I Am Raptured Before God’s Throne
Zhangxian
In 1990, I believed in the Lord Jesus in the stream of recovery. When I first believed in the Lord, I was full of confidence and had never missed each meeting. Owing to my enthusiastic pursuit, the leader promoted me to be a co-worker of the church. In a co-workers meeting, the leader said, “Now there appears a denomination called the Eastern Lightning. They say the Lord has returned. As co-workers of the church, we must fulfill our duty, watch our lambs and prevent the followers of the Eastern Lightning from stealing them.” I kept what the leader said in mind and made a resolution inwardly: I must take good care of the lambs and be a man loyal to the Lord.
One summer afternoon in 1993, I received a call from a sister. She said she had seen a follower of the Eastern Lightening go to Sister Xu’s house to spread the gospel, and she let me go and see quickly. After laying down my cell phone, I went to Sister Xu’s house immediately. When I arrived, I saw my co-workers had already been there. The one who spread the Eastern Lightning was an old sister in her sixties. I said furiously to her, “Don’t spread the gospel here. Go away!” Sister Xu was scared and dared not say anything, just standing aside. Hardly had the old sister begun to speak when we all shouted at her and didn’t allow her to speak. Finally, we hounded her out. Afterward, as soon as I heard that stranger went to believers’ homes, I would bind and hinder believers from listening to sermons. However, two co-workers in the church still believed in the Eastern Lightning successively later. I felt puzzled: They have strong faith. How could they both believe in the Eastern Lightning? What exactly does the Eastern Lightning preach? Why do people believe in it once they listen to its preaching?
In a co-worker meeting in 1997, Leader Xie, on the platform, led us to read 1 Thessalonians 4:17, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Then he said, “Thank the Lord for making us be born in the last days. We are really so blessed! In the future, the disasters on the earth will be extremely serious. Whoever in the name of the Lord Jesus will be guarded by the Lord, be lifted up into the air to meet the Lord, and avoid the three-and-a-half-year disaster on earth. Then we’ll never taste death and our spirit, soul, and body will remain. …” The audience all shouted out, “Hallelujah! Glory be to the Lord!”
In the autumn of 2002, a sister who had a good relationship with me came to testify God’s work during the last days to me. She said, “The Lord has come back and He is Almighty God incarnate. He has secretly descended in China and expressed the truth to do the work of judgment in the last days. Hurry and listen to God’s word.” I said in an arrogant tone, “How do you know the Lord Jesus has come back?” Treated by me with such an attitude, she still said to me patiently, “You see, that we believe in the Lord Jesus is not because of seeing Him, but because of His words and work. God became flesh this time to speak and work, and He has expressed many truths. We were certain that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus by reading His word. In fact, we believe in the same God. Almighty God is the incarnate God Himself. He has done a higher stage of work on the foundation of the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus in the Age of Grace. God’s management plan to save mankind is divided into three stages. In the beginning, Jehovah God did the work of setting forth the laws and commandments to lead man in their lives upon earth in the Age of Law. During the later stages of the Age of Law, people would be condemned and executed under the law because of failing to keep the laws. Therefore, God was incarnated for the first time and did the work of redeeming mankind under the name of Jesus in the Age of Grace. As long as man repented and confessed sins to the Lord, and then he would be forgiven of his sins and avoid being cursed to death by the law. This is the true meaning of being saved. Although we humans are forgiven of our sins and are saved, we still live in the cycle of sinning each day and confessing each night. This proves our sinful nature hasn’t been resolved, and that the root of sin hasn’t been removed yet, so we can still sin and resist God. Thereupon, in order to purify and gain man completely, God is incarnated for the second time and has performed the work of judging and purifying man in the last days under the name of Almighty God to end His six-thousand-year management plan. Hence, Jehovah, Jesus, and Almighty God are one God. Today, the Lord Jesus has returned and expressed many truths. Only if you dare to seek can you confirm that this is the true way.”
Hearing this, I hastened to poke my head round the door to see if there were people around. Seeing no one outside, I said to her hastily, “Our leader repetitively stresses that we cannot contact followers of the Eastern Lightning. You’ll never come again. If our leader knows this thing, he’ll surely dismiss me.” She said, “Sister, today we believe in God rather than leaders. Almighty God is incarnated to do the work of judgment. He has loosed the seven seals, opened the scroll, and unlocked all truths and mysteries that people of ages past didn’t understand. No matter what problem you have, as long as you read more of God’s words, you’ll understand.” Hearing her say that Almighty God has unlocked all the mysteries, my heart wavered. I then put forward the questions that had puzzled me for so long, “Can you explain to me what is being raptured recorded in the Bible? Can people really ascend to heaven?” She said with a smile, “How can a living man ascend to heaven? Rapture doesn’t mean, as man imagines, being taken from a low place to a high place, or being caught up from earth to heaven, much less mean that a living man disappears in a very short time and ascends to the air to avoid disasters. Sister, let’s make an analogy and then you’ll understand. For example, a person works as a cadre in the township; later he is promoted to work at the county. When people see him, they’ll say, ‘You’ve been advanced. Your treat.’ Today, we believe in the Lord Jesus in the Age of Grace. If we can keep pace with God’s new work in the Age of Kingdom, a higher stage of work, this means that we’ve been raptured before God.” At her word, I felt it was practical and kind of reasonable. I asked again, “Paul said, ‘be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.’ What’s this?” She said to me, “Paul was just an apostle preaching the gospel. His words couldn’t represent the Lord Jesus’ word. We should believe in God on the basis of God’s word. The Lord Jesus didn’t say that we humans can be raptured into the air. On the contrary, He said, ‘And no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven’ (John 3:13). It means that since ancient times until today, no man has ever ascended up to heaven. God’s dwelling place is in heaven. Man is of flesh and blood and cannot ascend to heaven. Our imagination is too naive. We don’t want to stay on earth to carry out God’s will faithfully but want to ascend to heaven and become glorified together with God. Aren’t we humans too irrational?” I thought what she talked about was really practical. At the time, I thought of the Lord Jesus’ word in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Luk 6:10). And Revelation prophesies, ‘And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven …” (Rev 21:2). I thought: It is spoken plainly in these verses that God’s kingdom will come down to earth. Since it says ‘coming down,’ God’s kingdom is surely on earth and His will will be done on earth as well. God will establish His kingdom on earth and live with man. Thus God’s kingdom is on earth. If all the people want to be caught up into the air, won’t God’s words be in vain? As can be seen, what she fellowshiped conforms to the Bible and is not vague at all.
She continued, “Genesis 2:7–8 says, ‘And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.’ From these two verses, we can see that the first man that God created in the beginning was on earth. God didn’t put him in heaven but let him live on earth. After we humans committed sin, God also came to earth to save us. In the Age of Law, God did all of His work on earth. In the Age of Grace, to redeem mankind, God incarnate came to earth to do His work as well. In the Age of Kingdom, God’s work of judgment and chastisement is still carried out on earth. As a matter of fact, God does all His work of managing man on earth and mankind also lives on earth. The final destination of mankind is still on earth instead of in heaven. This has been predestined by God.” At this time, she brought out a copy of the book The Word Appears in the Flesh and said to me, “Let’s read Almighty God’s word. Almighty God says, ‘God entering into rest means that He will no longer carry out His work of humanity’s salvation. Humanity entering into rest means that all of humanity will live within God’s light and under His blessings; there will be none of Satan’s corruption, nor will any unrighteous things occur. Humanity will live normally upon earth, and they will live under God’s care. When God and man enter into rest together, it will mean that humanity has been saved and that Satan has been destroyed, that God’s work among man has finished entirely. God will no longer continue to work among man, and man will no longer live under Satan’s domain. Therefore, God will no longer be busy, and man will no longer rush about; God and man will enter into rest simultaneously. God will return to His original position, and each person will return to his or her respective place. These are the destinations that God and man will respectively reside in after the end of God’s entire management. God has God’s destination, and man has man’s destination. While resting, God will continue to guide all of humanity in their lives upon earth. While in God’s light, man will worship the one true God in heaven. God will no longer live among humanity, and man will also be unable to live with God in God’s destination. God and man cannot live within the same realm; rather, both have their own respective manners of living. …’” (“God and Man Will Enter Into Rest Together”). She continued to fellowship, “God originally created man and made them live on earth. After man was corrupted by Satan, God set forth laws and commandments to lead man in their lives on earth to worship Him. When man has been deeply corrupted by Satan, God incarnate came to earth to make a sin offering for mankind, redeeming us humans from sin. According to the needs of the corrupt mankind, God has incarnated once again and come among men to do a stage of the work of conquest and salvation in the last days. He expresses the truth to judge and purify man, enabling man to free them from sin and be saved, and making man fear God and shun evil and live out the likeness of a true man, so that man can be protected by God and survive in God’s kingdom after the disasters in the last days. When God’s work concludes, those enemies who have resisted and persecuted God will have been destroyed by the disasters. Afterward, God will live with man and rest with man. God’s kingdom has already descended on earth. The purified people will enjoy a life on earth that is akin to that in heaven in the future. This is the fact that is to be accomplished by God. So, is it God’s will to rapture us humans up to heaven?” At these words, I thought they were very realistic and also made sense. It is really not God’s will that we humans ascend to heaven. I wanted to continue seeking, so I said, “What you said is very practical. I think it’s in line with the truth. Nevertheless, I cannot accept it blindly. Could you leave me a book? I want to seek and investigate. I’ll believe after I’m certain of it.” She said in a cheerful mood, “OK! This time God has opened up all the thousand-year-old mysteries. This is His personal utterance. You need to read it carefully. If there is something that you are not clear about, we’ll fellowship together when I come next time.”
In the evening, I took up the book The Word Appears in the Flesh, and after I prayed to God, I saw such a passage of God’s words, “‘Being caught up’ is not being taken from a low place to a high place as people imagine. This is a huge mistake. Being caught up is referring to My predetermining and selecting. It is targeted at all those I have preordained and chosen. … This is most incompatible with people’s notions. Those who have a share in My house in the future are all people who have been caught up before Me. This is absolutely true, never-changing, and cannot be refuted by anybody. This is the counterattack against Satan. Anyone I preordained shall be caught up before Me” (“The One Hundred and Fourth Utterance”). After reading this passage, I thought: These words are very true and can’t be spoken by any person. Being caught up mentioned here is also practical. It turns out that being caught up refers to man’s entering into the Age of Kingdom from the Age of Grace, keeping up with God’s new work, coming before God’s throne and having a higher knowledge of God. This is the true meaning of rapture.
Subsequently, through fellowshiping with the sister many times, at last I became certain about Almighty God’s work in the last days, so that I could met the coming of the Lord Jesus and was raptured before God’s throne, enjoying God’s word every day as I was face to face with God. Recalling that I had resisted God for almost ten years by my conceptions and imaginations, and hindered many brothers and sisters from returning before God, I was really a great sinner. However, God didn’t wreak retribution upon me according to what I had done, but waited for me to return to Him and gave me the opportunity to be saved. I was so regretful that I cried loudly, hating myself for opposing God too many times. Simultaneously, I also regretted that I started believing in Almighty God late. Now, God’s work is already of unprecedented magnificence. People who are willing to seek and investigate in various denominations and sects have all returned before the throne. This has fulfilled the gratifying scene of “all nations shall flow to it” in Isaiah. Yet there is a portion of people who still insist on waiting for the Lord Jesus who rides upon a white cloud to rapture them. They hold onto their conceptions and imaginations of the past, and shut the door on the true God. Such people will lose the chance to be saved and their outcome can only be punishment in the end. Nowadays, I can keep up with God’s work and come before God’s throne, which is God’s grace. It is the practical work of God that smashes men’s notions and imagination. And it is God who raptured me from the Age of Grace to the Age of Kingdom, made me keep pace with the footsteps of the Lamb, and made my rapture become a reality. All the glory be to God!
Source: Walk in the Light
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