I hope God uses me, by means of first losing my personal freedom, to
tell those who have deprived me of my personal freedom that there is an
authority higher than their authority, and that there is a freedom that
they cannot restrain, a freedom that fills the church of the crucified
and risen Jesus Christ...
...
And so, respectable officers, stop committing evil. This is not for my benefit but rather for yours and your children’s. I plead earnestly with you to stay your hands, for why should you be willing to pay the price of eternal damnation in hell for the sake of a lowly sinner such as I?
Jesus is the Christ, son of the eternal, living God. He died for sinners and rose to life for us. He is my king and the king of the whole earth yesterday, today, and forever. I am his servant, and I am imprisoned because of this. I will resist in meekness those who resist God, and I will joyfully violate all laws that violate God’s laws.
The Lord’s servant,
Wang Yi
https://christiandailyreporter.com/faithful-disobedience.html?fbclid=IwAR2YFin8z5Fpjja2_XYyfbqhktl3uNxSCgsEoejfTsghl78halxDtrcjOFg
These words - these flying, beautiful words were penned by a prominent Chinese minister, to be released in the event of his arrest. Wang Yi and his wife disappeared last Sunday and when it became apparent that they have been arrested by the Communist Chinese government, these beautiful, powerful words were released. I would really encourage you to click on the link and read the whole letter. I can only say I wish I'd written them.
How important is it for us to have written testimony...a statement of faith? Whether or not it is necessary (depending largely on where you live in the world), it is an interesting project to undertake. It would be a statement of faith in Jesus Christ...words to display to the government that they may have the power to incarcerate and imprison or even murder us, but that that theirs is not the ultimate authority nor the greatest power. There is an Authority before whom they (the government and those who are coming against the Church of Jesus Christ) will some day kneel before and have to give an account for their treatment of God's people. And as this letter above states, they will be spending eternity in hell because we have a loving Father who will NOT allow those who have come against His Church and His children, to walk away with impunity and most of all because they did not acknowledge the ruler-ship of Christ Jesus and claim the power of His blood over their sins.
The bravery of this pastor blows me away. These words can get him tortured and killed. They are the evidence of a fearless heart and of an unquestioning faith in the authority of God the Father and are the evidence of an absolute belief in an eternity where there will be absolute freedom and relief of pain and imprisonment; a world where the sufferings of this life will be long passed and will not even be a blip on the radar of our memory.
Friends, please pray for this man and his family. Pray for God's mercy and for the victory of justice to be done. Pray for his wife and children. And above all, pray for those who have imprisoned him. May he gain the respect of his jailers.....may they become convinced of the truth of this man's faith and bow their knee sooner rather than only later and that their souls would be saved from eternal damnation. And then pray for yourselves and for your church and your family--that you will have the courage to survive in similar circumstances. Pray that your faith will remain firm and will be purified by the heat of the refiner's fire. Pray for the integrity of your testimony-- that you mean what you say and will not back down, regardless of what that means.
Listen to the words of the song "Living Hope" by Phil Wickham posted in the video above. Here are the first and last verses:
...
And so, respectable officers, stop committing evil. This is not for my benefit but rather for yours and your children’s. I plead earnestly with you to stay your hands, for why should you be willing to pay the price of eternal damnation in hell for the sake of a lowly sinner such as I?
Jesus is the Christ, son of the eternal, living God. He died for sinners and rose to life for us. He is my king and the king of the whole earth yesterday, today, and forever. I am his servant, and I am imprisoned because of this. I will resist in meekness those who resist God, and I will joyfully violate all laws that violate God’s laws.
The Lord’s servant,
Wang Yi
https://christiandailyreporter.com/faithful-disobedience.html?fbclid=IwAR2YFin8z5Fpjja2_XYyfbqhktl3uNxSCgsEoejfTsghl78halxDtrcjOFg
These words - these flying, beautiful words were penned by a prominent Chinese minister, to be released in the event of his arrest. Wang Yi and his wife disappeared last Sunday and when it became apparent that they have been arrested by the Communist Chinese government, these beautiful, powerful words were released. I would really encourage you to click on the link and read the whole letter. I can only say I wish I'd written them.
How important is it for us to have written testimony...a statement of faith? Whether or not it is necessary (depending largely on where you live in the world), it is an interesting project to undertake. It would be a statement of faith in Jesus Christ...words to display to the government that they may have the power to incarcerate and imprison or even murder us, but that that theirs is not the ultimate authority nor the greatest power. There is an Authority before whom they (the government and those who are coming against the Church of Jesus Christ) will some day kneel before and have to give an account for their treatment of God's people. And as this letter above states, they will be spending eternity in hell because we have a loving Father who will NOT allow those who have come against His Church and His children, to walk away with impunity and most of all because they did not acknowledge the ruler-ship of Christ Jesus and claim the power of His blood over their sins.
The bravery of this pastor blows me away. These words can get him tortured and killed. They are the evidence of a fearless heart and of an unquestioning faith in the authority of God the Father and are the evidence of an absolute belief in an eternity where there will be absolute freedom and relief of pain and imprisonment; a world where the sufferings of this life will be long passed and will not even be a blip on the radar of our memory.
Friends, please pray for this man and his family. Pray for God's mercy and for the victory of justice to be done. Pray for his wife and children. And above all, pray for those who have imprisoned him. May he gain the respect of his jailers.....may they become convinced of the truth of this man's faith and bow their knee sooner rather than only later and that their souls would be saved from eternal damnation. And then pray for yourselves and for your church and your family--that you will have the courage to survive in similar circumstances. Pray that your faith will remain firm and will be purified by the heat of the refiner's fire. Pray for the integrity of your testimony-- that you mean what you say and will not back down, regardless of what that means.
Listen to the words of the song "Living Hope" by Phil Wickham posted in the video above. Here are the first and last verses:
"How great the chasm that lay between us
How high the mountain I could not climb
In desperation, I turned to heaven
And spoke Your name into the night
Then through the darkness, Your loving-kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished, the end is written
Jesus Christ, my living hope
How high the mountain I could not climb
In desperation, I turned to heaven
And spoke Your name into the night
Then through the darkness, Your loving-kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished, the end is written
Jesus Christ, my living hope
'"Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There's salvation in your name."
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There's salvation in your name."
This song is sort of an anthem for me and I feel like it is relevant to this post. I feel like it is a song that pastor Yi would sing with gusto...
NOTE: I examined the Christian Daily Reporter site and could not find a way to ask their permission to publish the quote by Pastor Yi above. I mean no malice or plagiarism.
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