God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind

As members of the human race and devout Christians, it is the responsibility and obligation of us all to offer up our mind and body for the fulfillment of God’s commission, for our entire being came from God, and it exists thanks to the sovereignty of God. If our minds and bodies are not for God’s commission and not for the righteous cause of mankind, then our souls will be unworthy of those who were martyred for God’s commission, much more unworthy of God, who has provided us with everything.

The Appearance of God Has Ushered in a New Age

God’s six-thousand-year plan of management is coming to an end, and the gate of the kingdom has already been opened to all those who seek His appearance. Dear brothers and sisters, what are you waiting for? What is it that you seek? Are you waiting for God to appear? Are you searching for His footprints? How one yearns for the appearance of God! And how difficult it is to find God’s footprints! In an age such as this, in a world such as this, what must we do to witness the day on which God appears? What must we do to keep pace with the footsteps of God? Questions of this kind are faced by all those who are waiting for God to appear. You have all considered them on more than one occasion—but with what outcome? Where does God appear? Where are God’s footprints? Have you got the answer? Many people would reply in this way: God appears among all those who follow Him and His footprints are in our midst; it’s that simple! Anyone can provide a formulaic answer, but do you understand what is meant by the appearance of God or His footprints? The appearance of God refers to His arrival on earth to do His work in person. With His own identity and disposition, and in the way that is innate to Him, He descends into mankind to conduct the work of initiating an age and ending an age. This kind of appearance is not a form of ceremony. It is not a sign, a picture, a miracle, or some kind of a grand vision, and even less is it a kind of religious process. It is a real and actual fact that can be touched and beheld by anyone. This kind of appearance is not for the sake of going through the motions, or for the sake of a short-term undertaking; it is, rather, for the sake of a stage of work in His management plan. The appearance of God is always meaningful and always bears some relation to His management plan. What is called “appearance” here is completely different from the kind of “appearance” in which God guides, leads, and enlightens man. God carries out a stage of His great work each time He reveals Himself. This work is different from that of any other age. It is unimaginable to man, and has never been experienced by man. It is work that starts a new age and concludes the old age, and it is a new and improved form of work for the salvation of mankind; moreover, it is work that brings mankind into the new age. This is what the appearance of God signifies.

Only He Who Experiences the Work of God Truly Believes in God

Though many people believe in God, few understand what faith in God means, and what they must do to be after God’s heart. This is because, though people are familiar with the word “God” and phrases such as “the work of God,” they do not know God, much less do they know His work. No wonder, then, that all those who do not know God are possessed of a muddled belief. People do not take belief in God seriously because believing in God is too unfamiliar, too strange for them. In this way, they fall short of the demands of God. In other words, if people do not know God, do not know His work, then they are not fit for God’s use, much less can they fulfill the desire of God. “Belief in God” means believing that there is a God; this is the simplest concept of faith in God. What’s more, believing that there is a God is not the same as truly believing in God; rather, it is a kind of simple faith with strong religious overtones. True faith in God means experiencing the words and work of God based on a belief that God holds sovereignty over all things. So you shall be freed of your corrupt disposition, shall fulfill the desire of God, and shall come to know God. Only through such a journey can you be said to believe in God. Yet people often see belief in God as something very simple and frivolous. The belief of such people is meaningless and shall never gain the approval of God, because they tread the wrong path. Today, there are still those who believe in God in letters, in hollow doctrines. They are unaware that their belief in God has no substance, and that they are unable to gain the approval of God, and they still pray for peace and sufficient grace from God. We should stop and ask ourselves: Could believing in God really be the easiest thing on earth? Does believing in God mean nothing more than receiving much grace from God? Can people who believe in God but do not know Him, and believe in God yet oppose Him, really fulfill the desire of God?

7. Believers in God Should Prepare for Their Destination With Sufficient Good Deeds

Relevant Words of God:

My mercy is expressed upon those who love Me and deny themselves. And the punishment visited upon the wicked is precisely proof of My righteous disposition and, even more, testimony to My wrath. When disaster comes, famine and plague will befall all those who oppose Me and they will weep. Those who have committed all manner of wickedness, but who have followed Me for many years, will not escape paying for their sins; they too, falling into disaster, the like of which has seldom been seen throughout millions of years, will come to live in a constant state of panic and fear. And those of My followers who have shown loyalty to Me alone shall rejoice and applaud My might. They will experience ineffable contentment and live in a joy that I have never before bestowed upon mankind. For I treasure the good deeds of men and abhor their evil deeds. Since I first began to lead mankind, I have been eagerly hoping to gain a group of men of the same mind with Me. I have never forgotten those who are not of the same mind with Me; I have held them with loathing in My heart, awaiting only the opportunity to visit My retribution on them, which will give Me relish to see. My day has finally come today, and I need no longer wait!

6. The Meaning of Suffering and What Kind of Suffering Believers of God Must Bear

Relevant Words of God:

Today, most people don’t have that knowledge. They believe that suffering is without value, they are renounced by the world, their home life is troubled, they are not beloved of God, and their prospects are bleak. The suffering of some people reaches a certain point, and their thoughts turn to death. This is not the true love of God; such people are cowards, they have no perseverance, they are weak and powerless! God is eager for man to love Him, but the more man loves Him, the greater man’s suffering, and the more man loves Him, the greater man’s trials. If you love Him, then every kind of suffering will befall you—and if you don’t, then perhaps everything will go smoothly for you, and all will be peaceful around you. When you love God, you will feel that much around you is insurmountable, and because your stature is too small you will be refined; moreover, you are incapable of satisfying God, and you will always feel that God’s will is too lofty, that it is beyond the reach of man. Because of all this you will be refined—because there is much weakness within you, and much that is incapable of satisfying the will of God, you will be refined inside. Yet you must clearly see that purification is only achieved through refinement. … Only after experiencing hardship and refinement does man know that God is lovely. Having experienced up until today, it can be said that man has come to know part of God’s loveliness—but this is still not enough, because man is so lacking. He must experience more of God’s wondrous work, and more of all the refinement of suffering set out by God. Only then can man’s life disposition be changed.

from “Only by Experiencing Painful Trials Can You Know the Loveliness of God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Why Are People Unable to Get Rid of Sin Even After Receiving the Salvation of the Cross?

By Xuesong

The cross was a torture device used for capital punishment in ancient times. After the Lord Jesus, who was free from sin, sacrificed Himself as a sin offering and was crucified for mankind, the cross came to symbolize the Lord Jesus’s redemptive grace. When we receive His salvation and come before the Lord to confess our sins and repent, our sins are forgiven. That is, the Lord no longer views us as sinful. As such, many of our brothers and sisters believe that receiving the salvation of the cross means they have already been saved, which means they have already been gained by God and when the Lord returns they will be caught up directly into the kingdom of heaven. However, has anyone stopped to question whether this line of thinking is commensurate with the Lord’s word? It’s true that we have received the salvation of the cross, but it’s also undeniable that we still often sin. Will people such as us really be caught up directly into the kingdom of heaven when the Lord returns?

Christian Reflection: Can We Really Receive the Returned Lord by Waiting for Him to Reveal Himself?

By Tian Yuan

Editor’s Note: In chapter 22 of Revelation, the Lord Jesus prophesies a few times, “I come quickly.” It’s certain that every brother and sister who sincerely believes in the Lord hopes to be able to receive the returned Lord Jesus and dine with Him at the wedding banquet. So, what should we do to be ready to receive the returned Lord? Read the following to discover the answer.