The Age of Kingdom: The Aim and Significance of God’s Work

Classic Words of God:

When Jesus came into the world of man, He brought the Age of Grace and ended the Age of Law. During the last days, God once more became flesh, and when He became flesh this time, He ended the Age of Grace and brought the Age of Kingdom. All those who accept the second incarnation of God will be led into the Age of Kingdom, and be able to personally accept the guidance of God. Though Jesus did much work among man, He only completed the redemption of all mankind and became man’s sin offering, and did not rid man of all his corrupt disposition. Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to take on the sins of man as the sin offering, but also required God to do greater work to completely rid man of his disposition, which has been corrupted by Satan.

Are You a True Believer in God?

Perhaps your journey of faith in God has been more than one or two years, and perhaps in your life over these years you have endured much hardship; or perhaps you have not been subjected to hardship and instead have received much grace. It may also be that you have experienced neither hardship nor grace, but instead have lived a life most ordinary. Regardless, you are still a follower of God, so let us fellowship about the subject of following Him. However, I must remind all who read these words that the word of God is directed toward all those who acknowledge God and all those who follow God, not toward all people at large, including those that do not acknowledge God. If you believe that God is speaking to the multitude, to all people in the world, then the word of God will have no effect upon you. So, you should keep all the words close to your heart, and do not place yourself outside the scope of them. In any case, let us speak of what is happening in our house.

What Salvation Is and How It’s Gained From God

By Junying

What is salvation? How can we gain salvation from God? This is an important question for every one of us and it is something we all long for; it is directly related to whether or not we can enter the kingdom of heaven. This piece we have for you today gives us an answer. Let’s come to an understanding together of what God’s salvation really is!

This Is How I Welcomed the Lord

Xiyue, Japan

    When I was six years old my mother believed in the Lord Jesus, and she would often bring me to church gatherings. I slowly became aware of the fact that man was created by God, that if we are in trouble we should pray to God and rely on God, and that we should thank God for everything. My mother told me: “God loves people, so long as we pray to God and entrust Him with what’s on our mind and truly rely on Him, then He will solve our problems and bestow us with bountiful grace. As long as we truly believe in the Lord then He will come in the future to receive us into the kingdom of heaven!”

What are the wise virgins? What are the foolish virgins?

Relevant Words of God:

    In the past, people have made predictions of “five wise virgins, five foolish virgins”; although the prediction is not accurate, it is not entirely wrong, so I can give you some explanation. Five wise virgins and five foolish virgins certainly do not both represent the number of people, nor do they represent one type of people respectively. Five wise virgins mean the number of people, five foolish virgins represent one type of people, but these two things are not the firstborn sons, they represent creation.

Question 17: You bear witness that Almighty God is God of the last days appearing and working, and you say that your belief in Almighty God is seeking truth, and walking the correct path of life. From what I know, however, many of the people who believe in Almighty God are like those missionaries of Jesus, who for the purpose of spreading the gospel and bearing God's witness, did not hesitate to abandon family and career, and gave body and soul for God. Among them there are many young people who don't get married, all doing their duty in following Christ of the last days. What I am saying is all true, isn't it? Perhaps you are not aware that, because of you leaving family and work to spread the gospel and bear God’s witness, there are ever greater numbers of people who believe in God. If the whole human race turned toward God, who would still believe in the Communist Party, and follow the Communist Party? Precisely because of this, the government suppresses and arrests you. Can there be anything wrong with this? Mainly it is because you believe in God in this way that so many people have been arrested and sentenced to jail, and that so many people have to leave home and flee. So many husbands and wives have divorced, and so many children have no parents to love them. There are so many elders who have no one to care for them. By believing in God this way, you have caused your families to suffer such hardship. What are you trying to achieve? Could it be that this is the very correct path for human life of which you talk? Our traditional Chinese culture attaches most importance to filial piety. The saying goes: “Of all virtues filial piety is most important.” Confucius said: “While your parents are alive, don't travel far away.” Showing respect to parents is the foundation of human conduct. Believing in God, and following God the way that you do, unable to care for even the parents who gave you life and nurtured you, how can this be considered a correct path for human life? I often hear people say that believers are all good people. This is not false. But all of you believe in God, worship God, and venerate God as great. This has caused the Communist Party to burn with anger, and to be full of hatred. You do your duty to spread the gospel, yet you can’t even take care of your own families. How can this be considered good conduct? What do you say, could it be that even this does not show that you have taken a wrong path in belief in God? By spreading the gospel and bearing God’s witness in this way, aren’t you destroying the harmony and stability of society? I plead with you to not persist in error. You should return to society as soon as possible, reunite with your families, live normal lives, and take care of your families well. You should do your duties as children and as parents. Only this is the foundation for human conduct; only this is the most practical.

Answer: You repeat over and over again that we have gone the wrong way by leaving our families and careers to believe in God and do our duty to spread the gospel. What you say is wrong. As an atheist, can you explain clearly what the right course for human life really is? Can you see through to the origin of the darkness and evil in the world? Can you see why the human race lives in sin, and why it struggles in sin? Can it be that greed for enjoyment of sinful pleasures is happiness? Now God incarnate has come to save the human race from sin, and has led the human race into the light, leading them into a wonderful destination. This is great and wonderful news for a corrupt human race! We are all human beings who have been corrupted by Satan We all should accept the work of God, and accept all the truths that God expresses. Only in this way can we attain purity, receive salvation, and gain a wonderful destination. Only this is the right, proper, and correct path of human life. How can you say that this is going the wrong path? According to your point of view, the disciples of the Lord Jesus who left their homes and work to follow and bear witness for the Lord, can it be that they were going the wrong path? Those missionaries of the West who left their dear ones and native land to travel far across the sea to China devoted their life's energy to preaching and bearing witness for the salvation of the Lord Jesus, some of them even losing their lives for it, are you saying that they were ruthless? They were carrying out God’s will in order to help people attain God’s salvation. What they did were benevolent actions; it was the most righteous of all human causes, completely in keeping with God's will. The Lord Jesus said, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luk 14:26). “And he that takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me” (Mat 10:38). Over the past two thousand years, countless Christians have left their families and work to comply with God's wishes, to spread God's gospel and bear God's witness. It is precisely their unrepentant efforts that has caused the salvation of the Lord Jesus to spread to all corners of the earth. Today the Lord Jesus has returned as Almighty God, and expresses truth to do the last-days judgment work to purify and save the human race. The Christians of The Church of Almighty God, in order to help more people have a chance to hear the words of God, to accept God's last-days purification and salvation, and to enter into the wonderful destination that God has prepared for the human race, have left behind their families and work, and do all they can to preach and bear witness for the appearance and work of Savior Christ of the last days. Could this be wrong? This is completely in accord with the Bible, and in accord with God's requirements!

Question 6: You communicate the Bible is the Bible, God is God. I understand that the Bible cannot represent God at all. But just what is the relationship between the Bible and God? I still don’t get it.

Answer: The Lord Jesus has explained this question very clearly. John 5:39-40: “Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And you will not come to me, that you might have life.” The Lord Jesus explained the relationship between the Bible and God very clearly. The Bible is a testimony of God. The Bible itself does not have eternal life and cannot bestow life on man. Only Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. Therefore, only by accepting and following Christ and obeying the words and work of God of the last days, can we gain the truth and eternal life. Let’s take another look at how there are still many people in religious circles who still maintain that “Believing in the Lord is believing in the Bible, departing from the Bible means not believing in the Lord.” They even think that as long as they stick to the Bible they can be brought up into the kingdom of heaven. Isn’t this viewpoint too absurd? Actually, the Bible is just a history book, a record documenting God’s work. If people don’t understand this and keep holding on to the Bible, then let me ask: Can the Bible replace God’s work of the last days? Can the Bible replace Christ in expressing the truth? Can one really gain the truth and life by studying and sticking to the Bible? If people stubbornly hold on to the Scriptures like the Pharisees, does it prove that they follow and obey God? If people only hold on to the Bible but don’t accept or obey the work of Christ in the last days, then how can they gain the truth and life, achieve salvation, be perfected, and enter God’s kingdom? Let’s read a few more passages of Almighty God’s words and we’ll understand this aspect of the truth even more clearly!