The Word of God | The Return of the Lord | "The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age" (Excerpt 1)

The Word of God | The Return of the Lord | "The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age" (Excerpt 1)

Almighty God says, "For this reason, since we are searching for the footprints of God, it behooves us to search for God's will, for the words of God, for His utterances—because wherever there are new words spoken by God, the voice of God is there, and wherever there are the footsteps of God, God's deeds are there. Wherever there is the expression of God, there God appears, and wherever God appears, there the truth, the way, and the life exist. … If you desire to witness the appearance of God, to follow God's footsteps, then you must first walk away from your own conceptions. You must not demand that God do this or that, much less should you place Him within your own confines and limit Him to your own conceptions. Instead, you should ask how you are to seek God's footprints, how you are to accept God's appearance, and how you are to submit to the new work of God; this is what man should do. Since man is not the truth, and is not possessed of the truth, he should seek, accept, and obey" (The Word Appears in the Flesh).

A German Christian’s Reflections: I Have Found the Path to Victory Over Sin

By Anna, Germany

Editor’s Note: Are you still struggling in the agony of sin? Are you discouraged and disappointed because you live trapped in a cycle of sinning and repentance? What must we do to escape the bondage of sin? I hope reading this article will be of some help to you.

Beholding the Appearance of God in His Judgment and Chastisement

Like the hundreds of millions of others who follow the Lord Jesus Christ, we abide by the laws and commandments of the Bible, enjoy the abundant grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and gather together, pray, praise, and serve in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ—and all this we do under the care and protection of the Lord. We are often weak, and we are also often strong. We believe that all of our actions are in accordance with the teachings of the Lord. It goes without saying, then, that we also believe ourselves to be on the path of obedience to the will of the Father in heaven. We long for the return of the Lord Jesus, for His glorious descent, for the end of our life on earth, for the appearance of the kingdom, and for everything as it was foretold in the Book of Revelation: The Lord arrives, He brings disaster, He rewards the good and punishes the wicked, and He takes all those who follow Him and welcome His return up to meet Him in the air. Whenever we think of this, we cannot but be overcome with emotion and filled with gratitude that we were born in the last days and have the good fortune to witness the coming of the Lord. Though we have suffered persecution, we have got in return “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” What a blessing! All of this longing, and the grace bestowed by the Lord, render us constantly sober unto prayer, and make us more diligent in gathering together. Maybe next year, maybe tomorrow, and again, maybe within a space of time shorter than man can conceive, the Lord shall suddenly descend, appearing among a group of people who have been waiting for Him with eager solicitude. We rush to get ahead of each other, none willing to fall behind, all for the sake of being in the first group to behold the appearance of the Lord, of being among those who are raptured. We have given everything, heedless of the cost, for the coming of this day, some leaving their jobs, some abandoning their families, some renouncing marriage, and some even donating all of their savings. What selfless acts of devotion! Such sincerity and loyalty is surely beyond even the saints of ages past! As the Lord bestows grace upon whomever He pleases, and shows mercy to whomever He pleases, our acts of devotion and of expending, we believe, have long since been beheld by His eyes. So, too, have our heartfelt prayers reached His ears, and we trust that the Lord will give us recompense for our dedication. Moreover, God had been gracious toward us before He created the world, and the blessings and promises He has given to us no one can take away. We are all planning for the future, and as a matter of course have made our dedication and expending into counter chips or capital to exchange for being raptured to meet the Lord in the air. What is more, we have, without the slightest hesitation, placed ourselves on the throne of the future, to preside over all nations and all peoples, or to reign as kings. All this we take as a given, as something to be expected.

Question 4: Pastors in religious circles are all familiar with the Bible. They often interpret the Bible in churches and exalt the Bible. We’ve always thought that they should be people who know God. Then why has the work of God incarnate in the last days been furiously condemned and resisted by the majority of pastors in the religious world? I believe what the majority of pastors and leaders in the religious community condemn can’t possibly be the true way!

Answer: In investigating whether it is God’s work, we should not judge according to whether the majority of religious leaders accept it. Think back to when the Lord Jesus appeared to do His work. Who were the ones that crucified the Lord Jesus? Wasn’t it the religious leaders who were familiar with the Bible and often interpreted the Bible to others? What does this fact tell us? A person who is familiar with the Bible and can interpret the Bible isn’t necessarily someone who knows God’s work, and moreover not someone who can certainly be said to know God. The Jewish chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees were all familiar with the Bible, and yet they were the ones who resisted and condemned the Lord Jesus. They were all antichrists. Is this not a fact? If a person familiar with the Bible can’t even see through this fact, does that count as understanding the Bible? If you now still rely on the views of the majority of religious leaders as the basis for determining whether it is God’s appearance and work, then isn’t that totally absurd? If you still insist on relying on the view of the majority of religious leaders on this issue, then aren’t you also denying the appearance and work of the Lord Jesus? Without a doubt, that makes you just like the Pharisees—someone who resists God. When we seek and examine the true way, we should decide according to whether there is the Holy Spirit’s work and whether there is the expression of truth. That’s the accurate criterion. Basing it on the views of the majority of religious leaders is certainly resisting God, and you will be condemned and eliminated by God.

Question 1: You’ve testified that when the Lord returns in the last days, He will first become flesh and arrive in secret, and after making a group of overcomers, publicly descend with the clouds to appear before all people. Such a communication makes sense. But for 2,000 years, most believers in the Lord have all been waiting for Him to descend with the clouds. Religious pastors and elders also often say so. How could we possibly be wrong by waiting in accordance with the Bible’s prophecy? This is definitely impossible!

Answer: What kind of basis do you have for saying something like that? Is what you have said in line with the words of the Lord Jesus? Are they based on God’s words? If what you are saying is completely based on man’s notions and imaginations, that would be resisting the Lord! Let’s see how the Pharisees waited for the arrival of the Messiah and why they nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross. Initially, the Jewish Pharisees were full of notions and imaginations when it came to the Messiah. They saw the biblical prophecy: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be on his shoulder” (Isa 9:6). “But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Mic 5:2). Based on the words of the Bible prophecies and various long-term fantasies and deductions toward the arrival of the Messiah, the Pharisees determined that the Lord would definitely be called Messiah and would certainly be born to a wealthy family. Further, He would be like David and become the King of Israel, leading them to break away from the rule of the Roman government. Most Israelites probably thought this way. But God did not fulfill these prophecies in accordance with their notions and imaginations, so the Pharisees tried to find all kinds of accusations against the Lord Jesus and condemned and blasphemed the Lord Jesus. Even though at the time the Lord Jesus expressed many truths and performed many miracles, fully demonstrating God’s authority and power, the Pharisees did not care how profound the Lord Jesus’ words were or how great His authority was. As long as it did not conform with their notions and imaginations, as long as He was not born to a wealthy family and His appearance not noble and dignified, as long as His name was not Messiah, they would condemn and resist. Due to their truth-hating nature, they ultimately nailed the Lord Jesus, who expressed truths and performed redemption work, to the cross! Brothers and sisters, are the Pharisees detestable? Should they be cursed! The sins of the Pharisees in resisting and condemning the Lord Jesus thoroughly exposed their truth-loathing, truth-hating satanic nature. This shows that their hearts were not genuinely looking forward to the Messiah saving them from sin, but were instead looking forward to what? They were looking forward to the King of the Jews helping them to break away from the rule of the Roman government, so they would no longer have to suffer like slaves! They believed in God and anticipated the arrival of the Messiah all because they wanted to satisfy their own personal desires and protect their status. Let’s think about it. What mistake did the Pharisees commit in waiting for the coming of the Messiah? Why were they cursed and punished by God? This is really thought-provoking! Why did the Pharisees resist and condemn the Lord Jesus when He appeared to perform His work? What nature and substance of the Pharisees was demonstrated here? These are problems people who long for God’s appearance should understand! If we cannot see through these problems, then when it comes to receiving the returned Lord Jesus, we might very well end up on the same God-resisting path as the Pharisees!

Question 1: You bear witness that the Lord Jesus has returned as none other than Almighty God who has expressed the truth in doing judgment work in the last days. How could it be possible? The Lord will actually come to bring us into the kingdom of heaven, how could He leave us behind to do judgment work in the last days? I think by believing in the Lord Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit’s work, we have already been experiencing God's judgment work. There is proof in the Lord Jesus’ word: “if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (Jhn 16:7-8). We think that after the Lord Jesus resurrected and ascended to heaven, at Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended to work on people. That had already made people blame themselves for their sins, for righteousness and judgment. When we confess and repent before the Lord, we are actually experiencing the judgment of the Lord. the work of the Lord Jesus was redemption work, after the Lord Jesus ascended to heaven, the work done by the Holy Spirit who descended at Pentecost should be the judgment work of God in the last days. Had it not been the judgment work, how could it be “he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment”? Besides, as believers of the Lord, we are often touched, reprimanded and disciplined by the Holy Spirit. So, in front of the Lord, we are always crying and repenting to the Lord. The many good behaviors engendered are how we have been transformed by our faith in the Lord. Is it not the result of experiencing God's judgment? The judgment work of Almighty God in the last days that you talk about, how does it differ from the work of the Lord Jesus?

Answer: Since you recognize what the Lord Jesus did was the work of redemption, and the way He brought is “Repent you: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mat 4:17). then what did you base upon to determine that the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost to do the work of judgment in the last days? You only based on the Lord Jesus’ word that said, “for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (Jhn 16:7-8). You dare to be certain that the work done by the Holy Spirit was the judgment work in the last days, is there any basis according to God’s word? The Lord Jesus had never said that. The Lord Jesus said explicitly, “And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (Jhn 12:47-48). The Lord Jesus made it very clear that what He did was not judgment work. The Lord Jesus will only express the truth to do the judgment work when He returns in the last days. To be sure, it is wrong for some people to refer to the work of the Holy Spirit in the Age of Grace as the judgment work of God. Of course, when we confess our sins and repent before the Lord, we must have the moving and work of the Holy Spirit to receive the grace of God, to enjoy peace and joy. But when someone repents to the Lord, breaks down in tears, it only means that he is moved by the Holy Spirit. The achieved effect is to make man confess and repent and qualify to enjoy the grace of God. It is not the effects achieved by the judgment of God in the last days—to be cleansed and made perfect. The work of the Holy Spirit in the Age of Grace is different from the work of the Holy Spirit in the last days. This is directly related to the effect and purpose God intends to achieve in every stage of His work. Let us hear two passages of Almighty God’s word and we will understand what judgment is.

Question 8: For 2,000 years, the religious world has upheld the belief that “the Bible is given by inspiration of God, that it is all God's word”, so the Bible represents the Lord. Those who deny that the Bible is given by inspiration of God and is His word will definitely be condemned and labeled as heretics by the religious world. Is my understanding of this wrong?

Answer: Many people of the religious world believe all the Bible is given by inspiration of God, and is all the word of God. This is clearly a faulty notion! All the epistles and the experiences and testimonies of the apostles contained within the Bible clearly state the author. The Bible is clearly written by people of different ages. How could their testimonies of experience be construed as the word of God? If we go by the religious world’s thinking, the writers of the Bible clearly are all men, but somehow their words become the words of God. What kind of logic is this? The essence of God and that of man are fundamentally different, only God can speak God’s word. And man can only speak human word. If we insist that the word of man is actually God’s word, so let me ask, were all the authors of the Bible God? Who can bear witness to that? Did they claim that they were God? Did they claim that all their words were given by inspiration of God? What do you say to this question? If you claim they were all God, this is in clear contradiction to the facts, because there is only one God. Also, clearly they’re all men, but you insist that they are actually God. This is blasphemous toward God! This is a deadly sin! If you accept that they are all men, but still maintain that their words are all the words of God, this is a distortion of the facts and a misrepresentation. This amounts to opposition to God and blasphemy of Him! Because, within the Bible, apart from Moses and the prophets, none of the other authors were instructed by God to convey God’s word. They also never claimed to have the inspiration of God in their writing. If one has no such evidence but claims that these men were speaking the word of God, he’s just shamelessly spouting off nonsense. The authors of the Old and New Testaments were all men used by God. They, experienced the work of God at that time. They had some knowledge of God, and held some burden in their hearts. They set their experiences and testimonies to writing and spread them to the saints of the churches. This is fact. But there were some who felt that these experiences and testimonies was particularly edifying much higher than the testimonies and experiences of the common man, and as a result they mistakenly began to blindly follow and worship them, thinking that their words must have issued from God, because the average person would be incapable of writing such things, so these fallacies and false notions came into being, and these fallacies and false notions spread far and wide and were adopted by many people. In the end, they became conceptions of religious people. The damage caused by all this is nearly inestimable. If Almighty God had not come, who would have realized all this? Despite the fact that many say that all things should be in accord with the Bible and the word of God, no one actually tries to discern all this according to God’s words, and, even more so, no one tries to seek the truth and scrutinize the facts with regard to this issue.

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.

Back From the Brink

By Zhao Guangming, China

At the beginning of the 1980s, I was in my 30s and was working for an architectural design company. I considered myself to be young and fit, treated people with loyalty and respect, and did my work responsibly. My architect skills were also top-notch, and I was sure that I was going places in the company and that once my career really took off I would be living like a prince. This was my goal and so I stayed with the company and worked hard for many years. But despite my impeccable caliber, in both character and professional skills, my efforts never seemed to be recognized by the company, which is something I never understood. The top salary grade in our company was grade 6, but my salary never got above grade 3. I watched a number of colleagues, who had neither my skills nor my time served in the company, get pay raises, but it never happened to me. I was puzzled and resentful about why they got raises and I didn’t. Finally, one of the colleagues who I got along with quite well gave me a tip: “In this company, the most important thing is to butter up the manager by giving him gifts at Chinese New Year and other festivals.” On hearing this, I finally understood the real reason why I had been overlooked by the company, and the injustice of it made me furious. But although I hated those ass kissers in the company, and had even less time for the colleagues who did little work but still got ahead by using underhand methods, I needed to firm up my standing and so I had to adapt to these unwritten rules. So the next time Chinese New Year came along I “expressed my heartfelt good wishes” to the manager and was immediately promoted to team leader.

2. Almighty God Is the Returned Jesus.

Relevant Words of God:

God is incarnated in the Chinese mainland, what the compatriots in Hong Kong and Taiwan call the inland. When God came from above to the earth, no one in heaven and earth knew about it, for this is the true meaning of God returning in a concealed fashion. He has been in the flesh working and living for a long time, yet no one has known about it. Even to this day, no one recognizes it. Perhaps this will remain an eternal riddle. God’s coming into flesh this time is not something anyone is able to be aware of. No matter how large-scale and powerful the Spirit’s work, God always stays composed, never giving Himself away. One can say that it is as if this stage of His work is taking place in the heavenly realm. Even though it is perfectly obvious to everyone, no one recognizes it. When God finishes this stage of His work, everyone will awake from their long dream and reverse their past attitude.[1] I remember God once saying, “Coming into flesh this time is like falling into the tiger’s den.” What this means is that because this round of God’s work has God coming into flesh and being born in the dwelling place of the great red dragon, His coming to earth this time is accompanied even more so with extreme dangers. What He faces are knives and guns and clubs; what He faces is temptation; what He faces are crowds wearing murderous looks. He risks being killed at any moment. God did come with wrath. However, He came in order to do the work of perfection, meaning to do the second part of His work that continues after redemption work. For the sake of this stage of His work, God has devoted utmost thought and care and is using every conceivable means to avoid the assaults of temptation, concealing Himself humbly and never flaunting His identity. In rescuing man off the cross, Jesus was only completing redemption work; He was not doing perfection work. Thus only half of God’s work was being done, and finishing the redemption work was only half of His whole plan. As the new age was about to begin and the old one about to recede, God the Father began to deliberate the second part of His work and started preparing for it. In the past, this incarnation in the last days may not have been prophesied, and therefore that laid a foundation for the increased secrecy surrounding God’s coming into flesh this time. At the break of dawn, unbeknownst to any, God came to earth and began His life in the flesh. People were unaware of this moment. Maybe they were all fast asleep, maybe many who were watchfully awake were waiting, and maybe many were praying silently to God in heaven. Yet among all these many people, not one knew that God had already arrived on earth. God worked like this so as to more smoothly carry out His work and achieve better results, and it was also to avoid more temptations. As man’s spring slumber breaks, God’s work will have long been finished and He shall depart, bringing to a close His life of roaming and sojourning on earth. Because God’s work requires God to act and speak personally, and because there is no way for man to help, God has endured extreme pain to come to earth to do the work Himself. Man is unable to stand in for God’s work. Therefore God risked dangers several thousand times greater than those during the Age of Grace to come down to where the great red dragon dwells to do His own work, to put all His thinking and care into redeeming this group of impoverished people, redeeming this group of people mired in a heap of manure. Even though no one knows of God’s existence, God is not troubled because it greatly benefits God’s work. Everyone is atrociously evil, so how can anyone tolerate God’s existence? That is why on earth God is always silent. No matter how excessively cruel man is, God does not take any of it to heart, but just keeps doing the work He needs to do so as to fulfill the greater commission that the heavenly Father gave Him. Who among you has recognized God’s loveliness? Who shows more consideration for God the Father’s burden than His Son does? Who is able to understand the will of God the Father? God the Father’s Spirit in heaven is often troubled, and His Son on earth prays frequently over God the Father’s will, worrying His heart to pieces. Is there anyone who knows of God the Father’s love for His Son? Is there anyone who knows how the beloved Son misses God the Father? Torn between heaven and earth, the two are constantly gazing after each other from afar, side by side in Spirit. O mankind! When will you be considerate of God’s heart? When will you understand God’s intention? Father and Son have always depended on each other. Why then should They be separated, one in heaven above and one on earth below? The Father loves His Son as the Son loves His Father. Why then should He have to wait with such longing and long with such anxiety? Although They have not been separated for long, does anyone know that the Father has already been anxiously yearning for so many days and nights and has long been looking forward to His beloved Son’s quick return? He observes, He sits in silence, He waits. It is all for His beloved Son’s quick return. When will He again be with the Son who is wandering on earth? Even though once together, They will be together for eternity, how can He endure the thousands of days and nights of separation, one in heaven above and one on earth below? Tens of years on earth are like thousands of years in heaven. How could God the Father not worry? When God comes to earth, He experiences the many vicissitudes of the human world just as man does. God Himself is innocent, so why let God suffer the same pain as man? No wonder God the Father longs so urgently for His Son; who can understand God’s heart? God gives man too much; how can man adequately repay God’s heart? Yet man gives God too little; how could God not therefore be worried?

1. What is God’s church? What is a religious organization?

Bible Verses for Reference:

“And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said to them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves” (Mat 21:12-13).

2. What is the difference between the words of people used by God throughout the ages which conform to the truth and the words of God?

Relevant Words of God:

The truth comes from the world of man, yet the truth among man is passed on by Christ. It originates from Christ, that is, from God Himself, and is unattainable by man.

14 Only If We Have a Deep Enough Knowledge of Ourselves Can We Gain the Transformation of Our Disposition

Zirun    Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province

In most of us there exists such a state: Although we have gained some knowledge of what aspects of the corrupt nature we have and also have a general idea of what nature the corruptions we express are out of, nevertheless, when encountering things, we still relapse into our old nature and can never practice the truth, nor can any transformation be seen in us. For example, we know that we are arrogant and conceited, and we also often fellowship about the corruption of this aspect, yet when encountering things, we still hold on to our own ideas, not submissive to anyone. When performing our duties, we still exalt ourselves and testify ourselves, unable to do the work according to the work arrangements. We have realized that we seek ease and comfort and are too lazy, yet when performing our duties, we are still unwilling to endure hardships and unable to forsake our flesh, and we still have too much perfunctoriness and deceit. We acknowledge that we are too crafty, yet when giving a report on our work, we still employ trickery and practice deception. And so on. There are too many such states existing in us. Then, exactly what has caused us to have knowledge only but gain no transformation?

12 The Work of the Man Used by the Holy Spirit Is Led Completely by the Holy Spirit

Chao Wei    Hefei City, Anhui Province

We often hear some people in the church say, “The man used by the Holy Spirit is also a man, so his work is unavoidably mixed with man’s will.” For this reason, some people do not absolutely obey the work of the man used by the Holy Spirit nor cooperate with the arrangements from above actively on their own initiative. Some even despise or refuse to read the fellowship from above. Some do not express anything outwardly but resist in their hearts and are unwilling to accept. Some even judge and demolish, and especially when the arrangement from above does not match their notions, they react more strongly. For example, the above said the gospel work would be concluded at the end of the year 2003 by and large, but it was not concluded at the end of that year as people had imagined. Thus, many people complained, “This is done by man. It is to coax us to go forward.” When the above required us to preach the gospel to the unbelievers, many people formed notions, saying, “This is done by man. This stage of the work has nothing to do with the unbelievers at all!” When the above required that those possessed by evil spirits, those who often had the working of evil spirits, those antichrists and the like be purged and expelled from the church and that the church members be classified into groups according to their kind to have meetings, some judged by saying, “This is done by man. It is too harmful and merciless to do like this”; some did not say anything with their mouth but just refused to carry it out. When the above required the workers and the leaders of God’s family to write ministering articles, some formed notions and uttered complaints, saying, “It is enough that we just believe in God; why is it so troublesome? We are asked to write this today and that tomorrow.” And so on. These manifestations are sufficient to prove that we do not know the substance of the work done by the man used by the Holy Spirit, do not know that the leading of the man used by the Holy Spirit is completely the leading of the Holy Spirit and is a way for God to do the work and lead the people, and do not understand why God has to raise up the man used by the Holy Spirit to lead us or what are the purpose and significance of God’s doing the work in this way.

Question 4: The Lord Jesus spoke the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven to the disciples, and as the return of the Lord Jesus, has Almighty God also revealed many mysteries? Could you fellowship with us about some of the mysteries revealed by Almighty God? It would be a great help to us in identifying the voice of God.

Answer: Each time God becomes flesh, He reveals many truths and mysteries to us. This is without doubt. God becomes flesh in order to save mankind, and so, He naturally expresses many truths, and reveals many mysteries. In the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus, God incarnate revealed many mysteries whilst preaching and doing His work, such as, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mat 4:17). “Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Mat 7:21). The Lord Jesus also revealed many other mysteries in addition to this, which I won’t go into now. In the last days, Almighty God has come, and carried out the work of judgment beginning from the house of God, and has expressed all truths for the purification and salvation of mankind. Almighty God has not only accomplished all of the prophecies of the Lord Jesus, but has also laid bare to us the great mysteries of the past, the present, and the future, which relate to God's management plan. Let us read two passages of the words of Almighty God. “The work I have been managing for thousands of years is only completely revealed to man in the last days. It is only now that I have opened up the full mystery of My management to man. Man knows the purpose of My work and moreover has obtained an understanding of all My mysteries. And I have told man everything about the destination he is concerned about. I have already uncovered for man all My mysteries that were hidden for over 5,900 years” (“The Work of Spreading the Gospel Is Also the Work of Saving Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “This stage of work will elucidate for you the law of Jehovah and the redemption of Jesus, and is principally so that you may understand the entire work of God’s six-thousand-year management plan, and appreciate all the significance and substance of this six-thousand-year management plan, and understand the purpose of all the work done by Jesus and the words He spoke, and even your blind credence in and adoration of the Bible. All this it will allow you to perceive. You will come to understand both the work done by Jesus, and the work of God today; you will understand and behold all of the truth, the life, and the way. … In the end, this current stage will bring God’s work to a complete end, and will provide its conclusion. All will come to understand and know of God’s management plan. The conceptions within man, his intentions, his erroneous understanding, his conceptions toward the work of Jehovah and Jesus, his views about the Gentiles, and all his deviation and errors will be corrected. And man will understand all the right paths of life, and all the work done by God, and the entire truth. When that happens, this stage of work will come to an end” (“The Vision of God’s Work (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

IV. Questions and Answers on How to Discern the Voice of God

Question 1: The Lord Jesus has now returned and He has a new name—Almighty God. Almighty God has expressed the words in the book The Word Appears in the Flesh, and it is the voice of the bridegroom, yet many brothers and sisters are still unable to discern the voice of God. And so, today we have invited the witnesses from the Church of Almighty God. We have invited them to fellowship with us about how to identify the voice of God. So we’ll know how to ascertain that Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus.

What wisdom and omnipotence of God is revealed in His using the service of the CCP government and the religious world? (1)

Relevant Words of God:

My entire management plan, a plan that spans six thousand years, consists of three stages, or three ages: the Age of Law in the beginning; the Age of Grace (which is also the Age of Redemption); and the Age of Kingdom in . My work in these three ages differs in content according to the nature of each age, but at each stage it accords with man’s needs—or, to be more precise, it is done according to the tricks that Satan employs in the war that I wage against it. The purpose of My work is to defeat Satan, to make manifest My wisdom and omnipotence, to expose all of Satan’s tricks, and thereby to save the entire human race, which lives under its domain. It is to show My wisdom and omnipotence while at the same time revealing the unbearable hideousness of Satan. Even more, it is to teach My creations to discriminate between good and evil, to know that I am the Ruler of all things, to see clearly that Satan is humanity’s foe, the lowest of the low, the evil one, and to tell, with absolute certainty, the difference between good and evil, truth and falsehood, holiness and filth, and what is great and what is ignoble. This way, ignorant humanity will become able to bear witness to Me that it is not I who corrupt humanity, and only I—the Lord of creation—can save humanity, can bestow upon man things for their enjoyment; and they will come to know that I am the Ruler of all things and Satan is merely one of the beings that I created and that later turned against Me.

from “The True Story Behind Work in the Age of Redemption” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Examples of analyzing and discerning the rumors and lies of the CCP government and the religious world (2)

(3) Analysis of the third rumor of the Chinese Communist Party and religious community: The Church of Almighty God was created by man.

Relevant Words of God:

Some may wonder, Why must the age be ushered in by God Himself? Cannot a created being stand in His stead? You are all aware that God becomes flesh expressly for the purpose of ushering in a new age, and, of course, when He ushers in a new age, He has concluded the former age at the same time. God is the Beginning and the End; it is He Himself who sets His work in motion and so it must be He Himself who concludes the former age. That is the proof that He defeats Satan and conquers the world. Each time He Himself works among man, it is the beginning of a new battle. Without the beginning of new work, there would naturally be no conclusion of the old. And no conclusion of the old is proof that the battle with Satan has yet to come to a close. Only if God Himself comes and carries out new work among man can man fully break free of the domain of Satan and gain a new life and new beginning. Otherwise, man shall forever live in the old age and forever live under the old influence of Satan. With every age led by God, a part of man is set free, and thus man advances along with the work of God toward the new age. The victory of God is a victory for all those who follow Him. If mankind of creation were charged with concluding the age, then be it from the viewpoint of man or Satan, this is no more than an act that opposes or betrays God, not one of obedience to God, and the work of man would thus give a handle to Satan. Only if man obeys and follows God in an age ushered in by God Himself would Satan be fully convinced, for that is the duty of a created being. And so I say that you need only follow and obey, and no more is asked of you. That is what is meant by each keeping his duty and performing his function. God does His own work and does not need for man to do His work in His stead, nor does He involve Himself in the work of created beings. Man performs his own duty and does not interfere with the work of God, and that is true obedience and proof that Satan is defeated. After God Himself has ushered in the new age, He no longer works among man Himself. It is only then that man officially steps into the new age to perform his duty and carry out his mission as a created being. Such are the working principles that can be transgressed by none. Only working in this way is sensible and reasonable. The work of God is done by God Himself. It is He who sets His work in motion, and also He who concludes it. It is He who plans the work, and also He who manages it, and even more, it is He who brings the work to fruition. It is as stated in the Bible, “I am the Beginning and the End; I am the Sower and the Reaper.” All that is related to the work of His management is done by Himself. He is the Ruler of the six-thousand-year management plan; none can do His work in His stead or bring His work to a close, for it is He who is in control of all. Since He created the world, He will lead the entire world to live in His light, and He will conclude the entire age to bring all of His plan to fruition!

from “The Mystery of the Incarnation (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

X Classic Words on the Reality of the Truth God’s Chosen People Must Enter Into

(XV) Classic Words on Casting Off the Influence of Satan and Being Gained by God to Achieve True Salvation

400. What is the influence of darkness?

What is referred to as the influence of darkness is the bondage of Satan, the influence of Satan, and it is an influence that has an aura of death.