Well, first of all, I want to thank you all for allowing me to be here. Being among you, I feel myself a little younger. And I feel you dear young brothers and sisters are really very privileged, because when I was young, I did not have such privilege. I did not hear about God’s eternal purpose at such a young age.
I do thank the Lord that you are here and that you are very serious before the Lord. I do believe that the Lord will greatly bless you.
Now, I am not a speaker here, but I do like to fellowship. Some brothers suggested to me that, before I try to answer some of your deep questions, I should fellowship a little with you concerning what the Lord seems to exercise my heart about.
As I listened to the dear brothers who spoke on the theme, “Walking Daily in the Light of God’s Eternal Purpose,” I was deeply moved. As I listened to them, a few thoughts came to my mind, and I would like to share these few simple thoughts.
Number one: to walk requires life. If you do not have life, you cannot walk. When you are dead, you are not able to walk. So I think, first of all, to solve this question of walking, you really need first to solve this matter of life.
What kind of life you have will determine what manner of walk you will have.
Now, if all you have is what you were born with—what you received from Adam—or, to put it another way, if all you have is that natural life, that fallen Adamic life, then you will walk in a certain way. There is no way to walk otherwise, because your very life determines your manner of walking.
Maybe turn to Ephesians Chapter 2. We read from Verse 1:
And you did He quicken, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins,
wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the powers of the air,
of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience;
among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh,
doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
Now, here you find that once we were spiritually dead—dead in sins and transgressions. Our spirit was dead unto God, even though we did have an animated natural life inherited from our forefathers, from Adam. So outwardly, we were living, but we lived by that old fallen Adamic life.
When we live by that old fallen Adamic life, what manner of walk do we have? It is clearly told us here. We walk according to the course of this world—or, to put it in a more modern way, according to the fashion of this age, according to the current of this world. We walk as the rest of the world walks.
That is only outwardly. Actually, you may think that you are merely walking according to the fashion or current of the world, simply following where the world goes. But without your knowing it, you are walking according to the ruler of the authority of the air.
There is a ruler, an authority of the air, in the spiritual realm. This is the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience.
So, when we live in our Adamic life, we walk according to the way of the world outwardly. But actually, there is someone in control of this world. The Bible calls him the prince of this world, the enemy of God, the fallen angel, Satan. He is the ruler of the authority of the air, and that spirit works in the sons of disobedience.
In other words, he was disobedient to God, and he put that disobedience in man. So, by nature, we are all disobedient. We are disobedient to God. We have our behavior in the lusts of our flesh. We are moved, motivated, and pushed on by the lusts of our flesh, doing what the flesh and the thoughts will to do. We just do whatever we think we want to do, and we are children by nature of wrath. In other words, we are under the wrath of God.
So that is the way that natural life will work. But thank God, Ephesians Chapter 2 continues:
But God, being rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us,
even when we were dead through our trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved),
and raised us up with Him,
and made us to sit with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus:
that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace
in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Once, because all we had was that natural, fallen Adamic life, it was no wonder that we walked according to the way of this world. We simply followed the evil spirit; he was the one driving us into destruction.
But God, rich in mercy—one day His grace came upon us, and in Christ Jesus He gave us a new life. So, dear brothers and sisters, today we have a new life.
It is a divine life. It is God’s own life. It is in Christ Jesus. We are born from above. We who believe in the Lord Jesus have this new life in us. And with this new life, then you can walk in a new way.
The Bible says that we now walk in newness of life. There is a new life; there is a new walk.
Those who have that old Adamic life cannot walk in the light of God’s eternal purpose. But those who have this new life ought to walk daily in the light of God’s eternal purpose.
So that is the first thought that came to me: life. Thank God for this new life. With this new life, we are able to walk daily in God’s eternal purpose.
Now, number two: what is walking? Walking is a daily matter.
We as believers are always looking for some special experiences. We come to a conference expecting that we will have a special, exciting, new experience, and that with that kind of experience we will instantly become spiritual.
You know, today is the day of everything instant. Before I came to this country more than forty years ago, I never knew there would be instant coffee. To my surprise, in recent years I understand there is instant tea too. Everything is instant.
Among Christians you find that the same mentality is there. Christians want to be instantly spiritual, so they are always seeking some special experience—a leap into another dimension. They think that with just one leap they will be there.
That is a great temptation to Christians today, especially to young people. But we need to remember that life is a daily walking. Daily we need to walk with the Lord, and that is what the Lord expects of us.
It is true that there will be times when you have some crisis, and during those crises you will experience something. But these crises are the result of your daily walk. You walk and walk, and then you come to a turning point, a crisis, and you have some experience that enables you to walk further on.
As you walk on, you cover a certain distance, and then you come to another crisis in your life. You may have to make a choice or a decision. You may have to renew your consecration before the Lord in order to pass through the threshold of that crisis. Then you have another experience that enables you to go further on toward the Lord.
Life is a daily walking. If you neglect your daily walking and only expect crises to come, expecting some special experience to come, then you are in trouble.
I do feel that we need to emphasize and underline that our daily walking is the most essential thing in our Christian life. If we do not walk daily with the Lord, when we come to a crisis, we will not be able to go over it. We will probably go under it. It is your daily walk that helps you through your crisis.
The third thing that came to my mind was this: if you want to walk, you have to walk in the light.
You remember our Lord Jesus said that there are twelve hours in the day, and if you walk in the light, you will not stumble. But in the night, you cannot walk; you cannot walk in darkness. So we have to walk in the light.
There are two different kinds of light in which we can walk. If you turn to Isaiah Chapter 50, Verse 11:
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire,
that gird yourselves about with firebrands,
walk ye in the flame of your fire,
and among the brands that ye have kindled.
This shall ye have at My hand;
ye shall lie down in sorrow.
It is possible for us believers not to walk in the light of God, but to kindle the light of our own fire. Instead of depending on the life of the Lord, it is possible for us to live again by that old fallen Adamic nature.
In our discussion group this morning, this question was raised: Are we not supposed to be dead to our old man? The Apostle Paul said in Romans 6:6, “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him.”
Now, if our old man was crucified with Christ, why is it that in our daily experience we find that our flesh—which is the personal term of the old man—is still very much alive?
The old man is singular. It refers to Adam, the federal head, the corporate man, Adam and all who are in Adam. That is the old man. Our old man was crucified with Christ. But flesh is a personal term of the old man. Every one of us has our own flesh. Your flesh is different from my flesh. We all inherit from Adam, but we inherit different things from Adam.
Why is it that our old man was crucified with Christ, and yet we find that our flesh is often still very much alive? Is it because the work of our Lord Jesus on the cross is not complete? Or is there some misunderstanding somewhere?
Remember: our old man was crucified with Christ. How? In Christ. He was the last Adam. In other words, He embraced all the Adamic race in Himself. When He was crucified, the Adamic race was finished. It is done. It is finished. Our old man was crucified with Christ.
This is an eternal fact, an unchanging fact. Your condition does not affect that eternal truth, that finished work of Christ. No matter how you feel, even if today you are still living in the flesh, it does not change what Christ has done on the cross for you. Your old man was crucified in Him.
But it is only true in Christ. It is not true in Adam. If you do not abide in Christ, if you do not remain in Christ, then you will find that what was true in Adam becomes very living in you today.
So we need to abide in Christ, because only in Christ was your old man crucified. Outside of Christ, your flesh is still very much alive, and you need to deliver it to the cross by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, you find that it is possible for us who have a new life, and who ought to walk in a new way, to kindle our own fire and walk by its sparks. We can still live according to the flesh. We can still love the world. We can still go after things that are against the will of God.
We can use our natural mind, our own reasoning power, and our own will. We can kindle our own fire, surround ourselves with our own fire, think that this is our light, and walk in that light. What will happen? God says, “Ye shall lie down in sorrow.”
There is only one light in which we can walk: the light of God’s eternal purpose.
Now, I know, as our brother mentioned this morning, that when you mention God’s eternal purpose, we are lost. It is such a big expression. What is God’s eternal purpose?
I was thinking the other day—I am just fellowshipping and talking with you. Moses said that a man’s lifespan is threescore years and ten; if he is strong, it can be fourscore years. But I am eighty-two now. So, in other words, I am in my second childhood. I am going to baby-talk.
I do not understand “the light of God’s eternal purpose.” That is too much for me. What is this light of God’s eternal purpose?
To have a concept, an abstract concept as it were, you need to grow up. As a baby or a child, you are not able to grasp a concept. God’s eternal purpose may seem too vague and too mystical for you. But to recognize a person—that is easy. I know my father. I know my mother. I know my sisters and brothers.
So I feel this: how should I walk daily? I shall walk daily in the light of Christ, a Person. That is easy. The eternal purpose of God is none other than Christ Jesus. He is the purpose of God.
For the present, let us simply say that we as believers walk daily in the light of Christ. We know Christ. We who have believed in Him as our Lord and Redeemer know Him.
In John 17:3, the Lord said:
And this is life eternal,
that they should know Thee the only true God,
and Him whom Thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.
Thank God, we have eternal life in us. We have Christ in us. We know Christ. If we walk in the light of Christ, that is all that is needed.
Do you know Christ? As much as you know Him, you walk in His light.
In John 1:4, it says:
In Him was life;
and the life was the light of men.
This is the light. In Him—that is, in Christ Jesus—is life. First of all, you have to have life. This life is the light of men. Your light, in which you walk, is not something coming from outside. It comes from within. It is the light of life.
Every believer has that light in him or in her. This life is the light of men. This life will shine upon your path and lead you in your daily walk.
In 1 John 1:5 and 1 John 1:7, we read:
God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
If we walk in the light, what is that light? It refers back to Verse 5: God is light. It also refers back to John 1:4: “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
So, brothers and sisters, remember this—just remember this: we walk daily in the light of His life. His life within us will shine upon our path, and we walk step by step by that light.
That light grows. If we walk in the light that we have today, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with Him. God is light; He is full of light.
To use an illustration, perhaps He is one hundred candlepower. When you first believe in the Lord Jesus, you have His life in you, but the light that shines upon your path may be only one candlepower, because you know Him simply as your Savior.
But if you walk in your one candlepower, as He is one hundred candlepower, you have fellowship one with another, because the nature of the light is the same, although the degree is different.
If today you walk in the light you have today, you will discover the next day that the light has grown a little brighter—perhaps two candlepower. That life will tell you what is right and what is wrong. It will tell you what is your own will and what is God’s will for you.
That life within you will lead you. If you are obedient to the light of life that you have today, then that light will grow. As you are obedient to the increased light, the light will grow further. That is the way you grow spiritually in life.
Brothers and sisters, it is very simple. Do not try to rack your mind, thinking, “What is God’s eternal purpose?” Think very simply: Christ is in you. Life is in you. Learn to walk daily in the light of that life.
If you do, you will have fellowship with God, in spite of the fact that there may still be much darkness in you and many things needing to be dealt with. Yet, if you are obedient to the light of life that the Lord within you gives today, you have fellowship with God. Through fellowship, you have further cleansing, and your life grows a little further.
Be careful: do not ever try to walk contrary to the light of life in you. If you do, you will find that your fellowship with God is temporarily interrupted.
As soon as we discover that we are not walking in the light of His life, but are walking perhaps in the fire that we have kindled ourselves, our conscience begins to trouble us. The Holy Spirit within us begins to tell us that we are going wrong. Confess immediately.
If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Then our fellowship with our heavenly Father will be restored, and you can walk on. It is very simple. Try to make your Christian life very simple. Do not make it too complicated. You just walk according to the light of the life of Christ in you, and that is all that God requires of you.
These are a few thoughts that came to my mind while I was listening to our dear brothers. Now, here are some questions.
We know that the theme of the conference is “Walking Daily in the Light of God’s Eternal Purpose.” What exactly is God’s eternal purpose, and how does it apply to us young people?
Our brother Mike this morning has already answered this question. I do not know whether you noticed it or took it to heart. It is true: when you speak about God’s eternal purpose, somehow you may feel lost.
But first let me tell you one thing. Is there a difference between young people and old people according to God’s eternal purpose? I think you already know the answer. Whether you are old or young, there is no difference. It applies to all.
The moment you are saved, that principle applies to you. You need to walk daily in the light of God’s eternal purpose. But it will be very fortunate if you can know God’s eternal purpose when you are young.
Let me tell you a story. In 1941, when Pearl Harbor came and the war broke out, I was in Singapore. I was stranded. But God, in His marvelous way, enabled my wife and me, at the last minute, to escape from Singapore in a small boat. We were ten days in the Indian Ocean, and finally we landed in Madras, India.
Humanly speaking, that was the most amazing thing that could happen to me, because I was in India. But thank God, in His marvelous way, He overruled.
When I was in Singapore, one day I was sick and resting in a village. A telegram came to me from an English sister who had worked with us in Shanghai. She sent me a cable from the Philippines, saying that she would be passing through Singapore on a certain date.
I looked at the cable and found that it was the very day she would arrive. I debated whether I should go out to meet her. Then I said, “This is a very unusual time, and probably I will never meet her again.” So, even though I was sick, I went to Singapore simply to meet that sister for a few hours.
When we were talking, she told me that she was going to India. She said that there would be brothers and sisters there, and she gave me her address. She said, “Maybe the Lord will take you to India.” I laughed inside, because I thought I would never go to India.
But the war broke out. When we escaped from Singapore, more than a hundred Chinese people were on that boat without convoy. We all had to sign papers accepting responsibility for ourselves if the boat was put down anywhere in the world.
After ten days in the Indian Ocean, we finally arrived in Madras, but we had no visa for India. India was under British rule at that time. The government told us, “Go out to sea. You should not be here. You have no right to be here.”
We were stranded on the boat for two days. Then, through some special circumstances, a Chinese civic leader represented us in negotiating with immigration. A connection was discovered between the immigration chief and this Chinese leader, and with that connection he guaranteed the whole ship. So I became a permanent resident in India.
On the third day at sea, when the captain announced that we could not go to Bengal because Bengal had fallen to the Japanese, and that we were going to Madras, immediately I remembered that sister’s mention of Madras. I looked at the map and found the place where she was staying.
I told my wife, “If the Lord has brought us to India, we have to contact that sister and see the brothers and sisters. We must have fellowship with them.” By God’s providence, I had not thrown away her address.
When we were finally able to land, I sent a cable to the sister: “We are here. We would like to see you.” We went to a hotel. After a day, a cable came back—not from her, but from her hostess, Lady Ogg.
She said in the cable, “My home is yours. Come immediately.” You know how much that touched my wife and me. We were refugees, stranded in a strange country, knowing nobody. Suddenly someone whom we had heard of but had never met—a sister in the Lord—said, “My home is yours. Come immediately.”
So I told my wife, “We have to go.” It took a day, a night, and another half-day by train to reach the mountains, to the Nilgiri Hills, one of the best summer resort areas in India.
This sister was by herself. She had inherited great wealth. When I met her, she told me that her parents had died and left her wealth. Her husband had died and left her a title. She lived in Italy and had a marble palace there. Every year she went back to England.
She was a believer and attended a famous convention every year, but she felt that life was meaningless. There was no meaning to life, no purpose.
One year, before attending the Keswick Convention, she attended the Swansea Convention, associated with Mrs. Penn-Lewis. There she listened to a young man speaking on God’s eternal purpose.
For the first time she heard about God’s eternal purpose, and it transformed her whole life. She began to see that there was meaning and purpose to life.
Later, she was led to India. Her service was to purchase beautiful homes in resort places, staff them with maids and servants, and every summer invite God’s servants to come and rest. She served them. That was her ministry.
When I met her, she said, “The Lord already told me that you would be here.” Every winter she prayed, “Whom shall I receive for the following summer?” God told her, “Egypt and China,” because she lived a very close life with the Lord.
You see, God’s eternal purpose is very essential. If you know God’s eternal purpose when you are young, how fortunate you are.
That sister had already spent many years without this understanding. When I met her, she was in her sixties. Her life had been meaningless and purposeless, even with all her wealth. But when she knew God’s eternal purpose, time became liquid eternity. The way you live in time will determine your eternity.
It makes you feel how precious time is, how precious are the days God allows us to live on this earth. Often, when I wake in the morning, I pray, “Lord, thank You for giving me another day. May You finish Your work in me.”
Brothers and sisters, knowing God’s eternal purpose is very essential to your spiritual life. You need to know God’s eternal purpose when you are young. That will save you from wasting many of your days and make your days meaningful. You live for God’s eternal purpose.
Now, what is God’s eternal purpose? If you read Ephesians and Colossians, these are two books that especially tell you what God’s eternal purpose is.
The reason God’s eternal purpose seems difficult is because it is a mystery. The Bible says that it is a mystery. It is God’s wisdom in a mystery. It is God’s top secret.
God had that purpose in Himself before He created anything. But He was not able to reveal that purpose to anybody, because it was so glorious. He had to prepare for the revelation, the unveiling, of that mystery and purpose in His heart.
It took ages and generations to prepare, until, at the fullness of time, He sent His only begotten Son into this world, born of a woman, born under the law, that He might deliver us from the curse of the law and that we might receive sonship.
Only after the finished work of Christ on the cross was God able to open up that secret, that purpose of His heart.
In Ephesians, you find that the purpose of God’s heart is centered upon His beloved Son. God’s purpose, God’s heart, is focused entirely upon His Son. He loves His Son, and because of His love for His Son, He created all things. He created us for His Son, that His Son might head up all things. His Son is the Heir of all things.
That is God’s eternal purpose. If you are not able to receive a concept, at least you are able to receive a Person. You see that it is God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who is God’s eternal purpose.
Together with His Son, God will give Him a helpmeet, His Bride. That is the Body of Christ, the church.
It is not two centres—Christ and the church. No, there is only one centre: Christ. But united with Christ is the Body, the church—you and me.
Brothers and sisters, this is God’s eternal purpose: that the Son may have all things, that you may be transformed and conformed to the image of His beloved Son, and that you may be united with Him as His Body.
Walk in the light of that eternal purpose. Walk in the light of Christ. The life of Christ within you will lead the way. Whatever is not of Him, the light will shine upon that very thing and say, “It has to go.” Let it go.
Whatever is of Him, He will build it within you. You will be transformed according to His image. You will be like Him.
That is why the Sermon on the Mount is so important. The character of Christ must become your character through the working of the Holy Spirit in your daily walk.
So walk in the light of God’s eternal purpose. That is the meaning of it. As young brothers and sisters, you are really fortunate that you can start right away, not wasting your days, but walking in the eternal purpose of God.
Walk in Christ, rooted and grounded in Christ, built up in Christ, and built up together in Christ.
Here is another question: Given our theme, how is being ready corporately for His coming different from being ready individually?
We are all looking forward to the coming of our Lord. This is the day Christians throughout the generations and ages have looked forward to. He is with us in Spirit, but one day we will see Him face to face. That is our blessed hope.
How are we going to be prepared and ready for His coming? Is there any difference between being made ready corporately and being made ready individually?
Brothers and sisters, when we are talking, we can say, “This is individual,” and, “This is corporate.” But as a matter of fact, you can distinguish them, but you cannot separate them.
Our tendency is to separate individual readiness from corporate readiness, individual preparedness from corporate preparedness. But you cannot separate them.
It is true that we are members one of another. We are all individuals, and individually we need to be ready. That is true. But remember: we are in the Body. You are not alone.
We grow together. We are made ready together. It is only when we are together that we are really able to be made ready.
Let me put it another way. If you read Romans Chapter 8, it looks as if you are to be ready individually:
For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained
to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren:
and whom He foreordained, them He also called:
and whom He called, them He also justified:
and whom He justified, them He also glorified.
He is leading many sons into glory. That seems to concern individuals, because individually we are responsible to be matured, to be perfected in Christ Jesus.
But on the other hand, when our Lord Jesus comes back, He is like a bridegroom coming back for His bride. The bride is composed of all who are His, made ready for Him.
So we need to be prepared both ways. Individually, we need to seek the Lord and allow Him to be built within us. As Colossians Chapter 1 says, we need to be perfect in Christ Jesus, mature in Christ Jesus.
But you cannot grow just by yourself. You have to grow and be made ready with your brothers and sisters, because the Bible says we are to be fitted together, united together, and ministered to one another.
There are many lessons that you cannot learn alone. You have to learn them in the Body.
You learn your limitation in the Body. If you are all by yourself, you do not know how limited you are. But if you are in the Body, you know your limitation, and it is very important to know your limitation.
You have to learn how to fit in with one another. When you are all by yourself, you may think you are perfect. But when you begin to touch other brothers and sisters, immediately you find that you are not perfect.
There are things that need to be chopped off, things that need to be chiselled, and things that need to be smoothed in order to fit in with your brothers and sisters. Many lessons of the cross cannot be learned all by yourself. You have to learn them corporately.
So we have to be ready together. That is the reason we need fellowship. There is the individual side and there is the corporate side, but you cannot separate them. You have to go on together to be truly made ready for His coming.
Here is another question: Is it possible for two believers who are both seeking the Lord to receive different revelation concerning the same Christian principle? For example, many Christians view the Body of Christ and its functioning differently.
I think it is a very good question. Here you have two believers. They are both seeking the Lord, and yet they receive different revelation concerning the same Christian principle.
So far as principle is concerned, you cannot have different revelation concerning the same principle. In other words, the truth is one.
But it is possible for us to receive different aspects of the same truth, and also different degrees of the same truth. That is possible.
Take the Body of Christ. If you receive the revelation of the Body of Christ, no matter who you are, if it is truly light from God’s eternal purpose, then you are bound to see that it is not an organization but an organism.
If you say you have received revelation of the Body of Christ as an organization, then I wonder whether it is the fire that you have kindled yourself. Scripture is so clear. God is never ambiguous. His truth is one.
If you really receive light from God and see the Body of Christ, no matter who you are, you will see that it is not an organization; it is an organism.
But it is possible that your degree of understanding concerning the nature of the Body of Christ may differ. Some people may see one aspect of the Body of Christ and not see another aspect. That is possible.
When the Lord shows you what the Body of Christ is, remember that what you see is only the beginning. There is much more light we need to receive from God concerning the Body of Christ and how it works.
So far as the truth of the church as the Body of Christ is concerned, that truth was recovered in the nineteenth century through the Brethren movement. But even in our days, the working of that Body of Christ is still something we are learning.
The Body of Christ is a living organism. It is the extension of Christ. There is still so much that we need to learn.
Do not be content with a little light concerning the Body of Christ and think you have it all. No. There is much more. In that sense, you can have different degrees of light and different aspects of light.
We need to humble ourselves and always be ready and open to learn from one another, that we may enter into the reality of what the Body of Christ is.
There is another question concerning the expressions “in Christ Jesus” and “in Jesus.” Someone has been reading Living Sacrifice by Watchman Nee for a youth class and wonders whether, because Brother Nee said we should not say “in Jesus Christ” but “in Christ Jesus” or “in the Lord Jesus Christ,” this also applies to prayer. Should we say “in Christ Jesus’ name” rather than “in Jesus’ name”?
It is true that the Holy Spirit is very careful and exact in using words. In the New Testament, you find the term “in Christ” or “in Christ Jesus.” It does not normally use “in Jesus.”
There is only one place in the whole New Testament where it says “in Jesus.” I will not tell you where it is; you have to find it out yourself. But those who know Greek say that, in the original, there is an emphatic article before “Jesus,” underlining Jesus personally.
All the other places say “in Christ” or “in Christ Jesus.” For instance, Ephesians 1:3 says:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places in Christ.
“In Christ” is a corporate term. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ, and you are complete in Him. Jesus is His personal name. It is the name given before He was born, the name He used on earth, and also the name above every name, before which every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
When we pray, it really does not make a great deal of difference. We do not need to be too technical. But let me remind you of one thing.
You are the new generation. In my generation, people were very pious, and they would never say simply, “Jesus.” They always said, “Lord Jesus.”
But in the new generation, you feel that Jesus is so near to you and so intimate, so you often say “Jesus” without saying “Lord.”
I would say that you need both. You need to realize that this Jesus is Lord. It gives you a sense of reverence and awe. But you also need to know Him personally as Jesus, the One who is so dear and near to you.
So, in your prayer, just be natural. Whatever the Spirit of God leads you to do, do it. God knows.
There is another question from someone in a bilingual local assembly. As an American-born Chinese, this person finds it difficult to participate in the worship and fellowship times because they are predominantly in Chinese. Even with translation, it remains difficult. What should be done practically during prayer meetings and at the Lord’s table?
I will not go into how I feel about the whole situation. It is a real situation. But I would exhort that brother or sister to do this.
If you really walk in the light of God’s eternal purpose, if you really see Christ and His Body, and if you are with a group of believers who desire to honor the Lord under His headship and are open for fellowship, then language should not be a problem. You have to overcome that problem.
Learn to be patient. Try to participate as much as you can. In God’s time, the whole situation will change.
The older generation uses Chinese. Your generation is already using English, and the next generation will be all English. So that is only a temporary problem.
If you endure to the end, you shall be saved.
Thank you.