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)!
Brother Li is a believer who attends a house church. While he and his brothers and sisters are investigating the true way, their pastor says "God's words and works are all in the Bible, and anything outside the Bible is heresy" and "any who preach the Lord's return as incarnate flesh are false" to obstruct and prevent believers from seeking and investigating the true way. The Lord Jesus clearly said, "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come" (John 16:12-13). The Book of Revelation also prophesied, "He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Revelation 2:7). The Lord will return in the last days, and people must attentively listen for theLord's voiceto be able to keep up with the Lord's footsteps, so why do their pastor openly deny the Lord's words and strive to prevent believers from receiving the Lord? Watch the crosstalk An Antichrist in the Church for the answers.
Brothers and sisters, welcome! The Lord Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). “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” (Revelation 3:20). It’s clear that when the Lord comes in the last days knocking at the door, only those who hear God’s voice can welcome the Lord and attend the marriage supper of the Lamb. Then, how can we identify the voice of God? You are invited to watch the following program, which will reveal the answer for you.
3 Key Principles for Welcoming the Second Coming of Jesus Christ
Mar 5, 201918
By Yanjin
Being able to welcome the second coming of the Lord Jesus is the greatest wish of those who truly believe in the Lord. So how can we welcome the Lord Jesus? What follows is fellowship on the three main paths so that we may welcome the Lord’s return together.
The year I turned 36, I developed bone hyperplasia, and despite going to many hospitals for treatment, nothing had any effect whatsoever. In the spring of 1996, I began to believe in the Lord Jesus and, by the mercy of the Lord, my illness was healed. From that time on, I began to pursue my faith in great earnestness and before long I became a co-worker in my church. In September 1998, two sisters came and testified to us of God’s work in the last days. By reading Almighty God’s words, I became certain that Almighty God is indeed the returned Lord Jesus for whom we have so desperately longed and I, along with over 130 brothers and sisters from my church, accepted God’s work of the last days. I was thrilled—never had I imagined that I would be able to welcome the return of the Redeemer in my lifetime, and I thanked the exaltation and grace of God from the bottom of my heart. Afterward, I avidly read Almighty God’s words and my spirit was nourished. Just as I was feeling immersed in the joy of being reunited with the Lord, however, the leaders and co-workers from my old church tried every possible way to obstruct me and harass me, and thus a spiritual war began …
Many brothers and sisters are unable to take heed whenever they hear someone talking aboutAlmighty God’s gospel of the last days, and don’t dare accept what is preached because they have been spooked by the sensationalized rumors fabricated within religious circles.
The next day, March 12, I felt a kind of indistinct hope and ineffable excitement. This was because I had mostly discussed the “Son of man” with Susan the night before, and had talked about the “incarnation” as well. Even though I could draw a connection between the ‘Son of man’ and the ‘incarnation,’ and could know in theory that the Lord Jesus is none other than the incarnate Christ, I still wanted to know the answers to questions such as what the incarnation truly is, what Christ is, on what basis one could say with certainty that God has become incarnate, and so on. But since Susan and I both had work during the day and were only free in the evening, I just hoped that time would move a bit more quickly.
The Second Coming of Jesus | "Knocking at the Door" | How to Be Raptured to the Kingdom of Heaven by Lord Jesus
Two thousand years ago, the Lord Jesus prophesied, "And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him" (Matthew 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" (Revelation 3:20). For the last two thousand years, believers in the Lord have been watchful and awaiting the Lord's knock on the door, so how will He knock on mankind's door when He returns? In the last days, some people have testified that the Lord Jesus has returned—Almighty God incarnate—and that He is doing the work of judgment in the last days. This news has rocked the entire religious world.
I Since we are searching for the footprints of God, we must search, search for God's will, search for God's words and the utterances of God, search for God's words and the utterances of God.
2. What Is Incarnation? What Is the Essence of Incarnation?
Bible Verses for Reference:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (Jhn 1:1).
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelled among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth (Jhn 1:14).
Almighty God says, "The living are saved by God, they have been judged and chastised by God, they are willing to devote themselves and are happy to lay down their lives to God, and they would gladly dedicate their whole lives to God. Only when the living bear testimony to God can Satan be shamed, only the living can spread the gospel work of God, only the living are after God’s heart, and only the living are real people."
Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.
Su Mingyue is a preacher of a house church in mainland China. Over the years, she has been a devout servant of the Lord who insists on doing preaching work for the Lord and bearing the burden of work for the church. She goes by Paul's word in the Bible, feeling that merely believing in the Lord is enough to be called righteous and be saved by grace. Although man still sins constantly, his sins have been forgiven by the Lord, his image will be changed instantly to become holy and he will be raised into the kingdom of heaven when the Lord arrives.
Do you wish to see God’s appearance and know God’s work?
Do you want to learn about the overcoming testimonies of God’s chosen people’s salvation? The solemn chorus in “The Collection of Songs and Dances” gives a witness that God incarnate ushers in the Age of Kingdom and expresses the truths to raise the curtains on the judgment before the great white throne in the last days, convey the Creator’s heart’s voice and His sincere feelings toward mankind, and testify that Almighty God is the unique God Himself…. The graceful and cheerful dance expresses the joy and lofty aspiration of God’s chosen people who are judged and chastised and are thus freed of their corrupt disposition, granted salvation, and living in God’s light. They are all praising Almighty God for His almightiness and wisdom in overcoming Satan and destroying all evil forces, and celebrating that God’s great work of saving man has been completed and Almighty God has come into His kingdom. … The choir videos of the Church of Almighty God will lead you to listen to God’s voice, know God’s appearance and work, and follow His footsteps.
Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.
There is an enormous secret in your heart. You never know it there because you have been living in a world without light shining. Your heart and your spirit have been taken away by the evil one. Your eyes are covered by darkness; you cannot see the sun in the sky, nor the twinkling star in the night. Your ears are clogged with deceptive words and you hear not the thunderous voice of Jehovah, nor the sound of the rushing waters from the throne. You have lost everything that should have belonged to you and everything that the Almighty bestowed upon you. You have entered an endless sea of bitterness, with no strength of a rescue, no hope of survival, left only to struggle and to bustle about. … From that moment, you are doomed to be afflicted by the evil one, kept far away from the blessings of the Almighty, out of reach of the provisions of the Almighty, and you embark on a road of no return. A million calls can hardly rouse your heart and your spirit. You sleep deeply in the hands of the evil one, who has lured you into the boundless realm, with no direction, with no road signs. Henceforth, you have lost your original purity, innocence, and started to hide from the care of the Almighty. The evil one steers your heart in every matter and becomes your life. You no longer fear him, no longer avoid him, no longer doubt him. Instead, you treat him as the God in your heart. You begin to enshrine him, worship him, be inseparable like a shadow of his, and mutually commit to each other in life and death. You have no idea at all from where you originate, why you exist, or why you die. You view the Almighty as a stranger; you don’t know His origin, let alone all that He has done for you. Everything from Him has become hateful to you. You neither cherish them nor know their value. You walk with the evil one, from the same day you started to receive provisions from the Almighty. You and the evil one walk through thousands of years of tempest and storm. Together with him, you counter God, who was the source of your life. You do not repent, let alone know that you have come to the point of perishment. You forget that the evil one has tempted you, afflicted you; you forget your origin. Just like that, the evil one has been damaging you step by step, even to now. Your heart and your spirit are desensitized and decayed. You no longer complain about the distress of the world, no longer believe the world is unjust. You don’t even care about the existence of the Almighty. This is because you have deemed the evil one as your true father, and you no longer can be apart from him. This is the secret in your heart.
As dawn arrives, a morning star arises from the east. It is a star never there before. It lights up the still starry skies and ignites the extinguished light in the hearts of people. People are no longer lonely, because of this light, the light that shines upon you and upon others. But only you remain soundly asleep in the dark night. You are unable to hear the sound, nor see the light, unable to notice the advent of a new heaven and a new earth, a new age. Because your father tells you, “My child, do not get up, it is still early. The outdoors are cold, stay inside, lest the sword and spear pierce your eyes.” You believe only in your father’s exhortation, because you believe that father is correct as father is older than you, and that father truly loves you. Such exhortation and such love cause you to no longer believe the legend that there is light in the world, and no longer care whether the world has truth. You no longer dare to hope for rescue from the Almighty. You are content with the status quo, no longer hope for the advent of light, and no longer keep an eye out for the coming of the legendary Almighty. In your eyes, all that is beautiful can no longer be resurrected, nor continue to exist. In your eyes, the tomorrow and the future of mankind disappears and dooms. You clench tightly to your father’s clothes, willing to suffer together, fearing the loss of your travel partner and the direction of your distant journey. The vast and hazy world has made many of you, unflinching and dauntless in filling the different roles of this world. It has formed many “warriors” that do not fear death at all. More than that, it has created batches of desensitized and paralyzed humans who do not understand the purpose of their creation. The eyes of the Almighty look around the severely afflicted mankind, hearing the wailing of those suffering, seeing the shamelessness of those afflicted, and feeling the helplessness and dread of the mankind who has lost salvation. Mankind rejects His care, walks their own path, and avoids the searching of His eyes. They would rather taste all the bitterness of the deep sea, along with the enemy. The sighing of the Almighty can no longer be heard. The hands of the Almighty are no longer willing to touch the tragic mankind. He repeats His work, regaining and losing, time and again. From that moment, He grows tired, and feels weary, so He stops the work in His hand, and no longer wanders among the people. … People are not at all aware of these changes, not aware of the coming and going, the sorrow and disappointment of the Almighty.
All that is in this world is fast changing with the Almighty’s thoughts, under His eyes. Things mankind has never heard of can abruptly arrive. And yet, what mankind has always owned can unknowingly slip away. No one can fathom the Almighty’s whereabouts, and further, no one can feel the transcendence and greatness of the Almighty’s life power. His transcendence lies in how He can perceive what humans cannot. His greatness lies in how He is the One who is renounced by mankind yet saves mankind. He knows the meaning of life and death. Moreover, He knows the rules of living for mankind, whom He created. He is the basis for human existence and the Redeemer for mankind to resurrect again. He weighs down happy hearts with distress and lifts up sorrowful hearts with happiness. This is all for His work, and His plan.
Mankind, who left the supply of life from the Almighty, does not know why they exist, and yet fears death. There is no support, no help, but mankind is still reluctant to close their eyes, braving it all, drags out an ignoble existence in this world in bodies without the consciousness of souls. You live like such, with no hope; he exists like such, with no aim. There is only the Holy One in the legend who will come to save those who moan in suffering and long desperately for His arrival. This belief cannot be realized so far in the people who are unconscious. However, the people still yearn for it so. The Almighty has mercy on these people who suffer deeply. At the same time, He is fed up with these people who have no consciousness, because He has to wait too long for the answer from humans. He desires to seek, seek your heart and your spirit. He wants to bring you food and water and to awaken you, so you are no longer thirsty, no longer hungry. When you are weary and when you begin to feel the desolation of this world, do not be perplexed, do not cry. Almighty God, the Watcher, will embrace your arrival any time. He is watching by your side, waiting for you to turn back. He is waiting for the day your memory suddenly recovers: becoming conscious of the fact that you came from God, somehow and somewhere once lost, falling unconscious on the roadside, and then, unknowingly having a father. You further realize that the Almighty has been watching there, awaiting your return all along. He longs bitterly, waiting for a response without an answer. His watching is priceless and is for the heart and the spirit of humans. Perhaps this watching is indefinite, and perhaps this watching is at its end. But you should know exactly where your heart and spirit are now.
Lu Zheng was a Christian of the Justification by Faith Church. One day, he went to participate in a meeting as usual. No sooner had he entered the church than he found some more brothers and sisters didn’t show up. Only then did he realize that those who attended the church meetings were even fewer. What puzzled him the most was that those who pursued actively became less and less. Before, they read the Bible seriously and truly believed in the Lord. And they were generally recognized as good sheep in the church. Lu Zheng wondered: Where have these good sheep gone?
At the meeting, the pastor and the elder talked about the same old sermon: “Now we live in the last days. It is written in the Bible, ‘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 24:24). So we need to have discernment and never be deceived.” Yet the pastor, with an accent of anger, said, “Many believers in our church have turned to follow the Eastern Lightning. Even those veteran believers who understand the Bible have been stolen by the followers of the Eastern Lightning. From now on, whoever contacts the followers of the Eastern Lightning will be expelled from the church.” With his words, Lu Zheng came to know that many believers in the church have accepted the Eastern Lightning. But he was puzzled that they were the pillars in the church and they truly believed in God. They had their own ideas and could think for themselves. How could they be stolen by the followers of the Eastern Lightning so easily?
When the meeting was nearing its end, Lu Zheng, with this doubt, asked Pastor Cao, “Pastor Cao, how is it that Liu Yang and Wang Yue also accept the Eastern Lightning? They were the followers of the Lord and workers for the Lord. In the past, they were our church’s good sheep, lead sheep, but how could they so easily be stolen?” At Lu Zheng’s words, Pastor Cao said viciously, “Good sheep? Can good sheep be stolen? They are the people who are deceived….” Even before he had finished, other believers started to buzz.
Zhang Ming said, “That’s not the right way to think about it. Wang Yue, Liu Yang and others are true believers and have the firmest faith in the Lord. This is the generally acknowledged fact in our church.” Li Jian said, “Yes. They’ve believed in the Lord for years and know the Bible well. They are not the kind of people who have no thoughts and no minds of their own. They are very careful in seeking the true way.” Zhao Yong said, “Well. The day before yesterday I met Liu Yang on the road. Seeing his bulging bag, I asked him what he had got in his bag. He said those are the books of God’s words and he also showed me a book. On the book is written: The Word Appears in the Flesh. The book is very thick. So I asked how much it cost him and thought it must be expensive. He answered he got it without paying. The words in that book are the utterances of the returned Lord Jesus, that is, what the Spirit says to the churches prophesied in Revelation. Hey, Brother Zhang, you are a long-time believer and understand more. Are there prophecies about the word the Spirit says to the churches in Revelation?” Brother Zhang replied, “You are right. It’s indeed recorded in Revelation, ‘He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit said to the churches’ (Revelation 2:7). Moreover, it has been said more than once. I’m wondering: The Lord Jesus once said, ‘I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come’ (John 16:12-13). Does the Spirit of truth really come? Have these good sheep heard the Lord’s utterances and been stolen?” Zhang Ming continued, “Those who can hear the Holy Spirit’s voice are truly the most blessed. If the Eastern Lightning is the true way, Liu Yang and the others will have it.” Liu Fu said, “It’s impossible. If the Lord comes, wouldn’t Pastor Cao know it? Wouldn’t he have already taken us to meet the Lord?” Brother Zhang said, “Don’t say that. Do you think the pastors and the elders are all true believers in the Lord? Doesn’t the Bible record the Parable of good servants and evil servants and Parable of Bad Tenants? The evil servants surely don’t know the Lord’s return.”
While all the people were just discussing this, suddenly Pastor Cao roared, “Be quiet!”
After the meeting finished, Lu Zheng returned home. He was still pondering on the words Pastor Cao and others said at the meeting. Particularly, Brother Zhang’s words greatly touched his heart. After thinking about this for a while, he knelt down and prayed, “O Lord, now our best sheep have all been stolen away by the Eastern Lightning. But I know those brothers and sisters who were stolen. They truly believe in God and thirst for and pursue the truth. How come they all turned to follow the Eastern Lightning? O Lord, is the Eastern Lightning the true way? May You resolve my confusion. Amen!” After the prayer, he clearly thought of the words of the Lord, “My sheep hear my voice” (John 10:27). “For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:8). The Lord’s words enlightened him to have some level of understanding of the Lord’s will, which is for people to listen to His words. He thought it through and decided to visit Brother Liu Yang the next day to get his confusion straight …
What would I like to say:
They are all sobering onto prayer and looking out for His coming. We attend meetings, pray, work and preach the gospel more in order to be accepted by the Lord at this crucial moment and to enjoy the blessing of entering into the kingdom of heaven. Why they follow Eastern Lightning?
God’s kingdom gospel
Read more: Is Eastern Lightning the Return of the Lord Jesus?
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.
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.
