Page 83 - The Christian Life and the Church Life_Government of God

Growing in the Divine Life for a Rich Entrance into the Eternal Kingdom 82

to come to the Philippines because I was so tired. The people from Ecuador
were asking me how I was doing. I said, “Muy cansado, pero contento” (very
tired, but happy). I am very tired, but I am still happy in the Lord. But if I were
overwhelmed by my mood of not traveling, I would not be here today. But the
Lord gave me the grace to control this mood. If we want to grow and serve the
Lord, self-control is very much needed. Many things in the church life are not
really up to what we like. But we cannot say that we will not do it since we do
not like it. Self-control is very important.
Another thing is our temper. Brother Lee shared many times about our
temper. We need to have control over our temper. I believe Brother Lee said
that once you lose your temper, you disqualify yourself. I had heard of this for
some time, but one day I saw this with my eyes. There was a serving brother
in our locality. One day, when all the serving ones decided to do something
that he did not want to do, he really lost his temper and still thought that he
was right. When we had fellowship with him about the situation, he still did
not agree and wanted to settle the matter by going to Brother Lee. When we
met together, Brother Lee told him that he lost his temper and because of
this, it would be good for him to depart. This is because he lost his temper.
How about in our service? Maybe everything is tranquil, everything is nice,
everything is happy, it is delightful. But when we come to a situation that is
not delightful, we need to know that our temper should be under control. As
serving ones, we do not have the right to display our temper. This is needed
for us to grow in life.
To Exercise Endurance Being to Bear with Others and with Circumstances
To exercise endurance is to bear with others and with circumstances.
Self-control is with ourselves; endurance is to bear with others and the
circumstances around it. If we read 2 Corinthians 12:12, there is a point on
endurance. Second Corinthians 12:12 says, “Indeed the signs of an apostle
were wrought among you in all endurance by signs and wonders and works of
power.” Endurance is the first sign of being an apostle. This means that if you
do not have endurance, you cannot be an apostle. No one without endurance
could go into the kingdom. Endurance is something we need to develop. We
need to grow until we have endurance so that we can enter into the kingdom.

In the full-time training in Anaheim, we have a class called, “Life of
Service”. In that class, one of the things shared to them is the biography of