Question 15: Some people ask: After believing in the Lord, we practice humility and patience, love our enemies, bear our crosses, abandon worldly things and we work and preach for the Lord and so on. We have achieved a little change. So why must we accept God’s work of judgment in the last days before being able to be cleansed and saved?
Answers:
We can love our enemy, bear the cross, overcome our body, and spread the gospel of the Lord. These are positive behaviors coming from our belief in the Lord. Our exhibition of such good behaviors signifies that our faith in the Lord is true. These good behaviors may appear correct to people, as if these are in line with the word of God, but it does not mean that we are practicing God’s word and following the will of the heavenly Father, it doesn’t mean that we have quit our sinful nature and become sanctified. There is a reason why we cannot just look at people’s good behaviors by appearance. We also need to look at their intentions and ultimate purposes. If our intention is to obey God, love God, and satisfy God, this kind of good behavior is practicing the truth and obeying the will of the heavenly Father. On the other hand, if our good behavior is solely for the solicitation of blessing and reward, for the reward of a crown, but not from a loving heart for God, then this kind of good behavior is the hypocritical behavior of the Pharisees instead of doing the heavenly Father’s will.
My name is Christopher and I am a pastor from a family church in the Philippines. In 1987, I was baptized and returned to the Lord Jesus. By the Lord’s grace, in 1996 I became a pastor of the local church. At that time, apart from preaching in many places around the Philippines, I also preached in places like Hong Kong and Malaysia. Because of the work and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I felt that I had inexhaustible energy in my work for the Lord and an unceasing flow of words in my sermons. I would often go to support brothers and sisters when they were negative and weak. Sometimes members of their family who did not believe in the Lord were unfriendly toward me, yet I could be tolerant and patient and not lose faith in the Lord and I believed that the Lord could change them. So I felt like I had changed a great deal since believing in the Lord. However, since 2011, I have not felt the work of the Holy Spirit as strongly as before. Slowly, I have had no new enlightenment for my sermons and have not had the strength to break free from living in sin. I could not help getting angry at my wife and daughter and teaching them a lesson through my temper when I saw that they were not doing as I desired. I knew that this was not in keeping with the will of the Lord, but often I could not help myself. I felt particularly distressed about this. In order to free myself from a life of sin and confession, I put more effort into reading the Bible, fasting and praying and found spiritual pastors everywhere to seek and explore this together. But all of my efforts were useless and made no difference to me living in sin and to the darkness in my soul.
Question 14: We follow the example of Paul and we work very hard for the Lord, spreading the gospel and bearing witness to the Lord, and shepherding the Lord’s churches, just like Paul: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” Is this not following the will of God? Practicing in this way should mean that we are qualified to be raptured and to enter into the kingdom of heaven, so why must we accept God’s work of judgment and purification in the last days before we can be brought into the kingdom of heaven?
Answer:
The question you raised is critical. It involves whether we can be brought into the kingdom of heaven. Most believers of the Lord think that emulating Paul by sacrificing everything and working hard for the Lord is tantamount to following the way of the Lord and the eligibility to be brought into the kingdom of heaven when the Lord returns. This opinion has become the conception of most believers in the Lord. But is this opinion based on the Lord’s words? Is this pursuit of ours consistent with the Lord’s intention?
One day, I went to my sister’s house to check on our mom. Before leaving, my sister gave me a book, urging me to be sure to read it carefully. I thought to myself: This book that my sister gave me is certainly a spiritual work. It just so happens that my spirit feels quite parched right now, it does not feel like the Lord is with me, and I do not feel illuminated from reading the Bible. When I get back, I ought to read this book carefully. Perhaps it will give me something. After returning home, I opened the book and started reading, and before I knew it I was sucked in by the words in the book. The more I read it the more I enjoyed it, the more I read it the more I felt there was light in these words, that they were enlightened by the Holy Spirit, that there was no way that these words could be spoken by a normal person. Since reading this book, I’ve come to understand some truths that I did not understand before from reading the Bible, and in my mind I feel clarity and joy. I’m willing to pray to get close to the Lord, and my faith has grown. My spiritual condition has gotten better and better. I thought: Only the work of the Holy Spirit can provide man with faith and strength, and provide for and nourish man’s spirit. The words in this book certainly come from the Holy Spirit. As a result, the first thing I do every morning when I wake up is read this book.
Question 13: Some people ask: We believe that the Lord has absolved our sins, and that if someone is saved once, then they are forever saved. Why must we accept God’s work of judgment in the last days before being able to be saved and brought into the kingdom of heaven?
Answers:
All believers think: The LordJesus redeemed us when He died on the cross, so we have already been absolved of all sin. The Lord no longer sees us as sinners. We have become righteous through our faith, and once saved, we are saved forever. As long as we endure until the end, when the Lord returns, we will be directly raptured into the heavenly kingdom. Well, is that the truth? Did God ever give any evidence in His words to back up this claim? If this viewpoint is not in line with the truth, what will the consequences be? We who believe in the Lord should use His own words as our basis for all things. This is especially true when it comes to the question of how to treat the Lord’s return.
Zheng Weiguo (Minister of a municipal United Front Work Department): I want to talk about your belief in God again. Do you know clearly who created The Church of Almighty God? I have worked half a lifetime for the United Front, studying religions for decades. It’s fair to say that I understand various kinds of religions rather well. For more than two decades, we have mainly studied The Church of Almighty God. According to the government’s propaganda materials, The Church of Almighty God was founded by someone named Zhao in northeastern China. This man is the high priest of The Church of Almighty God. He is leading the Church. Believers of The Church of Almighty God claim that he is someone used by the Holy Spirit. They often listen to the preaching of this person who is used by the Holy Spirit, and they listen to him in the administrative work of the church. Although you believers of Almighty God read the word of Almighty God, pray in the name of Almighty God, regard The Word Appears in the Flesh expressed by Almighty God as canonical doctrine, and communicate the word of Almighty God in your congregation, in any case, this person is the one who has the final say in The Church of Almighty God. So we are certain that The Church of Almighty God was created by this person. Both the CCP and the religious community characterize The Church of Almighty God as an organization of man. I think it is true. Do you understand this?
Zheng Yi (A Christian): Dad, the CCP has studied The Church of Almighty God for more than 20 years, do you mean that is the result of such a study? Then tell me, who founded Christianity and Catholicism? Could it be Paul or Peter who was the founder? Who founded Judaism? Could it be Moses? Isn’t it absurd? Dad, you atheists have never acknowledged the existence of God, not to mention the fact of God’s incarnation. No matter the incarnate Christ has expressed how much truth, accomplished how much work, and brought how much salvation to mankind, don’t you all endeavor to deny, cover up and condemn Him? Dad, do you think that Christianity and Catholicism were founded by man, so these are organizations of man? This is your greatest absurdity. Had the LordJesus not appeared to work, no believers or followers of the Lord would have been engendered, let alone the creation of Christianity. Isn’t this the fact? How could the apostles have created a church on the merit of their own giftedness alone? Dad, can you go by people’s reception of the leadership and shepherding of Peter, John and other apostles and say that Christianity was founded by the apostles, hence it is an organization of man? Dad, The Church of Almighty God was begotten entirely by the appearance and work of Almighty God. It was because people heard the voice of God from many truths expressed by Almighty God that they returned before God and coalesced into the church. Upon appearing to work, Almighty God personally witnessed the man used by the Holy Spirit, who is the leader of The Church of Almighty God. Just as Moses in the Age of Law and the apostles in the Age of Grace, he is the man used by God to do his duty to water, shepherd and lead the chosen people of God. Dad, your Communist Party denies God’s work and all the truths expressed by God, even denying that the One believed in and followed by the chosen people of God is the incarnate God. Isn’t there an ulterior motive? Had it not been the appearance and work of Almighty God, The Church of Almighty God would not have been begotten, and it would not exist. This is an undeniable fact. The CCP is consciously aware that the Christians of The Church of Almighty God pray in the name of Almighty God. What they read and communicate in congregation is the word of Almighty God. Why does the CCP still tell such glaring lies? The One God’s chosen people of The Church of Almighty God believe in is Almighty God. God’s chosen people follow the leadership of the man who is used by the Holy Spirit according to the word of Almighty God. This is a fact.
Zheng Rui (A Christian): Dad, you will know clearly when I read two passages of Almighty God’s word to you. Almighty God says, “The work carried out by the one who is used by God is in order to cooperate with the work of Christ or the Holy Spirit. This man is raised up by God among man, he is there to lead all of God’s chosen ones, and he is also raised up by God in order to do the work of human cooperation. … He who is used by God, on the other hand, is someone who has been prepared by God, and who possesses a certain caliber, and has humanity. He has been prepared and made perfect in advance by the Holy Spirit, and is completely led by the Holy Spirit, and, particularly when it comes to his work, he is directed and commanded by the Holy Spirit—as a result of which there is no deviation on the path of leading God’s chosen ones, for God surely takes responsibility for His own work, and God does His own work at all times” (The Word Appears in the Flesh). Dad, in “The Ten Administrative Decrees That Must Be Obeyed by God’s Chosen People in the Age of Kingdom,” the seventh administrative decree also states clearly: “In work and matters of the church, apart from obeying God, in everything you should follow the instructions of the man who is used by the Holy Spirit. Even the slightest infraction is unacceptable. You must be absolute in your compliance, and must not analyze right or wrong; what’s right or wrong has nothing to do with you. You must only concern yourself with total obedience” (The Word Appears in the Flesh).
Zheng Rui: Dad, God’s chosen people’s acceptance of the leadership and watering of the man used by the Holy Spirit is practicing God’s word and obeying God. When your CCP studied The Church of Almighty God, why didn’t it take the time to read Almighty God’s word? Why hasn’t it seen the ten administrative decrees of Almighty God? Why didn’t you seek from God’s chosen people of The Church of Almighty God and let them communicate the truth to you? You merely studied The Church of Almighty God from the outside without reading Almighty God’s word and understanding God’s work, how could you really understand The Church of Almighty God？
Zheng Yi: Dad, why does the CCP government keep saying that The Church of Almighty God is an organization of man? Why hasn’t it said a word about the incarnate God? Why hasn’t it mentioned a word about the book The Word Appears in the Flesh? Actually, what the CCP fears most is the truth expressed by Almighty God, because the CCP knows deep down that all the believers of Almighty God have accepted Almighty God after reading the book The Word Appears in the Flesh. So the CCP distracts people’s attention by saying that The Church of Almighty God is an organization of man created by man to intentionally conceal the fact of Almighty God, Christ of the last days, appearing to work, so people will pay attention to this person. The CCP does this in order to stop people from believing in and following God. This is its real purpose. The CCP distorts the facts and asserts that the church where God appears to work is an organization of man. This is the CCP’s excuse for suppressing and persecuting God’s church. The CCP is too cunning and vicious! Dad, isn’t what I said the truth? You have to distinguish between them. You must not listen to the rumors of the CCP anymore!
