Knock, and It Shall Be Opened to You

Zheng Dao

In 1989, I accepted the gospel of the Lord Jesus with my mother. After I believed in the Lord, I often attended meetings and read the Bible, and so I came to know that God created the heavens and earth and all things in them. At that time, our preachers told us, “Whatever difficulties you face, just ask the Lord to help you, for He said, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you: For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened’ (Matthew 7:7-8).
So when we have difficulties, the Lord will speak to us through the Bible if we pray to Him.” Since then, I committed to the Lord everything, whether important events in my life or matters of daily living. The Lord really listened to my prayers and fulfilled everything I had prayed for. So I regarded the Bible as precious all the more, and I took it with me wherever I went, almost unable to be separated from it.

One Sunday in September, 1997, I came to the meeting as usual. Our preacher, an elderly sister, said, “Thank the Lord for His grace in enabling us brothers and sisters to gather before His throne today. I believe that God will give us the rich supply of His living water of life according to what we lack. I invited these two young sisters to fellowship with us today. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them.” I had been deeply admiring the elderly sister, for she began to believe in the Lord at the age of 18, and she wore out three copies of the Bible during fifty years. But that day she unexpectedly invited two sisters over 20 to give messages. “How many days have they believed in God?” I belittled them in my heart, but I didn’t say anything, for they were invited by the elderly sister. As I was fond of singing, when the young sisters taught us to sing a hymn “A River of Water of Life” composed from Revelation 22:1-5, I felt it was fresh and beautiful, and so my heart became somewhat calm.

Then they taught us to sing a new song “Almighty God Has Appeared in the East of the World.” I felt it was very good too, lively as well as dynamic, and more inspiring than the hymns we had sung before. At the time I was no longer prejudiced against them so much. Suddenly, one of them said that God had personally opened the little scroll and started a stage of work to judge and purify man upon the foundation of the Bible. With that she put the Bible aside and took out a copy of The Scroll Opened by the Lamb. At the sight of that, my thoughts were in a tumult: They are believers in God, but they put the Bible aside. This is absolutely wrong. How can a believer in the Lord not read the Bible? Our senior preacher has worn out three copies of the Bible during her several decades of belief in God. The Bible is the basis of our belief in God. We shall never abandon it! Just when I was about to refute them, I saw the elderly sister frequently nodding her approval of what they said. So I bit the words back, thinking, “Since the elderly sister approves of them, I’m afraid, I can’t confute them by my little knowledge of the Bible; if I try, that will embarrass me. It is better for me to talk with the elderly sister after they leave, and I will tell her it is absolutely wrong to depart from the Bible, for it is written: ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God …’ (2 Timothy 3:16). Since the Bible is given by inspiration of God, it represents the will of God. Whether we keep to the Bible is an important matter that concerns whether we will be blessed or cursed in the future. We mustn’t be careless in it and be misled by these two young sisters.” I was alarmed and nervous and rather disturbed throughout the meeting. At last the meeting was over. When I looked at the elderly sister, I felt that she seemed to very much approve of what the young sisters had fellowshiped about, for she still looked steady and joyful. So I couldn’t but murmur in my heart, “Why did you keep silent? How could you just allow them to preach those things outside the Bible? Are you still a good steward of the Lord? …”

On my way home, the more I thought about that, the more anxious I became. “I have read the Bible for nearly ten years, but now they asked us to put the Bible aside, and the elderly sister seemed not to mind it at all. Is this according to what the Lord required of us? Now most brothers and sisters in the church have accepted the words of Almighty God. If I refuse, will I miss the opportunity to welcome the return of the Lord?” Then I thought, “I cannot accept the words of Almighty God and put the Bible aside as they did. Then what shall I do?” Confused and worried, I felt as if the path under my feet had become uneven. I came home in a fluster.

Seeing uneasiness on my face, my husband asked me, “Why do you look restless? Is there anything bothering you?” I said anxiously, “Well, you can hardly imagine it. Today two young sisters came to our church and gave messages, and they said that the Lord Jesus has returned and opened the little scroll. Look, this is the book they gave me. They said it is the new word of God, and told us to read it—The Scroll Opened by the Lamb—from now on. As you know, we have been reading and studying the Bible throughout the many years of our belief in the Lord. The Bible has benefited us greatly. We should never give it up.” My husband said with surprise, “Oh? Can there be such a thing?” He thought for a while and said, “I think what you said is right. We should have a conscience toward the Lord, and as a believer in God, we should not depart from the Bible.” His affirmative answer strengthened my faith to hold to the Bible.

In the evening, I knelt before the Bible and prayed to the Lord with eagerness and asked Him to guard His sheep from being stolen. In the days that followed, I still read the Bible. On Sunday, I went to the gathering place early with the Bible. I also put the book The Scroll Opened by the Lamb into my bag, for I did not know how to treat it and wanted to know what the elderly sister and the others thought about it. When I saw the elderly sister, I poured out my opinion about it. At my words, she smiled a calm smile and said, “My young sister, this is indeed not a small matter. We don’t know what will be the consequences if we jump to conclusions. Pray much with an earnest heart before the Lord, and I believe that the Lord will enlighten and illuminate us to understand His will.” (I knew later on that she had begun to examine the way two weeks earlier than that and was convinced that it is the true way.) Little had I expected that she would say such words, but judging by her attitude, she seemed to have reached the final conclusion on this matter. At night, I tossed about in bed, unable to fall asleep. I thought, “The elderly sister has believed in God for many years, and she is a person of discernment. When there was confusion in the Three-Self Church and the religious leaders persecuted her and pushed her aside, she found out the will of God through prayer and determinedly gave up her position and joined the house church. I admire her for what she did, and I believe that she would not jump to conclusions this time without praying and seeking. But the book The Scroll Opened by the Lamb goes beyond the Bible. This is by no means right. O Lord, what shall I do?” At that moment, I thought of the elderly sister’s exhortation to me, so I knelt down before the Lord and prayed to Him, “The gracious Lord Jesus Christ, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, now all my brothers and sisters read The Scroll Opened by the Lamb, and they said it is Your new word. Throughout many years, none of the believers in You have ever departed from the Bible, but the Bible verses are not fellowshiped about in the meetings now. How should I believe in You? O Lord, may You give me directions, for You are a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I am waiting for You to guide me.”

After that, I still went to the meetings with my Bible. When what was talked about was in line with the Bible, I accepted it. If it was not, I turned a deaf ear to it. I waited for the day when my brothers and sisters would wake up. However, their states became ever better and their countenances were full of joy, while I had a heavy heart, and just responded to their greetings with a false smile. One day in the meeting, the brothers and sisters fellowshiped about their understanding and knowledge of the words of Almighty God enthusiastically, and they were joyful as if having received a treasure, but I could hardly understand what they fellowshiped about, just sitting there like a fool without a word. I became more and more sad and distressed and could only cry to the Lord in my heart, “O Lord, You were so gracious to me before. Why don’t You enlighten me now? Have You rejected me? O Lord, my only hope is in You. Please don’t forsake me.” Although I cried to the Lord desperately, I could not feel any response or comfort from Him.

Back home, I could not hold back my sorrow anymore and threw myself down on the bed crying out to God tearfully, “O Lord, You know I love You, and I will not put the Bible aside and depart from You whatever happens. However, I have never felt so dark in my heart throughout the many years of my belief in You. O Lord, please don’t hide Your face from me, and please have mercy on me. My brothers and sisters all say that the words in The Scroll Opened by the Lamb are the utterances of You who have returned, and that they have gained a lot from them. I, however, have fallen into darkness and cannot feel Your presence. O Lord! I am very distressed and bewildered, and don’t know how to face all this. O Lord, are the words in The Scroll Opened by the Lamb really the utterances of You who have returned? If they are, I am also willing to follow You.” When I spoke this, suddenly in my mind appeared a picture of the Lord Jesus standing at the door and knocking, who seemed to have waited for a long time. I was startled at this, and realized that I had shut the Lord outside the door. Immediately tears of self-reproach, remorse, and indebtedness gushed out, and I did not wipe them, but took out the Bible and turned to Revelation 3:20-22, which said, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit said to the churches.” I was certain that it was the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, so I knelt before the Lord again with my tears coursing down unceasingly, “My Lord, Almighty God, little did I expect that I would treat Your coming this way … I was so blind and foolish that I did not recognize Your voice and shut You outside the door … I’ve grieved and disappointed You … were it not for Your mercy, I would continue rejecting Your utterances and live in darkness…. O Almighty God! I am willing to return to You and accept Your words. Please hide Your face from my transgressions and continue Your salvation of me.” After the prayer, I felt incomparably released, and my heart was so relieved, as if a big stone weighing upon it had been moved away. From then on, whenever I had time, I would read God’s words, wishing to make up for the time I had lost before. However, I still did not know why God does His work outside of the Bible.

One day, I opened the book of God’s word and read these words: “How should the Bible be approached in the belief in God? This is a question of principle. … For many years, people’s traditional means of belief (that of Christianity, one of the world’s three major religions) has been to read the Bible; departure from the Bible is not the belief in the Lord, departure from the Bible is an evil cult, and heresy, and even when people read other books, the foundation of these books must be the explanation of the Bible. Which is to say, if you say you believe in the Lord, then you must read the Bible, you must eat and drink the Bible, and outside the Bible you must not worship any book that does not involve the Bible. If you do, then you are betraying God. From the time when there was the Bible, people’s belief in the Lord has been the belief in the Bible. Instead of saying people believe in the Lord, it is better to say they believe in the Bible; rather than saying they have begun reading the Bible, it is better to say they have begun believing in the Bible; and rather than saying they have returned before the Lord, it would be better to say they have returned before the Bible” (“Concerning the Bible (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

While I read this passage of God’s word, I felt as if God was teaching me face to face. I thought, “Yes, this is exactly my former view. I believed that a believer in God must read the Bible and should not read any book except the Bible, otherwise he is a betrayer of God. Now through God’s disclosure, I have realized that my view is indeed wrong. But isn’t the Bible given by inspiration of God? Haven’t we believed in the Lord according to the Bible? Then what’s the difference between returning before the Bible and returning before the Lord?” I wanted to know the answers, so I continued to seek in God’s words. I saw these words: “The Bible is a historical record of God’s work in Israel, and documents many of the foretellings of ancient prophets as well as some of the utterances of Jehovah in His work at that time. Thus, people all look upon this book as ‘holy’ (for God is holy and great). Of course, this is all a result of their reverence for Jehovah and their adoration for God. People refer to this book in this way only because the creatures of God are so adoring of their Creator, and there are even those who call this book a ‘heavenly book.’ In fact, it is merely a human record. It was not personally named by Jehovah, nor did Jehovah personally guide its creation. In other words, the author of this book is not God, but men. The ‘Holy’ Bible is only the respectful title given to it by man. This title was not decided by Jehovah and Jesus after they had a discussion amongst each other; it is nothing more than a human idea. For this book was not written by Jehovah, much less by Jesus. Instead, it is the accounts of many ancient prophets, apostles, and seers, which were compiled by later generations into a book of ancient writings that, to people, seems especially holy, a book that they believe contains many unfathomable and profound mysteries that are waiting to be unlocked by future generations. As such, people are even more disposed to believe that this book is a ‘heavenly book.’ With the addition of the Four Gospels and the Book of Revelation, people’s attitude toward it is particularly different from any other book, and thus no one dares to dissect this ‘heavenly book’—because it is too ‘sacred’” (“Concerning the Bible (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

The words of Almighty God have unlocked the mystery of ages past. Almighty God says: “The Bible is a historical record of God’s work in Israel….” I pondered over these words carefully and realized they were true. “God is a God who created all things and rules over all mankind; how can it be possible that He only works in Israel? But the Bible only documents the work God did in Israel. This is a fact. The reason why the Bible is called a ‘holy book’ by people is that it documents many words of God. People call it a ‘holy book’ out of their reverence for God. However, the publication of the Bible was actually not decided by Jehovah and man after they had a discussion together; it is nothing more than a human idea. Moreover, the author of the Bible is not God, but those ancient saints, prophets, seers, and apostles.” God’s disclosure left me ashamed and humiliated. Thinking about the view I had held throughout the years of my belief in God, I realized I was too ignorant and foolish. I saw the Bible as important as God, and thought that whoever departs from the Bible is not a believer in God. I was not clear about the substance of the Bible and its value, nor did I ever think about the difference between belief in God and belief in the Bible. I did not know anything about the reality of belief in God, and regarded my conceptions as the truth and talked wildly. However, God did not treat me according to my ignorance. Instead of condemning me, He enlightened and guided me…. From God’s words I saw the Creator’s mercy for corrupt mankind.

Although in God’s words, I felt God’s majesty that I had never felt in my many years of belief in the Lord, I was still fascinated by them and read on. Through reading God’s words, I could treat the Bible correctly and moreover received God’s watering and shepherding, so that I understood some truths gradually. I thank and praise God from the bottom of my heart.

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