Praise God, almighty and wise, He has defeated Satan.
Praise God, His righteous disposition has been completely revealed.
All come to praise Almighty God, the lovely and practical God.
We praise God, humble and hidden, He is so lovely!
Praise You, Almighty God (praise God)! All come to praise You (praise You)!
Showing posts with label Lord Jesus Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lord Jesus Christ. Show all posts
XX. One Must Fellowship Clearly What Is Rapture and the True Meaning of Being Raised Up Before the Throne of God
2. What is true rapture?
Bible Verses for Reference:
“And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” (Mat 25:6).
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20).
“Write, Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev 19:9).
Like hundreds of millions of other followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we abide by the laws and commandments of the Bible, enjoy the abundant grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and gather together, pray, praise, and serve in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ—and all this we do under the care and protection of the Lord. We are often weak, and often strong. We believe that all of our actions are in accordance with the teachings of the Lord. It goes without saying, then, that we also believe ourselves to walk the path of obedience to the will of the Father in heaven. We long for the return of the Lord Jesus, for the glorious arrival of the Lord Jesus, for the end of our life on earth, for the appearance of the kingdom, and for everything as it was foretold in the Book of Revelation: The Lord arrives, and brings disaster, and rewards the good and punishes the wicked, and takes all those who follow Him and welcome His return into the air to meet Him. Every time we think of this, we can’t help but be overcome with emotion. We are thankful that we were born in the last days and are lucky enough to witness the coming of the Lord. Though we have suffered persecution, it is in return for “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”; what a blessing that is! All of this longing and the grace bestowed by the Lord make us often sober unto prayer, and bring us together more often. Maybe next year, maybe tomorrow, or maybe even sooner when man does not expect it, the Lord shall suddenly arrive, and shall appear among a group of people who have been attentively waiting for Him. We are all contending with each other, none wanting to fall behind, in order to be the first group to behold the appearance of the Lord, to become one of those who shall be raptured. We have given everything, regardless of the cost, for the coming of this day. Some have given up their jobs, some have abandoned their families, some have renounced marriage, and some have even donated all of their savings. What selfless devotion! Such sincerity and loyalty must be beyond even the saints of ages past! As the Lord bestows grace upon whomever He wishes, and has mercy on whomever He wishes, our devotion and spending, we believe, have already been beheld by His eyes. So, too, have our heartfelt prayers already reached His ears, and we trust that the Lord will reward us for our devotion. Moreover, God was graceful toward us before He created the world, and none shall take away God’s blessings and promises to us. We are all planning for the future, and take it for granted that our devotion and spending are bargaining chips or stock for our rapture into the air to meet the Lord. What’s more, without the slightest hesitation, we place ourselves on the future throne, presiding over all nations and all peoples, or ruling as kings. All this we take as a given, as something to be expected.
We disdain all those who are against the Lord Jesus; in the end, they will all be annihilated. Who told them not to believe that the Lord Jesus is the Savior? Of course, there are times when we learn from the Lord Jesus and are compassionate toward the world, for they do not understand, and we should be tolerant and forgiving of them. Everything that we do is in accordance with the words of the Bible, for everything that does not conform to the Bible is heresy, and an evil cult. Such belief is deeply embedded in each of our minds. Our Lord is in the Bible, and if we do not depart from the Bible we shall not depart from the Lord; if we abide by this principle, then we shall be saved. We spur each other on, and support each other, and every time we gather together we hope that everything we say and do is in accordance with the will of the Lord, and can be accepted by the Lord. Despite the severe hostility of our environment, our hearts are filled with joy. When we think of the blessings that are within such easy reach, is there nothing we cannot forsake? Is there nothing we cannot bear to part with? All of this is implicit, and all of this is looked upon by the eyes of God. We, the handful of the needy who have been lifted from the dunghill, are the same as all ordinary followers of the Lord Jesus: We dream of rapture, and of being blessed, and of ruling all the nations. Our corruption is laid bare in the eyes of God, and our desires and greed are condemned in the eyes of God. Yet all of this happens so unremarkably, so logically, and none of us wonder whether our longing is right, much less do any of us doubt the accuracy of all that we hold to. Who can know God’s will? We do not know to seek, or explore, or even concern ourselves with the path that man walks. For we only care about whether we can be raptured, whether we can be blessed, whether there is a place for us in the kingdom of heaven, and whether we shall have a share of the water of the river of life and the fruit of the tree of life. Do we not believe in the Lord, and are we not followers of the Lord, for the sake of gaining these things? Our sins have been forgiven, we have repented, we have drunk the bitter cup of wine, and we have put the cross upon our back. Who can say that the price we have paid will not be accepted by the Lord? Who can say that we have not prepared enough oil? We don’t want to be those foolish virgins, or one of those who are forsaken. Moreover, we pray often, and ask the Lord to keep us from being deceived by false Christs, for it is said in the Bible that “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” (Matthew 24:23-24). We have all committed these verses of the Bible to memory, we know them back to front, and we see them as precious treasure, as life, and as the credentials for our rapture and salvation …
For thousands of years, the living have passed away, taking their longings and dreams with them, and no one truly knows whether they have gone to the kingdom of heaven. The dead return, and they have forgotten all the stories that once occurred, and still follow the teachings and the paths of the forefathers. And so, as the years pass and the days go by, no one knows whether our Lord Jesus, our God, truly accepts all that we do. We simply look forward to an outcome and speculate about all that will happen. Yet God has kept His silence throughout, and has never appeared to us, or spoken to us. And so we willfully judge God’s will and disposition according to the Bible and the signs. We have become accustomed to the silence of God; we have become accustomed to measuring the rights and wrongs of our behavior using our own way of thinking; we have become accustomed to using our knowledge, conceptions, and moral ethics to replace God’s demands of us; we have become accustomed to enjoying the grace of God; we have become accustomed to God providing assistance whenever we need it; we have become accustomed to holding out our hands to God for all things, and to ordering God about; we have also become accustomed to following doctrine, not paying attention to how the Holy Spirit leads us; moreover, we have become accustomed to days in which we are our own master. We believe in a God such as this, whom we have never met. Questions such as what His disposition is like, what His possessions and being are, what His image is like, whether or not we will know Him when He comes, and so on—none of these are important. What’s important is that He is in our hearts, that we all await Him, and that we are able to imagine what He is like. We appreciate our faith, and treasure our spirituality. We consider everything as dung, and tread all things underfoot. Because we are the followers of the glorious Lord, no matter how long and arduous the journey, no matter what hardships and dangers befall us, nothing can halt our footsteps as we follow the Lord. “A pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeded out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. On either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bore twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:1-5). Every time we sing these words, our hearts brim with surpassing joy and satisfaction, and tears flow from our eyes. Thanks be to the Lord for choosing us, thanks be to the Lord for His grace. He has given us a hundredfold now in this time, has given us eternal life in the world to come, and if He asked us to die now, we would do so without the slightest complaint. Lord! Please come soon! Do not delay a minute longer, for we desperately yearn for You, and have forsaken everything for You.
God is silent, and has never appeared to us, yet His work has never stopped. He looks upon all lands, and commands all things, and beholds all the words and deeds of man. His management is conducted in steps and according to His plan. It proceeds silently, without dramatic effect, yet His footsteps advance ever closer to mankind, and His judgment seat is deployed in the universe at the speed of lightning, immediately followed by the descent of His throne among us. What a majestic scene that is, what a stately and solemn tableau. Like a dove, and like a roaring lion, the Spirit arrives among us all. He is wise, He is righteous and majestic, He quietly arrives among us possessed of authority and filled with love and compassion. No one is aware of His arrival, no one welcomes His arrival, and, moreover, no one knows all that He will do. Man’s life remains unchanged; his heart is no different, and the days go by as usual. God lives among us like an ordinary person, as a most insignificant follower and an ordinary believer. He has His own pursuits, His own goals, and, moreover, He has divinity not possessed by ordinary men. No one has noticed the existence of His divinity, and no one has perceived the difference between His substance and that of man. We live together with Him, unconstrained and unafraid, for we see Him as nothing more than an insignificant believer. He watches our every move, and all of our thoughts and ideas are laid bare before Him. No one takes an interest in His existence, no one has any imagination of His function, and, moreover, no one has any suspicion about who He is. We merely continue our pursuits, as if He has nothing to do with us …
By chance, the Holy Spirit expresses a passage of words “through” Him, and though it feels very unexpected, we recognize that this is the utterance of God, and we readily accept it from God. That is because, regardless of who expresses these words, as long as they come from the Holy Spirit we should accept them, and cannot deny them. The next utterance could be through me, it could be through you, or it could be through him. Regardless of who it is, all is the grace of God. Yet no matter who the person is, we should not worship them, for regardless of anything else, they cannot possibly be God; we can by no means choose an ordinary person such as this to be our God. Our God is so great and honorable; how could He be represented by someone so insignificant? What’s more, we are all awaiting the arrival of God to take us back to the kingdom of heaven, and so how could someone so insignificant be qualified for such an important and arduous task? If the Lord comes again, it must be upon a white cloud, visible to all. How glorious that will be! How could He quietly hide among an ordinary group of people?
And yet it is this ordinary person hidden among people who is doing the new work of saving us. He does not clarify anything for us, nor does He tell us why He has come. He merely does the work He intends to do in steps, and according to His plan. His words and utterances become ever more frequent. From consoling, exhorting, reminding, and warning, to reproaching and disciplining; from a tone that is gentle and kind, to words that are fierce and majestic—they all instill both compassion and trepidation in man. Everything that He says hits home at the secrets hidden deep within us, His words sting our hearts, sting our spirits, and leave us ashamed and humiliated. We begin to wonder whether the God in this person’s heart really loves us, and what exactly He intends to do. Perhaps we can only be raptured after enduring such pain? In our heads we are calculating … about the destination to come, and about our future fate. Still none of us believes that God has assumed flesh and works among us. Even though He has been with us for so long, even though He has already spoken so many words face to face with us, we are still unwilling to accept someone so ordinary as the God of our future, much less are we willing to entrust control of our future and fate to someone so insignificant. From Him we enjoy an unending supply of living water, and thanks to Him we live face-to-face with God. We are only thankful for the grace of the Lord Jesus in heaven, and have never paid any attention to the feelings of this ordinary person who is possessed of divinity. He still does His work humbly hidden in the flesh, expressing His heart’s voice, seemingly insensible to mankind’s rejection of Him, apparently eternally forgiving of man’s childishness and ignorance, and forever tolerant of man’s irreverence toward Him.
Unbeknownst to us, this insignificant man has led us into step after step of God’s work. We undergo countless trials, are subjected to innumerable chastenings, and tested by death. We learn of God’s righteous and majestic disposition, enjoy, too, His love and compassion, come to appreciate God’s great power and wisdom, witness the loveliness of God, and behold God’s eager desire to save man. In the words of this ordinary person, we come to know the disposition and substance of God, come to understand God’s will, come to know the nature and substance of man, and see the way of salvation and perfection. His words cause us to die, and cause us to be reborn; His words bring us comfort, yet also leave us wracked with guilt and a sense of indebtedness; His words bring us joy and peace, but also great pain. Sometimes we are as lambs to the slaughter in His hands; sometimes we are like the apple of His eye, and enjoy His love and affection; sometimes we are like His enemy, turned to ashes by His wrath in His eyes. We are the mankind saved by Him, we are the maggots in His eyes, and we are the lost lambs that He thinks of finding day and night. He is merciful toward us, He despises us, He raises us up, He comforts and exhorts us, He guides us, He enlightens us, He chastens and disciplines us, and He even curses us. He worries for us night and day, He protects and cares for us night and day, He never leaves our side, and He devotes all His care to us and pays any price for us. Among the words of this small and ordinary flesh, we have enjoyed the entirety of God, and beheld the destination that God has bestowed upon us. Yet despite this, vanity still stalks within our hearts, and we are still unwilling to actively accept a person such as this as our God. Though He has given us so much manna, so much to enjoy, none of this can usurp the Lord’s place in our hearts. We honor this person’s special identity and status only with great reluctance. If He does not speak up to make us acknowledge that He is God, then we will never take it upon ourselves to acknowledge Him as the God that is soon to arrive yet has been working among us for so long.
The utterance of God continues, and He employs various methods and perspectives to admonish us what to do and express His heart’s voice. His words carry life power, and show us the way we should walk, and allow us to understand what the truth is. We start to be drawn to His words, we begin to focus on the tone and manner of His speaking, and subconsciously begin to take an interest in the heart’s voice of this unremarkable person. He makes painstaking efforts for us, loses sleep and appetite for us, weeps for us, sighs for us, groans in sickness for us, suffers humiliation for the sake of our destination and salvation, and His heart bleeds and sheds tears for our numbness and rebelliousness. Such being and possessions of His are beyond an ordinary person, and cannot be possessed or attained by any of the corrupted. He has tolerance and patience possessed by no ordinary person, and His love is not possessed by any created being. No one apart from Him can know all of our thoughts, or have such a grasp of our nature and substance, or judge the rebelliousness and corruption of mankind, or speak to us and work among us like this on behalf of the God of heaven. No one except for Him can possess the authority, wisdom, and dignity of God; the disposition of God and what He has and is are issued forth, in their entirety, from Him. No one apart from Him can show us the way and bring us light. No one apart from Him can reveal the mysteries God has not disclosed from creation until today. No one apart from Him can save us from Satan’s bondage and our corrupt disposition. He represents God, and expresses the heart’s voice of God, the exhortations of God, and the words of judgment of God toward all mankind. He has begun a new age, a new era, and brought a new heaven and earth, new work, and He has brought us hope, and ended the life we led in vagueness, and allowed us to fully behold the path of salvation. He has conquered our whole being, and gained our hearts. From that moment onward, our minds become conscious, and our spirits seem to be revived: This ordinary, insignificant person, who lives among us and has long been rejected by us—is He not the Lord Jesus, who is ever in our thoughts, and whom we long for night and day? It is He! It’s really Him! He is our God! He is the truth, the way, and the life! He has allowed us to live again, to see the light, and has stopped our hearts from wandering. We have returned to the home of God, we have returned before His throne, we are face-to-face with Him, we have witnessed His countenance, and have seen the road ahead. At the time, our hearts have been completely conquered by Him; we no longer doubt who He is, and no longer oppose His work and word, and we fall down, completely, before Him. We wish for nothing except to follow the footprints of God for the rest of our lives, and to be made perfect by Him, and to repay His grace, and repay His love for us, and to obey His orchestrations and arrangements, and to cooperate with His work, and to do everything we can to complete what He entrusts to us.
Being conquered by God is like a martial arts contest.
Each of God’s words strikes at our mortal spot, and leaves us sorrowful and afraid. He reveals our notions, reveals our imaginations, and reveals our corrupt disposition. Through all that we say and do, and every one of our thoughts and ideas, our nature and substance are revealed by His words, leaving us humiliated and trembling with fear. He tells us of all of our actions, our aims and intentions, and even the corrupt disposition that we have never discovered, making us feel we are thoroughly exposed, and even more feel completely convinced. He judges us for our opposition to Him, chastises us for our blasphemy and condemnation of Him, and makes us feel that in His eyes we are worthless, and we are the living Satan. Our hopes are dashed, we no longer dare to make any unreasonable demands and attempts upon Him, and even our dreams vanish overnight. This is a fact that none of us can imagine, and which none of us can accept. For a moment, our minds become unbalanced, and we do not know how to continue on the road ahead, do not know how to continue in our beliefs. It seems like our faith has gone back to square one, and that we have never met and been acquainted with the Lord Jesus. Everything before our eyes perplexes us, and makes us feel as if we have been cast adrift. We are dismayed, we are disappointed, and deep in our hearts there is insuppressible anger and disgrace. We try to vent, try to find a way out, and, what’s more, we attempt to continue waiting for our Savior Jesus, and pour our hearts out to Him. Though there are times when we are neither haughty nor humble on the outside, in our hearts we are afflicted with a sense of loss like never before. Though sometimes we may seem unusually calm on the outside, inside we endure rolling seas of torment. His judgment and chastisement have stripped us of all our hopes and dreams, have left us without our extravagant desires, and unwilling to believe that He is our Savior and capable of saving us. His judgment and chastisement have opened up a deep gulf between us and Him and no one is even willing to cross. His judgment and chastisement are the first time that we suffer such a great setback and such great humiliation. His judgment and chastisement have allowed us to truly appreciate God’s honor and intolerance of man’s offense, compared to which we are so lowly and impure. His judgment and chastisement have made us realize for the first time how arrogant and pompous we are, and how man will never be the equal of God, or on a par with God. His judgment and chastisement have made us yearn to no longer live in such a corrupt disposition, and have made us long to rid ourselves of such nature and substance as soon as possible, and no longer be detested by Him and disgusting to Him. His judgment and chastisement have made us happy to obey His words, and no longer willing to rebel against His orchestrations and arrangements. His judgment and chastisement have once more given us the desire to seek life, and have made us happy to accept Him as our Savior…. We have walked out of the work of conquest, stepped out of hell, stepped out of the valley of the shadow of death…. Almighty God has gained us, this group of people! He has triumphed over Satan, and defeated all of His enemies!
We are just such an ordinary group of people possessed of corrupt satanic disposition, we are the ones predestined by God before the ages, and we are the needy whom God has lifted from the dunghill. We once rejected and condemned God, yet now we have been conquered by Him. We have received life and have received the way of eternal life from God. No matter where we are on earth, despite persecution and tribulation, we cannot be apart from the salvation by Almighty God. For He is our Creator, and our only redemption!
The love of God extends forth like the water of a spring, and is given to you, and to me, and to him, and to all those who truly seek the truth and await the appearance of God.
Just as the moon always follows the sun, the work of God never ceases, and is carried out upon you, upon me, upon him, and upon all those who follow the footprints of God and accept the judgment and chastisement of God.
I am a pastor. I have preached and worked for the Lord for years, but a puzzle constantly remained in my heart: Why did the Lord Jesus come to work among man in the image of an ordinary person? Many people, just because of His ordinary appearance, denied that He is God Himself, and regarded Him as an ordinary person. Especially the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees not only didn’t treat the Lord Jesus as God, but judged Him as the son of a poor carpenter and smeared Him, by saying that He healed the sick and cast out demons by the prince of the devils. They did their utmost to deny that the Lord Jesus is God Himself. I couldn’t help but ask myself: How would I treat Him if I lived in that age? Would I measure and deny the Lord Jesus according to His ordinariness like them? Thinking of this, I felt hesitant. Then considering carefully: That today I can accept the Lord Jesus as my Savior is because His redemptive work has been accomplished and His holy name has been widely testified. If I were born in the time that the Lord Jesus came to carry out His work, I would have probably resisted Him due to His ordinary appearance like the Pharisees at that time. What puzzled me was: God is so supreme, so why did He take such an ordinary image to work among man? If He was born into an imperial family, with an exalted image and a great man’s demeanor, then wouldn’t He be easy for people to accept? This question continued to puzzle me for a long time.
Hard as I pondered on this question, I still couldn’t understand. I had searched the Bible many times, and also consulted many books. Through reading verses, seeking and praying, I knew it was meaningful that the Lord Jesus worked among mankind in an ordinary image. I saw the Bible recorded that the three Magi imagined that the Messiah would be born in the royal palace, while they were unable to find the newborn Lord Jesus there. Instead the Lord Jesus was born in a manger, came from a carpenter’s family in Bethlehem of Judah, and wore a common person’s appearance. God is so lofty but assumes the form of a common human. It can be seen that the substance of God is humble and hidden. He does not stand in His position and never exhibits Himself to let others worship Him. But we are quite vain. We only care about people’s external appearances and admire great figures, but don’t pay attention to knowing God’s substance or the aspect of His beauty and goodness. Just think: If the Lord Jesus was born in a royal palace, as people thought, with a lofty and great image, what would everyone do? Those Jewish people, scribes and Pharisees who resisted God wouldn’t do so because of His ordinary image. On the contrary, they would definitely follow Him. Then how could their substance of hypocrisy and resistance to God be revealed? While those lowly people might deem that God was unreachable because of His great image and high status. Then it wouldn’t be easy for those common people to approach God or receive His salvation.
At this point, I realized that there is God’s wisdom hidden behind the Lord Jesus working among man in an ordinary image. Because God looks upon the entire earth, He knows that a large amount of people believe in Him, but only a small group of them truly believe in Him and long for the truth. Thus God appears in the form of an ordinary man. In this way, all the people who truly believe in God and thirst for the truth can be chosen and saved. The Lord Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Those disciples and people who truly believed in God and thirsted for the truth, such as Peter, John, Andrew, Nathanael and so on, recognized His voice and returned to the Lord on account of hearing His way. For those who didn’t truly believe in God or long for the truth, the Holy Spirit wouldn’t work in them. They were the ones who were eliminated by the work of the Lord Jesus, just like the earliest Pharisees. God worked in that way, which really revealed everyone. Because at each stage of His work, what He wants are people who can seek and long for the truth, and who can keep up with the work of the Holy Spirit. Those who neither seek the truth nor keep up with the work of the Holy Spirit are all eliminated. In this way, these two types of people—the good and the evil—can easily be separated, which is God’s wisdom.
After understanding these, I feel enlightened. The Lord Jesus Christ came to work in an ordinary image, which allows us to have a knowledge of His humble and hidden essence, brings us closer to God, lets us receive the provision and shepherding of the truth from His words, and moreover reveals those who don’t love truth but define God based on His appearance and are full of vague ideas about Him. We know no matter how God works, it contains His will and wisdom. After seeking and understanding this aspect of the truth, I must draw lessons from the Pharisees, and can’t judge whether the Lord Jesus Christ is God Himself by His appearance; instead I should learn from Peter and Nathanael, paying attention to distinguishing whether the Lord’s words are God’s voice. Only in this way will I not make the mistake of condemning and resisting God.
Many religious pastors and elders, because they have believed in God for many years, have always worked painstakingly hard for the Lord and have stayed watchful, waiting for the Lord's return, they believe that when the Lord comes He will certainly give them revelation. Does this view conform to the facts of God's work? Will God definitely give man revelation when He becomes flesh? Almighty God says, "Man neither studies the new work of God with care nor accepts it with humility; rather, man adopts an attitude of contempt, waiting for the revelations and guidance of God. Is this not the behavior of a man who rebels against and opposes God? How can such men gain the approval of God?" (The Word Appears in the Flesh).
Watch videos:
Storyline:
Lin Bo'en was an elder at a house church in China. During all his years as a believer, he felt honored to suffer for the Lord, and valued the knowledge and attainment of the Lord Jesus Christ above anything else in the world. One fateful day, he went out to preach and heard some shocking news: The Lord Jesus has returned in the flesh, and He is Christ of the last days—Almighty God! Lin Bo'en was puzzled. When the Lord returns, He is supposed to descend with the clouds, so why would He incarnate Himself and do His work in secret? What mysteries were hidden behind God's incarnation? If the Lord has truly returned, why haven't we been raptured? … An intense debate unfolds between Lin Bo'en and his co-workers and the preachers from the Church of Almighty God … Will they finally be able to understand that Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus, the appearance of God in the flesh?
Jesus’ Words to His Disciples After His Resurrection
(John 20:26-29) And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the middle, and said, Peace be to you.
Christ of the last days has been doing His work in mainland China for over 20 years, work which has shaken the various religious sects to their core. The most perplexing question for the religious community during this time has been: Most pastors and elders in the religious community have done their utmost to judge and attack the Eastern Lightning through various means such as spreading rumors about and defaming the Eastern Lightning. Furthermore, they have even sealed off their churches and even gone so far as colluding with the CCP government to arrest and persecute the Christians in the Church of Almighty God. But while under the frantic condemnation, resistance, and persecution by the CCP government and the religious world acting as two arms of Satan’s forces, why are there more and more believers from various denominations and sects accepting and following Almighty God? Why is it those who have good humanity and used to have sincere belief in the Lord are willing to follow Almighty God to the very end? Why do they continue to do so despite enduring endless condemnation, defamation, coercion, and persecution by the CCP government and the religious world? The CCP imprisons them and yet they don’t look back. How is it that the Eastern Lightning surges forward, unbeaten and unbroken by Satan’s forces, to bloom with new prosperity and growth day by day? How has it spread so far and wide to every corner of China to be accepted and followed by millions? Why has it also spread throughout the world to many different countries and regions?
In fact, religious people who are familiar with the Bible have overlooked a crucial truth, which is: Anything that comes from God will thrive and anything that comes from man will surely decay. Think about this for a moment: If the Eastern Lightning wasn’t the appearance and work of the one and only true God, would it have been able to break through the fortress of obstruction, resistance, and persecution put up by the religious world and the atheistic CCP government and spread so quickly? If it was not guided by the work of the Holy Spirit, would it have the authority and power to make all nations flow to this mountain and for all denominations to become one? If the Eastern Lightning wasn’t the appearance and work of God, would it have brought the truth that allows people to understand God? Would it have pointed the way to salvation? Would it have been able to judge and conquer the true believers of the various faiths, those good sheep and leading sheep, to submit and follow with resolute hearts? Those in the various religious sects had no way to expect that the Almighty God whom they are self-assured and bold enough to condemn, resist, and persecute is in fact the return of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for whom they had so anxiously and persistently waited.
The Book of Revelation records that only the Lamb is able to open the scroll and break the seven seals. Christ of the last days, Almighty God, has issued forth millions of words that not only reveal all mysteries of God’s 6,000-year management plan, reveal God’s purpose in His three stages of work to save humanity, as well as provide the background, behind-the-scenes information, and the substance behind each of the stages in His work, but moreover His words also unfold the judgment and cleansing work that is directed at mankind’s satanic nature and the truth of their corruption. In addition, His numerous words cover multiple subjects involving the inside story of the Bible, the mystery of God’s incarnation, God’s clear intentions and specific requirements for mankind, mankind’s process of development and mankind’s future destination, etc. These are not only a feast for mankind’s eyes so that they may broaden their horizons, but also allow people to understand God’s work, God’s disposition and essence. Moreover, His words allow us corrupt humans to attain a change in disposition and be purified. His words contain all the truths that we corrupt people need in order to be saved and perfected. The sheep of God hear His voice and the believers who humbly submit have been thoroughly conquered by God’s words as they seek and study the true way; they have truly and clearly seen that God’s real work and words are incomparable and cannot be substituted by any theories or knowledge wrought by mankind. His words and work verify to those who humbly submit that the incarnate Almighty God is precisely the Son of man returning in the last days and the appearance of the one true God. They see that the kingdom has descended to the realm of man and they also clearly observe that the three stages of work in the Age of Law, Age of Grace, and Age of Kingdom are the work of one God and that they are the work of God Himself, there is absolutely no doubt about it. Only if they are equipped with the truths issued forth from Almighty God and experience God’s work of the last days will they know God and enter the right track of faith in Him to achieve salvation. Therefore, they prostrate before God and acknowledge that He is their God and they return to Him and pledge their lives to Him. This is why there are more and more truly faithful people who no longer fear the unknown and follow the Eastern Lightning with unshakeable determination.
In fact, there is no “right” or “wrong” in God’s work, there is only “new” and “old” or “early” and “later” because the inherent principle behind God’s work is that it is always new and never old and He adheres to no regulations and there are no contradictions between His new and old work. Instead, they complement one another with each stage building upon the other; like links in a chain forged together. If we seek and study with a quiet heart, if we can understand the three stages of work in God’s entire 6,000-year management plan, then it’s easy to see that the work of Christ of the last days—Almighty God—has been built upon the foundation of God’s work done in the Age of Grace and it flows as one with the Lord Jesus’ work; it is not independent and not in any way separate. Moreover, we will understand why only Almighty God’s work of the last days can cleanse and change mankind, as well as completely allow mankind to break away the shackles of Satan’s dark influence to achieve God’s salvation.
Looking back on the later period of the Age of Law, mankind all knew what sin was, but in spite of themselves they all kept sinning constantly, and they were incapable of adhering to the laws and decrees. As mankind’s sins increased, their sacrifices became fewer and fewer and they fell into an inescapable trap of sin. Gradually, mankind lost its reverence for God and they went so far as sacrificing blind and lame livestock at the holy altar of Jehovah God. In this way, they faced death by the law and God’s curse. It was against this backdrop that for God to save man, a new stage of work was needed. This is because only God Himself—the Creator—could save the corrupted and depraved mankind. For this reason, God became flesh and appeared in the form of the Lord Jesus to begin the work of the Age of Grace. He took the sins of mankind upon Himself and was crucified on the cross to complete the work of redemption. The Lord Jesus taught His followers that they should forgive and be patient, love their neighbors as themselves, and to bear the cross to follow Him. He also taught people to break bread, drink wine, wash the feet of others and to cover their heads. He asked people to put more truth into practice and He elevated the requirements of mankind higher than they had been during the Age of Law. The Lord Jesus brought man a new age and a new direction to travel and He gave people a path to travel so that they could enjoy the ample grace of God and obtain His redemption. The work of the Lord Jesus in the Age of Grace concluded the Age of Law that had extended for over 2,000 years in a way that fulfilled the law. It is a new and higher work carried out on the foundation of Jehovah God’s work.
The Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh redeems all of mankind. If we believe in the Lord and are forgiven our sins, then we will be justified by faith and saved. Even though we have our sins forgiven, the root cause behind these sins, namely the satanic nature of us which resists and betrays God, has not been completely resolved. In this manner, even if God does forget our sins and doesn’t treat us based on our sins, nonetheless we live in the flesh and have no way to break the bonds and control of sin. We are merely stuck in a vicious cycle of constant sinning and confession and repentance and we have not escaped sin to become holy people. In the right circumstances, our corrupt satanic disposition will be exposed in spite of ourselves; which includes arrogance, greed, treachery, deceit, and our sins and offenses against the Lord that we cannot control, which is just as Paul says here: “for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not” (Rom 7:18). Clearly, “being saved” does not represent that we have been fully gained by God. In other words, with only the redemption that we received in the Age of Grace, we still cannot triumph over Satan’s influence to be gained by God because God did not engage in the work of casting off the corrupt satanic disposition that dwells in man in the Age of Grace. If we merely linger in the stage of work done in the Age of Grace and hold on to some simple and outdated methods and practices, even the passage of 1,000 years would produce no changes in us; we could not achieve holiness, and we also could not gain a greater understanding of God. We are merely stuck in a rut with no hope of ever maturing in our lives. We will gradually drift further and further away from God and finally end up in the clutches of Satan. So for corrupt mankind to be fully saved from Satan’s influence, God must personally perform another stage of work, one which is more deep and thoroughgoing, to save mankind. God supplies mankind with the words it needs for life so that mankind may: understand God’s work and His management; know God’s almightiness, wisdom, substance, disposition, and all that He has and is; know all truths; and be guided on the right path of life. Thus mankind’s old notions and old disposition will be changed, and mankind’s sinful nature will be thoroughly removed, which is to say, mankind will break free from the satanic philosophies and rules as well as the satanic poisons that dwell deep inside its nature. Mankind can then become humane and a possessor of the truth and thereby become someone who truly submits to God. Currently, all Almighty God’s work is exactly this stage of work where the thorough cleansing and salvation of man is occurring. Almighty God is not only giving more truths to humanity based on the foundation of the Lord Jesus’ work in the Age of Grace, but He is also proclaiming the commandments and administrative decrees for the Age of Kingdom. He has raised His requirements for mankind so that: Mankind is supposed to seek and understand the truth in God’s word; know God’s disposition and all that He has and is; and know mankind’s own satanic nature that disobeys and resists God. Mankind should practice the truth and live by God’s word under the precondition of understanding the truth so that mankind can attain the transformation of its disposition, regain a normal life where it worships God, become holy, and enter the wonderful destination that God has prepared for mankind.
The Bible contains prophecies about God’s salvation in the last days where the First Epistle of Peter chapter 1 verse 5 says, “Who are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” This piece of scripture clearly foretells: For we who follow the Lord Jesus, God has prepared salvation for us in the last days. So, what will this salvation in the last days actually be? The Bible says: “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17). “And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shines in his strength” (Rev 1:16). “And I saw another angel fly in the middle of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Rev 14:6-7). We can see from the scriptures that the everlasting gospel refers to God’s judgment work in the last days, where God uses words as sharp as swords to judge and cleanse man. This is exactly the judgment before the great white throne mentioned in the Book of Revelation, which is the work that shall decide the outcome of mankind and their destination. Almighty God says, “When it comes to the word ‘judgment,’ you will think of the words that Jehovah spoke to all the places and the words of rebuke that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees. Though these words are stern, they are not God’s judgment of man; these words are only those spoken by God within different environments, that is, different settings, and they are unlike the words spoken by Christ as He judges man in the last days. In the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, reveal the essence of man, and dissect his words and deeds. These words comprise various truths, such as man’s duty, how man should obey God, how man should be loyal to God, how man ought to live out the normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and disposition of God, and so on. These words are all focused on the essence of man and his corrupt disposition. In particular, those words that reveal how man spurns God are spoken in regard to how man is an embodiment of Satan and an enemy force against God. When God does the work of judgment, He does not simply make clear the nature of man with just a few words, but carries out revelation, dealing, and pruning over the long term. Such manner of revelation, dealing, and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words but with the truth that man does not possess at all. Only such manner of work is deemed judgment; only through such judgment can man be persuaded, be thoroughly convinced into submission to God, and gain true knowledge of God. What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of God and the truth about his rebelliousness. The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the will of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that could not be understood by man. It also allows man to recognize and know his corrupt substance and the roots of his corruption, as well as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by the work of judgment, for the substance of such work is actually the work of opening up the truth, way, and life of God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God” (“Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). We can understand from God’s words that: In the last days, God uses truth to do His judgment work so that mankind can better understand His will, have true knowledge of Him, and understand the source and substance of man’s corruption by Satan. Furthermore, the work of judgment also allows mankind to truly gain the truth, the way, and the life bestowed by Christ of the last days so that it may be completely gained by God and attain His salvation. This is the more thoroughgoing salvation that is built upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus’ redemption work and it is also the final stage of work in the 6,000-year management plan, which is to conquer and perfect man; this is the salvation that appears in the last days.
Brothers and sisters, despite mankind’s lack of understanding about the work God does, and despite much of mankind not understanding all that God does and not knowing His intentions and being evasive and reluctant toward God’s new work, nonetheless, the true followers of God do have a place for Him in their hearts. They set aside their own notions and seek and study the true way with a quiet heart and listen to God’s voice, thereby gaining His enlightenment and a genuine recognition of God’s voice. These true followers move from their notions to actual knowledge about the second incarnate God. These true believers move from resisting God to submitting to Him, they move from persecuting God to accepting Him, and they move from forsaking God to loving Him. This is akin to the past where the disciples and some Jewish common people recognized that the Lord Jesus is the One of heaven. Although they confronted a heavy blockade, obstruction, confinement, oppression and persecution by the religious community and the satanic regime, once they recognized the true way they were firmly convinced and knew no doubt and they followed God closely. Such is the formidable power of the work of the true God. Now, the gospel of the kingdom of Almighty God has been spreading at blazing speed throughout all of mainland China. Now it expands to every country and nation; are you truly unwilling to obtain the full truth that God bestows upon mankind and live in the light? Have you truly not understood the content and intent behind the Lord Jesus’ constant reminders for mankind in the last days to watch? Are you not worried about missing out on this opportunity for complete salvation from God? Are you not concerned about your heartbreaking regret? Could it be that you still don’t understand the reason behind the Eastern Lightning’s boundless and unstoppable progress? If you do understand, then what are you waiting for?
During the time that Peter spent with Jesus, he saw many lovable characteristics in Jesus, many aspects worthy of emulation, and many which supplied him. Although Peter saw the being of God in Jesus in many ways, and saw many lovable qualities, at first he did not know Jesus. Peter began following Jesus when he was 20 years old, and continued so for six years. During that time, he never came to know Jesus, but was willing to follow Him purely out of admiration for Him. When Jesus first called to him on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, He asked: “Simon, son of Jonah, will you follow Me?” Peter said: “I must follow he who is sent by the heavenly Father. I must acknowledge he who is chosen by the Holy Spirit. I will follow You.” At the time, Peter had heard tell of a man named Jesus, the greatest of the prophets, God’s beloved Son, and Peter was constantly hoping to find Him, hoping for a chance to see Him (because that is how he was then led by the Holy Spirit). Although he had never seen Him and had only heard rumors about Him, gradually a yearning and adoration for Jesus grew in his heart, and he often yearned to one day look upon Jesus. And how did Jesus call upon Peter? He too had heard tell of a man called Peter, and it was not that the Holy Spirit instructed Him: “Go to the Sea of Galilee, where there is one called Simon, son of Jonah.” Jesus heard someone say that there was one called Simon, son of Jonah, and that people had heard his sermon, that he too preached the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, and that the people who heard him were all moved to tears. After hearing this, Jesus followed that person, and made for the Sea of Galilee; when Peter accepted Jesus’ call, he followed Him.
During his time following Jesus, he had many opinions of Him and always judged Him from his own perspective. Although he had a certain degree of understanding of the Spirit, Peter was not very enlightened, hence his words when he said: “I must follow he who is sent by the heavenly Father. I must acknowledge he who is chosen by the Holy Spirit.” He did not understand the things Jesus did and received no enlightenment. After following Him for some time he grew interested in what He did and said, and in Jesus Himself. He came to feel that Jesus inspired both affection and respect; he liked to associate with Him and stay beside Him, and listening to Jesus’ words rendered him supply and help. Over the time he followed Jesus, Peter observed and took to heart everything about His life: His actions, words, movements, and expressions. He gained a deep understanding that Jesus was not like ordinary men. Although His human appearance was exceedingly ordinary, He was full of love, compassion, and tolerance for man. Everything He did or said was of great aid to others, and by His side Peter saw and learned things he had never seen or had before. He saw that although Jesus had neither a grand stature nor unusual humanity, He had a truly extraordinary and uncommon air about Him. Although Peter couldn’t fully explain it, he could see that Jesus acted different from everyone else, for He did things far different from that done by ordinary man. From his time in contact with Jesus, Peter also realized that His character was different from that of an ordinary man. He always acted steadily and never with haste, never exaggerated nor underplayed a subject, and conducted His life in a way that was both normal and admirable. In conversation, Jesus was elegant and graceful, open and cheerful yet serene, and never lost His dignity in the execution of His work. Peter saw that Jesus was sometimes taciturn, yet other times talked incessantly. He was sometimes so happy that He became agile and lively like a dove, and yet sometimes so sad that He did not talk at all, as if He were a weather-beaten mother. At times He was filled with anger, like a brave soldier charging off to kill enemies, and sometimes even like a roaring lion. Sometimes He laughed; other times He prayed and wept. No matter how Jesus acted, Peter grew to have boundless love and respect for Him. Jesus’ laughter filled him up with happiness, His sorrow plunged him into grief, His anger frightened him, while His mercy, forgiveness, and strictness made him come to truly love Jesus, developing a true reverence and longing for Him. Of course, Peter only gradually came to realize all of this once he had lived alongside Jesus for a few years.
Peter was a particularly sensible man, born with natural intelligence, yet he did a good many foolish things when following Jesus. At the very start, he had some notions about Jesus. He asked: “People say You are a prophet, so when You were eight and old enough to understand things, did You know You were God? Did You know You were conceived by the Holy Spirit?” Jesus replied: “No, I didn’t! Don’t I seem just like a very ordinary person to you? I am the same as anyone else. The person the Father sends is a regular person, not an extraordinary one. And though the work I do represents My heavenly Father, My image, My person, and My flesh cannot fully represent My heavenly Father, only one part of Him. Although I came from the Spirit, I am still a normal person, and My Father sent Me on earth as a regular person, not an extraordinary one.” Only when Peter heard this did he gain a slight understanding of Jesus. And it was only after he had gone through countless hours of Jesus’ work, of His teaching, His shepherding, and His sustaining, that he gained a much deeper understanding. In His 30th year, Jesus told Peter of His upcoming crucifixion, that He had come to do the work of crucifixion to redeem all mankind. He also told him that three days after the crucifixion, the Son of man would rise again, and once risen would appear to the people for 40 days. Peter was sad on hearing these words, but grew ever closer to Jesus as he took His words to heart.
After experiencing for some time, Peter came to realize that everything Jesus did was of the being of God, and he came to think that Jesus was exceptionally lovable. Only when he came to have this understanding did the Holy Spirit enlighten him from within. Then Jesus turned to His disciples and other followers and asked: “John, who do you say that I am?” John replied: “You are Moses.” He then turned to Luke: “And you, Luke, who do you say that I am?” Luke replied: “You are the greatest of the prophets.” He then asked a sister: “Who do you say that I am?” The sister replied: “You are the greatest of prophets who speaks many words from everlasting to everlasting. No one’s prophecies are as great as Yours, nor anyone’s wisdom more profound; You are a prophet.” Then Jesus turned to Peter and asked: “Peter, who do you say that I am?” Peter replied: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You come from heaven, You are not of the earth, You are not the same as God’s creations. We are on earth and You are here with us, but You are of heaven, You are not of the world, and You are not of the earth.” It was through his experience that the Holy Spirit enlightened him, which enabled him to come to this understanding. After this enlightenment, he admired everything Jesus had done even more, thought of Him as even more lovable, and was always in his heart reluctant to be parted with Jesus. So, the first time Jesus revealed Himself to Peter after He was crucified and resurrected Peter cried with exceptional happiness: “Lord! You are risen!” Then, weeping, he caught an extremely large fish, cooked it and served it to Jesus. Jesus smiled, but did not speak. Although Peter knew Jesus had been resurrected, he did not understand the mystery of it. When he gave Jesus the fish to eat, Jesus did not refuse and yet did not speak or sit down to eat, but instead suddenly vanished. This was an enormous shock to Peter, and only then did he understand that Jesus resurrected was different from the Jesus before. Once he realized this, Peter was grieved, but also gained comfort from knowing that the Lord had completed His task. He knew that Jesus had completed His task, that His time staying with man was over, and that man would have to walk his own path from then on. Jesus had once told him: “You too must drink from the bitter cup I have drunk from (this is what He said after the resurrection), you too must walk the path I have walked, you must lay down your life for Me.” Unlike now, work at that time did not take the form of a face-to-face conversation. During the Age of Grace, the work of the Holy Spirit was very hidden, and Peter suffered through much hardship, and would sometimes reach the point of exclaiming: “God! I have nothing but this life. Although it is not worth much to You, I wish to dedicate it to You. Although men are unworthy to love You, and their love and hearts are worthless, I believe You can see the intent in men’s hearts. And even though the bodies of men do not meet with Your acceptance, I wish for You to accept my heart.” Upon uttering these prayers he would receive encouragement, especially when he prayed: “I’ll dedicate my heart wholly to God. Even though I’m unable to do anything for God, I’ll loyally satisfy God and devote myself to Him wholeheartedly. I believe God must look upon my heart.” He said: “I ask for nothing in my life but that my thoughts of love for God and my heart’s desire be accepted by God. I was with the Lord Jesus for so long, yet I never loved Him, this is my biggest debt. Even though I stayed with Him, I did not know Him, and even spoke irreverent words behind His back. Thinking of these things makes me feel even more indebted to the Lord Jesus.” He always prayed in this manner. He said: “I am less than dust. I can do nothing but dedicate this loyal heart to God.”
There was a climax in Peter’s experiences, when his body was almost totally broken, but Jesus gave him encouragement within. And He appeared to him once. When Peter was in tremendous suffering and his heart was broken, Jesus instructed him: “You were with Me on earth, and I was here with you. And though before we were together in heaven, it is, after all, of the spiritual world. Now I am returned to the spiritual world, and you are on earth. For I am not of earth, and though you too are not of earth, you have to fulfill your function on earth. As you are a servant, you must do your duty to the best of your ability.” Peter was comforted, having heard he could return to God’s side. When Peter was in such agony that he was almost bedridden, he felt remorse to the point of saying: “I am so corrupted, I am not able to satisfy God.” Jesus appeared to him and said: “Peter, could it be that you have forgotten the resolution you once made before Me? Have you really forgotten everything I said? Have you forgotten the resolution you made to Me?” Peter saw that it was Jesus and rose from the bed, and Jesus comforted him: “I am not of the earth, I have already told you—this you must understand, but have you forgotten something else I told you? ‘You are also not of the earth, not of the world.’ Right now there is work that you need to do, you cannot be grieved like this, you cannot suffer like this. Although men and God cannot coexist in the same world, I have My work and you have yours, and one day when your work is finished, we will be together in one realm, and I will lead you to be with Me forever.” Peter was comforted and reassured after hearing these words. He knew that this suffering was something he had to endure and experience, and was inspired from then on. Jesus specially appeared to him at every key moment, giving him special enlightenment and guidance, and doing much work in him. And what did Peter regret the most? Jesus asked Peter another question (although it is not recorded in the Bible in this way) not long after Peter had said “You are the Son of the living God,” and that question was: “Peter! Have you ever loved Me?” Peter understood what He meant, and said: “Lord! I once loved the Father in heaven, but I admit I have never loved You.” Jesus then said: “If people do not love the Father in heaven, how can they love the Son on earth? And if people do not love the Son sent by God the Father, how can they love the Father in heaven? If people truly love the Son on earth, then they truly love the Father in heaven.” When Peter heard these words he realized his lack. He always felt remorse to the point of tears over his words “I once loved the Father in heaven, but I have never loved You.” After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus he felt even more remorse and grief over them. Recalling his past work and his present stature, he would often come to Jesus in prayer, always feeling regret and a debt due to his not having satisfied God’s desire, and not measuring up to God’s standards. These issues became his biggest burden. He said: “One day I will dedicate to You everything I have and everything I am, I will give You whatever is most valuable.” He said: “God! I have only one faith and only one love. My life is worth nothing, and my body is worth nothing. I have only one faith and only one love. I have faith in You in my mind and love for You in my heart; these two things only have I to give to You, and nothing else.” Peter was greatly encouraged by Jesus’ words, because before Jesus was crucified He had said to him: “I am not of this world, and you too are not of this world.” Later, when Peter reached a point of great pain, Jesus reminded him: “Peter, have you forgotten? I am not of the world, and it was only for My work that I departed earlier. You too are not of the world, have you forgotten? I have told you twice, do you not remember?” Peter heard Him and said: “I have not forgotten!” Jesus then said: “You once spent a happy time gathered with Me in heaven and a period of time by My side. You miss Me, and I miss you. Although the creatures are not worth mentioning in My eyes, how can I not love one who is innocent and lovable? Have you forgotten My promise? You must accept My commission on earth; you must fulfill the task that I entrusted you with. One day I will certainly lead you to be by My side.” After hearing this, Peter became even more encouraged, and received even greater inspiration, such that when he was on the cross, he was able to say: “God! I cannot love You enough! Even if You ask me to die, I still cannot love You enough! Wherever You send my soul, whether or not You fulfill Your promises, whatever You do afterward, I love You and believe in You.” What he held onto was his faith, and true love.
One evening, several of the disciples, including Peter, were on the fishing boat. They were all together with Jesus, and Peter asked Jesus a very naive question: “Lord! There is a question I have had for a very long time that I would like to ask You.” Jesus replied: “Then please ask!” Peter then asked: “Was the work done during the Age of Law Your doing?” Jesus smiled, as if saying: “This child, how naive he is!” He then continued with purpose: “It was not Mine, it was Jehovah and Moses’ doing.” Peter heard this and exclaimed: “Oh! So it was not Your doing.” Once Peter had said this, Jesus spoke no more. Peter thought to himself: “It was not You that did it, so no wonder You have come to destroy the law, as it was not Your doing.” His heart was also eased. Afterward, Jesus realized that Peter was quite naive, but because he didn’t have any insight at the time, Jesus didn’t say anything else or directly refute him. Once Jesus gave a sermon in a synagogue, and many people were present, including Peter, to hear Him preach. Jesus said: “The One that will come from everlasting to everlasting will do the work of redemption during the Age of Grace, to redeem all of mankind from sin, but He will not be constrained by any regulation in leading man out of sin. He will walk out of the law and enter into the Age of Grace. He will redeem all of mankind. He will stride forward from the Age of Law into that of Grace, yet none know Him, He who came from Jehovah. The work Moses did was granted by Jehovah; Moses drafted the law because of the work Jehovah had done.” Once this was said, He continued: “Those who abolish the commandments of the Age of Grace during the Age of Grace will meet with calamity. They must stand in the temple and receive God’s destruction, and fire shall come upon them.” When Peter had finished listening to this, he had somewhat of a reaction. During a period of his experience, Jesus shepherded and sustained Peter, speaking heart-to-heart with him, which gave Peter a slightly better understanding of Jesus. As Peter thought of the preaching of Jesus that day, then the question he had asked Him when they were on the fishing boat and the response Jesus had given, as well as how He had laughed, it was then that he understood it all. Afterward, the Holy Spirit enlightened Peter, and only through this did he understand that Jesus was the Son of the living God. Peter’s understanding came from the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, but there was a process to his understanding. It was through asking questions, hearing Jesus preach, then through receiving Jesus’ special fellowship and His special shepherding, that Peter came to realize Jesus was the Son of the living God. It was not achieved overnight; it was a process, and this became a help to him in his later experiences. Why did Jesus not do the work of perfection in other people, but just in Peter? Because only Peter understood that Jesus was the Son of the living God, and none other knew this. Though there were many disciples who knew much in their time following Him, their knowledge was superficial. This is why Peter was chosen by Jesus as the exemplar of being made perfect. What Jesus said to Peter then is what He says to people today, whose knowledge and life entry must reach that of Peter. It is in accordance with this requirement and this path that God will perfect everyone. Why are people today required to have real faith and true love? What Peter experienced you too must experience, what fruits Peter gained from his experiences must too be manifested in you, and the pain that Peter suffered, you too must surely undergo. The path you walk is the same that Peter walked. The pain you suffer is the pain that Peter suffered. When you receive glory and when you live out a real life, then you live out the image of Peter. The path is the same, and in accordance with this is one made perfect. However, the caliber of the people of today is somewhat lacking in comparison to that of Peter, for times have changed, and so too has the extent of corruption. And also for Judea was a long-standing kingdom with an ancient culture. So you must try to improve your caliber.
Peter was a very sensible person, keen in everything he did, and also extremely honest. He suffered many setbacks. He came into contact with society at the age of 14, attending school while also often going to the synagogue. He had a lot of enthusiasm and was always willing to attend meetings. At the time, Jesus had not yet officially started His work; this was just the beginning of the Age of Grace. Peter started coming into contact with religious figures when he was 14; by the time he was 18 he was in contact with the religious elite, but after he had seen the religious chaos behind the scenes, he left. Seeing how crafty, cunning, and wrought by strife these people were, he became extremely disgusted (this was how the Holy Spirit worked at the time, to make him perfect. He especially moved him and did some special work in him), and so he withdrew from the synagogue at the age of 18. His parents persecuted him and would not let him believe (they belonged to the devil, and had no faith). Finally, Peter left home and traveled at will, fishing and preaching for two years, during which time he also led a fair few people. Now you should be able to clearly see the path that was taken by Peter. If you have seen this clearly, then you will have determined the work being done today, so you would not complain or be passive, or long for anything. You should experience Peter’s mood at the time: He was stricken with sorrow; he no longer asked for a future or any blessing. He did not seek the profit, happiness, fame, or fortune of the world, and only sought to live a most meaningful life, which was to repay God’s love and dedicate what he held most precious to God. Then he would be satisfied in his heart. He often prayed to Jesus with the words: “Lord Jesus Christ, I once loved You, but I did not truly love You. Though I said I had faith in You, I never loved You with a true heart. I only looked up to You, adored You, and missed You, but never loved You or truly had faith in You.” He always prayed to make his resolution, he was constantly encouraged by the words of Jesus[a] and converted them to motivation. Later, after a period of experience, Jesus tested him, provoking him to yearn for Him further. He said: “Lord Jesus Christ! How I miss You, and long to look upon You. I lack too much, and cannot make up for Your love. I beg You to soon take me away. When will You have need of me? When will You take me away? When will I once again look upon Your face? I do not wish to live any longer in this body, to continue becoming corrupted, and neither do I wish to rebel any further. I am ready to dedicate all I have to You as soon as I can, and I do not wish to sadden You any further.” This is how he prayed, but he did not know at the time what Jesus would perfect in him. During the agony of his test, Jesus appeared to him again and said: “Peter, I wish to make you perfect, such that you become a piece of fruit, one that is the crystallization of My perfection of you, and which I will enjoy. Can you truly testify for Me? Have you done what I ask you to do? Have you lived out the words I have spoken? You once loved Me, but though you loved Me, have you lived Me out? What have you done for Me? You recognize that you are unworthy of My love, but what have you done for Me?” Peter saw that he had done nothing for Jesus and remembered his previous oath to give his life for God. And so, he no longer complained, and his prayers afterward grew much better. He prayed, saying: “Lord Jesus Christ! I once left You, and You too once left me. We have spent time apart, and time together in company. Yet You love me more than all else. I have repeatedly rebelled against You and repeatedly grieved You. How can I forget such things? The work You have done in me and what You have entrusted me with I always bear in mind, I never forget. With the work You have done in me I have tried my best. You know what I can do, and You further know what role I can play. Your wish is my command and I will dedicate everything I have to You. Only You know what I can do for You. Although Satan fooled me so much and I rebelled against You, I believe You do not remember me for those transgressions, that You do not treat me based on them. I wish to dedicate my entire life to You. I ask for nothing, and neither do I have other hopes or plans; I only wish to act according to Your intention and to do Your will. I will drink from Your bitter cup, and I am Yours to command.”
You must be clear about the path you walk; you must be clear about the path you will take in future, what it is that God will make perfect, and what has been entrusted upon you. One day, perhaps, you will be tested, and if then you are able to gain inspiration from Peter’s experiences, it will show that you are truly walking Peter’s path. Peter was commended by God for his true faith and love, and for his loyalty to God. And it was for his honesty and longing for God in his heart that God made him perfect. If you truly have the same love and faith as Peter, then Jesus will surely make you perfect.
