Greetings, beloved saints in the Word! Spring abounds all throughout Korea. The heavens and the earth are alive with the vibrancy of life and it is these visible signs of life that tell of spring. If it is so with me, then it must be so with everyone else. Nature is covariant; God is one.

The pleasures of this world are nothing compared to the joy of the resurrection of my eternal life in this moment. The saints in faith are the true “spring” for they possess a peace that holds no misgivings or fears.

It is the early morning of April 13, 1980, Lord’s Day. No, it is the eternal moment! My cup overflows.

Beloved saints, do you know with what heart I write these words? I cannot be at ease. I am extremely poor and insignificant. When I sit down, pen in hand, I always rake the bottom of my heart until it sounds just like the widow of Zarephath who scraped the bottom of the bowl of flour every morning (1 Kings 17:8-16). Because of my calling, I cannot but inquire after the well-being of the faithful saints as long as I have strength.

If our physical well-being is lost, it becomes difficult to keep the peace of our souls and, when the peace of our souls is shattered, we cannot see nor hear the image and voice of the Holy Spirit.  

Beloved saints, if we believe in the prophecies of the Lord that are close at hand (Luke 21:25-33, Revelation 6, 8, 9, 16, 17, 18), let us come to our sense and live keeping His words: “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts” (Romans 13:11-14). “‘Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man’” (Luke 21:34-36). I pray in the name of the Lord that all may have an awakened spirit.

The able prophet, Elijah, who incited such fear that he was called the “troubler of Israel” (1 Kings 18:17-18) by the ruthless Ahab, slew 850 false prophets of Baal and lived on the heavenly voice alone; yet, even he was overcome with terror and ran away into the wilderness when he heard through Jezebel’s servant, “By tomorrow about this time, you will die.” Sitting down in utter exhaustion under a juniper tree, he behaved shamefully by requesting for himself that he might die saying, “Take my life.”

He said it thinking, “I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:1-14). Then, hearing God say, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” he came to himself with a start and prostrated himself in contemplation and, amidst his thoughts, a great and strong wind passed by, then an earthquake, then a fire after which he began to hear a still small voice. It was not until that voice that he was able to recover God’s voice and image.

Elijah went out to rebuke Ahab upon hearing that he had violently taken away property from his meek people. When Ahab impudently asked, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” Elijah answered like a father disciplining his scoundrel of a son, “Yes, I have found you. Because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, I will utterly sweep you away” (1 Kings 20, 21).

Faithful saints, those with an ego are strong. People who have lost their sense of selves jump in fright at the slightest wind.

Who are those with an ego and those who have lost it? It is then we must remember. “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal” (John 12:24-25). When Elijah clung to himself saying, “I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away,” he lost himself and didn’t know what to do. At the faint sound of voice from the deep, “What are you doing here?” his ego returned in a flash and, when his sense of self unfolded its heart in the stillness as tranquil ocean at night, truth shone with the brightness of the moon. Only when our thoughts deepen does the morning star rise upon our head.

We must live to righteousness (義). As long as we have life, we must live for that which is right. Whether the reason is known or unknown, there is no one who can deny the presence of the absolute command; thus, it is known as the conscience.

We cannot do all that is good (善) nor can we easily get rid of the seeds of evil (惡). Knowing good and evil for what they are is brightness itself, and it is the work of human beings to keep this to the last breath (1 Peter 2:24). Righteousness and justice are the foundation of the Lord’s throne (Psalm 89:14). We stand upon the Word (Psalm 1:1-3, Matthew 5:6, Philippians 1:11, 1 Timothy 3:16, 2 Timothy 4:8).

Then, what is that which is righteous? To put it simply, it is bright. The truth is always at the lowly place. Righteousness (義) is considering and treasuring the Word at the lowly place, one that predators?who claim to accomplish great works?pay no heed to (Luke 16:1-8). The master one serves is our heavenly Father; it is the Word of God.

Faithful saints, we are the fruits (seed of the Word) of the tree of life. As the leading figures in history and as heavenly sons, we must become the feet of the gospel for the oppressed and scorned souls in this world and rescue those who can be saved as we possibly can (Romans 10:8-17, Isaiah 52:7-10).

We can do this because we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37). In the good fight, we must stand only on the side of righteousness (義) and carry out lives in which good conquers evil. It is resolving to dedicate oneself to the final strength and last drop of blood, not for one’s own peace and pleasure, but for one’s country and nation, for the great cause (大義), with a spirit of martyrdom. Who wouldn’t ready themselves to do this? From ancient times, people esteemed Him and shed tears for Him because of this.

Let us make haste in working for this land, this nation, after hearing Jeremiah’s lamentations (Jeremiah 5:1-31, 9:1-26).

Arise quickly and go forth! “What are you doing here!”

Let us return to our original God-given place, which is the following: “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded (命) the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die’” (Genesis 2:15-17).

Judging from the content of these verses, our place is the work and life of abstaining from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil by absolute obedience to the Word of the living God. Let us quickly return. Just as rain falls at the proper time, we will be blessed with blessings like that of the monsoons. “What are you doing here!” Fear the Word of God that imprisoned the angels who did not keep their positions but left their places with eternal bonds in total darkness until the great day of judgment. Again I ask, “What are you doing here!”