Amen!I think in the last days, the most important is to know how to hear God's voice.We just mentioned God's word and man's word is different, because when hearing God's word, we can tell that the word has authority and the truth, we can feel God's majestic disposition in His word; while man's word is simple, we can understand after listening to it. However, the Lord Jesus warned us that some people who deceive people will appear in the last days, if we can't tell God's voice, we'll be deceived. What do you think?
The Lord Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice" (Jhn 10:27). Clearly, the Lord is speaking to search for His sheep upon His return. The most crucial thing for Christians to do as they await the coming of the Lord is to seek to hear the voice of the Lord. How is one able to recognize the voice of the Lord, though? What is the difference between the voice of Godand the voice of humans?
2. Only If Mankind Worships the True God Can They Have a Good Fate
3. Look back to the time of Noah’s ark
4. No Power Can Stand in the Way of What God Wishes to Achieve
1.God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind.
God created this world, He created this mankind, and moreover He was the architect of ancient Greek culture and human civilization.
Only God consoles this mankind, and only God cares for this mankind night and day. Human development and progress is inseparable from the sovereignty of God, and the history and future of mankind are inextricable from the designs of God. God created this world, He created this mankind, and moreover He was the architect of ancient Greek culture and human civilization. Only God consoles this mankind, and only God cares for this mankind night and day. Only God cares for this mankind. Only God cares for this mankind.
3. God Makes the Rainbow as a Symbol of His Covenant With Man
(Gen 9:11-13) And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
Next, let’s take a look at this part of the scriptures about how God made the rainbow as a symbol of His covenant with man.
Most people know what a rainbow is and have heard of some stories related to rainbows. As for the story about the rainbow in the Bible, some people believe it, some treat it as legend, while others don’t believe it at all. No matter what, everything that happened in relation to the rainbow is all things God once did, and things that took place during the process of God’s management of man. These things have been recorded exactly in the Bible. These records do not tell us what mood God was in at the time or the intentions behind these words God said. Moreover, no one can appreciate what God was feeling when He said them. However, God’s state of mind regarding this entire thing is revealed between the lines of the text. It is as though His thoughts at the time leap off the page through each word and phrase of God’s word.
God’s thoughts are what people should be concerned about and what they should be trying to get to know the most. This is because God’s thoughts are closely related to man’s understanding of God, and man’s understanding of God is an indispensable link to man’s entry into life. So what was God thinking at the time when these things happened?
Originally, God created a humanity that in His eyes was very good and close to Him, but they were destroyed by flood after rebelling against Him. Did it hurt God that such a humanity just instantly vanished like that? Of course it hurt! So what was His expression of this pain? How was it recorded in the Bible? It was recorded in the Bible as: “And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” This simple sentence reveals God’s thoughts. This destruction of the world pained Him very much. In man’s words, He was very sad. We can imagine: How did the earth that was once full of life look like after being destroyed by the flood? How did the earth that was once full of human beings look like now? No human habitation, no living creatures, water everywhere and an absolute mess on the surface of the water. Was such a scene God’s original intention when He created the world? Of course not! God’s original intention was to see life all across the land, to see the human beings He created worshiping Him, not just for Noah to be the only one worshiping Him or the only one who could answer His call to complete what he was entrusted. When humanity disappeared, God saw not what He had originally intended but the complete opposite. How could His heart not be in pain? So when He was revealing His disposition and expressing His emotions, God made a decision. What kind of a decision did He make? To make a bow in the cloud (note: the rainbow that we see) as a covenant with man, a promise that God would not destroy mankind with a flood again. At the same time, it was also to tell people that God had once destroyed the world with a flood, to let mankind forever remember why God did such a thing.
Was the destruction of the world this time something God wanted? It was definitely not what God wanted. We might be able to imagine a small part of the pitiful sight of the earth after the destruction of the world, but we cannot come close to imagining what the scene was like at the time in God’s eyes. We can say that, whether it is the people of now or then, nobody is able to imagine or appreciate what God was feeling when He saw that scene, that image of the world following its destruction by flood. God was forced to do this due to man’s disobedience, but the pain suffered by God’s heart from this destruction of the world by flood is a reality no one can fathom or appreciate. That’s why God had made a covenant with mankind, which was to tell people to remember that God once did something like this, and to swear to them that God would never destroy the world in such a way again. In this covenant we see God’s heart—we see that God’s heart was in pain when He destroyed this humanity. In the language of man, when God destroyed mankind and saw mankind disappearing, His heart was weeping and bleeding. Isn’t that as best as we can describe it? These words are used by humans to illustrate human emotions, but since man’s language is too lacking, using them to describe God’s feelings and emotions doesn’t seem too bad to Me, and nor are they too excessive. At least it gives you a very vivid, very apt understanding of what God’s mood was like at the time. What will you think of now when you see a rainbow again? At least you will remember how God was once in sorrow over destroying the world by flood. You will remember how, even though God hated this world and despised this humanity, when He destroyed the human beings He created with His own hands, His heart was hurting, struggling to let go, feeling reluctant, and finding it hard to bear. His only comfort was in Noah’s family of eight. It was Noah’s cooperation that made His painstaking efforts of creating all things worthwhile. At a time when God was suffering, this was the only thing that could make up for His pain. From that point, God placed all of His expectations of humanity on Noah’s family, hoping they could live under His blessings and not His curse, hoping that they would never see God destroy the world with a flood again, and also hoping that they would not be destroyed.
What part of God’s disposition should we understand from here? God had despised man because man opposed Him, but in His heart, His care, concern, and mercy for humanity remained unchanged. Even when He destroyed mankind, His heart remained unchanged. When humanity was full of corruption and disobedient toward God to a certain extent, God had to, because of His disposition and His essence, and in accordance with His principles, destroy this humanity. But because of God’s essence, He still pitied mankind, and even wanted to use various ways to redeem mankind so they could continue to live. Instead, man opposed God, continued to disobey God, and refused to accept God’s salvation, that is, refused to accept His good intentions. No matter how God called to them, reminded them, supplied them, helped them, or tolerated them, man did not understand or appreciate it, nor did they pay attention. In His pain, God still did not forget to give man His maximum tolerance, waiting for man to turn around. After He reached His limit, He did what He had to do without any hesitation. In other words, there was a specific time period and process from the moment God planned to destroy mankind to the official start of His work in destroying mankind. This process existed for the purpose of enabling man to turn around, and was the last chance God gave to man. So what did God do in this period before destroying mankind? God did a significant amount of reminding and exhorting work. No matter how much pain and sorrow God’s heart was in, He continued to exercise His care, concern, and abundant mercy on humanity. What do we see from this? Undoubtedly, we see that God’s love for mankind is real and not just something He is paying lip service to. It is actual, tangible and appreciable, not fake, adulterated, deceitful or pretentious. God never uses any deception or creates fake images to make people see that He is lovable. He never uses false testimony to let people see His loveliness, or to flaunt His loveliness and holiness. Aren’t these aspects of God’s disposition worthy of man’s love? Aren’t they worth worshiping? Aren’t they worth cherishing? At this point, I want to ask you: After hearing these words, do you think God’s greatness is merely words on a sheet of paper? Is God’s loveliness just empty words? No! Certainly not! God’s supremacy, greatness, holiness, tolerance, love, and so forth—all of these various aspects of God’s disposition and essence are put into effect every time He does His work, embodied in His will toward man, and also fulfilled and reflected on every person. Regardless of whether you have felt it before, God is caring for every person in every possible way, using His sincere heart, wisdom, and various methods to warm each person’s heart, and awaken each person’s spirit. This is an indisputable fact. No matter how many people are sitting here, each person has had different experiences of and feelings toward God’s tolerance, patience, and loveliness. These experiences of God and these feelings or acknowledgments of Him—in short, all of these positive things are from God. So by integrating everyone’s experiences and knowledge of God and combining them with our readings of these Bible passages today, do you now have a more real and proper understanding of God?
After reading this story and understanding some of God’s disposition revealed through this event, what kind of brand new appreciation do you have of God? Has it given you a deeper understanding of God and His heart? Do you feel different now when you look at Noah’s story again? According to your views, would it have been unnecessary to communicate these Bible verses? Now that we have communicated them, do you think it was unnecessary? It was necessary, right? Even though what we read is a story, it is a true record of the work God had once done. My aim was not to let you comprehend the details of these stories or this character, nor was it so you can go study this character, and certainly not so you will go back and study the Bible again. Do you understand? So have these stories helped your knowledge of God? What has this story added to your understanding of God? Tell us, brothers and sisters from the Hong Kong churches. (We saw that God’s love is something none of us corrupt humans possess.) Tell us, brothers and sisters from the Korean churches. (God’s love for man is real. God’s love for man carries His disposition and carries His greatness, holiness, supremacy, and His tolerance. Through such a story we can better appreciate that all of these are part of God’s disposition, and that it is worth us trying to gain a deeper understanding of it.) (Through the communication just then, we can on the one hand see God’s righteous and holy disposition, and we can also see the concern God has for mankind, God’s mercy toward mankind, and that everything God does and every thought and idea He has all reveals His love and concern for humanity.) (Our understanding in the past was that God used a flood to destroy the world because mankind had become evil to a certain extent, and it was as though God destroyed this humanity because He loathed them. It was only after God talked about Noah’s story today and said that God’s heart was bleeding that we realize that God was actually reluctant to let go of this humanity. It was only because mankind was too disobedient that God had no choice but to destroy them. In fact, God’s heart at this time was very sad. From this we can see in God’s disposition His care and concern for mankind. This is something we didn’t know before. We used to think it was because mankind was too evil, so God destroyed them. That’s how superficial our understanding was.) Very good! You can go next. (I was very affected after listening. I’ve read the Bible in the past, but I’ve never had an experience like today where God directly dissects these things so we can get to know Him. For God to take us along like this to get to see the Bible let me know that God’s essence before man’s corruption was love and care for mankind. From the time man became corrupted to the last days of now, even though God carries a righteous disposition, His love and care remains unchanged. This shows that the essence of God’s love, from creation until now, regardless of whether man is corrupted, never changes.) (Today I saw that God’s essence will not alter due to a change in time or the location of His work. I also saw that, no matter if God is creating the world or destroying it after man becomes corrupted, everything He does has meaning and contains His disposition. I therefore saw that God’s love is infinite and immeasurable, and I also saw, like what the other brothers and sisters mentioned, God’s care and mercy toward mankind when He destroyed the world.) (These were things I indeed did not know about before. After listening today, I feel that God is truly credible, truly trustworthy, worth believing in, and that He indeed exists. I can genuinely appreciate in my heart that God’s disposition and love is really this concrete. This is a feeling I have after listening today.) Excellent! It seems you have all taken what you’ve heard to heart.
Have you noticed a particular fact from all Bible verses, including all of the Bible stories we communicated today? Has God ever used His own language to express His own thoughts or explain His love and care for humanity? Is there a record of Him using plain language to state how much He is concerned for or loves mankind? No! Isn’t that right? There are so many among you who have read the Bible or books other than the Bible. Have any of you seen such words? The answer is definitely no! That is, in the records of the Bible, including God’s words or the documenting of His work, God has never in any era or any period used His own methods to describe His feelings or express His love and care for mankind, nor has God ever used speech or any actions to convey His feelings and emotions—isn’t that a fact? Why do I say that? Why do I have to mention this? It is because this also contains God’s loveliness and His disposition.
God created mankind; regardless of whether they have been corrupted or whether they follow Him, God treats human beings as His loved ones—or as human beings would say, the people dearest to Him—and not His playthings. Although God says He is the Creator and that man is His creation, which may sound like there is a bit of a difference in rank, the reality is that everything God has done for mankind far exceeds a relationship of this nature. God loves mankind, cares for mankind, and shows concern for mankind, as well as constantly and unceasingly provides for mankind. He never feels in His heart that this is additional work or something that deserves a lot of credit. Nor does He feel that saving humanity, supplying them, and granting them everything, is making a huge contribution to mankind. He simply provides for mankind quietly and silently, in His own way and through His own essence and what He has and is. No matter how much provision and how much help mankind receives from Him, God never thinks about nor tries to take credit. This is determined by the essence of God, and is also precisely a true expression of God’s disposition. This is why, regardless of whether it is in the Bible or any other books, we never find God expressing His thoughts, and we never find God describing or declaring to humans why He does these things, or why He cares so much for mankind, in order to make mankind be grateful toward Him or praise Him. Even when He is hurt, when His heart is in extreme pain, He never forgets His responsibility toward mankind or His concern for mankind, all while He bears this hurt and pain alone in silence. To the contrary, God continues to provide for mankind as He always does. Even though mankind often praises God or bears witness to Him, none of this behavior is demanded by God. This is because God never intends for any of the good things He does for mankind to be exchanged for gratitude or for it to be paid back. On the other hand, those who fear God and shun evil, those who truly follow God, listen to Him and are loyal to Him, and those who obey Him—these are the people who will often receive God’s blessings, and God will bestow such blessings without reservation. Moreover, the blessings people receive from God are often beyond their imagination, and also beyond anything human beings can exchange for what they have done or the price they have paid. When mankind is enjoying God’s blessings, does anyone care about what God is doing? Does anyone show any concern for how God is feeling? Does anyone try to appreciate God’s pain? The precise answer to these questions is: No! Can any human being, including Noah, appreciate the pain God was feeling at that moment? Can anyone comprehend why God would set up such a covenant? They cannot! Mankind doesn’t appreciate God’s pain not because they cannot understand God’s pain, and not because of the gap between God and man or the difference in their status; rather, it is because mankind doesn’t even care about any of God’s feelings. Mankind thinks God is independent—God doesn’t need people to care about Him, to understand Him or show Him consideration. God is God, so He has no pain, no emotions; He won’t be sad, He doesn’t feel sorrow, He even doesn’t cry. God is God, so He doesn’t need any emotional expressions and He doesn’t need any emotional comfort. If He does need these under certain circumstances, then He will resolve it Himself and won’t require any assistance from mankind. Conversely, it is the weak, immature humans who need God’s consolation, provision, encouragement, and even for Him to comfort their emotions, anytime, anywhere. Such a thought hides deep inside the hearts of mankind: Man is the weak one; they need God to look after them in every way, they deserve all the care they receive from God, and they should demand from God whatever they feel should be theirs. God is the strong one; He has everything, and He ought to be mankind’s guardian and bestower of blessings. Since He already is God, He is omnipotent and doesn’t ever need anything from mankind.
As man doesn’t pay attention to any of God’s revelations, he has never felt God’s sorrow, pain, or joy. But conversely, God knows all of man’s expressions like the palm of His hand. God supplies everyone’s needs at all times and in all places, observing each person’s changing thoughts and thus comforting and exhorting them, and guiding and illuminating them. In terms of all the things God has done on mankind and all of the prices He has paid because of them, can people find a passage in the Bible or from anything God has said until now that clearly states that God will demand something from man? No! To the contrary, no matter how people ignore God’s thinking, He still repeatedly leads mankind, repeatedly supplies mankind and helps them, to let them follow God’s way so they can receive the beautiful destination He has prepared for them. When it comes to God, what He has and is, His grace, His mercy, and all His rewards, will be bestowed without reservation upon those who love and follow Him. But He never reveals to any person the pain He has suffered or His state of mind, and He never complains about anyone not being considerate toward Him or not knowing His will. He simply bears all of this in silence, waiting for the day mankind will be able to understand.
Why do I say these things here? What do you see from the things I have said? There is something in God’s essence and disposition that is easiest to overlook, something that is only possessed by God and not by any person, including those others think of as great people, good people, or the God of their imagination. What is this thing? It is God’s selflessness. When we speak of selflessness, you might think you are also very selfless, because when it comes to your children, you never bargain with them and you are generous toward them, or you think you are also very selfless when it comes to your parents. No matter what you think, at least you have a concept of the word “selfless” and think of it as a positive word, and that being a selfless person is very noble. When you are selfless, you think you are great. But there is no one who can see God’s selflessness among all things, among people, events, and objects, and through God’s work. Why is that the case? Because man is too selfish! Why do I say that? Mankind lives in a material world. You may follow God, but you never see or appreciate how God supplies you, loves you, and shows concern for you. So what do you see? You see your blood relatives who love you or dote on you. You see the things that are beneficial to your flesh, you care about the people and things you love. This is man’s so-called selflessness. Such “selfless” people, however, are never concerned about the God that gives life to them. In contrast to God, man’s selflessness becomes selfish and despicable. The selflessness man believes in is empty and unrealistic, adulterated, incompatible with God, and unrelated to God. Man’s selflessness is for himself, while God’s selflessness is a true revelation of His essence. It is precisely due to God’s selflessness that man receives a steady stream of supply from Him. You might not be too deeply affected by this topic I am talking about today and are merely nodding in approval, but when you try to appreciate God’s heart in your heart, you will unwittingly discover: Among all the people, matters, and things you can sense in this world, only God’s selflessness is real and concrete, because only God’s love for you is unconditional and unblemished. Apart from God, anyone else’s so-called unselfishness is all fake, superficial, disingenuous; it has a purpose, certain intentions, carries a tradeoff, and cannot stand to be tested. You could even say that it is filthy, contemptible. Do you agree?
I know you are very unfamiliar with these topics and need a bit of time for them to sink in before you can truly understand. The more unfamiliar you are with these issues and topics, the more it proves that these topics are missing in your heart. If I never mention these topics, would any among you know a bit about them? I believe you would never get to know them. That is for certain. No matter how much you can comprehend or understand, in short, these topics I speak of are what people are most lacking and what they should know about the most. These topics are very important for everyone—they are precious and they are life, and they are things you must be possessed with for the road ahead. Without these words as guidance, without your understanding of God’s disposition and essence, you will always carry a question mark when it comes to God. How can you believe in God properly if you don’t even understand Him? You know nothing of God’s emotions, His will, His state of mind, what He’s thinking, what makes Him sad, and what makes Him happy, so how can you be considerate toward God’s heart?
Whenever God is upset, He faces a mankind that doesn’t pay any attention to Him at all, a mankind that follows Him and claims to love Him but completely neglects His feelings. How can His heart not hurt? In God’s management work, He sincerely carries out His work on and speaks to each person, and faces them without reservation or concealment, but conversely, every person who follows Him is closed off toward Him, and no one is willing to actively get closer to Him, understand His heart, or pay attention to His feelings. Even those who want to become God’s confidants don’t want to get close to Him, to be considerate toward His heart, or try to understand Him. When God is joyful and happy, there is no one to share His happiness. When God is misunderstood by people, there is no one to comfort His wounded heart. When His heart is hurting, there is not a single person willing to listen to Him confide in them. Through these thousands of years of God’s management work, there is no one who understands God’s emotions, nor anyone who comprehends or appreciates them, let alone anyone who could stand alongside God to share in His joys and sorrows. God is lonely. He is lonely! God is lonely not just because corrupted mankind opposes Him, but more because those who pursue to be spiritual, those who seek to know God and understand Him, and even those who are willing to devote their entire lives to Him, also don’t know His thoughts and don’t understand His disposition and His emotions.
At the end of Noah’s story, we saw God use an unusual method to express His feelings at the time. This method is very special, and that’s to make a covenant with man. It is a method that declares the end to God’s use of floods to destroy the world. From the outside, making a covenant seems like a very ordinary thing. It is nothing more than using words to bind both parties from infringing acts, so as to help achieve the purpose of protecting the interests of both sides. In form, it is a very ordinary thing, but from the motivations behind and meaning of God doing this thing, it is a true revelation of God’s disposition and state of mind. If you just put these words aside and ignore them, if I never tell you the truth of things, then humanity will really never know God’s thinking. Perhaps in your imagination God is smiling when He makes this covenant, or perhaps His expression is serious, but regardless of what the most common type of expression God has in people’s imaginations, no one can see God’s heart or His pain, let alone His loneliness. No one can make God trust them or be worthy of God’s trust, or be someone He can express His thoughts or confide His pain to. That is why God had no choice but to do such a thing. On the surface, God did an easy thing to farewell the previous humanity, settling the past and drawing a perfect conclusion to His destruction of the world by flood. However, God had buried the pain from this moment deep inside His heart. At a time when God did not have anyone to confide in, He made a covenant with mankind, telling them that He would not destroy the world by flood again. When the rainbow appears it is to remind people that such a thing had once happened, to warn them not to do evil things. Even in such a painful state, God did not forget about mankind and still showed so much concern for them. Is this not God’s love and unselfishness? But what do people think of when they are suffering? Isn’t this the time they need God the most? At times like this, people always drag God over so God can comfort them. No matter when, God will never let people down, and He will always let people walk out of their predicaments and live in the light. Although God so supplies mankind, in man’s heart God is none other than just a reassurance pill, a comfort tonic. When God is suffering, when His heart is wounded, having a created being or any person keep Him company or comfort Him is undoubtedly just an extravagant wish for God. Man never pays attention to God’s feelings, so God never asks nor expects there to be someone who can comfort Him. He merely uses His own methods to express His mood. People don’t think it is a big deal for God to go through some suffering, but only when you truly try to understand God, when you can genuinely appreciate God’s earnest intentions in everything He does, can you feel God’s greatness and His selflessness. Even though God made a covenant with mankind using the rainbow, He never told anyone why He did this, why He established this covenant, meaning He never told anybody His real thoughts. This is because there is no one who can comprehend the depth of the love God has for the mankind He created with His own hands, and there is also no one who can appreciate just how much pain His heart suffered when He destroyed humanity. Therefore, even if He tells people how He feels, they cannot undertake this trust. Despite being in pain, He still goes on with the next step of His work. God always gives His best side and the best things to mankind while quietly bearing all the suffering Himself. God never openly discloses these sufferings. Instead, He endures them and waits in silence. God’s endurance is not cold, numb, or helpless, nor is it a sign of weakness, but it is that God’s love and essence has always been selfless. This is a natural revelation of His essence and disposition, and a genuine embodiment of God’s identity as the true Creator.
Having said that, some people might misinterpret what I mean. Was describing God’s feelings in such detail, with so much sensationalism, intended to make people feel sorry for God? Was there such an intention? (No!) The only purpose of Me saying these things is to make you know God better, to understand every part of Him, understand His emotions, to appreciate that God’s essence and disposition are, concretely and bit by bit, expressed through His work, as opposed to depicted through man’s empty words, their letters and doctrines, or their imaginations. That is to say, God and God’s essence actually exist—they are not paintings, not imagined, not constructed by man, and certainly not fabricated by them. Do you recognize this now? If you do recognize it, then My words today have achieved their goal.
We discussed three topics today. I trust everyone has gained a lot from the fellowship about these three topics. I can say definitively that, through these three topics, the thoughts of God I described or the disposition and essence of God I mentioned have flipped people’s ideas and understanding of God, even overturned everyone’s belief toward God, and moreover, overturned the image of the God admired by everyone in their hearts. No matter what, I hope what you’ve learned about God’s disposition in these two parts of the Bible is beneficial to you, and I hope after you return you will try to ponder it more. Today’s meeting concludes here. Goodbye!
From Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh
Recommendation：
Why does the religious world put so much effort into condemning and madly resist Almighty God andthe Church of Almighty God?
My name is An Qi. Before the age of six, I was living at my grandmother’s house. At the time, my grandmother was the person with whom I felt closest to. Each day when I went to the kindergarten, my grandmother decided which clothes I would wear and how I would comb my hair. I felt that my grandmother did these things the best. Gradually, I grew up and I started to disapprove of some of the things that my grandmother did. My grandmother also started to disapprove of me as well. Each time I went to her house, she would scold me. If she wasn’t nagging me on one thing, she would be nagging me about something else. I felt very upset.
In 2016, it became very popular to wear a necklace around one’s collarbone. I had also bought one of these necklaces. One day, after school, I went happily to my grandmother’s home. When I got there, she squinted at me and disapprovingly said, “Look at what kind of gadget you have around your neck. It’s like a dog collar. Do you feel comfortable with it so tight around your neck?” Originally, I was feeling quite happy but after hearing her say this, I was no longer happy at all. I disgruntledly replied, “You’re so old. What do you understand? This is called fashion. Even if I explained it, you would not understand!” For this reason, I was still moody in the evening.
How did Christians hold on to their belief ...?This movie "The Long Road of Exile" will tell us.
Since it came to power in mainland China in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party has been relentless in its persecution of religious faith. It has frantically arrested and murdered Christians, expelled and abused missionaries operating in China, confiscated and destroyed countless copies of the Bible, sealed up and demolished church buildings, and vainly attempted to eradicate all house churches….
Ever since 2007, when I accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days, although I have appeared on the surface to be very busy fulfilling my duties, I have not given my heart to God, and have often felt bound to the point of suffocation by trifling family issues. Every time I think about the fact that my daughter is already thirty years old, yet still hasn’t found a suitable partner, I complain to God; my son only cares about having a good time, and despite not earning any money, he spends profligately, so I complain; and my own old spouse goes to work, but his foreman doesn’t pay him—and I complain about this as well…. I complain left and right, and often misunderstand God. It seems as though God has been overly unfair to me. As a result, I have been living in darkness and suffering. However, I have not known that I should seek God, and have been profoundly ignorant of how dangerous my state is. I have merely struggled helplessly amidst my suffering. Nevertheless, God knows my state inside out. He uses unique methods to call out to me and save me, causing me to awaken from dream and escape Satan’s harm and affliction.
One day, I saw this following passage of God’s word in the piece “How Peter Came to Know Jesus”: “Over the time he followed Jesus, Peter observed and took to heart everything about His life: His actions, words, movements, and expressions. … From his time in contact with Jesus, Peter also realized that His character was different from that of an ordinary man. He always acted steadily and never with haste, never exaggerated nor underplayed a subject, and conducted His life in a way that was both normal and admirable. In conversation, Jesus was elegant and graceful, open and cheerful yet serene, and never lost His dignity in the execution of His work. Peter saw that Jesus was sometimes taciturn, yet other times talked incessantly. He was sometimes so happy that He became agile and lively like a dove, and yet sometimes so sad that He did not talk at all, as if He were a weather-beaten mother. At times He was filled with anger, like a brave soldier charging off to kill enemies, and sometimes even like a roaring lion. Sometimes He laughed; other times He prayed and wept. No matter how Jesus acted, Peter grew to have boundless love and respect for Him. Jesus’ laughter filled him up with happiness, His sorrow plunged him into grief, His anger frightened him, while His mercy, forgiveness, and strictness made him come to truly love Jesus, developing a true reverence and longing for Him. Of course, Peter only gradually came to realize all of this once he had lived alongside Jesus for a few years.” After reading this passage I thought: No wonder Peter could achieve knowledge of God! Turns out it was because during the time he lived alongside Jesus day and night, he personally witnessed Jesus’ every word and every move, and from that he discovered more of God’s adorableness. Now is also the era of when God becomes flesh to personally descend upon the world of man to work. If I could also have the fortune of being able to come into contact with God and spend time together like Peter had, then wouldn’t I also know God better? Oh! It’s a shame that now I can only read God’s word but cannot see the face of Christ. Then how would I be able to gain true knowledge of God?
Just when I was sad and disappointed over this and losing my confidence in God, His words enlightened me: “Knowing God must be done through reading God’s word and understanding God’s word. Some people say: ‘I haven’t seen God incarnate, so how can I know God?’ God’s word is actually an expression of God’s disposition. From God’s word you can see God’s love for mankind, His salvation of mankind, and the way He saves them … because God’s word is expressed by God as opposed to God using man to write it out. It is personally expressed by God. It is God Himself expressing His own words and His inner voice. … expressing His disposition, His will, His thoughts, His love for mankind, His salvation of mankind, and His expectations of mankind. Among God’s words.… Sometimes God speaks from a gentle and compassionate perspective, and people see God’s love for mankind; sometimes He speaks from a strict perspective, and people see God’s unoffendable disposition. Man is deplorably filthy and is not worthy of seeing God’s face, and is not worthy of coming before God. People’s coming before God now is purely out of God’s grace. God’s wisdom can be seen from the way God works and the meaning of His work. Even if people don’t come into contact with God, they will still be able to see these things in God’s word” (“Knowledge of the Incarnation” in Records of Christ’s Talks). God’s words made me suddenly see the light. Yes! God in the flesh of the last days has already used His word to express all His disposition to man, allowing man to see through God’s word His great power, His supremacy, His humility and hiddenness, and His adorableness, and moreover understand His joys and sorrows, and know all He has and is. This is sufficient to show that reading God’s word and experiencing God’s word is the only path to knowing God. If I move away from God’s word, then so what even if I see God in the flesh? Didn’t the Pharisees also see Jesus back then? So why did they nail Jesus to the cross? Wasn’t it because they didn’t listen to Jesus’ words, they were arrogant and stubbornly held on to their own conceptions and imaginations, and resisted and condemned the Lord Jesus based on that little bit of the scriptures they understood? On the other hand, Peter was able to know Jesus because he could let go of his own conceptions and imaginations, listen closely to the words of Lord Jesus, and was good at carefully contemplating every word and sentence uttered by Jesus. Through Lord Jesus’ utterances and work he got to know God’s disposition and all He has and is, ultimately gaining true knowledge of God. Doesn’t this ironclad fact sufficiently explain that man can only know God through His word? Moreover, given that the main work of God in the flesh of the last days is the work of the word, doesn’t this benefit me in getting to know God?
Due to the needs of the church’s work, I was reallocated to another place to fulfill my duty. At the time, the gospel work at that place was at a low ebb, and the situation of brothers and sisters was generally not good. But because I was touched by the Holy Spirit, I still took on everything that was entrusted with full confidence. After accepting the entrustment, I felt full of responsibility, full of enlightenment, and even thought I had quite a bit of resolve. I believed I was capable and could perform this job well. In reality, at the time I had no knowledge whatsoever of the work of the Holy Spirit or my own nature. I was living completely in self-satisfaction and self-admiration.
Short Sketch From the Christian Church | "The Police Pay a New Year Visit" | Eastern Lightning
Zheng Xinming, an elderly man of nearly seventy, is a devout Christian. Because of his faith in the Lord, he was detained and imprisoned, and sentenced to eight years. On his release, he was still listed by the Chinese Communist police as a target of focused monitoring. In particular, after the old man accepted Almighty God's work in the last days, the police came almost every day to terrorize, intimidate and disturb him. There was no way that Zheng Xinming could normally read the word of God at home, and even his family members shared his state of anxiety. Now it is New Year's Eve and the old man is at home reading God's word, not knowing what may happen …
When I was a child, my mother died. I shouldered the family burden at a young age. After getting married, I was even more loaded down with the burden of life. Having fully tasted the hardship and misery of life, I gradually became depressed and silent and fiddled my life away day by day. In 2002, when the brothers and sisters preached Almighty God’s end-time work to me, I accepted it readily and also brought my husband and children before Almighty God. From then on, the brothers and sisters often came to my home to have meetings. We fellowshipped about God’s word and sang hymns and danced to praise God together. I felt great enjoyment in my heart and no longer felt distressed or worried. My children said that I was getting younger and younger and more and more cheerful. My family often read God’s word together. From God’s word, we understood many truths and also knew that God’s eager intention is to save man. To repay God’s love and bring those who had been afflicted by satan like me before God earlier to be saved, I went out to preach the gospel. Unexpectedly, I suffered the CCP government’s cruel persecution because of that….
I was a peasant. As my family was poor, I kept working everywhere to make money, just wanting to live a better life through my own labor. However, in real life I saw that the lawful rights and interests of a rural worker like me couldn’t be guaranteed at all. My wages were often withheld for no reason. Deceived and exploited by others again and again, I couldn’t get the payment I deserved for a year’s hard work. I felt that the world was too dark! People lived by the law of the jungle like animals and contended with and fought against each other. There was simply no place for me to live. When I was extremely distressed and depressed in my heart and lost confidence in life, a friend preached Almighty God’s end-time salvation to me. From then on, I often had meetings with the brothers and sisters, and we prayed, sang, and fellowshipped about the truth together. We learned from each other and made up for each other’s deficiencies, and I felt especially happy and released. In the Church of Almighty God, I saw that there was no deception or distinction of position among the brothers and sisters. We were all simple and open and lived in harmony. In order to cast off the corrupt disposition and live out the likeness of a man and thus be saved, all of us were striving to pursue the truth, which let me taste the happiness of life and understand the value and meaning of life. Therefore, I always felt that I should preach the gospel so that more people who lived in darkness could come before God to be saved by God and see the light again. So, I joined in preaching the gospel to testify God. However, I never expected that I would be arrested by the CCP government for preaching the gospel and suffer the extremely cruel tortures and imprisonment.
It was at noon in the winter of 2008. When I was testifying God’s end-time work to a gospel friend with two sisters, we were reported by an evil person. Six policemen suddenly rushed into the house of the gospel friend on the excuse of checking residence cards. As soon as they entered the house, they roared loudly, “Freeze!” Two of them rushed at me madly. One seized the clothes on my chest. The other grabbed my arms and twisted them backward with force, shouting venomously, “What are you doing? Where are you from? What’s your name?” I asked in reply, “Who are you? Why do you arrest me?” Hearing that, they flared up into a fury and said aggressively, “Don’t ask why! You’re the one we are catching! Come with us!” After that, the vicious policemen pushed the two sisters and me into a police car and took us to the local police station.
Almighty God says, "What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of God and the truth about his rebelliousness. The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the will of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that could not be understood by man. It also allows man to recognize and know his corrupt substance and the roots of his corruption, as well as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by the work of judgment, for the substance of such work is actually the work of opening up the truth, way, and life of God to all those who have faith in Him."
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In order to make a place of her own on this earth, the protagonist was obliged to follow the trends of this world, rushing about and working hard for the sake of fame and status. Her life was particularly empty and painful. After she believed in Almighty God, she found in the words of Almighty God the meaning of human life and, filled with joy, she followed God and fulfilled her duties. However, as her heart was under the control of fame and status, in fulfilling her duties she often acted in accordance with her own ideas, and she was arbitrary and dictatorial. For this reason, she was pruned and dealt with by the brothers and sisters. To begin with, she argued and would not concede. Through the judgment and chastisement of God's words, she came to know the truth of her corruption. However, because she did not understand God's intent, she misunderstood God and thought God would not save her. At this time, God's word little by little enlightened her, guided her, and made her understand God's earnest intention in saving man, and she experienced God's true love of mankind …
Humanity is struck dumb at God’s utterances as they realize that God has worked a great deed in the realm of the spirit, something of which man is incapable and that only God Himself can accomplish. For this reason, God once again puts forward words of leniency to humankind. When people’s hearts are filled with contradictions, wondering: “God is a God without mercy or love, but rather a God dedicated to striking down humanity; so why should He show us clemency? Could it be that God has once again shifted into a method?” at the moment this notion, this thought takes shape inside their minds, they struggle against it with all their might. Nevertheless, after God’s work has progressed for another length of time, the Holy Spirit has undertaken a great working within the church, and every single human being has set to work to perform his function, then at that time all humanity has entered upon this method of God’s. This is because no one can see any imperfection in what God says and does, and as for what God will actually do next, no one can know or even guess at it. As God has said with His own mouth: “Of all the people living under heaven, is there anyone who is not within the palm of My hand? Is there anyone who does not act according to My direction?” But I offer you a bit of advice: In matters that you do not completely understand, do not, anyone of you, either speak or act. What I have just said is not to squelch your enthusiasm, but to encourage you to follow God’s direction in your actions. On no account should you, because of what I said about “imperfections,” lose heart or fall into doubt: My purpose is chiefly to remind you to pay attention to God’s words. When God says: “In matters within the spirit, you should be delicately sensitive; to My words, you should be carefully attentive. You should aim for the state in which you see My Spirit and My fleshly self, My words and My fleshly self, as one indivisible whole, so that all of humanity will be able to satisfy Me in My presence,” reading these words, humanity is, once again, dumbstruck. What they saw yesterday was a word of warning, was an instance of God’s clemency, but today the talk has turned suddenly to matters within the spirit—what in the world does this mean? Why does God keep changing His manner of speaking? And why is all this to be regarded as one indivisible whole? Could it be that God’s words lack reality? Ruminating upon these words, one realizes this: When God’s Spirit and flesh are separate, then that flesh is a physical body with the attributes of a physical body, in other words, what people call a walking corpse. The incarnate flesh originates in the Spirit: He is the incarnation of the Spirit, that is, the Word become flesh. In other words, God Himself lives within the flesh. From this one can see wherein lies the grave mistake of trying to separate the Spirit from the man. For this reason, even though He is called “man,” He does not belong to the human race, and has no human attributes: This is the man in which God clothes Himself, this is the man that God approves. Within the words is embodied God’s Spirit, and the words of God are directly revealed in the flesh. This makes it all the more clear that God lives in the flesh and is a more practical God, from which it is proven that God exists, thus bringing to an end the age of humanity’s rebellion against God. Then, having instructed humanity about the path leading to knowledge of God, God changes the subject again, and takes up another aspect of the problem.
Almighty God says, "I have held man to a very strict standard all along. If your loyalty comes with intentions and conditions, then I would rather not have any of your so-called loyalty, for I abhor those who deceive Me through their intentions and extort Me with conditions. I only wish for man to be loyal to none other than Me, and to do all things for the sake of and to prove that one word: faith. I despise your use of sweetened words to make Me rejoice. For I always treat you with complete sincerity and so I wish for you to also act toward Me with a true faith. When it comes to faith, many may think that they follow God because they have faith, otherwise they would not bear such suffering. Then I ask you this: Why is it that you never revere God though you believe in His existence? Why, then, do you have no fear of God in your heart if you believe in His existence? You accept that Christ is the incarnation of God, so why do you hold such contempt and act so irreverently toward Him? Why do you openly judge Him? Why do you always watch His movements? Why do you not submit to His arrangements? Why do you not act in accordance with His word? Why do you extort and rob Him of His offerings? Why do you speak in the place of Christ? Why do you judge whether or not His work and His word are correct? Why do you dare blaspheme Him behind His back? Are these and others what constitute your faith?"
Today is no longer the Age of Grace, nor the age of mercy, but the Age of Kingdom in which the people of God are revealed, the age in which God does things directly through divinity. Thus, in this passage of God’s words, God leads all those who accept His words into the spiritual realm. In the opening paragraph, He makes these preparations in advance, and if one possesses the knowledge of God’s words, they will follow the vine to get the melon, and shall directly grasp what God wishes to achieve in His people. Before, people were tested through the title “service-doers,” and today, after they have been subjected to the trial, their training officially begins. In addition, people must have a greater knowledge of God’s work based on the foundation of the words of the past, and must look upon the words and the person, and the Spirit and the person, as one inseparable whole—as one mouth, one heart, one action, and one source. This requirement is the highest requirement that God has made of man since the creation. From this can be seen that God wishes to expend part of His efforts on His people, that He wishes to display some signs and wonders in them, and, more importantly, that He wishes to make all people obey the entirety of God’s work and words. In one regard, God Himself upholds His testimony, and in another, He has made requirements of His people, and has directly issued forth God’s administrative decrees to the masses: Thus, since you are called My people, things are not as they used to be; you should listen to and obey the utterances of My Spirit, closely follow My work, and may not separate My Spirit and My flesh, for We are inherently one, and are not apart. In this, to prevent people from neglecting God incarnate, there is once again an emphasis on “for We are inherently one, and are not apart”; because such neglect is man’s failing, this is once more listed in God’s administrative decrees. Next, God informs people of the consequences of offending God’s administrative decrees, without hiding anything, by saying, “they shall suffer loss, and will only be able to drink from their own bitter cup.” Because man is weak, after hearing these words he can’t help but become more wary of God in his heart, for the “bitter cup” is enough to make people ponder a while. People have many interpretations of this “bitter cup” of which God speaks: being judged by words or expelled from the kingdom, or being isolated for a period of time, or having one’s flesh corrupted by Satan and possessed by evil spirits, or being forsaken by the Spirit of God, or having one’s flesh terminated and consigned to Hades. These interpretations are what can be achieved by people’s brains, and so in their imagination, people are incapable of going beyond them. But God’s thoughts are unlike those of man; that is to say, the “bitter cup” does not refer to any of the above, but to the extent of people’s knowledge of God after receiving God’s dealing. To put this more clearly, when someone arbitrarily separates the Spirit of God and His words, or separates the words and the person, or the Spirit and the flesh with which He clothes Himself, this person is not only incapable of knowing God in God’s words, but is also a little suspicious of God—after which they become blinded at every turn. It is not as people imagine that they are directly cut off; rather, they gradually fall into God’s chastisement—which is to say, they descend into great catastrophes, and no one can be compatible with them, as if they have been possessed by evil spirits, and as if they’re a headless fly, butting against things wherever they go. Despite this, they are still incapable of leaving. In their hearts, things are indescribably hard, as if there is unspeakable suffering in their hearts—yet they cannot open their mouths, and they spend all day in a trance, unable to feel God. It is under these circumstances that God’s administrative decrees threaten them, so that they do not dare to leave the church despite having no enjoyment—this is what’s called an “internal and external attack,” and is terribly hard for people to endure. What has been said here is different from people’s conceptions—and that is because, under those circumstances, they still know to seek God, and this happens when God turns His back on them, and what’s more important is that, just like an unbeliever, they are totally incapable of feeling God. God does not save such people directly; when their bitter cup is emptied out, that is the time when their last day has arrived. But at this moment, they still seek God’s will, wishing to enjoy just a little bit more—but this time is different from the past, unless there are special circumstances.
