Going Astray and Finding the Way | The Church of Almighty God

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1. Going Astray and Finding the Way

Xiaobing    Xuanzhou City, Anhui Province

“That which you are enjoying today is the very thing which is ruining your future, whereas the pain you are suffering today is the very thing that is protecting you. You must be clearly aware of that so as to keep away from the hook of temptation and to avoid entering the dense fog that blocks out the sun.” Every time I sing this song of God’s word “Enjoying Fleshly Comforts Will Ruin Your Future,” I think of time after time when I tested and betrayed God, and I feel both endless remorse and incredible gratitude.

Witnesses for Christ of the Last Days | the Church of Almighty God.

We follow the example of Paul and we work very hard for the Lord, spreading the gospel and bearing witness to the Lord, and shepherding the Lord’s churches, just like Paul: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” Is this not following the will of God? Practicing in this way should mean that we are qualified to be raptured and to enter into the kingdom of heaven, so why must we accept God’s work of judgment and purification in the last days before we can be brought into the kingdom of heaven?

Answer:

The question you raised is critical. It involves whether we can be brought into the kingdom of heaven. Most believers of the Lord think that emulating Paul by sacrificing everything and working hard for the Lord is tantamount to following the way of the Lord and the eligibility to be brought into the kingdom of heaven when the Lord returns. This opinion has become the conception of most believers in the Lord. But is this opinion based on the Lord’s words? Is this pursuit of ours consistent with the Lord’s intention? By emulating Paul’s hard work, are we really following the way of the Lord? Do we really qualify to enter the kingdom of heaven? The Lord Jesus said, “Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Mat 7:21-23). The Lord Jesus spoke very clearly that only the one who follows the will of God will enter into the kingdom of heaven. The Lord Jesus did not say that those who sacrifice everything and work hard for the Lord could enter the kingdom of heaven. Contrarily, many assiduous workers, who prophesied, cast out devils in the Lord’s name, and did many wonderful works, not only were they not praised by the Lord, they were even determined as wicked by the Lord. We can see that Paul’s words, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness” (2Ti 4:7-8), were contradictory to the Lord Jesus’ words. They were fundamentally inconsistent with the Lord’s intention. As far as being brought into the kingdom of heaven, there is only one way which is certain. It is what the Lord Jesus has clearly said, “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” (Mat 25:6), “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20). What it said about going to supper with the Lord referred to accepting God’s judgment work in the last days. By accepting God’s judgment and chastisement, man will understand all The truth, receive cleansing and be made perfect. These are the results of attending the feast. So we can be certain that only those who accept Almighty God’s judgment and chastisement in the last days and receive cleansing will truly enter the kingdom of heaven. Do you still have any doubt about the way to the kingdom of heaven?

We believers of the Lord have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Only the Lord Jesus Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. So for how to enter the kingdom of heaven, it should be based on the words of the Lord Jesus as final. Paul was just an apostle preaching the gospel. His word could not represent the Lord, and his path was not necessarily the way for entering the kingdom of heaven. Since the Lord Jesus did not witness that Paul’s path was correct, and He did not tell us to follow Paul’s example, if we choose our way to the kingdom of heaven based only on Paul’s words, it is easy to go astray. The passage of the Lord Jesus’ word we just read is too important: “but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.” This sentence tells us that we must believe in the Lord’s word. Only following the will of God is the way to enter the kingdom of heaven. In the last days, the Lord Jesus has returned and does the work of judgment beginning with the house of God. If we hear God’s voice, accept God’s work in the last days, and receive cleansing from God’s judgment and chastisement to be made perfect, without a doubt, this is how those who obey God’s will qualify themselves to enter the kingdom of heaven. As for those who only focus on preaching, casting out devils and performing miracles in the Lord’s name, are they able to know the Lord by not paying attention to practicing the Lord’s word? Are they the ones who do God’s will? Why did the Lord Jesus say, “I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Mat 7:23)? This passage of scripture is too important; it is thought-provoking! We all know, back then, the Pharisees of Judaism had traveled over land and sea. They had suffered a lot and paid many prices. Apparently, they seemed to be loyal to God. In fact, they only focused on religious rituals and rules. They paid no attention to practicing the words of God. They failed to follow, even abandoned God’s commandments. What they did and how they behaved, completely contradicted God’s intention and deviated from God’s way. So the Lord Jesus condemned and cursed them, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves” (Mat 23:15). Wasn’t it true? Evidently, the idea that “As long as someone works hard for the Lord, he will be brought into the kingdom of heaven when the Lord arrives” is purely the notion and imagination of man, which is completely out of line with the Lord’s words. Don’t you think so? Our pursuit for salvation and entry into the kingdom of heaven is right, but it must be based on the words of the Lord Jesus as final. If we ignore the Lord’s words but base it on Paul’s words and adopt the practice of Paul as our goal, how can we expect to win the Lord’s approval? If we believers of the Lord all understand these two verses, we’ll know exactly what the way to the kingdom of heaven is.

In fact, before accepting the work of Almighty God in the last days, we all had such notions and imagination in our belief of the Lord. We assumed that as long as we held on to the name of the Lord, sacrificed all, labored and preached in the Lord’s name, we were practicing the Lord’s word and following His way, we were certain that we would be brought into the kingdom of heaven when the Lord arrives. Later, after accepting the work of Almighty God in the last days, I saw the words of Almighty God: “When work is spoken of, man believes that work is to run to and fro for God, preach in all places, and spend for God. Though this belief is correct, it is too one-sided; what God asks of man is not solely to journey to and fro for God; it is more the ministry and supply within the spirit. … Work refers not to running to and fro for God; it refers to whether the life of man and what man lives out are for God to enjoy. Work refers to man using faithfulness they have to God and the knowledge they have of God to testify to God and minister to man. This is the responsibility of man and what all man should realize. In other words, your entry is your work; you are seeking to enter during the course of your work for God. Experiencing God is not only being able to eat and drink of His word; more importantly, you must be able to testify to God, to serve God, and to minister to and supply man. This is work, and also your entry; this is what every man should accomplish. There are many who only focus on journeying to and fro for God, and preaching in all places, yet overlook their personal experience and neglect their entry into the spiritual life. This is what causes those who serve God to become those who resist God” (“Work and Entry (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). After reading the words of Almighty God, I realized that God’s requirement in our work is more than merely to suffer, run around, and expend for Him. The most important is that we can practice and experience God’s word, and be able to speak about our actual experiences of God’s word in our work and preaching to lead our brothers and sisters into the reality of God’s word. Only this kind of work is satisfying to God. In retrospect, in the many years I had believed in the Lord, despite I had traveled to various places to work and preach in rain and storm in the name of the Lord, in which I had suffered a bit and paid some prices, I had not paid attention to practicing and experiencing the Lord’s words. I was unable to speak of my testimonies of experience about practicing the Lord’s word. I was only able to speak some empty letters and doctrines of the Bible, and teach brothers and sisters in observing some religious rituals and rules. How could this lead brothers and sisters into the reality of God’s word? In addition, when I was doing work and preaching, I always showed off myself to let brothers and sisters look up upon me. I always betrayed the Lord’s requirements and followed my own will at work. Just because I had expended and suffered a bit for the Lord, I assumed that I was the one who loved Him the most and was most loyal to Him. I was shameless enough to demand the blessing of the kingdom of heaven from God. I was so supercilious that I even looked down upon those brothers and sisters who were weak and negative. I had only paid attention to working by zeal for the Lord but ignored to practice and experience the Lord’s word. As a result, despite having followed the Lord for years, I knew nothing about the Lord and lacked any reverence for God, not to mention making any changes in life disposition. And because for many years I had believed in the Lord and had expended and suffered a lot for Him, I was increasingly arrogant and insubordinate to everyone. I was even always telling lies and deceiving others, revealing the disposition of Satan at every chance. As hard as the work I was doing, it was completely void of practice of the Lord’s word and obedience to the Lord. How could this achieve any understanding of God? For someone like me who lacked both the reality of the truth and understanding of God, wasn’t everything I did humiliating and resisting the Lord? How could I be exalting the Lord and bearing witness for Him? As the Lord Jesus said, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Mat 7:22-23). Didn’t all those evildoers condemned by the Lord Jesus externally expend for the Lord? They had neither violated any law nor committed any sin. Why did the Lord Jesus call them evildoers? It was because all their hard work was intended for receiving blessing. They were not truly obedient to God. Only after experiencing the work of Almighty God did I understand the true meaning of the Lord Jesus’ word, and realize that no matter how many years we have believed in the Lord, no matter how hard we have worked, we will never truly obey and worship God or become someone who is obedient to God’s will without experiencing God’s judgment and chastisement in the last days. It is absolutely true.

Let us look at the religious pastors and elders. Although they can set everything aside and work hard for the Lord, what is the work they are doing at all? What is the nature of their work? They have believed in the Lord for many years, they have never pursued the truth, and they are unable to receive the work of the Holy Spirit or solve the practical problems in our faith in God and the entry into life. They often talk about some empty biblical doctrines to fool and deceive believers, and testify how far they have traveled, how much work they have done, how much they have suffered, and how many churches they have established for the Lord and so on, in order to establish their own images for people to worship and follow. As a result, after listening to their preaching for so many years, brothers and sisters not only don’t understand the truth or know God, but they worship and follow these religious pastors and elders instead, unknowingly embarking on the path of worshiping man and betraying God. Can you say that the pastors and elders are following the way of the Lord by such spending and work? Are they not doing evil and resisting the Lord? Especially for the work of Almighty God in the last days, most pastors and elders know that all the words expressed by Almighty God are the truth, all the work of Almighty God is the work of the Holy Spirit, but they neither seek nor examine His words and work. Instead, they frantically fabricated rumors and spread all kinds of fallacies to resist and condemn Almighty God, and blockade the religious circles to a water tight condition in order to protect their status and livelihood. They prohibit anyone from seeking and studying the true way, forbid people who spread the kingdom gospel to witness the work of God in church, and even collude with the evil Chinese Communist Party to arrest and persecute those who witness to Almighty God. Aren’t these blatant acts against God? Their evil deeds against God are even worse than how the Pharisees had resisted the Lord Jesus in the past! Based on these facts, can we still say that expending and working hard in the name of the Lord is equivalent to following the will of God? Can we still say that someone is eligible for being brought into the kingdom of heaven as long as he adheres to the Lord’s name, maintains the Lord’s way, and travels and expends for the Lord? Let us look at the words of Almighty God for a better understanding.

Almighty God says, “You say you have always suffered whilst following God, that you have followed Him through thick and thin, and have shared with Him the good times and the bad, but you have not lived out the words spoken by God; you wish only to run about after God each day, and have never thought to live out a life of meaning. You say that, in any case, you believe God is righteous: You have suffered for Him, run around for Him, and devoted yourself for Him, and you have worked hard despite not receiving any recognition; He is sure to remember you. It is true that God is righteous, yet this righteousness is untainted by any impurities: It contains no human will, and it is not tainted by the flesh, or human transactions. All who are rebellious and in opposition, and not in compliance with His way, will be punished; none is forgiven, and no one is spared!” (“The Experiences of Peter: His Knowledge of Chastisement and Judgment” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“You must know what kind of people I desire; those who are impure are not permitted to enter into the kingdom, those who are impure are not permitted to besmirch the holy ground. Though you may have done much work, and have worked for many years, in the end if you are still deplorably filthy—it is intolerable to the law of Heaven that you wish to enter My kingdom! From the foundation of the world until today, never have I offered easy access to My kingdom to those who curry favor with Me. This is a heavenly rule, and no one can break it! You must seek life. Today, those who will be made perfect are the same kind as Peter: They are those who seek changes in their own disposition, and are willing to bear testimony to God and perform their duty as a creature of God. Only people such as this will be made perfect. If you only look to rewards, and do not seek to change your own life disposition, then all your efforts will be in vain—and this is an unalterable truth!” (“Success or Failure Depends on the Path That Man Walks” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The word of Almighty God is very clear: God is holy, righteous, and God absolutely forbids defiled and corrupt people to enter His kingdom. Does everyone agree?

from Answers to Screenplay Questions

Many people are asking, “We work hard for the Lord and adhere to the name and the way of the Lord. Why can’t we enter the kingdom of heaven?” It is not just whether we follow the will of God. The most important thing is that our sinful nature has not been resolved. Therefore, the experience of God’s judgment work in the last days is necessary for someone to receive cleansing to accomplish change in life disposition and become a person who obeys the will of the heavenly Father. Only this way can he be eligible to be brought into the kingdom of heaven. Now we may understand why we often commit sins during the day and confess sins at night, and never manage to forgo sin? The root cause is our nature of Satan which often dominates us to resist and rebel against God. Even if we often confess our sins and repent to the Lord, we cannot break away from the binding of sin. Such is the dilemma and status quo of all believers in the Lord. For in the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus only performed the work of redemption so man could be forgiven of his sin and be eligible to pray to God, commune with God and enjoy the grace and blessings of God. But the redemption work of the Lord Jesus only forgave our sins without pardoning our satanic nature. Even if we were able to work hard in the name of the Lord, run around and expend, we still could not break away from the control and binding of sin. So the Lord Jesus said that in the last days He would return, which is to resolve our sinful nature and satanic disposition. In the last days, Almighty God has come to carry out His work of judgment and cleansing of man based upon the foundation of the redemption work in the Age of Grace. By expressing the truth, God reveals and judges man’s satanic nature, and cleanses man’s satanic disposition, so that we can be completely delivered from the influence of Satan and be saved and gained by God. Let us read the words of Almighty God: “Before man was redeemed, many of Satan’s poisons were already planted within him. After thousands of years of Satan’s corruption, man already has within him a nature that resists God. Therefore, when man has been redeemed, it is nothing more than redemption, where man is bought at a high price, but the poisonous nature within has not been eliminated. Man that is so defiled must undergo a change before being worthy to serve God. Through this work of judgment and chastisement, man will fully come to know the filthy and corrupt substance within him, and he will be able to completely change and become clean. Only in this way can man be worthy to return before the throne of God. All the work done this day is so that man can be made clean and be changed; through judgment and chastisement by the word, as well as refinement, man can cast away his corruption and be made pure. Rather than deeming this stage of work to be that of salvation, it would be more apt to say it is the work of purification. In truth, this stage is that of conquest as well as the second stage of salvation. Man is gained by God through judgment and chastisement by the word; through the use of the word to refine, judge and disclose, all of the impurities, notions, motives, and individual hopes within man’s heart are completely revealed” (“The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “Though Jesus did much work among man, He only completed the redemption of all mankind and became man’s sin offering, and did not rid man of all his corrupt disposition. Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to take on the sins of man as the sin offering, but also required God to do greater work to completely rid man of his disposition, which has been corrupted by Satan. And so, after man was forgiven his sins, God has returned to flesh to lead man into the new age, and begun the work of chastisement and judgment, and this work has brought man into a higher realm. All those who submit under His dominion shall enjoy higher truth and receive greater blessings. They shall truly live in the light, and shall gain the truth, the way, and the life” (Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh). From the words of Almighty God, we realize that we have been profoundly corrupted by Satan. The nature of Satan is deep in us. Although our sins were forgiven through the redemption work of the Lord Jesus, and we could live before God by the grace of the Lord Jesus, we are still living in the satanic disposition and unable to practice God’s word and lead our lives according to God’s word, because the nature of Satan in us has not been resolved. This is not the type of people who will ultimately be gained by God. The people God will gain are those who have been cleansed of their corrupt disposition, those who are free of corruption and obedient to the will of God. So we still need the judgment work of Almighty God to resolve the roots of our sins, namely, the satanic disposition within us. When our satanic disposition has been cleansed, our separation from Satan’s influence has been complete, and we can truly obey and worship God, then we will truly be saved and gained by God, and qualify for God’s promise to enter His kingdom. There is no doubt about it.

from Classic Questions and Answers on the Gospel of the Kingdom

Read more: Where Does Eastern Lightning Come From?

                                The origin of the Church of Almighty God.

Why Is the Religious World Always Frantically Resisting and Condemning God’s New Work? | The Church of Almighty God

Why Is the Religious World Always Frantically Resisting and Condemning God’s New Work?

The two times that God has become flesh to walk the earth and carry out the work of saving man He has been met with the utmost resistance, condemnation and frantic persecution from leaders in the religious world, a fact that has puzzled and even shocked people: Why is it that every time God unfolds a stage of new work He is always met with this kind of treatment? Why is it that those who most frantically and aggressively resist God are the religious leaders who read the Bible over and over again and who have served God for many years?

The Significance and Practice of Prayer

Chapter 34. The Significance and Practice of Prayer

How do you currently pray? How is it an improvement on religious prayers? What do you actually understand about the significance of prayer? Have you examined these questions? Everyone who does not pray is distanced from God, everyone who does not pray follows their own will; the absence of prayer implies distance from God and betrayal of God. What is your actual experience with prayer? Right now, God’s work is already nearing the end and the relationship between God and man can be seen from man’s prayer.

The Work and Word of Almighty God in the Last Days Is not an Addition to the Bible

The Work and Word of Almighty God in the Last Days Is not an Addition to the Bible

     Some people say: The work of Almighty God in the last days goes against the prophesy in the Revelation 22:18-19: “For I testify to every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add to these things, God shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” They say that this is adding to the book of prophecy in the Bible, and that whoever accepts and follows the work of Almighty God in the last days shall lose their part in the kingdom of heaven. But actually, this word is contrary to the real facts, and it overlooks the context of the Revelation and relies on man’s imagination and notions.

In the Holy Bible, the Book of Revelation comes from John the Apostle after he was banished by the Roman emperor to the island of Patmos. It is an account of all the visions he witnessed while imprisoned. It was sometime shortly after 90 A.D., before the New Testament had been laid out, before the completion of the New and Old Testaments. So, when this book is mentioned in Revelation 22:18-19, it absolutely does not refer to the complete Bible of today, nor is it referring to the Old Testament, rather, it is referring just to the Book of Revelation. In the Scripture it says that “if people do certain things to these prophecies.” And it does not mean to do things to the Bible. These people taking this book as today’s Bible have an issue with acceptance. We ought to pay attention to what has been added to or taken away from the Scripture by man, and this does not include God Himself, because these prophecies deal with the work that God will carry out in the future, they can only be proven to be true when God comes to carry out His work. So, man cannot add to or take away from this as he wishes. We cannot limit God’s work in the last days to the prophesies in Revelation because of these two lines of the Scripture, nor can we delimit God to the point where He is not able to carry out work that is not prophesied in the book of prophecy. Since God is the Creator, He is in charge of all things. He has total authority to carry out His own work outside of what is prophesied. This is something that cannot be blocked by any of His creation and cannot be delimited by anybody. In Deuteronomy 12:32 in the Old Testament it says: “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” When the Lord Jesus was carrying out His work in the Age of Grace, many of the laws and decrees set forth by Jehovah in the Old Testament were added to or diminished. For example, in the Age of Law it demanded of men that they take an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but when the Lord Jesus arrived He said that you need not set yourself against evil men, even if someone strikes you on the right side of your face and then you turn and have them strike you on the left side of your face; the law dictated that you must hate your enemy, but the Lord Jesus said to love your enemy, and made people pray to this effect (See Mat 5:38-44). Through these examples we can see that in the eyes of those who abided by these laws, the things that Jesus did and said went beyond the law, He added things that went outside of the law. As a result, the Jews took the laws of Jehovah to condemn the Lord Jesus (See Jhn 19:7). You could say that this was an expression of man’s lack of reason, and man should not take God’s word where He requests man not to add nor diminish and turn this around to restrict God. Man should not use God’s old work that He carried out in the past to delimit His new work being carried out now. God is the Master of all creation. God carries out work according to His own management plan, His own free will. No matter how God carries out His work it is always righteous, because God’s essence is righteous; no matter how God carries out His work it is always the truth, because God’s essence is the truth; no matter how God carries out His work it is always able to bring life to those who believe in Him, because God’s essence is the source of life. God’s work, God’s word absolutely cannot be restricted by people, events, objects, place or time, much less be restricted by the letters of the Scripture. Almighty God says: “The work done by Jesus during the time of the New Testament opened up new work: He did not work according to the work of the Old Testament, nor did He apply the words spoken by Jehovah of the Old Testament. He did His own work, and He did newer work, and work that was higher than the law. Thus, He said: ‘Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.’ Thus, in accordance with what He accomplished, much doctrine was broken with. He took the disciples to the grain fields to pick and eat the heads of grain, He did not keep the Sabbath, and said ‘the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.’ At the time, according to the rules of the Israelites, whosoever didn’t keep the Sabbath would be stoned to death. Jesus, however, neither entered the temple nor kept the Sabbath, and His work had not been done by Jehovah during the time of the Old Testament. Thus, the work done by Jesus exceeded the law of the Old Testament, it was higher than it, and was not in accordance with it” (“Concerning the Bible (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The word of God enables us to know that in Revelation where it says not to add nor diminish that was God’s requirement to man. Man cannot take this requirement that God has of him and turn it around and put it on God, nor can man use the letters and regulations of the Bible to restrict and limit God or not allow Him to carry out new work or say things that go beyond the Bible. For if this were so, wouldn’t these things turn the world upside down, confusing cause and effect? The Book of Revelation comes from all of the visions witnessed by John after being moved by the Holy Spirit. At that time God had not yet carried out His work of the last days, so all that man had received was just God’s prophecies. But when God appears in the last days to carry out His work, His word becomes fact, and the prophecies also become true. In Revelation 5: 1-5 it says: “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders said to me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.” These scriptures tell us that in the right hand of the One sitting on the throne there is a scroll that is sealed with seven seals. The One sitting at the throne is of course God, and the seals illustrate that the information contained in this scroll must be kept secret from man for a period of time, that he cannot know about it, that its mystery must be maintained. So who is able to unfold this scroll and uncover the mystery? “The Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David.” These words make it very easy for us to understand or think about the Lord Jesus. The first time that Jesus became flesh was in the tribe of Juda, and His flesh belonged to the Root of David. But in His thirty-three and a half years on earth, the only disposition that Jesus revealed was that of the lamb. Very rarely did He possess the wrath and majesty of the lion, and it is based on this point that people have difficulty with confirming that this lion is referring to Jesus. But in the following sentence it says He has triumphed, which makes us convinced that this lion is referring to Jesus. Jesus was nailed to the cross for mankind, He surmounted death and defeated Satan, becoming the triumphant King. This line from the Scripture definitively tells us that the Lord Jesus was triumphant, that only He can open the scroll, that only He can break open those seven seals. The Jesus that is being talked about here is the Lord Jesus who returns in the flesh in the last days. The Lord who returns at this time expresses a disposition like that of the lion. He is full of majesty and wrath. He breaks the seals from the scroll in the last days (the scroll of course contains the word of God), and He will speak in His own words to the people, carrying out the work of judgment beginning with the house of God, for He is no longer the Lamb who was nailed to the cross to atone for man’s sins. He is no longer led along and ordered about by man. When this time comes He will make known to all of mankind every secret contained in the scroll, which will allow man to understand the mysteries of the spiritual world, and God’s management plan for mankind, and his own nature and substance, and God’s righteous disposition, the principles of God’s work, and the wisdom and almightiness of God; this will allow man to find the right path to go down, the path that leads to the entrance into the kingdom of heaven, the path that will allow man to separate himself from injustice and gain purification. This is all God’s work in the last days. This is the new work of Almighty God in the last days that we are all experiencing right now. Revelation 10:1-4: “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was on his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the earth, And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.” These lines from the Scripture allow us to know that the voices of the seven thunders were not written by John. In other words, in the Bible there simply is not the voices of the seven thunders. In summary of these two lines from the Scripture, the details of this little book and the voices of the seven thunders are not recorded in the Bible. From this it can be seen that if man were to use the words about adding or diminishing to delimit God’s work, and delimit God to where He couldn’t have new things to say that go beyond the Bible, then how could this little book be opened? How could God carry out judgment in the last days? If God did not open this little book, how could man know the details of this little book? How could he understand all the truths and mysteries? How could man know what the details are of the voices of the seven thunders? And then how could the prophecies in the Bible be proven to be true? From this it’s clear to see that God must have new work to carry out and new words to say in the last days. Only then can all of the prophecies in the Bible be proven to be true. Today, Almighty God has come, expressing the words of life and the truths and mysteries that man has not understood for generations past, thus fulfilling the prophecies in Revelation. These truly are the voices of the seven thunders, and the lamb opening the scroll. This has already become an irrefutable fact! Almighty God says: “Those who obey The truth and submit to the work of God shall come under the name of the second incarnate God—the Almighty. They will be able to accept the personal guidance of God, and shall acquire more and higher truth and receive the real human life. They shall behold the vision that people of the past have never seen: ‘And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the middle of the seven candlesticks one like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like to fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shines in his strength’ (Revelation 1:12-16). This vision is the expression of God’s entire disposition, and such an expression of His entire disposition is also the expression of the work of God when He becomes flesh this time. In the torrents of chastisements and judgments, the Son of man expresses His inherent disposition through the speaking of words, allowing all those who accept His chastisement and judgment to see the true face of the Son of man, a face that is a faithful depiction of the face of the Son of man seen by John. (Of course, all this will be invisible to those who do not accept the work of God in the Age of Kingdom)” (Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh).

We absolutely cannot continue to go down the old path of the Pharisees as God carries out His work in the last days. We cannot think, because God’s work and word in the last days are not recorded in the Bible, that these are additions. We must know that the work and word of Almighty God in the last days are not additions to the Bible, but rather they are the prophecies of Revelation coming about as predicted. It’s like in the Old Testament when it was prophesied that the Messiah would come. In the minds of the Israelites they all knew He would come to save them, and they also knew that a virgin female was pregnant with a child, and He was named Emanuel, who was to be a sin offering, among other things. However, as for the specifics on how He would come, and when He came how He would be a sin offering, they were not clear about these things. Moreover, these prophecies were just words, they were not facts that had already come about. But when Jesus came to carry out His work, all of the prophecies related to the Messiah that were recorded in the Old Testament were proven to be true, so then can we say that the New Testament (that is, the work of Jesus) is an addition to the prophecies in the Old Testament? Of course it’s not. Although when Jesus was carrying out His new work it did not conform to the Old Testament in the eyes of people of that time, nor did it conform to people’s notions, nor was it the same as the work and word of Jehovah, yet, what Jesus did was not diminishing or adding to the law, rather it was perfecting the law. The work of Jesus was a new stage of work being carried out on the foundation of the work from the Age of Law, it perfected the law, it gave man new things to put into practice, and a new understanding of God. It’s just as the Lord Jesus said: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Mat 5:17). Since the work of Jesus in the New Testament was not recorded in detail in the Old Testament, people thought that the work of Jesus went beyond the law of the Old Testament and added new commandments. However, in the eyes of God, He was just carrying out the work in His plan. The work of Jesus was a new stage of work being carried out on the foundation of the work from the Age of Law, it was an improved form of work, it accomplished the prophecies of the prophet. In the same way, God’s work in the last days shall accomplish the prophecy of the New Testament, it is the third stage of work based on God’s work of redemption. Can we say that this is adding to the Bible? Hasn’t the Bible already told us the answer to this question: “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 stage of work by God in the last days fulfills the truth of these lines of the Scripture. The word of God in the last days has already revealed to man mysteries that were concealed for generations past, and it has brought us many truths that we had never before had access to. It has given us a path to being cleansed, a path that will allow us to enter into the kingdom. The work of Almighty God in the last days is the newest stage of work based on the two stages of work carried out by Jehovah and Jesus, and it is an improved form of work from the previous two stages.

Almighty God says: “The work done by Jesus was merely a stage higher than the Old Testament; it was used to begin an age, and to lead that age. Why did He say, ‘I have not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill’? Yet in His work there was much which differed from the laws practiced and the commandments followed by the Israelites of the Old Testament, for He did not come to obey the law, but to fulfill it. The process of fulfilling it included many actual things: His work was more practical and real, and, furthermore, it was alive, and not the blind adherence to doctrine. Did the Israelites not keep the Sabbath? When Jesus came He did not observe the Sabbath, for He said that the Son of man was the Lord of the Sabbath, and when the Lord of the Sabbath arrived, He would do as He wished. He had come to fulfill the laws of the Old Testament and to change the laws. All that is done today is based upon the present, yet it still rests upon the foundation of the work of Jehovah in the Age of Law, and does not transgress this scope. To watch your tongue, and not commit adultery, for example—are these not the laws of the Old Testament? Today, what is required of you is not only limited to the Ten Commandments, but are commandments and laws that are higher than those of before, yet this does not mean that what came before has been abolished, for each stage of God’s work is carried out upon the foundation of the stage that came before. That which Jehovah introduced to Israel, such as giving sacrifice, honoring your father and mother, not worshiping idols, not assaulting others, not cursing others, not committing adultery, not smoking, not drinking, not eating the dead, and not drinking blood, is it not the foundation for your practice even today? It is upon the foundation of the past that the work has been carried out up until today. Though the laws of the past are no longer mentioned, and new requirements have been made of you, these laws have not been abolished, and instead, they have been uplifted. To say that they have been abolished means that the previous age is outdated, yet there are some commandments that you must always honor. The commandments of the past have already been put into practice, have already become the being of man, and there is no need to reiterate commandments to not smoke, not drink, and so on. Upon this foundation, new commandments are laid down according to your needs today, according to your stature, and according to the work of today. Decreeing commandments for the new age does not mean abolishing the commandments of the old age, but lifting them higher upon this foundation, to make the actions of man more complete, and more in line with reality” (“The Vision of God’s Work (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The word of God allows us to see that God’s work stage by stage really is its own complete entity. Each stage of work is based on the previous stage of work, and each stage is an improved form from the previous stage. We cannot split apart the work of God, to know God we must know God’s three stages of work. If we only know one or two of the three stages of work, then we will not have a comprehensive and complete understanding of God’s work of saving mankind. Only by knowing all three stages of God’s work can we know God’s entire disposition, and His wisdom and wondrousness. As an example, it’s like a person who gets full after eating three bowls of rice. This person couldn’t say they are full just from eating the third bowl. If they did not finish eating the first and second bowl then they would not be filled with the rice from these two bowls, so they could not be filled by the rice from the third bowl. Therefore, we cannot say that the work of Jesus is adding to or diminishing the Old Testament, and in the same way we cannot take the work and word of Almighty God in the last days and say that this is adding to or diminishing the New and Old Testaments. It would be absurd to accept such ideas.

Brothers and sisters, what is recorded in the Bible is just the work that God carried out in the Age of Law and the Age of Grace, as well as prophecies pertaining to God’s work in the last days, but it is not recorded in detail how this work in the last days will be carried out, or how mankind will be saved. So, we must view the Bible properly. When God has not come we must act in accordance with the teachings of the Bible. This is a requirement that God has of us that we must attain. But, when God opens up a new age to carry out new work, then we must carry out our actions in accordance with God’s current requirements, for only by following the footsteps of God will we be able to gain His praise. We cannot use the work that has been carried out by God that is recorded in the Bible to delimit God’s new work, much less say that God’s new work and new words diminishes the Bible, nor can we say that God’s work and word in the last days add things that go beyond the Bible. God was able to go beyond the law of the Old Testament to carry out His work in the time of the New Testament, and in the same way He can also go beyond the Bible to carry out His work in the last days. In the last days, the words expressed by Almighty God guide us to enter into all truths, so we can no longer refuse to accept God’s work and word in the last days with stiff necks. Brothers and sisters, we all must set aside our notions, and seek and study the work and word of God in the last days while keeping reverence for Him in our hearts, for God will enlighten us, allowing us to come to understand all truths. Let us follow the example of the disciples who came before us who followed Jesus, let us walk away from the Bible and follow the work that God is currently carrying out so that we may attain the salvation that we have looked forward to for so long!

Kang Jian, Shenyang, Liaoning Province

Read more: Is Eastern Lightning the Return of the Lord Jesus?

                   The brief introduction of the Church of Almighty God