I have just finished reading what is now one of my top 2 favorite books. The Heavenly Man is about the life of Chinese Christian Brother Yun whom the Lord used to bring revival to China. Through him the Lord brought about the unity of the house churches and millions came to know the Lord. His life, as well as his family's and other house church believers around the country, suffered tremendous tortures and griefs for the sake of Jesus.
I AM COMPLETELY CHANGED AND EMPOWERED AFTER READING THIS BOOK.
At the end, Yun talks about the Christian life and the Lord revealed the stage of life I am in right now.
"I have found that the Christian life is not glamorous to the flesh. When a little seed is put into the ground it is not comfortable. It lies in the dark isolation of rough soil for months, suffers in the frozen ground of winter and the heat of summer, and is even covered with stinking manure and fertilizer. Only after it has silently endured all these trials is the seed ready to spring to life and produce a harvest that will feed many." This is the exact metaphor for my life right now
Yun also speaks about the complacency and spiritual sleep of the western church which I found extremely true. There needs to be revival. What follows is an excerpt from the book:
"Before I travelled to the West I had absolutely no idea that so many churches were spiritually asleep. I presumed the western church was strong and vibrant because it had brought the gospel to my country with such incredible faith and tenacity. Many missionaries had shown their lives for the sake of Jesus.
On some occasions I've struggled while speaking in western churches. There seems to be something missing that leaves me feeling terrible inside. Many meetings are cold and lack the fire and presence of God that we have in China.
In the west many Christians have an abundance of material possessions, yet they live in a backslidden state. They have silver and gold, but they don't rise up and walk in Jesus' name. In China we have no possession to hold us down, so there's nothing preventing us from moving out for the Lord. When he saw the crippled beggar he said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazreth, walk!" Acts 3:6
In a similar way, I pray that God might use the Chinese church to help the western church rise up and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's almost impossible for the church in China to go to sleep in its present situation. There's always something to keep us on the run, and it's very difficult to sleep while you're running. If persecution stops, I fear we'll become complacent and fall asleep.
Many pastors in Europe and America have told me they want to see great revival. I'n frequently asked why China is experiencing revival but most places in the west are not. This is a big question to answer, but some reasons are very apparent to me.
When I'm in the west I see all the mighty church buildings and all the expensive equipment, plush carpets and state-of-the-art sounds systems. I can assure the western church with absolute certainty that you don't need anymore church buildings. Church buildings will never bring the revival you seek. The pursuit of more possessions will never bring revival. Jesus truly stated, "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15
The first thing needed for revival to return to your churches is the Word of the Lord. God's word is missing. Sure, there are many preachers and thousands of tapes and videos of Bible teaching, but so little contains the sharp truth of God's Word. It's the truth that will set you free.
Not only is knowledge of God's word missing, but obedience to that Word. There's not much action taking place.
When revival came to believers in China, the result was thousands of evangelists being sent out to all corners of the nation, carrying fire from the altar of God with them. When God moves in the west, is seems you want to stop and enjoy His presence and blessings too long, and build an altar to your experiences. You can never really know the Scriptures until you're willing to be changed by them.
All genuine revivals of the Lord result in believers responding with action and soul winning. When God truly moves in your heart you cannot remain silent. there will be a fire in your bones, like Jeremiah, who said, "His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot." Jeremiah 20:9
I've seen people in western churches worshipping as if they're already in heaven. Then someone invariably brings a comforting message like, "My children, I love you. Don't be afraid, I'm with you." I'm not opposed to such words, but why is it that nobody seems to hear a Word from the Lord like, "My child, I want to send you to the slums of Asia or the darkness of Africa to be my messenger to people dying in their sin?"
Multitudes of church members in the west are satisfied with giving their minimum to God, not their maximum. I've watched men and women during offering time in church. They open their fat wallets and search for the smallest amount they can give. This type of attitude will never do! Jesus gave his whole life for us, and we give as little of our lives, time and money as we can back to God. What a disgrace! Repent!
This may sound strange, but I even miss the offerings we used to give in China. On numerous occasions the leader of a meeting would announce, "We have a new worker who is leaving tomorrow to serve the Lord." Immediately every single person would completely empty their pockets of everything they had. With that money the worker would buy a train or bus ticket and leave the next day. Often this money was not just everything we had in our pockets at the time, but everything we owned in the whole world.
Just because you have a church building doesn't necessarily mean Jesus is with you. He is not welcome in many churches today. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus said, "Here I am I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Often this verse is used as an invitation for salvation, but actually the context Jesus was speaking in was very different. He was standing outside the door of the church in Laodicea, knocking to get in!
Of course not all Western churches are asleep. Of all the strong churches I have visited in the West I've noticed one thing they all have in common: a strong and sacrificial commitment to missions among unreached nations. I'm talking about a heart to establish God's kingdom in the most gospel-starved and spiritually dark areas of the world, where nobody has ever heard the name of Jesus. When you start putting your time, prayers and finances there you will soon experience God's blessing on the work of your hands.
Many churches look beautiful on the outside, but are dead where it counts, on the inside. If you truly want to see God move, the two main things you must do is learn the Word of God and have the obedience to do what God tells you to do.
Many Christians have also asked me why miracles and signs and wonders are so prevalent in China, but not so evident in the west.
In the West you have so much. You have insurance for everything. In a way, you don't need God. When my father was dying of stomach cancer, we sold everything we had to try to cure him. When everything was gone we had no hope but God. We turned to him in desperation and saw him mercifully answer our prayers and heal my father. We reasoned that if god could do that then he could do anything, so our faith grew and we've seen many miracles.
In China, the greatest miracles we see are not the healings and other things, but lives transformed by the gospel. We believe we're not called to follow signs and wonders but instead signs and wonders follow us when the gospel is preached. We don't keep our eyes on the signs and wonders; we keep our eyes on Jesus.
Every house church pastor in china is ready to lay down his life for the gospel. When we live this way, we'll see God do great things by His grace."
Oh how the spirit is allowed to move when we put aside our pride and possessions.
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