The theme of our camp is freedom, and we've heard a lot about freedom, but freedom is meaningless unless we can experience it. By the way, I'll be speaking in English, not Mandarin today, so I hope you can understand no problems with English. So today, I'd like to emphasize on the question of what freedom is and how we may experience it, so that freedom doesn't become just an idea, a word, but a reality in our lives.
Is freedom a reality in your life? Think about it for a moment. I'm not talking about freedom that you can walk around, that you can eat what you want to eat and so on. Is a person free? Let us look at it this way.
If a person were sitting in prison, if you were in prison, locked up in jail, let's say because you're a Christian. I know many people in China who have been in prison for more than 20 years. Just before coming to Hong Kong, I had fellowship with three dear people, two brothers and a sister, all of whom had spent a long time in prison, in hard labor camps in prison. Two of them over 20 years. The sister had been in prison for around 15 years. Are you free if you are in prison?
It says where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Is the spirit of the Lord in prison? If he is, then even in prison you must be free. How can you be free when you're in prison?
You want a bar of chocolate, you can't get chocolate. If you can get food, it's good enough. One of the brothers shared how they were nearly starved during the famine in China, eating sea barks, grass roots in their hunger. How can you be free if you're in prison?
Wherever the spirit of the Lord is, you can't keep the spirit of the Lord out of prison. But if the spirit of the Lord is in prison with you, then you are free. That is, there is the inner freedom.
So the freedom that we are speaking of is not some political freedom, some external freedom. But the freedom that is within, the reality of an inner freedom. That nothing can take away, nothing can affect. Have you experienced this kind of freedom? Do you know the reality and power of this? When I talk to these dear ones who have been in labor camps, there is not a sign of bitterness.
There is not a sign of resentment. They took away 20 years of the best years of my life. One of them was taken away to prison three days after he got married. And he didn't come out again for over 20 years. His marriage was taken apart, you can see. And what was his crime?
Because he was a Christian. And they tried to make him give up his faith in prison. You deny Christ and we let you go right away. You can go back to your wife. You can go and enjoy your married life. Just deny the Lord.
He said the constitution according to what you have written is to guarantee freedom of religion. Why do you want me to deny what you guarantee in your constitution? Ah, you say constitution is one thing, you are something else. Everybody knows by now that the constitution is something on paper. When it comes to reality, it's a different story. He refused to deny his faith because he couldn't.
Because he knew the Lord is real. But also because he pointed out to them again and again. The constitution says that I may believe. You are forcing me to do something contrary even to the constitution. That made no impression. They kept him 21 years.
Should he not have been very bitter? Should he not come out saying these people are the worst liars in the world. And they have messed up my life. They have taken away best years of my life. You don't find a shred of bitterness. Freedom.
A well known saying in English is that four walls do not a prison make. You can't put a person between four walls and think that you have put him in prison. Not, that is, if he has freedom within. These three that I was talking to just before coming over to Australia. Have one thing in common. Freedom.
There is a peace. There is a joy as you talk about. They didn't say, well we are old now. They are in their 60s now. And they have had their lives ruined by the communists. No, there is.
Nothing could be ruined. The peace. The reality of God. And the experience of freedom. Could not be taken away. And since it couldn't be taken away.
Their joy. Their peace could not be taken away. Sure, they didn't have the liberty to run around. To drive a car. To eat what they like to eat. These kind of things they didn't have in prison, of course.
They went through lots of hardships. Hard work day by day. But. To them that's no loss. They enjoyed the closeness of God in a way. That most of those people.
Most of the people who have never been in labor camp have never experienced. God gave them more than they ever lost. They enjoyed the freedom of a walk with God. Which would you rather prefer? To be able to run around. Do what you like.
But never really enjoy. True freedom. Never really enjoy the reality of God. So at the end of 20 years of running around.
What have you got? You've got nothing at the end. Some of the best years of my life. Were the years I spent in China. Living under poverty. I had nothing.
Extremely poor. Often getting up in the morning. Not knowing what I was going to have. Never mind for breakfast. I didn't have any breakfast. But for the rest of the day.
To this day. I hardly have the habit of taking breakfast. But every time I look back. Do I think I had no freedom. Because I had no money. I was so poor.
I was under the commonest. I couldn't even get a job. I couldn't sell newspapers without government approval. No. I find that those years. Are ever so precious in my memory.
Because those were the years. I experienced the Lord. And I then came out of China. I went to Switzerland. And Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world. One of the most beautiful countries in the world.
The scenery is so unbelievably fantastic. The alps. The lakes. The forests. The mountains. Have you been to Switzerland?
That's some place to see. Oh. Beautiful. Beautiful country. And the people are so well to do. And they are such nice people.
They are so polite. So kind. I mean they have such a good life. They don't have to be nasty. When you go into the shop.
They chat with you. They talk so nicely to you. They are not too busy that is. Everything is nice. From the scenery. To the people.
To the standard of living. Which is so high. And therefore you must find. That people must be a very happy free people. Freedom. Freedom.
Of course. Is the hallmark of Switzerland. It is known as the most.
Representative democracy in the world. It is a model for every democracy. Switzerland. Every citizen is a soldier. Because every citizen is there to defend his freedom. Even Singapore.
Those of you from Singapore will know that. They modeled their army on the Swiss army. And now of course also on the Israeli army. Switzerland. A country of freedom. It is governed by the people.
It is run by the people. The army is the people's army. Because every citizen in Switzerland. Must join the army. They keep their guns at home. They are so free.
I was a shop when I first went there. And stayed in someone's home. I opened the wardrobe. And wow. Helms. Rifles.
I thought. Wow. If this were in China. This would be an uprising. Bayonets. Everything in there.
They keep their weapons at home. Anyone who tries to rob a Swiss home. Might be in great danger. I mean you are running into soldiers. Every Swiss citizen has got military training. And they keep their weapons at home.
And their ammunition too. In some countries they let you take your rifle home. But not the ammunition. In case of war you can go and collect your ammunition. But without that you have only got a gun which you can't use. But do they have robbery?
Do they have high crime rate in Switzerland? Not at all. Not at all. Ideal democracy. Therefore I thought.
This must be the happiest people in the world. So I talked to them. I said. You must be wonderfully happy. You have such a high income. You have a beautiful country.
You have wonderful homes. You have complete political social freedom. Whatever. You must be like. Oh. We are not really happy inside.
We try to be. But we are not really. We do our best to be happy. But not too successful. So what do you like?
Well. Certain emptiness inside. Something not really free inside. Can't explain it really. Some kind of a hole in the heart. You know.
Oh. I said. Really? I thought you must be the happiest people. I said. Not really.
I thought. Maybe this person is exception. Ask the next one. The same answer. You ask the next one. The same answer.
Everybody finds something missing. Inside. A certain emptiness within. That is the common thing.
In Switzerland. So today. I'm concerned about this. Inner freedom. The inner freedom. That these people in China.
That I talked about. Had experienced. Without this. You can live in the richest country in the world. And Australia is not doing too badly. It is one of the well to do countries.
And for those of us from Canada. We are in the so called G7. The seven rich. One of the seven richest countries in the world. So. What does it prove?
Doesn't prove anything. As far as freedom goes. That is the inner freedom.
You have everything outside. But you don't have that which you need inside. How do we have that inner freedom?
When you have that. As I said. People can take you and put you in prison. They can lock you up. Your physical and external conditions can be terrible. It doesn't matter.
Freedom is within. What if you are sick? What if you are blind? Surely that's terrible. That's a tragedy. That's a disaster.
What about if you got crippled? You got. Become a paraplegic. You can't even move. What freedom can you talk about? Many of you have heard.
Read of the book. By Joni. Isn't it? She was a very athletic person. One day in a mishap. Diving from the diving board.
Isn't it? She broke her neck. Paralyzed from the neck down. She was very young. Good looking. Healthy.
And now she was crippled. Can you imagine if you were in her position? How would you feel? That suddenly you can't move anymore. Suddenly you can't do any of the things you want to do. You become a paraplegic.
Can you imagine that? All freedom of movement is gone. And when you cannot move. What freedom can you talk about? That's worse than being in a prison. In a prison you can still walk around.
You still got your mobility. You still have your health. But once you are paraplegic. Once you are paralyzed. You become totally immorated. You can't even lift your hand to your mouth.
You are just crippled. You depend on other people. But you have seen her books. The freedom within. Is something that all of us who can move around. Do not necessarily enjoy.
That is the true freedom. Now when we turn to the Bible. We find that the whole Bible is about freedom. Old Testament and New Testament. It's all about freedom. The Bible is a book about freedom.
It is a handbook on freedom. Anyone who is not free. Doesn't know what the Bible is about. The Bible is not a book that tells you. You must not do this. You must not do that.
And you end up. You can't do anything. Many Christians simply have the reputation. Of being so. So legalistic.
So bound. By regulations. That. They give people the impression. That the Christian life is all about. Laws.
About restrictions. About what you may not do. The Bible isn't about that at all. The whole Bible is about freedom. Right back into the Old Testament. The first five books of the Bible.
Called the Pentateuch. What was it all about? It was about God setting a people free. Taking them out of Egypt. People who were slaves. People who were under bondage for over 400 years.
Who in the later generations knew nothing. Except that their father was a slave. Their father's father was a slave. And as far back as they could ever remember. They were all slaves. 400 years of slavery. And God took this bunch of slaves.
And took them out of Egypt. And you know the exciting story. Some of you may have seen the film. Ten Commandments. You have seen the dramatic presentation of it. What an exciting thing.
Do you remember? Have somebody seen that picture? The Ten Commandments. And how they passed through the sea. The water standing up like walls on both sides. How dramatic.
God took this people and set them free. Let my people go. Became a famous slogan. And Moses said to Pharaoh. Let my people go. God speaking through him.
Set my people free that they may serve me. That is what the Bible is about. Freedom. God chose slaves. Why did he choose a free people? He chose slaves to make them his people.
So that they could experience true freedom. But as we shall see. There were great problems. That had to be overcome. In the New Testament too of course. The same thing.
The whole New Testament is about freedom. The Lord Jesus said. You shall know the truth. And the truth shall set you free. In John chapter 8. Verses 32. 36.
What is truth? Pilate asked this question. The Roman governor asked Jesus the question. What is truth?
He thought he was asking a philosophical question. The truth is something that sets you free. That's the Lord Jesus answer. If it doesn't set you free. It isn't the truth.
How do I know something is true? Just see if it sets you free. Then you'll know. If you can experience it. Then you'll know that this truth is not just a freeing idea. But something that you can experience.
In the power of its reality. When you look at Christians who are not free. You realize that they don't really know the truth. That is the whole problem.
Are you free? I come back to this question. And we'll come back again. Throughout this message. Are you free? Or are you governed by nameless.
Nameless what? Problems within. Problems that you hardly even know how to describe. Something missing. Something empty. Something you want and you cannot have.
You want this and you want that. You are the slave to all kinds of desires. Pulling you now one way. Pulling you in the other direction. You don't know which way you are going. All the time.
Longing for something. And yet not knowing exactly what you are longing for. And then you thought you found it. And then you find you got it. You got it. And then you still are longing for something.
Always something missing. And some people spend all their lives looking for this. And looking for that. First looking for good results in your exams.
You got your exam results. Not too bad. You get a degree. Not too bad. And you thought once I get a degree I will be happy. No.
You got a degree and you are not happy. Okay. After a degree what you need. You need a job. So you go job hunting.
And then it is so hard to find a job. I knew one poor guy in Canada. Who was looking for a job for two years. He got a degree in chemical engineering. He thought okay with a degree I get a job. Right.
Nobody wants him. So he thought this is ridiculous. So he starts saying.
Okay. I know what. I am going to broaden my base. So he does what?
He does an MBA. Master of Business Administration. So now he is an engineer and Master of Business Administration.
Now surely everybody wants him. And nobody wants him. He can't find a job. Two years in Canada. He told me he wrote over 100 letters of application. And he was totally frustrated after two years.
Nobody even wants to look at him. BSC. MBA. Well that doesn't look too bad behind your name. And nobody wants you. Finally he left Canada in frustration.
And went to job hunting in the United States. Eventually somebody decided kindly to employ him. Before he cracked up completely. And surely then. You think that now. If I go on from Masters to PhD.
Then I will be doing not too badly. The telephone company in Montreal. Put out an application. Minimum qualification for the applicant PhD. Ah. You think that's it.
I got it. So you walk in there. Here I am. The PhD you are looking for. I look at you. No.
No. You know how many people applied for one PhD job? Over 100 PhDs. PhDs. For one job. The other.
Over 100. I think it was 110. I don't quite remember how many. Somewhere around there. The over 109 were left still looking around. And you know we have in Montreal.
People with PhD in physics. Who are cooking in the Chinese restaurant. No. Because they can't find any job in the field of physics. There are too many physicists. It's as simple as that.
You think I spent all my years. Study. Study. Study. Study. Research.
Research. Research. I got a PhD at the end. I got this thing on the wall. Look here. Look at this beautiful certificate.
It's genuine. It's real. It's honest. I am PhD. Look. Look.
Look. They say fine. There is the kitchen. Go there and cook. I didn't study cooking. But either you take the job or you starve.
That's how it is. That's the way. Or you go on social welfare. Whichever you prefer. Always something missing. Life doesn't seem to fit exactly what we had hoped for.
So. There we go. Then you go on. What can I go on to? If I could get more money, I buy myself a nice house. Okay.
So you got your house. Now you're satisfied? No. The house is not bad. But I like it a little bit.
You want another one? You want to add extension? What do you want actually?
Or maybe I'll settle for a car. I see. Okay. So you get a car.
Then a car. It's not bad. What do you like?
Which model? Which is nice? You look at the neighborhood. That one looks better than me. I get another. Alright.
We have two cars. Three cars. Four cars. How many cars can you drive anyway? And they're still not satisfied. Still not satisfied.
We have houses in Canada. With three garages built in. I wonder how does a guy drive three cars? Most of the house is all garage. You know.
It's really something. You build a house to house the car. And you sit on top of the thing. And below are all garages. See. What can we do in this world?
What finally satisfies you in the emptiness within? We don't know what we are finally looking for. And yet those people that I talked about in China. They had nothing. Nothing whatever. Not even the clothes that they were wearing could be claimed as their own.
Prison clothes. Belongs to the government. Not their own. And yet there is freedom. Peace. Joy.
Some of the happiest, freest people I have seen. The poorest people in the world. I know some very rich people. I can tell you. Among my friends there are some multi, multi millionaires. Oh are they rich.
And they are very unhappy. I talked to the wife of one recently. And she was saying. Oh if only we didn't have all this countless property. Which is sinking us down. They can't even enjoy a little bit of life together in the married life.
Because the husband is so busy looking after the countless properties. And the wife is so busy. They haven't got time for anything. They have no time but to run their properties. Oh yeah. They may have.
They may be worth over a hundred million dollars. I don't know how much they are worth. Millions and millions. And countless properties. All over the world as a matter of fact. In Hong Kong.
Elsewhere. But how unhappy. If you meet them you'll know. Some of the most unhappy people in the world. Does money buy you freedom? No way.
If money could buy freedom. These would be the happiest people. But they are not. The whole mind is taken up. Preocuped. From morning to night.
How to deal with this property. How to deal with that. This one must be sold. This one must be bought. This one must be rented. Oh dear me.
What freedom have you got left? Everything else is running your life. You experience freedom. And to what extent? Jesus said. I am the way.
The life. And the truth. What is truth?
Remember. Truth is what sets you free. You shall know the truth. The truth shall set you free. Do you know the truth? Is Christianity the truth?
Not. Unless it sets you free. Let's be very plain about this.
Anything that brings you into bondage is not the truth. As far as scripture is concerned. Jesus is the truth. Because he sets us free. Have you experienced him? Yesterday we talk about the resurrection.
What is resurrection? Resurrection is freedom. From what? From the thing that binds most powerfully. Namely death. How can we be free in the face of death?
How can? Where would there be possibly freedom? Because death affects us not at the end of our life. But here and now. Death already casts its shadow by the fear of it. Do you know that the whole human life is governed by one thing?
The reality of death. How so? Think about it for a moment. We already know the power of death. You just open the newspaper. Read about what?
A robber. A person holds a gun at you and says. Money over. Your watch. Your diamond ring. Whatever.
He is using the fear of death. If you are not afraid to be shot dead. What should you worry? He knows that you are afraid of death. He has got complete control over you. He points a gun at you.
And he has control over you. He can do whatever he wants with you. He wants your money. He gets your money. Whatever he wants. Fear of death is what controls it.
Fear of death. The terrorists do this on a large scale. Of course.
I put a bomb in the plane. Give me two million dollars. Five million dollars ransom. Or I blow this plane out of the sky. The fear of death. The fear of other people's death.
The fear of our death. We hold people in ransom. Hold them to ransom. By the fear of death. Those are very obvious cases. But the whole of life is governed by fear of death.
Why do we work at all? Why? Because we need to earn money. Who needs money? Why do you need money?
Because I need food. Why do you need food? Because if I don't eat, I die. So why are you free to die?
Don't eat. No problem. Don't be foolish. I don't want to die. Exactly. You eat.
We need food. We must have jobs. We must work.
We must have income. The whole reason is. That death. The fear of death controls us. If we are not afraid to die. We wouldn't be afraid not to eat.
Have you lived in hunger before? Most people here don't even know what hunger is. Have you ever felt. The stabs. Of hunger in your stomach like a knife. I have.
And you have no fear. You are brave. Until you feel it. The constant stabbing of hunger in the stomach. And you know that your life is now at stake. Most people live in a stage where they know neither freedom nor lack of freedom.
That's the strange thing. We live in a twilight zone. Which is really the worst. You are neither free from. In a complete sense. Nor completely unfree.
So that you don't know where you are. That's the tragedy. You have never experienced. The sharp pains of hunger. That's why you don't know what it is to be fully satisfied either. That is the thing.
Because man is governed. By the need to survive. He needs food. Before he works. Why do you study so hard?
So you can earn more. Because you want not just to have enough food to get by. But be able to also enjoy a bit more beside that. With food then. There comes a whole industry. Food manufacturers.
The processing. Agriculture. Fisheries. And goes on and on. All these things have to do with food. Food in order to be able to live and not die.
And then it goes on. What is medicine all about? If one weren't fearful of death. Who needs medical treatment? If you are going to die. You die.
So what? Why do you need to see a doctor? What is all the medicine for?
Why worry about pain? Does not pain frighten us? With disease. With the possibility of death. The anxiety. That brings.
That threatens us all the time. And with that comes research. Who needs to worry about the research about cancer? About AIDS. And all this ongoing research. Because all these disease threaten us with death.
And the fear of death overshadows us all the time. How can we be free? And so a vast amount of money is poured into research. Poured into finding a way to survive death. To face death. To overcome death.
Everything you look at. What is housing to do? Well if you slept outside every day. And the weather gets cold. You might freeze to death. Housing is necessary to protect our lives.
To protect our health. And to protect us from other people. It's all about surviving death. Everything is there to do with it. Why do we need transportation?
Because that helps us to earn the money we need to survive. We need to travel around to the place of work and so on. It all is governed. The fear of death. The shadow of death casts its control over mankind. Long before he ever got to the graveyard.
You see. That's why we read in Hebrews chapter 2 verses 14 and 15. What does it say there?
That Jesus died to set us free. From him who had the power of death. And who kept us in bondage all our lives. How? Through the fear of death. A person who is no longer afraid of death.
Begins to experience true freedom. Some people they got a headache. They got a cold. They got a flu. They rushed to the doctor. As though the doctor can get rid of the flu for them.
With some magic bullet. Some magic tablet. What's this anxiety? What's this phobia about? The fear of death ultimately is lurking behind all these behaviors. It's easy to talk about saying.
Oh I'm not afraid of death. When I was a non-Christian of course. As many of you know from my testimony. I wanted to become a military person.
To study military science. To set China free. With a force of arms. To build a new nation. I had grand ideas. Grand visions.
As I said before. I got beaten to the game by Mao Zedong. Who had the advantage of being quite a lot older than me. So he got there ahead of me.
If Mao Zedong hadn't got there first. I might have been doing the same thing. Because that exactly was my plan. To build an army. And set China free. He had exactly the same idea.
I thank God that he got there ahead of me now. Otherwise I'll be fighting the wrong battle of liberation. So because I was committed to a military life.
I believed. As Mao Zedong really said. Power comes out of the barrel of a gun. There's no use talking. When you got an army behind you.
Then people listen. But otherwise you just have talk. And nobody bothers. You can have the grandest ideas. Nobody cares. And so.
I disciplined myself. And trained myself in that direction. And of course among all these things. You have to learn not to fear death. And I believed that I had overcome. Within myself.
Any fear of death. I even made it a point. To go. And really look at death. And suffering in particular. I made myself go to the British Council.
And watch some films on operations. I didn't like the sight of blood. You see.
And the notion of people. Cut open the. I thought to myself. This is nasty stuff.
But. I have to train myself. So I sat there to watch these films.
Strengthen myself. Come on. Be a man. Look at it. And all this red stuff going around. Never mind.
Look at it. You got a toughener. What fear? I mean. If you can't look at that. What do you talk about?
Fear of death? Of course you fear death. Why is that so frightening to you?
Pain and death. They're all related to one another. Isn't it? So. I sat there. Grit my teeth.
And watch operation. Sometimes you want to turn away. This is looking terrible.
Come on. We must learn to overcome. I've heard of medical students in the beginning. The first time they see an operation they pass out. They're in the business. You're supposed to be learning.
That's what you're doing down there. So. I thought I had dealt with this. And I want to share with you. A recent experience that happened. Actually.
Since I was here last time. I already had this lump under the arm. In the armpit. It happened about five years ago. And one day I noticed. Under my arm there was this lump.
And I thought. Huh. What is this?
This doesn't look very good. I felt it. There's no pain. There's nothing there. I also knew enough. About anatomy.
To know something about lymph glands. And so forth. And I thought to myself. Hmm. This doesn't look very good. I got this lump here.
And then. The question is. What are we going to do? I remember that my father too. Had developed a lump. On the back of his neck.
And was discovered. In a routine examination. A routine physical checkup. Where the doctor discovered. This lump on his neck. And said.
What is this? He said. What? What is what?
He said. This lump. He said. Do I have a lump? I was not even aware of it. And then.
The doctor says. I got to look into this. He was feeling fine. My father was feeling fine. And there. But he was not aware of the lump.
Well. The doctor decided. To have a biopsy done on it. To test the thing. My father was dead. Within two months.
Two months. From the discovery of the lump. Two months. That is.
From the biopsy. Now. I don't want to go into details of this. But it seemed to me.
As I read. Some of the report. And the way the biopsy was done. That it sounded like. That the procedure. Was not.
The way that it should. Properly be done. Although it was said. To have been done. By a top surgeon. It sounded to me.
Like. That the procedure. Was not. Done. In such a way. That.
So as to prevent. These cells. Within the lump. Leaking into. The bloodstream. Cancer was all over him.
Within two months. He was dead. After the biopsy. I initially thought about that. When I had the lump. In the armpit.
And I thought. You say you're not afraid to die. Right? Now. Now. Look at the reality.
It looks like the cancer. Might be staring you in the face. After all. Your dad had it too. Right? I thought.
What shall I do? And I thought. Here is the test. I'm going to see. And God turns his searchlight. Into my heart.
Whether I'm really afraid. To die or not. I just waited on the Lord. I didn't. Took no action of my own. One year passed.
Two years passed. Three years passed. And all that mainly happened. Was. That the lump got bigger. Yeah.
So. Actually. By the time I came. Three years ago. To Australia. The lump had already grown.
Much larger. I said nothing. Initially. I said nothing. To my wife. Helen either.
Because knowing that she is a nurse. And she hears about a lump. In the armpit. All the alarm bells. Are going to go off. And.
I thought. No. I'm not going to worry her. I won't say anything. But later on. As a couple of years passed.
And the lump was. Getting bigger. I thought. That's not very fair. At least she should know. So I mentioned to her.
I said. Yeah. I have a lump. And I thought she was going to really panic. And she. She looked.
And she said. Wow. It's quite big. That's the only comment she. She made. But she.
Knows me well enough. That I just. Wait on the Lord. For instructions. I'm not going to rush. Then I decided.
That I would ask some. Questions. To my medical friends. Since I have quite a few. Friends. Who are.
Well qualified. Specialists. I didn't want to say. I have a lump. But I would say.
What would you do. In the case of somebody. Who has. You know.
A lump. You know. You know.
Under the armpit. Or somewhere like this. What. Well. Of course.
The usual statement is. Well. We would do a biopsy. Right. But what else would you say. And I said.
What about the procedure. How would you. Ensure. That in the process. Of the biopsy. The.
Cancerous cells. Might not. Somehow. Accidentally. Be. Be allowed.
To get into the bloodstream. They say. Well. There are strict. Procedures. To try to avoid.
All this kind of thing. I said. Yeah. I'm sure. There are. A lot.
Has. Has. Must have improved. Since the days. My father. Had that operation. 30 years ago.
I'm sure. They have learned. A few lessons. Since that time. However. Even so.
I just want to say. Lord. What. Do you want to do? I am not going to be. In any way.
Panicky. I wanted to look. In my heart. To see. Do you fear death. Or not.
Now. We are not talking theory. Now. You got a lump. My friend. You got a tumor.
In your body. Now. We are talking death.
The reality of it. And you are looking at it. I look at my heart. And I noticed. Sometimes. There was.
A little. Discomfort. How much time. Do I have left? It kept getting bigger. It was beginning to get.
To the size of a small egg. And I thought. This is going to affect.
The movement. And I could feel. The discomfort. Sometimes. It was. Pressing on something.
I still waited. Five years. Five years. I am sure. Many of my medical friends. Will say.
You foolish guy. You are really playing with death. Indeed.
But my life is the Lord's. Do I panic? No. I wanted to be sure.
That I was fully free. Free. From the fear of death. Where I could look at the situation. In perfect calmness. Not to worry.
What the Lord. Would help me do. I will do. When the Lord says.
Go. I will go. And have it done. Dealt with. Last year. About this time.
I suddenly felt pain. It became very. Very painful. First a little bit pain.
And then intensely painful. It was so painful. I couldn't sleep at night. I thought. This is it.
I left it too long. I have had it now. My days are over. Now it is time to say goodbye to everybody.
Finished. And it was getting red. And extremely painful. All that there. And I thought. Shall I go to.
To see the physician. I know what he is going to do. He is going to rush me off to the hospital. Quick in there. And operate. Cut the whole thing out.
I said. No, no, no. Lord. I am still waiting for instructions. Unless I am deaf. Spiritually.
I haven't heard any instructions from you yet. To go and get it operated on. Romans 8.14 As many as are led by the spirit of God.
These are the children of God. What leads us? Under what are we controlled by? What determines our life? Our fears? Our anxieties?
Or God? I said. Lord. I am listening. This pain is getting hard to endure. What do you want me to do?
Rush to the hospital? Rush to the hospital? I am waiting for instructions. No word from the Lord. Not a word. I waited.
No sound. The second night. Ah. The pain. Oh. It was terrible.
Couldn't sleep. So bad was the pain. The pain. Lord. I am still listening. No instructions.
Now you. If you have read my testimony. You will know. That I am rather used to listening to instructions from the Lord. When he says something. I will do it.
But since I belong to him. I am not at liberty to do what I want to do. Of course.
I am at liberty to do what I want to do. But I will then pay the price myself. I don't want to do what I want to do. In my limited knowledge. Of things about life. And reality.
I want to know what he wants me to do. So I waited. No instruction. I thought how many more days can I endure all this. This pain. And I am sure by now.
My medical friends will say. This guy is completely crazy. He is a madman. You don't fear death. It doesn't mean you have to go and run into the arms of death. What's wrong with you?
If I didn't know my God. Then I am really crazy. But I know my God.
I will wait for his instruction. Second day went by. Second night.
I couldn't sleep with the pain. And I thought. Oh dear me. Lord. Have you got instruction for me yet? Am I free from the fear of death by now?
I think by the grace of God. I could say. Yes I am. I now can say so. In the past. I just said to myself.
I shall not fear death. Now I have faced five years of testing. Five years. It's a long time. And now with this pain. It's the final level of test.
I refuse to panic. I just look to the Lord. By the third day. By the evening of the third day. I sat there quietly. In the living room.
And suddenly. I felt. Something strange. In the armpit. I felt that. Something was very wet.
But what's going on? And then. I touched there and. It was everything was wet. What had happened is. That whatever was in the.
Inside that. That. That lump. Or that tumor. Now began to discharge.
And my t-shirt. Everything. Was soaking. In the armpit. And needless to say. There was also a very strange odor.
That I had not. Smoked before. I thought. Oh. What is this?
So I went there. And I took off my t-shirt. It was all. Full of. Yes.
# Freedom: A Program of Liberation - The Discipline of Freedom (Part 2)
Oh, everything was discharging. And you know what? This went on for a month. Can you believe that? A month. How much pus can there be in a...
On for a month. Can you believe that? A month. How much pus can there be in something of the size of a small egg? How much could there be? Certainly not enough to be discharging for a whole month.
It gradually slowed down over a period of time. First few days was heavy discharge, then gradually slowed down almost one month later before it finally stopped. And by that time there was still some kind of white stuff coming out. Finally, all gone. All gone. The whole lump disappeared.
But it seemed that all the toxins, all the poisons of the body were being discharged through that lump. Because I can't imagine, as I said, how it would be possible to have so much stuff coming out of one lump. So it must be all the things in the body, the impurities were all coming out.
This is truly something remarkable. Today, the lump has virtually... Even the place where it was one year later, up to even a few weeks ago, you could still see a little mark in that place. Now even that has almost disappeared.
I let Helen look at it and there's virtually nothing visible anymore. Everything has disappeared. You see, walking with God, that is the exciting thing.
Not easy. Five years of testing. Am I free from death, the fear of death? Does death still exercise control over me? If I can be free from death, from the fear of death, because of the power of His resurrection, I begin to know true freedom. Nothing worries me anymore.
I had this gun sticking at me for five years, ready to pull the trigger, as it were. I could have given in. I could have rushed off, tried to get some quick solution to this. Then I would not have experienced the wonder of God's dealings. Wonderful. Now, our time is quickly running out.
And I want to draw your attention to the words in Galatians chapter 5 verse 1. This is truly a powerful passage in the word of God. Galatians 5 verse 1.
For freedom, Christ has set you free. Think of these words. For freedom, Christ has set you free. Christ set us free, not so that we can go back into some other form of slavery. That is what He was saying to the Galatians.
Christ set you free so that you can stay free. That you can really enjoy the reality of freedom. Freedom from the fear of death. And freedom from every other compelling factor. Remember this.
That is what the Christian life is about. Any person who has not experienced freedom of this kind, doesn't know what it is to be a Christian. I make a categorical statement. You don't know what it is to be a Christian. If you have not experienced the reality of that freedom. So important is this freedom, that Paul was going to make sure that nothing, nothing, whether good or bad, gained any control over his life.
Look at his words in 1 Corinthians 6.12. 1 Corinthians 6.12. Here is a passage of the greatest importance, but seldom appreciated. Seldom understood. And this is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6.12. A Christian is free, so that all things are lawful to me. Isn't that right?
But not all things which are lawful are beneficial. You may be free to eat all the chocolate in the world, as Brother James said yesterday. It's not beneficial to you. Therefore, to enjoy that freedom, if you call it enjoyment, is pointless.
All things are lawful, but I will not be dominated. Notice these words. I will not be dominated by anything. I will not be dominated by anything. Those are the words of a Christian. What are you dominated by?
What masters your life? What controls your life? Paul says, I will not be dominated by anything, whether good or bad. By bad, definitely not. But there are good things that can dominate your life too. And then, they become bad in that sense, that they dominate your life.
You may enjoy a particular hobby. The hobby is not bad. But if it dominates your life, you become a slave to it.
It exercises a controlling, driving force upon you. Paul says, and I stress it one more time, I will not be mastered by anything. I would like you to look into your life, whether you enjoy the totality of freedom, or whether you are mastered by certain things which you say are good. Maybe they are, but they still control you. Our time is going quickly, so I will have to skip some things which are of value. But we must close presently.
You know, if you do not make sure that something, whether good or bad, does not dominate you, eventually you will come under ever deeper levels of slavery. I read, I heard in the report, in the news report the other day, it was showing the case of this English woman who was arrested in Bangkok for smuggling drugs into Thailand. And you know that in Thailand, the penalty is death. And, when she was finally caught with a certain amount of these drugs, and sentenced to death penalty, the news camera focused on her and showed the expression on her face. And sometimes, one look is worth more than a thousand words. And she was in agony, and she was saying, Dad, Mom, I am so sorry, I did such a stupid thing, and I couldn't act out, because I don't know the feeling within her.
Now she is facing death. Well, bringing in a small amount of drugs. Knowing that the death penalty will catch up, there is a possibility to catch up with her. You know, it was the British Secret Service, or whatever service dealing with it, that had tipped off the Thai police, that she was bringing drugs into Thailand.
It was her own police force, that reported her to the Thai police, to make an example of her to others. She would pay with her life for it. Bondage to drugs, bondage to the desire for quick money, bondage to get rich. A little bit of drugs, can bring you in hundreds of thousands of dollars. How rich? Just one little attempt.
And you might slip through the net, and you become a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, who knows how much richer, by just bringing in this little bit of drugs. Quick riches. What a temptation. The bondage to the love of money. The result? Quote.
And now, facing death. The fear of death was written all over her. But on top of that, the sense of total regret, at the stupidity of this whole action. Why not be poorer by a hundred thousand dollars, and live in peace, rather than to face death, in a Thai prison. What is the point?
You see, bondage. One bondage led to another bondage, into the reality of death. There it is. So, as we close, I would like you, to grasp again, what Galatians 5, 1 says. For freedom, Christ, has set you free. I would like us to experience, Christ, in the reality of his, liberating power.
How shall we do it? Let's not just talk, freedom, freedom, freedom. Let's experience, freedom, freedom, freedom.
Let's see in our lives, everyday, what that is. Let us concentrate, on one thing in life, so that we accomplish one thing. There's some people, who want to do this, and do that, and in the end, they accomplish absolutely nothing. Have one objective, and get to it. That is the secret of life.
To try to do lots of things, and achieve nothing, is foolishness. What is the one objective? Try to experience one thing. What is freedom in Christ?
That is most worthwhile. All religions are concerned about that, but not all religions can attain to it. What did Buddha want to achieve? He wanted to achieve freedom, from death, and poverty, misery in this life. And how? He wanted to find freedom, in giving up everything.
And in his so-called illumination, when he was illuminated, he realized, that the path to freedom, was the surrender of everything. The giving up of everything, the loss of everything, turning one's back on everything. Everything of one's desires, so that one has no more desires. With no more desires, one has no more longings, free from every form of anxiety, free from everything. Free from this world, free from the next world, free from... So that one comes, the freedom of nothingness, which he called Nirvana.
What is the whole religion about? The longing for freedom. But do the Buddhist people, experience freedom? Do they? But before we ask that, what about Christians? The path to freedom, along the way that Buddha talked about, is a very difficult path.
A path requiring discipline, and concentration, and so forth. And few people can attain to it. This kind of freedom, is a freedom of self-attainment, of self-realization, is the word they like to use. Which is also the word used in Hinduism. To be free, from every sin, from every problem, from every fear, is also the goal of Hinduism. To that, there is the discipline, of meditation, of contemplation, sitting in a lotus position, endless hours, focusing, concentrating, disciplining the mind.
Very few, except the so-called holy men, have ever been able, to attain to this. For most Hindus, they are satisfied, with a much easier way. Just go to the river Ganges, into that dirty river, immerse yourself in it, and wash away, all your sins. We were there in India, and I'm very concerned, about India, and bringing the gospel, to India. And we were there, by the river Ganges, in the holy city, the holiest city, in India, called Varanasi. That's the old name, of that city, Varanasi.
It is one of the oldest, cities in the world. And I sat there, and watched there, by the river banks, as people from all over India, they must make, once in their lifetime, a pilgrimage, to the holy city, of Varanasi. And what do they do, when they get there, they immerse themselves, in that river, with all their clothes, and everything, they go into that river, to wash away their sins. And I'm sorry to say, in that very filthy river. I look at that water, and I go, to get into that water, in itself, how can that dirty river, wash anybody's sins away? And how can sins, be washed away, by water?
The holy Ganges. Well, the buffaloes, must be very holy, because the buffaloes, are also there, immersing themselves, there right next to the people. And there are others, who are taking a bath, and they're, washing themselves there, with all the soap suds, and something. And right beside it, the water is coming down, from where the buffaloes are, and this person, undisturbed, is washing himself, there in the process. And, on top of that, of course, they're pouring, the ashes of the dead people, who are just being cremated, they're also being poured, into the Ganges. So that, the ashes of the dead, and the bodies of the dead, as well, because, by Hindu law, some people are burnt, but others, like lepers, and so on, must not be burnt, for reasons which are mysterious.
I would have thought, lepers should be burnt, rather than the other, but if you're a leper, you might not. Then, these are then, wrapped in a cloth, with a rock tied around them, they're thrown into the river, and they sink, they're supposed to sink. Sometimes, the rock doesn't hold, and the body floats up, and then you have this, white sheet, the body, and it's floating there, in the river Ganges, which actually happened, when we were in the boat, there was this body, floating by us, in the river. But, attaining to freedom, through meditation, is too difficult to achieve, so the average Indian, must satisfy himself, with going into the river, for a dip once in his lifetime, at least. Of course, we think, this is, you must be kidding.
But, that's the way it is. There must be something, for everybody. Somebody, hopes that they can achieve, freedom from sin, in this fashion. Every religion, speaks of freedom, because there is the need, the need of the human heart, for freedom. But, can we experience, which one is the truth? We must experience, a Christian, who does not experience, freedom in Christ, is a Christian, only in the head.
He has not experienced it, it is the reality, of the heart. He doesn't know, whether Jesus is real, or not. Freedom, is something, that can be attained, only by, unspeakable power. Because we are, kept in bondage, by tremendous powers. The power of sin, the power of death. What kind of power, can overcome these things?
Only the power of Christ. But those are words. Words, until you experience it. Romans 8, 3, says what?
That it is only, in the power, of the spirit, the spirit of life, that overcomes, the law of sin and death. Those again, are words, until you experience it. So let us conclude, on this. and that is, I would like to leave with you, a program.
And I would like to mention, this program in a few minutes, before we close. How can we go about doing this? How can we experience this freedom?
Well, we must do this, in a systematic, methodical way. Everything that is worth achieving, can only be achieved, in a methodical, systematic, disciplined way. If you are an athlete, you know, you don't become the best in the world, just by fumbling around. You must work methodically, improving your skill, day by day by day. I've been an athlete. I know what it is, to be an athlete.
And in my particular sport, I was one of the best, in China at least, in baseball, categories. I was a pitcher. And the requirements, of a pitcher, you look at it, and you think, and you see, if you watch pitching, in North America, you will know what it is. You are supposed to, throw a ball, right into, a slot this size. The batter, has to hit that ball, but only if it comes, within, that, that space. That space, is from your shoulder, to your knee.
That distance, is what you have to hit. And then the width, is only the width, of your base. The base, the batting base. Now imagine, standing at that distance, throwing the ball, exactly into, that little spot.
And then the catcher, gives you a signal, he suggests, that you hit, to the left corner, the upper left corner, the upper right corner, and what kind of shots, you know, maybe at the lower corners. So it's not just hitting it, throwing the ball, within that place. You must throw it, in exactly that spot, with the type, where it should be a curve. Imagine you're throwing, a curve, means that you have to, throw the ball, so the ball, curves around, and then hits that spot. That takes a lot of skill. And then he wants, the question of speed, how fast should it be?
Should it be a speed ball? Should it be a soft one? A ball that changes pace, that changes direction? It takes a lot, and a lot of training. A lot of skill. And you train, day by days, rain or shine, until you get it perfect.
Until one day, you achieve, the standard, that ranks you as the best. And you're even surprised, at what you can accomplish. I once threw, a ball, that astonished even me. The ball went straight, towards the plate, and then turned around, and went sideways. Even I looked at it, in astonishment. I expected it to be a curve, but I didn't expect it to turn, almost at a 90 degree angle, in the air.
I thought it's impossible, but it did it. Such was the force, of the spin, that it actually, slowed down the ball, turned it in the air, and moved it sideways. The Christian life too, is a matter of, systematic training. Where in the beginning, you try, you fail. When I first tried pitching, I can tell you, I watched my friend, and I marveled, at the speed, and accuracy of his shot. And I tried to imitate, his action.
And I was aching, all over. My arm was aching, my back was aching, everything was aching. I said, how does he throw this thing? How does he achieve, this result?
And I kept pressing on, practice, practice, months, months, and years, until finally, I actually, threw the ball, better than he did. Eventually, he became the second pitcher, in our team. So, constant, discipline, and practice. That is what, the Christian life is like.
Paul loves to use, the picture of the athlete, himself. I wonder if he had, himself, been an athlete, of some sort. Because he loves to use, that picture. And in the first, Corinthians 9, he speaks of, disciplining himself. And, he uses the word, athlete. The English, transliteration, is actually from, the Greek word.
Athlete is actually, a word from Greek origin. So that, he, speaks about, the Christian life, as a matter of, disciplining oneself, until one can, win the crown. That's the word he used. That there, the crown is the prize. So let us come to this, final thing.
How, may you, live, in such a way, as to, see, freedom, as the object, of attainment. By the power of the spirit. Where the spirit is, there is freedom. But it doesn't mean, that you sit back, doing nothing.
We must, cooperate, co-work, with the spirit. We, discipline ourselves, but always in communion, with the spirit. Because he has the power. We have our part to do, but, he has the power, to accomplish it.
What I suggest, is this. At the close, of every day, evening, this is our training program now. At the close, of every day, we quieten down, ourselves, before God, and say, Lord, we pass, in review, all that we have done, this day. And we see, wherein we failed, in respect, the matter of freedom. For example, you, a little bit, lost your temper.
Or you got angry. Or you said, some harsh words, to somebody. You had some, strong feelings, even if you didn't express it. But you were very angry, at some point in time. Anger, mastered you. Anger got control of you.
You were the slave of anger, during that time. Or irritability, or whatever it was. And you passed that in review, and said, yes, I lost control of myself, during that time. And now, I ask you, to give me the victory, over this. But first, I have to understand, what, caused me, to lose control? And so, in this way, systematically, methodically, like an athlete, you are dealing, with your weakness.
I remember, when I first set up, the ball team, in Shanghai. We went out, to play against, other teams. And sometimes, I tell you, we were so badly beaten, we came back, with our heads hanging down. I remember, once we went out, to play against, a school, a school called, St. Francis. And they beat us, to a score of, I lost count, in the end, was 32, or 36, to 4, or 5, I don't know what, we managed to get, in return, but we were so badly beaten, we were really like a dog, coming back, with a tail, between its legs, we didn't know, where to put our face, to tell you the truth, we were so trounced, by that team.
So I got, our team together, very demoralized team, and I said, look, we took a bad beating today, but the secret, of victory, is to learn, why we were beaten. So I'd like to hear, from you all, what you think, was the reason, we were beaten. And so we all, did our work, we were beaten, for this reason, for that reason, we worked on it. this is where, our weakness was, this is where we failed, our cooperation, was no good, our skill level, was poor, and so on and on, we went, and so on and on, we went, and so on, okay, now how do we deal with this, we're going to train, in this area, we're going to do this, to overcome this weakness, we will implement, another program, to deal with this weakness. Two years later, we played the same team, and we beat them, we beat them real good, and they were stunned, for what happened, to this team. You see, there is the secret, in everything, to gain the victory, there must be, a program, a plan of action.
The Christian life, is no different. So, if we come, to the end of the day, and we look, at all that happened, during the past day, and we say, yes, I was beaten here, I was, dominated, by this, feeling of envy, or jealousy, or pride, whatever it was, and now, I'm going to get, to the root of it, I'm going to deal with this, in this way, by the grace of God, by his power. That, is the way, we conclude a day. We will call this, a program of liberation, liberating us, from every, inner bondage. Can you imagine, what kind of a church, we would have? I get excited, just to think about it.
A church, that implements, this kind of program, day after day, will experience, freedom. The people, each one, will experience, more and more freedom. Inner freedom. The freedom, that nothing can affect, that no prison walls, can take away, that no, disease, or illness, can rob you of. Wow, that is something. Your personal, quality, as a Christian, will keep improving, day by day, by day.
And then, the next morning, when we get up, we'll remember, the lessons, we learned the night before. We will review, the errors we made, the previous day, and how we're going to deal with it, in the new day, so we're not going to repeat this. So we go out, into the new day, ready to face the challenge, to experience, freedom, morning, and evening. one year of this.
Can you imagine, what you will look like? Can you imagine, what you will feel like? The feeling of liberty, the feeling of triumph. You got control, of your life. You got control, of the events, that happen, in your life. You got control, because, where the spirit, of the Lord is, there is freedom.
And you know what, one of the gifts, of the spirit is? Self-control. That sums up, the whole thing. The last, last thing mentioned, in the fruit, of the spirit, the ninefold fruit. The last is mentioned, self-control. It is mentioned last, not because it's the least important, but because it sums up, in a way, the whole thing.
This is Christianity, in action. The dynamic reality, of a Christianity, that implements, the freedom, that Christ, has won for us, on the cross. Are you prepared, to try, to implement, this freedom? If you are, you are in, for a very, exciting, program, as I called it, the program, of liberation. To help you, you can even keep, a journal, of liberation, if you like to call it that. That is, you write down, the things, wherein you failed, and write down, the proposed ways, to overcome it, in the future, the next time.
So that, one year later, you can read, your journal of liberation, to see what were the things, you were dealing with before, and how far, you have progressed, since then. Now, final comment, from this. The final comment, on this is, we must understand, briefly, two things. First is, we must understand, that it isn't, as easy, as it sounds.
Why? First of all, we all, have a slave mentality. Did you realize that? We all, have a slave mentality, because we have been used, to living, in this lack of freedom, all our lives. As I said, we've lived in a gray zone, sometimes we think we are free, when we are not really free, we don't know really, where we are. The fact is, we have a slave mentality.
That was the problem, with the Israelites. When they came out, of Egypt, they had been slaves, for 400 years. What happens, when you've been a slave, that long? You think like a slave, you behave like a slave, you don't know how to behave, like anything else. And this is what, destroyed them, in the wilderness. What is, the character of a slave?
I could keep on analyzing this, but there, I will limit myself, to one main thing, that ruined them, in the wilderness. The slave always grumbles. He murmurs. Why? He spent all his life, grumbling as a slave. Why?
It's always, my task masters are bad. It is this, these Egyptians. It's this and that. It's always passing the blame. Always murmuring. Always grumbling.
Are you one of these grumbling, negative, murmuring types of people? Most people are. We have a slave mentality.
You talk to many people, you soon see, the slave mentality. They don't know, what freedom is. And you are up against, a great task. It is what Paul speaks of, as the renewing, of the mind.
That's why you need, to renew the mind. Because we, have become accustomed, to slavery. We don't know, freedom at all. And that means, a complete change, of the way of thinking. And we have the tools, to change. In 1 Corinthians 10, 4, Paul says, that we, the weapons of our warfare, are powerful, to the pulling down, of strongholds, to everything, that resists Christ, in our life.
We've got the power, to pull it down. But slaves, are not used to power. And this notion, is something foreign, to them. To be able, to be victorious, is not something used, that they are used to. So we must, get over the slave mentality.
And that is difficult. And if we fail, the whole thing will fail. You know, the Israelites, became so used, to being slaves, that they, were even willing, to go back to Egypt.
When the going got tough, in the desert. They wanted to go back again. So little, did they understand, the value of freedom, that they said, oh let's go back.
Maybe you don't understand, the value of freedom either. What's the point, of the fight? Why did we come out, of Egypt in the first place? Back in Egypt, we had onions, and leeks, and all these, these smelly things. We just wanted, to go back to this again. So, that's the first thing.
Slave mentality, must be overcome. The second thing, is that we must learn, to fight. To fight, for the liberation. Even though, it is God, who gives us the victory, we must learn, to do the battle. That was the reason, why Paul, why Moses, said to the Israelites, that they must go, every one of them, every man, of the Israelites, must buy a sword. Even if he had, to give his cloak, his valuable possession, because slaves, are very poor, and a sword, is very expensive.
But Moses, said to them, you must, every one of you, get yourself a sword. Slaves, never had swords before. But now, they were to get swords.
And at what a cost. And that's why, you read that, in Exodus 32, verse 27. That every man, put his sword, to his side. We are moving out, of Egypt, out of slavery.
And you have, your sword ready. Now Moses knew, that God was going, to do the fighting. But the Israelites, will have to learn, to do their share, when it comes to it. They had to learn, first of all, to get a sword. This was the point, that the Lord Jesus, said to the disciples, which they also, didn't understand. He said, the time will come, when you will, get yourself a sword.
He wasn't talking, about literal swords, of course. But he was talking, about the fighting spirit, to fight, for liberation. Read that, in Luke chapter 22, verse 36. Most people, find that verse, very difficult, to understand. But you understand, that only in the context, of the battle, for freedom. Our time is gone, more than gone, we must close here.
I hope then, that you, grasp, the whole point. For freedom, Christ has set us free. In front of each one of us, there is the choice. Keep your slave mentality, stay where you are, don't move. And by next time, I see you, you will be exactly, where you are today, or maybe even further back, further deeper, into slavery. Or follow the program, of freedom, that the Lord has outlined, for us.
Advance, from day to day, in this program, of liberation. And you will enjoy, freedom within. Experience the reality, of it. And much more, experience the reality, of Christ. Your life, will take on, a totally different quality, than what it is today. And with it, the whole church, will become, a light, shining in the darkness, since every member, now begins to be, freed, from the darkness, of bondage, and shines like light.
What an exciting program, the Christian life, puts before us, as we read it in scripture. Let us close in prayer. For the rest,