Take a Firm Stance in Welcoming the Second Coming of Jesus Christ

Xiewen

In our daily life, we often see that when faced with something, the ambivalent people are obsessed with right and wrong and torn between two possibilities without taking a firm stance, and afterward, they will be very bothered and regret what they have done. Today, in the important matter of welcoming the second coming of Jesus Christ, many believers also hesitate at the crossroads, following the herd without taking a firm stance. If this goes on, what then will be the consequences? Let’s read a story:

In ancient times, there was a man in the State of Qi. One day, he went to sell a donkey with his son. After going out, he asked his son to ride on the donkey while he walked and led it. On the way they met a man, and the man sneered, “What an unfilial boy! Your father is an old man, but you let him walk and you are riding on the donkey!” Upon hearing this, the boy immediately got down from the donkey and asked his father to ride, and he walked. After a short while, they met another man, and the man said, “What a cruel old man! You yourself are riding on the donkey but let your poor little boy follow as best he can on his own legs.” At his words, they dared not ride the donkey anymore, so they walked and led it. Before they hadn’t gone far, they met another man, and he said, “What a pair of fools! They trudge along the road when they might be riding!” After hearing this, they two immediately mounted the donkey. However, they hadn’t gone far when they met another man, and the man said, “They are so cruel-hearted. Both of them are riding on the little donkey. You see, the donkey is dead tired!” Hearing this, the father and son hurriedly dismounted the donkey, and discussed what they should do. Then they said, “We’d better carry the donkey.” Again, they hadn’t gone far when they met a crowd of people, and these people all said, “How stupid they are! They are carrying their donkey rather than riding on it.” At the moment, the father and son got stumped, “The donkey cannot be ridden: when one of us rode on it, we were criticized by others; when both of us rode on it, we were blamed. When we carried it, they said us to be stupid.” It happened that they saw a well at the side of the road, so they threw the donkey into it for fear of being judged by others.

This story is short, but it is thought-provoking. The father and son were unable to think for themselves, had no discernment, and were afraid of others’ criticisms, so they complied with the opinions of various kinds of people and brought a lot of troubles on themselves. In the end, they threw their donkey away alive instead of selling it. They completely lost their donkey because of their vanity and self-respect. This reminds me of a fact: Today there are many people who have heard the news that the Lord Jesus has returned to flesh and does His work in China, and they have even heard the word of the truth and read the personal utterance of God. They think that they are in accordance with what the Bible prophesied and acknowledge in their heart that they are from God, but they believe the words of their pastors and elders and reject God’s salvation in the last days because of having no place for God in their heart and adoring and looking up to man. There are many, too, who cannot maintain a firm stance after hearing the rumors of the outside world formed on mistaken premises, and they eventually follow the crowd and shut the door on God. Don’t these people who have no discernment and stance reject God’s salvation for fear of being ridiculed and slandered? This is the same as what happened in the Age of Grace. At that time, the Lord Jesus came to the world to spread the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, and He bestowed upon man abundant grace, healed the sick, cast out demons, and performed many deeds of God, such as the great miracles of “feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fish,” “resurrecting Lazarus,” and so on. The people knew that all that the Lord Jesus did was unattainable by an ordinary prophet, and they all agreed and admitted in their heart that the deeds of the Lord Jesus were extraordinary. However, when the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees attacked, condemned, and slandered the Lord Jesus, and judged that He performed miracles and cast out devils by the prince of the devils, many muddled people had no discernment, so some of them, because of admiring the leaders, others, for fear of being persecuted, and still others, because of following the general trend, denied all that the Lord Jesus had done, and followed the Pharisees to reject and resist Him and even nail Him to the cross. As a result, they were condemned by the Lord Jesus and the nation of Israel was subjected to destruction. These were the consequences of their lacking discernment and having no stance and following the herd in dealing with the great matter of the Lord’s coming. In the last days, God has been incarnated again to speak utterances among man. He has carried out a stage of work to judge and purify man upon the foundation of the work of the Age of Grace, expressing the words of life to supply man. In order to free us humans completely from sin and make man holy, now the words spoken by God in the new age are already made public to the whole world on the Internet, and the work of God in the new age is testified through various means, including a great variety of books, movies, hymns, and dances, so that all those who truly yearn for the appearance of God can receive the rich supply of life prepared for us by God, live under the personal guidance of God, and enjoy a life on earth akin to heaven. But those muddled believers, who follow what others said and have no discernment and stance, believe all kinds of rumors of the outside world and are subjected to various kinds of restraints. They dare not accept God’s work in the last days for the sake of safeguarding their own interests, and hence are classified as ones standing on the side of the evil one, and they will ultimately live in the disaster that has scarcely been seen through the ages. This is determined entirely by the righteous disposition of God. Therefore, as Christians who have been longing desperately for the Lord to come, how should we treat the great matter pertaining to our end and destination? Should we follow the herd and gain nothing like the father and son who were on their way to sell the donkey or be the wise virgins who take a firm stance and go out to meet the Bridegroom when hearing the news of His coming? To welcome the second coming of Jesus Christ, we must actively seek the truth and gain discernment, and be able to hear and recognize God’s voice. Only in this way can we witness the appearance of the Lord.

God says: “If, in the pursuit of God, man does not have his own position to stand by, and does not know what truth he should hold to, then it means that he has no foundation, and so it is not easy for him to stand firm. Today, there are so many who do not understand the truth, who cannot distinguish between good and evil or tell what to love or hate. Such people can hardly stand firm. … Those who do not understand the truth always follow others: If people say that this is the work of the Holy Spirit, then you, too, say it is the work of the Holy Spirit; if people say it is the work of an evil spirit, then you, too, become doubtful, or also say it is the work of an evil spirit. You always parrot the words of others, and are incapable of distinguishing anything by yourself, nor are you able to think for yourself. This is someone without a position, who is unable to differentiate…. It is actually the work of the Holy Spirit, but you say it is the work of man; have you not become one of those who blaspheme against the work of the Holy Spirit? In this, have you not opposed God because you cannot differentiate?” (“Only Those Who Know God and His Work Can Satisfy God”). From God’s words we see that if a believer in God does not have his own position to stand by, he will be a failure in his belief in God, for he can follow others to do evil and resist God. So we should draw a lesson from the failure of the Jews who blindly adored and followed the religious officials and the Pharisees. We should not parrot the words of others and follow the herd, but should stand our ground, seek the truth and rely on God, and be able to discern what is the true way.

God says: “Distinguishing between the true way and the false way requires several aspects of basic knowledge, the most fundamental of which is to tell whether or not there is the work of the Holy Spirit. For the substance of man’s belief in God is the belief in the Spirit of God. Even his belief in God incarnate is because this flesh is the embodiment of the Spirit of God, which means that such belief is still the belief in the Spirit. There are differences between the Spirit and the flesh, but because this flesh comes from the Spirit, and is the Word become flesh, thus what man believes in is still the inherent substance of God. And so, in distinguishing whether or not it is the true way, above all you must look at whether or not there is the work of the Holy Spirit, after which you must look at whether or not there is the truth in this way. This truth is the life disposition of normal humanity, which is to say, that which was required of man when God created him in the beginning, namely, all of normal humanity (including human sense, insight, wisdom, and the basic knowledge of being man). That is, you need to look at whether or not this way takes man into a life of normal humanity, whether or not the truth that is spoken of is required according to the reality of normal humanity, whether or not this truth is practical and real, and whether or not it is most timely. If there is truth, then it is able to take man into normal and real experiences; man, furthermore, becomes ever more normal, man’s human sense becomes ever more complete, man’s life in the flesh and the spiritual life become ever more orderly, and man’s emotions become ever more normal. This is the second principle. There is one other principle, which is whether or not man has an increasing knowledge of God, whether or not experiencing such work and truth can inspire a love of God in him, and bring him ever closer to God. In this can be measured whether or not it is the true way. Most fundamental is whether this way is realistic rather than supernatural, and whether or not it is able to provide the life of man. If it conforms to these principles, the conclusion can be drawn that this way is the true way. … If you grasp these several key principles, then whatever happens you will not be deceived” (“Only Those Who Know God and His Work Can Satisfy God”).

From these words of God we see that it requires principles to distinguish what is the true way. It requires us to tell whether or not there is the work of the Holy Spirit in this way, whether or not there is the expression of the truth in it, whether or not it can make our conscience and sense become ever more normal, and whether or not we can obtain a knowledge of God in experiencing such work and truth. If there’s the work of the Holy Spirit, we will become ever more normal, will have an increasing knowledge of our corrupt satanic disposition and substance, and will be increasingly transformed in our corrupt disposition. At the same time, we will understand more and more truths and grow in life, have a deeper knowledge of God, recover our reason and conscience, and come ever closer to God. If there are these results of the Holy Spirit’s work following, this way is undoubtedly the true way. For example, in the Age of Grace, the truths expressed by the Lord Jesus could supply what His followers needed in life, so when the disciples spread the gospel, they didn’t revile in return when reviled or strike back when struck. They were full of faith, love, tolerance, and patience, and could endure the ridicule and slander of various kinds of people to carry out God’s will and cooperate with God in preaching the gospel to save man. Judging from the humanity they lived out, their sense and conscience as well as their knowledge of God, they were the very ones who followed God’s work. Today, The second coming of Jesus Christ has expressed all the truths that enable man to know God and be saved, including the inner truths of the three stages of God’s work, the mystery of God’s incarnation, the significance of God’s names, God’s disposition, and what God has and is. Meanwhile, He has also revealed the truths and mysteries concerning our substance corrupted by Satan, the true condition and root of our corruption by Satan, the end and the destination of us humans, and so on. Through experiencing God’s words of judgment, we can gain some knowledge of our satanic nature and corrupt disposition of arrogance and conceitedness, treachery and craftiness as well as selfishness and baseness, and we can also obtain a knowledge of God’s righteous and unoffendable disposition, so that we will have a heart that fears God and be gradually transformed in our corrupt disposition, and eventually we will be completely set free from sin and made clean. All these can fully prove that the work of God is the true way. Although condemned by the religious world and suppressed and in danger of being captured by the CCP government, the believers in God, under the guidance of the work of the Holy Spirit, have spread God’s gospel of the kingdom to all the nations by their faith and love toward God, and have established many churches in dozens of countries and regions, which is completely the result of the Holy Spirit’s work. I believe that from this the wise virgins will be able to hear the voice of God, welcome the bridegroom and feast with Him!

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Where Is Our Refuge From the Widespread Terror Attacks?

Xiao Yang

Following the Manchester Arena bombing on May 22 which killed 22 people, another terror attack took place at London Bridge and Borough Market at around 10 P.M. Saturday. A white van veered on and off the bridge sidewalk, running over pedestrians, and then three men jumped out of the vehicle and stabbed patrons indiscriminately at the bars and restaurants of Borough Market. 8 people were killed and 48 others injured at the scene.

Reading the news, I suddenly felt that the epidemic of terrorist attacks nowadays is actually another order of catastrophe. Since December there have been four terrorist attacks against the Christian minority in Egypt. And recently, a suicide bombing was carried out at Manchester Arena in England. Before the families of the victims of the Manchester attack were able to deal with their shock and grief, the tragedy was unfolded at London Bridge. The world is really tumultuous and fraught with peril. During these years, wars, terrorist attacks, earthquakes, plagues, floods, droughts, hail and other disasters have struck frequently and endangered our lives. It says in the Bible: “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows” (Mark 13:8). The prophecy has been fulfilled. In recent years, as disasters are all around and terrorist incidents keep happening, where is our refuge? Are these natural and man-made disasters giving us the sign that the Lord Jesus has already come?

Yesterday when I was looking up some information on a website, I typed the keyword “refuge” into the search bar and hit Enter, and saw some words among the search results:

“You should know that it is the last days now. The devil Satan, like a roaring lion, walks about, searching for people to devour. All manner of plagues are now breaking out and there are many different kinds of evil spirits. Only I am the true God; only I am your refuge. You can only now hide in My secret place, only within Me, and the disasters will not befall you and no calamity will come near to your tent.”

“I am amongst you, I support you and I am your refuge.”

Having read these words, I was surprised, thinking: Men are unable to say this. Only God is our refuge. These words must come from the Holy Spirit! Then I thought of the scriptures: “O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction” (Jeremiah 16:19). “The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence” (2 Samuel 22:3). The prophets and saints in ages past as well as we Christians today who follow the Lord, have all realized that only God is our refuge. It is true that now is the last days when various disasters are plaguing the world. Every time when calamity or danger comes upon us, it is also the time when we need God’s rescue. The arrival of the disaster will make us hurriedly come before God, because we know that only by depending on God can we receive God’s care and protection. In this light, the repeated disasters are exactly one of God’s methods of saving us. However, we are simply too numb and insentient to realize this salvation. In many cases, we feel afraid and anxious amidst the calamities and earnestly pray to God, asking for His help, care and protection. Yet once the calamities have passed and we live in peace and comfort again, we will put God to the back of our mind and all day think of how to eat and enjoy ourselves in a better way and how to lead a happy and joyful life. We like to stray from God and live freely, doing whatever we want. We believe that we are already worshiping God by going to church on Sundays with our family. But could this really allow us to be protected by God in the disaster? The prophecies about the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus have basically all come true, which shows that the Lord is very likely to have come. Our utmost priority is to seek where the Lord has appeared to do His work. Only if we keep up with God’s footsteps and meet the Lord’s second coming can we enter the refuge truly and be cared for and protected by God.

If you have other understanding and new light, you’re welcome to have a real-time chat with us via the online chat window at the bottom of the website or send an email to info@findshepherd.com. We’re all ears to your experience and knowledge of belief in the Lord. Looking forward to exchanging our sharing and welcoming the Lord’s second coming together.

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Rains Flood Many Areas in US: Seeing God’s Warnings

Rains Flood Many Areas in US: Seeing God’s Warnings

Recently, days of heavy rain have hit the central and southeastern United States, where in some parts the rainfall has reached up to 10 inches and will continue to increase. The torrential rain flooded hundreds of highways in eastern Tennessee. Water was flowing into a school’s cafeteria Sunday near Knoxville. Many schools in southwest Virginia and eastern Tennessee cancelled classes on Monday. What’s more, the Virginia Department of Transportation said that at least a hundred county roads were closed early Monday due to the high rising water in southwest Virginia. Presently, the casualties and property loss caused by the floods are still being counted.

The National Weather Service said that Charleston in South Carolina has been hit by a great flood by the morning of April 24. Evacuation of local residents and emergency measures are being carried out. The weather forecast indicated that nearly 6 million people are expected to be affected as the storm will slowly move northeast from the 25th. The government warned people that the bad storm may cause a power failure.

As Easter had just passed, people were still enjoying the festive atmosphere. Yet, contrary to all expectations, the continual heavy downpour destroyed their homes abruptly and put their life in danger. In recent years, there are more and more such sudden local disasters, which spread increasingly widely and caused ever severer casualties and losses. The Bible mentions that there will be great disasters in the last days, during which the Lord will return. But, has mankind really been prepared to welcome the Lord’s return? Is mankind in today’s situation really worthy to see the Lord’s face?

Think back to the days when God destroyed the world with flood. Except for Noah, who had a God-revering heart, the entire mankind was corrupted by Satan to such degree that they only knew to hanker after carnal pleasures. To eat and drink and have fun and to satisfy the fleshly lust, man all forgot the right way of fearing God and shunning evil. When Noah spread the news that God would unleash the destruction upon the world with flood, not only did no one believe him, but instead people all ridiculed him, saying that he was insane. Consequently, when the flood poured down, only Noah’s family of eight boarded the ark which was built ahead of time, and no one else was spared from the destruction.

Compared with the people of Noah’s time, what about the people of the last days? For the sake of their own interests, countries fight for every inch of territory. Local conflicts and wars have never ceased and a world-wide war can be triggered off at any time. And men also fight against each other for their private interests. Politicians jostle for position and trade power for cash. Businessmen seek nothing but money and plot against each other. Furthermore, an extramarital affair has become a common social phenomenon, which is given a beautiful name of pursuing personal freedom. Many people turn to drugs as an outlet for their frustration and unbearable emptiness. Even homosexuality, this unethical evil thing, has been under the protection of the law in many nations which claim to advocate civilization and democracy. … It can be seen that the evil of mankind in the last days is even worse than that in the time of Noah.

The Lord Jesus prophesied, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be”(Matthew 24:37-39). Before the great flood, people had been craving for the pleasure of sin without repentance. It was not until the great flood rained down that they scrambled to go into the ark, but God had closed the door of grace personally. Because when God gives man opportunities to repent, if they do not cherish them, it will be too late to repent when God hurls His wrath to punish Satan and all the wicked who follow Satan. Now is the crucial time once again when the life and death of mankind is decided. From now till the great disasters prophesied in Revelation come, it is the very period when God gives man opportunities to repent. At the present time, God uses some local disasters such as earthquakes, floods and plagues to warn man to turn away from their evil ways and forsake the violence in their hands quickly, confess and repent before Him soon and carefully examine what they have done. Shall we still consider eating, drinking and pleasures and the indulgence of fleshly lust as the proper pursuits of life? Or shall we quiet down before God more to carefully ponder over and comply with His words, and seek to walk the right path of life of fearing God and shunning evil? Different attitudes and practices will inevitably bring about different outcomes and destinations. Have you perceived God’s warnings sent to us by the disasters now?

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What Is the True Way to Prepare Oil for Second Coming of Jesus?

What Is the True Way to Prepare Oil for Second Coming of Jesus?

Tong Tong

The Jesus Christ said: “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go you rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut” (Matthew 25:1-10). Two thousand years ago, the Jesus Christ once told us a very vivid parable about who can enter the kingdom of heaven. He said that only the wise virgins can welcome the bridegroom, and the foolish virgins who haven’t taken oil with them cannot. When I read this parable, I was determined to be a wise virgin to welcome the Lord’s return, and feast with Him.

In the few decades of faith in the Lord, I have always been yearning for the Lord to welcome me to the heavenly home and deliver me from this hard and sinful place, so that I will receive His beautiful promise. I often worked hard at reading the Bible and prayed to the Lord earnestly; I looked for the famous preachers who knew the Bible well and listened to them expounding the Bible; I tolerated the ridicule and sarcasm of the worldly people; when sickness or adverse things came upon me, I tried to keep myself from following Satan and complaining, for I believed that “he who endures to the end will be saved.” I thought my doing so was preparing oil. However, all these I did never brought any comfort to my heart, and I felt far away from the Lord. I was unable to feel the presence of the Lord even though I often prayed to Him.

Was my preparing oil this way not in accordance with the Lord’s will? I fell into confusion. One day, I heard a brother’s sermon, and he said: “In the Age of Grace the Jesus Christ mentioned the wise virgins. What is this mystery? Why is it said that they are the wise virgins? It is primarily because they can recognize God’s voice. As soon as they listen, they realize, ‘I felt this man’s words are God’s words, are God’s voice. There’s no way that a person could speak these words; this is the voice of God. So I believe in Him. He is Christ, that is, God has become flesh.’ You see, such is their wisdom. How are the foolish people so foolish? They think, “Isn’t this a man? Isn’t this Jesus of Nazareth? Isn’t this just an ordinary person? How can He be God? We won’t believe in Him, and we only believe in the God in heaven.’ Look, doesn’t it show that they do not have spiritual understanding? Yet they believe that their words are right and very reasonable. The result is that God allows these ‘smart’ people to fall prey to their own crafty schemes” (Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (IX)). His fellowships resolved my confusion. I understood that preparing oil means to be able to listen out for God’s voice, understand God’s words, and accept the truth and submit to God. Only those who can do so are wise virgins.

I was reminded of the fisherman Peter. After hearing the gospel of the kingdom of heaven preached by the Jesus Christ, he realized that what the Jesus Christ had spoken was the mystery about the kingdom of heaven, and that the Jesus Christ was sent by God, so he followed Him. While staying with the Jesus Christ, Peter saw that His words could not have been spoken by man, and that the work He did could not have been done by man. From the Lord’s speech and behavior, Peter recognized that He was the Son of the living God. I also thought of the woman of Samaria. When she heard the Lord Jesus say the inmost secrets of her heart, she recognized the Lord, for she knew that only God can know man’s innermost secrets. So she left her water pot and went to tell the people: “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” (John 4:29). Facing the appearance of God, the disciples and followers of the Lord Jesus could understand that the words He had spoken were the truth and were from God, which could not have been spoken by man. And after hearing God’s voice, they could accept, submit to and follow the Lord. That’s how they prepared oil.

In contrast, those foolish virgins didn’t have a seeking and yearning heart, and they neither sought nor investigated the truth expressed by Christ to see if it was the voice of God. On the contrary, they always defined God’s work by their notions, treated the incarnate Jesus Christ as an ordinary person, and said that the utterance of God was actually the word of man. As a result, they were rejected by God and lost His salvation. Just like the Pharisees at that time, they didn’t listen carefully to the Lord’s words, blindly judged God to be a man by their conceptions, and even fanatically condemned that the Lord spoke words of blasphemy. Eventually, they were cursed and punished by God because of defying the new work of the Lord.

Then I read these words of the Lord: “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” (John 16:12-13). “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps” (Matthew 25: 6-7). The scriptures show us that in the future God will come again to speak many more words and tell us the future work of Him. So, when the Lord comes again, I should be a wise virgin. If someone preaches the message on the Lord’s return, I should be watchful to listen to the voice of God, and pray to the Lord more to receive His guidance. I believe that the Lord will guide me to welcome His coming, for the Lord promised: “And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened” (Luke 11:9-10). “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” (Revelation 3:20). Thanks be to the Lord! May the Lord’s kingdom come soon. Hope we can be the wise virgins and welcome the return of the Jesus Christ.

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Finding the Salvation of the Last Days on Facebook III

Finding the Salvation of the Last Days on Facebook III

Only through Almighty God’s words and Sister Lin’s fellowship did I understand a little about how the Lord does the work of judging man and purifying man when He comes. Sister Lin sent me some of Almighty God’s words, “…when God becomes flesh this time, His work is to express His disposition, primarily through chastisement and judgment. Using this as the foundation, He brings more truth to man, shows more ways of practice, and so achieves His objective of conquering man and saving man from his corrupt disposition. This is what lies behind the work of God in the Age of Kingdom” (Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh). “In the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, reveal the essence of man, and dissect his words and deeds. These words comprise various truths, such as man’s duty, how man should obey God, how man should be loyal to God, how man ought to live out the normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and disposition of God, and so on. These words are all focused on the essence of man and his corrupt disposition. In particular, those words that reveal how man spurns God are spoken in regards to how man is an embodiment of Satan and an enemy force against God. When God does the work of judgment, He does not simply make clear the nature of man with just a few words, but carries out revelation, dealing, and pruning over the long term. Such manner of revelation, dealing, and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words but with the truth that man does not possess at all. Only such manner of work is deemed judgment; only through such judgment can man be persuaded, be thoroughly convinced into submission to God, and gain true knowledge of God. What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of God and the truth about his rebelliousness. The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the will of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that could not be understood by man. It also allows man to recognize and know his corrupt substance and the roots of his corruption, as well as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by the work of judgment, for the substance of such work is actually the work of opening up the truth, way, and life of God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God” (“Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Sister Lin fellowshiped, “From Almighty God’s words, we can see that in the last days, God becomes flesh and expresses the words to do the work of judgment and chastisement to purify man. He discloses and dissects man’s corrupt nature and the root of man’s sinning from different perspectives, so that man can have a knowledge of them and get purified. This stage of work of judgment and chastisement with the word is to remove everything that is not clean within man, so that he can completely break free from the bondage of sinful nature, have a knowledge of God’s inherent righteous disposition, and thus can obey God and worship God. Though we’ve been redeemed by the Lord Jesus, the root of our sin within hasn’t been removed yet. We truly need God’s further work of judgment and purification. Now, Almighty God has come and does the work of removing sins, which follows on from that of the Lord Jesus. Only those who accept God’s judgment and chastisement can have a knowledge of their corrupt nature, understand the ways to be transformed in their disposition and be saved and gradually get purified, live out the likeness of a real man to be saved by God, and have the qualification to enter the kingdom of heaven. However, those who don’t love the truth, reject the judgment and chastisement of God, and even openly judge, resist, condemn God’s work in the last days, and who cling to the notion that whoever does not ride upon a white cloud is not the returned Lord Jesus, are right antichrists, false believers, and unbelievers who are revealed by God and who detest the truth and hate the truth. They have long ago lost the work of the Holy Spirit, fallen into darkness, and become the objects condemned and eliminated by God. In the end, God will take those who have experienced His judgment and get purified into a wonderful destination. And He will destroy all those broods of Satan that are revealed to be resistant to God. This is the final result of God’s expressing the truth to do the work of judgment and is the full salvation God prepares for man in the last days.”

After listening to their fellowship, I felt especially brightened and liberated in my heart. Almighty God’s word is very practical. I understand that in the last days, God’s work of judgment and chastisement with the word is to change and purify man. Only if we accept Almighty God’s work of judgment can we gain the truth, know the fact of how we’ve been corrupted by Satan, know God’s disposition, and truly obey and worship God. I should read Almighty God’s word carefully. Almighty God’s word has mysteries and is from God. Xinyi also said, “It is really meaningful that God does the hidden work of judgment with the word.”

Later, Sister Lin fellowshiped with us about many more truths, including the inside story of the Bible, how to tell the true Christ from the false ones, the difference between God’s work and man’s work, and that knowing the three stages of God’s work is the path to knowing God. Having understood these truths, Xinyi and I both ascertained that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus, and we gladly accepted His kingdom gospel. We had meetings with the sisters and brothers of the Church of Almighty God on the Internet. From Almighty God’s words, I have understood that only those who listen to His words carefully, and accept the judgment and chastisement of the last days to get purified can enter God’s kingdom. Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus and is the Almighty who is, who was, and who is to come, and who is prophesied in Revelation. I have also truly felt the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. Later, two sisters near me visited me and fellowshiped about Almighty God’s words with me, making me truly supplied in my spirit. Now, I have the watering and supplying of the living water of life every day, feel that I am face to face with God, and live in a very released and free way.

From Almighty God’s words, I have found the true way to enter the kingdom of heaven: accepting God’s judgment and chastisement with the word and having my corrupt disposition purified and transformed little by little. I really thanked God for His salvation. When I see again the messages slandering the Church of Almighty God on Facebook, I’ve already learned how to discern them, and I’ll no longer waver. Those who spread these messages are all antichrists, devils, and Satan who hinder people from being saved and entering the kingdom of heaven. The CCP, the atheistic party spread various lies and rumors in order to abolish Almighty God’s work of the last days, have people stand in their side to resist and blaspheme God, and thus lose God’s salvation of the last days and go to hell to be punished. This is the sinister intention of the CCP, the devil. Praise God! Only after I have experienced God’s work personally did I understand God’s thoughtful intention to save man and His love toward man. Now I do cherish this salvation from Facebook. Whenever I have time, I read Almighty God’s word and cooperate in the gospel work. I wish to lead my relatives, friends and the fellow believers in my former church to God’s family, and want to keep up with God’s footprints and attend the feast of kingdom of heaven together with them. (The End)

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A Christian’s Spiritual Diary—I don’t want to go to church

A Christian’s Spiritual Diary—I don’t want to go to church

May 12, 2017

It’s a fine day today. Outside the window, the light breeze was blowing softly. In the yard, leaves on the trees were dancing gaily in the breeze to express their happiness …

Looking at the dancing leaves, however, I was still unhappy. For a period of time, I often felt empty and fretful for unknown reasons. At home, when what my husband and son said was not to my liking, I lost my temper with them; when my husband hung about all day long, I even hated and despised him. But I thought of “Be you angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down on your wrath: Neither give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27). So I tried to be tolerant of and patient with them. However, no matter how hard I tried, I found myself always unable to conquer the sins, living in the constant state of committing them by day and confessing them by night. Sometimes, I even felt too ashamed to meet the Lord.

Worse still, recently, every time I went to church, as soon as the pastor began preaching, my eyelids started to droop and sleep stole over me. Although sometimes I had tried my best to stay awake, I still felt very drowsy. Neither did it work to call to the Lord for help. And the last few times I even became fed up with church meetings. I knew it’s not right, but I just couldn’t control this thought.

I have always thought: How come I have fallen into such a state? At the beginning when I believed in the Lord, brothers and sisters in our church were fervent; I was also full of faith, feeling strong in the spirit. Several times when I was scolded and persecuted by my husband, I felt weak in the spirit, and then the elder sister who led me to faith in the Lord came to my support. We sat under a big tree in the yard. When she talked of how the Lord Jesus was flogged, humiliated, and nailed to the cross, I was deeply moved by the Lord’s love for mankind, and felt that His love was too profound to be described in words. Over the talk, my sorrow and bitterness vanished without my knowing it. And an unfailing strength stirred in me, giving me the faith to walk a rocky road after the Lord. When my family had difficulties, I called to the Lord, and He would send others to help me; when I disobeyed or strayed from the Lord, He would deal with and discipline me through my husband or something else. Several times when I wanted to do business to earn money and didn’t want to attend church meetings, my husband quarreled with and criticized me, and things didn’t go well for me at all. At last, I couldn’t but go on to attend meetings. … At that time, I strongly felt that the Lord is like both a stern father and a loving mother, and that God is in the heaven, at my home, and even more in my heart.

However, unknowingly, I began to feel a growing sense of darkness in my heart. At its worst, I couldn’t see anything clearly, as if in a dark, endless wilderness where I felt directionless and lost. More often than not, I sank into unspeakable pain and worries. No matter how I prayed, the Lord seemed to be rather far away from me, and I couldn’t feel His presence at all. Then I thought of Psalm 63 and began to sing, “O God, you are my God; early will I seek you: my soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is….” And my tears gushed out. I called in my heart over and over again, “Lord, have You really deserted me? Where are You? Where …”

May 16, 2017 Sunny

After waking up this morning, I was aware that I should rise to read the Bible. But I didn’t want to move. I lay there, gazing at the ceiling and trying to figure out the cause of my present state: There’re many activities in our church now. We have dinner together after every meeting; the church holds different kinds of activities on festivals; sometimes we join in outdoor activities and go traveling; and the church even invites preachers from other churches to give us sermons. But we are thirsty in spirit and haven’t made much progress in our spiritual life. Believers still pursue the trends of the world; jealous disputes and struggles for the fame and gain happen too often. Everyone is in the state of sinning during the day and confessing at night, unable to extricate himself from it. Actually what is the cause of such a situation? I have asked several brothers and sisters about this question, but they couldn’t explain it clearly and some were even unaware of it. I don’t know how to walk my future path. While I was thinking, I felt I was like a kid abandoned by his mother. Tears trickled down my cheeks. I called on God in my heart to help me out.

After breakfast, Sister Wu in our church came to invite me to attend a meeting in another church. I thought: Weak as I am, I should attend meetings. So I went to that church with her. When we walked into the room, their meeting had already begun. The preacher said, “Let’s see: Why is the temple in Judaism desolate? There are two reasons. On the one hand, the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees of Judaism opposed God and were enemies to God. Externally, they were serving Jehovah God; in fact, they went against God’s laws and commandments. For example, they killed prophets and devoured widows’ houses, and they only observed religious traditions. Because they did these unlawful things under the banner of service to God, they were detested and rejected by God, and the Holy Spirit had long ago stopped working in the temple. So it fell into desolation and became a den of thieves where cattle, sheep, and doves were sold. On the other hand, it’s because God’s work had moved forward on the basis of that of Jehovah God—the incarnate Lord Jesus had carried out the redemptive work outside the temple. However, the religious world held onto the law rigidly, didn’t seek for or keep pace with God’s new work, so they lost the work of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, when the Lord Jesus’ work came upon them, none of the religious leaders accepted or obeyed His work. Instead, they condemned and resisted the Lord Jesus frenziedly. They had become those who resisted God. This fulfilled the prophecies in the Bible: ‘And also I have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city: one piece was rained on, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered to one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have you not returned to me, said the LORD’ (Amos 4:7-8). ‘Behold, the days come, said the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD’ (Amos 8:11). From these verses, we can see that ‘I caused it to rain on one city’ means that the Holy Spirit works in the church where the God incarnate appears to do His work. And ‘caused it not to rain on another city’ means that if a church doesn’t obey God’s commandments and even denies, resists, and condemns the appearance and work of God incarnate, there will not be the work of the Holy Spirit in this church. Without the Holy Spirit’s work, the believers will be thirsty and hungry in spirit, and can’t see through anything….” I was astonished when I heard these words: Aren’t I a blind person who is darkened and thirsty in the heart, and unable to see through anything? The more I listened to his sermon, the more I felt I didn’t have the work of the Holy Spirit, and I even felt there was no the work of the Holy Spirit in our church. Outwardly, the church seems to be thriving, and the brothers and sisters attend meetings and serve the Lord. But in reality, they’re just going through formalities or following a process. They’re practicing the Lord’s words according to their own will. Those who crave fleshly enjoyments remain the same, and those who covet money remain the same. Does the Lord work in other churches and not in our church? Is our church the same as the filthy temple at the end of the Age of Law? I dared not to think more.

The preacher continued, “God allows the famine to befall the temple, and His intention is to force those who truly believe in Him and like the truth to look for the footsteps of His work and His appearance. Just like when the family of Jacob encountered famine, they all went to Joseph to get food. Once we find the true way, we can enjoy the supply of living water of life, restore our original faith and love….” Hearing out his communication, I was sure that our church had already lost the work of the Holy Spirit. And I suddenly sensed that the sermon today was quite different. I had never heard such a sermon before, and I received much supply from it. I thought the preacher’s sermon was really good. So I told Sister Wu after the meeting that I would go there again.

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