The Hymn of God's Word "Peter's Prayer of Experiencing Chastisement and Judgment"

Eastern Lightning | The Hymn of God's Word "Peter's Prayer of Experiencing Chastisement and Judgment"

1. God, when You treat me kindly I am delighted, and feel comfort; when You chastise me, I feel even greater comfort and joy. Although I am weak, and endure untold suffering, although there are tears and sadness, You know that this sadness is because of my disobedience, and because of my weakness. I weep because I cannot satisfy Your desires, I feel sorrow and regret because I am insufficient for Your requirements, but I am willing to attain this realm, I am willing to do all I can to satisfy You.

2. Your chastisement has brought me protection, and has given me the best salvation; Your judgment eclipses Your tolerance and patience. Without Your chastisement and judgment, I would not enjoy Your mercy and lovingkindness. Today, I see all the more that Your love has transcended the heavens and excelled all. Your love is not just mercy and lovingkindness; even more than that, it is chastisement and judgment. Your chastisement and judgment has given me so much. Without Your chastisement and judgment, not a single person would be cleansed, and not a single person would be able to experience the love of the Creator.

from “The Experiences of Peter: His Knowledge of Chastisement and Judgment” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

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Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God

Expression of Almighty God-Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God

　　Today, as you seek to love and know God, in one respect you must endure hardship and refinement, and in another, you must pay a price. No lesson is more profound than the lesson of loving God, and it can be said that the lesson that people learn from a lifetime of belief is how to love God. Which is to say, if you believe in God you must love God. If you only believe in God but do not love Him, have not attained the knowledge of God, and have never loved God with a true love that comes from within your heart, then your belief in God is futile; if, in your belief in God, you do not love God, then you live in vain, and your entire life is the most lowly of all lives. If, throughout your whole life, you have never loved or satisfied God, then what is the point of you living? And what is the point of your belief in God? Isn’t that a waste of effort? Which is to say, if people are to believe in and love God, then they must pay a price. Rather than trying to act in a certain way externally, they should seek true insight in the depths of their hearts. If you are enthusiastic about singing and dancing, but incapable of putting the truth into practice, can you be said to love God? Loving God requires seeking God’s will in all things, and that you probe deep within when anything happens to you, trying to grasp God’s will, and trying to see what God’s will is in this matter, what He wishes you to achieve, and how you should be mindful of His will. For example: Something happens that requires you to endure hardship, at which time you should understand what God’s will is, and how you should be mindful of His will. You must not satisfy yourself: First put yourself to one side. Nothing is more abject than the flesh. You must seek to satisfy God, and must fulfill your duty. With such thoughts, God will bring especial enlightenment to you in this matter, and your heart will also find comfort. Be it big or small, when something happens to you, you must first put yourself to one side and regard the flesh as the most lowly of all things. The more you satisfy the flesh, the more liberties it takes; if you satisfy it this time, next time it will ask for more, and as this carries on, you come to love the flesh even more. The flesh always has extravagant desires, it always asks that you satisfy it, and that you gratify it within, whether it be in the things you eat, what you wear, or in flying off the handle, or pandering to your own weaknesses and laziness…. The more you satisfy the flesh, the greater its desires become, and the more debauched the flesh becomes, until it gets to the point when people’s flesh harbors even deeper conceptions, and disobeys God, and exalts itself, and becomes doubtful about the work of God. The more you satisfy the flesh, the greater the weaknesses of the flesh; you’ll always feel that no one sympathizes with your weaknesses, you’ll always believe that God has gone too far, and you’ll say: How could God be so harsh? Why won’t He give people a break? When people are too indulgent of the flesh, and cherish it too much, then they forfeit themselves. If you truly love God, and do not satisfy the flesh, then you’ll see that everything God does is so right, and so good, and that His curse of your rebelliousness and judgment of your unrighteousness is justified. There will be times when God chastens and disciplines you, and raises up an environment to temper you, forcing you to come before Him—and you will always feel that what God is doing is wonderful. Thus you will feel as if there isn’t much pain, and that God is so lovely. If you pander to the weaknesses of the flesh, and say that God goes too far, then you’ll always feel in pain, and will always be depressed, and you will be unclear about all of the work of God, and it will seem as if God is not sympathetic to man’s weakness at all, and unaware of man’s difficulties. And thus you will feel miserable and alone, as if you have suffered great injustice, and at this time you will begin to complain. The more you pander to the weaknesses of the flesh in this way, the more you will feel that God goes too far, until it gets so bad that you deny the work of God, and begin to oppose God, and become full of disobedience. Thus, you must rebel against the flesh, and not pander to it: Your husband, wife, children, prospects, marriage, family—none of them matter! You need to have this resolve: “In my heart there is only God, and I must try my best to satisfy God, and not satisfy the flesh.” If you are always possessed of such resolve, then when you put the truth into practice, and put yourself aside, you will be able to do so with but a little effort. It is said that there was once a farmer who saw a snake on the road that was frozen stiff. The farmer picked it up and held it to his breast, and after the snake was revived it bit the farmer to death. Man’s flesh is like the snake: Its essence is to harm their lives—and when it completely gets its own way, your life becomes forfeit. The flesh belongs to Satan. Within it are extravagant desires, it thinks only for itself, it wants to enjoy comfort, and revel in leisure, wallowing in sloth and idleness, and having satisfied it to a certain point you will ultimately be eaten up by it. Which is to say, if you satisfy it this time, next time it will come asking for more. It always has extravagant desires and new demands, and takes advantage of your pandering to the flesh to make you cherish it even more and live among its comforts—and if you don’t overcome it, you will ultimately forfeit yourself. Whether you can gain life before God, and what your ultimate end will be, depends on how you carry out your rebellion against the flesh. God has saved you, and chosen and predestined you, yet if today you are unwilling to satisfy Him, you are unwilling to put the truth into practice, you are unwilling to rebel against your own flesh with a heart that truly loves God, ultimately you will ruin yourself, and will thus endure extreme pain. If you always pander to the flesh, Satan will gradually gobble you up inside, and leave you without life, or the touch of the Spirit, until the day comes when you are completely dark inside. When you live in darkness, you will have been taken captive by Satan, you will no longer have God, and at that time you will deny God’s existence and leave Him. Thus, if you wish to love God, you must pay the price of pain and endure hardship. There is no need for external fervency and hardship, reading more and running about more; instead, you should put aside the things within you: the extravagant thoughts, personal interests, and your own considerations, conceptions, and motivations. Such is God’s will.

Only by Experiencing Painful Trials Can You Know the Loveliness of God

The Church of Almighty God | Only by Experiencing Painful Trials Can You Know the Loveliness of God

　　Just how much do you love God today? And just how much do you know of all that God has done in you? These are the things you should learn. When God arrives on earth, all that He has done in man and allowed man to see are so that man will love Him and truly know Him. That man is able to suffer for God and has been able to come this far is, in one regard, because of the love of God, and in another regard, is because of God’s salvation; moreover, it is because of the work of judgment and chastisement that God has carried out in man. If you are without the judgment, chastisement, and trials of God, and if God has not made you suffer, then, to be honest, you do not truly love God. The greater God’s work in man, and the greater man’s suffering, the more it is able to show just how meaningful God’s work is, and the more that man’s heart is able to truly love God. How do you learn how to love God? Without torment and refinement, without painful trials—and if, furthermore, all that God gave man were grace, love, and mercy—would you be able to attain the true love of God? On one hand, during God’s trials man comes to know his deficiencies, and sees that he is insignificant, contemptible, and lowly, that he has nothing, and is nothing; on the other hand, during His trials God creates different environments for man that make man more able to experience the loveliness of God. Although the pain is great, and sometimes insurmountable—and it even reaches the level of crushing grief—having experienced it, man sees how lovely is God’s work in him, and only upon this foundation is there born in man the true love of God. Today man sees that with the grace, love, and mercy of God alone, he is incapable of truly knowing himself, much less is he able to know the essence of man. Only through both the refinement and judgment of God, only during such refinement can you know your deficiencies, and know that you have nothing. Thus, man’s love of God is built upon the foundation of the refinement and judgment of God. If you only enjoy the grace of God, with a peaceful family life or material blessings, then you have not gained God, and your belief in God has failed. God has already carried out one stage of the work of grace in the flesh, and has already bestowed material blessings upon man—but man cannot be made perfect with grace, love, and mercy alone. In man’s experiences he encounters some of God’s love, and sees the love and mercy of God, yet having experienced for a period of time, he sees that God’s grace and His love and mercy are incapable of making man perfect, and incapable of revealing that which is corrupt within man, nor are they able to rid man of his corrupt disposition, or make perfect his love and faith. God’s work of grace was the work of one period, and man cannot rely on enjoying the grace of God in order to know God.

Eastern Lightning| The Twenty-third Utterance

As My voice sounds out, as My eyes shoot forth fire, I am watching over the whole earth, I am observing the entire universe. All humanity are praying to Me, turning their gaze up to Me, beseeching Me to cease My anger, and swearing to rebel against Me no more. But this is no longer the past; it is now. Who can turn back My will? Surely not the invocation within men’s hearts, nor the words in their mouths? Who has been able to survive until the present, if not because of Me? Who survives except by the words in My mouth? Who does not lie under My watchful eye? As I carry out My new work on the whole earth, who has ever been able to escape from it? Could it be that the mountains are able to evade it by means of their height? Could it be that the waters, by their multitudinous vastness, are able to fend it off? In My plan, I have never lightly let any thing go, and so there has never been any person, or any thing, that has eluded the grasp of My hands. Today, My holy name is extolled throughout humanity, and again, words of protest rise up against Me throughout humanity, and legends about My being on earth are rife throughout humanity. I do not tolerate men making their judgments about Me, nor do I tolerate their dividing up My body, still less do I tolerate their vituperations against Me. Because he has never truly known Me, man has always resisted and deceived Me, failing to cherish My Spirit or to treasure My words. For his every deed and action, and for the attitude he bears toward Me, I give man the “reward” that is his due. And so, men all act with an eye to their “reward,” and not a single one has ever done any work involving self-sacrifice. Human beings are unwilling to render selfless dedication, but rather delight in rewards that can be got for nothing. Though Peter consecrated himself before Me, it was not for the sake of tomorrow’s reward, but for the sake of the knowledge of today. Humanity has never entered into a genuine connection with Me, but time and time again has dealt with Me in a superficial manner, thinking thereby effortlessly to win My approval. I have looked deep into man’s heart, so I have unearthed in its innermost recesses “a mine of many riches,” something of which even man himself is not yet aware but that I have discovered anew. And so, only when they have seen the “material evidence,” only then do human beings cease their sanctimonious self-abasement and, with palms outstretched, admit to their own unclean state. Among men, there is much more that is new and fresh waiting for Me to “extract” for the enjoyment of all humanity. Far from stopping My work on account of man’s incapacitation, I carry on mending and maintaining him in accordance with My original plan. Man is like a fruit tree: Without trimming and pruning, the tree will fail to bear fruit and, in the end, all one sees are withered branches and fallen leaves, with no fruit dropping onto the ground.

Eastern Lightning| The Twelfth Utterance

When lightning issues forth from the East—which is also precisely the moment that I begin to speak—at the moment the lightning comes forth, the whole empyrean is illuminated, and all the stars begin to transform. It seems as though the entire human race is subjected to a proper cleaning and sorting out. Under the glow of this shaft of light from the East, all of mankind is revealed in their original form, eyes dazzled, stymied in confusion; still less are they able to conceal their ugly features. Again, they are like unto animals fleeing from My light for refuge in mountain caves; yet, not one among them can be effaced from within My light. All human beings lie in the grip of terror and alarm, all are waiting, all are watching; with the advent of My light, all rejoice at the day they were born, and likewise all are cursing the day they were born. Conflicting emotions are impossible to articulate; tears of self-castigation form rivers, and are borne away on the sweeping torrent, gone without trace in a twinkling. Once again, My day is pressing close upon the human race, once again arousing the human race, giving humanity a point from which to make a new beginning. My heart beats and, following the rhythms of My heartbeat, the mountains leap for joy, the waters dance with joy, and the waves, keeping time, beat upon the rocky reefs. It is difficult to express what is in My heart. I want all unclean things to burn up into ashes under My gaze, I want all the sons of disobedience to disappear from before My eyes, never more to linger on in existence. Not only have I made a new beginning in the dwelling place of the great red dragon, I have also embarked on new work in the universe. Soon the kingdoms of the earth will become My kingdom; soon the kingdoms of the earth will forever cease to exist because of My kingdom, because I have already achieved victory, because I have returned triumphant. The great red dragon has exhausted every conceivable means to disrupt My plan, hoping to erase My work on the earth, but can I grow disheartened on account of its deceitful stratagems? Can I be frightened into losing confidence by its threats? There has never been a single being in either heaven or earth that I do not hold in the palm of My hand; how much the more is this true of the great red dragon, this device that serves as a foil to Me? Is it not also an object to be manipulated with My hands?