Questions and Answers on the Inside Story of the Bible (7)

Question 7: I have studied the Bible for more than 20 years. I discovered that the Bible was written by more than 40 different authors during different times, but the content of what they wrote had no errors whatsoever. This shows that God is the true author of the Bible and that the Bible comes from the Holy Spirit.

Answer: The Bible was written by more than 40 authors and that there were no errors. Are there really no errors? Let’s communicate on this issue specifically. Actually, Almighty God—Christ of the last days—has already opened up these mysteries for us. Almighty God says, “The Gospel of Matthew of the New Testament documents Jesus’ genealogy. At the start, it says that Jesus was a descendant of Abraham, the son of David, and the son of Joseph; next it says that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of a virgin—which would mean He was not the son of Joseph or the descendant of Abraham, that He was not the son of David. The genealogy, though, insists on associating Jesus with Joseph. Next, the genealogy begins to record the process by which Jesus was born. It says Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that He was born of a virgin, and not the son of Joseph. Yet in the genealogy it is clearly written that Jesus was the son of Joseph, and because the genealogy is written for Jesus, it records forty-two generations. When it goes to the generation of Joseph, it hurriedly says that Joseph was the husband of Mary, words which are in order to prove that Jesus was the descendant of Abraham. Is this not a contradiction? The genealogy clearly documents Joseph’s ancestry, it is obviously the genealogy of Joseph, but Matthew insists that it is the genealogy of Jesus. Does this not deny the fact of Jesus’ conception by the Holy Spirit? Thus, is the genealogy by Matthew not a human idea? It is ridiculous! In this way, you know that this book did not come entirely from the Holy Spirit” (“Concerning the Bible (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Through God’s word we understand that the genealogy by Matthew was not God’s idea. How could God have a genealogy? Matthew knew that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and yet he gave Him a genealogy saying that Jesus was the son of David and the son of Joseph. Isn’t this denying that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Jesus and Joseph are not related. Matthew’s words are contradictory. Clearly, this genealogy did not come from the Holy Spirit and was man’s idea. Then how do you explain John 8:58: “Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am”? From here we can see that the genealogy of the Lord Jesus was man’s idea. It was written by Matthew around AD 50, and was not written at the direct instruction of the Holy Spirit.

Praise and Worship Song 2018 | Praise God for His Great Grace | "God's Humbleness Is So Lovable"

God humbles Himself and does His work

on the filthy and corrupt man to make them perfect.

God becomes man.

He shepherds and attends to them, comes to the great red dragon’s heart

to save and to conquer those corrupt,

doing the task of changing and making them new.

He humbles Himself to be man and endures the hardship it brings.

It’s the supreme Spirit’s great humiliation.

God, great and lofty. Man, mean and lowly.

Yet God speaks, provides, lives among them.

He is so humble, so lovable.

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.