Sister Yu, you've suffered a lot for preaching the Lord's way.
You should heed the Lord's voice even more and welcome Him.
You say the Lord has returned. How is that possible?
If the Lord has come already, why are we all still here on earth?
Why aren't we all in the kingdom of heaven?
I don't believe the Lord has returned.
The Lord has promised to us,
We know that the Lord has prepared a place for us in heaven.
When He's back directly to the kingdom of heaven, we'll go.
So if the Lord has returned,
I truly wonder why we are still here and not in heaven.
Sister, the Lord has gone to prepare a place for believers; that's true.
But is this place on earth or in heaven?
No one knows for certain.
In our imaginations, the kingdom of heaven should be far off in heaven.
But is this how it really is?
Let's see what Jesus has said about it.
So this tells us the Lord says His kingdom is on earth, not in heaven.
God's will will be done on earth just as it is in heaven.
Not to mention, it's also in Revelation 21:2-3,
And in Revelation 11:15,
The proof is clear that God will establish His kingdom on earth,
and live with mankind here on earth.
So the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of Christ forever.
Imagination tells us that God's kingdom is in heaven far away,
and that when He comes, we'll be raptured up there.
But if that's the case, wouldn't God's words be in vain? (Yes.)
In fact, the final result of God's management plan is to save man
and make His kingdom here on earth.
Almighty God, Christ of the last days,
does the work of judging and purifying man,
just to make a group of overcomers on earth.
Those overcomers here who are perfected by God
are those who practice His word and follow His way on earth.
They are the people of God's kingdom.
When this group of overcomers is made,
then God's will will be done here on earth.
And when the kingdom of Christ is finally realized on earth,
then God will gain glory.
These prophecies in Revelation are what God will accomplish.
Isn't this a fact we can all agree with?
What kind of place has the Lord Jesus prepared for us?
He has predestined that we are born in the last days,
and welcome His coming on earth
to accept His purification to be made overcomers and carry out His will,
so that the kingdoms of this world would be the kingdoms of Christ.
This is surely God's will.
God is here on earth, but men still insist on heaven.
If we were taken up into the midair,
how would we survive without food or housing?
That's man's imagination and notion. Would the Lord do that to us?
It's naive of men to think that way with their heads in the clouds.
What you've said makes a lot of sense.
These years, we've been reciting the Lord's prayer:
Revelation also states
Now I see the scriptures are clear. How did we not see it before? (Yes.)
We've longed to be in heaven for so long.
We are so dull and numb! (That's right.)
These years, our belief in the Lord was muddled.
Even though the prophecies were clear, we didn't understand. (It's true.)
For so long, pastors and elders told us God's kingdom was in heaven.
We believed it to be true, so we waited to be raptured into heaven. (Right.)
Seems like our pastors and elders don't really understand the Bible, (She's right.)
blindly explaining God's word with imagination and defining His work.
Aren't they deceiving and ruining man? (Mm. Yes.)
We have been deeply deceived and never understood its literal meaning.
We actually thought we would be raptured up to heaven.
But the thought is absurd.
Yeah. We need other people who understand the truth to fellowship with us.
Otherwise, no matter how long we believe, we won't gain anything from it.
How could we not be rejected by the Lord?
Yeah. That's right. That makes sense.
It's impossible for us to say whether God's kingdom is on earth or in heaven.
The Lord Jesus said several times,
"The kingdom of heaven is at hand" and "Your kingdom come."
Since He clearly says, "the kingdom of heaven," how can it be on earth?
Yeah. The kingdom of heaven must be in heaven. Otherwise, why call it that?
It doesn't make sense otherwise.
We should keep in mind that "heaven" always refers to God.
The kingdom of heaven means God's kingdom.
Revelation says,
It shows us that God's kingdom is on earth.
The kingdoms of this world will become those of God.
After the disasters,
the old world will be destroyed and the Millennial Kingdom will appear.
And this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.
And then God's will shall be done on earth just as it is in heaven.
This fulfills the prophecy that new Jerusalem will come down to earth then.
God incarnate in the last days
does the work of judgment to end the dark and evil times.
Those who hear God's voice and are raptured before the throne
will be made overcomers.
Then the great disasters will fall.
Only those who are purified, saved through God's work in the last days
can remain on earth and be in God's kingdom.
Today, we who accept God's work in the last days are truly the most blessed.
We're fortunate to hear God's voice and be raptured before His throne.
We will be purified through the judgment of God's word,
and also be overcomers made before the disaster and be His first fruits.
Then God will return to Zion and the great disasters will fall.
All those who oppose God and the followers of Satan in the disasters
will be destroyed,
while those who are sanctified and perfected by God
shall remain on earth protected.
When the Lord descends to people openly on a cloud,
then God will come to His kingdom on earth.
That's what God will accomplish very soon.
As believers, if we don't know this vision, aren't we blind?
Those who simply gaze up at the sky and wait for the Lord to come with clouds
will weep and gnash their teeth when they see the Lord come upon white clouds.
Just as Revelation prophesied,
When the disasters come, those who haven't heard God's voice and aren't raptured
will be punished in these disasters, weeping and gnashing their teeth.
Thanks be to the Lord. It's a mystery.
Without such fellowship, we would've never known.
Right. They're all very wise and enlightened.
So that's how the prophecy in Revelation is fulfilled.
Yes. I understand so clearly.
Their fellowship makes so much biblical sense. They're full of enlightenment.
We should listen to them more.
Brothers and sisters, in the beginning God created man on earth.
Satan corrupts man on that same earth.
However, it is still on earth that God saves man.
Until the kingdom of Christ appears to man, all this happens on earth.
That's why God establishes His kingdom on earth in the last days.
In the end, man's destination is on earth, not in heaven. It's ordained by God.
Let's see what Almighty God says in His own words.
Almighty God has put it very clearly.
When God's management work is complete,
God and man will enter into rest together.
God's place of rest is in heaven while man's is on earth just as it is now.
This is the destination God has prepared for us,
and also God's kingdom to be established on earth.
If we can't see this after years of believing in God,
doesn't it show then that we are ignorant of the Lord's word?
Sisters, you've fellowshiped so clearly.
For so many years, I expected to be raptured up into heaven.
Today, this is the first I've heard of God's kingdom being on earth.
Your fellowship is practical and has taught me a lot.
But the Bible also says,
Then how do you explain this verse?
Of course. It says "to meet the Lord in the air."
The Bible states this part clearly.
Sister, when anticipating the Lord's return, we should rely on His prophecies.
They're the most accurate.
In the part you read, who exactly did you quote?
Is it the Lord or is it a man?
Where are these words from?
Did the Lord Jesus speak them?
He didn't. The Lord Jesus never said that,
nor has the Holy Spirit ever said it.
These words you read are merely quoted. They were said by Paul.
Do Paul's words speak for the Lord Jesus?
Do they speak for God?
Regarding the great mystery of the Lord's return, only God knows.
If a man dares to explain and blindly define it, that's a serious problem.
Paul was not Christ. He was nothing but a corrupt man.
So his words are filled with man's imagination and impurity.
His words are not truth nor the basis of rapture.
We should base it on God's words in the Bible. This accords with truth.
When it comes to being raptured up, you didn't use the Lord's word as basis,
but instead, you used man's word, Paul's word as the basis. This is wrong.
Because only the word of Christ is truth and authority.
The Lord Jesus is Christ and king of the kingdom of heaven. (Amen.)
Since it is so, why don't you seek the truth in the words of Lord Jesus?
Why accept man's word as truth?
Is that the Lord's will?
By following this way, it's easy to follow man.
When it comes to the rapture,
we haven't been listening to the Lord but listening to man.
That could be really dangerous.
In the beginning, God created man with the dust on earth,
allowed us to perform our duties and take care of things on earth,
and asked us to obey Him, worship and glorify Him.
So God's ordained destination for man is on earth rather than in heaven.
God has also told us clearly
that His kingdom will be established here on the earth.
And He will dwell with man here on earth
and make this world His kingdom where Christ reigns.
Therefore, God's kingdom will finally be realized on earth, not in heaven.
Man wants to be brought up to heaven,
but this is a product of imagination and excessive desire.
It goes against the truth and doesn't accord with the work of God.
And as for the rapture to the kingdom of heaven,
we should find basis in God's word.
This is the most accurate way, compatible with God's will.
Yes. Of course. (Indeed.)
So Revelation says clearly God's kingdom is on earth.
We believe the words of Paul and not the words of the Lord.
And we hold onto Paul's words as truth and as God's words.
Are we truly believing in the Lord and magnifying Him?
Not understanding the Lord's words, we are prone to be deceived. (Yes.)
If we didn't hear Almighty God's word today,
we would still be gazing at the heavens, waiting for the rapture.
Even if we waited that way all our lives, we'd gain nothing.
We would be forsaken by the Lord without knowing why,
like the Jewish Pharisees who still wait the descent of the Messiah today.
How foolish we've been!
In the past, I longed to be raptured and meet the Lord in the air,
but I wished that based on the words of Paul, not God.
That was simply man's imagination and wrong conceptions.
It's not at all what God intends.
As a preacher,
when it comes to this important matter of welcoming the Lord's return,
I haven't relied on the Lord's words or sought His will.
I've misled others.
The blind lead the blind, and both shall fall into the ditch.
It's so true.
Sisters, after your fellowship, I know now.
Our understanding of rapture by the Lord is from man's imagination.
It's seriously against the word of the Lord.
So what should we do now to be raptured at His return?
Would you commune with us in detail? (Please.)
According to them, the kingdom of heaven is on earth.
If so, the hope of being raptured is all in vain.
The saints expect to be raptured according to the Lord's words,
Man uses their imaginations and notions to understand the Lord's words.
They think since the Lord Jesus ascended upon a white cloud,
the place He prepares for them must surely be up there as well.
So they wait for the Lord Jesus to return and bring them up to heaven.
Besides, man tends to value Paul's words,
For this reason,
the desire of being raptured to heaven takes root in man's heart. (Yes, I see.)
Ideas of rapture vary even between different people.
Most believe the Lord's return will bring the saints into the air to meet Him.
So over many years, they harbor such longing and wait to be raptured.
But what exactly does it mean to be raptured?
Many are unclear.
The mystery isn't revealed until Almighty God comes and opens it to us.
We'll read what Almighty God says on this subject.
Please turn to page 197.
Almighty God's words have made it very clear.
Rapture does not mean that we will be raptured into the air as we've imagined,
or to go meet the Lord in the clouds, or even that we'll go to heaven.
What it actually means is that when God returns to earth to speak and work,
man hears His voice and follows Him and submits to His work in the last days.
This is the true meaning of being raptured before God's throne.
Only those who can recognize the Lord's voice,
know the truth in the words of Almighty God,
accept the truth and return to Him are wise virgins.
They are the "treasures" the Lord has "stolen" back to His home.
They are of good caliber, able to understand and accept the truth,
capable of recognizing God's voice, and are truly the raptured ones.
They are the very group of overcomers God wants to perfect
when He secretly descends and works in the last days.
Since Almighty God carries out His work in the last days,
more and more people who long for God's appearance
have recognized God's voice in the word of Almighty God,
and accepted His work of judgment of the last days.
They are raptured before God's throne,
face to face with God, watered and fed by His word,
so they gain some true knowledge about God, their corruptions are then cleansed;
so they live out the reality of God's word and gain the great salvation of God.
They have been made overcomers before the disasters,
become the first fruits gained by God.
But those who cling to their own imagination,
they just wait to be raptured up into heaven
and refuse God's judgment work in the last days.
Those are foolish virgins forsaken by God.
These people will fall victim to disaster and will mourn. This is truth.
Mm. Yes. That's right.
This fellowship really brightens me.
So being raptured means hearing God's voice and turning to His throne.
God raptures man before His throne to cleanse and perfect man through His word,
making them overcomers to inherit His promise.
God is wise, and His work significant. (Yes, right. I agree.)
His work is beyond our thoughts.
It is as Jehovah said,
God's work holds mysteries.
Who are we to fathom His wisdom?
I feel somewhat ashamed.
I defined God's work according to a single verse and my own imagination.
That's arrogant of me. I don't have any reverance for God.
That's right. If Almighty God didn't reveal the mystery of saints being raptured,
no matter how long we believed, we wouldn't understand. (That's true. Yes.)
We'd still be relying on our own concepts.
We think as long as we sacrifice and work hard for the Lord,
then we would be taken into heaven when He comes back. (Yes.)
So then if we aren't seeking the truth,
especially in welcoming the Lord's return,
and if we're not heeding God's voice but just waiting blindly,
that is really dangerous.
We almost missed our only chance of truly being raptured. (Thanks be to God.)
Your fellowship has helped us immensely. (Yeah.)
Without it, we would still be in vagueness,
looking at the sky and waiting for the Lord's descent.
Almighty God's word is indeed the truth. (Amen.)
We should really study the true way very carefully.
That's right. Praise the Lord.