Reading the Bible: I Have a New Understanding of “Shall Not Be Added To” in the Prophecies of Revelation

By Yuting, Japan

Hesitating After Hearing the Lord Has Come

After I believed in the Lord, I often heard my pastors say, “Now, we live in the last days. The Lord’s return is imminent, and outside the church many preach false ways, so we must not listen to them. This is because in Revelation 22:18–19 it says, ‘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.’ All of God’s words are in the Bible, and nothing can be added to or taken away from the Bible. If anyone adds to or takes away from whatever is in the Bible, they will be unable to enter the kingdom of heaven. In our belief in God, we only need to read the Bible. We don’t need to go outside the church to hear sermons.” The pastors’ words took root deep in my heart, and I kept their admonishment not to listen to sermons outside the church.

You’ve testified that when the Lord returns in the last days, He will first become flesh and arrive in secret, and after making a group of overcomers, publicly descend with the clouds to appear before all people. Such a communication makes sense. But for 2,000 years, most believers in the Lord have all been waiting for Him to descend with the clouds. Religious pastors and elders also often say so. How could we possibly be wrong by waiting in accordance with the Bible’s prophecy? This is definitely impossible!

Answer: What kind of basis do you have for saying something like that? Is what you have said in line with the words of the Lord Jesus? Are they based on God’s words? If what you are saying is completely based on man’s notions and imaginations, that would be resisting the Lord! Let’s see how the Pharisees waited for the arrival of the Messiah and why they nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross. Initially, the Jewish Pharisees were full of notions and imaginations when it came to the Messiah.

In the Bible, Paul says we should obey those in authority. If we put Paul’s words into practice, then we should always listen to the ruling regime. But the atheistic CCP is always persecuting religious people and acting as an enemy of God. Not only does the CCP forbid us from believing in the Lord, it also captures and persecutes those who spread God’s gospel. If we obey it and do not believe in the Lord or spread His gospel, then aren’t we siding with Satan in resistance and betrayal of the Lord? Won’t we then become those who are destined to perish? I really don’t understand this. When it comes to how we treat the ruling authority, what should we do to ensure we’re in accordance with God’s will?

Answer: In the Bible, Paul says we should obey the authorities. His words were as follows: “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation” (Rom 13:1-2).

Reflection for Today: Learning How to Distinguish the False Way From the True Way, I Welcomed God’s Return

By Xinkao, United States

Editor’s Note: I’m sure many Catholics have observed how unorthodox practices within the church occur with ever increasing frequency, parishioners seem weak in their faith and the church seems ever more bleak and desolate. Some Catholics would like to look elsewhere for a church that has the work of the Holy Spirit, but because the priests are always saying they must be wary of the false way, they don’t dare seek and investigate. Sister Xinkao, however, actively investigated the church that has the work of the Holy Spirit, learned how to distinguish between the true and false way and welcomed the return of the Lord Jesus. Want to know more about her experiences? Read on to hear her story …

Christian Experience: My Guardedness Nearly Cost Me God’s Salvation of the Last Days

By Li Chunmei, South Korea

Editor’s Note: The Lord Jesus prophesied that He would come again in the last days, and I’m sure that all brothers and sisters longing for the Lord’s return hope to be able to welcome His coming and gain God’s salvation of the last days. Sister Li Chunmei is no exception, but when she hears the news of the Lord’s return she nearly misses God’s end-time salvation because of her guardedness. But fortunately, ultimately she lets down her guard and welcomes the Lord’s return. What was her experience? Read on to find out.

Although pastors and elders hold the power in the religious world and they walk the path of the hypocritical Pharisees, we believe in the Lord Jesus, not in pastors and elders, so how can you say that we also walk the path of the Pharisees? Can we really not be saved through believing in God within religion?

Answer:

There are a lot of people in religion who blindly believe in and worship and follow Pharisees. So whether the path they walk is the path of the Pharisees is obvious once we think about it. You dare say you worship and protect Pharisees in your heart but have nothing to do with their sins? You dare say you follow hypocritical Pharisees, but aren’t like them, a person who resists God? Can we still not see through such a simple question? The type of person we follow is the type of path we walk. If we follow the Pharisees then we are on the Pharisees’ path. If we walk the path of the Pharisees then we are naturally the same type of person as the Pharisees. Whom we follow and what path we choose is all directly related to our nature. Whoever follows the Pharisees has the same nature and essence as the Pharisees. This is an undeniable truth! The essence of Pharisees was hypocrisy. They believed in God but didn’t love the truth or seek life.

Almighty God, Christ of the last days, expresses the truth and does His work of judgment to purify and save mankind, and yet He encounters the wild defiance and brutal crackdowns of both the religious world and the Chinese Communist government, where they even mobilize all their media and armed forces to condemn Christ, blaspheme against Him, capture and exterminate Him. When the Lord Jesus was born, King Herod heard that “the King of Israel” had been born and he had all male children killed that were in Bethlehem and under two years of age; he would rather wrongly kill ten thousand babies than let Christ live. God has incarnated to save mankind, so why do the religious world and the atheist government wildly condemn and blaspheme against the appearance and work of God? Why do they bend the power of the whole country and spare no effort to nail Christ to the cross? Why is mankind so evil, and why do they hate God so and set themselves against Him?

Answer:

This question you have raised really is so important and only very few in the whole of mankind can understand it thoroughly! Why mankind defies God so wildly has become headline news, and the historical tragedy of the incarnate Christ being nailed to the cross is being played out again; is this not a fact?

By Learning to Discern the True Christ From False Christs, I Welcome the Lord’s Return

By Ganxin

Editor’s Note: We are now in the last days and the prophecies within the Bible concerning the Lord’s return have basically all been fulfilled—the Lord is about to return to receive us. But at the time of the Lord’s return, false Christs will also appear to deceive people, so how then should we discern the true Christ from false Christs and welcome the Lord’s return? I trust that this is an issue that all who sincerely believe in the Lord wish to understand. Sister Ganxin was once confounded by this very issue, but she now knows the principles behind discerning the true Christ from false Christs, and she has now welcomed the Lord’s return. How did she come to understand these things? Let’s read her experiences together.

Who Is Obstructing Me From Welcoming the Lord’s Return?

By Xinzao, South Korea

Editor’s Note: The Lord Jesus has returned, and this is a matter that stirs the hearts of man. It was only after many twists and turns, however, that she was finally able to be reunited with the Lord. On her journey to welcome the Lord, who was it trying to obstruct her? Let’s take a journey of our own into her story …

Religious pastors and elders hold the power in the religious world and most people obey and follow them—this is a fact. You say that religious pastors and elders do not acknowledge the fact of God having incarnated, that they don’t believe the truth expressed by God incarnate and that they are walking the path of the Pharisees, and we agree with this point. But why do you say that religious pastors and elders are all hypocritical Pharisees, all antichrists exposed by God’s work in the last days, and that they will sink into destruction in the end? We cannot accept this point at the moment. Please fellowship what you base this claim on, that these people cannot be saved and that they must all sink into destruction.

Answer:

The essence of how people in religious circles defy God can only be revealed and dissected after the coming of the incarnate Christ. No corrupt humans can see through the truth and essence of the religious circles defying God, because corrupt humans hold no truth. They can only be controlled, confused, and manipulated by false shepherds and antichrist demons into joining them in doing evil, and become servants and accomplices of Satan in defying God. This is natural. … Let us see how, during the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus revealed the truth and essence of how antichrist evil forces in religious circles always defied God:

Religious pastors and elders have a strong knowledge of the Bible, frequently expounding the Bible to people and making them hold to the Bible, so is expounding and elevating the Bible really bearing witness to and exalting the Lord? Why is it said that religious pastors and elders are hypocritical Pharisees? We still can’t figure this out, so please can you answer this for us?

Answer:

To people, explaining the Bible should not be wrong, but at the same time as explaining the Bible, what they actually do are acts that resist God. What kind of people are these? Aren’t they hypocritical Pharisees? Aren’t they God-resisting antichrists? Why is the pastors and elders’ explanation of the Bible resisting God? Why is it condemning God? There are still people who don’t understand and still think that explaining the Bible is exalting and bearing witness to God.

The Testimony of a Catholic: Understanding the True Meaning of the Rapture, I’ve Welcomed the Lord’s Return

By Damaris, Kenya

Hello, brothers and sisters! I’m sure every one of us is eagerly awaiting the Lord’s return, for Him to bring us up into the heavens where we will meet with Him. But will He rapture us straight up when He returns, as we imagine? It was only through a period of time of seeking that I found the right answer and understood what the “rapture” really refers to, and then welcomed the Lord’s return. Today I’d like to share this joyful experience with everyone.

At that time, when the Lord Jesus came to do His work, the Jewish Pharisees wildly defied and condemned Him and nailed Him to the cross. When Almighty God of the last days comes to do His work, the religious pastors and elders also wildly defy Him and condemn Him, nailing God once again to a cross. Why do the Jewish Pharisees and religious pastors and elders hate the truth so and set themselves against Christ in this way? What exactly is their inherent essence?

Answer:

Everyone that believes in the Lord knows the Pharisees resisted the Lord Jesus, but what was the root and the true essence of their resistance? You can say that in the 2000-year history of religion, no one has figured out the answer to this question. Though the Lord Jesus’ cursing of the Pharisees was written in the New Testament, no one has been able to discern the Pharisees’ essence. Is this not the case? When Almighty God arrives in the last days, He reveals the true answer to this question.

Why doesn’t God save those who have the work of evil spirits in them or those who are possessed by demons?

Relevant Words of God:

Those whom evil spirits previously possessed for a time (since birth) will all be revealed now. I will kick you out! Do you still remember what I have said? I—the holy and unblemished God—do not reside in a foul and filthy temple. Those who were possessed by evil spirits know for themselves, and I need not clarify. I have not predestined you! You are old Satan, yet you want to infiltrate My kingdom! Absolutely not!

A Wonderful Reunion With the Lord: I Find the Way to Be Free From Sin

By Kemu, Myanmar

Editor’s Note: As a Christian, do you often feel distressed because you can’t free yourself from the shackles of sin? Are you looking high and low for the way to be free of sin? Sister Kemu used to feel sorrowful and distressed that she couldn’t find the way to be free from sin, and she worried that the Lord would abandon her. Now, however, she has welcomed the return of the Lord and has found the way to be free from sin. By reading the article below, you too will find this way.

The Pharisees frequently expounded the Bible to people in the synagogues, appearing pious and compassionate, and they didn’t appear to do anything obviously unlawful. So why were the Pharisees cursed by the Lord Jesus? How was their hypocrisy manifested? Why is it said that the religious pastors and elders walk the same path as the hypocritical Pharisees?

Answer:

People that believe in the Lord know that the Lord Jesus really hated the Pharisees and cursed them and pronounced seven woes upon them. This is very meaningful in allowing believers in the Lord to discern the hypocritical Pharisees, break away from their bondage and control and obtain God’s salvation. However, it’s a shame that many believers cannot discern the essence of the Pharisees’ hypocrisy. They don’t even understand why the Lord Jesus hated and cursed the Pharisees so much.

That Day the Sky Was Especially Clear and Sunny (Part 3)

By Tian Ying

After returning home, I kept thinking over the fellowship made by the sister, and I thought to myself: That little sister today was so loving, she really was nothing like what the pastor said she was. Also, what she was saying is all in the Bible. It really was ill-founded of me before when I believed that “to be saved once is to be saved forever.” I thought back on all the years I have believed in God and realized that I was constantly living in circumstances where I would commit sins and then confess them, but all along I couldn’t solve this, and I personally went through a lot of suffering. I felt that if I went on believing like this, in the end I could not attain God’s praise.

How can one obtain the work of the Holy Spirit?

Relevant Words of God:

The work of the Holy Spirit changes from day to day, rising higher with each step; the revelation of tomorrow is even higher than today’s, step by step climbing ever higher. Such is the work by which God perfects man. If man cannot keep pace, then he may be left behind at any time. If man does not have an obedient heart, then he cannot follow to the end. The former age has passed; this is a new age. And in a new age, new work must be done.

Knock, and the Door Shall Be Opened

By Qing Ting, China

In 1989, I followed along with my mother in accepting the gospel of the Lord Jesus. After I began to believe in the Lord, through often attending gatherings and reading the Scriptures, I came to know that it was God who created the heaven, the earth, and everything therein, and that He had created mankind, and that it is God who provides everything for mankind.

Reunited With the Lord

By Jianding, USA

I was born into a Catholic family, and from an early age my mother taught me to read the Bible. That was during the time the Chinese Communist Party was building up the nation after the civil war, and since the CCP government was suppressing all religions, I was 20 years old before I finally got the chance to go to church and listen to sermons. The priest often said to us: “We Catholics must properly confess our sins and repent. We must do good, not evil, and always go to Mass. During the last days, the Lord is going to come and judge everyone and send people to heaven or to hell based on their behavior. The greatest sinners will suffer eternal punishment in hell, whereas those who commit minor sins can still go to heaven as long as they confess their sins to the Lord and repent. Anyone who doesn’t believe in the Lord will never get to heaven, no matter how good they are.” When I heard this, I rejoiced that I had the good fortune to be born into the Catholic faith. I told myself to be serious in my seeking, attend Mass more often, and confess my sins and repent to the Lord more so that I could go to heaven and not suffer in hell. That’s when I developed the determination to go to church and participate in Mass regularly. The priest also told us then that the Lord would return in the year 2000—we were all elated to hear that, and we all became very earnest in our pursuit, awaiting the Lord’s return. But the year 2000 came and went and we didn’t see any sign of the Lord’s return. Many in our congregation lost their faith, and fewer and fewer people attended Mass. I also felt a sense of disappointment, but I still felt that my faith in the Lord wouldn’t be shaken, no matter what others did. That was because there had been many times when I’d been in danger when the Lord had protected me and I had emerged safely. If it hadn’t been for the Lord’s protection I’d have died long before, so I wasn’t going to be so ungrateful as to lose faith in the Lord.