When God’s Trials Befall, How Should We Christians Treat Them?

By Huixin

Every brother and sister will encounter trials, like illness, persecution and suffering, natural and manmade disasters. When these situations befall us, they are tests of our faith and obedience toward God. The Bible says, “For You, O God, have proved us: You have tried us, as silver is tried” (Psalm 66:10). “My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:2–4). From this we can see that trials are God’s tests and ordeals for people. They can temper people’s will, refine their confidence, cleanse the impurity in their belief in God, further their spiritual growth and make them soon become someone after God’s heart.

Christian Crosstalk "Going Outside the Bible" | Can We Gain Eternal Life by Keeping to the Bible?

Christian Crosstalk "Going Outside the Bible" | Can We Gain Eternal Life by Keeping to the Bible? 

Xiang Yang works at a house church, and just like many religious believers, he thinks that God's words and work are all in the Bible, that believing in the Lord means believing in the Bible, that the Bible represents the Lord, and that if he abides by the Bible, he will enter the kingdom of heaven and gain eternal life. Brother Zhang Yi, who has just accepted God's work of the last days, has doubts about this view. The two engage in a humorous debate: Are all of God's words and work really in the Bible? Does the Bible really represent the Lord? By keeping to the Bible, can we enter the kingdom of heaven and gain eternal life? To find out the answers, please watch the crosstalk Going Outside the Bible. 

What is God’s church? What is a religious group?

Bible Verses for Reference:

“The church … is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all” (Eph 1:23).

“And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said to them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves” (Mat 21:12–13).

Many Netizens and Christians Are Displeased by Chinese Complete Ban of Sales of the Bible

According to a report, from March 30, 2018 onward, all online shops in China are banned from selling the Bible.

The Bible and Christian Books Are All Withdrawn From Sale

On April 1, 2018, many Chinese people opened up shopping webpages ready to buy a copy of the Bible. The Bible, however, had suddenly disappeared without a trace. Not one copy of the Bible could be bought from Taobao, Jingdong, Weidian, Dangdang or Amazon. When someone searched on Amazon for “the original Bible,” they found only a book called Bible Stories; when searching for “the Bible” on Jingdong, they saw a message saying, “No product related to ‘the Bible’ was found.”

Facing Spiritual Desolation, How Can I Find the Lord’s Presence?

By Zhengdao, Germany

One morning, when I sat reading the Bible at the window, I saw these verses: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Grasping Three Principles of Reading the Bible Enables Us to Easily Become Close to the Lord

Speaking of reading the Bible, I trust every Christian is familiar with it, because it has been an indispensable thing for us to do every day since we started believing in the Lord. However, many Christians have had this kind of experience: Sometimes, when we are reading the Bible, we feel God is communicating with us, as if He has come before us, face-to-face, and we also feel our spirits are very moved; but sometimes we feel our reading the Bible is dry and barren, and that we have no enlightenment from the Holy Spirit and no spiritual enjoyment. 

I have studied the Bible for more than 20 years. I can be certain that there is no word of God outside of the Bible. All of God’s word is in the Bible. Anything that violates or goes beyond the Bible is heresy and fallacy!

Answer: “There is no word of God outside of the Bible, anything that goes beyond the Bible is heresy,” people who understand the Bible all know the process through which the Bible was formed. Because of the disputes and omissions of the editors at the time, a part of God’s word conveyed by prophets was not recorded in the Old Testament.

It is said in the Bible, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemns?” (Rom 8:33-34). This proves that the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross forgives us of all sin. The Lord doesn’t see us as sinners anymore. Who can accuse us now?

Answer: “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?” Here, we must be very clear. Who, exactly, are members of God’s elect? Those frequent sinners, they who sell out the Lord and their friends, they who eat God’s sacrificial offerings, they who blaspheme, those corrupted, hypocritical Pharisees, are they God’s elect?