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.

The Real Face of a So-called Good Person

The Church of Almighty God | The Real Face of a So-called Good Person

Kemu    Zhumadian City, Henan Province

　　In my own mind, I’ve always thought of myself as having good humanity. I’ve thought this because, my neighbors often complimented me in front of my parents for being sensible and showing concern for our family; saying I was the apple of my parents’ eyes. After getting married, my in-laws praised me in front of neighbors for being kind and filial to them. In my unit, my leader praised me for being honest and competent. And since accepting this stage of God’s work, I’ve been obedient with whatever the church asks me to do. I never contradict the leader even if I get rebuked by the leader for not doing a good job, and I often help brothers and sisters who are in need. As such, I believe myself to be a reasonable, compassionate, and kindhearted person with humanity. I’ve never thought of myself in terms of the words in which God reveals that man lacks humanity or that man has weaker humanity. When communing God’s words with brothers and sisters, even though I know I need to be aware of my own nature, I still maintain my own view, thinking in my heart: Even if I am not a person of good humanity, I still have relatively good humanity compared with others. In other words, regardless of what God’s word says or what brothers and sisters say, I am not willing to disassociate myself from the idea of being a person of good humanity.

Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “In Your Faith in God You Should Obey God” (II)

The Church of Almighty God | Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “In Your Faith in God You Should Obey God” (II)

136-B-1

Let’s start our meeting. Let’s first read a passage of God’s word, “In Your Faith in God You Should Obey God.”

　　“Why do you believe in God? Most people are confounded by this question. They always have two entirely different viewpoints about the practical God and the God in heaven, which shows that they believe in God not in order to obey, but to receive certain benefits, or to escape the suffering of disaster. Only then are they somewhat obedient, but their obedience is conditional, it is for the sake of their own personal prospects, and forced upon them. So: why do you believe in God? If it is solely for the sake of your prospects, and your fate, then you’d best not believe. Belief such as this is self-deception, self-reassurance, and self-appreciation. If your faith is not built upon the foundation of obedience to God, then you will ultimately be punished as a result of opposing God. All those who do not seek obedience to God in their faith oppose God. God asks that people seek the truth, that they thirst for God’s words, and eat and drink God’s words, and put them into practice, so that they may achieve obedience to God. If your motivations are truly thus, then God will surely raise you up, and will surely be gracious toward you. No one can doubt this, and no one can change it. If your motivations are not for the sake of obedience to God, and you have other aims, then all that you say and do—your prayers before God, and even your every action—will be in opposition to God. You may be soft-spoken and mild-mannered, your every action and expression may look right, you may appear to be one who obeys, but when it comes to your motivations and your views about faith in God, everything you do is in opposition to God, and evil. People who appear as obedient as sheep, but whose hearts harbor evil intentions, are wolves in sheep’s clothing, they directly offend God, and God will not spare a single one of them. The Holy Spirit will reveal every one of them, so all can see that every one of those who are hypocritical will be surely detested and rejected by the Holy Spirit. Don’t worry: God will deal with and resolve each of them in turn.

Christian Testimony "It's Wonderful to Cast off the Shackles of Status" Breaking the Bondage of Sin

Eastern Lightning | Christian Testimony "It's Wonderful to Cast off the Shackles of Status" Breaking the Bondage of Sin

After Liang Zhi believed in God, he consistently sought with enthusiasm, and threw himself into fulfilling his duties. After a number of years, he was elected as a church leader. During the time that he performed his duties as a church leader, he realized that some of the brothers and sisters were more competent than he, which made him unhappy to the extent that he was jealous of them. In order to save face and protect his status, he secretly competed with them to see who was better, and he scrambled for fame and status. Fame and status seemed like invisible shackles binding him tightly, tying him down, leading him to do things in violation of the truth and rebelling against God. Because the carrying out of his duties was only for the sake of fame and status, and not in pursuit of the truth, the result was that he lost the work of the Holy Spirit. He could not do practical work, and was removed from his leadership duties and replaced. He suffered acutely as a result, and came before God to reflect on himself. After undergoing the judgment and chastisement of God's words, he came to realize that pursuit of fame and status was entirely brought about by his satanic disposition of arrogance and conceit, and worshiping power and influence and status. He grasped that the essence of seeking fame and status was following the path of the antichrist. If he did not repent and mend his ways throughout, the final outcome was that he was destined to sink into oblivion. At the same time he saw clearly that faith in God required walking on the road of pursuit of the truth and carrying out his duties with devotion. After that, in fulfilling his duties he attached importance to pursuit of the truth and practicing the truth. Whenever the corrupt disposition of scrambling for fame and status slipped out, he then prayed to God seeking the truth and, accepting the judgment and chastisement of God's words, according to the word of God he practiced forsaking the flesh, and set in order his intention to fulfill his own duty. Regardless of whether or not he had status, he was able most steadfastly to carry out his duties. Gradually he threw off the shackles of status that bound him and he no longer pursued fame and status, having walked on to the correct path of human life of seeking the truth and receiving salvation.

Recommendation：

Expression of Almighty God

About the Church of Almighty God

A Hymn of God's Words "The Lives of All Beings of Creation Come From God"

Hymns of The Church of Almighty God | "The Lives of All Beings of Creation Come From God"

I

The life bestowed upon man by God is endless, unfettered by flesh, time, or space. Though it is mysterious, it serves as proof, proof of God's gift of life. Many people may not believe the life source is from God, but they are enjoying all that comes from God. Should God have a change of heart and reclaim all the world and His life, then all the world and living beings, all creation will forever be gone. God gives His life to all things living or lifeless. His power and authority bring good order, an incomprehensible truth that is a testament to the life force of God.

What Does True Change Mean?

The Church of Almighty God | What Does True Change Mean?

Jinru    Nanyang City, Henan Province

　　When a brother or sister pointed out my failings or did not heed my opinion I either felt unconvinced or argued with them. I regretted my actions later, but when faced with these things, I was unable to help myself from revealing my corrupt disposition. I was deeply troubled by this, and thought: Why is it that others’ words can shame me into anger? And why have I not changed a bit despite eight years of following God? I became worried and repeatedly sought God for an answer.

　　One day, during my devotions, I saw a passage of the man’s fellowship: “Everyone loathes their own arrogance and conceit, their crookedness and craftiness. Most people change to some extent; certain people, who are arrogant and conceited and lack reason, and who are crooked and crafty by nature, change only very slightly and so their expressions and behavior remain almost unchanged: Their arrogance, conceit, crookedness and craftiness remains plain to see. And this is related to their experiences. From start to finish they do not pursue a change in their disposition, they only observe how others enter into life. And as a result, they leave themselves behind. For they only see the arrogance and conceit of others, and believe only others should be judged and chastised by God. They think they themselves have not resisted God, and God’s judgment and chastisement is only for others. This understanding of God’s word is peculiar and it is no wonder they do not change” (The Fellowship From the Above). At this point I had an awakening. I realized the reason I had not changed despite following God for many years was because I had believed in God but not sought to change my disposition; had only paid attention to how others entered into life and not my own entry into life. And at this point I could not help but think of scenes of me rushing around urgently “working”: When eating and drinking the words of God I never used these to consider my own circumstances. I always taught others and measured them against God’s words. At meetings when I communicated the truth it was only to solve the problems and difficulties of others, and I never looked for what I myself should enter into. When I communicated the words of God’s revelation of man’s corrupt substance, my examples were of other brothers and sisters, using others as warnings while I myself escaped judgment. I very rarely used God’s words to understand my own circumstances and find my entry. … And so year after year passed and my own entry into life remained almost a blank. Yet I still thought I was a man of compassion, that I was bearing the burden of the life of my brothers and sisters. In particular from last year to now, the church arranged for me to partner with a young sister to fulfill our duties together, and I continued to bear my “burden” and paid attention to her entry into life. When that sister revealed herself to be arrogant and opinionated I would rush to use God’s word to communicate with her, but thought to myself: You’re just so arrogant. When that sister could not free herself from negativity because of being refined for her future and fate, I found the appropriate words of God to eat and drink with her and communicated that God wishes to save us, but inside I held her in contempt: There is little time left and you still seek blessings so fervently? When that sister opened herself and told me how she was often suspicious of people, I spoke of the truth of being an honest person, but inside she annoyed me: You are too troublesome. When that sister was in a bad situation but could not say why, I told her to examine herself, to dissect her nature, but when it came to myself I did not pay attention to using God’s word to understand and analyze myself from what I revealed. … Was it not that I thought only others were too corrupt and should be judged and chastised by God, while placing myself beyond God’s word? Was I not only paying attention to the entry into life of others and leaving myself behind? Only at that moment did I come to realize I was as poor and pitiful as a penniless street beggar, and my heart was filled with regret.

Gospel Movie clip (4) - Is Interpreting the Bible the Same as Exalting and Bearing Witness for God?

The Church of Almighty God | Gospel Movie clip (4) - Is Interpreting the Bible the Same as Exalting and Bearing Witness for God?

Most people throughout the entire religious world believe that those who are most able to explain the Bible are people who know God, and that if they can also interpret the Bible's mysteries and explain prophecies, then they are people who conform to God's will, and they exalt and bear witness to God. Many people, therefore, have a blind faith in this kind of person and they worship them. So do pastors and elders' explanations of the Bible really exalt and bear witness to God? Almighty God says, "Those who read the Bible in grand churches recite the Bible every day, yet not one understands the purpose of God’s work. Not one is able to know God; moreover, not one is in accord with the heart of God. They are all worthless, vile men, each standing on high to teach God. Though they brandish the name of God, they willfully oppose Him" (The Word Appears in the Flesh).

Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement

Expression of Almighty God | Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement

　　If you believe in God, you must obey God, put the truth into practice, and fulfill your duty. Additionally, you must understand the things you should experience. If you only experience being dealt with, being disciplined, and judgment, if you are only able to enjoy God, but you are unable to feel when God is disciplining you or dealing with you, this is unacceptable. Perhaps in this instance of refinement you are able to stand your ground. This is still not enough; you must march forward. The lesson of loving God is endless, and there is never an end to it. People see believing in God as too simple, but once they gain some practical experience, they realize that belief in God is not as simple as people imagine. When God works to refine man, man suffers, his love of God becomes greater, and more of God’s might is revealed in him. The less man’s refinement, the less his love of God, and the less God’s might is revealed in him. The greater his refinement and pain and the more his torment, the deeper his true love of God will be, the more genuine his faith in God will be, and the deeper his knowledge of God will be. In your experiences you will see that those who suffer great refinement and pain, and much dealing and discipline have a deep love of God, and a more profound and penetrating knowledge of God. Those who have not experienced being dealt with have but a superficial knowledge, and can only say: “God is so good, He bestows grace upon people so that they can enjoy Him.” If people have experienced being dealt with and disciplined, then they are able to speak the true knowledge of God. So the more wondrous God’s work in man is, the more valuable and significant it is. The more impenetrable it is to you and the more incompatible it is with your notions, the more God’s work is able to conquer you, gain you, and make you perfect. The significance of God’s work is so great! If He did not refine man in this way, if He did not work according to this method, then God’s work would be ineffectual and without significance. This is the reason behind the extraordinary significance of His selection of a group of people during the last days. It was said before that God would select and gain this group. The greater the work He carries out within you, the deeper and purer your love. The greater the work of God, the more man is able to get a taste of His wisdom and the deeper is man’s knowledge of Him. During the last days, 6,000 years of God’s plan for management will come to an end. Can it possibly end just like that, so easily? Once He conquers mankind, will His work be over? Can it be so simple? People imagine that it’s so simple, but what God does is not that simple. No matter what part of God’s work it is, all is unfathomable to man. Were you able to fathom it, then God’s work would be without significance or value. The work done by God is unfathomable; it is too much at odds with your notions, and the more irreconcilable it is with your notions, the more it shows that God’s work is meaningful; were it compatible with your notions, then it would be meaningless. Today, you feel that God’s work is too wondrous, and the more wondrous it is, the more you feel that God is unfathomable, and you see how great God’s deeds are. If He only did some superficial, perfunctory work to conquer man and then that was it, then man would be incapable of beholding the significance of God’s work. Although you are receiving a little refinement now, it is of great benefit to the growth of your life—and so such hardship is of the utmost necessity to you. Today, you are receiving a little refinement, but afterward you will truly be able to behold the deeds of God, and ultimately you will say: “God’s deeds are so wondrous!” These will be the words in your heart. Having experienced God’s refinement for a while (the trial of[a] service-doers and the times of chastisement), some people ultimately said: “Believing in God is really difficult!” This “difficult” shows that God’s deeds are unfathomable, that God’s work is possessed of great significance and value, and is highly worthy of being treasured by man. If, after I have done so much work, you had not the slightest knowledge, then could My work still have value? It will make you say: “Service to God is really difficult, the deeds of God are so wondrous, God truly is wise! He’s so lovely!” If, after undergoing a period of experience, you are able to say such words, then this proves that you have gained God’s work in you. One day, when you’re abroad to spread the gospel and someone asks you: “How is your faith in God?” you will be able to say: “God’s actions are so marvelous!” As soon as they see you say this, they’ll feel that there’s something within you and that God’s actions truly are unfathomable. This is truly bearing witness. You will say that God’s work is full of wisdom, and His work in you has truly convinced you and conquered your heart. You will always love Him because He is more than worthy of mankind’s love! If you can speak to these things, you can move people’s hearts. All of this is bearing witness. If you are able to be a resounding witness, to move people to tears, that shows that you truly are one who loves God. That’s because you are able to act as a witness of love for God and God’s actions can be expressed through you. And through your expression, other people can seek out His actions, experience God, and they’ll be able to stand steady in whatever environment they find themselves in. Only bearing witness this way is genuinely bearing witness, and this is exactly what is required of you now. You should say that God’s actions are extremely valuable and worthy of being treasured by people, that God is so precious and so abundant, He can not only speak, but even more He can refine people’s hearts, bring them enjoyment, and He can gain them, conquer them, and perfect them. From your experience you will see that God is very lovable. So how much do you love God now? Can you really say these things from your heart? When you are able to express these words from the depths of your heart you will be able to bear witness. Once your experience has reached this level you will be capable of being a witness for God, and qualified for it. If you don’t reach this level in your experience, then you will still be too far off. It’s normal for people to have weaknesses in refinement, but after refinement you should be able to say: “God is so wise in His work!” If you are truly able to take in practical recognition of this, it is precious, and your experience is valuable.