THE CHINESE believers see the Gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection in all their activities. Out of a great love for this Savior they speak to Him and of Him often to everyone they meet. The simplicity of the message of the cross of Christ581 has gripped them and persecution has allowed the Church as a whole to keep this as their main message. In every meeting of the underground Church, Jesus Christ is given the rightful place as Head582 of the meeting and He is recognized in the midst.583
Many people in China carry the cross of Jesus. They see the verse as literal: “And whoever does not carry their cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.”584 And the verse: “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.’”585
Brothers and sisters carry the cross in China where many are imprisoned, beaten, tortured and even put to death. They say: The cross helps us to confess our sins and be right with Jesus. To carry our cross we have to walk side by side with Jesus to give a testimony of His love for salvation. We understand the persecution in Hebrews chapter 11 and we walk with the Lord. For this reason He gives us His power and the presence of Jesus is with us. Our faith is only in Him and He gives us strength to endure.586 We are the salt and the light of this world.587 How will people know if we don’t tell them?588 We must be obedient to Jesus commands’ so that He can return to us. The whole world must hear about Jesus’ salvation and then Jesus will come back to us.589 Many of us have been imprisoned many times. We don’t know what the next day will bring. When we experience jail, beatings, electric shock, and other torture we feel that Jesus is with us. He won’t let us suffer more than we can bear.590 We experience how Jesus was crucified on the cross to carry our sins and we understand the cost of sin. That is why we love Him so much. We understand what He did for us to forgive us our sins. We feel sorry for our torturers. We say like Jesus said from the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”591 We also want them to know about Jesus and we try to tell them. We are ready every day to die. So we must be ready every day to face God in heaven.
We want to bring Jesus to the world because He won’t return until all the world has heard the Gospel. Every Christian knows it is their responsibility to tell others the Gospel. We want to bring the Gospel to all of China, and then from there to Jerusalem. The Lord will reign forever when He comes back. In the meantime if we must suffer a little, He will give us strength and dry our tears. The suffering is only for a short while.592 Please be obedient and take up your cross and walk next to Jesus.
“One night I was in Western China and the Spirit of the Lord filled the room. Everyone fell to their faces and started crying and calling out to the Lord. During these meetings I couldn’t sleep for two days and two nights. I couldn’t stop praying. The Holy Spirit was so strong. Young people began to call out, ‘Yes, Lord, I am willing to die in that country for you.”593 Such is the sovereign calling of Jesus as Head of His Church for believers in the end times to go to specific countries for His Gospel witness.
Instead of fancy Bible schools and seminary buildings these precious Chinese believers at times meet in caves: “On a recent visit to China, they were introduced to our underground seminary school and witnessed firsthand the high cost of following the Lord in China. They visited the secret seminary school one evening. Dressed in dark clothing, they ran silently across a field and crawled through the small cave opening undetected. While there they learned the real sacrifice these students make on a daily basis. For six months of the year, these students live in the cave, leaving infrequently and only under the protective cover of darkness. Their day starts at 6 A.M., with prayer and devotion. Around 8 A.M. the students receive their first meal of the day, which is a bun with mincemeat. They usually don’t eat again until dinner, which features the same meal as breakfast. Their intense education takes place between these two small meals. After a rigorous day of learning, they fall asleep on a bed of hay on the cave floor.”594
The urgency to share Jesus Christ with the world is deeply engrained in these believers’ hearts as well as believing and proclaiming the soon literal coming of the Lord. We can learn much from this example to keep the message simple595 and to not be as much focused on our church programs, ministries and resources. When Jesus Christ becomes the centre and Head of the Church again the message is simple, the way made plain and the power is given596 by the Holy Spirit to accomplish the task of spreading the Gospel.597