Back to Jerusalem Vision — Peter Xu

Peace to brothers and sisters in the name of the Lord. We thank our Lord Jesus Christ. And we thank you for the co-workers of this mission. And we thank you for your participation. God love the world.

China's Place in God's Mission

And God love especially China, whose population is about 25 of the entire world. And since the foundation of the world, God has given to us a heart for China, so that we churches in China may have hope at the end days.

If we study the Bible, and we study the history of God's church, if we study the church in China, and we saw for five times Christianity has entered into China in the past, but every time it's stopped.

Is this just a coincidence? No, because it has God's clear purpose. Jesus told his disciples, Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and you shall receive power. And you shall be my witnesses from Jerusalem, the entire Judea, Samaria, till the end of the earth.

The Gospel's Movement From Jerusalem to the Nations

And when Paul and his co-workers were preaching to Little Asia, the Holy Spirit prohibited them from going there. And when they tried to preach gospel there, God's Spirit stopped them from going there.

When they hesitated, and Paul saw the vision at night, therefore the gospel turned from the direction toward Asia into Europe, and from that time on from Europe to Africa, to America, and to Australia, and then back to Asia.

Finally, China. From 1807 to 1949, Christianity has been preached about in China for 142 years. In the time of 1949, the number of Christian baptized in China is about 800 ,000 to 900 ,000. And then there was a political change overturned in 1949, and the theory of Marx has controlled the thinking in China.

They regard Christianity as something that's anti-government, and they thought that's like drugs to their people. They thought it's nothing but a conceptual trial. With its purpose and plan, government tried to do away with Christianity.

From 1952 to 1954, the Three-Self Church was formed. In 1958, in the name of agricultural promotion, they stopped all the churches in the rural area. In 1964, with another political movement, they stopped all the meetings of church in cities.

In 1967, the Cultural Revolution, the beginning time. At that time, you could only find church with or for international non-Chinese people in Shanghai and Peking. And even those churches ended up closing.

Therefore, this woman, Ms. Zhang, she made an announcement to go to hell. And let the Chinese Christianity enter into the museum. In 1949, the first thing they did was to strike Christianity in China.

All the Western missionaries were cast out of China. And how about domestic servants of God? Some were martyred for the sake of the Lord. Some were put in prison. Some were cast out of the country. Some were afraid, so they denied the name of the Lord.

Some betrayed the Lord. No one dared to publicly omit the name of the Lord. At that time, the spiritual condition of China was just like the time in the first chapter of Genesis. It was void and dark.

Revival Under Persecution

People thought there was no hope for China. In 1965, there were two Christian groups from the United States. After they visited China, they came back and wrote a paper. They said, you cannot find Christians anymore in China.

However, our God's love lasts forever. And our Jesus is the risen Lord from the dead. And we have the way of life. Even in extreme poverty and despair, Chinese started to cry out to heaven. And they fixed their eyes upon Jesus.

They prayed in secret. And two or three formed a group and seeked the face of God. And they would pray that people's sickness would be healed. They prayed and the demon would be cast out. And they prayed that people would be healed.

And they felt the presence of God. Therefore, they sensed the presence of God who is invisible. Therefore, the way of God was revived. From relative to relative, from neighbor to neighbor, the gospel was able to spread out.

To attack and kill, the regime had to use force to extinguish the fire of the revival. To arrest all those who want to preach the gospel. However, they continued to preach the gospel in the prison. Once they were released from the prison, they usually would not even bother to go home.

They would continue to preach on. And Satan tried to pour water to quench the fire. But the holy fire kept going. Therefore, the fire of revival just continued to burn increasingly. I have co-worked with my dear brother Yun for about three decades now.

And our brother is a servant of God, used by God in times like this in China. He is the representative of millions of messengers of the gospel in China. Through his testimony, we can see the revival of the church in China.

The servants greatly used by God have not been born out of flesh. And they are not born out of desire. And neither from our blood and flesh. But they are born through the Holy Spirit. From 1982, we were like pretty much taking turns going to prison.

Imprisonment and Partnership in Ministry

I was captured in 1982. And right after I was released, he was taken to prison in 1984. And then he was released in 1988. He came to look for me. We only had the chance to meet once, April 88. Because Billy Graham came to China, he wanted to see me.

On my way to take him to meet with him, I was captured. Again, I was taken into prison for three years. And I was again released in 1991. Before we even had a chance to meet with each other. He was taken into prison in 1991.

He then was released in 1993. In one accord, we preached gospel together. And then March 16, March 16, 1997, the many responsible brothers of Underground Home Church, we were having a gathering in a city called Zhengzhou.

We were all arrested. And then their condemnation is that we are anti-revolution. Therefore, we received heavy sentences. Many brothers and sisters thought we are going to be gone forever. Many churches prayed for us.

Even overseas churches prayed for us. And we also prayed in prison. One day, I was in my little cell. I prayed back and forth. The Holy Spirit moved me. He said, I'm going to release Brother Yun. I said, Lord, this is iron gates and iron windows.

How can you set him free? I paced back and forth and prayed at the same time. I could not help but come to my own door. And I put my hand on the doorknob. And when I tried to turn the knob, the doorjar opened.

I was so afraid. So I immediately shut the door. I was really wondering how come the door could open just like that. And I continued to pace back and forth and prayed. For about two minutes, the Lord reminded me, don't you think this is a miracle?

How come you obey so slowly? Therefore, I went to my door and touched the knob again. Again, I opened the door. And I looked left and right. I see nobody. So I went to the men's room. It's not that I need to go to the men's room.

Because I'm trying to find out how the Holy Spirit is going to take me to set me free. So I went to the men's room. And I looked around again. And I looked at the cell that's across the hall from me, where my brother is kept.

So I went outside of his cell. Again, I touched his doorknob. And I was able to open it. Because all the doors of the cells in the jail is openable from outside by jail guards. However, if you are inside the cell, you can't open it.

So when I opened his door, my brother was right leaning against the door. So my eyes stared right into his eyes. I said, God wants you to go. I gave him the command from God. And I could tell he had received it.

So immediately I shut the door. And went back to my own room. And shut my door tight. I continued to pray and pace back and forth. And then two minutes later, my heart urged me. Because I wasn't sure if my brother had obeyed.

Because every second counts. And the Holy Spirit urged me again. Therefore, I forget about my life. And so I opened again my door. And I went to the men's room again. And I come back to his door again.

And I see a crack at his door. Therefore, I pushed the door. And I saw no one was in his cell anymore. And my heart just beeping real fast. Because I knew God has done something great So I closed his door.

And went back to my cell. And then shut tight again. And I lied down on my little bed. And covered my head with a lot of bloodstains. I covered my head with a blanket full of bloodstains. And I prayed earnestly.

I said, Lord, please be with your servants. You have taken good care of my brother. Every second here counts. So I prayed earnestly for him. And then three minutes later, somebody came to open my door.

I know they are here to check each room. They want to see if I'm in my room. They do that room by room. They did not discover his disappearance. And then another three minutes passed by. And I noticed how his footstep was appearing upstairs.

He was checking again. And then another three minutes passed by. And then he finally found out that this brother is gone. Someone who is heavily sentenced. And he will be in great trouble if his boss found out.

Therefore, he had to report it immediately. And this guard, the higher-ranking guard, was living next door to myself. And because we are seriously committed, because we are heavily sentenced criminals, therefore, one of the higher-ranking officers has to live next door to us.

So I heard this jail guard knock on his door. And this officer opened his door. And the guard says, he indeed has escaped. Therefore, I listened carefully to what they are saying. And yet my heart stayed before the Lord.

And I heard, how can the lamb run away? That's like a proclamation. God has performed a great miracle. For someone whose leg has been broken, he could actually run away. And then I thought this officer is going to throw a fit.

To my surprise, he was quite calm. He didn't say a word. And no, they are going to immediately send out people to find him. Therefore, I prayed again earnestly. And I earnestly see God asking for help.

While I was praying, I heard the sound of heavy rain. And I was immediately comforted. And the Word of God came upon me like this. That I will use the rain as your cover. Therefore, I had peace from God.

Those guards went out in a hurry to try to chase after him. Yet even if they have the dogs with them, they won't be able to smell him. Just like that, my brother-in-law was brought out by God from prison.

Freedom From Prison and God's Faithfulness

And I ended up with staying there for another three years. Until year 2000, May 13th. God set me free from the prison. For three years long in the prison, and they will not allow my family members to visit me.

I have no idea what happened outside the jail. Even though occasionally I may have one or two visitors, yet we did not dare to discuss anything. Therefore, when I was released, brothers and sisters from church came to receive me.

And they could not help but keep on telling me what happened in church these days. First, they told me, Brother Yun is now in Germany. He kept on calling and asked about your situation. And we actually just talked to him on the phone.

And I did not ask them. I just listened to their words. I was trying to think and figure out which co-worker of mine actually is qualified to go overseas to Europe, like Germany. Is that a teacher Mr. Liu who was teaching English?

And after a while, I understood. I realized the Brother Yun they've been talking about is my Brother Liu. So I rejoiced before the Lord and I gave Him praises. He is the eternal God. All things are possible with our God.

Through that little move within a minute, and through that little obedience in that one minute, and God said, Our dear brother and then He took him out of the jail and just threw him into another continent in Europe.

In 2001, the Lord brought me to the States. When I first came to Los Angeles, Brother Yun also came to LA the night before. After I got off the plane, he picked me up at the airport and I was on the escalator.

I was at the top of the escalator and he was at the foot of the escalator. So when I saw him, I felt I was a man in a dream. Because five years ago we were both in prison and then we were taken away. Now, we meet again like this.

The Back to Jerusalem Vision in Europe

Who has done this wonderful thing? God has done it. God has brought my dear brother overseas brought to Europe so that among the Christian brothers in Europe he was able to share the burden that God has for China and the vision about back to Jerusalem.

For last year and this year we have about two months time serving together and I saw how God used this worker to wake up the church in Europe. And before I thought the church in Europe was dying yet in the two months I was in Europe I saw a totally different picture and through the sharing of the burden of going back to Jerusalem it's like we rekindle the fire they have for missionary work in China.

Every country in Europe will start forming an organization so that they will participate in this work back to Jerusalem. It's like the vision has brought forth the formation of organization and this newly formed organization could promote further the vision from God.

It's like the wind of the Holy Spirit was blowing. There was one meeting we were in this big tent we had over 3 ,000 people fill the entire tent and there were cars parking along the roadside for five miles long and after the meeting Chinese overseas students came to us they said the Lord has sent you to us this time He has blown the great storm of a tornado of China as a wasp tornado of China.

It's nothing but the sharing of the burden and the vision of back to Jerusalem. This is the heart of God and it's something God has done Himself. Ladies, when I visited England I was thinking my heart.

Calls to Cross-Cultural Mission

This great movement that moves mountains and rivers and hills has started but how can we have the wisdom to hear the whisper of God to do something that's real and practical. I really worried so much about it and the last two nights when I was there we had fellowship together and right before the fellowship ended the pastor made a calling he called that whoever from England want to offer themselves so they can preach gospel in Muslim country or Buddhist country and there were so many people came forward up to the upstage and we lay hand on them.

At least 250 people came forward and the very last night there we were in this little church by the seaside in Whistler that church can only accommodate maybe a thousand people and the whole church was packed with people both down and upstairs and even the translator brother he said maybe we shouldn't pray and serve tonight.

Maybe we shouldn't perform the prayer service tonight because this place is so small and so crowded so we were surprised. The pastor at the end of the meeting made another prayer and calling he said if you are moved come forward and then 500 people lined up and come up and to let us pray for them one by one.

When I saw that situation I saw how God has put this movement back to Jerusalem and He has brought us back forth. I was rejoicing greatly seeing what happened. I said if we were in China I would know what to do.

Training and Sending Missionaries

Then what I will do is for these people who have come forward and I will share with them one by one to make sure and I will organize them and give them proper provision and help them to understand the importance of cross-cultural and send them to Muslim countries.

They may work maybe 4 to 6 months and then maybe they have problems or fruit of their work. Then I will call them back and then train them even furthermore. Then I will send them out again maybe for another 4 to 6 months and bring their fruit of work or problem ever.

I will call them back and then I will further and heighten my training. Then again I will send them out and send them out again. Call them back for further training and I bring them back and I will send them out again.

That's how I can see the work of God can expand it and the gospel can be preached far and wide. Therefore the number of the saved will increase and so still the number of God. Last night we were at San Diego and we were in an American church.

I made a calling to the congregation and ask those who want to commit themselves to preach gospel to Muslim countries and about close to 200 people came forward and the Lord has shaken greatly all nations and even in the countries in Eastern Europe and the collapse of Eastern Europe and the collapse of Russia and the revolution and the restructure in China and Afghanistan and Iraq and all these political warfare in the Middle East area countries and have helped us to be able to preach gospel to those places and all these places have great possibilities for us now.

And Muslim countries have been in place for over 1300 years by now. Now this is the chance that God has given to us and we pray our Lord will come and call the true soldiers to fight for this war and together we can have a true military school for the heavenly kingdom and we can train and edify well the great warriors for God and we can tear down the strong uphold and so we can take down all the schemes all the prides.

We can take them down completely and also bring back the hearts of men. So they all submit themselves to Christ. May the spirit of the Lord through the meeting tonight and through the testimony of our brother Yun Ji can be a calling again in our heart.

Thank you.