Rising Up Through Dark Oppression

Mo Zhijian Guangdong Province

I was born in a poor, remote mountain area where we have burned incense and worshiped Buddha for many generations. There are Buddhist temples all over the land where all the families would go to burn incense; no one had ever believed in God. In 1995, my wife and I were in another part of the country where we believed in the Lord Jesus; after we returned we began sharing the gospel and the number of people who accepted it slowly grew to over 100 people. Because more and more people were believing in God, it alarmed the local government. One day in 1997, the police summoned me to go to the local police station, where the chief of the County Public Security Bureau, the chief of the National Security Bureau, the chief of the Bureau of Religion and the head of the police station as well as a few police officers were waiting for me. The chief of the Public Security Bureau asked me: “Why do you believe in God? Who do you have contact with? Where did the Bibles come from? Why don’t you go to the church for gatherings?” I said: “People were created by God, all the sunlight, air, and water are created by God; it is the law of heaven and earth that people believe in God and worship Him. The national constitution also expressly stipulates that citizens have freedom of religion; why don’t you permit us to freely believe in God?” The chief of the Bureau of Religion said: “There are limits to religious freedom, just like a little bird inside a cage; even though its wings and feet are not bound, it can only move within the cage.” When I heard him speak these fallacies, I became indignant and angrily said: “Then the national government is lying to its people!” When they heard me say this, they knew that they were wrong and didn’t have anything to say, so they just let me go home. At that time, I wasn’t aware of the substance of the CCP government’s persecution of believers until 1999 when I accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days. Through reading God’s words and experiencing even more cruel persecution from the CCP government was I able to see clearly that the CCP was the embodiment of Satan the evil spirit; it was the enemy of God as spoken of in the Bible: “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9).

Come Before God Often

Take the chance when you have time,

sit in silence before God.

Read His word, know His truths,

right the transgressions in you.

Trials come, take them on;

know God's will

and you'll have strength.

Tell Him what things you lack,

share His truth always.

Elated is your soul

when you worship Him.

Come often before God, resist no more.

Your care of flesh, it hurts Him so.

Read His word, understand His truth.

Come often before God.

Come often before God.

So live as sanctified man!

No matter what test

or judgment comes,

we will work to appease Him.

Come often before God.

Come often before God

and live His truth.

Questions and Answers on the Inside Story of the Bible(6)

Question 6: Since Paul stated that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God,” it is not wrong, because he was an apostle of God. God was telling mankind through Paul that scriptures were all inspired by God and are all the word of God. Do you dare deny this?

Answer: This issue is highly representative. Next, let us communicate on whether these epistles written by Paul and other apostles were really inspired by God and whether they can represent the word of God. That way we will know how to treat these epistles of the apostles. Before we continue communicating, allow us to first read two passages of Almighty God’s word! Almighty God says, “And thus, the Pauline epistles of the New Testament are epistles that Paul wrote for the churches, and not inspirations from the Holy Spirit, nor are they the direct utterances of the Holy Spirit. They are merely words of exhortation, comfort, and encouragement that he wrote for the churches during the course of his work. So, too, are they a record of much of Paul’s work at the time. They were written for all of the brothers and sisters in the Lord, and were in order to make the brothers and sisters of all of the churches at the time follow his advice and abide by all of the ways of the Lord Jesus. By no means did Paul say that, be they the churches of that time or of the future, all must eat and drink the things of him, nor did he say that his words all came from God. According to the circumstances of the church at that time, he simply communed with the brothers and sisters, and exhorted them, and inspired belief in them; and he simply preached or reminded people and exhorted them. His words were based upon his own burden, and he supported the people through these words. … All he said that was edifying and positive to people was right, but it did not represent the utterances of the Holy Spirit, and he could not represent God. It is an egregious understanding, and a tremendous blasphemy, for people to treat the records of a man’s experiences and a man’s epistles as the words spoken by the Holy Spirit to the churches! … His identity was merely that of a working apostle, and he was merely an apostle who was sent by God; he was not a prophet, nor a foreteller. So to him, his own work and the lives of the brothers and sisters were of the utmost importance. Thus, he could not speak on behalf of the Holy Spirit. His words were not the words of the Holy Spirit, much less could they be said to be the words of God, for Paul was nothing more than a creature of God, and was certainly not the incarnation of God. … If people see the epistles or words like Paul’s as the utterances of the Holy Spirit, and worship them as God, then it can only be said that they are too indiscriminating. To speak more harshly, isn’t this nothing but blasphemy? How could a man talk on behalf of God? And how could people bow down before the records of his epistles and of the words he spoke as if they were a holy book, or a heavenly book? Could the words of God be casually uttered by a man? How could a man talk on behalf of God? And so, what say you—could the epistles that he wrote for the churches not be tainted with his own ideas? How could they not be tainted with human ideas? He wrote epistles for the churches based on his personal experiences and the extent of his own life. For instance, Paul wrote an epistle to the Galatian churches which contained a certain opinion, and Peter wrote another, which had another view. Which of them came from the Holy Spirit? No one can say for sure. Thus, it can only be said that they both bore a burden for the churches, yet their letters represent their stature, they represent their provision and support for the brothers and sisters, and their burden toward the churches, and they only represent human work; they were not entirely of the Holy Spirit. If you say that his epistles are the words of the Holy Spirit, then you are absurd, and you are committing blasphemy! The Pauline epistles and the other epistles of the New Testament are equivalent to the memoirs of the more recent spiritual figures. They are on a par with the books of Watchman Nee or the experiences of Lawrence, and so on. It’s simply that the books of recent spiritual figures are not compiled into the New Testament, yet the substance of these people is the same: They were people who were used by the Holy Spirit during a certain period, and they could not directly represent God.” (“Concerning the Bible (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

Christian Worship Song "God's Kingdom Has Appeared on Earth"

I

Almighty true God, King on the throne,

ruling the whole universe,

facing all nations and all peoples.

The whole world shines with God’s glory.

All things in the universe shall see,

all living things everywhere shall see.

The mountains, lands, rivers and lakes,

oceans and all living beings,

in the light of the true God’s presence,

have opened their curtains, revived,

as though waking to life from a dream,

or like sprouts breaking through soil to light.

Oh, the one true God appears before the world.

Who dares, who dares to resist Him?

Everyone shakes with fear, all feeling convinced,

on their knees, on their knees before Him!

See them beg His forgiveness, pleading endlessly.

Every mouth, every mouth in worship!

Questions and Answers on the Inside Story of the Bible(1)

Question 1: I have studied the Bible for more than 20 years. I can be certain that there is no word of God outside of the Bible. All of God’s word is in the Bible. Anything that violates or goes beyond the Bible is heresy and fallacy!

Answer: “There is no word of God outside of the Bible, anything that goes beyond the Bible is heresy,” people who understand the Bible all know the process through which the Bible was formed. Because of the disputes and omissions of the editors at the time, a part of God’s word conveyed by prophets was not recorded in the Old Testament. This is an openly accepted fact. So how can you say that God's work and word don’t exist outside of the Bible? Are the omitted prophecies of the prophets not the word of God? Even in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus said more than just those words. God’s words are all in the Bible. Sister, John 21:25 states: “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.” This verifies that the work and word of the Lord Jesus are also not completely recorded in the New Testament. Therefore, “There is no work or word of God outside of the Bible” does not conform with the facts. Brothers and sisters, we should also know that, regardless of the Old Testament or the New Testament, they were only recorded and produced by man after God completed a stage of His work. Initially, the Bible was only the Old Testament. The work and word of the Lord Jesus all went beyond the Old Testament. If we go according to the saying that anything that exceeds the Bible is heresy, then haven’t we condemned the Lord Jesus? Brothers and sisters, we can see from these facts that the saying “There is no work or word of God outside of the Bible, anything that exceeds the Bible is heresy” is erroneous!

I Want to Sing for God

My understanding:

When counting God's love, I feel even warmer! share with you best praise songs

I

I've gained much

from God's truthful work.

From His words,

man's corruption I've seen.

From His truth, God's disposition,

the meaning of life I have known.

God's judgment reveals

man's rebellion,

satanic corruption is seen.

Trials reveal my lack of truth,

falling before God I repent.

I want to sing for God,

to sing the words

that are in my heart.

From the world He has chosen me,

saved me through His work.

I want to sing for God,

to sing the words

that are in my heart.

From the world He has chosen me,

saved me through His work.

I want to sing for God.

Do You Know What Principles You Should Understand When Making Offerings to God?

Li Hui

Because of some trouble at home, in 1997 I began to believe in the Lord Jesus. Afterward, through practicing the Lord’s words, there was no longer any arguing at home. The Lord saved my family, saved me from my pain and gave me hope in life.

(Source: Depositphotos)

I remember the first time I went to a meeting at a church. The pastor read chapter 12, verses 1 to 8 from the Gospel of John, and he preached about Mary anointing the Lord Jesus with perfumed oil, as well as the offering made by the poor widow and, after I’d heard these stories, I felt very moved. The pastor said to us: “Brothers and sisters, in our belief in the Lord, we must be like Mary and the poor widow, and we must make more offerings to the Lord. The poor widow made an offering to the Lord of her money for food, and Mary used a jar of very valuable nard to anoint the Lord. That is to say, Mary took the best thing she possessed, the most valuable thing, and offered it up to the Lord, and this kind of action is what the Lord finds most acceptable and praiseworthy. Therefore, the more money we offer, the more treasures we will accumulate in heaven. People who do this are most blessed by the Lord, and only people like this can receive a hundredfold in this life and gain eternal life in the world to come….” After the meeting, I saw many brothers and sisters walk over to the offering box and put money inside, and I thought: “The Lord Jesus died nailed upon the cross so that mankind could be redeemed, and He has now saved me from my pain, so I should make more offerings to the Lord to repay His love. From now on, I’ll be like the poor widow and Mary, and love the Lord by offering my money. By doing this, the Lord will be gladdened and the pastor will like me too.”

A Christian’s Diary: The Misunderstanding Between My Mother and Me Has Finally Been Resolved(2)

January 19, 2018 Friday Clear Skies

When I thought about my interactions with my mother during this time, I realized that because of my corrupt disposition, I had suffered quite a lot and also made her feel restrained in all respects. I felt it was time to resolve this situation. Today, I went up to my mother’s side and finally had the courage to tell her something straight from my heart, “Mother, these days I have not properly communicated God’s words with you. I have relied on my corrupt disposition to interact with you. I have not treated you as a sister. I have always treated you as my mother. I thought no matter what tone of voice I used to tell you things, you would not take it to heart, you would not become angry at me, you would not hold a grudge against me and you would not turn your back on me. I was not considerate of your feelings when speaking to you. I have hurt you. Only after I had read God’s words did I realize that I was lacking in humanity. I know I was wrong. From now on, I will not demand that you listen to me. I must forsake my flesh, put the truth into practice and live out a normal humanity. Let us treat each other as if we were sisters. When we encounter a situation, we should seek the truth and principles. We should point out each other’s problems and help each other …” The more I said, the more my heart felt guilt. I could see that I was really lacking the rationality of a normal humanity. My mother also said some things that were from her heart, “I’m also corrupt. I stubbornly maintained my own perspective and ways of doing things. Even if I knew what you said was correct, I would not do it. I thought that I had been like this almost my entire life. You always requested that I pay a little more attention to hygiene, yet I did not take it seriously. That was not correct. We are mother and daughter in terms of our flesh. But, in terms of our spirit, we are siblings. I should accept your suggestions when they are right.” When I heard my mother say these heartfelt things to me, I could feel that our relationship had gotten a little better. My heart felt peaceful and happy. I could not help but be grateful, “Thank You God! O God, it’s so wonderful to have Your guidance!”