Our power for the preaching of the gospel depends on our enjoyment of this all-inclusive Spirit. We all know that before we preach the gospel, we should pray to contact God and to enjoy Him. This is to “wait.” By praying and waiting we enjoy God. Then when we go out, we have the power of the gospel. On the other hand, we also need to learn and understand the truths. Peter said in Acts 6:4, “We will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.” To pray is to contact God, and to be in the ministry of the word is to release the Lord’s gospel to others. When the apostles did this, the result was that the word of the Lord grew, multiplied, and prevailed (v. 7; 12:24; 19:20).
In order to receive the power of the gospel, we have to enjoy the Lord. Once we enjoy the Lord, the Lord becomes breath and a storm wind to us. The storm wind brings the great cloud, and the great cloud brings the consuming fire. This is power. The wind, the cloud, and the fire are the power in the universe, and the issue is the electrum. Not only so, we also need to speak the truth of the gospel. When we open our homes and invite people to come, we cannot be silent. Rather, we have to speak boldly. We may not understand technology, astronomy, or geography, but we know the gospel and are clear about the biblical truths. This is enough; we need to spread the Lord’s word to others.
Therefore, dear saints, the power of the gospel is in these three things: God Himself as the consummated Spirit, our prayer, and our preaching of His word. God is the Spirit of life and of power, and the Spirit is in us as our life and upon us as our power. When we enjoy Him, wait on Him, pray to Him, and learn His word, we receive power. The result is that electrum is produced.
However, we should not forget that the gospel is “the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes” (Rom. 1:16). The gospel is the word of God with God Himself becoming our power through our enjoyment and prayer. Before we open our homes to receive guests, we need to enjoy God in His word and receive power. We need to have the capital before we do the business. When we pray to Him and wait on Him, the wind will start to blow, the cloud with the fire will come, and the electrum will be produced.
When we came to Anaheim ten years ago, there were not many Chinese here. Up until three or four years ago, the Chinese population had increased to more than ten thousand. Now it has even doubled. Recently the newspaper reported that the largest number of Chinese in California is in San Francisco; the second largest is in Los Angeles, and the third largest is in Orange County. Among these three, Orange County is the highest newly developed area, and the church in Anaheim is located in the center of Orange County. Thank the Lord for giving us this land for us to build the big meeting hall. Now we must receive the burden to actively do the Chinese-speaking work and to fill this big meeting hall.
Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord is the Lord of lords and King of kings. He changed the world situation and rearranged everything not for America and not for China but for His own gospel. Many who do not believe in the Lord have been blown by the wind to America without understanding why. They do not realize that if they had stayed in their homeland, they would be worshipping idols and would not be able to believe in the Lord by any means, and that because of this, the Lord blew them here to give them this opportunity to receive the Lord. When the wind blows, the heart is moved. Not only did they come to America, but many have been willing even to come to our meeting hall. Now we have gospel candidates, and we also have the meeting hall. The question is whether or not we will receive the burden to open our homes for the work of the gospel.
At Corinth, two to three years before Paul went to Rome, he wrote the book of Romans to the church in Rome. This must have touched and benefited the saints in Rome. Therefore, in Acts 28 when he and his companions came to the Market of Appius and Three Inns, the brothers in Rome came to meet them (v. 15). Rome is about forty miles from the Market of Appius and thirty from Three Inns. The transportation in the ancient days was not convenient, but the saints still paid the price to host them. Today the Lord does not ask us to pay a big price. He has already blown the Chinese to our front door and has prepared the meeting hall. We should cooperate by consecrating our homes and our time so that our homes can each become the Market of Appius and Three Inns. At Paul’s time there was only “Three Inns”; today we should have “One Hundred Inns.”
I hope that you will make a solemn decision before the Lord today to reconsecrate yourself for the move of His gospel and to consecrate your time to the best of your ability for His gospel. Then open your house to make it a gospel station. We all are weak and need the help of a binding consecration. Even when the people of the world discuss business, nothing is accomplished if no decision is made at the end. Today we cannot merely listen to the gospel and be excited for a while. We have to make an agreement before the Lord by consecrating ourselves to Him in a practical way.
This is our responsibility, and it is also our opportunity. Our advancement on this earth and all the material wealth we have received will become vanity in the end. Only the souls we have gained for our Lord will have real value and will last until eternity. Therefore, saints, do not be afraid that you will not have food to eat. The more you are for the Lord and for His gospel, the better your food will be. I myself have countless testimonies in this matter. Fifty years ago there was a saying in Chinese that if a person becomes a preacher, he will live a simple life in poverty. On the day I was saved, I was clear that I had been called by the Lord. I was determined that if I were to be poor, so be it, but I would still preach the gospel for Him. Eventually, in these fifty years the Lord has not made me poor. On the contrary, the food He provides has been better and better. My former classmates all thought that I was superstitious, but later on, one by one they were convinced that the more I served the Lord, the more blessed I was.
To the young people I would say that you should not be afraid. Right now it seems to not be easy, but ultimately you will be blessed by the Lord. If a person is not for the Lord and for His gospel, he will have many misfortunes. I am not speaking a curse, nor am I advising you not to study and work. I simply want you to be clear that the Lord has blown us here not so that we can live here in peace, having a good job and sleeping well. His goal is that we save souls to offer to Him for His building. I hope that you all will see this clearly and will truly consecrate yourself and your time for the Lord’s gospel.
Prayer: Lord, thank You that You have opened our eyes. We truly understand the world situation. We have seen Your doings, we have clearly recognized the way, and we have found the direction. Lord, it is You who have brought us here for Your gospel. You have prepared everything for us so that we have no lack in anything; we are abundantly rich. We do not want to be foolish, we do not want to be blind, and we do not want to fail You. We consecrate ourselves wholly for You, and we consecrate our time, our homes, and our family members to You. Lord, may You accept and bless our consecration. Glorify Yourself and greatly use us that each one of us may be filled with the Holy Spirit, have the power of the Holy Spirit, and have the word to contact others. Lord, we pray that You would open the door of the gospel so that those whom we have contacted can come to believe in You and to receive You. May You answer our prayer. Amen.