Questions and Answers on the Inside Story of the Bible (2)

Question 2: The truths in the Bible are already complete. Having the Bible is enough for our belief in God. We don’t need any new words!

　　Answer: The content recorded by the Bible is limited. The Old Testament only recorded the work of Jehovah God, while the New Testament only recorded the work of the Lord Jesus. But regarding God’s work of the last days, the Bible only contains prophecies. The precise details are not recorded in the Bible. This is because the work of God in the last days is judgment work, it is new work outside of the Bible. God is the Expressor of truth, and moreover the Ruler of all things in the universe. His richness is inexhaustible and always in supply. He cannot be fathomed by any created being. Therefore, the content of the Bible cannot completely explain all of God’s deeds. Let’s read a passage of Almighty God’s word! Almighty God says, “The things that are recorded in the Bible are limited; they cannot represent the work of God in its entirety. The Four Gospels have fewer than one hundred chapters altogether, in which are written a finite number of happenings, such as Jesus cursing the fig tree, Peter’s three denials of the Lord, Jesus appearing to the disciples following His crucifixion and resurrection, teaching about fasting, teaching about prayer, teaching about divorce, the birth and genealogy of Jesus, Jesus’ appointment of the disciples, and so forth. However, man values them as treasures, even verifying the work of today against them. They even believe that all the work Jesus did in His life amounted only to so much, as if God were only capable of doing this much and nothing further. Is this not absurd?” (“The Mystery of the Incarnation (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “No one knows the reality of the Bible: that it is nothing more than a historical record of God’s work, and a testament to the previous two stages of God’s work, and offers you no understanding of the aims of God’s work. Everyone who has read the Bible knows that it documents the two stages of God’s work during the Age of Law and the Age of Grace. The Old Testament chronicles the history of Israel and Jehovah’s work from the time of creation until the end of the Age of Law. The New Testament records Jesus’ work on earth, which is in the Four Gospels, as well as the work of Paul; are they not historical records? Bringing up the things of the past today makes them history, and no matter how true or real they might be, they are still history—and history cannot address the present. For God does not look back on history! And so, if you only understand the Bible, and understand nothing of the work God intends to do today, and if you believe in God but do not seek the work of the Holy Spirit, then you do not understand what it means to seek God. If you read the Bible in order to study the history of Israel, to research the history of God’s creation of all the heavens and earth, then you do not believe in God. But today, since you believe in God, and pursue life, since you pursue the knowledge of God, and do not pursue dead letters and doctrines, or an understanding of history, you must seek God’s will of today, and must look for the direction of the Holy Spirit’s work. If you were an archeologist you could read the Bible—but you are not, you are one of those who believe in God, and you’d best seek God’s will of today” (“Concerning the Bible (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

Questions and Answers on the Name of God (2)

Question 2: God’s name in each age cannot represent God’s all, so what is the significance of His name in each age?

　　Answer: This question is very critical. Today Almighty God has already told us the answer. He says, “‘Jehovah’ is the name that I took during My work in Israel, and it means the God of the Israelites (God’s chosen people) who can take pity on man, curse man, and guide the life of man. It means the God who possesses great power and is full of wisdom. ‘Jesus’ is Emmanuel, and it means the sin offering that is full of love, full of compassion, and redeems man. He did the work of the Age of Grace, and represents the Age of Grace, and can only represent one part of the management plan. That is to say, only Jehovah is the God of the chosen people of Israel, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of Moses, and the God of all the people of Israel. And so in the current age, all the Israelites apart from the tribe of Judah worship Jehovah. They make sacrifices to Him on the altar, and serve Him wearing priests’ robes in the temple. What they hope for is the reappearance of Jehovah. Only Jesus is the Redeemer of mankind. He is the sin offering that redeemed mankind from sin. Which is to say, the name of Jesus came from the Age of Grace, and existed because of the work of redemption in the Age of Grace. The name of Jesus existed to allow the people of the Age of Grace to be reborn and saved, and is a particular name for the redemption of the whole of mankind. And so the name Jesus represents the work of redemption, and denotes the Age of Grace. The name Jehovah is a particular name for the people of Israel who lived under the law. In each age and each stage of work, My name is not baseless, but holds representative significance: Each name represents one age. ‘Jehovah’ represents the Age of Law, and is the honorific for the God worshiped by the people of Israel. ‘Jesus’ represents the Age of Grace, and is the name of the God of all those who were redeemed during the Age of Grace. If man still longs for the arrival of Jesus the Savior during the last days, and still expects Him to arrive in the image He bore in Judea, then the entire six-thousand-year management plan would stop in the Age of Redemption, and would be incapable of progressing any further. The last days, furthermore, would never arrive, and the age would never be brought to an end. That is because Jesus the Savior is only for the redemption and salvation of mankind. I took the name of Jesus for the sake of all the sinners in the Age of Grace, and it is not the name by which I shall bring the whole of mankind to an end” (“The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age

　　God’s six-thousand-year management plan is coming to an end, and the gate of the kingdom has been opened to all those who seek the appearance of God. Dear brothers and sisters, what are you waiting for? What is it that you seek? Do you await the appearance of God? Are you searching for the footprints of God? How the appearance of God is yearned for! And how difficult it is to find God’s footprints! In an age such as this, in a world such as this, what must we do to witness the day of God’s appearance? What must we do to follow the footprints of God? Such questions are faced by all those who await the appearance of God. You have all considered them on more than one occasion—but with what outcome? Where does God appear? Where are the footprints of God? Have you gained the answers? Many people’s reply would be this: God appears among those who follow Him and His footprints are among us; it’s that simple! Anyone can provide a formulaic answer, but do you understand what the appearance of God is, and what the footprints of God are? The appearance of God refers to His personal arrival on earth to do His work. With His own identity and disposition, and in His inherent method, He descends among man to conduct the work of initiating an age and ending an age. This kind of appearance is not a form of ceremony. It is not a sign, a picture, a miracle, or a grand vision, and even less is it a kind of religious process. It is a real and actual fact that can be touched and beheld. This kind of appearance is not for the sake of following a process, or for the sake of a short-term undertaking; it is, rather, for the sake of a stage of work in His management plan. The appearance of God is always meaningful, and is always connected to His management plan. This appearance is completely different from the appearance of God’s guidance, leadership, and enlightenment of man. God carries out a stage of great work each time He reveals Himself. This work is different from that of any other age. It is unimaginable to man, and has never been experienced by man. It is work that starts a new age and concludes the old age, and it is a new and improved form of work for the salvation of mankind; moreover, it is work of bringing mankind into the new age. That is the significance of the appearance of God.

Questions and Answers on the Desolation of Churches (3)

Question 3: Right now, desolate churches are widespread throughout the entire religious world, but we have never fully understood the primary cause. That’s why we’ve been earnestly reading the Old Testament and have focused on how the actions of the Jewish chief priests, scribes and Pharisees in the late Age of Law led to such desolation in religion. Although some problems have been discovered, it’s never been entirely clear. We’ve also gone to churches in many different places and from different sects, but we haven’t seen the work of the Holy Spirit. We’re not very clear on why the entire religious world is so desolate. What’s the real reason for this?

Answer: Now, the whole of the world of religion is a widespread desolation, devoid of the work of the Holy Spirit, and many people’s faith and love have cooled—this has already become an accepted fact. What exactly is the primary cause of the desolation in the world of religion is a question that all of us must thoroughly understand. First let us look back a moment at why the temple became desolate in the latter days of the Age of Law, and we will then be able to understand thoroughly the cause of the religious world’s desolation in the last days. In the latter days of the Age of Law, the Jewish leaders did not keep God’s commandments, they walked their own path and went against God; this is the main reason that directly resulted in the desolation of the temple. The Lord Jesus exposed and rebuked the Pharisees, saying: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like to white washed sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Mat 23:27-28).

Questions and Answers on the Desolation of Churches(1)

Question 1: The last few years we’ve felt a growing desolation in our church. We’ve lost the faith and love we had at the start, and become weaker and more negative. Even we preachers sometimes feel darkened, and don’t know what to talk about. We feel like we’ve lost the work of the Holy Spirit. We’ve also looked everywhere for a church with the Holy Spirit’s work, but every church we see is as desolate as our own. Why are all sects and denominations suffering famine?

Answer:The question you’ve asked is an important one. We all know that we live in the late period of the last days. The Lord Jesus once prophesied: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Mat 24:12). Lawlessness in the world of religion is growing. Religious leaders don’t abide by the Lord’s commandments, they only abide by men’s traditions. They only preach biblical knowledge to show off and testify to themselves. They don’t testify to God or exalt God at all, and they’ve completely departed from the Lord's way, which is why God rejects and eliminates them. This is mainly why the religious world has lost the work of the Holy Spirit. But also, it’s because the Lord Jesus has returned to flesh, and begun the work of judgment beginning with the house of God in the last days. As Christ of the last days—Almighty God expresses the whole truth of saving mankind to purify all who accept God’s work of the last days, the work of the Holy Spirit turns to God’s work of the last days. Those who accept Almighty God’s work of judgment in the last days will receive the work of the Holy Spirit, and receive the provision and watering of the living water of life. Those who return before His throne, God will make them overcomers, and bring them into accordance with His will, while those who stop in religious place, and refuse to accept God’s work of the last days, are left in dark desolation. This proves a prophecy 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 Jehovah” (Amo 4:7-8). Here, “one piece was rained on” refers to the churches who accept and obey God’s work of judgment in the last days. They have accepted the present words of God, and so enjoyed provision of the living water of life that flows from the throne. “… and the piece whereupon it rained not withered” refers to the religious pastors and elders who refuse to practice the Lord’s words and disobey His commandments, and reject, resist, and condemn Almighty God’s work of the last days, which leads the religious world to be rejected and cursed by God, to lose completely the work of the Holy Spirit and access to the living water of life, and become trapped in desolation. Just like at the end of the Age of Law, when the temple, once so full of Jehovah God’s glory, became desolate. The Jewish people didn’t hold to God’s laws, improper sacrifices were made, and the temple became a place of trade, a den of thieves. Why did this happen? Primarily because the Jewish religious leaders didn’t abide by Jehovah God’s laws, and didn’t fear God in their hearts. They abided by men’s traditions, but rejected God’s commandments. They departed completely from the way of God, and so were cursed by God. But another reason was that God had been incarnated to do the work of redeeming mankind in the Age of Grace. God’s work had changed. All those who accepted the Lord Jesus’ redemptive work received the work of the Holy Spirit, and had a new way to practice their faith, but those who rejected and resisted the work of the Lord Jesus were eliminated by God’s work, and fell into dark desolation. If you want to receive the work of the Holy Spirit, and gain provision of the living water of life, the most important thing you have to do is seek and investigate Almighty God’s work of the last days. That will solve the darkness in your spirits and the desolation in your church at the root of the problem. Don’t you think so?

from the movie script of From the Throne Flows the Water of Life

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