Review of Caught the Last Train: A Stream in the Desert

By Mingyue, Greece

Today, I want to introduce the movie Caught the Last Train which is another successful production produced by 1991 VIDEO STUDIO. When the movie begins, two scenery shots, the imploring prayer of the hero Chen Peng kneeling under the cross, the dim lighting and the empty church—all of these simply and clearly reflect the current desolate situation of the church.

As a pastor, Chen Peng cannot support the brothers and sisters who don’t attend gatherings because they grow cold in faith and enjoy the world. He even cannot write a sermon in deep night. Here, the director uses the props such as the wadded-up paper, a table full of spiritual books to reveal the pastor’s suffering and helplessness of failing to write a sermon. It is certainly a kind of revelation and irony. Then in the next scene, we know from the believers’ murmurs that the sermon Chen Peng wrote with an effort last night is just the same old thing.

During the meeting, the several believers have no heart to listen to the sermon; some of them are dozing off, and some chatting. Chen Peng standing on the platform still preaches the same old teachings as usual. He feels more helpless than the listeners. After the gathering, Chen Peng brings up the rear. A shot of Chen’s back without any dialogues elevates his helplessness and the desolation of the church. This is directors’ artistic approach—“Silence is better than noise.”

Chen Peng has been greatly troubled by the current situation of the church. Worse still, he meets the problem that his co-worker Sister Gao wants to help her husband manage a factory, and then he also hears that the preacher Brother Liu wants to work away from home. No matter how he tries to persuade them, prays for them or reads the Bible for them, he fails to change their ideas.

In the face of the desolation of the church, Chen Peng has been searching for the resolution to this problem here and there, but it is of no avail. The co-worker Tang Wei finally figures something out: having a kind of dinner meeting every week and letting believers bear testimony and encourage everyone to walk out of the entanglements in life and to attend meetings on the Lord’s Day. As a result, there are many people in the mirthful meeting, but the topics they are talking about at the tables are business, insurance, wedding and so on. Everyone feels indebted to the Lord after the dinner and promises to have a good meeting next time. Seeing that, Chen Peng reveals a satisfied smile on his face.

In the scene, Chen Peng is walking to the church with great expectation, longing for a mob scene, but instead, the reality disappoints him like a pot of cold water is being poured on him.

The desolation of the church becomes the most trouble for Chen Peng and his only lifeline is to pray to God in tears. On the train to the provincial capital, with grief and puzzle on his face, he is looking forward to resolving the problem in this co-worker meeting in the capital. However, in desperate straits, he still returns carrying his confusion. He is so distressed that he wonders how to walk the road ahead. In the cold winter, he feels perplexed in his heart. This scene brings out the church with no vitality even more, which is indeed disappointing.

Now churches are generally in a desolate situation. Presumably Chen Peng’s perplexity is the same as most pastors’ and elders’. Some people say: “The work of the Holy Spirit has shifted because of the Lord’s return, so the church is desolate.” Some people say: “When the Lord comes back again, ‘because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved’ (Matthew 24:12-13). So we must pray more and patiently wait for the Lord’s appearing.” There are many differing views on the desolation of churches.

Man’s end is God’s beginning. Invited by Wang Zhong, his schoolmate of a theological seminary, Chen Peng rides in the bus to the capital again. He is looking out of the window as though expecting a surprise will happen this time.

Besides Chen Peng, many co-workers are invited by Wang Zhong to resolve the problem of the desolation of the church. Here, the director arranges a big debate scene where many people, sitting face to face, discuss this problem. Invited by Pastor Wang, three sisters, from The Church of Almighty God, meet with everyone unexpectedly. They point out the reason for the desolation of the church and the source of this problem. Hearing their fellowship, everyone sees the light. Chen Peng also feels insuppressible joy, but what he most wants to know is how to resolve the problem. So do others.

Then, a spectacular debate is opened. The exciting scenes appear one after another. From this debate, we know: God’s work is always developing in a forward direction. The desolation of the temple at the end of the Age of Law is a depiction of the desolation of the church nowadays. Jesus came and brought the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, fulfilled the law and brought the eternal sin offering for man. The facts prove that when God’s new work begins, the work of the Holy Spirit will shift onto His new work, go forward, and lead mankind into a new age, and then the old age becomes the history. Similarly, nowadays God has returned and done His new work in the flesh, so the Holy Spirit’s work has shifted. Hence, it is inevitable that the church which can’t follow God’s footprints is desolate. Only by following God’s new work can we walk out of the desolation. And this is the only way to resolve this problem.

Chen Peng desires to resolve the problem of the desolation of the church. Yet he has been holding on to his religious conception for many years, thinking: “The Lord will come in the Spirit. And He will not come in the flesh.” Hence, he can’t accept the truth that the Lord has come in the flesh and done His new work. And even he changes his countenance, blames Wang Zhong and wants to leave. But he is reluctant to sit down after others’ persuasion. At this time, Chen Peng is sitting opposite to three sisters of The Church of Almighty God in a lofty manner as if he will fight with an enemy. However, everyone can understand his attitude. Wang Zhong advises him with a smile. The three sisters overlook his attitude, and fellowship about God’s word patiently. They read God’s latest utterances passage after passage, some of which reveal the desolation of the church and some of which tell us the meaning of God’s every stage of work. They fellowship about many contents reasonably. Chen Peng is shocked by this, because what they read cannot be spoken by man. At the moment, he is perplexed. He stands up and walks to a big tree in the yard, thinking it over and seeking silently. Ice and snow in the sun looks a little harsh and his heart comes to melt like ice in the sun. From his seeking and praying, we can see his sincerity and true heart of belief in God. He says he wishes to accept and obey if Almighty God truly is the return of the Lord. This scene made me remember Nathanael also prayed under a fig tree because of the desolation of the church at the end of the Age of Law. When Philip told him the Lord Jesus had come, he said dismissively: “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Jesus answered and said to him: “**Before that Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you**” (John 1:48). At that time, Nathanael recognized the Lord Jesus is the Son of God and decided to follow Him. So is Chen Peng the same as Nathanael? Whether Almighty God is the Lord Jesus returned or not, whether Chen Peng can follow God’s footprints or not, whether he can resolve the problem of the desolation of the church or not are still mysteries. Let’s continue seeing the movie.

At last, the camera stops on Chen Peng’s face. He is not melancholy but reveals a relaxed smile and this is his first joy deeply in his heart in the whole movie, which is in sharp contrast to his previous distress and helplessness in the past. The director wants to tell audiences by such an artistic approach: Chen Peng walks out of his conceptions and perplexity, and his difficulty is resolved. Like a stream, Almighty God’s word is nourishing him. He is moved to tears and kneels down on the floor. The scene shifts to his face and his tears, like stringless beads, slip onto the floor. He pours out his regret to God, and he is more grateful for God’s mercy and waiting which make him follow God’s footprints and obtain the supply of the living water of life.

At the end of the movie, several bridge plots show the revival of the church in which Chen Peng is. Sister Gao who helped her husband manage the factory, Brother Liu who worked away from home, brothers and sisters who talked about mundane topics in the dinner meeting—all of them appear in the scene where believers are reading God’s word. Finally, the camera pans to Chen Peng. He and his wife hurry to attend a gathering early in the morning, and what they hear is the words “We’re waiting for you” when they reach there. Here, it clearly tells audiences the church isn’t desolate anymore. Just as Chen Peng’s inner soliloquy behind the closing number “God Has Brought His Glory to the East”: Without God’s work and the supply of God’s word, people will naturally get dry and the church will become desolate. It’s in vain no matter how hard they try. Those who keep up with God’s work are really different. They are all vigorous and energetic, free and released! God truly blesses us.

The movie truly reveals the current situation of religion—churches are desolate, and at the same time, it also resolves this problem and shows a path to those who are sincerely searching for the work of the Holy Spirit. It is a movie which can solve the current problems people encounter, just as the hero finally walks out of the predicaments after overcoming obstacles. It brings hope to and touches many people who live in perplexity. Caught the Last Train is such a movie.

## See Also

Attend the Heavenly Feast With the Lord Jesus | Gospel Movie "Caught the Last Train" | The Call of God