How can we ascertain that Almighty God is the returned Jesus? | Eastern Lightning

       The answer from God’s word:

“… first, He is able to open up a new age; second, He is able to supply the life of man and show man the way to follow. This is sufficient to establish that He is God Himself. At the very least, the work He does can fully represent the Spirit of God, and from such work it can be seen that the Spirit of God is within Him. As the work done by the incarnate God was mainly to usher in a new age, lead new work, and open up new circumstances, these few conditions alone are sufficient to establish that He is God Himself. …”

from “The Difference Between the Ministry of the Incarnate God and the Duty of Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

I Experienced God’s Salvation | Eastern Lightning

Cheng Hao    Yongzhou City, Hunan Province

The Picture is Form The Church of Almighty God

By the grace of God, my wife and I were promoted to the second-line gospel team to fulfill our duties. A little while ago, my wife was promoted to team director, while I, as a result of my own arrogance and wanton behavior, lost the work of the Holy Spirit and was sent home to reflect on my actions. Given that my wife and I began fulfilling our duties at the same time, it was a hard pill to swallow seeing her promoted while I was dismissed from my duties. Tears came to my eyes as I thought: “It’s over for me. God is separating out each after his kind and, given that I’ve been dismissed, this is certainly that I’ve been revealed and eliminated. Oh! Who would have thought that after all these years, my life as a believer would end in such utter failure. All I can do now is wait for my punishment.” Then I headed home with a heavy heart. From then on I became mired in defeat and full of misunderstanding and blame for God. I was hopelessly sunk in darkness.

Why is it that the church of Almighty God has become more and more prosperous while the churches of the Age of Grace are all so desolate?

The answer from God’s word:

“The clearest expression of the Holy Spirit’s work is in embracing the here and now, not clinging to the past. Those who have not kept up with the work of today, and who have become separated from the practice of today, are those who oppose and do not accept the work of the Holy Spirit. Such people defy the present work of God. Though they hold onto the light of the past, this does not mean it is possible to deny that they do not know the work of the Holy Spirit. … If man remains stuck in one stage, then this proves that he is incapable of keeping up with God’s work and the new light; it does not prove that God’s plan of management has not changed. Those who are outside the stream of the Holy Spirit always think they are right, but in fact, God’s work in them ceased long ago, and the work of the Holy Spirit is absent from them. The work of God was long since transferred to another group of people, a group on whom He intends to complete His new work. Because those in religion are incapable of accepting God’s new work, and only hold to the old work of the past, thus God has forsaken these people, and does His new work on the people who accept this new work. These are people who cooperate in His new work, and only in this way can His management be accomplished. The management of God is always moving forward, and the practice of man is always ascending higher. God is always working, and man is always in need, such that both reach their zenith, God and man are in complete union. This is the expression of the accomplishment of God’s work, and is the final outcome of God’s entire management.

The Last Christ Is the Lord of the Judgment and the One Who Opens the Scroll. | The Church of Almighty God

1 Almighty God is the all-powerful, all-accomplishing, and complete true God! He not only takes the seven stars, bears the seven Spirits, has the seven eyes, breaks the seven seals, and opens the scroll, but He is much more in control of the seven plagues and seven bowls and reveals the seven thunders. And He has already sounded the seven trumpets! All things He created and all that He has accomplished should give praise to Him, give glory to Him, and exalt His throne. O Almighty God! You are everything, and You have accomplished everything. With You, all is accomplished, all is bright, all is released, all is free, and all is strong and powerful! Nothing is hidden or concealed. With You, all the mysteries have been unlocked. And You have judged all Your enemies. You have revealed Your majesty, Your consuming fire, Your wrath, and much more, all Your infinite glory which has never been revealed before and which exists from everlasting to everlasting! All peoples should wake up and cheer and sing as best they can, praising this glorious true God who is all-powerful, all-true, all-living, and all-bountiful and who exists from everlasting to everlasting.

from “The Thirty-fourth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

When You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus Will Be When God Has Made Anew Heaven and Earth | Eastern Lightning

Do you wish to see Jesus? Do you wish to live with Jesus? Do you wish to hear the words spoken by Jesus? If so, then how will you welcome the return of Jesus? Are you fully prepared? In what manner will you welcome Jesus’ return? I think that every brother and sister who follows Jesus would like to give Jesus a good welcome. But have you considered whether you will truly know Jesus when He returns? Will you truly comprehend everything that He says? Will you truly accept, unconditionally, all of the work that He does? All those who have read the Bible know of Jesus’ return, and all those who have read the Bible intently await His coming. You are all fixated upon the arrival of that moment, and your sincerity is laudable, your faith is truly enviable, but do you realize you’ve committed a grave error? In what manner will Jesus return? You believe that Jesus will return upon a white cloud, but I ask you: To what does this white cloud refer? With so many followers of Jesus awaiting His return, among which people shall He descend? If you are the first among whom Jesus descends, will others not see this as grossly unfair? I know that you are of great sincerity and loyalty toward Jesus, but have you ever met Jesus? Do you know His disposition? Have you ever lived with Him? How much do you really understand about Him? Some will say that these words put them in an awkward predicament. They will say, “I’ve read the Bible from cover to cover so many times. How could I not understand Jesus? Never mind Jesus’ disposition—I even know the color of the clothes He liked to wear. Do You not belittle me when You say I don’t understand Him?” I suggest that you do not dispute these issues; it is better to calm down and fellowship about the following questions: Firstly, do you know what is reality, and what is theory? Secondly, do you know what is conception, and what is truth? Thirdly, do you know what is imagined, and what is real?

The Truths About the Incarnation | The Church of Almighty God

1 God’s saving of man is not done directly through the means of the Spirit or as the Spirit, for His Spirit can neither be touched nor seen by man, and cannot be approached by man. If He tried to save man directly in the manner of the Spirit, man would be unable to receive His salvation. And if not for God putting on the outward form of a created man, they would be unable to receive this salvation. For man can in no way approach Him, much like how none could go near the cloud of Jehovah. Only by becoming a man of creation, that is, putting His word into the flesh He will become, can He personally work the word into all who follow Him. Only then can man hear for himself His word, see His word, and receive His word, then through this be fully saved. If God did not become flesh, no fleshly man would receive such great salvation, nor would a single man be saved. If the Spirit of God worked directly among man, man would be smitten or completely carried away captive by Satan because man is unable to associate with God.

from “The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Is Jesus’ Redemptive Work the Work of Ending the Age? | The Church of Almighty God

1 At the time Jesus’ work was the redemption of all mankind. The sins of all who believed in Him were forgiven; as long as you believed in Him, He would redeem you; if you believed in Him, you were no longer a sinner, you were relieved of your sins. This is what it meant to be saved, and to be justified by faith. Yet in those who believed, there remained that which was rebellious and opposed God, and which still had to be slowly removed. Salvation did not mean man had been completely gained by Jesus, but that man was no longer of sin, that he had been forgiven his sins: Provided you believed, you would never more be of sin. … Jesus did not come to perfect and gain man, but to do one stage of work: bringing forth the gospel of the kingdom of heaven and completing the work of the crucifixion—and so once Jesus was crucified, His work came to a complete end. But in the current stage—the work of conquest—more words must be spoken, more work must be done, and there must be many processes. So too must the mysteries of the work of Jesus and Jehovah be revealed, so that all people may have understanding and clarity in their belief, for this is the work of the last days, and the last days are the end of God’s work, the time of this work’s conclusion.

from “The Vision of God’s Work (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Is God Greater or Is the Bible Greater? A Talk About the Relationship Between God and the Bible | Eastern Lightning

Is God Greater or Is the Bible Greater? A Talk About the Relationship Between God and the Bible

1 For many years, people’s traditional means of belief (that of Christianity, one of the world’s three major religions) has been to read the Bible; departure from the Bible is not the belief in the Lord, departure from the Bible is an evil cult, and heresy, and even when people read other books, the foundation of these books must be the explanation of the Bible. Which is to say, if you say you believe in the Lord, then you must read the Bible, you must eat and drink the Bible, and outside the Bible you must not worship any book that does not involve the Bible. If you do, then you are betraying God. From the time when there was the Bible, people’s belief in the Lord has been the belief in the Bible. Instead of saying people believe in the Lord, it is better to say they believe in the Bible; rather than saying they have begun reading the Bible, it is better to say they have begun believing in the Bible; and rather than saying they have returned before the Lord, it would be better to say they have returned before the Bible. In this way, people worship the Bible as if it were God, as if it were their lifeblood and losing it would be the same as losing their life. People see the Bible as being as high as God, and there are even those who see it as higher than God. If people are without the work of the Holy Spirit, if they cannot feel God, they can carry on living—but as soon as they lose the Bible, or lose the famous chapters and sayings from the Bible, then it is as if they have lost their life. And so, as soon as people believe in the Lord they begin reading the Bible, and memorizing the Bible, and the more of the Bible they are able to memorize, the more this proves that they love the Lord and are of great faith. Those who have read the Bible and can speak of it to others are all good brothers and sisters. For all these years, people’s faith and loyalty to the Lord has been measured according to the extent of their understanding of the Bible. Most people simply don’t understand why they should believe in God, nor how to believe in God, and do nothing but search blindly for clues to decipher the chapters of the Bible. They have never pursued the direction of the work of the Holy Spirit; all along, they have done nothing but desperately study and investigate the Bible, and no one has ever found newer work of the Holy Spirit outside of the Bible, no one has ever departed from the Bible, nor have they ever dared to depart from the Bible. People have studied the Bible for all these years, they have come up with so many explanations, and put in so much work; they also have many differences of opinion about the Bible, which they debate endlessly, such that over two thousand different denominations have been formed today. They all want to find some special explanations, or more profound mysteries in the Bible, they want to explore it, and to find in it the background to Jehovah’s work in Israel, or the background to Jesus’ work in Judea, or more mysteries that no one else knows. People’s approach to the Bible is one of obsession and faith, and no one can be completely clear about the inside story or substance of the Bible. Thus, the result is that today, people still have an indescribable sense of magicalness when it comes to the Bible; even more than that, they are obsessed with it, and have faith in it. Today, everyone wants to find the prophecies of the work of the last days in the Bible, they want to discover what work God does during the last days, and what omens there are for the last days. In this way, their worship of the Bible becomes more fervent, and the closer it gets to the last days, the more credence they give to the prophecies of the Bible, particularly those about the last days. With such blind belief in the Bible, with such trust in the Bible, they have no desire to seek the work of the Holy Spirit. In people’s conceptions, they think that only the Bible can bring the work of the Holy Spirit; only in the Bible can they find the footsteps of God; only in the Bible are hidden the mysteries of God’s work; only the Bible—not other books or people—can clarify everything of God and the entirety of His work; the Bible can bring the work of heaven to earth; and the Bible can both begin and conclude the ages. With these conceptions, people have no inclination to search for the work of the Holy Spirit. So, regardless of how much of a help the Bible was to people in the past, it has become an obstacle to God’s latest work. Without the Bible, people can search for the footsteps of God elsewhere, yet today, His footsteps have been “contained” by the Bible, and extending His latest work has become double difficult, and an uphill struggle. This is all because of the famous chapters and sayings from the Bible, as well as the various prophecies of the Bible. The Bible has become an idol in people’s minds, it has become a puzzle in their brains, and they are simply incapable of believing that God can work exclusive of the Bible, they are incapable of believing that people can find God outside of the Bible, much less are they able to believe that God could depart from the Bible during the final work and start anew. This is unthinkable to people; they can’t believe it, and neither can they imagine it. The Bible has become a great obstacle to people’s acceptance of God’s new work, and has made it difficult to broaden this new work.

from “Concerning the Bible (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The Love of God’s Salvation for Mankind | The Church of Almighty God

Danyi    Sichuan Province

There is a feeling of guilt that wells up in my heart every time I see these words of God: “The biggest problem with man is that he thinks of nothing but his fate and prospects, that he idolizes them. Man pursues God for the sake of his fate and prospects; he does not worship God because of his love for Him. And so, in the conquest of man, man’s selfishness, greed and the things that most obstruct his worship of God must all be eliminated. In doing so, the effects of man’s conquest will be achieved. As a result, in the earliest conquest of man it is necessary to first purge the wild ambitions and most grievous weaknesses of man, and, through this, to reveal man’s love of God, and change his knowledge of human life, his view of God, and the meaning of his existence. In this way, man’s love of God is cleansed, which is to say, man’s heart is conquered” (“Restoring the Normal Life of Man and Taking Him to a Wonderful Destination” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). It has only been through time and time again of God’s judgment and chastisement that I have finally come to my senses and recognized that what God requires is mankind’s single-minded, pure love, and that it is right and proper for all creations to seek to love God and fulfill their duty. I also recognized that when people are no longer constrained by their future destiny and are able to live for God, the work of conquest on them will bear fruit. However, when I was working as a leader, I wasn’t putting my effort into pursuing the truth; I was always ruled by thoughts of my future destiny. Because of this, I would often undergo refinement to the point that I became negative, and this was not only a loss within my own life, but it also damaged my work in the house of God. However, God didn’t deal with me based on my transgressions. He gave me many opportunities to repent. There was the judgment and chastisement as well as the bitter refinements from God’s words, the sustenance, comfort, support, and shepherding from His words, the Holy Spirit leading me, enlightening me, and illuminating the path for me time and time again—only through these things was I able to step by step break free from Satan’s snare, not lose my way, and embark on the proper path in life. When I reflect on God’s salvation of me, the past is very vivid.

A Selection From the Four Passages of God’s Word on “Concerning the Bible”

1. For many years, people’s traditional means of belief (that of Christianity, one of the world’s three major religions) has been to read the Bible; departure from the Bible is not the belief in the Lord, departure from the Bible is an evil cult, and heresy, and even when people read other books, the foundation of these books must be the explanation of the Bible. Which is to say, if you say you believe in the Lord, then you must read the Bible, you must eat and drink the Bible, and outside the Bible you must not worship any book that does not involve the Bible. If you do, then you are betraying God. From the time when there was the Bible, people’s belief in the Lord has been the belief in the Bible. Instead of saying people believe in the Lord, it is better to say they believe in the Bible; rather than saying they have begun reading the Bible, it is better to say they have begun believing in the Bible; and rather than saying they have returned before the Lord, it would be better to say they have returned before the Bible. In this way, people worship the Bible as if it were God, as if it were their lifeblood and losing it would be the same as losing their life. People see the Bible as being as high as God, and there are even those who see it as higher than God. If people are without the work of the Holy Spirit, if they cannot feel God, they can carry on living—but as soon as they lose the Bible, or lose the famous chapters and sayings from the Bible, then it is as if they have lost their life. And so, as soon as people believe in the Lord they begin reading the Bible, and memorizing the Bible, and the more of the Bible they are able to memorize, the more this proves that they love the Lord and are of great faith. Those who have read the Bible and can speak of it to others are all good brothers and sisters. For all these years, people’s faith and loyalty to the Lord has been measured according to the extent of their understanding of the Bible. Most people simply don’t understand why they should believe in God, nor how to believe in God, and do nothing but search blindly for clues to decipher the chapters of the Bible. They have never pursued the direction of the work of the Holy Spirit; all along, they have done nothing but desperately study and investigate the Bible, and no one has ever found newer work of the Holy Spirit outside of the Bible, no one has ever departed from the Bible, nor have they ever dared to depart from the Bible. People have studied the Bible for all these years, they have come up with so many explanations, and put in so much work; they also have many differences of opinion about the Bible, which they debate endlessly, such that over two thousand different denominations have been formed today. They all want to find some special explanations, or more profound mysteries in the Bible, they want to explore it, and to find in it the background to Jehovah’s work in Israel, or the background to Jesus’ work in Judea, or more mysteries that no one else knows. People’s approach to the Bible is one of obsession and faith, and no one can be completely clear about the inside story or substance of the Bible. Thus, the result is that today, people still have an indescribable sense of magicalness when it comes to the Bible; even more than that, they are obsessed with it, and have faith in it. Today, everyone wants to find the prophecies of the work of the last days in the Bible, they want to discover what work God does during the last days, and what omens there are for the last days. In this way, their worship of the Bible becomes more fervent, and the closer it gets to the last days, the more credence they give to the prophecies of the Bible, particularly those about the last days. With such blind belief in the Bible, with such trust in the Bible, they have no desire to seek the work of the Holy Spirit. In people’s conceptions, they think that only the Bible can bring the work of the Holy Spirit; only in the Bible can they find the footsteps of God; only in the Bible are hidden the mysteries of God’s work; only the Bible—not other books or people—can clarify everything of God and the entirety of His work; the Bible can bring the work of heaven to earth; and the Bible can both begin and conclude the ages. With these conceptions, people have no inclination to search for the work of the Holy Spirit. So, regardless of how much of a help the Bible was to people in the past, it has become an obstacle to God’s latest work. Without the Bible, people can search for the footsteps of God elsewhere, yet today, His footsteps have been “contained” by the Bible, and extending His latest work has become double difficult, and an uphill struggle. This is all because of the famous chapters and sayings from the Bible, as well as the various prophecies of the Bible. The Bible has become an idol in people’s minds, it has become a puzzle in their brains, and they are simply incapable of believing that God can work exclusive of the Bible, they are incapable of believing that people can find God outside of the Bible, much less are they able to believe that God could depart from the Bible during the final work and start anew. This is unthinkable to people; they can’t believe it, and neither can they imagine it. The Bible has become a great obstacle to people’s acceptance of God’s new work, and has made it difficult to broaden this new work.

from “Concerning the Bible (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

I Held Fast to the Bible and Became a Pharisee of the Present Age | The Church of Almighty God

Feng Gang

Shangqiu City, Henan Province

In May 2002, I accepted the gospel of the last days of Almighty God. When I went to preach to the brothers and sisters of my former denomination with guilt, they said to me, “In the past, you didn’t allow us to have contact with the believers in Almighty God, and said that they would gouge out people’s eyes and cut off their noses and commit adultery. But now you yourself have followed them. You are an apostate. How can you have the face to come to preach to us? …” When I heard those words, my thoughts returned to the past…

Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life | Eastern Lightning

Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life

Eternal-Life_Almighty-God

The way of life is not something that can be possessed by just anyone, nor is it easily obtainable by all. That is because life can only come from God, which is to say, only God Himself possesses the substance of life, there is no way of life without God Himself, and so only God is the source of life, and the ever-flowing wellspring of living water of life. 

I Was Conquered by Almighty God’s Word During My Resisting Him

Li Jun
Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province

The Picture is From The Church of Almighty God

I was formerly a key co-worker of the Justification by Faith Church, and I lived in Shuangyashan City. In 1992, I turned to the Lord Jesus because of my wife’s long-term illness. Not long afterward, my wife gradually grew better, and a year later she recovered. To repay the Lord’s love, my wife and I pursued hard, and we never lagged behind in attending meetings and preaching the gospel. Later, I was assigned by our church to work in other places and support the churches there all year round. At that time, I was full of enthusiasm and felt that believing in the Lord was the most meaningful thing and at no time would I leave the Lord.

Seeing My True Colors Clearly

Seeing My True Colors Clearly

Xiaoxiao    Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Due to the needs of the church’s work, I was reallocated to another place to fulfill my duty. At the time, the gospel work at that place was at a low ebb, and the situation of brothers and sisters was generally not good. But because I was touched by the Holy Spirit, I still took on everything that was entrusted with full confidence. After accepting the entrustment, I felt full of responsibility, full of enlightenment, and even thought I had quite a bit of resolve. I believed I was capable and could perform this job well. In reality, at the time I had no knowledge whatsoever of the work of the Holy Spirit or my own nature. I was living completely in self-satisfaction and self-admiration.

VI Questions and Answers About Salvation and Final Salvation | The Church of Almighty God

VI Questions and Answers About Salvation and Final Salvation

Question 3: The Bible says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). By faith in Jesus Christ, we are no longer condemned and will enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Truths About the Incarnation | The Church of Almighty God

Ⅲ The Truths About the Incarnation

1 God’s saving of man is not done directly through the means of the Spirit or as the Spirit, for His Spirit can neither be touched nor seen by man, and cannot be approached by man. If He tried to save man directly in the manner of the Spirit, man would be unable to receive His salvation. And if not for God putting on the outward form of a created man, they would be unable to receive this salvation. For man can in no way approach Him, much like how none could go near the cloud of Jehovah. Only by becoming a man of creation, that is, putting His word into the flesh He will become, can He personally work the word into all who follow Him. Only then can man hear for himself His word, see His word, and receive His word, then through this be fully saved. If God did not become flesh, no fleshly man would receive such great salvation, nor would a single man be saved. If the Spirit of God worked directly among man, man would be smitten or completely carried away captive by Satan because man is unable to associate with God.

from “The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Chapter 1 You Must Know That Only Almighty God Is the One True God Who Created the Heavens and the Earth and Everything in Them

2. Almighty God Is the Returned Jesus.
Relevant Words of God:

God is incarnated in the Chinese mainland, what the compatriots in Hong Kong and Taiwan call the inland. When God came from above to the earth, no one in heaven and earth knew about it, for this is the true meaning of God returning in a concealed fashion. He has been in the flesh working and living for a long time, yet no one has known about it. Even to this day, no one recognizes it. Perhaps this will remain an eternal riddle. God’s coming into flesh this time is not something anyone is able to be aware of. No matter how large-scale and powerful the Spirit’s work, God always stays composed, never giving Himself away. One can say that it is as if this stage of His work is taking place in the heavenly realm. Even though it is perfectly obvious to everyone, no one recognizes it. When God finishes this stage of His work, everyone will awake from their long dream and reverse their past attitude.[a] I remember God once saying, “Coming into flesh this time is like falling into the tiger’s den.” What this means is that because this round of God’s work has God coming into flesh and being born in the dwelling place of the great red dragon, His coming to earth this time is accompanied even more so with extreme dangers. What He faces are knives and guns and clubs; what He faces is temptation; what He faces are crowds wearing murderous looks. He risks being killed at any moment. God did come with wrath. However, He came in order to do the work of perfection, meaning to do the second part of His work that continues after redemption work. For the sake of this stage of His work, God has devoted utmost thought and care and is using every conceivable means to avoid the assaults of temptation, concealing Himself humbly and never flaunting His identity. In rescuing man off the cross, Jesus was only completing redemption work; He was not doing perfection work. Thus only half of God’s work was being done, and finishing the redemption work was only half of His whole plan. As the new age was about to begin and the old one about to recede, God the Father began to deliberate the second part of His work and started preparing for it. In the past, this incarnation in the last days may not have been prophesied, and therefore that laid a foundation for the increased secrecy surrounding God’s coming into flesh this time. At the break of dawn, unbeknownst to any, God came to earth and began His life in the flesh. People were unaware of this moment. Maybe they were all fast asleep, maybe many who were watchfully awake were waiting, and maybe many were praying silently to God in heaven. Yet among all these many people, not one knew that God had already arrived on earth. God worked like this so as to more smoothly carry out His work and achieve better results, and it was also to avoid more temptations. As man’s spring slumber breaks, God’s work will have long been finished and He shall depart, bringing to a close His life of roaming and sojourning on earth. Because God’s work requires God to act and speak personally, and because there is no way for man to help, God has endured extreme pain to come to earth to do the work Himself. Man is unable to stand in for God’s work. Therefore God risked dangers several thousand times greater than those during the Age of Grace to come down to where the great red dragon dwells to do His own work, to put all His thinking and care into redeeming this group of impoverished people, redeeming this group of people mired in a heap of manure. Even though no one knows of God’s existence, God is not troubled because it greatly benefits God’s work. Everyone is atrociously evil, so how can anyone tolerate God’s existence? That is why on earth God is always silent. No matter how excessively cruel man is, God does not take any of it to heart, but just keeps doing the work He needs to do so as to fulfill the greater commission that the heavenly Father gave Him. Who among you has recognized God’s loveliness? Who shows more consideration for God the Father’s burden than His Son does? Who is able to understand the will of God the Father? God the Father’s Spirit in heaven is often troubled, and His Son on earth prays frequently over God the Father’s will, worrying His heart to pieces. Is there anyone who knows of God the Father’s love for His Son? Is there anyone who knows how the beloved Son misses God the Father? Torn between heaven and earth, the two are constantly gazing after each other from afar, side by side in Spirit. O mankind! When will you be considerate of God’s heart? When will you understand God’s intention? Father and Son have always depended on each other. Why then should They be separated, one in heaven above and one on earth below? The Father loves His Son as the Son loves His Father. Why then should He have to wait with such longing and long with such anxiety? Although They have not been separated for long, does anyone know that the Father has already been anxiously yearning for so many days and nights and has long been looking forward to His beloved Son’s quick return? He observes, He sits in silence, He waits. It is all for His beloved Son’s quick return. When will He again be with the Son who is wandering on earth? Even though once together, They will be together for eternity, how can He endure the thousands of days and nights of separation, one in heaven above and one on earth below? Tens of years on earth are like thousands of years in heaven. How could God the Father not worry? When God comes to earth, He experiences the many vicissitudes of the human world just as man does. God Himself is innocent, so why let God suffer the same pain as man? No wonder God the Father longs so urgently for His Son; who can understand God’s heart? God gives man too much; how can man adequately repay God’s heart? Yet man gives God too little; how could God not therefore be worried?

The Conversion of a Son of Disobedience | The Church of Almighty God

Li Baosen

Tieling City, Liaoning Province

In the fall of 1996, I accepted the Lord Jesus in the True Jesus Church. Later, I became a preacher, responsible for shepherding over thirty churches in my parish.

At a co-worker meeting in 1999, Elder Li from Shenyang said to us, “In recent years, there has arisen a sect called ‘Eastern Lightning.’ They preach that the Lord has been incarnated the second time, even as a female. They grow so rapidly in number that nothing can stand in their way. Whoever believes in Jesus is a target hunted by them. They belong to an underworld organization. In order to convert a believer in the Lord, they either seduce him with beauty and buy him off with money or threaten him with violence. If he refuses to obey them, they will break his arms or legs, or cut off his nose or ears. Many elders, deacons, and believers of our denomination have been taken captive by them. Now they have come to Changtu area, so you must take stringent precautions and keep a good watch over the flock lest any brother or sister be taken captive by them. …” I did not doubt about his words at all. From then on, whichever church I went to, I wantonly spread the elder’s words and even made up the rumor: “This gang of people of ‘Eastern Lightning’ are promiscuous, extremely filthy.” In order to better prevent the brothers and sisters from being converted to “Eastern Lightning,” I personally taught them in detail how to guard against and resist it.

Realizing I’ve Been Walking the Path of the Pharisees | Eastern Lightning

Wuxin

Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province

Something we have always discussed in previous communions is the paths walked by Peter and Paul. It is said that Peter paid attention to knowing himself and God, and was someone God approved, while Paul only paid attention to his work, reputation and status, and was someone God despised. I have always been afraid of walking Paul’s path, which is why I normally often read God’s words about Peter’s experiences to see how he came to know God. After living like this for a while, I felt I had become more obedient than before, my desire for reputation and status had dimmed, and that I had gotten to know myself a little. At this time, I believed that even though I was not completely on Peter’s path, it could be said that I had touched the edge of it, and at least it meant I was not heading down Paul’s path. However, I would be shamed by the revelations of God’s word.

The Holy Spirit Works in a Principled Way | Eastern Lightning

Qin Shuting
Linyi City, Shandong Province

For some time, although I had not ceased to eat and drink the words of God, I never felt the light. I had prayed to God for this but, afterward, I had still not been enlightened. So I thought, “I have eaten and drunk what I should have and God is not enlightening me. There is nothing I can do, and I do not have the faculty to receive God’s words. There is a time for God to enlighten each man, so there is no use in trying to rush it.” Afterward, I kept the rules and ate and drank the words of God without anxiety, “patiently” awaiting God’s enlightenment.

Chapter 7. View Yourself Correctly and Do Not Give Up on Truth | Eastern Lightning

Chapter 7. View Yourself Correctly and Do Not Give Up on Truth

People are always unable to correctly view their own strengths and weaknesses, which unconsciously influences their knowledge of God. There are some people who even give up on themselves and lose hope, who do not seek to change their disposition, and are not willing to suffer hardships to put the truth into practice; these people think they have never changed. Actually, these people have changed, yet they themselves are not able to realize it: Instead they only look at their problems, and are not willing to cooperate with God. This not only delays their normal entry, but will also increase their misunderstandings about God, and even more so have an effect on their destination. Therefore, this issue must be one you should carefully study so as to gain deeper entry, and reach the change effects that you should be obtaining.

The Experiences of Peter: His Knowledge of Chastisement and Judgment | Eastern Lightning

    When he was being chastised by God, Peter prayed, “O God! My flesh is disobedient, and You chastise me and judge me. I rejoice in Your chastisement and judgment, and even if You do not want me, in Your judgment I behold Your holy and righteous disposition. When You judge me, so that others may behold Your righteous disposition in Your judgment, I feel content. If it can show forth Your disposition, and allow Your righteous disposition to be seen by all creatures, and if it can make my love of You purer, so that I can attain the image of one who is righteous, then Your judgment is good, for such is Your gracious will. I know that there is still much in me that is rebellious, and that I am still not fit to come before You. I wish for You to judge me even more, whether through a hostile environment or great tribulations; no matter how You judge me, to me it is precious. Your love is so profound, and I am willing to lay myself at Your mercy without the slightest complaint.” This is Peter’s knowledge after he experienced the work of God, and is also a testimony to his love of God. Today, you have already been conquered—but how is this conquest expressed in you? Some people say, “My conquest is the supreme grace and exaltation of God. Only now do I realize that the life of man is hollow and without significance. Living is so pointless, I’d rather be dead. Though man spends his life rushing about, producing and raising generation after generation of children, man is ultimately left with nothing. Today, only after being conquered by God have I seen that there is no value to living in this way; it really is a meaningless life. We may as well die and be done with it!” Can such people who have been conquered be gained by God? Can they become specimens and models? Such people are a lesson in passiveness, they have no aspirations, and do not strive to improve themselves! Even though they count as having been conquered, such passive people are incapable of being made perfect. At the near end of his life, after he had been made perfect, Peter said, “O God! If I were to live a few more years, I would wish to achieve a purer and deeper love of You.” When he was about to be nailed to the cross, in his heart he prayed, “O God! Your time has now arrived, the time You prepared for me has arrived. I must be crucified for You, I must bear this testimony to You, and I hope that my love can satisfy Your requirements, and that it can become purer. Today, to be able to die for You, and be nailed to the cross for You, is comforting and reassuring to me, for nothing is more gratifying to me than to be able to be crucified for You and satisfy Your wishes, and to be able to give myself to You, to offer up my life to You. O God! You are so lovely! Were You to allow me to live, I would be even more willing to love You. As long as I am alive, I will love You. I wish to love You more deeply. You judge me, and chastise me, and try me because I am not righteous, because I have sinned. And Your righteous disposition becomes more apparent to me. This is a blessing to me, for I am able to love You more deeply, and I am willing to love You in this way even if You do not love me. I am willing to behold Your righteous disposition, for this makes me more able to live out a life of meaning. I feel that my life now is more meaningful, for I am crucified for Your sake, and it is meaningful to die for You. Yet still I do not feel satisfied, for I know too little of You, I know that I cannot completely fulfill Your wishes, and have repaid You too little. In my life, I have been incapable of returning my entirety to You; I am far from that. As I look back at this moment, I feel so indebted to You, and I have but this moment to make up for all of my mistakes and all the love that I have not repaid You.”

God's word | Eastern Lightning

You Ought to Consider Your Deeds

Judging from the actions and deeds in your life, you are all in need of a passage of words every day to supply and replenish you, for you are too lacking, and your knowledge and ability to receive are too meager. In your daily lives, you live in an atmosphere and environment without truth or good sense. You lack the capital for existence and do not have the foundation to know Me or the truth. Your faith is merely built upon a vague confidence or upon religious rituals and knowledge based wholly on doctrine. Every day I watch your movements and examine your intentions and evil fruits. I have never found one who truly placed his heart and spirit upon My altar, which has never been moved. Therefore, I do not wish to pour out in vain all the words I wish to express upon such mankind. In My heart, I am planning only to complete My unfinished work and to bring salvation to the mankind that I have yet to save. Nevertheless, I wish for all who follow Me to receive My salvation and the truth My word bestows upon man. I hope that one day when you close your eyes, you will see a realm where fragrance fills the air and streams of living waters flow, not a bleak, cold world where darkness clouds the skies and howls never cease.

God's Word | Eastern Lightning

Man Can Only Be Saved Amidst the Management of God

Everyone feels that the management of God is strange, because people think that the management of God is completely unrelated to man. They think that this management is the work of God alone, is God’s own business, and so mankind is indifferent to the management of God. In this way, the salvation of mankind has become vague and indistinct, and is now nothing but empty rhetoric. Even though man follows God in order to be saved and enter the beautiful destination, man has no concern for how God conducts His work. Man does not care for what God plans to do and the part he must play in order to be saved. How tragic that is! The salvation of man is inseparable from the management of God, much less can it be divorced from the plan of God. Yet man thinks nothing of the management of God, and thus grows ever more distant from God. Consequently, increasing numbers of people are becoming followers of God who don’t know things that are closely related to the salvation of man such as what creation is, what belief in God is, how to worship God, and so on. At this point, then, we must have a talk about the management of God, so that each follower may clearly know the significance of following God and believing in Him. They will also be able to choose the path that they should tread more accurately, instead of following God solely to gain blessings, or avoid disaster, or become successful.

What a Real Man Means | Eastern Lightning

What a Real Man Means

Managing man is My job, and having him be conquered by Me was even more predestined when I created the world. People do not know that I will completely conquer them in the last days, and they are also unaware that the evidence of My defeating Satan is to conquer the disobedient members of mankind. But I had already told My enemy when it struggled with Me that I would become the conqueror of those who had been taken away by Satan and had long become its children, and its loyal servants watching over its home. The original meaning of conquer is to defeat, to humiliate. In the way Israel’s people put it, it is to completely defeat, destroy, and make one unable to resist Me further. But today as used among you people, its meaning is to conquer. You should know My intent is to completely extinguish and reduce to ruin the evil one of mankind, so that it can no longer rebel against Me, much less have a breath to interrupt or disturb My work. Thus, as far as people are concerned, it means to be conquering. Whatever the term’s connotation, My work is to defeat mankind. For truly mankind is an adjunct to My management, but more accurately, mankind is none other than My enemy. Mankind is the evil one that resists and disobeys Me. Mankind is none other than the progeny of the evil one accursed by Me. Mankind is none other than the descendant of the archangel that betrayed Me. Mankind is none other than the heritage of the devil that was already detested and rejected by Me and came at odds with Me. The sky above all mankind is murky and gloomy, lacking in even a glimmer of clarity. The human world is in pitch darkness, and when living in it one cannot see his own hand when he stretches it out before him and cannot see the sun when he lifts his head. The road beneath his feet is muddy and rife with potholes, and it is meandering and tortuous; the whole land is littered with corpses. The corners in the dark are filled with the remains of the dead. The cool and dark corners are crowded with hordes of demons taking up residence. Throughout mankind hordes of demons also come and go. The progeny of myriad beasts covered in filth is fighting hand to hand, in a brutal struggle, the sound of which strikes terror in the heart. In such times, such a world, and such an “earthly paradise,” where does one go to seek out life’s felicities? Where would one go to find his life’s destination? Mankind, trampled under Satan’s feet long ago, has been acting in Satan’s image—even being its embodiment. They are the evidence of being Satan’s “witness, loud and clear.” Such mankind, such scum, or such offspring of this corrupt human family, how could they bear witness to God? From whence comes forth My glory? Where is My witness? The enemy that stands against Me and corrupts mankind has already soiled mankind, My creation, brimming with My glory and My living out. It has stolen away My glory, and what it has imbued man with is nothing but poison heavily laced with the ugliness of Satan, and juice from fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the beginning, I created mankind, that is, I created mankind’s ancestor, Adam. He was tangible and formed, brimming with life, brimming with vitality, and furthermore, having My glory’s company. That was the glorious day when I created man. Following that, Eve was produced from the body of Adam, also the ancestor of man, and so the people of My creation were filled with My breath and brimming with My glory. Adam was originally produced by My hand and was the representation of My image. Thus the original meaning of “Adam” was to be My creation imbued with My vitality, imbued with My glory, tangible and in good form, having spirit and breath. He was the only creation endowed with a spirit that could represent Me, have My image and receive My breath. In the beginning Eve was the second person endowed with breath that I had determined to create, so the original meaning of “Eve” was to be a creation to continue My glory, filled with My vitality and furthermore be endowed with My glory. Eve came out of Adam, so she was also of My image, for she was the second person created in My image. The original meaning of “Eve” was to be a living being, given a spirit, existing in flesh and bone, being My second testimony as well as My second image in mankind. They were mankind’s ancestors, his pure and precious treasure, and originally living beings with a spirit. However the evil one trampled and looted the progeny of mankind’s ancestors, closing the human world into complete darkness, such that this progeny no longer believes in My existence. What’s even more detestable is that at the same time when the evil one corrupts and tramples people, it cruelly takes away My glory, My testimony, the vitality I bestowed on people, the breath and life I blew into them, all My glory in the human world, and all the painstaking effort that I have invested into mankind. Mankind is no longer in the light, and has lost everything I have bestowed on them, discarding the glory I have bestowed. How could they ever confess that I am the Lord of the creation? How could they believe in My existence in heaven? How could they discover My glory’s manifestation on earth? How could these grandsons and granddaughters take the God their own ancestors revered as Lord of their creation? These pitiful grandsons and granddaughters have generously “presented” to the evil one the glory, the image, as well as the testimony that I had bestowed on Adam and Eve, and the life bestowed on mankind that they depend on, without minding in the slightest the evil one’s presence, giving all My glory to it. Is this not the source of the title of “scum”? How could such mankind, such evil demons, such walking corpses, such figures of Satan, such enemies of Mine have My glory? I will repossess My glory, repossess My testimony among man and all that once belonged to Me, which I had given to mankind long ago—completely conquer mankind. However you should know, the humans I created were holy men with My image and My glory. They were not originally of Satan, nor subjected to its trampling, but purely My manifestation, free of the slightest trace of its poison. Thus, I let everyone know that I only want that which was created by My hand, My beloved pure ones that never belonged to any other entity. Furthermore, I will take pleasure in them and see them as My glory. However, what I want is not the mankind corrupted by Satan, belonging to Satan today, which is no longer My original creation. Because I want to repossess My glory in the human world, I will gain complete conquest over the remaining survivors of mankind, as the proof of My glory in My victory over Satan. I only take My testimony as My crystallization, as the object of My enjoyment. Such is My intention.

Have You Come Alive? | Eastern Lightning

Have You Come Alive?

When you have achieved the living out of normal humanity, and have been made perfect, although you will be unable to speak prophecy, nor of any mysteries, you will be living out and revealing the image of a human. God created man, after which man was corrupted by Satan, and this corruption has made people into dead bodies—and thus, after you have changed, you will be different from these dead bodies. It is the words of God that give life to people’s spirits and cause them to be reborn, and when people’s spirits are reborn they will have come alive. Mention of the “dead” refers to corpses that have no spirit, to people in whom their spirit has died. When people’s spirits are given life, they come alive. The saints that were spoken of before refer to people who have come alive, those who were under Satan’s influence but defeated Satan. The chosen people of China have endured the cruel and inhumane persecution and trickery of the great red dragon, which has left them mentally ravaged and without the slightest courage to live. Thus, the awakening of their spirits must begin with their substance: Bit-by-bit, in their substance their spirit must be awakened. When, one day, they come alive, there will be no more obstructions, and all will proceed smoothly. At the moment, this remains unachievable. Most people’s living out contains much of the atmosphere of death, they are shrouded in an aura of death, and they lack too much. Some people’s words carry death, their actions carry death, and almost everything they live out is death. If, today, people publicly bear testimony to God, then this work will fail, for they have yet to fully come alive, and there are too many dead among you. Today, some people ask why God doesn’t show some signs and wonders so that He can quickly spread His work among the Gentile nations. The dead can’t bear testimony to God; the living can, but most people today are dead, too many of them live in the cage of death, they live under the influence of Satan, and are unable to gain victory—and so how could they bear testimony to God? How could they spread the work of the gospel?

Those Who Love God Will Forever Live Within His Light | Eastern Lightning

Those Who Love God Will Forever Live Within His Light

The substance of most people’s belief in God is religious conviction: They are incapable of loving God, and can only follow God like a robot, unable to truly yearn for God or adore Him. They merely follow Him silently. Many people believe in God, but there are very few who love God; they only revere God because they fear catastrophe, or else they admire God because He is high and mighty—but in their reverence and admiration there is no love or true yearning. In their experiences they seek the minutiae of the truth, or else some insignificant mysteries. Most people merely follow, they fish in murky waters only to receive blessings; they do not seek the truth, nor do they truly obey God in order to receive God’s blessings. The life of all people’s belief in God is meaningless, it is without value, and in it are their personal considerations and pursuits; they do not believe in God in order to love God, but for the sake of being blessed. Many people act as they please, they do whatever they want, and never consider the interests of God, or whether what they do is in accordance with the will of God. Such people can’t even achieve true belief, let alone the love of God. God’s substance is not just for man to believe in; it is, moreover, for man to love. But many of those who believe in God are incapable of discovering this “secret.” People don’t dare to love God, nor do they try to love Him. They have never discovered that there is so much that is lovable about God, they have never discovered that God is the God who loves man, and that He is the God who is for man to love. The loveliness of God is expressed in His work: Only when they experience His work can people discover His loveliness, only in their actual experiences can they appreciate the loveliness of God, and without observing it in real life, no one can discover God’s loveliness. There is so much to love about God, but without actually engaging with Him people are incapable of discovering it. Which is to say, if God did not become flesh, people would be incapable of actually engaging with Him, and if they were unable to engage with Him, they also wouldn’t be able to experience His work—and so their love of God would be tainted with much falsehood and imagination. The love of the God in heaven is not as real as the love of the God on earth, for people’s knowledge of God in heaven is built upon their imaginings, rather than upon what they have seen with their own eyes, and what they have personally experienced. When God comes to earth, people are able to behold His actual deeds and His loveliness, and they can see everything of His practical and normal disposition, all of which is thousands of times more real than the knowledge of the God in heaven. Regardless of how much people love the God in heaven, there is nothing real about this love, and it is full of human ideas. No matter how little their love for the God on earth, this love is real; even if there is only a little of it, it is still real. God causes people to know Him through real work, and through this knowledge He gains their love. It’s like Peter: If he hadn’t lived with Jesus, it would have been impossible for him to adore Jesus. So, too, was his loyalty toward Jesus built upon his engagement with Jesus. To make man love Him, God has come among man and lives together with man, and all that He makes man see and experience is the reality of God.