Can We Welcome the Second Coming of Jesus Christ If We Only Wait for His Revelations? (二)

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Can We Welcome the Second Coming of Jesus Christ If We Only Wait for His Revelations? 

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Early next morning I hurriedly went to ask Brother Zhang, “Brother Zhang, I thought about what you said yesterday for a whole night. I feel your fellowship was very reasonable. In regard to the Lord’s return, I should have a seeking heart, but not hold my own imaginations and notions. So I want to seek fellowship with you about how to welcome the Lord’s return.”

Brother Zhang lit up and said, “Thank God! Brother Wang, as long as we have a humble and seeking heart, the Lord will give mercy to and enlighten us. Just as the Lord said, ‘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). To be honest with you, recently I got a book, some content in which says about how to treat the Lord’s return. Those words benefit and edify me very much as if opening a window in my heart. How about I read some passages of words to you?”

“OK! It’s too good to have such a book. I also want to read it carefully.” I said happily.

He quickly opened the book and read: “The greatest book of prophecy of Isaiah in the Old Testament never mentioned that a child named Jesus would be born in the age of the New Testament, merely that a male infant would be born by the name of Emmanuel. Why did he not specify the name Jesus? Nowhere in the Old Testament does this name appear, so why then do you still believe in Jesus? Surely you did not see Jesus with your own eyes before you came to believe in Him? Or did you begin to believe upon receiving a revelation? Would God really show you such grace? And bestow upon you such a great blessing? On what basis did you believe in Jesus? … Must God tell man prior to commencing His work? Must He first receive the approval of man? Isaiah only proclaimed that a male infant would be born in a manger but never prophesied that Mary would give birth to Jesus. Why then did you believe in Jesus whom Mary gave birth to? Surely your belief is not one of uncertainty and confusion!” (“How Can Man Who Has Defined God in His Conceptions Receive the Revelations of God?”).

“The appearance of God cannot be reconciled with the conceptions of man, much less can God appear at the behest of man. God makes His own choices and has His own plans when He does His work; moreover, He has His own objectives, and His own methods. It is not necessary for Him to discuss the work He does with man or to seek the advice of man, much less notify each and every person of His work. This is the disposition of God and, moreover, should be recognized by everyone. If you desire to witness the appearance of God, if you wish to follow the footprints of God, then you must first transcend your own conceptions. You must not demand that God do this or that, much less should you place Him within your own confines and limit Him to your own conceptions. Instead, you should ask how you should seek the footprints of God, how you should accept the appearance of God, and how you should submit to the new work of God; that is what should be done by man” (“The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age”).

Hearing these words, I was shocked very much and felt that the words of this book were very practical, with authority and power. I thought: I have read so many spiritual books these years, but never found that anyone can say such words. These words are indeed worth thinking deeply about. Think back to how I came to believe in the Lord: At the beginning, after my wife testified to me that the Lord Jesus is the Savior, I read many records of His work from the Bible and personally received some grace and blessings from the Lord; at last I truly believed that the Lord Jesus is God. I neither saw Him nor received any revelations. Yet, today, in regard to the Lord’s return, why do I have to receive a revelation first and then willingly welcome the Lord’s return? Am I not too foolish? God is the Creator. It’s not necessary for Him to give revelations to man about His work in advance, nor could He possibly perform His work according to man’s imaginations and notions. I thought that the Lord would give revelations to those religious leaders, pastors and elders when He returned; wasn’t this defining God’s work? I thought about the Pharisees in the Age of Law. They believed that the Messiah must be born in the imperial palace and called Messiah. But God didn’t perform His work according to their imaginations and notions; the Lord was born in the family of carpenter Joseph and called Jesus. Because God’s work was not in line with their conceptions and imaginations, the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees collaborated with the Roman government to crucify the Lord Jesus, committing a heinous crime, becoming main culprits of resisting God and being cursed by God. If I define the Lord’s return relying on my imaginations and notions, and blindly wait for the Lord to give revelations to me, am I not repeating the tragedy of the Pharisees? Thus, even though I have followed the Lord for many years and suffered much, am I not still the person who resists and condemns God? At that time, I couldn’t help but think of the words of the Lord, “Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21–23). I finally knew the true meaning of these words.

Then Brother Zhang fellowshiped, “As created beings, we should not ask God to give us revelations, but should obey His work; this is the sense we should possess. When it comes to the Lord’s return, wise people actively seek and investigate; instead, those who blindly wait for God’s revelations will ruin the opportunity to be raptured by the Lord and lose His salvation in the last days. If we persist in waiting for revelations, isn’t this being too foolish? In these days, through reading this book I have a deep feeling, that is, God is righteous. Before God, all men are equal: He does not discriminate based upon status and seniority. As long as one longs for and seeks the truth, God enlightens him. In the past we often heard pastors and elders say that the Lord will give them revelations first when He comes back because they were most qualified to receive God’s revelations, and that if they didn’t receive revelations, it proved that the Lord didn’t come back. Now I finally understand that these are pure fallacies. God enlightens man through his practical seeking and investigation, allowing man to hear His voice and understand His words, so that man will return to Him. However, these pastors and elders think that they have done meritorious work and are familiar with the Bible to be qualified to gain God’s enlightenment; isn’t this too arrogant and conceited? The Lord Jesus said, ‘For whoever exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted’ (Luke 14:11). God is pleased with one who seeks with a humble heart. Such people can receive His enlightenment and leadership while seeking. Just like Peter, when he heard about the Lord Jesus’ preaching and work, he sought with a humble and yearning heart, and eventually he followed the Lord Jesus and gained His salvation. In regard to welcoming the Lord’s return, the Lord Jesus once told us to be wise virgins. He said, ‘And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him’ (Matthew 25:6). That is to say, when we hear someone witnesses that the Lord has returned, we should actively go to seek and investigate. Only in this way can we welcome the Lord’s return. This fulfills the words of the Revelation 3:20: ‘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.’ Brother Wang, do you think so?”

Brother Zhang’s words made my heart clear and also made me feel ashamed. I recalled that these years I kept the words of the pastors and elders, blindly waiting for the Lord’s revelations. I was clear that the prophecies of the Lord’s return have already been fulfilled and that the church has been desolate, without the work of the Holy Spirit; I didn’t have a humble heart to search for the Holy Spirit’s work, but still clung to my own notions and stayed in my denomination waiting for the Lord’s revelations. Am I not a foolish virgin? Thinking of this, I said to Brother Zhang, “Thank the Lord for His mercy. Now I have understood my wrong view on waiting for the return of the Lord. Brother Zhang, what you have fellowshiped fits with the truth. From now on, I’m no longer wanting to wait for the Lord’s revelations according to my own notions, but rather I should be a wise virgin, actively seeking and investigating the news of the coming of the Lord.”

Source The Internet 

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