March 26, 2020
To all the dear saints in all the churches in the Lord’s recovery:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?…
But in all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us.
— Romans 8:35, 37
Grace and peace be multiplied to you all. May this message find you going on in the fear of the Lord and
in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. In these difficult days all the churches and the saints across the earth
are being carried in our hearts and are borne on our shoulders before the throne of grace. We write to
share with you a word of assurance, comfort, and encouragement as we face the pandemic that is
ravaging large parts of the globe and upending many of our lives in an unprecedented way. We are
petitioning on your behalf that the Father would strengthen you with power so that you may be firmly
established and unshaken in Him. We are interceding with you that the Lord’s testimony in His recovery
would be upheld as we pass through this extraordinary time together.
In the recent feasts we have seen Christ in His all-inclusiveness and all-extensiveness as our God-allotted
portion. He is the all-sufficient One who is able to meet our every need in every situation. Such a Christ
was enjoyed and ministered by the apostle Paul while he was in prison. Paul’s pattern should be most
meaningful to us in our situation today. The more restricted we are outwardly, the more we should
spend time with the Lord to absorb His riches and enjoy His provisions. May we redeem this opportunity
by drawing closer to Christ, by opening to Him and to His Word, so that we might be infused with Him
and be one with Him. Then we can live Him in His all-fitting life with joy and contentment, free from
anxiety, fear, and turmoil.
During this time of seclusion in our homes, we should exercise to stay connected to each other,
considering one another and inciting one another. All the saints need the supply of the Body. Even
though we may be unable to gather physically, we must not forsake our assembling together but rather
meet often with the help of modern technology. Let us reach out to one another to enjoy mutual
fellowship and prayer by twos and threes or in small groups. Do not forget to care for the older and
weaker ones among us or neglect to shepherd those who are young or needy. As we care for each other
as members in these ways, we will find that our hearts are being enlarged and that we are being knit
together in love. In these days the church life ought not to be suspended at all but rather be thriving and
growing.
These are days to be sober unto prayers. We should first pray ourselves into God to receive His supply
and then, following the inner anointing, stand with the Lord for His interests in intercessory prayer. We
can pray for God’s economy to be carried out, for His will to be accomplished, for Christ to administrate
the world situation, for those in authority to have wisdom, for people to be saved, for the lukewarm to
turn back to God, for all the saints’ spiritual life to be uplifted and their material needs to be met, and
for the recovery to prosper. If we devote adequate time to petition and supplication, this list is endless.
Moreover, we should realize that behind this tumultuous outward environment, there is a spiritual war
taking place in the heavenlies in which Satan is trying to frustrate God’s move and wear down His saints.
As the Body of Christ, let us put on the whole armor of God to stand and withstand, that the enemy
would be bound and defeated.
Our Savior God desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth. These days
we should be full of burden for the unsaved around us. While we have Christ as our shelter in times of
trials, the unbelievers who do not know Christ have no such refuge and easily become distressed and
gripped by fear and despair. They desperately need to hear the gospel of peace and receive the God
who is peace. Now is an opportune time for a fresh spread of the gospel to our relatives, friends,
neighbors, and colleagues. In season and out of season, we should rise up and preach the Word, boldly
testifying of Christ and the great salvation we have in Him.
We are a people with a great hope, a hope that is not in this age or in the things of this age. Our hope is
in our dear Lord Jesus and in His coming back. We seek to hasten His return because we love His
appearing. Thus, we cooperate with His transforming work in us to be prepared as His Bride, we co-labor
with Him to carry out His divine enterprise in the midst of this satanic chaos, and we watch and pray for
His coming back. This worldwide calamity is part of the birth pangs that anticipate greater tribulation at
the end of this age. Now is the time for us believers to awake from our sleep and to heed the prophetic
word of the Scriptures as a lamp that guides us to the dawning of the day when the King returns.
Dear saints, this is not a time to shrink back but to come forward. We are assured in the Lord that after
passing through the current upheaval with endurance, the Lord’s recovery will emerge stronger and
more prevailing than ever. Even in the midst of the present environment, the Lord has afforded us a
marvelous way to advance with Him, particularly through our practice of the God-ordained way in the
home-based and vital group church life assisted by technology. History tells us that when the church
undergoes suffering and persecution, Christ has a way to advance His move even more. Let us be
energized by His inward operation to sail on!
The God of all grace, He who has called us into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus,
after you have suffered a little while, will Himself perfect, establish, strengthen, and ground you.
To Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen.
— 1 Peter 5:10-11
Our love in Christ Jesus be with you all,
The co-workers in the Lord’s recovery
