PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

The World Situation and God's Move

In a small book entitled The World Situation and God's Move, written in 1982, Witness Lee observed: "The events of the world history have been sovereignly arranged by God for Him to carry out His purpose." The events in New York and Washington DC that occurred on September 11 require us to again affirm that everything is under the governing hand of our God. As believers it is incumbent on us to pay attention to the current state of world affairs and to find the focus of God's move corresponding to those conditions. This issue of Parenthood reviews some of the comments from the above book for our consideration in responding to the tragic events of September 11. The Lord has prepared the United States as a place for His economy to be consummated. Now we must rise up to cooperate with Him for the completion of His purpose. "The night is far advanced, and the day has drawn near" (Romans 13: 12) Witness Lee wrote:

The situation of this country is ... good for the practice of the church life. It is peaceful, comfortable, and prosperous. Unfortunately, this very situation also makes it easy for evil to flourish. American society can ruin the young people if they are not in the church life....

The United States is also the center when it comes to travel. From any part of the world one can reach this country by plane within eighteen hours. Even far-off Australia and New Zealand are no farther away than this. The international airports like those in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas are busy. The skies are full of planes transporting people to and from the United States.

American English is known by educated peoples worldwide. College graduates in any country can read the publications that come from the United States. Don't think that all these things happened accidentally. Don't forget Acts 17:26 which says that the times have been appointed by our God; the boundaries have been drawn by Him. He prepared the Roman Empire; He prepared Germany five hundred years ago; He prepared Great Britain. And today He has prepared the U.S.A., not just for the preaching of the gospel, nor just for the teaching of the truth, nor just for scriptural meetings, but for the preparation of the bride. Witness Lee, The World Situation and God's Move, p. 31

Today we can see the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, Israel's forefather: "I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee" (Genesis 12:3)....The United States is blessing Israel and is under God's blessing. The billions of dollars in financial aid that the United States has sent to Israel has brought God's blessing to the United States.

THE UNITED STATES

Today the world is under the leadership of the United States. God has preserved this country and blessed her with riches. He has sovereignly prepared her for the carrying out of the final stage of His recovery. Because there is freedom of speech, we are free to spread the light we have seen in the Word....

We must realize our tremendous responsibility with these four things. Firstly, we must preach the gospel properly, adequately, genuinely. Secondly, we must teach people the Bible, bringing them to the full knowledge of the truth. We must be a people who really respect and know God's divine Word. Thirdly, we must drop all kinds of religion and practices and come together according to the Bible. We have to be just genuine, biblical, bonafide, regenerated, saved, blood-washed Christians coming together to meet in the name of the Lord Jesus according to the Bible, with no organization.

However, although all these help, they still cannot satisfy God's desire. What is His desire? It is for us to live Christ, to have Christ as our living, to have Christ as the reality, the real contents of the church life, making every local church a golden lampstand. The Body life will reach the reality of Romans 12 and this will be the spontaneous preparation of the bride for His coming back. From the very beginning, even from eternity, this is what the Lord has desired. This is the goal of the Lord's recovery. This has been missed and neglected today, so it is toward this that the Lord is working.

The world situation has been prepared for this very purpose. The world situation under the leadership of the United States is fully for this purpose. America has been preserved for this. This is why God has blessed the United States with riches and influence. This is why so many people can easily come here.

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