Why Aren’t You Willing to Be a Foil?

Those who are conquered are foils, and only after being perfected are people models and specimens of the work of the last days. Before being made complete they are foils, tools, as well as objects for service. Those who have been thoroughly conquered by God are the crystallization as well as the models and specimens of His management plan. Just these few humble titles for people display many entertaining stories. Those of you who are of little faith will always argue over an insignificant title until your face turns red, and at times will even allow it to affect our relationship.

Eastern Lightning | Does the Trinity Exist?

After the truth of Jesus become flesh came to be, man believed this: It is not only the Father in heaven, but also the Son, and even the Spirit. This is the conventional notion man holds, that there is a God such as this in heaven: a Trinity that is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all in one. All mankind has these notions: God is one God, but comprises three parts, what all those grievously entrenched in conventional notions deem to be the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Only those three parts made one is all of God. Without the Holy Father, God would not be whole. Similarly, neither would God be whole without the Son or the Holy Spirit. In their notions, they believe that neither the Father alone nor the Son alone can be deemed God. Only the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together can be deemed God Himself. Now, all religious believers, including each and every follower among you, hold this belief. Yet, as for whether this belief is correct, none can explain, for you are always in a fog of confusion about the matters of God Himself. Though these are notions, you do not know whether they are right or wrong, for you have become too grievously infected by religious notions.

Only Those Who Focus on Practice Can Be Perfected

In the last days, God became flesh to do the work He ought to do and to perform His ministry of words. He came in person to work amidst human beings with the goal of perfecting those people who are after His heart. From the creation up until today He only does that work during the last days. Only during the last days was God incarnated to do such large-scale work. Though He endures hardships that people would find difficult to endure, though He as a great God has the humility to become an ordinary man, no aspect of His work has been delayed, and His plan is not thrown into confusion in the least. He is doing the work according to His original plan. One of the purposes of this incarnation is to conquer people. Another is to perfect the people He loves. He desires to see with His own eyes the people He perfects, and He wants to see for Himself how the people He perfects bear witness for Him.

How Peter Came to Know Jesus

During the time that Peter spent with Jesus, he saw many lovable characteristics in Jesus, many aspects worthy of emulation, and many which supplied him. Although Peter saw the being of God in Jesus in many ways, and saw many lovable qualities, at first he did not know Jesus. Peter began following Jesus when he was 20 years old, and continued so for six years. During that time, he never came to know Jesus, but was willing to follow Him purely out of admiration for Him. When Jesus first called to him on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, He asked: “Simon, son of Jonah, will you follow Me?” Peter said: “I must follow he who is sent by the heavenly Father. I must acknowledge he who is chosen by the Holy Spirit. I will follow You.” At the time, Peter had heard tell of a man named Jesus, the greatest of the prophets, God’s beloved Son, and Peter was constantly hoping to find Him, hoping for a chance to see Him (because that is how he was then led by the Holy Spirit). Although he had never seen Him and had only heard rumors about Him, gradually a yearning and adoration for Jesus grew in his heart, and he often yearned to one day look upon Jesus. And how did Jesus call upon Peter? He too had heard tell of a man called Peter, and it was not that the Holy Spirit instructed Him: “Go to the Sea of Galilee, where there is one called Simon, son of Jonah.” Jesus heard someone say that there was one called Simon, son of Jonah, and that people had heard his sermon, that he too preached the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, and that the people who heard him were all moved to tears. After hearing this, Jesus followed that person, and made for the Sea of Galilee; when Peter accepted Jesus’ call, he followed Him.

Those Whose Disposition Has Changed Are Those Who Have Entered Into the Reality of God’s Word

The path that the Holy Spirit takes in people is first to draw their hearts away from all people, events, and things, and into the word of God, so that in their hearts they will all believe that God’s word is utterly indubitable and completely true. If you believe in God, you must believe in His word; if, having believed in God for many years, you still don’t know the path taken by the Holy Spirit, are you really a believer? To achieve the life of a normal person and a proper life of man with God, you must first believe in His word. If you have not arrived at the first step in the work that the Holy Spirit means to do in people, then you have no foundation. If you have failed to grasp the most essential principle, how are you going to walk the path ahead? Getting onto the right track by which God perfects man means to enter upon the right track of the Holy Spirit’s current work; it also means getting onto the path taken by the Holy Spirit. Right now, the path taken by the Holy Spirit is God’s current word. So, for one who wishes to walk on the path taken by the Holy Spirit, he must obey as well as eat and drink of the current word of God incarnate.

Believing in God Should Focus on Reality, Not Religious Rituals

How many religious customs do you observe? How many times have you rebelled against the word of God and gone your own way? How many times have you put into practice the word of God because you are truly considerate of His burdens and seek to fulfill His desire? Understand the word of God and put it into action. Be principled in your actions and deeds; this is not abiding by rules or to do so grudgingly just for show. Rather, this is the practice of truth and living by the word of God. Only practice such as this satisfies God. Any custom that pleases God is not a rule but the practice of truth.

Escape From the Influence of Darkness and You Will Be Gained by God

What is the influence of darkness? The “influence of darkness” is the influence of Satan deceiving, corrupting, binding and controlling people; the influence of Satan is an influence that has an aura of death. All those who live under Satan’s domain are doomed to perish.

How can you escape from the influence of darkness after gaining faith in God? After you have sincerely prayed to God, you turn your heart to Him completely. At this point, your heart is moved by God’s Spirit, you are willing to give yourself completely, and in this moment, you have escaped from the influence of darkness. If all that man does is pleasing to God and fits with His requirements, then he is someone who lives inside God’s words, and he is someone who lives under the care and protection of God. If men are unable to practice God’s words, always fooling Him, acting in a perfunctory manner with Him, and not believing in His existence, such men are all living under the influence of darkness. Men who have not received the salvation of God are all living under the domain of Satan, that is, they all live under the influence of darkness. Those who do not believe in God are living under the domain of Satan. Even those who believe in the existence of God may not necessarily be living in the light of God, because those who believe in Him may not necessarily be living inside God’s words, and they may not necessarily be men who are able to obey God. Man only believes in God, and due to his failure to know God, he is still living within the old rules, living within dead words, living in a life that is dark and uncertain, not fully purified by God or completely gained by God.

Eastern Lightning | Focus More on Reality

Every person has the possibility of being perfected by God, so everyone should understand what sort of service to God would be best in line with His intentions. Most people do not know what it means to believe in God, nor do they understand why they should believe in Him. That is to say, most have no comprehension of God’s work or the purpose of His management plan. These days, a majority of people still think believing in God is about going to heaven and having their souls saved, and have no idea what believing in God means, specifically; moreover, they do not have any understanding whatsoever of the most important work in God’s management plan. For various reasons of their own, people simply do not take any interest in God’s work, and give no thought to His intentions or to His management plan. As an individual in this stream, each person should know what the purpose of God’s entire management plan is, the things that He has already made into reality, why He has chosen this group of people, what is the purpose and meaning in His choosing them, and what He wants to achieve in this group. In the nation of the great red dragon, God has been able to raise such a group of inconspicuous people, and He has continued to work until now, trying and perfecting them in all sorts of ways, speaking countless words, performing much work, and dispatching so many serving objects.

The Commandments of the New Age

You have been told to equip yourselves with the words of God, that regardless of what is arranged for you, all is orchestrated by God’s own hand, and that there is no need for your earnest prayer or supplication—they are useless. Yet in terms of the present situation, the practical problems facing you are unimaginable to you. If you merely await the arrangements of God, your progress will be too slow, and for those who don’t know how to experience there will be much passivity. Thus, if you are unable to completely see through to these things, then you are muddled and silly in your experiencing. If you have no reality but only words, is this not a sign of erroneousness? Much erroneousness is visible in you, this group. Today, you’re incapable of achieving such trials as “service-doers,” or else are incapable of imagining or achieving other refinement related to the words of God, but you must adhere to the many things you are required to put into practice.

What an Adequate Shepherd Should Be Equipped With

You must have an understanding of the many conditions men will be in when the Holy Spirit performs work on them. In particular, those who coordinate to serve God must have an even better grasp of the many conditions brought about by the work that the Holy Spirit performs on men. If you only talk about many experiences and many ways of entering in, it shows that your experience is too one-sided. Without knowing your true state or grasping the principles of the truth, it’s not possible to achieve a change in disposition. Without knowing the principles of the Holy Spirit’s work or understanding the fruit borne of it, it will be difficult to discern the work of evil spirits. You must expose the work of evil spirits and the notions of men and go straight to the heart of the issue; you must also point out many deviations in people’s practice or problems in believing in God so that they may recognize them.

Concerning God’s Use of Man

No one is capable of living independently except for those who are given special direction and guidance by the Holy Spirit, for they require the ministry and shepherding of those who are used by God. Thus, in each age God raises up different people who rush and busy about shepherding the churches for the sake of His work. Which is to say, God’s work must be done through those whom He looks favorably upon and approves of; the Holy Spirit must use the part within them that is worthy of use in order to work, and they are made fit for use by God through being made perfect by the Holy Spirit. Because man’s ability to understand is too lacking, he must be shepherded by those who are used by God; it was the same with God’s use of Moses, in whom He found much that was suitable for use at the time, and which He used to do God’s work during that stage. In this stage, God uses a man whilst also taking advantage of the part of him that can be used by the Holy Spirit in order to work, and the Holy Spirit both directs him and simultaneously makes perfect the remaining, unusable part.

How to Enter Into a Normal State

The more receptive people are of God’s words, the more enlightened they become and the more they hunger and thirst to pursue knowledge of God. Only those who receive God’s words are able to have deeper and richer experiences; they are the only ones whose lives blossom more and more. Everyone who pursues life must treat this as if it were their job, and should have the feeling that they can’t live without God, that there is no single success without God, and all is emptiness without God. They should have the resolution of doing nothing without the presence of the Holy Spirit, and being unwilling to do anything if their actions do not bear fruit. They should not act to indulge themselves. Life experiences come through God’s enlightenment and guidance, and they are also the fruition of your subjective efforts. You should have the requirement of not making excuses for yourselves in your life experience.

Promises to Those Who Have Been Perfected

What is the path through which God perfects man? Which aspects are included? Are you willing to be perfected by God? Are you willing to accept the judgment and chastisement of God? What do you know of these questions? If you cannot speak of such knowledge, then this shows that you still know not of God’s work and have not been enlightened at all by the Holy Spirit. Such kind of man cannot be perfected. They can only receive a small amount of grace to enjoy briefly and it cannot be maintained in the long term. If one merely enjoys God’s grace, he cannot be perfected by God. Some may be satisfied with the peace and enjoyment of the flesh, a life of ease without adversity or misfortune, living in peace with their family without fights or quarrels. They may even believe this to be the blessing of God, but in truth, it is merely the grace of God. You cannot be satisfied merely with enjoying the grace of God. This kind of thinking is too vulgar. Even if you read the word of God daily, pray every day, and your spirit feels particular enjoyment and peace, yet in the end you cannot speak of any knowledge of God and His work or have no experience with such, and no matter how much of God’s word you have eaten and drunk, if you merely feel peace and enjoyment in your spirit and that the word of God is sweet beyond compare, as if you cannot enjoy it enough, but you have no real experience with and no reality of the word of God, then what can you receive from such manner of faith in God? If you cannot live out the essence of God’s word, your eating and drinking of God’s words and prayers are entirely concerned with religion. Then such kind of man cannot be perfected and cannot be gained by God. All those gained by God are those who pursue the truth. What God gains is not man’s flesh nor his possessions, but the part within him that belongs to God. Therefore, God perfects not the flesh of man but his heart, so that the heart of man may be gained by God. In other words, the essence of saying that God perfects man is that God perfects the heart of man so that it may turn to God and love Him.

A Normal Spiritual Life Leads People Onto the Right Track

You have only walked a very small portion of the path of a believer in God, and you’ve yet to enter onto the right track, so you’re still far from achieving God’s standard. Right now, your stature is not adequate to meet His demands. Due to your caliber as well as your innate corrupt nature, you always treat God’s work carelessly and don’t take it seriously. This is your greatest shortcoming. Furthermore, you are incapable of finding the path of the Holy Spirit. Most of you don’t understand it and can’t see it clearly. Moreover, most of you pay no mind to this matter, and are even less serious about it. If you continue to behave like this and do not know the work of the Holy Spirit, then the path you take as a believer in God will be futile. This is because you don’t do everything in your power to seek to fulfill God’s will, and because you don’t cooperate well with God. It’s not that God hasn’t worked on you, or that the Holy Spirit hasn’t moved you. It’s that you are so careless that you don’t take the work of the Holy Spirit seriously. Now you must turn things around immediately and walk the path led by the Holy Spirit. This is the main topic for today. This “path led by the Holy Spirit” is that people gain enlightenment in their spirit, they have knowledge of God’s word, they gain clarity on the path ahead of them, and they are able to enter into the truth step by step, and come to understand God more and more. The path led by the Holy Spirit is primarily that people have a clearer understanding of God’s word, free of deviations and misconceptions, so that they may walk in it. In order to achieve this effect, you will need to work in harmony with God, find a correct path to put into practice, and walk the path led by the Holy Spirit. This concerns cooperation on man’s part, that is, what you do to achieve God’s requirements of you, and how you behave to enter onto the right track of belief in God.

In Your Faith in God You Should Obey God

Why do you believe in God? Most people are confounded by this question. They always have two entirely different viewpoints about the practical God and the God in heaven, which shows that they believe in God not in order to obey, but to receive certain benefits, or to escape the suffering of disaster. Only then are they somewhat obedient, but their obedience is conditional, it is for the sake of their own personal prospects, and forced upon them. So: why do you believe in God? If it is solely for the sake of your prospects, and your fate, then you’d best not believe.

Eastern Lightning | The Song of Life in Tortures

The Song of Life in Tortures

Gao Jing Henan Province

In 1999, I was fortunate to accept Almighty God’s end-time work. Through reading God’s word, I felt God’s holy, honorable, and righteous disposition, and knew that all these words are the expression of God’s life being. I had inexpressible moving in my heart. For the first time I felt the security and joy in the bottom of my heart brought by the working of the Holy Spirit. Since then, I desired more and more to gain these truths. After entering the Church of Almighty God, I saw that it was a new world completely different from the society. The brothers and sisters were all simple, kind-hearted, pure, and lively. Though we were from different places and had different social backgrounds and statuses, we were as dear as a family and loved and sustained each other, happily staying together. That made me truly feel that the life of worshiping God was so happy, joyful, wonderful, and sweet. Later, I read these words of God, “As a member of mankind and as one of the godly Christians, we all have the responsibility and obligation to offer up our body and heart for the accomplishment of God’s commission, because our whole being comes from God and exists because of God’s sovereignty. If our body and heart are not for God’s commission and not for the just cause of mankind, then our soul will be ashamed to face those who were martyred for God’s commission and will be even more ashamed to face God who provides us with everything.” (from “God Is Sovereign over the Destiny of All Mankind” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) From God’s words, I understood that as a created being, I should live for the Creator and consecrate and spend my whole being for God, and only this is the most worthy and meaningful life. Thus, when I heard that in the remote areas there were still many people who hadn’t heard Almighty God’s end-time gospel, I resolutely said goodbye to the brothers and sisters in my hometown and took the train going afar.

Why God Was Called Jesus in the Age of Grace

Why God Was Called Jesus in the Age of Grace

Why God Was Called Jesus in the Age of Grace

When Jesus began to perform His ministry, the Holy Spirit began to testify to the name of Jesus, and the name of Jehovah was no longer spoken of; instead, the Holy Spirit undertook the new work principally under the name of Jesus. The testimony of those who believed in Him was borne for Jesus Christ, and the work they did was also for Jesus Christ.

Almighty God's Word "Know the Newest Work of God and Follow the Footsteps of God"

Almighty God's Word "Know the Newest Work of God and Follow the Footsteps of God" 

 Almighty God says, "'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.

Gospel Movie "Rapture in Peril" (7) - Can Words Spoken by Man That Are in Line With the Truth Represent the Truth?

Gospel Movie "Rapture in Peril" (7) - Can Words Spoken by Man That Are in Line With the Truth Represent the Truth? 

God is the truth, the way and the life. Only God possesses the substance of the truth. God Himself is the truth. But in the religious world there are many people who consider words spoken by people used by God or who have the work of the Holy Spirit that are in line with the truth to be the truth.

What is following God’s will? Is it following God’s will if one only carries out missionary work for the Lord?

 What is following God’s will? Is it following God’s will if one only carries out missionary work for the Lord?

 What is following God’s will? Is it following God’s will if one only carries out missionary work for the Lord?

Bible Verses for Reference: 

“Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Mat 7 :21-23).