Jesus’ Words to His Disciples After His Resurrection

Lord Jesus admonishes people of little faith

Jesus’ Words to His Disciples After His Resurrection

(John 20:26-29) And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the middle, and said, Peace be to you.

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Jesus’ Words to His Disciples After His Resurrection

Jesus’ Words to His Disciples After His Resurrection

Apr 26, 2018428

(Jhn 20:26-29) And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the middle, and said, Peace be to you. Then said he to Thomas, Reach here your finger, and behold my hands; and reach here your hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said to him, My LORD and my God. Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

(Jhn 21:16-17) He said to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, love you me? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, Feed my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, love you me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, Love you me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you. Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep.

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What these passages recount are some things that the Lord Jesus did and said to His disciples after His resurrection. First, let’s take a look at any differences between the Lord Jesus before and after the resurrection. Was He still the same Lord Jesus of past days? The scripture contains the following line describing the Lord Jesus after the resurrection: “then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the middle, and said, Peace be to you.” It’s very clear that the Lord Jesus at that time was no longer a flesh, but a spiritual body. This was because He had transcended the limitations of the flesh, and when the door was closed He could still come into the midst of the people and allow them to see Him. This is the greatest difference between the Lord Jesus after the resurrection and the Lord Jesus living in the flesh before the resurrection. Even though there was no difference between the appearance of the spiritual body of that moment and the appearance of the Lord Jesus from before, Jesus in that moment had become a Jesus that felt like a stranger to the people, because He had become a spiritual body after being resurrected from the dead, and compared to His previous flesh, this spiritual body was more puzzling and confusing for people. It also created more distance between the Lord Jesus and the people, and people felt in their hearts that the Lord Jesus in that moment had become more mysterious. These understandings and feelings on the part of the people suddenly brought them back to an age of believing in a God that could not be seen or touched. So, the first thing that the Lord Jesus did after His resurrection was to allow everyone to see Him, to confirm that He exists, and to confirm the fact of His resurrection. In addition, it restored His relationship with the people to the relationship He had with them when He was working in the flesh, and He was the Christ they could see and touch. This way, one outcome is that the people had no doubt that the Lord Jesus had been resurrected from death after being nailed to the cross, and there was no doubt in the Lord Jesus’ work to redeem mankind. And another outcome is that the fact of the Lord Jesus appearing to people after His resurrection and allowing people to see and touch Him firmly secured mankind in the Age of Grace. From this time on, people could not return to the previous age, the Age of Law, because of the Lord Jesus’ “disappearance” or “desertion,” but they would continue forward, following the Lord Jesus’ teachings and the work He had done. Thus, a new phase in the work in the Age of Grace was formally opened up, and the people who had been under the law formally came out from the law from then on, and entered into a new era, with a new beginning. These are the manifold meanings of the Lord Jesus’ appearance to mankind after the resurrection.

Since He was a spiritual body, how could people touch Him, and see Him? This has to do with the significance of the Lord Jesus’ appearance to mankind. Did you notice anything in these passages of scripture? Generally spiritual bodies cannot be seen or touched, and after the resurrection the work that the Lord Jesus had taken on had already been completed. So in theory, He had absolutely no need to return to the people’s midst in His original image to meet with them, but the appearance of the Lord Jesus’ spiritual body to people like Thomas made its significance more concrete, and it penetrated more deeply into the people’s hearts. When He came to Thomas, He let doubting Thomas touch His hand, and told him: “reach here your hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.” These words, these actions weren’t things that the Lord Jesus wanted to say and do only after He had been resurrected, but they were things He wanted to do before He had been nailed to the cross. It is evident that the Lord Jesus who had not yet been nailed to the cross already had an understanding of people such as Thomas. So what can we see from this? He was still the same Lord Jesus after His resurrection. His essence had not changed. Thomas’ doubts had not just started but had been with him the entire time he had been following the Lord Jesus, but He was the Lord Jesus that had been resurrected from the dead and had returned from the spiritual world with His original image, with His original disposition, and with His understanding of mankind from His time in the flesh, so He went to find Thomas first, to let Thomas touch His rib, to let him not only see His spiritual body after resurrection, but to let him touch and feel the existence of His spiritual body, and completely let go of his doubts. Before the Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross, Thomas always doubted that He is Christ, and could not believe it. His belief in God was established only on the basis of what he could see with his own eyes, what he could touch with his own hands. The Lord Jesus had a good understanding of the faith of this type of person. They only believed in God in heaven, and did not believe at all, and would not accept the One sent by God, or the Christ in the flesh. In order to have him acknowledge and believe in the existence of the Lord Jesus and that He truly was God incarnate, He allowed Thomas to reach out his hand and touch His rib. Was Thomas’ doubting any different before and after the Lord Jesus’ resurrection? He was always doubting, and aside from the Lord Jesus’ spiritual body personally appearing to him and allowing Thomas to touch the nail marks on His body, no one could resolve his doubts, and no one could make him let go of them. So, from the time the Lord Jesus allowed him to touch His rib and let him really feel the existence of the nail marks, Thomas’ doubt disappeared, and he truly knew that the Lord Jesus had been resurrected and he acknowledged and believed that the Lord Jesus was the true Christ, that He was God incarnate. Although at this time Thomas no longer doubted, he had lost forever the chance to meet with Christ. He had lost forever the chance to be together with Him, to follow Him, to know Him. He had lost the chance for Christ to perfect him. The Lord Jesus’ appearance and His words provided a conclusion, and a verdict on the faith of those who were full of doubts. He used His actual words and actions to tell the doubters, to tell those who only believed in God in heaven but did not believe in Christ: God did not commend their belief, nor did He commend their following which was full of doubts. The day they fully believed in God and Christ could only be the day that God completed His great work. Of course, that day was also the day that their doubt received a verdict. Their attitude toward Christ determined their fate, and their stubborn doubt meant their faith gained them no results, and their hardness meant their hopes were in vain. Because their belief in God in heaven was fed on illusions, and their doubt toward Christ was actually their true attitude toward God, even though they touched the nail marks on the Lord Jesus’ body, their faith was still useless and their outcome could only be described as beating the wind—in vain. What the Lord Jesus said to Thomas was also very clearly telling every person: The resurrected Lord Jesus is the Lord Jesus that had initially spent thirty-three and a half years working among mankind. Although He had been nailed to the cross and experienced the valley of the shadow of death, and He had experienced resurrection, His every aspect had undergone no changes. Although He now had nail marks on His body, and although He had been resurrected and walked out from the grave, His disposition, His understanding of mankind, and His intentions toward mankind had not changed in the slightest. Also, He was telling people that He had come down off the cross, triumphed over sin, triumphed over hardships, and triumphed over death. The nail marks were just the evidence of His victory over Satan, evidence of being a sin offering to successfully redeem all of mankind. He was telling people that He had already taken on mankind’s sins and He had completed His work of redemption. When He returned to see His disciples, He told them with His appearance: “I’m still alive, I still exist; today I am truly standing in front of you so that you can see and touch Me. I will always be with you.” The Lord Jesus also wanted to use the case of Thomas as a warning for future people: Although you believe in the Lord Jesus, you can neither see nor touch Him, yet you can be blessed by your true faith, and you can see the Lord Jesus through your true faith; this kind of person is blessed.

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……

That is the Lord Jesus’ attitude toward those who are full of doubts. So what did the Lord Jesus say to, and what did He do for those who are able to honestly believe in and follow Him? This is what we’re going to look at next, regarding something the Lord Jesus said to Peter.

In this conversation, the Lord Jesus repeatedly asked Peter one thing: “Peter, love you me?” This is a higher standard the Lord Jesus required from people like Peter after His resurrection, who truly believe in Christ and strive to love the Lord. This question was a sort of investigation, and a sort of interrogation, but even more, it was a requirement and an expectation of people like Peter. He used this method of questioning so that people would reflect on themselves and look into themselves: What are the Lord Jesus’ requirements for people? Do I love the Lord? Am I a person who loves God? How should I love God? Even though the Lord Jesus only asked this question of Peter, the truth is that in His heart, He wanted to use this opportunity of asking Peter to ask this type of question of more people who seek to love God. It is only that Peter was blessed to act as the representative of this type of person, to receive questioning from the Lord Jesus’ own mouth.

Compared to “reach here your hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing,” which the Lord Jesus said to Thomas after His resurrection, His three times of questioning Peter: “Simon, son of Jonas, love you me?” allow people to better feel the sternness of the Lord Jesus’ attitude, and the urgency He felt during His questioning. As for doubting Thomas with his deceitful nature, the Lord Jesus allowed him to reach out his hand and touch His nail marks, which let him believe that the Lord Jesus was the Son of man resurrected and acknowledge the Lord Jesus’ identity as Christ. And although the Lord Jesus did not sternly rebuke Thomas, nor did He verbally express any clear judgment of him, He let him know that He understood him through practical actions, while also displaying His attitude toward and determination of that type of person. The Lord Jesus’ requirements and expectations of that type of person cannot be seen from what He said. Because people like Thomas simply do not have a thread of true faith. The Lord Jesus’ requirements for them are only in this, but the attitude He revealed toward people like Peter is entirely different. He did not require that Peter reach out his hand and touch His nail marks, nor did He say to Peter: “be not faithless, but believing.” Instead, He repeatedly asked Peter the same question. This was a thought-provoking, meaningful question that can’t help but make every follower of Christ feel remorse, and fear, but also feel the Lord Jesus’ anxious, sorrowful mood. And when they are in great pain and suffering, they are more able to understand the Lord Jesus Christ’s concern and His care; they realize His earnest teaching and strict requirements of pure, honest people. The Lord Jesus’ question allows people to feel that the Lord’s expectations of people revealed in these simple words are not merely to believe in and follow Him, but to achieve having love, loving your Lord, loving your God. This kind of love is caring and obeying. It is humans living for God, dying for God, dedicating everything to God, and expending and giving everything for God. This kind of love is also giving God comfort, allowing Him to enjoy witness, and allowing Him to be at rest. It is mankind’s repayment to God, their responsibility, obligation and duty, and it is a way that mankind must follow for their entire lives. These three questions were a requirement and an exhortation the Lord Jesus made of Peter and all people who would be made perfect. It was these three questions that led and motivated Peter to complete his path in life, and it was the questions at the Lord Jesus’ parting that led Peter to start on his path of being made perfect, that led him, because of his love for the Lord, to care for the Lord’s heart, to obey the Lord, to offer comfort to the Lord, and to offer up his whole life and his whole being because of this love.

During the Age of Grace, God’s work was primarily for two types of people. The first was the type of person who believed in and followed Him, who could keep His commandments, who could bear the cross and hold to the way of the Age of Grace. This type of person would gain God’s blessing and enjoy God’s grace. The second type of person was like Peter, someone who would be made perfect. So, after the Lord Jesus was resurrected, He first did these two very meaningful things. One was to Thomas, the other was to Peter. What do these two things represent? Do they represent God’s true intentions of saving mankind? Do they represent God’s sincerity toward mankind? The work He did with Thomas was to warn people not to be doubting, but to just believe. The work He did with Peter was to strengthen the faith of people like Peter, and to make clear requirements of this type of person, to show what goals they should be pursuing.

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After the Lord Jesus was resurrected, He appeared to the people He thought necessary, spoke with them, and made requirements of them, leaving behind His intentions, and His expectations of people. That is to say, as God incarnate, it doesn’t matter if it was during His time in the flesh, or in the spiritual body after being nailed to the cross and being resurrected—His concern for mankind and requirements of people did not change. He was concerned about these disciples before He was up on the cross; in His heart, He was clear on the state of every single person, He understood every person’s deficiency, and of course His understanding of every person was the same after He had died, resurrected, and become a spiritual body as it was when He was in the flesh. He knew that people weren’t entirely certain of His identity as Christ, but during His time in the flesh He did not make strict demands of people. But after He had been resurrected He appeared to them, and He made them absolutely certain that the Lord Jesus had come from God, that He was God incarnate, and He used the fact of His appearance and His resurrection as the greatest vision and motivation for mankind’s lifelong pursuit. His resurrection from death not only strengthened all those who followed Him, but also thoroughly put His work of the Age of Grace into effect among mankind, and thus the gospel of the Lord Jesus’ salvation in the Age of Grace gradually spread to every corner of humanity. Would you say that the Lord Jesus’ appearance after His resurrection had any significance? If you were Thomas or Peter at that time, and you encountered this one thing in your life that was so meaningful, what kind of impact would it have on you? Would you see this as the best and the greatest vision of your life of believing in God? Would you see this as a driving force of your following God, striving to satisfy Him, and pursuing love of God in your life? Would you expend a lifetime of effort to spread this greatest of visions? Would you make spreading the Lord Jesus’ salvation a commission you accept from God? Even though you have not experienced this, the two cases of Thomas and Peter are already enough for modern people to have a clear understanding of God’s will and of God. It could be said that after God had become flesh, after He personally experienced life among mankind and a human life, and after He saw the depravity of mankind and the situation of human life, God in the flesh more deeply felt the helplessness, the sadness, and the pitifulness of mankind. God gained more compassion for the human condition because of His humanity while living in the flesh, because of His instincts in the flesh. This led Him to have greater concern for His followers. These are probably things that you can’t understand, but I can describe worry and caring of God in the flesh for every one of His followers with this phrase: intense concern. Even though this term comes from human language, and even though it’s a very human phrase, it truly expresses and describes God’s feelings for His followers. As for God’s intense concern for humans, over the course of your experiences you will gradually feel this and get a taste of it. However, this can only be achieved by gradually understanding God’s disposition on the basis of pursuing a change in your own disposition. The appearance of the Lord Jesus materialized His intense concern for His followers in humanity and handed it over to His spiritual body, or you could say His divinity. His appearance allowed people to have another experience and feeling of God’s concern and care while also powerfully proving that God is the One who opens up an age, who develops an age, and He is the One who ends an age. Through His appearance He strengthened the faith of all people, and through His appearance He proved to the world the fact that He is God Himself. This gave His followers eternal confirmation, and through His appearance He also opened up a phase of His work in the new age.

from “God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III” in The Word Appears in the

Recommended: The Eastern Lightning website is testimony that the Lord Jesus has returned in the flesh and appeared in China, that He is Almighty God, Christ of the last days, has expressed truths to do the work of judgment beginning with the house of God, and brings true light down upon mankind.

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Do You Know the Deeper Meanings of the Lord Jesus’ Resurrection?

Lord Jesus’ Resurrection

In Scripture it is written about the Lord Jesus’ resurrection: “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said to the women, Fear not you: for I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there shall you see him: see, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. … Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:1-9, 16-18). These verses record the facts of the Lord Jesus’ resurrection three days after His crucifixion. It is because He was crucified and redeemed mankind that mankind is no longer condemned by the law and freed from the bondage of the decrees and regulations. Thanks be to the Lord! His resurrection is too important to every one of our brothers and sisters in Him, for it is through His resurrection that we are made certain that He is God Himself and is the One that we should truly trust. The Bible says, “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). Without the Lord Jesus’ resurrection, even if we have faith in Him, we would not be saved. Without His redemption, we sinners would still be bound by the law. Just because of His resurrection, we have a hope of salvation.

The Lord Jesus’ resurrection to mankind is undoubtedly important. How could we not be excited about it? In joy and excitement, let us calm down and think about these two questions: What deeper meanings does the Lord Jesus’ resurrection have? What are the Lord’s intentions when He taught His disciples after His resurrection and appearance?

1. The Meanings of the Lord Jesus’ Resurrection

I prayed to the Lord in puzzlement. And then, when I was studying related materials, I saw these words in a spiritual book: “The scripture contains the following line describing the Lord Jesus after the resurrection: ‘then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the middle, and said, Peace be to you.’ It’s very clear that the Lord Jesus at that time was no longer a flesh, but a spiritual body. This was because He had transcended the limitations of the flesh, and when the door was closed He could still come into the midst of the people and allow them to see Him. This is the greatest difference between the Lord Jesus after the resurrection and the Lord Jesus living in the flesh before the resurrection. Even though there was no difference between the appearance of the spiritual body of that moment and the appearance of the Lord Jesus from before, Jesus in that moment had become a Jesus that felt like a stranger to the people, because He had become a spiritual body after being resurrected from the dead, and compared to His previous flesh, this spiritual body was more puzzling and confusing for people. It also created more distance between the Lord Jesus and the people, and people felt in their hearts that the Lord Jesus in that moment had become more mysterious. … the first thing that the Lord Jesus did after His resurrection was to allow everyone to see Him, to confirm that He exists, and to confirm the fact of His resurrection. In addition, it restored His relationship with the people to the relationship He had with them when He was working in the flesh, and He was the Christ they could see and touch. This way, one outcome is that the people had no doubt that the Lord Jesus had been resurrected from death after being nailed to the cross, and there was no doubt in the Lord Jesus’ work to redeem mankind. And another outcome is that the fact of the Lord Jesus appearing to people after His resurrection and allowing people to see and touch Him firmly secured mankind in the Age of Grace. From this time on, people could not return to the previous age, the Age of Law, because of the Lord Jesus’ ‘disappearance’ or ‘desertion,’ but they would continue forward, following the Lord Jesus’ teachings and the work He had done. Thus, a new phase in the work in the Age of Grace was formally opened up, and the people who had been under the law formally came out from the law from then on, and entered into a new era, with a new beginning. These are the manifold meanings of the Lord Jesus’ appearance to mankind after the resurrection.” After reading these words, I had gained some understanding. Before the Lord Jesus was resurrected, He was in the flesh. After the resurrection, He appeared to man in a spiritual body with the image of the flesh. At that time, the Lord Jesus had transcended the limitations of the flesh, and could come among His disciples and appear to them when the door was closed. Although His outward image didn’t change, He had become a spiritual body. Facing the spiritual body of the Lord Jesus, the disciples felt that it was mysterious, and there was also confusion and distance growing inside them. The Lord Jesus was clear about man’s mentality and need. So, after the resurrection, He appeared to man for forty days, and ate bread and fish and explained the scriptures to His disciples. So that man could see that He was still the same Lord Jesus, tangible with flesh and bones, and would no longer think that the resurrected Lord Jesus was a spiritual body that they couldn’t touch or approach. In addition, they could see His existence and recognize Him, with no more doubt but confirmation of His resurrection. In this way, the relationship between man and God would be restored to their relationship before the crucifixion. They would say, “The Lord has risen from dead! He is the same as before. He loves us the same way He used to. He cares about us, He doesn’t leave us, and He is still with us, still on earth.” Besides, through His resurrection and appearance to man, the Lord Jesus opened up a phase of the work in the Age of Grace, and led man to come out from the law and enter into the new age. All the followers of Him knew that He is Christ, the incarnated God, and God Himself, and their faith was thus strengthened. Later, His disciples took His resurrection as the greatest vision, and began to testify about Him, telling people the facts of His work, and to preach the gospel, which has been spread across the world today. So, the meanings of the Lord Jesus’ resurrection can be seen from above.

2. Reflections on the Lord Jesus’ Words to Thomas After His Resurrection

The Bible records, “And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the middle, and said, Peace be to you. Then said he to Thomas, Reach here your finger, and behold my hands; and reach here your hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said to him, My LORD and my God. Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:26-29). Before when I read these verses, I only knew that the Lord Jesus loved man too much and sympathized with man’s weakness. He knew Thomas’ inner doubt, so He appeared to him to dispel his doubt. But I didn’t understand more of the Lord’s intentions in doing that and speaking those words. My heart lightened immediately when I read the following words.

The words in the book say, “What the Lord Jesus said to Thomas was also very clearly telling every person: The resurrected Lord Jesus is the Lord Jesus that had initially spent thirty-three and a half years working among mankind. Although He had been nailed to the cross and experienced the valley of the shadow of death, and He had experienced resurrection, His every aspect had undergone no changes. Although He now had nail marks on His body, and although He had been resurrected and walked out from the grave, His disposition, His understanding of mankind, and His intentions toward mankind had not changed in the slightest. Also, He was telling people that He had come down off the cross, triumphed over sin, triumphed over hardships, and triumphed over death. The nail marks were just the evidence of His victory over Satan, evidence of being a sin offering to successfully redeem all of mankind. He was telling people that He had already taken on mankind’s sins and He had completed His work of redemption. When He returned to see His disciples, He told them with His appearance: ‘I’m still alive, I still exist; today I am truly standing in front of you so that you can see and touch Me. I will always be with you.’ The Lord Jesus also wanted to use the case of Thomas as a warning for future people: Although you believe in the Lord Jesus, you can neither see nor touch Him, however, you can be blessed by your true faith, and you can see the Lord Jesus through your true faith; this kind of person is blessed.” As it turned out, the Lord Jesus’ words toward Thomas contained God’s intentions. Although the Lord Jesus experienced resurrection, through His words to Thomas, man could see that He was still the Lord Jesus who used to live alongside His disciples day and night, that He is the God who observes the depths of man’s heart, that He is the almighty God, and that He knew the thought and mind of everyone. Before the Lord Jesus was nailed onto the cross, He had known that Thomas did not believe that He is Christ. After the resurrection, He still knew it. So, He specially appeared to Thomas and had him touch His nail marks, making him believe that He is Christ, the incarnated God, so as to remove his doubt about Him and let him see that He was truly resurrected. The Lord Jesus’ resurrection and appearance, this powerful evidence allowed all believers in Him to see such facts: He is the glorious God Himself, He has triumphed over death and Satan, and Christ is with great authority and might. Moreover, the Lord Jesus’ words toward Thomas sent man a message: When you believe in God, don’t be like Thomas, only believing what you can see with your own eyes. The most crucial thing for a follower of God is to have true faith in Him, which directly concerns whether he can be approved by God and enter the kingdom of heaven. People will be blessed because of their true faith in God. However, if they always measure God’s appearance and work based on what they see with their own eyes, rather than know God from His words, they will make the same mistake as Thomas. At this point, I cannot help but think of the Lord’s disciple Peter, who could recognize that the Lord is Christ, the Son of the living God. It was because during the time when he was in the company of the Lord, he saw much of what God has and is in the Lord from His word and work that he realized that the Lord is the incarnated God, Christ.

The Lord said that He would come again. Then, will we be able to know Him when He returns today, in the last days? On what basis shall we know Him? Revelation 2:7 says, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit said to the churches.” Does it prophesy that the Lord will utter His words when He comes again? To welcome the Lord’s second coming, shall we be wise virgins and heed His voice? Thanks be to the Lord! May the Lord show mercy to us and open our spiritual eyes, so that we can welcome His return by the true faith! Amen!

Recommendation: Eastern Lightning,  Know more of the Church of Almighty God

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Is the Lord Jesus the Son of God?

Is the Lord Jesus the Son of God?

We all think that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God. However, if it’s really the case, how can we explain the Lord Jesus’ words “I am in the Father, and the Father in me” (John 14:10) and “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30)?

By Xiaoxiao, France

The sky was clear, and the sun’s golden rays lit up the earth. Green grass was waving in the breeze; flowers were in bloom; twittering birds were scampering in the trees. On such a beautiful morning, Tian Lu, wearing earplugs, listened to hymns as she swept the floor.

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Do You Know the Real Meaning of Easter?

Do You Know the Real Meaning of Easter?

Mar 19, 2019104

By Hanxiao

What Is Easter? The Origins of Easter

Easter, or Resurrection Sunday as it is also called, is a holiday which celebrates the Lord Jesus’ resurrection that occurred three days after He was crucified upon the cross. Its exact time falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox every year. In order to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus and to remember the salvation and hope Jesus brought to mankind, each year from March to April, Christians all over the world hold celebrations on the day of Easter. So while us Christians are commemorating the resurrection of Jesus, do we know why He returned from the dead and appeared to man despite having already finished His work of redemption? And what is the meaning behind His resurrection and His appearance to man?

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The Meaning of the Lord Jesus’ Resurrection and of His Appearance to Man

God’s words say: “The first thing that the Lord Jesus did after His resurrection was to allow everyone to see Him, to confirm that He exists, and to confirm the fact of His resurrection. In addition, it restored His relationship with the people to the relationship He had with them when He was working in the flesh, and He was the Christ they could see and touch. This way, one outcome is that the people had no doubt that the Lord Jesus had been resurrected from death after being nailed to the cross, and there was no doubt in the Lord Jesus’ work to redeem mankind. And another outcome is that the fact of the Lord Jesus appearing to people after His resurrection and allowing people to see and touch Him firmly secured mankind in the Age of Grace. From this time on, people could not return to the previous age, the Age of Law, because of the Lord Jesus’ ‘disappearance’ or ‘desertion,’ but they would continue forward, following the Lord Jesus’ teachings and the work He had done. Thus, a new phase in the work in the Age of Grace was formally opened up, and the people who had been under the law formally came out from the law from then on, and entered into a new era, with a new beginning. These are the manifold meanings of the Lord Jesus’ appearance to mankind after the resurrection” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III”). “After the Lord Jesus was resurrected, He appeared to the people He thought necessary, spoke with them, and made requirements of them, leaving behind His intentions, and His expectations of people. That is to say, as God incarnate, it doesn’t matter if it was during His time in the flesh, or in the spiritual body after being nailed to the cross and being resurrected—His concern for mankind and requirements of people did not change. He was concerned about these disciples before He was up on the cross; in His heart, He was clear on the state of every single person, He understood every person’s deficiency, and of course His understanding of every person was the same after He had died, resurrected, and become a spiritual body as it was when He was in the flesh. He knew that people weren’t entirely certain of His identity as Christ, but during His time in the flesh He did not make strict demands of people. But after He had been resurrected He appeared to them, and He made them absolutely certain that the Lord Jesus had come from God, that He was God incarnate, and He used the fact of His appearance and His resurrection as the greatest vision and motivation for mankind’s lifelong pursuit. His resurrection from death not only strengthened all those who followed Him, but also thoroughly put His work of the Age of Grace into effect among mankind, and thus the gospel of the Lord Jesus’ salvation in the Age of Grace gradually spread to every corner of humanity. Would you say that the Lord Jesus’ appearance after His resurrection had any significance? … His appearance allowed people to have another experience and feeling of God’s concern and care while also powerfully proving that God is the One who opens up an age, who develops an age, and He is the One who ends an age. Through His appearance He strengthened the faith of all people, and through His appearance He proved to the world the fact that He is God Himself. This gave His followers eternal confirmation, and through His appearance He also opened up a phase of His work in the new age” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III”).

Pictures of the Church of Almighty God

From God’s words, we can see that there is a profound meaning to the Lord Jesus appearing many times to His disciples after He had returned from the dead, and God’s painstaking care and thought is also hidden behind it! Jesus knew that, although those who followed Him at the time had listened to many of His teachings and had seen many miracles performed by the Lord, and they claimed that Jesus was their Lord and that He was the Son of God, yet they had no true understanding of the fact that Jesus was Christ and that He was God Himself. When Jesus was captured by the Roman authorities and was flogged and mocked by the soldiers, many of those who followed Him began to have doubts about His identity, and their faith in the Lord grew weaker and weaker. Especially when the Lord Jesus died after being nailed to the cross, many people were utterly disappointed in Him, and what had begun as doubt became denial of the Lord Jesus. Against such a context as this, if the Lord Jesus had not appeared to man after His resurrection, many of those who had followed Him would no longer have believed in Jesus Christ and they would have turned back to the Age of Law and continued to observe the law of the Old Testament. God scrutinized the innermost hearts of man and understood their weaknesses, however, and He knew that the people were of small stature. The Lord Jesus therefore returned from the dead and appeared to His disciples many times; He spoke with His disciples, He showed to them His spiritual body after the resurrection, and He ate with them and expounded on the Scriptures to them. His purpose in doing all this was to allow those who followed Him to be certain from the bottom of their hearts that the Lord Jesus had truly returned from the dead, that He was still the same Jesus who had loved man and taken mercy on man, that the Lord Jesus was the incarnate God Himself, and that He was the Messiah prophesied in the Bible who would come to redeem mankind. They no longer doubted or denied the Lord Jesus, but instead they sincerely believed in Him and they acknowledged Jesus Christ as their Lord. From this we can see that, by resurrecting and appearing to man, Jesus strengthened people’s faith to believe in and follow the Lord, thus drawing man closer to God. This is one aspect to the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection.

Besides this, Jesus appeared and worked in the flesh, He thoroughly brought the Age of Law to an end, and He began the Age of Grace. After He resurrected, Jesus enabled people to see this fact even more clearly, that although the incarnated Jesus Christ had been crucified, yet He had overcome sin and death, He had defeated Satan, and He had completed His work of redemption and gained glory. The Lord Jesus began a new era, brought mankind utterly out of the Old Testament Age of Law and firmly established them in the Age of Grace, thus He enabled them to accept the guidance, shepherding and watering of God in the Age of Grace. In this way, even though Jesus resurrected and ascended to heaven, and He no longer ate, abided or lived with man, man could still pray to and call on Jesus’ name, keep His teachings, follow Jesus with unassailable faith and spread the Lord’s gospel. In particular, after the Lord Jesus resurrected and appeared to the disciples who had followed Him, their faith waxed great, and when it came to spreading the Lord’s gospel or bearing witness to it, they feared no hardship or danger, they were indomitable in their perseverance and they dedicated their all to spreading the gospel, even martyring themselves for the Lord. Ultimately, the gospel of Jesus extended throughout the entire universe and all across the world, and followers of the Lord Jesus continually grew in number until everyone in every household had heard His gospel and it became known to all.

After He had returned from the dead, the Lord Jesus appeared to man, He came into contact with them and spoke to them, He expounded on the Scriptures and communed with them, and He ate alongside them, and so on. These deeds allowed those who followed the Lord Jesus to feel His care and concern for man and to affirm that Jesus was indeed God Himself, the incarnated Christ, and these deeds firmly established God’s followers in the Age of Grace. Moreover, Jesus’ work of redemption thereupon began to spread until it had reached throughout the entire universe and all across the world. It is therefore evident that the meaning behind Jesus’ resurrection and His appearance to mankind is so profound as, not only is God’s painstaking care and thought hidden within these deeds, but God’s wisdom and almightiness are hidden within them also!

Dear brothers and sisters, let us give thanks to God’s enlightenment and guidance that have enabled us to understand the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection, and for allowing us to perceive within His work once again God’s care and concern for us mankind. Thanks be to God!

from The Church of Almighty God

    Recommended: The Eastern Lightning website is testimony that the Lord Jesus has returned in the flesh and appeared in China, that He is Almighty God, Christ of the last days, has expressed truths to do the work of judgment beginning with the house of God, and brings true light down upon mankind.

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Who Is the Lord Jesus Christ?

Who Is the Lord Jesus Christ?

by Zhang Li

One morning, when my daughter and I were studying the Bible together, we saw the verses: “Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffises us. Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the Father; and how say you then, Show us the Father? Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak to you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he does the works” (John 14:8-10). Wearing a look of confusion, my daughter asked me, “Mom, the pastors and elders all said that the Lord Jesus was the Son of God when they preached, but right here the Lord Jesus said to Philip: ‘he that has seen me has seen the Father.’ ‘I am in the Father, and the Father in me.’ Mom, how are we meant to accept the words of the Lord Jesus?” Hearing that, I gave it some thought, but couldn’t think straight. I was at a loss how to answer my daughter for a moment.

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What Is the Meaning of Christmas, and Are You Truly Worshiping the Lord Jesus?

What Is the Meaning of Christmas, and Are You Truly 

Worshiping the Lord Jesus?

December 8, 20184

By Si yuan

The Origins of Christmas

Every year, as Christmas approaches, shops on the street arrange a dazzling display of Christmas presents, with Santa Claus and Christmas trees, and so on. Festooned in trees and on buildings there are many-colored lights, and whole cities are decorated with lanterns and colored hangings, and everywhere there is joy and excitement. To Christianity, Christmas is a very special holiday, and several months before Christmas, many churches will begin to busy themselves preparing everything necessary for the Christmas holiday. On Christmas Day, the churches are filled, and brothers and sisters get involved in the celebrations, eating Christmas dinner, putting on performances and worshiping the Lord Jesus, and so on. Everyone’s face is flushed with happiness. However, when we get together in joyous gatherings to celebrate the Lord Jesus’ birth, do we understand the meaning of Christmas? Perhaps brothers and sisters will say, “The Lord Jesus was nailed upon the cross to redeem all mankind, and so as to remember and celebrate the Lord Jesus’ birth, Christians established Christmas. Though the specific day on which the Lord Jesus was born is not recorded in the Bible, Christmas gradually became a universal holiday in the wake of the expansion of Jesus Christ’s gospel.” We may have known this, but do we know God’s love and His will for us that was actually hidden behind the birth of the Lord Jesus? And how should we approach Christmas in a way that is after the Lord’s heart?

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What’s the Lord’s Will Behind the Parable of the Lost Sheep?

Parable of the lost sheep

What’s the Lord’s Will Behind the Parable of the Lost Sheep?

By Xiaoran

In the past, I particularly liked reading the parable of the lost sheep told by the Lord Jesus. He said: “How think you? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not leave the ninety and nine, and goes into the mountains, and seeks that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, truly I say to you, he rejoices more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.

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Daily Bible Reading | Do You Know the Unknown Significance Behind Easter?

The resurrected Lord Jesus appears to the disciples

Do You Know the Unknown Significance Behind Easter?

Easter is known to every Christian, and it originated from the Lord Jesus’ resurrection and ascension three days after His crucifixion. Christians observe the feast of Easter to commemorate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, so Easter occurs between March 22 and April 25 each year. In this year, Easter Day is on April 16. When you are celebrating this feast, however, do you know why the Lord Jesus was resurrected three days after His death? And why did He appear to many people after His resurrection?

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What Kind of People Are the Poor in Spirit (Matthew 5:3)?

What Kind of People Are the Poor in Spirit (Matthew 5:3)?

Feb 12, 2019

By Mei Juan

In one of my daily devotions, I read that the Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). I put down the Bible and began to contemplate this, “The Lord likes and blesses the poor in spirit, and theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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What Kind of People Are the Poor in Spirit (Matthew 5:3)?

Feb 12, 2019 

By Mei Juan

In one of my daily devotions, I read that the Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). I put down the Bible and began to contemplate this, “The Lord likes and blesses the poor in spirit, and theirs is the kingdom of heaven. But what kind of people are the poor in spirit? Are the poor in spirit those who appear on the outside to be humble, gentle, and loving to others?” I contemplated this for quite a while, but found no light, and I thought about it into the afternoon, when I just happened to have a meeting, where I could discuss and explore this question with my brothers and sisters.

Are the Poor in Spirit Those Who Appear on the Outside to Be Humble, Gentle, and Loving to Others?

At the meeting, I raised my question, and after listening to me, Brother Fang answered, “We can’t determine which kind of people are poor in spirit based on whether they appear on the outside to be humble, gentle, and loving to others. Instead, we have to look at how they treat God and what their attitude toward the truth is. That’s the correct way to evaluate this question. Some people appear on the outside to be humble, gentle, and loving to others, but inside they are arrogant, self-important, and cannot obey the truth. When God’s work doesn’t fit with such people’s notions, they not only have no interest in seeking the truth, but they uphold their own views, and reject, oppose, or even condemn and resist God’s work out of their own arrogance. No matter how humble such people may be, they are not poor in spirit. They are just like the Pharisees at the time, who often interpreted the Scriptures for the common people, often deliberately stood in the synagogues or the in streets to recite long prayers, did charitable deeds and good works in the streets and externally appeared to be very humble, gentle, and loving of others. But, when the Lord Jesus came to work, they did not seek the truth at all, and instead, relying on their own notions and imaginings, they claimed that the Lord Jesus was not Christ because He was not called the Messiah. They also limited God’s work to the Old Testament, and condemned the Lord Jesus’ words and work as exceeding the Old Testament, thereby denying the Lord Jesus’ work and words. Not only that, the Pharisees did not recognize the Lord Jesus as the appearance of God. They claimed that the Lord Jesus was just an ordinary person, saying, ‘Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not His mother called Mary?’ (Matthew 13:55), etc. The Pharisees saw that the Lord Jesus’ words had authority and power, and they saw that the Lord Jesus had performed many miraculous signs and wonders, but they did not humbly seek, and instead were especially arrogant, unable to obey the truth, and they stubbornly clung to their own notions, became false witnesses, fabricated rumors, and wildly condemned and blasphemed the Lord Jesus. Finally, in collusion with the Roman government, they had the merciful Lord Jesus crucified on the cross, thereby committing an unspeakable sin, and were punished by God! This shows us that no matter how a person may appear on the outside to be humble, gentle, and loving of others, if he has no real obedience of God and the truth, he is absolutely not someone who is poor in spirit. He is instead someone who is hypocritical. His humility is false, and his love for others is a disguise. It is entirely deceptive, duplicitous, and intended to fool others in order to win their admiration and high opinion. Such people appear on the outside to be humble, patient, and loving, but their hearts are full of deceit, sinister, and vicious, and their essence is that of a hypocrite!”

After hearing Brother Fang’s fellowship, I understood that it is not right to determine which kind of people are poor in spirit based only on whether they appear on the outside to be humble, gentle, and that the most important is how they treat God and what their attitude toward the truth is. The Pharisees, who appeared to be humble and gentle, and did some good deeds, but who, when the Lord Jesus came to work, not only did not humbly seek, but also stuck to their own notions and imaginings, wildly resisted and condemned the Lord Jesus, and nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross. How could they be called people poor in spirit? They were clearly arrogant, self-important, and enemies of God!

What a Person Who Is Poor in Spirit Is, and the Expressions of People Who Are Poor in Spirit

Then, Brother Fang continued, “Some people have arrogant dispositions, but are able to obey the truth, and when God’s work doesn’t conform to their notions, they are able to put themselves aside, seek humbly, and accept and obey the truth as soon as they understand it. Such people are truly poor in spirit, and are also humble. As is recorded in the Bible about Nathanael, when Philip tried to testify the Lord Jesus to him, relying on his own notions and imaginings, Nathanael said, ‘Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ But when the Lord Jesus, referring to him, said, ‘Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!’ Nathaniel asked Jesus, ‘From where know You me?’ Jesus replied, ‘Before that Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael said, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel’ (see John 1:45–49). We can see that although Nathanael had notions of the Lord Jesus at the beginning, because he believed that the Messiah should not have been born in Nazareth, he did not hold to himself, but instead humbly sought and listened carefully to the words of the Lord Jesus. When he heard the Lord Jesus say He saw Nathanael praying under the fig tree, he felt that the Lord was omnipotent and all-knowing, that the Lord Jesus could examine his heart and soul, and that the Lord Jesus was unlike ordinary people, so Nathanael put down his own notions, acknowledged that the Lord Jesus was the prophesied Messiah, accepted the Lord Jesus, and received the Lord’s salvation.”

Brother Zhan nodded and said, “Yes, people like Nathanael, who treated God and His work with an attitude of seeking humbly, and who was able to accept and obey the words of the Lord Jesus, are people who are poor in spirit! I am also reminded of the story of the Ethiopian eunuch accepting the gospel of the Lord Jesus. In the Bible it says, ‘And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray you, of whom speaks the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached to him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came to a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what does hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God’ (Acts 8:34–37). Although the Ethiopian eunuch had power and status, he wasn’t affected at all by these things. As he was returning home after worshiping in Jerusalem, he met Philip, and he didn’t think his position or knowledge of the Scriptures made him superior, nor was he arrogant or self-important. Instead, he modestly sought with a humble attitude, and after hearing Philip preach the story of the Lord Jesus, he believed that the Lord Jesus was the Christ, and happily accepted Jesus as his Savior. People like this are the ones who are poor in spirit!”

I agreed very much with the fellowship of Brother Fang and Brother Zhan, and I said, “So, those poor in spirit are not stubborn people. They are able to approach things that originate in God with an attitude of humble seeking regardless of whether it fits with their notions, and once they understand the truth are able to let go of their own notions and accept and obey God’s work. Such people are pure and honest, and have hearts that yearn for the truth. God loves people like this. Thanks be to the Lord! I finally understand now that the poor in spirit are not those who appear on the outside to be humble and gentle, but most importantly are those with hearts that fear God, who humbly seek in all things, who obey the truth, and do not arbitrarily delimit God’s work.”

Sister Yang went on to say, “Yes, the poor in spirit have hearts that fear God, and no matter whether God’s work fits with their human notions, they are able to let go of themselves and seek humbly. This is truly being poor in spirit, and only such people as this are qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven. Those who are humble in appearance but arrogant and unaccepting of the truth in essence, once God’s work does not conform to their notions, begin to judge, resist, and condemn, aren’t able to humbly seek and investigate at all, ultimately are loathed and detested by God. Such people have no part or share at all in the kingdom of heaven.”

After I heard the fellowship of my brothers and sisters, I suddenly remembered something said by Jehovah in the Bible, “for Jehovah sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7), so I continued, saying, “When we look at people, we only see their exterior appearance, but God sees people’s hearts, their essence. In the past, I lacked discernment, and when I saw that someone appeared to do good deeds and be gentle and kind, I thought they were humble, but thinking about it now, I see that notion is absurd!”

Brother Fang said, “Amen! It’s thanks to the Lord’s enlightenment and guidance that we’ve gained this understanding today. Now, if we look at the Lord Jesus’ statement, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,’ we understand even more clearly. We are already in the last stage of the last days, which is the crucial time to welcome the Lord’s return. Now it is even more important that we are able to be poor in spirit, seek humbly in all things, and accept and obey the truth, so that we can delight the Lord and welcome the Lord’s return. Remember that the Lord Jesus said, ‘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). And, in Revelation 3:20, He prophesied, ‘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.’ In Revelation 2:7, He also prophesied, ‘He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ From these verses of Scripture, we can see that when the Lord returns in the last days, He will speak more, and that He will tell us all truths and mysteries. When we hear that a particular church testifies that the Lord has returned and is speaking, or when a person testifies that the Lord has returned, we should let go of our own notions and humbly seek to see if these words provide for our spiritual needs, resolve our practical problems, and point out a path of practice. When we determine that this is the voice of God and an expression of the truth, we should accept the truth and obey God’s work. In this way, we can be sure of welcoming the Lord’s return. Otherwise, without an attitude of humbly seeking, if we reject and refuse to seek or investigate anything not in accord with our notions, we run the risk of walking the Pharisees’ path of resisting God, and we will lose our opportunity to welcome the Lord’s return, which would be a very tragic thing!”

I said approvingly, “Amen! As long as we are people who are poor in spirit, who can humbly seek the truth, and can accept and obey when we determine that what we hear is God’s voice and the expression of the truth, then we are truly wise! I hope to be someone who can humbly seek, listen for the voice of God, and welcome the Lord’s appearance!”

“Thanks be to God!”

“Today’s fellowship is wonderful! It really comes from the enlightenment and guidance of the Holy Spirit!”

Recommended: Why would Almighty God want to express truth during the last days, doing the work of judging and purifying people?

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