Sharing a Testimony, a Life Story----Where Is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Sharing a Testimony, a Life Story,

Where Is the Kingdom of Heaven?

November 14, 2016 
Wu Ming

    One day on my return flight to America, I felt bored, so I opened the Bible to read. A lady next to me asked, “Are you a believer in the Lord?” I said, “Yes. All four generations of my family are believers in the Lord. Do you also believe in the Lord?” She replied, “Right!” “What a coincidence!” I said, “Thanks be to the Lord!” Learning that she also believed in the Lord Jesus, I was very glad. Then we launched into a talk about the condition of the churches.

The sister asked me, “How about the condition of your church?” I answered, “Alas! I don’t know what’s wrong with me these years. I have no enjoyment at the meetings. Inland churches and overseas churches are in the same boat. I even don’t want to attend the service. When I thought back on the past, the gatherings were very good, and my father was a preacher at that time. We had great enjoyment in the gatherings all day. Unfortunately, such gatherings are little more than a memory now.” The sister said, “The churches are all in such a condition because the prophecies concerning the Lord’s return have come into reality. The Lord has already returned.” “Oh, the Lord has come back? But why didn’t we meet Him? If He really is back, we should have been raptured into the kingdom of heaven.” I said with confusion, and then opened the Bible, “The Lord Jesus once said, ‘I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also’ (John 14:2-3). The Lord Jesus has prepared a place for us in heaven. He will bring us directly into the kingdom of heaven when He comes again. If the Lord has already come, why are we still on earth and not taken into heaven?”

    The sister said, “It is true that the Lord Jesus promised us He would prepare a place for us. Yet we should be clear that never did the Lord say He would take us to heaven in the future.”

Where Is the Kingdom of Heaven?

   I said, “Are you saying the place that the Lord prepares for us is not in heaven? In Matthew 4:17, the Lord Jesus said, ‘Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Isn’t the kingdom of heaven in heaven?”

Questions and Answers About the Inside Story of the Bible—–Question 2

VIII Questions and Answers About the Inside Story of the Bible

Question 2: The truths in the Bible are already perfect. In believing in God, we have the Bible, and that’s enough. We don’t need the new word at all.

About the Inside Story of the Bible

Answer: What the Bible records is limited. The Old Testament only records the work of Jehovah God, and the New Testament only records the work of the Lord Jesus. The Bible only prophesies God’s work in the last days, but doesn’t record the details, because in the last days God does the work of judgment, which is a new work outside the Bible. God is the expresser of the truth, and even more is the Ruler of all things. His richness is unfailing and inexhaustible, and He is unfathomable to any created being. So, the contents of the Bible alone can’t make clear all God’s deeds at all. Almighty God tells us, “All that is recorded within the Bible is limited and unable to represent all the work of God. The Four Gospels have fewer than one hundred chapters altogether in which are written a finite number of happenings, such as Jesus cursing the fig tree, Peter’s three denials of the Lord, Jesus appearing to the disciples following His crucifixion and resurrection, teaching about fasting, teaching about prayer, teaching about divorce, the birth and genealogy of Jesus, Jesus’ appointment of the disciples, and so forth.

VIII Questions and Answers About the Inside Story of the Bible—–Question 1

VIII Questions and Answers About the Inside Story of the Bible

Question 1: I’ve studied the Bible for more than twenty years. I’m sure that outside the Bible there is no God’s word. All God’s word is in the Bible. Any belief against or beyond the Bible is a heresy and is a fallacy.

Answer: Does the saying “outside the Bible there is no God’s word and any belief beyond the Bible is a heresy,” accord with the fact or not? All those who are familiar with the Bible know that in the compilation of the Bible, because of the compilers’ disagreement and omission, some of God’s words conveyed through the prophets were not included in the Old Testament. This is a generally acknowledged fact.

Answers About the Inside Story of the Bible

How can we say that outside the Bible there are no God’s work and word? Aren’t those omitted prophecies of the prophets God’s words? The Lord Jesus said more words than those in the New Testament. In fact, most of His words are not recorded in the Bible. The Lord Jesus had worked for three and a half years, and He said countless words and gave many sermons. However, all of the Lord’s words recorded in the Four Gospels in the New Testament merely amount to His words in several hours. Compared with the Lord Jesus’ work and preaching in the three and a half years, that’s only a drop in the ocean. As John said, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written” (John 21:25). This proves that not all of the Lord Jesus’ work and word are recorded in the New Testament. Thus, the saying “outside the Bible there are no God’s work and word” doesn’t accord with the fact. We should also know that whether the Old Testament or the New Testament, it came into being from man’s record after God finished one stage of His work. The Bible at the very beginning was only the Old Testament. All of the Lord Jesus’ work and word went beyond the Old Testament. If according to “any belief beyond the Bible is a heresy,” won’t we condemn the Lord Jesus? Brothers and sisters, from these facts we can see the saying “outside the Bible there are no God’s work and word and any belief beyond the Bible is a heresy” is groundless.

Ⅶ Questions and Answers About the Name of God—–Question 2

Question 2: God’s name in each age doesn’t represent God in His entirety, then what does God’s name in each age mean?

the Truth About the Name of God

Answer: This question is very important. Today Almighty God has given us the answer to this question. Almighty God says, “‘Jehovah’ is the name that I took during My work in Israel, and it means the God of the Israelites (God’s chosen people) who can take pity on man, curse man, and guide the life of man. It means the God who possesses great power and is full of wisdom.

 Questions and Answers About the Name of God—–Question 1

Ⅶ Questions and Answers About the Name of God

Question 1: It’s written right there in the Bible: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). So the name of the Lord doesn’t change! But you say that the name of Jesus will change in the last days. How do you explain it?

the Name of God

Answer: Brothers and sisters, the Bible says, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). This means that God’s disposition and God’s substance are immutable. It doesn’t mean that God’s name will never change. Look with us at the words of Almighty God.

Almighty God says, “There are those who say that God is immutable. That is correct, but it refers to the immutability of God’s disposition and substance. Changes in His name and work do not prove that His substance has altered; in other words, God will always be God, and this will never change. If you say that the work of God always stays the same, then would He be able to finish His six-thousand-year management plan? You merely know that God is forever unchanging, but do you know that God is always new and never old? If the work of God never changed, then could He have brought mankind to today? If God is immutable, then why is it that He has already done the work of two ages? … the words ‘God is always new and never old’ are in reference to His work, and the words ‘God is immutable’ are in regard to what God inherently has and is. Regardless, you cannot define the six-thousand-year work in one point, or portray it with mere static words. Such is the stupidity of man. God is not as simple as man imagines, and His work will not stop in one age. Jehovah, for example, will not always stand for the name of God; God also does His work under the name of Jesus, which is a symbol of how God’s work is always progressing forward.

a Testimony, a Life Story---- I Finally Have A Warm Family – God’s Love

   One afternoon in the early spring, I was reviewing lessons alone in my bedroom, while my mother was cleaning in the living room. After a while, my grandmother and uncle came in. I thought they just dropped in on us, so I said hello to them and then went on with my revision. Afterward, my mother led them to the study.

    A few moments later, the arguments between my mother and my grandmother came to my ears. When hearing my mother shouted the word “divorce,” My heart gave a great throb. Divorce? Aren’t they getting on very well? Why does my mother want a divorce? What’s going on? Later on, their voices trailed off. But from that day on, I found everything changed. My father went home less and less, while my mother’s smile disappeared from her face.

    It wasn’t until later that I learned my father had an affair. Upon hearing that, I realized that my family was going to break apart. My father cheated on my mother. I couldn’t imagine how much pain my mother was suffering, yet I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Soon our relatives also got to know my father’s extramarital affair, and they began to talk about it. Some persuaded my parents to be reconciled with each other, while some just advised them to get divorced. And I, in order to escape all of this, chose to go to boarding school after graduation from middle school, unwilling to live at home anymore.

Hymn, Praise song – Heart’s Voice of a Created Human – “I’m Willing to Perform My Duty Faithfully”

Hymn, Praise song – Heart’s Voice of a Created Human – “I’m Willing to Perform My Duty Faithfully”