Will you please turn to the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 24, verse 14?
And these glad tidings of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole habitable earth for a witness to all the nations; and then shall the end come.
Also, Matthew 5:
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
And Matthew 11:12:
But from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of the heavens suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force.
Dear Lord, as we gather here this morning, we thank Thee because of Thy precious promise. Thou hast promised us, “Where two or three are gathered together unto My name, there am I in the midst of them.” We thank Thee for Thy presence here with us. We treasure Thy presence more than anything else.
What would it be if Thou wert not present with us? So we just come together in Thy name, and we come with a worshipping spirit. We worship Thee because Thou art the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
We trust Thy Holy Spirit to move among us, to open our hearts and to open Thy Word to us. Give us understanding, that we may, by Thy grace, enter into the reality of Thy Word.
And we want to give Thee all the glory. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Thank God for gathering us together here this morning. I always feel it is the mercy of God that we can ever gather together.
The Lord is coming soon, but He still gives us opportunity to be prepared for His return. And we do look to the Lord to speak to our hearts, to prepare us for His imminent return.
For some time, I have been troubled by something. All indications show us that the Lord is coming soon. Even the world is talking about it. But to us, it is the blessed hope.
I remember, at the Last Supper, before He left the world, He comforted His disciples, telling them that He was going to prepare a place for them, and that He would come back and receive them to Himself.
I believe that people during that time expected the Lord to return in their lifetime. But the Lord did not come back. In every century, you find those who love the Lord waiting for His appearing. Century after century has passed by, and even in our day, the twenty-first century, the Lord seems to be delayed.
I often wonder, why is it so? Is it that our Lord is not anxious to come back? Then I remember that the Word of God says, even at the very end of the Bible, in Revelation 22:20:
He that testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly.
So I do believe that this is not a problem with the Lord Himself. He must be most anxious to return and receive us to Himself.
Then one day, when I was reading Matthew 24, I came to that verse where the Lord Jesus says:
And these glad tidings of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole habitable earth for a witness to all the nations; and then shall the end come.
That seemed to open my eyes, and I began to realize that maybe this is the reason for His delay. It is because the message of the kingdom of heaven has not been preached to all the nations. There is still a lack of such witness in the world, and that is the reason why the end has not come.
Now, if this is the case, then where does the responsibility lie? Of course, it is not with the Lord. It is with His church. It is with His people. And that gave me a deep sense of responsibility.
Brothers and sisters, I believe if we love the Lord, we all are anxious to see His return. That is our duty and our responsibility. It is our responsibility to preach the kingdom of the heavens and to be a witness to the nations.
In other words, it is not just preaching; it is practicing. It is life. That will be a testimony to the world. When that is accomplished, the Lord said, “The end shall come.”
The end means the end of this age. So far as we are concerned, this is our blessed hope, because this is the time that our Lord Jesus shall return. This has been my burden for some time, and I would like to share it with you, dear brothers and sisters.
When you think of the first coming of our Lord Jesus, how did He come? We know that for four hundred years God was silent to His people Israel.
It was not because God did not want to speak to His people, but because His people’s condition shut up His mouth. God could not speak even to His people. For four hundred years, brothers and sisters, just think of that.
His own people were not listening. Even if they had heard and heard and heard, they did not listen. Finally, God had to give up.
But thank God for His longsuffering. Even after four hundred years of silence, suddenly God began to speak. John the Baptist spoke in the wilderness. What was his message?
Repent ye; for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand.
God was calling His people to repent. We usually think of repentance in terms of sin. If we have committed anything wrong, then we must repent. But here you find that the reason for repentance is not negative. The reason for repentance is positive.
They were quite a religious people. They had the temple restored. They had the temple service going on. They had priests serving in the temple, and they prayed every day, “Come, Messiah.”
But, brothers and sisters, God knows the reality. God, in His mercy and grace—and I always thank God for His longsuffering—can endure us as no one else can. Even after four hundred years of silence, God began to speak, and He called His people to repent.
The reason for their repentance was not anything negative; it was for a positive reason. Why should they repent? They seemed to be quite a religious people, but they needed to repent because of a positive reason:
Repent ye; for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand.
When the children of Israel heard this message, many did respond, but many did not. When we think of the kingdom of the heavens, what is our reaction?
What is the kingdom of the heavens? Do you think that the kingdom of the heavens is more strict than the law? If you have never tried to keep the message of the kingdom of heaven, you will think that it is something we can do. But if you have once tried it, the more you try, the more you find it is impossible.
Some people say the kingdom of the heavens is a higher moral standard. Now, if you cannot keep the law, which is a lower standard of conduct, how can you keep a higher law? That is completely impossible.
But, dear brothers and sisters, so far as God is concerned, the message of the kingdom of the heavens is grace. It is grace upon grace.
Why is it so? Because, you remember, it is through that message that the dispensation of grace was ushered in. Formerly, people were under the dispensation of law: “Thou shalt; thou shalt not.” But now you find another age. We call it the age of grace.
The message of the kingdom of the heavens brought in the age of grace. Dear brothers and sisters, we really need to have a correct understanding of what the kingdom of the heavens is—not only to understand it, but to let it work in our lives.
Then there will be a testimony to the nations, and it will bring our Lord Jesus back. Remember: it is the message of the kingdom of heaven that brought in the age of grace, and it is the same message that will bring in the kingdom of heaven upon this earth.
You can realize how important the message of the kingdom of the heavens is. When you go back to church history, you find that in the beginning, when you read the first few chapters of the Book of Acts, the church had a glorious beginning.
At that time, the kingdom of the heavens was a reality. They literally lived in that kingdom, and the presence of the Holy Spirit was so manifest with them. There was such a testimony that the world looked at them and wondered, “Who are these people?”
They tried to figure them out. They were not Jews, though Jews were among them. They were not Gentiles, though Gentiles were among them. Their way of living was so different from anything in the world.
People said, “These are people of the Way.” They had a different way of life because they lived in heaven and not on earth. Finally, they mocked them and called them Christians. They were Christ-men, because Christ was everything to them.
They gathered together in the name of Christ Jesus. They mentioned the name of the Lord Jesus all the time, and they obeyed the Lord in their lives. So they were Christians.
At the very beginning, the name Christian was a mocking word. Today it is universally recognized, but at that time it was a real name. Is it real today with us? Do we deserve to be called Christians? Are we totally committed to our Lord Jesus? Is He everything in our lives?
Brothers and sisters, let us remember this: the message of the kingdom of the heavens must be preached through the whole world as a testimony to the nations, and then the end will come.
But if you look at church history, in the beginning you find how God’s people lived in that kingdom. They were so different from anything in the world. But gradually, the message began to be lost.
By the sixth century, and for many centuries afterward, the church was in darkness. People did not even know how to be saved, because they thought they had to be saved by accumulating merit. They did not know the grace of God. We came into a dark age of church history.
This continued until the sixteenth century, when God raised reformers such as Martin Luther, Calvin, and others. Then people began to know salvation by grace. They began to have an open Bible.
But, brothers and sisters, the message of the kingdom of heaven was still lacking.
In the eighteenth century, some people began to teach about the kingdom of heaven. We think of people such as [names unclear]. They began to preach the message of the kingdom of heaven. But even in our time, the message of the kingdom of the heavens has not been prevailing among Christian circles.
Because of this, the end has not come. Brothers and sisters, I do feel we have a deep responsibility. Not only should we know the message of the kingdom of heaven, but we should, by the grace of God, practice it. It has to be a testimony, a witness to the world.
I feel this is a very important time. We are not here just to hear some messages. We are here offering ourselves to the Lord, to be those whom the Lord can use to bring in His return.
Now, what is the kingdom of the heavens? In what way is it different from all the kingdoms in the world?
You remember when our Lord was on earth, from time to time He had to correct His disciples. His disciples were acting as if they were in the kingdoms of the world. They argued among themselves, “Who was the greatest?”
As you think of the twelve disciples of our Lord, none of them came from a good background, and yet they argued all the time about who was the greatest. Even at the Last Supper, they were still arguing among themselves.
The Lord had to correct them again and again. He said that the kingdoms of the world acted in such a way, but His kingdom was different. Yet they did not understand.
What really is the kingdom of the heavens? We know that our Lord Jesus came from heaven. What was His mission in this world?
For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
That is very true, and we do thank the Lord for His mercy upon us. We are here this morning because of the grace of God. Thank God, He has saved us and brought us to Himself. But, brothers and sisters, are we living in the kingdom of the heavens?
When our Lord Jesus began to preach, what did He preach? Matthew 4 tells us:
Repent ye; for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand.
This was His message. What was the message that the apostles preached afterward? The same message: God has made Him both Lord and Christ. When Paul was in prison in Rome, he preached the kingdom of God and concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. This was the message given to the church.
What is the kingdom of the heavens? To put it very simply: the kingdom of the heavens is the King Himself. His character becomes the character of His people. Everyone who is in the kingdom of the heavens is conformed to Him. That is the kingdom of the heavens.
Brothers and sisters, we should never be satisfied just to be saved. I often feel it is such a disgrace when people say, “If only my two legs will be in heaven, I am happy.” You may be happy, but Christ is unhappy.
What is the purpose of God? Is it because He wants to fill heaven with people? Of course not. What is the purpose of God in saving us? It is that He may have absolute sway over our lives.
He has saved every one of us. We have received the Lord Jesus, but how do we live every day? Are we still living according to our own will? I ask God to help us. Have we really surrendered our lives to Christ and allowed Him to work out His full salvation in us, to transform us into His own image?
In Romans 8, we are told:
For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son.
And whom He foreordained, them He also called:
And whom He called, them He also justified:
And whom He justified, them He also glorified.
What does it mean to be glorified? God is glory, and to be glorified is to be like God. How can it be? His character must be built up in us. That is the only way to glorification.
Brothers and sisters, do not be content just to be saved. If we understand the heart of God, we will respond to His heart’s desire. We will press on, and we will want to be a people characterized by Christ Himself.
People should be able to point to us and say, “They are not John Wesley. They are not Calvin.” Why? Because Christ has marked their lives.
Brothers and sisters, when you are reading Matthew 5, 6, and 7, remember that Matthew is the Gospel especially concerned with the kingdom of the heavens. This term is used in Matthew many times.
Aside from Matthew, in the whole Bible, you may find “heavenly kingdom” or “kingdom of the heavens” in only two places. One is Daniel 4, where it says that the heavens do rule. The other is 2 Timothy 4, where Paul mentions that God will save him unto His heavenly kingdom.
Aside from these two places, the kingdom of the heavens is a special term in the Gospel according to Matthew. If we want to know about the kingdom of the heavens, we have to go to the Gospel according to Matthew.
In the Gospel according to Matthew, there are three peaks. The first peak is found in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. It tells us of the reality of the kingdom of the heavens.
Then in Matthew 13, it tells us of the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. In Matthew 24 and 25, you have the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. If the Lord wills, this is what we want to share together in these mornings.
What is the kingdom of the heavens? You find its reality in Matthew 5 through 7. When people read the Sermon on the Mount, most people take it as the highest ethical standard in the world. There are people still trying to keep up with that standard.
I remember when I was young, there was a very popular movement in the world called the Oxford Group Movement. It was not the Oxford Movement; it was the Oxford Group Movement. It began to spread throughout the world. It came to China, and a number of prominent Christians joined that movement.
It was a movement that aimed at absolute purity. They tried, through repentance, to recall their whole lives and repent of everything that they had done wrong.
There was a quite famous Christian writer at that time who joined that movement. During the wartime, I met him in Chongqing. We were able to talk together, and he tried to share his life with me.
He told me that whenever he was physically weak, all his past sins would come back to him. So he had to repent again and again and again. He lived a miserable life.
I tried to share with him. I said, “Look at the blood of our Lord Jesus. His blood has cleansed us from all our sins.” But he could not accept that.
That movement later changed into the Moral Re-Armament Movement. But such things are still happening among Christians today. People are told to search themselves, to speak out, confess, and repent; then they will be clear of their past.
This is not salvation. The salvation of the Lord is this: once you are forgiven, you are forgiven, because God not only forgives, but He forgets. Unfortunately, we still seem to have a better memory than God.
What is the kingdom of the heavens? To put it very simply, the kingdom of heaven is where the King Himself—His character—becomes our character.
Because He lives, we can say, “For to me to live is Christ.” It is no longer I who live. As long as I live, I will live a miserable life. But if Christ lives in me, that is quite a blessed life.
This is what you find when you read Matthew 5, 6, and 7:
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
When the Lord Jesus came into this world the first time, He tried to establish His kingdom among His people. To put it another way, the King of heaven came down to earth. He came to establish His kingdom on earth.
But wherever He went, what did He see? When you read the Gospels, you may be surprised. Everywhere our Lord Jesus went when He was on earth, He saw the blind, the lame, the sick, and the dead.
He came to seek His people, but there were no people at all. The people were blind, lame, sick, and dead. He had to open the eyes of the blind. He had to heal. He had to raise up the dead. He had to find His own people. That was the reason for His first coming.
Even though the King was already here, He had no kingdom. Therefore, His preaching was, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand.” It was not here yet. He came to find the people of His kingdom.
After some people really believed in Him and became His disciples, He went up into the mountain. His disciples came to Him, and He opened His mouth and spoke to them.
The Sermon on the Mount was not for the general people. They overheard it, but He spoke to His disciples. Unfortunately, the world overheard it, and because they heard it, they use it to attack Christians. That is very unfortunate. But, unfortunately, Christians did not hear it.
We should hear it, not the world. Notice:
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
Who are the poor in spirit? Remember, it is not “blessed are the poor-spirited.” It is “poor in spirit.” It means that you have been emptied by God—emptied of yourself, emptied of all that is not of Christ.
There is almost nothing within you. Christ is everything to you. With that kind of spirit, there is the kingdom of the heavens.
If you are rich in spirit, if you think you are better than anybody else, if you think you are full, you are outside of the kingdom of the heavens. Why? Because who is poor in spirit? Our Lord Jesus Himself.
Though He was in the form of God, He counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant and becoming a man. He was obedient to His Father, going to death, even the death of the cross.
He is the One who is poor in spirit. So His is the kingdom of the heavens.
Brothers and sisters, when you read Matthew 5, it ends with the word extraordinary. In verse 47, the Lord speaks of doing more than others. We Christians are extraordinary.
Why are we extraordinary? Because Matthew 5:48 says:
Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Our God is extraordinary. We often treat God as ordinary, as though He is like us. But He is extraordinary. He is altogether different. He is all by Himself. No one can be compared with Him. No one understands His purity or knows how holy He is. He is beyond our understanding.
Because He is extraordinary, you too ought to be extraordinary. Do not be content to be ordinary. For God’s sake, we want to be extraordinary.
But you cannot be extraordinary until it is Christ in you who is extraordinary. Then you will be perfect as God is perfect—not in degree, but in nature.
By the grace of God, the life of Christ can be constituted in us. Then there will be something extraordinary: Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Then, when you come to Matthew 6, you find how this life is lived. You do not live before men; you live before God. Everything is toward God.
Matthew 6:33 says:
But seek ye first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
This is the way we live on this earth. We seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. While the people of the world are seeking the world, we are seeking His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto us.
Then, in chapter 7, we find this is the way of life: we build upon rock, not upon sand.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. It is not what we can do or what we try to be. It is that we offer ourselves to the Lord and let His Holy Spirit work in us, delivering us from ourselves and filling us with Christ Jesus. This makes us a people in the kingdom of the heavens.
Therefore, when you come to Matthew 11:12:
From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of the heavens suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force.
The Lord had been preaching for some time, and He had disciples following Him. So He said, “The kingdom of the heavens is now.” It was no longer merely that the kingdom of heaven had drawn near. So far as the reality of the kingdom is concerned, it was now here.
Who enters into the kingdom of the heavens today? He said it is taken by force. We do not like the word violence, because that word has a bad connotation. But, strictly speaking, the word itself is neutral. Whether it is good or bad depends upon its connection.
If you are violent toward people, that is bad. But if you are violent toward yourself, that is excellent. If you do not want the word violent, that is fine. You can use the word force. The kingdom of heaven is to be seized by force.
What does this mean? It means that as Christians, you cannot just lie back and be carried into heaven. We have a wrong concept. Before we believed in the Lord Jesus, we found the world very difficult. Then we believed in the Lord Jesus, and we thought everything had changed and that we would be carried into heaven.
You will find that to be a Christian is even more difficult than to be a worldly person. If you are a worldly person, you go along with the world, and the world goes along with you. But now you are a Christian, and you are swimming against the current. You will find it even more difficult.
But thank God, the more difficult, the better. Why? Because Christ can prove Himself in you. It is not you proving yourself, how trustworthy you are. It gives opportunity for Christ to prove to you that nothing is impossible with Him.
To be violent is a matter of using force. Brothers and sisters, is it not true that we Christians today are too free? We do not apply ourselves.
You find Paul in Philippians. Even when he was in prison in Rome, he was still pressing on toward the goal. He counted the knowledge of our Lord Jesus as most precious.
Oh, brothers and sisters, may this kind of spirit mark us today. We want to seize upon the kingdom of the heavens.
Remember one thing: the people who today live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens shall reign with Christ at the appearance of the kingdom of heaven upon the earth. They shall reign with Christ for a thousand years.
Why? Because you will reign, not by yourself, but by the Christ in you.
That you will not be saved is not the issue, because it is the grace of God, and His grace knows no repentance. But during the kingdom age, you will be outside of the kingdom, and you will repent. You will be disciplined until you are ready for eternity.
Brothers and sisters, this morning I would like to impress upon you that, by God’s grace, we should allow Him to do His full work in us, so that none of us will casually take the grace of God.
Learn to be violent to yourself. As the Spirit of God begins to challenge you, when He reminds you of something in you that is not of God, then do violence to yourself.
As Matthew 16:24 says:
If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
If you do that, you will prove yourself to be living in the kingdom of the heavens today. There is a guarantee for you to reign with Christ during the thousand years.
But remember, it is all of grace. None can do it by himself or herself. But His grace is here, ready to give to you, if you are willing to accept it.
May the Lord help us that, by His grace—nothing to boast of—we may press on toward the goal.
Dear Lord, we do commit these scattered words into Your hand. We look to Your Holy Spirit to bring them to our hearts and enable us to cast ourselves totally upon You.
We want to confess today that in us, that is, in our flesh, there is no good thing. But we pray, thank You, Lord, through Jesus Christ.
May You be praised and worshipped. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
As we mentioned before, we want to take this time to respond to what we have heard. We do not want this to be understanding alone. It is more important that we take this to our hearts.
Can we repent? Can we be the people He is speaking after? I encourage you to pray in either language, Chinese or English. For those who pray in Chinese, please allow translation into English. Let us take these words before the Lord, and at the end we will close the prayer together.
Lord, we think of how unworthy we are, but we thank You so much that You give us so much grace that we can walk this way of the heavens. We fall short, and so many times we want to be just simple Christians, but in being so, we miss so much.
Lord, we do not want to be those who are standing outside the gate, gnashing our teeth. May we be those who continually press toward our Lord. We thank You so much that You have given us hope. We thank God and worship You, Jesus.
Precious Lord, we want to thank You. We thank You that once again You have given us such a wonderful word. Lord, so many times what we see as important, we know that it is not. May we lay those things aside. May we lay them down, because, Lord, You know us.
Lord, we thank You that even though there are so many things that we are drawn to on this earth, we can come before Your presence. Anything that we cannot do, You can do. So, Lord, may we lay all these temporary things aside, and may we seek after You. We pray this in Jesus’ name.
Lord, let us truly live the life that You call us to live. Let us claim that name Christian, to be a testimony for You in this world. Lord, let us be beautiful to You, and let all of Your beauty shine through us.
Lord, we are those who have been concerned only with ourselves. We pray that You would cause us to really take up the cross and follow You, to be violent with ourselves and to seek You and Your kingdom in the first place.
So we pray, Lord, speak to our hearts. Have Your testimony in these last days. Amen.
Lord, conform us to Your image. Our prayer is that the reality of Matthew 5, 6, and 7 may be real in each of our lives, that we may be willing to take up our cross and follow You.
Lord, help us to do violence to ourselves, in order that You may gain Your own glorious kingdom. We thank You that it is by Your grace that we will be able to walk this way. By Your Holy Spirit, by Your life in us, may we have teachable hearts and be willing to follow You. We pray in Jesus’ precious name.
Lord, as when You asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, You provided the lamb. Thank You so much, for You have made all things possible for us to walk in this way. We pray that we may walk in Your provision. Amen.
Lord, You declared, even at that time, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We thank You that today You have brought Your servant to share with us this message of the kingdom of the heavens.
Lord, today we can repent because we know that we need to live in the reality of the kingdom, for Your testimony’s sake. Once we do that, then the end will come. Lord, we cry out, “Help us, Lord.”
Help us to be those who can live in this reality before Your presence. We do have a desire to follow You, and therefore to hasten Your return. We pray this in Jesus’ name.
Lord, we want to thank You. You are so merciful. We thank You that You spoke to us today. We bow down and worship You. We thank You that You have revealed to us the way of the kingdom of the heavens.
Lord, You know our weaknesses and how poor we are. You know our condition. We praise and worship You because You are full of mercy. We thank You that today You have revealed this way to us.
Lord, give us a heart to receive Your Word. Give us a repentant heart so that we today might repent before Your presence. May these words continue to be revealed to us, so that indeed we can draw nigh into the kingdom of heaven.
May we today follow You. We want to bow down before Your presence. You indeed are full of grace, and it is by Your grace that we can live in the kingdom. We give all the glory unto You in Jesus’ name.
Lord, because we fall short of our responsibility, we thank You that it is Your grace that we can hear the message of the kingdom of heaven and be able to be witnesses of the kingdom of heaven.
Lord, we do repent before You, not only for our sins, but for how often we do not do violence to ourselves. We do not empty ourselves by the grace and work of the Holy Spirit, and we do not allow Christ to be all in our lives.
Lord, today we fall on our knees before You. We thank You for this word. We pray that Christ will work even deeper in our lives, that we can live the reality of the kingdom of heaven. In the name of our Lord Jesus, we pray.
We thank You, Lord, that during these end days, You sent Your servant to speak to us because You know our condition. You know our old man, which always wants to follow our own way.
Lord, we thank You that Your heart is so full of mercy that You do not want us to be outside the gate. You want us to do violence to ourselves. So we praise You and thank You.
Lord, may we even today, even now, repent. Turn our hearts unto You. Turn our eyes to our Lord. May the lampstand be before us. May we deny ourselves today. May we take up the cross and follow the Lamb that was slain.
Lord, You are the beginning, and You are the end. All and everything is done by You. Thank You for reminding us that just being saved today does not equate with entering into the kingdom. Lord, we want to enter into the kingdom.
Lord, we are those who are thirsty. We are those who are far away from You. We see the desolation of the church today. We ask that You would have mercy upon us. May we be those who can deny ourselves by Your Spirit, and may all the glory be unto You.
Lord, may this message today really work in our lives and make us respond today. May we even say, “Hallelujah,” because we are those who want to enter the kingdom. We thank You in Jesus’ name.
Lord, may we be emptied of ourselves. Help us to make that provision. May we wish to be apart from ourselves, no longer wanting our own will, but Yours to be done.
Help us to make You King. You deserve it, Lord. You are on the throne. May we put You on the throne of our hearts, that You might be glorified, that You might have Your way, and that we could be a witness to You. We ask it in Jesus’ name.
We are going to have a lunch break from now until two o’clock. You are on your own.
We do have the downstairs basement. If you have brought your own lunch, or if you would like to get something outside, bring it downstairs. We have water and some simple things. You can sit down and eat and have fellowship.
There are also places nearby where you can buy pastries, soup, and other food. There are small eating places that are not too expensive. It is up to you what you would like to do.
Anyway, we will be coming back here at two o’clock. Please be here before then, because we are going to start the meeting and we do not want you to miss out.