Eastern Lightning, Almighty God, Christ of the last days, is the returned Lord Jesus who has appeared and done the work, and is the Light that saves man. This just fulfills what the Lord Jesus said in the Bible："Because as in a thunderstorm the bright light coming from the east is seen even in the west; so will be the coming of the Son of man.“ Matthew 24:27
Whether or not your disposition can be transformed depends upon whether or not you keep up with the Holy Spirit’s current word and whether or not you have genuine understanding. This is different from what you understood before. The transformation in your disposition that you understood before was that you, who are quick to judge, have ceased to speak thoughtlessly by God’s discipline; but this is just one aspect of the change. Right now the most critical point is following the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Picture of The Church of Almighty God | Reading the word of God
Relevant Words of God:
The work of the Holy Spiritis a form of proactive guidance and positive enlightenment. It does not allow people to be passive. It brings them solace, gives them faith and resolve and it enables them to pursue being made perfect by God. When the Holy Spirit works, people are able to actively enter; they are not passive or forced, but are proactive. When the Holy Spirit works, people are glad and willing, and they are willing to obey, and happy to humble themselves, and even though they are pained and fragile inside, they have the resolve to cooperate, they suffer gladly, they are able to obey, and they are untainted by human will, untainted by the thinking of man, and are certainly untainted by human desires and motivations.
The work of a qualified worker can bring people to the right way and allow them to go deeper into the truth. The work he does can bring people before God. In addition, the work he does can vary from individual to individual and is not bound by rules, allowing people release and freedom. Moreover, they can gradually grow in life, go progressively deeper into the truth. The work of an unqualified worker falls far short; his work is foolish.
Some people do not rejoice in the truth, much less judgment. Rather, they rejoice in power and riches; such people are deemed to be snobs. They exclusively seek out those denominations in the world with influence and those pastors and teachers coming from seminaries. Despite having accepted the way of truth, they remain skeptical and are unable to devote themselves fully. They speak of sacrificing for God, but their eyes are focused on the great pastors and teachers, and Christ is brushed aside. Their hearts are filled with fame, fortune, and glory.
Picture of The Church of Almighty God | Pharisees, fake for good
Relevant Words of God:
What is the definition of the term “Pharisee”? It is someone who is hypocritical, who is fake and puts on an act in everything they do, pretending to be good, kind, and positive. Is that what they’re actually like? They’re hypocritical, and so everything that is manifested and revealed in them is false, it is all pretense—it is not their true face. Their true face is hidden within their hearts; it is out of sight. If people do not pursue the truth, if they do not understand the truth, then what do their religious knowledge and the theories they’ve gained become? Do they become words of doctrine that people often speak of? People use these so-called correct doctrines to pretend and package themselves nicely.
Coming to a real understanding of the actual meaning in God’s word is no simple matter. Don’t just think that if you can interpret the literal meaning of God’s words, and if everyone says it’s good and gives you a thumbs-up, it counts as understanding God’s word. That is not the same as understanding God’s word.
The five wise virgins represent My sons and My people among the humans that I created. Addressing them[a] “virgins” is because although they are born on earth, they are still gained by Me; one can say they have become holy, so they are called “virgins.” The aforementioned “five” represents the number of My sons and My people that I have predestined.
You can devote your heart and body and all of your genuine love to God, place them before Him, be completely obedient toward Him, and be absolutely considerate to His will. Not for the flesh, not for family, and not for your personal desires, but for the interests of God’s household. In everything you can take God’s word as the principle, as the foundation. That way, your intentions and your perspectives will all be in the right place, and you will be someone who gains God’s praise before Him.
To summarize taking the path of Peter in believing in God, it is to take the path of pursuing the truth, which is also the path of truly knowing oneself and changing one’s disposition. Only by going the path of Peter will one be going the path of being perfected by God. One must be clear on specifically how to take the path of Peter and how to put it into practice. First, one must put aside his own intentions, improper pursuits, and even his family and all things of his own flesh.
Whenever I read through the Book of Exodus I read about Moses’ life; he was adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter and he was educated just like an Egyptian, but he never forgot that he was an Israelite. Once when he went to see his brothers, he saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite and stepped in to help him, beating the Egyptian to death.
If you are very deceitful, then you will have a guarded heart and thoughts of suspicion regarding all matters and all men. For this reason, your faith in Me is built upon a foundation of suspicion. This manner of faith is one I shall never acknowledge. Lacking genuine faith, you will be even further from real love. And if you are able to doubt God and speculate about Him at will, then you are beyond doubt the most deceitful of men.
As Believers in the Lord, Do We Have the Way to Eternal Life?
The Lord Jesus said, “But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). Many brothers and sisters in the Lord read the Lord’s word and believe that the Lord Jesus has the way to everlasting life, and He gave us the way long ago. In our years of believing in the Lord, we have continued to confess our sins and repent according to His teachings, we have suffered and paid a price to spread the Lord’s gospel, we have shepherded His churches, we have borne crosses to follow Him, we have been patient and tolerant with others, and we have not rejected His name when disasters or persecution befall us. We are able to keep the Lord’s path, so we already have the way to eternal life, and when the Lord comes, He will lift us up into the kingdom of heaven, where we will gain everlasting life. But, is this viewpoint correct? Does it accord with the truth?
Actually, although we are able to labor, work, forsake, expend, take up crosses, and follow the Lord, no one can deny that we are still bound and controlled by sin, and that we often betray the Lord’s teachings and do things which resist the Lord. For example: The Lord requires that we be simple, honest people, but we often tell lies and deceive to protect our own interests, dignity, or status; the Lord requires us to be tolerant and patient toward others and love others as ourselves, but when something infringes upon our own interests, we quibble over minor details, and even resent or become envious of others. The Lord requires us to love Him with all of our heart, mind, and soul, but when we preach and work, we often fail to do all we can to exalt and testify the Lord, be considerate of His burden, and make our brothers and sisters understand God’s will, and instead we often show off and put ourselves on display, try to make our brothers and sisters look up to and admire us, and try to bring others before ourselves. And although we forsake our homes and careers and spread the gospel wherever we can, we still often keep account of our own labors as a way to transact with the Lord and secure a share of the blessings of the kingdom of heaven. Isn’t this using and deceiving the Lord? Even though we often weep in agony as we confess our sins to the Lord, afterward we still often sin, and we live trapped in a vicious cycle of sinning and confessing, unable to overcome the bondage of sin. In this, don’t we still remain in our naturally corrupted state? The Lord Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever commits sin is the servant of sin. And the servant stays not in the house for ever: but the Son stays ever” (John 8:34–35). The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). God is holy, and the filthy and corrupt are forbidden to enter His kingdom. Although outwardly we forsake and expend for the Lord, we remain in bondage to sin, and our final ending is still oblivion and destruction. How can we possibly say we’ve gained the way to eternal life?
Why We Still Do Not Have the Way to Eternal Life
At this point, perhaps some brothers and sisters are confused, because the Lord Jesus said, “But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). The Lord Jesus is the source of the living water, He has the way to everlasting life, and we believe in the Lord, read the Lord’s word, and carry out the Lord’s teachings, but why do we still lack the way of eternal life, which can purify and change us?
To understand this question, we should first understand the work of the Lord Jesus and the effect it achieves. When the Lord Jesus appeared and worked, the Israelites lived in sin, were unable to keep Jehovah’s laws, and faced the danger of being condemned to death by the laws. The Lord Jesus came, taught the path of “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17), taught people to confess their sins and repent, and finally became the likeness of sinful flesh and was crucified as a sin offering for mankind, completing His work to redeem mankind. From this, we can see that although the Lord Jesus certainly did have the way to everlasting life, based on the spiritual stature and needs of people at the time, He only gave us the path to repentance, and did not express the way to eternal life by which people can be delivered from sin and completely purified.
Just as God’s word says, “At the time, Jesus only spoke to His disciples a series of sermons in the Age of Grace, such as how to practice, how to gather together, how to ask in prayer, how to treat others, and so forth. The work He carried out was that of the Age of Grace, and He expounded only on how the disciples and those who followed Him ought to practice. He did only the work of the Age of Grace and none of the last days. … The work of God in each age has clear boundaries; He does only the work of the current age and never does He carry out the next stage of work in advance. Only in this way can His representative work of each age be brought to the fore. Jesus had spoken only of the signs of the last days, of how to be patient and how to be saved, how to repent and confess, as well as how to bear the cross and endure suffering; never did He speak of how man in the last days should enter in, or how to seek to satisfy God’s will” (“How Can Man Who Has Defined God in His Conceptions Receive the Revelations of God?”). “For all that man may have been redeemed and forgiven of his sins, it can only be considered as God not remembering the transgressions of man and not treating man in accordance with his transgressions. However, when man, who lives in a body of flesh, has not been set free from sin, he can only continue to sin, endlessly revealing his corrupt satanic disposition. This is the life that man leads, an endless cycle of sinning and being forgiven. The majority of men sin in the day only to confess in the evening. This way, even if the sin offering is forever effective for man, it will not be able to save man from sin. Only half the work of salvation has been completed, for man still has a corrupt disposition” (“The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)”).
From God’s word, we can see that the Lord Jesus only required us to do things like confess our sins and repent, no longer transgress, forsake ourselves, take up the cross and follow the Lord, love the Lord with all of our heart, mind, and soul, love others as we love ourselves, be humble, tolerant, and patient toward others, and forgive others “seventy times seven” times. After we believe in the Lord, as long as we pray to the Lord, confess our sins, and repent, our sins are forgiven. However, no one can deny that the satanic dispositions which cause us to sin are rooted deeply within us, things like arrogance, selfishness, cunning, greed, and evil. We are controlled by these satanic dispositions, and even though we outwardly are capable of some good deeds, this doesn’t represent dispositional change. When we interact with other people, for example, we are still capable of cunning and deceit. Or, when things happen that don’t accord with our notions, we often blame and judge God. In 2,000 years, all believers in the Lord, no matter how well they confess, repent, labor, and work, have been unable to escape the bondage of sin, and none have achieved change in their life disposition. This is an undeniable fact. So, we have not been delivered from sin and completely purified, and we have not gained the way to eternal life.
The way to eternal life isn’t something that simply makes us confess our sins and repent, it is the way of truth that allows us to live eternally. Which is to say, it can entirely resolve our sinful natures, save us by allowing us to escape the influence of Satan and rid ourselves of our satanic dispositions, enable us to be purified and attain full salvation from God, thereby becoming compatible with God and entirely gained by God. This kind of path is the way to eternal life. People who gain the way to eternal life as their lives, have genuine knowledge of God, are able to fear God and shun evil, can genuinely obey, worship, and love God, are completely compatible with God, and do God’s will are those who will receive God’s promise and blessings, and who are qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven.
How to Gain the Way to Eternal Life
Picture of The Church of Almighty God
So, how can we gain the way to eternal life? Actually, the way to eternal life is what the Lord Jesus brings when He returns. The Lord Jesus has prophesied many times that He will return, and He will do so to bring us the way to eternal life, so that we may gain everlasting life. The Lord Jesus prophesied, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come” (John 16:12–13). “And if any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejects Me, and receives not My words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:47–48). These prophecies tell us that in the last days, the Lord Jesus will return to express the truth, do the work of judgment beginning with God’s house, resolve our sinful natures, enable us to completely escape from the bondage of sin, and enable us to live out the realities of God’s word and gain everlasting life. This is to say, before God saves us and grants us life, He first redeemed us from sin by allowing us to gain the Lord Jesus’ redemption, and on this basis, He will again grant us truth that will allow us to no longer suffer the bondage and constraints of our sinful natures, purify and change our corrupt dispositions, and make us as newly created people. So, if we wish to gain the way to eternal life, we must accept the work of the returned Lord Jesus, accept the truth expressed by the Lord in the last days, and follow the footsteps of the Lamb.
Thanks be to God for His enlightenment and guidance. May we all exert ourselves to pray to God and seek the truth more often, and may His guidance allow us all to gain the way to eternal life. Amen!
After Sister Li listened, she smiled and said, “Thanks be to God, you’ve asked a critical question! Whether we can become people who do the Father’s will is directly related to our own endings and destination, and fellowship on this question is very necessary! In the last days, the returned Lord Jesus, who is Almighty God, has already revealed the truth and mysteries surrounding this question to us.
In 2007 I suddenly fell ill with chronic renal failure. On being told the news, my Christian mother and sister-in-law, and some Catholic friends all came to visit me to preach the gospel to me. They all told me that I only had to go to God and my illness would be cured. But I didn’t believe in God at all. I thought that illness could only be cured through scientific medical treatment, and that any disease that couldn’t be cured by science was incurable. After all, was there any power on earth greater than the power of science?
Editor’s Note: Many people believe that merely by forsaking, expending, laboring, and working for the Lord, we are doing the Father’s will, but the Lord Jesus said, “Not every one that said to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? and in Your name have cast out devils? and in Your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from Me, you that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21–23).
Is it true testimony of faith in God if one only enjoys God’s grace?
Relevant Words of God:
If you only enjoy the grace of God, with a peaceful family life or material blessings, then you have not gained God, and your belief in God has failed. God has already carried out one stage of the work of grace in the flesh, and has already bestowed material blessings upon man—but man cannot be made perfect with grace, love, and mercy alone. In man’s experiences he encounters some of God’s love, and sees the love and mercy of God, yet having experienced for a period of time, he sees that God’s grace and His love and mercy are incapable of making man perfect, and incapable of revealing that which is corrupt within man, nor are they able to rid man of his corrupt disposition, or make perfect his love and faith. God’s work of grace was the work of one period, and man cannot rely on enjoying the grace of God in order to know God.
Bible Verses for Reference: “Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Mat 7 :21-23).
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like to it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mat 22:37-39).
“If a man love me, he will keep my words…. He that loves me not keeps not my sayings” (Jhn 14:23-24).
“If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed …” (Jhn 8:31).
Relevant Words of God:
Right now, the path the Holy Spirit walks is God’s current words. So, for one to walk it, he must obey, and eat and drink of the current words of God incarnate. He is doing the work of words, and everything is spoken from His words, and everything is established on His words, His current words. Whether it’s being fully without doubts about God become flesh or knowing Him, one must put much effort into His words. Otherwise, he cannot accomplish anything at all, and he will be left with nothing.
Almighty God's Word "God's Utterances to the Entire Universe (The Twenty-seventh Utterance)"
Almighty God says, "In My joys and sorrows, My separation and being reunited with man, I cannot wax nostalgic. Separated in heaven above and on earth below, we are unable to meet regularly. Who could ever break free from nostalgia? Who could ever stop reminiscing about the past? Who would not eagerly anticipate the continuance of good feelings past? Who would not expect My return? Who would not long for My reunion with man? My heart is deeply troubled, and their spirits are deeply worried. Although we are the same in our spirits, we cannot often be together, and we cannot often see each other. … When they loudly entreat, I turn My face away from them, I can no longer bear to witness it; however, how could I not hear the sound of such weeping people? I want to correct the injustices of the human world. I will do My work personally throughout the entire world, forbidding Satan from harming My people again, forbidding the enemy from doing whatever they please again. I will become King on earth and move My throne there, making all the enemy fall to the ground and confess their crimes before Me. In My sadness mixed with anger, I will overcome the whole universe, sparing no one, and putting all of the enemy in awe. I want to reduce the earth to ruins, among which all the enemy will be, henceforth preventing them from further corrupting mankind."
Picture of The Church of Almighty God | God's Utterances to the Entire Universe
