Why Do People Live Further Away from Civilization Gradually?

Why Do People Live Further Away from Civilization Gradually?

Lin Ting

One day, I took my three-year-old daughter to go out. After getting on the trolley, we walked to the priority seating area specially reserved for the elderly, infirm, sick, disabled and pregnant. I saw three young people aged over 20 sitting there. One kept his eyes closed, another one was holding a mirror to make up, and the third was playing mobile phone with his head down. Thus, my young daughter could only stand aside and hold the handrail with her hands because there was no empty seat left. However, these three young people pretended that they hadn’t seen my daughter at all, and none of them offered their seats all the way. A few minutes later, I felt someone pull my bag. When I turned back, an old lady who was going to get off showed me to take her seat. Then my daughter and I sat there after saying thanks to her.

This little thing reminds me of some uncivilized phenomena in this society, such as dine and dash, stealing, cheating the old, making trouble after getting drunk, and indecent assault on females in the trolley…. When seeing these bad social behaviors and such corrupt morals and evil trends, I can’t help but fall into a deep meditation: Why do people live further away from civilization gradually? In my imagination, either in courtesy or culture, the advanced country which I lived in is not inferior to any other countries. But now there also exist many uncivilized phenomena. This reminds me of the words of Almighty God, “Perhaps your country currently prospers, but if you allow your people to stray from God, then your country shall find itself increasingly bereft of the blessings of God. The civilization of your country shall be increasingly trampled underfoot….” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) From Almighty God’s words, I understand the reason why the morals of this relatively civilized country decline gradually. It is because the ruler of this country doesn’t worship God, nor does he lead his people to worship God. So they lose the blessings of God, and the phenomena of moral anomie, lack of credibility and the decline of civilization appear. Meanwhile, because man was corrupted by Satan and began to adore money, science and social trends, they became more and more fallen and decadent. People always want to find some excitements to enrich their lives, feeling as if that lifestyle is enjoyable. Slowly, the civilization of this country is becoming worse and worse. Although rulers and sociologists wrack their brains to preserve human civilization and improve human moral standards by various means, it is to no avail. They think that laying down some laws and rules and regulations can restrain people’s words and deeds. However, the facts prove that these laws and rules and regulations that are laid down by man can restrain man for a time, but it can’t bring man life, for it is not the truth. So people can hold this time, but can’t next time. This is the reason why people live further away from civilization gradually.

Almighty God says, “God created this world, He created this mankind, and moreover He was the architect of ancient Greek culture and human civilization. Only God consoles this mankind, and only God cares for this mankind night and day. Human development and progress is inseparable from the sovereignty of God, and the history and future of mankind are inextricable from the designs of God. If you are a true Christian, then you will surely believe that the rise and fall of any country or nation occurs according to the designs of God. God alone knows the fate of a country or nation, and God alone knows the course this mankind is to follow. If mankind wishes to have a good fate, if a country wishes to have a good fate, then man must bow down to God in worship and repent and confess before God, or else the fate and destination of man will unavoidably end in catastrophe.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) From God’s words, I know that it is God who created this world and this mankind, and was the architect of human civilization. Human development and progress and the rise and fall of a nation are all under thesovereignty and arrangement of God. If mankind wishes to have a good fate, man must come before God to worship Him, repent to Him and accept His leading and provision. And then, they can live in God’s blessings. Otherwise, the development of this country will come to a standstill and the country will tread the road to ruin. Because without God’s leading, no matter how many rules and regulations man lays down, they can’t put an end to these uncivilized phenomena. So, only if we come before God to worship Him and live by His word, can these uncivilized phenomena be solved from the root, and can people treat each other with sincerity, help each other, live in harmony and finally live in God’s blessing.

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Read More: God’s Word “God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind”

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There Is a Love That Is Called Pain

There Is a Love That Is Called Pain

There is a love that is called pain.

Perhaps you are competent, but you are always serving others, while someone else who is very cowardly has been taken care of. You may have experienced many hardships and are no stranger to tribulations, but the one you are most familiar with lives their entire lives in peace. You probably have spent over half your life suffering from illness, while some others lead a happy and comfortable life. … In short, there are many things you may find unfortunate and hard to accept.

However, we should not think ourselves unfortunate, or feel greatly wronged and complain how fate is unfair to us. Look at the people around us: In experiencing pain, some choose to escape and cease the effort to move forward, whereas some others choose to brave it and keep groping for progress. In the end, those who choose to escape, despite suffering little, live their lives in mediocrity. Those who choose to confront pain suffer a lot and shed many tears, but after going through painful struggles, they gain some understanding of human life, become mature in their thinking, and conduct themselves and handle things in an experienced and steady manner. On top of that, they can submit to the orchestration of fate, and feel steadfast, released and liberated in their hearts.

When I didn’t believe in God, I saw a lot of the above cases. After I believed in God, I read many of God’s words, and realized a fact: Every one of us is a part of God’s management plan, and we came into this world as a result of God’s arrangements. In our life journeys, there are many things painstakingly arranged by God for us. Some of them are very disappointing and we feel pain about them, but they are truly beneficial to us. Take myself for example. I was born vain. No matter what I did or said, I preferred to be praised and complimented by others. Any words that damaged my reputation would make me feel upset. Later, I married a man who was very lazy and ill-tempered. He often threw our family into turmoil. I felt my reputation was ruined, and I couldn’t keep my head high in front of others or speak with confidence. I had lived in pain and depression, and at some point I even lost the courage to live on. Afterward, I saw God’s words: “Corruption within human nature must be resolved through trials, however. In whichever aspects you do not pass, it is in these aspects that you must be refined—this is God’s arrangement. God creates an environment for you, forcing you to be refined there to know your own corruption. Ultimately you reach a point where you would rather die and give up your schemes and desires, and submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangement. So if people do not have several years of refinement, if they don’t have a certain amount of suffering, they will not be able to avoid the bondage of corruption of the flesh in their thought and in their hearts. In whichever aspects you are still subject to Satan’s bondage, in whichever aspects you still have your own desires, your own demands—it is in these aspects that you should suffer. Only in suffering can lessons be learned, which means being able to gain truth, and understand God’s intention” (“How to Satisfy God in the Midst of Trials”). Looking at God’s words, I felt very warm inside. I came to understand why God arranged things for me in this way and what His purpose was. God knows man best. He knew that I always worried about gaining and losing reputation, living in pain and depression without being able to be released. So, He arranged such a husband for me according to my corrupt disposition and my need. However, I was unwilling to accept it, and misunderstood God’s will, thinking God mistreated me so that I lived a miserable life. But on mature reflection, if I, as a person who treasured reputation more than life, had actually had my own way in everything, I would have become more arrogant with my internal desires continually growing, and more lacking in how a human being should be. I would even have been led astray by reputation and status. If that was really the case, not only would my whole life have been thoroughly ruined by vanity, but I would have brought much suffering to my family. At this point, I understood God’s will and His kind intentions. I saw that all He does is salvation and greatest protection for me. This is a love that cannot be expressed with words.

God says: “God can perfect man in both positive and negative aspects. It depends on whether you are able to experience, and on whether you pursue being perfected by God. If you truly seek being perfected by God, then the negative cannot make you suffer loss, but can bring you things that are more real …” (“Only Those Who Focus on Practice Can Be Perfected”). God’s words are very true. Whatever God does, be it good or bad in our eyes, contains God’s good intention, and it is to change us. When we have experienced some pain, we will truly recognize that pain is a unique gift and the truest love God bestows upon us.

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What Should We Do to Overcome Our Fear of Death?

What Should We Do to Overcome Our Fear of Death?

Zhou Ru

From the moment we are born crying into the world, we begin our life journey. As we gradually grow up, people, events, and things around us are also constantly changing. We try to change our fates with our own two hands, but only to find that we have to accept the ups and downs that our fates have in store. Some people achieve what they desire, while some people achieve nothing…. Yet whatever we have experienced during this process, when we enter old age, each of us will unknowingly confront the last life-juncture: Death.

I have an aunt who works in a hospital. Every time I went to her for something, I had to pass many wards, in which almost all of the patients were old people who were incapable of looking after themselves, and who were lying on the bed and depended on drugs to stay alive. Whenever I happened to meet their blank and fearful eyes, I would unconsciously develop sympathy for them, and then I would hurriedly avoid their eyes. When turning away from them, I saw their families busy serving them meals or water, dressing them, feeding them medicine, and so on. It seemed that they wanted to delay the approach of the death of their loved ones in this way. However, once the wheel of destiny starts to go around, no one can reverse it.

I saw an article about a teacher who suffered from chronic renal failure. In order to cure his illness, he had almost visited all the large famous hospitals in a few years, yet at last he was no better, but rather grew worse. Because of taking too much medicine, his eyes got blurred and he couldn’t see clearly, and his legs became numb and he could hardly walk. He was diagnosed with drug poisoning. Yet he still didn’t give up the treatment, and eventually his kidney problem got even worse due to the side effects of the drugs. During that period, he thought: I have been a heavy burden to my family for too long and I have thought of committing suicide several times. But why do I fear death, fear departing from this world? …

I, who am young, often pondered: Why do people still desperately struggle to survive even when they know clearly they are close to dying? Since we all know that we will have to face death some day, why can’t we face it calmly when death truly draws near?

One day I finally got the answer from a book. It says, “Why are they unable to escape the suffering from the fear of death? When facing death, some people wet themselves; others shiver, faint, lash out against Heaven and man alike, even wail and weep. These are by no means the sudden reactions that occur when death draws near. People behave in these embarrassing ways mainly because, deep in their hearts, they fear death, because they do not have a clear knowledge and appreciation of God’s sovereignty and His arrangements, much less truly submit to them; because people want nothing but to arrange and govern everything themselves, to control their own fates, their own lives and death. It is no wonder, therefore, that people are never able to escape the fear of death.” When pondering this passage of words, I recalled the manifestations of those people who were facing death. Then I saw the light: The reason why they feared death was because they didn’t know the Creator, didn’t know God’s sovereignty and arrangements, much less truly submit to them. Actually, it is God who plans out and arranges when a person is born, and when and in what context he dies. Yet after corrupted by Satan, we are full of various satanic poisons, and no longer believe in God’s sovereignty but try to change our fates by our own ability, always hoping to cast off God’s authority, sovereignty and arrangements. Therefore, when death really draws near, we have no idea where we are going, and what we show is only fear and dread.

After understanding this, I couldn’t help thinking: What should we do to overcome the fear of death? Then I continued to read, “If one wishes to depart from this world painlessly, if one wants to be able to face life’s final juncture with no reluctance or worry, the only way is to leave no regrets. And the only way to depart without regrets is to know the Creator’s sovereignty, to know His authority, and to submit to them. Only in this way can one stay far from human strifes, from evil, from Satan’s bondage; only in this way can one live a life like Job’s, guided and blessed by the Creator, a life that is free and liberated, a life with value and meaning, a life that is honest and openhearted; only in this way can one submit, like Job, to be tried and deprived by the Creator, submit to the Creator’s orchestrations and arrangements; only in this way can one worship the Creator all one’s life and win His commendation, as Job did, and hear His voice, see Him appear; only in this way can one live and die happily, like Job, with no pain, no worry, no regrets; only in this way can one live in light, like Job, pass every one of life’s junctures in light, smoothly complete one’s journey in light, successfully achieve one’s mission—to experience, learn, and come to know the Creator’s sovereignty as a created being—and pass away in light, and for ever after stand at the Creator’s side as a created human being, commended by Him.” After reading these words, I came to understand: Only when we have the knowledge of the Creator’s predestination and His sovereignty and genuinely submit under His dominion, can we be freed from the fear of death. Job died full of days. In the face of death, he behaved differently from others. That was because in his heart he believed that everything was in God’s hands; no matter whether God deprived him or blessed him, he still blessed the name of Jehovah God. He lived his life in the subjective pursuit of belief, recognition, and submission to God’s sovereignty. So, when death came upon him, he had no cares or regrets, nor worries about his outcome, much less the fear of death. And when he gave his all to God, he was happy and released.

So, regardless of how we define the word “life” or how we experience it, in the end we are still unable to escape the law ordained by the Creator for us. Only by accepting and submitting to His sovereignty and predestination can we face our life calmly like Job. Just as the book says, “So, when one truly grasps these things, one will naturally be able to face death calmly, to lay aside all of one’s worldly possessions calmly, accept and submit happily to all that follows, and welcome the last life-juncture arranged by the Creator rather than blindly dread it and struggle against it.”

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How Come Those Giving up on Food for Fear of Choking Welcome the Second Coming of Jesus Christ

How Come Those Giving up on Food for Fear of Choking Welcome the Second Coming of Jesus Christ

I want to ask a question: It is said in the Bible, “Then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:23-24). As mentioned above, false Christs and false prophets will deceive believers in the last days when Jesus Christ comes again. We believers in God are longing for the return of Jesus Christ. However, when hearing someone preaching the second coming of Jesus Christ, we dare not to come into contact with them or investigate for fear of being deceived by false Christs and false prophets. Then, how can we solve this problem exactly?

All Christians pay close attention to the topic of God’s second coming, for it was a major event concerning whether their beliefs can be approved by the Lord. Today, in the last days, we all know it is the time when God will come again. Therefore, many people are eagerly expecting to welcome the Lord’s return earlier and see His appearance. But at the same time, because of the Lord Jesus’ admonitions to man, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets,” they guard against whatever concerning the news of the Lord’s return with cautious and prudent heart for fear of being deceived. Many brothers and sisters in the Lord are puzzled by such conflicted feeling. Then, how could we solve the question of hoping to follow God’s footsteps, but worrying about being deceived?

In fact, the crux of the matter is to have a correct understanding of the Lord’s words. The Lord Jesus said, “Then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:23-24). By saying so, the Lord meant us to be cautious and discriminating in the matter of His return, and didn’t mean us not to seek His appearance as there would arise false Christs in the last days. If we avoid and refuse any news about the Lord’s return for fear of being deceived, we will never meet the return of the Lord Jesus. That’s because when we are blindly guarding against false Christs, the Lord has long ago returned and raptured those believers who seek and investigate the true way into the kingdom of God. We should not give up eating for fear of choking. Many people considering themselves wise are often plunged into it. However, the wise virgins are watching and waiting, as well as seeking with a humble heart, just fulfilling the Lord’s word “My sheep hear my voice” (John 10:27). Only those who can recognize God’s voice can keep pace with the Lamb’s footsteps and be the ones blessed by God.

If we want to keep ourselves from being deceived by false Christs, we must acquire the power of discernment. As long as we grasp the truths about discerning the true Christ from false Christs, we can distinguish true from false regardless of how false Christs impersonate Christ. Then how do we discern the true Christ from false Christs?

God says, “He who is God’s incarnation shall hold the substance of God, and He who is God’s incarnation shall hold the expression of God. Since God becomes flesh, He shall bring forth the work He must do, and since God becomes flesh, He shall express what He is, and shall be able to bring the truth to man, bestow life upon man, and show man the way. Flesh that does not contain the substance of God is surely not the incarnate God; of this there is no doubt. To investigate whether it is God’s incarnate flesh, man must determine this from the disposition He expresses and the words He speaks. Which is to say, whether or not it is God’s incarnate flesh, and whether or not it is the true way, must be judged from His substance. And so, in determining whether it is the flesh of God incarnate, the key is to pay attention to His substance (His work, His words, His disposition, and many more), rather than external appearance. If man sees only His external appearance, and overlooks His substance, then that shows the ignorance and naivety of man” (“Preface”).

“God become flesh is called Christ, and so the Christ that can give people the truth is called God. There is nothing excessive about this, for He possesses the substance of God, and possesses God’s disposition, and wisdom in His work, that are unattainable by man. Those who call themselves Christ, yet cannot do the work of God, are frauds” (“Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life”).

“Apart from Christ, those who falsely claim to be Christ do not have His qualities. When juxtaposed against the arrogant and self-exalting disposition of those false Christs, it becomes apparent what manner of flesh is truly Christ. The more false they are, the more such false Christs show off themselves, and the more capable they are of working signs and wonders to deceive man. False Christs do not have the qualities of God; Christ is not tainted by any element belonging to false Christs” (“The Substance of Christ Is Obedience to the Will of the Heavenly Father”).

“You cannot bring forth new paths or represent the Spirit. You cannot express the work of the Spirit or the words that He speaks. You cannot do the work of God Himself or that of the Spirit. You cannot express the wisdom, wonder, and unfathomableness of God, or all the disposition by which God chastises man. So your repeated claims to be God do not matter; you have only the name and none of the substance. … You cannot make way for a new age, and you cannot bring the old to an end and cannot usher in a new age or do new work. Therefore, you cannot be called God!” (“The Mystery of the Incarnation (1)”).

From God’s words, we know that Christ is able to usher in a new age, end the old age, bring the new work and bestow the truth, the way and the life upon us. The Lord Jesus ended the Age of Law and brought the Age of Grace. He did the redemptive work based on the Age of Law, and brought the new ways of practicing to us, teaching us to confess our sins, repent and love each other, etc. In the last days, Almighty God’s arrival ends the Age of Grace and brings the Age of Kingdom. He does a stage of work of judgment and purification on the basis of the redemptive work. In this stage of work, He speaks words to judge man and thereby bestows upon us all the truths of pursuing salvation, and the way to change our disposition and then cast off our corrupt satanic disposition. And eventually we can be brought into good destination. False Christs, however, can neither begin a new age nor do a new work. They can only follow and imitate the work of God after the completion of God’s work and work some signs and wonders to deceive man. They cannot express the truths at all, much less bring us the path of transformation in our disposition. The false Christs are incapable of doing the work of God, for they do not definitely possess divine substance. So it is said in the Bible, “Then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:23-24). It can be seen that the Lord Jesus told us to guard against false Christs and false prophets, who will deceive man by imitating the Lord Jesus by performing some signs and wonders, and learn to discern the manifestation of false Christs and false prophets. Meanwhile, He wanted to let us know that He will not do the work Jesus did when He comes again in the last days, for He is always new and never old. If we cannot properly understand His words, but use His own words to reject His return and His new work, aren’t we too foolish?

Refusing to investigate the return of the Lord Jesus for fear of being deceived by false Christs is exactly the tragedy of us caused by not understanding the truth. If we seek humbly and understand this aspect of truth from the words of Almighty God, could we refuse the Christ who has returned to flesh? Nowadays, Christ is standing at the door, and knocking. Those who close their heart and hold on to their own notions will miss the last opportunity to be saved, and regret for the rest of their lives.

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Why did God allow Job to suffer?

Why did God allow Job to suffer?

Ningchen

When I first read the Book of Job, I saw: “And the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Does Job fear God for nothing? Have not you made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every side? you have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face. And the LORD said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power; only on himself put not forth your hand.So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD” (Job 1:8–12). After that, Satan began to attack Job and made him lose possessions and children, and Job himself was seriously ill too. When faced with such a major trail, Job never misunderstood Jehovah God or complained about Him. Instead, he still held the integrity to Him and praised Him: “And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). Job’s testimony caused Satan to be shamed and retreat. Then, God’s blessing came upon Job: He died, being old and full of days. Job set an exemplar and acted as a model for later generations. Thus, I truly admired him. Aside from admiring him, I had a question in my heart: Job was a perfect man in the eyes of God, but why did He permit Satan to attack Job so cruelly when Satan tempted him? Although I studied scriptures of this aspect in the Bible many times, I never found the answer. And I could not help but become somewhat worried and fearful. I felt my stature was so small that I couldn’t withstand such trail Job experienced.

As time went by, the question remained in my heart. Until one day, I saw God’s words, “At the same time as envying Job’s humanity and pursuit, they ask the following question of God: Job was so perfect and upright, people adore him so much, so why did God hand him over to Satan and subject him to so much torment? Such questions are bound to exist in many people’s hearts—or rather, this doubt is the question in many people’s hearts” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II” in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh). This passage of God’s words made me enlightened: Yes! This was precisely my puzzle I had never figured out. Why did God hand Job over to Satan and subject him to so much torment? Why did God do so? What was His intention? I could hardly wait to continue reading God’s words, “In other words, God deliberately emphasized that Job was perfect and upright, and that he feared God and shunned evil, and by this means He made Satan attack Job because of Satan’s hatred and ire toward how Job was a perfect and an upright man, one that feared God and shunned evil. As a result, God would bring shame upon Satan through the fact that Job was a perfect and an upright man, one that feared God and shunned evil, and Satan would be left utterly humiliated and defeated. After that, Satan would no longer doubt or make accusations about Job’s perfection, uprightness, fear of God, or shunning of evil.” “Job was abused by Satan, but he also gained eternal freedom and liberation, and gained the right to never again be subjected to Satan’s corruption, abuse, and accusations, to instead live in the light of God’s countenance free and unencumbered, and to live amid God’s blessings to him. No one could take away, or destroy, or procure this right. It was given to Job in return for his faith, determination, and obedience to and fear of God; Job paid the price of his life to win joy and happiness on earth, to win the right and entitlement, ordained by heaven and acknowledged by earth, to worship the Creator without interference as a true creature of God on earth. Such was also the greatest outcome of the temptations endured by Job” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II” in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh).

After reading God’s words, I felt as if a big stone had been moved away from my heart. My puzzle was finally solved. It turned out: Before God, Job was perfect and upright and he feared God and shunned evil. However, Satan accused him in every possible way. God knew well that Job could withstand Satan’s temptations and stand witness for Him, so He permitted Satan to tempt him in order to bring complete shame and defeat upon Satan, make Satan never again accuse him in the future and completely let him go. The reason why God handed Job over to Satan and subjected him to Satan’s temptations and attacks was because He wanted to utterly rid him of the accusations and attacks of Satan and make him truly be saved and become free. Moreover, it testified to that although human beings created by God are corrupted by Satan in every possible way, they are entirely able to fear God, shun evil, stand firm in testimony, and satisfy God through faith in, fear of and obedience to God when Satan tempted and attacked them.

Even though Job was perfect, Satan used to accuse him before God. The people of the last days have been deeply corrupted by Satan, and have no obedience to and fear of God like Job at all. If they want to be saved by God like Job, they must go through God’s work of judgment in the last days, trials and refinements, so that they can be purified and perfected. Only in this way can they separate themselves from their corruptions and sins and be purified and changed and saved by God. Almighty God says, “No one apart from Him can know all of our thoughts, or have such a grasp of our nature and substance, or judge the rebelliousness and corruption of mankind, or speak to us and work among us like this on behalf of the God of heaven. No one except for Him can possess the authority, wisdom, and dignity of God; the disposition of God and what He has and is are issued forth, in their entirety, from Him. … No one apart from Him can save us from Satan’s bondage and our corrupt disposition. He represents God, and expresses the heart’s voice of God, the exhortations of God, and the words of judgment of God toward all mankind” (“Beholding the Appearance of God in His Judgment and Chastisement” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“In other words, regardless of what God does or the means by which He does it, regardless of the cost, or His objective, the purpose of His actions does not change. His purpose is to work into man God’s words, God’s requirements, and God’s will for man; in other words, it is to work into man all that God believes to be positive in accordance with His steps, enabling man to understand God’s heart and comprehend God’s substance, and allowing him to obey God’s sovereignty and arrangements, and thus allowing man to attain the fear of God and shunning of evil—all of which is one aspect of God’s purpose in all He does. The other aspect is that, because Satan is the foil and serving object in God’s work, man is often given to Satan; this is the means God uses to allow people to see the wickedness, ugliness, and contemptibility of Satan amid Satan’s temptations and attacks, thus causing people to hate Satan and be able to know and recognize that which is negative. This process allows them to gradually free themselves from Satan’s control, and from Satan’s accusations, interference, and attacks—until, thanks to God’s words, their knowledge and obedience of God, and their faith in God and fear of Him, they triumph over the attacks of Satan, and triumph over the accusations of Satan; only then will they have been completely delivered from the domain of Satan. … If they wish to be saved, and wish to be completely gained by God, then all those who follow God must face temptations and attacks both great and small from Satan. Those who emerge from these temptations and attacks and are able to fully defeat Satan are those who have been saved by God. … Such people are not bound, spied upon, accused, or abused by Satan, they are completely free, they have been completely liberated and released. Job was just such a man of freedom, and this is precisely the significance of why God handed him over to Satan” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II” in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh).

From God’s words, I realized His intention of saving man from the influence of Satan and protecting man from accusations and attacks by Satan. In spite that God handed man over to Satan, the aims of God’s work on man remain unchanged, which is to say, the aims are to save, purify, and transform man, and to explain God’s will and requirements to man, so that ultimately man is able to fear God and shun evil and become free. This is because if not purified and perfected by God, man will always live under the influence of Satan, living for money, fame, profit, position and personal benefit. All people live in Satan’s affliction and are incapable of extricating themselves from it, involuntarily living by Satan’s poisons such as “Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost,” “The wages of avarice is death,” “Nice guys finish last,” and “A real man lacks not in venom.” As a result, they no longer resemble man, unable to break away from it. They cannot but be corrupted by Satan at will and end up being destroyed by God. Therefore, God allows man to see how Satan corrupts and binds man amid its temptations and attacks. Meanwhile, if man calls to God and seeks the will of God, through God’s judgment, disclosures, trials and refinements, man will know God’s righteous disposition of being intolerant of offense by man, and thus awaken the true obedience and heartfelt reverence for God. Step by step, man will free themselves of Satan’s attacks and temptations and become free in the end just like Job. This is precisely God’s good intention of handing man over to Satan. Or else, man will never have the opportunity to be saved by God.

At that moment, I felt totally brightened in my heart, and had some understanding and knowledge of the work of judgment God has done in the last days. In addition, I was no longer afraid of facing the temptations of Satan, for I understood the reason and significance of why God handed Job over to Satan. I also understood that all those who believe in God must face temptations both great and small from Satan if they wish to be saved. Only through God’s words, faith in God, and obedience to and fear of God can man gradually break out from Satan’s battle formations and completely free himself from Satan’s accusations, being a man of freedom who lives before God and is saved by Him.

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Can Man Enter Kingdom of Heaven by Working Hard for the Lord?

Can Man Enter Kingdom of Heaven by Working Hard for the Lord?

I believe that all true believers in the Lord expect the Lord Jesus to come to take them into the heaven soon. Some firmly believe that they will surely be taken into the kingdom of heaven by the Lord when He returns, if they work hard for Him, shepherd the church believers, and even give up their family and marriage, dedicating their all to Him.

In fact, such thought is wrong. Man’s sacrifice, expenditure, hard work do not mean that he is cleansed, because he is possessed of satanic dispositions of arrogance, self-conceit, self-rightness and self-importance and can still resist God.

To trace the root, originally when in the heaven, the archangel was the greatest of heaven’s angels and God authorized it to govern millions of angels. After God created mankind on earth, its ambitions were so inflated that it even desired to stand equal to God and rule over mankind on earth. In the end, it was cast into midair by God. As man was corrupted increasingly deeply, his nature became that of the archangel: arrogance and self-conceit, self-rightness and self-importance and having no place for God in his heart as well as no respect for others…. With such corrupt dispositions, man can contend with and fight against God at any time. When he first believes in God, he produces conceptions about God when seeing God’s work conflicts with his will, and even talks about and judges the Lord Jesus and His work carelessly. After he does services for a period of time, he can often testify how much work he does or how much he suffers, even regarding himself a holy man and one that pleases God because he can expound on the Bible, support the believers, work and preach for the Lord. And in the end, he thinks that he has finished his course and cast away what he should, thus he asks God for the glorious crown and a place for him in the kingdom of heaven just like Paul. … The more work one has done, the more easily he thinks highly of himself, feeling that he has the capital. As a result, he becomes more arrogant, self-right and unreasonable. The Jewish Pharisees are typical examples.

They served Jehovah God in the temple for generation after generation. Considering themselves to be well versed in the law, they frequently interpreted the law amongst the Jewish people, and thus often sat in the first place of the synagogue to receive people’s respect and worship. When the Lord Jesus came to do His redemptive work, their arrogant and self-right nature was completely exposed. They did not know God’s work, and used their brain and religious knowledge and theory to resist the Lord and His work. They thought that the One to come should be called Messiah rather than Jesus, and should be born in the royal palace or a noble family rather than in a poor carpenter’s. Therefore, they regarded the Lord Jesus as a man instead of God and thus spared no effort to condemn and slander Him. Even though they listened to the Lord’s preaching, they didn’t mean to seek the truth, but just tried to find a handle to hand Him over to the Roman government for condemnation. At last, they incited and deceived the Jewish people to nail the Lord Jesus onto the cross. When the Lord Jesus did His work, the Pharisees not only refused to seek His work themselves, but deceived and controlled the Jewish people and forbad them to convert to Him, fighting against God for His chosen people as well as status. Therefore, the Lord Jesus 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” (Matthew 23:15) “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in” (Matthew 23:13). The Pharisees’ evil deeds of condemning and resisting the Lord Jesus, deceiving and controlling people reveal their devilish substance of antichrists thoroughly. Eventually, they paid the due price for their maleficence and were subjected to destruction of their nation.

We can see that if man does not get rid of the corrupt dispositions of arrogance, self-rightness, self-importance and conceit, they will never be able to be purified, much less will they be approved into the kingdom of heaven by the Lord even if they work hard and spend for the Lord all his life. In Leviticus 11:45, Jehovah God says, “you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” As God is holy, if the Lord receives man with satanic dispositions to His place, will He still be a God of holiness? It is also said in Hebrews 12:14, “without which no man shall see the Lord.” The Bible says that man can see the Lord Jesus only if he is cleansed. It doesn’t say that all those who can spend and throw things out for the Lord will see Him. Therefore, to be purified is the target that man should pursue in believing in the Lord. Only when man gets purified by God, no longer lives by his satanic dispositions of arrogance, conceit, self-rightness, self-importance, and can truly do God’s will in everything, can he receive God’s approval and be fit for the kingdom of God.

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