The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven | The Tabernacle of God Is With Men
One day, I went to my sister’s house to check on our mom. Before leaving, my sister gave me a book, urging me to be sure to read it carefully. I thought to myself: This book that my sister gave me is certainly a spiritual work. It just so happens that my spirit feels quite parched right now, it does not feel like the Lord is with me, and I do not feel illuminated from reading the Bible. When I get back, I ought to read this book carefully. Perhaps it will give me something. After returning home, I opened the book and started reading, and before I knew it I was sucked in by the words in the book. The more I read it the more I enjoyed it, the more I read it the more I felt there was light in these words, that they were enlightened by the Holy Spirit, that there was no way that these words could be spoken by a normal person.
Since reading this book, I’ve come to understand some truths that I did not understand before from reading the Bible, and in my mind I feel clarity and joy. I’m willing to pray to get close to the Lord, and my faith has grown. My spiritual condition has gotten better and better. I thought: Only the work of the Holy Spirit can provide man with faith and strength, and provide for and nourish man’s spirit. The words in this book certainly come from the Holy Spirit. As a result, the first thing I do every morning when I wake up is read this book.
One day, I opened the book and read the following passage: “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” (“God and Man Will Enter Into Rest Together” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). I stopped there. My heart jumped, and I thought to myself: In the future man is going to live upon the earth? Didn’t the Lord Jesus promise that in the future we would live in heaven? How are these words talking about being on the earth? How could this be possible? Am I misreading this? So I carefully re-read the passage, and the words really were saying that in the future man was going to live upon the earth. Then what does that actually mean? This wouldn’t do. I had to understand what this actually meant. So I continued reading: “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. … When humanity enters into rest, it means that man has become a true creation; humanity will worship God from upon the earth and have normal human lives. People will no longer be disobedient to God or resist God; they will return to the original life of Adam and Eve” (“God and Man Will Enter Into Rest Together” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The more I read the more I felt confused: Man will worship God from upon the earth? How is this going to happen? In the Bible doesn’t it say this will happen in heaven? How could it be upon the earth? I rushed over to my Bible, opening it to John 14:2-3, and read where the Lord Jesus says: “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. 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.” The Lord Jesus clearly says that His resurrection and ascent into heaven was to prepare a place for us, so our destination should be in heaven. This is the Lord’s promise! I thought to myself: What this book is saying is different from what the Lord says, so I cannot keep reading it. After closing the book I was in a very confused state of mind, I didn’t know what was right, so I persistently prayed to the Lord: “Oh Lord, please guide me and lead me. What should I do? Should I read this book or not? Oh Lord, please enlighten me, guide me….” After praying I thought about how after reading this book I felt closer in my relationship to the Lord, more enthusiastic about my faith in the Lord, and that my spirit was being provided for. If I put down this book and stopped reading it then I would go back to my previous condition where my spirit felt parched. Since this book did so much for me, since I could be sure that it came from the Holy Spirit, that it couldn’t be mistaken as it came from the Holy Spirit, even though these words did not conform to my conceptions I shouldn’t renounce them for this reason and not read them. As I thought about this, I decided I better keep reading before making up my mind.
Thereupon I picked up the book again and continued reading: “Man’s place of rest is on earth, and God’s place of rest is in heaven. While man rests, he will worship God and also live upon earth, and while God rests, He will lead the remaining portion of humanity; He will lead them from heaven, not from earth …” (“God and Man Will Enter Into Rest Together” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). I kept pondering this over in my mind: This passage now says that God’s place of rest is in heaven, and that while man rests he will worship God upon the earth. Could it be that man’s place of rest really is upon the earth like these words are saying? That’s impossible! The Lord Jesus has already said that we will be wherever the Lord is, and that the Lord Jesus was resurrected and ascended up to heaven, so we will also surely ascend to heaven! I thought back on years past, how I had gone down so many roads for the Lord, how I had endured so much suffering. Was it not so that I would ascend up to heaven and no longer endure the suffering on earth? If it’s really like what this book is saying, that in the future man will still be living upon the earth, then won’t my hopes come to nothing? I lay paralyzed upon my kang bed. I felt weak from head to toe. The more I thought about this the more I couldn’t quiet down. So, in order to figure this out, I rushed over to my sister’s house.
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