At this point in history we surely have to thank the Lord. Over the past thirty years He has truly granted us grace and has led us into the way that is according to His heart, enabling us to bear His testimony in each locality in a pure way. The senior brothers and sisters have already fought many difficult battles for us. They have also received clear revelation from the Lord concerning many things. Therefore, today we just need to go on positively by allowing God to build us together in each locality.

What we need to do now is to get ourselves fixed in a locality so that we can be built together with the brothers and sisters there. Are you in Kaohsiung? Then you must be built together with those who love the Lord with a pure heart in Kaohsiung. Are you in Tainan? Then you have to be built together with those who pursue the Lord in Tainan. Wherever you are, you must be built together with the believers who pursue the Lord there.

Today, however, because we have not received sufficient dealings from the Lord, such a condition in which the believers are being built together is not so manifest. On the contrary, there are some abnormal situations. For example, there is a person in Taipei who wants to be built with those who are in Kaohsiung. He says, “I cannot get along with certain brothers in Taipei, but if I go to Kaohsiung, I will be able to be built together with the brothers there.” I would like to tell you that if you cannot be built up in Taipei, you will not be able to be built up when you go to Kaohsiung. If you have problems with the brothers in a certain locality, then no matter where you go, you will also have problems there. Dear brothers and sisters, we have to acknowledge the Lord’s sovereignty. You drifted here and there, yet you were not saved until you came to Taipei. Previously you always refused to receive the gospel when you heard it in other places. However, when you came to Taipei, as soon as you heard the gospel, you were touched and were saved. That was God’s sovereign arrangement. Likewise, now when you meet brothers and sisters in Taipei who make things difficult for you, you must also acknowledge that this is according to the sovereignty of God. You may expect that everyone here will be pleasant and relaxed. But unfortunately it so happens that the brothers and sisters you are with are dull and cold. As a result, you become unhappy about the situation. Then you hear that the church in Kaohsiung is quite good and that the brothers and sisters there are very warm and loving. Therefore, you think that if you could be there, then you would surely be able to be joined with the brothers there. But please remember that this is just idealistic thinking. If in fact you went to Kaohsiung, you would discover that there are some brothers and sisters there who would make things even more difficult for you. Therefore, the problem is not with others but with you. You have to accept the sovereignty of God. Wherever the Lord has arranged for you to be, you have to learn to be built together with the brothers there. I like the words in the Bible concerning Priscilla and Aquila. When they were in Rome, they were in the church in Rome; when they went to Ephesus, they were in the church in Ephesus. Wherever they went, they were coordinated and built together with the brothers and sisters in that locality.

We must see, therefore, that God is not building His saints in a universal way. All the building of God is local. The brothers in Kaohsiung must be built together in Kaohsiung, while the brothers in New York have to be built together in New York. The building of God is always local. This causes our flesh to be tested and our disposition to be broken. Those who are relaxed and easygoing often find that the church in their locality is very rigid. Those who are cheerful and carefree often find the church in their locality to be very cold. All these arrangements are for us to be tried and dealt with. We can be built together only when we have been broken by God.
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