＊時間不在我們的手中＊

李隆輝弟兄：『We may not fully understand why...... , but we know that our Christ in His ascension is the great High Priest』

～李隆輝（James Lee )弟兄的交通，足以安慰並激勵我們！
（關於【～請為康弟兄的母親,、 太太，與3個孩子代禱； 這是一個愛主、 忠信事奉主的家庭】）
『I believe that we all share the sorrow of the loss of our dear sister Linda Thompson few days ago. I just want to share with you a word of encouragement and comfort that I received from the Lord for mutual encouragement.

　As a matter of fact, just within the last one week’s time, three instances of sudden deaths of three dear saints in the Lord came to my attention. One I knew from a distance and the other two I knew personally.


　One brother who for many years has been very instrumental in bringing many Chinese students and scholars to the Lord was robbed on the street of Oakland and was killed by the robbers instantly.


　Another brother who suffered from Leukemia for a number of years and has been recovering very well the last 2 years resumed active service in the church life a year ago and was active for distributing the BfA invitations every where he went.


　Within a week’s time, all of a sudden, his health turned downhill and was taken by the Lord within a couple of days. Then this case with our sister Linda, beyond any one’s expectation, gone to be with the Lord in a matter of just a few days.


I was wondering what all this is about. I have three considerations before the Lord:

1. All these ‘sudden’ deaths of the saints may indicate that the Lord’s coming is very near. According to Matt. 24:39-42, when the Lord is coming, there will be the situation where two men working in the field while one will be taken away and one is left. This taking away occurs quite suddenly.

　Although ‘sudden’ deaths occur all the time among the worldlings, but these recent events of ‘sudden’ deaths among Christ’s believers, especially among some dear seeking lovers of Christ, are not that common. This may be the beginning of the early rapture of the saints. The Lord’s coming is very close.

2. We cannot presume that time is on our side. We want to wait until we have more time, more convenience, before we give ourselves to the Lord. This is our natural concept.　

　The Lord wants us to redeem the time, grasping the present opportunities to love Him, serve Him, and cooperate with Him for His economy. All these saints are gone ‘suddenly’ to the Lord; the Lord will also come back ‘suddenly’ to the earth to take His church for His Bride. We need to be ready.

3. We may not fully understand why the Lord would allow these dear loving saints to go so quickly and unexpectedly, but we know that our Christ in His ascension is the great High Priest who sympathizes with all our cases and will bear and care for us in the best possible way.


　I was very encouraged by the Life Study of Luke message #59 (see attached excerpt) where brother Lee said that in His ascension Christ is first the high priest and then the universal administrator. The main duties in His priesthood are to bear and care for us in Himself. He knows what is best for each one of us.


　We need to believe that the high priest knows what is best for Linda and these other saints who passed away. We just simply need to trust in Him. We may not know all the details and situations, but He does. We can rest in His faithfulness.

《Partaker with you in His encouragement and comfort, James Lee》
[...... from Timothy Shih's sharing：〈 Dear saints meeting in DB3〉]