18 It Is So Important to Pray Genuinely

Zhuiqiu    Jiuquan City, Gansu Province

Doctrinally most believers in God know that prayer is very important and we should all pray genuinely. But in our real life, we do not pay attention to praying genuinely. Most of the time, we pray to God perfunctorily and deceitfully. For example, many times we rest content with praying several times a day without caring whether we have achieved results, and sometimes we even do not know what we have said in our prayer. Sometimes we do not feel like praying, but when we see that other brothers and sisters are praying, we also kneel down and say something carelessly. When we encounter difficulties, most often we weep them out to God in prayer, asking God to help us get things done in any way. When we are in a good state and achieve good results in our work, we pray to God to keep us always in such a state and let us always achieve good results. When we are dealt with and feel aggrieved, we air our grievances before God: “O God, you are almighty and you know the truth of the matter best. I am really not as the leader said….” None of such prayers is genuine prayer.

16 Everything God Does Is Salvation and Love for Man

Xiaotong    Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province

We often say that everything God does is salvation and love for man, but in reality we often deny this fact, not fully acknowledging or accepting it, and always contradict ourselves. When what God does is in conformity with our notions, we acknowledge that God saves man and loves man. But when what God does is not in conformity with our notions, we deny God’s love at once and are full of misunderstandings, complaints, and resistance against God. For example, in 1999, we thought that God’s work was about to be concluded and we would soon enter the kingdom, so we all felt ourselves to be the most blessed people in the world and said repeatedly that “God loves us so much.” But later when we heard that we still needed to experience the “seven-year trial,” we immediately had complaints within, thinking that God was purposely tormenting us to make us suffer, and so were very unwilling to accept it. When God places us in favorable circumstances to let us experience, we immediately say, “God loves us so much. He knows our small stature and is so thoughtful for us. He has really gone to a lot of trouble for saving us.” But when God places us in unfavorable circumstances to refine us, we resist in our hearts and complain that what God does is inhuman. When we read God’s words of comforting man and blessing man, we grin from ear to ear and say that God loves man so much. But when we read God’s words of judging man and cursing man, we say that God’s words are too stern and God does not have any intention to save man. And so on. In our real life, we express our naturalness capriciously. At one moment we say that God loves us so much, and at another we say that God is inhuman. At one moment we say that God has really gone to a lot of trouble for saving us, and at another we say that God is purposely tormenting us.

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.

Western Scholars Gather in Seoul for The Church of Almighty God’s Premiering Photo Exhibit

October 24, 2018, The Church of Almighty God held its first photo exhibition in Seoul, South Korea with the theme of “The birth and development of The Church of Almighty God,” drawing eleven experts and scholars from seven countries including the USA, Canada, England, France, and Italy to attend and explore the exhibit. Massimo Introvigne, who is an Italian sociologist and the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), France’s Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, professor of North American Studies at the University of Bordeaux Montaigne, Canadian sociologist and author Susan Jean Palmer, and others raised questions on Almighty God’s work of the last days, and several Christians who accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days in its early period provided detailed answers to each one of them. They also shared their feelings and understandings from undergoing Almighty God’s work and words with the guests.

Question 16: You say that Almighty God is the appearance of God in the last days, and is the true way. You also say that it was God who created this world, and who rules over what happens in this world, that it is God's work that has guided and saved people all along. What basis in fact do you have for saying this? We Communist Party members are atheists, and do not recognize God's existence or God's sovereignty in the least. Even less do we recognize the appearance and work of God incarnate of which you talk. The Jesus in whom Christianity believes is clearly a person. He had parents, and had siblings. Christianity, however, absolutely requires that He be treated as Christ, and be worshiped as God. This is utterly inconceivable. Almighty God in whom you believe is just like Jesus, clearly just an ordinary person. Why must you obstinately insist that He is God incarnate? Why must you bear witness that He is Christ Savior of the last days in person? Isn't this terribly foolish and ignorant? There is no such thing in this world as God. Even less does there exist a God as God incarnate. You obstinately say that an ordinary person is God incarnate. What is the basis of this? Are you all able to express the grounds and basis of your belief?

Answer: God is Spirit. People cannot see Him or touch Him. But the Spirit of God does things, and says words that people can see and hear. This is true. From the facts recorded by the Bible we can see that the Spirit of God can speak through thunder, and can appear and speak to people through flames of fire, and can be incarnated to come among people to speak to people. These are facts that no one can deny. God has guided people all along, over thousands of years, and has done three stages of work in the Age of Law, the Age of Grace, and the Age of Kingdom. In every stage of work, God has expressed many words. In the Age of Grace, God was incarnated as the Lord Jesus to express truth, and was nailed to the cross for the sins of mankind, doing the work of redeeming the human race. During the Age of Kingdom, God has become incarnate again as Almighty God, has expressed truth to do the judgment work of the last days, has come to thoroughly purify and save the human race, and lead the human race to a glorious destination. Thereupon the age of evil and darkness came to an end. All of the words that God spoke during the two times He was incarnated allowed the human race to hear the voice of God, and to see the appearance and work of God, so the people have turned toward God one after another. Henceforth the human race has been able to see God’s omnipotence and wisdom in the words of God, has come to know the righteous disposition of God, and has seen that the words of God accomplish everything. This is the most obvious outcome achieved by the work of God incarnate. This effect could never be attained through the work of the human race, because humans do not possess truth, and are even less able to express truth to conquer and save the human race. Regardless of the method in which God works or speaks, however, regardless of how great the work done by God, or how large the number of people who turn to God, those of the satanic category must do their utmost to condemn the appearance and work of God. They also seek out various excuses to deceive people, causing people to be suspicious of God, and to deny God. The Communist Party does its utmost to deny Christ, to condemn Christ, and calls the incarnate Lord Jesus and Almighty God ordinary people. This is completely decided by the demonic essence of the Communist Party that hates truth and resists God! The Communist Party is an atheist political party that dares even to deny God in heaven. How would it ever recognize the incarnate God?

It Is So Important to Obey the Work of the Holy Spirit

By Xiaowei, Shanghai City

Some time ago, even though I always received some inspiration and benefit when a sister who performed duties with me shared the enlightenment she had attained while reading the word of God, I also always had the lingering sense that she was showing off. I would think to myself, “If I respond to her right now, won’t I be pandering to her? In that sense, will I not then seem lesser than her?” As a result, I refused to bring up my own views in fellowship or comment on any of the thoughts that she shared. One time, my sister, having received some insights from reading a particular passage of God’s words, felt that there was something wrong with our states and asked me if I would be willing to fellowship with her on that passage of God’s words. As soon as she asked, all these thoughts and feelings of resentment floated to the surface: “You just want to testify about yourself, to have an audience to preach to. Why should I fellowship with you?” I even went so far as to skip out on a meeting so I wouldn’t have to hear her. After a while, I felt a heavy weight in my heart, I knew something was wrong with my state, but I couldn’t think of a good way to resolve my inner conflict. All I could do was to fully invest myself in my duties, read the word of God, and sing the hymns to distract myself from these negative feelings. However, whenever I had to face the current situation, the same corrupt disposition would rise in my heart—things were getting worse, not better—and I hadn’t a clue how to break free from it.