Almighty God's Word | God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III (Part Seven)

God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III (Part Seven)

        Now let’s read the scripture passages below.

12. Jesus’ Words to His Disciples After His Resurrection

(John 20:26-29) And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the middle, and said, Peace be to you. Then said he to Thomas, Reach here your finger, and behold my hands; and reach here your hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said to him, My LORD and my God. Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

(John 21:16-17) He said to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, love you me? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, Feed my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, love you me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, Love you me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you. Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep.

What these passages recount are some things that the Lord Jesus did and said to His disciples after His resurrection. First, let’s take a look at any differences between the Lord Jesus before and after the resurrection. Was He still the same Lord Jesus of past days? The scripture contains the following line describing the Lord Jesus after the resurrection: “then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the middle, and said, Peace be to you.” It’s very clear that the Lord Jesus at that time was no longer a flesh, but a spiritual body. This was because He had transcended the limitations of the flesh, and when the door was closed He could still come into the midst of the people and allow them to see Him. This is the greatest difference between the Lord Jesus after the resurrection and the Lord Jesus living in the flesh before the resurrection. Even though there was no difference between the appearance of the spiritual body of that moment and the appearance of the Lord Jesus from before, Jesus in that moment had become a Jesus that felt like a stranger to the people, because He had become a spiritual body after being resurrected from the dead, and compared to His previous flesh, this spiritual body was more puzzling and confusing for people. It also created more distance between the Lord Jesus and the people, and people felt in their hearts that the Lord Jesus in that moment had become more mysterious. These understandings and feelings on the part of the people suddenly brought them back to an age of believing in a God that could not be seen or touched. So, the first thing that the Lord Jesus did after His resurrection was to allow everyone to see Him, to confirm that He exists, and to confirm the fact of His resurrection. In addition, it restored His relationship with the people to the relationship He had with them when He was working in the flesh, and He was the Christ they could see and touch. This way, one outcome is that the people had no doubt that the Lord Jesus had been resurrected from death after being nailed to the cross, and there was no doubt in the Lord Jesus’ work to redeem mankind. And another outcome is that the fact of the Lord Jesus appearing to people after His resurrection and allowing people to see and touch Him firmly secured mankind in the Age of Grace. From this time on, people could not return to the previous age, the Age of Law, because of the Lord Jesus’ “disappearance” or “desertion,” but they would continue forward, following the Lord Jesus’ teachings and the work He had done. Thus, a new phase in the work in the Age of Grace was formally opened up, and the people who had been under the law formally came out from the law from then on, and entered into a new era, with a new beginning. These are the manifold meanings of the Lord Jesus’ appearance to mankind after the resurrection.

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Christian Sermon: The Meaning of the Lord Jesus’ Appearance to Man After His Resurrection

In the Bible, it is recorded: “And as they thus spoke, Jesus Himself stood in the middle of them, and said to them, Peace be to you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, Why are you troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see Me have. And when He had thus spoken, He showed them His hands and His feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, He said to them, Have you here any meat? And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And He took it, and did eat before them” (Luke 24:36–43). Whenever I read these verses, I feel envious of Peter, John and the others. While Jesus was performing His work in Judea, He was always with His disciples day and night and, after He was resurrected, He took care of them just as He had before, and He appeared to them, expounded on the scriptures to them and gave them teachings. Peter and the others were fortunate to have been chosen by the Lord to be His disciples and they were able to hear the teachings of the Lord Jesus with their very own ears—they were so blessed! Afterward, I read God’s words, and I came to understand that the Lord Jesus’ will was actually behind His appearance to man after His resurrection, and that this deed encapsulated God’s almightiness and wisdom even more. I truly came to see that the Lord Jesus’ appearance to man after His resurrection really was so meaningful!

Picture of The Church of Almighty God

God’s words say, “The first thing that the Lord Jesus did after His resurrection was to allow everyone to see Him, to confirm that He exists, and to confirm the fact of His resurrection. In addition, it restored His relationship with the people to the relationship He had with them when He was working in the flesh, and He was the Christ they could see and touch. This way, one outcome is that the people had no doubt that the Lord Jesus had been resurrected from death after being nailed to the cross, and there was no doubt in the Lord Jesus’ work to redeem mankind. And another outcome is that the fact of the Lord Jesus appearing to people after His resurrection and allowing people to see and touch Him firmly secured mankind in the Age of Grace. From this time on, people could not return to the previous age, the Age of Law, because of the Lord Jesus’ ‘disappearance’ or ‘desertion,’ but they would continue forward, following the Lord Jesus’ teachings and the work He had done. Thus, a new phase in the work in the Age of Grace was formally opened up, and the people who had been under the law formally came out from the law from then on, and entered into a new era, with a new beginning. These are the manifold meanings of the Lord Jesus’ appearance to mankind after the resurrection” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III”).

After reading God’s words, I finally understood that there were two meanings behind the Lord Jesus’ appearance to man for 40 days after His resurrection. One was that He came to tell man that God had brought the Age of Law to a close, and that He had begun the Age of Grace and would lead mankind into the new era. The other meaning was that God did this in order to enable people to affirm that the Lord Jesus was the incarnated God Himself, and thereby strengthen their faith in God.

Picture of The Church of Almighty God

1. The Lord Jesus Was Resurrected and Appeared to Man to Lead Them Into the New Era and to Firmly Establish Them In the Age of Grace

The Lord Jesus ushered in the Age of Grace and ended the Age of Law. He expressed the way of “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17), and performed many miracles, such as healing the sick, casting out demons, making the lame walk and the blind see, and so on, so that people could enjoy the abundant grace that came from God. But the people of that time did not know God’s work, and they had no true understanding that Jesus was the incarnation of God. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, people were simply unaware that this signified that God had finished the work of redemption, and so they instead fell into negativity and weakness. People began to doubt the identity of the Lord Jesus, and some even returned to the temple and began to observe the law of the Old Testament. In this way, people were still in danger of being put to death by the law for their sins, and the work the Lord Jesus performed to redeem mankind was left half done. The Lord Jesus scrutinized the innermost heart of man and He understood perfectly their needs and their shortcomings. Therefore, after His resurrection, He appeared and spoke first to His disciples, made real contact with them and enabled them to see that He really had returned from the dead, and that He had accomplished His work to redeem mankind and had begun the new age. Thereafter, mankind left the law behind and entered into a new era—the Age of Grace. Under the guidance of the Lord Jesus’ work and words, people began to practice in accordance with His teachings, they bore the cross and followed the Lord and they followed His teaching of “Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Thus, they began to spread the gospel of the heavenly kingdom and they bore witness to the name of the Lord Jesus so that all people could accept it and attain His salvation. Today, the gospel of the Lord Jesus has extended throughout the entire world and this is entirely the result of Jesus’ appearance to man after He returned from the dead. From this, we can see how meaningful His appearance to man after His resurrection was!

2. The Lord Jesus’ Appearance to Man After His Resurrection Enabled Them to Affirm That He Was the Incarnation of God Himself, Thereby Strengthening Their Faith in Him

God’s words say, “During the time that the Lord Jesus worked in the flesh, most of His followers could not fully verify His identity and the things that He said. When He went up on the cross, the attitude of His followers was one of expectancy; when He was nailed to the cross all the way until He was put into the grave, people’s attitude toward Him was disappointment. During this time, people had already begun to move in their hearts from doubting to denial of the things the Lord Jesus had said during His time in the flesh. And when He walked out from the grave, and appeared to the people one by one, the majority of people who had seen Him with their own eyes or heard the news of His resurrection gradually shifted from denial to skepticism. By the time the Lord Jesus had Thomas put his hand into His side, by the time the Lord Jesus broke bread and ate it in front of the crowd after His resurrection, and after that ate broiled fish in front of them, only then did they truly accept the fact that the Lord Jesus is Christ in the flesh. You could say that it was as if this spiritual body with flesh and blood standing in front of those people then was awakening every one of them from a dream: The Son of man standing in front of them was the One who had existed since time immemorial. He had a form, and flesh and bones, and He had already lived and eaten with mankind for a long time…. At this time, the people felt that His existence was so real, so wonderful; they were also so joyful and happy, and at the same time filled with emotion. And His reappearance allowed people to truly see His humility, to feel His closeness, and His longing, His attachment for mankind. This brief reunion made the people who saw the Lord Jesus feel as if a lifetime had passed. Their lost, confused, afraid, anxious, yearning and numb hearts found comfort. They were no longer doubtful or disappointed because they felt that now there was hope and something to rely on. The Son of man standing in front of them would be behind them for eternity, He would be their strong tower, their refuge for all time” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III”).

Picture of The Church of Almighty God

God’s words make clear another meaning to the Lord Jesus’ appearance to man after His resurrection. The Lord Jesus incarnated amongst man and performed His work for three and a half years, and many accepted His salvation and followed the Lord. Most people, however, had no true understanding that the Lord Jesus was Christ and that He was God Himself. Therefore, when the Lord Jesus was about to be crucified, they watched events unfold and they began to doubt in their hearts, and they asked themselves: Is the Lord Jesus truly God? If He is Christ and is God Himself, then how could He be captured by the Roman authorities, be flogged and mocked by the soldiers and then be crucified? In particular, when the Lord Jesus was being crucified upon the cross, they felt utterly disappointed in Him and they denied that He was the incarnation of God Himself and denied the words He had expressed, believing instead that Jesus would die just like an ordinary man and that He could not possibly survive. The Lord Jesus knew that people had such little faith, that they did not know the Lord, and that even more people would become weak and downcast because He had been crucified. Therefore, after the Lord Jesus had returned from the dead, He made contact with His disciples and spoke to them, He expounded the scriptures and communed with them, He ate with them, and He allowed Thomas to touch His hands and His side, and so on. From the words the Lord Jesus spoke and the deeds He performed after His resurrection, His disciples affirmed that Jesus truly had been resurrected, and they knew that He was the same Lord who had eaten, abided and shared life with them before, that He was the same Lord who had preached to them, provided for and guided them, who loved them in the same way as He had before, that He cared for them and had not left them, and that He was right there with them. The Lord Jesus was the incarnation of God Himself, the ever-lasting One, man’s eternal support, man’s strong tower and refuge. Although the Lord Jesus had been crucified, He was the keeper of the keys to the afterlife and He had the power to return to life, for He was the unique God Himself … Thereafter, people no longer felt lost or bewildered and they no longer doubted the Lord Jesus, but instead were able to believe in and rely on Jesus from the bottom of their hearts. This was entirely the result of the Lord Jesus appearing to His disciples and speaking with them after He returned from the dead.

From these two meanings attributed to the Lord Jesus’ appearance to man after His resurrection, I finally saw that He had awakened people’s hearts through the way He had appeared to them and He also enabled us to experience God’s care and love for us. This kind of care and love are not just some kind of legend—they are fact. From this we can also perceive that God regards us as His kin; He has always been with man and has never left us, for God created man in order to gain us, and He hopes that we will hear His words, obey Him and worship Him absolutely, and become of one mind with Him. Therefore, whether the Lord Jesus was performing His works and speaking His words in the flesh or whether He was appearing to man in the Spirit after His resurrection, He always cared for mankind, and He was especially concerned for those who followed Him. This was because man does not have the ability to overcome sin, and without the guidance of God and without the provision of truth, man has no way to cast off their corruption and attain God’s true salvation. In our misconceptions, we believe that God left us after He had finished the work of redemption and that God no longer paid us any attention after that. But the truth is not as we imagine it to be. The Lord Jesus accomplished His work to redeem mankind, but He did not leave man. He is still with man, just as He was before, caring for us, providing for us and guiding us; the Lord Jesus is our help and our support at need, and no matter in what way He appears to us, He will always be with us! It is just as God’s words say, “Although the Lord Jesus was resurrected, His heart and His work had not left mankind. He told people with His appearance that no matter what form He existed in, He would accompany people, walk with them, and be with them at all times and in all places. And at all times and all places, He would provide to mankind and shepherd them, allow them to see and touch Him, and make sure they never again feel helpless. The Lord Jesus also wanted people to know this: Their lives in this world are not alone. Mankind has God’s care, God is with them; people can always lean on God; He is the family of every one of His followers. With God to lean on, mankind will no longer be lonely or helpless, and those who accept Him as their sin offering will no longer be bound in sin” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III”).

In fact, each and every one of us who believes in the Lord Jesus can see that, on the path of belief in God, whenever we encounter temptations such as money, fame or fortune, the Lord protects us and enables us to shun and overcome them; whenever we encounter setbacks and failures, the Lord guides us with His words, He gives us faith and strength, enabling us to be strong; when we encounter difficulties in our lives, the Lord is ever our help at need, opening ways out for us; when trials befall us and we experience suffering, the Lord’s words duly illuminate and guide us, enabling us to understand God’s will and for us to feel peace and joy in our spirits … We can truly feel that God is by our side, guiding and accompanying us through each and every day, enabling us to understand the truth and understand His will …

I am so moved by the Lord’s love, and I understand better now why the Lord Jesus appeared to man for 40 days after His resurrection, eating in the presence of His disciples, expounding the scriptures and communing with them, laying many requirements upon them, and so on. Every single thing the Lord Jesus said or did brimmed with great care and thought, and all His deeds and words were extraordinarily meaningful. Through reading God’s words, I now have a deeper understanding of Jesus’ appearance to man after His resurrection. Thanks be to God!

Source From: Eastern Lightning | Christian Sermon: The Meaning of the Lord Jesus’ Appearance to Man After His Resurrection

Recommendation：Message From God | Gospel Music "God Wishes for More People to Gain His Salvation"

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Question 33: When the Lord Jesus came to do His work, the Jewish Pharisees wildly defied and condemned Him, and they nailed Him to the cross. Now that Almighty God of the last days has come to do His work, the religious pastors and elders also wildly defy and condemn Him, nailing God once again to a cross. Why do the Jewish Pharisees and religious pastors and elders hate the truth so, and set themselves against Christ in this way? What exactly is their nature and essence?

Answer:

Everyone that believes in the Lord knows the Pharisees resisted the Lord Jesus, but what was the root and the true essence of their resistance? You can say that in the 2,000-year history of religion, no one has figured out the answer to this question. Though the Lord Jesus’ cursing of the Pharisees was written in the New Testament, no one has been able to discern the Pharisees’ essence. Is this not the case? When Almighty God arrives in the last days, He reveals the true answer to this question.

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Almighty God's Word | God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III (Part Eight)

God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III (Part Eight)

        13. Jesus Eats Bread and Explains the Scriptures After His Resurrection

(Luke 24:30–32) And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and broke, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

14. The Disciples Give Jesus Broiled Fish to Eat

(Luke 24:36–43) And as they thus spoke, Jesus himself stood in the middle of them, and said to them, Peace be to you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said to them, Why are you troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said to them, Have you here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them.

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Are Almighty God and the Lord Jesus One God? | About Eastern Lightning

Are Almighty God and the Lord Jesus One God?

When mankind was corrupted by Satan, God began His management plan for the salvation of mankind. God has carried out three stages of work for the salvation of mankind. During the Age of Law, Jehovah God issued the laws and guided the life of mankind, making people know that they should worship God, and making them know what sin is. But with the arrival of the final stages of the Age of Law, mankind’s corruption became ever more profound, and people often violated the laws and sinned against Jehovah. They faced the risk of being condemned and put to death because of their violations. Thus, in answer to the needs of mankind, during the Age of Grace God assumed human form and became the Lord Jesus. He was nailed to the cross for the sake of mankind, and redeemed man from sin, enabling people to come before God and pray to God, confess and repent, be forgiven for their sins, and live under the riches of God’s grace and blessings. But because people’s sinful nature had yet to be resolved, and they still often sinned and opposed God, in the Age of Kingdom God once more became flesh, using the name of Almighty God to express all truths for the salvation and purification of mankind upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus’ work of redemption, expunging mankind’s sinful nature, causing mankind to cease its disobedience to God and opposition to God, allowing people to truly obey God and worship God, and ultimately leading mankind to a beautiful destination. Even though the work God has done in the Age of Law, Age of Grace, and Age of Kingdom has been different, and the names He has taken and disposition He has displayed have been different, the substance and aims of His work are the same—all are in order to save mankind, and all the work is done by God Himself. As Almighty God said, “From the work of Jehovah to that of Jesus, and from the work of Jesus to that of this current stage, these three stages cover the entire breadth of God’s management, and are all the work of one Spirit. From when He created the world, God has always been managing mankind. He is the Beginning and the End, He is the First and the Last, and He is the One who begins an age and the One who brings the age to an end. The three stages of work, in different ages and different locations, are surely carried out by one Spirit. All those who separate these three stages oppose God” (“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

Are Almighty God and the Lord Jesus One God? | About Us Questions

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Bible Study | Daily Bread | We Cannot Know God By External Appearance

We Cannot Know God By External Appearance 

 June 30, 2018 The Voice of God 

January 10, 2018 Wednesday Overcast

When practicing spiritual devotion after getting up this morning, I saw these words in the Bible, “And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed there. And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, From where has this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brothers, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? From where then has this man all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house” (Matthew 13:53-57). Then I turned to the Book of Luke, chapter 4, which also records the matter that the Lord Jesus was rejected by people when preaching in the synagogue of His hometown: “And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill where on their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong” (Luke 4:28-29).

These passages of the scriptures allowed me to see a fact: The people in the Lord Jesus’ hometown all thought the Lord Jesus standing before them was an ordinary person and was the son of the carpenter Joseph; they didn’t believe the Lord Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. With this in mind, I couldn’t help but fall thinking: If we had been born in the Age of Grace, when we saw the Lord Jesus standing before us, who was an ordinary and normal person on the outside and also lived and ate with people, would we have also denied and rejected Him as these people had done? It’s really hard to say!

January 12, 2018 Friday Cloudy

After getting home from work this evening, I opened the Bible and wanted to see who in the Bible recognized the Lord Jesus was the coming Messiah and how they made it. When turning to the Book of John, I saw the conversations between the Lord Jesus and the Samaritan woman: “Jesus answered and said to her, Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: 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. The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come here to draw. Jesus said to her, Go, call your husband, and come here. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You have well said, I have no husband: For you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband: in that said you truly” (John 4:13-18). “The woman then left her water pot, and went her way into the city, and said to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” (John 4:28-29). When seeing the Lord Jesus for the first moment, the Samaritan woman also thought He was a common Jew. But when the Lord Jesus said she had five husbands, as she felt the secret hidden within her heart was something that nobody could know and that only God inspects people’s hearts and knows people’s secrets, she recognized from the words of the Lord Jesus that He was the Christ, the coming Messiah.

 

Then I turned to the Book of John, chapter 1, and read verses 45-49, “Philip finds Nathanael, and said to him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said to him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael said to him, From where know you me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before that Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathanael answered and said to him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” These scriptures again put me in a thoughtful mood: When hearing of the Lord Jesus, Nathanael was of the view that Nazareth was a small town, so there might never have been a famous people. As a result, he didn’t believe a word of what Philip said. However, after the Lord Jesus talked with him, to his surprise, the Lord Jesus could actually see through his thoughts and speak out his true identity. Because of this, he firmly believed that the Lord Jesus was just the coming Messiah, and then he followed the Lord.

Pondering these scriptures, I suddenly saw the light: Both the Samaritan woman and Nathanael heard and knew the voice of God from the words of the Lord Jesus, thus recognizing the Lord Jesus was the Christ. It seems that in our belief in God the most important thing is to pay attention to Christ’s words and work. If we only look at Christ’s appearance, it will be quite easy for us to deny and oppose Him. Thank the Lord! I’ve gained a lot through reading the Bible today, which allowed me to have some practical paths of how to welcome the coming of the Lord.

February 8, 2018 Thursday Sunny

Today, on my way back home after work, I met my old school friend—Lin Tao unexpectedly. He is also a Christian. We chatted for a while. When we talked about our own spiritual condition, he gave me a book. I asked him in great surprise, “What book is this?” He replied with a smile, “The words in this book can resolve problems that we have when it comes to our faith in God. After getting back home, you can have a look, and then you will know it.” I happily took the book and then went home.

After getting home, I began to read it eagerly. Then I saw the following passage, “If man sees only His external appearance, and overlooks His substance, then that shows the ignorance and naivety of man. External appearance does not determine substance; what’s more, the work of God has never conformed with the conceptions of man. Did not the outward appearance of Jesus conflict with the conceptions of man? Were not His appearance and dress unable to provide any clues as to His true identity? Was not the reason why the earliest Pharisees opposed Jesus because they merely looked at His external appearance, and did not take to heart the words that He spoke?” (Preface). After reading these words, I was extremely astonished, for they have spoken of the underlying reason why the people of that time resisted the Lord Jesus. At that time, the Lord Jesus came to work as an ordinary and normal image of the Son of man. Just looking at the surface, He was an ordinary normal person. Besides, what the people then saw was that He had not only parents but also brothers and sisters, etc. It was because they only focused on His outward appearance that they began to wantonly convict, reject and blaspheme Him, and in the end, they nailed Him to the cross, committing a heinous crime. Nevertheless, the Samaritan woman and Nathanael heard the Lord Jesus’ words were extraordinary—being able to expose things hidden in people’s hearts, and as a result, they recognized that He had come from God. In addition, other disciples who followed the Lord Jesus also saw that His words and work had authority and power and came from God; thus they recognized that He was the Christ, the coming Messiah, thereby following the footsteps of the Lamb.

Thinking of this, I suddenly recalled what the Lord Jesus said, “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). These scriptures showed: At that point, the Lord Jesus still had something else to say, but the people couldn’t receive or bear them, due to their small spiritual stature, so He didn’t speak out; when the Lord comes in the last days, He will expose every truth and mystery, letting people know and understand them. Now the prophecies regarding the return of the Lord have basically all been fulfilled. In the matter of welcoming the coming of the Lord, I remembered the Lord said, “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” (Matthew 25:6). So, in the last days, when people testify that the Lord has returned, I need to be the wise virgin to focus on listening to the voice of “Bridegroom” and to actively investigate and differentiate God’s voice; otherwise, I’ll be liable to miss the opportunity to be lifted up upon the Lord’s return, becoming the foolish virgin who is abandoned and eliminated by the Lord. At that time, it will be too late to regret.

Then I read the following passage, “Since we are searching for the footprints of God, we must search for God’s will, for the words of God, for the utterances of God—for where there are the new words of God, there is the voice of God, and where there are the footsteps of God, there are the deeds of God. Where there is the expression of God, there is the appearance of God, and where there is the appearance of God, there exists the truth, the way, and the life. While seeking the footprints of God, you ignored the words that ‘God is the truth, the way, and the life.’ So when many people receive the truth, they do not believe that they have found the footprints of God and much less acknowledge the appearance of God. What a serious error that is! The appearance of God cannot be reconciled with the conceptions of man, much less can God appear at the behest of man. God makes His own choices and has His own plans when He does His work; moreover, He has His own objectives, and His own methods. It is not necessary for Him to discuss the work He does with man or to seek the advice of man, much less notify each and every person of His work. This is the disposition of God and, moreover, should be recognized by everyone” (“The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age”).

Contemplating these words, I felt them so deep and meaningful. Right! God is almighty and God’s wisdom is above the heavens. He will have His own plan and choice when He does His work. He doesn’t need to ask us men for advice and He doesn’t even need to explain to us in advance. Moreover, the appearance of God will certainly not fall in line with our thinking. Take, for example, the work of the Lord Jesus in the Age of Grace. The prophecy said very clearly, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel” (Matthew 1:23). But when the Lord came, He was called Jesus; furthermore, He put on an ordinary mortal flesh to do His work. If man didn’t seek the truth in his heart, it would be really hard for him to accept. The words in that book clearly tell us that to seek the footprints of God and to welcome the Lord’s return, we must pay attention to seeking the new words of God and hearing God’s voice. No matter what God says or in what ways He works, we ought to maintain an attitude of seeking and obedience and can’t analyze and research them based on our notions. This is the only attitude that every person who truly believes in the Lord ought to possess. Just as the Bible says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). It is thus clear that if we wish to welcome the Lord’s return, we have to seek the truth humbly; only in this way can we obtain God’s enlightenment and illumination and see the appearance and work of God.

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Are Almighty God and the Lord Jesus One God?

When mankind was corrupted by Satan, God began His management plan for the salvation of mankind. God has carried out three stages of work for the salvation of mankind. During the Age of Law, Jehovah God issued the laws and guided the life of mankind, making people know that they should worship God, and making them know what sin is.

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Question 3: You say that the Lord Jesus has returned, so why haven’t we seen Him? Seeing is believing and hearsay is undependable. If we haven’t seen Him, that must mean He hasn’t returned yet; I will believe it when I see Him. You say that the Lord Jesus has returned, so where is He now? What work is He doing? What words has the Lord spoken? I will believe it after you are able to clarify these things through testimony.

Answer:

God’s appearance and work in the last days are just as the Lord Jesus prophesied. There are two parts—His secret arrival and His public arrival. The secret arrival refers to God being incarnated among mankind as the Son of man to utter His words, and do His work of the last days. This is His secret arrival. The public arrival is the Lord openly coming with the clouds, that is, the Lord arriving with tens of thousands of saints, visible to all nations and all peoples.

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Almighty God's Word | God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III (Part Five)

God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III (Part Five)

        Next, let’s look at the following passages of scripture.

9. Jesus Performs Miracles

1) Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

(John 6:8-13) One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, There is a lad here, which has five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said to his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above to them that had eaten.

2) The Resurrection of Lazarus Glorifies God

(John 11:43-44) And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said to them, Loose him, and let him go.

Among the miracles performed by the Lord Jesus, we have selected only these two because they are adequate to demonstrate what I’d like to speak about here. These two miracles are really astonishing, and they are very representative of the Lord Jesus’ miracles in the Age of Grace.

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Does God Have a Specific Gender? I Discover a New Interpretation (Part 1)

Editor’s Note: When it comes to the question, “Does God have a specific gender?” I believe that many Christians will say, “It is clearly recorded in the Bible that when the Lord Jesus was being baptized, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:17).

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Can We Welcome the Second Coming of Jesus Christ If We Only Wait for His Revelations? （一）

The Picture of The Church of Almighty God

Can We Welcome the Second Coming of Jesus Christ If We Only Wait for His Revelations?  

 By Wang Qiang

In 1989, I believed in the Lord Jesus with my wife. At that time, I was in my 30s and willingly spent and sacrificed for the Lord. Our pastor and elder thought I was a promising young man, so they thought highly of me. Before long, I became a good preacher and often preached the gospel with the pastor here and there, contacting many church leaders.

As I worked with the pastor, I often heard him say, “When the Lord comes back He will give revelations to those who work hard for Him and personally reveal to pastors and elders, for they are very familiar with the Bible and always work hard for Him.” These words were deeply rooted in my heart and I thought: If one wants to welcome the Lord’s return and receive His revelations, he must be a person who works hard for Him. Only such people can be approved by the Lord and gain His revelations. For this, I worked more diligently, spending and sacrificing for the Lord, and often did charity, donate. I preached the Lord’s gospel everywhere, and built more than ten churches in less than one year. Seeing the fruit of my hard work, I felt very flattered inside, thinking: When the Lord returns, He will surely give me a revelation …

One day, on my way home after a meeting, my co-worker Brother Zhang asked me, “Brother Wang, we have been waiting for the Lord’s return for these years. Now all the prophecies of the Lord’s return have basically been fulfilled. Why hasn’t the Lord come to receive us?” Hearing these words, I said confusedly, “Indeed, we watch and pray, wait for the Lord’s revelations every day, deeply fearing to miss the opportunity to be raptured by the Lord. Yet so many years have passed, we still haven’t received the Lord’s revelations. I really don’t know when the Lord will come back and receive us.” At this time, Brother Zhang said to me seriously, “Brother Wang, all these years we have been waiting for the Lord’s revelations and considering that when the Lord returns He will surely give revelations to us. The Lord is faithful. Since He has promised that He will come back, He will not delay. Now the prophecies of the Lord’s return have been already fulfilled. So, have you ever thought that the Lord may have returned but does not give revelations to us as we have imagined?” “It’s impossible.” Upon hearing his words I interrupted him immediately, “All these years I fast, watch, and pray without any interruption. It’s impossible that the Lord won’t give a revelation to me when He comes back.”

Brother Zhang said to me sincerely, “Please calm down and listen to me, Brother Wang. The Lord’s return is a great matter; we must take it seriously. Let’s think carefully; pastors and elders tell us to wait for the Lord’s revelations, but the Lord didn’t say He would give us revelations when He came back. The Lord Jesus said, ‘My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me’ (John 10:27). ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me’ (Revelation 3:20). ‘He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’ (Revelation 2:7). These verses tell us that the Lord will speak words when He appears in the last days, and also tell us to pay attention to listening to His voice rather than receiving revelations. If the Lord would give revelations to man, then why did He say that His sheep hear His voice? Isn’t this a contradiction? Think again. When God comes, do you really think He’ll definitely give revelations to all those who have done extensive reading of the Bible and worked hard for Him? At that time, when the Lord Jesus came, He didn’t show revelations to the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees who were constant readers of the Bible and had served God their whole lives. In our conceptions, those people served God for many years, worked hard for Him, and were familiar with the Bible, so they were best qualified to receive God’s revelations. However, God didn’t give any revelations to them. On the contrary, the Lord Jesus chose those who longed for and sought the truth, such as Peter, John, Matthew, Philip, and so on. Did any one of them receive the Lord’s revelations first before they followed the Lord Jesus? No one. The fact was that all of them heard the voice of the Lord and recognized from the Lord’s words and work that He was the Messiah who had been prophesied to come and thus followed Him. From this we can see that only those who humbly seek and long for the truth can receive God’s enlightenment and see His appearance, or else man will easily become an opponent of God. Through all the ages, the believers in God are as many as the stars in the sky, but those who can receive God’s direct revelations are few in number. When the Lord Jesus was born, God just revealed to the Magi, the shepherds and Simeon, but most followers of the Lord didn’t receive God’s revelations. The Lord Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. … Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. … Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God’ (Matthew 5:3, 6, 8). As believers in the Lord, we should be wise virgins as the Lord Jesus asked, listening for God’s voice. Brother Wang, in the matter of welcoming the Lord’s return, we must seek and investigate carefully; only in this way can we hear the Lord’s voice and see His appearance. If we just blindly wait for the revelations from the Lord, but do not seek and investigate actively, then we will really become foolish virgins abandoned by Him. …”

That night, I lay awake tossing and turning, and thought to myself: What Brother Zhang said sounds reasonable. Among us believers, some came to believe in the Lord because of illness, some believe because of family misfortunes, some because of marriage setbacks, some others didn’t wholly believe until they received some grace and peace, and so on. None of us began to believe in the Lord after receiving a revelation. We accepted the Lord Jesus’ salvation because of others’ fellowship and testimony, and the accounts of the Bible. In the past, those Pharisees heard the Lord Jesus’ words and saw His deeds, but instead of seeking and investigating, they tried to find all kinds of accusations against the Lord Jesus and condemned Him, and moreover, they instigated people to resist Him. In the end, they joined forces with the Roman government to nail Him to the cross. Clearly, knowing the scriptures doesn’t represent being qualified to receive the Lord’s revelations, much less represent knowing the Lord. Jehovah God said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9). God’s wisdom is unfathomable to man. Yet I delineated that the Lord will give revelations to pastors and elders first when He returns; isn’t this too arrogant, too self-righteous, and too unreasonable? Thus, it’s too prone for me to resist God. If I keep waiting for the Lord’s revelations and don’t believe until I see Him, then things would be like what the Lord Jesus said to Thomas, “because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). If so, won’t I become the same as Thomas? Aren’t such people in trouble? The more I thought about it, the more scared I was, and I thought I must make it clear. The Lord’s return is a great matter. If I miss the opportunity to be raptured by the Lord, wouldn’t my believing have been in vain? Brother Zhang’s words were full of the enlightenment from the Holy Spirit, I must go to seek more from him …

Source The Internet 

Recommended ：How exactly should one discern the voice of God? How can one confirm that Almighty God is indeed the Lord Jesus returned?

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Does God Have a Specific Gender? I Discover a New Interpretation (Part 2)

The Mystery of “the Father and the Son” Is Finally Revealed

Although I had come to understand this truth, I still wasn’t entirely clear on why God had incarnated as a woman in the last days, and so I asked, “Brother, it is recorded in Matthew chapter 3 verse 17 that, when the Lord Jesus was baptized, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ Also, when the Lord Jesus prayed, He called God in heaven His Father. The gender of ‘Father’ and ‘Son’ is male, and so this proves that God is male. So how can the Lord Jesus return as a female? I don’t understand this issue, so I wondered if you could fellowship with me about this?”

After listening to me speak, the brother said patiently, “We determine that God is male based on these few verses from the Bible, but is this not an arbitrary assertion? Is this a correct deduction to make? Has God ever said such a thing in the Bible? Has the Holy Spirit? This is an issue which many people, in fact, do not thoroughly understand, but we’ll understand it once we have read the words of Almighty God. God says, ‘When Jesus called God in heaven by the name of Father as He prayed, this was done only from the perspective of a created man, only because the Spirit of God had put on an ordinary and normal flesh and had the exterior cover of a created being. Even if within Him was the Spirit of God, His exterior appearance was still that of an ordinary man; in other words, He had become the “Son of man” of which all men, including Jesus Himself, spoke. Given that He is called the Son of man, He is a person (whether man or woman, in any case one with the exterior shell of a human being) born into a normal family of ordinary people. Therefore, Jesus calling God in heaven by the name of Father was the same as how you at first called Him Father; He did so from the perspective of a man of creation’ (‘Does the Trinity Exist?’ in The Word Appears in the Flesh). ‘There are still those who say, “Did not God expressly state that Jesus was His beloved Son?” Jesus is the beloved Son of God, in whom He is well pleased—this was certainly spoken by God Himself. That was God bearing witness to Himself, but merely from a different perspective, that of the Spirit in heaven bearing witness to His own incarnation. Jesus is His incarnation, not His Son in heaven. Do you understand? Do not the words of Jesus, “I am in the Father, and the Father in Me,” indicate that They are one Spirit? And is it not because of the incarnation that They were separated between heaven and earth? In reality, They are still one; no matter what, it is simply God bearing witness to Himself’ (‘Does the Trinity Exist?’ in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“From God’s words, we can see that the Lord Jesus called God in heaven His Father because the Lord Jesus was God incarnate, and because He appeared from the outside to be just the same as an ordinary person, and therefore He addressed God from the perspective of a created man; this also embodied the humility and obedience of God in the flesh. God in heaven called the Lord Jesus His ‘beloved Son,’ which was God testifying to the Lord Jesus being the incarnation of God from the perspective of the Spirit. Because this was God’s first time appearing and working in the world in the flesh, no one knew Christ and they all treated the Lord Jesus as though He were just an ordinary man. God forgave man for their small statures and, in order to make people understand clearly that the Lord Jesus had come from God and to make them better able to accept the Lord Jesus’ guidance, He testified that the Lord Jesus was His beloved Son. This did not mean, however, that the Lord Jesus was the Son of God, and it did not refer to the gender of God. We cannot, therefore, delimit God as male based on the facts that the Lord Jesus called God in heaven His Father in His prayers, or that God in heaven called the Lord Jesus His beloved Son. It says clearly in the Bible that ‘So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them’ (Genesis 1:27). God made both men and women in His image, so if we delimit God as male, how then do we explain how God made women? God is, in fact, Spirit, and there has never been any distinction of gender with Him. The incarnation of God is the Spirit of God clothing Himself in flesh and becoming a normal, ordinary person. The Lord Jesus was male, and this time God has incarnated as female; the words ‘male’ and ‘female’ are spoken only in reference to the flesh which God clothes Himself in, and are not spoken in reference to the Spirit of God. And yet we do not understand this mystery, but instead we define God as being male by relying on our own imaginings—are we not blaspheming against God by doing this?” I nodded silently and thought to myself: “So it turns out that the words ‘Father’ and ‘Son’ do not refer to God’s gender but are just ways God addresses His flesh and His Spirit from different perspectives. It looks as though, if we take God’s words at face value, then we really won’t be able to understand them, and we must seek God’s will in all earnestness.”

Upon Understanding the Significance of the Lord’s Return in Female Form, I Feel Much Guilt

Brother Xiao then continued, saying, “God is supreme, He is great, and He is wondrous and unfathomable. When we rely on our own notions and imaginings to delimit God, we rebel against and defy God! By taking the form of a woman as His incarnation in the last days, God launches a tremendous counterattack against our conceptions, thereby remedying our fallacious understanding of the gender of God incarnate. We’ll understand this better after we’ve read another passage of God’s words. Almighty God says, ‘Each stage of work done by God has its own practical significance. Back then, when Jesus came, He was male, but when God comes this time, He is female. From this, you can see that God created both male and female for the sake of His work, and with Him there is no distinction of gender. When His Spirit comes, He can take on any kind of flesh at will and that flesh can represent Him. Whether male or female, it can represent God as long as it is His incarnate flesh. If Jesus had appeared as a female when He came, in other words, if an infant girl, and not a boy, had been conceived by the Holy Spirit, that stage of work would have been completed all the same. If such had been the case, then the present stage of work would have to be completed by a male instead, but the work would be completed all the same. The work done in either stage is equally significant; neither stage of work is repeated nor conflicts with the other. … With God there is no distinction of gender. He does His work as He wishes and in doing His work He is not subject to any restrictions, but is especially free. However, every stage of work has its own practical significance. God became flesh twice, and it goes without saying that His incarnation in the last days is the last time. He has come to reveal all His deeds. If in this stage He did not become flesh in order personally to do work for man to witness, man would forever hold on to the notion that God is only male, not female’ (‘The Two Incarnations Complete the Significance of the Incarnation’ in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“God’s words are very clear: God is Spirit and with Him there is no distinction of gender. The reason why God took different genders in His two incarnations is based on the needs of His work, and it was done to better save mankind. Whether God incarnates as a man or a woman, however, it is always the physical realization of the Spirit of God, it is Christ, and the work He performs is always the work of God. When the Lord Jesus came and appeared and worked in the world in male form, for example, He brought the Age of Law to a close and began the Age of Grace, He expressed the truth of mankind’s redemption and revealed God’s disposition of mercy and lovingkindness. The Lord Jesus also performed many miracles, such as feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fish, calming the winds and the sea with a word, and bringing the dead back to life until, in the end, the Lord Jesus was crucified upon the cross, thus redeeming mankind from the clutches of Satan. We can see that all the things the Lord Jesus did were entirely divine work and that He was God Himself. Similarly, Christ of the last days—Almighty God—has appeared to perform His work in female form. From the outside, God’s incarnation appears normal and ordinary, and yet Almighty God has brought the Age of Grace to an end and has begun the Age of Kingdom, and He expresses His words and has uncovered all truths and mysteries, such as the mystery of God incarnate appearing to perform His work, the mystery of God’s three stages of work, the mystery of God’s name, the inside story and actual truth about the Bible, and the end and destination for mankind, and so on. Almighty God also expresses His disposition of righteousness and majesty, and He uses His words to judge our sins, to expose our corruption and injustice, to show us the path to attain salvation and be purified, and to finally lead us into our beautiful destination. Only the incarnate God can perform this work—not one amongst corrupt mankind can do it—and from the work performed by Almighty God, we can be absolutely certain that Almighty God is indeed God Himself.

“Moreover, God has incarnated as a woman in the last days in order to dispel our prejudiced understanding of God’s gender, and so that we come to recognize that the incarnation of God can be both male and female. God is not just the God of men, but is the God of women also; God does not just save men, but saves women also. By understanding this, we will no longer delimit God by relying on our own notions and imaginings. We can truly see from this that God incarnating as a woman in the last days is indeed so meaningful!”

Picture of The Church of Almighty God | Read the word of god

By listening to the words of Almighty God and the fellowships given by Brother Xiao, I came to understand that God is Spirit and that, with Him, there is no distinction of gender. Only because of the needs of His work does He clothe Himself in flesh to perform His work. Whether God incarnates as a man or a woman, however, in essence it is always the Spirit of God performing the work of God Himself. I thought about how I had not known Christ and about how I had delimited God by relying on my own imaginings. When I heard that the Lord Jesus had returned and had appeared to perform His work in female form, conceptions arose in my heart, and I refused to seek or investigate God’s words and work—I really had been so blind! And so, I came before God to pray: “O God! I have delimited You and resisted You by relying on my notions and imaginings, but through the brothers and sisters reading Your words to me and patiently giving me fellowship, You have enabled me to understand the truth and to relinquish my conceptions, and You have led me back into Your presence. O God! I give thanks to You!”

My Conceptions Are Dispelled and I Keep Pace With the Footsteps of the Lamb

Later, Brother Xiao gave me fellowship on such truths as the inside story and aims of God’s three stages of work, the mystery of God’s name, the mystery of God’s incarnation appearing to perform His work, and so on. After listening to his fellowship, I became even more certain that Almighty God is the truth, the way and the life, and that Almighty God is indeed the Lord Jesus returned! At the same time, by reflecting on my attitude toward God’s work of the last days, I truly came to see that I had been no different from the Pharisees. I had clung blindly to my notions and imaginings, I had not accepted nor sought the truths God expresses, and I had rebelled against and defied God. I felt so guilty and remorseful.

After I accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days, I began to actively attend gatherings and, through interacting with my brothers and sisters, I saw that they were so warm and loving in their treatment of other people and that they fellowshiped the truth in such an illuminating way—The Church of Almighty God was like a big, warm family. I came to profoundly appreciate that my being able to receive God’s salvation in the last days was entirely due to God’s great love for me. The Lord Jesus said, “Seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7), and I came to understand the real meaning of these words: At the critical time of welcoming the coming of the Lord, it is so important to have a heart that both thirsts for and seeks the truth.

Thanks be to God for allowing me to receive His salvation in the last days in this foreign country—this is my blessing. From now on, I will read God’s words more, fellowship with my brothers and sisters more, arm myself more with the truth and perform my duty well in order to repay God’s love.

Source From: Eastern Lightning

Recommended for you: A Wonderful Reunion With God: I Find the Way to Be Free From Sin

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I Finally Understand What It Means to Do the Will of God (Part One)

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).

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Someone said, “You preach that God has become flesh, and that He is called Almighty God. Have you seen Him? If you haven’t, what basis do you have to say God has returned?”

Response: We preach that the Lord Jesus has returned as the incarnated Almighty God, and that He has come to perform a stage of work in which He uses His words to judge and purify man. This is not a groundless statement, and seeing God incarnate is not the only way to confirm that He is God Himself. The Bible says: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

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The Awakening of a Deceived Spirit (Part 1)

Eastern Lightning | The Awakening of a Deceived Spirit (Part 1)

I was born in a small city in Northern China. In 2010, I followed my relatives to Brazil. In Brazil, I got acquainted with a Christian friend. He brought me to church to listen to sermons. But though I went three times, I never absorbed it. Afterward, because my job was keeping me busy, I didn’t go to church again until one day in June, 2015, when my friend brought me to church once more. This time, through what brothers and sisters shared, I had some understanding that the Lord Jesus is the Redeemer.

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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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