By Su Xing, China
The pandemic has continued to spread over recent months and the numbers of confirmed cases and deaths are growing ever higher. Disasters are rife across the world, such as swarms of insects, floods, and fires, and the threat of war looms. Many Christians have become aware that the Lord has returned already and are now seeking His appearance. Nowadays, only The Church of Almighty God is testifying that the Lord has returned, and many are now seeking and investigating the appearance and work of Almighty God. More and more people become certain that they are the voice of God after hearing Almighty God’s words, and then accept Almighty God’s work in the last days. Yet there are some people who, when they see Almighty God’s work being slandered and condemned by the CCP government and the pastors and elders of the religious world, decide to follow them. They do not believe that this is the true way and dare not seek or investigate it. While we should be cautious when investigating the true way, is it in line with the truth to hold up the words of the CCP government and the pastors and elders as the standard for determining whether something is the true way or a false way? Who exactly should we be listening to when looking into the true way so that we can welcome the Lord’s return? We will fellowship and explore these issues here.
Believing the CCP’s Condemnation Is Believing the Words of Satan
We all know that the CCP government is an atheistic government. Ever since it came to power, the CCP has hyped up atheism, materialism, and evolutionism. It has always denied the existence of God and has advocated such satanic fallacies as “There has never been any Savior,” “One’s destiny is in his own hand,” and “Man can create a pleasant homeland with his own hands.” The CCP has also openly condemned Christianity as a “xie jiao,” and the Bible as a “xie jiao” book. It has demolished a great many churches, burned countless copies of the Bible, and wantonly arrested and persecuted Christians and Catholics. We can see from its frenzied persecution of Christianity and Catholicism that the CCP most despises the truth and God. How could a satanic regime that resists God acknowledge the appearance and work of God? The CCP simply refuses to acknowledge that there is such a thing as the true way, much less that there is a God. When it comes to determining whether a way is the true way or not, then, what is the difference between believing the rumors and lies of the CCP and believing the words of the devil Satan?
Moreover, we all know that the true way has been subjected to persecution since time immemorial. All satanic regimes have the utmost hatred for God and for the truth, and the more something is of God, the more frantically they resist it. That is why every time God comes to perform His work, He is inevitably persecuted and condemned by the satanic regime—this is an undeniable fact. When the Lord Jesus delivered His sermons and did His work all those years ago, the chief priests and Pharisees of the Jewish faith colluded with the Roman authorities to nail Jesus to the cross. Could we then deny the fact that the Lord Jesus is Christ because of the condemnation, persecution, lies and defamation of the ruling regime? Similarly, God has now returned to do His work and the CCP has stepped up its mad condemnation and blasphemy of God’s appearance and work. It wantonly arrests and persecutes Christians, and uses online media both at home and abroad to spread its lies slandering God’s work and misleading those who do not know the truth. It does this out of fear, because it is afraid that God has appeared and is working to save mankind, and that all mankind will accept the truth and turn back to God. Even more so, it fears that God’s words will come to pass on earth, that His kingdom will appear on earth, and then all of mankind will reject the CCP. This is why the Chinese government frantically suppresses and cruelly persecutes The Church of Almighty God. This is the fundamental reason why it slanders and condemns God’s work. If we truly have discernment, then we should determine what is the true way by what is most opposed and hated by this satanic regime. Conversely, if we give up investigating Almighty God’s work in the last days because it is opposed and condemned by the Chinese government, then we would be great fools indeed.
Is It Right to Believe What the Pastors and Elders Say When Investigating the True Way, and Not Listen to the Word of God?
Some people think that the CCP government has always resisted God and that nothing it puts online can be trusted, but that pastors and elders, on the other hand, are well-versed in the Bible and understand it, so by listening to them when investigating the true way, they can’t go wrong. But have we ever considered the following: Can someone being well-versed in the Bible demonstrate that they understand the truth? Can it demonstrate that they know God? If we think back to the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees of the Jewish faith, they were well-versed in the Scriptures and often expounded on the Scriptures to others. But when the Lord Jesus appeared and performed His work, did they recognize Him as the Messiah? Did they recognize His words to be the truth, the voice of God? They not only failed to recognize the Lord, but for the sake of their positions and livelihoods, they held the literal meaning of the Scriptures up against the Lord, and they concocted rumors about Him and discredited Him. They furiously persecuted and blasphemed Him, and finally they colluded with the Roman authorities to crucify the Lord Jesus. These facts amply demonstrate that just because someone is well-versed in the Bible and often expounds on it, this does not mean that they understand the truth, much less that they know God. This was something the Jewish faithful of that time did not fully understand, and they had no discernment when it came to the Pharisees. In the matter of welcoming the Lord, they blindly believed what their religious leaders said, and though some knew well that the Lord Jesus’ words and work possessed authority and power, they still believed the rumors and slander put about by the religious Pharisees. They were therefore deceived and went along with their religious leaders in condemning and rejecting the Lord Jesus. Not only did they not receive the Lord’s salvation, but were instead punished by God.
In just the same way, although the pastors and elders of today are well-versed in the Bible, this does not demonstrate that they understand the truth or know God. Normally, most of what they preach is biblical knowledge and theological theory; very rarely do they preach or bear witness to the Lord Jesus’ words. Their biblical knowledge and theological theory cannot provide sustenance for people’s lives, and no matter how much they know, it in no way shows that they understand the truth or know the Lord. What we need now most of all is to understand some truths, such as why the religious world is so desolate, how to solve the root cause of the church’s desolation, how to search for God’s footsteps, how to welcome the Lord, how to do God’s will and obey the Lord, how to be free of the shackles and fetters of sin and be purified to become compatible with Christ, and so on. Pastors and elders have never preached such truths as these because they don’t understand them themselves. If they did understand the truth, then believers would be watered and sustained. When pastors and elders themselves don’t understand the truth or know the Lord, how then could they lead us to welcome the Lord’s return? The Bible says, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve” (Matthew 4:10). “This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honors Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me. But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8–9). “Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from Jehovah” (Jeremiah 17:5). The Lord counsels us that we must exalt God as great in our faith, and worship God with a true heart. We must not hold other people in our hearts nor easily believe what other people say, otherwise the Lord will never commend us no matter how we follow Him. In our faith in God, if we blindly believe the pastors and elders when it comes to the important matter of investigating the true way, and we leave our fates and destinations up to them to arrange, what kind of problem is this? Is that believing in God, or is it believing in people? As we investigate the true way, should we listen to what God says, or to what the pastors and elders say? If, while we investigate the true way, we have no views of our own but just blindly believe others’ words, is this not failing to take responsibility for our own lives? We would then be prone to commit the same mistakes as did the common Jewish people all those years ago, and we would be abandoned and eliminated by the Lord!
We Should Listen to God’s Voice as We Investigate the True Way
We should have our own views when it comes to investigating the true way rather than blindly believing what pastors, elders, or the Chinese government say. We have to practice according to the Lord’s words, for only then will we be able to greet the appearance of the Lord. The Lord Jesus said, “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). “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). Chapters 2 and 3 of the Book of Revelation prophesy multiple times: “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Almighty God’s words say, “Since we are searching for the footprints of God, it behooves us to search for God’s will, for the words of God, for His utterances—because wherever there are new words spoken by God, the voice of God is there, and wherever there are the footsteps of God, God’s deeds are there. Wherever there is the expression of God, there God appears, and wherever God appears, there the truth, the way, and the life exist. In seeking God’s footprints, you have ignored the words ‘God is the truth, the way, and the life.’ And so, many people, even when they receive the truth, do not believe that they have found God’s footprints, and still less do they acknowledge the appearance of God. What a grave mistake!” (“The Appearance of God Has Ushered in a New Age” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). We can see from this that God utters more words when He returns in the last days, and we should be the wise virgins who focus on hearing God’s voice. The wise virgins have caliber and are spiritually perceptive; they are able to recognize from Christ’s utterances that these words are the truth, the way of life, and so they are able to recognize God’s voice and welcome His appearance. When the Lord Jesus appeared and did His work in the Age of Grace, for example, He expressed the way of “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Peter, John, and the other disciples who followed the Lord Jesus all recognized the Lord through the voice of God. They could hear that what the Lord was expressing was the truth, and so they gave up their parents and homes without hesitation to follow the Lord, and they were personally watered and shepherded by Him. During the time they followed the Lord Jesus, they were harassed and obstructed in all manner of ways by the Pharisees, and slandered and condemned by the Roman authorities. Yet they only listened to God’s words and obeyed Him, refusing to be disturbed or deceived by the ruling power or the religious Pharisees. Having recognized Christ, they followed Him to the end, they prayed to Him, and experienced His words. They gradually matured in life and came to have some knowledge of God. The Jewish faithful, however, who were rigid, ignorant and stubborn, although they heard the authority and power in the Lord Jesus’ words, and knew that no human being could say such things, they still couldn’t believe in or follow Him. They toppled at the first hint of being harassed and deceived by the Pharisees; they believed in God but could not hear His words, they had no discernment or any views of their own, and even went so far as to stand on the side of Satan to resist God. In the end, such people could only be abandoned and eliminated by God, falling into hell to be punished for all eternity. Therefore, when we investigate the true way, we must not blindly believe what other people say, but must focus on hearing God’s voice and recognizing that Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. This is of the utmost importance.
The last days’ gospel of Almighty God now extends across the entire universe, and the book of classic words expressed by Almighty God—The Word Appears in the Flesh—has been translated into over 20 languages, and is publicly available online for all mankind to seek and investigate. Almighty God expresses all the truths to save mankind, such as what true faith in God is, what submission to God and love for God are, how we can fear God and shun evil, how we can be compatible with Christ, how we can live out meaningful lives, and more. People from all nations across the world who have yearned for God to appear have recognized God’s voice in the words of Almighty God and one after another they have come back to God’s house. No matter how pastors and elders try to stand in the way, or what kind of slander and blasphemy the Chinese government spreads, they follow God unswervingly. These people are the wise virgins, the ones who have been raptured before God’s throne, the ones who have the chance to be cleansed and perfected by God, and to be made into overcomers by God in the last days. Then there are those who see that the words Almighty God expresses are all the truth, that they are God’s voice, yet are deceived and constrained after hearing the interdictions spoken by pastors and elders, and dare not investigate God’s work. They even go so far as to doubt the true way and God’s work—is this how the wise virgins behave? God could speak a hundred words and they’d be unable to fully believe them, but when one of corrupt mankind says just one word, they accept it wholeheartedly—are these not the foolish virgins? When they investigate the true way, the foolish virgins don’t listen to the voice of God, but instead listen to the words of man. They are constantly harassed and deceived by Satan, and in the end they will be devoured by Satan. They will lose God’s salvation, they will be abandoned and eliminated by God, and they will be swept away by the disasters. This precisely fulfills these words in the Bible: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6) and “Fools die for want of wisdom” (Proverbs 10:21).
Now, Almighty God’s work in the last days will soon reach its end. Do we want to be like Peter, to be people who hear God’s voice and welcome the Lord? Or do we want to be like the Jewish faithful, blindly following what pastors, elders, and the satanic regime say, and so lose God’s salvation? Whether we choose to listen to the words of God or to the words of man when investigating the true way will decide our fates and our final ends! As Almighty God says, “The work of God surges onward like a mighty wave. No one can detain Him, and no one can halt His march. Only those who listen carefully to His words, and who seek and thirst for Him, can follow His footsteps and receive His promise. Those who do not shall be subjected to overwhelming disaster and well-deserved punishment” (“God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
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