The Church of Almighty God | The Storm Caused at Home by the May 28 Case of Zhaoyuan

The Storm Caused at Home by the May 28 Case of Zhaoyuan

Enhui, China

I’m an ordinary country woman, and I would often be weighed down by the strenuous burdens of the household. Because of this, my temperament became quite violent, and my husband and I were always at each other’s throats day in and day out. Our lives simply couldn’t go on like that. Whenever I was suffering, I would yell, “Heavens! Please save me!” In 2013, the work of Almighty God in the last days chanced upon me. Through reading the word of God and attending gatherings with brothers and sisters, I became certain that Almighty God had been the God whom I had cried out to in my suffering, and then gladly accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days.

The Church of Almighty God | God’s Word Leads Step by Step to Victory

God’s Word Leads Step by Step to Victory

Yili, USA

I was born in a Chinese Christian family, and my grandmother always used to take me to the church for gatherings and to sing hymns in praise of God when I was young…. After I grew up I obtained some grace of the Lord and experienced some of the Lord’s deeds, and I felt even more that the Lord is trustworthy. The Lord’s love for people is the truest, and the Lord’s word has authority and power and can give people hope. Whenever I would sing hymns, pray to the Lord, and read the word of the Lord, I would feel especially steady and tranquil in my heart. I came to the USA in 2007, and was baptized at church in October of 2010, when I began my service. At that time, my heart was impassioned.

The Church of Almighty God | I Have Come to Know How to Distinguish Between the True Christ and False Christs

I Have Come to Know How to Distinguish Between the True Christ and False Christs

Chuanyang, United States

In 2010, the winter in the United States made me feel very cold. In addition to the bitter cold from the combination of wind and snow, what was even more serious was that my heart had been invaded and attacked by a “cold wave.” For those of us in the interior decorating business, winter is the hardest time of the year, because once winter starts there is very little work. We even face losing our jobs. This year was my first year in the United States, I was fresh off the boat, and I felt that everything was unfamiliar to me. Renting an apartment, finding a job, nothing was easy, and my days were full of hardships.

The Church of Almighty God | Without God’s Salvation, I Would Not Be Here Today

Without God’s Salvation, I Would Not Be Here Today

Zhang Jin, Beijing

August 16, 2012

I am an elder sister with two faulty legs. Even when the weather is nice out, I have some trouble walking, but when the floodwaters were about to swallow me up, God allowed me to miraculously escape danger.

It was July 21, 2012. That day a torrential rain fell, and I just happened to be out fulfilling my duty.

Eastern Lightning | Christian Short Sketch "A Warning From History" (English Skit)

Christian Short Sketch "A Warning From History" (English Skit) 

Two thousand years ago, when the Lord Jesus appeared and worked, the Pharisees clung to the laws and condemned His work, saying that His work went beyond the Scriptures. To protect their status and livelihood, they strove with all their might to stop people from seeking the Lord Jesus' work, and joined forces with the Roman government to nail Him to the cross.

Almighty God Has Given Me a Second Chance at Life

Almighty God Has Given Me a Second Chance at Life

Two ordinary brothers and sisters, Beijing

August 15, 2012

July 21, 2012 was a most unforgettable day for me, as well as the most important day of my life.

That day, a heavy rain was falling in Fangshan District in Beijing—the heaviest we had seen there in sixty-one years. A little after 4:00 p.m., I walked out onto the street to have a look and saw that water was everywhere. Our family car was already afloat, and the only reason it had not been carried away by the current yet was that something in front of it was blocking it from moving. The sight made me quite anxious, so I quickly called my husband, who is also a believer, but could not get through no matter how many times I tried. Then, rather than seek God’s will, I instead hurried home to call out for him.

Eastern Lightning | The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven | Notions and Truths | Question 27

Question 27: The Bible is testimony to God’s work; only through reading the Bible can those who believe in the Lord recognize that God created the heavens and earth and all things and see God’s wonderful deeds, His greatness and almightiness. In the Bible there are lots of God’s words and lots of testimonies of man’s experiences; it can provide for the life of man and be of great benefit to man, so what I’d like to pursue is, can we actually attain eternal life through reading the Bible? Is there really no way of eternal life within the Bible?

Answer:

Through reading the Bible we come to understand that God is the Creator of the heavens and earth and all things and we begin to recognize His wondrous deeds. This is because the Bible is a testimony to the first two stages of God’s work. It is a record of the words and work of God and the testimony of man during the Age of Law and the Age of Grace. So, the Bible is very important to our faith. Think about it, if not for the Bible, how would we come to understand the Lord’s word and know the Lord? How else would we witness God’s deeds and begin to develop true faith in God? If we do not read the Bible, how else will we witness the real testimony of all the saints throughout the ages obeying God? So, reading the Bible is essential to the practice of faith, and no believer of the Lord should ever go astray from the Bible. You could say, he who goes astray from the Bible could not believe in the Lord. This is verified in the experiences of saints throughout the ages. No one dares deny the value and meaning of reading the Bible in the practice of faith. So, saints throughout the ages and believers all view reading the Bible as a very important matter. Some would even go so far as to say that, reading the Bible and prayer are as essential as our two legs are for walking, without either we fail to move forward. But the Lord Jesus has said, “Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And you will not come to me, that you might have life” (Jhn 5:39-40). Some people are confused. They think: Given that the Bible is a record of God’s word and man’s testimony, reading the Bible should give us eternal life. Then why is it that the Lord Jesus said there is no eternal life in the Bible? Actually, this is not such a difficult idea. As long as we understand the inside story and the substance of God’s words and work during the Age of Law and the Age of Grace as well as the effect achieved through these words and work, then we’ll naturally come to realize why it is that we cannot receive eternal life through the reading of the Bible. During the Age of Law, Jehovah God’s words were chiefly concerned with promulgating laws, the commandments and ordinances for man to follow. His words were mostly a kind of guide for humanity, which was still in their infancy, to live on earth. These words did not involve changing man’s life disposition. So God’s words during the Age of Law were all aimed at making people abide by the laws and the commandments. Though these words were truth, they represent the very rudimentary truth. During the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus’ words and work were focused on the work of redemption. The words He issued addressed the truth of redemption and taught people that they ought to confess their sins and repent and refrain from sinning and evildoing. These words also taught people the proper way to pray to the Lord and demanded that man should love the Lord with all their heart and soul, love their neighbor as themselves, be tolerant and patient, and forgive others seventy times seven times, etc. These are all included in the way of repentance. So, through reading the Bible, we can only understand the work of God during the Age of Law and the Age of Grace. We come to realize that all things are created by God and learn how to live on earth and how to worship God. We understand what sin is, who are blessed by God and who are cursed by God. We come to know how to confess our sins and repent to God. We learn humility, forbearance, and forgiveness, and know that we ought to take up the cross to follow the Lord. We see for ourselves the unlimited mercy and compassion of the Lord Jesus, and realize that only by coming before the Lord Jesus in faith will we enjoy His abundant grace and truth. The words and work of God during the Age of Law and the Age of Grace as recorded in the Bible were the truth spoken by God according to His plan of saving mankind and the needs of mankind at that point in time. These truths were completely incapable of changing our life disposition and allowing us to attain purification, salvation, and perfection. Thus, the words issued by the Lord Jesus during the Age of Grace can only be called the way of repentance, but not the way of eternal life.

So what is the way of eternal life then? The way of eternal life is the way of truth which allows man to live forever, which is to say, it is the way which allows man to cast off the binds and restraints of his sinful nature, change his life disposition, and allows him to gain the truth as life, thoroughly break free of Satan’s influence, and become compatible with Christ. It allows man to know, obey, and revere God so as to never again sin to oppose or betray God. Only that which can achieve this effect may be called the way of eternal life. Man dies as a result of sin. If man attains the truth as life and solves the problem of sin, God will bless him with eternal life. So, only by receiving the salvation of God in the last days can we enjoy the way of eternal life which God grants to humankind. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die” (Jhn 11:25-26). This is sufficient to prove that mankind’s life and death is in the hands of God; this is God’s authority and no man can change their own fate. Only those who achieve salvation by accepting the work of God in the last days and gaining truth as their lives can obtain eternal life; this is absolutely certain. Therefore, after the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus in the Age of Grace was completed, He promised to return, and at that time 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” (Jhn 16:12-13). The truth expressed by the returned Lord Jesus is the only way of eternal life. This is sufficient to prove that Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. Why doesn’t the Bible contain the way of eternal life? It is primarily because the Bible records God’s previous two stages of work, but it does not contain the truths expressed by God in the last days of cleansing and saving mankind. Therefore, there is no way of eternal life within the Bible. However, this does not diminish the Bible as a testimony to God or the effect the Bible has on its readers. In fact, it is precisely because God who is testified to in the Bible is real, God creating heaven and earth and all living things is true, and testimonies of generations of saints submitting and being loyal to God are true that the position of the Bible in man’s heart has never changed. One could say that generations of saints matured due to the edification they received from the Bible. Even though the corrupt disposition of mankind persists and Satan’s nature still exists and a true cleansing has not yet been gained, nonetheless the saints’ faith in and loyalty to God has never wavered. In fact, many have been martyrs for the Lord, all of whom have borne a beautiful and resounding testimony to the Lord. These are the results of God’s work in the Age of Law and the Age of Grace. We can all clearly see that those with faith in the Lord are countless in number, and even though they have not been cleansed, their life disposition has not changed, and they do not have a true understanding of God, nonetheless their faith is true. God has not forsaken these people and He merely waits for the second coming in the last days where they will be caught up before Him, they will be cleansed by Him, made perfect. In this way, all who have true faith in the Lord and who love truth will gain the way of eternal life that is given by God in the last days. Now we should be clear on the issue of why the Bible cannot grant eternal life, right?

from Answers to Screenplay Questions