Leadership and Ministry Training Question & Answer

Usually, I like to say a few words for this questions and answers period. I often feel that this is not a right term. The questions are all right, but the answer, brothers and sisters, who can answer our real questions, the Lord only. Nobody else can do that. People may be able to help you to remove some of the difficulties you may have concerning your question, but the Lord alone is the one who is able to solve your questions. So brothers and sisters, do not look upon us as if we are able to be your answers. We are not. We are here only to try to remove some obstacles that you may have, but the real answer you may seek from the Lord himself. So I hope this will be understood. The first question, Brother Kong, we know the basis of our gathering should be Christ alone and not language, ethnicity, or culture. However, where we meet, we are mostly Chinese. I know that God is not after a Chinese church, but a real local testimony. How do you address the situation, especially if the leading brothers don't see the same way? Now this is a very real question, because there are a number of people who may be in that kind of situation. You have a glimpse of what a local church ought to be, but in the church group that you are with, those in responsibility may not have the same vision. Now what should be done then? My answer is, if you are put into such a situation, one thing you must do, and that is you should pray, because it is not by human effort that any change can be done. It is only by the Spirit of God that a basic change can come over. So if God has put you in that kind of situation, your first and primary responsibility is to pray. If the Lord gives you an opportunity to share with the responsible brothers as what the Lord has shown you, that's fine, but without prayer, it will be fruitless. But if you give yourself to really prayer and be patient about it, and if there is opportunity to share with the responsible brothers, and you set yourself as a good example, I believe sooner or later the responsible brothers will begin to see what the Lord has shown you. And that is the way to solve any problem. You know the problem is, when we do not feel everything answers our desire, we get so impatient. Either we leave, or we will try to rebel, and that will only make the situation worse. So my advice is, if the Lord has put you in that kind of situation, pray. Set an example. If the Lord gave you an opportunity, share it, but don't insist. And if the Lord should be merciful, things will change. In response to Brother Kahn's second message on desiring the Lord's return, I found out I didn't want his return. I was a young brother in my 20s, and I realized that my desire to plan out my future, find a good job, have a family contract with eagerly waiting for the Lord's return, have a family contract with eagerly waiting for the Lord's return. I want to be faithful to God and pursue his will above my own, but that is difficult. What is your thought? My thought is, if you really see the glory of the coming of the Lord, that will enable you not to be attached to the things of this world. In other words, it is not a negative attitude. We as Christians are not to be negative, but to be positive. We are positive of the glory of the coming of the Lord. And because of this, we look down upon the things, temporarily, things that are just passing through. So I think what we need is to see the glory of the coming of the Lord. Brothers and sisters, are you expecting the Lord to return? Do you see the glory of his return? How he will bring in his own kingdom upon this earth. How he will reign over this earth for a thousand years. And if your hearts are attracted by the glory of the coming of the Lord, then you will not be so tied down to the things of this world. Now the reason why we find ourselves so tied up with the things of this world, it is because of our failure to see the glory of the coming of the Lord. So my answer is, pray to the Lord that we may see the glory of the coming of the Lord. How glorious it will be that the Lord shall return and establish his kingdom upon this earth for a thousand years. Brothers and sisters, such blessed hope will enable you to look light upon the things of this temporary world. Why are we attached to the things of this world? It is because we do not see the glory of the coming kingdom of our Lord Jesus. So that is my advice. May your heart be so filled with the glory of the coming of the Lord that the things of this temporary world will grow dim and will not have such a hold upon you. If one is left behind during the first half of the tribulation and is made ready during that time, will he be raptured then? If out of darkness at the end of the seven years of tribulation, what is the order of the rapture to heaven? Brothers and sisters, we all know that there will be seven years of tribulations, but the great tribulation is just three and a half years. Most likely, very probably, we are in the first half of the seven years. That is to say, the coming of the Lord is imminent. To live in this world today is not easy. To be a Christian is not easy because the temptations of the world are so great. Unless our hearts are touched by the glory of the coming of the Lord, it will be no wonder why many Christians today are so absorbed by the things of this world. The great tribulation is actually only three and a half years. The first rapture will happen before these three and a half years. So when it will happen, we do not know. We only know, brothers and sisters, one day, suddenly, all over this world, certain people will disappear, and that will be a sign of the coming of the great tribulation. Because the Bible tells us in Revelation chapter 12, when a man child is born and he is raptured to heaven, now we all know the headquarter of the enemy of God is what we call the heaven just upon this earth. But a man child is able to get through the headquarter of the enemy and arrive in the third heaven at the throne of God. That shows overcoming. So brothers and sisters, God is looking for overcomers, those who overcome the enemy. And because in their lives they overcome the enemy, therefore, when the rapture shall come, they will go through the headquarter of the enemy and arrive in the third heaven as the welcoming party for the coming of the Lord. So what is happening is, after this first rapture, there will be war in the air. Michael and his angels, he will fight against Satan and his followers. And Satan and his followers will be thrown from the air to the earth. In other words, the air will be clear. Why? Because the Lord will come from the throne to the air. And when Satan and his followers will be thrown from the air to the earth, what can you expect but the great tribulation? So that is when the great tribulation began. But those believers who had not been faithful to the Lord, who are tied down by the things of this earth, they will go through the great tribulation. But if we look from the other hand, we find it is the mercy of God. Even though these Christians have failed, God gave them another opportunity to be overcomers. So the great tribulation in one sense is God giving Christians another opportunity. If you do not overcome today, when the great tribulation came by the grace of God, you begin to be faithful to the Lord. So out of the great tribulation, God will still make overcomers. You see the mercy of God? And these overcomers, they will reign with Christ for a thousand years. So that is the order from what we understand in the scripture. Before the great tribulation, there will be the first rapture. Then the great tribulation. And during the great tribulation, there will be still Christians who become overcomers. And they shall reign with Christ. That we find in Revelation chapter 15. So here you see the mercy of God. In Matthew 25, the story of the foolish and wise virgins. In very technical terms, some brothers and sisters think the five foolish virgins are not true believers. Otherwise, how could the Lord say, I do not know you? The Bible never called an unbeliever a virgin because the people of the world, in the sight of God, they are adulterers. Adulterers. They are not pure. So the very term virgin in the scripture simply means those who have been saved by the grace of God. So, strictly speaking, these five foolish virgins, they are real Christians. Otherwise, number one, they all have the torch. That is to say, they have the testimony of Jesus. Unfortunately, they have not extra oil because in their vessel, they put other things in it as if these things are more precious than oil. And they all go out to meet the Lord. So, brothers and sisters, century after century, Christians have been going out to meet the Lord. They all expect the Lord to come in their lifetime. Probably you have heard in the early days when the Christians met one another, they usually greeted one another and said, the Lord is coming. So, these five foolish virgins, as well as the five wise virgins, they all go out to meet the Lord. Now, why ten? Ten is a number of responsibility. We know twelve is the perfect number. Now, where are the two? You find the two in Matthew 24. The five, the ten in Matthew 20. So, there you find the twelve. In other words, the two in Matthew 24 represents Christians who will be living at the coming of the Lord. But the ten virgins, they represent those Christians who through the centuries have gone out to meet the Lord, but the Lord did not return. So, they all go to sleep. That is to say, they all die. So, strictly speaking, the ten virgins in Matthew 25 refers to the Christians, real Christians, who have died during the past centuries. They all went out to meet the Lord, but then suddenly the Lord came. The Lord is coming, so they all raise up. That is to say, they all be resurrected. But the wise virgins have extra oil to put into the torch, so they go out to meet the Lord and enter into the kingdom. But the five foolish virgins, they try to go to buy oil. We have no record that they have bought the oil. But when they came back, the door is closed. In other words, they will be cast into outer darkness. So, that shows that Christians who are not faithful to the Lord today, they will be resurrected, but they will have no part in the kingdom. They will be outside of the kingdom, with national teeth, repenting because they have missed the opportunity. Now, why is it the Lord said, I do not know you? It doesn't mean that the Lord does not know them. It means that I do not approve of you. What you have done is not approved by the Lord. And because you are not approved, you will be cast into outer darkness. I think there is some question about this matter of rapture. We find the first rapture happened before the Great Tribulation. That is found in Revelation chapter 12, the mantra. Now, during the Great Tribulation, we have said, by the grace of God, some defeated Christians may be aroused by the grace of God, and they became overcomers. They will be beheaded, they will suffer, but because of their sufferings, they will be considered as overcomers. This you find in Revelation chapter 15. They shall reign with Christ because they have overcome. But those who even go through the Great Tribulation and did not repent, now they will be cast into outer darkness. That is to say, they have no part in millennium. I hope this is clear. Now, the outer darkness, in a sense, is a punishment. But in another sense, it is still the mercy of God. You know whom God has called. He has predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ. In other words, once God has set his eye on you, he will never give you up. He will not allow you to be a defeated Christian throughout your life, because once he sets his eye on you, he will perfect you. He will change you, transform you, to have the image of his beloved Son. That is the eternal will of God. So, brothers and sisters, thank God. Once God has set his eyes on you, he will perfect you. We may fail, but God cannot fail. So, that's why we say, even when defeated Christians were not able to be reigning with Christ during the millennium kingdom, yet in outer darkness they will repent, and eventually they will be perfected. So, in eternity, all who have believed in the Lord Jesus, all the children of God, will reign with Christ forever. Hallelujah!