In six thousand years of human history, no philosophy, doctrine, theory, or any other religion has been so prevailing as the Christian gospel. Today people can talk about and extol many things, but eventually with the passage of time nothing is left. This, however, is not the case with the gospel preached by Christians. Regardless of how people despise, ignore, and oppose the gospel and even attack and persecute the preachers of the gospel, the gospel continues to spread. The gospel will spread throughout the earth and will gain many believers. Many of us can testify that we are not foolish, yet we all heard and believed the gospel and are preaching and speaking Jesus every day.
We not only believe in the Lord but also love Him. In Hymns, #208, the first two lines of stanza 2 read, “I love Thee so I know not how / My transports to control.” Then stanza 4 reads, “Burn, burn, O love, within my heart, / Burn fiercely night and day, / Till all the dross of earthly loves / Is burned, and burned away.” We love the Lord, and we also ask the Lord to burn us; this is to be captivated by the Lord. These words give us a sense of sweetness, though they are not rich in philosophy like, “The principle of the great learning is to cultivate the bright virtue.” When I first began to work for the Lord, I was burning with love for the Lord and for the preaching of the gospel. After more than fifty years, the sweetness within is still increasing, and my joy is overflowing. I feel sweet even while I am eating and sleeping. This is the difference between Christians and non-Christians. We do not accept a religion; rather, we believe in the Lord. We are not superstitious; rather, we are enjoying “super-sweetness.” The more we believe, the more we feel sweet, and the sweetness becomes so great that we even become “crazy” for Him.
In Matthew 25 the Lord likened His believers to virgins and slaves, indicating that He wants us to be virgins who love Him and slaves who are faithful as He is. He is sowing every day. Only those slaves who are evil and slothful do not see this and say that He wants them to reap where He did not sow. Let us calmly consider how we came to the United States. If it were not for the world situation at present, we would not have come and would not have needed to come. In fact, if it were not for the progress in technology, such as the production of the 747 airplane, we would be bringing misery upon ourselves if we came slowly by boat. Who brought about the intricate situation and the technological progress? The Lord did.
The Lord is not only sovereign over the situations to bring the Chinese to America, but He also opens up their hearts so that the gospel can enter. Many Chinese in America are especially interested in two kinds of business—the restaurant business and the “church” business. In Orange County alone, there are already twenty-nine established Chinese “churches” preaching Jesus Christ. It was not easy to have such a situation thirty years ago, but it is easy now. This is not something you and I could have done; only the Lord can do this.
Therefore, we should not say anymore that the Lord did not sow. Right now the field is ripe, but the workers are few. This requires you and me to rise up to reap the field as His faithful slaves. The Lord Himself does the sowing, but He gives us the job of reaping. When we go out and preach the gospel today, we are not sowing but reaping and gathering.
Let us not be so foolish as to believe that the Lord has managed the world situation so that we could come to America merely to live a peaceful life. I appreciate and I like America. Here we have freedom and abundance of material things, and it is not hard to make a living. However, I am also clear that the Lord has sent me here not to enjoy these things but to reap and gather people for Him. I thank the Lord for giving me such great mercy and grace that an old Chinese man such as I, who never studied in America, could be reaping so many Americans here. Now the Lord has committed the Chinese-speaking work to us. This responsibility is not just mine, but it is yours also.
I encourage my grandchildren to study diligently, telling them that this is their responsibility to care for before the age of twenty-five. But I also tell them that regardless of how high an education they receive, their goal should not be their own living in the future but should be the Lord’s work. Do not think that the only goal of your coming to America is to make a living, and that you have to struggle very hard to achieve this goal. Actually, America is not so good that if you do not come here, you will not be able to live. If you ask me why I came to America, I would say that I do not know. Nevertheless, the Lord did something and sent me here, so I came with the determination that I am here not merely to live an American life but to gather and reap people for the Lord. This is my greatest joy.
Dear saints, what is the meaning of our human life? What is our goal in coming to America? If we are not here for the preaching of the gospel and saving souls, then what are we here for? You are working so that you can have food to eat, and you have been eating for so many years, yet it is still the same food. What is there to this? If we are not here for the Lord, what is the meaning of our eating? We cannot be the evil and slothful slaves. We must arise to do the work of reaping by actively preaching the gospel.
To the older saints I would say that when you retire, you should not be jobless and stay home. Instead, you should come together in small groups to meet and to pray. Perhaps it is not convenient for you to drive, but you can ask your relatives or friends to help you. Do not feel embarrassed to ask. We never feel embarrassed toward our Lord Jesus. He likes for us to bother Him frequently. If you want your children to take you somewhere merely for your pleasure, that should be condemned. However, since you are going to attend the elderly saints’ prayer meeting, it is right to ask your children or grandchildren to serve you. Do not say that you are old and cannot do anything. You are old, but you can still breathe. If you can breathe, then you can pray and preach the gospel. In the same way I would say to the young people that you have to rise up and cooperate. Do not be here merely for making money. Even if you gain the whole of America but do not gain one soul for the Lord, you will have lived and worked your whole life in vain. I hope that you all can see that on that day you will not be able to bring anything before the Lord except souls.