Eastern Lightning | What reward is granted to the wise virgins? Will the foolish virgins fall into disaster?

Eastern Lightning | What reward is granted to the wise virgins? Will the foolish virgins fall into disaster?

What reward is granted to the wise virgins? Will the foolish virgins fall into disaster?

Relevant Words of God: 

After the human I am was anointed, you followed Me (at this time I was the Lamb), so under My leadership, you have experienced all sorts of pain, disaster, the world’s abandonment and defaming, the abandonment of family, and live in My blessing. These are all the marriage feast of the Lamb. I use the marriage feast because all that I lead you into doing is for gaining you. But this is all part of the feast. In the future, one could also say today, everything you enjoy, everything you gain, and the kingly power you share with Me are all the feast. My love comes to all those who love Me. Those I love will remain until forever, will never be abolished, will forever be within My love. It is forever!

from Utterances and Testimonies of Christ in the Beginning

“Following the work of the Holy Spirit” means understanding the will of God today, being able to act in accordance with the present requirements of God, being able to obey and follow the God of today, and entering in accordance with the newest utterances of God. Only this is someone who follows the work of the Holy Spirit and is in the stream of the Holy Spirit. Such people are not only capable of receiving God’s praise and seeing God, but can also know God’s disposition from the latest work of God, and can know man’s conceptions and disobedience, and man’s nature and substance, from His latest work; furthermore, they are able to gradually achieve changes in their disposition during their service. Only people such as this are those who are able to gain God, and who have genuinely found the true way. Those who are eliminated by the work of the Holy Spirit are people who are incapable of following the latest work of God, and who rebel against the latest work of God. That such people openly oppose God is because God has done new work, and because the image of God is not the same as that in their conceptions—as a result of which they openly oppose God and pass judgment upon God, leading to their loathing and rejection by God. Possessing the knowledge of the latest work of God is no easy matter, but if people can intentionally obey the work of God and seek the work of God, then they will have the chance to see God, and will have the chance to gain the newest guidance of the Holy Spirit. Those who intentionally oppose the work of God cannot receive the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit or the guidance of God; thus, whether or not people can receive the latest work of God depends on the grace of God, it depends on their pursuit, and it depends on their intentions.

All who are able to obey the present utterances of the Holy Spirit are blessed. It does not matter how they used to be, or how the Holy Spirit used to work within them—those who have gained the latest work are the most blessed, and those who are unable to follow the latest work today are eliminated. God wants those who are able to accept the new light, and He wants those who accept and know His latest work. Why is it said that you must be a chaste virgin? A chaste virgin is able to seek the work of the Holy Spirit and understand the new things, and moreover, able to put aside old conceptions, and obey the work of God today. This group of people, who accept the newest work of today, were predestined by God before the ages, and are the most blessed of people. You hear the voice of God directly, and behold the appearance of God, and so, throughout heaven and earth, and throughout the ages, none have been more blessed than you, this group of people.

from “Know the Newest Work of God and Follow the Footsteps of God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

When you have experienced each step of the work of God incarnate in the Age of Kingdom, you will feel that the hopes of many years have finally been realized. You will feel that only now have you truly seen God face-to-face; only now have you gazed upon the face of God, heard the personal utterance of God, appreciated the wisdom of God’s work, and truly sensed how real and almighty God is. You will sense that you have gained many things that people of times past have never seen or possessed. At this time, you will clearly know what it is to believe in God, and what it is to be after God’s heart. Of course, if you cling to views of the past, and reject or deny the fact of the second incarnation of God, then you shall remain empty-handed and acquire nothing, and ultimately be guilty of opposing God. Those who obey the truth and submit to the work of God shall come under the name of the second incarnate God—the Almighty. They will be able to accept the personal guidance of God, and shall acquire more and higher truth and receive the real human life. They shall behold the vision that people of the past have never seen: “And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the middle of the seven candlesticks one like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like to fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shines in his strength” (Revelation 1:12-16). This vision is the expression of God’s entire disposition, and such an expression of His entire disposition is also the expression of the work of God when He becomes flesh this time. In the torrents of chastisements and judgments, the Son of man expresses His inherent disposition through the speaking of words, allowing all those who accept His chastisement and judgment to see the true face of the Son of man, a face that is a faithful depiction of the face of the Son of man seen by John. (Of course, all this will be invisible to those who do not accept the work of God in the Age of Kingdom.) The true face of God cannot be fully articulated using the words of man, and so God uses the expression of His inherent disposition to show His true face to man. Which is to say that all those who have experienced the inherent disposition of the Son of man have seen the true face of the Son of man, for God is too great and cannot be fully articulated using the words of man. Once man has experienced each step of God’s work in the Age of Kingdom, then he shall know the true meaning of John’s words when he spoke of the Son of man among the lampstands: “His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like to fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shines in his strength.” At that time, you shall know beyond all doubt that this ordinary flesh that has spoken so many words is really the second incarnate God. And you shall truly sense how blessed you are, and feel yourself the most fortunate. Would you be unwilling to accept this blessing?

from Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh

I tell you, those who believe in God because of the signs are surely the category that shall suffer destruction. Those who are incapable of accepting the words of Jesus who has returned to flesh are surely the progeny of hell, the descendants of the archangel, the category that shall be subjected to everlasting destruction. Many people may not care what I say, but I still want to tell every so-called saint who follows Jesus that, when you see Jesus descend from the heaven upon a white cloud with your own eyes, this will be the public appearance of the Sun of righteousness. Perhaps that will be a time of great excitement for you, yet you should know that the time when you witness Jesus descend from the heaven is also the time when you go down to hell to be punished. It will herald the end of God’s management plan, and will be when God rewards the good and punishes the wicked. For the judgment of God will have ended before man sees signs, when there is only the expression of truth. Those who accept the truth and do not seek signs, and thus have been purified, shall have returned before the throne of God and entered the Creator’s embrace. Only those who persist in the belief that “The Jesus who does not ride upon a white cloud is a false Christ” shall be subjected to everlasting punishment, for they only believe in the Jesus who exhibits signs, but do not acknowledge the Jesus who proclaims severe judgment and releases the true way of life. And so it can only be that Jesus deals with them when He openly returns upon a white cloud. They are too stubborn, too confident in themselves, too arrogant. How could such degenerates be rewarded by Jesus?

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

Christ comes during the last days so that all those who truly believe in Him may be provided with life. His work is for the sake of concluding the old age and entering the new one, and is the path that must be taken by all those who would enter the new age. If you are incapable of acknowledging Him, and instead condemn, blaspheme or even persecute Him, then you are bound to burn for eternity, and shall never enter the kingdom of God. For this Christ is Himself the expression of the Holy Spirit, the expression of God, the One whom God has entrusted to do His work on earth. And so I say that if you cannot accept all that is done by Christ of the last days, then you blaspheme the Holy Spirit. The retribution that should be suffered by those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit is self-evident to all. I also tell you that if you oppose Christ of the last days, and deny Him, then there is no one who can bear the consequences on your behalf. Furthermore, from this day onward you will not have another chance to gain the approval of God; even if you try to redeem yourself, you will never again behold the face of God. For what you oppose is not a man, what you deny is not some puny being, but Christ. Are you aware of this consequence? You have not made a small mistake, but committed a heinous crime.

from “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The Man’s Fellowship:

How do the wise and foolish virgins get brought to the light? It is the word of God that brings them to light. It is the word of God in the last days that classifies and divides them into the categories they belong to, and then God will start to reward the good and punish the wicked. How will He reward the good? The wise virgins will be brought face to face with God and feast alongside Him. In the end they will be cleansed and perfected. This is receiving the reward, it is the reward and the grace of God. It doesn’t matter how many years the foolish virgin believes in the Lord, or how much they expend themselves for God, or how many hardships they suffer. Since they deny and refuse the word of God, and do not accept the work of God in the last days, since they do not recognize their Groom when He arrives, they will be eliminated and fall into the darkness weeping and gnashing their teeth. What is this called? It is called the punishment of the wicked. All of those who refuse, deny and resist the work of God in the last days will be left in darkness by God. They will be in the great disasters. Isn’t this their punishment? Today we all have come face to face with Almighty God, every day we eat and drink the word of God, every day we listen to and talk about the way of God, and fellowship about the truth. Isn’t this the reward and blessing that God has bestowed upon us? This is the reward that God has given these wise virgins.

from Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (Series 133)

So what is the relationship between the Son of man descending in secret to appear and perform His work and God openly appearing by descending with the clouds? What does this process involve? Let’s communicate about that simply. In the last days, God is incarnated and descends secretly among us humans to utter and speak, performing the work of judgment beginning from the house of God, purifying and perfecting all those who hear His voice and return before His throne and making them into a group of overcomers. Then God brings about the great disaster, refining and chastising all those who don’t accept God’s judgment of the last days. Afterward, God shall descend with the clouds to openly appear before all men. That would then completely fulfill the prophecy in Revelation 1:7: “Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.” When the Lord descends with the clouds, those who pierced Him can still see Him? Just who are the people who pierced Him? Some say it’s those who nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross. Is that really the case? Weren’t the people who crucified the Lord Jesus cursed and destroyed by God long ago? In reality, those who pierced Him are those who, during the period in which God incarnate has descended in secret in the last days to work, do not seek God’s voice and condemn and resist Almighty God. At that time, they will see the Almighty God that they have resisted and condemned is precisely the Savior Jesus they have been desperately awaiting all these years. They shall beat their chests, weep and gnash their teeth, and their outcome can only be punishment. The Book of Revelation does not say whether such people will live or die in the end, so we cannot possibly know. Only God knows. Up to this point, everybody should be clear: Only the wise virgins who hear God’s voice can have the opportunity to welcome the return of the Lord, be brought before God’s throne to attend the marriage supper of the Lamb, and be perfected by God into an overcomer. This fulfills the prophecy in Revelation 14:4, “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.” As for those who only hold on to the notion that the Lord will descend with the clouds but don’t seek and investigate God’s work of the last days, they are considered the foolish virgins. Especially those who furiously resist and condemn Almighty God, they are the Pharisees and antichrists exposed by God’s work in the last days. They are all people who have re-crucified God. All these people shall fall into the great disasters and receive punishment. At this point of our communication, just what mistake people who only welcome the Lord that descends with the clouds have committed, what type of people they are, and what their outcome will be, are things everybody should be clear on.

from Answers to Screenplay Questions

Today God’s word has been spread and borne testimony to, and many of you are among the first from your countries and regions to accept Almighty God. You are truly blessed. (Amen! Praise God!) For that, I congratulate you all! (Thanks be to God!) Some ask, “Why do you congratulate us?” I answer that my words are not a worldly formality, because my congratulations have practical meaning. First, you have accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days because you see that the Lord Jesus has returned, that He has come incarnate as the Son of man and begun to express the truth and do His work of judgment in the last days. So your acceptance means you have been raptured, you have been raptured up before God, you have been lifted up into the air to meet with the Lord. What does this “air” mean? Spreading the gospel and speaking online, isn’t that “in the air”? (Yes, it is.) Aren’t the words I’m speaking to you today “in the air”? (Yes, they are.) People ask, “Where is ‘the air’?” “The air” is a metaphor, and it represents the question of whether we’re in heaven or on earth. Most literally speaking, we are on earth, but we enjoy a life with God, and we eat and drink of God’s word, which is the water of the river of life that flows from the throne, so we live as though we were in the third heaven. According to this actual meaning, where are we? Are we in heaven, or on the earth? It’s hard to say, so we use “in the air” to describe it. So this is one meaning, I’m congratulating you on being raptured before God’s throne to feast with the Lamb, which is to feast with God. Second, you have gained the chance to be perfected by God in the last days, and if you are purified and perfected through judgment and chastisement before the seat of Christ, you will be qualified to gain the approval of God. The blessing is so great! We have attained what the saints throughout history have longed for and failed to find, are we not fortunate? (Yes, we are.) Third, we are undergoing God’s chastisement and judgment, and even though we suffer some in our hearts, and it might be embarrassing at first, we will accomplish something, we will be purified, understand the truth, and we will know God. Even though when we are chastened we abandon all dignity and self-respect, kneel, bow down and sob, admit our sins, and repent, but after a period of such torment, we begin to change, we become more and more reasonable, our conscience awakens, our spirit gets brightened, and we see God, set ourselves upon this path, and our way becomes brighter and brighter, until we finally are perfected and become overcomers. What does it mean to be overcomers? It means to not suffer from the great disaster, and when the great disaster comes, “A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you” (Psm 91:7). Are we not fortunate? (Yes, we are fortunate.) The unbelievers and those in the religious world will fall into disaster, and while we may appear to be in the midst of disaster ourselves, but God is with us, so disaster will not befall us. If you truly gain the truth, you will not taste death. These words are true. God’s promise in the last days, the greatest blessings, will be carried out upon us. Do you understand? (Yes.) This is why I congratulate you. This is the meaning of my congratulations. Do you really understand? (Yes, we do.) You may think it’s empty words, but they contain our greatest blessing!

from Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life, Volume 130

Today in mainland China most religious people who believe in the Lord Jesus have returned to Almighty God, gaining the full salvation of God in the last days. As is evident, the wise virgins and foolish virgins have been revealed within the religious community. All those who are wise virgins have accepted the second coming of the Lord Jesus—Almighty God’s work in the last days. They are the precious ones that have been “stolen” back to the house of God where they have gained God’s salvation and perfection to become the overcomers perfected by God before the disaster. What great good fortune this is! People who accept the work of God’s hidden advent belong among the wise virgins, because these people believe in Almighty God by discovering the truth and confirming it is the true way through listening to the voice of God. That is the implied meaning of “wise.” Those wise virgins were suddenly “stolen” without them knowing it, creating a widespread uproar, when in reality they were caught up to God. This is true. The Bible predicts that in the last days God will come again “as a thief.” This is the undisclosed second coming of the Lord. To the religious community the Lord comes to “steal” that which is precious, “stealing” only the people who are “precious metals and gem stones.” This shows that all people who are “stolen” are of good quality, able to understand and accept the truth. They are people who recognize God’s voice and therefore are caught up to God to receive God’s perfection. So it is perfectly true here that being “stolen” really is being raised up to meet the Lord! At the time that God appears openly these secrets will be revealed. The Lord Jesus said: “However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth” (Jhn 16:13). This even more refers to God’s work in the last days. I hope that all religious people who sincerely believe in God will be wise virgins and study the true way, accept the true way, and return before the practical God, Christ of the last days. If you wait until God appears openly before accepting Him, you will regret that you are too late. Just as 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” (Jhn 20:29).

from “How to Know God’s Work of Judgment and Chastisement in the Last Days” in Collection of Sermons—Supply for Life