Testify God

By Xinyu, Spain We are now in the final phase of the last days, and at this crucial time of greeting the Lord, there is a growing sense of urgency in the hearts of Christians praying for the Lord Jesus to return. Many people anxiously hope for the Lord to come with clouds, but the great disasters will soon be upon us and we still haven’t seen the Lord coming with clouds. Why is that? Could it be that we have deviated in our practice to greet the Lord’s coming? This puts me in mind of Thomas in the Bible. While the Lord Jesus worked in the flesh, Thomas always harbored doubts, and in his heart he did not believe that the Lord Jesus was Christ. When Thomas heard that Jesus had resurrected, he still did not believe it. He had to see the Lord’s spiritual body with his own eyes before he would believe, and in the end the Lord pronounced His judgment: “[B]ecause you have seen Me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). The story of Thomas is a warning to each and every one of us who yearn for the Lord to return. If we rely only on our eyes and do not seek the truth with regard to greeting the Lord, would we not be committing the same mistake as Thomas? If we did that, we would be apt to lose our chance to be caught up before the disasters. It is therefore clear that if we want to greet the Lord, then it is absolutely crucial that we understand the root cause of why Thomas failed in his faith in God and avoid walking the same mistaken path as Thomas! Let us fellowship and explore this issue below. The Bible records that when the disciples told Thomas the news of the Lord Jesus’ resurrection, Thomas said, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). The Lord Jesus said to him, “[B]ecause you have seen Me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). In fact, all the while Thomas was following the Lord Jesus, He didn’t know how to hear the Lord’s voice. No matter how great or how beneficial to people Jesus’ sermons were, Thomas never sought within the Lord’s words to find whether they possessed truth or whether they were the voice of God. No matter how many years he believed in God, after all that time he was still unable to recognize the Lord Jesus’ true identity, and that is why he always doubted the Lord’s identity and did not believe that Jesus was Christ; this is the root cause of why Thomas failed in his faith in God. It is precisely because Thomas didn’t know how to hear the voice of God and was not convinced of the Lord Jesus’ identity that, when Jesus told His disciples before His crucifixion that He would resurrect after His death, Thomas did not believe that the Lord’s words would come to pass. And when he heard the other disciples say that the Lord Jesus had resurrected, still he did not believe. Only when he saw the spiritual body of the resurrected Lord Jesus appearing before his very eyes did he finally believe it. When Jesus appeared to him in the form of His spiritual body after He resurrected, Thomas saw the Lord’s spiritual body with his own eyes and touched the wounds left by the nails on the Lord’s body, and only then did he believe that the Lord Jesus had resurrected and become certain that Jesus was Christ. But it was too late, and Thomas’ end had already been determined—he had lost God’s blessing forever. At this crucial time when we are to greet the Lord, we are right now committing the same mistake as Thomas. When we hear someone testifying that the Lord has returned in the flesh already, we do not believe it, and we do not take the initiative to seek to hear the voice of God and welcome the Lord. Instead, we persist in our belief that unless He has come riding on a white cloud, then it is not the Lord Jesus, and we will only believe it when we see the Lord’s resurrected spiritual body with our own eyes; this is the main reason we have been unable to greet the Lord. There may perhaps be some who say, “Is it wrong for us to await the Lord coming with clouds, as the prophecy says?” We must be aware that there are many prophecies in the Bible concerning the Lord’s return. There is not just the prophecy that says the Lord will come with clouds, but there are also prophecies that say the Lord will come secretly in the flesh, as the Lord prophesied: “Behold, I come as a thief” (Revelation 16:15). “Therefore be you also ready: for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man comes” (Matthew 24:44). “For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines to the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in His day. But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation” (Luke 17:24–25). This “Son of man” means the One who is born of man and who is possessed of normal humanity. If He came as the Spirit or in the form of His resurrected spiritual body, then it would not be possible to call Him the “Son of man.” Therefore, these prophecies mean that when the Lord returns, He will incarnate before the disasters and come to work quietly and in secret. If, as we imagine, the Lord were to return riding on clouds…

What is faith? Many brothers and sisters in the Lord think that as long as they acknowledge God’s name, persist in reading the Bible, meeting and praying, and furthermore are able to sacrifice everything and labor, they are believers who have faith in God. But, this understanding is one-sided.

Not everyone can enter God’s kingdom, so do you know the requirements to enter the kingdom of God? Read now to learn more.

He who believed in the Lord lived in sin and couldn’t find the path to overcoming repeated sin. He often prayed to God in the hope that the Lord would forgive him. … A chance encounter enabled him to find the path.

Because of busy work, we are always incapable of attending meetings or reading God’s words, much less can we maintain a normal relationship with God. So, what are we supposed to do?

What is faith? Many brothers and sisters in the Lord think that as long as they acknowledge God’s name, persist in reading the Bible, meeting and praying, and furthermore are able to sacrifice everything and labor, they are believers who have faith in God. But, this understanding is one-sided.