Bible study. We had to wait the whole week for the next Bible study. We had it only on Sundays. And I was waiting for when would Sunday come around that we could get to this Bible study. Such was the Bible study that he led on John's Gospel. The Word of God just came alive to me. And the things he taught me in the few months that we had together, I'll never know the debts that I owe to him. A soldier of Christ, of the finest quality. My heart, of course, was very heavy, almost broken. A few months later, after a Bible study we had together, he went home and the police were waiting for him. He was not allowed even to step into his house to say goodbye to his people, to pick up his toothbrush. Right at the door of his house, he was taken away. That's the last time I've seen him. I still think of him very much. I owe him so much under God. I constantly pray that God will do a mighty work yet through him. He was sentenced to hard labor. I don't know where he is now. But these are mighty men of God.
My spiritual coaching was under men of God. I owe more to them than to Bible college, to theological seminary, to anything else. These are the men who taught me to be a soldier of Christ. That was my privilege, to be taught by these Chinese soldiers of Christ. There's another brother, Brother Yang. Yang Sujie. How much I owe him. You see, it's wonderful, the Lord's planning. Because after Henry Choi was taken away, Tai Chi-shung, when he was taken away, I was left, as it were, with no more father, spiritually speaking. And presently, what happened, Yang Sujie appeared. This was another mighty man of God from inland China.
He had been a teacher. And one day, he was sitting in his garden, as he told me, and he saw the vision of God, calling him forth to pray, to preach the gospel. And he went out. His wife disowned him. He said, "You want to become a preacher? You get out of the house. I'm not going to have a preacher for a husband." "Okay, God has called me. I have to go." He loved Jesus. As the Lord Jesus said, if any man loves father or mother or husband or wife or child, whatever it is more than me is not worthy of me. He loved his wife. He loved Jesus more. He went out. He went into jail. He came out of jail. He preached the gospel still. Nothing frightened him.
This mighty man of God taught me for several months more. Oh, what a wonderful privilege. He shared with me the things of God. He taught me the wonders of the living God. He had meetings, and I went to his meetings, and my eyes were opened. I thought, these things don't happen anymore today. These were in the New Testament, but they don't happen today. But you know, they do. He preached the gospel. He was no faith healer. He preached the gospel. But after the message, he would ask people who were sick or spiritually or physically to come forward, and he would pray for them. Amazing things happened. People with cancer were cured. People who were deaf were able to hear again. People with stomach ulcers for 20 years. Amazing things began to happen. I said to myself, "Hey, am I dreaming, or is the New Testament really coming alive in front of me?" And certainly the New Testament came alive.
He was a man of prayer. Day and night he prayed before God. A heart that sang and rejoiced in the Lord. I was speaking the theme of Philippians, rejoicing in the Lord. How he rejoiced. Every morning he would get up singing to the Lord. He was a poet. He composed poems. And often in the morning he would come to me and he'd say, "You know, Brother Chang, listen to this poem I composed this morning." And there he would be sharing the praise with me until my own heart was burning inside of me. And he would be talking to me about the things that God did, and we forgot all time. We seemed to be transported into eternity. Discovered that we had arrived at 2 o'clock or something in the morning. Such wonderful days. A soldier of Christ. Enduring hardship for His name's sake.
You know, the police were looking for him everywhere. They said, "Who is this man? Who is this man that whenever he comes to a place and he preaches there, the whole place is filled up. And the moment we want to grab him, he disappears. And the next moment somewhere we hear that there's meetings again, they rush there to grab hold of him and he's disappeared again." You know, that's what I call one of the Lord's guerrilla fighters. This was an amazing man. He would come up, he would disappear again, he would come up. And what things God did through this man. What hardship. Any moment there might be a knock on the door and he would be taken away. But he was always with joy. Do you think he was nervous? He was shaking all the time? Never. He was always at peace. Thanking the Lord, praising the Lord.
And, oh, you know, we used to have meals together. I didn't know how to cook, you see. And he knew how to cook only one thing. He could cook fish. We had fish every day. So we had one bowl of rice and one cheap fish that we managed to get from the market, which he prepared. And then he would give thanks. And he would praise God for this food and the loving provision of the Lord. And he would go on and I'd say, "What have you got on the table? Have I missed something on this table? All I see is one tiny fish on the table." And there he is praising God and thanking God. Soldier of Christ. Such a man I can fancy was Paul. What a glorious servant of the Lord.
A soldier of Christ. "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course." And you, He says, are in the same conflict with me. Are you? I wonder if I ask how many of you are soldiers of Christ fighting in the same conflict. How many of you dare honestly to be before God to raise your hand? How many would dare to raise your hand? Of totally committed soldiers of Christ. What have you ever endured for Christ? What have you ever suffered for Him? Have you had your name taken by the police? Have you had a knock on your door at any time? Have you suffered any hunger for His name's sake, persecution, shame, unable to get an education? Soldiers of Christ. A good friend of mine in Shanghai, because he was a Christian, was denied an education. He was not allowed to get any higher education because of being a Christian. What have you ever suffered for Christ? You moan when things are going a little bit difficult? Read Philippians chapter 1. The soldier of Christ. Only they experienced the loving kindness and the power of God. These are the ones who joy in God.
We have to rush on. And in these few moments, let me show you how this theme goes through the whole of Philippians. Catch the vision of chapter 1. Philippians has four chapters. And these four chapters give us four different pictures of the Christian life. Just as the four Gospels give us four pictures of the Lord Jesus. So the book of Philippians gives us four pictures of the Christians. The first picture then is the picture of the Christian soldier, the gladiator if you like, in the arena with all eyes. The eyes of the whole world are looking at you. You know your responsibility for carrying the name of Christ. That every fellow student, every colleague in your office or in the hospital or wherever you are has their eyes on you. Did you know that? You carry His name. Just as every soldier. You are wearing a uniform, a spiritual uniform. And people are looking at you to see whether that uniform is tidy, whether it's clean, whether your Christian life stands up to examination, or whether you are selfish, inconsiderate, proud, money loving. What is it?
So the first picture, and I'll leave you to think what the other pictures are. We will have no time to deal with chapter 4 since we are dealing only with three pictures. But maybe towards the end I'll tell you what that picture is. The first picture then is of the Christian soldier. What does the Christian soldier do? We saw already one thing. He's prepared to suffer. In verse 7 Paul says he's a prisoner. A prisoner for Christ. Suffering for His name's sake in the dungeon. That's what a Christian must be prepared to do.
Verse 7 also speaks of the defense. A good military word again. The defense. You see there in verse 7? Defense and confirmation of the gospel. Another military term. You'll find it spread throughout the scripture in this chapter. Verse 19. Rescue. Deliverance. Yes. Paul speaks about a spiritual rescue operation. Something that actually happened to him. He came out of prison, so far as we know. God was able to bring him out. A rescue operation is often mounted.
Then in verse 20 every soldier has to be prepared to face the reality of death. You know it's in the face of death that you can see the quality of many men. It's amazing how many Christians when they face up to death become squeamish. When death comes about it seems to be the end of the world for them. But Paul does not think like this. In verse 21 Paul says, "For me to live is Christ. To die is gain." Those are the words of a soldier. Think about it. To live is Christ. Without Christ there is no more purpose in life. No meaning in life. No direction in life. My whole purpose of living is for Christ. To glorify Him. To serve Him. To obey Him. To do His work. To fight His battles. For me to live is Christ. Take away Christ and life is not worth living. But thanks be to God nobody can take away Christ. To die is disaster? Is tragedy? Not at all. It's to gain. To gain the crown. To gain the highest honor that any soldier could receive. The laying down of his life. To gain eternal life of course. Something that no earthly soldier can ever hope for.
Why are Christians afraid to die? But every Christian in China knows this. None of us became Christians in China without knowing that we were prepared to pay the supreme price. Perhaps even our lives. But death is not the worst thing that can happen to a soldier. To be maimed. To be crippled. To be blinded. These are far worse than death. And every soldier must be prepared for that. And how many soldiers of Christ in China today at this very moment suffer for His name's sake. Many of whom are known to me personally. For whom my heart longs. And one day, God willing, my work is not finished yet. We will get the gospel to China. Their labor shall not be in vain. We shall yet fight with them side by side. I have not come out here to enjoy myself. God brought me out to the west not to have an easy life. But to prepare the battlefield. The battle ranks. The armies of the Lord. So that we may fight together. And be prepared to take the casualties.
So every Christian must be prepared to face the issue of death. Clearly and decisively. To know that for me to die is gain. And so as we saw in verse 27, we are prepared to fight. Striving. Struggling. Straining. In verse 28, we see the reference to the opponents. The enemies. Another good military expression. Every soldier knows that he has enemies. And so in nothing it says here, in nothing being frightened by your enemies. Yes. We have many enemies. Strong enemies. Powerful enemies. But a soldier of Christ is not afraid of the odds. He knows that his God is able to save. No matter by many or by few. In fact He prefers to save by the few. Did you know that? If you've read the Old Testament you have read the story of Gideon. The whole great armies of Israel. God said I don't go fight with all these armies. Give me just 300 men. 300 dedicated men and I will turn the tide on the enemy.
You know many Christians still think in terms of numbers. We are so few. There are so many. Indeed. But if you think like this you haven't thought. God sought after him. It is the quality of the men that matters. Not the numbers. And so we see then that Christian soldiers must advance. In this chapter verse 12, verse 25. It's advanced progress. In fact these two words are the same Greek word in the original. A good soldier does not fall back. He advances. Presses forward in the face of enemy fire. He is not intimidated. He does not run in the face of the enemy. He goes forward. Frightened by nothing. Not by gunfire. Not by whatever it is they have to throw at him. They go forward. The good soldier.
These are the kind of men. As you can see now I just give you the picture of the whole chapter. You have done the individual verses perhaps. But once you get the picture the whole of the chapter is easy to follow. That key opens every verse. Just look at it and you will see it. Bear in mind in chapter 1, the Christian soldier. And if then you have listened to this message and God has spoken to your heart, you are ashamed of yourself as I often have been. Of the ease. The comfort. The weakness in which we have become today. And you say, "Lord help me. By Your grace to be a good soldier of Yours. Forgive me that I have grumbled in the past whenever things went a little bit hard against me. When You were preparing me for battle. And I could not stand the training. Lord give me the strength to stand for You today. I will be a good soldier of Jesus Christ." As Paul says to Timothy, "Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." That's what we must do. This is the message of Philippians 1. Take it into your heart. And ask yourself today, what am I? Am I a Christian? That is the Christian. That is what Paul defines to us in chapter 1 as a Christian. Do you live up to His high calling? That is our high calling. May God then speak to every heart. And now let us be quiet before the Lord for a few moments. And let God speak to us. Thank you.
# The Christian Soldier (Philippians 1) - Part 2
I thank the Lord and I do praise the Lord that I can be with you here today. As some of you know, the devil put up quite an opposition. So I said, when I was leaving Liverpool, "This must be a good conference, seeing that the devil is trying so hard to stop me from going." And just now as you were singing this beautiful song together about the mercies of the Lord is better than life, the loving kindness of the Lord is better than life. It's amazing because right there in front of my page on my notes, that's the opening verse I have in front of me. So it's truly astonishing that I never even knew there was a chorus, a song on this verse. I heard it for the first time today. Because I wanted our hearts to be drawn in this direction, that we know that we have met here together to meet with God, the living God. Not just to have a good time, and there's nothing wrong with having a good time. But we want more than that. We want to meet with God, the living God. The God of loving kindness. The God of power. The God of mercy. But above all, that we may know that He is God, and the living God. A God who does the impossible. The God who does mighty things in this generation.
Now if you have come to this conference and you have not met with Him, then really you have come to that extent in vain. But if you have met with Him in this conference, if you have come to know God as the living God, not just as some notion in philosophy, some idea in the universe. No, but as the God whom we can have a personal relationship with. A person with whom we can speak. A person whom we can know. A person who loves us and whom we can love. There is nothing in life to compare with that. So the psalmist says, "Your loving kindness is better than life." Is there anything better than life? Yes, there is something better than life. God's loving kindness. If you can experience that loving kindness today, you will know it is better than life.
And I have experienced it. You know, I am a citizen of China. I am still today a holder of the Chinese passport, a citizen of the People's Republic of China. Yes, you may be surprised at that. But God brought me out of China. He did the impossible. Nineteen years ago, when everyone said, "It is not possible to come out of China today. Especially not for a young man of your age." God did the impossible. He took me out. I was quite prepared to stay in China, if that were God's will. And I knelt down before the Lord and I prayed. And I said, "Lord, if You want me to stay in this country, I shall stay here. Just tell me what You want me to do. But if You want me to leave this country, only You can open the way and take me out of this country." And God spoke to me in words that I will never forget.
Some people, you know, up to that day, I used to read the Bible. And it says in the Old Testament, "And the Lord said, and the Lord said," and it spoke to this prophet, and to that prophet. And I said, "But how did the Lord speak to them?" I was dying to know. How did God speak to these prophets? How come He didn't speak to me? You see, why is it that these people had the privilege of listening to God? And I tell you, something wonderful happened. As I knelt down before the Lord and I yielded my life to Him and I said, "Lord, if You want me to stay in China and serve You here, I shall stay. If You want me to leave for the time being, then You only can open the way. Only You have the power." And the words in Revelation came to me, "I open the door and no man shuts. I shut the door and no man opens." Only He can do these marvelous things in this day and age. Not only in the New Testament times, you know, but today too, He is the living God.
And as I knelt down before the Lord, the voice of the Lord spoke to me clearly and said to me, "Eric, I'm going to take you out of this country." I could hardly believe my ears. Was I dreaming? Was I imagining something? Was there somebody in the room whispering somewhere? No, there was nobody in the room. God had spoken to me. Just as you hear me speaking to you now, as clearly as that. And you know what I did? I got up, I thanked the Lord and I began to pack my bags.
And the people in my church, I was a very young Christian at the time, only three years a Christian, but gone through very hard times, strong training. And I want to say this to you, which is in connection with chapter one of Philippians. When you go through sufferings and trials, thank God for it, that He counted you worthy to endure something for His name's sake. Don't complain when the rain comes down, like last night, when the weather is cold, when the going is tough. If you are the kind who complain, you haven't yet understood the message of Philippians chapter one.
God put me as a young Christian through three years of trial, three years of hunger. I never knew what hunger was until that time, you know, when your stomach groaned inside of you, longing for one crust of bread, something to eat, no food. But the Lord taught me to look to Him. And you know the words in the Sermon on the Mount where it says that He will feed, what? The birds of the air. He clothes the lilies of the field. Does that sound to you like a fable? Well, I tell you, I've tried it for three years. And every word of God is true. He fed me when there seems to be no hope whatsoever.
You know, in the Old Testament, there's a remarkable instance where the oil did not go down and the flour never seemed to disappear from the pot. You remember these marvelous days? You know, I had an experience just like that. It was very simple food, oil and flour. God didn't provide roast beef. God didn't provide steak. Oil and flour, the basic necessities indeed. What do you think? That we became Christians in order to get rich? In order to live well? In order to get fat? Oh no. No, but God said, "If you follow me, I will see to it that your needs will be supplied." Very much as Philippians chapter 4. "My God will supply your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus."
Well, I proved it. I had very simple food. It was still in those days when American army rations could be bought from the market. This tin of dried turnips never seemed to disappear. I ate it day after day after day and there was the dried turnip. And I thought, "Can it be something that, when does this dried turnip ever go down?" It's amazing. I scooped it out. You just soak it in water. It's dehydrated and expands. And lo and behold, the next meal I scooped some more out and this tin just did not exhaust itself. It's really amazing. I don't understand it at all. And I confess to you my weakness because after about two weeks of this, I'm afraid I have to confess my fault here. I found it very hard to eat dry turnips. Yes, perhaps the menu can slightly be altered. And you know, amazingly, the tin of turnip disappeared. It just went out. There was no more turnip to eat.
Now I tell you, when you listen to these things, when you read these things in the Bible, does it not sound like fairy tales to you? Surely miracles of these kinds are like fairy tales. But when you have experienced it, you know God. He's the living God. The loving kindness of God is better than life. Without that, I had no more meaning in life, no more purpose to live for. But coming to know God and His loving kindness, oh, how great. This is my prayer, that during this conference you may meet with Him. I would not be preaching the gospel today if I had not met with Him. I never thought of myself as becoming a preacher of the word of God, but here I am.
I shall not now tell you how I became a Christian as I'll keep you here for the next five hours. But I will suffice now to tell you that God did wonderful things and brought me out of China. That's why I'm explaining this so that you know why I'm on a Chinese passport. And that's the problem that Satan brought me into a little trap this time because last year when I came over to Canada on another preaching engagement, they gave me the visa right away in London, no problem whatsoever. And two weeks ago when I went to Manchester, I went to see the vice consul and he said, "Oh, you're going to Canada, that's all right, there's no problem, you know." And last Friday when I went to collect the visa, they said, "Oh, no, we can't give you a visa." I said, "What?" "No, we can't give you a visa." I said, "Look, but last year you gave me a visa and two weeks ago I saw the vice consul and he said, 'There's no problem.' And now at the last minute with my flight booked, everything is ready and you tell me you can't give me the visa." They said, "I'm sorry, it was a mistake before." I said, "Mistake? You mean the whole conference has to pay for your mistake?"
And so when I came out and I said to my wife, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all." The Lord delivers him out of them all. That's how you know the loving kindness of God. How else do you know the loving kindness of God when you never have any afflictions to be delivered out of? When every day, if everything is nice, you always pass your exams, your family sends you money every week and you are living comfortably, no afflictions whatsoever, the rain never comes down when you want to go out. Then when do you ever get to know God's deliverance out of those afflictions?
You see, in England, there was a bank holiday on Monday as well. How was I going to get here in time? You know what I did? I went home. I know that God is the God of the impossible. It's impossible. Even the consul told me it could take up to a week even by telegram and sometimes more. I said, "A week? Look, it's Friday today and next Friday the conference starts and if I don't get on the plane, the plane is so heavily booked I would never get there until after the conference." I went home and I came before the Lord and I said, "Lord, You are the God who does impossible things and I am going to ask You to do something impossible as well. On Tuesday, the visa will come through. On Wednesday, I will be informed of it. On Thursday, I will be on the way. You are the God who can do it and I ask of You now for Your name's sake, for Your glory's sake, for the people all in the conference. I ask for Your glory's sake." What happened? Our brother Stephen phoned me on Tuesday to say that very morning the visa had been granted and duly on Wednesday morning the consulate telephoned me and said the visa is granted. "Would you come please to collect it?" On Thursday, I was on the plane. Exactly. God does impossible things. His loving kindness is better than life.
Well, now let us come to see then what it is that God wants to say to us from Philippians. I want to warn you right from the start that I have nothing cheap to offer. The gospel is not something cheap. The gospel is something that demands, is very demanding. You want to know the loving kindness of God? You want to know God? Let me tell you something please, right at the beginning. You must be prepared to pay the price. The kingdom of God, the Lord Jesus said, is compared to a pearl of great price. And how do you get the pearl of great price? Is it thrown into your lap? Is it forced into your hands? Stuffed into your pockets? Oh no. You, the Lord Jesus says, you are going to have to sell all to obtain that pearl of great price. I tell you frankly, I have nothing cheap to offer to you. If you expect to know God, the living God, to obtain His loving kindness, and that is just going to be flung at you, that is not the meaning of grace, nor is that the meaning of faith. God offers His gifts, indeed. For all the world, you could never earn this pearl of great price, but it's going to cost you everything to get it.
I never water down the gospel. I preach it as the word of God commands me to preach it. I have not the right to make it easy. Some people said to me, after I preached about the cross of Christ, "Why do you make it so difficult to be a Christian?" I said, "I never made it difficult. I only preached what is here. You examine for yourself what is the word of God. You look at this word, and you tell me whether I have spoken correctly or not." Well, he couldn't show me because all I had done was to expound the words of Jesus.
As you will know, the key note in Philippians is Joy. This word joy in the form of the noun comes five times in Philippians and in the form of the verb comes eight times. What were Paul's circumstances? He was writing from prison. And yet what is the joy? Joy, please note this, in the Lord. How can you rejoice in God? How can you have joy in the Lord if you have not tasted of His loving kindness?
The whole theme of Philippians is about the glory of life in Christ. You know that Ephesians is the glory of the church in Christ. Philippians is the glory of life in Christ, of the Christian life. Colossians is the glory of Christ Himself. These are all books about glory. And why could you not get the glory? The secret is simple. It is total committal to Christ. I told you about the pearl of great price. How do you obtain it? By selling all. What does selling all mean? It's not just to go and sell your possessions. You can sell your possessions without giving yourself. You need first and foremost to give yourself totally, wholly, unconditionally to Christ.
Now if you have not done this, and it's amazing how many have not done this, you will never know the joy in the Lord. Because you are living a schizophrenic Christian life, a divided Christian life, a not totally committed Christian life. And there are many active Christians who suffer from this very problem.
Only a few years ago I went to Cambridge to see Chinese people there and do work among them. And there I met a brother whom I always thought to be a radiant Christian. He is one of these people who always smile. Nothing seems to wipe that smile off their face. And you really envy them. And this brother said to me, "Have you got a moment to spare?" I said, "Indeed." And I looked at him, and for once there was no smile on his face. He had black rings around his eyes. Oh, he looked terrible. I said to him, "Brian, what's the matter?" He said, "Well, that's what I'd like to talk with you about. Can we go for a little walk?" And so we went for a walk. And he said to me, "You know, I am on the point of a nervous breakdown." Nervous breakdown? He is the last person you would think could have a nervous breakdown. He said, "You know, I have not slept properly for two whole weeks. And I'm on the point of not only a nervous breakdown, but I'll tell you something, I think of doing something silly. I'm thinking of taking my own life."
He was due to hand in his Ph.D. thesis in two weeks' time. He had only two weeks to go and he said, "You know, I couldn't care less about this thesis. I couldn't care less about engineering or Ph.D. or anything. Just throw it all away." I said to him, "Brian, let me ask you one question. I don't want you to answer me now. Have you ever totally, fully, unconditionally yielded your life to Christ?" He said, "Yes." I said, "I told you, I didn't want your answer now." But he kept saying, "Yes, but I have." I said, "Look, will you tell me the answer tomorrow?" He said, "All right." And so he went back, and the next morning I saw him again, and I said, "Now what's your answer?" He said, "You're right, you know, I haven't. I always thought I did, but I haven't." I said, "That's the reason why you're in this state now."
You see, this is the great danger. Satan had got at him and actually managed to chain him, bound him so that he could no longer be free. Terrifying. I said to him, "Brian, there's only one way, and that is that I have to ask the devil to go in the name of Jesus. Are you willing to do this?" He said, "I most certainly want to be free." And you know that the moment I commanded in the name of Jesus that he be set free, from that moment the chains just dropped off. He just broke forth into praise and thanksgiving before I had even finished speaking. He was suddenly free.
We are in great conflict, in battle. That is the theme of Philippians chapter one. If you want the joy, there must be total committal. To become a Christian is to be totally committed. Now when you study the Bible, when you read the word of God, for example, when studying Philippians chapter one, try and see the picture. Try and get the vision of the word of God. The people of God today have no vision oftentimes. You must get hold of the vision. Reading the Bible is not just a question of analyzing one verse or another verse.
Well, look at this chapter. What picture emerges? There is this word in verse 30 that is translated "conflict." This is the word from which the English word "agony" comes from. The Greek word is "agon." It means in fact battle, struggle, fight. This word is used for example in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 7, also in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 12 where it says "fight the good fight." The Christian life is a battle. The picture emerges of what? A soldier. A soldier or a gladiator fighting in the arena.
To be a soldier is to be totally committed and so much committed that it could cost you your life. In Great Britain today they have no longer a conscription army, it's a volunteer army, a professional army. And what do they do? The advertisements show people driving motorboats and having wonderful time, driving a tank. And through the whole advertisement, not one word has been said about war. Imagine this, you get an army on this kind of advertisement, what do you get? You get tourists, you don't get soldiers.
I'm going to tell you that to become a Christian you are going to be fighting a battle that's worth fighting for. There is nothing better to fight for than for the cause of truth, for the cause of the living God. You must be prepared to be a soldier. That is the whole message of Philippians 1.
Now the other words you find here is the word in verse 27, "striving side by side." Striving is another word which has to do with conflict, with struggle, with straining every nerve. It is a word that is used in the athletics of Greece. And this word means to strain forward. But the athletics of those days is not quite the sort of sports we have today. The athletics that Paul is talking about is the kind that is spoken about in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 32, the struggle unto suffering and unto death. This is no sport in which suffering is involved. Suffering is an unpopular word, but let me tell you it is the most wonderful word. It is the way to get to know God. Never run away from hardship. Never run away from suffering.
Oh, we have so many jelly Christians today. No soldiers. No nothing. What we need today are men of God, soldiers of the cross, men who advance for Christ. You know, I tell you something else. If I had not come to the Lord in China, I don't think I'd ever have become a Christian. I despised Christians. Yes, I went to Christian school for many years and it made me sick. I said to myself, "If that's Christianity, then count me out of it." But I thank God. Why did I become a Christian? Because I came to know the Chinese Christians. These were different people. Men who stood firm in the teeth of every opposition. Who stood for Christ in the face of impossible odds. I said to myself, "Hey, these are different people. These are soldiers of Christ. They have got something that I need."
Take for example Brother Henry. I always speak of him with great affection. He was a Cantonese but he lived in Shanghai. He spoke perfect Shanghainese and it was through him that he led me to the Lord. He was a research chemist but a very humble dedicated man of God. And when the communists were coming down from the north, everybody was running for Hong Kong, for America, wherever they could go. Everybody, pastors, Christian workers, missionaries, everybody packed their bags and ran. And people said to Henry, "You better run, the communists are coming." He said, "Here I stand. This is the place where God wants me to stay. I know suffering will come, but right here I will stand. On my position here I will serve the Lord until my life is extinguished." How many men have you got today? Where do you find men of God like this today? If Henry had left, where would I be? Where would I have come to know the Lord?