Eastern Lightning | A Revelation of the Holy Spirit | "God and Man Will Enter Into Rest Together (Part One)"

A Revelation of the Holy Spirit | "God and Man Will Enter Into Rest Together (Part One)"

Introduction
Almighty God says, "As man lacks rest, so does God. When God once again enters into rest, man will also enter into rest. The life in rest is one without war, without filth, without persisting unrighteousness. This is to say that it lacks Satan’s harassment (here “Satan” refers to hostile forces), Satan’s corruption, as well as the invasion of any force opposed to God. Everything follows its own kind and worships the Lord of creation. Heaven and earth are entirely tranquil. This is humanity’s restful life. When God enters into rest, no more unrighteousness will persist upon the earth, and there will be no more invasion of any hostile forces. Humanity will also enter a new realm; he will no longer be a humanity corrupted by Satan, but rather a humanity that has been saved after having been corrupted by Satan."

The Picture of The Church of Almighty God |  "God and Man Will Enter Into Rest Together (Part One)"

Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.

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Almighty God's Word "Those Incompatible with Christ Are Surely Opponents of God" | Eastern Lightning

Those Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God 

All men wish to see the true countenance of Jesus and desire to be with Him. I believe that not one of the brothers or sisters would say that he is unwilling to see or to be with Jesus. Before you have seen Jesus, that is, before you have seen the incarnate God, you will have many thoughts, for example, about Jesus’ appearance, His way of speaking, His way of life, and so on. However, when you really see Him, your thoughts will swiftly change. Why is this? Do you wish to know? While man’s thinking indeed cannot be overlooked, it is much more intolerable for man to alter the substance of Christ. You regard Christ as an immortal, a sage, but none regard Christ as a mortal with divine substance. Therefore, many of those who yearn day and night to see God are actually enemies of God and incompatible with God. Is this not a wrong on the part of man? Even now you still think that your belief and loyalty are such that you deserve to see the countenance of Christ, but I exhort you to equip yourselves with more tangible things! For in the past, present, and future, many of those who come in contact with Christ have failed; they all play the role of the Pharisees. What is the reason for your failure? It is precisely because in your notions there is a lofty, admirable God. But the truth is not as man wishes. Not only is Christ not lofty, but He is particularly small; not only is He a man but an ordinary man; not only can He not ascend to heaven, neither can He move freely on earth. And so people treat Him as an ordinary man; they do as they please when they are with Him, and speak careless words to Him, all the while still waiting for the coming of the “true Christ.” You regard the Christ that has already come as an ordinary man and His word as that of an ordinary man. Therefore, you have not received anything from Christ and have instead completely exposed your ugliness to the light.

Prior to contact with Christ, you may believe that your disposition has been entirely transformed, you may believe that you are a loyal follower of Christ, and you may believe that you are most worthy to receive the blessings of Christ. For you have traveled many roads, done much work, and brought forth much fruit, so you must be a person who receives the crown in the end. Yet there is one truth that you do not know: The corrupt disposition and rebellion and resistance of man are exposed when he sees Christ, and the rebellion and resistance exposed on such occasion are more absolute and complete than on any other. It is because Christ is the Son of man and possesses normal humanity that man neither honors nor respects Him. It is because God lives in the flesh that the rebellion of man is brought to light thoroughly and vividly. So I say that the coming of Christ has unearthed all the rebellion of mankind and has thrown the nature of mankind into sharp relief. This is called “luring a tiger down the mountain” and “luring a wolf out of the cave.” Can you say that you are loyal to God? Can you say that you show absolute obedience to God? Can you say that you are not rebellious? Some will say: Each time that God creates my surroundings, I always obey and never complain. In addition, I hold no notions about God. Some will say: All the work tasked to me by God, I do to the best of my ability and am never remiss. Then I ask you this: Can you be compatible with Christ when you live alongside Him? And how long will you be compatible with Him? One day? Two days? One hour? Two hours? Your faith is indeed commendable, but you do not have much steadfastness. When you truly live with Christ, your self-rightness and self-importance will be slowly exposed by your words and actions, and so shall your excessive desires and disobedience and discontent be spontaneously revealed. Finally, your arrogance will become ever greater, and when you become as incompatible with Christ as water is with fire, then your nature will be entirely exposed. At that time, your notions can no longer be veiled. Your complaints, too, will spontaneously be expressed, and your vile humanity will be entirely exposed. However, you continue to disavow your own rebellion. And you believe that a Christ such as this is not easy to accept and He is overly stringent with man, and you would wholly submit if He were a different, kinder Christ. You believe that there is a cause for your rebellion, that you only rebel against Him when Christ has driven you to a certain point. Never have you realized that you do not regard Christ as God, nor do you have the intention to obey Him. Rather, you stubbornly insist on Christ doing work according to your mind, and upon any work that has not been done so, you believe that He is not God but a man. Are there not many among you who have contended with Him in this way? Whom is it that you believe in? And how do you seek?

Picture of The Church of Almighty God | Those Incompatible with Christ Are Surely Opponents of God

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The Church of Almighty God | When You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus Will Be When God Has Made Anew Heaven and Earth

When You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus Will Be When God Has Made Anew Heaven and Earth

Do you wish to see Jesus? Do you wish to live with Jesus? Do you wish to hear the words spoken by Jesus? If so, then how will you welcome the return of Jesus? Are you fully prepared? In what manner will you welcome Jesus’ return? I think that every brother and sister who follows Jesus would like to give Jesus a good welcome. But have you considered whether you will truly know Jesus when He returns? Will you truly comprehend everything that He says? Will you truly accept, unconditionally, all of the work that He does? All those who have read the Bible know of Jesus’ return, and all those who have read the Bible intently await His coming. You are all fixated upon the arrival of that moment, and your sincerity is laudable, your faith is truly enviable, but do you realize you’ve committed a grave error? In what manner will Jesus return? You believe that Jesus will return upon a white cloud, but I ask you: To what does this white cloud refer? With so many followers of Jesus awaiting His return, among which people shall He descend? If you are the first among whom Jesus descends, will others not see this as grossly unfair? I know that you are of great sincerity and loyalty toward Jesus, but have you ever met Jesus? Do you know His disposition? Have you ever lived with Him? How much do you really understand about Him? Some will say that these words put them in an awkward predicament. They will say, “I’ve read the Bible from cover to cover so many times. How could I not understand Jesus? Never mind Jesus’ disposition—I even know the color of the clothes He liked to wear. Do You not belittle me when You say I don’t understand Him?” I suggest that you do not dispute these issues; it is better to calm down and fellowship about the following questions: Firstly, do you know what is reality, and what is theory? Secondly, do you know what is conception, and what is truth? Thirdly, do you know what is imagined, and what is real?

Picture of The Church of Almighty God | Almighty God's Word

Some people deny the fact that they don’t understand Jesus. And yet I say you do not understand Him in the slightest, and do not comprehend a single word of Jesus. That is because each one of you follows Him because of the accounts of the Bible, because of what was said by others. You have never seen Jesus, much less lived with Him, and haven’t even kept His company for a short time. As such, isn’t your understanding of Jesus nothing but theory? Isn’t it devoid of reality? Perhaps some people have seen the portrait of Jesus, or some have personally visited the home of Jesus. Maybe some have touched the clothes of Jesus. Yet your understanding of Him is still theoretical and not practical, even if you have personally tasted the food eaten by Jesus. Whatever the case, you have never seen Jesus, and have never kept company with Him in fleshly form, and so your understanding of Jesus shall always be empty theory that is devoid of reality. Perhaps My words hold little interest to you, but I ask you this: Though you may have read many works by your favorite author, can you fully understand him without ever having spent time with him? Do you know what his personality is like? Do you know what kind of life he leads? Do you know anything of his emotional state? You can’t even fully understand a man whom you admire, so how could you possibly understand Jesus Christ? Everything you understand of Jesus is full of imagination and conception, and holds no truth or reality. It stinks, and is full of flesh. How could such an understanding qualify you to welcome the return of Jesus? Jesus will not receive those who are full of fantasies and the conceptions of the flesh. How are those who do not understand Jesus fit to be His believers?

Do you wish to know the root of why the Pharisees opposed Jesus? Do you wish to know the substance of the Pharisees? They were full of fantasies about the Messiah. What’s more, they believed only that the Messiah would come, yet did not seek the truth of life. And so, even today they still await the Messiah, for they have no knowledge of the way of life, and do not know what the way of truth is. How, say you, could such foolish, stubborn and ignorant people gain God’s blessing? How could they behold the Messiah? They opposed Jesus because they did not know the direction of the Holy Spirit’s work, because they did not know the way of truth spoken by Jesus, and, furthermore, because they did not understand the Messiah. And since they had never seen the Messiah, and had never been in the company of the Messiah, they made the mistake of paying empty tribute to the name of the Messiah while opposing the substance of the Messiah by any means. These Pharisees in substance were stubborn, arrogant, and did not obey the truth. The principle of their belief in God is: No matter how profound Your preaching, no matter how high Your authority, You are not Christ unless You are called the Messiah. Are these views not preposterous and ridiculous? I ask you again: Is it not extremely easy for you to commit the mistakes of the earliest Pharisees, given that you have not the slightest understanding of Jesus? Are you able to discern the way of truth? Can you truly guarantee that you will not oppose Christ? Are you able to follow the work of the Holy Spirit? If you do not know whether you will oppose Christ, then I say that you are already living on the brink of death. Those who did not know the Messiah were all capable of opposing Jesus, of rejecting Jesus, of slandering Him. People who do not understand Jesus are all capable of denying Him, and reviling Him. Moreover, they are capable of seeing the return of Jesus as the deceit of Satan, and more people shall condemn Jesus returning to flesh. Does not all of this make you afraid? What you face shall be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the ruination of the words of the Holy Spirit to the churches, and the spurning of all that is expressed by Jesus. What can you gain from Jesus if you are so befuddled? How can you understand the work of Jesus when He returns to flesh on a white cloud, if you obstinately refuse to realize your errors? I tell you this: People who do not accept the truth, yet blindly await the arrival of Jesus upon white clouds, will surely blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, and they are the race that shall be destroyed. You merely wish for the grace of Jesus, and merely want to enjoy the blissful realm of heaven, yet you have never obeyed the words spoken by Jesus, and have never received the truth expressed by Jesus when He returns to flesh. What will you hold up in exchange for the fact of Jesus’ return upon a white cloud? Is it the sincerity in which you repeatedly commit sins, and then confess them, over and over? What will you offer in sacrifice to Jesus who returns upon a white cloud? Is it the years of work with which you exalt yourselves? What will you hold up to make the returned Jesus trust you? Is it that arrogant nature of yours, which does not obey any truth?

Your loyalty is in word only, your knowledge is merely intellectual and conceptual, your labors are for the sake of gaining the blessings of heaven, and so what must your faith be like? Even today, you still turn a deaf ear to each and every word of truth. You do not know what God is, you do not know what Christ is, you do not know how to revere Jehovah, you do not know how to enter into the work of the Holy Spirit, and you do not know how to distinguish between the work of God Himself and the deceptions of man. You know only to condemn any word of truth expressed by God that does not conform to your thought. Where is your humility? Where is your obedience? Where is your loyalty? Where is your desire to seek the truth? Where is your reverence of God? I tell you, those who believe in God because of the signs are surely the category that shall suffer destruction. Those who are incapable of accepting the words of Jesus who has returned to flesh are surely the progeny of hell, the descendants of the archangel, the category that shall be subjected to everlasting destruction. Many people may not care what I say, but I still want to tell every so-called saint who follows Jesus that, when you see Jesus descend from the heaven upon a white cloud with your own eyes, this will be the public appearance of the Sun of righteousness. Perhaps that will be a time of great excitement for you, yet you should know that the time when you witness Jesus descend from the heaven is also the time when you go down to hell to be punished. It will herald the end of God’s management plan, and will be when God rewards the good and punishes the wicked. For the judgment of God will have ended before man sees signs, when there is only the expression of truth. Those who accept the truth and do not seek signs, and thus have been purified, shall have returned before the throne of God and entered the Creator’s embrace. Only those who persist in the belief that “The Jesus who does not ride upon a white cloud is a false Christ” shall be subjected to everlasting punishment, for they only believe in the Jesus who exhibits signs, but do not acknowledge the Jesus who proclaims severe judgment and releases the true way of life. And so it can only be that Jesus deals with them when He openly returns upon a white cloud. They are too stubborn, too confident in themselves, too arrogant. How could such degenerates be rewarded by Jesus? The return of Jesus is a great salvation for those who are capable of accepting the truth, but for those who are unable to accept the truth it is a sign of condemnation. You should choose your own path, and should not blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and reject the truth. You should not be an ignorant and arrogant person, but someone who obeys the guidance of the Holy Spirit and longs for and seeks the truth; only in this way will you benefit. I advise you to tread the path of belief in God with care. Do not jump to conclusions; what’s more, do not be casual and carefree in your belief in God. You should know that, at the very least, those who believe in God should be humble and reverential. Those who have heard the truth and yet turn their nose up at it are foolish and ignorant. Those who have heard the truth and yet carelessly jump to conclusions or condemn it are beset by arrogance. No one who believes in Jesus is qualified to curse or condemn others. You should all be someone who is rational and accepts the truth. Perhaps, having heard the way of truth and read the word of life, you believe that only one in 10,000 of these words are in line with your convictions and the Bible, and then you should continue to seek in that 10,000th of these words. I still advise you to be humble, to not be over-confident, and to not exalt yourself too highly. With your heart holding such meager reverence for God, you will gain greater light. If you carefully examine and repeatedly contemplate these words, you shall understand whether or not they are the truth, and whether or not they are life. Perhaps, having only read a few sentences, some people will blindly condemn these words, saying, “This is nothing more than some enlightenment of the Holy Spirit,” or, “This is a false Christ come to deceive people.” Those who say such things are blinded by ignorance! You understand too little of the work and wisdom of God, and I advise you to start again from scratch! You must not blindly condemn the words expressed by God because of the appearance of false Christs during the last days, and must not be someone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit because you fear deception. Would that not be a great pity? If, after much examination, you still believe that these words are not the truth, are not the way, and are not the expression of God, then you shall ultimately be punished, and be without blessings. If you cannot accept such truth spoken so plainly and so clearly, then are you not unfit for God’s salvation? Are you not someone who is not fortunate enough to return before the throne of God? Think about it! Do not be rash and impetuous, and do not treat belief in God as a game. Think for the sake of your destination, for the sake of your prospects, for the sake of your life, and do not play around with yourself. Can you accept these words?

from: "When You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus Will Be When God Has Made Anew Heaven and Earth" in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Recommendation: The brief introduction of the Church of Almighty God

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Almighty God's Word "Does the Trinity Exist?" | The Church of Almighty God

Does the Trinity Exist?

It was only after the truth of Jesus become flesh came to be that man realized this: It is not only the Father in heaven, but also the Son, and even the Spirit. This is the conventional notion man holds, that there is a God such as this in heaven: a Trinity that is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all in one. All mankind has these notions: God is one God, but comprises three parts, what all those grievously entrenched in conventional notions deem to be the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Only those three parts made one is all of God. Without the Holy Father, God would not be whole. Similarly, neither would God be whole without the Son or the Holy Spirit. In their notions, they believe that neither the Father alone nor the Son alone can be deemed God. Only the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together can be deemed God Himself. Now, all religious believers, including each and every follower among you, hold this belief. Yet, as for whether this belief is correct, none can explain, for you are always in a fog of confusion about the matters of God Himself. Though these are notions, you do not know whether they are right or wrong, for you have become too grievously infected by religious notions. You have accepted too deeply these conventional notions of religion, and this poison has seeped too deep within you. Therefore, so too in this matter have you succumbed to this pernicious influence, for the Trinity simply does not exist. That is, the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit simply does not exist. These are all conventional notions of man, and the fallacious beliefs of man. Throughout many centuries, man has believed in this Trinity, conjured up by notions in the mind of man, fabricated by man, and never before seen by man. Throughout these many years, there have been many spiritual greats who have explained the “true meaning” of the Trinity, but such explanations of the Trinity as three distinct consubstantial persons have been vague and unclear, and all are befuddled by the “construct” of God. No great man has ever been able to offer a thorough explanation; most explanations pass muster in terms of reasoning and on paper, but not a single man has a fully clear understanding of its meaning. This is because this great Trinity man holds in the heart simply does not exist. For none have ever seen the true countenance of God or have any been fortunate enough to ascend to the abode of God for a visit so as to examine what items are present in the place where God lies, to determine exactly how many tens of thousands or hundreds of millions of generations are in the “house of God” or to investigate just how many parts compose the inherent construct of God. What mainly needs to be examined is: the age of the Father and the Son, as well as the Holy Spirit; the respective appearances of each person; exactly how is it that They split up, and how is it that They are made one. Unfortunately, in all these many years, not a single man has been able to determine the truth of these matters. They all simply conjecture, for not a single man has ever ascended to heaven for a visit and returned with an “investigative report” for all mankind in order to report on the truth of the matter to all those fervent and devout religious believers concerned about the Trinity. Of course, the blame cannot be put on man for forming such notions, for why did Jehovah the Father not have Jesus the Son accompany Him when He created mankind? If, in the beginning, all had gone by the name of Jehovah, it would have been better. If blame must be put, let it be put on the momentary lapse of Jehovah God, who did not call the Son and the Holy Spirit before Him in the time of creation, but rather carried out His work alone. If They had all worked simultaneously, then would They not have become one? If, from the very beginning until the end, there was only the name Jehovah and not the name of Jesus from the Age of Grace, or if He had then still been called Jehovah, then would God not have been spared the suffering of this division by mankind? To be sure, Jehovah cannot be lamented for this all; if blame must be put, let it be put on the Holy Spirit, who for thousands of years continued His work by the name of Jehovah, of Jesus, and even of the Holy Spirit, befuddling and confusing man such that man could not know who exactly is God. If the Holy Spirit Himself had worked without form or image, and moreover, without a name such as Jesus, and man could neither touch nor see Him, only hearing the sounds of thunder, then would not this kind of work have been of more benefit to mankind? So what can be done now? The notions of man have amassed high as a mountain and wide as the sea, to the extent that the God of present day can no longer endure them and is at a complete loss. In the past when it was only Jehovah, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in between the two, man was already at a loss as to how to cope, and now there is the addition of the Almighty, who is even said to also be a part of God. Who knows who He is and in which person of the Trinity He has been intermingled with or hidden within for however many years? How can man bear this? The Trinity alone was enough to take man a lifetime to explain, but now there is “one God in four persons.” How can this be explained? Can you explain it? Brothers and sisters! How have you believed in such a God until this day? I take My hat off to you. The Trinity was already enough to bear, and yet now you continue to have such unshakable faith in this one God in four persons. You’ve been urged to get out, yet you refuse. How inconceivable! You are really something! A person can actually go so far as to believe in four Gods and make nothing of it; do you not think this is a miracle? I could not tell that you are able to work such a great miracle! Let Me tell you that, in truth, the Trinity does not exist anywhere in this universe. God has no Father and no Son, much less is there the concept of an instrument jointly used by the Father and the Son: the Holy Spirit. All of this is the greatest fallacy and simply does not exist in this world! Yet even such a fallacy has its origin and is not entirely without basis, for your minds are not so simple, and your thoughts are not without reason. Rather, they are quite appropriate and ingenious, so much so that they are impregnable even to any Satan. The pity is that these thoughts are all fallacies and simply do not exist! You have not seen the real truth at all; you are merely making conjectures and conceptions, then fabricating it all into a story to deceitfully gain others’ trust and to gain dominance over those most foolish of men without wit or reason, so that they believe in your great and renowned “expert teachings.” Is this truth? Is this the way of life that man should receive? It is all nonsense! Not a single word is appropriate! Throughout these many years, God has been split by you in this way, being split finer and finer with each generation, to the extent that one God has been openly split into three Gods. And now it is simply impossible for man to rejoin God as one, for you have split Him up too finely! If not for My prompt work before it was too late, it is hard to say how long you would have brazenly continued this way! To continue splitting God in this way, how can He still be your God? Would you still recognize God? Would you still return to Him? If I had arrived any later, it is likely that you would have sent the “Father and Son,” Jehovah and Jesus back to Israel and claimed that you yourselves are a part of God. Fortunately, it is now the last days. Finally, this day I have long awaited has come, and only after I carried out this stage of work by My own hand has your splitting of God Himself been halted. If not for this, you would have escalated, even placing all the Satans among you onto altars for worship. This is your artifice! Your means of splitting God! Will you continue to do so now? Let Me ask you: How many Gods are there? Which God will bring you salvation? Is it the first God, the second, or the third that you always pray to? Which of Them do you always believe in? Is it the Father? Or the Son? Or is it the Spirit? Tell Me who it is that you believe in. Though with every word you say you believe in God, what you actually believe is your own brain! You simply do not have God in your heart! And yet in your minds are a number of such “Trinities”! Do you not agree?

Picture of The Church of Almighty God | Does the Trinity Exist?

If the three stages of work are assessed in accordance with this concept of the Trinity, then there must be three Gods as the work carried out by each is not the same. If any among you says that the Trinity indeed exists, then explain what exactly is this one God in three persons. What is the Holy Father? What is the Son? What is the Holy Spirit? Is Jehovah the Holy Father? Is Jesus the Son? Then what of the Holy Spirit? Is not the Father a Spirit? Is not the substance of the Son also a Spirit? Was not the work of Jesus the work of the Holy Spirit? Was not the work of Jehovah at the time carried out by a Spirit the same as Jesus’? How many Spirits can God have? According to your explanation, the three persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one; if so, there are three Spirits, but to have three Spirits means there are three Gods. This means that there is no one true God; how can this kind of God still have the inherent substance of God? If you accept that there is only one God, then how can He have a son and be a father? Are these not all simply your notions? There is only one God, only one person in this God, and only one Spirit of God, much as it is written down in the Bible that “There is only one Holy Spirit and only one God.” Regardless of whether the Father and the Son of which you speak exist, there is only one God after all, and the substance of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit you believe in is the substance of the Holy Spirit. In other words, God is a Spirit, but He is able to become flesh and live among men, as well as to be above all things. His Spirit is all-inclusive and omnipresent. He can simultaneously be in the flesh and throughout the universe. Since all people say that God is the only one true God, then there is a single God, divisible at will by none! God is only one Spirit, and only one person; and that is the Spirit of God. If it is as you say, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, then are They not three Gods? The Holy Spirit is one matter, the Son another, and the Father yet another. They are distinct persons of different substances, so how then can They each be part of a single God? The Holy Spirit is a Spirit; this is easy for man to understand. If so, then the Father is even more so a Spirit. He has never descended onto earth and has never become flesh; He is Jehovah God in the heart of man, and He is certainly a Spirit as well. Then what is the relationship between Him and the Holy Spirit? Is it the relationship between Father and Son? Or is it the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of the Father? Is the substance of each Spirit the same? Or is the Holy Spirit an instrument of the Father? How can this be explained? And then what is the relationship between the Son and the Holy Spirit? Is it a relationship between two Spirits or the relationship between a man and a Spirit? These are all matters that can have no explanation! If They are all one Spirit, then there can be no talk of three persons, for They are possessed of a single Spirit. If They were distinct persons, then Their Spirits would vary in strength, and simply They could not be one single Spirit. This concept of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is most absurd! This segments God and splits Him into three persons, each with a status and Spirit; how then can He still be one Spirit and one God? Tell Me, were the heavens and earth, and all things within it created by the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit? Some say that They created it all together. Then who redeemed mankind? Was it the Holy Spirit, the Son, or the Father? Some say it was the Son who redeemed mankind. Then who is the Son in substance? Is He not the incarnation of the Spirit of God? The incarnation calls God in heaven by the name of Father from the perspective of a created man. Are you not aware that Jesus was born from the conception through the Holy Spirit? Within Him is the Holy Spirit; whatever you say, He is still one with God in heaven, for He is the incarnation of the Spirit of God. This idea of the Son simply is untrue. It is one Spirit who carries out all of the work; only God Himself, that is, the Spirit of God carries out His work. Who is the Spirit of God? Is it not the Holy Spirit? Is it not the Holy Spirit who works in Jesus? If the work had not been carried out by the Holy Spirit (that is, the Spirit of God), then could His work represent God Himself? When Jesus called God in heaven by the name of Father as He prayed, this was done only from the perspective of a created man, only because the Spirit of God had clothed Himself as an ordinary and normal man and had the exterior cover of a created being. Even if within Him was the Spirit of God, His exterior appearance was still that of an ordinary man; in other words, He had become the “Son of man” of which all men, including Jesus Himself, spoke. Given that He is called the Son of man, He is a person (whether man or woman, in any case one with the exterior shell of a human being) born into a normal family of ordinary people. Therefore, Jesus calling God in heaven by the name of Father was the same as how you at first called Him Father; He did so from the perspective of a man of creation. Do you still remember the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught you to memorize? “Our Father in heaven….” He asked all man to call God in heaven by the name of Father. And since He too called Him Father, He did so from the perspective of one who stands on an equal footing with you all. Since you called God in heaven by the name of Father, this shows that Jesus saw Himself to be on equal footing with you, and as a man on earth chosen by God (that is, the Son of God). If you call God “Father,” is this not because you are a created being? However great the authority of Jesus on earth, prior to the crucifixion, He was merely a Son of man, governed by the Holy Spirit (that is, God), and one of the earth’s created beings, for He had yet to complete His work. Therefore, His calling God in heaven Father was solely His humility and obedience. His addressing God (that is, the Spirit in heaven) in such a manner, however, does not prove that He is the Son of the Spirit of God in heaven. Rather, it is simply that His perspective is different, not that He is a different person. The existence of distinct persons is a fallacy! Prior to His crucifixion, Jesus was a Son of man bound by the limitations of the flesh, and He did not fully possess the authority of the Spirit. That is why He could only seek the will of God the Father from the perspective of a created being. It is as He thrice prayed in Gethsemane: “Not as I will, but as you will.” Before He was laid on the cross, He was but the King of the Jews; He was Christ, the Son of man, and not a body of glory. That is why, from the standpoint of a created being, He called God Father. Now, you cannot say that all who call God Father are the Son. If this were so, then would you not have all become the Son once Jesus taught you the Lord’s Prayer? If you are still not convinced, then tell Me, who is the one that you call Father? If you are referring to Jesus, then who is the Father of Jesus to you? After Jesus went away, this idea of the Father and the Son was no longer. This idea was only appropriate for the years when Jesus became flesh; under all other circumstances, the relationship is one between the Lord of creation and a created being when you call God Father. There is no time at which this idea of the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can stand; it is a fallacy rarely seen through the ages and does not exist!

This may call to mind for most people the words of God from Genesis: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Given that God says let “us” make man in “our” image, then “us” indicates two or more; since He stated “us,” then there is not just one God. In this way, man began to think in the abstract of distinct persons, and from these words arose the idea of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. What then is the Father like? What is the Son like? And what is the Holy Spirit like? Could it possibly be that the mankind of today was made in the image of one joined together from three? Then is the image of man like that of the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit? Which of the persons of God is man in the image of? This idea of man’s is simply incorrect and nonsensical! It can only split one God into several Gods. At the time that Moses wrote Genesis, it was after mankind was created following the creation of the world. In the very beginning, when the world began, Moses did not exist. And it was not until much later that Moses wrote the Bible, so how could he have possibly known what it was that God in heaven spoke? He had not an inkling of how God created the world. In the Old Testament of the Bible, there is no mention of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, only of the one true God, Jehovah, carrying out His work in Israel. He is called by different names as the age changes, but this cannot prove that each name refers to a different person. If this were so, then would there not be innumerable persons in God? What is written in the Old Testament is the work of Jehovah, a stage of work of God Himself for commencement in the Age of Law. It was the work of God, where as He spoke, it was, and as He commanded, it stood. At no time did Jehovah say that He was the Father come to carry out work, or did He ever prophesy the Son coming to redeem mankind. When it came to the time of Jesus, it was only said that God had become flesh to redeem all mankind, not that it was the Son who had come. Because the ages are not alike and the work that God Himself does also differs, He needs to carry out His work within different realms. In this way, the identity He represents also differs. Man believes that Jehovah is the Father of Jesus, but this was actually not acknowledged by Jesus, who said: “We were never distinguished as Father and Son; I and the Father in heaven are one. The Father is in Me and I am in the Father; when man sees the Son, they are seeing the heavenly Father.” When all has been said, be it the Father or the Son, They are one Spirit, not divided into separate persons. Once man attempts to explain, matters are complicated with the idea of distinct persons, as well as the relationship between Father, Son, and Spirit. When man speaks of separate persons, does this not materialize God? Man even ranks the persons as first, second, and third; these are all but the conceptions of man, not worthy of reference, and utterly unrealistic! If you asked him: “How many Gods are there?” he would say that God is the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: the one true God. If you asked again: “Who is the Father?” he would say: “The Father is the Spirit of God in heaven; He is in charge of all, and is the Master of heaven.” “Then is Jehovah the Spirit?” He would say: “Yes!” If you then asked him, “Who is the Son?” he would say that Jesus is the Son, of course. “Then what is the story of Jesus? From whence did He come?” He would say: “Jesus was born to Mary through the conception of the Holy Spirit.” “Then is His substance not the Spirit as well? Is not His work also representative of the Holy Spirit? Jehovah is the Spirit, and so too is the substance of Jesus. Now in the last days, needless to say it is still the Spirit at work;[a] how could They be different persons? Is it not simply the Spirit of God carrying out the work of the Spirit from different perspectives?” As such, there is no distinction between persons. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and indubitably, His work was precisely that of the Holy Spirit. In the first stage of work carried out by Jehovah, He neither became flesh nor appeared to man. So man never saw His appearance. No matter how great and how tall He was, He was still the Spirit, God Himself who first created man. That is, He was the Spirit of God. When He spoke to man from among the clouds, He was merely a Spirit. None witnessed His appearance; only in the Age of Grace when the Spirit of God came into the flesh and was incarnated in Judea did man see for the first time the image of the incarnation as a Jew. The feeling of Jehovah could not be sensed. However, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that is, conceived by the Spirit of Jehovah Himself, and Jesus was still born as the embodiment of the Spirit of God. What man first saw was the Holy Spirit descending like a dove upon Jesus; it was not the Spirit exclusive to Jesus, but rather the Holy Spirit. Then can the Spirit of Jesus be separated from the Holy Spirit? If Jesus is Jesus, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit, then how could They be one? The work could not be carried out if so. The Spirit within Jesus, the Spirit in heaven, and the Spirit of Jehovah are all one. It can be called the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the sevenfold intensified Spirit, and the all-inclusive Spirit. The Spirit of God alone can carry out much work. He is able to create the world and destroy it by flooding the earth; He can redeem all mankind, and moreover, conquer and destroy all mankind. This work is all carried out by God Himself and cannot have been done by any other of the persons of God in His stead. His Spirit can be called by the name of Jehovah and Jesus, as well as the Almighty. He is the Lord, and Christ. He can also become the Son of man. He is in the heavens and also on the earth; He is on high above the universes and among the multitude. He is the only Master of the heavens and earth! From the time of creation until now, this work has been carried out by the Spirit of God Himself. Be it the work in the heavens or in the flesh, all is carried out by His own Spirit. All creatures, whether in heaven or on earth, are in the palm of His almighty hand; all of this is the work of God Himself and can be done by no other in His stead. In the heavens, He is the Spirit but also God Himself; among men, He is flesh but remains God Himself. Though He may be called by hundreds of thousands of names, He is still Himself, and all the work[b] is the direct expression of His Spirit. The redemption of all mankind through His crucifixion was the direct work of His Spirit, and so too is the proclamation unto all nations and all lands during the last days. At all times, God can only be called the almighty and one true God, the all-inclusive God Himself. The distinct persons do not exist, much less this idea of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! There is only one God in heaven and on earth!

The management plan of God spans six thousand years and is divided into three ages based on the differences in His work: The first age is the Old Testament Age of Law; the second is the Age of Grace; and the third is that which belongs to the last days—the Age of Kingdom. In each age a different identity is represented. This is only because of the difference in the work, that is, the requirements of the work. The first stage of work was carried out in Israel, and the second stage of concluding the work of redemption was carried out in Judea. For the work of redemption, Jesus was born from the conception through the Holy Spirit and as the only Son. All of this was owing to the requirements of the work. In the last days, God wishes to expand His work into the Gentile nations and conquer the people there, so that His name may be great among them. He wishes to guide man in understanding all the right ways of human life, as well as all truth and the way of life. All of this work is carried out by one Spirit. Though He may do so from different standpoints, the nature and principles of the work remain the same. Once you observe the principles and nature of the work They have carried out, then you will know that it is all by the hand of a single Spirit. Still some may say: The Father is the Father; the Son is the Son; the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit, and in the end, They will be made one. Then how should you make Them one? How can the Father and the Holy Spirit be made one? If They were inherently two, then no matter how They are joined together, would They not remain two parts? When you say making Them one, isn’t that simply joining two separate parts to make one whole? But were They not two parts before being made whole? Each Spirit has a distinct substance, and two Spirits cannot be made into a single one. The Spirit is not a material object and is unlike anything else in the material world. As men see it, the Father is one Spirit, the Son another, and the Holy Spirit yet another, then the three Spirits mix like three glasses of water into one whole. Is not that then the three made one? This is an erroneous explanation! Is this not splitting up God? How can the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all be made one? Are They not three parts each of different natures? There are still those who say, did not God expressly state that Jesus was His beloved Son? “Jesus is the beloved Son of God, in whom He is well pleased” was certainly spoken by God Himself. That was God bearing witness to Himself, but merely from a different perspective, that of the Spirit in heaven bearing witness to His own incarnation. Jesus is His incarnation, not His Son in heaven. Do you understand? Do not the words of Jesus, “The Father is in Me and I am in the Father,” indicate that They are one Spirit? And is it not because of the incarnation that They were separated between heaven and earth? In reality, They are still one; no matter what, it is simply God bearing witness to Himself. Owing to the change in ages, requirements of the work, and the differing stages of His management plan, the name by which man calls Him also differs. When He came to carry out the first stage of work, He could only be called Jehovah, shepherd of the Israelites. In the second stage, the incarnate God could only be called Lord, and Christ. But at that time, the Spirit in heaven stated only that He was the beloved Son of God, and made no mention of His being the only Son of God. This simply did not happen. How could God have an only child? Then would God not have become man? Because He was the incarnation, He was called the beloved Son of God, and, from this, came the relationship between Father and Son. It was simply because of the separation between heaven and earth. Jesus prayed from the perspective of the flesh. Since He had put on a flesh of such normal humanity, it is from the perspective of the flesh that He said: My outer shell is that of a created being. Since I put on a flesh to come to this earth, I am now a long, long way from heaven. For this reason, He could only pray to God the Father from the perspective of the flesh. This was His duty, and that which the incarnate Spirit of God should be furnished with. It cannot be said that He is not God simply because He prays to the Father from the perspective of the flesh. Though He is called the beloved Son of God, He is still God Himself, for He is but the incarnation of the Spirit, and His substance is still the Spirit. As man sees it, they wonder why He prays if He is God Himself. This is because He is the incarnate God, God living within the flesh, and not the Spirit in heaven. As man sees it, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all God. Only the three all made as one can be deemed the one true God, and, in this way, is His power exceptionally great. There are still those who say that only in this way is He the sevenfold intensified Spirit. When the Son prayed after His coming, that is the Spirit to whom He prayed. In reality, He was praying from the perspective of a created being. For the flesh is not whole, and He was not whole and had many weaknesses when He came into the flesh. Thus was He much troubled as He carried out His work in the flesh. That is why He thrice prayed to God the Father prior to His crucifixion, as well as many times even before that. He prayed among His disciples; He prayed alone upon a mountain; He prayed aboard the fishing boat; He prayed among a multitude of people; He prayed when breaking bread; and He prayed when blessing others. Why did He do so? It was the Spirit to whom He prayed; He was praying to the Spirit, to God in heaven, from the perspective of the flesh. Therefore, from man’s standpoint, Jesus became the Son in that stage of work. In this stage, however, He does not pray. Why is this? This is because what He brings forth is the work of the word, and the judgment and chastisement of the word. He has no need for prayers, for His ministry is to speak. He is not put upon the cross, and He is not turned over by man to those in power. He simply carries out His work and all is set. At the time when Jesus prayed, He was praying to God the Father for the descent of the kingdom of heaven, for the will of the Father to be done, and for the work to come. In this stage, the kingdom of heaven has already descended, so does He still have need to pray? His work is to bring the age to an end, and there are no more new ages, so is there a need to pray for the next stage? I’m afraid there is not!

There are many contradictions in the explanations of man. Indeed, these are all the notions of man; without further scrutiny, you would all believe they are correct. Do you not know that this idea of God as a Trinity is but the notion of man? No knowledge of man is full and thorough. There are always impurities, and man has too many ideas; this demonstrates that a created being simply cannot explain the work of God. There is too much in the mind of man, all coming from logic and thought, that conflicts with the truth. Can your logic thoroughly dissect the work of God? Can you gain an insight into all the work of Jehovah? Is it you as a man who can see through it all, or is it God Himself who is able to see from everlasting to everlasting? Is it you who can see from everlasting long ago to the everlasting to come, or is it God who can do so? What do you say? How are you worthy to explain God? On what basis is your explanation? Are you God? The heavens and earth, and all things in it were created by God Himself. It was not you who did this, so why are you giving incorrect explanations? Now, do you continue to believe in the Trinity? Do you not think it is too burdensome this way? It would be best for you to believe in one God, not in three. It is best to be light, for “the burden of the Lord is light.”

Footnotes:

a. The original text omits “at work.”

b. The original text omits “the work.”

from: "Does the Trinity Exist?" in The Word Appears in the Flesh

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Almighty God's Word "Beholding the Appearance of God in His Judgment and Chastisement"

Beholding the Appearance of God in His Judgment and Chastisement

Like hundreds of millions of other followers of 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 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 walk the path of obedience to the will of the Father in heaven. We long for the return of the Lord Jesus, for the glorious arrival of the Lord Jesus, 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, and brings disaster, and rewards the good and punishes the wicked, and takes all those who follow Him and welcome His return into the air to meet Him. Every time we think of this, we can’t help but be overcome with emotion. We are thankful that we were born in the last days and are lucky enough to witness the coming of the Lord. Though we have suffered persecution, it is in return for “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”; what a blessing that is! All of this longing and the grace bestowed by the Lord make us often sober unto prayer, and bring us together more often. Maybe next year, maybe tomorrow, or maybe even sooner when man does not expect it, the Lord shall suddenly arrive, and shall appear among a group of people who have been attentively waiting for Him. We are all contending with each other, none wanting to fall behind, in order to be the first group to behold the appearance of the Lord, to become one of those who shall be raptured. We have given everything, regardless of the cost, for the coming of this day. Some have given up their jobs, some have abandoned their families, some have renounced marriage, and some have even donated all of their savings. What selfless devotion! Such sincerity and loyalty must be beyond even the saints of ages past! As the Lord bestows grace upon whomever He wishes, and has mercy on whomever He wishes, our devotion and spending, we believe, have already been beheld by His eyes. So, too, have our heartfelt prayers already reached His ears, and we trust that the Lord will reward us for our devotion. Moreover, God was graceful toward us before He created the world, and none shall take away God’s blessings and promises to us. We are all planning for the future, and take it for granted that our devotion and spending are bargaining chips or stock for our rapture into the air to meet the Lord. What’s more, without the slightest hesitation, we place ourselves on the future throne, presiding over all nations and all peoples, or ruling as kings. All this we take as a given, as something to be expected.

We disdain all those who are against the Lord Jesus; in the end, they will all be annihilated. Who told them not to believe that the Lord Jesus is the Savior? Of course, there are times when we learn from the Lord Jesus and are compassionate toward the world, for they do not understand, and we should be tolerant and forgiving of them. Everything that we do is in accordance with the words of the Bible, for everything that does not conform to the Bible is heresy, and an evil cult. Such belief is deeply embedded in each of our minds. Our Lord is in the Bible, and if we do not depart from the Bible we shall not depart from the Lord; if we abide by this principle, then we shall be saved. We spur each other on, and support each other, and every time we gather together we hope that everything we say and do is in accordance with the will of the Lord, and can be accepted by the Lord. Despite the severe hostility of our environment, our hearts are filled with joy. When we think of the blessings that are within such easy reach, is there nothing we cannot forsake? Is there nothing we cannot bear to part with? All of this is implicit, and all of this is looked upon by the eyes of God. We, the handful of the needy who have been lifted from the dunghill, are the same as all ordinary followers of the Lord Jesus: We dream of rapture, and of being blessed, and of ruling all the nations. Our corruption is laid bare in the eyes of God, and our desires and greed are condemned in the eyes of God. Yet all of this happens so unremarkably, so logically, and none of us wonder whether our longing is right, much less do any of us doubt the accuracy of all that we hold to. Who can know God’s will? We do not know to seek, or explore, or even concern ourselves with the path that man walks. For we only care about whether we can be raptured, whether we can be blessed, whether there is a place for us in the kingdom of heaven, and whether we shall have a share of the water of the river of life and the fruit of the tree of life. Do we not believe in the Lord, and are we not followers of the Lord, for the sake of gaining these things? Our sins have been forgiven, we have repented, we have drunk the bitter cup of wine, and we have put the cross upon our back. Who can say that the price we have paid will not be accepted by the Lord? Who can say that we have not prepared enough oil? We don’t want to be those foolish virgins, or one of those who are forsaken. Moreover, we pray often, and ask the Lord to keep us from being deceived by false Christs, for it is said in the Bible that “Then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:23-24). We have all committed these verses of the Bible to memory, we know them back to front, and we see them as precious treasure, as life, and as the credentials for our rapture and salvation …

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For thousands of years, the living have passed away, taking their longings and dreams with them, and no one truly knows whether they have gone to the kingdom of heaven. The dead return, and they have forgotten all the stories that once occurred, and still follow the teachings and the paths of the forefathers. And so, as the years pass and the days go by, no one knows whether our Lord Jesus, our God, truly accepts all that we do. We simply look forward to an outcome and speculate about all that will happen. Yet God has kept His silence throughout, and has never appeared to us, or spoken to us. And so we willfully judge God’s will and disposition according to the Bible and the signs. We have become accustomed to the silence of God; we have become accustomed to measuring the rights and wrongs of our behavior using our own way of thinking; we have become accustomed to using our knowledge, conceptions, and moral ethics to replace God’s demands of us; we have become accustomed to enjoying the grace of God; we have become accustomed to God providing assistance whenever we need it; we have become accustomed to holding out our hands to God for all things, and to ordering God about; we have also become accustomed to following doctrine, not paying attention to how the Holy Spirit leads us; moreover, we have become accustomed to days in which we are our own master. We believe in a God such as this, whom we have never met. Questions such as what His disposition is like, what His possessions and being are, what His image is like, whether or not we will know Him when He comes, and so on—none of these are important. What’s important is that He is in our hearts, that we all await Him, and that we are able to imagine what He is like. We appreciate our faith, and treasure our spirituality. We consider everything as dung, and tread all things underfoot. Because we are the followers of the glorious Lord, no matter how long and arduous the journey, no matter what hardships and dangers befall us, nothing can halt our footsteps as we follow the Lord. “A pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeded out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. On either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bore twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:1-5). Every time we sing these words, our hearts brim with surpassing joy and satisfaction, and tears flow from our eyes. Thanks be to the Lord for choosing us, thanks be to the Lord for His grace. He has given us a hundredfold now in this time, has given us eternal life in the world to come, and if He asked us to die now, we would do so without the slightest complaint. Lord! Please come soon! Do not delay a minute longer, for we desperately yearn for You, and have forsaken everything for You.

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Almighty God's Word "God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind" | The Church of Almighty God

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.

God created this world, He created this mankind, and moreover He was the architect of ancient Greek culture and human civilization. Only God consoles this mankind, and only God cares for this mankind night and day. Human development and progress is inseparable from the sovereignty of God, and the history and future of mankind are inextricable from the designs of God. If you are a true Christian, then you will surely believe that the rise and fall of any country or nation occurs according to the designs of God. God alone knows the fate of a country or nation, and God alone controls the course of this mankind. If mankind wishes to have a good fate, if a country wishes to have a good fate, then man must bow down to God in worship, repent and confess before God, or else the fate and destination of man will unavoidably end in catastrophe.

Look back to the time of Noah’s ark: Mankind was deeply corrupt, had strayed from the blessing of God, was no longer cared for by God, and had lost the promises of God. They lived in darkness, without the light of God. Thus they became licentious by nature, abandoned themselves to hideous depravity. Such men could no longer receive the promise of God; they were unfit to witness the face of God, nor to hear the voice of God, for they had abandoned God, had cast aside all that He had bestowed upon them, and had forgotten the teachings of God. Their heart strayed farther and farther from God, and as it did, they became depraved beyond all reason and humanity, and became increasingly evil. Thus they came ever closer to death, and fell under the wrath and punishment of God. Only Noah worshiped God and shunned evil, and so he was able to hear the voice of God, and hear the instructions of God. He built the ark according to the instructions of God’s word, and assembled all manner of living creatures. And in this way, once everything had been prepared, God unleashed His destruction upon the world. Only Noah and the seven members of his family survived the destruction, for Noah worshiped Jehovah and shunned evil.

Then look upon the present age: Such righteous men as Noah, who could worship God and shun evil, have ceased to exist. Yet God is still gracious toward this mankind, and absolves mankind during this final era. God seeks those who long for Him to appear. He seeks those who are able to hear His words, those who have not forgotten His commission and offer up their heart and body to Him. He seeks those who are as obedient as babes before Him, and do not resist Him. If you are unhindered by any force in your devotion to God, then God shall look upon you with favor, and shall bestow His blessings upon you. If you are of high station, of honorable reputation, possessed of abundant knowledge, the owner of plentiful assets, and supported by many people, yet these things do not prevent you from coming before God to accept His calling and His commission, to do what God asks of you, then all that you do shall be the most significant on earth and the most righteous of mankind. If you reject the call of God for the sake of status and your own goals, all that you do shall be cursed and even despised by God. Maybe you are a president, or a scientist, a pastor, or an elder, but no matter how high your office, if you rely on your knowledge and ability in your undertakings, then you shall always be a failure, and shall always be bereft of the blessings of God, because God accepts nothing that you do, and He does not grant that your career is a righteous one, or accept that you are working for the benefit of mankind. He will say that everything you do, is to use the knowledge and strength of mankind to divest man of the protection of God, and to deny the blessings of God. He will say that you are leading mankind toward darkness, toward death, and toward the start of an existence without limits in which man has lost God and His blessing.

From when man first had social sciences, the mind of man was occupied by science and knowledge. Then science and knowledge became tools for the ruling of mankind, and there was no longer sufficient room for man to worship God, and no more favorable conditions for the worship of God. The position of God sunk ever lower in the heart of man. A world in man’s heart with no place for God is dark, empty without hope. And so arose many social scientists, historians, and politicians to express theories of social science, the theory of human evolution, and other theories that contravene the truth that God created man, to fill the heart and mind of man. And in this way, those who believe that God created everything become ever fewer, and those who believe in the theory of evolution become ever greater in number. More and more people treat records of the work of God and His words during the Old Testament age as myths and legends. In their hearts, people become indifferent to the dignity and greatness of God, to the tenet that God exists and holds dominion over all things. The survival of mankind and the fate of countries and nations are no longer important to them. Man lives in a hollow world only concerned with eating, drinking, and the pursuit of pleasure. … Few people take it upon themselves to seek out where God does His work today, or to look for how He presides over and arranges the destination of man. And in this way, human civilization unconsciously becomes ever more incapable of meeting the wishes of man, and there are even many people who feel that, living in such a world, they are less happy than people who have gone. Even people of countries that used to be highly civilized air such grievances. For without the guidance of God, no matter how much rulers and sociologists wrack their brains to preserve human civilization, it is to no avail. No one can fill the emptiness in man’s heart, for no one can be the life of man, and no social theory can free man from the emptiness with which he is afflicted. Science, knowledge, freedom, democracy, leisure, comfort, these are but a temporary respite. Even with these things, man will inevitably sin and bemoan the injustices of society. These things cannot allay man’s craving and desire to explore. Because man was made by God and the senseless sacrifices and explorations of man can only lead to more distress. Man will exist in a constant state of fear, will not know how to face the future of mankind, or how to face the path that lies ahead. Man will even come to fear science and knowledge, and fear even more the feeling of emptiness within him. In this world, regardless of whether you live in a free country or one without human rights, you are utterly incapable of escaping the fate of mankind. Whether you are the ruler or the ruled, you are utterly incapable of escaping the desire to explore the fate, mysteries, and destination of mankind. Much less are you capable of escaping the bewildering sense of emptiness. Such phenomena, which are common to all of mankind, are called social phenomena by sociologists, yet no great man can come forth to solve such problems. Man, after all, is man. The position and life of God cannot be replaced by any man. Mankind does not just require a fair society in which everyone is well-fed and is equal and free, but the salvation of God and His provision of life to them. Only when man receives the salvation of God and His provision of life to them can the needs, yearning to explore, and spiritual emptiness of man be resolved. If the people of a country or a nation are unable to receive the salvation and care of God, then such a country or nation will tread the road to ruin, toward darkness, and shall be annihilated by God.

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Perhaps your country currently prospers, but if you allow your people to stray from God, then your country shall find itself increasingly bereft of the blessings of God. The civilization of your country shall be increasingly trampled underfoot, and before long the people shall rise up against God and curse Heaven. And so the fate of a country shall be unwittingly brought to ruin. God shall raise up powerful countries to deal with those countries that have been cursed by God, and may even wipe them from the face of the earth. The rise and fall of a country or nation is predicated upon whether its rulers worship God, and whether they lead their people closer to God and to worship Him. And yet, in this final era, because those who truly seek and worship God are increasingly scarce, God bestows special favor upon countries in which Christianity is the state religion. He gathers them together to form the relatively righteous camp of the world, while atheistic countries or those which do not worship the true God become the opponents of the righteous camp. In this way, God not only has a place among mankind in which to conduct His work, but also gains countries that can exercise righteous authority, so as to impose sanctions and restrictions on those countries that resist God. Yet despite this, still there are not more people who come forward to worship God, because man has strayed too far from Him, and God has been absent from the thoughts of man for too long. There remain on earth only countries that exercise righteousness and resist unrighteousness. But this is far from the wishes of God, for no country’s rulers will allow God to preside over their people, and no political party shall gather together its people to worship God; God has lost His rightful place in the heart of every country, nation, ruling party, and even in the heart of every person. Although righteous forces do exist in this world, rule in which God holds no place in the heart of man is fragile. Without the blessing of God, the political arena shall fall into disarray and become vulnerable to attack. For mankind, being without the blessing of God is like having no sunshine. Regardless of how assiduously rulers make contributions to their people, irrespective of how many righteous conferences mankind holds together, none of this shall turn things around or alter the fate of mankind. Man believes that a country in which people are fed and clothed, in which they live together peacefully, is a good country, and one with good leadership. But God does not think so. He believes that a country in which no one worships Him is one that He shall annihilate. Man’s way of thinking is too much at odds with that of God. If the head of a country does not worship God, then the fate of this country shall be a tragic one, and the country shall have no destination.

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Almighty God's Word "The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age"

The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age

God’s six-thousand-year management plan is coming to an end, and the gate of the kingdom has been opened to all those who seek the appearance of God. Dear brothers and sisters, what are you waiting for? What is it that you seek? Do you await the appearance of God? Are you searching for the footprints of God? How the appearance of God is yearned for! 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 of God’s appearance? What must we do to follow the footprints of God? Such questions are faced by all those who await the appearance of God. You have all considered them on more than one occasion—but with what outcome? Where does God appear? Where are the footprints of God? Have you gained the answers? Many people’s reply would be this: God appears among those who follow Him and His footprints are among us; it’s that simple! Anyone can provide a formulaic answer, but do you understand what the appearance of God is, and what the footprints of God are? The appearance of God refers to His personal arrival on earth to do His work. With His own identity and disposition, and in His inherent method, He descends among man 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 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. This kind of appearance is not for the sake of following a process, 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 is always connected to His management plan. This appearance is completely different from the appearance of God’s guidance, leadership, and enlightenment of man. God carries out a stage of 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 of bringing mankind into the new age. That is the significance of the appearance of God.

At the same time as understanding the appearance of God, how should you seek the footprints of God? This question is not hard to explain: Where there is the appearance of God, you will find the footsteps of God. Such an explanation sounds very straightforward, but is not so easy to do, for many people do not know where God reveals Himself, much less where He is willing to, or should, reveal Himself. Some impulsively believe that where there is the work of the Holy Spirit, there is the appearance of God. Or else they believe that where there are spiritual figures, there is the appearance of God. Or else they believe that where people are well-known, there is the appearance of God. For the moment, let us not deliberate whether such beliefs are right or wrong. To explain such question, we must first be clear about an objective: We are searching for the footprints of God. We are not seeking spiritual figures, much less are we following famous figures; we are following the footprints of God. As such, since we are searching for the footprints of God, we must search for God’s will, for the words of God, for the utterances of God—for where there are the new words of God, there is the voice of God, and where there are the footsteps of God, there are the deeds of God. Where there is the expression of God, there is the appearance of God, and where there is the appearance of God, there exists the truth, the way, and the life. While seeking the footprints of God, you ignored the words that “God is the truth, the way, and the life.” So when many people receive the truth, they do not believe that they have found the footprints of God and much less acknowledge the appearance of God. What a serious error that is! The appearance of God cannot be reconciled with the conceptions of man, much less can God appear at the behest of man. God makes His own choices and has His own plans when He does His work; moreover, He has His own objectives, and His own methods. It is not necessary for Him to discuss the work He does with man or to seek the advice of man, much less notify each and every person of His work. This is the disposition of God and, moreover, should be recognized by everyone. If you desire to witness the appearance of God, if you wish to follow the footprints of God, then you must first transcend 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 should seek the footprints of God, how you should accept the appearance of God, and how you should submit to the new work of God; that is what should be done by man. Since man is not the truth, and is not possessed of the truth, man should seek, accept, and obey.

Picture of The Church of Almighty God | The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age

Regardless of whether you are American, British, or any other nationality, you should step beyond your own confines, should surpass yourself, and should view the work of God as a creature of God. In this way, you shall not place constraints on the footprints of God. Because, today, many people conceive it to be impossible that God will appear in a certain country or nation. How profound is the significance of God’s work, and how important is the appearance of God! How can they be measured by the conception and thinking of man? And so I say, you should break through the conceptions of your nationality or ethnicity when you seek the appearance of God. In this way, you shall not be constrained by your own conceptions; in this way, you will be qualified to welcome the appearance of God. Otherwise, you shall always be in the darkness, and shall never gain the approval of God.

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