What It Means to Be a Real Man

Managing man is My job, and having him be conquered by Me is even more something that was ordained when I created the world. People may not know that I will completely conquer them in the last days and may also be unaware that the evidence of My defeat of Satan is to conquer the rebellious ones among mankind. But, when My enemy joined battle with Me, I had already told it that I would become the conqueror of those that Satan had taken captive and made into its children and its loyal servants watching over its home.

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How do we actually distinguish the true Christ from false Christs?

52. You have said that God has come, but we don’t dare believe it because the Bible says, “Then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Mat 24:23-24). How do we actually distinguish the true Christ from false Christs?

The Answer from God’s Word:

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.

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For Christians, What Does It Mean to Be Born Again?

For Christians, What Does It Mean to Be Born Again?

Speaking of born again, I believe that all the brothers and sisters in the Lord know it and may think of the dialogue between Jesus Christ and Nicodemus recorded in the Bible, “Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said to you, You must be born again” (John 3:3-7). Jesus Christ told us that a man cannot enter into the kingdom of God unless he is born again, and that anyone who is not born again will be eliminated by God. As can be seen, this requirement of Jesus Christ is of great concern for every one of us that believes in and follows God.

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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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                    The Church of Almighty God was founded by Almighty God personally

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When You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus Will Be When God Has Made Anew Heaven and Earth

When You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus Will Be When God Has Made Anew Heaven and Earth

Do you wish to see Jesus? Do you wish to live with Jesus? Do you wish to hear the words spoken by Jesus? If so, then how will you welcome the return of Jesus? Are you fully prepared? In what manner will you welcome Jesus’ return? I think that every brother and sister who follows Jesus would like to give Jesus a good welcome. But have you considered whether you will truly know Jesus when He returns? Will you truly comprehend everything that He says? Will you truly accept, unconditionally, all of the work that He does? All those who have read the Bible know of Jesus’ return, and all those who have read the Bible intently await His coming. You are all fixated upon the arrival of that moment, and your sincerity is laudable, your faith is truly enviable, but do you realize you’ve committed a grave error? In what manner will Jesus return? You believe that Jesus will return upon a white cloud, but I ask you: To what does this white cloud refer? With so many followers of Jesus awaiting His return, among which people shall He descend? If you are the first among whom Jesus descends, will others not see this as grossly unfair? I know that you are of great sincerity and loyalty toward Jesus, but have you ever met Jesus? Do you know His disposition? Have you ever lived with Him? How much do you really understand about Him? Some will say that these words put them in an awkward predicament. They will say, “I’ve read the Bible from cover to cover so many times. How could I not understand Jesus? Never mind Jesus’ disposition—I even know the color of the clothes He liked to wear. Do You not belittle me when You say I don’t understand Him?” I suggest that you do not dispute these issues; it is better to calm down and fellowship about the following questions: Firstly, do you know what is reality, and what is theory? Secondly, do you know what is conception, and what is truth? Thirdly, do you know what is imagined, and what is real?

Some people deny the fact that they don’t understand Jesus. And yet I say you do not understand Him in the slightest, and do not comprehend a single word of Jesus. That is because each one of you follows Him because of the accounts of the Bible, because of what was said by others. You have never seen Jesus, much less lived with Him, and haven’t even kept His company for a short time. As such, isn’t your understanding of Jesus nothing but theory? Isn’t it devoid of reality? Perhaps some people have seen the portrait of Jesus, or some have personally visited the home of Jesus. Maybe some have touched the clothes of Jesus. Yet your understanding of Him is still theoretical and not practical, even if you have personally tasted the food eaten by Jesus. Whatever the case, you have never seen Jesus, and have never kept company with Him in fleshly form, and so your understanding of Jesus shall always be empty theory that is devoid of reality. Perhaps My words hold little interest to you, but I ask you this: Though you may have read many works by your favorite author, can you fully understand him without ever having spent time with him? Do you know what his personality is like? Do you know what kind of life he leads? Do you know anything of his emotional state? You can’t even fully understand a man whom you admire, so how could you possibly understand Jesus Christ? Everything you understand of Jesus is full of imagination and conception, and holds no truth or reality. It stinks, and is full of flesh. How could such an understanding qualify you to welcome the return of Jesus? Jesus will not receive those who are full of fantasies and the conceptions of the flesh. How are those who do not understand Jesus fit to be His believers?

Do you wish to know the root of why the Pharisees opposed Jesus? Do you wish to know the substance of the Pharisees? They were full of fantasies about the Messiah. What’s more, they believed only that the Messiah would come, yet did not seek the truth of life. And so, even today they still await the Messiah, for they have no knowledge of the way of life, and do not know what the way of truth is. How, say you, could such foolish, stubborn and ignorant people gain God’s blessing? How could they behold the Messiah? They opposed Jesus because they did not know the direction of the Holy Spirit’s work, because they did not know the way of truth spoken by Jesus, and, furthermore, because they did not understand the Messiah. And since they had never seen the Messiah, and had never been in the company of the Messiah, they made the mistake of paying empty tribute to the name of the Messiah while opposing the substance of the Messiah by any means. These Pharisees in substance were stubborn, arrogant, and did not obey the truth. The principle of their belief in God is: No matter how profound Your preaching, no matter how high Your authority, You are not Christ unless You are called the Messiah. Are these views not preposterous and ridiculous? I ask you again: Is it not extremely easy for you to commit the mistakes of the earliest Pharisees, given that you have not the slightest understanding of Jesus? Are you able to discern the way of truth? Can you truly guarantee that you will not oppose Christ? Are you able to follow the work of the Holy Spirit? If you do not know whether you will oppose Christ, then I say that you are already living on the brink of death. Those who did not know the Messiah were all capable of opposing Jesus, of rejecting Jesus, of slandering Him. People who do not understand Jesus are all capable of denying Him, and reviling Him. Moreover, they are capable of seeing the return of Jesus as the deceit of Satan, and more people shall condemn Jesus returning to flesh. Does not all of this make you afraid? What you face shall be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the ruination of the words of the Holy Spirit to the churches, and the spurning of all that is expressed by Jesus. What can you gain from Jesus if you are so befuddled? How can you understand the work of Jesus when He returns to flesh on a white cloud, if you obstinately refuse to realize your errors? I tell you this: People who do not accept the truth, yet blindly await the arrival of Jesus upon white clouds, will surely blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, and they are the race that shall be destroyed. You merely wish for the grace of Jesus, and merely want to enjoy the blissful realm of heaven, yet you have never obeyed the words spoken by Jesus, and have never received the truth expressed by Jesus when He returns to flesh. What will you hold up in exchange for the fact of Jesus’ return upon a white cloud? Is it the sincerity in which you repeatedly commit sins, and then confess them, over and over? What will you offer in sacrifice to Jesus who returns upon a white cloud? Is it the years of work with which you exalt yourselves? What will you hold up to make the returned Jesus trust you? Is it that arrogant nature of yours, which does not obey any truth?

Your loyalty is in word only, your knowledge is merely intellectual and conceptual, your labors are for the sake of gaining the blessings of heaven, and so what must your faith be like? Even today, you still turn a deaf ear to each and every word of truth. You do not know what God is, you do not know what Christ is, you do not know how to revere Jehovah, you do not know how to enter into the work of the Holy Spirit, and you do not know how to distinguish between the work of God Himself and the deceptions of man. You know only to condemn any word of truth expressed by God that does not conform to your thought. Where is your humility? Where is your obedience? Where is your loyalty? Where is your desire to seek the truth? Where is your reverence of God? I tell you, those who believe in God because of the signs are surely the category that shall suffer destruction. Those who are incapable of accepting the words of Jesus who has returned to flesh are surely the progeny of hell, the descendants of the archangel, the category that shall be subjected to everlasting destruction. Many people may not care what I say, but I still want to tell every so-called saint who follows Jesus that, when you see Jesus descend from the heaven upon a white cloud with your own eyes, this will be the public appearance of the Sun of righteousness. Perhaps that will be a time of great excitement for you, yet you should know that the time when you witness Jesus descend from the heaven is also the time when you go down to hell to be punished. It will herald the end of God’s management plan, and will be when God rewards the good and punishes the wicked. For the judgment of God will have ended before man sees signs, when there is only the expression of truth. Those who accept the truth and do not seek signs, and thus have been purified, shall have returned before the throne of God and entered the Creator’s embrace. Only those who persist in the belief that “The Jesus who does not ride upon a white cloud is a false Christ” shall be subjected to everlasting punishment, for they only believe in the Jesus who exhibits signs, but do not acknowledge the Jesus who proclaims severe judgment and releases the true way of life. And so it can only be that Jesus deals with them when He openly returns upon a white cloud. They are too stubborn, too confident in themselves, too arrogant. How could such degenerates be rewarded by Jesus? The return of Jesus is a great salvation for those who are capable of accepting the truth, but for those who are unable to accept the truth it is a sign of condemnation. You should choose your own path, and should not blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and reject the truth. You should not be an ignorant and arrogant person, but someone who obeys the guidance of the Holy Spirit and longs for and seeks the truth; only in this way will you benefit. I advise you to tread the path of belief in God with care. Do not jump to conclusions; what’s more, do not be casual and carefree in your belief in God. You should know that, at the very least, those who believe in God should be humble and reverential. Those who have heard the truth and yet turn their nose up at it are foolish and ignorant. Those who have heard the truth and yet carelessly jump to conclusions or condemn it are beset by arrogance. No one who believes in Jesus is qualified to curse or condemn others. You should all be someone who is rational and accepts the truth. Perhaps, having heard the way of truth and read the word of life, you believe that only one in 10,000 of these words are in line with your convictions and the Bible, and then you should continue to seek in that 10,000th of these words. I still advise you to be humble, to not be over-confident, and to not exalt yourself too highly. With your heart holding such meager reverence for God, you will gain greater light. If you carefully examine and repeatedly contemplate these words, you shall understand whether or not they are the truth, and whether or not they are life. Perhaps, having only read a few sentences, some people will blindly condemn these words, saying, “This is nothing more than some enlightenment of the Holy Spirit,” or, “This is a false Christ come to deceive people.” Those who say such things are blinded by ignorance! You understand too little of the work and wisdom of God, and I advise you to start again from scratch! You must not blindly condemn the words expressed by God because of the appearance of false Christs during the last days, and must not be someone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit because you fear deception. Would that not be a great pity? If, after much examination, you still believe that these words are not the truth, are not the way, and are not the expression of God, then you shall ultimately be punished, and be without blessings. If you cannot accept such truth spoken so plainly and so clearly, then are you not unfit for God’s salvation? Are you not someone who is not fortunate enough to return before the throne of God? Think about it! Do not be rash and impetuous, and do not treat belief in God as a game. Think for the sake of your destination, for the sake of your prospects, for the sake of your life, and do not play around with yourself. Can you accept these words?

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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In the Bible it says, there is none other name under heaven given among men, the only Savior is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. But today why do you believe in Almighty God?

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33. In the Bible it says, there is none other name under heaven given among men, the only Savior is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. But today why do you believe in Almighty God?

Bible Reference:

“Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God: and I will write on him my new name” (Rev 3:12).

The answer from God’s word:

God’s wisdom, God’s wondrousness, God’s righteousness, and God’s majesty shall never change. His essence and what He has and is shall never change. His work, however, is always progressing forward and always going deeper, for He is always new and never old.

from “The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

There are those who say that God is immutable. That is correct, but it refers to the immutability of God’s disposition and substance. Changes in His name and work do not prove that His substance has altered; in other words, God will always be God, and this will never change.

from “The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

“Jehovah” is the name that I took during My work in Israel, and it means the God of the Israelites (God’s chosen people) who can take pity on man, curse man, and guide the life of man. It means the God who possesses great power and is full of wisdom. “Jesus” is Emmanuel, and it means the sin offering that is full of love, full of compassion, and redeems man. He did the work of the Age of Grace, and represents the Age of Grace, and can only represent one part of the management plan. That is to say, only Jehovah is the God of the chosen people of Israel, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of Moses, and the God of all the people of Israel. And so in the current age, all the Israelites apart from the tribe of Judah worship Jehovah. They make sacrifices to Him on the altar, and serve Him wearing priests’ robes in the temple. What they hope for is the reappearance of Jehovah. Only Jesus is the Redeemer of mankind. He is the sin offering that redeemed mankind from sin. Which is to say, the name of Jesus came from the Age of Grace, and existed because of the work of redemption in the Age of Grace. The name of Jesus existed to allow the people of the Age of Grace to be reborn and saved, and is a particular name for the redemption of the whole of mankind. And so the name Jesus represents the work of redemption, and denotes the Age of Grace. The name Jehovah is a particular name for the people of Israel who lived under the law. In each age and each stage of work, My name is not baseless, but holds representative significance: Each name represents one age. “Jehovah” represents the Age of Law, and is the honorific for the God worshiped by the people of Israel. “Jesus” represents the Age of Grace, and is the name of the God of all those who were redeemed during the Age of Grace. If man still longs for the arrival of Jesus the Savior during the last days, and still expects Him to arrive in the image He bore in Judea, then the entire six-thousand-year management plan would stop in the Age of Redemption, and would be incapable of progressing any further. The last days, furthermore, would never arrive, and the age would never be brought to an end. That is because Jesus the Savior is only for the redemption and salvation of mankind. I took the name of Jesus for the sake of all the sinners in the Age of Grace, and it is not the name by which I shall bring the whole of mankind to an end. Although Jehovah, Jesus, and the Messiah all represent My Spirit, these names only denote the different ages in My management plan, and do not represent Me in My entirety. The names by which people on earth call Me cannot articulate My entire disposition and all that I am. They are merely different names by which I am called during different ages. And so, when the final age—the age of the last days—arrives, My name shall change again. I shall not be called Jehovah, or Jesus, much less the Messiah, but shall be called the powerful Almighty God Himself, and under this name I shall bring the entire age to an end. I was once known as Jehovah. I was also called the Messiah, and people once called Me Jesus the Savior because they loved and respected Me. But today I am not the Jehovah or Jesus that people knew in times past—I am the God who has returned in the last days, the God who shall bring the age to an end. I am the God Himself that rises up at the ends of the earth, replete with My entire disposition, and full of authority, honor and glory. People have never engaged with Me, have never known Me, and have always been ignorant of My disposition. From the creation of the world until today, not one person has seen Me. This is the God who appears to man during the last days but is hidden among man. He resides among man, true and real, like the burning sun and the flaming fire, filled with power and brimming with authority. There is not a single person or thing that shall not be judged by My words, and not a single person or thing that shall not be purified through the burning of fire. Eventually, all nations shall be blessed because of My words, and also smashed to pieces because of My words. In this way, all people during the last days shall see that I am the Savior returned, I am the Almighty God that conquers all of mankind, and I was once the sin offering for man, but in the last days I also become the flames of the sun that burn all things, as well as the sun of righteousness that reveals all things. Such is My work of the last days. I took this name and am possessed of this disposition so that all people may see that I am a righteous God, and am the burning sun, and the flaming fire. It is so that all may worship Me, the only true God, and so that they may see My true face: I am not only the God of the Israelites, and am not just the Redeemer—I am the God of all creatures throughout heavens and earth and seas.

from “The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Could the name of Jesus, “God with us,” represent God’s disposition in its entirety? Could it fully articulate God? If man says that God can only be called Jesus, and may not have any other name because God cannot change His disposition, then such words are blasphemy! Do you believe that the name Jesus, God with us, can represent God in His entirety? God can be called many names, but among these many names, there is not one which can encapsulate all that God has, there is not one which can fully represent God. And so God has many names, but these many names cannot fully articulate God’s disposition, for God’s disposition is too rich, and extends beyond the knowledge of man. The language of man is incapable of fully encapsulating God. Man has but a limited vocabulary with which to encapsulate all that he knows of God’s disposition: great, honorable, wondrous, unfathomable, supreme, holy, righteous, wise, and so on. Too many words! Such a limited vocabulary is incapable of describing what little man has witnessed of God’s disposition. Later on, many people added more words to better describe the fervor in their hearts: God is too great! God is too holy! God is too lovely! Today, sayings such as these have reached their peak, yet man is still incapable of clearly expressing God. And so, for man, God has many names, yet He has no one name, and that is because God’s being is too bountiful, and the language of man is too inadequate. One particular word or name is powerless to represent God in His entirety. So can God take one fixed name? God is so great and holy, so why do you not permit Him to change His name in each new age? As such, in each age that God personally does His own work, He uses a name that befits the age to encapsulate the work that He does. He uses this particular name, one that possesses the significance of the age, to represent His disposition in that age. God uses the language of man to express His own disposition. … You should know that God originally had no name. He only took on one, or two, or many names because He had work to do and had to manage mankind. Whatever name He is called by, isn’t it freely chosen by Him? Does He need you, a creature, to decide it? The name by which God is called is according to what man can apprehend and the language of man, but this name cannot be encapsulated by man. You can only say that there is a God in heaven, that He is called God, that He is God Himself with great power, too wise, too exalted, too wondrous, too mysterious, too almighty, and you can say no more; that is all you know. In this way, can the name of Jesus alone represent God Himself? When the last days come, although it is still God who does His work, His name has to change, for it is a different age.

from “The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Some say that the name of God does not change, so why then did the name of Jehovah become Jesus? It was prophesied of the coming of the Messiah, so why then did a man by the name of Jesus come? Why did the name of God change? Was not such work carried out long ago? Cannot God this day do a new work? The work of yesterday can be altered, and the work of Jesus can follow on from that of Jehovah. Cannot then the work of Jesus be succeeded by another work? If the name of Jehovah can be changed to Jesus, then cannot the name of Jesus also be changed? This is not unusual, and people think so[a] only due to their simple-mindedness. God will always be God. Regardless of the changes to His work and His name, His disposition and wisdom remain forever unchanged. If you believe that God can only be called by the name of Jesus, then you know too little.

from “How Can Man Who Has Defined God in His Conceptions Receive the Revelations of God?” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Footnotes:

a. The original text reads “which is.”

Read more: Is Eastern Lightning the Return of the Lord Jesus?

                   The brief introduction of the Church of Almighty God

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Are Almighty God and the Lord Jesus One God?

Are Almighty God and the Lord Jesus One God?

When mankind was corrupted by Satan, God began His management plan for the salvation of mankind. God has carried out three stages of work for the salvation of mankind. During the Age of Law, Jehovah God issued the laws and guided the life of mankind, making people know that they should worship God, and making them know what sin is. But with the arrival of the final stages of the Age of Law, mankind’s corruption became ever more profound, and people often violated the laws and sinned against Jehovah. They faced the risk of being condemned and put to death because of their violations. Thus, in answer to the needs of mankind, during the Age of Grace God assumed human form and became the Lord Jesus. He was nailed to the cross for the sake of mankind, and redeemed man from sin, enabling people to come before God and pray to God, confess and repent, be forgiven for their sins, and live under the riches of God’s grace and blessings. But because people’s sinful nature had yet to be resolved, and they still often sinned and opposed God, in the Age of Kingdom God once more became flesh, using the name of Almighty God to express all truths for the salvation and purification of mankind upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus’ work of redemption, expunging mankind’s sinful nature, causing mankind to cease its disobedience to God and opposition to God, allowing people to truly obey God and worship God, and ultimately leading mankind to a beautiful destination. Even though the work God has done in the Age of Law, Age of Grace, and Age of Kingdom has been different, and the names He has taken and disposition He has displayed have been different, the substance and aims of His work are the same—all are in order to save mankind, and all the work is done by God Himself. As Almighty God said, “From the work of Jehovah to that of Jesus, and from the work of Jesus to that of this current stage, these three stages cover the entire breadth of God’s management, and are all the work of one Spirit. From when He created the world, God has always been managing mankind. He is the Beginning and the End, He is the First and the Last, and He is the One who begins an age and the One who brings the age to an end. The three stages of work, in different ages and different locations, are surely carried out by one Spirit. All those who separate these three stages oppose God” (“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

For thousands of years, few people have truly known that the Lord Jesus Christ is God Himself, that He is the appearance of God, and that the Lord Jesus is the incarnation of Jehovah. In fact, the Bible had long since prophesied this clearly. In the Book of Isaiah, it was said that “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin (or: when he shall render himself as an offering for sin)” (Isa 53:10). From this passage of the Bible it can be seen that for the Lord Jesus to serve as a sin offering means that Jehovah offered Himself as a sin offering, and that the Lord Jesus was Jehovah. The Lord Jesus also said, “he that has seen me has seen the Father” (Jhn 14:9). “the Father is in me, and I in him” (Jhn 10:38). “I and my Father are one” (Jhn 10:30). When the Lord Jesus said that “I and my Father are one,” He was saying that He and Jehovah are one Spirit. The words uttered by the Lord Jesus and those uttered by Jehovah are the same—they are both the truth, they are the utterances of one Spirit, and their source is the same; that is, the Lord Jesus and Jehovah are one God. Likewise, the source of the words expressed by Almighty God of the last days and those by the Lord Jesus is the same, they are the utterances of the Holy Spirit, they are the truth, and they are the voice of God. Those who believe in the Lord all know that greater number of prophecies in the Bible concern the return of the Lord and the work of judgment of God of the last days. As the Lord Jesus said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (Jhn 14:3). “And, behold, I come quickly” (Rev 22:12). “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luk 21:27). “Behold, I come as a thief” (Rev 16:15). “He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (Jhn 12:48). In the First Epistle of Peter it was also said that, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17). It was spoken very clearly in these scriptures that the Lord Jesus would return during the last days, and would express words and do the work of judgment. When Almighty God arrives during the last days, He does the work of judgment beginning from the house of God upon the foundation of the work of redemption of the Lord Jesus, and expresses all truths for the purification and salvation of mankind. Although the work of Almighty God and that of the Lord Jesus are different, their source is the same—the one God! This completely fulfills the prophecy of the Lord Jesus: “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come” (Jhn 16:12-13). The incarnate Almighty God of the last days is the embodiment of the Spirit of truth; Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus.

Read more: Is Eastern Lightning the Return of the Lord Jesus?

                    The origin of the Church of Almighty God

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The Church of Almighty God | A Surprising Gain From Receiving a Stranger – Return of Jesus

A Surprising Gain From Receiving a Stranger – Return of Jesus

Feng ying

I used to be a preacher of a house church. One day in a co-worker meeting, Pastor Chen read a passage of the Bible, “I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ to another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6-7). And then he said, “Co-workers, now the Eastern Lightning followers say that the Lord Jesus has returned to do the work of judgment. And many good sheep in other churches have been stolen by them. How can we give an account to the Lord in the future if we fail to look after His flock well? So I decide that in order to protect the flock, no one is allowed to receive any stranger. And if anyone accepts the Eastern Lightning, he will be expelled from the church.” I was greatly shocked by his words, thinking, “Why have so many true believers in the Lord accepted the Eastern Lightning? How could that be? From now on I must be cautious and never receive strangers.”

In the following days, I went to every meeting place to communicate Pastor Chen’s words and asked the believers to obey them. After that, I breathed a sigh of relief, believing acting this way was devotion to the Lord. One day, an elderly sister came to my home in a fluster and said, “Fengying, a stranger came to preach the Eastern Lightning, and she said the Lord Jesus has already come back to express the truth …” “Where is she?” I immediately interrupted her. “I’ll go and have a look.” As soon as I got to the elderly sister’s house with her, I quickly walked up to the sister who came to preach the gospel and said, “You are the one preaching the Eastern Lightning?” “Yes, auntie,” She said with a smile. “The Eastern Lightning is the Jehovah God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus.” “Which verse of the Bible records that the Eastern Lightning is the Jehovah God?” I asked. “You’d better go now. We won’t believe whatever you are preaching.” Then she replied peacefully, “Auntie, have you forgotten that the Bible says, ‘Ask you of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain’ (Zechariah 10:1). Isn’t the LORD the God who makes the lightning?” Her words made me speechless, like giving me a head-on blow. In order to save my face, I fought back, “You can preach to those unbelievers if you will. Besides, we don’t know you. And the pastors and elders forbid us to receive strangers. Go now!” A sister said, “Right! We don’t know you. Go away!” But she said calmly, “Actually, we believers in the Lord should listen to the Lord’s word. The Lord Jesus has never said that no one is allowed to receive strangers; instead He said, ‘Whoever shall receive this child in my name receives me: and whoever shall receive me receives him that sent me’ (Luke 9:48). The Lord said that whoever receives the messengers that preach the gospel receives Him. But your pastors and elders don’t allow you to receive strangers, aren’t they disobeying the Lord’s teachings?” Another one said hastily, “If you don’t leave, I’ll call 110 and then you’ll go.” Everyone present attacked or threatened her, and she was driven away.

After the sister left, I couldn’t help thinking: This stranger’s words don’t depart from the Bible. And she is rather devout and doesn’t look like a bad woman. At night, my heart beat violently and I felt very uncomfortable. So I examined in what way I had offended the Lord. Then I remembered how I rejected the people who preached the Eastern Lightning in the past. Was my doing so against the Lord’s will? Thinking of this, I felt it hard to calm down. Recalling that the Lord Jesus taught us to love our neighbor as ourselves in the Bible, I got even more confused. So I prayed, “O Lord, I have worked, preached, and protected the flock for You. Why am I having a heart attack? Is it wrong for me not to receive the stranger? O Lord, I am so confused and don’t know what should I do to be after Your heart. O Lord, please guide me.” After the prayer, the words in the Bible that young sister said occurred to me, “Whoever shall receive this child in my name receives me: and whoever shall receive me receives him that sent me” (Luke 9:48). I pondered: Right! The Lord Jesus said we should even receive a child, and He never said not to receive strangers. So, is it wrong for me to reject that sister? Then I recalled what the pastors and elders said, thinking: They don’t allow us to receive strangers for the sake of the sheep’s life. They’ve done no wrong. I was really confused at the moment. So I prayed many times and entrusted the Lord with this matter, asking Him to guide me to understand His will.

A few days later, that young sister came to my home. I said, “These days there are many people preaching the Eastern Lightning, and our pastors and elders repeatedly ask us not to contact strangers. You are a stranger, and I don’t know you.” Then she said quietly, “Auntie, as a preacher, you should know that in the Bible there were many people who obtained unexpected blessing unawares just because they received strangers.

The Bible records: Abraham received three strangers, and then he had a son when he was one hundred years old. Lot received strangers, and when Sodom was destroyed, he and his two daughters survived. Rahab the harlot received strangers, and she and the others in her house were spared. The poor widow from Zarephath received a stranger, the prophet Elijah, and then the bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry; and when the son of the widow was seriously sick and there was no breath left in him, Elijah prayed to God and cured him. All of those who received strangers obtained God’s grace unawares. Just as the Lord Jesus said, ‘He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward’ (Matthew 10:41). These are the Lord’s teachings to us, and we should put them into practice. Auntie, is what I said true?” I replied, “Yes. We also frequently preach these at gatherings.” Then she said, “Auntie, if we merely talk about them without practicing them, we won’t gain the truth. Just like the Lord Jesus said, ‘Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, which built his house on a rock’ (Matthew 7:24). From these examples recorded in the Bible, we can see that if we receive strangers, not only won’t we be deceived, but instead we will gain God’s protection and blessings. The Bible also says, ‘Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares’ (Hebrews 13:2). If no one had received the strangers just as what the pastors and elders said, then how could the gospel of Jesus Christ be spread from the western countries to our country? Do we know those missionaries from the West? The Lord Jesus said, ‘Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature’ (Mark 16:15). Since those people went to all nations to preach the gospel, there must be lots of people who didn’t know them. Just like when the Lord Jesus’ disciples and Paul were spreading the Lord’s gospel everywhere, how could many people know them? So, is it in line with the Lord’s teachings that the pastors and elders said not to receive strangers? If we blindly believe those religious leaders’ words and refuse to receive strangers, aren’t we disobeying the Lord’s word and being foolish? Then how can we enter the kingdom of heaven if we just believe in the Lord but don’t obey His word? Isn’t it so, auntie?”

At her words, I thought: Right. People who believe in the Lord should obey the word of the Lord. Since the Lord Jesus never asked us not to receive strangers, is what the pastors and elders said wrong? Then I thought: No! The pastors and elders told us not to receive strangers in case we follow any other gospel. And what they said is for our good. Thinking of this, I said, “The Bible says, ‘I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ to another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ’ (Galatians 1:6-7). Thus the reason why we don’t receive strangers is that we fear to follow another gospel.” She smiled and said, “Auntie, a lot of people in the religious world don’t at all understand the verse of the Bible you mentioned. It is from an epistle that Paul wrote to the Galatian churches. But many people think it’s a teaching to the believers in the Lord in the last days. So they never have a proper attitude toward these words. At that time, Paul was preaching the gospel in another place, and he learned that many brothers and sisters in the Galatian churches had left the way of the Lord Jesus Christ and returned to the temple and continued to worship Jehovah and keep the laws. Paul was concerned about the churches, but he couldn’t go back to the Galatian churches immediately. So he wrote this epistle to exhort and remind the brothers and sisters in the churches. Just like he said, ‘O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth, crucified among you?’ (Galatians 3:1). The leaders, chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees of Judaism disturbed and deceived the Galatians, and asked them to deny the word of Jesus Christ. So Paul wrote an epistle, saying, ‘I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ to another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.’ In that age, there were two groups of people preaching the gospel. One preached the old way of God, the gospel of believing in Jehovah God and keeping the law; the other preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, there were some who troubled the Galatians, trying to pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ, and make them go back to keep the law. So Paul said in the epistle, ‘… preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed’” (Galatians 1:8).

After her fellowship, I felt brightened in my heart: So, this is what happened. How do the pastors and elders not know that? Since we all believe in the Lord, how could she know so much? And where does she get these? So I asked quizzically, “Sister Zhang, you are right. But how do you know all of these? The book in your hand is…” “Auntie, how could man know these things? I learned all of them from this book. This book is particularly different from any other book in the world, because the words in it are expressed by the second incarnate God Himself. It explains everything that man doesn’t understand and all the mysteries in the Bible, including what you don’t understand.” Her words reminded me of some believers who love the Lord in other churches. They had believed in the Lord for many years, yet easily accepted the Eastern Lightning, and no one could bring them back. It seemed that the Eastern Lightning really had the truth. Therefore, I received the book.

Then she fellowshiped a lot with me, such as the truth of the three stages of God’s work, the prophecies about the “Eastern Lightning,” and so on. I thought: What this young sister said is well-founded and illuminating, and I enjoyed it and learnt from it so much. I’m also a preacher, yet why do I not understand these? Before leaving, she left several tapes of the recitals of Almighty God’s words to me. I turned on the player from which a pleasing sound came, “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. … 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.” Hearing this, I felt both joy and sorrow with tears in my eyes, thinking: These words with authority can only be expressed by God Himself. The Lord Jesus also said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me’ (John 14:6). This is indeed God’s voice. At that time, the scene of my rejecting the brothers and sisters who came to preach the gospel to me time after time rose before my eyes. I was very distressed: How foolish and ignorant I am! During my years of belief, I have listened to what the pastors and elders said more than the Lord’s word, so that I didn’t dare to receive any stranger who preached the Eastern Lightning. Besides, not only did I not seek or investigate the true way, but I hindered my brothers and sisters doing that, thinking that this was devotion to the Lord. Never did I think that I was in opposition to God. However, God didn’t give up on me because of that, and instead He arranged for a sister to preach the gospel to me once more, giving me another opportunity to repent. When I received the sister, a stranger, God blessed me, and so I received the Lord and welcomed His return unawares. I thank God for His salvation of me, and I am willing to cooperate with Him to bring my brothers and sisters before Him to comfort His heart.

Not long after, I began to live the church life. Having meetings and performing my duty with my brothers and sisters, I was filled with joy. Thank God for His guidance. Later, I cooperated with some brothers and sisters and brought those who truly believe in the Lord in my former church before God. All the glory be to Almighty God!

Read more: The brief introduction of the Church of Almighty God

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The Church of Almighty God | The Discernment of the Wicked Servants Will Keep You from Being Deceived

Every true believer in God is expectantly waiting for the return of the Savior Jesus. But faced with the confusion and the varied statements in the church, many of the brothers and sisters who truly love the Lord are in a tight corner and at a loss what course to take.

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Could you tell us what the difference is between believing in Jesus and believing in God?

Jesus prays on the mountain

Could you tell us what the difference is between believing in Jesus and believing in God?

In the beginning, God’s original intention in creating men is that men can believe in him, obey him, worship him, live in the light, and enjoy his riches on earth. But after being tempted by satan, men fell and lived under satan’s authority and in sufferings and darkness. God sorrowed over the falling of mankind created by himself, so he began the six-thousand-year management plan of saving mankind. In the whole management plan, God does three stages of works in three different ages according to the extent of mankind’s being corrupted, and in the end he will save men completely from satan’s authority and recover the likeness  of men created by God in the beginning. Almighty God says, “The work of saving mankind began only after mankind was corrupted, so the work of managing mankind also began only after mankind was corrupted. That is to say, the ‘management’ came into being because of the start of the work of salvation but not with the work of creating the world, and the management work came into being only after mankind had corrupt disposition. So, the work of managing mankind only includes three parts, not four stages or four ages. It is right to say it this way. By the end of the final age, the management work has completely ended. When the management work ends, it means that the work of saving all mankind has completely ended. Then mankind comes to the end of a stage. If there were not the work of saving all mankind, there would not be the management work or the three stages of works. Because mankind fell and badly needed to be saved, Jehovah ended the work of creating the world and started the work of the Age of the Law. Thus, the work of managing mankind started, that is, the work of saving mankind started. The inner meaning of ‘managing mankind’ is not to lead the men who had just been created (that is, who had not been corrupted) to live on earth, but to save the mankind who had been corrupted by satan, that is, to transform the mankind who had been corrupted. This is the inner meaning of ‘managing mankind.’” “God was incarnated the first time through the conception of the Holy Spirit. This had to do with the work he would do. The Age of the Grace began with the name of Jesus. When Jesus began to perform his ministry, the Holy Spirit began to testify the name of Jesus; the name of Jehovah was no longer mentioned, and the Holy Spirit did a new work mainly with the name of Jesus instead. The testimonies his believers bore were borne for Jesus Christ, and the works they did were also for Jesus Christ. The end of the Old Testament Age of the Law meant that the work done mainly with the name Jehovah ended. From then on, God’s name was no longer Jehovah but Jesus, and the Holy Spirit began to do the work mainly with the name Jesus.” “So, God has to take a different name in a different age, using his name to change the age and using his name to represent the age. For no name can fully represent God Godself and it can only represent God’s disposition typical of the age, and it is proper as long as it can represent his work. So, God can choose any name that suits his disposition to represent a whole age. Whether it was the age of Jehovah or the age of Jesus, God used his name to represent the age. The Age of the Grace has ended and the final age has come, and Jesus has come. How could he still be called Jesus? How could he come among men still in the image of Jesus?” “So when the final age, that is, the last age, comes, my name will still change. I will not be called Jehovah or Jesus, much less Messiah, but the powerful Almighty God Godself, with which name I will end the entire age. I was once called Jehovah and was also once called Messiah by people, and people also once called me the Savior Jesus out of love and esteem for me. Today, I am no longer Jehovah or Jesus whom people knew before but the God who has returned in the end time and who will end the age and the God Godself who arises in the ends of the earth, laden with all my disposition and full of authority, honor, and glory.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) Almighty God’s words tell us clearly that God didn’t simply do a stage of work but did three stages of works in his management plan. In other words, he worked with different names by three ages, that is, the Age of the Law, the Age of the Grace, and the Age of the Kingdom in the final age. In the end, he will save men from sins completely and bring them into a pleasant destination. In each age, God uses a fitting name to represent the work in this age. One’s believing in God is exactly believing in God’s name in this age. But as God’s work in each age is not everlasting, God’s name changes with the age. That is to say, when an age ends, the work God does with the name of that age will end accordingly. Then if one still holds on to God’s name in that age, he is not believing in God; only those who accept God’s work and God’s name in the new age are believing in God. For example, in the Age of the Law, the name Jehovah represented the work in the Age of the Law, and there was no God except Jehovah. Thus, one’s believing in God was believing in Jehovah, and the believers in Jehovah were the ones who believed in God. In the Age of the Grace, God’s name was Jesus, and the age in which God was called Jehovah ended. There was no Savior except Jesus. At that time, only if one believed in Jesus, he was believing in God; those who held on to the name of Jehovah yet didn’t believe in Jesus were not believing in God. In the Age of the Kingdom at the end time, God’s name is Almighty God, and the age in which God was called Jesus ended. Only those who accept Almighty God’s work and believe in Almighty God are truly believing in God and can be brought into the eternal destination by God. Thus, man’s believing in God is believing in Almighty God, and only those who believe in Almighty God are the ones who believe in God truly. The name of Jesus only represents the Age of the Grace but doesn’t represent the Age of the Law or the Age of the Kingdom, because Jesus only did the redemptive work but didn’t do the work of the Age of the Law or the work of the Age of the Kingdom. So, the saying that “believing in Jesus is believing in God and believing in God is believing in Jesus” is only applicable to the Age of the Grace, and it is correct to say so in the Age of the Grace. However, if we say “believing in Jesus is believing in God and believing in God is believing in Jesus” in any age other than the Age of the Grace, it will be wrong. This is because in the ages other than the Age of the Grace, God’s names are not Jesus, and God’s works are not the redemptive work. We should know that God’s work is continuously progressing forward, and that as God’s work is constantly deepening and advancing and continuously progresses forward, people grow in life, have their disposition transformed, and are eventually purified by God. Only if we closely keep up with the pace of God’s work can we be completely saved by God.

When Almighty God began to do the work of the Age of the Kingdom, it means that the work God did mainly with the name Jesus ended. From then on, God was no longer called Jesus but called Almighty God. This is just as when Jesus began to do the work of the Age of the Grace, the work of the Age of the Law God did mainly with the name Jehovah ended, and from then on people should believe in Jesus and keep Jesus’ way. If people didn’t believe in Jesus or obey Jesus’ teachings but still believed in Jehovah and kept the law, they were not believing in God but were resisting God, and they would be cursed by God. (cf. Galatians 3:10; 5:4) Since we believe in God, we should keep up with God’s footsteps, accept God’s work and word of the new age, believe in whatever name God takes, and accept whatever work God does; otherwise, we are not believing in God, but instead, we will be cast away and eliminated by God’s work. Almighty God admonishes us, “Those who cannot closely follow God’s footsteps will not be able to have such kind of life. They all will fall into darkness, weeping and gnashing their teeth. They all are ones who believe in God but do not follow God and ones who believe in God but do not obey any of God’s work. Since one believes in God, he should closely follow God’s every footstep and should ‘follow the Lamb wherever he goes.’ Only such a person is one who truly seeks the true way and one who knows the work of the Holy Spirit. Those who rigidly observe letters and doctrines are all the ones eliminated by the work of the Holy Spirit. In each age God will carry out a new work, and in each age he will make a new start among men. If one only holds on to such truths as, ‘Jehovah is God’ or ‘Jesus is Christ,’ which are only applicable in one age, he will never be able to keep up with the work of the Holy Spirit and will never receive the work of the Holy Spirit. No matter what work God does, if one follows it without any doubt and follows it closely, then how could he be eliminated by the Holy Spirit?” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) From Almighty God’s words, we understand that it’s really very important whether we can follow God’s footsteps in believing in God. This is a matter concerning our life and death! Today, if we still hold on to Jesus’ name and the Lord Jesus’ work in the Age of the Grace but  reject God’s work and word of the new age, then we not only cannot be considered as believers in God but will be condemned by Almighty God of today.

From the above fellowship, we can see that there is a difference between believing in Jesus and believing in God. “Jesus” was only God’s name in the Age of the Grace. That is to say, in the Age of the Grace, it was right for us to say “believing in Jesus is believing in God and believing in God is believing in Jesus.” But today, the Age of the Grace has ended, the Age of the Kingdom has arrived, and God has done a new work and taken a new name, “Almighty God.” At this time, if we still stick to Jesus’ name, it cannot be called “believing in God.” Only believing in Almighty God and accepting Almighty God’s work is believing in God. If we refuse to accept God’s new work or the new name God takes, Almighty God, but stick to the work and the name of Jesus, we will be condemned by God. As the work of God’s saving mankind cannot be completed in one stage, man should follow wherever God’s work leads. God takes different names and does different works in different ages. When an old age ends, there will be a new age to replace it. If we still stick to the name “Jesus” in the Age of the Kingdom at the end time, saying that “believing in Jesus is believing in God and believing in God is believing in Jesus,” it will be too erroneous, too conservative, and not after God’s heart. Since God is always leading all mankind to keep going forward, man should closely follow the pace of God’s working and follow God’s footsteps. Only by believing in God this way can we be after God’s heart and eventually be saved by God.

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

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