The True Jesus Church's banner of unity has been raised

Can a sword take the life of one who lives forever? What earthly prohibition can silence the unfailing utterances of the one who commanded light to shine out of darkness?

Paul was able to say, “For I am ready [...] also to die at Jerusalem.” This is because he strongly believed that he could “do all things through Christ”. These things included being able, while bound in chains, to continue proclaiming to the outside world the good news that God was able to loosen all shackles and give freedom to mankind. Similarly, the blood of one who was killed could yet continue to declare down through the ages the words of grace which give eternal redemption to all.

Did you know? God is waiting for you in the fiery furnace. God is whispering to you under the crown of thorns. God is kissing deeply and tenderly every swollen welt made by the forty stripes minus one inflicted on you. Yes, the Lord has promised to give you His peace, on condition that you first accept His invitation to suffering.

While I was being falsely accused and pursued in May 2013, God appeared in the fiery furnace and demonstrated grace that, until now, had been beyond all imagination! Investigations by the National Security, Public Security and Religious Affairs departments concerning this old man from France happened to lead officials from these departments to visit, for the first time, the chapel of a certain place of worship which was undergoing greater pressure at the time than any other place. This place of worship was still unregistered at the time, but when these officials had been apprised of the situation, they (almost immediately) granted approval for it to become a lawful place of worship! This also shows the Chinese government’s flexibility and goodwill in its policies concerning lawful religious exchanges, as well as its disapproval of false accusations. Praise be to the true God! When the relevant authorities in that place had been made aware of the facts, they told us very directly, “Those TJC people who have made false accusations against you are asking us to catch thieves but they themselves are the thieves!” In other words: “These people are themselves in frequent contact with people from abroad, but they have had the gall to secretly report that others have been colluding with religious personnel from overseas, and have claimed that you were going to set up an unlawful organization for the unification of all the TJCs in the country!”
Clearly, in TJC there are certain factions who are very reluctant to see the various southern, northern and central sections of the TJC surrendering themselves to the almighty Lord in order to be united. Nevertheless, he who keeps the Lord’s works until the end will be victorious; the Lord will give the victor power to dash all obstructions to pieces (cf. Rev 2:26–27).

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After March 2012, I (YM) became a free and unfettered servant of the Lord. One of the areas of work foremost on my mind was my father, Elder John Yang’s, earnest wish for the unification of the northern and southern sections of the church. I was therefore able to visit easily the True Jesus Churches that I had been forbidden from visiting (!!) during my time working for the IA. I visited the offspring of my father’s co-workers from the General Assembly of the True Jesus Church in China prior to 1949; this has now been divided into the southern and northern branches.

1. I walked down a dark corridor and tapped on the door, still marked with a red “Five Virtues Family” sticker from an old campaign. Someone inside answered; footsteps advanced slowly and the door creaked open. I entered the room my mother had stayed in with my elder sister, who was still in her infancy at the time; “Your mother slept in this bed!”, the owner of the house said to me. I saw a dim vision of my mother sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling kindly. Coming to myself, I asked Auntie Hui Ling, aged over eighty years and from the southern section—she had never left the GA office or dormitory as her father (Elder Z. Zhang) had been imprisoned for many years because of his faith: “What is the greatest difference between the church of today and the church you once knew?” “Money, power, secularization!” Though thin and slight in stature, she had a determined look on her weather-beaten face and made her reply without hesitation.

2. I also visited the daughter of another of my father’s co-workers, Elder Silas Niu, who belonged to the northern section. Her name was Sister En-Yu Niu. A year ago, Sister Niu suddenly came to visit me one night at a place of worship in a certain big city. “Old neighbor!”, she immediately cried out upon seeing me. It turned out that, after the reforms and opening up of the country in 1988, my father had returned twice to China to visit the churches he had lost contact with for almost forty years, both in the south and in the north. Whenever he went to the north, he was sure to visit this family of his late co-worker. When she had sat down, Sister Niu told me that what she wanted most was to help reconcile the northern and southern sections. There and then, she invited me to the northern section’s place of worship in Nanjing to lead the Sabbath service that week. From that day on, we took Sister Niu with us as we went around getting to know some of the places in which services were observed in accordance with the practices of the southern section. I remember in May 2013 when I was invited to a certain place to conduct the Holy Communion sacrament, Sister Niu pulled me aside and whispered to me, saying, “Little brother, you know that we (the northern section) observe the “Supper” only once a year on the night of the Passover. So I won’t be partaking of it later on.” I said, “But you must be present; don’t leave.” So Sister Niu stayed on and carefully observed my every move from start to finish as I conducted the Holy Communion sacrament. Afterwards, she laughingly criticized me for not having raised the heavy vessel prepared for over four hundred people quite high enough when I knelt down to give thanks and bless the cup! Haha. We all had dinner together that night. For the first time in my life, I saw co-workers from the southern, northern and central sections, having been separated for several decades, eating and drinking together in close communion before God (Ex 24:11). Thanks and praises be to the true God!

http://www.seventhousand.net/zh-hant/node/371

In May 2013, I was falsely accused and pursued by the authorities. After this occasion, I returned to China one day. In order to avoid being hindered once again by Judas, this time I made an entry so quiet that nobody knew where I was headed after I had got off the plane. In that house, I met brethren from various places who had gone through all kinds of tribulations for their faith: elders who today lead hundreds of thousands of believers, and middle-aged co-workers who have devoted their life’s effort to the preaching of the gospel. Among them were members from the north, where head coverings are worn, as well as members from the south, where salt is not added to the unleavened bread. Everyone had come together for the important purpose of the future unification of the church. They were ready to put aside the disputes of the past between the north and the south, and to join hands in one accord to gather together deep within the heart of God.

“Unity” does not refer to the unity of the power structures of an (unlawful) organization, but to the spiritual unity of a body whose every member functions independently, yet helps and supports the other members of the same body. It is to be united in heart with the heart of our Lord God. The great cause of unification will be the most fragrant incense offering that the True Jesus Church is able to offer to the true God before He comes again. Oh Lord! Please lead the way, bless the work and may You accomplish this undertaking!

During the course of the dialogue, Elder X told everyone, “We must hurry! We must hurry!” I asked, “Why are you in such a hurry?” Choking back his tears, the elder replied, “I am old and useless; what I hope for most is to see this unification while I am still alive!” I was deeply moved by this. I believe even the heavens were too. During the meeting, I gazed at these faithful workers who had led a million believers through decades of long winters; their countenances were as lovely as Tirzah and as beautiful as Jerusalem. Today, as they were quietly gathered together, they gave forth the majestic air of a mighty host about to unleash its power; an awesome army with the banners of the Lord was about to begin its journey (Song 6:4)!

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Can a sword take the life of one who lives forever? What earthly prohibition can silence the unfailing utterances of the one who commanded light to shine out of darkness?

Elder Y, who had personally experienced the lowest points in the spiritual battle of the church, told me when he met me for the first time last year: “All of us old folks in this region knew your father very well. I have been following your story closely. In my opinion, what is of greatest significance concerning this incident is that, because these things have happened, you have been able to come to this region freely. And it is because this central region containing 80% of (1.5 million) TJC members exists that it now has the chance of being known by the TJCs all over the world.” In my heart, I continue to ponder over these words, and with my eyes, I continue to observe the progress of the work of the Holy Spirit.

In June, I heard a piece of news that saddened and worried me: Elder Wang, honored by the IA as a distinguished guest and therefore able to attend the World Delegates Conference held in April 2013, representative of the Fuqing Board of Ministers, said in his recent visit to the Malaysian churches (words to this effect): “There is a total of only 80,000 people in all the countries under the IA, but I (areas under the care of the Fuqing Board of Ministers) have 180,000 people!”

Listen! The train whistle is blowing. Clouds of white smoke are billowing from the chimney of the locomotive; its wheels are rattling—the train is about to depart! Get on board, quick! 80+180 thousand! Put an end to your hegemony; abandon your factions! Hurry, climb aboard!

Choo... chooo... Northern branch! Get on the train! Southern branch! Get on the train! Central branch! Get on the train!
Come back! Return to the fold! IA! Come back! Return to the fold! Fuqing!

Do you hear? A chorus of angels is singing in the background: If not for the power of the Lord God, who would be able to move this vehicle with its millions?

Amen! Oh Lord! May you come as quickly as a gazelle or a young stag! Amen!

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Notes:

There is something that I have long not understood. When I (YM) was still an IA EXCO member and an IA preacher, the things I used to hear in meetings about the state of the church in China were completely at odds with what I saw when I went there in March 2010. In addition to this, one of the four charges I was terminated for was “privately assisting the True Jesus Churches outside of Fuqing without permission”!

a. At the meeting held in March 2012, one of the false charges jointly fabricated by the IA and Fuqing’s Board of Ministers was that YM entered China while he was on leave and privately visited True Jesus Churches that the organization had not given him permission to visit (hereinafter referred to as region A), thus undermining the unity of the church!

b. Before March 2012, there were two preachers from the Taiwan GA who, despite repeated warnings, fearlessly and frequently continued to use their leave to assist with the holy work in region A. However, ever since the incident of the termination, when it was seen that the livelihood of a preacher’s family could be affected, the work has quietened down.

c. In March 2013, Elder V from Taiwan was invited to lecture in region A as he happened to be visiting his relatives living there at the time. Upon his return, he was actually questioned by the Taiwan GA chairman, Lin, as to why he had privately gone to give lessons without first obtaining permission (!!) ...

d. The overall membership of region A is five times that of the IA and Fuqing. The churches there are True Jesus Churches, but in terms of organization are not linked with the IA. Why is it that, in recent years, the IA has not followed the steps towards unification taken by past workers, who contacted and cared for both the south and the north? Why does the IA instead accuse workers who make contact with the churches in region A of “undermining the unity” of the church? Are they worried that the appearance of region A on the scene will undermine their (the IA’s and Fuqing’s) “number one” status in the TJC? Nevertheless, can man put down what God has purposed to raise up? (1 Sam 2:1–10)

e. In recent years, thanks to the verbal and written information coming from the IA and Fuqing, TJCs outside of China have been given the mistaken impression that the 80+180 thousand refers to the membership of the orthodox TJCs, and that the divine work done in the rest of the world and in mainland China that is not from the IA or Fuqing has deviated, is illegitimate and has not been sent by the Holy Spirit!

f. Yes, directed internally, when speaking of matters concerning power and leadership, this is how things are put. The implication is: the leaders must be orthodox believers; therefore, it is obvious that only I am qualified to be a leader! Yet, when reporting membership figures to the outside world, those referred to internally as “deviants” are all added into the figures by both parties (the IA and Fuqing)! As a result, those on the outside give them great respect, mistakenly thinking that these people are leaders of a large congregation of over 1.5 million believers!

If anyone wants the power of the council, let them fight for it! The latter days will be days in which the power of the Spirit shall overcome all earthly power! May the Lord grant us greater spiritual power, so that we may prepare to meet Him at His second coming!

May God bless and protect His kingdom!

YM 2013.07.16