The Church of Almighty God - The Most Blessed Are Those Who Accept and Obey God’s Word
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First of all, congratulations to all the brothers and sisters from all nations who have accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days. May God bless you. For today’s meeting, we must first communicate one thing. Do you know why we must believe in Almighty God, instead of believing in the name of “Lord Jesus”? Do you know what the mystery is? The name of Almighty God is the new name of the Lord in the prophecy of the Bible. Where is this new name written? It is written in the Book of Isaiah, in Revelation, and the following is from the letter that the Lord has written to the Church at Philadelphia, from Chapter Three of Revelation: “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things said he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens; I know your works: behold, I have set before you an open door, and no man can shut it: for you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation, which shall come on all the world, to try them that dwell on the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which you have, that no man take your crown. Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God: and I will write on him my new name. He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:7-13). Here, three names have been mentioned, “I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, and I will write on him my new name.” The Lord Jesus shall have a new name when He comes again, and this is the proof. Chapter 62 of the Book of Isaiah also mentioned that the Lord “shalt be called by a new name.” This “Church at Philadelphia” refers to the church that is raptured. Most people from the Church of Almighty God have turned to God from the various denominations and sects, and what is the saying in sects after they have turned to God? “The Eastern Lightning has stolen the lambs, they stole all the good lambs from all denominations and sects.” Therefore, they have much hatred for the Eastern Lightning. Is this saying of theirs correct? They think that those are their lambs, but the fact is that God’s lambs have heard the voice of God. Isn’t that correct? Also, what did the Lord say to those to be raptured in the Church at Philadelphia? Here it is said: “I know your works: … you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name.” This is the most precious thing of the Church at Philadelphia, “have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name,” this is the proof of being raptured, and the condition for being raptured.
What must those in God’s favor possess? They must obey the way of God. No matter which denomination or which sect one is in, if he believes in God but does not follow the way of God, that is, he is not carrying out God’s word, then he is not blessed by God, he is not favored by God, and God shall abandon him. This is God’s disposition. The Israelites had believed in God for two thousand years, until one day the Lord Jesus arrived. Not only had they not accepted Jesus, but they also resisted and convicted Him, and in the end, crucified the Lord Jesus. What mistake had they made? This is called believing in God yet resisting God. Because they resisted and convicted the incarnate Lord Jesus, they were cursed by God. What happened after the Israelites were cursed by God? There have been such disasters. First, the nation of Israel was destroyed, the Israelites were dispersed to all corners of the world, facing so many massacres, especially the Holocaust initiated by Hitler, massacring millions of Israelites. Is that not a curse? Why were they cursed? Because they resisted the incarnate Lord Jesus. Had they resisted Jehovah? They had resisted, because the Lord Jesus and Jehovah are the same God. Even now, the Israelites do not acknowledge that the Lord Jesus is the appearance of Jehovah. What is the problem? They had believed in Jehovah for two thousand years and experienced God’s work during the Age of Law, yet when Jehovah God incarnated as the Lord Jesus, they did not accept Him. Their rejection, resistance, and condemnation caused them trouble, and spelled the end for them. They failed in their belief of God. Therefore, the mistake of resisting God is not to be permitted in the belief of God, and once one has embarked on the path of resisting God, then the outcome of this person is completely over.
Many people might say: “This should not be the case. There are many people from the Israelites who revered God, many faithful saints who martyred themselves in the Lord’s name, and there are many people such as Job and Abraham. How come they are still cursed? Are they cursed simply because of this matter?” They believe that God is merciful and loving, “The Lord Jesus that we believe in is merciful and loving. He does not curse others, He has no hatred, He has only love for others; God does not become angry. Especially to those who believe in Him, regardless of whether they know Him or not, so long as they do no evil, do not resist Him, God will not curse them. So many Israelites have not accepted Him, so it is not possible that He would curse them.” Is this correct? Some people believe in the Lord their entire life, read the Bible their entire life, yet they won’t accept this fact. Tell me, what mistake have they made? This is a serious issue. It is clearly written in the Bible that the Lord Jesus cursed the Pharisees, saying “woe to you,” “woe to you,” “woe to you,” seven “woe to you” in a row. Is “woe to you” a blessing? Are these words of mercy? “Woe to you” is a curse. Do you think that Judas got to live out the rest of his life peacefully after betraying Jesus? How did he meet his end? When he died, he burst open in the middle, and all his entrails gushed out. After he had betrayed the Lord Jesus, he regretted it, yet his repentance was useless. So how do you explain him “bursting open in the middle and all his entrails gushing out”? Can you say that this is not from the curse of the Lord Jesus? Can you still say that this is the Lord Jesus being merciful and loving toward him, forgiving him indefinitely, forgiving him seventy-seven times? During the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus has completely, thoroughly forgiven those who believed in Him, a one-time forgiveness of all human sins for all eternity; yet you still sin and resist Him, how is He going to treat you? If you sin without limit, if you continue to sin, sin intentionally, can He still forgive you? Are there any other sayings from Him? “The Lord Jesus is merciful and loving, He will forgive us for all eternity, He will not hold us to our past transgressions.” Is this correct? No. Why is this not correct? Is there any basis in the Bible? In Revelation from the Bible, what did the Lord Jesus say in the letters to the seven churches? What kind of people will be eliminated? What kind of people will be cursed? What kind of people will be raptured? They were blessings to the Church at Philadelphia. What about the Church at Laodicea? It says that they were neither cold nor hot, as if water that is lukewarm, and God was going to spit them out of His mouth, leaving them behind. Is this not the case? They all believed in the Lord Jesus, some people believe in all that the Lord Jesus said, while other people only believe in some of what the Lord Jesus said, only believing in the saying that the Lord Jesus is merciful and loving. When it comes to the harsh words, the words of judgment, the words that determine the end of a person, the words of each to their own kind, the words regarding revealing people in the last days, they accept none of them. Such a belief in the Lord cannot attain a knowledge of the Lord. To believe in the Lord Jesus, we must understand His disposition, we must grasp His mind. Who is He going to save, who is He going to eliminate, who is He going to curse. You cannot say that because the Lord Jesus has sacrificed Himself for our sins during the Age of Grace, He would pardon us without limit and forgive us for all eternity. Such sayings are from the notions and imaginations of men, there is no basis in the Bible. These things that were written in the Revelation, all that God has allowed the apostle John to see and to hear, are the same as those in the books of the prophets; they are all God’s words; this is certain and without any doubt.
Do you think that all those who believe in the Lord all can be saved and will survive? That they will all go to the kingdom of heaven? We have just said “Why must you believe in Almighty God, what is the meaning in believing in Almighty God?” It is very important to understand this matter. Some people ponder: “I originally believed in the Lord Jesus. Now that I have heard a thorough witnessing of the Bible’s truth from the preachers of the Church of Almighty God, in particular, I have heard Almighty God’s utterances, which are all truth and are apparently God’s voice, and it has fulfilled what Revelation has said ‘He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’ (Revelation 2:7). Once I have heard all the words of Almighty God, I have confirmed one thing: The Lord has returned, the Lord Jesus has returned, He is Almighty God.” In this way, are we not the people raptured by the Lord because we believe in Almighty God? We belong to the people raptured by the Lord. Which prophecies from the Bible have this fulfilled? The Lord Jesus said: “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” (Matthew 25:6), and, “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). “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame” (Revelation 16:15). These prophecies have been fulfilled. We are now with the Lord, and the Lord is having supper with us. What is the name of this “supper”? There is one place in the Bible, where the Lord Jesus called it “the marriage supper of the Lamb.” What is the meaning of “the marriage supper of the Lamb”? Why is it called “the marriage supper of the Lamb”? “Lamb” is Christ, and the marriage of the Lamb means that Christ comes to make complete a group of people, to gain people. He will make complete His lambs, those predetermined to be overcomers, He will make these people into overcomers before the disaster, therefore this is called “attending the supper.” “The marriage supper of the Lamb,” “marriage” is to acquire, and what happens after having acquired? We become a family. Therefore, when explaining this scripture, some places say that the Christ is the bridegroom, the Church is the bride. This is called a marriage, and something must be acquired. Speaking of acquiring, this relates to God’s work in the last days, the work of judgment and chastisement, the work of judgment starting from the House of God. People first experience the conquest of God, then they will be cleansed, perfected, gained and made complete after the conquest; the work of judgment starting from the House of God is such a step. After men have experienced God’s work in the last days and become compatible with Christ, the work of judgment starting from the House of God thus comes to an end. What are the people in the kingdom of God who have been perfected after all of this has concluded? They are the group of overcomers who have been perfected before the disaster, these are the overcomers. What is the position of the overcomers in the kingdom of God? They are called the “Pillars of the Kingdom of Christ.” God will make complete a group of people, a group of overcomers, before the disaster, and these overcomers will become the pillars of the kingdom of Christ. Don’t you think it is a tremendous blessing? This blessing is tremendous.
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There are many people who, after accepting the work of Almighty God in the last days, say, “The words of Almighty God are too deep, too harsh! So harsh, this is judgment and chastisement. When can man achieve changes in life disposition, become compatible with God, and be truly cleansed?” Seeing such words, someone says with a sigh, “It is difficult to believe in God. It is easy to believe in Jesus; just taking it easy every day, you can behave however you want and do whatever fun things you want to do. If you should sin when you are having fun, just pray and you will be forgiven after you have confessed. Then you can go back to having fun. If you should sin again while you are having fun, just confess once more. Sinning every day and confessing every day, sinning and confessing, that is how your belief works. This is what believing in the Lord is like. There is no need to be judged or chastised, there is no need to practice the truth, and there is no need to fellowship about the truth. How great it is to believe in the Lord. It doesn’t interrupt with anything, it doesn’t impact my everyday life and I can still get married, it doesn’t affect me having children, or the bliss of family life. Believing in Jesus is better; you get to be happy.” Is this correct? Some people go abroad, and then they say: “The democratic system abroad is great. You can make money if you have the ability, and you can spend the money on anything you want. Oh, if I don’t enjoy myself here for a few years, then I’ll be missing out.” What kind of person is this? Tell me, what kind of person can say such things? Does God like words such as these? This is something that a person who has no love for the truth would say. The Book of Proverbs from the Bible has this to say: “the prosperity of fools shall destroy them” (Proverbs 1:32). This is key. The purpose of a person’s life cannot be comfort, one must do something meaningful with one’s life and walk the right path. Tell me, in this world, what is the right path? Let’s put it this way: The only right path is to believe in God; all other paths are not the right path. However, this is not the whole story. The path of believing in God is a wide path, there are all sorts of belief. Because of the freedom of faith, each person has his own understanding of God, and each person has his own pursuits. Although there are many people believing in God, each with their own way in believing in God, yet whose path in believing in God is after God’s heart and can allow him to be perfected and receive the blessings of God? Tell me, is it important to have a good grasp on this matter? It is very necessary. If you don’t think so, then write these words down. If you do not choose to embark on this path right now, and then one day, if you indeed have not chosen this path, you shall be crying for days when you read these words once more, and you shall regret and feel sorry for yourself. Are you willing to take on this bet? If you do not follow these words, then let me be straight with you: You will live in regret for the rest of your life.
So, what is the path of believing in God that pleases God? There is just one thing: to pursue the truth, and to pursue to know God. Do you understand what I just said? Pursue the truth, and pursue to know God. This is the path that is most blessed by God. It can be said that this is the smartest path to reach an understanding of the Holy One; it can also be said that this is the path to attain sanctity, the path to be perfected by God, to become a saint, a righteous person. The path to being perfected by God is the road to sanctity, is that not the case? So, what kind of person shall be perfected by God? A person pursuing the truth shall be perfected by God. Someone else might say: “I read these words that Almighty God has said, and I find that most of them are right; but I understand too little. God’s words are too deep. When can I make them my life? When can I enter the reality of these words? When can I live the real life of these words? It might take one or two hundred years. I might never be able to accomplish that during my lifetime.” Do you have the determination to pursue the truth and pursue to be perfected by God? Some people say: “I have this. I am willing to pursue this. But can I attain it? I have to feed my family; I have to go to work. I don’t have the energy to do this.” This is not the right way to think. Why is it not right? When we believed in the Lord during the Age of Grace, this famous saying was very popular: The end of man is the beginning of God. What is impossible for man is possible for God, for God is omnipotent. You depend on God, you live your every day before God, you pray to God every day, your heart goes out to the words of God, and you ponder God’s words. You pray to God and look up to God in all things, and you shall become mindful of God’s will; unwittingly, you will better understand God’s words, God’s demands, and God’s will, and you will have more clarity within you. No matter how difficult it might seem to us, nothing is difficult for God. You must believe in the omnipotence of God. Look at the way that I am fellowshiping with you, it is as if I am having a chat with you. I can talk for as long as I want, I can talk like this every day if I so desire, and I can do this in every which way. Do you think this is easy? How can you attain such a thing? You must pursue the truth and care for God’s will. In your heart, you must say, “God, while others ignore Your demands for us, I paid attention; while others are not mindful of Your will, I am; while others rebel against You and only care for their flesh, I care for Your will and obey You.” Just like what Peter said: While others are weak, I am not; while others betray, I do not; no matter what, I am following the Lord Jesus. He had this determination, and in the end he was perfected. Once we have God’s presence, once the Holy Spirit works, nothing is difficult. Do you believe what I am saying? The Holy Spirit leads you, guides you, and arranges your environment. You are living in spirit every time you pray, and once you live in spirit, all that you say is within the Holy Spirit, all that you see is within the Holy Spirit. Everything is enlightened and illuminated by the Holy Spirit, there is clarity in everything you see; you feel relaxed in everything you do, everything is easy, and all the paths are open to you. This is the truth, and I have the deepest experience regarding this. There are many things that I have not learned previously, and I was a layman in all those things. After I believed in God, I fulfilled my duties like so, and now everything I see is clear; I have clarity within me for anything that I look at, “This thing is simple and easy.” Therefore, all the matters of the Church are no big deal to me, and I have a good grasp of them as soon as I encounter them. I am able to set you on the right path with just one sentence, to let you know the appropriate things to do, and you are guaranteed to please God by doing what I tell you. How is this the case? The Holy Spirit is at work. Once the Holy Spirit works on you, that is, you gain the work of the Holy Spirit, you are relaxed in everything you do, and everything comes easy to you. This fulfills what the Lord Jesus said, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Therefore, don’t worry that pursuing the truth is difficult, for nothing is difficult when the Holy Spirit is at work.
Let me give you another simple example, something that even more people have experienced. Many people are afraid of being imprisoned. If the CCP government should imprison you, at the very least, they are going to beat you half to death. After some people were imprisoned, at first they were frightened, and so they prayed: “God, protect me! God, save me!” During God’s work of the last days, God generally does not do supernatural things. Why? You have to endure the suffering that you must endure, because God wants you to bear witness for Him. Why does He want you to bear witness? Do you know the meaning of bearing witness? To put it simply, starting from the work of redemption in the Age of Grace until the work of judgment in the last days, by which God cleanses and perfects man to conclude God’s management plan, the entirety of this is the work of going to war with Satan. How does God fight this war? Does God fight Satan hand-to-hand? No, this is a war of fighting for people. Satan said: “I have corrupted this humanity thoroughly, and it will not be gained by You again. No matter what You do, You cannot make this humanity complete. This humanity will betray You, they will not believe in You.” God said: “Then I will perfect some of humanity, I will acquire some of them to humiliate you, and convict you in the end, defeating you.” Is this not a war? We saw Job’s trial until the end, what is the reason behind the trial? That is the bet between God and Satan. God said: “Job fears God and stays away from evil, he is an honest man.” Satan believed otherwise, and said: “That is not true. If You take away everything he has, he will abandon You for sure.” God said: “He is under your domain, so let’s see, let’s see if you can make him abandon me.” So, such a thing happened in this world: When everything was quiet, a gang of robbers came and robbed Job, then another gang showed up and took some more from him. These robbers robbed Job of everything. The decades of business and all of his properties that God had blessed him with, they were all taken from him in just one day. What is happening here? Does this have anything to do with the war of the spiritual realm? This has everything to do with it. If a person does not understand the spirit, if he does not believe in God and does not know God’s will, when he is faced with such things, if he chooses a materialistic point of view, if he chooses the judge’s point of view, if he chooses a legal point of view, then he would be in trouble, then he would have to resolve this through the way of men. However, Job looked at it this way: “This is not the case, this is God’s deprivation of me. I don’t know what is happening, in what way have I displeased God? I have always feared God, I have not sinned, so why am I being deprived by God?” He was puzzled, he was not able to ponder through this matter. The fact that Job’s faith could reach such a level in that era was impressive, it was not easy. Today, we are only able to grasp this matter with all the words of Almighty God that we have read, yet did Job read all these words of God? No, he didn’t. Therefore, it is very normal that Job was unable to have clarity on this matter. If we were also from that era, we would do much worse than Job, is that not the case? And do we have much more today than what Job had? God said that what we receive today far exceeds the saints through the ages, not only exceeding the saints from the Age of Law, but also exceeding all the saints from the Age of Grace, exceeding Moses, exceeding the revelations that Isaiah had gotten, even exceeding Peter. Why does He say that what we receive exceeds the saints through the ages? That is because we have eaten and drunk these words of Almighty God, the words of Almighty God have revealed all these truths and mysteries, they have all been expressed. Therefore, we receive much more than the saints through the ages. Is that not the case?
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There are now many brothers and sisters who have just turned from the religion, who have believed in the Lord for many years, and some of them have believed in the Lord Jesus their entire lives. When they first read the Bible, they said: “What the Bible says is good, what the Bible says is so good.” Now they look at the words of Almighty God, and they say: “Even better, they are even clearer than the words in the Bible. Those truths that I didn’t understand when reading the Bible, they are being explained so clear and bright here. Oh, the word of Almighty God is so good.” Each step of God’s work achieves a certain result. The work from the Age of Law had achieved a certain result. What result? To let people know that Jehovah is the Creator, that they must worship Jehovah. That they must not worship the fake god, they must not worship idols, that they must observe the Sabbath. Furthermore, since all men were corrupt, even though they worshiped Jehovah, even though they observed the commandments, laws and decrees of Jehovah, they would still inevitably commit many sins, and what should they do about those sins? There were provisions during the Age of Law – there were sin offerings, burnt offerings, and other sacrifices. There were these laws and commandments from God to observe during the Age of Law. In addition, it allowed people to identify only Jehovah as the Creator, that there is no other God other than Jehovah. This is the result achieved through the work from the Age of Law. Is that not the case? What about the Age of Grace? Once the Lord Jesus arrived and became the sin offering, all people who believed in the Lord Jesus were forgiven all their sins. As long as we prayed in the name of the Lord Jesus, we could immediately enjoy peace and joy from God, as well as enjoy endless grace and blessings. Some of the people with illnesses prayed, and their illnesses were cured; if there were any disasters, people just prayed and the disasters subsided; if people had any difficulties, they prayed, and with God’s blessing, the difficulties were resolved. So, what did the Age of Grace achieve? It fulfilled the law. People no longer had to make this and that offering, they no longer had to observe those laws, they only had to believe in the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus is the one true God, and He is the appearance of Jehovah. God gives salvation to men one step at a time. He would not give us a burden too heavy to bear, therefore this work done by the Lord Jesus perfected the Age of Law, and these results were achieved.
What about the Age of Kingdom, what issues has God’s work in the last days resolved? What issues have been left over from the Age of Grace that have yet to be resolved? What issues have been left over from the Age of Law that have yet to be resolved? During the Age of Law, all these people who believed in Jehovah, they never saw the face of Jehovah, and this is a big issue, is this not? There is another issue: all these sins and offerings, with sins that go on and on, how can we put a stop to this? It seems an enormous obstacle – how come we continue to sin, continue to live in sin? Why are we not able to observe the law? In the end, the Age of Law achieved a result: “We have sinned severely, we are unable to observe the law. God, please save us from the bondage and yoke of law. Otherwise we shall all perish under the law, otherwise we shall all be condemned by the law.” God listened to the prayers of the Israelites: “Good, then I will incarnate as Jesus – a God full of love and grace, to become the sin offering for you. From here on, your sins shall be forgiven once you believe in the Lord Jesus, and you no longer have to make this and that offering.” This saved us much trouble. Is there any difference between seeing the incarnate God and seeing the God up in the heavens? Yes. The results being achieved are different. Who did Jehovah manifest Himself to? Who saw the face of Jehovah? God has never manifested Himself to anyone, even Moses only saw His back, is that right? Then, someone says: “How come God’s Spirit does not appear directly to us?” Is there an answer to this question? Maybe someone would say: “God is a Spirit. We are unable to see the Spirit, we are flesh and blood, and we shall perish once we see the Spirit.” Is this correct? That is just the case, we cannot see the Spirit. If God has manifested His Spirit to anyone, then that person shall perish without doubt. God does not manifest His spiritual body to men; men shall perish once it has been manifested to men, and men cannot bear that. The great light that God has created – the sun, are men able to go near it? Even the places on earth closest to the Equator, people there die simply from the heat during the day, not to mention approaching the Spirit of God. Men cannot go near Him, we shall perish once we get close, we shall become ashes. However, God has come up with a better way for men to know Him. What is this better way? That is to become flesh, then manifest Himself to us and talk to us. Someone says, when God becomes flesh, the image of the flesh does not represent the true self of God, the true image of God. This is also correct. However, do remember, the work of God incarnate is not to allow us to see His image; the main purpose is that God incarnate can express God’s disposition, all that God has and is, and the essence of God’s life, allowing us to have a real knowledge of God in God’s words. If we have real knowledge of God’s disposition, the essence of God’s life, all that God has and is, as well as God’s wisdom and omnipotence, what obvious results can this bring us? It will allow us to know God, is that right? After we know God, our life disposition begins to change, we gain real knowledge of God. All of this notion and that notion, the various notions and imaginations that we have of God shall be all gone, they shall all become actual knowledge, we shall say “I have come face to face with God,” and this result will have been achieved. Listening to me saying these words today, have you gained some knowledge of me? Someone says: “I don’t even see what you look like, how can I know you?” Does this make sense? I am conversing with you like this, I am fellowshipping with you like this, I am answering your questions like this, and as time goes on, can you know my personality, and understand my personal points of view? Such a result can be achieved. If we continue to eat and drink God’s words, continue to pray to and commune with God’s Spirit, understanding more and more of God’s words, can we gain real knowledge of God’s disposition, of all that God has and is? We most certainly can. Is that not right? Then tell me, to know God, is it better to see the real face of God, or is it better to know God’s disposition and all that God has and is? Which one is more important, more precious? Some say that to know God’s disposition is more important. Have you seen this clearly now? If you should truly see God’s face, God’s spiritual body, God’s real image, can you attain real knowledge of God’s disposition? Does it mean that you know God’s disposition? That might not be the result. Of course, you can achieve certain results. However, God does not work in such a manner, and even if God does work in such a manner, Satan will not be convinced, and Satan shall accuse. Therefore, God becomes flesh to let us experience His words, to allow us to commune with God through His words, to experience His words, to practice His words, and ultimately through the understanding of truth, to attain the knowledge of God. In this way, we shall attain the results of complete salvation, purification and perfection. If we simply eat and drink God’s word, attain knowledge of God, get rid of our corrupt disposition, and become a holy person, this will shame Satan even more. Simply by speaking and uttering His voice, God shall cleanse these people, perfect them, and let them know God. Is this not a better representation of God’s omnipotence? Therefore, God working in this manner is the most effective way in humiliating Satan, and this is the most beneficial way in saving us, perfecting us. God works in this way, which ultimately shall carry out God’s will in its entirety, perfecting a group of people, and this is the most potent evidence in shaming Satan.
Now, when you witness Almighty God to many people in religion, what do they say? “The Lord Jesus that we believe in is the true God, there is only one true God. It’s not right for you to witness Almighty God.” Is what they say correct? What they say has no truth. These foolish words that they speak, do they not show that these people walk the same path the Israelites had gone down, and made the same mistake the Israelites had made? The Israelites thought, “We believe in Jehovah; Jehovah’s name will never change. Why are you now preaching Jesus? This is not right. Jehovah’s name never changes, there is no true God other than Jehovah.” The Israelites were very loyal to the name of Jehovah. And then Jesus came. They did not acknowledge Him or accept Him, they even crucified Him. This brought great woe to them. This is called believing in God but not knowing God, believing in God yet betraying God. The sin has been committed. Is this not a failure in the belief in God? What about those who believe in the Lord Jesus during the Age of Grace? When the Lord Jesus has arrived in the name of Almighty God, they do not acknowledge Him; not acknowledging, not accepting, even condemning Him, and ultimately crucifying God once again. This is done by those who believe in the Lord during the Age of Grace. Is not the path that they go down also the path that the Jewish Israelites had gone down? Nowadays, there are so many pastors and elders in the religious world who do not accept Almighty God. They say, “The name of the Lord Jesus has not changed yesterday, it is still the same today, and it will never change for all eternity.” They observe these words of the Bible as classic rules, and no one is able to convince them otherwise. Look at these pastors and elders in the religious world, aren’t they the same as those Pharisees from Israel? They have made the same mistake, going down the same path. Therefore, are these people not resisting God? If you only believe in the Lord Jesus, yet do not acknowledge the second-coming of the Lord Jesus, will you still be blessed by the Lord Jesus? Are you still entitled to the promises of the Lord Jesus? The Lord Jesus said, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22-23). Why does the Lord Jesus say that He never knew them? That is because they do not acknowledge the Lord Jesus, therefore the Lord Jesus also does not acknowledge them. Once the Lord Jesus has changed His name to Almighty God, they no longer acknowledge Him. Tell me, do these people know the Lord Jesus? The Israelites believed in Jehovah, but when Jehovah was incarnated as the Lord Jesus, they didn’t acknowledge Him, even crucified Him, and in the end incurred the curse of God.
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130-B4
When the Israelites were cursed, God casted them out to different nations, handed them over to be massacred by Satan, handed them over to be massacred by the devil Hitler. Millions of them perished. In two thousand years, the Israelites continued to be massacred. Do you think that all Israelites had done evil? Did they have no pious men? Were those all bad people? Did they all have a bad human nature? Were there no good people among them? There were so many good people. However, they were cursed by God, therefore the good and the bad all must perish. Someone says, those who survived, what are they like? God has His own arrangements, but you cannot say that those who perished are all bad. That is not always true. Looking from God’s point of view, if you do not know God, then you are resisting God, you must perish, and you must be punished. Many people who do not know God seem like good people to us. Then why do disasters visit people that we think are good? If you do not know God, then in God’s eyes, you are all resisting God; if you do not accept God’s second coming and do not acknowledge God’s second coming, you are all against God. If you do not accept the second coming of the Lord Jesus, then no matter how pious you are, no matter how many good deeds you have performed, you still do not know God, you are still rebelling against God, and you shall be eliminated. Therefore, no matter whether these people are good or bad, so long as they do not accept Almighty God, they all shall perish in the end. How does that sound to you? Do you want to make a bet? We have all read the word of God. Look at God’s word, is that what God has said? If you believe in God yet do not believe in the word of God, then this belief of yours is too impure. If you believe in God yet do not believe in God’s word, can we call you the unbelievers? Such people are called the unbelievers. Then what is your belief like? Do you only believe in the existence of God, or do you also believe in the word of God, or do you believe that God’s words will be fulfilled? Which is your belief? You believe in God, if you can believe that God is righteous, holy, almighty, and is the master of all, then this is the true belief. Can your belief reach such a level? It is probably not up to this level. The belief of those in the religious world is only a belief that acknowledges the existence of God, acknowledging that the Lord Jesus was once an incarnate God. Yet the Lord Jesus had gone to the heavens a long time ago, and they fail to accept Him when He comes back after going to the heavens; therefore, they no longer have a relationship with the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus is no longer the source of their life, is that not the case? Therefore, the Lord Jesus said, “And then one day, you come looking for me, wanting to go to court with me, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works?’ And then will I profess to them, I never knew you.” Where does this “I never knew you” come from? Because you do not acknowledge His name when the Lord Jesus has arrived. The Spirit of Almighty God is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, and the Spirit of Jehovah. Jehovah incarnated into flesh as the Lord Jesus the first time, and Jehovah incarnated into flesh as Almighty God the second time, is this not the work of the same Spirit? They are the same Spirit. If you only acknowledge the flesh and not the Spirit, you are blind! Look at the words of Almighty God, is there any conflict with the words of the Lord Jesus? Is there any conflict with the words of Jehovah? Not even a little. These are the utterances of one Spirit. If you cannot see this clearly, yet you still say that you believe Almighty God is the second-coming of the Lord Jesus, then these are empty words with no truth.
Someone else says, “I read that Almighty God has said anyone that is not in this stream shall all turn to ashes. This is impossible. There are many pious people from the various denominations and sects, they all love God so much, how can they be destroyed by God? They will certainly be blessed by God, therefore what has been said is not right.” Who can see the problem in this? Are these not God’s words? If you acknowledge that these are God’s words, then every word of God will come true. “The heavens and earth may be discarded, but not a single letter of my words may be discarded.” Do you have this confidence? If you have this confidence, then you shall dare to believe in these words; if you do not have this confidence, then you will never believe. True faith only comes from true confidence in the word of God. If you have no confidence in the word of God, yet you say that Almighty God is the second coming of the Lord Jesus, then this is not realistic. Has the Lord Jesus ever said that whoever keeps His name and is pious shall enter the kingdom of heaven? He has not said these words, and you will not find any basis for them. Now, there are many people who have read many words spoken by Almighty God. They only acknowledge a part of them, and they still have many notions and doubts about the words of Almighty God. Can such people easily accept the truth? They do not accept the word of God. God’s words have been spoken so, in black and white, yet they do not accept them. They also say, “These are not God’s words. Other words I acknowledge, those other words I accept, those other words I agree with, but I deny these words. I am against these words.” Is this real faith? Are you not denying God’s words with your eyes wide open?
Now, some people are unable to completely accept God’s word. Do you not think that this is a serious issue? You are unable to obey God, you do not believe that God’s words are spoken by God and will be fulfilled, so can you obey God? Therefore, if you dare to deny God’s words, if you always have notions regarding God’s words, and you are always interpreting God’s words through your own notions and imaginations, is this not resisting God? If a person has a good human nature, doesn’t do bad things, helping the elders and children, giving to the poor, having done many good deeds, keeping a good reputation everywhere, yet he denies God’s words, yet he keeps having notions regarding God, yet he is unable to obey, unable to accept, is such a person resisting God? If you don’t believe this, think, those people who crucified the Lord Jesus, had they done other bad things, had they robbed other people, had they harmed others? They might not have done any of such things. They were all quite pious, always interpreting the Bible, obeying the law and the rules. They were cursed simply because they resisted and condemned the Lord Jesus, they had committed no other sins. Tell me, are they wicked people who resisted God? They had done no evil deeds, but simply because they resisted the Lord Jesus, they were cursed by God. Can we say that God is a righteous God? Some people have notions regarding God, “God, how could You curse all these pious people? They were not bad. All they did was not accepting You, not believing in You, not acknowledging You. Other than that, they had done no wrong. Why must You condemn them?” Actually, this one sin is worse than any other sin. So long as you have committed this fatal sin, even if you have no other sin, you shall still perish. Because you have committed the most critical sin, the sin of blaspheming God, you shall not be forgiven in this life or the next, regardless of how well you have performed in other things. Is that not the case? This matter witnessed the righteous disposition of God. God does not allow people to offend Him, anyone who resists Him must perish. It is suicidal to resist God, and just this one sin shall be the end of you. Now there are some people who are standing up for the religious people, “Oh, these people are so pious, these people love the Lord. These people are the best Christians. Even if they are unable to accept Almighty God, they do not deserve to die. The Lord is merciful and compassionate, they should be forgiven.” Is this right? To you, these are devout Christians. Yet to God, these are Pharisees who are hypocrites, they are in trouble. Why is there such a big difference between the viewpoint of man and the viewpoint of God? Why do they not understand God’s will?
The most taboo subject when believing in God is the notions and imaginations of people. Always using people’s notions and imaginations to judge God, to doubt God, this is the most serious resistance to God. How do people resist God? Do they not use their notions and imaginations? No one is using cannons to resist God. The resistance of God is done through our notions and imaginations; using Satan’s heresies and fallacies to judge God, doubt God, inciting the masses to abandon God, rebel against God, these are the worst sins in resisting God. Who has committed these worst sins in resisting God? Those hypocritical Pharisees did so, the priests and elders of the religious world have also done so. When one day the disasters finally come upon us, when the earthquake arrives, the Christian church buildings should come crashing down, many Christians will be performing their worship in that moment, and they shall all be destroyed. How would a person with notions of God pray? He would most certainly say: “Lord, how come these devout people have all died? Are they not in Your hand? Why did You not save them? I weep for them. God, You are merciful and compassionate, why did You not deliver them from disasters, from calamity, from the hands of the evil one?” What kind of a prayer is this? This is a prayer that questions God, a prayer that resists God, a prayer that is a blasphemy to God. Questioning God! There is a video on the internet, it talks about a sister, the topic regarding her trip to Heaven. She visited the Heaven, the Lord then brought her on a tour of Hell. She saw the people crying and wailing in Hell, how pitiful they were. Once the ghosts in Hell saw a person there, their hands started coming up, and they said, “Please save me, save me, save me…” They kept on yelling such words, and she began to pity them, and she said, “Lord, they are suffering so, why do You stand there and not save them? Lord, what is happening? I don’t understand the sins that these people have committed to offend You. You condemn them to Hell, let them suffer like this, so pitiful, how can You bear this? I am unable to bear this!” What do you think of these words? You hear her say such things, and think that: “This person is kind, this person is holy, she is better than the Lord.” You would think that she is holy, that she is kind, that she is better than the Lord, is that what this feels like? The significance behind these words is that: Lord, You are not righteous, You are unjust! These are all good people, they are so pitiful, why do You not save them? Why did You condemn them to Hell? This way, she has become the holy Lord, she is the one with compassion, she is the one that is merciful to man, is that not what this means? Then tell me, someone who says such things, does she know the Lord? This is the true hypocrite! Using the words of pagans, what do they say about her? That she is showing off, thinking that she is above everyone else, is that not right? Is this a little evil? This is true evil. You are holier than the Lord? Is the Lord wrong? What qualifies you to question the Lord? If you are truly mindful of the Lord’s will, you would be saying this instead, “Lord, these people must be ones who do not believe in God, and they must be consummate evil doers.” The Lord says, “That is for certain, of course this is the case.” “I praise the Lord, the Lord is righteous, and this is how they should be punished.” This is a good way to put it. This is what a man should say.
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130-B5
You believe in the Lord, but you have none of the truth, and you proclaim yourself as though you were more holy and virtuous than anyone. This is self-idolization. This is hypocrisy. And if today many people saw those pious Christians sent to hell, do you imagine they would have complaints against the Lord? They would be full of complaints! They would be full of hate! They would think, “Lord, you sent them to hell! You made them suffer so much. You are too cruel. I’m through believing in you!” Such a man harbors an evil disbelieving heart! Is that not so? Where, exactly, is this person’s mistake? He may have grown two eyes in his head, but can he see the essence of the problem? Then why is he so confident? Whenever he sees a believer in religion enthusiastically perform a virtuous deed, he says, “How strong is his love for the Lord!” Whenever he sees a believer in religion carry water or sweep the yard for widows or cook for orphans, he says, “How holy he is!” Do you have any concept of holiness? Do you have any concept of virtue? You call yourself holy, but are you more holy than the Lord? You call yourself virtuous, but are you more virtuous than the Lord? When you speak those words, are you not resisting the Lord? You are resisting the Lord. There are hypocrites in the church who, when you testify God, immediately go wide-eyed with rage and become devils. But if you don’t testify God, they sit and smile benevolently, as though they were virtuous. Where is their virtue? Hypocrites! They have no penetration into the issue, and still they blindly judge. Who loves the Lord? Is there a single man in the entire religious world who truly loves the Lord? Is there a single member of the human race who truly loves the Lord? If you don’t understand what it means to love the Lord, don’t go around using the notions and imaginings of man to place such laurels on the heads of this or that person, and then finally put them on your own. What authority do you have? Do you know what holiness is? Do you know what it means to love the Lord? Merely doing good deeds is love for the Lord? A nonsensical, out-of-context theory! What does it mean to truly love the Lord? It means that one experiences God’s judgment and chastisement, has a real understanding of God’s disposition, and in the end, sees that all of God’s work is the work of love and salvation, be it judgment, chastisement, pruning, or dealing, the final result of which is the purification and perfection of man. The moment he reaches this understanding, the moment his experience reaches this level, he comes to see that there are innumerable aspects of God to love, too many to count. In many of God’s works man only sees His righteous disposition, His majesty, and His wrath, but these things all benefit man in the end. They suffer now, but after their suffering these people will see that God’s love is so great and so real, and love for God will be born in their hearts. Once that happens, what do these people say? “I was too rebellious against God in the past, I was blind, I didn’t know God! None of what I said in the past was practical, it was all based on the notions and imaginings of man, there was nothing of the truth in it, I looked at people and things without principle, my viewpoints were all wrong. I followed the viewpoints of the unbelievers and the popular sayings in religion, but they are incompatible with the reality of truth. They go against principle and the will of the Lord!” When a man can say these words, he is truly purified. His viewpoints are in line with God’s, and the way he evaluates people is in line with God’s, because he looks beyond people’s outward behavior and examines their intentions and motivations. Finally, if we look at him, we see that he has a heart which truly loves the Lord, and that he considers the Lord’s will in all things. His will is one with the Lord’s. This is what it means to love God! Based on outward behavior, to place laurels upon another’s head, to claim that this or that man loves the Lord, is obedient to God, or is virtuous, is utter nonsense. Do you not fear such words will offend the Lord? Are you the Lord of Creation? Are you the Creator of man? Can you see through to the essence of man? You are being arrogant, self-conceited and self-right. You do not understand the truth, and your words are worse than nonsense. Is this not the case?
I tell you, when I first accepted God’s work in the last days and read God’s words of judgment and chastisement, I realized that the things of religion and the notions and imaginings of man in me were the same as those in you. You have them, and so did I. I had as much of them in me as you have. But over these years, through reading God’s word and fellowshiping the truth, through performing my duties, and enlightenment and illumination from the Holy Spirit, I finally gained the penetration to comprehend this issue. And so, changes began to occur in my views. They became different from those of religious men, completely different. I was not born possessing the words I fellowship to you today, do you understand? Tell me, if you believe for eight years or a decade, can you be purified from these human notions and imaginings, out-of-context sayings, and careless judgments? Surely you can. I am living proof that you can. I have been purified, and all you need to do is believe the way I believe, accept God’s words, practice and experience God’s words, and pray for and seek the truth, and finally, you can be as I am. You can hear that my words are different from those of religious men. The views of the theologians, scholars, pastors, and elders in religion are all mistaken. They have never experienced God’s work. In men of their stature, the viewpoints, self-rightness, and imaginings of man are too deep-rooted. Nothing can conquer man but the words of God. That is the case.
So, when you finish reading God’s words, don’t say believing in God is difficult, because it isn’t! It appears difficult to man, but it’s not difficult at all for God. God will perfect you, and the Holy Spirit will be with you, enlighten and illuminate you, and then it won’t be difficult for you. A year of experiencing God’s work will bring you a year of benefit, two years will double it; after three to five years of performing your duties, you will understand many truths and be very different; and after eight to ten years of performing your duties, you will have knowledge of God. A decade of faith in Almighty God will gain you more than a century of faith in religion. Do you believe that? There was a man who believed in religion for more than twenty years, but after he listened to me for three hours, he said, “I gained more from a little of your fellowship than I gained in twenty years of faith!” What he spent more than twenty years trying and failing to understand, what he lacked for more than twenty years, I made clear to him in just a moment. Do you think that was easy? Some say, “But I am old, the great disaster is about to befall, and my time is short, will this little time give me the experience I need? Can I still be made complete by God?” Can he? He said, “You’ve believed for more than thirty years, but I’ve only just found my faith!” The Lord Jesus once told a parable, in which He gave some who worked for seven hours and others who worked for only an hour the same wages. I may do the equivalent of seven hours of work while you do the equivalent of one, but in the end the reward we receive is the same. This makes some people jealous, who say, “Lord, you are too unfair!” What does Jesus say to this? “The silver I gave to him incurs no debt to you on my part, I’ve given you plenty. Also, how dare you be angry at me for being a good person!” This puts Satan to shame. That’s what this parable means.
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In the last days, God is incarnated as a man. God becomes flesh only twice from the creation of humankind to the end of human civilization: the first was the Lord Jesus coming to do the work of redemption; the last is when God personally comes to judge, purify, and perfect man in the last days. This is a very rare opportunity! Some say regarding God becoming human, “God becomes human to speak God’s word, so truly, look, no one else could speak these words!” If you put all the theologians and all the pastors of the religious world together, would they be able to speak these words? Not even if they tired themselves to death trying. Only the incarnate God can say these words, is that not the fact of the matter? God’s incarnation as a human is already a fact; it’s even more so of a fact that devils have corrupted men and turned men into devils. So I ask you, are the kings of the devils who resist God not Satan? They are all Satan. Their flesh may be of man, but their spirits are of Satan. Saying they are Satan refers to their spirits, their spirits are of Satan. What do we call it when Satan’s spirit puts on clothes of flesh? What’s the worldly saying for it? “The devil reborn, Satan’s incarnation.” Isn’t that right? What exactly is a devil? Some of the unbelievers understand it. I was asked this question when I first started to believe in the Lord. I answered, “A devil is an evil spirit.” “Wrong.” I said, “Why am I wrong?” “People are devils.” I said, “You’re right, I agree, people are devils.” How do people become devils? They are scum who do nothing productive and resist and deny God, they aren’t worthy of the name human. Man is that which Satan is clothed with, so men live in the style of devils, not at all in the style of men. Tell me, are people not living devils? In the past we’ve traditionally said devils are evil spirits, but today I tell you devils are clothed in human flesh, people are devils, devils are people. We’re completely right when we say people are living devils. It’s a very realistic expression! Is what I’m saying over the line? What I’m saying is the truth, but we can only say it and use it amongst ourselves. There will be trouble if we go up to an unbeliever and say, “You’re a devil!” There will be trouble if you say to your unbelieving husband, “You’re a devil!” Big trouble. We must have wisdom in this! God requires that we become honest people, but He also requires that we act with wisdom. There are some things that can only be felt, and must not be spoken! Is that not true? To say some things carelessly without wisdom causes no end of problems, because others will judge you and file suit against you. Then you’ll be in trouble.
Today God’s word has been spread and borne testimony to, and many of you are among the first from your countries and regions to accept Almighty God. You are truly blessed. For that, I congratulate you all! Some ask, “Why do you congratulate us?” I answer that my words are not a worldly formality, because my congratulations have practical meaning. First, you have accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days because you see that the Lord Jesus has returned, that He has come incarnate as the Son of Man and begun to express the truth and do His work of judgment in the last days, so you accept. This means you have been raptured, you have been raptured up before God, you have been lifted up into the air to meet with the Lord. What does this “air” mean? Spreading the gospel and speaking online, isn’t that “in the air”? Aren’t the words I’m speaking to you today “in the air”? People ask, “Where is ‘the air’?” “The air” is a pronoun, and it represents the question of whether we’re in heaven or on earth. Most literally speaking, we are on earth, but we enjoy a life with God, and we eat and drink of God’s word, which is the water of the river of life that flows from the throne, so we live as though we were in heaven. This has real significance, because where are we? Are we in heaven, or on the earth? It’s hard to say, so we use “in the air” to describe it. So this is one meaning, I’m congratulating you on being raptured to before God’s throne to feast with the Lamb, which is to feast with God. Second, you have gained the chance to be perfected by God in the last days, and if you are purified and perfected through judgment and chastisement before the seat of Christ, you will be qualified to gain the approval of God. The blessing is so great! We have attained what the saints throughout history have longed for and failed to find, are we not fortunate? Third, we are undergoing God’s chastisement and judgment, and even though we suffer some in our hearts, and it might be embarrassing at first, we will accomplish something, we will be purified, understand the truth, and we will know God. Even though when we are chastened we abandon all dignity and self-respect, kneel, bow down and sob, admit our sins, and repent, but after a period of such torment, we begin to change, we become more reasonable, our conscience awakens, our spirit gets brightened, and we see God, set ourselves upon this path, and our way becomes brighter and brighter, until we finally are perfected and become overcomers. What does it mean to be overcomers? It means to not suffer the great disaster, and when the great disaster comes, “A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you” (Psalms 91:7). Are we not fortunate? The unbelievers and those in the religious world will fall into disaster, and while we may appear to be in the midst of disaster ourselves, but God is with us, so disaster will not befall us. If you truly gain the truth, you will not know the taste of death. These words are true. God’s promise in the last days, the greatest blessings, will be carried out upon us. Do you understand? This is why I congratulate you. This is the meaning of my congratulations. Do you understand? You may think it’s empty words, but they contain our greatest blessing!
There are some new believers who have some notions regarding God’s word and can’t accept some of it. They feel God speaks too heavily in some things, or feel that God’s words aren’t completely in accord with the facts, or even that God says mocking, impolite things. It’s normal to have such feelings, because we didn’t accept everything at the start of our belief, but these are absolutely God’s words, so don’t suspect them. Whatever you do, do not question, “Are these actually the words of God?” Do not doubt. These are absolutely, undoubtedly the words of God, do you understand? But you will reach a day in your experience when you say, “God wasn’t mocking us after all, God’s words have real significance. They are true and factual, not at all biased! They are correct, they are entirely accurate!” Without the right experience, you won’t be able to say those words. This is why, after we experienced several years of faith, we felt humiliated. What happened to all the notions we had toward this or that portion of God’s word? In the end, we prayed to God to admit our sin and slapped ourselves across the mouth, “I judged God and His word. I have no sense. I’m inhuman!” After a few years of experience, you’ll understand. So no matter which parts of God’s word you have doubts about or lack penetration of today, remember, this is the word of God, and after enough experience, you will understand it, so stay away from judgment and notions about it. Say to yourself, “No matter whether I understand it, whether I like it, or whether I accept it, this is God’s word. That’s right, this is the word of God.” That’s the proper way to accept it. After some experience, within three years, you’ll feel, “Now, reading God’s word is different. God’s words are practical, true, accurate, and appropriate. This truly is God’s word! I’m lucky I didn’t judge at the beginning.” All the notions you have when you start believing make God’s word impracticable, but after three or five years, everything is practicable, and nothing poses a problem anymore. This truly is God’s word! That’s the journey we all experience. Some say, “I don’t feel these are the words of God, these words cannot have come from God, is this something mistaken written by man?” No matter what you say about God, or what your notions about God, His words, or His work may be, do not gamble with God. “God, I have many notions about certain words of Yours, so these words can’t have come from You. God, it’s surely not right for You to do this; it definitely comes from man.” Do not gamble, because if you do, you are guaranteed to lose utterly, there is no doubt about it. Whoever bets with God will lose, and afterward, you will be humiliated and regret it for eternity.
I tell you, belief in Almighty God is different from belief in Jesus. Believers in Almighty God strive to eat and drink of God’s word and fellowship about the truth daily, they talk about how to perform their duties and practice God’s words every day, and spend each day in the presence of the truth and God’s word. Those who believe in the Lord read and discuss the Bible every day, and then go work for the Lord. But even after decades of faith in the Lord, what do they gain? What do they reap from decades of faith in the Lord? They understand some of biblical letters and doctrines, but they have no true understanding of the Lord, only theories, empty talk, and unworkable hypotheses. Believing in the Lord for a lifetime won’t earn you a heart that fears God. Believing in the Lord for a lifetime won’t gain you an understanding of the Lord. Believing in the Lord for a lifetime may change your behavior, but it won’t change your life disposition. Believing in the Lord for a lifetime will only gain you a lifetime of biblical knowledge, and as you gain it, you will become more arrogant and self-right, until you listen to no one! This is what you will reap from believing in the Lord. Is what I’m saying not the truth? In which church do the pastors, elders, students of the seminary, and believers not bicker over the Bible, none giving way to another, and each competing for stature? Give them a single line in the Bible, and each has their own unyielding opinion, so those who believe in the Lord are not ruled by the Holy Spirit, and even less are they ruled by Christ, because their faith stops at the words “Lord Jesus,” and only the name “Lord Jesus,” but the Lord Jesus is not among them, so they can never gain life, no matter how many years they believe in the Lord. Any who have believed for years in the Lord, you may talk about your knowledge of the Lord. Do you have any real knowledge? Can you express any real understanding of God? Could you talk about your understanding of God before the brothers and sisters of the Church of Almighty God? Ask the brothers and sisters of the Church of Almighty God to hear what you have to say and evaluate whether there’s any truth in it, because they have the discernment to know. The moment they hear your doctrines and words, they will know your words contain no practical truth, and they will disapprove. Things are different after you believe in Almighty God. After a year of experience, you start to feel a change, “Goodness, everything in religion is just letters and doctrines, in this year I’ve realized that there were so many places where my notions and imaginings were incompatible with the reality of the truth, in this year I’ve seen how arrogant and self-right I remain inside, I’ve put myself on quite a high pedestal, I still have not made myself humble, and though I proclaim myself to be humble, loving, and tolerant, I actually place myself much higher than others in my heart, I don’t respect others at all.” The longer a man believes in the Lord, the more he evaluates others, and the higher his opinion of himself. This is why, when you expose a believer in the Lord for his impracticality and hypocrisy, he immediately beats you down, judges you, and makes an enemy of you. The tiger’s behind should not be prodded, dirt should never be thrown in the emperor’s face! The religious pastors and elders are the kings of the religious world, and they try their strength against one another through the Bible, their bickering ceaseless until a clear winner is decided. They insist that you submit and look up to them before they leave you in peace. If you don’t submit, they try their strength against you. That’s all that happens in religion. Things are different in the Church of Almighty God, those without the reality of the truth are ashamed, and they feel that shame without anyone else telling them to feel it. When people hear the way you speak, the tone of your voice, your diction, they will shake their heads and say, “There is no reality of the truth here.” Without saying anything they can tell whether you have any reality of the truth and your spiritual stature. So, what you see in the Church of Almighty God is that when others expose someone, or blame him, or even deal with him, he doesn’t resist! Perhaps not at the beginning, but after a few years he doesn’t resist. Why do you think that happens? “If what you say is the truth, I will obey you in all things, I will obey whoever speaks words compatible with the truth, no matter who is my leader, if what he says is compatible with the truth and fact, I will obey,” which is why the truth rules in God’s house. And what does it mean that the truth rules? Doesn’t that mean God rules? Is this not the rule of Christ? Where Christ rules, God rules. Does that not signal the appearance of the kingdom of Christ? It is absolutely correct to say that the kingdom of Christ has appeared on earth!
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130-B7
How do you view the Church of Almighty God today? How do you understand the Church of Almighty God? Many people don’t understand the Church of Almighty God, and some still believe the rumors of the CCP and the religious world. “If anyone doesn’t believe in Almighty God when asked to do so, his ears will be cut off, his eyes gouged out, and his nose cut off.” Do you believe that or not? Have you ever seen anyone with their noses cut off or eyes gouged out? Do such people exist? There are none on the Chinese mainland, none in Taiwan, none in Korea. In all the places where the Church of Almighty God works to spread the gospel, is there a single example? No. So why does the Communist Party blindly fabricate such rumors? What are the Communists? Murderous devils who kill without blinking an eye! They will fabricate any rumor, there is no rumor they won’t fabricate and no lie they won’t tell. What are devils? Those who lie are devils. The Church of Almighty God spreads the gospel and testifies God, and they don’t make any money, they offer themselves completely and spend for God, they are happy to spend for God, and they cast aside everything to perform their duties. Some say, “I’ve seen it, so I believe!” When I hear that, my response is, “Good, because you can still believe, you still have some sense.” But some people don’t believe the words of Almighty God, and they don’t believe the testimony of the Church of Almighty God. Who do they believe? They believe the CCP. They say, “The CCP is a party in power, how could a party in power spread nonsense?” But the truth is that parties in power spread the most nonsense, isn’t it? Is there one party in power in the world today that doesn’t spread nonsense? There are none, that’s right. Parties in power spread nonsense, more than ordinary people. This is my personal opinion, but is it not also a fact? So if someone believes the rumors and lies spread by the CCP, what’s wrong? If a man doesn’t believe the word of God, but instead believes the word of Satan, the problem is that he has too little faith. His faith is tainted. And if he doesn’t believe in the Church of Almighty God, his problem is even more serious! He sees the people of the Church of Almighty God leave their families and careers and cast aside everything to suffer for God, serve God, and testify God, all the while not earning a penny, and he still doesn’t believe.
What kind of a church is the Church of Almighty God? First, it is a raptured church. Its members first received God’s work, experienced judgment and chastisement before the judgment seat of Christ, and after they gain some understanding of God, they have sincere faith. Some of them have undergone many trials to develop a heart that fears God, but of course testimony of those who have been worked by God into a group of overcomers has already appeared. Some people have actual experience and testimony of the fact, which stands as resounding testimony for God. The Church of Almighty God is a raptured church, which means that when the great disaster comes, the Church of Almighty God will be the appearance of the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of Christ will have appeared on earth. If you join the Church of Almighty God, you have entered into the Age of Kingdom. Some will ask, “We’ve accepted Almighty God and joined the Church of Almighty God, are we citizens of the kingdom of Christ?” Wait, you’ve applied, but you still have to undergo trials. If you stand firm and bear true testimony, then you will be a citizen, but we are still in the trial period. We are all “trial citizens” of the kingdom of Christ. The “trial citizens” are God’s chosen people, and after the great disaster, the remaining of the chosen people will change their name to “citizens of the kingdom.” The kingdom’s citizens are those who emerge from the great disaster and survive. If someone says, “I acknowledge that the words of Almighty God are the voice of God, I believe in Almighty God, but I don’t understand the Church of Almighty God. I can’t join that church.” Is that allowable? Yes. God will not force you. The door of the Church of Almighty God is always open, any may enter, but any who enter will undergo the church’s screening and approval, and there are more conditions! First, you must not be an evildoer, you must have a good name in the world, and humanity, and you must have the appearance of a good and upright person to be qualified. Second, you must not be an evil spirit. Evil spirits are unacceptable. We don’t want them. We want none who speak in tongues, they are evil spirits. We want none who see spirits and ghosts with their eyes open, they are evil spirits. We want none taken by evil spirits, they will not be approved. Third, we want no homosexuals. Homosexuals are an abomination, they are freaks without any normal humanity, close to evil spirits, no homosexuals. Fourth, no serial adulterers, they have no good name in the world, we do not want them. Fifth, murderers, rapists, and thieves, we do not want them. Those are our conditions. That’s why we say there is screening, and only those who meet the conditions are approved for entry into the Church of Almighty God. If it was not known that someone was homosexual or did evil deeds in the past, or had no good name in the world, and such facts are discovered later, then he must be expelled from the church. The Church of Almighty God maintains administrative decrees of the kingdom to ensure not just anyone can enter, but if anyone wants to leave or stop believing, we allow nature to take its course. We give people freedom. We don’t bar anyone from leaving. No one is allowed to stop a member from walking out the door, and no one is allowed to attach conditions to a member’s departure. Anyone may leave at any time, do you understand? Some ask, “Today I believe, but can I withdraw tomorrow?” You can withdraw right now, it’s that easy! The door is open, you can leave whenever you want, without conditions, and no one will try to stop you, no one will put any restrictions on you, no one will come to your house, and no one will call you and harass you. Some people may, out of love, say, “I’ll try and talk some sense into the quitter,” but if I find out about it, I will put a stop to it. Don’t do that, people can leave whenever they like, they are free, anyone may leave. Also, new believers are forbidden from carelessly undertaken projects of offering, even out of enthusiasm, why? Because you don’t understand any of the truth, and your offerings are given out of enthusiasm, not out of sincere belief. After you believe for a year, understand some of the truth, and pray several times, and you make such offerings out of willing obedience to God, then we allow it. New believers are not allowed to make offerings because they don’t understand the truth. This is why, in the house of God, we don’t allow sermons to encourage offerings. At our meetings, no one may give sermons about offerings, and if anyone does, they are removed from their leadership positions, this is the administrative decree of God’s house. The books, CDs, and films published by the Church of Almighty God are offered free, we don’t ask a cent for them, and our brothers and sisters help each other when they are in need. The church has operated this way for many years. The Church of Almighty God has never sought offerings, but God’s grace is more than sufficient, and we have been blessed with wealth! It makes the great red dragon furious, so furious that its eyes flare with rage and it sends an army to seek our money. They come to the homes of the members of the Church of Almighty God and even dig up the floors to find our money. Are these not bandits and robbers? It’s disgraceful. They are so poor they can barely eat or clothe themselves, so they come to the Church of Almighty God to rob us. This is what the CCP government, the great red dragon, does! It’s a contemptible conspiracy!
I think introducing those aspects of the Church of Almighty God is enough for today. If any of you want to leave, and one of our members dares to stop you, he will be expelled. Curb your enthusiasm, because whoever wants to leave may go. We won’t try to stop you, we will even help you buy a ticket home if you don’t have the money and see you off. But no club can beat the faith from members of the Church of Almighty God, their faith can’t be beaten out of them. Despite the great red dragon’s wild arrests and suppression, the Church of Almighty God’s membership continues to grow faster than it shrinks. Why do I say continues to grow faster than it shrinks? Because some people fear beatings, some are cowards who are frightened out of the church, and there are also Judases, but there are also those who hear the gospel and enter the church. More enter the church than leave it, so we say membership grows faster than it shrinks. Why does the Church of Almighty God continue to thrive and grow? God’s blessings. The great red dragon’s wild suppression and persecution actually purify the Church of Almighty God. How do they purify it? If the cowards and fearful leave, but those who believe God is real and love the truth can’t be driven away no matter how hard they are persecuted, is the church not purified as a result? Many say, “We’ll believe when the great red dragon falls.” That’s no good. If you believe after the great red dragon falls, the banquet will be over, and the door of grace will be closed. You’ll be too late, because this is the backdrop against which He perfects the overcomers. That’s all I’ll say at today’s meeting. Feel free to raise any important questions you still have.
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Question & Answer
Question 1: For some, like those of us in America, work and home life are both very busy. Sometimes I don’t read God’s word, and that makes me worry, because I feel guilty. If we believe in God, do we have to put God’s word first in all things? If we don’t put God’s word first, are we being disrespectful of God? I feel that belief in God should be a happy process, but I’ve just accepted God’s work, and I haven’t found my balance yet. At any rate, it’s not very happy. How should we balance work, home, and the church?
Answer: Life in a democratic country is busy! If you don’t make money, there are taxes you can’t pay, and you have to pay your rent, maintain your car, and pay your electric and water bills, that all takes money, so of course you have to work, don’t you? That presents a problem. It’s as if believing in God presents an extra burden, especially performing your duties. But would you be free of burdens if you didn’t believe in God? You would be just as burdened, if not more so. Some people ask, can there be a burden more tiring? I guarantee there is, because you’ll be suffering. Your days will be a struggle to feed yourself, a fight for survival, and there will be many difficulties and troubles, because the world is unfair and people are wicked, there will be many interruptions and hardships, and nothing will go smoothly. But through your belief in God and your growing understanding of the truth, you will gain wisdom and see paths, you will no longer contaminate yourself with devils, and you will be more sensible toward them, which will spare you much of your suffering, are these not practical words? What causes much of the suffering in the outside world? First, you share the environment you live in with devils. Second, you lack God’s protection and blessings, so devils always violate you. Third, you lack the truth and you lack wisdom. If you have the truth, you have wisdom. When you have the truth, you know how to deal with devils. That’s why, when you understand the truth, you also gain wisdom and God’s protection and blessings, which spares you much suffering! That’s a fact. You spare yourself so much suffering because you believe in God, you eat and drink God’s word, and you pursue the truth, which gives you spiritual comfort, and you enjoy the peace and happiness granted by God. Consider that one day, the great disaster will strike, and you will be calm. The unbelievers will lose their minds in panic and fear for the days ahead, feeling that this is the end of the world. But when the same disaster falls upon us, we believers in God will feel differently than the unbelievers. God is with us, and we have shares in the kingdom of Christ. What great comfort that knowledge affords us! Is this comfort not a happiness of the spirit? This is the truest happiness. We gain it because we, while believing in God, have understood the truth, known God, and become qualified to receive God’s promises. This spiritual happiness, comfort, and yearning is humanity’s most genuine happiness, and it cannot be gained without believing in God! So, when you say, “Believing in God is so busy, I have to make money and take care of my family, and on top of that I have to believe in God, read God’s word, and live the church life and go to meetings. It’s so much of a burden!” That’s not wrong, but how many blessings have you gained, and how many disasters and how much suffering have you averted?! Why don’t you look at that? Isn’t it less stressful from that angle? When I put it like this, do you understand? Which path is the way of blessings? Belief in God. Some brothers and sisters see the essence of the demonic world after they believe in God. They avoid interacting with its devils, they don’t rely on devils to live, they don’t need to appease or toady to devils, and as a result they lead much happier lives. As you go further down this path, your way becomes brighter, and there is more happiness in your heart, until you finally gain true blessings and happiness. What is true happiness? This is true happiness! Only those who believe in God and pursue the truth find happiness, only they have that peace, that joy, that yearning, that enjoyment, that comfort, only those who gain the truth can experience these pleasures. Do you understand? You may see believers in God as busy, but see also how great their blessings and good fortune! The unbelievers may appear idle, but they also suffer and worry, because they have no good end and no good destination, and they don’t know when they’re going to die. Today, if you accept Almighty God, you are reserving your place in God’s house, you are writing your name in the book of life. What does the “book of life” refer to? It means that those who are raptured to the feast gain the truth and life. Those in religion have not been entered in the book of life, because they have no life. What Christ brings in the last days is the way of eternal life, and if you accept Christ in the last days and receive His perfection, only then do you have a share in the book of life. Only then is your name written down inside. You have your names written in the book of life, this is an astounding spiritual joy, this is blessing beyond measure! Have the believers in Jesus earned that? No. When the sky thunders and rain falls, they’ll say, “Strange, the Lord isn’t here yet, when will He come? Is He coming? Have I been cast aside?” The more he thinks, the more afraid he becomes, because he does not have the Lord Jesus in his heart, he only knows he wants to be raptured up to heaven. He’s daydreaming! Some say, “I won’t believe at all, that believing in Jesus but not Almighty God means I won’t see the Lord come down from the clouds.” You can see. Revelation has something to say about this, “Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him” (Revelation 1:7). When He openly comes with clouds, all kindreds of the earth shall wail. Why will they wail? Because when God came hidden as the Son of Man to perfect humanity in the last days, they refused Him, accused Him, and resisted Him, so when He openly comes with clouds, they will only wail and gnash their teeth. What prophecy does this fulfill? When the Lord Jesus appeared forty days after the resurrection, what did the Lord say when he saw Thomas? “Because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). When you see the Lord come openly on clouds, it’s too late to believe, there are no blessings to be had, you’ve been eliminated, and all that’s left for you is to wail. Some ask, “Why will the Lord Jesus come openly on clouds?” It isn’t the Lord Jesus coming openly on clouds, it’s Almighty God changing His form and returning to Zion. After the great disaster comes and passes, when everything is almost over, God will openly come on clouds, do you understand? The great disaster is almost upon us, the Lord is about to return to Zion, and the work of the incarnate flesh only happens now, this is your only chance, only these two or three decades. It’s just like the Lord Jesus’ work of redemption, which was only offered for a few years before He died and was resurrected, then ascended to heaven after forty days’ appearance. When the Lord Jesus saw Thomas after His resurrection, He said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). If you refuse to believe the incarnate God is the Son of Man today, while God works in secret, if you only believe when God openly manifests, will He approve of you? The Lord said those who believe without seeing His spiritual body manifest, those who believe when He comes incarnate, like a thief in the night, are blessed.
Question 2: We are visitors from another church, and we still attend services there every Sunday. How can we transfer to the Church of Almighty God, and how should we perform our duties?
Answer: Put aside performing your duties for the moment. First, eat and drink God’s word for more days to gain some insight and understand it before you think about performing your duties. First you should eat and drink God’s word to see if you can understand, you might say, “I have a lot of notions about this, I have a lot of suspicions about this,” and in the end you might decide to leave. If you don’t have the penetration to understand this yet, wait until you’re certain you believe it, and until you have no notions or suspicions to perform your duties, alright? As to the church where you go every Sunday, don’t let them know you’re here yet, because you still haven’t put down roots here. If you let your church know, they’ll use the Bible to accuse you, and then trot out the CCP’s rumors and lies, and then when you hear them, you’ll think, “I picked the wrong church!” and go back to them. You won’t be able to hold them off, you don’t have that spiritual stature. Once you understand everything, once you have no notions or suspicions, you can make your membership here known to your original church. If you make it known now, you won’t be able to hold them off. I promise you, if you make it known now, you won’t be able to hold them off, and then will I be able to help you? Will you continue to seek the truth with us? No. All that will happen is you will fall on your knees and admit your sin, and then after a while, you won’t return to us, you’ll be impossibly lost, and you won’t be able to come back. I’ve seen quite a few people like that, people who hear my fellowship once and say, “Your meeting today has enlightened me, I believe one hundred percent of what you’ve said, I’ll go tell my church what I’ve heard today.” I say, “If you go there you won’t come back, you’ll be handing yourself to them.” They don’t believe me, and then they hand themselves to their church. Without setting down roots, you can’t refute them, so you must never make your involvement here known to religion.
Some say, “I have a few tiny doubts, should I ask my religious pastor?” That’s a question you have to ask the right person. If you ask your religious pastor, you are asking an antichrist, and he’ll take the chance to ravish you. Don’t ask your pastor. The Church of Almighty God will not force anyone, we won’t make you stay here. If you can listen, I’ll fellowship to you, but if you want to leave, I’ll see you off with a smile. No one will beat you, no one will touch a hair on your head, much less gouge out your eyes. We won’t keep a single hair on your head, and we don’t want your offerings of money. We don’t allow you to offer money. What do you think of this church? You can eat and drink God’s word for free and decide whether or not it is truth, and life, and water of the river of life that flows from the throne. Why are the Lord Jesus’ words not the way of eternal life, and not the water of the river of life that flows from the throne? Where does the fulfillment of the prophecy of Revelation begin? From God’s incarnation in the last days. The Lord Jesus came to do the work of redemption, but He did not express whole truth which purifies, saves, and gives man understanding of God, so His words can’t be called water from the river of life that flows from the throne. He can only be said to be the source of living water, because He was God Himself. The words expressed by Christ of the last days are water from the river of life that flows from the throne, which is the complete truth expressed by God in the last days during the work of purifying, saving, and perfecting mankind; this is mankind’s first chance since creation to hear so many words. In Revelation it says, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches,” and this is what it refers to, all the words expressed by Almighty God in the last days.
Wait until you understand before you make it known. Don’t make it known now. Your stature is still too small, you won’t be able to hold them off. And don’t try to show off, I’ve seen plenty of people boast and then never come back. Some of them said, “Going back to my church and believing in Jesus is also right, isn’t it?” And what happens to them? If you go back to believing in Jesus, you’ll be destined for hell, and that’s the end. In the Bible, what did the Lord Jesus say in accusation of the Pharisees? “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves” (Matthew 23:15). They brought people into religion rather than before God, and the moment people entered their religion, they were destined for hell. Joining the Church of Almighty God doesn’t mean joining a religion, it means being raptured up into God’s presence, raptured before the throne! There are no true churches in the religious world, they do not possess the throne of God, so by joining their sects, you condemn yourself to hell, and you lose all chance at receiving God’s salvation. Do you understand?
And there’s something else! Jesus came to do the work of the Age of Grace, and if you had said, “I accept the grace of redemption, but I also abide by the law,” what would Jesus have said? Would He have approved of you? What mistake is this? Rebellion against God! This is someone who cannot obey God! If you believe in God, you must be obedient to God’s work today to be after God’s heart. The work of the past is outdated, dead history, and it doesn’t count with God. It’s been eliminated. God judges man’s sins, perfects and saves him according to this stage of work, and not that stage, because that stage has been eliminated, do you understand? If you read the words God speaks today, the Spirit of Jesus is with you; if you continue to read what Jesus said in the past, He will reject you and hate you. He will say you can’t keep up with God’s work in the present, and He will call you rebellious and a hypocrite. If you say, “I will not offend Jehovah, I will not offend the Lord Jesus, and I will not offend Almighty God,” then you offend them all, you will achieve nothing and gain nothing. Do you understand? There is only one God, and that is Almighty God. Almighty God is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, and the Spirit of Jehovah, do you lack the penetration to see this? If you keep moving your faith among them, and end up believing in three Gods, then you’ve made a mistake, you’ve taken the wrong path, you are resisting and profaning God, and you do not understand God. There is only one God. God’s name in the Age of Kingdom is Almighty God, in the Age of Law it was Jehovah, and in the Age of Grace it was the Lord Jesus, but they are all the same God and the same Spirit. If you believe in Almighty God, read Almighty God’s words, and after three or five years, or seven or eight years of reading them, everything will make sense, and you will completely understand the Lord Jesus’ and Jehovah’s words as well, because you will know that Jehovah, Jesus, and Almighty God are one. Read at your leisure, and you’ll understand everything when you’re finished. If you haven’t read enough, nothing I say to you will be of use. It’s about the effort you put in.
Alright, that’s enough fellowship for today. Goodbye! And may God bless you!
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