Now the theme of this camp is about increase our faith. Our theme of this camp is about increase our faith. And let's see how much time we have. We have...
Alright, one and a half. We have to go fast. So we have to go fast.
Now when we speak of increasing faith, there are two meanings to the word increase. Well, you can increase your money in the bank. And how do you do that? Well, you add a few dollars at a time, and it increases. And the more you put into the bank, the more it increases. There is a quantitative increase.
But there's another kind of increase, which is what we are concerned with here. And this has not to do with quantity. It's kind of increase that comes with life. Money in your bank is dead. It's just paper stuff or whatever it is there. You have to add to it.
It increases only by external addition. So it increases only by external addition. But what is living to increase means to grow. So it's just like when I meet some of the children in the camp.
A few years ago, they were so small. And now you look at them, they got bigger. They have increased in height. And some got taller than me. Before you look down at them, now you have to look up at them. Very good for the humility.
I like to be with Ross. It's so good for my humility. I asked him the other day, how tall are you? Are you six foot two? He said, actually, about six foot four. They explained why it hurts my neck.
And I thought, why I saw him when I saw him, my face was too big. Because I felt it's good. I stick around, I can't hug him, you see, because he's too high up there. I end up only around his waist, you know. I end up only around his waist, you know. I mean, our sister Catherine is not that short, right?
But you saw when she stood next to him, he was putting his hand down there. Well, that's called increase. He really increased. That is growth in life, increase.
The point is this. Because faith is a living thing. It's not like money, some dead thing. It's not like money, some dead thing. Now, the only way that faith can increase because it's living, is because it has to grow. But the only thing that can grow is something that is alive.
And the only thing that can grow is something that is alive. So the question about how to increase the faith is a question about whether you're alive or not. So the question about the question is, is it is alive or is alive?
Now, if spiritually you're not alive, then the camp is irrelevant to you. There's no point talking about increasing. If in the first place is alive, you'll be alive. Because in the first place is alive. Because faith is a living relationship with God. And therefore, only in that continuing living relationship can faith grow.
If you don't have this kind of connection, our faith will be added. That's why the crucial question we have to ask before talking anything about increasing faith is, are you alive spiritually or are you not alive? If you are not alive, then this subject has nothing to do with you. If you are not alive, then this subject will be completely related to you. So we have to be very clear about this, otherwise we will waste a lot of time talking about principles of growth that have absolutely nothing to do with you.
So we have to be very clear about this, so we are going to be talking about the principles of growth that have absolutely nothing to do with you. That new life, like a baby, can begin very small, like a mustard seed, but it grows and grows and grows. It can grow and grow and grow. So Jesus wanted to emphasize the living factor, the life factor, by comparing faith to something living.
So Jesus wanted to emphasize the living factor, the life factor, by comparing faith to something living. So Jesus said that the living thing may be very small, like a grain of mustard seed, but there is life inside. That is what makes it increase possible.
Now, the thing we also have to understand is this. When we speak of faith, what exactly is it? What is supposed to increase?
Now, the human being is basically body and spirit. There is a physical side of us, and there is a spiritual side of us. We have a physical side of us.
We have a physical side of us. And the question then is, what does faith have to do? Which part of us does it have to do with? Is it with our body?
Now, we have to ask the truth. That's the side of us. Or the faith has to do with our spirit? I think we know immediately the answer. Faith is a spiritual thing, and therefore it has to do with our spirit. So when we speak about whether you are alive or dead, we are now narrowing the discussion not to whether you are alive or dead physically, that is irrelevant to this particular subject, but whether you are alive or dead spiritually.
Now what do you think you are? Are you alive or are you dead? Remember, I'm not talking about you physically.
Are you aware, just feel it. You look inside yourself. Are you alive? Can you feel that you are alive spiritually? Now that's very important to determine.
Now you see, if I ask you, are you physically alive? How do you determine this? Now I ask you, I ask you, you are alive or is dead?
You can't decide. Well, if you say, actually, I don't really know whether I'm physically alive or not. Now you say, I don't really know whether I'm physically alive or not.
Of course, somebody might want to take you to the psychiatric department of the hospital. If you say, if you say, actually, I don't really know whether I'm physically alive or not. Let's say, this man, he doesn't know whether he is alive or not.
He is sitting, standing there talking to me, but he doesn't know whether he is alive or dead. This man, he is standing there talking to me, but he doesn't know whether he is alive or dead. He says, I'm quite sure. I don't really know. Oh, I don't know. Well, you see, that's not possible.
He says, This is not possible, right? But there are people who spiritually can tell you they don't know whether they are alive or dead. If you don't know whether you are alive or dead, you are dead. Because anyone who is alive knows that he is alive. So I hope you can check that you are alive spiritually.
Do you know whether you are alive or dead? How do we determine that we are so sure we are physically alive? Because we have five senses. I know I am alive. I touch this thing. Yeah, I can feel it.
This shows that my sense of touch is there. I open my eyes and I look around. I'm not dreaming. I did sleep last night. And I look around and I see people and they are moving around. I say my eyesight tells me that I am alive.
I can see. I know I am alive. And so all the other senses are alive. I can smell. I can hear. I know I am alive.
I see the enemy would like to give us some trouble, which I welcome. You can see the enemy would like to come. I will tell you that I am having some trouble. So we will wait until the Lord gives further instructions.
In the meantime, it's alright? Okay. That attack was relatively short. That attack was relatively short. That attack was relatively short. Alright.
So now we know because our senses are active. We know that we are alive. That's why we know we are alive. Now if we switch this to the spiritual level.
If we switch this to the spiritual level. Are your spiritual senses alive? Can you hear spiritual things? For example, when you listen to the Bible study, you listen to the word of God.
For example, when you listen to the Lord, you can hear the voice of the Lord speaking to you. Not just to everybody, but to you. You can hear the voice of the Lord speaking to you. Not just to everybody, but to you. You hear the If you are spiritually accustomed to functioning with the Lord, you will be calm and peaceful as though nothing happened. Another evidence that you are physically alive is that you have a certain strength.
You have the strength to pick up this cup of water. I can pick up something heavier than that too. But do you find you have strength in the spiritual life? Strength is another sign. There are many many signs that you are spiritually alive. The power is another sign.
We can see. In the blood of the Lord, we can see. We can see. We are living or dead.
Now, I would like you to determine as we are going on in this message. Because as I said, unless you are alive, then this subject about increasing in faith has no relevance to you. We are talking theory here.
So, as I said, I said,除非你是在属灵方面,你是活的,不然的话,我们这个讲道对你来说是毫无意义的. So,当我们一直在讲的时候,我希望你一步一步地跟着我. Now, the second thing, and I ask you, is when we talk about increase of faith,当我们谈到加征信心,属灵的东西是一起成长的. You do not just increase faith. You do not just increase faith. Now, that is a second very important principle to understand.这是第二个非常重要的原则,我们需要去明白的.
Because spiritual things are one organic whole.因为属灵的东西是这个整数,这个完整的个体. That means, if you want to increase in faith, you have to increase in everything else on the spiritual level.换句话说,只要你要加在你的信心的话,在属灵方面,很多其他的东西你都一起要加这样. If you try to increase only in faith and nothing else, you will go nowhere.只要我只要我的信心加上其他的我不要的话,你就是在团团转罢了. For example, if I want to increase in faith,比如说,我要加征我的信心.
I can't just sit there concentrating on how to increase my faith, like some kind of meditation. I'm going to increase the faith. I'm going to increase the faith.我断不能够做这张里,好像要训练内功这样子,要加征我的信心. So the most successful way in this camp is we stop right now, and we all close our eyes.不是说,我们现在什么都不做了,我们要闭上我们的眼睛.
And then we repeat some magic word like, I increase my faith, and can keep repeating that a thousand times. And then we can keep repeating that a thousand times. And then we can keep repeating that a thousand times. Like a Buddhist mantra, you know, you keep saying, much for the same word all over again. Just like that佛教徒,他们念佛经一样. And then when we finish this session after one hour, your faith has increased.
And then we go to a second time, our faith is not increased like that. Because faith does not increase like that. You see, the spiritual life, there are many other important elements.
For example, to increase in faith, I have to increase in holiness. For example, our faith leads to keep This is very important to understand. How do you increase holiness?
Notice we have to ask a different question. To increase faith, we have to ask the question how to increase holiness. From the first step is the negative side. The negative side is to ask, are there any hidden sins in me that have not yet been confessed? If you have hidden sins in your life, you can pray all day, sit there and say increase my faith, increase my faith from morning to night, and at the end of the night, your mouth is dry, your throat is sore, and your faith has not increased by one little bit. If you have hidden sins in your life, you have to ask the question, if you have hidden sins in your life, if you have hidden sins in your life, to pray, to pray, to pray, to pray, to pray, to pray, to pray, to pray, to pray, to pray, until the sin is dealt with, don't even think about increasing faith, God will not give it to you.
If you have hidden sins in your life, then you will not be able to ask the question, if you have hidden sins in your life, but there are many Christians who still hide various sins in their heart. But there are many Christians who still hide various sins in their heart. And therefore they are wasting their time in this camp. You see, I told you I'm a very blunt person.
I speak as it is. I will tell you, I am a very blunt person. So, if you have hidden sins in your life, I say you will not be able to deal with your sins. If you don't want to deal with your sins, then you didn't come to this camp to increase your faith. You only came to say hello to your friends. If you have hidden sins in your life, you will not be able to do your sins in your life.
If you want a faith that can by word of command uproot the mulberry tree, start with holiness. If you have the same thing, I will tell you, you will from the聖節. Otherwise, you will go absolutely nowhere. Some of you were puzzled that there was this person who wants to give one million US dollars for the radio station. I don't take his money. The reason?
Holiness. Because if we are not holy, you can have a million dollars, and God will not bless it. I tell you, if you have the money in your life, you will not have a million dollars. Even if you buy the radio station with one million dirty dollars, God doesn't bless the radio station, what do you want to do with your radio station? What God does not bless cannot prosper. What God does not bless cannot increase.
I understand this principle. I understand this principle. I said to him, unless you confess your sin, and put right the offense that you have created, I'm not going to accept one cent from you. I said, I don't want to repent. You know why?
Pride. He doesn't want to repent. He doesn't want to repent. He doesn't want to repent. You know why?
Why? Pride. He doesn't want to say I was wrong. He doesn't want to say I was wrong. He doesn't want to say I was wrong. These rich people, they are very proud, you know?
He comes from a family that is very rich. How many people can put a million dollars on the table? I can tell you, he can put a lot more than that on the table. I can tell you, he can put a lot more than that on the table. Two million, three million also alright. To put a million dollars on the table does not touch his pocket, I can tell you.
So, he said, one hundred million is a number of people. But these people are arrogant. And when they run into me, they run into trouble. Because I have no patience with arrogant rich people. I knew his mother already. Who once came to our church.
I was born in the church. And I threw her out of the church. I ordered her to leave the church. I want you out of this church.
I don't want to see you again. That's the door. Move out. I'm going to go out. She was so stunned. Because she is very well known.
And lots of famous pastors want her in their church. And lots of famous pastors want her to come to the church. Because she is so rich that she could drop a hundred thousand US in your offering. But which pastor doesn't want a hundred thousand in his Sunday offering? Because she is so rich that she could drop a hundred thousand US in your offering. And she said, I want you to be pastor of our church.
I said, Why should I want to be pastor of your church? And she said, How much is your salary? And I said, I'm not telling you. He says, I know, because you don't dare to tell me how much you get. Your salary is so small. But when you work for me, I will give you a really decent salary.
You see, the arrogance of money. If I have money, I can control the pastor. She said, I said, I did not come to serve the Lord for money, so don't talk to me about this. She said, alright, you don't have a church building. And she said, alright, you don't have a church building. I'll build you a church building.
Then I'll build you a church building. If you don't like the church building that's available out there, you get an architect, you design the church building, I build it for you. I said to her, lady, I think you don't understand me. I think you don't understand me. I don't need a church to preach the gospel. I can stand on the streets and preach the gospel.
I can stand on the streets and preach the gospel. I don't need your church. I don't need your church. She never run into a strange person like me. She never run into a strange person like me. She don't know what to do with me.
She don't know what to do with me. And then she tried to create trouble in the church because she criticized my co-worker. Then she you'll be out of that door this lady had never had anybody talk to her like this but I only talk to rich people like this the humble poor I talk to them very humbly because they are better than me but I have no patience with arrogant rich people so she was so stunned when I told her if I ever hear her criticize anyone in the church I'll have her out of that door I remember her mouth literally dropped open and she looked at me she a woman of power a woman of position every pastor respects her and here I am talking to her as though she was a school girl but spiritually she was no better than any school girl just a spoiled school girl that's what she was but she was so stunned that she wrote me a letter the next day she said thank you for instructing me she said thank you for instructing me if you have any further instructions do not hesitate to let me know and she should know me that I would not hesitate at all she said thank you for instructing me but she forgot her lesson but she forgot her lesson and a few days later maybe a week or two later and a few days later maybe a week or two later she held up our communion criticizing everybody in the communion this one no good that one no good and so on went on like this at the communion she was impressed with the command the brothers and sisters were watching me to see what I'm going to do the brothers and sisters were watching me to see what I'm going to do I didn't say a word I keep very quiet I keep very quiet I just said Lord what are your instructions and I just said Lord what are your instructions you see there is where you must be in communion we do not do things out of our own out of our own carnal feelings I am just a servant of God I am just a slave of God I said Lord you see this woman behaving like this what do you want me to do I said Lord Look at this woman's...
# Increase Our Faith: Holiness, Love, and Systematic Growth (Part 2)
Those of us who serve the Lord dare not act on our own initiative. We must understand this. We do not have authority to do what we want to do. Even if my blood pressure was rising at the time. I cannot make a move until the Lord gives me instruction. I cannot make a move until the Lord gives me instruction.
That's why we must always be in communion with the Lord. She went on renting like this for 25 minutes or so. I said, not a word. And finally she ran out of steam. Didn't know what more to say. She ran out of ammunition.
That woman was not impressed with the fire. She didn't know how to run out of ammunition. The but she cannot take communion. So we proceeded with the communion.
She didn't make another sound. So we proceeded with the communion. She didn't make another sound. That woman's voice. That woman's voice. That woman's voice.
And after the communion, I quietly walked to her, and I said, Now you leave this church. That's when I left this church. You now leave this church. I have warned you before. I have warned you before. And now please, there is the door.
Go out of that door, and don't let me see your face again. The door is in that door. You from this door. You don't let me see your face again. And she quietly turned, walked out of the door. She quietly turned, walked out of the door.
You see, the word of God carries authority. You see, the word of God carries authority. She did not even attempt to argue with me. She even impressed me with me. You will say to this mulberry tree. You will speak to the mulberry tree.
You will speak to the mulberry tree. You will keep the door. You are uprooted. You are uprooted. You are uprooted. You are uprooted.
You are uprooted. You are uprooted. You are uprooted. You are uprooted. You are uprooted. You are uprooted.
I want to see you again. Not until the day you repent before the Lord. I just share these things with you to tell you that faith cannot grow by itself. There must be holiness in our lives, in our church. The reason she knew she could not fight with me, because she saw that she was up against holiness, and the sinner who faces holiness realizes she's facing God, there's a power that she cannot cope with. Not all the millions of US dollars in her bank accounts can touch me.
She cannot threaten me with that money. I'm not interested in her money. She can go. He cannot use His money to scare me. Because He knows I cannot be afraid of His money. Many years later, in fact, when I returned to Hong Kong, all this was in England, by the way, what I've been telling you, it's in our Liverpool church.
Back in Hong Kong, I received two letters. I looked at the letters, I couldn't recognize the name. Who is this from? Because the names are in English. I didn't know her English name. It turned out that she was the one who wrote these letters.
When I opened the letters, it was all full of confession of sin. She begged for forgiveness. She said, I now know I was wrong. She said, I now know I was wrong. I would like that you would be willing to forgive me. She said, I would like that you would be willing to forgive me.
That is a miracle. This arrogant woman, this woman who is respected by all the pastors in Hong Kong, this woman was impressed by all the and he was me, nobody, who gave her straight to her. At that time I was frankly unknown. This is 25 years ago, more than 25 years ago.
That time I was a very young teacher. But holiness, brothers and sisters, never compromise. No matter how strong, how powerful, how rich the other person who is committing sin is, never compromise. Frankly, to tell you the truth, if that were the prime minister of England, I would have said exactly the same thing to him. I don't care who he is. I stand before the living God.
King of kings and lord of lords. What is a prime minister as far as I'm concerned? If you sin, and you have anything to do with me, I will tell it to you. If you sin, and you have anything to do with me, I will tell you. We see churches today compromise, so you have rich people who are elders and deacons and whatnot in the church. But now, the church has been given their place in the church because of their position in society.
They are given their place in the church because of their position in society. This will not be tolerated in our churches. I don't care what is your position in the world. The only requirement is holiness. Your relationship with God. You can be whatever you like.
CEO of some great big organization. It doesn't bother me. I tell you all this because the man I'm talking about is the son of this woman. I'll tell you this. This is because I said, I'll tell you this.
This woman is called me and said, I ruined the spiritual life of my son. This woman is called me and said, I ruined the spiritual life of my son. Because when he wanted to follow you into full-time ministry, I stopped him. I wouldn't allow him and now he's down the drain spiritually he doesn't go to church anymore he doesn't pray anymore he's gone I destroyed him because I opposed you I didn't let him come to you she said now I don't know how I'm going to get this thing sorted out with God because my son will not listen to anybody except to you he doesn't even listen to me anymore so will you please forgive me he said you know when she asked for forgiveness she actually came to the church and when she saw me she grabbed my hand and held onto my hand and said please please forgive me she said I forgive you I said I forgive you she said what did you say I said I forgive you she said you don't even know what I did to you yet I said I don't need to know she said you know I have slandered you to so all these pastors in Hong Kong they all talk bad about you now but I slandered you I said you ask for forgiveness I have forgiven you I have forgiven you I have forgiven you I have forgiven you I have forgiven you no she didn't know how to cry she said I don't believe this I don't understand she had an illness that you know there's a kind of illness where you cannot have tears you have to put artificial tears in the eyes so she wanted to cry she couldn't cry isn't that amazing you want to cry you can't cry so you said she said she's not so she wanted to cry she said she's not so she wanted to cry she said she's not you can't cry you can't cry you can't cry you can't cry you can't cry I can't cry I can't cry I can't cry I said I see in your heart that you have really repented that's good enough for me I have told you I have forgiven you now just go in peace she said then I have one more request she said I have one more request please help my son求你帮助我的儿子 as I told you he has gone away from the Lord I said well I don't know if I can help your son I said I don't know if I can help your son maybe he doesn't want my health anymore and if he doesn't want my health how do I help him how do I help him Well, this is the son I'm talking about. Because when she died, of course, he inherited all the things. But he himself had a lot of money before that too.
Because when this woman died, she had a lot of money before that too. And of course, this child is also very富裕. But he has not learned the lesson of holiness yet. He has the habit, like some rich people have, of losing their temper and shouting at everybody. He has a habit, like some rich people have, of losing their temper and shouting at everybody. Because they are used to throwing their weight around, bossing everybody around.
So he was shouting at one of our co-workers. He has a lot of money. He has been doing this for 40 minutes or so. I said to him, you don't repent of your sin, and don't talk to me about your money. I said, if you don't repent, you won't repent of money. To this day, he still wants to give, and I don't want this money.
He still wants to give, and I don't want this money. You see, faith cannot increase. I stress this point again. Unless it increases with other things in the spiritual life. I'll just repeat this point again. I'll just repeat this point again.
Your faith is not going to increase with other things in the spiritual life. It's important for you to understand this. I'm stressing this. It's very important that you understand. If you were thinking, listening to my testimony yesterday, why does God use him to do this and that on all these amazing things? I'm telling you the secret.
Holiness. Because God is holy. And only when we are in tune with Him will He work through us. It doesn't matter how much faith you have, if you don't have holiness, nothing will happen. And if something does happen, you may be in further trouble than before. What do I mean by that?
Let's take Matthew chapter 7. You don't need to turn to it right now. I'll just tell you briefly. In Matthew 7, you'll always remember at the end of Matthew 7, the well-known words, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I say? Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I say?
And you remember the reply? Lord, we cast out demons in your name. Oh, they could cast out demons. Quite powerful. And he said,主啊, I will not be for you to be a god. They will be for you to be a god.
They will be for you to be a god. It didn't say what level of demons, but it doesn't matter. At least they did cast out demons. They didn't say they did Ah, not good, not good, your heart is still pretty. You can't be scared. The Lord said nothing of the kind.
He said, depart from me. You are a sinner. Oh, you are surprised. What are they doing? They cast out demons. You know this meaning?
They had faith without holiness. That's the point. You can have one without the other. And in certain circumstances, the faith will work, because you are using Jesus' name. You see, Jesus' name is exceedingly powerful.
The demons hear that name, and they tremble. If it's not the highest level of demons, any one of you can use Jesus' name and say to the demon, I command you to leave this person, and the demon will go, because of, not because of you, because of Jesus' name. Because of Jesus' name. You can discover that for yourself. If you have the opportunity to try it sometime, You have the opportunity to try it sometime. You're going to discover how powerful is Jesus' name.
You will discover how powerful is Jesus' name. You talk to an unbeliever, He uses Jesus' name as a swear word. You see, the people who don't believe in Jesus' name, but they're still in the same way.
They're ignorant. But that name causes every demon to tremble. Only the higher level of demons know how to evade, as it were. And therefore you need to have another level before you can deal with them. So you need to do a higher level of demons, then you need to have another level of demons.
But you can say, in the normal ones, the name of Jesus is enough to drive them out. So, for example, at night, sometimes you may say, oh, I saw the shadow of a demon go through my room. And you can stand up on the end. And you can say, oh, I saw the shadow of a demon. And you can stand up on the end. Don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid. The name of Jesus, just call on Jesus' name, and that demon will run as fast as it can go. You just want to call Jesus' name, and that demon will run as fast as it can go. Don't sit there feeling cold. Just call on Jesus' name. That's why you don't even need to have much faith.
So you don't need to have much faith. But when you have holiness, that demon doesn't even want to come near you. I can tell you. That demon doesn't even want to come near you. I can tell you. The sheer sight of you already terrifies the demon.
They recognize you. They know who I am. They know who I am. They know who I am. They know who I am. Not because I'm great.
But because God's holiness has been given to me. And that holiness is what the demons fear. And the strange thing is that even evildoers recognize you. Yes, that's the So he has all the evil powers that are not used to. I will say that you must increase in holiness. If you hide one little bit of sin in your heart, the psalmist says, If I hide sin in my heart, you will not hear me, you will not listen to me.
So this is the point of this camp. You want to increase your faith, deal with holiness. So this is what we're talking about.
You have to do your faith in your heart. But of course, in the spiritual life, there are other things that also must increase at the same time. Again, you cannot just have increase in faith, increase in holiness. And what about love? That when you talk about love, we have to increase our faith in our heart. That love is what?
God in his nature is love. God in his nature is love. Love is not in my nature. Love is not in my nature. Love is not in my nature. Love is not in my nature.
You see, I have told you before in another message, when I was expounding the Lord's teaching, that by nature, I would be a lion or a wolf. I am not a lamb. I was not a and that's why when I tell you that this lady came to me asking for forgiveness, I could have thought, okay, now is my chance for revenge. So I could say, when this lady came to me asking for forgiveness, I could have thought, okay, now is my chance for revenge.
Oh, so now you're in a mess, now you come to ask forgiveness from me, right? Okay, I'll with you算账. Well, you're now with me. So I could try to see how much you owed me of all the offense you committed against me.
So I can say, okay, lady, now we begin. Since you are asking for forgiveness, let's start the treatment. Okay, now you get on your knees, and you walk on your knees across the room to that side until I tell you to stop. In other words, grind her face in the mud. In other words, grind her face in the mud. Let this arrogant person have a dose of her own medicine.
I have this arrogant person have a dose of her own medicine. If left to my nature, I might have done just something like that. I said to her, you are for forgiveness, you have it. But I said to her, you are for forgiveness, you have it.
You couldn't believe it. It can't be that easy. You are for forgiveness, you are for forgiveness. You are for forgiveness, and you are for forgiveness. You are for forgiveness, and you are for forgiveness. You are for forgiveness, and you are for forgiveness.
You are for forgiveness, and I forgive you. 平安地回去吧 这个是爱 这个是神的爱,不是我的爱 我没有爱 可是神把他的爱放在我的心里面 所以我要把这个爱传出去 他在香港破坏了我的名声 你知道那些人在香港 多少人说过我坏事 因为他们听了这些人 你在香港你看到很多人 他们讲很多关于我的坏话 当然他们是从这个女人身上听出来的 应不应该有公益呢 我应不应该要她站起来去澄清呢 我没有 除非神去感动他要他这样做 我不会这样做 我不懂他有没有跑去 那些人牧师身上告诉他 这牧师说 二五以前去种上这个藏牧师 我现在悔改了 我没有去向他要求 因为假如你要求的话 这是不是爱了 我没有要求 我没有要求 所以你明白这一点就是 当我们谈到我们的信心要加征 我没有提高我们的圣洁的话 我们的爱也要加征 不然的话 有了13点不加征的话 我们根本信心也没有加征 Now when all these things How do you increase 我们怎么加征呢 You see the spiritual life Is like fighting a warfare 属灵的生命就好像一个属灵的战争 好像一场的战争一样 There has to be a program 我们需要有一个程序 There has to be a plan 需要有一个计划 Things don't happen just because You know, for no reason There has to be a plan 事情不会无缘无故的发生 我们是要有好好的计划 In other words If you want to increase in love You have to think now How do I increase in love? 换句话说 假如我们说 我要加征我们的爱的话 我们就要问 我们如何增加我们的爱心 The secret you have to learn is that In the spiritual life As in anything to be successful I use that in quotes now It's a dangerous word to use But I have to use it is If you want to accomplish the objective You do it in small steps Small steps 比较有的属灵生命也是一样 当我们要成功 所谓的成功的话 我们一定要按部就班 一步一步的来 Now I'm giving you every secret to become a spiritual giant If you have ears to hear what I'm saying 觉得有耳朵可以听的话 我告诉你 我现在给你一只属灵的秘诀 If you grasp everything I've told you to this morning You'll become a spiritual giant 只要抓紧 我今天所也跟你说的 这是秘诀的话 我可以告诉你 你能够成为一个属灵的巨人 我有时候我觉得很烦躁 我在讲道 我在讲道 可是别人不懂我在讲什么 十年之后 他们的生命还是一样 You see Love Faith All of the spiritual life Moves forward In a well-planned Disciplined Manner 我们谈到爱 我们谈到信心 它们都是按部的 一步一步的前进 This is the way I live my life 这个是我过的生活的方式 My life every day is planned In a properly programmed manner 我每一天的生活 都是非常有规律 有计划的 因为这是唯一一个方法 你可以正确地 正当地使用你的时间 当我早上起床 我通常比如说 吃个香蕉 是我的早餐 我不吃其他的了 所以只要你没有看到 我在放糖没有看到 我通常告诉你 不用担心 我吃了我的香蕉了 这是我的香蕉 我也计算过的 因为香蕉它的 颜色的成分非常高 然后我的身体需要 这个金属 早上我所需要的就是 这是我所喝的水 和我的香蕉 省时间 一分钟就搞定了 然后我就跪在我的主的面前 与主相交的时间 我就不定了 我不能够一直地跟主算时间 因那个时候就是让主决定了 When the Lord says, all right, you can stand up now, I can sense in my spirit the Lord says, you can go now, and continue with what you need to do. I may have known before the Lord only five minutes. It might have been twenty minutes. That part, because God is eternal, I don't count the time. It's up to him. Then I get up and I continue my program.
No matter how busy I am with manuscript work or administration, I put aside at least half an hour for devotional reading. I will use thirty minutes to do the Lord's ministry. The secret is, many people ask, how do you manage to read so many books? Since you are so busy, how did you manage to do this? Young people listen to this. The secret is discipline programming.
Think of it like this. If you read only two pages a day. Only two pages of a book. Just two pages of a book. How many pages do you read in one year? 365 days multiplied by two. You could read a book more than 700 pages long in one year.
And there are not many books that 700 pages long these days. Now, many books are not 700-year-old. If you read more than two pages in half an hour, in half an hour, I can read more than two pages in half an hour. I start always these days reading Chinese. In the past, there were very few Chinese books, Christian books that's worth reading. But in recent years, with the persecution in China, some very fine Christian books are now available in Chinese.
And so I read these books by these saints who have, in most cases, been in prison for twenty years or more. So I read these saints who have been in prison for twenty years or more. They have been in prison for twenty years or more. And they have been in prison for twenty years or more. And they have been in prison for twenty years or more. Right now, I am half way, or more than half way through a book, which is a collection of messages by one saint, a saint from the East Coast of China.
I am reading this book in China. I am reading this book in China. I am reading this book in China. I am reading this book in China. This book is written in the Chinese Gulf of China. Most of his ministry was in Shanghai.
Most of his ministry was in Shanghai. In April of 1956, In April of 1956, In April of 1956, In April 1956, He was tortured to death in Shanghai. He was tortured to death in Shanghai. He was tortured to death in Shanghai. And the way he was tortured to death is one of the cruelest ways of killing anyone I've ever heard of. He was tortured and hurt.
He was tortured and hurt. I wanted to make it clear that I do not wish to criticize or attack the government of China. We are Christians respect the government.
We are Christians respect the government. We abide by the law of the government of China. We have to do the Chinese government.
But the way they treated Christians does not mean that we can just remain quiet about that. I just forgive them because they did it in ignorance. Although in this case it's not up to me to forgive, because I was not the one who was killed. Because you know that many Chinese church leaders have spent years and years in the law of God. It's just incredible. Their only crime was to believe and be faithful to Christ.
And they remain faithful to the end. They remain faithful to the end. Now this particular book that I am reading is by this brother.
Now I read this book that I am reading is by this brother. Who is a medical doctor. But also the leader of a large church in Shanghai. He is a member of a large church leader. And when he was arrested, they wanted to make him betray his fellow church leaders and to deny the Lord Jesus. But of course he refused.
So began the torture in Shanghai's prison called T'erlan Chiao监狱. He is a very famous or rather notorious prison in Shanghai. That is a very famous or rather notorious prison in Shanghai.
Do you know how they tortured him to death? Do you know how they tortured him to death? Oh, today the technique is wonderful. They can torture you to death and there will not be one mark on your body. They can torture you to death until you have little痕跡. That is a well known technique.
But I have never heard it applied in this way of sleep deprivation. They don't allow you to sleep. This is a very famous way of sleep.
I have heard them torture people not allowing them to sleep for three, four, five days. They have never heard that they would let him sleep for three, four, five days. But they prevented him from sleeping for two to three weeks. They have never heard that they would let him sleep for two to three weeks. By a process of rotating interrogation. Non-stop, day and night, day and night.
They have never heard that they would let him break him by this method. They thought they would break him by this method. Now you know the body can only tolerate so much.
So every time he would be dozing off, they would wake him up again. You know, our body would be dozing off. They would wake him up again. So when he was a sick person, they would let him go.
If your body cannot sleep, the toxins, the poisons in your body build up and build up cannot be cleared out. So you don't have to sleep, you don't have to sleep, you don't have to sleep, you don't have to sleep. And finally, after a couple of weeks of this kind of treatment, after a couple of weeks of this kind of treatment, the hospital doctor pronounced that he was sure to die. The hospital doctor said that he would be sick. They said that the doctor said to these officials, you have gone too far because there is no way that I or any other medical people can revive him again. The doctor said that the doctor said that he had to go too far.
He said that he had to go too far. He said that he had to go too far. So as he was dying, they asked his family to take him out of the prison. of the prison.
So that he could not be reported that he died in prison, but he died at home. Now this dear brother's writings I'm reading right now. And it is one of the most insightful books in any Christian book, East or West, that I have ever read. I thank God for these saints that we have in China. Well, maybe not very many, but they are of the finest quality. When I read his writing, his spiritual perception, how sharp it is.
He did not have theological training. And there are maybe a few inaccurate things in what he writes. But the important thing is, he knows exactly what I have been talking about, a man who walks with God. But the most important thing is, he knows what is with God. And for him to lay down his life for his Lord was the highest honor. For him to keep the When he gives a message, you best listen to it.
I read the book precisely because I knew that he was a martyr, and that kind of book I want to read. I can learn more from him about the spiritual life. You will see all these things increase in faith, increase in love, increase in holiness. We can see how to increase our love, and increase our love. He was 51 years old when he died. All his children love the Lord.
His son is continuing the ministry of preaching the gospel. It's from people like this, we learn about increase in faith. Very precious. But I come back to this important point.
We increase, like in growth, one small step at a time. So, I'm going back to what I said. This is what we need to do.
We need to go to the church. Never think that you come to this camp, and you've got one secret. You came in with no faith. You went out as a spiritual giant. No one becomes a spiritual giant like this brother, Yu Cheng Hua, who died in Shanghai. Who does not understand that increase in life means small step at a time.
He understands that life is a small step at a time. Just like what I do. I read a book, 30 minutes a day. I have only that much time I can give. Just like what I do. I read a book every day for 30 minutes.
Because I have only that much time. But in one year, I can read over 700-800 pages of books. The spiritual life works exactly like this.
You increase one inch per day. You increase one inch per day. Look at a child. As I said, when you look at it, do you see it growing? You see this child.
You see this child. You see this child growing? Now if you take a chair and sit there and say, I'm going to watch the child grow.
You see this child growing? Well, I'm afraid your back is going to be very sore after many days, and you don't see the child growing at all. You see this child growing at all.
Because the growth is so small, you cannot observe it. Because the growth is so small, you cannot observe it. But come back after one year and look at the child and say, oh, he's grown. But one year and look at the child, you say, oh, he's grown. It does not grow by observation, by just watching it grow. Because the body is growing very slowly beyond what you can see.
Because the body is growing very slowly beyond what you can see. If you can grow one inch per day, Tell me how much would you have grown in one year? If you can grow one inch per day, I mean, Brother Ross would look like a pigly compared to that. If you can grow one inch per day, We're like a pigly compared to that. The growth is 365 inches. That would be way up somewhere.
One year and look at 300 inches. That would be way up somewhere. That's what I said. There must be a planned systematic progression. So I said, we need to have a plan, a systematic progression.
You want to learn to pray, don't say, okay, I'm going to pray all night. Then I said, I'm going to learn to pray. You don't think you can pray all night. You don't think you can pray all night. After one night of heroic effort, you never want to pray again. Your knees are going to be sore for the next few weeks.
Your back is painful. And you have about enough of this. Then you just think, I'm going to pray all night. You increase in prayer time one minute per day. So little, you hardly have time to notice.
One minute per day, see what happens. You加征你祷告的时间,你每一次加征一分钟,一分钟可能你不察觉的,你看你这样子做的话,会有什么事情发生. You want to become a great expert in Bible knowledge. You want to become a great expert in Bible knowledge. You want to become a great expert in Bible knowledge. You want to become a great expert in Bible knowledge.
You want to become a great expert in Bible knowledge. You want to become a great expert in Bible knowledge. You want to become a great expert in Bible knowledge. And so what do you do? You sit there and study day and night, day and night. You study the Bible with your eyes.
You can't see properly. Your glasses get thicker and thicker. You're not going to be able to see properly. You're not going to be able to see properly. You're going to be able to see the Bible. And in the end, you don't even understand what you're reading anymore.
And in the end, you don't even understand what you're reading anymore. My secret. My secret. I read one small passage per day and think carefully on it. I write my notes on it. I write my notes on it.
Check the words carefully. Just one passage. Just one passage. Just one passage. Now I've been with the Lord over 40 years.
I've been with the Lord over 40 years. You can imagine. In 40 years, every day studying one passage. There is no more passage in the Bible that I haven't gone through many, many times. You can imagine. That long of a long passage in Bible that I haven't gone through many, many times.
That long of a long passage in Bible knowledge. You become an expert not by one heroic lunge. You do it step by progressive step. There is the secret. Work wisely, intelligently, systematically. And above all, spiritually, the Bible is not something just for academic knowledge.
It is something alive. Therefore, you have to be alive to understand what is alive. And I wish, if you look back, had you since the last camp till now advanced one little bit at a time, how much would you have progressed by now? At the end of a day, look back and say to yourself, what did I accomplish this day? Did I manage to progress just one inch? If not, you have wasted your day.
If not, you will be wasted.
# Increase Our Faith: Small Steps of Faithfulness (Part 3)
I continue in every area to move forward. In this way, every day is captured for the Lord. How do you do it?
Very simple. You can do it. Very simple. For example, to increase in love, just give one phone call per day.
One. Can you afford one phone call? We can say, we can give one phone call. Think of somebody in the church who is suffering, who has a need, whatever, and say, I'll call this person today. That is my increase, one millimeter increase in love.
I just want to show my care for that brother or sister. You can just think, in a way, there is a need for one phone call. You can just ask him to call him. You can just ask him to call him. You can just ask him to call him. One call per day.
How many phone calls have you made in one year? You have talked to 365 people or the same person several times, building them up. And as you build them up, encouraging them, comforting them, you know what God is doing? God is building you up in love. You are increasing in love. You keep asking him to call him.可能同一个人你可以打了很多的电话给他你不断地去关心他不断地去建立对方在你这样子做的里面神已经不知不觉的在你的身里面去建立你我已经告诉你加上信心的秘诀是什么是很实际的如果你这样子继续的话你会成为一个熟虐巨人 but I see so many people five years later they're still where they were before ten years later they're still there their knowledge of the word of God has increased next to nothing their spiritual quality of life experience nothing nothing has happened they're just stagnant can say they're dead there needs to be life to be gross可是我看到有些人他们五年十年他们好像都是都没有成长他们的对神的话语的认知也是一样他们的生命的素质也是一样他们根本没有成长到假如没有成长的话他们可能是死的我们的时间已经不多了我们来到最后一点到底我们为什么要加增信心吗为什么你想加增你的信心呢是否你可以去去让别人看到你能够把这个上述免根拔起来我们也明白加增信心是有一个目的的我们也知道这个目的是什么这是要做神的功如果你要为神做功的话你干嘛要加增信心呢你是否来一节你希望知道你怎么样去加增的信心怎么去做神的功不然的话你来的目的是什么呢加增你的信心是使你能够更有火效的去做神的功你的信心越大你所能够成就的就越多神在我初认识主的时候已经教导了我新鲜的功课他教导我就是在日常生活上我怎么去在衣食食用上也依靠神因为我带子里面没有钱那时候我在中国每天早晨我求主我说主啊今天我连午餐是什么我都不知道可是我是你的儿子你不会让我饿的我胆感到说你们这里没有一个人明白什么是穷困到像我这样子你没有尝过几年长的时间每天你都不知道你中午的午餐是从哪里来的不论早餐了我根本没有早餐那时候我就是瘦得不得了因为神靠着他的恩典他要教导我去怎么去依靠他你知了什么是信心吗当你离开这里你口袋里面一分钱都没有假如神不亲自喂养你的话你连你的食物是在哪里你都不知道你这样子的话你就知道什么是叫信心我是在信心学校里面毕业的是在空的肚子里面去学习的那我每天都会跟神说神啊神你不喂你的孩子的话你孩子今天就要挨饿我的信心就是建立在我跟神的这份的关系里面因为神绝不亏待我每天他都用不同的方法去供养我可是我常常都要挨饿我会说我已经分享过当我走过上海的大街我就看到很多的叉烧很多的鸭我没有钱去买我连饭都买不起的哪里讲到肉呢然后我才说我觉得我有钱的话我真的要打开窗户我觉得这个是很难受的你有没有想到你的肚子是肚子你还没有吃过几天你还在看这个食物在窗户你还在看这个食物这就是这种困难你能够像神呼求这个就是我受训的学校可是你现在就看到神为什么这样做但我学了这个功课我学了大概两年到有一天我有这份的胆量一百万美元去买下这个广播站我愿意你以为我有这个胆量吗你有没有想过你去大学你没有钱去交学费当学习要开学的时候你根本连交学费的钱都没有我会跟我的天父说我是天父你要不要我继续学业呢你不要我学的话我可以了你有没有经历过吗那一天我收到一个支票什么都没有只是一张支票又有一次我要在房间里面去写信我也退学了因为我没有钱交学费当我打开那个信站里面我就看到里面一叠的钞票新的钞票我想想我可能在其他地方也跟你们分享过所以有人吵笑的时候你为神印钞票的吗我不奇怪啊因为我记得那些钞票完全是砸新的我就拿了这个钞票下去楼下去还钱了很多年的训练所以你不要以为一下子的当有人说啊你要不要买下这个广播价你就可以是不时一朝一夕的这个加征信心经过长时间三十四十年的训练我不想去欺骗你你以为很容易不容易的是需要长时间的训练经过神不断不断的训练加上你信心你认为有一天你能够跟这个上述说连根拔起那一天当你经过了这次的训练的时候你就可以跟最高层次的协力说你要从这个人身上离开你看到 All of these things is what increase the faith means.
It's a gradual process. Start now. And we must start now because we have a commission to carry out. You and I, as Brother Ross has reminded us, we increase our faith not because we want to be known as spiritual giants, we must carry out the commission to bring the gospel to China and to the whole world. And that requires faith. Let me close with a letter that I received from one of our co-workers in China.
Let me close with a letter that I read from China's own book. In this land, the family is not easy. On this piece of ground, this is China's land, to establish the church is not easy. Very difficult. And then he goes on to speak In other words, the situation in China today has all kinds of problems that becomes a serious challenge to the faith of those of us who serve the Lord. And if we depend upon our eyes,实在无法, if we depend on what we can see, the situation around us, and实在是无法生存下去, we could not survive.
It's not fair because Tatharine didn't see the letter in advance, so it's not fair to make her translate this. I haven't read this book, so he thinks that if I read it, it's not fair to make her translate this. Yeah. Thank you. Then he goes on to say, 信心对我多么重要。 How important faith is to us. And then he goes on, and this is what I want to share with you briefly. 中国有位非常著名的诗人, 孩子。 There is a very famous Chinese poet called 孩子。 孩子是大海的海的, 欧神子是儿子的子。 孩子。 值着。 Let me see. 值着地寻求生存的根基和意义。 Now he was persistently trying to find 寻求生存的根基, what is the foundation of life in this world and its meaning. 他把最后一丝希望, his last, 一丝, one shred of hope, 寄托在基督教身上。 He put his hope on Christianity. 但是他终究没有认识主。 So in the end, though he put his hope in Christianity, nobody could help him to come to know the Lord. 绝望自下, 他在山海关 报着圣经, 欧鬼自杀了。 In his sense of utter hopelessness, and this is the touching part, he hugged a Bible to his heart, and he lay down on the railway tracks to be run over by the train. 山海关, I think you know where 山海关 is, that's where the great wall, 长城 meets the sea.
On the east coast of China, 长城, the great wall meets the sea. He committed suicide. 手引起全国及世界的关注。 想到这一点, 我心里就云莹作痛。 So he says that when I think on this point, my heart is painful. 是教会亏欠了主。 The church has failed the Lord. 没能得主, 没能将主的真实, 没能将主的真实, 主的荣耀, 彰显见证于人面前, were not able to manifest God's glory to the people, in this case to the Chinese people. 在传福音的时候, 我常会有心虚的感觉。 I have, when I preach the gospel, a kind of, 怎么翻译? 心虚的感觉? A guilt, a sense of guilt, yeah. 唯一使我夸扰的是主自己。 I can only boast in, 夸耀主自己, boast in the Lord Himself, 祂是配受极大赞美的。 So, I got this letter only when I came to the camp. 当我读这封信的时候, 我非常感动。 You see, He said, the point is, that we cannot fulfill our commission. 祂所说的就是, 我们不能够完成我们的使命。 Our faith has not increased to the point when we manifest God's glory. 我们的心境没有到一个地步, 就是我们能够彰显神的荣耀。 And even those who really want to know God, like this poet, this well-known poet called Haizzi, 就好像这个有名的诗人, 他很想认识神。 It's so tragic. Think about this picture. 多么悲惨, 你想想这个图画。 He so wanted to know the Lord, but nobody could help him. 他很想去认识神, 但是没有人能够帮助他。 Think of him, He took the Bible. 你想想, 他抱着这个圣经。 He walked down to the railway tracks, 他走下火车轨道, And with the Bible clutched his heart, 他把这个圣经放在他的心上, 把他的脖子放在那个火车轨上, 他之上。 Apparently, this word's news, not only in China, but through the world. 我想这个可能不是, 不单只是在中国的新闻, 也可能是世界的新闻。 Let us not be so selfish as to think. That we want to increase our faith for our own sake. 以为我们是为了我们的好处, 而加征我们的信心。 Because if we come with such a selfish motive, 因为假如你来的目的是那么的自私的话, Frankly, God will not increase our faith. 坦白说,神不会加征我们的信心。 I said that all these things must grow together. 所以我说,这些东西要一起的成长。 But there's one, this last point I'm making is this. 可是最后我又说了这一点是, If your faith wants to increase, You must increase in your readiness to serve, To give yourself. 只说你要加上你信心的话, 你一定要预备好去侍奉神。 Not so that we can let people see, Oh, he is such a great man of faith. 不使人在看到, 这个人他多么有信心。 So that we get the glory, not God. 也许说我们的都荣耀,而不是神。 The whole purpose of faith is so that you can bring life to others. That is the joy to see other people. 今天的目的就是, 你能够把生命带到其他人的身上。 Not only to this great poet who never made it. 当然不只是说这个诗人, 因为他得不到。 How sincere was his desire to know God? 这个人他多么恳切地去想认识神。 只说他要死的时候, 他也抱着这个圣经。 So does that say something to us? 这些东西是否能够打动你的心?
How many people in China today, They want the word of God, They hold it to their heart, But can somebody tell them what it means? What does it say to them? 现在在中国里面有多么多的人, 他们抱着圣经, 他们渴望有人去解解圣经, 可是他们没有。 怎么能够见到一个? 我会告诉你, 你告诉他, 我要告诉你, 怎么加征你的信心。 我会告诉你, 怎么能够认识这个活的神。 然后他的生命充满盼望。 你说他的生命充满盼望。 And he could have used his great literary gifts to proclaim the gospel. 这个诗人可以用他的才干去传福音。 Just think, What command of the Chinese language this man has? 你想想这个诗人, 他对中文的修养的教义有多高? 比我们任何一个都高。 可是这个宝贵的生命就在山海关的火车轨道, 牺牲了,浪费。 因为没有一个人有这份的信心去把这个福音带给他。 让我们用祷告结束。