We also have to overcome frustrations for our preaching of the gospel in the Lord's move. I was recently fellowshipping with some brothers about my feeling that the Lord's recovery should reconsider its direction. The world has changed and it is still changing. There have been four great recent changes in the world situation. First, today Europe has a common market. Second, East and West Germany have been united. Third, there has been much political change in the small European countries. Fourth, Russia and all her satellite countries have changed and are still changing. All the leaders of this earth are considering what steps to take for their economy, their industry, and their education for their future among all the nations on earth.
We have pointed out in the past that the entire world situation is the preparation for the Lord's move in His gospel. The book of Isaiah shows that God's chastisement of His chosen people and His judgment of the nations ushers in Christ. Christ is just the gospel, and the world situation is for the gospel. The present world is changing for the advancement of the gospel. Even the Lord Jesus came as the world was changing. The Roman general Pompey had conquered Jerusalem in 63 B.C. In 27 B.C. Augustus received the approval of the Roman Senate to form the Roman Empire. That prepared the way for Christ's birth just twenty-seven years later.
The apostles' preaching of the gospel followed the political situation at that time. In the past twenty centuries, the gospel has always traveled according to the political changes on this earth. The brothers who have traveled to Russia recently have shared that the Lord has opened up Russia to our publications. There are many encouraging letters from the Russian people testifying of this. We cannot merely observe this situation and be complacent. We have to reconsider our direction in light of the world situation today.
Acts 13 shows five prophets and teachers in the church in Antioch fasting and praying together. Then the guidance came that Paul and Barnabas should be separated and sent out. They carried the gospel from Antioch to Asia Minor. That was a big step for the Lord's move. I believe that these five prophets and teachers were considering how to bring the Lord's gospel from the Holy Land to the Gentile world, and during their consideration, the guidance came.
In Paul's second journey, he and his co-workers intended to speak the word in Asia, but they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:6). Then they tried to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them (v. 7). The Holy Spirit's forbidding them to go to the left, to Asia, and the Spirit of Jesus' not allowing them to go to the right, to Bithynia, indicated a straightforward direction for the apostle and his co-workers. Spontaneously, they should have just gone forward to Macedonia. But Paul had to receive a vision during the night of a Macedonian man entreating him to come over across the Aegean Sea into Macedonia to help them (v. 9). Then Paul and his co-workers concluded that God had called them to bring the good news to Macedonia.
They crossed the Aegean Sea into Europe and came to Philippi. Philippi was a fortified outpost of the Roman Empire in a foreign country, where the citizens had equal rights with those at the capital, Rome. As a fort of the ancient empire of Rome, Philippi was a very strategic city for the spread of the gospel at its beginning in Europe. From there the gospel spread throughout Europe and eventually to Greece and Rome.
We have to consider the present world situation and our present direction. Should we just look at the situation and say that everything is good with the Lord's recovery? Many young ones among us have been trained in the past few years, and we presently have over one hundred in the full-time training. We are praying about this matter. It may be that in our next term of training, we will change our language lessons to Russian, French, and German, plus British English. If one has a knowledge of these four languages, he can travel and speak to people throughout nearly all of Europe and Russia. I encourage the young people to learn French, German, and Russian for the Lord's move.
In these days we need to pay our full attention to the all-inclusive Christ, who is the centrality and universality of the great wheel of the move of the Divine Trinity for the divine dispensing of Himself into His elect. In the church life for the Lord's recovery, where the proper revival and restoration of life are taking place, Christ should be the twig, the branch, the banner, and the standard. First, we ourselves must have a restoration of life. Then this will be propagated and will be designated by a banner, Christ. He will then be sought after by the nations, and He will become a standard to them. Hallelujah for Christ!