Yes?

Have you heard that saying?

Which one?

This one: "Your eyes can deceive you. Hearing is believing."

Yes.

- See, this— - Wait, wait, wait.

That's wrong, that's wrong!

No, it's not.

- It's backwards. - Not at all!

It should be "Your ears can deceive you; seeing is believing."

Seeing is believing?

That's Right.

As for welcoming the Lord, believing only what we see is a real big problem.

Why do you say that?

I know that one— the Lord Jesus said that one to Thomas.

He did.

Thomas didn't believe the Lord had been resurrected

until He personally appeared to Thomas after that.

The Lord condemned him for that.

Indeed.

Wait, what does that have to do with welcoming the Lord?

Everything, my brother!

Oh?

Those who won't accept the Lord until they finally see Him returning on a cloud

will be themselves condemned just like Thomas.

That's so?

I made that mistake and was almost cast aside, rejected entirely by the Lord!

Seriously? What's the story behind all this?

So I'm waiting for years for the Lord to return on a cloud and bring us into heaven.

Yeah.

I'm always gazing up at the sky, looking for the Lord.

That's right, all of us believers gaze up at the sky.

But I wait and wait until the four blood moons appear,

all sorts of disasters happen, the pandemic ravages the world,

but I still haven't greeted the Lord.

The anxiety is just killing me.

I understand.

So, if we still aren't able to welcome the Lord,

we'll probably perish in the great disasters, right?

Absolutely right!

Most of the prophecies of the Lord's coming have been fulfilled.

That's true.

So why hasn't He returned on a cloud to take us with Him into His kingdom?

I don't know, either.

I read and reread the Bible, trying to figure this out.

Great.

I even go surfing to find my answer.

Surfing?

Surfing the web!

Oh, you …

One day I see a post.

Brother Chen posted something interesting online that says—

Says what?

"Did you know that the Lord has already returned in secret and spoken?"

The Lord has returned in secret?

"2,000 years ago,

He's already come back just as He promised, as Almighty God Himself in the flesh."

Wow!

"He expresses truths to do the work of judgment beginning with God's house.

He's uttered millions of words during His work

which are what the Holy Spirit says to the churches in the last days.

This truly fulfills the prophecy in Revelation:

The Lord has returned and has spoken?

He has returned, become flesh, and spoken?

It's the first I've heard of that.

The pastor never mentioned it.

So it looks like I have to—

Check it out!

Sayonara.

No, no, no, wait.

You can't just do that. You simply can't!

Why?

Welcoming the Lord is a big deal. Let's learn more about it.

The problem is, our pastor has us waiting for the Lord to return on a cloud,

and that's what the entire religious world does.

I've never heard about the Lord coming again in the flesh.

You're right.

Just as I'm about to close the page,

Brother Chen sends a passage of Almighty God's words.

It strikes me just like a bolt of lightning.

What is it? Is it really that powerful?

I'll read it for you.

Okay.

So it'll be too late to welcome the Lord when He comes on a cloud,

and we'll be punished then?

That's why I just couldn't sit still after reading this.

And?

"To be punished?

Won't the Lord return on a cloud and take us straight up into heaven?

So why does it say we'll be punished

when we see the Lord Jesus coming down from heaven?

What's all this about?"

Hold on, you have to ask what it's all about.

Alright!

Hey, Brother Chen responded.

Oh?

"An essential question. Essential!"

Yeah.

"In the last days the Lord returns in two stages."

Two stages?

"In secret, God incarnates before the disasters happen to make the overcomers.

After the disasters He comes in clouds to reward good and punish evil.

If we only accept Him when He returns to us on a cloud,

we'll miss the chance to be perfected into overcomers by God,

and we'll just be punished when the Lord comes openly,

weeping and crying in agony."

The Lord comes in two stages, first in secret, and then openly, right?

That's right.

That's the first time I've ever heard that.

I can't figure it out either.

Why haven't I seen it in the Bible that He'll return to us in the flesh in secret?

Exactly.

Right then, Brother Chen just bam! bam! bam!

What? What does he do?

He sends me a few verses.

Oh yes.

Are these related to the Lord arriving in secret?

I'm just mulling it over when Brother Chen responds again.

"The Lord Jesus mentioned 'the coming of the Son of man'

and said 'the Son of man comes' many times.

'The Son of man' is born of a human, with normal humanity.

The Lord called His return 'the coming of the Son of man.'

So it's about God incarnating as the Son of man in the last days

and coming in secret."

Didn't "the Son of man" in these verses refer to the Lord Jesus?

"Are you confused?

The Lord Jesus was God in the flesh. Yes, He was the Son of man."

That's right.

"But that was the Lord's prophecy about His return to us.

How could that be about the Lord Jesus?"

That's right! How come I never realized that before?

"The Lord said this about Him returning to all of us in the flesh.

Christ of the last days, Almighty God, is the Son of man incarnate.

He looks ordinary, with normal humanity, just as the Lord Jesus.

From looking at Him, no one would know that He's God.

That's why His incarnation is kept secret from all humanity.

But in fact God in the flesh has a divine essence.

He can bring us truths, do God's work, cleanse and save mankind.

Those who truly desire God's appearance

recognize God's voice when they read Almighty God's words.

They accept and follow Him.

It's just as the Lord Jesus said:

So it means the Lord has already come in secret

and we can only welcome Him if we hear God's voice?

That's exactly it!

So then, Brother Chen bam! bam! bam! fires over more verses.

Oh good.

Have all these come to pass yet?

Keep listening.

Okay.

"Almighty God incarnate's appearance and work fulfill these biblical prophecies."

It's true.

"God incarnate knocks at our doors with His words,

and if we recognize His voice, accept and submit to Him,

we are all the wise virgins who welcome the Lord and then attend His feast."

That's wonderful!

After hearing all this, I felt like a train emerging out a long tunnel—

What do you mean by that?

Into the light!

God incarnate arriving in secret is totally in line with the Bible.

I've read these words plenty of times. Why haven't I ever seen that before?

We've just been listening to pastors and elders all this time,

stupidly waiting for the Lord to come on a cloud and take us into heaven.

We don't know how to listen to God's voice and welcome Him.

Isn't that a really big problem?

- It really is a problem. - Definitely.

Brother Chen said

that Almighty God brings us truths to do the work of judgment,

to fully save all mankind,

so we can escape sin and be taken into His kingdom.

Oh.

When a group of overcomers has been made,

God incarnate's work in secret will finally come to a close.

He'll rain down disasters, reward good and punish evil.

Those who don't accept God's work of the last days

while He's working in secret,

but resist and condemn Almighty God, Christ of the last days,

will of course fall in the disasters.

When the Lord comes openly on a cloud,

they'll be weeping and gnashing their teeth.

Yeah, that's absolutely right.

This fulfills the prophecy in Revelation 1:7.

Amen.

So that's how "kindreds of the earth shall wail" will happen.

Right!

Now I finally get why Almighty God said

Now I get it too!

Half of it.

Huh?

I still can't figure some things out.

Tell me.

Our sins, they've been forgiven and we've been saved by our faith and God's grace,

so why doesn't the Lord come on a cloud and take us straight up into heaven?

Why does He have to—

become flesh and do the work of judgment?

We're on the same page!

I asked about this.

So Brother Chen hits me right there

with a few words,

"It's true that our sins have been forgiven.

But did the Lord Jesus say that would simply allow us into the kingdom of heaven?"

You know, He never actually said

that it would grant us entry into the kingdom of heaven.

That's true.

Brother Chen then sends bam! bam! bam! a few more verses.

Afraid I won't understand, Brother Chen shares fellowship:

"The Lord was extremely clear.

We have to truly repent and follow the Lord's will to enter the kingdom of heaven."

That's the standard for getting into it.

"Look at us then—

we've been forgiven, but we're still always lying and sinning.

We're arrogant, deceitful, evil, vicious, hard, and despise the truth.

We have all these corruptions.

We lust after money, vanity, fleshly pleasures, and follow worldly trends."

This …

"We live in a cycle of sinning, confessing, and sinning again.

We can't keep the Lord's commandments.

Are we really people who both obey God and follow His will?"

Well …

"Have we truly repented then?"

Not really.

"Without true repentance, can we even enter God's kingdom?"

Definitely not.

- I have one more question for you. - Yeah?

So, our pastor said to us

that since the Lord Jesus was our eternal sin offering,

even though we're always sinning, He's forgiven all of our sins for good,

so He doesn't see us as sinful anymore,

and we can get into the kingdom of heaven when He comes.

Did you ask Brother Chen about that?

Of course I did, but he stumped me again.

Huh?

"Does the Lord not seeing us as sinful mean that all of a sudden we're holy?

Does it mean that we're free from sin?

The Bible also says,

Would God treat people who sin often as holy?

If people who sin and resist God got into His kingdom,

wouldn't they keep resisting?

Would God really let someone like that into His kingdom?"

What great questions, huh?

They had me sweating.

So without getting rid of sin

we can't truly repent