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

Eastern Lightning | The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven | Notions and Truths | Question 26

Question 26: The Bible is the canon of Christianity and those who believe in the Lord have done so according to the Bible for two thousand years. Furthermore, most people in the religious world believe that the Bible represents the Lord, that belief in the Lord is belief in the Bible, and belief in the Bible is belief in the Lord, and that if one strays from the Bible then they cannot be called a believer. Please may I ask whether or not believing in the Lord in this way conforms to the will of the Lord?

Answer:

Many believe that the Bible represents the Lord, represents God and that belief in the Lord means belief in the Bible, belief in the Bible is the same as belief in the Lord. They afford the same status to the Bible as they do to God. There are even those who acknowledge the Bible without acknowledging God. They think of the Bible as the supreme, and even endeavor to replace God with the Bible. There are even religious leaders who acknowledge the Bible without acknowledging Christ, and claim that those who preach the second coming of the Lord are heretics. Exactly what is the issue here? It’s obvious, the religious world has sunk to the point where they only acknowledge the Bible and fail to believe in the Lord’s return—there’s no saving them. From this it is clear, the religious world has become a group of antichrists, resisting God and taking God as their enemy. It is undeniable that many religious leaders are hypocritical Pharisees. Especially those claiming that “those who preach the second coming of the Lord are heretics,” they are all antichrists and unbelievers. It seems many people don’t know what exactly faith in the Lord is.

Eastern Lightning | The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven | Notions and Truths | Question 25

Question 25: Religious pastors and elders hold to the words of Paul in the Bible: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God,” believing that everything in the Bible is God’s words. But you say that the words of the Bible are not completely the words of God, so what is this all about?

Answer:

To begin with, we need to understand how the Bible took shape, and when it was produced. The original book of the Bible refers to the Old Testament. The Israelites, that is, the Jews, only called the Old Testament the Scripture. And then, in the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus did a stage of work of redemption. More than three hundred years after the Lord, church leaders of the time came together to convene a meeting. They believed that the last days were approaching and that the words the Lord Jesus had spoken, and the epistles that the disciples had written, ought to be summed up together to form a book similar to the Old Testament, and sent to churches in all places.

Eastern Lightning | The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven | Notions and Truths | Question 24

Question 24: You testify that the Lord Jesus has already returned as Almighty God, that He expresses the entire truth that will allow people to attain purification and to be saved, and that He is currently doing the work of judgment beginning with God’s house, but we don’t dare accept this. This is because the religious pastors and elders frequently instruct us that all of God’s words and work are recorded in the Bible and there can be no other words or work of God outside of the Bible, and that everything that goes against or beyond the Bible is heresy. We cannot discern this problem, so please can you explain it for us.

Answer:

This kind of viewpoint from the religious community is not based in God’s word; it came about entirely as a result of a misinterpretation of the Bible. The Bible bears witness to the first two stages of God’s work; this is true. However, what is recorded in the Bible is limited, and in that it does not include all of the words God spoke in the two stages of His work and all of the testimony regarding that work. Due to omissions and disputes among the Bible compilers, some of the prophets’ predictions, apostles’ experiences, and their testimonies were left out; this is a recognized fact. How, then, can it be said that apart from the Bible, there are no other records or testimonies concerning God’s work? Were those missing prophecies and epistles all mixed with human will? 

Eastern Lightning | The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven | Notions and Truths | Question 23

Question 23: You testify that Almighty God is God incarnate who is currently doing His work of judgment in the last days. But the religious pastors and elders say that the work of Almighty God is actually the work of man, and also many people who don’t believe in the Lord Jesus say that Christianity is a belief in a man. We still cannot discern what exactly is the difference between the work of God and the work of man, so please fellowship this for us.

Answer:

The work of God and the work of man are certainly different. If we investigate carefully we will all be able to see it. For instance, if we look at the utterances and work of the Lord Jesus and then take a look at the utterances and work of the apostles, we can say that the difference is too obvious. Every word uttered by the Lord Jesus is the truth and carries authority, and can reveal many mysteries. These are all things mankind can never do. That is why there are so many people who follow the Lord Jesus. However, the apostles can only spread the gospel, bear witness to God, and supply the church. The results are all very limited.

Eastern Lightning | The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven | Notions and Truths | Question 21

Question 21: The Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross as a sin offering for man, thereby redeeming us from sin. If we stray from the Lord Jesus and believe in Almighty God, would this not be a betrayal of the Lord Jesus? Would this not be apostasy?

Answer:

In our years of believing in the Lord, each of us has received from the Lord Jesus much grace and blessing, with hearts full of love and thanks to the Lord. And precisely for this reason, when we hear the gospel of Almighty God of the last days, we can’t help but get a kind of concern in our hearts: If we leave the Lord Jesus and put our faith in Almighty God, isn’t that betraying the Lord Jesus?

Brothers and sisters, let us make an analogy. Suppose we lived in the period when the Age of Law turned into the Age of Grace, and it was the time when the Lord Jesus came to earth to work. What would our hearts be like inside? Would we think the believers in the Lord Jesus were betraying Jehovah God? Actually, all the thoughts in our hearts now are the same as those of the devout believers in Jehovah God. Jews of that time must also have thought: To follow the Lord Jesus would be disloyalty to Jehovah God, departure from the way of Jehovah God, and betrayal of Jehovah God. As they saw it, the work of the Lord Jesus was not the same as the work of Jehovah God, and His name was not Messiah, but Jesus. They did not realize that the Lord Jesus and Jehovah God were one, but thought the Lord Jesus and Jehovah God were unrelated, saying the Lord Jesus was misleading people (see Jhn 7:45-48), saying that to believe in the Lord Jesus was heresy (see Act 24:14), which meant betraying Jehovah God. Clearly, the reason those people condemned the work of the Lord Jesus as heresy, as a cult, and condemned departing from the Old Testament law to believe in the Lord Jesus as apostasy, was that they did not know the working principles of God—always new and never old. They were using God’s previous work to measure God’s new work, and they condemned and resisted the new work which they thought didn’t tally with the previous work. They clung to the old! … We all know, God’s work is not unchanging, but, based on mankind’s needs and God’s own management plan, it keeps developing. Only in this way can mankind be saved step by step from Satan’s influence. In fact, the Lord Jesus is Jehovah God’s Spirit incarnate. His work is the continuation of Jehovah God’s work. That is to say, the work of the Age of Grace is a continuation of the work of the Age of Law, and the work done by the Lord Jesus is a furtherance on the basis of Jehovah God’s work. The two stages of work are two kinds of work done in two different ages by one God. Although due to difference of the ages God’s names were not the same and God’s work was not the same, still Jesus and Jehovah are one (see Jhn 10:30). Both are God Himself. Those who accepted God’s new work, the followers of the Lord Jesus, certainly were not betraying Jehovah God, but were following God’s footsteps, were loyal to God, which was completely after God’s heart. And those who thought themselves to be loyal to Jehovah God refused to accept God’s new work and did not leave the temple to follow the Lord Jesus, were the ones resisting God. They not only did not receive God’s approval, but on the contrary became objects of God’s rejection.

The age keeps moving forward and has developed until the last days, which means the time to end the age that God preordained two thousand years ago has arrived, and God will finish the work of the Age of Grace, and do the work of the Age of Kingdom. This work is a new stage of work God does based on the Lord Jesus’ work in the Age of Grace. Of course, this work is also the work of rewarding good and punishing evil that two thousand years ago the Lord predicted would be done on His second coming in the last days. Since the present age is no longer the Age of Grace, then God must choose a new name (see Rev 3:12) to represent His new work. This name representing His new work is Almighty God (see Rev 1:8, 11:16-17, 15:2-3), and Christ of the last days, Almighty God, no longer does the work of redemption, but does the work of judgment (see Rev 14:6-7; Jhn 12:48). It is a higher stage of work based on the work the Lord Jesus did. Just as at that time the Lord Jesus, on the basis of Jehovah God’s work of making man “know sin,” did a stage of work of “redeeming sin,” today, Almighty God on the foundation of “forgiving sin” does a stage of work of “casting out sin.” Jehovah, Jesus, Almighty God: these three are different names chosen by God in different ages based on different work. Although the names are different, and the work is different, still God is one. Just as Almighty God says: “I was once known as Jehovah. I was also called the Messiah, and people once called Me Jesus the Savior because they loved and respected Me. But today I am not the Jehovah or Jesus that people knew in times past—I am the God who has returned in the last days, the God who shall bring the age to an end. I am the God Himself that rises up at the ends of the earth, replete with My entire disposition, and full of authority, honor and glory. People have never engaged with Me, have never known Me, and have always been ignorant of My disposition. From the creation of the world until today, not one person has seen Me. This is the God who appears to man during the last days but is hidden among man. He resides among man, true and real, like the burning sun and the flaming fire, filled with power and brimming with authority. There is not a single person or thing that shall not be judged by My words, and not a single person or thing that shall not be purified through the burning of fire. Eventually, all nations shall be blessed because of My words, and also smashed to pieces because of My words. In this way, all people during the last days shall see that I am the Savior returned, I am the Almighty God that conquers all of mankind, and I was once the sin offering for man, but in the last days I also become the flames of the sun that burn all things, as well as the Sun of righteousness that reveals all things. Such is My work of the last days. I took this name and am possessed of this disposition so that all people may see that I am a righteous God, and am the burning sun, and the flaming fire. It is so that all may worship Me, the only true God, and so that they may see My true face: I am not only the God of the Israelites, and am not just the Redeemer—I am the God of all creatures throughout heavens and earth and seas.”

from “The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

“The work done at present has pushed forward the work of the Age of Grace; that is, the work in the entire six-thousand-year management plan has moved forward. Though the Age of Grace has ended, the work of God has progressed further. Why do I say time and again that this stage of work builds upon the Age of Grace and the Age of Law? This means that the work of this day is a continuation of the work done in the Age of Grace and an uplifting of that done in the Age of Law. The three stages are closely interconnected and linked one to the next. Why do I also say that this stage of work builds on that done by Jesus? If this stage did not build on the work done by Jesus, then in this stage the crucifixion, the work of redemption done previously, would still need to be carried out. This would be meaningless. Therefore, it is not that the work has completely finished, but that the age has moved forward, and the work has become even higher than before. It could be said that this stage of work is built on the foundation of the Age of Law and the rock of the work of Jesus. The work is built stage by stage, and this stage is not a new beginning. Only the combination of the three stages of work can be deemed the six-thousand-year management plan.” 

from “The Two Incarnations Complete the Significance of the Incarnation” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

“Jesus and I come from the same Spirit. Though Our fleshes have no relationship, Our Spirits are one; though what We do and the work We bear are not the same, We are alike in essence; Our fleshes take different forms, and this is because of the change in era and the need of Our work; Our ministries are not alike, so the work We bring forth and the disposition We reveal to man are also different. That is why what man sees and receives this day is unlike that of the past; this is so because of the change in era.” 

from “The Two Incarnations Complete the Significance of the Incarnation” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

“From the work of Jehovah to that of Jesus, and from the work of Jesus to that of this current stage, these three stages cover the entire breadth of God’s management, and are all the work of one Spirit. From when He created the world, God has always been managing mankind. He is the Beginning and the End, He is the First and the Last, and He is the One who begins an age and the One who brings the age to an end. The three stages of work, in different ages and different locations, are surely carried out by one Spirit. All those who separate these three stages oppose God. Now, you must understand that all the work from the first stage until today is the work of one God, the work of one Spirit, of which there is no doubt.” 

from “The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

“If man can see in the three stages of work that they were carried out by God Himself at different times, in different places, and in different people, then man will see that,[a] although the work is different, it is all done by one God. Since it is work done by one God, then it must be right, and without error, and though it is at odds with the conceptions of man, there is no denying that it is the work of one God. If man can say for sure that it is the work of one God, then the conceptions of man will become mere trifles, unworthy of mention. Because the visions of man are unclear, and man only knows Jehovah as God, and Jesus as the Lord, and is in two minds about the God incarnate of today, many people remain devoted to the work of Jehovah and Jesus, and are beset by conceptions about the work of today, most people are always doubtful, and do not take the work of today seriously.” 

from “Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

From what Almighty God has said we know, Almighty God is Jehovah God who promulgated the laws to guide man in their lives and is also the Lord Jesus who was crucified to redeem us humans. No matter how the name of God changes, how the work changes, the purpose of God’s work, that is, His intention of saving man, never changes, God’s essence never changes. God’s three stages of work certainly do not contradict; rather, each stage of work is based upon a previous stage; and each stage of work is a deeper, higher stage than the last. The work of God is done according to the development of the times and mankind’s needs, all for the sake of better saving mankind. That is to say, the work of judgment done by Almighty God in the last days and the work of redemption done by the Lord Jesus and the work of law done by Jehovah God all are the work of one God; God according to His own plan, according to mankind’s needs, saves mankind in stages. We must understand, all that was done by Jehovah God, all that was done by the Lord Jesus, all that is done by Almighty God, are three successive stages of God’s whole management to save mankind. Today, our acceptance of Almighty God’s work in the last days is not ingratitude or betrayal of the Lord Jesus; rather, it is our keeping pace with God’s work, following the Lamb’s footsteps; and he who does so truly has conscience, has loyalty, has insight, and earns God’s approval.

Today, the age has changed, God’s work has changed, so man’s practice must change. Loyalty to the law and to the cross no longer satisfies God’s present will and cannot gain God’s approval. Only those who accept Almighty God’s work in the last days, who follow God to the end, can gain God’s ultimate blessing. Just as Almighty God says: “Only those who follow the footsteps of the Lamb to the very end can gain the final blessing, whereas those ‘clever people,’ who are unable to follow to the very end yet believe they have gained all, are incapable of witnessing the appearance of God. They all believe they are the smartest person on earth, and they cut short the continued development of God’s work for no reason at all, and seem to believe with absolute certainty that God will take them up to heaven, they who ‘have the utmost loyalty to God, follow God, and abide by the words of God.’ … Those who do not follow to the very end, who do not keep up with the work of the Holy Spirit, and who only cleave to the old work have not only failed to achieve loyalty to God, but on the contrary, have become those who oppose God, have become those who are rejected by the new age, and who will be punished. Are there any more pitiable than them? Many even believe that all those who reject the old law and accept the new work are without conscience. These people, who only talk of ‘conscience,’ and do not know the work of the Holy Spirit, will ultimately have their prospects cut short by their own consciences. God’s work does not abide by doctrine, and even though it is His own work, still God does not cling to it. That which should be denied is denied, that which should be eliminated is eliminated. Yet man places himself in enmity of God by holding onto but one small part of the work of God’s management. Is this not the absurdity of man? Is this not the ignorance of man? The more that people are timid and overcautious because they are afraid of not gaining God’s blessings, the more that they are incapable of gaining greater blessings, and of receiving the final blessing. Those people who slavishly abide by the law all display the utmost loyalty toward the law, and the more they display such loyalty toward the law, the more they are rebels who oppose God. For now is the Age of Kingdom and not the Age of Law, and the work of today cannot be held up against the work of the past, and the work of the past cannot be compared to the work of today. The work of God has changed, and the practice of man has also changed; it is not to hold onto the law or bear the cross. So, people’s loyalty toward the law and the cross will not gain God’s approval.” 

from “God’s Work and Man’s Practice” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Brothers and sisters, now do you still think that accepting God’s new work of the last days and following Almighty God means betraying the Lord Jesus? Presumably at this moment you have understood: To believe in Almighty God is to be loyal to the Lord Jesus, is to follow the Lamb’s footsteps, because Almighty God is the second coming of the Lord Jesus.

from Questions and Answers on the Testimony of the Kingdom Gospel

What is the key to believing in God? To believe in God we must accept God’s name and accept His present work. We should experience and obey God’s present work, only then can we be saved by God and receive the praise of God. When the Lord Jesus came, He was given a name, called “Jesus,” and those who believed in the Lord Jesus were saved. This “saved” is what form of salvation? It doesn’t mean to be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven, but rather is to be removed from the condemnation and the curse of the law. If you break the law of Jehovah after believing in Jesus you will not be condemned, and the Lord Jesus can forgive your sins, this is separating yourself from the power of the curse of the law. Your sins will be forgiven. But when your sins have been forgiven by faith in Jesus, can you enter the kingdom of heaven? The Lord Jesus didn’t say that, right? What did the Lord Jesus say? The Lord foretold what type of work He would accomplish when He returns in the last days. When the last days come, if you accept His return, if you can hear His voice and accept His work of the last days, you will be put on the road to the kingdom of heaven. So Almighty God came in the last days and does His work of judgment. What does the work of judgment in the last days bring? It is the perpetual way of life. Why say that Christ of the last days brings us the perpetual way of life? Hasn’t the Lord Jesus also spoken many words when He came to do His work? Why can’t we say that the word of the Lord Jesus is the perpetual way of life? All of those who have believed in the Lord for many years and have experienced the work of the Lord Jesus know that believing in the Lord Jesus can only bring the forgiveness of sins. After being forgiven from our sins, why do we keep sinning? Sinning then confessing our sin and then sinning again? Why can’t we remove ourselves from our fleshly bindings and our sinful nature? Why can’t we detach ourselves from sin, why can’t we live by God’s words, live out the image of the truth? This difficult problem is something that all those who believed in the Lord in the Age of Grace admitted to, isn’t that so? (Yes, it is.) In the last days when the Lord Jesus returns, what work will be done? Does the Lord have any prophecies? The Lord 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). This prophecy has now been fulfilled, fulfilled by the work of Almighty God in the last days. Almighty God has expressed all the truths that believers in God should understand and enter. Then the truth that Almighty God expressed, is it the expression of the Spirit of truth? (Yes.) It is the expression of the Spirit of truth. Almighty God has made known all the truths that God saves man with; these truths are essential to man and they are the perpetual way of life, that is, the way of eternal life.

from Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (Series 131)

Almighty God is Jehovah God, who once proclaimed the law to mankind by which to lead their lives. He is also the Lord Jesus, who was nailed to the cross to redeem mankind. The judgment of Almighty God, the redemption of the Lord Jesus, and the law of Jehovah God are all the work of the same God; according to His own plan and the needs of mankind, God saves man step by step.

Today we accept the name of Almighty God, which does not mean that we are ungrateful to the Lord Jesus and have betrayed Him. It means that we are following the footsteps of the Lamb, staying true to the way of God, and following Him with loyalty, and only thus will we meet with God’s approval. As it says in Revelation 14:4, “These are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.” Those who insist on the name of Jesus and refuse to accept that of Almighty God just become the betrayers of God, and will be eliminated by Him. In the time when God came to do His work with the name of Jesus, those disciples who accepted God’s new work and followed the Lord Jesus had not abandoned the true way nor betrayed Jehovah God. In fact, they had kept pace with God’s footsteps and were the ones faithful to God, while the Pharisees, who thought themselves faithful to Jehovah God, and insisted on Jehovah’s name alone, rejected the Lord Jesus. The result is that their loyalty did not meet with Jehovah God’s approval, but rather quite the opposite: They were subject to God’s curses and punishment. We must, therefore, learn from the failure of the Pharisees. We must accept the name of Almighty God and keep pace with the footsteps of God’s work. Only thus can we receive God’s salvation.

from Answers to Screenplay Questions

Footnotes:

a. The original text omits “then man will see that.”

Eastern Lightning | The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven | Notions and Truths | Question 22

Question 22: The Lord Jesus said: “But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (Jhn 4:14). Most people think that the Lord Jesus has already bestowed on us the way of eternal life, but I have read these words of Almighty God: “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life.” What’s all this about? Why does it say that only Christ of the last days can give man the way of eternal life?

Answer:

In order to actually know what is the way of eternal life, we should first know where the way of eternal life comes from. We all know that whenever God became flesh He bore witness that He is the truth, the way, and the life. This is sufficient evidence to prove that only Christ can express the way of eternal life. Since Christ is the appearance of God incarnate, since He is the flesh that God’s Spirit is clothed in, that means that the substance of Christ is the substance of God, and that Christ Himself is the truth, the way, and the life. So, only Christ can express the truth, only He is able to carry out the work of redeeming and saving mankind.

Eastern Lightning | The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven | Notions and Truths | Question 20

Question 20: It’s written right there in the Bible: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb 13:8). So the name of the Lord never changes! But you say that when the Lord comes again in the last days He will take a new name and will be called Almighty God. How do you explain it?

Answer:

Ever since we started believing in the Lord Jesus, we began to pray and to heal disease and cast out demons in His name. Also, because of His name, we gained peace and blessings, and moreover because of His name we gained countless graces. That is why the name of the Lord Jesus has been deeply imprinted on our hearts and we also treasure His name very much, just like how the people of Israel treasured the name of Jehovah. Accordingly, when some brothers and sisters hear that the Lord has already returned in the flesh as Almighty God, they are unable to accept it, saying: “It says in Acts 4:12: ‘Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’ Hebrews 13:8 states: ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.’ Therefore, when the Lord returns His name should still be Jesus. How could He be called Almighty God?” Brothers and sisters, what do you think of this question? Could the Lord only be called Jesus when He returns?

Eastern Lightning | The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven | Notions and Truths | Question 19

Question 19: One aspect of the Lord Jesus’ work of redemption was to forgive and absolve our sins, while the other aspect was to bestow on us peace and joy and bountiful grace. This allows us to see that God is a merciful and loving God. But you testify that Almighty God does the work of judgment in the last days, that He expresses the truth and judges and chastises man, prunes and deals with man, exposes man and eliminates all kinds of evil men, evil spirits and antichrists, which allows people to see that God’s righteous disposition does not tolerate any offense. Why is the disposition revealed in the Lord Jesus’ work so completely different from the disposition revealed in the work of Almighty God? How exactly should we understand God’s disposition?

Answer:

Since the Lord Jesus carried out His redemptive work in the Age of Grace, we have witnessed how the Lord Jesus is full of forgiveness and patience, and how He is full of love and mercy. So long as we believe in the Lord Jesus then our sins will be absolved and we will be able to enjoy the grace of God. As a result, we have determined that God is a loving and merciful God, that He always forgives man and absolves man from all the sins he commits, that God always treats us in the same way a mother treats her children, with meticulous care, without ever showing anger. Therefore, many people don’t understand it when they see Almighty God in the last days expressing truths and judging man in harsh language that reveals man’s corruption so directly and without mercy, they don’t understand it when He condemns and curses evil people, antichrists and the Pharisees, they feel that God should not use such harsh language to judge man.

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.

Eastern Lightning | The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven | Notions and Truths | Question 17

Question 17: You testify that in the last days God expresses the truth and does the work of judging and purifying man, so how exactly does God judge, purify and save man?

    Relevant Words of God:

Though many people believe in God, few understand what faith in God means, and what they must do to be after God’s heart. This is because, though people are familiar with the word “God” and phrases such as “the work of God,” they do not know God, much less do they know His work. No wonder, then, that all those who do not know God are possessed of a muddled belief. People do not take belief in God seriously because believing in God is too unfamiliar, too strange for them. In this way, they fall short of the demands of God. In other words, if people do not know God, do not know His work, then they are not fit for God’s use, much less can they fulfill the desire of God. “Belief in God” means believing that there is a God; this is the simplest concept of faith in God. What’s more, believing that there is a God is not the same as truly believing in God; rather, it is a kind of simple faith with strong religious overtones. True faith in God means experiencing the words and work of God based on a belief that God holds sovereignty over all things. So you shall be freed of your corrupt disposition, shall fulfill the desire of God, and shall come to know God. Only through such a journey can you be said to believe in God. Yet people often see belief in God as something very simple and frivolous. The belief of such people is meaningless and shall never gain the approval of God, because they tread the wrong path. Today, there are still those who believe in God in letters, in hollow doctrines. They are unaware that their belief in God has no substance, and that they are unable to gain the approval of God, and they still pray for peace and sufficient grace from God. We should stop and ask ourselves: Could believing in God really be the easiest thing on earth? Does believing in God mean nothing more than receiving much grace from God? Can people who believe in God but do not know Him, and believe in God yet oppose Him, really fulfill the desire of God?

from Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh

A true belief in God is not about believing in Him in order to be saved and is even less about being a good person. It is also not just about believing in God in order to have human likeness. Actually, people should not view their belief in God as just a belief that there is a God, and then nothing more; it is not that you should merely believe that God is the truth, the way, the life, and then nothing more. Nor is it just so you acknowledge God, much less is it merely to believe that God is the Ruler over all things, that God is almighty, that God created all things in the world, that God is unique and that God is supreme. It is not merely so that you believe this; rather it is that you—your whole being and your whole heart—should follow God, allow God to employ you, allow God to use you in His service, and that you should do anything for God. It is not that only those predestined and chosen by God should believe in Him. Actually, all of mankind should worship God, heed Him and obey Him, because mankind was made by God.

        from “Only the Pursuit of the Truth Is the True Belief in God” in Records of Christ’s Talks

Today, what is real belief in God? It is the acceptance of God’s word as the reality of your life and the knowing of God from His word in order to achieve a true love of Him. To be clear: It is the belief in God so that you may obey God, love God, and perform the duty that should be performed by a creature of God. This is the aim of believing in God. You must achieve a knowledge of the loveliness of God, of how worthy God is of reverence, of how, in His creatures, God does the work of salvation and making them perfect—this is the minimum that you should possess in your belief in God. Belief in God is principally the switch from a life in the flesh to a life of loving God, from a life within naturalness to a life within the being of God, it is coming out from under the domain of Satan and living under the care and protection of God, it is being able to achieve obedience to God and not obedience to the flesh, it is allowing God to gain your entire heart, allowing God to make you perfect, and freeing yourself from the corrupt satanic disposition. Belief in God is principally so that the power and glory of God may be manifested in you, so that you may carry out God’s will, and accomplish God’s plan, and be able to bear testimony to God before Satan. Belief in God should not be in order to behold signs and wonders, nor should it be for the sake of your personal flesh. It should be for the pursuit of knowing God, and being able to obey God, and like Peter, obeying Him until death. This is what it is mainly in order to achieve. Eating and drinking the word of God is in order to know God and in order to satisfy God. Eating and drinking the word of God gives you a greater knowledge of God, only after which can you obey God. Only if you know God can you love Him, and the attainment of this aim is the only aim man should have in his belief in God. If, in your belief in God, you always try to behold signs and wonders, then the viewpoint of this belief in God is wrong. Belief in God is principally the acceptance of the word of God as the reality of life. Only putting into practice the words of God from His mouth and carrying them out within yourself is the attainment of the aim of God. In believing in God, man should pursue being made perfect by God, being able to submit to God, and the complete obedience to God. If you can obey God without complaint, be mindful of God’s desires, achieve the stature of Peter, and possess the style of Peter spoken of by God, then that will be when you have achieved success in belief in God, and it will signify that you have been gained by God.

                                      from “All Is Achieved by the Word of God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Since you believe in God, you must eat and drink of His word, experience His word, and live out His word. Only this is belief in God! If you say you believe in God yet cannot speak out any of His words or put them into practice, you are not considered to believe in God. This is “seeking bread to satisfy hunger.” Speaking only of trivial testimony, useless matters, and superficial matters, and not having even the slightest bit of reality do not constitute belief in God. As such,[a] you have not grasped the right way of believing in God. Why must you eat and drink more of God’s words? Is it considered belief if you do not eat and drink of His words and seek only to ascend to heaven? What is the first step for one who believes in God? By what path does God perfect man? Can you be perfected without eating and drinking of the word of God? Can you be considered a person of the kingdom without the word of God as your reality? What exactly is belief in God? Believers in God should be possessed of good behavior externally, at the very least, and of utmost importance is to have the word of God. No matter what, you can never turn away from His word. Your knowledge of God and fulfillment of His will are all achieved through His word. All nations, sects, denominations, and sectors will be conquered through the word in the future. God will speak directly, and all people will hold the word of God in their hands; through this will people be perfected. The word of God pervades throughout: People speak of God’s word and practice according to God’s word, while kept within is still the word of God. Both within and without, they are steeped in the word of God, and thus are they perfected. Those who fulfill the will of God and are able to bear witness to Him are those who have the word of God as reality.

                               from “The Age of Kingdom Is the Age of Word” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

You may think believing in God is about suffering, or doing many things for Him, or for the peace of your flesh, or for everything to go well for you, for everything to be comfortable—but none of these are purposes people should have for believing in God. If that is what you believe, then your perspective is incorrect and you simply cannot be perfected. God’s actions, God’s righteous disposition, His wisdom, His words, and His wondrousness and unfathomableness are all things people ought to understand. Use this understanding to get rid of the personal requests as well as the individual hopes and notions in your heart. Only by eliminating these can you meet the conditions demanded by God. Only through this can you have life and satisfy God. Believing in God is for the sake of satisfying Him and for living out the disposition He requires, so that His actions and glory may be manifested through this group of unworthy people. That is the correct perspective for believing in God, and also the goal you should seek. You should have the right viewpoint of believing in God and seek to obtain God’s words. You need to eat and drink God’s words, and be able to live out the truth, and especially see His practical deeds, see His wonderful deeds throughout the entire universe, as well as the practical work He does in the flesh. Through their actual experiences, people can appreciate just how God does His work on them and what His will is toward them. All of this is to eliminate their corrupt satanic disposition. Rid yourself of the unclean and unrighteous inside of you, strip away your wrong intentions, and you can develop true faith in God. Only by having true faith can you truly love God. You can only genuinely love God on the foundation of your belief in Him. Can you achieve loving God without believing in Him? Since you believe in God, you cannot be muddle-headed about it. Some people become full of vigor as soon as they see that faith in God will bring them blessings, but lose all energy as soon as they see they have to suffer refinements. Is that believing in God? In the end, faith in God is about complete and utter obedience before Him. You believe in God but still have demands of Him, have many religious notions you cannot put down, personal interests you cannot let go of, and still seek blessings of the flesh and want God to rescue your flesh, to save your soul—these are all expressions of people with the wrong perspective. Even though people with religious beliefs have faith in God, they don’t seek dispositional change, don’t pursue knowledge of God, and only seek the interests of their flesh. Many among you have faiths that belong in the category of religious convictions. That is not true faith in God. To believe in God people must possess a heart to suffer for Him and the will to give themselves up. Unless they meet these two conditions it does not count as faith in God, and they will not be able to achieve dispositional change. Only people who genuinely seek the truth, seek knowledge of God, and pursue life are those who truly believe in God.

from “Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

In his belief in God, Peter sought to satisfy God in everything, and sought to obey all that came from God. Without the slightest complaint, he was able to accept chastisement and judgment, as well as refinement, tribulation and lack in his life, none of which could alter his love of God. Is this not the ultimate love of God? Is this not the fulfillment of the duty of a creature of God? Chastisement, judgment, tribulation—you are capable of achieving obedience unto death, and this is what should be achieved by a creature of God, this is the purity of the love of God. If man can achieve this much, then he is a qualified creature of God, and there is nothing which better satisfies the desire of the Creator. Imagine that you are able to work for God, yet you do not obey God, and are incapable of truly loving God. In this way, not only will you not have fulfilled the duty of a creature of God, but will also be condemned by God, for you are someone who does not possess the truth, who is incapable of obeying God, and who is disobedient to God. You only care about working for God, and do not care about putting the truth into practice, or knowing yourself. You do not understand or know the Creator, and do not obey or love the Creator. You are someone who is innately disobedient to God, and so such people are not beloved by the Creator.

        from “Success or Failure Depends on the Path That Man Walks” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

To summarize taking the path of Peter, it is to take the path of pursuing the truth, which is also the path of truly knowing oneself and changing one’s disposition. Only by going the way of Peter will one be going the way of being perfected by God. One must be clear on specifically how to take the way of Peter and how to put it into practice. First, one must put aside his own intentions, improper pursuits, and even his family and all things of his own flesh. He must be wholeheartedly devoted, that is, completely devote himself to the word of God, focus on eating and drinking the word of God, focus on the search for the truth, the search for God’s intention in His words, and try to grasp the will of God in everything. This is the most fundamental and the most critical method of practice. This is what Peter did after seeing Jesus, and it is only by practicing in this way that one obtains the best results. Wholehearted devotion to the words of God mainly means seeking the truth, seeking God’s intention within His words, focusing on grasping the will of God, and understanding and obtaining more truth from the words of God. When reading His words, Peter was not focused on understanding doctrines and he was even less focused on obtaining theological knowledge; instead, he was focused on understanding the truth and grasping God’s will, and achieving an understanding of His disposition and His loveliness. He also tried to understand the various corrupt states of man from God’s words, and understand the corrupt nature of man and man’s true shortcomings, achieving all aspects of the demands God makes of man in order to satisfy Him. He had so many correct practices within the words of God; this is most in line with God’s will, and it is mankind’s best cooperation in his experience of the work of God. … If one could truly enter into the reality of God’s words from the matters and the words required by Him, then he would be a person perfected by God. It could be said that the work and the words of God were completely effective for this person, that God’s words became his life, he obtained truth, and he could live according to God’s words. After this the nature of his flesh, that is, the foundation of his original existence, would shake and collapse. After one has the words of God as their life they become a new person. The words of God became his life; the vision of God’s work, His requirements of man, His revelation of man, and the standards for a true life that God requires man to achieve became his life—he lived according to these words and these truths, and this person became perfected by the words of God. He experienced rebirth and became a new man through His words. This is the path by which Peter pursued the truth; it was the path of being perfected, perfected by God’s words, and gaining life from the words of God. The truth expressed by God’s words became his life, and only then did he become a person who obtained the truth.

from “How to Take the Path of Peter” in Records of Christ’s Talks

Belief in God is the first step to knowing God. The process of advancing from the initial belief in God to the most profound belief in God is the process of knowing God, and the process of experiencing the work of God. If you only believe in God for the sake of believing in God, and do not believe in God in order to know God, then there is no reality to your belief, and it cannot become pure—of this there is no doubt. If, during the process by which he experiences God, man gradually comes to know God, then his disposition will gradually change, and his belief will become increasingly true. In this way, when man achieves success in belief in God, he will completely gain God. God went to such great lengths to become flesh for the second time and personally do His work so that man would be able to know Him, and would be able to see Him. Knowing God[b] is the final effect to be achieved at the end of God’s work; it is God’s final requirement of mankind. He does this for the sake of His final testimony, and so that man may finally and completely turn to Him. Man can only love God by knowing God, and to love God he must know God. No matter how he seeks, or what he seeks to gain, he must be able to achieve the knowledge of God. Only in this way can man satisfy God’s heart.

         from “Only Those Who Know God Can Bear Testimony to God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Footnotes:

a. The original text omits “As such.”

b. The original text reads “The work of knowing God.”