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 Christ

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 Head of the meeting and He is recognized in the midst.

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.” 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.’”

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.

We are the salt and the light of this world. How will people know if we don’t tell them?

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.

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.

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.”

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.

from: http://gospelfellowships.net/principles-book/

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon