Archives for 2 月 2021
Bible Verse–1 Peter 4:17
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God:
Bible Verse–Daniel 7:10
A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
Learning to Let Go of Myself, I Feel Released in Spirit (II)
By Aimu, Malaysia
The next morning, thinking of my commitment to God the night before, I felt a little regretful: Did I really need to apologize to my subordinates? Yes, they usually loved to gossip, but if I really apologized to them, and they told the other departments, then how would I look in their eyes? I thought it over and over again, but still felt embarrassed to do so. The third evening after work, the sister sent me a message and asked me whether I had apologized to my subordinates. I made an excuse by saying that I’d forgotten to do so because I had been too busy at work. The sister said, “That’s just an excuse. You’re avoiding the apology, aren’t you?” I felt ashamed and said, “No, I’m not. I’ll apologize to them tomorrow.”
When I was about to go to work the next day, the sister sent a message to remind me to practice the truth. I felt under pressure, but I knew I shouldn’t avoid it anymore, otherwise I would have no credibility left. After arriving at the company, I looked at my watch: The subordinates would be coming in a few minutes. I was anxious, and couldn’t sit still. The very thought of apologizing to them caused me great suffering. I still couldn’t practice it, and really wanted to give up the idea at that moment: I really couldn’t do that, so I would have to lie to the sister and say that I’d apologized. I thought maybe it was OK to tell a lie once. But soon I gave up this idea, because if I did lie, I would feel more uneasy and it would compound my mistake. I didn’t know what to do. Just then, God’s words occurred to me: “While practicing the truth, it is inevitable that one will suffer inside; if, when they put the truth into practice, everything within people were right, then they would not need to be made perfect by God, and there would be no battle, and they would not suffer. It is because there are many things within people that are not fit for use by God, and because there is much of the rebellious disposition of the flesh, that people need to learn the lesson of rebelling against the flesh more profoundly. This is what God calls the suffering that He asked man to undergo with Him.” From God’s words I realized that I was deeply corrupted by Satan, which made it so difficult for me to practice the truth and live out proper humanity. At that time, I realized that we greatly need God’s salvation and understood that today God created such a situation not to humiliate me, but to save me from the bondage of Satan and help me live out the likeness of a normal person. Therefore, in my heart I prayed to God silently for strength and courage, with which I could practice the truth to testify for God. After praying, I gradually calmed down. All the subordinates were at work by then, and so I asked them to come to the meeting room. I first said sorry to them and then laid myself open to them, confessing I had done things that hurt them before, and asking for their forgiveness. After the apology, it felt like a very heavy weight had been lifted from me and I felt relaxed. They were surprised by my behavior, but they all showed understanding for the great pressure I had as a leader. Seeing they were so reasonable, I felt ashamed: They were really good people, but I’d treated them so badly. I was so corrupt.
From then on, I often had meals with them, and asked if there was anything they didn’t understand at work. I helped them as much as possible. They also talked with me about their families and work. After interacting with them for some time, I came to see that they were all very kind, just like my older relatives. Our relationship became harmonious.
Because a lot of the work was done by myself, I often felt physically and mentally exhausted. Once in a meeting, the brothers and sisters asked how I’d been recently. I told them my opinions on my subordinates and the pressure I faced at work. Then a sister said, “Actually, all things of God’s creation are perfect. Everyone has their strengths. If we often think we are better than others, it shows that we are too arrogant. Let’s read two passages of God’s words: ‘Among all things of creation, from the great to the small, from the small to the microscopic, there was none which was not created by the authority and power of the Creator, and there was a unique and inherent necessity and value to the existence of each creature. Regardless of the differences in their shape and structure, they had but to be made by the Creator to exist under the authority of the Creator.’ ‘Do not be self-righteous; take the strengths of others to offset your own deficiencies…. If you regard others as less than you, you are self-righteous, conceited, and of benefit to no one.’” After reading God’s words, the sister continued to fellowship this: “God is righteous. Though He gives each of us different calibers and capabilities, there is value in the existence of each creature. Our feelings of being superior to others and looking down upon others result from our arrogant and self-righteous disposition, which leads us to compare our advantages with others’ disadvantages. Thus we don’t treat others fairly, much less let them fulfill their duties. You’d be better trying to help them find their own level at work and bring out the best in them, and thus they will do the work well. At the same time, you can learn from others’ strong points to make up your own deficiencies, and enhance your own work performance in return.”
After listening to the sister’s fellowship, I felt somewhat enlightened: I always exalted myself and belittled others because of my college degree and the expertise I’d mastered. It turns out this resulted from my arrogant and conceited nature. Even people who don’t believe in God all say that “Everybody can do something,” but why couldn’t I see others’ strengths? If they were really good for nothing, how could they have worked in the company for so long? Maybe I was wrong. I should try to give full play to their strengths, and cooperate with them to do the work. At that moment, I felt a little relieved. The next day, I gradually began to assign them tasks.
One evening several days later, I had something else to do, so I had to get off work early. However, there were still some problems to work out. When I was worrying about what to do, I suddenly remembered the sister once fellowshiped that each person had his or her own strengths, and that we should trust others and not underestimate them. So I let go and entrusted it to my subordinates, and offered several possible solutions for their reference. The next day, the manager asked me to go to his office. I felt nervous: Was there anything wrong with the work I let my subordinates do yesterday? When I walked into the manager’s office and saw his serious expression, I felt even more nervous, thinking: “There must be something wrong with yesterday’s work. This time I will definitely be scolded by him again.” I was just looking around and didn’t know what to do when the manager suddenly stretched out his hand to shake hands with me. Before I realized what was happening, the manager shook my hand and smiled at me, “The customer called this morning and said that our team did great. All their problems were solved efficiently. It’s all down to you.” I was very surprised to hear his words. I knew my subordinates should take credit for that rather than I. So I honestly told the manager, “I assigned the work to my subordinates yesterday and left early because I had something else to deal with. It’s all down to them.” However, the manager said, “This is because you exercised good leadership.” I hadn’t expected that the manager would praise me, and it made me very happy. But what made me more excited was that I truly saw God’s deeds and experienced that His words are the truth. As long as I practiced according to God’s words, I would see the authority of His words. Thank God!
After this, I rearranged my management technique. First, I chose two men from the ten as team leaders. As for the subordinates with inferior capabilities, I asked them to learn what they could from the leaders. I was in charge of training the leaders. Thus, I would have more time to do my own things. After implementing this arrangement, I found they each brought their own merits into play. Some were experienced and could get the key points to the problems, and solve them. Some worked slowly, but they were careful and steady, so they seldom made mistakes. Some liked to study, so when they met a problem that they didn’t understand, they would search the internet and watch videos to find solutions. More to the point, when my subordinates were busy at work, they would no longer play on their cell phones. Seeing these results, I was moved very much. I realized that I had been very ignorant and foolish in the past. If I had trained them earlier, I wouldn’t have been that tired. How harmful the arrogant and self-righteous corrupt disposition was!
Once in a meeting, a sister fellowshiped this with us, “After we were corrupted by Satan, it instilled all kinds of satanic poisons into our heart. As we live with these satanic poisons in us, everything we reveal is a corrupt disposition. For example, when we live by the satanic poisonous idea of ‘I am my own lord,’ our disposition is filled with arrogance and conceit. In everything, we are self-centered, always trying to make others obey us, and we are unable to accept others’ suggestions easily. Therefore, if we want to solve the corrupt disposition of being arrogant and conceited, we must accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s word, reflect on our corrupt disposition and then practice the truth and live by God’s words.”
From her fellowship, I realized that the corrupt disposition of arrogance and conceit is deeply rooted in each of us and it dominates our every word and deed. It is a satanic disposition which needs solving urgently. Knowing this, afterward when I was with others, I learned to put myself aside. When discussing the work, I would give each worker the chance to voice their opinions. And when we disagreed with each other, I would no longer insist on my own opinions, but put the matter to a vote to decide which plan was better for the company. When I did this, I found that though my subordinates’ suggestions were conventional, they were worth listening to. Combining their suggestions with my proposals often made perfect sense.
One day, I read God’s words: “In his life, if man wishes to be cleansed and achieve changes in his disposition, if he wishes to live out a life of meaning and fulfill his duty as a creature, then he must accept God’s chastisement and judgment, and must not allow God’s discipline and God’s smiting to depart from him, in order that he may free himself from the manipulation and influence of Satan, and live in the light of God. Know that God’s chastisement and judgment is the light, and the light of man’s salvation, and that there is no better blessing, grace or protection for man.” Pondering God’s words, I recalled my previous experience. I was an arrogant and self-righteous person, who didn’t know how to respect and be considerate toward others, and had no love for others. Through the judgment and chastisement of God’s words, I came to know my arrogant corrupt disposition gradually. When I practiced according to God’s words, learning to put myself aside and no longer treating others relying on my arrogant disposition, I gained the praise and respect of my colleagues and my heart obtained true release. I deeply felt that God’s judgment and chastisement is the light, the indeed greatest blessing and protection for us humans. Only His judgment and chastisement can enable me to know my corrupt disposition, and to cast it off and live out proper humanity. I am willing to accept more of His judgment and chastisement, and live as a genuine person to comfort His heart. All glory be to God!
The End.
Part One: Learning to Let Go of Myself, I Feel Released in Spirit (I)
Bible Verse–Titus 3:7
That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Bible Verse–Hebrews 3:6
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
Bible Verse–Ephesians 5:5
For this you know, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
An Old Woman With Intestinal Cancer: She Miraculously Escaped Death by Relying on God (I)
By Liu Wen
My name is Liu Wen, and I am 79 years old. In 2006, I accepted God’s work of the last days. Then I performed hosting duty in the church. With hospitality, I often received the brothers and sisters who came for gatherings and I never made complaints. Therefore, I believed I was a person who pursued the truth, and that God must accept me. But later, when I was diagnosed with advanced intestinal cancer and my life was at stake, I complained against God. Only after reflecting on myself did I realize that I had been believing in God and performing my duty for the blessings and peace from God. I was conducting a transaction with God and not truly believing in God at all. In the test of life and death, God’s words not only reversed my mistaken perspectives, but allowed me to truly witness God’s authority and great power and to experience His love and salvation for me.
With Life Hanging by a Thread, I Complained Against God
In June of 2013, I felt sort of ill and had diarrhea four or five times a day. But I thought I had a common tummy upset, and so I didn’t take it to heart. After a period of time, I began to have blood in my stool. But I thought it was caused by hemorrhoids, and still I didn’t think much of it, nor did I go to see a doctor. One day, I went to my sister’s. Seeing I was sallow and emaciated, she said apprehensively, “How come you’re so thin? The old lady opposite my house, as old as you, was in poor health for a long time, but she didn’t take it to heart. It was not until she went to hospital for an examination that she knew she had gotten intestinal cancer. The illness cost her a lot of money, but it was in vain. At last she lost her life. You are so thin; you’d better go to hospital for a whole examination as early as possible.” Warned by my sister’s words, I told my condition to my family after getting home. Then my son, daughter and son-in-law quickly took me to the municipal hospital. After the examination, the doctors admonished my family to take me to the provincial hospital as soon as possible. Hearing their words, my daughter and son were so anxious that they almost cried. They hurriedly sent me to the provincial hospital. At that time, I realized that I must be seriously ill. My heart shot upward into my throat and tears came into my eyes. I thought: “Could it be that I really got the intestinal cancer and they can’t cure it, so they asked me to another hospital? Alas!” The thought of this saddened me: If I died, wouldn’t my career of believing in God end?
That night, I was in great pain, then I became a little weak. I thought: “After I started to believe in God, I had been faithfully fulfilled my duty. How come God didn’t protect me, but allowed me to get such a serious disease instead? The more I thought, the more negative I became, until I finally fell into darkness and pain. I realized my situation wasn’t right, so I immediately came before God and prayed to Him, “O God! I encountered the illness today, and I know I shouldn’t complain to You, but I can’t overcome the pain of the flesh. I beg You to keep my heart, so that I can stand testimony for You.”
Understanding the Truth and Submitting to God’s Arrangements
After praying, I remembered God’s words, “While undergoing trials, it’s normal for people to be weak, or have negativity within them, or to lack clarity on God’s will or their path for practice. But in any case, you must have faith in God’s work, and not deny God, like Job. Although Job was weak and cursed the day of his own birth, he did not deny that all things in human life were bestowed by Jehovah, and that Jehovah is also the One to take it all away. No matter how he was tested, he maintained this belief. … When Job reached this point, God appeared to him and spoke to him. That is, it is only from within your faith that you will be able to see God, and when you have faith God will perfect you. Without faith, He cannot do this. God will bestow upon you whatever you hope to gain. If you don’t have faith, you cannot be perfected and you will be unable to see God’s actions, much less see His omnipotence. When you have faith and you can touch His actions in your practical experience, God will appear to you, and He will enlighten and guide you from within. Without that faith, God will be unable to do that. If you have lost hope in God, how will you be able to experience Him? Therefore, only when you have faith and you do not harbor doubts toward God, only when you have true faith in Him no matter what He does will He enlighten and illuminate you in your experiences, and only then will you be able to see His actions. These things are all achieved through faith, and faith is only achieved through refinement—faith cannot develop in the absence of refinement.”
From what God’s words revealed, I felt blamed in my heart. Only then did I realize my viewpoint of pursuit in belief in God was wrong all the time. My fulfilling my duty and spending were not for God, but for my personal interests—receiving blessings and grace. I believed that God would care for and protect me from diseases as long as I performed my duty well. So when the illness came upon me, I began to misunderstand and blame God for not protecting me. Then I thought of Job’s belief recorded in the Bible. In the trials of losing all his property and children and sore boils all over his body, he didn’t have the slightest complaints. Instead, he obeyed God’s orchestrations and arrangements with a heart that revered God. When his wife attacked him, he retorted, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). Job was able to realize that whether he received good or evil was in God’s hands. He had knowledge of God’s almightiness and sovereignty, so he stood testimony for God in the trials. What about me? When I encountered the illness and suffered a little, I became weak and full of misunderstanding and blame toward God. This showed that my belief in God and performing my duty were for the purpose of receiving blessings and peace from God rather than satisfying God. When I was fine, I thanked God, while when I was ill and in danger of life, I complained to God in my heart. This type of belief of mine was just conducting transactions with God. It was deceiving God and making use of God, which was detested and loathed by God, and not approved by God. In comparison with Job’s faith and testimony, I saw I was so selfish and despicable, without conscience and reason, that I was unworthy of being saved by God. After understanding God’s will, I was willing to turn around my wrong viewpoint of belief in God which was merely for His blessings and grace and intimate Job to stand witness to God.
Five days later, the result showed that I got an advanced intestinal cancer and I was in great danger. I needed to have an operation at once. My children were so worried that they wept bitterly. My son asked the doctor, “Can she get well after the operation?” The doctor replied, “The patient is so old, and her health is so poor that the success rate is very low, so we don’t dare make this guarantee, but we’ll do our best.” My children said, “Please try your best to save her.” At that time, I felt death was approaching me, fear and helplessness overflowing my heart: Would I leave my children and the world like this forever? Thinking back, I went through untold hardships in my life for I lived in a poor family from childhood as well as after marriage. I finally had children and grandchildren. And now is the time when I should enjoy blessings. However, I’ll leave the world, and my career of believing in God will also come to an end. I’ll no longer have the opportunity to enjoy God’s word with the brothers and sisters and see the beautiful scene of the kingdom of Christ appearing on the earth. Thinking of this, I felt miserable and desolate, and couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down my face. I could but call out to God: “O God! I’m passive and weak when encountering such illness, fearing that I would die. O God! Please give me faith and strength, so that I won’t be bound by death, and instead be able to submit to Your sovereignty and arrangements.”
After praying, I felt a bit calmer. Then I thought of God’s words, “Almighty God, the Head of all things, wields His kingly power from His throne. He rules over the universe and all things and He is guiding us on the whole earth. … Almighty God is an all-powerful physician! To dwell in sickness is to be sick, but to dwell in the spirit is to be well. If you have but one breath, God will not let you die.” God’s words gave me faith and strength. My life and death are in God’s hands. If God doesn’t let me die, no one can take my life. If God permits me to die, there is His will in this matter. Although I can’t see through it, I should obey His orchestrations and arrangements, intimate Job and stand witness to God. Realizing this, I didn’t feel that sad, nor was I bound by death.
To Be Continued …
Part Two: An Old Woman With Intestinal Cancer: She Miraculously Escaped Death by Relying on God (II)
Bible Verses–Galatians 5:19-21
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, jealousies, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Contentions, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Bible Verse–2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Bible Verse–2 Timothy 2:25
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
What Does the Verse in Revelation About Not Adding Things Refer To?
By Chiheng
The sharp “beep … beep” of a car’s horn sounded in the narrow alley, yanking Xu Min away from her thoughts. Turning to look back, she saw she hadn’t realized she was blocking the car behind her while she was lost in contemplation over something the pastor had said that morning. She rushed to apologize and moved to the side to make room for it to pass, leaving just her diminutive figure. She walked along very slowly as if the winter cold didn’t touch her at all.
Before long she was lost in thought again. Over the last few years, the church had become more and more desolate; the brothers’ and sisters’ faith and love were gradually fading, and she herself felt more and more spiritual darkness and weakness. She had wept and called out to the Lord Jesus so many times, but she could not feel His presence. This was very painful for her. She had also gone around to visit a number of different churches, but that had been fruitless. She was still unable to feel the Lord’s presence. Just as all this was happening, a good friend had sent her a book and told her that the Lord had returned and uttered new words. She was overjoyed and couldn’t wait to seek and investigate this; the more she read, the more she felt that the book was very practical and remedied many errors in people’s faith in God. Her heart brightened after reading it and she gained great spiritual enjoyment. She believed that those words could not possibly be said by a common person, and that they were likely from the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment. But that day, after learning of this, the pastor tried again and again to stop her from looking into it, and said: “It is written: ‘For I testify to every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add to these things, God shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book’ (Revelation 22:18–19). It says in the Book of Revelation that nothing can be added or removed from the Scripture. If there are people now bearing witness that the Lord has returned and uttered new words, that would be adding something to the Bible. Thus, any of these claims absolutely cannot be investigated—this would be a betrayal of the Lord.” Hearing this made Xu Min feel a little afraid. She then didn’t know what she should do—her heart felt heavy, and like it was tied up in knots.
After getting home she still couldn’t make heads or tails of it, so she called up her friend and invited her to come over and share fellowship with her. When her friend came to Xu Min’s house, the two chatted about this and that, and then Xu Min brought up her own quandary.
Her friend responded: “Not daring to look into anything having to do with the Lord’s work and words upon His return because the Bible says ‘If any man shall add to these things…’ really is confusing for us. That’s because we don’t have a pure understanding of that passage in Revelation, and by understanding its true meaning your confusion can be resolved. But in order to gain clarity on this issue, we must first know the context of these words in Revelation. In fact, the Book of Revelation was written about 90 years after the Lord. At Patmos Island, after John saw a vision of the last days he recorded it; at the time the New Testament didn’t exist, much less the entire Bible, the Old and New Testament as one book. The New Testament wasn’t put together until 300 years after the Lord. So the book mentioned in Revelation 22:18–19 was not a reference to the complete Bible, but was a reference to that prophecy in the Book of Revelation. And if we take another close look at it, these verses are talking about people adding something to that prophecy, not to the Bible. From these two facts we can know that saying not to add anything to it doesn’t mean that there wouldn’t be any new work or words from God outside of the Bible, but it was telling us that we can’t arbitrarily add or delete anything from the prophecies of the Book of Revelation.”
Hearing this, Xu Min rushed to get her Bible and open it up to Revelation, and she discovered that really was the case. The Revelation clearly says that nothing could be added to the prophecy, but it does not say that nothing could be added to the Bible as a whole. Determining that there could be no further words from God outside of the Bible based on that passage was not at all appropriate. Wow! It was so obvious—why hadn’t she seen it before?
Her friend went on to say: “Plus we need to be clear on the true meaning of these words in Revelation. It is written: ‘If any man shall add to these things….’ We can see that this was a warning for us: Humans cannot arbitrarily add anything to the prophecies. This is because they are things that God Himself will do in the future, so people cannot know how they will actually be fulfilled until God Himself comes to work. If people arbitrarily layer their own ideas over this foundation, that is distorting God’s words and is an offense to God’s disposition—they will suffer God’s punishment. We must know that these words in Revelation were aimed at us, mankind, not at God. God is the Creator and everything is in His hands. He is qualified to do His own work outside the bounds of the prophecies, and this is something that no created being can possibly obstruct, nor can they delimit this at will. For example, the Bible says in Deuteronomy 12:32, ‘What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.’ Here, Jehovah God explicitly tells us that people cannot add anything to His commands, but the Lord Jesus’ work and words in the Age of Grace had not been recorded in the scriptures, and they were even entirely different from some requirements of the law. Just like the requirement in the Age of Law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but when the Lord Jesus was working, He said: ‘You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say to you, That you resist not evil: but whoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue you at the law, and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also’ (Matthew 5:38–40). Plus, Jehovah God told people in the Age of Law to hate their enemies, but in the Age of Grace, this is what the Lord Jesus said: ‘But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you’ (Matthew 5:44). As those who stuck to the Old Testament saw it, a great deal of what the Lord Jesus said was outside the bounds of the law and was an addition to the law, thus they did not follow the Lord. The Pharisees in particular clung to the Old Testament law to condemn the Lord Jesus, committing the monstrous sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Isn’t that great rebellion on the part of humans? God saying in His words that nothing can be added or removed is His requirement for mankind—how could we impose the requirements of God’s words upon God Himself? God is the ruler of all things and His work is done according to His plan. It is not constrained by any man, nor is it limited to the words of the Bible.”
After saying all this, she pulled out her tablet and deftly opened up a webpage. She went on: “This is from a gospel site: ‘The work done by Jesus during the time of the New Testament opened up new work: He did not work according to the work of the Old Testament, nor did He apply the words spoken by Jehovah of the Old Testament. He did His own work, and He did newer work, and work that was higher than the law. Thus, He said: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” Thus, in accordance with what He accomplished, much doctrine was broken with. On the Sabbath when He took the disciples through the grain fields, they picked and ate the heads of grain; He did not keep the Sabbath, and said “the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.” At the time, according to the rules of the Israelites, whosoever didn’t keep the Sabbath would be stoned to death. Jesus, however, neither entered the temple nor kept the Sabbath, and His work had not been done by Jehovah during the time of the Old Testament. Thus, the work done by Jesus exceeded the law of the Old Testament, it was higher than it, and was not in accordance with it.’ It’s clear that God does not adhere to rules. In every age, God does new work and utters new words—He is not held back by the laws and ordinances of the previous age. God acts according to the requirements of His work as well as what we as humans need. He is constantly uttering new words; this is the only way to lift mankind up to a higher plane so that we may fully escape from the forces of Satan and ultimately attain God’s salvation. This is why we cannot think of God’s work and words as limited to what the Bible contains, and we particularly cannot make demands on God based on His demand of human beings not to add or take away anything, or determine that outside of the Bible, there cannot be any new words from God. Wouldn’t you say so?”
Xu Min nodded her head—hearing all this from her friend brought her immeasurable clarity. What was said in the Book of Revelation about not adding or removing anything referred to the fact that humans could not wantonly delete or add to God’s words, but it did not mean that God Himself could not utter more words after that. If people lack a pure understanding of that passage of the scripture, cling to their absurd notions, and then through that delimit the work of God, won’t they likely offend God’s disposition? Realizing that, Xu Min really broke out into a cold sweat—the Pharisees concluded that the Lord Jesus deceived people because they clung to the old law and thought that His words were adding to the law, and she herself narrowly missed making the same mistake that the Pharisees had made.
Her friend went on to say: “Do you remember what it says in John 16:12–13?”
Without hesitation, Xu Min said: “I remember. Isn’t that a passage we’ve often recited? The Lord Jesus said, ‘I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come’ (John 16:12–13).”
Continuing on, her friend said: “This passage of scripture states very clearly that when God returns in the last days, He will express many more words to water and nourish us so that we may understand and enter into all truths. There are also the prophecies of the Book of Revelation: ‘He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows saving he that receives it’ (Revelation 2:17). ‘And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders said to me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof’ (Revelation 5:1–5). ‘What the Spirit says to the churches’ and ‘the hidden manna’ mentioned here, the scroll with seven seals that is to be opened, and so on and so forth, all prove that when God returns in the last days He will have more words to utter and more work to do; He will unveil all the mysteries that we have never before understood. So, can we really conclude that anything outside of the Bible cannot be God’s words because of the words “If any man shall add to these things…”? It is also written: ‘And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written’ (John 21:25). This verse also tells us that the Lord Jesus said many things and performed many deeds while He was working, and what is recorded in the Bible is limited. Not all of the Lord Jesus’ words and work were recorded. Not even the entirety of the Lord Jesus’ work and words was recorded in the Bible, so wouldn’t us saying that anything outside of the Bible cannot be God’s words be a denial of the Lord’s own words and deeds?”
Hearing this, Xu Min was so excited that she stood up and said: “Oh my, I read the Bible every single day. How could I not have discovered this mystery? I’m gaining more and more clarity through your fellowship, and now I completely understand that the work of God that is recorded in the Bible is limited, that it’s not a complete record of God’s work and words. It’s not even a complete record of the Lord Jesus’ work and words. Considering the fact that the Lord Jesus worked for over three years, what He said in any given day would have been much more than what is now recorded in the Bible. When the Lord returns in the last days, He does new work and utters new words—this is a fact that cannot be denied and it’s very clearly written in the prophecies. Now I know that human beings can never delimit God’s work, and we particularly cannot define God within the scope of the Bible. Particularly when investigating the true way, we really must follow the Holy Spirit’s leadership and guidance, and seek and investigate it with an open heart in order to welcome the Lord. Otherwise, we will be like the Pharisees who opposed God and were ultimately destroyed because they clung to the literal words of the scripture. At a time like that, it’s too late for regrets!”
My friend smiled and nodded: “That’s right. If we want to keep up with the footsteps of the Lamb, we must maintain a heart that hungers and thirsts for righteousness, and a heart of seeking the truth. We cannot be hindered by any of our notions or imaginings—that is the only way to welcome the Lord’s appearance in the last days, be the intelligent virgins, and be raptured up before God’s throne. Just as the Lord Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. … Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. … Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God’ (Matthew 5:3, 6, 8).”
Xu Min vigorously nodded her head: “Yes! Amen!” Her confusion was completely swept away and she felt incredibly joyful. As they continued their fellowship, the sound of their happy, carefree laughter occasionally floated outside …
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