Obeying God and Shaking Off Pain and Emptiness

Cheng Yi

I am an ambitious and arrogant woman. When I was thirty years old, my husband overstepped the bounds, abandoning my daughter and me. So, I left with my daughter in humiliation, for which people felt regret. After arriving in a new city, I resolved on being a strong and independent woman as well as set a goal to strive for: I must train my daughter as a graduate. I must buy a suit of house in this city. I must stand in high spirits before that man who forsook me to retrieve my dignity someday. I did believe that I could change my fate by my efforts. However, in the over ten years that followed, no matter how I strove, my dream never came true. Not only did I suffer setbacks in my career time and again, but I ran up debts. Furthermore, my daughter wallowed in online games at an early age, becoming more and more decadent. My desire of retrieving the lost dignity fell short of the mark. … Faced with my own circumstance, I thought that I paid so much but none was fulfilled. I felt pained as if my heart was hollowed out. I sensed that I was a failure, exhausted. I didn’t resign myself to plodding hard but accomplishing nothing, yet I neither knew how to change my fate nor what the value of man’s living was. When I was in pain and feeling helpless, I often looked up at the sky and cried: There is no hope in my life; what is the significance of being alive?

At this time, my mother back home called me, saying: “Get back home. Stop struggling. That’s fate.” At that moment, I saw myself with white hair in the mirror. I could not help but sigh in my heart: I’m already forty-five years old. I’ve gone through half a life’s journey, but now I’m still as bare as the palm of my hands. The former haughtiness becomes a sigh. What other results can I get in my own strength? Thinking of the word people often say “acknowledging the will of Heaven at fifty,” I calmed down and thought: I exert myself to the utmost over ten years for achieving my life goal but end up with nothing. Will I really spend a flat life as fate would have it? I’m not reconciled, but what else can I do? I had no choice but to compromise to fate. From then onward, facing all manners of circumstances, I no longer was swayed by my feelings or had a senseless struggle or uttered complaints, but was content with things as they were. It seemed I stood aloof from worldly strife. I thought I had found the best way of living and the best life attitude, but in reality, I could not free myself from the struggle and emptiness in my deep heart. I was still living in pain and hopelessness. …

Up to one day, I surfed on the Internet, seeing a religious website inadvertently and then I clicked it. I was greatly touched by its content, in which I found the root of my living a painful and empty life and had a correct understanding of life. I read this passage of words, “Some people have a profound, deeply-felt understanding of the phrase ‘that’s fate,’ yet they do not in the least bit believe in God’s sovereignty, do not believe that a human fate is arranged and orchestrated by God, and are unwilling to submit to the sovereignty of God. Such people are as if adrift on the ocean, tossed by the waves, floating with the current, with no choice but to wait passively and resign themselves to fate. Yet they do not recognize that human fate is subject to God’s sovereignty; they cannot come to know God’s sovereignty on their own initiative, and thereby achieve knowledge of God’s authority, submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements, stop resisting fate, and live under God’s care, protection, and guidance. In other words, accepting fate is not the same thing as submitting to the Creator’s sovereignty; belief in fate does not mean that one accepts, recognizes, and knows the Creator’s sovereignty; belief in fate is just recognition of this fact and this outer phenomenon, which is different from knowing how the Creator rules humanity’s fate, from recognizing that the Creator is the source of dominion over the fates of all things, and even more from submitting to the Creator’s orchestrations and arrangements for humanity’s fate. If a person only believes in fate—even feels deeply about it—but is not thereby able to know, recognize, submit to, and accept the Creator’s sovereignty over the fate of humanity, then his or her life will nonetheless be a tragedy, a life lived in vain, a void; he or she will still be unable to become subject to the Creator’s dominion, to become a created human being in the truest sense of the phrase, and enjoy the Creator’s approval. … Only when one accepts the Creator’s sovereignty, submits to His orchestrations and arrangements, and seeks true human life, will one gradually break free from all heartbreak and suffering, shake off all the emptiness of life.” These words woke me up. It turned out that it was because I didn’t have the stamina to try doggedly that I had to resign myself to fate. I recalled my experience over a decade: For the sake of realizing my desire, I have ran a beauty salon, managed a Taobao shop and made a private investment, but I ended up with complete failure. Afterward, I hung the only hope on my daughter, setting my heart on sending her into the college. However, she insisted on dropping out of school and stepped into the society early. My hope shattered thoroughly. No longer did I have the motivation for struggling at this time, only choosing to submit to the will of Heaven. Nevertheless, I didn’t truly know that God rules over humanity’s fate and willingly accept and obey all things arranged by the Creator, but chose another lifestyle to escape His sovereignty over my fate, that is to say, had no alternative but to fritter away my life when opposing Him. I did acknowledge the will of Heaven, yet it did not mean me obeying God’s will. Thus, I couldn’t be freed from the struggle deep in my soul, still living in emptiness and misery.

I went on surfing and saw another passage, which pointed out a clear way to me. It says, “If one’s attitude toward God’s sovereignty over human fate is active, then when one looks back upon one’s journey, when one truly comes to grips with God’s sovereignty, one will more earnestly desire to submit to everything that God has arranged, will have more of the determination and confidence to let God orchestrate one’s fate, to stop rebelling against God. For one sees that when one does not comprehend fate, when one does not understand God’s sovereignty, when one gropes forward willfully, staggering and tottering, through the fog, the journey is too difficult, too heartbreaking. So when people recognize God’s sovereignty over human fate, the smart ones choose to know it and accept it, to bid farewell to the painful days when they tried to build a good life with their own two hands, instead of continuing to struggle against fate and pursue their so-called life goals in their own manner. When one has no God, when one cannot see Him, when one cannot clearly recognize God’s sovereignty, every day is meaningless, worthless, miserable. Wherever one is, whatever one’s job is, one’s means of living and the pursuit of one’s goals bring one nothing but endless heartbreak and irrelievable suffering, such that one cannot bear to look back. Only when one accepts the Creator’s sovereignty, submits to His orchestrations and arrangements, and seeks true human life, will one gradually break free from all heartbreak and suffering, shake off all the emptiness of life.” My heart was awakened by these words. I thought about the way I had walked before. Without direction, I staggered and tottered through the fog, moving every step with hardships and sorrows. Even though I had believed in God, I didn’t truly recognize God’s sovereignty over human fate. Depending on my own efforts, I planned my own life and pursued the objective set by myself. When I suffered defeats after going all out, not attaining my aim, I was painful, disappointed, and even thought death was the best mercy. Whenever I ran back over all of this, I felt distressed. Through reading these words now, I felt they pointed out my confusions and thoughts. I didn’t believe that my fate is in God’s hands, and wanted to change my fate by my effort. Opposing God was grieving and agonizing. I felt these words were the truth and came from God. What’s more, they told me that if I wanted to get rid of these sufferings, I only had one path: bidding farewell to the lifestyle of creating a good life by my own efforts, not continuing to plan my future by myself any longer, but accepting God’s sovereignty, submitting to His orchestrations and arrangements and living under His leadership and guidance. Only in this way could I shake off all the suffering and emptiness. At that time, I gained the unprecedented comfort, feeling my life had a favorable turn. Enlightened a lot in my heart, I was willing to practice in accordance with these words.

After that, I often prayed to God and read His words. I learned to rely on God when I encountered something in my life, committed my job, family and daughter to His control and no longer changed things depending on my own efforts. Gradually, I found God’s arrangements are good and felt so wonderfully assured and peaceful deep in my soul. I was full of hope and confidence in my future life. Looking back upon every stage of life I had gone through, I understood that each step is led by God, regardless of whether it is hard or smooth. My birth, family, job, marriage, including any tribulation I will experience in my life, have long been destined by God. Thank God! I am willing to commit all my life to Him, letting Him be my Lord, my God, and pursuing to be a true worshiper of Him.

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The Sorrow of the Eraser

The Sorrow of the Eraser

Yang Yang

I once read a parable of a pair of good friends of an eraser and a candle. The candle always wins praise from people, which makes the eraser feels imbalanced. One day, the eraser says, “We both serve humans. You’re dolled up every day, and people compare the drips you produce while burning to tears and regard your flames as the symbol of light. Whereas my body gets dirtier and the crumbles I produce are thrown away as waste. It’s unfair!”

The candle says sincerely, “You remove wrong writing for children every day. You’re a good help for them to do their homework, and a behind-the-scenes contributor to their bright future.”

However, the eraser is not satisfied with its role as a behind-the-scenes contributor, saying, “I must give off light and heat like you!”

Then the eraser throws itself on the candle. As a result, it gleams slightly, and a foul stench thickens the air.

The eraser is left charred all over. With a shake of his head, the young owner tosses it into a garbage can.

What can we learn from this parable? Much of the time we are just like the eraser. We are not satisfied with what we’ve already owned and always want to get what we lack. Some people resent being short and are envious of those tall; some with a tall and slim body structure feel pained about their ordinary appearance; some have gained a certain position and yet long for a higher status; some covet power though they have owned enough wealth. …

As a matter of fact, in our lifetime, what and how much we have, what our career is, what role we play, whether we are rich or poor—all of this is ordained by God. Some people who don’t expect to manage something achieve success in the end, while some others finally fail despite their meticulous planning and arrangement for achieving the goal. Some people lead an affluent life without paying much price, while some others spend their lives struggling and yet are still unable to move out of poverty. … Countless facts prove that we have no control over our fates and that God presides over our fates as well as the fates of all things. There is a saying prevailing among the farmers who have worked on the farms for their lifetime and experienced the vicissitudes of life, “Man works the land, but the yields depend on Heaven.” To take another example: Zhuge Liang, a chancellor and regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period, was skilled at strategy and running wars. Yet in the face of a war in which he almost succeeded, he couldn’t help but sigh, “Man proposes, but Heaven disposes!” Regardless of whether we believe it or not, no one can change the fact of God ruling over all things, or contend with God’s sovereignty and predestination.

God’s word says: “Mankind does not know who is the Sovereign of all things in the universe, much less does he know the beginning and future of mankind. Mankind merely lives, perforce, amidst this law. None can escape it and none can change it, for among all things and in the heavens there is but One from everlasting to everlasting who holds sovereignty over everything. … Regardless of whether you are able to recognize the deed of God, and irrespective of whether you believe in the existence of God, there is no doubt that your fate lies within the ordination of God, and there is no doubt that God will always hold sovereignty over all things.”

“Because people do not recognize God’s orchestrations and God’s sovereignty, they always face fate defiantly, with a rebellious attitude, and always want to cast off God’s authority and sovereignty and the things fate has in store, hoping in vain to change their current circumstances and alter their fate. But they can never succeed; they are thwarted at every turn. This struggle, which takes place deep in one’s soul, is painful; the pain is unforgettable; and all the while one is frittering away one’s life. What is the cause of this pain? Is it because of God’s sovereignty, or because a person was born unlucky? Obviously neither is true. At bottom, it is because of the paths people take, the ways people choose to live their lives. Some people may not have realized these things. But when you truly know, when you truly come to recognize that God has sovereignty over human fate, when you truly understand that everything God has planned for and decided for you is a great benefit, and is a great protection, then you feel your pain gradually lighten, and the whole of you become relaxed, free, liberated.”

God’s words are so true! We do not recognize God’s ordination and sovereignty, nor do we know what we truly need for our lives. Greed and extravagant desires cause us to never be content with our present circumstances and always rely on our own efforts to strive, which in turn invites a lot of trouble and distress for ourselves. Some people commit many evil deeds against the law, ruining their own prospects and even paying the price with their life. By contrast, those who can submit to their fates spend their lives, though unremarkable, in peace and joy. … In fact, as we humans were created by God, only God knows our real needs, and what God bestows upon us is the most appropriate.

We now are in the last days when God has come to do His work and expressed all the truths we human beings need. After reading God’s word, we will come to fully realize and confirm this fact: We will be able to shake off pain, live under God’s care and blessing, and become truly free and liberated if we can come before God to accept His word as our life, practice according to the truth, and obey God’s orchestration and arrangements, rather than cling to our excessive desires and rely on our own will and abilities to resist fate.

Watch the Video: The Sorrow of the Eraser – Inspiring Story

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Human Rights Are the Fundamental Rights that Everyone Is Entitled to Enjoy, Which Represents Dignity

Human Rights Without Borders

July 18th, 2017

【Domestic and Foreign News Comment】The news about the death of Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese human rights campaigner and a star of democratization, has set off a wave of mourning over the whole world. On July 13, Liu died at 61. As a Chinese human rights campaigner and also a Nobel Peace laureate, he paid all his life for human rights.

Liu was born in December 1955, Changchun City, Jilin Province and he became a lawyer after graduating from Jilin University and Beijing Normal University. After that, he worked in America and other places. When Tiananmen protests occurred on June 4th, 1989, he returned back to China, led and pushed the democracy movement. The Tiananmen protests, which was called “Bloody Sunday,” was a democracy demonstration, from which there appeared many thinkers. After that, human rights in China became an international subject of contention.

When Liu launched the signature drives with the aim of reforming the single-party regime of the CCP and improving human rights, he was sentenced to eleven years and imprisoned on the charge of overthrowing the government. In 2010, though he was selected as a Nobel Peace laureate, the Chinese government didn’t allow him to attend the award ceremony on the excuse of interfering in the internal affairs. Recently, Liu Xiaobo was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer and then was released on parole. He wanted to have therapies overseas and also the international community invited him to go abroad to receive medical care, but the Chinese government didn’t permit him to do so. Moreover, after he died, the Chinese government cremated his body and lowered his ashes into the sea for fear that his tombstones would become sacred site of human rights campaign. To this end, the Chinese government’s suppression of human rights was brought the forefront of discussion again. As the international community remember his dead, the voice of accusing such inhuman act is expected to get higher in the future.

Since 1990, the U.S. Department of State submits reports on many countries every year, in which American government identifies many countries’ suppression of human rights such as Myanmar, Iran, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Belarus, Eritrea, with China and North Korea as the representative. Until 2016, the United Nations General Assembly has been receiving proposals on human rights from North Koreans for twelve years.

Recently, the human rights concerns of North Korea shocked the whole world. The death of Otto F. Warmbier, a college student in America, made American citizens feel angry. This world also sank into sadness. Less than a week after he was sent back to his country, this young man who had a lot of dreams and was once very healthy died. This makes us can’t help wondering that during he served his sentence of 15 years of hard labor for subversion, he was likely to suffer abuse. Until now, there are still three American and several foreigners who were detained in North Korea. And Jin Zhengxu, Jin Guoqi, Cui Chunji and other three missionaries from South Korea were detained too.

The cruel fact that those women who escaped from North Korea were arrested in China and suffered great agony are exposed bit by bit. They suffered illegal imprisonment, human trafficking and were forced to be send back to North Korea where they would be in suffering. On Marth 17th, there held a seminar in New York with the theme of Women Refugees Escaping From North Korea Fall Into a Plight and Suffered Human Trafficking. Many women escaping from North Korea attended this meeting. They clearly testified that they suffered human rights abuse like being jailed and forced into sexual slavery in China. Moreover, they also faced sufferings and atrocities after they were forced to send back to North Korea by Chinese government. After that seminar, the organizer, the American human rights group, and the members of North Korean Free Association addressed President Xi Jinping a petition, requiring him to stop sending back North Korean defectors forcibly.

During the course, human rights concerns of China and North Korea were blamed all the time. In China, which stubbornly clings to socialism, religious faith was limited. Especially, Falun Gong was seriously limited and suppressed. On June 13th, the American House of Commons approved the 343 human rights case. This case asked the Chinese government to must halt the heinous acts like forceful organ extraction toward the practitioners of Falun Gong in China.

The Church of Almighty God in China has been the object of religion persecution since 1992. On May 28, 2014, as the May 28 McDonald’s Murder Case was reported done by the believers of the Church of Almighty God, the suppression on the Church enters the superheating stage. The Chinese government immediately developed the centralized control strategy named “Hundred Days Battle” to crack down on the Church of Almighty God. Alone according to the news report, at least 1,858 believers were arrested subsequently. In the following two years, the arrested Christians amounted to over 380,000.

According to the records of the suspects in court, they were not members of the Church of Almighty God at all, and never had they contacted with the Church of Almighty God. However, started with this case, the Chinese authorities strengthened their suppression against the Church of Almighty God, causing more and more believers to seek asylum overseas. Some of them applied for refugee status in South Korea. The believers of the Church of Almighty God have been scattered in many countries, such as South Korea, America, Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other areas.

The Chinese authorities regarded Falun Gong and the Church of Almighty God as cult. House churches and the Three-Self Church controlled by the government are no exception. There were 2000 churches being demolished their crosses in Zhejiang Province.

Human rights are the fundamental rights that all humans are entitled to enjoy, and something people were born with. They should be given naturally, and endowed by heaven. The United Nation issued the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. It stipulated that human rights are universal rights to all human beings, and emphasized that human dignity should be the foundation of one’s life for the sake of freedom, equality and justice in the world.

In all part of the globe, such as North Korea and China, human rights are violated recklessly. In fact, human rights should be protected because they are the basic rights to life, by which we can live like a real man. The right to freedom of belief also should be protected. Human rights could not be constrained because of the classification of countries and nations. When the global world unifies the idea of human rights, human rights will come true. Human rights are beyond frontiers.

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Rains Flood Many Areas in US: Seeing God’s Warnings

Rains Flood Many Areas in US: Seeing God’s Warnings

Recently, days of heavy rain have hit the central and southeastern United States, where in some parts the rainfall has reached up to 10 inches and will continue to increase. The torrential rain flooded hundreds of highways in eastern Tennessee. Water was flowing into a school’s cafeteria Sunday near Knoxville. Many schools in southwest Virginia and eastern Tennessee cancelled classes on Monday. What’s more, the Virginia Department of Transportation said that at least a hundred county roads were closed early Monday due to the high rising water in southwest Virginia. Presently, the casualties and property loss caused by the floods are still being counted.

The National Weather Service said that Charleston in South Carolina has been hit by a great flood by the morning of April 24. Evacuation of local residents and emergency measures are being carried out. The weather forecast indicated that nearly 6 million people are expected to be affected as the storm will slowly move northeast from the 25th. The government warned people that the bad storm may cause a power failure.

As Easter had just passed, people were still enjoying the festive atmosphere. Yet, contrary to all expectations, the continual heavy downpour destroyed their homes abruptly and put their life in danger. In recent years, there are more and more such sudden local disasters, which spread increasingly widely and caused ever severer casualties and losses. The Bible mentions that there will be great disasters in the last days, during which the Lord will return. But, has mankind really been prepared to welcome the Lord’s return? Is mankind in today’s situation really worthy to see the Lord’s face?

Think back to the days when God destroyed the world with flood. Except for Noah, who had a God-revering heart, the entire mankind was corrupted by Satan to such degree that they only knew to hanker after carnal pleasures. To eat and drink and have fun and to satisfy the fleshly lust, man all forgot the right way of fearing God and shunning evil. When Noah spread the news that God would unleash the destruction upon the world with flood, not only did no one believe him, but instead people all ridiculed him, saying that he was insane. Consequently, when the flood poured down, only Noah’s family of eight boarded the ark which was built ahead of time, and no one else was spared from the destruction.

Compared with the people of Noah’s time, what about the people of the last days? For the sake of their own interests, countries fight for every inch of territory. Local conflicts and wars have never ceased and a world-wide war can be triggered off at any time. And men also fight against each other for their private interests. Politicians jostle for position and trade power for cash. Businessmen seek nothing but money and plot against each other. Furthermore, an extramarital affair has become a common social phenomenon, which is given a beautiful name of pursuing personal freedom. Many people turn to drugs as an outlet for their frustration and unbearable emptiness. Even homosexuality, this unethical evil thing, has been under the protection of the law in many nations which claim to advocate civilization and democracy. … It can be seen that the evil of mankind in the last days is even worse than that in the time of Noah.

The Lord Jesus prophesied, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be”(Matthew 24:37-39). Before the great flood, people had been craving for the pleasure of sin without repentance. It was not until the great flood rained down that they scrambled to go into the ark, but God had closed the door of grace personally. Because when God gives man opportunities to repent, if they do not cherish them, it will be too late to repent when God hurls His wrath to punish Satan and all the wicked who follow Satan. Now is the crucial time once again when the life and death of mankind is decided. From now till the great disasters prophesied in Revelation come, it is the very period when God gives man opportunities to repent. At the present time, God uses some local disasters such as earthquakes, floods and plagues to warn man to turn away from their evil ways and forsake the violence in their hands quickly, confess and repent before Him soon and carefully examine what they have done. Shall we still consider eating, drinking and pleasures and the indulgence of fleshly lust as the proper pursuits of life? Or shall we quiet down before God more to carefully ponder over and comply with His words, and seek to walk the right path of life of fearing God and shunning evil? Different attitudes and practices will inevitably bring about different outcomes and destinations. Have you perceived God’s warnings sent to us by the disasters now?

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Hardship Is the Best Blessing God Bestows on Us

Hardship Is the Best Blessing God Bestows on Us

Xiang Yang

One day, by chance, I read such a parable: There once was a farmer whose wheat was ravaged by a plague of locusts and then by flooding. He entreated God to let there be enough sunshine and sunny days so that his wheat would not be exposed to cruel winds or deep cold. Moreover, he pled with God to protect his wheat from insect attacks. Afterward, everything went the way he hoped. The wheat grew tall and ripened into golden grain. The farmer couldn’t help but express his gratitude to God. Just then, however, his wife wailed in the distance: She separated the wheat berries from the husks, only to find they were totally empty. As it turns out, if the wheat only experiences sunny, breezy days as it grows and lacks the tempering of harsh environments like extreme cold weather and strong winds, there cannot be a bumper wheat harvest.

The growth of the wheat triggered this thought in me: We also need to temper ourselves through hardships as we grow, or we will be as vulnerable as hothouse flowers, unable to adapt to various tough circumstances and grim realities. The Bible says, “the prosperity of fools shall destroy them” (Proverbs 1:32). For one to mature, he has to suffer some frustrations and tribulations. As he undergoes more hardships and solves more problems, he will become stronger, more mature and resilient, with greater will and perseverance, and his ability to see through things and deal with difficulties will improve. So, only suffering and ordeals are beneficial to our growth; if everything goes smoothly for us, it’s not a good thing.

As far as we Christians are concerned, hardship and refinement are the best blessings from God, for they are essential for us to gain life. It is written in the Bible, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried” (Daniel 12:10). “My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:2-4). There are many other similar scriptures in the Bible. These scriptures tell us that only through hardship and refinement can we be made complete by God. For example, throughout the ages, the saints and prophets who are after God’s heart have all suffered hardships before they are fit for God’s use and receive God’s blessing. When asked to offer Isaac, Abraham was trapped in refinement, but he finally chose to satisfy God and sacrifice his beloved only son. Only then did God bless him with the promise of making his offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand on the sea shore. Moses experienced forty years of hardship in the wilderness and then cast off his naturalness. After that, he was obedient to God and suitable for God’s use, and hence undertook the heavy responsibility of leading the Israelites out of Egypt. In the misery of his property and children being taken, Job maintained true faith in God and was thus perfected into a righteous man who feared God and shunned evil. As Peter followed the Lord, he experienced tribulations and refinement hundreds of times, and in the end was nailed upside down on the cross, achieving obedience unto death and love for God to the utmost. The Lord Jesus said, “Whoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). For thousands of years, the path of faith in God has been fraught with difficulty and hardship. We all have truly come to this realization: Hardship is the best blessing God bestows on us! Only by experiencing hardships and ordeals can we have a change in life disposition; only after there is a change in our life disposition can we be qualified to receive God’s inheritance and His promise.

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What Is the True Way to Prepare Oil for Second Coming of Jesus?

What Is the True Way to Prepare Oil for Second Coming of Jesus?

Tong Tong

The Jesus Christ said: “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go you rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut” (Matthew 25:1-10). Two thousand years ago, the Jesus Christ once told us a very vivid parable about who can enter the kingdom of heaven. He said that only the wise virgins can welcome the bridegroom, and the foolish virgins who haven’t taken oil with them cannot. When I read this parable, I was determined to be a wise virgin to welcome the Lord’s return, and feast with Him.

In the few decades of faith in the Lord, I have always been yearning for the Lord to welcome me to the heavenly home and deliver me from this hard and sinful place, so that I will receive His beautiful promise. I often worked hard at reading the Bible and prayed to the Lord earnestly; I looked for the famous preachers who knew the Bible well and listened to them expounding the Bible; I tolerated the ridicule and sarcasm of the worldly people; when sickness or adverse things came upon me, I tried to keep myself from following Satan and complaining, for I believed that “he who endures to the end will be saved.” I thought my doing so was preparing oil. However, all these I did never brought any comfort to my heart, and I felt far away from the Lord. I was unable to feel the presence of the Lord even though I often prayed to Him.

Was my preparing oil this way not in accordance with the Lord’s will? I fell into confusion. One day, I heard a brother’s sermon, and he said: “In the Age of Grace the Jesus Christ mentioned the wise virgins. What is this mystery? Why is it said that they are the wise virgins? It is primarily because they can recognize God’s voice. As soon as they listen, they realize, ‘I felt this man’s words are God’s words, are God’s voice. There’s no way that a person could speak these words; this is the voice of God. So I believe in Him. He is Christ, that is, God has become flesh.’ You see, such is their wisdom. How are the foolish people so foolish? They think, “Isn’t this a man? Isn’t this Jesus of Nazareth? Isn’t this just an ordinary person? How can He be God? We won’t believe in Him, and we only believe in the God in heaven.’ Look, doesn’t it show that they do not have spiritual understanding? Yet they believe that their words are right and very reasonable. The result is that God allows these ‘smart’ people to fall prey to their own crafty schemes” (Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (IX)). His fellowships resolved my confusion. I understood that preparing oil means to be able to listen out for God’s voice, understand God’s words, and accept the truth and submit to God. Only those who can do so are wise virgins.

I was reminded of the fisherman Peter. After hearing the gospel of the kingdom of heaven preached by the Jesus Christ, he realized that what the Jesus Christ had spoken was the mystery about the kingdom of heaven, and that the Jesus Christ was sent by God, so he followed Him. While staying with the Jesus Christ, Peter saw that His words could not have been spoken by man, and that the work He did could not have been done by man. From the Lord’s speech and behavior, Peter recognized that He was the Son of the living God. I also thought of the woman of Samaria. When she heard the Lord Jesus say the inmost secrets of her heart, she recognized the Lord, for she knew that only God can know man’s innermost secrets. So she left her water pot and went to tell the people: “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” (John 4:29). Facing the appearance of God, the disciples and followers of the Lord Jesus could understand that the words He had spoken were the truth and were from God, which could not have been spoken by man. And after hearing God’s voice, they could accept, submit to and follow the Lord. That’s how they prepared oil.

In contrast, those foolish virgins didn’t have a seeking and yearning heart, and they neither sought nor investigated the truth expressed by Christ to see if it was the voice of God. On the contrary, they always defined God’s work by their notions, treated the incarnate Jesus Christ as an ordinary person, and said that the utterance of God was actually the word of man. As a result, they were rejected by God and lost His salvation. Just like the Pharisees at that time, they didn’t listen carefully to the Lord’s words, blindly judged God to be a man by their conceptions, and even fanatically condemned that the Lord spoke words of blasphemy. Eventually, they were cursed and punished by God because of defying the new work of the Lord.

Then I read these words of the Lord: “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come” (John 16:12-13). “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps” (Matthew 25: 6-7). The scriptures show us that in the future God will come again to speak many more words and tell us the future work of Him. So, when the Lord comes again, I should be a wise virgin. If someone preaches the message on the Lord’s return, I should be watchful to listen to the voice of God, and pray to the Lord more to receive His guidance. I believe that the Lord will guide me to welcome His coming, for the Lord promised: “And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened” (Luke 11:9-10). “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). Thanks be to the Lord! May the Lord’s kingdom come soon. Hope we can be the wise virgins and welcome the return of the Jesus Christ.

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A Trader’s Regret

A Trader’s Regret

Xingwu

I once heard a thought-provoking story:

A trader who had been away from home for many years decided to return home, and he would walk through a vast desert on the way. With the gold coins earned through years of hard work and enough food and water, he set out on the journey happily. However, soon the blistering heat of the desert was unbearable for him. He must lighten the load so as to walk out of the desert as soon as possible. He was hesitant to make a choice among the coins, food and water. Thinking that he had spent most of his life accumulating the wealth, he was too loath to throw a single coin away. Hence, he discarded most of the food and water and was on his way again.

He had not walked far when there was little food and water left. Just then, he heard the sound of camel bells: A camel caravan was coming towards him. The trader was overjoyed and hurriedly went forward seeking for help.Unexpectedly, after learning the trader’s situation, the caravan asked him for a large sum of gold coins in exchange for food and water. The trader, hungry and thirsty, touched his money bag and said to himself: “To exchange the gold coins for food and water can support me to walk out of the desert as quickly as possible. But, if so, little of my wealth will remain.” Finally, the trader gritted his teeth and said: “I won’t buy your food and water. As long as I hold on a little longer, I can walk out of the desert.” The members of the caravan all laughed at him: “What a miser! He prefers money to life!” Yet the trader ignored their derision and resumed his journey.

Without water, the trader could scarcely move his dragging limbs and flaked out before he got much farther. He touched his gold coins and thought: How I wish these gold coins could be drunk as water! Just at this moment, another caravan passed by. The trader begged them for water, but they also asked him to trade many gold coins for food and water. Still, he was too stubborn to do that. Then he picked himself up with difficulty and stumbled forward. The people of the caravan shouted behind him: “Which is more important, coins or life?” However, the trader was indifferent to their words.

The following day, the trader trudged to the edge of the desert, and he even dimly saw the smoke from the village in the distance. Nevertheless, he had already been exhausted. Eventually, he toppled down. Before he died, he sighed: “If I had given up my gold coins earlier, I would not be dying now. It’s late, too late …”

At this point of the story, many of us may feel sorry for the trader’s greed and ignorance. However, we might as well put ourselves in his shoes and reflect upon ourselves, or pay attention to the people around us. Are we not the same as him most of the time? Being beguiled by Satan, so many people bustle about struggling for fame and fortune with every effort all their lives. Not content with living comfortably, some people try their best to obtain better material enjoyments throughout their lives and are unwilling to give up their pursuit even when they are full of illnesses. Not satisfied with being rich only, some fight for status to stand out and be distinguished. Some spend their lifetime striving for fame and profit, and when they fall ill lying in bed they still worry about their gains and losses. Tempted by fame and fortune, people expose various follies, which forces us to reflect: Does man live only for fame and fortune? What exactly is the value of man’s existence? Almighty God says: “People spend their lives chasing after money and fame; they clutch at these straws, thinking they are their only means of support, as if by having them they could keep on living, could exempt themselves from death. But only when they are close to dying do they realize how distant these things are from them, how weak they are in the face of death, how easily they shatter, how lonely and helpless they are, with nowhere to turn. They realize that life cannot be bought with money or fame, that no matter how wealthy a person is, no matter how lofty his or her position is, all people are equally poor and inconsequential in the face of death. They realize that money cannot buy life, that fame cannot erase death, that neither money nor fame can lengthen a person’s life by a single minute, a single second.” “The Creator treats everyone fairly, giving everyone a lifetime’s worth of opportunities to experience and know His sovereignty, yet it is only when death draws near, when the specter of death hangs over one, that one begins to see the light—and then it is too late” (“God Himself, the Unique III” in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh).

God’s words warn every one of us that fame and money cannot bring man life because they are the tools used by Satan to deceive and harm man. If man becomes obsessed with them, they will only stray further and further from God. Without God’s care and protection, mankind will be fooled by Satan like a plaything in its hands, blinded by fame and fortune and incapable of distinguishing between good and evil. People spend a lifetime’s worth of energy pursuing fame and gain. What’s more, when faced with the threats of disaster, disease, and death, they still think how to preserve their hard-earned money and fame, just like the trader in the desert. They do not awaken until the last minute of their lives. But it is too late to regret then. In fact, man was created by God personally, so his life and fate are controlled by God’s hands. It is God’s will that man should worship Him, obey His sovereignty and arrangement, and commit everything to Him, so God will protect man from Satan’s test. Only by living before God and obtaining the truth as life can man live out a most meaningful life.

During the last days, Almighty God bestows upon mankind all the truth of pursuing salvation and gaining eternal life. If man is able to not be restrained by fame, money and position and come before God to receive His salvation, he will obtain God’s guidance and blessings and live out the value a created being is supposed to. As God’s word says: “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” (“God Himself, the Unique III” in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh).

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