Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life

Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life

The way of life is not something that can be possessed by just anyone, nor is it easily obtainable by all. That is because life can only come from God, which is to say, only God Himself possesses the substance of life, there is no way of life without God Himself, and so only God is the source of life, and the ever-flowing wellspring of living water of life. From when He created the world, God has done much work involving the vitality of life, has done much work that brings life to man, and has paid a great price so that man might gain life, for God Himself is eternal life, and God Himself is the way by which man is resurrected. God is never absent from the heart of man, and lives among man at all times. He has been the driving force of man’s living, the fundament of man’s existence, and a rich deposit for man’s existence after birth. He causes man to be reborn, and enables him to tenaciously live in his every role. Thanks to His power, and His inextinguishable life force, man has lived for generation after generation, throughout which the power of God’s life has been the mainstay of man’s existence, and for which God has paid a price that no ordinary man has ever paid. God’s life force can prevail over any power; moreover, it exceeds any power. His life is eternal, His power extraordinary, and His life force not easily overwhelmed by any created being or enemy force. The life force of God exists, and shines its brilliant radiance, regardless of time or place. God’s life remains forever unchanged throughout the upheavals of heaven and earth. All things pass away, but God’s life still remains, for God is the source of the existence of all things, and the root of their existence. Man’s life originates from God, the existence of the heaven is because of God, and the existence of the earth stems from the power of God’s life. No object possessed of vitality can transcend the sovereignty of God, and no thing with vigor can break away from the ambit of God’s authority. In this way, regardless of who they are, everyone must submit under the dominion of God, everyone must live under God’s command, and no one can escape from His control.

Perhaps, now, you wish to receive life, or perhaps you wish to gain the truth. Whatever the case, you wish to find God, to find the God that you can rely on, and who can provide you with eternal life. If you wish to gain eternal life, you must first understand the source of eternal life, and must first know where God is. I have already said that only God is immutable life, and only God possesses the way of life. Since His life is immutable, so it is eternal; since only God is the way of life, so God Himself is the way of eternal life. As such, you should first understand where God is, and how to gain this way of eternal life. Let us now fellowship about these two issues separately.

If you truly wish to gain the way of eternal life, and if you are voracious in your search for it, then first answer this question: Where is God today? Perhaps you’ll reply that God lives in heaven, of course—He wouldn’t be living in your home, would He? Perhaps you might say, God obviously lives among all things. Or you might say that God lives in each person’s heart, or that God is in the spiritual world. I don’t deny any of this, but I must clarify the issue. It isn’t totally correct to say that God lives in the heart of man, but neither is it completely wrong. That is because, among believers in God, there are those whose belief is true and those whose belief is false, there are those of whom God approves and those of whom He disapproves, there are those who please Him and those whom He detests, and there are those whom He makes perfect and those whom He eliminates. And so I say that God lives in but a few people’s hearts, and these people are undoubtedly those who truly believe in God, those of whom God approves, those who please Him, and those whom He makes perfect. They are the ones who are led by God. Since they are led by God, so they are the people who have already heard and seen God’s way of eternal life. Those whose belief in God is false, those who are not approved by God, those who are despised by God, those who are eliminated by God—they are bound to be rejected by God, are bound to remain without the way of life, and are bound to remain ignorant of where God is. In contrast, those in whose hearts God lives know where He is. They are the people unto whom God bestows the way of eternal life, and they are the ones who follow God. Do you know, now, where God is? God is both in the heart of man and at man’s side. He is not only in the spiritual world, and above all things, but even more on the earth upon which man exists. And so the arrival of the last days has taken the steps of God’s work into new territory. God holds sovereignty over all things in the universe, and He is the mainstay of man in his heart, and moreover, He exists among man. Only in this way can He bring the way of life to mankind, and bring man into the way of life. God has come to earth, and lives among man, so that man may gain the way of life, and so that man may exist. At the same time, God also commands all things in the universe, so that they might cooperate with His management among man. And so, if you only acknowledge the doctrine that God is in heaven and in the heart of man, yet do not acknowledge the truth of God’s existence among man, then you shall never gain life, and shall never gain the way of truth.

God Himself is life, and the truth, and His life and truth coexist. Those who are incapable of gaining the truth shall never gain life. Without the guidance, support, and provision of the truth, you shall only gain letters, doctrines, and, moreover, death. God’s life is ever-present, and His truth and life coexist. If you cannot find the source of truth, then you will not gain the nourishment of life; if you cannot gain the provision of life, then you will surely have no truth, and so apart from imaginations and conceptions, the entirety of your body shall be nothing but flesh, your stinking flesh. Know that the words of books do not count as life, the records of history cannot be feted as the truth, and the doctrines of the past cannot serve as an account of words presently spoken by God. Only that which is expressed by God when He comes to earth and lives among man is the truth, life, God’s will, and His actual manner of working. If you apply the records of words spoken by God during past ages to today, then you are an archaeologist, and the best way of describing you is as an expert on historical heritage. That is because you always believe in traces of the work that God did in times gone by, only believe in the shadow of God left from when He previously worked among man, and only believe in the way that God gave to His followers in former times. You do not believe in the direction of God’s work today, do not believe in the glorious countenance of God today, and do not believe in the way of truth presently expressed by God. And so you are undeniably a daydreamer who is completely out of touch with reality. If now you still cling to words that are incapable of bringing life to man, then you are a hopeless piece of deadwood,[a] for you are too conservative, too intractable, too impervious to reason!

God become flesh is called Christ, and so the Christ that can give people the truth is called God. There is nothing excessive about this, for He possesses the substance of God, and possesses God’s disposition, and wisdom in His work, that are unattainable by man. Those who call themselves Christ, yet cannot do the work of God, are frauds. Christ is not merely the manifestation of God on earth, but instead, the particular flesh assumed by God as He carries out and completes His work among man. This flesh is not one that can be replaced by just any man, but one that can adequately bear God’s work on earth, and express the disposition of God, and well represent God, and provide man with life. Sooner or later, those fake Christs will all fall, for although they claim to be Christ, they possess none of the substance of Christ. And so I say that the authenticity of Christ cannot be defined by man, but is answered and decided by God Himself. In this way, if you truly wish to seek the way of life, you must first acknowledge it is by coming to earth that He bestows the way of life unto man, and you must acknowledge it is during the last days that He comes to earth to bestow the way of life unto man. This is not the past; it is happening today.

Christ of the last days brings life, and brings the enduring and everlasting way of truth. This truth is the path through which man shall gain life, and the only path by which man shall know God and be approved by God. If you do not seek the way of life provided by Christ of the last days, then you shall never gain the approval of Jesus, and shall never be qualified to enter the gate of the kingdom of heaven, for you are both a puppet and prisoner of history. Those who are controlled by regulations, by letters, and shackled by history will never be able to gain life, and will never be able to gain the perpetual way of life. That is because all they have is turbid water that has lain stagnant for thousands of years, instead of the water of life that flows from the throne. Those who are not supplied with the water of life will forever remain corpses, playthings of Satan, and sons of hell. How, then, can they behold God? If you only try to hold on to the past, only try to keep things as they are by standing still, and do not try to change the status quo and discard history, then will you not always be against God? The steps of God’s work are vast and mighty, like surging waves and rolling thunders—yet you sit and passively await destruction, sticking to your folly and doing nothing. In this way, how can you be considered someone who follows the footsteps of the Lamb? How can you justify the God that you hold on to as a God who is always new and never old? And how can the words of your yellowed books carry you across into a new age? How can they lead you to seek the steps of God’s work? And how can they take you up to heaven? What you hold in your hands is the letters that can provide but temporary solace, not the truths that are capable of giving life. The scriptures you read are that which can only enrich your tongue, not words of wisdom that can help you know human life, much less the ways that can lead you to perfection. Does this discrepancy not give you cause for reflection? Does it not allow you to understand the mysteries contained within? Are you capable of delivering yourself to heaven to meet God on your own? Without the coming of God, can you take yourself into heaven to enjoy family happiness with God? Are you still dreaming now? I suggest, then, that you stop dreaming, and look at who is working now, at who is now carrying out the work of saving man during the last days. If you do not, you shall never gain the truth, and shall never gain life.

Those who wish to gain life without relying on the truth spoken by Christ are the most ridiculous people on earth, and those who do not accept the way of life brought by Christ are lost in fantasy. And so I say that the people who do not accept Christ of the last days shall forever be despised by God. Christ is man’s gateway to the kingdom during the last days, which none may bypass. None may be perfected by God except through Christ. You believe in God, and so you must accept His words and obey His way. You must not just think of gaining blessings without receiving the truth, or accepting the provision of life. Christ comes during the last days so that all those who truly believe in Him may be provided with life. His work is for the sake of concluding the old age and entering the new one, and is the path that must be taken by all those who would enter the new age. If you are incapable of acknowledging Him, and instead condemn, blaspheme or even persecute Him, then you are bound to burn for eternity, and shall never enter the kingdom of God. For this Christ is Himself the expression of the Holy Spirit, the expression of God, the One whom God has entrusted to do His work on earth. And so I say that if you cannot accept all that is done by Christ of the last days, then you blaspheme the Holy Spirit. The retribution that should be suffered by those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit is self-evident to all. I also tell you that if you oppose Christ of the last days, and deny Him, then there is no one who can bear the consequences on your behalf. Furthermore, from this day onward you will not have another chance to gain the approval of God; even if you try to redeem yourself, you will never again behold the face of God. For what you oppose is not a man, what you deny is not some puny being, but Christ. Are you aware of this consequence? You have not made a small mistake, but committed a heinous crime. And so I advise everyone not to bare your fangs before the truth, or make careless criticisms, for only the truth can bring you life, and nothing except the truth can allow you to be reborn and behold the face of God.

Footnotes:

a. A piece of deadwood: a Chinese idiom, meaning “beyond help.”

from The Word Appears in the Flesh

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Christian Testimonies -16. God Is the Power of My Life

 Christian Testimonies -16. God Is the Power of My Life

 Christian Testimonies -16. God Is the Power of My Life

Xiaohe Henan Province

How time flies! Fourteen years have flashed by since I followed Almighty God. In these years, although I have undergone various trials and hardships and frustrations, with the company of God’s word and God’s love and mercy, I’ve been especially enriched in my heart. During these fourteen years, what was most deeply engraved on my heart was my being arrested in August, 2003. After I was arrested that time, I was cruelly tortured by the CCP police and was almost disabled. It was Almighty God who cared for and kept me and led me with his word of life time after time, so that I overcame the cruel tortures of the devils and stood testimony. In the experience, I deeply felt that the power of Almighty God’s word is transcendent and Almighty God’s life force is great. I firmly believed that Almighty God is the only true God who rules over everything and controls all things and is even more my only salvation and reliance. No hostile force can take me away from God’s hand or hinder my footsteps of following God.

That night, I remember, two sisters and I were having a meeting. Suddenly, we heard the dog bark and some people come over the wall outside. Immediately after that, we heard someone ram the door rapidly and shout, “Open the door! You’re surrounded!” We cleared up the things quickly and were going to leave. Just then, the door banged open. Several strong flashlight beams flashed at us, and we were blinded by the lights. Instantly, a dozen or so people rushed into the house. They forcibly pushed us to a corner of the wall and shouted loudly, “Don’t move! Behave yourself!” Then, they rummaged through the house like bandits. At that time, I heard two shots outside the door, and then someone shouted, “We’ve caught them! There’s three of them!” They handcuffed us and pushed us into a police car. Then I came to know that we were arrested by the police. After we got in the car, a vicious policeman roared with an electric baton in his hand, “Everyone, listen! Nobody shout! Whoever shouts, my electric baton will be on her. Even if I beat you to death, I won’t violate the law!” On the way, two vicious policemen wedged me into the middle of the seat. One of them wrapped his legs around mine and pressed me to his chest, saying with lust, “It’s a waste for me not to take advantage of you today!” He held me tightly while I struggled hard to free myself. Later, a vicious policeman said, “Don’t mess things up! Hurry to finish the task and report.” Then he let me go.

The vicious policemen took us to the police station and locked us in a small room and handcuffed us onto iron chairs separately. One of them watched us and didn’t allow us to speak. That vicious policeman asked us harshly about our names and where we lived. Because of nervousness, I didn’t know what to answer. So I prayed to God silently, asking God to give me wisdom and the words I should say. At that time, God’s words inspired me, “…no matter what you do, put the interests of God’s family first, accept God’s searching, and obey God’s arrangement.” (from “How is Your Relationship with God?” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) Yes! I should put the interests of God’s family first. No matter what torments I will suffer, I can by no means get the brothers and sisters involved or sell them out, much less betray God. I should stand testimony for God and can by no means be a Judas. So, no matter what he asked, I just turned a deaf ear to him. The next morning, they prepared to send us to the detention house. That indecent vicious policeman said with a false smile, “We spread a dragnet and caught you at last. We won’t feel relaxed until we arrest you.” Having said that, he handcuffed me and seized the chance to push my breast twice with his two hands. I was very angry. I was really surprised that in broad daylight the people’s police could do such a thing. They are simply a gang of bandits and gangsters of underworld! They are really disgusting and hateful!

In the detention house, in order to make me speak out my family address and things of believing in God, the vicious policemen first asked a policewoman to use soft tactics to persuade me and draw words out of me. Seeing that I didn’t speak, they forcibly videotaped me and said that they would play it on the TV to ruin my reputation. However, I knew that I only believed in God and pursued to walk the right way of human life and didn’t do anything disgraceful, much less do anything violating the law. So I said to them, “Do as you want!” Seeing that their scheme didn’t work, the vicious policemen used malicious means to torture me. Like treating a felon, they put on me handcuffs and shackles weighing five kilos and escorted me to a car to take me out for interrogation. Because the shackles were too heavy, I could only walk with my heels rubbing the ground. I walked with great difficulty, and after only a few steps, the skin of my feet was chafed. After I got into the car, they immediately covered my head with a black bag, and two vicious policemen sandwiched me between them. I was shocked in my heart, “These devils don’t have humanity. I don’t know what malicious means they will use to torture me. What if I can’t bear them?” So, I prayed to God immediately, “O Almighty God! Facing the coming situation, I’m somewhat weak in my flesh. May you keep me and give me faith. No matter what cruel tortures come upon me, I’m willing to stand testimony to satisfy you and never betray you.” After I was taken into a room, they took the covering off my head and had me stand for a day. At night, a vicious policeman sat opposite me with his legs crossed and said ferociously to me, “Answer my questions properly! After you answer them, I’ll release you! How many years have you believed in God? Who preached to you? Who is your church leader?” Seeing that I said nothing, he roared, “If I don’t give you some color, you won’t speak!” Then, he ordered me to hold up my hands above my head and stand motionless. After a short time, my arms began to ache and I couldn’t hold on, but they didn’t allow me to put them down. It was not until I couldn’t raise my arms and sweated all over and shivered that they allowed me to put them down. But they didn’t allow me to sit and kept me standing until daybreak. My legs and feet became numb and swollen and painful.

The next morning, the vicious policemen interrogated me again, and I still said nothing. They took off one end of my handcuffs (with a chain). The head of the vicious policemen fiercely struck the bends of my legs with a stick 10 centimeters thick and 70 centimeters long, so that I knelt down on the ground. The stick was then between the bends of my legs. Then, they pulled my arms from under the stick and forcibly handcuffed my hands. Immediately, I felt suffocated and felt it difficult to breathe. The tendons of my shoulders seemed to be going to snap and my lower legs were so tense that they seemed to be going to break. I shivered all over from pain. About three minutes later, I swayed from side to side and couldn’t hold on. I flopped on the floor and fell flat on my back. Then, one of the four vicious policemen directed, another two on both sides of me held the stick with one hand and pulled my shoulders upward with the other, and another one raised my head with his hands and pushed my back with his foot, making me sit up slowly and continue to squat. Just like that, I fell down and was supported up, being tormented repeatedly for about one hour. Not until they were sweating tired and breathless did the head of the vicious policemen say, “All right, all right. I’m exhausted!” Then they removed the torture device. I was feeble all over and collapsed there like a heap of mud, gasping for breath. At that time, the skin of my wrists was rubbed off by the handcuffs, and the skin of my feet was rubbed off by the shackles, and they dripped blood. It was so painful that I dripped sweat all over. The sweat flowed to the wounds and I felt painful as if being cut by a knife. In extreme agony, I kept crying in my heart, “O God! Save me! I can hardly bear it!” At that time, God’s words inspired me, “When man gives up his life completely, nothing is difficult. No one can daunt him. Is there anything more important than ‘life’?” (from “The Interpretation of the Thirty-sixth Piece of Word” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) God’s words enlightened me all at once, “Satan knows that man loves the flesh most and even more fears death. It simply wants to make me fear death and thus betray God through torturing my flesh. This is satan’s scheme. However, God is just using satan’s scheme to perfect my faith and faithfulness to him and make me bear testimony for him before satan, thus shaming satan.” After understanding God’s will, I had faith and strength again within and also had the resolution that I would stand testimony for God even if I had to die. When I resolved to give up my life to satisfy God, my pain all over was relieved a lot, and I didn’t feel distressed or bad in my heart. Later, the vicious policemen removed the torture device for me and ordered me to stand up. They gnashed their teeth, saying, “If you don’t speak, we’ll let you stand all the time. We’ll see how long you can hold on!” Just like that, they made me stand until dark. In the evening when I went to the washroom, as my feet had become swollen and festered and bled because of wearing shackles, I could only move little by little by rubbing the ground. I walked with great difficulty. Every time I moved a little, my feet felt gnawingly painful. A very clear line of blood was left on the ground. It took me nearly one hour to get over a distance of about thirty meters and walk back. That night, I kept rubbing my swollen legs with my hands. Neither stretching them nor curling them up was comfortable, and I felt extremely bad. But what comforted me was that I didn’t betray God because of God’s keeping.

On the morning of the third day, the vicious policemen used the same means to torture me. Every time I fell down, the head of the vicious policemen grinned hideously, saying, “A brilliant fall. One more!” I was supported up and fell again. He said, “This pose is nice. It looks good. One more!” Just like that, they tormented me repeatedly for about an hour. Finally they got tired and stopped with sweat all over their face. I fell flat on my back to the ground, feeling very dizzy and shivering unceasingly. I couldn’t open my eyes due to the salty sweat. A feeling of nausea settled in my stomach, and I just wanted to vomit. I felt I was breathing my last. At that moment, God’s words came to my mind, “‘For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.’ … Because the great red dragon is the persecutor of God and the enemy of God, people in this place all suffer humiliations and persecutions for believing in God. So, this word is accomplished in you group of people.” (from “Is God’s Work So Simple as People Imagine?” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) God’s words made me understand that in believing in God and following God in China, the country where the devil rules, we are bound to undergo many humiliations and persecutions. This is also the time when we bear testimony for God and manifest God’s glory. God wants to make a group of overcomers through satan’s persecution, thus defeating satan. Today I can offer my portion for God’s glory and this is my honor! Led by God’s words, I spontaneously had a strong power in my heart and declared to satan, “Hateful old devil, I’ve made up my mind. No matter how you torture me, I’ll never yield to you, and I’ll pledge my life to stand on God’s side.” Seeing that I still said nothing, the head of the vicious policemen was so angry that he removed the torture device and roared, “Stand there! I’ll see how long you can be stubborn. We’ll have a long war against you. I don’t believe we can’t deal with you!” I had to get up with great difficulty. My legs being swollen and painful, I really couldn’t stand and could only lean against the wall. In the afternoon, the head of the vicious policemen said to me, “Others have confessed after being ‘swung’ once. You can hold so long. Your legs have become like this, yet you still won’t tell. I really wonder where your strength comes from….” He also stared at me, roaring, “So many people have confessed before me. How dare you fight me? It looks like you wanna be imprisoned. We’ll sentence you to eight or ten years, and let those prisoners beat and scold you every day and torture you to death!” At his words, I thought, “I have God with me. Even if you sentence me to eight or ten years, I’m not afraid.” Seeing that I didn’t say anything, he became so angry that he slapped his thigh and stomped his feet and cursed, “It cost me several days to deal with you alone. If everyone is like you, how can I do my work?” Hearing his words, I laughed to myself. I saw that satan is too incapable and is really a loser in God’s hand! At that time, I spontaneously thought of God’s words, “God’s life force can vanquish all power and even more surpass all power. His life is perpetual, and his power is transcendent. No created being and no hostile force can overpower his life force.” (from “Only the Last Christ Can Bestow to Man the Way of Eternal Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) Every word of God is the truth. Today I have personally experienced and tasted it. For three days, I haven’t eaten, drunk, or slept and have suffered such cruel tortures, but I can still hold on. This is completely the strength God gives me. It is God who has been caring for and keeping me. Without God as my rear guard, I would have long collapsed. God’s life force is really so transcendent and great. God is so almighty! Having seen God’s deed, I had more faith to bear testimony for God before satan.

On the morning of the fourth day, the vicious policemen forced me to stretch my arms level and half squat, and put a stick on the backs of my hands. After a short time, I couldn’t hold on. My hands drooped and the stick fell on the ground. Then they picked up the stick and fiercely beat my knuckles and knee joints. Every hit made me feel a heart-piercing pain. After the beating, they continued to force me to half squat. After several successive days of torture, my legs already became swollen and painful. I squatted just for a while, and then my legs couldn’t bear it and I slumped down on the ground. They pulled me up, but when they let go of me, I fell again. They did it again and again. I fell so many times that my butt felt painful to the touch and I was bathed in sweat from the pain. Just like that, they tortured me for about an hour. Then, they forced me to sit on the ground, and brought a bowl of highly concentrated salt water and forced me to drink it. I refused. A vicious policeman pinched my cheeks hard, and another vicious policeman held my head with his arm and squeezed my mouth open with his other hand and poured it into my mouth forcibly. The salt water stung my throat so much that I felt bitter and astringent. Immediately my stomach seemed to be burning like fire, and I felt so bad that I just wanted to shed tears. Seeing my miserable look, they said ferociously, “After you drink the salt water, you won’t bleed so easily when we beat you.” That gang of devils not only mocked and tortured me but also insulted me. In the evening, a vicious policeman came to me and squatted before me. He stretched his hand out and touched my face. While touching, he said indecent words. I became so angry that I spit in his face. He flew into a shameful rage and slapped me fiercely. Spots of light burst before my eyes, and my head buzzed. He said ferociously, “Our various cruel tortures are still to come. Even if we torture you to death, no one will know it. If you don’t speak, you’ll feel a lot more!” In the night, lying on the floor, I couldn’t move. I asked to use the restroom, yet they told me to pick myself up. I exerted all my strength to stand up slowly. After taking one step, I fell on the ground. Having no choice, a policewoman dragged me to the restroom. There, I lost consciousness again. After I woke up, I was already in the room. I saw that my legs were so swollen that they were shining, the handcuffs and shackles were deeply stuck into my flesh, and the wounds oozed pus and blood. I felt unbearably painful. I remembered that the vicious policeman had said that they would still torture me by various ways, so I became somewhat weak in spite of myself. I prayed to God, “O God! I don’t know how this gang of devils will torture me. I can barely take it. May you lead me and give me faith and bestow to me strength, so that I can stand testimony for you.” After the prayer, I thought of the sufferings God has undergone for saving mankind in being incarnated twice. The Lord Jesus was mocked, flogged, and insulted by the soldiers and people, being put a thorny crown around his head, and was finally crucified alive. Today God is incarnated again and takes a greater risk to work. The CCP government’s hunting and persecution and the religious world’s frenzied resistance and rejection and condemnation, God bears them all silently, without any complaint. I also thought of God’s words, “Aren’t the sufferings you encounter today the sufferings God undergoes? You are suffering with God, and God is accompanying man in the suffering; isn’t it so? Today you all have a part with Christ in his tribulation and kingdom and patience, and only thus will you gain glory in the end! It’s meaningful to undergo such sufferings, isn’t it? You can’t make it without the will. You should know what the meaning of the suffering today is and why you should undergo the sufferings. Find some truths from this and understand some of God’s will, and you will have the will to suffer. …” (from “How to Know Man’s Nature” in Christ’s Talks with Church Leaders and Workers) Yes! God has long undergone the suffering I undergo today. God, being innocent, suffers for saving corrupt mankind, while today I undergo the sufferings for my being saved. Compared with the sufferings God undergoes, this little suffering I undergo is simply not worthy to be mentioned. Only then did I taste how great are the suffering and humiliation God undergoes for saving us and feel that God’s love for mankind is so great and selfless! I became attached to God and had a thirst for God in my heart. This suffering made me see more of God’s mightiness and authority, and taste that God’s word is the power of man’s life and can lead me to overcome all kinds of difficulties and dangers. This suffering refined my faith and steeled my will power, and made up for and perfected my lacking. I have understood God’s will and known that today I can undergo this suffering and it is God’s great grace, and with God’s company, I’m not lonely. At that time, I couldn’t help singing the hymn of life experience, “God is my rear guard; what shall I fear? I will war against satan to the end. God uplifts us, so we should give up everything and have a part in Christ’s sufferings. I will ready my love and offer it all to God to descend with God in glory.” (from “The Kingdom” in Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs)

On the fifth day, the vicious policemen continued to make me half squat. My feet and legs were so swollen that I couldn’t stand at all. Several vicious policemen surrounded me and pushed me back and forth. Someone even seized the chance to take advantage of me. But I could only be played with by them like a puppet. I was dazed by the torture. Just when I couldn’t endure it, suddenly footsteps sounded outside, so they hurriedly ran to close the door and stopped playing with me. I knew God was showing mercy to me, relieving my suffering. In the evening, a vicious policeman sat before me. He took off his leather shoe and stretched his stinky foot before my face. And he said indecent words, “What are you sitting there thinking about? Are you thinking about men? What about the smell of my stinky foot? It’s good, isn’t it? I think it suits you.” Hearing his obscene words, I broke out into a rage. I glared at him. Seeing his shameful and evil look and thinking that they tortured and humiliated me at will time and again, without any humanity and even worse than beasts, and were exactly a gang of unreasonable devils, I bitterly hated this devil! Through my personal experience in those days, I saw that the people’s police I adored before are actually so shameful and evil. It even more stirred up my will to rebel against satan and stand testimony to satisfy God!

On the sixth day, I began to feel sleepy. A head of the vicious policemen said triumphantly, “The time you feel sleepy finally comes. Wanna sleep? No way! I’ll make you break down! I’ll see how much longer you can hold on!” Those vicious policemen took turns watching me. Whenever I closed my eyes, they would strike my legs with the stick or pull my hair and kick my feet. Sometimes they kicked my festering wounds, and I quivered from the pain. In the end, my head ached as if it would explode. I felt my head was spinning and then fell on the ground and fainted…. Faintly, I heard a doctor say, “You haven’t allowed her to eat or sleep for several days. You’re too hard-hearted! The shackles have stuck into the flesh. She can’t wear them anymore.” After the doctor left, the vicious policemen changed my shackles to ones that weigh 2.5 kilos and force-fed me some medicine. Then I woke up. I knew that I could survive all because of God’s mightiness, and it was God who was keeping me secretly and relieving my torture and alleviating my suffering through the doctor’s mouth. I had more faith in God within and had the resolution to fight against satan to the end. God is my rear guard and my shelter. Without God’s permission, no matter what cruel tortures satan uses, it can’t torture me to death.

On the morning of the seventh day, I really couldn’t hold on and dozed off constantly. Seeing it, a vicious policeman kept trampling my toes hard and pinching the back of my hand and slapping me. In the afternoon, the vicious policemen asked me about things of the church again. I hurriedly prayed to God, “O God! I’m muddled from staying up. May you keep me and give me a clear heart, so that I can stand testimony at any time.” Thank God for his keeping. Although I had been tortured for seven days and six nights, without eating, drinking, or sleeping, I was very clear in my mind and still said nothing. Later, the head of the vicious policemen brought out the name list of the gospel preachers that I wrote to interrogate me and asked me to speak out others. I had tasted enough of the tortures of those vicious policemen, and I could by no means let other brothers and sisters fall into their hands. So, I called to God to give me strength. When he was not paying attention, I suddenly went forward and grabbed the name list and put it in my mouth and ate it. Two vicious policemen shouted abuses at me in exasperation, rushed toward me, and pinched my mouth hard and fiercely slapped my face. Blood flowed from the corners of my mouth, I lost my bearings, and my face became swollen.

Getting no result from the interrogation, they could only give up and took me back to the detention house. Seeing that I was badly wounded, the policemen there didn’t accept me, fearing that they would take the blame if I died there. The vicious policemen had to take me to the hospital for oxygen therapy. After they sent me back to the detention house, I was in a coma for four days and nights. The prisoners woke me up, and later I fainted twice more. In the end, the CCP government sentenced me to one year and nine months of hard labor on the charge of “taking part in a cult.” However, because they tortured me black and blue all over and I was paralyzed and unable to walk, the labor camp refused to take me in. So, the police put my video on the TV. Three months later, my husband got the news and spent 12,000 yuan to bail me out so that my sentence would be executed outside the prison. When my husband came to pick me up, I couldn’t walk because I was seriously injured, so he had to carry me into the car. After going back home, I was diagnosed as having two segments of my lumbar misplaced. I couldn’t take care of myself and became a disabled person. I thought I would be bed-bound for the rest of my life. But later, because of God’s mercy and the medical treatment, I recovered gradually after one year. I really saw God’s almightiness and God’s love to me. I could perform the duty of a created being again. Thank God!

Through experiencing this persecution and tribulation, although I have undergone some sufferings, I have gained the treasure of life. I have not only seen clearly the CCP government’s devilish substance, but have even more seen God’s wonderful deed and the authority and power of God’s word, and felt the infinity and immensity of God’s life force. When I was weak and helpless, it was God’s word that gave me strength and courage, so that I had the faith to break through the dark force of satan; when my flesh couldn’t bear the cruel tortures, it was God who manipulated people, matters, and things to help me out of difficulty; when I was tortured by the devils and fainted, God worked on me wonderfully, delivering me from danger…. In my experience, I saw that God was right by my side and cared for and kept me and accompanied me to go forward all the time. God’s love to me is so great! God is my life and is my help and reliance at any time. I’m willing to dedicate my body and heart to God and pursue to know God and live out a meaningful life!

from The Church of Almighty God

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Almighty God's Word "Does the Trinity Exist?"

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Does the Trinity Exist?

It was only after the truth of Jesus become flesh came to be that man realized this: It is not only the Father in heaven, but also the Son, and even the Spirit. This is the conventional notion man holds, that there is a God such as this in heaven: a Trinity that is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all in one. All mankind has these notions: God is one God, but comprises three parts, what all those grievously entrenched in conventional notions deem to be the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Only those three parts made one is all of God. Without the Holy Father, God would not be whole. Similarly, neither would God be whole without the Son or the Holy Spirit. In their notions, they believe that neither the Father alone nor the Son alone can be deemed God. Only the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together can be deemed God Himself. Now, all religious believers, including each and every follower among you, hold this belief. Yet, as for whether this belief is correct, none can explain, for you are always in a fog of confusion about the matters of God Himself. Though these are notions, you do not know whether they are right or wrong, for you have become too grievously infected by religious notions. You have accepted too deeply these conventional notions of religion, and this poison has seeped too deep within you. Therefore, so too in this matter have you succumbed to this pernicious influence, for the Trinity simply does not exist. That is, the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit simply does not exist. These are all conventional notions of man, and the fallacious beliefs of man. Throughout many centuries, man has believed in this Trinity, conjured up by notions in the mind of man, fabricated by man, and never before seen by man. Throughout these many years, there have been many spiritual greats who have explained the “true meaning” of the Trinity, but such explanations of the Trinity as three distinct consubstantial persons have been vague and unclear, and all are befuddled by the “construct” of God. No great man has ever been able to offer a thorough explanation; most explanations pass muster in terms of reasoning and on paper, but not a single man has a fully clear understanding of its meaning. This is because this great Trinity man holds in the heart simply does not exist. For none have ever seen the true countenance of God or have any been fortunate enough to ascend to the abode of God for a visit so as to examine what items are present in the place where God lies, to determine exactly how many tens of thousands or hundreds of millions of generations are in the “house of God” or to investigate just how many parts compose the inherent construct of God. What mainly needs to be examined is: the age of the Father and the Son, as well as the Holy Spirit; the respective appearances of each person; exactly how is it that They split up, and how is it that They are made one. Unfortunately, in all these many years, not a single man has been able to determine the truth of these matters. They all simply conjecture, for not a single man has ever ascended to heaven for a visit and returned with an “investigative report” for all mankind in order to report on the truth of the matter to all those fervent and devout religious believers concerned about the Trinity. Of course, the blame cannot be put on man for forming such notions, for why did Jehovah the Father not have Jesus the Son accompany Him when He created mankind? If, in the beginning, all had gone by the name of Jehovah, it would have been better. If blame must be put, let it be put on the momentary lapse of Jehovah God, who did not call the Son and the Holy Spirit before Him in the time of creation, but rather carried out His work alone. If They had all worked simultaneously, then would They not have become one? If, from the very beginning until the end, there was only the name Jehovah and not the name of Jesus from the Age of Grace, or if He had then still been called Jehovah, then would God not have been spared the suffering of this division by mankind? To be sure, Jehovah cannot be lamented for this all; if blame must be put, let it be put on the Holy Spirit, who for thousands of years continued His work by the name of Jehovah, of Jesus, and even of the Holy Spirit, befuddling and confusing man such that man could not know who exactly is God. If the Holy Spirit Himself had worked without form or image, and moreover, without a name such as Jesus, and man could neither touch nor see Him, only hearing the sounds of thunder, then would not this kind of work have been of more benefit to mankind? So what can be done now? The notions of man have amassed high as a mountain and wide as the sea, to the extent that the God of present day can no longer endure them and is at a complete loss. In the past when it was only Jehovah, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in between the two, man was already at a loss as to how to cope, and now there is the addition of the Almighty, who is even said to also be a part of God. Who knows who He is and in which person of the Trinity He has been intermingled with or hidden within for however many years? How can man bear this? The Trinity alone was enough to take man a lifetime to explain, but now there is “one God in four persons.” How can this be explained? Can you explain it? Brothers and sisters! How have you believed in such a God until this day? I take My hat off to you. The Trinity was already enough to bear, and yet now you continue to have such unshakable faith in this one God in four persons. You’ve been urged to get out, yet you refuse. How inconceivable! You are really something! A person can actually go so far as to believe in four Gods and make nothing of it; do you not think this is a miracle? I could not tell that you are able to work such a great miracle! Let Me tell you that, in truth, the Trinity does not exist anywhere in this universe. God has no Father and no Son, much less is there the concept of an instrument jointly used by the Father and the Son: the Holy Spirit. All of this is the greatest fallacy and simply does not exist in this world! Yet even such a fallacy has its origin and is not entirely without basis, for your minds are not so simple, and your thoughts are not without reason. Rather, they are quite appropriate and ingenious, so much so that they are impregnable even to any Satan. The pity is that these thoughts are all fallacies and simply do not exist! You have not seen the real truth at all; you are merely making conjectures and conceptions, then fabricating it all into a story to deceitfully gain others’ trust and to gain dominance over those most foolish of men without wit or reason, so that they believe in your great and renowned “expert teachings.” Is this truth? Is this the way of life that man should receive? It is all nonsense! Not a single word is appropriate! Throughout these many years, God has been split by you in this way, being split finer and finer with each generation, to the extent that one God has been openly split into three Gods. And now it is simply impossible for man to rejoin God as one, for you have split Him up too finely! If not for My prompt work before it was too late, it is hard to say how long you would have brazenly continued this way! To continue splitting God in this way, how can He still be your God? Would you still recognize God? Would you still return to Him? If I had arrived any later, it is likely that you would have sent the “Father and Son,” Jehovah and Jesus back to Israel and claimed that you yourselves are a part of God. Fortunately, it is now the last days. Finally, this day I have long awaited has come, and only after I carried out this stage of work by My own hand has your splitting of God Himself been halted. If not for this, you would have escalated, even placing all the Satans among you onto altars for worship. This is your artifice! Your means of splitting God! Will you continue to do so now? Let Me ask you: How many Gods are there? Which God will bring you salvation? Is it the first God, the second, or the third that you always pray to? Which of Them do you always believe in? Is it the Father? Or the Son? Or is it the Spirit? Tell Me who it is that you believe in. Though with every word you say you believe in God, what you actually believe is your own brain! You simply do not have God in your heart! And yet in your minds are a number of such “Trinities”! Do you not agree?

If the three stages of work are assessed in accordance with this concept of the Trinity, then there must be three Gods as the work carried out by each is not the same. If any among you says that the Trinity indeed exists, then explain what exactly is this one God in three persons. What is the Holy Father? What is the Son? What is the Holy Spirit? Is Jehovah the Holy Father? Is Jesus the Son? Then what of the Holy Spirit? Is not the Father a Spirit? Is not the substance of the Son also a Spirit? Was not the work of Jesus the work of the Holy Spirit? Was not the work of Jehovah at the time carried out by a Spirit the same as Jesus’? How many Spirits can God have? According to your explanation, the three persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one; if so, there are three Spirits, but to have three Spirits means there are three Gods. This means that there is no one true God; how can this kind of God still have the inherent substance of God? If you accept that there is only one God, then how can He have a son and be a father? Are these not all simply your notions? There is only one God, only one person in this God, and only one Spirit of God, much as it is written down in the Bible that “There is only one Holy Spirit and only one God.” Regardless of whether the Father and the Son of which you speak exist, there is only one God after all, and the substance of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit you believe in is the substance of the Holy Spirit. In other words, God is a Spirit, but He is able to become flesh and live among men, as well as to be above all things. His Spirit is all-inclusive and omnipresent. He can simultaneously be in the flesh and throughout the universe. Since all people say that God is the only one true God, then there is a single God, divisible at will by none! God is only one Spirit, and only one person; and that is the Spirit of God. If it is as you say, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, then are They not three Gods? The Holy Spirit is one matter, the Son another, and the Father yet another. They are distinct persons of different substances, so how then can They each be part of a single God? The Holy Spirit is a Spirit; this is easy for man to understand. If so, then the Father is even more so a Spirit. He has never descended onto earth and has never become flesh; He is Jehovah God in the heart of man, and He is certainly a Spirit as well. Then what is the relationship between Him and the Holy Spirit? Is it the relationship between Father and Son? Or is it the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of the Father? Is the substance of each Spirit the same? Or is the Holy Spirit an instrument of the Father? How can this be explained? And then what is the relationship between the Son and the Holy Spirit? Is it a relationship between two Spirits or the relationship between a man and a Spirit? These are all matters that can have no explanation! If They are all one Spirit, then there can be no talk of three persons, for They are possessed of a single Spirit. If They were distinct persons, then Their Spirits would vary in strength, and simply They could not be one single Spirit. This concept of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is most absurd! This segments God and splits Him into three persons, each with a status and Spirit; how then can He still be one Spirit and one God? Tell Me, were the heavens and earth, and all things within it created by the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit? Some say that They created it all together. Then who redeemed mankind? Was it the Holy Spirit, the Son, or the Father? Some say it was the Son who redeemed mankind. Then who is the Son in substance? Is He not the incarnation of the Spirit of God? The incarnation calls God in heaven by the name of Father from the perspective of a created man. Are you not aware that Jesus was born from the conception through the Holy Spirit? Within Him is the Holy Spirit; whatever you say, He is still one with God in heaven, for He is the incarnation of the Spirit of God. This idea of the Son simply is untrue. It is one Spirit who carries out all of the work; only God Himself, that is, the Spirit of God carries out His work. Who is the Spirit of God? Is it not the Holy Spirit? Is it not the Holy Spirit who works in Jesus? If the work had not been carried out by the Holy Spirit (that is, the Spirit of God), then could His work represent God Himself? When Jesus called God in heaven by the name of Father as He prayed, this was done only from the perspective of a created man, only because the Spirit of God had clothed Himself as an ordinary and normal man and had the exterior cover of a created being. Even if within Him was the Spirit of God, His exterior appearance was still that of an ordinary man; in other words, He had become the “Son of man” of which all men, including Jesus Himself, spoke. Given that He is called the Son of man, He is a person (whether man or woman, in any case one with the exterior shell of a human being) born into a normal family of ordinary people. Therefore, Jesus calling God in heaven by the name of Father was the same as how you at first called Him Father; He did so from the perspective of a man of creation. Do you still remember the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught you to memorize? “Our Father in heaven….” He asked all man to call God in heaven by the name of Father. And since He too called Him Father, He did so from the perspective of one who stands on an equal footing with you all. Since you called God in heaven by the name of Father, this shows that Jesus saw Himself to be on equal footing with you, and as a man on earth chosen by God (that is, the Son of God). If you call God “Father,” is this not because you are a created being? However great the authority of Jesus on earth, prior to the crucifixion, He was merely a Son of man, governed by the Holy Spirit (that is, God), and one of the earth’s created beings, for He had yet to complete His work. Therefore, His calling God in heaven Father was solely His humility and obedience. His addressing God (that is, the Spirit in heaven) in such a manner, however, does not prove that He is the Son of the Spirit of God in heaven. Rather, it is simply that His perspective is different, not that He is a different person. The existence of distinct persons is a fallacy! Prior to His crucifixion, Jesus was a Son of man bound by the limitations of the flesh, and He did not fully possess the authority of the Spirit. That is why He could only seek the will of God the Father from the perspective of a created being. It is as He thrice prayed in Gethsemane: “Not as I will, but as you will.” Before He was laid on the cross, He was but the King of the Jews; He was Christ, the Son of man, and not a body of glory. That is why, from the standpoint of a created being, He called God Father. Now, you cannot say that all who call God Father are the Son. If this were so, then would you not have all become the Son once Jesus taught you the Lord’s Prayer? If you are still not convinced, then tell Me, who is the one that you call Father? If you are referring to Jesus, then who is the Father of Jesus to you? After Jesus went away, this idea of the Father and the Son was no longer. This idea was only appropriate for the years when Jesus became flesh; under all other circumstances, the relationship is one between the Lord of creation and a created being when you call God Father. There is no time at which this idea of the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can stand; it is a fallacy rarely seen through the ages and does not exist!

This may call to mind for most people the words of God from Genesis: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Given that God says let “us” make man in “our” image, then “us” indicates two or more; since He stated “us,” then there is not just one God. In this way, man began to think in the abstract of distinct persons, and from these words arose the idea of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. What then is the Father like? What is the Son like? And what is the Holy Spirit like? Could it possibly be that the mankind of today was made in the image of one joined together from three? Then is the image of man like that of the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit? Which of the persons of God is man in the image of? This idea of man’s is simply incorrect and nonsensical! It can only split one God into several Gods. At the time that Moses wrote Genesis, it was after mankind was created following the creation of the world. In the very beginning, when the world began, Moses did not exist. And it was not until much later that Moses wrote the Bible, so how could he have possibly known what it was that God in heaven spoke? He had not an inkling of how God created the world. In the Old Testament of the Bible, there is no mention of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, only of the one true God, Jehovah, carrying out His work in Israel. He is called by different names as the age changes, but this cannot prove that each name refers to a different person. If this were so, then would there not be innumerable persons in God? What is written in the Old Testament is the work of Jehovah, a stage of work of God Himself for commencement in the Age of Law. It was the work of God, where as He spoke, it was, and as He commanded, it stood. At no time did Jehovah say that He was the Father come to carry out work, or did He ever prophesy the Son coming to redeem mankind. When it came to the time of Jesus, it was only said that God had become flesh to redeem all mankind, not that it was the Son who had come. Because the ages are not alike and the work that God Himself does also differs, He needs to carry out His work within different realms. In this way, the identity He represents also differs. Man believes that Jehovah is the Father of Jesus, but this was actually not acknowledged by Jesus, who said: “We were never distinguished as Father and Son; I and the Father in heaven are one. The Father is in Me and I am in the Father; when man sees the Son, they are seeing the heavenly Father.” When all has been said, be it the Father or the Son, They are one Spirit, not divided into separate persons. Once man attempts to explain, matters are complicated with the idea of distinct persons, as well as the relationship between Father, Son, and Spirit. When man speaks of separate persons, does this not materialize God? Man even ranks the persons as first, second, and third; these are all but the conceptions of man, not worthy of reference, and utterly unrealistic! If you asked him: “How many Gods are there?” he would say that God is the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: the one true God. If you asked again: “Who is the Father?” he would say: “The Father is the Spirit of God in heaven; He is in charge of all, and is the Master of heaven.” “Then is Jehovah the Spirit?” He would say: “Yes!” If you then asked him, “Who is the Son?” he would say that Jesus is the Son, of course. “Then what is the story of Jesus? From whence did He come?” He would say: “Jesus was born to Mary through the conception of the Holy Spirit.” “Then is His substance not the Spirit as well? Is not His work also representative of the Holy Spirit? Jehovah is the Spirit, and so too is the substance of Jesus. Now in the last days, needless to say it is still the Spirit at work;[a] how could They be different persons? Is it not simply the Spirit of God carrying out the work of the Spirit from different perspectives?” As such, there is no distinction between persons. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and indubitably, His work was precisely that of the Holy Spirit. In the first stage of work carried out by Jehovah, He neither became flesh nor appeared to man. So man never saw His appearance. No matter how great and how tall He was, He was still the Spirit, God Himself who first created man. That is, He was the Spirit of God. When He spoke to man from among the clouds, He was merely a Spirit. None witnessed His appearance; only in the Age of Grace when the Spirit of God came into the flesh and was incarnated in Judea did man see for the first time the image of the incarnation as a Jew. The feeling of Jehovah could not be sensed. However, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that is, conceived by the Spirit of Jehovah Himself, and Jesus was still born as the embodiment of the Spirit of God. What man first saw was the Holy Spirit descending like a dove upon Jesus; it was not the Spirit exclusive to Jesus, but rather the Holy Spirit. Then can the Spirit of Jesus be separated from the Holy Spirit? If Jesus is Jesus, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit, then how could They be one? The work could not be carried out if so. The Spirit within Jesus, the Spirit in heaven, and the Spirit of Jehovah are all one. It can be called the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the sevenfold intensified Spirit, and the all-inclusive Spirit. The Spirit of God alone can carry out much work. He is able to create the world and destroy it by flooding the earth; He can redeem all mankind, and moreover, conquer and destroy all mankind. This work is all carried out by God Himself and cannot have been done by any other of the persons of God in His stead. His Spirit can be called by the name of Jehovah and Jesus, as well as the Almighty. He is the Lord, and Christ. He can also become the Son of man. He is in the heavens and also on the earth; He is on high above the universes and among the multitude. He is the only Master of the heavens and earth! From the time of creation until now, this work has been carried out by the Spirit of God Himself. Be it the work in the heavens or in the flesh, all is carried out by His own Spirit. All creatures, whether in heaven or on earth, are in the palm of His almighty hand; all of this is the work of God Himself and can be done by no other in His stead. In the heavens, He is the Spirit but also God Himself; among men, He is flesh but remains God Himself. Though He may be called by hundreds of thousands of names, He is still Himself, and all the work[b] is the direct expression of His Spirit. The redemption of all mankind through His crucifixion was the direct work of His Spirit, and so too is the proclamation unto all nations and all lands during the last days. At all times, God can only be called the almighty and one true God, the all-inclusive God Himself. The distinct persons do not exist, much less this idea of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! There is only one God in heaven and on earth!

The management plan of God spans six thousand years and is divided into three ages based on the differences in His work: The first age is the Old Testament Age of Law; the second is the Age of Grace; and the third is that which belongs to the last days—the Age of Kingdom. In each age a different identity is represented. This is only because of the difference in the work, that is, the requirements of the work. The first stage of work was carried out in Israel, and the second stage of concluding the work of redemption was carried out in Judea. For the work of redemption, Jesus was born from the conception through the Holy Spirit and as the only Son. All of this was owing to the requirements of the work. In the last days, God wishes to expand His work into the Gentile nations and conquer the people there, so that His name may be great among them. He wishes to guide man in understanding all the right ways of human life, as well as all truth and the way of life. All of this work is carried out by one Spirit. Though He may do so from different standpoints, the nature and principles of the work remain the same. Once you observe the principles and nature of the work They have carried out, then you will know that it is all by the hand of a single Spirit. Still some may say: The Father is the Father; the Son is the Son; the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit, and in the end, They will be made one. Then how should you make Them one? How can the Father and the Holy Spirit be made one? If They were inherently two, then no matter how They are joined together, would They not remain two parts? When you say making Them one, isn’t that simply joining two separate parts to make one whole? But were They not two parts before being made whole? Each Spirit has a distinct substance, and two Spirits cannot be made into a single one. The Spirit is not a material object and is unlike anything else in the material world. As men see it, the Father is one Spirit, the Son another, and the Holy Spirit yet another, then the three Spirits mix like three glasses of water into one whole. Is not that then the three made one? This is an erroneous explanation! Is this not splitting up God? How can the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all be made one? Are They not three parts each of different natures? There are still those who say, did not God expressly state that Jesus was His beloved Son? “Jesus is the beloved Son of God, in whom He is well pleased” was certainly spoken by God Himself. That was God bearing witness to Himself, but merely from a different perspective, that of the Spirit in heaven bearing witness to His own incarnation. Jesus is His incarnation, not His Son in heaven. Do you understand? Do not the words of Jesus, “The Father is in Me and I am in the Father,” indicate that They are one Spirit? And is it not because of the incarnation that They were separated between heaven and earth? In reality, They are still one; no matter what, it is simply God bearing witness to Himself. Owing to the change in ages, requirements of the work, and the differing stages of His management plan, the name by which man calls Him also differs. When He came to carry out the first stage of work, He could only be called Jehovah, shepherd of the Israelites. In the second stage, the incarnate God could only be called Lord, and Christ. But at that time, the Spirit in heaven stated only that He was the beloved Son of God, and made no mention of His being the only Son of God. This simply did not happen. How could God have an only child? Then would God not have become man? Because He was the incarnation, He was called the beloved Son of God, and, from this, came the relationship between Father and Son. It was simply because of the separation between heaven and earth. Jesus prayed from the perspective of the flesh. Since He had put on a flesh of such normal humanity, it is from the perspective of the flesh that He said: My outer shell is that of a created being. Since I put on a flesh to come to this earth, I am now a long, long way from heaven. For this reason, He could only pray to God the Father from the perspective of the flesh. This was His duty, and that which the incarnate Spirit of God should be furnished with. It cannot be said that He is not God simply because He prays to the Father from the perspective of the flesh. Though He is called the beloved Son of God, He is still God Himself, for He is but the incarnation of the Spirit, and His substance is still the Spirit. As man sees it, they wonder why He prays if He is God Himself. This is because He is the incarnate God, God living within the flesh, and not the Spirit in heaven. As man sees it, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all God. Only the three all made as one can be deemed the one true God, and, in this way, is His power exceptionally great. There are still those who say that only in this way is He the sevenfold intensified Spirit. When the Son prayed after His coming, that is the Spirit to whom He prayed. In reality, He was praying from the perspective of a created being. For the flesh is not whole, and He was not whole and had many weaknesses when He came into the flesh. Thus was He much troubled as He carried out His work in the flesh. That is why He thrice prayed to God the Father prior to His crucifixion, as well as many times even before that. He prayed among His disciples; He prayed alone upon a mountain; He prayed aboard the fishing boat; He prayed among a multitude of people; He prayed when breaking bread; and He prayed when blessing others. Why did He do so? It was the Spirit to whom He prayed; He was praying to the Spirit, to God in heaven, from the perspective of the flesh. Therefore, from man’s standpoint, Jesus became the Son in that stage of work. In this stage, however, He does not pray. Why is this? This is because what He brings forth is the work of the word, and the judgment and chastisement of the word. He has no need for prayers, for His ministry is to speak. He is not put upon the cross, and He is not turned over by man to those in power. He simply carries out His work and all is set. At the time when Jesus prayed, He was praying to God the Father for the descent of the kingdom of heaven, for the will of the Father to be done, and for the work to come. In this stage, the kingdom of heaven has already descended, so does He still have need to pray? His work is to bring the age to an end, and there are no more new ages, so is there a need to pray for the next stage? I’m afraid there is not!

There are many contradictions in the explanations of man. Indeed, these are all the notions of man; without further scrutiny, you would all believe they are correct. Do you not know that this idea of God as a Trinity is but the notion of man? No knowledge of man is full and thorough. There are always impurities, and man has too many ideas; this demonstrates that a created being simply cannot explain the work of God. There is too much in the mind of man, all coming from logic and thought, that conflicts with the truth. Can your logic thoroughly dissect the work of God? Can you gain an insight into all the work of Jehovah? Is it you as a man who can see through it all, or is it God Himself who is able to see from everlasting to everlasting? Is it you who can see from everlasting long ago to the everlasting to come, or is it God who can do so? What do you say? How are you worthy to explain God? On what basis is your explanation? Are you God? The heavens and earth, and all things in it were created by God Himself. It was not you who did this, so why are you giving incorrect explanations? Now, do you continue to believe in the Trinity? Do you not think it is too burdensome this way? It would be best for you to believe in one God, not in three. It is best to be light, for “the burden of the Lord is light.”

Footnotes:

a. The original text omits “at work.”

b. The original text omits “the work.”

May 28, 2003

from The Word Appears in the Flesh

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                   The Church of Almighty God was founded by Almighty God personally

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Almighty God's Word | The Sighing of the Almighty

God's Sheep Hear the Voice of God

There is an enormous secret in your heart. You never know it there because you have been living in a world without light shining. Your heart and your spirit have been taken away by the evil one. Your eyes are covered by darkness; you cannot see the sun in the sky, nor the twinkling star in the night. Your ears are clogged with deceptive words and you hear not the thunderous voice of Jehovah, nor the sound of the rushing waters from the throne. You have lost everything that should have belonged to you and everything that the Almighty bestowed upon you. You have entered an endless sea of bitterness, with no strength of a rescue, no hope of survival, left only to struggle and to bustle about. … From that moment, you are doomed to be afflicted by the evil one, kept far away from the blessings of the Almighty, out of reach of the provisions of the Almighty, and you embark on a road of no return. A million calls can hardly rouse your heart and your spirit. You sleep deeply in the hands of the evil one, who has lured you into the boundless realm, with no direction, with no road signs. Henceforth, you have lost your original purity, innocence, and started to hide from the care of the Almighty. The evil one steers your heart in every matter and becomes your life. You no longer fear him, no longer avoid him, no longer doubt him. Instead, you treat him as the God in your heart. You begin to enshrine him, worship him, be inseparable like a shadow of his, and mutually commit to each other in life and death. You have no idea at all from where you originate, why you exist, or why you die. You view the Almighty as a stranger; you don’t know His origin, let alone all that He has done for you. Everything from Him has become hateful to you. You neither cherish them nor know their value. You walk with the evil one, from the same day you started to receive provisions from the Almighty. You and the evil one walk through thousands of years of tempest and storm. Together with him, you counter God, who was the source of your life. You do not repent, let alone know that you have come to the point of perishment. You forget that the evil one has tempted you, afflicted you; you forget your origin. Just like that, the evil one has been damaging you step by step, even to now. Your heart and your spirit are desensitized and decayed. You no longer complain about the distress of the world, no longer believe the world is unjust. You don’t even care about the existence of the Almighty. This is because you have deemed the evil one as your true father, and you no longer can be apart from him. This is the secret in your heart.

As dawn arrives, a morning star arises from the east. It is a star never there before. It lights up the still starry skies and ignites the extinguished light in the hearts of people. People are no longer lonely, because of this light, the light that shines upon you and upon others. But only you remain soundly asleep in the dark night. You are unable to hear the sound, nor see the light, unable to notice the advent of a new heaven and a new earth, a new age. Because your father tells you, “My child, do not get up, it is still early. The outdoors are cold, stay inside, lest the sword and spear pierce your eyes.” You believe only in your father’s exhortation, because you believe that father is correct as father is older than you, and that father truly loves you. Such exhortation and such love cause you to no longer believe the legend that there is light in the world, and no longer care whether the world has truth. You no longer dare to hope for rescue from the Almighty. You are content with the status quo, no longer hope for the advent of light, and no longer keep an eye out for the coming of the legendary Almighty. In your eyes, all that is beautiful can no longer be resurrected, nor continue to exist. In your eyes, the tomorrow and the future of mankind disappears and dooms. You clench tightly to your father’s clothes, willing to suffer together, fearing the loss of your travel partner and the direction of your distant journey. The vast and hazy world has made many of you, unflinching and dauntless in filling the different roles of this world. It has formed many “warriors” that do not fear death at all. More than that, it has created batches of desensitized and paralyzed humans who do not understand the purpose of their creation. The eyes of the Almighty look around the severely afflicted mankind, hearing the wailing of those suffering, seeing the shamelessness of those afflicted, and feeling the helplessness and dread of the mankind who has lost salvation. Mankind rejects His care, walks their own path, and avoids the searching of His eyes. They would rather taste all the bitterness of the deep sea, along with the enemy. The sighing of the Almighty can no longer be heard. The hands of the Almighty are no longer willing to touch the tragic mankind. He repeats His work, regaining and losing, time and again. From that moment, He grows tired, and feels weary, so He stops the work in His hand, and no longer wanders among the people. … People are not at all aware of these changes, not aware of the coming and going, the sorrow and disappointment of the Almighty.

All that is in this world is fast changing with the Almighty’s thoughts, under His eyes. Things mankind has never heard of can abruptly arrive. And yet, what mankind has always owned can unknowingly slip away. No one can fathom the Almighty’s whereabouts, and further, no one can feel the transcendence and greatness of the Almighty’s life power. His transcendence lies in how He can perceive what humans cannot. His greatness lies in how He is the One who is renounced by mankind yet saves mankind. He knows the meaning of life and death. Moreover, He knows the rules of living for mankind, whom He created. He is the basis for human existence and the Redeemer for mankind to resurrect again. He weighs down happy hearts with distress and lifts up sorrowful hearts with happiness. This is all for His work, and His plan.

Mankind, who left the supply of life from the Almighty, does not know why they exist, and yet fears death. There is no support, no help, but mankind is still reluctant to close their eyes, braving it all, drags out an ignoble existence in this world in bodies without the consciousness of souls. You live like such, with no hope; he exists like such, with no aim. There is only the Holy One in the legend who will come to save those who moan in suffering and long desperately for His arrival. This belief cannot be realized so far in the people who are unconscious. However, the people still yearn for it so. The Almighty has mercy on these people who suffer deeply. At the same time, He is fed up with these people who have no consciousness, because He has to wait too long for the answer from humans. He desires to seek, seek your heart and your spirit. He wants to bring you food and water and to awaken you, so you are no longer thirsty, no longer hungry. When you are weary and when you begin to feel the desolation of this world, do not be perplexed, do not cry. Almighty God, the Watcher, will embrace your arrival any time. He is watching by your side, waiting for you to turn back. He is waiting for the day your memory suddenly recovers: becoming conscious of the fact that you came from God, somehow and somewhere once lost, falling unconscious on the roadside, and then, unknowingly having a father. You further realize that the Almighty has been watching there, awaiting your return all along. He longs bitterly, waiting for a response without an answer. His watching is priceless and is for the heart and the spirit of humans. Perhaps this watching is indefinite, and perhaps this watching is at its end. But you should know exactly where your heart and spirit are now.

May 28, 2003

from The Word Appears in the Flesh

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Watch videos: The Recitation of Almighty God's Word "The Sighing of the Almighty" (Excerpt, Stage Version)

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Questions and Answers About the Inside Story of the Bible

Question 3: The Lord Jesus personally said that the Bible testified of Him. So, we must believe in the Lord according to the Bible. The Bible is the only path for us to know the Lord.

Answer: Let’s see whether we can really know the Lord according to the Bible. This question is answered in Almighty God’s word. Almighty God tells us, “The Jews of the time all read from the Old Testament and knew of Isaiah’s prophecy that a male infant would be born in a manger. Why then, with this knowledge, did they still persecute Jesus? Is this not because of their rebellious nature and ignorance of the work of the Holy Spirit? At that time, the Pharisees believed that the work of Jesus was unlike what they knew of the prophesied male infant; man of today rejects God because the work of the incarnate God does not conform to the Bible. Is not the substance of their rebelliousness against God one and the same? … What you ought to do is acceptance of, without the need for further substantiation from the Bible, any work so long as it is that of the Holy Spirit, for you believe in God to follow God, not to investigate Him. You should not search out further proof for Me to show that I am your God. Rather, you ought to discern whether I am of benefit to you; that is the key. Even if you have found out much irrefutable proof within the Bible, it cannot bring you fully before Me. You are one who lives within the confines of the Bible, and not before Me; the Bible cannot help you know Me, nor can it deepen your love for Me. Though the Bible prophesied that a male infant would be born, none could fathom upon whom the prophecy would come to pass, for man did not know the work of God, and this is what caused the Pharisees to stand against Jesus” (“How Can Man Who Has Defined God in His Conceptions Receive the Revelations of God?” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The people in the Age of Law held on to the Bible, and they didn’t seek or investigate God’s new work. In the end, they nailed the Lord Jesus onto the cross. From this fact, we can see that we can’t know God or God’s work from the Bible alone. We all know the followers of the Lord Jesus could recognize Him all because of His present work and word and the guidance and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. None of them recognized Him according to the Bible. This is the fact. Brothers and sisters, today, when facing Almighty God’s work, we also couldn’t judge only according to the Bible. The Bible is only for reference. We should confirm it mainly according to whether it has the truth and the work of the Holy Spirit. Only in this way, can we make a correct choice.

Almighty God has already made this clear. “Now people look to the Bible for predictions of the work of the last days, wanting to discover what work God will perform in the last days and what signs of the last days will be. And so people’s veneration of the Bible grows ever more intense, and as the last days draw nearer, people give more credence to the biblical predictions, particularly those concerning the last days. Because they put so much blind faith and trust in the Bible, people have no heart to seek out the work of the Holy Spirit. People have the notion that only the Bible can bring forth the work of the Holy Spirit, that only in the Bible can one find the footprints of God, that only the Bible hides the mysteries of God’s work. They believe that only the Bible can lay bare everything of God and the entirety of His work, and that no other books, no other men, can do so. They think that the Bible can bring the work of heaven onto earth, can begin and end eras. Having settled upon these notions, people have no interest in seeking out the work of the Holy Spirit. And so, though the Bible was of great help to people in the past, for God’s latest work it has become an obstacle. If it were not for the Bible, people could look elsewhere for God’s footprints. But today, the Bible has ‘control’ over God’s footprints, and the broadening of God’s latest work has come to an extremely difficult pass and can proceed no further, thanks to its well-known chapters and verses and many of its prophecies” (“Concerning the Bible (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “… since we are searching for the footprints of God, we must search for God’s will, for the words of God, for the utterances of God—for where there are the new words of God, there is the voice of God, and where there are the footsteps of God, there are the deeds of God. Where there is the expression of God, there is the appearance of God, and where there is the appearance of God, there exists the truth, the way, and the life” (“The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Brothers and sisters, Almighty God’s words have told us clearly that man shouldn’t restrict himself to the Bible but should keep up with the pace of the Holy Spirit’s work and seek God’s footsteps in His new work and new word. To make sure whether it is God’s work or the true way, we should see whether this way has the work of the Holy Spirit or the expression of the truth and whether it can be man’s life supply. If there is the expression of the truth and life, undoubtedly this is God’s work and there must be the confirmation of the Holy Spirit. If we want to know God’s work in the last days, we need to seek and investigate in God’s word and utterance, to see whether these words are the expression in the new age, whether they can bring man the direction in the new age, whether they contain the truth, and whether they can be man’s life supply, transform man’s corrupt disposition and purify him. These are the standards to confirm whether it’s the true way. Brothers and sisters, we should read God’s utterance and word in the new age.

from the movie script of Disclose the Mystery About the Bible

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                   The brief introduction of the Church of Almighty God

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