From when I believed in the Lord, I’d often heard Pastor Liu explain 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.” He said, “Now there are so many disasters. The Lord Jesus’ prediction has already been fulfilled. He might someday suddenly return and take us to the air to meet with Him. When the time comes, the Lord will catch up His churches on the one hand while bringing down disasters on the other hand. All those who are lifted into the air won’t suffer disaster.” At this, I thought to myself: I must listen to him and be diligently preparing; then I’ll be brought to the heavenly home when the Lord comes. So, in order to meet the Lord in the air, I continued in my pursuit tirelessly …

One day, when my husband and I were husking corn, Sister Li Hua of our church came to help. While husking corn, we talked about the rapture that Pastor Liu preached on Sunday: There was not knowing when the Lord’s return would come, at midnight or at the cock-crowing; in addition, how should we watch to prayer so that we wouldn’t be forsaken? Later, we went back to the house to pray and discussed how to watch and pray to behold the return of the Lord. Just then, I heard someone calling me. After going out, I found it was my close classmate Wang Li. Her sudden arrival made me very happy. I took her hands, saying happily, “Long time no see, old classmate. I missed you so much. How come you’re free to come to our house? Get in.” After she entered the room and sat down, I introduced her to my husband and Li Hua, saying, “This is my old classmate Wang Li. She’s also a believer in the Lord.” They exchanged greetings warmly and I served apples and tea. We ate and talked together. After a while, I said, “Wang Li, you’re just in time. We were just talking about a question and wondering how to solve it.” Wang Li asked, “What’s it?” I told her, “Pastor Liu of our church often preaches to us about 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.’ He told us the Lord’s return would take us to the air. We worry that we don’t know His return if He comes at midnight or at the cock-crowing. What should we do to avoid being forsaken? Because of this, we’re unable to sleep well every day, afraid that we’ll miss the moment when the Lord Jesus suddenly arrives on the clouds and appears in the air if we’re asleep. I wonder how you practice in this matter. Could you share with us?”

Wang Li smiled and said, “We all think that the Lord’s return will bring us into the air to meet Him. I had also kept adhering to it all these years. But, have you ever thought whether this viewpoint is correct or not? Does it conform to the Lord’s will?” Her questions surprised all three of us. I thought: How could you say such words? Isn’t being lifted up into the air what all believers of the Lord seek? We casting perplexed looks at her, I said hastily, “Wang Li, the pastors often talk about being lifted up into the air to meet with the Lord; how could you say this viewpoint isn’t correct? Every Christian recognizes that. How could it be that there is a problem with such understanding?”

She faintly smiled, asking me, “Who said this verse?” I replied, “Brother Paul.” She continued, “Paul, like us, is a corrupt human being. Can his words represent the Lord’s will? Did Lord Jesus ever say anything of this kind? Since we believe in the Lord, practicing according to the Lord’s word is the only right way. Let’s see what the Lord said. We all know the Lord’s Prayer that the Lord requires us to memorize.” As she spoke, she took the Bible out of her bag, opened and handed it to me, saying, “Old classmate, please read it for us.” I looked at her in wonder, not knowing why she let us read the Lord’s Prayer. I took the Bible and read, “Our Father which are in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For your is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9–13). After I finished reading, she said, “The Lord let us pray every day, ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.’ Although we recite it every day, we don’t understand what the Lord meant by this. It says plainly that God will come to earth. The Lord let us pray in this way every day to wait for His return, but we hope that the Lord appears in the air when He returns. The Lord has told us that the kingdom of God will descend to earth and that His will also be done on earth. Now we’re in the last days and the Lord has returned as predicted, yet we still lift up our heads to the sky all day, looking forward to the Lord’s coming. Isn’t this perspective worth our suspicion? The Lord’s words cannot be wrong. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but God’s words shall never disappear, and all shall be fulfilled and accomplished one by one.” Li Hua said, “The pastors and elders always charge us to simply hold on to the Lord’s way and they say that God’s return will surely lift us up to the kingdom of heaven. Is this right or not?” Wang Li replied, “As believers, we must believe the words of the Lord rather than those of humans. The Lord said, ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.’ Sister, God clearly told us that His will is done on earth and that His kingdom will descend upon the earth. Isn’t it at odds with the Lord’s words that we seek to ascend to heaven? Further, the Lord Jesus also 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). Therefore meeting with God in the air is just man’s imagination. We have faith in the Lord, so we must go forward in accordance with His teachings and guidance. When man’s words and the Lord’s words are opposed, we should act on the basis of the Lord’s words. Otherwise, we can’t live in God’s care but are the ones forsaken by God in the end.” Hearing her fellowship, I dared not cling to my views of the past any longer. Rather, I thought I needed to seek seriously. Besides, my husband also said that Wang Li’s words made sense. And Li Hua was also mute. We all approved with a slight nod. At that moment, Wang Li looked at us, saying, “It’s late now. Shall we continue to fellowship tomorrow?” We all agreed.

After supper, I said to my husband, “Think it over, Wang Li’s fellowship is right. Paul’s words are obviously different from the Lord’s. Paul, just like us, is a corrupt person. We should take the Lord Jesus’ words as the criterion. This is the right perspective. It seems as if there are some problems in those words Paul said.” He said, “What your classmate said makes sense. Since we believe in the Lord, we must honor Him as great and believe in Him in accordance with His words.” I said, “Yes. In the past, we’d always worshiped pastors and elders, thinking when the Lord returns, He should reveal to them first because they knew the Bible well. As a result, brothers and sisters continuously contribute and help them, hoping to benefit from them when the Lord comes back. It seems that this is the stupidity of man.” He continued, “Right. We can’t merely listen to the pastors and elders. Just as when the Lord Jesus came to work, those scribes and Pharisees all knew the Bible well, yet they didn’t acknowledge the Lord but even resisted Him, not allowing people to follow Him. So, regarding whether the Lord is in heaven or on earth when He returns, we can’t just listen to the pastors and elders. We have to figure it out.” I said, “Yes. When Wang Li comes tomorrow, we have to ask her carefully.” Then we fell on our knees and prayed, “O Lord, we believe in You. Before we were muddled in our faith, only paying heed to people. May You open our spiritual eyes and guide us to know Your will, so that we won’t miss the opportunity to be received by You. Amen!”

The next day, Li Hua and Wang li both came to my house. We all wondered whether God’s return is in heaven or on earth. So we repeated our confusion to Wang Li and wanted her to fellowship with us in detail. Wang Li said, “As we all know, God created man on earth. It’s recorded in Genesis 2:7–8, ‘And Jehovah 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 Jehovah God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed.’ From these verses, it can be seen that God created man on earth. After that, He allowed them to live in the Garden of Eden, which is on earth, not in heaven. After they sinned, God banished them from the Garden of Eden and then they lived a cursed life, which still was on earth. For thousands of years, God has been saving mankind. His work also progresses on earth. Just like in the Age of Law, Jehovah God issued laws to let people follow on earth. In the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus came down to the earth from heaven and was crucified for man, which was also on earth. Moreover, the Lord Jesus taught His disciples to memorize the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven’ (Matthew 6:10). The Lord required that of people in order for them to know that He will still do His work on earth when He returns. It’s just that we humans don’t have pure acceptance, but only listen to man’s explanation and ignore the Lord’s word, so we misinterpret God’s will. And then how will we welcome the Lord’s return?” Hearing her fellowship, I had more clarity within. I sighed with emotion, “That’s right. In the past, we weren’t earnest in pondering the Lord’s Prayer. These words are so clear yet we didn’t understand, nor do the pastors and elders. They still let us gaze at the heavens to await the Lord’s return every day. Apparently, no matter how many scriptures we read, without God’s guidance, all will be an exercise in futility! This just fulfills what the Lord said, ‘And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch’” (Matthew 15:14). Everyone said, “Yes. If we still listen to the pastors and elders, the consequence will be too terrible. Sister Wang, please talk more with us.”

Wang Li continued, “Let’s read some passages of the scripture, ‘And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write: for these words are true and faithful’ (Revelation 21:3–5). ‘The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever’ (Revelation 11:15). These prophecies tell us that the tabernacle of God will appear in the world of man and that the kingdoms of this world will be the kingdoms of the Lord Christ; this shows that the Lord will return to work and save mankind on earth. These prophecies have long been fulfilled. Actually, today I came to tell you good news, the Lord Jesus that we have been longing for has come back and arrived on earth to do His work. That’s why we can understand the mysteries here.” We three were very happy on hearing this, asking exuberantly, “The Lord’s back? Really?” She said firmly, “It’s true! Almighty God is the second coming of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus performed the work of redemption of the crucifixion on earth at that time. Today, Almighty God has come and carried out the work of judgment and purification with words. This fulfills the Lord’s words, ‘I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come’ (John 16:12–13). Almighty God is here. He has expressed all truth required for people’s salvation, to allow us to understand the truth from His words, distinguish between good and evil, between righteousness and evilness, between what is of flesh and blood and what is of the truth, and not to be deceived by all kinds of people any more, thus seeing through Satan’s evil plot, breaking free from Satan’s bonds, living before God and finally being made complete by God. The Scripture reads, ‘And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away’ (Revelation 21:4). God is to complete His six-thousand-year work of saving man. He will use the words expressed by Him to save us and finally bring us to a good destination. I brought the books of God’s words today. Let’s listen to His words and see whether the place of rest Almighty God gives us humans in the end is in heaven or on earth.” We were transported with joy to hear her words. We didn’t expect that the Lord has returned and that He has really come down to earth to save us, our whole face beaming with delight.

She took from her bag a book with the words The Word Appears in the Flesh. Opening the book, she began to read, “Humanity entering into rest means that all of humanity will live within God’s light and under His blessings, devoid of Satan’s corruption, and no more unrighteousness will occur. Under God’s care, humans will live normally upon earth. When God and humanity enter into rest together, it means that humanity has been saved and that Satan has been destroyed, that God’s work in humans is entirely complete. God will no longer continue to work in humans, and they will no longer live under Satan’s domain. As such, God will no longer be busy, and humans will no longer be constantly on the move; God and humanity will enter into rest simultaneously. God will return to His original place, and each person will return to their respective place. These are the destinations in which God and humans will reside once God’s entire management is finished. God has God’s destination, and humanity has humanity’s destination. While resting, God will continue to guide all humans in their lives upon earth, and while in His light, they will worship the one true God in heaven. … When humans enter into rest, it means that they have become true objects of creation; they will worship God from upon the earth, and live normal human lives. People will no longer be disobedient to God or resist Him, and will return to the original life of Adam and Eve. These will be the respective lives and destinations of God and humans after they enter into rest. Satan’s defeat is an inevitable trend in the war between it and God. As such, God’s entering into rest after the completion of His management work and humanity’s complete salvation and entrance into rest have likewise become inevitable trends. Humanity’s place of rest is on earth, and God’s place of rest is in heaven. While humans worship God in rest, they will live upon the earth, and while God leads the rest of humanity in rest…. After God and humanity enter into rest, Satan will no longer exist; likewise, those wicked people will also cease to exist. Before God and humanity rest, those wicked individuals who once persecuted God on earth, as well as the enemies who were disobedient to Him there, will already have been destroyed; they will have been eradicated by the great disasters of the last days. Once those wicked people have been utterly annihilated, earth will never again know Satan’s harassment. Only then will humanity obtain complete salvation, and God’s work be thoroughly finished. These are the prerequisites for God and humanity to enter into rest” (“God and Man Will Enter Into Rest Together” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

She continued to speak, “We all know that when God created man, He allowed man to live freely in the Garden of Eden. However, man was corrupted by Satan and lived in sin, losing his freedom. All that he lived out was images of Satan. So God has carried out six-thousand-year work of saving man. Today when God is to conclude His work, He became flesh again and has come to earth to express many aspects of words. All those who accept God’s work are those who are raptured up before the throne of God. They all enter the new age by accepting the salvation and leadership of God on earth. Those who don’t accept the stage of new work, whether it be pastors and elders or ordinary brothers and sisters, have all been divorced from God’s work and become targets of God’s elimination. As believers in God, we must know His work and can’t live in our own imaginings and conception. In fact, being caught up refers to being raised from the Age of Grace to the Age of Kingdom and accepting God’s work of the last days. And it doesn’t mean being raised up into the air. Therefore we should face reality. Today, Almighty God is doing the work of the Age of Kingdom and the kingdom of God has descended on the world. God expresses the words to save man, letting man obtain His salvation and survive by relying on these words. On the contrary, those who don’t accept the salvation of God’s words, those who don’t believe in God incarnate on earth, and even those who resist God’s work are all enemies disobedient to God. When God completes His management work, these people will be destroyed by the great disasters of the last days, while those who are saved will in the end be brought into rest by God. Henceforth, those who survive will regain the life like the one in the Garden of Eden, and still worship God on earth, living in the eternal blessings that God confers upon the human world. And so, God’s resting place is in heaven, while man’s is still on the earth. This’s the ultimate outcome of mankind.”

Sister Li said, “All our years of believing in God were awash in confusion. Now I understand: Such saying that the Lord’s return would bring us up to heaven is from the notions and imaginations of the pastors and elders. They’re deceiving us. I think their purpose is to make us listen to them, so that we’ll continue offering for their enjoyment. They really are too despicable.” My husband said, “Yeah, we also have ourselves to blame. We were so ignorant. We didn’t seek the truth but just blindly listened to pastors and elders and clung to man’s words in the Bible, thinking God’s return would be in heaven. If it hadn’t been for God sending Sister Wang to preach the gospel to us, with this kind of a pursuit, not only would we not welcome the Lord’s return, but we would ruin our chance for salvation.” I also said thoughtfully, “Yes. Today, through reading Almighty God’s word, we’ve understood the truth about mankind’s future destination. God’s creating man upon the earth is to allow man to believe in and worship Him on earth, yet man always expects entry to heaven to meet God. We humans are too overconfident. I’m thankful that Almighty God’s word has revealed these mysteries, or else we’ll merely keep seeking a vague belief, longing for the Lord Jesus appearing in the air. Alas, I’ve seen that without truth we cannot see through matters. We’re so pathetic. Today I realize that only God can unravel these mysteries and I also see that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus. This is without error.”

Wang Li asked with her wide smile, “Do you know why people all want to enter heaven?” We shook our heads, saying, “No, we don’t.” She continued to say, “One reason is because we don’t know the work of God; another is because we’re dominated by the nature of our arrogance. Let’s read another passage of Almighty God’s words.” With that, she took another book out of her bag, with the words Records of Christ’s Talks. She opened the book, then passed it to me. I took the book with both my hands and read earnestly, “Human beings, dominated by their satanic disposition, harbor some ambition and desire inside of them, which is hidden within their humanity. That is, humans never want to stay on the ground; they keep wanting to go up into the air. And for whom is the air a place to stay? That is a place for Satan, not a place for humans. When creating humans, God put them on the ground so that your daily lives could be completely normal and your lifestyles disciplined, and so that you could learn general knowledge about how to be human beings, and learn how to live your lives and how to worship God. God did not give you wings; He did not allow you to stay up in the air. Those with wings are birds, and the ones wandering around in the air are Satan and evil spirits and filthy demons. Those are not human beings! If people keep having such ambitions, always wanting to turn themselves extraordinary and superior, different from others, and special, then that is a problem!” (“The Five States Necessary to Be on the Right Track in One’s Faith” in Records of Christ’s Talks). Wang Li said, “From Almighty God’s words, we know that the reason why we seek to ascend to heaven to meet the Lord is because we’re dominated by our satanic nature. After we mankind had been corrupted by Satan, we have all become the progeny of Satan, arrogant as the archangel itself. We always want to ascend to the highest place to make people think highly of and worship us, seeking higher and unreal things. God’s word is spoken very clearly. The midair is where Satan stays, rather than where man stays. We also know that after the archangel rebelled against God, it was cast down in midair by God. Therefore, the midair is the place Satan stays at, not the place that we should pursue and long for. Today God reveals these things so that we may understand, otherwise we won’t know how we meet our end. In addition, the heaven is God’s dwelling place, not the place man stays at. Yet man always seeks to ascend to heaven to meet God, wanting to sit side-by-side and stand on an equal footing with Him. Isn’t such thought people’s wild ambition? Isn’t it controlled by the archangel’s nature? People are created beings and ought to worship God as creatures of Him. Only this is what should be done by those who possess rationality. In the beginning, God created man with the dust. His will was to allow man to live and worship Him on earth and He hoped that man could listen to His words. This was His original intention when He created man. However, after being corrupted by Satan, man has turned away from God and become distant from Him, never caring about His will. All we care about are how many blessings we have received from God, whether God will lead us to avoid disaster and whether we can enter the kingdom of heaven to enjoy God’s blessings. We believe in God with thoughts of being blessed and treat His words with the arrogant disposition, so how can we understand His will? But God still loves us humans. He has been silently enduring our coldness, our opposition to and rebellion against Him. He never has complaints of us but still does everything He can to save us. Without God’s mercy and tolerance, we would have no hope of salvation.” We all listened attentively and nodded our heads, thanking God for His salvation.

I said with tears in my eyes, “God’s love for people is so great. Thank the Lord for not forsaking us. We must keep pace with God’s footprints as soon as possible and can’t let such a good opportunity slip through our fingers.” My husband and Sister Li nodded. We are all willing to read carefully the words of God and cooperate with gospel work, bringing before God those brothers and sisters in the church who are in the darkness and are deceived.

Wang Li looked toward us and also said excitedly, “Thank God! Let’s sing a song.” Then she took out a hymnbook of God’s word from her bag and taught us to sing, “The church of Philadelphia has taken shape, which is entirely due to the grace and mercy of God. Love for God arises in the hearts of the myriad saints, who do not waver on their spiritual journey. They hold fast to their belief that the one true God has become flesh, that He is the Head of the universe, who commands all things: This is confirmed by the Holy Spirit, it is as immovable as the mountains! And it shall never change!

“Oh, Almighty God! Today it is You who have opened our spiritual eyes, allowing the blind to see, the lame to walk, and lepers to be healed. It is You who have opened the window to heaven, allowing us to perceive the mysteries of the spiritual realm. Being permeated by Your holy words and saved from our humanity, which was corrupted by Satan—such is Your inestimably great work and Your inestimably great mercy. We are Your witnesses!” (Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs).