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Showing posts with label Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holy Spirit. Show all posts

8/12/2018

8/02/2018



The Voice and Word of the Holy Spirit | "When It Comes to God, What Is Your Understanding"

Introduction
Almighty God says, "The so-called God is not only the Holy Spirit, that Spirit, the sevenfold intensified Spirit, the all-encompassing Spirit, but also a person, an ordinary person, an exceptionally common person. He is not only male, but also female. They are similar in that They are both born to humans, and dissimilar in that one is conceived by the Holy Spirit and the other is born to a human but derived directly from the Spirit.

7/24/2018

The Holy Spirit Works in a Principled Way

Qin Shuting    Linyi City, Shandong Province
For some time, although I had not ceased to eat and drink the words of God, I never felt the light. I had prayed to God for this but, afterward, I had still not been enlightened. So I thought, “I have eaten and drunk what I should have and God is not enlightening me. There is nothing I can do, and I do not have the faculty to receive God’s words. There is a time for God to enlighten each man, so there is no use in trying to rush it.” Afterward, I kept the rules and ate and drank the words of God without anxiety, “patiently” awaiting God’s enlightenment.

7/23/2018

Only Those Who Know God and His Work Can Satisfy God

The Church of Almighty God, Almighty God, Eastern Lightning


The work of God incarnate includes two parts. The first time He became flesh, people did not believe in Him or know Him, and nailed Jesus to the cross. The second time, too, people did not believe in Him, much less know Him, and once again nailed Christ to the cross.

7/07/2018

7/01/2018

In Your Faith in God You Should Obey God

Why do you believe in God? Most people are confounded by this question. They always have two entirely different viewpoints about the practical God and the God in heaven, which shows that they believe in God not in order to obey, but to receive certain benefits, or to escape the suffering of disaster.

The Church of Almighty God, Eastern Lightning
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11/24/2017

The Church of Almighty God, Eastern Lightning, Almighty God,

The Commandments of the New Age

You have been told to equip yourselves with the words of God, that regardless of what is arranged for you, all is orchestrated by God’s own hand, and that there is no need for your earnest prayer or supplication—they are useless. Yet in terms of the present situation, the practical problems facing you are unimaginable to you. If you merely await the arrangements of God, your progress will be too slow, and for those who don’t know how to experience there will be much passivity.

11/20/2017

The Church of Almighty God, Holy Spirit, Eastern Lightning
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4. The Spreading of Almighty God’s Kingdom Gospel in China

In 1995, the work of testifying to the kingdom gospel of Almighty God formally began in Mainland China. Through our gratitude to God and with a love that was true, we testified to the appearance and work of Almighty God to the brothers and sisters in various denominations and sects.

11/06/2017

The Church of Almighty God, Eastern Lightning, Almighty God,

God’s Work and Man’s Work

How much of the work of man is the work of the Holy Spirit and how much is man’s experience? Even now, it can be said that people still do not understand these questions, which is all because people do not understand the working principles of the Holy Spirit. The work of man that I speak of is, of course, referring to the work of those who have the Holy Spirit’s work or those who are used by the Holy Spirit.

11/05/2017

The Church of Almighty God, Eastern Lightning,  Almighty God,

The Mystery of the Incarnation (1)

In the Age of Grace, John paved the way for Jesus. He could not do the work of God Himself and merely fulfilled the duty of man. Though John was the forerunner of the Lord, he could not represent God; he was only a man used by the Holy Spirit. Following the baptism of Jesus, “the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove.” He then began His work, that is, He began to perform the ministry of Christ. That is why He assumed the identity of God, for He came from God.

10/30/2017

The Church of Almighty God, Eastern Lightning, Almighty God,
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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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Bible Questions – Are Pastors and Elders Established by God?

Yan zi

Many Christians think: Those pastors and elders graduated from seminaries can preach biblical knowledge and theology, and serve the Lord in the church, so they are definitely the servants chosen and established by God.

10/24/2017

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38. How does one actually confirm that Almighty God is the returned Jesus?


The answer from God’s word:
… first, He is able to open up a new age; second, He is able to supply the life of man and show man the way to follow. This is sufficient to establish that He is God Himself. At the very least, the work He does can fully represent the Spirit of God, and from such work it can be seen that the Spirit of God is within Him. As the work done by the incarnate God was mainly to usher in a new age, lead new work, and open up new circumstances, these few conditions alone are sufficient to establish that He is God Himself. …
from “The Difference Between the Ministry of the Incarnate God and the Duty of Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
To study such a thing is not difficult, but requires each of us to know this truth: He who is God’s incarnation shall hold the substance of God, and He who is God’s incarnation shall hold the expression of God. Since God becomes flesh, He shall bring forth the work He must do, and since God becomes flesh, He shall express what He is, and shall be able to bring the truth to man, bestow life upon man, and show man the way. Flesh that does not contain the substance of God is surely not the incarnate God; of this there is no doubt. To investigate whether it is God’s incarnate flesh, man must determine this from the disposition He expresses and the words He speaks. Which is to say, whether or not it is God’s incarnate flesh, and whether or not it is the true way, must be judged from His substance. And so, in determining[a] whether it is the flesh of God incarnate, the key is to pay attention to His substance (His work, His words, His disposition, and many more), rather than external appearance. If man sees only His external appearance, and overlooks His substance, then that shows the ignorance and naivety of man. External appearance does not determine substance; what’s more, the work of God has never conformed with the conceptions of man. Did not the outward appearance of Jesus conflict with the conceptions of man? Were not His appearance and dress unable to provide any clues as to His true identity? Was not the reason why the earliest Pharisees opposed Jesus because they merely looked at His external appearance, and did not take to heart the words that He spoke? It is My hope that the brothers and sisters who seek the appearance of God will not repeat the tragedy of history. You must not become the Pharisees of modern times and nail God to the cross again. You should carefully consider how to welcome the return of God, and should have a clear mind of how to be someone who submits to the truth. This is the responsibility of everyone who is waiting for Jesus to return with the clouds.
from Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh
The work done at present has pushed forward the work of the Age of Grace; that is, the work in the entire six-thousand-year management plan has moved forward. Though the Age of Grace has ended, the work of God has progressed further. Why do I say time and again that this stage of work builds upon the Age of Grace and the Age of Law? This means that the work of this day is a continuation of the work done in the Age of Grace and an uplifting of that done in the Age of Law. The three stages are closely interconnected and linked one to the next. Why do I also say that this stage of work builds on that done by Jesus? If this stage did not build on the work done by Jesus, then in this stage the crucifixion, the work of redemption done previously, would still need to be carried out. This would be meaningless. Therefore, it is not that the work has completely finished, but that the age has moved forward, and the work has become even higher than before. It could be said that this stage of work is built on the foundation of the Age of Law and the rock of the work of Jesus. The work is built stage by stage, and this stage is not a new beginning. Only the combination of the three stages of work can be deemed the six-thousand-year management plan. This stage is done on the foundation of the work of the Age of Grace. If these two stages of work are unrelated, why is there no crucifixion in this stage? Why do I not bear the sins of man? I do not come through the conception by the Holy Spirit nor will I be crucified to bear the sins of man. Rather, I am here to directly chastise man. If I did not chastise man following the crucifixion, and now I do not come through the conception by the Holy Spirit, then I would not be qualified to chastise man. It is precisely because I am one with Jesus that I come directly to chastise and judge man. This stage of work builds entirely on the previous stage. This is why only such work can bring man to salvation stage by stage. Jesus and I come from the same Spirit. Though Our fleshes have no relationship, Our Spirits are one; though what We do and the work We bear are not the same, We are alike in essence; Our fleshes take different forms, and this is because of the change in era and the need of Our work; Our ministries are not alike, so the work We bring forth and the disposition We reveal to man are also different. That is why what man sees and receives this day is unlike that of the past; this is so because of the change in era. Though the gender and form of Their fleshes are different, and though They were not born of the same family, much less in the same time period, Their Spirits are one. Though Their fleshes share no blood or physical relationship in any way, this does not deny that They are the incarnate fleshes of God in two different time periods. It is an undeniable truth that They are the incarnate fleshes of God, though They do not share the same bloodline or a common human language (one was a male who spoke the language of the Jews and the other is a female who speaks only Chinese). It is for these reasons that They do the work They ought in different countries, and in different time periods as well. Despite the fact that They are the same Spirit, possessed of the same essence, there are no absolute similarities at all between the outward shells of Their fleshes. They merely share the same humanity, but the appearance and birth of Their fleshes are not alike. These have no impact on Their respective work or the knowledge that man has of Them, for, after all, They are the same Spirit and none can separate Them. Though They are not related by blood, Their entire beings are directed by Their Spirits, so that They undertake different work in different time periods, with Their fleshes not sharing a bloodline. Similarly, the Spirit of Jehovah is not the father of the Spirit of Jesus, much as the Spirit of Jesus is not the son of the Spirit of Jehovah. They are the same Spirit. Just like the incarnate God of this day and Jesus. Though They are not related by blood, They are one; this is because Their Spirits are one.
from “The Two Incarnations Complete the Significance of the Incarnation” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
Footnotes:
a. The original text reads “as for.”
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9/24/2017



The Church of Almighty God, Eastern Lightning, Church, What is the most basic principle in seeking the true way? You have to look at whether or not there is the work of the Holy Spirit, whether or not these words are the expression of the truth, who is testified to, and what it can bring you. Distinguishing between the true way and the false way requires several aspects of basic knowledge, the most fundamental of which is to tell whether or not there is the work of the Holy Spirit. For the substance of man’s belief in God is the belief in the Spirit of God. Even his belief in God incarnate is because this flesh is the embodiment of the Spirit of God, which means that such belief is still the belief in the Spirit. There are differences between the Spirit and the flesh, but because this flesh comes from the Spirit, and is the Word become flesh, thus what man believes in is still the inherent substance of God. And so, in distinguishing whether or not it is the true way, above all you must look at whether or not there is the work of the Holy Spirit, after which you must look at whether or not there is the truth in this way. This truth is the life disposition of normal humanity, which is to say, that which was required of man when God created him in the beginning, namely, all of normal humanity (including human sense, insight, wisdom, and the basic knowledge of being man). That is, you need to look at whether or not this way takes man into a life of normal humanity, whether or not the truth that is spoken of is required according to the reality of normal humanity, whether or not this truth is practical and real, and whether or not it is most timely. If there is truth, then it is able to take man into normal and real experiences; man, furthermore, becomes ever more normal, man’s human sense becomes ever more complete, man’s life in the flesh and the spiritual life become ever more orderly, and man’s emotions become ever more normal. This is the second principle. There is one other principle, which is whether or not man has an increasing knowledge of God, whether or not experiencing such work and truth can inspire a love of God in him, and bring him ever closer to God. In this can be measured whether or not it is the true way. Most fundamental is whether this way is realistic rather than supernatural, and whether or not it is able to provide the life of man. If it conforms to these principles, the conclusion can be drawn that this way is the true way. … If it is the work of the Holy Spirit, man becomes ever more normal, and his humanity becomes ever more normal. Man has an increasing knowledge of his disposition, which has been corrupted by Satan, and of the essence of man, and he has an ever greater longing for the truth. That is to say, the life of man grows and grows, and the corrupt disposition of man becomes capable of more and more changes—all of which is the meaning of God becoming the life of man. If a way is incapable of revealing those things that are the essence of man, is incapable of changing the disposition of man, and, moreover, is incapable of bringing him before God or giving him a true understanding of God, and even causes his humanity to become ever more lowly and his sense ever more abnormal, then this way must not be the true way, and it may be the work of an evil spirit, or the old way. In short, it cannot be the present work of the Holy Spirit. You have believed in God for all these years, yet you have no inkling of the principles for differentiating between the true way and the false way or for seeking the true way. Most people aren’t even interested in these matters; they merely go where the majority go, and repeat what the majority say. How is this someone who seeks the true way? And how can such people find the true way? If you grasp these several key principles, then whatever happens you will not be deceived.
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9/04/2017

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The Origin of the Eastern Lightning’s Prosperity

Each and every time the Eastern Lightning is mentioned, many brothers and sisters in the Lord feel perplexed: Why is it that as the religious community as a whole becomes increasingly desolate and degenerate, as each denomination becomes increasingly guarded and conservative in condemning and banishing the Eastern Lightning, not only is the Eastern Lightning not becoming desolate and ebbing, but surging like unstoppable billows, sweeping across mainland China? Now that it has even expanded beyond China’s borders to foreign countries and regions, as it is being accepted by more and more people worldwide? Faced with this fact, the religious people are thoroughly puzzled, while in fact the reason is quite simple: What each religious sect calls the Eastern Lightning is the returned Savior Jesus of the last days, riding down from the heavens upon a “white cloud”; it is God Himself who has returned to flesh and is real and actual! What Almighty God Christ of the last days brings is the judgment work that changes man’s disposition and cleanses him, so that mankind may achieve salvation and be perfected. Almighty God issues forth with all the truths that cleanse, save, and perfect mankind. For this reason, even if every religious sect in the entire world resists, attacks, persecutes, blasphemes, or condemns God incarnate of the last days or His work, there is no one and no force that can ever obstruct or suppress what He wishes to achieve. God’s authority, power, and His almightiness and wisdom are unsurpassable by any force of Satan.
Many people believe that anything condemned by most people can’t be the true way, but does this viewpoint accord with the truth? Think back to the Age of Grace when God came in the flesh to begin His new work in Judea. From start to finish He was persecuted, blasphemed, and condemned by the Jewish religious community. They did everything they could to put the Lord Jesus to death. In the end, they colluded with Rome to have the Lord Jesus captured and they nailed the merciful Lord Jesus to the cross. Even upon the resurrection and ascension to heaven of the Lord Jesus, they still fabricated all sorts of rumors and framed and slandered against John, Paul, and the other apostles and disciples, calling them “the Sect of the Nazarenes” and “heretics and cultists.” The Jewish religious community did everything possible to hunt down and persecute the disciples of the Lord Jesus. But God’s wisdom always exploits and builds upon the tricks of Satan; how could His work be obstructed or destroyed by Satan? It is because of the Roman Empire’s wanton persecution and expulsion that the disciples were compelled to flee to various countries and so too did the salvation of the Lord Jesus spread far and wide and to the ends of the earth. Brothers and sisters let us consider: Why did so many people resist the Lord Jesus and oppose His way back then? Could it be because the Lord Jesus wasn’t bringing the true way? Could it be because what the disciples and apostles of the Lord Jesus of that time were spreading wasn’t God’s salvation? Could it be that what the people abandoned and resisted wasn’t God’s way? Surely we can’t weigh the true way based on how many people endorse it? Do not consider something as the false way because the majority of people oppose it. As long as it is God’s work, even if the entire world opposes it and forsakes it, the true way brought by God cannot be denied; there are no exceptions. If we believe in God and have followed Him for many years yet do not understand God’s work, it is easy for us to be deceived and bound by the various specious fallacies and rumors spread around by Satan. To turn from a believer into a follower of Satan, to serve God but also resist Him, doesn’t this just bring grief and sorrow to a person? Many people do not study the true way with a humble and searching heart, they just follow the herd and do what everyone else does. No matter how other people judge or attack God and His work, they merely parrot those same words and follow blindly. This is a very dangerous thing. If they persist in this way they will ultimately find themselves on a path of no return. Long ago, when the disciples of the Lord Jesus preached the gospel at the temple and were met with opposition from the masses, a man called Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, admonished the Jewish people, “And now I say to you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nothing: But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it; lest haply you be found even to fight against God” (Act 5:38-39). Shouldn’t this also serve as a warning to today’s believers? Now, in these last days, God has once again become flesh in China—a nation where atheists and revolutionaries wield power and the very nest of the great red dragon—to begin His judgment work that begins from His house. God issues forth truths to judge and cleanse mankind, the purpose being to save man completely from the dark influence of Satan. In the end, they will be brought into His kingdom by God and gain a beautiful destination. However, the historical tragedy of Jewish resistance to the Lord Jesus has once again appeared on the stage. As God does His new work of the last days that strikes back against the notions of people from the various religious sects, these people do not welcome the return of the Lord Jesus. Instead, they spread all manner of twisted teachings and fallacious rumors. They slander God incarnate and His work, condemning the work of God incarnate of the last days as an “evil cult” or “heresy.” They even go so far as to collude with the Chinese Communist government to persecute and arrest God incarnate. Their deeds are no different than those of the Jewish religious community that once framed and persecuted the Lord Jesus. Nonetheless, the true way is, after all, the true way. God’s work, after all, is God’s work. Regardless of how the various religious sects resist and condemn God’s work of the last days, the good tidings of His kingdom have nonetheless spread throughout mainland China, shaking the religious community and the entire world to the very core.
So, why is it that so many believers resist the true way? There are primarily two reasons for this: 1.) People do not understand the direction of the Holy Spirit’s work and they have no understanding of the phrase, “God’s work is always moving forward.” They are not in the slightest aware that they should seek the current work of God; they merely measure God’s new work based on what God did in the past. If they don’t agree with what they see, then they will consider God’s new work as “heretical” or “an evil cult.” 2.) People have arrogant and self-right dispositions. They do not at all seek out God’s new work with a humble heart. Instead, they stubbornly adhere to their own viewpoints and believe that their own opinions are the same as God’s opinions and they are completely unable to accept the truth. Thus, when God began His new age, the reason all of His new work encountered opposition from people was not because of any error in God’s way and it was not due to any error in His new work. Instead, it is because people do not understand God’s work and it is because they are unable to seek the truth due to their arrogance and self-righteousness. It will be preposterous and ridiculous if we judge that this is not the true way just because the majority of believers have opposed and forsaken God’s new work. It will certainly be to our eternal detriment if we lose God’s salvation of the last days as a result of this and it will be an irredeemable and mortal error without a doubt.
How exactly then, do we differentiate between the true way and the false way? God’s word has given us the principles with which we can differentiate. Almighty God says: “Knowing the work of God is no simple matter: You should have standards and an objective in your pursuit, you should know how to seek the true way, and how to measure whether or not it is the true way, and whether or not it is the work of God. What is the most basic principle in seeking the true way? You have to look at whether or not there is the work of the Holy Spirit, whether or not these words are the expression of the truth, who is testified to, and what it can bring you. Distinguishing between the true way and the false way requires several aspects of basic knowledge, the most fundamental of which is to tell whether or not there is the work of the Holy Spirit. For the substance of man’s belief in God is the belief in the Spirit of God, and even his belief in God incarnate is because this flesh is the embodiment of the Spirit of God, which means that such belief is still the belief in the Spirit. There are differences between the Spirit and the flesh, but because this flesh comes from the Spirit, and is the Word become flesh, thus what man believes in is still the inherent substance of God. And so, in distinguishing whether or not it is the true way, above all you must look at whether or not there is the work of the Holy Spirit, after which you must look at whether or not there is the truth in this way. This truth is the life disposition of normal humanity, which is to say, that which was required of man when God created him in the beginning, namely, all of normal humanity (including human sense, insight, wisdom, and the basic knowledge of being man). That is, you need to look at whether or not this way takes man into a life of normal humanity, whether or not the truth that is spoken of is required according to the reality of normal humanity, whether or not this truth is practical and real, and whether or not it is most timely. If there is truth, then it is able to take man into normal and real experiences; man, furthermore, becomes ever more normal, man’s human sense becomes ever more complete, man’s life in the flesh and the spiritual life become ever more orderly, and man’s emotions become ever more normal. This is the second principle. There is one other principle, which is whether or not man has an increasing knowledge of God, whether or not experiencing such work and truth can inspire a love of God in him, and bring him ever closer to God. In this can be measured whether or not it is the true way. Most fundamental is whether this way is realistic rather than supernatural, and whether or not it is able to provide the life of man. If it conforms to these principles, the conclusion can be drawn that this way is the true way” (“Only Those Who Know God and His Work Can Satisfy God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). There are three things from Almighty God’s words that we should consider so that we may distinguish whether something is the true way:
Firstly, look to see if it contains the work of the Holy Spirit, which is a crucial point. Because if it is the true way, then it is the work of God Himself, so it certainly contains the work of the Holy Spirit and will be upheld by the Holy Spirit. The reason people believe in God incarnate is because this flesh is the embodiment of God’s Spirit, so all that He does is the work of the Holy Spirit and it bears the confirmation of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, people believe in Him and follow Him. This is just like when the Lord Jesus performs His work: Even though on the surface it may appear that He is just a common and ordinary person, yet through His word and His work man sees the work of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit’s maintenance. This is because all of mankind can see that the word and work of the Lord Jesus are full of authority and power. He can make a blind man see, a paralyzed person walk, and He healed the lepers. He can use five loaves of bread and two fish to feed five thousand people and He can even raise the dead. He can observe deep into the hearts of men to expose their darkest secrets. Furthermore, He can tell the mysteries of heaven to mankind. After people follow Him, they gain peace and joy in their hearts. The reason people follow the Lord Jesus and recognize that He is the Messiah is because all that He does is the work of the Holy Spirit. We can see that as long as it is the true way, it will contain the work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when considering whether something is the true way, we must first look to see whether it contains the work of the Holy Spirit.
The second aspect that we should weigh when considering whether something is the true way is to see whether it contains truth and if it can gradually change a person’s life disposition to make their humanity ever more normal. We all know that God is the truth, the way, and the life, and that every stage of His new work is based on the truth that God issues forth to man, which indicates the path of practice in the new age. God ensures man has the supplies he needs for life so that he gradually lives out a normal humanity and so that he gradually returns to the original likeness when God created man. This is an obvious characteristic of the true way. It is just like when the Lord Jesus began His work in the Age of Grace. At that time, He issued forth many truths for the people to put into practice, and taught them to love others as they love themselves, to bear the cross, to deny themselves, and to forgive others seventy times seven times. The Lord Jesus bade the people to worship God in spirit and truth. Every true believer may have some change in their outward conduct through the teachings of the Lord Jesus. Through the Lord Jesus they may conduct themselves with humility and patience and thereby possess some likeness of a normal person. Therefore, as long as it is the true way, then there will be an expression of truth. This can make one’s human sense become more and more normal, and he will look more like how a real person should be.
The third aspect we must consider in pondering the true way is to see whether the way can make people have an increasing knowledge of God and whether it can inspire a love of God in them and bring them ever closer to God. We all know that since it is the true way, then it is the work of God Himself and that His work inevitably issues forth His disposition as well as all that God is and has. When people experience God’s work, they naturally arrive at a genuine understanding of God, thereby creating a loving heart for God within them. This is just like in the Age of Law when Jehovah God issued forth laws to guide the lives of the people on earth. From their experience with His work, they recognized that Jehovah God is the one true God. Furthermore, they recognized God’s majesty and curses and that His disposition must not be offended, which created within them a reverent heart for God. In the Age of Grace, God incarnate came to earth to do a stage of work to redeem mankind. Through their experience with the Lord Jesus’ work, the people recognized God’s loving and merciful disposition. The people also saw that God was at once a Spirit yet could also take the humble human form, that He could perform miracles, cure disease and cast out demons…. And all this work that the Lord Jesus did made the people come to a new understanding of God, which inspired an adoration of God within the hearts of the people. Therefore, if it is the true way it will make people understand more about God and inspire greater understanding about God’s disposition.
Even though God’s work moves ever forward, as long as it is the work of God Himself and the true way, it will certainly possess and express the three aforementioned attributes. That is to say, the true way will certainly contain the work of the Holy Spirit, issue forth the truth, and will make people gain a greater understanding of God and bring them closer to Him. Therefore, if we differentiate the true way through weighing these three standards, we will be able to distinguish what is true and false, so we can keep pace with God’s current work in a timely manner, gain the truth, the way, and the life, as well as gain God’s greater promises and blessings.
In these last days, God is performing new work again, which involves issuing His words to do His judgment and cleansing work on corrupt mankind. This work is done according to His plan and is based on the actual needs of the people of the last days. It is a new, higher work based on the foundation of the Lord Jesus’ work. If we seek and study carefully with a quiet heart, we can see that this stage of God’s new work not only contains the Holy Spirit’s work, but moreover issues forth the truth and can allow us to have a more genuine, comprehensive, and practical understanding of God’s disposition and all that God has and is. Below, we shall fellowship about our experiences and understanding of God’s work in the last days based on using these previously discussed three aspects as standards for considering the true way.
Firstly, the true way contains the work of the Holy Spirit. Almighty God has come and established the Age of Kingdom, performed new work, issued forth His word to judge and cleanse people, and supplied mankind with the new provisions for life. The faithful among every religious group and sect have, one by one, returned to Almighty God under His name. No matter the resistance, no matter what obstructions appeared, God’s gospel of the last days still has surged forth like ocean waves and spread throughout all of mainland China. All peoples have been streaming to the holy mountain in a joyful scene. Although we all came from different denominations, we are nonetheless able to live in harmony together, help one another. There are no cliques here and the church life is brimming with vitality. The brothers and sisters here feel that our meetings are never enough, and there are hymns to sing and enjoy and prayers that enlighten us. Every time we gather we are all able to receive new provisions from Almighty God’s word, we can recognize our own shortcomings, and from God’s word we find the path to practice. Our brothers and sisters are brimming with faith and can bear God’s commission with devotion. Our corrupt disposition changes to varying degrees, and we can coexist normally and love each other in accordance with God’s word. When we encounter different views, we are all able to put aside our own views and listen attentively to other people’s ideas, and we yield to the authority of the truth in God’s word in the Church. Even though in this stage of work God does not repeat His work of the Age of Grace of healing the sick and casting out demons, nonetheless, we can see from Almighty God’s work that His words are powerful and carry authority. If we submit to Almighty God’s work and words, then we will be able to receive enlightenment and illumination from the Holy Spirit and we will be able to separate ourselves from our passive and feeble states, and be able to actively perform our duty as a created being to be considerate of God’s intentions. Thus, our brothers and sisters can let go of fleshly pleasures and rush from place to place for the work of expanding God’s kingdom gospel with all our hearts. Regardless of how we are treated by the various religious sects, or if we are rejected, or persecuted, or beaten, or cursed, we are willing to bear any hardship and we continue as always carrying out God’s will and preaching the gospel of Almighty God of the last days. One can see Almighty God’s authority and power from the actual behavior of our brothers and sisters. Almighty God’s work contains the work of the Holy Spirit and is upheld by the Holy Spirit. Yet for those who have not kept up with God’s new work, those various religious sects are jealous and confrontational; they do everything possible to gang up against others. They live in circumstances where they may be doing the same work, but not for the same reasons and all of this is enough to prove that the religious community already lacks the work of the Holy Spirit. Because the Church of Almighty God contains the work of the Holy Spirit, it therefore appears so full of vitality, while the various religious sects are bleak, desolate, and have lost the work of the Holy Spirit, standing in a stark contrast with the Church of Almighty God. So, it is self-evident which is the true way and which is the old way.
Secondly, the true way contains the truth and can indicate to people the path of practice in the new age and can allow people to gain new provisions for life. Their life disposition undergoes more and more change and their humanity becomes more and more normal. In His work of the last days, Almighty God issues forth many truths in many different fields. This includes the truths about understanding the work that God does and also the truths of how to practice and enter during the new age. For example this includes: the purpose of God’s management; the principles behind His work; the inside truths of God’s work in the Age of Law and the Age of Grace; how God does His judgment work; the significance of God becoming flesh; how mankind came to be the way it is now; how Satan corrupts mankind; how God saves mankind; what mankind’s future destination will be like; what the end will be like for different kinds of people; what kind of views believers should have; what their belief in God should seek; why people who believe in God should submit to Him; why loving God is the only way to truly believe in God; and how to serve God in a way that meets His intentions. Almighty God’s issuance of these truths has allowed us to have a much better understanding of God’s intentions, as well as allowed us to have a better understanding about our nature and substance and the fact of our corruption. Furthermore, these truths have allowed us to clearly see the road to change our disposition. Through experiencing Almighty God’s work and word, we come to finally understand the mixed-up aspects of our old faith and we recognize that even though we have received God’s redemption and ample grace, nonetheless we still deeply long to scheme more physical pleasure and material blessings from God and how to achieve the fortunes of our dreams through God. Furthermore, even though we rush about working for God, we are doing it for the sake of being blessed and crowned. We do this in the name of personal fame and gain and we rush around for our own profit. We do not do these things to fulfill our duty as a created being. No matter how much grace or how many blessings we gain from God, if anything God does fails in some tiny way from meeting our notions, we immediately resist and complain to God. We even go so far as being publicly antagonistic to God or even abandoning God. We long ago lost our original conscience and ability for rational thought in God’s presence. We were so corrupted by Satan that we completely lost our human semblance. The truths issued forth by Almighty God allow us to have a true understanding of our own corruption and we can see that we are selfish, despicable, and lacking in humanity. At the same time, we understand the significance of God’s salvation work that is done upon us, and we understand God’s salvation of man was well thought out. In this manner, our spirits begin to awaken bit by bit and our conscience and ability to think rationally begin to be restored day by day. We no longer seek to satisfy our own flesh, no longer see God in a transactional light. Instead, we only seek to satisfy God’s intentions and offer up to God everything we have. In this way, we, as created beings, gradually regain a normal relationship with the Creator. We become more and more loving toward God, more submissive and more worshipful, and finally we start looking more like man should. In short, Almighty God gives us, the people of the last days, the truths that we so urgently need. He shows us the direction of the way in the new age, He allows us to gain the most real provisions that we need for life. All of this proves that Almighty God’s way is the true way.
Thirdly, the true way gives man a new understanding about God. Brothers and sisters, if you can personally read the words of Almighty God and actually get in touch with those who have accepted the work of Almighty God in the last days, it is not difficult to discover that the brothers and sisters of the Church of Almighty God have gained new knowledge and a more nuanced understanding about God through the manner in which they seek Aflmighty God’s truths. Through experiencing Almighty God’s work and words, we understand God’s righteous disposition and see that God’s inherent disposition not only contains love and mercy, but also majesty and wrath, and His disposition tolerates no offense committed by mankind. Through experiencing Almighty God’s work and words, we see how God saves man step by step, how God uses His wisdom to defeat Satan, and thus we gain some practical knowledge about God’s almightiness, wisdom, wondrousness and unfathomableness. Furthermore, we also gain a more practical understanding about God’s kind intention to save mankind, His genuine love toward mankind and His substance of holiness and beauty. Experiencing Almighty God’s work and word helps resolve so many misconceptions we have had about God and helps us realize that God does not belong to any nation or ethnic group; God is the Creator, the God of all men. We also understand that God’s work is always new and never old and is bound by no rules. From this it can be seen that Almighty God’s work and words of the last days can give man a deeper understanding about God than was possible during the Age of Grace; it is an understanding that is more practical as well as more comprehensive. Only God’s own work can have this effect and only God Himself can issue forth to mankind His disposition and all that He is and has. It is without a doubt that Almighty God’s way is the true way.
In summary, the Eastern Lightning, which has been resisted and condemned by the religious community, is the Lord Jesus who has returned to flesh in the last days—it is God Himself the unique. Therefore, no matter how the various religious sects have resisted and attacked it and no matter how much it has been disparaged and condemned by the forces of Satan, they have not been able to obstruct in the slightest the expansion of God’s work in the last days. In only ten years or so, the kingdom gospel of Almighty God has spread throughout the whole of mainland China. God’s word and God’s name have spread throughout hundreds of millions of households. Among various denominations, those who pursue the truth and truly want God have returned before Almighty God. Millions of people are enjoying the word of God, receiving God’s judgment, cleansing, salvation and perfection, and praising God’s wonderful deeds. God has made a group of overcomers in China and has gained a group of people who are of one heart and one mind with Him. God’s work has finally concluded with His glorification and it moves rapidly from the East—China—to the western world and the Church of Almighty God has established branches in dozens of countries, which is the complete fulfillment of the prophecy of the Lord Jesus: “For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Mat 24:27). My spiritual colleagues, quickly put down your imagined notions and seek instead to hear God’s voice, please come before God in earnest: Almighty God awaits your return!