Almighty God's Word | God Himself, the Unique VIII God Is the Source of Life for All Things (II)" (Part One)

God Is the Source of Life for All Things (II) Part One

Let’s continue the communication topic from last time. Can you recall what topic we communicated last time? (God is the source of life for all things.) Is “God is the source of life for all things” a topic that feels very far away to you? Can someone tell Me the main point of this topic we communicated last time? (Through God’s creation of all things, I see that God nurtures all things and nurtures mankind. In the past, I always thought that when God supplies man, He only supplies His word to His chosen people, but I never saw, through the laws of all things, that God is nurturing mankind. It is only through God’s communication of this aspect of the truth that I now see that the life of all things is supplied by God, that God manipulates these laws, and that He nurtures all things. From His creation of all things I see God’s love and feel that God is the source of all things.) Mm, last time, we primarily communicated about God’s creation of all things and how He established laws and principles for them. Under such laws and under such principles, all things live and die with man and coexist with man under God’s dominion and in God’s eyes. What did we talk about first? God created all things and used His own methods to set the laws of growth for all things, as well as their growth trajectory and patterns, and also set the ways all things exist on this earth, so that they may live continuously and depend on each other. With such methods and laws, all things are able to successfully and peacefully exist and grow on this land. Only by having such an environment is man able to have a stable home and living environment, and under God’s guidance, continue to develop and move forward, develop and move forward.

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Almighty God's Word | "God Himself, the Unique VII God Is the Source of Life for All Things (II)" (Part Three)

Almighty God's Word | "God Himself, the Unique VII God Is the Source of Life for All Things (II)" (Part Three)

(II) God Is the Source of Life for All Things

Having discussed thus far, do you feel that you have a partial understanding of the connotation of the phrase “God Is the Source of Life for All Things”? (Yes.) I knew that when I discussed this topic many people would immediately think of how God is truth and how His word provides for us, but they would only think of it on this level. Some would even feel that God’s providing for human life, providing daily food and drink and all daily necessities doesn’t count as providing for man. Do some people feel this way? (Yes.) Isn’t God’s intent very clear in how He created everything so that mankind may exist and live normally? God maintains the environment in which people live and He provides all of the things this mankind needs. Furthermore, He manages and holds dominion over all things. All of this allows mankind to live normally and thrive normally; it is in this way that God provides for all things and for mankind. Do people need to recognize and understand these things? (Yes.) Perhaps some may say, “This topic is too distant from our knowledge of the true God Himself, and we don’t want to know this because man cannot live by bread alone, but instead lives by the word of God.” Is this correct? (No.) What’s wrong here? Can you have a complete understanding of God if you only know the things God has said? If you only accept His work and His judgment and chastisement, will you have a complete understanding of God? If you only know a small part of God’s disposition, a small part of God’s authority, that’s enough to achieve an understanding of God, right? (No.) Why is that? (It is too one-sided, because our knowledge is hollow. But in each of God’s work combined with the living and non-living things like the mountains and streams, lakes, seeds, the sunlight, and rain that we see, view, and experience, we obtain a practical understanding of God. As our understanding awakens as children we begin to see these things and feel that they are real.) God’s actions begin with His creation of the universe and they continue today where His actions are apparent at all times and at every moment. If people believe God exists just because He has chosen some people upon whom He does His work to save those people, and if they believe that other things do not involve God, His authority, His status, and His actions, can that be considered truly knowing God? People who have such a so-called knowledge of God—which is based on a one-sided view that God is limited to just a group of people—are shortsighted. Is this a true knowledge of God? Aren’t people with this kind of knowledge of God denying His creation of all things and His dominion over them? Some people do not wish to acknowledge this, and they may think to themselves: “I don’t see God’s dominion over all things, it’s something too distant from me and I don’t want to understand it. God does whatever He wants and it has nothing to do with me. I only concern myself with accepting God’s leadership and His word and I’ll be made perfect and I’ll be saved by God. I’ll just pay attention to these things, but I won’t try to understand anything else or give it any thought. Whatever rules God made when He created all things or whatever God does to provide for them and for mankind has nothing to do with me.” What is this kind of talk? Isn’t this utterly disgraceful? Are there any among you who think like this? I know that there are a great majority who do think this way even if you won’t say so. This type of by-the-book person may use their own so-called spiritual standpoint in how they view everything. They want to limit God to the Bible, limit God by the words He has spoken, and limit God to just the literal written word. They do not wish to know more about God and they do not want God to pay more attention in doing other things. This type of thinking is childish and very dogmatic. Can people who hold these views know God? They would have a hard time knowing God. Today I have told these two stories and talked about these two aspects. Having just heard them and having just come into contact with them, you might feel that they are profound or even a bit abstract and difficult to comprehend and understand. It might be even harder to connect them with God’s actions and God Himself. However, all of God’s actions and all He has done among all things and among all of mankind should be clearly and accurately known by each and every person and by everyone who seeks to know God. This knowledge will give you confirmation of and faith in the true existence of God. It will also give you accurate knowledge of God’s wisdom, His power, and how He provides for all things. It will allow you to clearly conceive God’s true existence and see that it is not fictional, and not a myth. This allows you to see that it is not vague, and not just a theory, and that God is certainly not just a spiritual sustenance, but He truly exists. Furthermore it allows you to know Him as God in the way He has always provided for all things and for mankind; He does this in His own way and in accordance with His own rhythm. So we can say that it is because God created all things and He gave them rules that by His command they each perform their allotted tasks, fulfill their responsibilities, and play the role that was bestowed upon each of them. All things fulfill their own role for mankind, and do this in the space, the environment where people live. If God did not do things this way and mankind’s environment was not as it is, people’s belief in God or their following of Him—none of it would be possible; it would merely be empty talk, isn’t this correct?

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Almighty God's Word | "God Himself, the Unique VII God Is the Source of Life for All Things (II)" (Part Two)

(II) God Is the Source of Life for All Things

Today I will fellowship about a new topic with you. What will the topic be? The title of the topic will be “God Is the Source of Life for All Things.” Isn’t this a fairly large topic to discuss? Does it feel like something that might be a little out of reach? God being the source of life for all things might seem like a topic that people feel detached from, but all who follow God must understand it. This is because this subject is inextricably linked with each person knowing God, being able to satisfy Him, and revere Him. Therefore, this topic must be communicated. Some people may have a basic understanding of this topic, or perhaps some people are aware of it: They may have a simplistic knowledge of it in their hearts, just a superficial understanding. Others may have a special familiarity with it; due to their unique experiences, in their hearts they have a profound understanding of it. But whether knowledge of this is deep or superficial, for you it is one-sided and not sufficiently specific. So, this topic must be communicated, the purpose of which is to give you a more specific and deeper understanding; this is very crucial. I will use a special method to fellowship about this topic with you, a method we have not used before and one that you may find a bit unusual, or a bit uncomfortable. Nonetheless, after you hear it you will know it, whatever the method may be. Do you like listening to stories? (We do.) What type of story do you like to hear? Fairy tales, fables or science fiction? (Fables.) (A story about God and man.) Are there stories about God and man? (Yes.) There are stories about God and man that happen near you every day. Do I even need to mention them? Whoever likes stories please raise your hands, and then I can see how many people like to hear stories. It seems that I was right to choose the method of telling a story. You all like to hear stories. OK then, let’s begin! You don’t need to write this down in your notes. I ask that you be calm, and not fidget. You may close your eyes if you feel that having your eyes open would cause you to be distracted by your surroundings or the people around you. I have a wonderful little story to tell you. It is a story about a seed, the earth, a tree, the sunlight, the songbirds, and man. Don’t fall asleep. Do you hear Me? The story I am going to tell has what main characters in it? (A seed, the earth, a tree, the sunlight, the songbirds, and man.) Will God be in it? (No.) You haven’t heard it, right? But I am sure that after the story is told you will feel relaxed and content. Alright then, you may listen quietly.

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Almighty God's Word | God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique VII" (Part One) | The Church of Almighty God

God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique VII" (Part One) | The Church of Almighty God

(I) An Overview of God’s Authority, God’s Righteous Disposition, and God’s Holiness

When you have finished your prayers, do your hearts feel calm in the presence of God? (Yes.) If a person’s heart can be calmed, they will be able to hear and understand the word of God and they will be able to hear and understand the truth. If your heart is unable to be calmed, if your heart is always adrift, or always thinking of other things, it will affect your coming together to hear the word of God. So, what is at the heart of what we are discussing at this time? Let us all think back a little on the main point. Regarding knowing God Himself, the unique, what is the first part that we discussed? (God’s authority.) What was the second? (God’s righteous disposition.) And the third? (God’s holiness.) How often have we discussed God’s authority? Has it had an impact? (Twice.) What about God’s righteous disposition? (Once.) The number of times we have discussed God’s holiness has probably left an impression on you, but has the specific content we discussed each time had an impact? On the first part “God’s authority,” what left the deepest impression on you, what part had the most impact for you? (The authority of the word of God and God as the Ruler of all things.) Talk about the important points. (First, God communicated the authority and might of the word of God; God is as good as His word and His word shall become true. This is the very essence of God.) (God’s authority lies in His creation of the heavens and earth and all within it. No man can alter God’s authority. God is the Ruler of all things and He controls all things.) (God utilizes the rainbow and covenants with man.) This is the specific content. Was there anything else? (God’s commands to Satan that it may tempt Job, but may not take his life. From this we see the authority of God’s word.) This is an understanding you gained after hearing the fellowship, right? Is there anything else to add? (We mainly recognize that God’s authority represents God’s unique status and position, and none of the created or non-created beings may possess His authority.) (God speaks to make a covenant with man and He speaks to put His blessings upon man, these are all examples of the authority of God’s word.) (We see the authority of God in the creation of the heavens and earth and all things through His word, and from God incarnate we see His word also carries the authority of God, these are both symbols of God’s uniqueness. We see it when the Lord Jesus commanded Lazarus to walk out from his tomb: Life and death are under God’s control, which Satan has no power to control; whether God’s work is done in flesh or in Spirit, His authority is unique.) Do you have anything else to add? (We see that the six junctures of life are dictated by God.) Very good! What else? (God’s blessings toward man also represent His authority.) When we talk about God’s authority, what is your understanding of the word “authority”? Within the scope of God’s authority, in what God does and reveals, what do people see? (We see God’s almightiness and wisdom.) (We see that God’s authority is ever-present and that it truly, truly exists.) (We see God’s authority on the large scale in His dominion over the universe, and we see it on the small scale as He takes control of human life. From the six junctures of life we see that God actually plans and controls every aspect of our lives.) (Furthermore, we see that God’s authority represents God Himself, the unique, and none of the created or non-created beings may possess it. God’s authority symbolizes His status.) “Symbols of God’s status and God’s position,” you seem to have a doctrinal understanding of these words. What question did I just ask you, can you repeat it? (In what God does and reveals, what do we see?) What do you see? Could it be that you only see God’s authority? Did you only feel God’s authority? (We see the reality of God, the trueness of God, the faithfulness of God.) (We see God’s wisdom.) The faithfulness of God, the trueness of God, and some said the wisdom of God. What else is there? (God’s omnipotence.) (Seeing the righteousness and goodness of God.) You haven’t quite hit the nail on the head yet, so think a bit more. (The authority and power of God are revealed and reflected in His taking charge, leading, and management of mankind. This is very real and true. He is always doing His work and none of the created or non-created beings may possess this authority and power.) Are you all looking at your notes? Do you really have any knowledge of God’s authority? Have any of you truly comprehended His authority? (God has watched over us and protected us since we were young, and we see God’s authority in that. We didn’t always understand the situations that befell us, but God was always protecting us behind the scenes; this is also God’s authority.) Very good, well said!

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Almighty God's Word | God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique (VI) God’s Holiness (III)" (Part Four)

God’s Holiness (III)   Part Four

Let us go back to talk about what means Satan employs to corrupt man. We have just talked about the various ways in which God works on man which every one of you can experience for yourselves, so I will not go into too much detail. But in your hearts you are perhaps hazy about the means Satan employs to corrupt man, or at the very least it is lacking in detail, so it will benefit you to talk about it. Do you want to understand it? (Yes.) Maybe some of you will ask: “Why talk about Satan again? We have already seen that Satan is evil and we loathe Satan already, so can Satan still corrupt us?” In fact, although you may loathe Satan, you do not see completely through it. There are some things you still need to face, otherwise you cannot really break away from the influence of Satan.

We have previously discussed the five ways in which Satan corrupts man, haven’t we? Within these five ways are the means it employs, which man must see through. The ways in which Satan corrupts man are just a kind of cover; most insidious are the means hiding behind this façade and it wants to use these means to achieve its goals. What are these means? Summarize them for Me. (It cheats, seduces and threatens.) The more you list, the closer you get. It looks as though you have been deeply harmed by it and have strong feelings on the subject. (It also uses sweet talk and lies, it influences, deceives and forcefully occupies.) Forcefully occupies—this gives an extremely deep impression, doesn’t it? People are afraid of Satan’s forceful occupation. Any others? (It violently harms people, uses both threats and inducements, and it lies.) Lies are the substance of its actions and it lies in order to cheat you. What is the nature of lying? Is lying not the same as cheating? The goal of telling lies is in fact to cheat you. Any others? Speak out. Tell Me all the ones that you know of. (It induces, harms, blinds and deceives.) Most of you feel the same way about this deception, don’t you? (It uses fawning flattery, controls man, takes hold of man, terrorizes man and keeps man from believing in God.) I pretty much know what you mean and they are all similarly good. You all know something about this, so let us now summarize them.

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Almighty God's Word | God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique (VI) God's Holiness (III)" (Part Three)

God’s Holiness (III)   Part Three

I know that a lot of people now are expecting Me to say what exactly the holiness of God is, but when I talk about the holiness of God I will first talk about the deeds God does. You should all listen attentively, then I will ask you what exactly the holiness of God is. I will not tell you directly, but instead let you try to figure it out, give you room to figure it out. What do you think of this method? (It’s good.) So listen carefully.

Whenever Satan corrupts man or engages in unbridled harm, God does not stand idly by, neither does He brush aside or turn a blind eye to those He has chosen. All that Satan does is perfectly clear and understood by God. No matter what Satan does, no matter what trend it causes to arise, God knows all that Satan is trying to do, and God does not give up on those He has chosen. Instead, without attracting any attention, secretly, silently, God does everything that is necessary. When He begins work on someone, when He has chosen someone, He does not proclaim it to anyone, nor does He proclaim it to Satan, much less make any grand gesture. He just very quietly, very naturally does what is necessary. First, He selects a family for you; what kind of background the family has, who your parents are, who your ancestors are—all this was already decided by God. In other words, these were not spur of the moment decisions made by Him, but rather this was a work begun long ago. Once God has chosen a family for you, He also chooses the date on which you will be born. Presently, God watches as you are born crying into the world, watches your birth, watches as you utter your first words, watches as you stumble and toddle your first steps, learning how to walk. First you take one step and then you take another … now you can run, now you can jump, now you can talk, now you can express your feelings. During this time, as you grow up, Satan’s gaze is fixed on each of you, like a tiger eyeing its prey. But in doing His work, God has never suffered any limitations of people, events or things, of space or time; He does what He should and does what He must. In the process of growing up, you may encounter many things that are not to your liking, encounter illnesses and frustrations. But as you walk this road, your life and your future are strictly under God’s care. God gives you a genuine guarantee to last all your life, for He is right there beside you, guarding you and looking after you. Unaware of this, you grow up. You begin to come into contact with new things and start to get to know this world and this mankind. Everything is fresh and new to you. You like doing your own thing and you like doing what you like. You live within your own humanity, you live within your own living space and you have not the slightest perception about the existence of God. But God watches you every step of the way as you grow, and watches you as you make every forward stride. Even when you are learning knowledge, or studying science, not for one step has God ever left your side. You are just the same as other people in that, in the course of getting to know and coming into contact with the world, you have established your own ideals, you have your own hobbies, your own interests, and you also harbor lofty ambitions. You often ponder your own future, often sketching the outline of how your future should look. But no matter what happens along the way, God sees all with clear eyes. Maybe you yourself have forgotten your own past, but to God, there is no one who can understand you better than He. You live under God’s eye, growing up, maturing. During this period, God’s most important task is something that no one ever perceives, something no one knows. God certainly does not tell you about it. So what is this most crucial thing? Do you know? (Bringing people before Him.) So what does God do to bring people before Him? At what time does He bring people before Him? Do you know? Is this God’s main task? Is this the most important thing God does? We can say that it is a guarantee that God will save a person. This means that God wants to save this person, so He must do this, and this task is vitally important to both man and God. Do you know this? It seems like you do not have any feeling about this, or any concept of it, so I will tell you. From the time you were born all the way up to now, God has carried out much work on you, but He did not tell you every time He did something. You were not to know, so you were not told, right? (Yes.) To man, everything He does is important. To God, it is something He must do. But in His heart there is something important He needs to do that far exceeds any of these things. What is that? That is, from the time you were born up to now, God must guarantee the safety of each one of you. You may feel as though you do not fully understand, saying “Is this safety so important?” So what is the literal meaning of “safety”? Maybe you understand it to mean peace or maybe you understand it to mean never experiencing any disaster or calamity, to live well, to live a normal life. But in your hearts you must know that it is not that simple. So what on earth is this thing that I have been talking about, that God has to do? What does it mean to God? Is it really a guarantee of your safety? Just like right now? No. So what is it that God does? This safety means you not being devoured by Satan. Is this important? You are not devoured by Satan, so does this concern your safety, or not? This does concern your personal safety, and there can be nothing more important. Once you have been devoured by Satan, neither your soul nor your flesh belongs to God any longer. God will no longer save you. God forsakes souls like that and forsakes people like that. So I say the most important thing that God has to do is to guarantee your safety, to guarantee that you will not be devoured by Satan. This is pretty important, isn’t it? So why can you not answer? Seems like you cannot feel God’s great kindness!

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Almighty God's Word | God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique (VI) God's Holiness (III)" (Part Two)

God’s Holiness (III)   Part Two

We have just talked about how Satan uses knowledge to corrupt man, so next let us fellowship about how Satan uses science to corrupt man. Firstly, in using science to corrupt man, Satan uses the name of science to satisfy man’s curiosity, satisfying man’s desire[a] to explore science and probe into mysteries. Also in the name of science, Satan satisfies man’s material needs and man’s demand to continually raise their quality of life. Satan therefore, in this name, uses the way of science to corrupt man. Is it only man’s thinking or man’s minds that Satan corrupts using this way of science? Amongst the people and things in our surroundings that we can see and that we come into contact with, what else does Satan use science to corrupt? (The natural environment.) You are right. It looks like you have been deeply harmed by this, and are also deeply affected by it. Besides using science to deceive man, using all the various findings and conclusions of science to deceive man, Satan also uses science as a means to carry out wanton destruction and exploitation of the living environment that was bestowed on man by God. It does this under the pretext that if man carries out scientific research, then man’s living environment will get better and better and man’s living standards will continually improve, and furthermore that scientific development is done to cater to man’s daily increasing material needs and continual need to raise their quality of life. If not for these reasons, then it asks what you are doing developing science at all. This is the theoretical basis of Satan’s development of science. What consequences, however, does science have for mankind? What does our immediate environment consist of? Has not the air mankind breathes been polluted? Is the water we drink still truly pure? (No.) So what about the food we eat, is the majority of it natural? (No.) So what is it then? It is grown using fertilizer and cultivated using genetic modification, and there are also mutations produced using various scientific methods, so that even the vegetables and fruit we eat are no longer natural. It is not easy now for people to find unmodified food products to eat. Even eggs no longer taste the way they used to, having already been processed by Satan’s so-called science. Looking at the big picture, the entire atmosphere has been destroyed and polluted; mountains, lakes, forests, rivers, oceans, and everything above or below ground have all been ruined by so-called scientific achievements. In other words, the entire ecology, the entire living environment bestowed on mankind by God has been polluted and ruined by so-called science. Although there are many people who have obtained what they expected in terms of the quality of life they seek, satisfying both their lusts and their flesh, the environment man lives in has essentially been destroyed and ruined by the various “achievements” brought by science. Even outdoors or in our homes we now no longer have a right to breathe one breath of clean air. You tell Me, is this mankind’s sorrow? Is there still any happiness to speak of for man to live in this living space? Man lives in this living space and, from the very beginning, this living environment was created by God for man. The water people drink, the air people breathe, the food people eat, plants, trees, and the oceans—this living environment was all bestowed on man by God; it is natural, operating in accordance with a natural law laid down by God. If there was no science, and people could enjoy what was bestowed on man in accordance with the way of God, they would have been happy and could have enjoyed everything at its most pristine. Now, however, all of this has been destroyed and ruined by Satan; man’s fundamental living space is no longer at its most pristine. But no one is able to recognize what caused this kind of consequence or how this came about, and furthermore even more people comprehend and approach science by using the ideas instilled in them by Satan, and by viewing science with earthly eyes. Is this not so very hateful and pitiful? With Satan now having taken the space in which mankind exists and their living environment and corrupted them into this state, and with mankind continuing to develop in this way, is there any need for the hand of God to extinguish this mankind on earth that has been so deeply corrupted and that has become hostile to Him? Is there any need for the hand of God to destroy mankind? (No.) If mankind continues to develop in this way, what direction will it take? (Ruination.) How will mankind be ruined? In addition to man’s greedy search for fame and gain, they continually carry out scientific exploration and in-depth research, then ceaselessly they satisfy their own material needs and lusts; what then are the consequences for man? First of all there is no longer any ecological balance and, hand in hand with this, mankind’s bodies have all been tainted and damaged by this kind of environment, and various infectious diseases, plagues, and haze spread everywhere. This is a situation that man now has no control over, is that not right? Now that you understand this, if mankind does not follow God, but always follows Satan this way—using knowledge to continually enrich themselves, using science to ceaselessly explore the future of human life, using this kind of method to continue living—are you able to recognize what the natural end of mankind will be? What will be the natural final result? (Ruination.) It will be ruination: approaching ruination one step at a time. Approaching ruination one step at a time! It now looks as though science is a kind of magic potion or slow-acting poison that Satan has prepared for man, so that when you try to discern things you do so in a foggy haze; no matter how hard you look, you cannot see things clearly, and no matter how hard you try, you cannot figure them out. Satan, however, still uses the name of science to whet your appetite and to lead you by the nose, one foot in front of the other, toward the abyss and toward death. Is this not so? (Yes.) This is the second way.

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Almighty God's Word | God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique (VI) God's Holiness (III)" (Part One)

God’s Holiness (III)   Part One

How do you feel after saying your prayers? (Very excited and moved.) Let us begin our fellowship. What topic did we fellowship last time? (The holiness of God.) And which aspect of God Himself does the holiness of God concern? Does it concern the essence of God? (Yes.) So what exactly is the subject that concerns God’s essence? Is it the holiness of God? (Yes.) The holiness of God: this is the unique essence of God. What was the main theme we fellowshiped last time? (Discerning the evil of Satan.) And what did we fellowship last time regarding the evil of Satan? Can you remember? (How Satan corrupts mankind. It uses knowledge, science, traditional culture, superstition, and social trends to corrupt us.) Correct, this was the main topic that we discussed last time. Satan uses knowledge, science, superstition, traditional culture, and social trends to corrupt man; these are the ways in which Satan corrupts man. How many ways are these altogether? (Five.) Which five ways? (Science, knowledge, traditional culture, superstition, and social trends.) Which do you think Satan uses most to corrupt man, the thing that corrupts them most deeply? (Traditional culture.) Some brothers and sisters think it is traditional culture. Anyone else? (Knowledge.) Looks like you have a high level of knowledge. Any others? (Knowledge.) You share the same view. The brothers and sisters who said traditional culture, can you tell us why you think this? Do you have any understanding of it? Do you not want to explain your understanding? (The philosophies of Satan and the doctrines of Confucius and Mencius are deeply ingrained in our minds, so we feel these corrupt us very deeply.) Those of you who think it is knowledge, can you explain why? Speak your reasons. (Knowledge can never let us worship God. It denies the existence of God, and denies the rule of God. That is, knowledge tells us to study from a young age, and that only through studying and gaining knowledge is our future and destiny assured. In this way it corrupts us.) So Satan uses knowledge to control your future and destiny, then it leads you along by the nose; this is how you think Satan corrupts man most deeply. So most of you think Satan uses knowledge to corrupt man most deeply. Are there any others? What about science or social trends, for example? Does anyone agree with these? (Yes.) Today I will fellowship again about the five ways in which Satan corrupts man and, once I am finished, I will still ask you some questions to see in exactly which aspect Satan corrupts man most deeply. You understand this topic, don’t you?

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Almigty God's Word | God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique V God's Holiness (II)" (Part Four) - Eastern Lightning

God’s Holiness (II)   Part Four

E. How Satan Uses Social Trends to Corrupt Man

Are social trends a new phenomenon? (No.) So when did they begin? Could one say that social trends came to be when Satan started corrupting people? (Yes.) What do social trends include? (Style of clothing and makeup.) This is something people often come into contact with. Clothing style, fashion, and trends, this is a small aspect. Is there anything else? Do the popular sayings that people often talk about count too? Do the lifestyles that people desire count? Do the music stars, celebrities, magazines, and novels that people like count? (Yes.) In your minds, which aspect of these trends is able to corrupt man? Which of these trends is most enticing to you? Some people say: “We’ve all reached a certain age, we are in our forties, fifties, sixties, seventies or eighties where we can’t fit in with these trends and they don’t really hold our attention anymore.” Is this correct? (No.) Others say: “We don’t follow celebrities, that’s something youngsters in their teens and twenties do; we also don’t wear fashionable clothes, that’s something image-conscious people do.” So which of these is able to corrupt you? (Popular sayings.) Can these sayings corrupt people? Here’s one, and you can see whether or not it corrupts people, “Money makes the mare go”; is this a trend? Isn’t this a much worse thing compared to the fashion and gourmet trends you mentioned? (Yes.) “Money makes the mare go” is the philosophy of Satan and it prevails among every human society. You could say that it is a trend because it has been imparted to everyone and is now affixed in their heart. People went from not accepting this saying to growing used to it so that when they came into contact with real life, they gradually gave tacit approval to it, acknowledged its existence and finally, they gave it their own seal of approval. Is this right? (Yes.) Isn’t this process that of Satan corrupting man? Perhaps those of you sitting here do not understand this saying to the same degree, but everyone has different degrees of interpretation and acknowledgment of this saying based on things that have happened around them and their own personal experiences, right? Regardless of how much experience someone has with this saying, what’s the negative effect that it can have on someone’s heart? (People would think money can do anything, and they would esteem money.) Something is revealed through the human disposition of the people in this world, including yourselves sitting here. How is this interpreted? It’s the worship of money. Is it hard to get this out of someone’s heart? It is very hard! It seems that Satan’s corruption of man is thorough indeed! Can we say that? (Yes.) So after Satan uses this trend to corrupt people, how is it manifested in them? Don’t you feel that you couldn’t survive one day in this world without any money, that even one day would just be impossible? (Yes.) People’s status is based on how much money they have as is their respectability. The backs of the poor are bent in shame, while the rich enjoy their high status. They stand tall and proud, speaking loudly and living arrogantly. What does this saying and trend bring to people? Don’t many people see getting money as being worth any cost? Don’t many people sacrifice their dignity and integrity in the pursuit of more money? Don’t many more people lose the opportunity to perform their duty and follow God for the sake of money? Isn’t this a loss for people? (Yes.) Isn’t Satan sinister to use this method and this saying to corrupt man to such a degree? Isn’t this a malicious trick? As you progress from objecting to this popular saying to finally accepting it as truth, your heart falls completely under Satan’s grasp, and therefore you unwittingly come to live by it. What degree has this saying affected you? You might know the true way, you might know truth, but you are powerless to pursue it. You might clearly know the word of God, but you are unwilling to pay the price, unwilling to suffer to pay the price. Instead, you would rather sacrifice your own future and destiny to go against God to the very end. No matter what God says, no matter what God does, no matter how much you realize that God’s love for you is deep and great, you would still stubbornly stay the course and pay the price for this saying. What this means is that this saying already controls your behavior and your thoughts, and you would rather have your fate controlled by this saying than give it all up. People do this, they are controlled by this saying and manipulated by it. Isn’t this the effect of Satan corrupting man? Isn’t this the philosophy and corrupt disposition of Satan taking root in your heart? If you do this, hasn’t Satan achieved its goal? (Yes.) Do you see how Satan has corrupted man in this way? (No.) You didn’t see it. Can you feel it? (No.) You didn’t feel it. Do you see Satan’s evil here? (Yes.) Satan corrupts man at all times and at all places. Satan makes it impossible for man to defend against this corruption and makes man helpless to it. Satan makes you accept its thoughts, its viewpoints and the evil things that come from it in situations where you are unwitting and when you have no recognition of what’s happening to you. People fully accept these things and take no exception to them. They cherish and hold these things like a treasure, they let these things manipulate them and toy with them, and this is how Satan’s corruption of man becomes deeper and deeper.

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The Church of Almighty God | God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique (V) God's Holiness (II)" (Part Three)

God’s Holiness (II)   Part Three

Regarding God’s holiness, even though it may be a familiar topic, in discussion it might become a bit abstract for some people, and the content might be a bit deep. In the past, people rarely dealt with the topic of God’s holiness, so they don’t understand it. But don’t worry, I will help you understand what God’s holiness is. I see that this is a little hard for you to absorb, let us say this first: If you want to get to know someone, just look at what he or she does and the results of his or her actions, and you will be able to see the substance of the person. So let us fellowship on God’s holiness from this perspective first. We said that the substance of Satan is evil and malicious, and so Satan’s actions toward man have been to endlessly corrupt them. Satan is evil, so the people it has corrupted are certainly evil, right? Would anyone say, “Satan is evil, perhaps someone it corrupted is holy”? What a joke, right? Is this even possible? (No.) So don’t think about it like that, let’s talk about it from this aspect: Satan is evil, this is its substance and this is real, this is not just empty talk. We are not trying to libel Satan; we are merely fellowshiping about truth and reality as well as about the facts surrounding it. This might hurt some people or a certain section of people, but there is no malicious intent here; perhaps you will hear this today and feel a bit uncomfortable, but someday soon, when you are able to recognize it, you will despise yourselves, and you will feel that what we talked about today is very useful to you and very valuable.

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Almighty God's Word | God's Utterance "God Himself, the Unique (V) God's Holiness (II)" (Part Two)

God’s Holiness (II)   Part Two

Regarding the holiness of God’s substance, last time we fellowshiped a bit about it and that served as inspiration for people’s knowledge of God’s holiness, but it is not enough. It cannot sufficiently help people fully know God’s holiness, nor can it sufficiently help them understand that God’s holiness is unique. Furthermore, it cannot sufficiently allow people to understand the aspect of the true meaning of holiness as it is completely embodied in God. Therefore, it is necessary that we continue our fellowship in this subject. In the third section our fellowship discussed three topics, so we should now discuss the fourth, and we will begin reading the scriptures.

4. The Temptation of Satan

(Matt 4:1-4) Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If you be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

These are the words with which the devil first tried to tempt the Lord Jesus. What is the content of what the devil said? Go ahead and read it. (“If you be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”) The devil said these words, which were quite simple, but is there a problem with the essential content of these words? (Yes.) What is the problem? It said, “If you be the Son of God,” so in its heart, did it know that the Lord Jesus was the Son of God? Did it know that He was Christ? (Yes.) Then why did it say “If you be”? (It was trying to tempt God.) Of course, it was trying to tempt God, but what was its purpose in doing so? It said, “If you be the Son of God.” In its heart it knew Jesus Christ was the Son of God, this was very clear in its heart, but despite this, did it submit to Him or did it worship Him? (No.) What did it want to do? It wanted to do this and say these words to make the Lord Jesus angry and then entice Him to take the bait, and to fool the Lord Jesus into doing things according to its way of thinking and rising to its hook. Isn’t this what was meant? In its heart it clearly knew this was the Lord Jesus Christ, but it still said this anyway. Isn’t this Satan’s nature? What is Satan’s nature? (To be sly, evil, and have no reverence for God.) It has no reverence for God. What is the negative thing it was doing here? Didn’t it want to attack God? It wanted to use this method to attack God, it said: “If you be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread”; isn’t this Satan’s evil intention? (Yes.) What was it really trying to do? Its purpose is very clear: It was trying to use this method to refute the position and identity of the Lord Jesus Christ. It said, “If You are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread. If You don’t, then You aren’t the Son of God and You just don’t do this work.” Is this what was meant here? It wanted to use this method to attack God, it wanted to dismantle and destroy God’s work; this is the malevolence and cunning of Satan. Its malevolence is a natural expression of its nature. Even though it knew the Lord Jesus Christ was the Son of God, the very incarnation of God Himself, it could not help itself but do this kind of thing, tailing God from behind and continuing to attack Him and take great pains to disturb and destroy God’s work and make an enemy of God.

Now, let us analyze this phrase that Satan used: “command that these stones be made bread.” To turn stones into bread—does this mean anything? It has no meaning. If there is food, why not eat it? Why is it necessary to turn stones into food? Is there meaning here? (No.) Although He was fasting at the time, surely the Lord Jesus had food to eat? Did He have food? (He did.) So, here, we see the preposterousness of Satan’s use of this phrase. For all its treachery and malice, we see its preposterousness and absurdity, right? Satan does a number of things. You see its malicious nature and you see it destroy God’s work. It’s hateful and exasperating. But, on the other hand, do you find a childish, absurd nature behind its words and actions? (Yes.) This is a revelation about Satan’s nature; it has this kind of nature and it will do this kind of thing. To men, the phrase is preposterous and laughable. But such words can indeed be uttered by Satan. Can we say that it is ignorant? Absurd? Satan’s evil is everywhere and is constantly being revealed. And how does the Lord Jesus answer it? (“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”) Do these words have any power? (They do.) Why do we say that they have power? (They are the truth.) Right. These words are the truth. Now, does man live by bread alone? The Lord Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights. Did He starve to death? (No.) He didn’t starve to death, so Satan approached Him, prompting Him to turn the stones into food by saying things of this sort: “If You turn the stones into food, won’t You then have things to eat? Won’t You then not have to fast, not have to go hungry?” But the Lord Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone,” which means that, although man lives in a physical body, what gives him life, what allows his physical body to live and breathe, is not food, but all the words uttered by the mouth of God. On the one hand, man regards these words as truth. The words give him faith, make him feel that he can depend on God, that God is truth. On the other hand, is there a practical aspect to these words? (There is.) Why? Because the Lord Jesus has fasted for 40 days and nights and He is still standing there, still alive. Is this an illustration? The point here is that He has not eaten anything, any food for 40 days and nights. He is still alive. This is the powerful evidence behind His phrase. The phrase is simple, but, as far as the Lord Jesus is concerned, was His phrase taught to Him by someone else, or did He think of it only because of what Satan had said to Him? Think about it. God is truth. God is life. Was God’s truth and life a late add-on? Was it born of experience? (No.) It is innate in God, meaning that truth and life reside in God’s substance. Whatever befalls Him, what He reveals is truth. This truth, this phrase—whether its content is long or short—it can let man live, give him life; it can enable man to find, within itself, truth, clarity about life’s journey, and enable him to have faith in God. This is the source of God’s use of this phrase. The source is positive, so is this positive thing holy? (Yes.) Satan’s phrase comes from Satan’s nature. Satan reveals its evil nature, its malicious nature, everywhere, constantly. Now, these revelations, does it make them naturally? (Yes.) Does anyone incite it? Does anyone help it? Does anyone coerce it? (No.) It issues them all of its own accord. This is Satan’s evil nature. Whatever God does and however He does it, Satan follows on His heels. The substance and the true features of these things that Satan says and does are Satan’s substance—evil substance, malicious substance. Now, reading on, what else does Satan say? Let’s carry on reading down.

(Matt: 4:5-6) Then the devil takes him up into the holy city, and sets him on a pinnacle of the temple, And said to him, If you be the Son of God, cast yourself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning you: and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.

Let’s first talk about this phrase of Satan. It said, “If you be the Son of God, cast yourself down,” and then it quoted from the Scriptures, “He shall give his angels charge concerning you: and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.” How do you feel when you hear Satan’s words? Aren’t they very childish? They are childish, preposterous, and disgusting. Why would I say this? Satan is always up to something foolish, it believes itself to be very smart; and it often quotes the scriptures—even the very word of God—it tries to turn these words against God to attack Him and to tempt Him. Its purpose in doing this is to destroy the plan of God’s work. Nonetheless, do you notice anything in what Satan said? (There are sinister intentions in it.) Satan has always been a tempter; it doesn’t speak straightforwardly, it speaks in a roundabout way using temptation, beguilement, and seduction. Satan tempts both God and man alike: It thinks that God and man are both so ignorant, foolish, and unable to clearly distinguish things as they are. Satan thinks that God and man alike won’t see through to its substance and that God and man alike won’t see through its craftiness and sinister intent. Isn’t this where Satan gets its foolishness? (Yes.) Furthermore, Satan overtly quotes the scriptures; it thinks that doing so lends it credibility, and that you won’t be able to pick out any flaws in this or avoid being fooled by this. Isn’t this where Satan is being absurd and childish? (Yes.) This is just like when some people spread the gospel and bear witness to God, won’t non-believers say something similar to what Satan said? Have you heard people say something similar? (Yes.) Do you feel disgusted when you hear things like that? (Yes.) When you feel disgusted, do you also feel repulsed and revolted? (Yes.) When you have these feelings are you able to recognize that Satan and the corrupt disposition Satan works into man are wicked? In your hearts do you ever have a realization like, “God never speaks like that. Satan’s words bring attacks and temptation, its words are absurd, laughable, childish, and disgusting. However, in the speech of God and the actions of God, He would never use methods like this to speak or perform His work, and He has never done so”? Of course, in this situation people only have a modicum of feeling to go on and they do not have a realization of God’s holiness; they can only admit that God’s word is truth, but they do not know that truth is holiness in itself. With your current stature, you are merely feeling this: “Everything God says is the truth, it is beneficial to us, and we must accept it”; regardless of whether you are able to accept this or not, without exception you say that God’s word is truth and that God is truth, but you don’t know that truth is holiness in itself and that God is holy. So, what was Jesus’ response to Satan’s words?

(Matt 4:7) Jesus said to him, It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God.

Is there truth in this phrase that Jesus said? (Yes.) There is truth in it. On the surface it seems like a commandment for people to follow, it is a very simple phrase, but it is one that both man and Satan have often violated. So, the Lord Jesus said to it, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God,” because this is what Satan often did and it made every effort to do so, you could even say that Satan shamelessly did so. It is Satan’s essential nature to not be in fear of God and not have reverence for God in its heart. So even when Satan was beside God and could see Him, Satan couldn’t help itself but tempt God. Therefore, the Lord Jesus said to Satan, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” This is a phrase that God has often said to Satan. Isn’t it appropriate to use this phrase even today? (Yes.) Why? (Because we also often tempt God.) People often tempt God, but why do people often do so? Is it because people are full of corrupt satanic disposition? (Yes.) So what Satan said above is something people often say? (Yes.) In what situations? One could say that people have been saying things like this and revealing them naturally irrespective of time and place. This proves that the disposition of people is exactly the same as the corrupt disposition of Satan. The Lord Jesus said a simple phrase, one that represents truth and one that people need. However, in this situation was the Lord Jesus arguing with Satan? Was there anything confrontational in what He said to Satan? (No.) How did the Lord Jesus view Satan’s temptation in His heart? Did He feel disgusted and repulsed? (Yes.) The Lord Jesus felt repulsed and disgusted but He did not argue with Satan, much less did He speak about any grand principles, isn’t that right? (Yes.) Why is that? (The Lord Jesus did not wish to acknowledge Satan.) Why didn’t He wish to acknowledge Satan? (Because Satan is always like this, it can never change.) Could we say that Satan is unreasonable? (Yes, we could.) Can Satan recognize that God is truth? Satan will never recognize that God is truth and never admit that God is truth; this is its nature. Furthermore, there is something else about Satan’s nature that is repulsive to people, what is it? In its attempts to tempt the Lord Jesus, what did it believe in its heart? Even if it tempted God and it would not succeed, yet Satan tried anyway. Even though it would be punished, it did it anyway. Even though it would get nothing good out of doing so, it did it anyway, and persisted and stood against God to the very end. What sort of nature is this? Isn’t that evil? (Yes.) He who gets infuriated when God is mentioned, have they seen God? He who gets angry when God is mentioned, do they know God? He does not know who God is, does not believe in Him, and God has not spoken to him. God has never disturbed him, so why would he be angry? Could we say that this person is evil? (Yes.) Would this be someone with an evil nature? Whatever trends are happening in the world, whether it is fun, food, famous people, beautiful people, none of these would bother them, but one mention of the word “God” and they get upset; wouldn’t this be an example of an evil nature? This serves as satisfactory proof of man’s evil nature. Now, speaking for yourselves, are there times when truth is mentioned, or when God’s tests for mankind are brought up or when God’s words of judgment against man are mentioned, and you feel annoyed, repulsed, and you don’t want to hear about it? Your heart may think: How is this truth? Didn’t people all say that God is truth? This isn’t truth, this is clearly just God’s words of admonishment toward man! Some people might even feel disgusted in their hearts: This is brought up every day, His tests for us are mentioned every day as is His judgment; when’s all this going to end? When will we receive the good destination? It isn’t known where this unreasonable anger comes from. What sort of nature is this? (Evil nature.) It is prompted by the evil nature of Satan. As for God in regard to the evil nature of Satan and the corrupt disposition of man, He never argues or bickers with people, and He never makes a fuss when people act out of ignorance. You will not see God hold similar views on things that people have, and moreover you will not see Him use men’s viewpoints, their knowledge, their science or their philosophy or man’s imagination to handle things. Instead, everything God does and everything He reveals is connected to truth. That is, every word He has said and every action He has taken concerns the truth. This truth is not some baseless fantasy; this truth and these words are expressed by God due to God’s substance and His life. Because these words and the substance of everything God has done are truth, therefore we can say that God’s substance is holy. In other words, everything God says and does brings vitality and light to people; it allows people to see positive things and the reality of those positive things and it points humanity toward the road of light so that they may walk the right path. These things are determined because of God’s substance and they are determined due to the substance of His holiness. You have seen it, right? We will continue with a reading of the scriptures.

(Matt 4:8-11) Again, the devil takes him up into an exceeding high mountain, and shows him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And said to him, All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me. Then said Jesus to him, Get you hence, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Then the devil leaves him, and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.

Satan, the devil, having failed at its previous two tricks, tried yet another: It showed all the kingdoms in the world and the glory of them to the Lord Jesus and asked Him to worship the devil. What do you see about the true features of the devil from this situation? Isn’t Satan the devil absolutely shameless? (Yes.) How shameless can it be? Everything was created by God, yet Satan turns it around and shows it to God saying, “Look at the wealth and glory of all of these kingdoms. If You worship me I’ll give them all to You.” Isn’t this a role reversal? Isn’t Satan shameless? God made everything, but was it for His enjoyment? God gave everything to mankind, but Satan wanted to seize it all and afterward it said, “Worship me! Worship me and I’ll give this all to You.” This is the ugly face of Satan; it is absolutely shameless, right? Satan doesn’t even know the meaning of the word “shame,” and this is just another example of its evil. It doesn’t even know what “shame” is. Satan clearly knows that God created everything and that He manages it and has dominion over it. Everything belongs to God, not to man, much less to Satan, yet Satan the devil brazenly said that it would give everything to God. Isn’t Satan once again doing something absurd and shameless? God hates Satan even more now, right? Yet no matter what Satan tried to do, did the Lord Jesus fall for it? (No.) What did the Lord Jesus say? (“You shall worship the Lord your God.”) Does this phrase have a practical meaning? (Yes.) What sort of practical meaning? We see Satan’s evil and shamelessness in its speech. So if man worshiped Satan, what would the conclusion be? Would they receive the wealth and glory of all of the kingdoms? (No.) What would they receive? Would mankind become just as shameless and laughable as Satan? (Yes.) They would be no different from Satan then. Therefore, the Lord Jesus said this phrase which is important for each and every person: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve,” which states that except for the Lord, except for God Himself, if you serve another, if you worship Satan the devil, then you wallow in the same filth as Satan. You would then share Satan’s shamelessness and its evil, and just like Satan you would tempt God and attack God. Then what would your end be? You would be loathed by God, struck down by God, and destroyed by God, isn’t that right? After Satan had tempted the Lord Jesus several times without success, did it try again? Satan did not try again and then it left. What does this prove? It proves that Satan’s evil nature, its malice, and its absurdity and preposterousness is not worth a mention before God because the Lord Jesus defeated Satan in only three sentences, after which it scurried away with its tail between its legs, too ashamed to show its face again, and it never tempted Him again. Since the Lord Jesus had defeated this temptation of Satan, He could now easily continue the work that He had to do and assume the tasks that lay before Him. Does everything that the Lord Jesus said and did in this situation carry some practical meaning for everyone if it is applied now? (Yes.) What sort of practical meaning? Is defeating Satan an easy thing to do? (No.) What would it be then? Must people have a clear understanding of Satan’s evil nature? Must people have an accurate understanding of Satan’s temptations? (Yes.) If you ever experience Satan’s temptations in your own life, and if you are able to see through to Satan’s evil nature, will you be able to defeat it? If you know about Satan’s absurdity and preposterousness, would you still stand by Satan and attack God? (No, we wouldn’t.) If you understand how Satan’s malice and shamelessness are being revealed through you—if you clearly recognize and know these things—would you still attack and tempt God in this way? (No, we wouldn’t.) What will you do? (We will rebel against Satan and abandon it.) Is that an easy thing to do? (No.) This is not easy, to do this, people must frequently pray, they must often place themselves before God, and they must always examine themselves. They must submit to God’s discipline and His judgment and chastisement and only in this way shall people gradually remove themselves from Satan’s domain and control.

We can sum up the things that make up the substance of Satan from these things that it has said. Firstly, Satan’s substance can generally be said to be evil, which stands in contrast to the holiness of God. Why do I say Satan’s substance is evil? One must look at the consequences of what Satan does to people in order to see this. Satan corrupts and controls man, and man acts under the corrupt disposition of Satan, and inhabits a world that is corrupted by Satan and lives among corrupt people. The masses are unwittingly possessed and assimilated by Satan and man therefore has the evil nature of Satan. From everything Satan has said and done, we can see its arrogance and we see its craftiness and malice. How is Satan’s arrogance primarily displayed? Does Satan always want to occupy God’s position? Satan always wants to tear down God’s work and God’s position and take it for itself so that people will follow, support, and worship Satan; this is the arrogant nature of Satan. But when Satan corrupts people, it does so in a sly and treacherous way: When Satan does its work on people, it does not directly tell people how to refuse and oppose God. When Satan tempts God, it does not come out and say, “I am tempting You, I am going to attack You,” so what method does Satan use? (Seduction.) It seduces, tempts, attacks, and sets its traps, and even by quoting the scriptures. Satan speaks and acts in various ways to achieve its sinister motives. After Satan has done this, what can be seen from what’s manifested in man? Aren’t people arrogant? Man has suffered from Satan’s corruption for thousands of years and so man has become arrogant and extraordinarily conceited, and he has become sly, malicious, and unreasonable, right? All these things are brought about due to Satan’s nature. Since Satan’s nature is evil, it has given man this evil nature and brought man this evil corrupt disposition. Therefore man lives under the corrupt satanic disposition and, like Satan, man goes against God, attacks God, and tempts Him to the extent that man does not worship God and does not revere Him in their hearts. Is that right?

from: "God Himself, the Unique V" Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh

Recommendation: Eastern Lightning , The brief introduction of the Church of Almighty God

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Almighty God's Word | God Himself, the Unique (V) God’s Holiness (II) Part One

God’s Holiness (II)   Part One

Good evening everyone! (Good evening Almighty God!) Today, brothers and sisters, let us sing a hymn. Find one that you like and that you have sung regularly before. (We’d like to sing a hymn of God’s word “Pure Love Without Blemish.”)

1. Love is a pure emotion, pure without a blemish. Use your heart, use your heart to love and feel and care. Love doesn’t set conditions or barriers or distance. Use your heart, use your heart to love and feel and care. If you love you don’t deceive, grumble, turn your back, look to get something in return. If you love you’d sacrifice, accept hardship and be one with God in harmony.

2. In love there’s no suspicion, no cunning, no deceit. Use your heart, use your heart to love and feel and care. In love there is no distance and nothing that’s not pure. Use your heart, use your heart to love and feel and care. If you love you don’t deceive, grumble, turn your back, look to get something in return. If you love you’d sacrifice, accept hardship and be one with God in harmony.

3. You would give your family, youth and future you may see, give your marriage up for God; you would give your all for Him. You would give your family, youth and future you may see, give your marriage up for God; you would give your all for Him. Or your love’s no love at all, but deceit, betrayal of God.

4. Love is a pure emotion, pure without a blemish. Use your heart, use your heart to love and feel and care. Love doesn’t set conditions or barriers or distance. Use your heart, use your heart to love and feel and care.

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Almighty God's Word | God Himself, the Unique (IV) God’s Holiness (I) Part Three

God’s Holiness (I)   Part Three

Now that we have finished talking about Satan, let us return to talking about our God. During God’s six-thousand-year management plan, very little of God’s direct speech has been recorded in the Bible, and that which has been recorded is very simple. So let us start at the beginning. God created man and since then has ever led the life of mankind. Whether in giving mankind blessings, giving them the laws and His commandments, or stipulating the various rules for life, do you know what God’s intended aim is in doing these things? Firstly, can you say for sure all that God does is for the good of mankind? (Yes, we can.) You may think that this sentence is relatively broad and hollow, but specifically speaking, everything God does is to lead and guide man toward living a normal life. Whether it is so man keeps His rules or keeps His laws, God’s aim is for man not to worship Satan, not to be harmed by Satan; this is most fundamental, and this is what was done in the very beginning. At the very beginning, when man did not understand God’s will He took some simple laws and rules and made provisions that covered every conceivable aspect. These provisions are very simple, yet within them they contain God’s will. God treasures, cherishes and dearly loves mankind. Isn’t that the case? (Yes.) So can we say His heart is holy? Can we say His heart is clean? (Yes.) Does God have any ulterior intentions? (No.) So is this aim of His right and positive? (Yes.) It is positive. No matter what provisions God made, the effect of them all in the course of His work is positive for man, and they lead the way. So are there any self-serving thoughts in God’s mind? Does God have any additional aims where man is concerned, or does He want to use man in some way? Not at all. God does as He says, and He also thinks this way in His heart. There is no mixed purpose, no self-serving thoughts. He does not do anything for Himself, but does absolutely everything for man, without any personal aims. Although He has plans and intentions for man, He does not do anything for Himself. Everything He does is done purely for mankind, to protect mankind, to keep mankind from being led astray. So is this heart not precious? (Yes.) Can you see even the tiniest hint of this precious heart in Satan? (No.) Can you see it? Can you? We cannot see one hint of this in Satan. Everything God does is revealed naturally. By looking at the way God works, how does He work? Does God take these laws and His words and bind them tightly onto the heads of every person like the incantation of the golden hoop,[a] imposing them on each man? Does He work in this way? (No.) So in what way does God do His work? (He guides us.) Well, this is one aspect. Any others? God works on you in many ways, how can it be that you have run out of things to say after just one? (He advises and encourages.) There’s a second one. Any more? Does He threaten? Does He talk in circles to you? (No.) When you do not understand the truth, how does God guide you? (He shines a light.) Well, He shines a light on you, telling you clearly that this is not in keeping with the truth, and what you should do. So from these ways in which God works, what kind of relationship do you feel you have with God? Do they make you feel that God is beyond your grasp? (No.) So how do they make you feel? God is especially close to you, there is no distance between you. When God guides you, when He provides for you, helps you and supports you, you feel God’s amiability, His respectability, you feel how lovely He is, how warm. But when God reproaches your corruption, or when He judges and disciplines you for rebelling against Him, what way does God use? Does He reproach you with words? (Yes.) Does He discipline you through your environment and through people, affairs, and things? (Yes.) So what level does this discipline reach? (To a level that man can endure.) Does His level of discipline reach the same point where Satan harms man? (No.) God works in a gentle, loving, delicate and caring way, a way that is especially measured and proper. His way does not cause you to feel intense emotions, saying, “God will not let me do this” or “God must let me do that.” God never gives you that kind of intense mentality or intense feelings that make things unbearable. Is this not the case? (Yes.) Even when you accept God’s words of judgment and chastisement, how do you feel then? When you feel the authority and power of God, how do you feel then? Do you feel the unoffendable divinity of God? (Yes.) Do you feel distanced from God at these times? Do you feel frightened of God? (No.) Instead, you feel fearful reverence of God. Do people feel all these things only because of God’s work? (Yes.) So would they have these feelings if Satan worked on man? (No.) God uses His words, His truth and His life to continuously provide for man, to support man. When man is weak, when man is feeling down, God certainly does not speak harshly, saying: “Do not feel down. What are you down for? What are you weak for? What is there to be weak about? You are so weak, you may as well just die. You are always so down, what is the point in living? Just die!” Does God work this way? (No.) Does God have the authority to act this way? (Yes.) But does God act this way? (No.) The reason why God does not act this way is because of His essence, the essence of the holiness of God. His love for man, His treasuring and cherishing of man cannot be expressed clearly in just one or two sentences. It is not something that is brought about by man’s boasting but is something that God brings forth in actual practice; it is the revelation of God’s essence. Can all these ways in which God works allow man to see the holiness of God? In all these ways in which God works, including God’s good intentions, including the effects God wishes to achieve on man, including the different ways God adopts to work on man, the kind of work He does, what He wants man to understand—have you seen any evil or craftiness in God’s good intentions? (No.) You can’t see any evil, can you? (No.) So in everything God does, everything God says, everything He thinks in His heart, as well as all the essence of God that He reveals—can we call God holy? (Yes.) Has any man ever seen this holiness in the world, or in himself? Apart from God, have you ever seen it in any man or in Satan? (No.) From what we have talked about so far, can we call God the unique, holy God Himself? (Yes.) All that God gives to man, including the words of God, the different ways in which God works on man, that which God tells man, that which God reminds man of, that which He advises and encourages, it all originates from one essence: It all originates from the holiness of God. If there were no such a holy God, no man could take His place to do the work He does. If God took these people and completely handed them over to Satan, have you ever thought of what kind of condition those of you present here today would be in? Would you all be sitting here, complete and intact? (No.) So what would you be like? Would you also say: “From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it”? Would you so swagger, be so brazen and boast without shame before God, and speak in such a roundabout way? (Yes.) Yes, you would. You would one hundred percent! You absolutely would! Satan’s attitude toward man allows them to see that Satan’s nature is utterly different from God. Its essence is completely different to God. What essence of Satan is the opposite of the holiness of God? (Its evil.) Satan’s evil nature is the opposite of the holiness of God. The reason why the majority of people do not recognize that this expression of God’s represents the essence of God’s holiness is entirely because they live under the domain of Satan, within the corruption of Satan, within Satan’s living enclosure. They do not know what holiness is or know how to define holiness. Even when you perceive the holiness of God, you still cannot define it as being the holiness of God with any certainty. This is a disparity in man’s knowledge of the holiness of God.

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Almighty God's Word | God Himself, the Unique (IV) God’s Holiness (I) Part Two

God’s Holiness (I)   Part Two

Let us now look at what other words and expressions of Satan allow man to see its hideous countenance. Let us continue reading some scripture.

3. Dialog Between Satan and Jehovah God

(Job 1:6-11) Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said to Satan, From where come you? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Does Job fear God for nothing? Have not you made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every side? you have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.

(Job 2:1-5) Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said to Satan, From where come you? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil? and still he holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause. And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has will he give for his life. But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.

These two passages are a dialog between God and Satan, and they record what God said and what Satan said. Did God say very much? (No.) He did not speak much, and spoke very simply. Can we see the holiness of God in God’s simple words? Some will say “This is not easy.” So can we see the hideousness of Satan in its replies? (Yes.) So let us first look at what kind of question Jehovah God asked of Satan. (“From where come you?”) Is this a straightforward question? Is there any hidden meaning? It is just a question, pure, with no other purpose. If I were to ask you: “Where do you come from?” how then would you answer? Is it a difficult question to answer? Would you say: “From going to and fro, and from walking up and down”? (No.) You would not answer like this, so how then do you feel when you see Satan answering in this way? (We feel that Satan is absurd and crafty.) You feel this way? Can you tell what I am feeling? Every time I see these words I feel disgusted. Do you feel disgusted? (Yes.) Why disgusted? Because it talks without saying anything! Did it answer God’s question? (No.) Why? Its words were not an answer, they had no outcome, nor were they an answer directed at God’s question. “From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” Do you understand these words? Do you? So where on earth does Satan come from? Have you received an answer to where it has come from? (No.) This is the “brilliance” of Satan’s cunning, not letting anyone discover what it is actually saying. Having heard these words you still cannot discern what it has said, yet it has finished answering. Perhaps it believes it has answered perfectly. How then do you feel? Disgusted? (Yes.) Disgusted, right? Now you start to feel disgust with these words. Satan does not speak directly, rendering you unable to perceive its mind or the source of its words. It speaks deliberately, cunningly, and is dominated by its own essence, its own nature. Satan did not consider these words for a long period of time; it expressed them naturally. As soon as you ask it where it comes from, it uses these words to answer you. “Where on earth does it come from?” You feel very puzzled, never knowing where it is from. Are there any among you who speak like this? What kind of way is this to speak? What kind of words should we use to describe this way of speaking? It is diversionary and misleading, isn’t it? Some people speak this way. You ask someone: “I saw you yesterday. Where were you going?” They do not answer you directly to say where they went yesterday. They say “What a day it was yesterday. So tired!” Did they answer your question? That is not the answer you wanted. This is the “brilliance” of man’s artifice. You can never discover what they mean or perceive the source or intention behind their words. You do not know their heart because in their heart they have their own story—this is insidiousness. Do you also often speak this way? What then is your purpose? Is it sometimes to protect your own interests, sometimes to maintain your own position, your own image, to keep the secrets of your private life, to save your own reputation? Whatever the purpose, it is inseparable from your interests, linked to your interests. Is this the nature of man? So is not everyone with this kind of nature akin to Satan? We can say this, can’t we? Generally speaking, this manifestation is detestable and abhorrent. You also now feel disgusted, don’t you? (Yes.) This represents the craftiness and evil of Satan.

Looking again at the first passage, Satan responds again to Jehovah, saying: “Does Job fear God for nothing?” It starts to attack Jehovah’s assessment of Job, and this attack is colored by hostility. “Have not you made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every side?” This is Satan’s recognition and assessment of Jehovah’s work on Job. Satan assesses it like this, saying: “you have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” Satan ever speaks ambiguously, but here it speaks with certainty. These words spoken with certainty are an attack, a blasphemy and a rivalry to Jehovah God, to God Himself. How do you feel when you hear it? Do you feel aversion? (Yes.) Are you able to see its intentions? First of all, it repudiates Jehovah’s assessment of Job—one that fears God and shuns evil. Then it repudiates everything Job says and does in fear of Jehovah. Is it accusatory? Satan is accusing, repudiating and doubting all Jehovah does and says. It does not believe, saying “If You say things are like this, how come I have not seen it? You have given him so many blessings, how can he not fear You?” Is this not a repudiation of all that God does? Accusation, repudiation, blasphemy—are its words not aggressive? Are they a true expression of what Satan thinks in its heart? (Yes.) These words are certainly not the same as the words we read just now: “From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” They are completely different from those. Through these words, Satan completely lays bare the attitude toward God and the loathing of Job’s fear of God that it holds in its heart. When this happens, its maliciousness and evil nature are completely exposed. It loathes those who fear God, loathes those who shun evil, and even more so loathes Jehovah for bestowing blessings on man. It wants to use this opportunity to destroy Job whom God raised with His own hand, to ruin him, saying: “You say Job fears You and shuns evil. I see it otherwise.” It uses various ways to provoke and tempt Jehovah, and uses various ways so that Jehovah God hands Job over to Satan to be wantonly manipulated, harmed and handled. It wants to take advantage of this opportunity to exterminate this man who is righteous and perfect in God’s eyes. Is its having this kind of heart a momentary impulse? No, it is not. It has been long in the making. God works, God cares for a person, looks upon a person, and Satan dogs His every step. Whoever God favors, Satan also watches, trailing along behind. If God wants this person, Satan would do everything in its power to obstruct God, using various evil ways to tempt, harass and wreck the work God does in order to achieve its hidden objective. What is its objective? It does not want God to have anyone; it wants all those that God wants, to possess them, control them, to take charge of them so they worship it, so they commit evil acts alongside it. Is this not Satan’s sinister motive? Normally, you often say that Satan is so evil, so bad, but have you seen it? You can only see how bad man is and has not seen in reality how bad Satan actually is. But have you seen it in this issue concerning Job? (Yes.) This issue has made Satan’s hideous countenance and its essence very clear. Satan is at war with God, trailing along behind Him. Its objective is to demolish all the work God wants to do, to possess and control those whom God wants, to completely extinguish those whom God wants. If they are not extinguished, then they come to Satan’s possession to be used by it—this is its objective. And what does God do? God says only a simple sentence in this passage; there is no record of anything more that God does, but we see there are many more records of what Satan does and says. In the passage of scripture below, Jehovah asked Satan, “From where come you?” What is Satan’s answer? (It is still “From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”) It is still that sentence. Tell Me, how has it become Satan’s motto, Satan’s masterpiece? Is Satan not hateful? Saying this disgusting sentence once is enough. Why does Satan always come back to this sentence? This proves one thing: Satan’s nature is unchanging. Its hideous face is not something it can keep hidden for long. God asks it a question and it responds in such a way, never mind how it treats people! It is not afraid of God, it does not fear God, and it does not obey God. So it dares to be unscrupulously presumptuous before God, to use these same words to whitewash over God’s question, to use this same answer to reply to God’s question, to attempt to use this answer to confound God—this is the ugly face of Satan. It does not believe in the almightiness of God, does not believe in the authority of God, and is certainly not willing to obey under the dominion of God. It is constantly in opposition to God, constantly attacking all God does, attempting to wreck all God does—this is its evil objective.

In God’s six-thousand-year management plan, particularly in the Book of Job, these two passages that Satan says and the things Satan does are representative of its resistance to God. Can we say this? (Yes.) This is Satan showing its true colors. Have you seen the deeds of Satan in the life we live now? When you do see them, you may not think them to be things spoken by Satan, but instead think them to be things spoken by man, right? What is represented, when such things are spoken by man? Satan is represented. Even if you recognize it, you still cannot perceive that it is really being spoken by Satan. But here and now you have unequivocally seen what Satan itself has said. You now have an unequivocal, crystal clear understanding of the hideous countenance and the evil of Satan. So are these two passages spoken by Satan valuable for the people of today to be able to recognize Satan’s nature? Are these two passages worth collecting in order for mankind today to be able to recognize Satan’s hideous face, to recognize Satan’s original, true face? Although saying this may not seem very appropriate, expressing it in this way can still be considered accurate. I can only put it this way and if you can understand it, then it is enough. Again and again, Satan attacks the things Jehovah does, throwing accusations about Job’s fear of Jehovah God. It attempts to provoke Jehovah by various methods, getting Jehovah to allow it to tempt Job. Its words are therefore highly provocative. So tell Me, once Satan has spoken these words, can God clearly see what Satan wants to do? (Yes.) Does God understand what it wants to do? (Yes.) In God’s heart, this man Job that God looks upon—this servant of God, that God takes to be a righteous man, a perfect man—can Job withstand this kind of temptation? (Yes.) Why does God say “Yes” with such certainty? Is God always examining the hearts of man? (Yes.) So is Satan able to examine the hearts of man? (No.) Satan cannot. Even though Satan can see that man has a God-fearing heart, its evil nature can never believe that holiness is holiness, or that sordidness is sordidness. The evil Satan can never treasure anything that is holy, righteous or bright. Satan cannot help but spare no pains to act through its nature, its evil, and through these methods it uses. Even at the cost of being itself punished or destroyed by God, it does not hesitate to stubbornly oppose God—this is evil, this is the nature of Satan. So in this passage, Satan says: “Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has will he give for his life. But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” What is it thinking? Man’s fear of God is due to man having obtained so many advantages from God. Man obtains advantages from God, so they say God is good. But it is not because God is good, it is only because man obtains so many advantages that he can fear God in this way: Once You deprive him of these advantages, he then abandons You. In its evil nature, Satan does not believe that man’s heart can truly fear God. Why? Because of its evil nature it does not know what holiness is, much less know what fearful reverence is. It does not know what it is to obey God, what it is to fear God. Because it does not fear God itself, it thinks, “Neither can man fear God. It is impossible.” Isn’t that so? (Yes.) Tell Me, is Satan not evil? (Yes!) Satan is evil. So excepting our church, whether it be the various sects and denominations, or religious and social groups, they do not believe in the existence of God, do not believe that God can do work and do not believe there is a God, so they think, “What you believe in is not God either.” Take a promiscuous man, for example. He looks and sees everyone else being promiscuous, just as he is. A man who lies all the time looks and sees no one honest, sees them all telling lies. An evil man sees everyone as evil and wants to fight everyone he sees. Those people with a little honesty see everyone as honest, so are always duped, always cheated, and there is nothing they can do about it. Is this not right? I say these few examples to make you more certain: Satan’s evil nature is not a temporary compulsion or something caused by its environment, nor is it a temporary manifestation brought about by any reason or background. Absolutely not! It can’t help but be this way! It can do nothing good. Even when it says something pleasant to hear, it just seduces you. The more pleasant, the more tactful, the more gentle its words are, the more malicious its sinister intentions become behind these words. What kind of face, what kind of nature have you seen Satan to have in these two passages? (Insidious, malicious and evil.) Its primary characteristic is evil, especially evil and malicious; malicious and evil.

from: "God Himself, the Unique IV" Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh

Recommendation: Eastern Lightning , The brief introduction of the Church of Almighty God

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