Questions & Answers 2019 - Part 1

Good morning. Thank God for bringing us together this morning. This is supposed to be a question and answer period. And every time when this happens, I have to make some explanation. And my explanation is, we may ask questions, but God is the only one who is the answer. Nobody in this world can answer all your questions. God is the answer. So if you want to seek an answer, do not seek from man. This is absolutely impossible. Because man may explain something, but man cannot solve any problem. God is the only one, the solver of all our problems. So dear brothers and sisters, look to the Lord when you have a question. Now it doesn't mean you cannot ask questions. It means that people may give you some help to remove some hindrances. But you have to look to the Lord to your real answer. Now we receive many questions. Brother Dana has reduced them to ten categories. And I was given half of it. And Dana will do the rest. So I will read these questions first. And then by the grace of God, try to explain a little bit to help us to look to the Lord for your answer. Now the first question is, those serving as elders desire to be in work accord in matters of the church life. There are times when an important issue ends up in deadlock. Because one brother seems to be stubbornly disagreeing with the others. We have discussed the matter and pray for wisdom, but remain stuck. And just circling around each time the matter comes up. How do we proceed in true oneness before the assembly? Respecting the brother. Respect the brother with the opposite opposition. And still move forward under our Lord's headship and direction. Now this is truly a difficult question. But thank God, he is the answer. Now it is very true, very real, that in our church life we do encounter such difficulty. The brother's irresponsibility are supposed to one in opinion. They are supposed to wait for another until they come to agreement, before any action should be taken. Now that is the principle. But it is also true that in number of places you will find one brother so obstinate that he insists upon his own opinion. And he fears to agree with the other brothers. Now how do you solve this problem? On the one hand we need to be patient. I believe in spiritual matter. Patience is very important. God never does anything in a hurry and he wants us to be very careful and patient. But patience has its limit. Now when a brother continues to do that, as a matter of fact, he will delay the progress of the church. So how will you solve this problem? Think about it. Of course I believe when it is your heaven in your midst, you being one of the responsible brothers, you will not just neglect that brother who opposes, but you will be patient. And you who are in responsibility will continue to pray and ask the Lord to bring you into one mind. Because it is a principle that in church matters the responsible brothers will not come to any decision until there is absolute agreement among them. Now how do you reconcile such situation? On the one hand I will say that we need to be patient. We cannot just go ahead and neglect that brother. But on the other hand, I think all who are in responsibility should learn to give of themselves and allow the will of God to get through. So when a problem arises, we all need to go to the Lord and seek his mind. No one is to be in charge or to take the place of our Lord Jesus. He is the Lord of his own house. And you are but a servant serving the Lord's purpose. So with this in mind, all who are in responsibility needs to be humble enough to know that they are not the head of the church. The head of the church is Christ. They are just the neck through which the mind of the body can get through to the head. And the mind of the head can get through to the body through the neck. You are but a channel of God. You are not God. You are God himself. So all those in church responsibility need to remember this. Now it is always a danger. When you are put in responsibility too long, you begin to feel that you have the responsibility. No matter how long the Lord may place you in responsibility, you are under the headship of Christ. You are but a neck. You are the channel through which the feeling of the body may get through to the head. And then you'll be the channel to tell the body what the head decides. You are not the decision. Christ the head is the decision. But you are the channel. Now brothers and sisters, I'm not trying to belittle the responsible brothers because the neck is very important. Without the neck, how can the feeling of the body come to the head? And how can the decision of the head come to the body? It is through the neck. That's what the responsibilities are. So I think this is a very important thing to remember. Sometimes when you become a responsible brother too long, you begin to forget that you are the neck. You think you are the head. Therefore, you try to decide things on your own. And there will be great damage to the body. So first of all, I will say that those in responsibility have to realize who they are in the body of Christ. They are not the head. Never be the head. They are just a neck. But I'm not belittling the responsible brothers because the neck is important. Without the neck, the connection between the body and the head is broken. So the responsibility, responsible brothers are very important in the Church of God. They are on the one hand to allow the feeling of the body to get through them to the head. On the other hand, they are to allow the decision of the head to go through them to the body. This is the function of the responsible brothers. Again, I say the danger is if you are too long a responsible brother, you have the tendency to forget and to think that you are the head of the Church. And when that should happen, it brings havoc to the body. So when there is different opinions among the responsible brothers, what do you do? Of course, you all go to the Lord and pray. Asking the Lord to remove your own opinion and allow the Lord's mind to be known. That is what the responsible brothers should do. But in case one of you is so stubborn that whatever question comes up, his opinion stands unchanged. Now when this thing should happen, what will you do? I think the only thing you can do is, if this should happen all the time, it delays the growth of the body. And all you can do is you have to look to the Lord to remove that brother. I remember an incident, I was told. In the early stage of the Harper House in London, they had a principle that they must agree before they move. But unfortunately there was a brother who always stood for his own opinion and will not give in. And they didn't know what to do. Now that's what I was told. Lance told me that he told this problem to Lady Ogle. Now Lady Ogle was an entitled lady, but the Lord lay hold of her. She was the one who supported Brother Spock. She bought the place for the meeting. And he paid everything when we had the Switzerland conference year after year. But he was a lady who was so absolute to the Lord. And Lance told me, when she was told of this situation, Lance said, he who was praying with Lady Ogle, he had never heard such prayer. And this lady prayed before the Lord, remove this brother. And sure enough, within a week, the brother died. So brothers and sisters, I'm using this as an illustration that if we insist to have our own will and prevent the progress of the church, it is a serious crime. And a discipline of the Holy Spirit may come upon you. So it is a warning to all those in responsibility. Not because you have been in responsibility so long. You begin to think that you are responsible. Now that is always a problem. So I want to say this to the responsible brothers. No matter how long you become a responsible brother, you are not the head. You are but the neck. Remember this. But I'm not belittling the neck. Because the neck is so important. Without the neck, how can the feeling of the body go to the head? And how can the mind of the head come to the body? So I will say, if such case should continue to happen without changing, the only way is to pray to God to remove that brother. Now I think this is very serious. The next question. We observe there is a difference between what we see and hear in our conferences and what we practice in our fellowship. Messages of shepherding by Brother Kong reveal the spiritual reality that every member is a shepherd and that God desires those who serve to function by the grace of God and not focus upon position. But at home, our brother seems to be holding on to a position and serve as man above the rest. We know that our brothers began with a real heart to serve. And many have prayed a real price of sacrifice for the Lord's sake. But over the years, they have become separate from the saints. Sometimes make decisions without fellowship or even church prayer. As a young brother, I do not know how to just function responsibly with these older ones. But at the same time, I do not want to disrespect or act independent from them. Now, right now, the brothers are not shepherding very much. And real and serious problems are among us that are not being addressed. Help us. Now what will you do when you are in such situation? On the one hand, all the brothers and sisters in the assembly should have respect for the responsible brothers. Yet on the other hand, they are not God. They only represent God. So as a young brother, I will say you will try to obey their decision as much as you could. Don't rise up in rebellion. That's a wrong attitude. You will do whatever you have been told. But in just so far as the spirit in you allows you. We cannot develop a rebellious spirit. That's a wrong thing. Thank God for such adverse situation because God is training us not to be rebellious. I think it is but natural for us to be rebellious. And we have to be before the Lord and learn to be obedient as far as we could. But of course, we cannot go beyond our conscience. If your conscience does not allow you, you can only go that far. But on the other hand, you do not develop a rebellious spirit. Now this is easy to say, but it's very hard when it really comes to you. However, you have a responsibility. And your responsibility is pray for the responsible brothers. Praying that the Lord will change their mind. That God will not allow them to arbitrarily decide things. Believing that God will hear your prayer. And if this does not happen, then what? I would say, the only thing is, then you pray that if it's not the Lord's mind, that God will change those who are in responsibility. So to be in responsibility doesn't mean that because once you were put in responsibility, you were a responsible brother forever. Not so. Suppose you do not grow spiritually and other brothers have grown ahead of you. Then what you would do? I think the best thing to do is, you should know how to resign and give place to those who are spiritually ahead of you. Now this is easy to say, but very difficult to practice. However, I would say, if you are spiritual enough, that's what you should do. I remember when I first came to New York, there was a small meeting there and a few brothers were in responsibility. Among them was a Chinese, a medical doctor. As a matter of fact, a number of meetings met in his home. But when his practice began to be so busy, he had no time. When the responsible brothers met together to discuss the matter of the church, he was not there. They had to go to him and tell him what they had recited every time. And this happened for some time, until that brother realized the case. So he resigned. Some meetings are still in his home, but he resigned as a responsible brother. And he supports the other responsible brothers. And I think this is the right attitude. So when a responsible brother finds himself, he is not growing in the Lord. He is too much occupied with other things. He should look to the Lord to see if there will be others who have grown ahead of him. And he should, himself, step down and let others go ahead. That would be the right attitude. Again I say, it is easy to say, but hard to practice. Because once you became a responsible brother, it's hard for you to give up that position. Blessing is the one who puts the Lord's interest first and will never allow his own position to be a problem to the church. The next question. Our fellowship is growing, and we are thankful that the growth is not only in number, but in spirit. However, our elders totally tape out the jobs, family, and even constant traveling, so that we always seem to be behind in dealing with important matters. How can we learn to lead spiritually and factually with the little time we have? Often it is a real task for brothers just to all gather together. Does the Lord have a problem that could be planned ahead? Or do we have to just go ahead week to week with no clear direction? We have young people that need counsel, and families that have married challenges. But how can we care for them, many who are in pain? When the responsible brothers are so busy, busy with their families, busy with their travels, busy with other things, and the local church seems to be coming to a stop, when that should happen, what do you do? I believe it is the time that new responsible brothers are to be raised up. Probably this is the time that the old responsible brothers should resign. So let the new generation have a chance to move ahead. Now I don't know if you agree with me or not, but to me this seems to be the only solution. Because if those in responsibility are not really responsible, and the church is left without being rightly governed, what will be the result? You'll find people will leave. Let me use an illustration. In England and Ireland, Oak, there are four brothers in responsibility. When I first visited them, I was surprised to find there is a hierarchy. Brother Sparks, of course, is number one. And after him, Mr. Taylor. And after him, another brother. And after him, another brother. When Mr. Sparks was in London, he was in charge of everything. When he traveled, Mr. Taylor became in charge. And if Mr. Taylor was traveling, the third one began to be in charge. There was such a hierarchy in London. And even when we visitors came, we were given seats all assigned. Everything was in such order. Now how do you feel? The young people began to leave. Those whom they had helped and raised up, they left. Mr. Sparks talked to me. He complained about the situation. I say, brother, that's a good sign. That shows that they have grown up. You have done your job. They have grown up spiritually. They want to have some responsibility in the church. But you brothers stood there, gave them no responsibility. Naturally, they left. So it was success, not failure. But unfortunately, there was a painful success. Now these brothers have been trained, brought up. But they are not given any responsibility. The older ones continue to hold all the responsibility. No wonder, one after another, left. After they left, they became leading brothers in other groups. That happened in London. And that even happened in New York. Now brothers and sisters, what lessons should we learn from this? A responsible brother is not forever. If the Lord should bless you and use you to bring up younger brothers, as you begin to grow, they should be given responsibility. It is easy to say. But you have been a responsible brother for years. When you see younger brothers growing up, you help them to grow up. And you voluntarily allow them to take your place. That's a blessing. And that's the one thing that we should do. How do we work together as elders with full-time workers? We recognize and appreciate the ministry of those brothers. The Lord has raised up to minister the Word and travel. We do not want to have a pastor system in our church. But everyone seems to look to the worker when problems come up. And sometimes the elders don't really seem to be the ones governing. Then when our worker is traveling, a lot of solutions come up. They get put on hold until he returns. How can we work together as elders and workers? Are we elders just to assist one brother? Our brother in leadership will really be one. Do we have the authority to correct one another? Or even have input into our brother's traveling schedule? We desire the Lord to be our head in all of this. And only pray he may get glory in the church. Now again I say, a worker may be used of the Lord to begin a church. But after the church is established and elders appointed, he is no longer in charge of that local church. If he stays there, he is a brother in the local assembly. He should submit himself to the responsible brother in whatever decision may be made. And that is the attitude we should take. Now as workers, I know it is very hard for us to act as a brother in the church. I remember a brother who was a worker. He came. I told him, Brother, now you are in New York. You are one of the brothers in New York. And you have to learn to be a brother here. When the Lord sends you out, you are a worker. But when you come home and stay, you are a brother. That is very hard. He couldn't take it. Brothers and sisters, that's the problem with workers. They think they are everything, but they are not. If you, a worker, happen to have your home in a certain place, when you come back, you come back as a brother, not as a worker. Learn to obey whatever the responsibility brothers decide. You may pray for them. You may continue to advise them. But you are not to neglect them. So when a worker is in your home, you are just a brother. And learn to be a brother. But try to pray and to help those in responsibility that they may do the Lord's work. Now that's the right attitude to take. I think I have said enough.