back to the biblical way. The preaching of the gospel to the whole inhabited earth began from Jerusalem. To us, Taiwan is our “Jerusalem,” so we need to preach the gospel here in Taiwan.
Based on my observation, I have a deep feeling. In all of Christian history there has never been a mission, an evangelical group, a Christian organization, or a great evangelist that did not want the door of the gospel to be opened to them, yet their burden was not fully fulfilled. William Carey went to India, David Livingstone went to Africa, and Hudson Taylor went to inland China, but the gospel was not spread to the whole earth through them. However, today the whole world is opened to the Lord’s recovery. This is not an exaggeration. If we have one thousand brothers and sisters, each one can immediately be sent out, because Western Europe is opened, New Zealand is opened, Australia is opened, and even Eastern Europe, Africa, South America, and Central America are all opened up. Every letter sent to us from the major continents all over the globe has fellowshipped with us regarding the need for people to go. But where are the people? We do not have enough people even to meet the need of Taiwan, or even just Taipei, not to mention the whole earth. Where are the people?
Why is it that every place in the world is opened to the Lord’s recovery? First, it is because we are standing on the proper ground. In order to wage a war, we need to have a just cause. Certainly we have a cause — we boldly proclaim the unique ground of the church everywhere we go. When we proclaim this, the moment we sound the trumpet, we prosper wherever we go. The reason many in Christianity oppose the Lord’s recovery is that we keep the unique ground of the church. Roughly thirty or forty years ago some Western missionaries commented about us, saying that everything about the “Little Flock” is good and that the only bad thing is the teaching concerning one church for one city. However, the Bible clearly reveals that universally the church is one, and practically it is one church in one city. Today those who truly pursue the Lord are willing to open to this recovery because this recovery is waging a war with a cause.
The second reason is that the truth is among us. Today Hong Kong is the hub of the Chinese-speaking Christian meetings in the Far East, and all sorts of Christian publications can be found there. However, how much truth and how much spiritual value can we see in those publications? This is not only the situation in the Chinese-speaking world in the Far East but also the situation in the English-speaking world in the West. However, in the Lord’s recovery the truth pours out as a waterfall. This is why a particular book on reading the Bible, published by a certain seminary, points out that the exposition of the Bible by Christians in the Chinese-speaking world over the past forty years has not been able to escape the influence of “the local church.”
Take South America for example. The whole of South America is open to the Lord’s recovery because in the recovery there is the church ground and the biblical truth. In addition, the saints in Africa say that they can conquer the whole continent with just the New Testament Recovery Version, the Life-studies, the Life Lessons, and the Truth Lessons. The saints in South America, Central America, New Zealand, and Australia also say the same thing. While the Lord has not yet gained what He wants to gain, throughout the generations, even in this last age, the Lord has in fact raised up a group of people on the earth who love Him and love the truth.
In the twentieth century, in an age where transportation, printing, television, and all kinds of communication devices are convenient, the books and periodicals we have published have been spread to all the major continents. The Lord’s recovery does not merely belong to us who are only a small number, but the Lord’s recovery belongs to all of God’s children. People are open to the Lord’s recovery because here we have the proper church ground and the biblical truths. We have both of these here today, so the Lord’s recovery has a way.
The top human life is a life that takes this way of the Lord. This way matches the purpose of God’s creation of man and also meets the requirements of the revelations in the Bible. What kind of life can satisfy us? Is it a life that makes a lot of money? Is it a life that obtains a high position? What is the most valuable thing in our life? To put it bluntly, nothing is valuable. Human life in the world is no more than merely a matter of food, clothing, and marriage. How valuable are these things? A person studies, labors, and strives in order to receive a high education, obtain a good job, and have a good future; yet in the end when he dies, he has nothing.
We are on this earth not without a goal. We are not here merely to take in food, to put on clothes, and to get married. Rather, we have a positive goal. Suppose we take the way of the world to become a prominent scholar or even a president of a university. What then? Every one of us will die and be buried, and when that day comes, we cannot take anything with us, not even one dollar or one diploma. However, if we take the way of the Lord — even if the Lord delays His return and we “fall asleep” — when we meet the Lord, we will have boldness because we are not empty-handed; we bring with us those whom we have led to salvation.
Imagine if the Lord delays His coming for twenty or thirty years, and the young people of this generation go forth with a burden to Africa, South America, Australia, and New Zealand, leading multitudes of people to salvation. How glorious this will be! They will go not to earn dollars, marks, or francs; instead, they will gain Americans, Germans, and French. How valuable and meaningful that would be! Do not worry about what they will eat. There will be no problem. The Lord Jesus provides our meals, and the meals He provides are sweeter and richer than those provided by men. Therefore, we have to burn the campuses and communities with the fire of the gospel, bringing people into the Lord, the value of which will last for eternity.
Now we need to prepare ourselves in several matters. First, we must pursue and grow in the spiritual life, earnestly maintaining a living fellowship with the Lord, fully consecrating ourselves to Him and having proper dealings before Him. We are contacting not merely a religious object but a living person. He is the living Spirit who dwells in our spirit. Therefore, we can fellowship with Him and receive His shining, guidance, and supply, allowing Him to regulate us in great or small matters so that we may have genuine growth in life.
Second, we must be equipped in the truth. People read the Bible in black and white according to their own understanding, barely scratching the surface. In particular, the Chinese are filled in their mind with things such as filial piety, honor, humility, patience, and forgiveness. For this reason, when they read the passages in the Bible that talk about honoring the parents, loving the wives, and submitting to the husbands, they feel that these things are very good, because they are similar to the virtues taught by the ancient Chinese sages. Actually, the Bible is full of the light of truth and the revelation of Christ. We need to read, get the Lord’s word into us, and get ourselves into His word so that we may be mingled with the word.
The Recovery Version of the New Testament can be called the crystallization of the understanding of the divine revelation, which the saints everywhere have attained to in the past two thousand years. Therefore, now we can simply open the Recovery Version, and regardless of which book or chapter we read, there are some footnotes and explanations that enable us to fully understand it at a glance and immediately see clearly as the veils in heaven open before us. We need to labor on these revelations and this light by studying and pray-reading them again and again, thereby equipping ourselves with the truth.
Third, we need to build up a good character. We have to admit that although we have a God-created character in us, our fallen and corrupted character is loose, lazy, careless, and sloppy. In 1953 when I held a training in Taipei, I put together a small book on thirty character traits — being genuine, exact, strict, diligent, broad, fine, and others — hoping that we could exercise to cultivate them little by little. We should not merely read them and quickly forget about them, like many Chinese who read the books written by Confucius and Mencius. We need to exercise ourselves in these thirty items to build up a character that is useful to the Lord. We need to pray to the Lord, because although we do not have the strength to do this, the Lord is the bountiful supply within us. In Philippians 4 Paul says, “What things are true, what things are dignified, what things are righteous, what things are pure, what things are lovely, what things are well spoken of...take account of these things” (v. 8). These things are all related to character. Then Paul goes on to say, “I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me” (v. 13). Therefore, we can all build up a good character in Him who empowers us.
Fourth, we must receive a higher education. In the process of receiving our education we should learn some languages, especially English, the international language with which we must become proficient. In addition, we should learn at least one other foreign language, be it Spanish, German, French, Japanese, or Korean. These are all major languages that are commonly used in the world today. In brief, we need to be familiarized with two other languages besides Chinese. Not only so, we also need to study and get into the depths of the Bible. For this purpose it is best that we learn some Greek. The more we learn of literature and languages, the better it is. We must attain to some depth in the study of languages.
Fifth, we need to know history, recognize the situation and the tide of the world, and be aware of the condition on the earth today. We need to pay attention to these five items: life, truth, character, language, and common knowledge. We need to endeavor to practice these things while paying attention to our living. The Lord is living; to be sure, He can bear all our responsibility. Moreover, today the Lord’s recovery on the earth is widespread. In this widespread recovery we mutually care for and supply the needs of each other, which is a great help. Therefore, you should not be anxious; rather, you should diligently equip yourselves by laboring on these matters — life, truth, character, language, and a knowledge concerning world culture, history, current events, and present trends. In this way we will be able to advance toward the goal to gospelize Taiwan, Japan, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. May the Lord bless us with His presence.
Throughout the years I have truly seen the sovereignty of the Lord’s hand over everything. In 1971 when I went to Australia and New Zealand, they did not welcome Chinese people. Today within sixteen years, the doors of these two countries are opened wide to the Chinese. Therefore, the Chinese have gone to these countries in flocks. That is the Lord’s preparation for us. If we go there now, we will see the Chinese everywhere; that is very convenient for us. Likewise, if we go to the United States now, whether we go to Los Angeles, New York, or Chicago, we will find many of the same conditions that we see in Taiwan. We are able to buy in these places everything that is available in Taiwan.
If Taiwan is to produce five hundred thousand brothers and sisters for the spread of the gospel overseas, then we need to have five million saints in Taiwan so that one out of every ten saints can go out. The people from Taiwan gospelizing the entire world, and the brothers and sisters from Taiwan trekking all over the earth — what a wonderful prospect that would be! Where will you go — to Africa, South America, Central America, North America, Eastern Europe, or Western Europe? We can pray to the Lord, “O Lord, where should I go? O Lord, where do You want me to go?” May we all answer the Lord, “O Lord, here am I; send me.”
(A message given at a college conference in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 6, 1987)
