Eastern Lightning | The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven | Notions and Truths | Question 18

Question 18: You testify that in the last days God does His work of judgment in order to utterly purify and save man, but after reading the words expressed by Almighty God, I find that some of them condemn and curse man. If God condemns and curses man, isn’t man then to suffer punishment? And how can you still say that this kind of judgment purifies and saves mankind?

Answer:

God’s work of judgment in the last days is primarily in order to make a group of overcomers, a group of people who are of the same mind with God. This is what God preordained during the creation of the world. You could say that God has already created a group of overcomers, that they have been perfected through God’s judgment and chastisement, that they have come out of the tribulations of the cruel persecution of the Chinese Communist Party. It is a fact that God has already done this, no one can deny it. Some people say that some of God’s words are words that condemn and curse man, and they give rise to conceptions. This is absurd.
The judgment of God in the last days is the great white throne judgment as prophesied in Revelation. The righteous, majestic and wrathful disposition revealed by God is completely in order to reveal man, to classify each man according to their kind, and even more so, to wrap up this old age and defeat the ilk of Satan. So, will God not condemn or curse all of Satan’s ilk that resist Him? Even though some words judge and expose the corrupt expression and true facts of the corruption of God’s chosen people, as if it is a condemnation, it is in order to allow God’s chosen people to see the substance of their corrupt disposition, to see the true facts of this problem clearly, and to achieve the effect of understanding the truth. If God’s words didn’t hit the nail on the head, if they were not this severe, then we the human race would be unable to know the true facts of our corruption and satanic nature, and the effects of the purification and perfection of mankind could not be achieved. So, everyone that loves the truth and respects facts is able to see that God’s words hit the nail on the head, regardless of whether they are words of judgment and chastisement, or condemnation, or cursing, they all completely conform to the actual facts. God’s words are spoken with such reality. They are so true. Not a single one of His words is excessive. From the effects that are achieved through these severe words of God, we can see that concealed within them are the true love that God has toward man and His earnest intention to save mankind. Only those who are fed up with the truth will give rise to conceptions, only those who hate the truth will be able to judge and condemn the work of God. God has been carrying out His work in China for more than 20 years. Several million people have experienced God’s work, and after being subject to the cruel suppression and persecution of the Chinese Communist Party they are still all able to stand firm, this is completely the effect achieved by God’s words. These people have all witnessed God’s love within God’s words, they have witnessed the suffering that God has had to endure in order to save mankind, and even though some of God’s words are severe, these people can all obey them, and have gained true knowledge of God’s disposition, giving rise to reverence for God and love for Him. They can all faithfully perform their duties and will follow God to the end of the road. This above all else will bring shame upon Satan, this is evidence that God has defeated Satan. Let’s read some passages from the word of Almighty God in order to have a better understanding of how God judges and cleanses people in the last days.

Almighty God says, “Through what is God’s perfection of man accomplished? Through His righteous disposition. God’s disposition primarily consists of righteousness, wrath, majesty, judgment, and curse, and His perfection of man is primarily through judgment. Some people don’t understand, and ask why it is that God is only able to make man perfect through judgment and curse. They say that if God were to curse man, wouldn’t man die? If God were to judge man, wouldn’t man be condemned? Then how can he still be made perfect? Such are the words of people who do not know the work of God. What God curses is the disobedience of man, and what He judges are the sins of man. Although He speaks harshly, and without the slightest sensitivity, He reveals all that is within man, and through these stern words He reveals that which is essential within man, yet through such judgment, He gives man a profound knowledge of the essence of the flesh, and thus man submits to obedience before God. The flesh of man is of sin, and of Satan, it is disobedient, and the object of God’s chastisement—and so, to allow man to know himself, the words of God’s judgment must befall him and there must be employed every kind of refinement; only then can God’s work be effective” (“Only by Experiencing Painful Trials Can You Know the Loveliness of God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“Today God judges you, and chastises you, and condemns you, but know that your condemnation is so that you might know yourself. Condemnation, curse, judgment, chastisement—these are all so that you might know yourself, so that your disposition might change, and, moreover, so that you might know your worth, and see that all of God’s actions are righteous, and in accordance with His disposition and the needs of His work, that He works in accordance with His plan for man’s salvation, and that He is the righteous God who loves man, and saves man, and who judges and chastises man. … God has not come to kill, or destroy, but to judge, curse, chastise, and save” (“You Should Put Aside the Blessings of Status and Understand God’s Will for the Salvation of Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“All of you live in a place of sin and licentiousness; you are all licentious and sinful people. Today you not only can see God, but more importantly, you have received chastisement and judgment, received such deepest salvation, that is, received God’s greatest love. All that He does is true love for you; He has no ill intention. It is because of your sins that He judges you, so that you will examine yourselves and receive this tremendous salvation. All this is done to work man. From beginning to end, God has been doing His utmost to save man, and He is certainly not willing to completely destroy the men He created with His own hands. Now He has come among you to work; isn’t this even more salvation? If He hated you, would He still do work of such magnitude to personally lead you? Why should He suffer so? God does not hate you or have any ill intention toward you. You should know that God’s love is the truest love. It is only because of people’s disobedience that He has to save them through judgment; otherwise, they would not be saved. As you do not know how to lead a life or how to live, and you live in this licentious and sinful place and are licentious and filthy devils, He does not have the heart to let you become even more depraved; neither has He the heart to see you living in the filthy place like this, being trampled by Satan at will, or the heart to let you fall into Hades. He only wants to gain this group of you and thoroughly save you. This is the main purpose of doing the conquering work on you—it is just for salvation” (“The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

Having heard the words of Almighty God, everyone should now be clear about why God does His work of judgment in the last days, correct? Now, aren’t we all able to see the fact of how thoroughly corrupt mankind is? Mankind lives under the domain of Satan, lives in sin, and relishes that sin. None in the religious community have taken notice of God’s arrival and none have a love for the truth or accept it. Regardless of how people have borne witness to God or spread His word, how many are there who have actively sought out or investigated God’s appearance and work? And how many are there who would be able to accept and submit to God’s judgment and chastisement? Wouldn’t everyone say that this mankind is at the very height of wickedness? If not for God’s judgment work of the last days, this mankind who is so thoroughly corrupted, full of Satan’s disposition, and who denies and resists God, would they be able to be cleansed and receive God’s salvation? If not for God’s judgment work of the last days, who would make the group of overcomers? How would the prophecies of the Lord Jesus be fulfilled? How would the kingdom of Christ be realized? Many people with faith in the Lord believe that God is a loving and merciful God and that no matter what sins we commit, God will absolve us. They believe that no matter how corrupt we are, when the Lord returns no one will be cast aside, and that the Lord will nevertheless rapture us into the kingdom of heaven. Is this a reasonable viewpoint? Is there anything in the Lord’s word to back this up? Isn’t this just the conception and imagination that people hold? God is a holy and righteous God; would He thus permit people who are tainted by filth and corruption, filled with Satan’s disposition, deniers of truth, and enemies of God to enter into His kingdom? Absolutely not! Therefore, the Lord Jesus prophesied that He will return, and in the last days do His judgment work and thoroughly cleanse and save humanity. The Lord Jesus said: “And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (Jhn 12:47-48). As for mankind who has been thoroughly tainted by corruption, God will surely issue forth the truth and implement His judgment and chastisement for them. This is the only way to awaken the hearts and spirits of man, to conquer man, and to cleanse from them their satanic disposition. Even though God’s word of judgment against mankind for its filth, corruption, disobedience, and resistance against God is harsh, it nonetheless shows God’s holy and righteous disposition, and it also allows us to understand our own satanic disposition and the fact that we are corrupt. Having experienced God’s judgment and chastisement, we are all conquered by God’s word, we willingly submit to His judgment. When we gradually come to understand the truth and clearly see our own satanic disposition and nature, we are able to achieve a true understanding of God’s righteous disposition, which creates a reverent heart for God and results in us unconsciously changing our way of looking at things, as well as brings changes to our life disposition and allows us to revere God and shun evil. God’s work of judgment in the last days has finally accomplished the creation of a group of overcomers, which is the result of God’s judgment work in the last days, and is the true significance behind God’s work of judgment beginning with His house. What does this allow us to see? God judges and exposes man with His word not to punish and destroy man, but completely to cleanse, change, and save man. But for those people who refuse to accept the judgment and cleansing of the word of Almighty God, the great disaster will befall them and in that disaster they will be punished.

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