Turn Left? Turn Right?: How Can We Find the Way to Happiness?

Xuesong

If we compare the course of a man’s life to a journey in this material world, then each journey is surely different in the length and direction. Anyway, all of us wish it to be a journey of bliss and significance. However, after going through various hardships in life, many of us become aware that reality doesn’t always meet our wishes and that our wishes are merely a sort of thought or belief. When arriving at a crossing, we are always full of anticipation and hesitation, as we are ignorant of which path leads to happiness, how to make the journey meaningful, and even more ignorant of what is waiting for us at the end of the path. At the intersection of your life, which do you choose, to turn left or turn right?

In the beginning, when we stepped onto the path of life, all of us roamed in the ocean of knowledge, because in it there were footprints and teachings left by our predecessors and through it we could understand the mysterious and unfathomable world. After all preparations were made, we came to the first intersection of our life officially, and then we chose different directions to seek happiness according to the knowledge we had learned. When we turned left, the world told us, “With money, you are able to obtain all material enjoyments, and only then is your life the happiest.” Thus, in order to gain happiness, we struggled hard and did our utmost to chase after money. In order to make money, we even lost our conscience and morality, learned to deceive, and moreover, learned to vie with each other. Ultimately, some gained money while others obtained nothing. But we were similar in that all of us were unhappy, because we felt empty in our heart as if we were staying in a desert waste and nothing could fill the emptiness. In confusion, we turned right. This time the world told us, “Only when you gain status can you be truly happy. This path leads to true happiness, because it will enable you to gain not only money but also others’ support and admiration.” Thereupon, we started to intrigue against each other and deceive mutually. At last, we trampled others underfoot and scrambled to the high peak that we yearned for. However, when we rode on the crest of success and earned others’ flowers and applause, we were still not so happy and joyful as imagined, because all of us held all that we had possessed tightly, worried about their gains and losses. Exhaustion and pain came over us, and we seemed to have been thrown into a prison cell. At this moment, we were disappointed and weary, and even wanted to finish our life journey soon. We were puzzled: Where on earth is happiness? Why didn’t I get it as expected, no matter whether I turned left or turned right?

We felt very anxious yet could do nothing. I didn’t know why we were so distressed in this journey until I heard the utterances of the Creator. Almighty God says, “People think that once they have fame and gain, they can then capitalize on them to enjoy high status and great wealth, and to enjoy life. Once they have fame and gain, they can then capitalize on them in their pleasure-seeking and unscrupulous enjoyment of the flesh. People willingly, albeit unknowingly, take their bodies, minds, all that they have, their futures and their destinies and hand them all over to Satan in order to attain the fame and gain they desire. People do this without ever a moment’s hesitation, ever ignorant of the need to recover it all. Can people still have any control over themselves once they go over to the side of Satan in this way and become loyal to it? Certainly not. They are completely and utterly controlled by Satan. They are also completely and utterly unable to free themselves from the quagmire they have sunk down into”. “In other words, people who have not been saved are prisoners to Satan, they have no freedom, they have not been relinquished by Satan, they are not qualified or entitled to worship God, and they are closely pursued and viciously attacked by Satan. Such people have no happiness to speak of, they have no right to a normal existence to speak of, and moreover they have no dignity to speak of”.

I realized that our minds had already been poisoned by Satan, and beguiled by it, we had taken the wrong path at the start of our life journey. Therefore, regardless of whether we turned left or right, we were all like prisoners in shackles. We rushed about painstakingly for fame and gain and status. We gave up our youth and expended everything, but in the end, we simply became increasingly corrupted. We lost our conscience, morality, and the bottom line of being a man in face of the enticement of fame and gain and status. In order to attain fame and gain, we fought against each other to such an extent that we were exhausted and incapable of freeing ourselves from it. … We got lost, had difficulty controlling ourselves, and were trapped in sins, living in increasing agony. Even though we obtained everything we wanted, emptiness and perplexity occupied our heart, making us have no idea of where to go. In this way, we had been corrupted by Satan to such a degree that we had less and less human likeness and strayed further and further from God’s care and keeping. We simply didn’t have any happiness to speak of.

Then, how could we find the path to happiness? Now a soft voice resounded in my ears, “At the moment when a person is born, one lonely soul begins its experience of life on earth, its experience of the Creator’s authority which the Creator has arranged for it. Needless to say, for the person, the soul, this is an excellent opportunity to gain knowledge of the Creator’s sovereignty, to come to know His authority and to experience it personally. … If one views life as an opportunity to experience the Creator’s sovereignty and come to know His authority, if one sees one’s life as a rare chance to perform one’s duty as a created human being and to fulfill one’s mission, then one will necessarily have the correct outlook on life, will live a life blessed and guided by the Creator, will walk in the light of the Creator, know the Creator’s sovereignty, come under His dominion, become a witness to His miraculous deeds and to His authority”. “When your heart truly opens up to God, you will see that His heart is such an infinite world, and you will enter into a realm you have never experienced before. In this realm there is no cheating, there is no deception, there is no darkness, and no evil. There is only sincerity and faithfulness; only light and rectitude; only righteousness and kindness. It is full of love and care, full of compassion and tolerance, and through it you feel the happiness and joy of being alive. These things are what He will reveal to you when you open up your heart to God”.

God’s words dispelled our confusion and clearly showed us the path for a human life. How much wealth we will amass and what kind of status we will have in our life have long been predestined by the Creator. But Satan made use of fame, gain, and status to seduce us into opposing God for its vicious purpose of corrupting and devouring mankind. We were made to strive and struggle ceaselessly, attempting to escape from the Creator’s authority and change our fate. We did not realize that money is just as transient as fleeting clouds, which we cannot bring at birth or take at death, and status is insignificant and valueless as well. No matter how high our prestige is, we can never break free of the suffering of illness, the threat of death, as well as the consequent void and pain. What fame, gain, and status bring to us is only temporary satisfaction of fleshly desires, which is just a flash in the pan. They cannot bring us even the slightest spiritual consolation, but instead cause us intolerable emptiness and unendurable suffering.

The arrival of Almighty God is exactly an end to our wandering, painful life. He is the Creator of the heavens, earth, and all things, and also our one and only God. He is incarnated to speak among us, expressing the truth to provide us with life and to save us out of Satan’s net. Only by following His footsteps and submitting to His sovereignty and arrangement, will we not get lost in the course of our life. And only when we come before the Creator and open up our hearts to Him, commit everything of us to Him, obey His sovereignty and arrangement, and under God’s personal guidance, truly break free of Satan’s influence of darkness and walk onto the way of fearing God and shunning evil, can we be in the way for happiness. And only those who are willing to put God’s words into practice from now on will finally achieve happiness.

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Spiritual Awakening: The “Subway” Is Heading Toward Spring

Spiritual Awakening: The “Subway” Is Heading Toward Spring

Yang Jing

On the subway, Xiaoran sat on her seat with a pensive and gloomy air, looking out of the window from time to time. She felt that her recent life and mood were gloomy like the tunnel. She reflected on her experience of the job interview from the beginning: Before the interview, she meant to ask for some interview techniques from her husband, who was an old hand at this sort of thing. But then she realized that most of those so-called techniques were actually tricks of teaching people to cheat others, and that as a Christian, she should not do that, for Jesus Christ taught us: “But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for whatever is more than these comes of evil” (Matthew 5:37). So she decided to practice God’s words—to speak honestly and not to cheat others. She thought that whether she would pass the interview was in God’s hands, and that if she failed, there must be God’s will in it.

Meditating on God’s words, she went to the interview. Facing many technical questions asked by the interviewers, she frankly answered them according to the real situations, even though she was aware that she was not the best one among the applicants. The interview was going very well, and when she felt that it was about to end successfully, an interviewer smiled and said, “We want to know one more thing: Why did you quit your job in the hospital?” Hearing the question, she was a little nervous because she knew that the interviewer intended to judge by her answer whether she had a bad record in her former workplace. After a short pause, she replied, “I’m getting old, and no longer want to do night duty. Besides … there’s more and more contradiction between doctors and patients now. It’s not easy to be a doctor. …” She, who had performed calmly, suddenly appeared to be hesitating, which made the two interviewers surprised. They exchanged suspicious looks, and asked her no more questions.

The announcement of the stop interrupted Xiaoran’s thoughts. She fretfully leaned back on her seat, and then couldn’t help recalling the incident happened several months ago….

On that night, Xiaoran was on duty in the hospital. After changing medicine for a serious patient, she returned to her office. It was 10:30 p.m. at that time. She had to finish a dozen progress notes of the patients, so she hurried to sit down in front of the computer. Around 11:30 p.m., a nurse phoned her and said, “The patient you have just changed the medicine for has a severe headache. He asks to change the ward or move out of the private ward.” Hearing her words, Xiaoran judged from experience that severe headache was the symptom of a patient in the acute stage of cerebral infarction, and that if he moved out of the private ward, he would be easily infected. For his safety, she refused his request. However, unexpectedly, when she finished the work in hand and went to see the patient, she found that the patient was in a state of clouded consciousness. After examination, it turned out that the patient’s condition had changed suddenly and he got a cerebral hemorrhage. Later, he died despite emergency treatment.

After that, the patient’s family demanded compensation from the hospital for Xiaoran’s missing the best time of treatment. Then the several cerebral specialists in the hospital studied and concluded that, based on the patient’s condition, Xiaoran could not delay the progress of disease for him or prevent him from dying even if she arrived on the spot earlier, for the sudden cerebral hemorrhage occurring based on former condition was beyond man’s control and rescue. Though it was the truth, Xiaoran still felt that it was her fault that she hadn’t arrived there immediately. For this, she felt self-blame.

Later, through negotiation, the incident ended after the hospital returned the hospitalization deposits of 30,000 yuan to the patient’s family. Not long after that, the personnel department of the hospital informed Xiaoran that her contract expired. Having experienced the incident, Xiaoran felt that she was tired with working under high pressure there and that she needed a change of scene. So her contract was not renewed.

Then Xiaoran’s thoughts drifted back to the interview again. Never had she thought that the interviewer would suddenly ask her the reason why she resigned when the interview was about to end; nor had she ever expected that she could hide the fact.

The subway train was proceeding rapidly. She stared at her reflection in the window, regret and remorse filling her heart. Suddenly she thought of God’s words: “Why do people engage in such deceit? To achieve their own aims, and to achieve the objectives they desire. And so they adopt certain methods, which shows that they are not upstanding, and that they are not honest. At such times, people’s insidiousness and cunning is revealed, or else their maliciousness and ignobility. With these things, you feel that it is especially hard to be honest; without them, you would feel that being honest is easy”.

God’s words woke up her. She pondered that the reason why she did not tell the interviewers the truth was that she worried about her personal gains and losses. She feared that the dishonorable experience of her neglect of duty might affect the result of the interview and jeopardize her future career, so she evaded the fact subconsciously. At this thought, she felt pain in her heart. She had been eagerly wishing to be an honest person, yet it had never occurred to her that when her interests might be jeopardized, she couldn’t help covering up the truth by telling lies. She naturally revealed her crafty nature, something that was deeply planted in the bones of every person through Satan’s corruption. She had thought of herself as a very honest person before, yet actually it was an illusion. Only then did she realize that she was far away from being an honest person. She felt that she was too much in need of God’s salvation and of judgment and purification of His words.

After she got home, she read some words of God about being an honest person, and one passage said: “Against a certain background or in a certain environment, you felt it was wise, or that there was a good reason to do so, or that you had ample reasons to do so, and ultimately acted, after which you felt you were fully justified in doing so, and had nothing to be remorseful of. When evening came and you reflected upon what you did, or else one day when you gained enlightenment or were reproached, you then felt that the reason for saying those words at that time was not a reason, and that you should have behaved in another way. How should you practice at such times? For example, you did something to someone, you cheated them, or you spoke words that were either inaccurate or contained your own motivations, and so you should go and find that person to dissect what you did, and say: ‘The words I said at that time contained my personal motivations. If you can accept my apology, please forgive me.’ Thus you dissect yourself, and lay yourself bare”.

God’s words made Xiaoran feel relaxed and understand His will: To be an honest person, I should first resolve my intentions and ulterior motives when I speak and do things. Once I realize I have wrong intentions, I should not be anxious to speak or act, but should try to find out the root cause of my wrong intentions. And then I shall seek God’s will and requirements and what God thinks in this matter, and seek how I shall pray to Him for His help so that I can rebel against the wrong intentions and strive to reach the standard of being an honest person under His guidance. I believe if I continually practice like this, I will make ever greater progress in being an honest person…. Thinking about this, Xiaoran made a decision in her heart silently….

Several days later, Xiaoran attended a second interview. She stated to the two interviewers the reason why she quitted her former job and her true thoughts about it, which greatly surprised the interviewers and another doctor who was waiting to be interviewed. They could not imagine that in this society where everyone lived with a mask and everyone took advantage of any situation to benefit himself, there still existed such a person who could voluntarily admit that she was lying and reveal her dishonorable side. After they showed their surprise, Xiaoran noticed a sort of admiration from their expressions. At that moment, Xiao Ran felt that a big rock was removed from her heart, and she had a strongest feeling: It’s so good to practice being an honest person according to God’s requirements. To her surprise, she, though with mediocre qualifications, was hired by the company afterward, and her salary was higher than her expectation.

On the subway back home, Xiaoran reflected on her recent experiences, and she thought of the words of Jesus Christ: “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, which built his house on a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell not: for it was founded on a rock” (Matthew 7:24-25). Xiaoran told herself inwardly: From now on, I will consistently practice God’s words. I believe that God will guide me to see more of His wonderful deeds and to know His faithfulness and loveliness. When I gradually obtain the truth as life, won’t it be like building the house on a rock? Having understood God’s will, Xiaoran smiled. The train was rapidly moving to the direction of her house, and she felt that her gloomy life was heading toward the bright and beautiful spring.

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Spiritual Awakening: I Finally Escaped From the Shadow of Death! – Christian Testimony

Spiritual Awakening: I Finally Escaped From the Shadow of Death! – Christian Testimony

Xinzhi

When I was young, my family was poor. My mother had mental illness, so the heavy burden of my family fell upon my father alone. He had traveled many places to seek a cure for my mother’s illness but to no avail. At that time I thought: I must study hard to be a doctor when I grow up. As science is making increasing progress, my mother’s illness can surely be cured in the future. However, it never occurred to me that not only did my mother not get cured, but my sister was also diagnosed with Hepatitis B, which, the doctor said, was an infectious disease and could cause various systemic diseases, even death. In more than one year of her hospitalization, her condition was getting worse and worse. Seeing this, I could do nothing but steal away to cry in private and say in my heart: Sister, hold on for another two years. You are sure to be cured! For science is developing so fast and the wonder drug for your disease can surely be developed. Your younger brother and I can’t live without you…. But she still left us, and my brother and I cried bitterly for her.

Later, I often felt weak and feeble, and had a temperature at a regular time every day, so I went to the hospital for an examination. The doctor told me that I had developed Hepatitis B, which was transmitted from my sister. At this bad news, my mind went blank. I had no idea how I walked home with the test sheet in my hand. After entering the room, I slumped into the sofa, weeping uncontrollably. Seeing this, my husband asked anxiously, “What’s the result? Is it serious?” “It’s Hepatitis B, the same as our sister’s,” I replied weakly in tears. “What if you and our kid are also infected?” I broke down and wailed after saying this. He said as he wiped my tears, “Don’t worry, my dear. We’ll try to find a cure for it. Hasn’t the Hepatitis B vaccine already been developed? Our kid and I can have a vaccination against it. Anyhow, we must try our best to cure it!” Hearing his words, I was a bit comforted.

One day my husband came home from work and said to me excitedly, “Good news! Another new kind of medicine has been developed. It’s said that two boxes of it can guarantee a cure. I have bought two boxes with the help of a friend. Take it and see whether it’s efficient.” I was so happy to hear that, thinking: Science today is so advanced; there must be some medicine that can cure my illness. With the two boxes of medicine taken, I went for a check-up in a hospital, only to find that it didn’t take any effect on me. I thought, “Why can’t the medicine newly developed by scientists cure my illness?” Tormented by the illness, as long as I heard of a type of newly developed medicine or any that could cure me, I would rush to buy it. After a long time of doing this, even I myself couldn’t remember how many kinds of medicine I had taken. Right then, two of my cousins got Hepatitis B, and died off afterward. Their death hit me hard and I began to fear that I would also die one day. Every time I thought of this, I would shed bitter tears. Hardly could I imagine what would become of my kid if I died.

Several years later, more and more illnesses attacked me: bone deformation resulting from rheumatism, dim sight, stiffness of legs and feet joints, and lags in response. And consequent complications, such as heart disease, diabetes, gasteremphraxis, fatty liver, and cholecystitis, all set in successively. I became so weak that even a few quick steps would make me breathe heavily. And I often caught a cold. The doctor said my immunity had decreased due to regular medication, and thus various complications were induced…. I dared not take that much medicine from then on. Right at that time, someone introduced health products to me, and I, eager to get cured, spent all my money on various health products and tonics, hoping to improve my immunity through these high-tech products. But after a period of time, they didn’t take effect, and even caused great harm to my stomach—it would ache if I ate, so that I could only drink millet gruel every day. After I had experienced that medicine and health products didn’t work on me, I began to watch TV programs and read books about scientific regimen. But after a while, my health was declining. I could do nothing but stay like a useless person. I was upset every day and sank into extreme distress. I often wondered: Science today is so advanced; isn’t there any cure for my diseases? I’m still so young; do I have to wait for death helplessly?

Right when I was cornered, Almighty God’s kingdom gospel came upon me. I accepted it and regularly attended meetings and read God’s words with brothers and sisters. During one meeting, after a sister had learned my condition, she read me two passages of God’s words: “Where did the pain of birth, death, illness and old age present throughout the life of man come from? Because of what people first had these things? Did man have these things when they were first created? They didn’t, did they? So where did these things come from? These things came after the temptation of Satan, after man’s flesh became degenerate. The pain of the flesh, the troubles and emptiness of the flesh and the extreme wretchedness of the world came from Satan’s torment of man after it had corrupted them. Man then became more and more degenerate, the illnesses of man were deepened, their suffering became more and more severe …”. “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. … Praise God in the midst of illness and enjoy God in the midst of your praise. Do not lose heart in the face of illness, keep seeking and never give up, and God shall shine His light to you. How faithful was Job? 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. The life of the resurrected Christ is within us. We really lack faith in the presence of God, and may God put true faith within us. … Faith is like a single log bridge, those who cling abjectly to life will have difficulty in crossing it, but those who are ready to sacrifice themselves can pass over without worry”. Then she fellowshiped with me, “From God’s words, we can see that when man was created in the beginning, they didn’t have the suffering of illness. It was only after man’s ancestors committed sins under the temptation of Satan that man began to experience birth, aging, sickness, and death. And as man became more and more corrupt, man’s illnesses were deepened, and even kinds of strange diseases have occurred in recent years. So, all the illnesses we have come from Satan’s affliction. Nevertheless, God’s words tell us: It is God who rules over all things in the entire universe; although Satan can corrupt man, it cannot control man’s life and death. Take when Job was tempted by Satan, for example: Though his body was covered in boils, God didn’t permit Satan to take his life and it dared not overstep the mark. In the midst of his illness, Job still held onto his faith in God, and he didn’t complain to God but praised His name. In the end, God made Job emerge from his troubles and doubly blessed him. Sister, God has pointed out a path for us—have faith in God as Job, truly rely on Him, commit our illnesses into God’s hands, and let Him dominate and arrange them.” After her fellowship, I finally realized that all my illnesses arose from Satan’s affliction. So I said, “Sister, I understand what you have fellowshiped. It is Satan that has been afflicting me. What should I do now?” Then she fellowshiped much in detail about my problem. She told me to read more of God’s words, taught me how to pray to and rely on God when in difficulties, and told me not to demand God with my own motivations but to only obey His sovereignty and arrangements. Thereafter, I read God’s words every day and attended meetings on time, which especially enriched my daily life. My secret worries were much lightened and my heart was also much liberated.

Before long, the church arranged for me to take on hosting duties. I was glad to hear that and agreed without hesitation. When I first took on the duty, I even had difficulty taking vegetables upstairs. Somehow, after a period of time, my health gradually improved. I became vigorous, and it was easier for me to do the household chores than before. The steady improvement in my condition also delighted my husband and my kid. Later, I had myself examined in a hospital and the doctor told me that my Hepatitis B was gone. I could hardly believe it, so I had a second examination in another big hospital. But the result was the same. The doctor there said, “Judging by the test result, your body has produced the antibody and you won’t be infected with Hepatitis B anymore even if you contact the virus.” At the doctor’s words, I was wild with joy and lost for words. I never thought that my Hepatitis B, which hadn’t been cured by every possible means, should be cured in such a miraculous way. I couldn’t help praising God from the bottom of my heart: God, it’s You who has pitied and cured me. It’s You who has freed me from the torment of the illness. Many thanks be to You!

One day, I read the following words of God: “From when man first had social sciences, the mind of man was occupied by science and knowledge. Then science and knowledge became tools for the ruling of mankind, and there was no longer sufficient room for man to worship God, and no more favorable conditions for the worship of God. The position of God sunk ever lower in the heart of man. A world in man’s heart with no place for God is dark, empty without hope”. I suddenly saw the light. In the past, I used to believe that highly developed science and technology were able to solve all man’s difficulties. When I fell ill, I thought that science would develop effective medicine which could definitely cure my illness. Consequently, when I heard there were newly produced drugs, I rushed to buy them, when I heard that health products were good, I bought them without delay, and when I heard of scientific regimen on TV, I studied it immediately. In the end, a great deal of money and effort had been wasted, and my condition got worse and worse—I just awaited death. Through God’s words and my own experiences, I was completely clear that science is not the truth, much less can it save man. Because of my blind faith in science, I strayed ever further from God and lived more painfully and helplessly. Later I read these words of God: “Whenever Satan corrupts man or engages in unbridled harm, God does not stand idly by, neither does He brush aside or turn a blind eye to those He has chosen. … as man grows up, Satan’s gaze is fixed on every one of them, like a tiger eyeing its prey. … In the process of growing up, you may encounter many things that are not to your liking, encounter illnesses and frustrations. But as you walk this road, your life and your future are strictly under God’s care. God gives you a genuine guarantee to last all your life, for He is right there beside you, guarding you and looking after you”. Only then did I understand that God has been right there beside me ever since I was born. I had suffered from serious diseases, but God didn’t allow Satan to take me captive. My illness is in God’s hands, so is my life. Satan had covetously eyed me and afflicted me with illness, but without the permission of God, death would not come upon me. It is God who has been guarding and keeping me all the time. With gratitude, I went before God and prayed, “God, it’s Your great love that has saved me! When Satan used science to afflict and deceive me, I tasted the bitter fruit of believing in science. But when I struggled hard on the edge of death, it was Your loving hand that led me to return before You, and Your words gave me confidence and power. What was more unexpected was that You had removed my illness before I knew it. How wondrous and almighty You are! Thanks be to You for Your great love and mercy for me. May all the glory be to Almighty God!”

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The Mystery of God’s Gospel in Every Age

The Mystery of God’s Gospel in Every Age

By Xiaoxi

What Is the Meaning of “Gospel”?

“Gospel” is an old English word, which represents “Good news.” So if we translate it literally, its meaning is good news.

Where Does Gospel Come From?

Gospel comes from God, that’s for sure. After the ancestors of our human, Adam and Eve, were tempted into sin by the snake (that is, Satan), God began the management work of saving mankind. God bestows different gospel upon man in different ages based on the needs of mankind. In the time of Noah, God revealed to Noah, asking him to spread the gospel of destroying the world with a flood. Early in the Age of Law, God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, which was a great gospel for the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt. In the Age of Law, God raised up many prophets and directly revealed to them to convey His words, which was the gospel for those who heard it. In the Age of Grace, God incarnate came to earth personally to do the redemption work, bringing the gospel of the kingdom of heaven to us mankind….

Preaching of the Gospel

In the time of Noah, men were deeply corrupted, so they lost the blessings, care and protection of God, falling into darkness. As they became increasingly depraved and evil to the extent that God didn’t bear to look, God planned to destroy the world with a flood and then told Noah to build an ark. In that time, Noah was a righteous man. He listened to God’s word, built the ark and spread the gospel for 120 years. Nevertheless, people didn’t believe his word. Eventually, only Noah’s eight family members entered the ark and survived.

As time went by, there were more and more people on earth. Satan corrupted man constantly. We mankind strayed far from God once more, degenerated. It is recorded in the Bible: People of Sodom and Gomorrah worshiped idols, engaged in sorcery, were licentious and corrupt and left no evil undone. The two cities became the cities of sin in God’s eyes, with the result that God decided to destroy them. But before the destruction, just as God always did, He gave them chances and sent messengers to arrive there. Yet people of the cities wanted to bring harm down upon the messengers. Finally, only Lot and his family accepted God’s gospel and fled from that city of sin; nevertheless the rest of people were fully exterminated by the brimstone and fire from the heaven. The Nineveh was also a city of sin in God’s eyes. But when God sent Jonah to spread the gospel to the Ninevites, they wore sackcloth and ashes, confessed and repented to God after hearing His word. Just as the Bible records, “yes, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands” (Jonah 3:8). As God saw their genuine repentance from within, He didn’t bring calamity on them. From these historical facts, we can see: When our human sins reached God’s eyes and we faced being destroyed, as long as we accept God’s gospel and act according to His word, we can survive in the disaster. Otherwise, we will be destroyed. Furthermore, there are still many such historical events recorded in the Bible. When God’s word was conveyed to people in that time by the prophets, if people accepted and followed His word, they would be preserved by Him; if they didn’t accept His word, even rebelled and resisted, they would suffer God’s punishment and curse. From this we can see that God’s righteous disposition encompasses mercy, lovingkindness, and even more so, majesty and wrath, and that God’s disposition exists everywhere and at all times.

At the end of the Age of Law, people were all entangled by sin, failed to keep the law and committed more and more sin, so that they faced the danger of being condemned and executed by the law. In line with the need of mankind, God ended the work of the Age of Law and started that of the Age of Grace. However, people at that time merely saw “Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matthew 9:35). Moreover, it is written in Mark 1, “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent you, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1: 14-15). Here we can see that Jesus Christ brought the gospel of repentance for the people under the law. For two thousand years, only if we mankind accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and pray in the name of Jesus Christ can we gain His salvation and be forgiven of sins by Him. Our sins are not the barrier for us to come to God any more, and Satan has no way in accusing us, for God personally became the sin offering for us mankind and redeemed us from the domain of Satan. Those who have accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ, gain the work of the Holy Spirit, living in peace and joy and enjoying an abundance of grace of God. But the Pharisees were just the opposite. They rejected the gospel, and even resisted the gospel of the kingdom of heaven preached by Jesus Christ. In the end, they not only were condemned by God to suffer “seven woes”, but also punished justly by God.

Gospel Continues Being Spread

God does His work to regain man from the domain of Satan step by step, hence we mankind come closer to Him….

In modern times, we mankind live in a state of being estranged from God once again. Although we believe in Jesus Christ and pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our hearts become more and more distant from God and we all live in the situation of committing sins in the day and confessing them at night, incapable of breaking free from the bondage of sins thoroughly. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death” (Roman 6:23). “holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Therefore, what we mankind need is not the gospel of repentance any more, but the everlasting gospel promised by God.

There’s a prophecy in Revelation, “And I saw another angel fly in the middle of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Revelation 14: 6-7). From this prophecy we know that in the last days, God will preach the final gospel to the people on earth. And this gospel tells that God will execute judgment to purify man completely in order to make man break free from the bondage of sins. We have been corrupted by Satan for thousands of years. What we need is much more than God’s mercy and love, and we are more in need of God’s righteous and majestic judgment and chastisement. It is only this ways that can snatch back us the profoundly corrupt mankind from Satan’s domain. And at that time, we will know our satanic nature, such as arrogance and haughtiness, selfishness and despicableness, treachery and perversion, as well as know our own real identity and status. Also, we will no longer pursue being supermen or great people to let others look up to and admire us, and no longer live by satanic dispositions, but will honestly obey God’s predestination and sovereignty, be grounded and forthright in conducting ourselves and doing things, and pursue being an honest man to live out the manner of a true person, to satisfy God. Just as the prophecy in Revelation goes, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14). So the final gospel is the everlasting gospel, which directly involves whether we can be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven.

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The “Wolf Child” Has Returned Home

Xiaoxin

A few days ago, I read in a book a story about a wolf child, which basically said:

There was a hunter whose newly born baby was carried off by a wolf. The child was raised by the wolf and grew up gradually. One day, the hunter found the wolf child. In order to take his child home, the hunter even sliced his own flesh to feed the wolf child. With the father’s devotion, the wolf child finally went back to his parents. After being taught for a long time, the wolf child recovered his humanity and lived a normal life.

After reading this story, I was deeply moved. When the hunter found his son missing, he was sorrowful and distressed, utterly overwhelmed with grief. For so many years he had yearned desperately to find his son one day. After more than ten years, one day he spotted his son living with wolves. In order to rescue him from among the wolves and for him to live the life of a normal man, he did not hesitate to cut off a piece of his own flesh to guide him home. In the end, the wolf child recovered his humanity, and the hunter regained his son. The family lived happily ever after! This reminded me of the situation of mankind of today: Wasn’t man the lost son like the “wolf child”? Wasn’t man the unfortunate captured by Satan like that child taken away by the wolf? After we humans were tempted, deceived, and corrupted by Satan, we treated Satan as our “father” and our heart strayed further and further from God. We had no idea that God is the source of our life, neither did we know how to discern between good and evil or know anything about the laws and decrees. We became licentious and corrupt, abandoned ourselves to hideous depravity. Such an ignorant man followed Satan in doing evil, but he did not know that, and he became the same as Satan. God felt tender and protective toward man, so He started His work of saving man.

In the beginning, God used the law to lead the newborn human race, so that they could live a normal life on earth. But at the end of the Age of Law, people lost their God-fearing heart and were unable to keep the law, facing the danger of being condemned and sentenced to death by the law. God didn’t have the heart to see the mankind He created with His own hands dying under the law, so He personally became flesh on earth, endured the humiliation of being crucified, and redeemed them from the hands of Satan, giving them the chance to live. Now although we have been redeemed and forgiven of our sins by the Lord Jesus, our satanic nature still remains within us. Almighty God says, “Though man has been redeemed and forgiven of his sins, it is only considered as God not remembering the transgressions of man and not treating man in accordance with man’s transgressions. However, when man lives in the flesh and he has not been set free from sin, he can only continue to sin, endlessly revealing the corrupt satanic disposition. This is the life that man leads, an endless cycle of sin and forgiveness. The majority of men sin in the day only to confess in the evening. As such, even if the sin offering is forever effective for man, it would not be able to save man from sin. Only half the work of salvation has been completed …” (“The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). In the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus did the work of redeeming man rather than the work of changing man’s corrupt disposition, so our sinful nature still remains within us. Driven by the deep-rooted satanic nature inside us, we commit sins involuntarily. For example: We are arrogant and conceited, and we always want to have the final say, and reject what we know to be the truth; we are selfish and base, and we scramble for fame and fortune, intrigue against each other, deceive others, cheat God, and guard against God at every turn; we still can judge and oppose God when encountering things that are at odds with our notions; we still can follow the trends of the world though believing in God; we are in constant danger of betraying God when faced with trials and refinements…. Controlled and manipulated by Satan, we live out nothing but the image of Satan. If our corrupt satanic disposition is not resolved, we can resist and betray God at any time and any place, and cannot at all enter into the holy kingdom of God. Therefore, to save us utterly from Satan’s camp into God’s kingdom, God needs to do a higher and deeper stage of work.

Hebrews 9:28 says, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin to salvation.” In order to fully save man who has been deeply corrupted by Satan, God has returned to flesh, and begun the work of judgment with the word. This stage of work is to fully resolve the root of man’s sin and rid man of his satanic nature, so that he can truly know God, obey God, and worship God. Today, only by accepting the work of judgment done by Christ of the last days, Almighty God, can man redeemed by the Lord Jesus be truly set free from sin and receive God’s full salvation.

Just as Almighty God says, “Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to take on the sins of man as the sin offering, but also required God to do greater work to completely rid man of his disposition, which has been corrupted by Satan. And so, after man was forgiven his sins, God has returned to flesh to lead man into the new age, and begun the work of chastisement and judgment, and this work has brought man into a higher realm. All those who submit under His dominion shall enjoy higher truth and receive greater blessings. They shall truly live in the light, and shall gain the truth, the way, and the life” (Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh). “Through this work of judgment and chastisement, man will fully come to know the filthy and corrupt substance within him, and he will be able to completely change and become clean. Only in this way can man be worthy to return before the throne of God. All the work done this day is so that man can be made clean and be changed; through judgment and chastisement by the word, as well as refinement, man can cast away his corruption and be made pure. Rather than deeming this stage of work to be that of salvation, it would be more apt to say it is the work of purification. In truth, this stage is that of conquest as well as the second stage of salvation. Man is gained by God through judgment and chastisement by the word; through the use of the word to refine, judge and disclose, all of the impurities, notions, motives, and individual hopes within man’s heart are completely revealed” (“The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Almighty God’s words have disclosed our satanic nature of resisting God and the true condition of our corruption, and exposed and dissected the root of our sin. Through His work of chastisement and judgment, God has manifested His righteous, holy, and unoffendable disposition. Only in the judgment of God’s word can we truly see the true condition of our corruption by Satan, begin to detest our corrupt nature and satanic disposition, be gradually set free from the bondage and domination of sin, achieve a change in our life disposition, and live out the likeness of real men, so that we will ultimately be taken to the wonderful destination prepared for us by God!

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Why Christians Spread the Gospel?

Why Christians Spread the Gospel?

Hanxiao

Many people have found such phenomena: Most of the true believers in the Lord, after believing in God, will spread the gospel, do their work and establish churches everywhere with the utmost confidence; there are even some who never get married in their entire lives so as to spread the gospel; some believers who have families even give up their enjoyments of family, conjugal affection and the attention of their children for spreading of the gospel…. Some people think these behaviors incomprehensible and don’t know why they believe in God so fervently. Believing in God at home doesn’t disrupt them making money or supporting their family, and they can also enjoy family happiness with their loved ones and moreover can enter heaven after death. Isn’t it a perfect choice? Contrarily, when spreading the gospel everywhere, they often face ridicule and slander, and even will suffer the arrest and persecution of the atheistic CCP, drifting around and unable to return to their home. Then what power impels them to run on the way of spreading the gospel?

Why Do Christians Spread the Gospel?

In fact, the reason why Christians persistently spread the gospel under various difficult environments is mainly because they have understood the Lord’s will and known their missions and duties. Thus all Christians who truly believe in God and understand God’s will can set aside their family, marriages, youth, the enjoyments of the flesh for God’s gospel.

The verses record, “And he said to them, Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you: and, see, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:18-20).

From these words of the Jesus Christ, we can see that the Jesus Christ intended to let His disciples and followers spread His gospel in order that all nations and all peoples could receive His redemption. When the Jesus Christ worked in Judea, Israel, there were only a small number of the Jews admitted that the Lord Jesus is Christ. And the disciples didn’t truly believe the Lord Jesus is Christ until He was resurrected three days after the crucifixion and then appeared to His disciples for 40 days. As we can imagine, most of the Jews at that time didn’t acknowledge that the Jesus Christ is the incarnate God. So, after the Jesus Christ finished the redemptive work, in order for more people to receive His redemption, the gospel of the Lord require His disciples and followers to be spread to the end of the earth, so that the Gentile nations can receive His salvation. Therefore, the disciples of that time, after accepting the Lord’s commission, spread the Lord’s gospel to all tribes and nations, even most of them were martyred: Matthew was hocked to death; James was beheaded; Peter was crucified upside down; Andrew was nailed onto the cross in the shape of “X” …. In this process, the Lord’s gospel was rapidly expanded. Furthermore, when the foreign missionaries preached the gospel in China, a host of them were also martyred. Under such circumstances, at last the Chinese heard the Lord Jesus’ gospel. So, after that, the Christians in China begin to rush about spreading the gospel. Obviously, it is the most righteous undertaking that the disciples and prophets of the past offered up their minds and bodies, and that the Christians of today sacrifice everything for the gospel. Just as the Jesus Christ said, “Truly I say to you, There is no man that has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundred times now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30).

Spreading the Gospel Is Christians’ Sacred Duty

Spreading the gospel is God’s commission to us and the sacred duty given by God. In one regard, it is for the sake of rescuing souls, and in the other, it is in order for ourselves to accumulate good deeds. Just like the parable told by the Jesus Christ in Matthew 25, saying that a man would travel into a far country, and then he called his servants and delivered to them his goods according to their ability: onto one He gave five talents, to another two, and to another one. The former two servants traded with them and made money. After the master came back, he praised them as the good and faithful servants, letting them rule over many things and share his joy. But, as for the servant, who received one talent and dug in the earth to hide the money, his master called him as the wicked and lazy servant, casting him into outer darkness (See Matthew 25:14-30).

Here we know, God has given each of us a commission. Though our gifts from God are different, we should try our best to cooperate with God. Just as some brothers and sisters have the gift of preaching; some have the gift of singing; some have the gift of evangelism…. All of us ought to spare no effort for the gospel work of God. If we take believing in God as a kind of faith, only having meetings when happy, praying to God when facing difficulties, offering a little when getting God’s grace but not consecrating our own portion to the most important gospel work, then we will finally be abandoned by God, just like the wicked and lazy servant who received one talent from his master. Therefore, spreading the gospel is a great matter. As for those who forsake their youth, careers, parents, children and even are jailed and martyred for evangelical work, although they undergo the misunderstandings from many people and even are rejected and condemned, yet it’s undeniable that their efforts and sacrifice are remembered by God and worthy of emulation. They are the ones who show the most consideration for God’s will. On the other hand, God is not pleased that we merely enjoy His grace and blessings but don’t care for His will. He hopes His believers can rise up to give their all for the evangelical work.

A prophecy from Revelation says, “And I saw another angel fly in the middle of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Revelation 14:6-7). When the Jesus Christ comes again, He will preach the everlasting gospel to man on the earth. If we accept and then spread the gospel to all nations and all peoples, we will become the ones who care about God’s will and enjoy His blessings in the kingdom of God. Ultimately we will certainly gain God’s greater care and protection when He brings down disaster, rewards the good and punishes the wicked.

Finally let’s share a hymn video “Follow God Along the Rough Path.”

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