Answering 100 Questions Related to the Bible

Question (25) Why don’t you make the way you preach public if it is the true way?

Answer: Dear brothers and sisters, Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter….” This shows God’s wisdom in doing his work. Of course, to truly understand why God does his work in a hidden way, we need to look at how the Lord Jesus did the work in the Age of the Grace and how the Jews and King Herod treated the Lord Jesus. First, let us recall what the circumstances were like when Jesus Christ was born (cf. Matthew 2): During the time of King Herod, when Jerusalem learned from the Magi from the east that the Lord Jesus had been born in Bethlehem, not only King Herod was disturbed (because he was afraid of his kingship being taken away), but all Jerusalem were disturbed (because the coming of the Lord was greatly against their expectation and was utterly contrary to their notions). To kill Jesus, King Herod gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under. In this situation, God told Joseph to take Jesus and Mary and escape to Egypt late at night. Thus we see that the whole mankind did not know God, much less welcome God’s coming, and their means of resisting God was so cruel. Later, when the Lord Jesus began to fulfill his ministry, he publicly taught and preached the gospel everywhere. He preached publicly for the sake of his gospel work, and he contacted the Pharisees for accomplishing his work of being crucified to redeem all mankind. Although that stage of the work was done publicly, the Lord Jesus also worked in a hidden way when necessary. For example, Matthew 8:4 records that, after healing a man with leprosy, Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” And Matthew 9:30 says that, after healing two blind men, Jesus “warned them sternly, ‘See that no one knows about this.’” In Matthew 16:13­­­-20, it says, “…he [Jesus] asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ … Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ …he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.” Also, Matthew 17:9 records: (Jesus led his disciples up a high mountain by themselves, and there he was transfigured before them.) “As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, ‘Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’” From the above verses, we can easily see that sometimes the Lord Jesus also worked in a hidden way because of the need of the work, and this is God’s wisdom. On the one hand, it was because some things, such as Jesus’ identity, could not be known by the people too early lest greater disturbances be caused and hinder God’s work. On the other hand, it was because the Pharisees were then going everywhere to arrest Jesus and trying to frame him, yet Jesus’ work on earth hadn’t been accomplished and the time for him to be crucified had not yet come. Therefore, Jesus strictly warned the people not to tell others about what they had seen and heard lest God’s work be frustrated. But people did not understand God’s intention, and they even misunderstood him. They thought: Since you are Christ, God, why don’t you make what you do public? Even Jesus’ “brothers” did not understand him, and they said, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world” (John 7:3, 4). By these we see that the people simply did not know God’s work or understand God’s intention. Today, God returning in the flesh carries out his work in a hidden way, yet what he faces are still people’s misunderstanding, rejection, resistance and condemnation, and people still do not understand his intention. Thus we can see that, whether yesterday or today, people’s notion about God is the same. Their view is that since you are God and you come to save man, you should not “act in secret” or do things “in a sneaky way,” but should make everything public so that all people can see and know about it. However, who knows God’s wisdom in doing his work? And who understands God’s kind intention?

Brothers and sisters, let us think about this: In Judea, a nation that believed in God, people even resisted, rejected, persecuted, and humiliated Jesus when he worked there and eventually nailed him onto the cross; how could people today in China, an atheistic and dictatorial country, welcome God’s coming and allow God’s existence when he works here? Now we will not talk about those unbelievers who simply do not acknowledge God’s existence. Let’s talk first about us believers in God. We all know about Jesus’ second coming and are all waiting for this moment to come. However, when Jesus has returned to the world and brought the work that does not match people’s notions, what are people’s attitudes toward God? Has anyone sought with a humble heart? Has anyone humbled himself to investigate? Hardly anyone! Before they knew anything about it, they followed the herd and shouted, “They sneak around all day long and never do things openly. Could this be the true way?” And they even beat or report to the police those who preach the kingdom gospel, using various contemptible means to resist the work of Almighty God. The means by which the people of today resist God have surpassed those taken by the Pharisees of that time. The believers in God even condemn, blaspheme, resist, and persecute God, let alone those unbelievers who do not acknowledge God’s existence at all. If Almighty God did the work publicly in this atheistic country and on all who believe in God yet do not know God (those who believe in Jesus yet resist Almighty God), it can be well imagined how greatly God’s work would be hindered. Therefore, to avoid temptations, to successfully accomplish his work in the flesh in the country of the great red dragon, to better save man, and to keep the group of people who follow him from disturbances and persecutions, God chooses to do the work in a hidden way during the period when he does the work of salvation in China. This is the great wisdom of God. Almighty God says: “…because this time God comes into the flesh to do her work and was born in the place inhabited by the great red dragon, she comes to earth this time at a greater risk. She is confronted with swords, bludgeons, temptations, and people with murderous looks, and she might be killed at any time.” “Who can understand God’s eager intention? No wonder that God is incarnated in an extremely hidden way. In such a dark society where the devils are brutal and inhuman, how could the murderous archfiend allow the lovely, kind, and holy God to exist? How could it clap and cheer for the coming of God?” “In the Age of the Grace, he publicly preached everywhere for the sake of his gospel work, and he contacted the Pharisees for the sake of his work of crucifixion. If he had not contacted the Pharisees and all those in power had not known him, how could he have been condemned and then betrayed and crucified? So, at that time he contacted the Pharisees for the sake of his crucifixion, and today he does his work in a hidden way for the sake of avoiding temptations. The work and the significance of the two incarnations are different and the environments they are in are different, so how could the works they do be exactly the same?” “This work is only done among you and is only open to you. None of the unbelievers knows it, because the time has not come. Even when you have almost been made complete through experiencing chastisement, the outsiders know nothing about it. This work is too hidden! The incarnated God is hidden from them, but she is open to the people in this stream. Although everything God does is open, revealed, and released, this is only true when his believers are concerned, and to the unbelievers, nothing is open. The work done here today is concealed closely and kept unknown to them. If they knew it, they would only condemn and persecute it, and they would not believe it. It is not easy to do the work in the country of the great red dragon, that is, in this most backward place. If the work were done in an open way, it could not be carried on. The work at this stage is simply not allowable in this place. If it were done in an open way, how could they allow that? Wouldn’t I be running a greater risk? If this work were not done in a hidden way but done as Jesus healed the sick and drove out demons in a dramatic way at that time, wouldn’t it have been ‘captured’ by the devils long ago? Would they allow God’s existence? If today I went to preach and teach people in the churches, wouldn’t I have been shredded into pieces long ago? In that case, how could the work be carried on? Now I do not perform any signs and wonders publicly just for the purpose that the work can be kept hidden. That is why the unbelievers cannot see, know, or discover it. If the work at this stage were done as Jesus did the work in the Age of the Grace, then it could not proceed steadily like now. Therefore, the work being done in such a hidden way is beneficial to you and to all the work. When God’s work on earth ends, that is, when this hidden work ends, the work at this stage will explode. And everyone will know that there are a group of people in China who have overcome and that God was incarnated in China and his work has been concluded” (The Word Has Appeared in the Flesh). From Almighty God’s words, we see that whether in the Age of the Grace or in the Age of the Kingdom of the end time, God’s hidden work embodies God’s wisdom and is very meaningful. In fact, no matter what work God does, and no matter how God’s work does not match man’s notions, we should believe that what God does is right, for his thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts and his wisdom is unfathomable to any man, and everything he does is love and salvation for man. God’s hidden work of the end time embodies God’s great wisdom and wonder in doing his work. It is because God works in a hidden way that all who have accepted God’s end-time work can enjoy his word in a relatively secure environment and receive his salvation. Therefore, it is of profound significance for God to do the hidden work of the end time.

In fact, now, the time when God does the work in a hidden way is the best time for us to enjoy his word, experience his work, and be purified by him. When God does the work publicly, he will reward good and punish evil. If we never drop our notion about God working in a hidden way and even condemn and resist his end-time work, then will Almighty God “reward” or “punish” us when he does the work publicly? Even if we wake up by then, it will be too late. As Revelation 1:7 says: “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.” And Matthew 24:30 says: “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn….” When these verses are fulfilled, that is, when the day of the Lord which we expect in our notions comes, to the people who have been expecting the Lord’s return yet resisting and condemning Almighty God, what God brings will not be a good news that causes them to rejoice and leap for joy but a bad news that makes them weep and gnash their teeth. They have believed in the Lord for many years and have undergone countless sufferings, but when the judgment of God’s great day comes, they will die in their notions and imaginations. Won’t it be too sad? We should know that God is righteous. All those who can accept the truth and be purified during the period when God does the work in a hidden way will receive God’s final salvation and enjoy God’s eternal blessings. As for those who refuse to accept God’s hidden work of the end time but wait for God’s coming publicly, only God’s everlasting punishment will come upon them. Brothers and sisters, facing God’s present hidden work, what will you choose? Will you continue holding on to the erroneous view, “the way that is not made public is not the true way,” or will you wake up to your error and come before Almighty God without delay to accept his end-time work of judgment and purification?