Some people say, “The second coming of the Lord Jesus will be in the form of His Spirit, and cannot possibly be in the flesh.”

Response: Some people say, “The second coming of the Lord Jesus will be in the form of His Spirit, and cannot possibly be in the flesh.” Does this kind of statement stand? Is it based on the Lord’s words? People who understand the Bible all know that the Spirit does not come or not come. The Spirit is formless and amorphous and cannot be seen or touched; He is filled with all things in the universe. He is big in that He is filled with all things in the universe. He is small in that He is in the heart of every person who truly believes in Him. There is a lot of Him in that He exists in the heart of every person who truly believes in Him. There is very little of Him in that there is only one. It is just as the Bible says: “There is … one Spirit…. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Eph 4:4, 6). The Lord Jesus also said: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the middle of them” (Mat 18:20). Therefore, as long as we genuinely believe in God and are intimate with God, the Holy Spirit will be with us anyway. Accordingly, the Spirit does not come or not come. In references to the second coming of Jesus, Jesus being the Son of man and Christ, this means He must surely come in a form that we can see and touch.

What Is the Disposition God Expresses in the Age of Kingdom?

Classic Words of God:

Although Jehovah, Jesus, and the Messiah all represent My Spirit, these names only denote the different ages in My management plan, and do not represent Me in My entirety. The names by which people on earth call Me cannot articulate My entire disposition and all that I am. They are merely different names by which I am called during different ages. And so, when the final age—the age of the last days—arrives, My name shall change again. I shall not be called Jehovah, or Jesus, much less the Messiah, but shall be called the powerful Almighty God Himself, and under this name I shall bring the entire age to an end. I was once known as Jehovah. I was also called the Messiah, and people once called Me Jesus the Savior because they loved and respected Me. But today I am not the Jehovah or Jesus that people knew in times past—I am the God who has returned in the last days, the God who shall bring the age to an end. I am the God Himself that rises up at the ends of the earth, replete with My entire disposition, and full of authority, honor and glory. People have never engaged with Me, have never known Me, and have always been ignorant of My disposition. From the creation of the world until today, not one person has seen Me. This is the God who appears to man during the last days but is hidden among man. He resides among man, true and real, like the burning sun and the flaming fire, filled with power and brimming with authority. There is not a single person or thing that shall not be judged by My words, and not a single person or thing that shall not be purified through the burning of fire. Eventually, all nations shall be blessed because of My words, and also smashed to pieces because of My words. In this way, all people during the last days shall see that I am the Savior returned, I am the Almighty God that conquers all of mankind, and I was once the sin offering for man, but in the last days I also become the flames of the sun that burn all things, as well as the Sun of righteousness that reveals all things. Such is My work of the last days. I took this name and am possessed of this disposition so that all people may see that I am a righteous God, and am the burning sun, and the flaming fire. It is so that all may worship Me, the only true God, and so that they may see My true face: I am not only the God of the Israelites, and am not just the Redeemer—I am the God of all creatures throughout heavens and earth and seas.

from “The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

How Do the Three Stages of God’s Work Gradually Deepen for People to Be Saved and Perfected?

Classic Words of God:

The work of God’s management began at the creation of the world, and man is at the core of this work. God’s creation of all things, it can be said, is for the sake of man. Because the work of His management stretches over thousands of years, and is not carried out in the space of mere minutes or seconds, or a blink of an eye, or over one or two years, He had to create more things necessary for the survival of man, such as the sun, moon, all sorts of living creatures, and food and a living environment for mankind. This was the start of God’s management.

One Must Know That Only God’s Three Stages of Work Are His Complete Work for Saving Mankind

Sermons and Fellowship

God’s discourse on His three stages of work is fully adequate for us to clearly see that it is built up stage by stage, and each stage is closely linked to the next. Each and every stage of work is very practical and reasonable, and it is only these three stages of work that are the complete work of saving mankind, and God’s three stages of work are His management plan for saving mankind. That is why only understanding the three stages is truly understanding God’s work, and only in that way is it possible to fully understand God’s righteous disposition and His essence. Thus, we must have clear knowledge and understanding of the essence and significance of every stage of God’s work, and only then can we truly recognize that only the three stages of God’s work are the complete work of saving mankind. In every stage of God’s work all of us can clearly see how He has been victorious in the war against Satan’s evil forces. Mankind has been deeply corrupted by Satan, and in every stage of His work there have been many people who have taken on the role of Satan, demon, doing their utmost to interrupt and disturb His work, and they have also confused, roped in, controlled, and made use of God’s chosen people, attempting to destroy the work of God. However, God is the almighty, wise God, and He has always made use of Satan’s trickery as a service to achieve His work of redeeming and saving mankind. In His work in the Age of Grace, He used Satan to do service and through the betrayal of Judas and getting the Lord Jesus nailed to the cross, He completed His work of redemption. In the Age of Kingdom, through the disruption, sabotage, and confusion brought by antichrists, false leaders, and all sorts of evil spirits, He trains His chosen people and perfects them to understand the truth, be able to discern Satan, hate evil, turn their backs on the great red dragon, and enter into the reality of His words. Finally, He makes complete His chosen people and brings them into the kingdom. Understanding the three stages of God’s work of saving mankind is so meaningful. Not only can we see where God’s omnipotence and wisdom lie, but even more, we can understand His disposition and what He has and is that are revealed in every stage of His work. This way the fruits of our truly understanding God can be borne. The reality is, the process of undergoing God’s three stages of work is the process of understanding God, and it is also the process of people’s viewpoints and life dispositions undergoing gradual change to achieve salvation the last days will they be truly saved and completely gained by God, so that they no longer sin and resist God. This is because the satanic dispositions of corrupt humanity have been changed and they have genuine understanding of God. They no longer define and resist God based on human notions and imagination, and no matter how God leads them and how He designs and arranges things, they will be able to be obedient in front of Him with a heart of reverence. Only these are people who are truly in line with God’s will, and who can gain His blessings. Only those who truly gain God’s salvation are able to enter into the rest bestowed by God and truly obtain their final destination. There is no doubt about this.

The Age of Law: The Content and Result of God’s Work

Relevant Words of God:

After the creation of mankind in the beginning, it was the Israelites who served as the basis of work, and the whole of Israel was the base of Jehovah’s work on earth. The work of Jehovah was to directly lead and shepherd man through setting forth the laws so that man could live a normal life and worship Jehovah in a normal manner on earth. God in the Age of Law was One who could neither be seen nor touched by man. He was merely leading men first corrupted by Satan, and He was there to instruct and shepherd these men, so the words He spoke were only of statutes, ordinances, and common knowledge of living life as a man, and not at all of truths that supply the life of man. The Israelites under His leadership were not those deeply corrupted by Satan. His work of law was only the very first stage in the work of salvation, the very beginning of the work of salvation, and had practically nothing to do with the changes in the life disposition of man.

from “The Difference Between the Ministry of the Incarnate God and the Duty of Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

God’s Judgment Work in the Last Days Has Important Significance for Man’s Salvation and Perfection Through Faith in God

People who have experienced God’s work of judgment and chastisement already see it clearly: Those who are fortunate enough to experience God’s judgment and chastisement in the last days are really the most blessed people of all. All those people who have truly experienced God’s judgment and chastisement have achieved the following ten results:

It is said: “God should show people great miracles; He must heal the sick and cast out demons, and He must bestow blessings upon people. If He does not show miracles, if He doesn’t bring any benefit for mankind, then He is not the true God. If this Almighty God you believe in is the true God, why do you still get sick? Why aren’t your homes peaceful? As believers in Jesus, those of us who are sick are cured, and those who are not sick have peace at home.”

Response: There are people who deny that Almighty God is the return of Jesus and that He is the true God because people who believe in Almighty God still get sick and their homes are not at peace. They believe that by believing in the true God, people should be free from illness and disaster and their homes should be totally peaceful. These are nothing but human notions and imaginations, and they absolutely are not a genuine understanding of God. They are particularly out of line with the facts of God’s work. As everyone knows, Job believed in the true God, and Jehovah was inherently the one and only God, but Job’s family suffered robbery, plundering of all their wealth, and the death of their children. Even Job himself was covered in sores head-to-toe. So if you say that by believing in the true God everything should be peaceful, there should be no sickness and no disasters, then what do you think of what Job experienced? Could it be that we should deny that Jehovah is the true God? Jesus is the true God, but over the course of Peter following Jesus, he underwent countless difficulties and trials, and his illnesses were never-ending. The Apostle Paul also suffered many adversities—he was flogged and stoned many times, and ran into trouble at sea many times. He also became ill. The other disciples and apostles also suffered through many difficulties. If it’s said that by believing in the true God, one should have peace and health, how can we account for these things that came upon devout disciples and apostles who followed Jesus? Could we actually say that Jesus is not the true God? It is clear that human understanding is one-dimensional and biased! The truth is that Jehovah is the true God, and it was not only because He revealed the miracle of leading the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt or that He was able to bestow blessings upon mankind. What’s more important is that He could issue the law that led mankind’s lives on earth for two thousand years, and the law that He issued allowed man to understand how to worship God and how to have proper human life on earth. Jesus is the true God, and it is not only because He could heal the sick and cast out demons, or that He could bestow peace and material benefits upon people. It is because He completed the work of being crucified to redeem mankind, and without the redemption of the cross all of mankind would have died under the law. It is because of His salvation of the cross that man’s sins have been forgiven, and that we have survived until now. If we only relied upon revealing miracles to identify God, then isn’t it true that the Pharaoh’s sorcerers were also able to turn a rod into a serpent (See Exodus 7:10-12)? And isn’t it true that Simon, who had long practiced sorcery, was also able to make the people marvel at his miracles and even think that he was God (See Acts 8:9-11)? If we only relied upon healing the sick and casting out demons to identify God, then couldn’t those witch doctors and the prince of the devils also do that for people? But it is only God Himself who can save mankind and lead us in our lives on earth. It is only He who can redeem corrupt mankind from our sins. This is something that Satan or evil spirits cannot achieve. So, when judging whether it is God or not, you cannot rely solely upon miracles, whether or not people’s illnesses are cured or what material benefits are given. It must be based upon whether the work that is done can guide mankind, whether it can save mankind. Displaying miracles, curing the sick, and bestowing material benefits are very easy things to do. They are not enough to determine if this is God. He is the almighty, all-wise God, the God of compassion and mercy, the righteous and holy God, the powerful, authoritative, lofty God, and He is capable of creating mankind, leading our lives on earth, and redeeming Satan-corrupted mankind from sins. Finally, He is also able to completely purify and transform the people who have been redeemed but are still filthy, and bring them into God’s kingdom. These are all things that God has completed, and the work that He will certainly complete. This is the work that cannot be done by Satan or evil spirits, or any man. So, saying that because Almighty God does not perform miracles, heal the sick and cast out demons, and His followers still get sick and sometimes have family problems, this determines that Almighty God is not the true God is nothing but a fallacy. It is a judgment made by ignorant, foolish people who do not know God or His work.