Love of God | Christian Song | "God's Substance and Disposition Have Always Been Open to Mankind"

Love of God | Christian Song | "God's Substance and Disposition Have Always Been Open to Mankind"

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Since God's first touch with mankind, He has been revealing to them His essence and what He is and has, without cease, constantly. Whether people through the ages can see or understand, God speaks and works to show His disposition and essence. Never concealed, never hidden, released without reservation, God's essence and disposition, His being and possession, are revealed as He works and engages with mankind.

II

God hopes man can understand Him, know His substance, disposition, which He wants not to be thought as secrets of eternity. Nor does He want man to see Him as a riddle that can't be solved. Never concealed, never hidden, released without reservation, God's essence and disposition, His being and possession, are revealed as He works and engages with mankind.

Those Who Love God Will Forever Live Within His Light

Those Who Love God Will Forever Live Within His Light

The substance of most people’s belief in God is religious conviction: They are incapable of loving God, and can only follow God like a robot, unable to truly yearn for God or adore Him. They merely follow Him silently. Many people believe in God, but there are very few who love God; they only revere God because they fear catastrophe, or else they admire God because He is high and mighty—but in their reverence and admiration there is no love or true yearning. In their experiences they seek the minutiae of the truth, or else some insignificant mysteries. Most people merely follow, they fish in murky waters only to receive blessings; they do not seek the truth, nor do they truly obey God in order to receive God’s blessings. The life of all people’s belief in God is meaningless, it is without value, and in it are their personal considerations and pursuits; they do not believe in God in order to love God, but for the sake of being blessed. Many people act as they please, they do whatever they want, and never consider the interests of God, or whether what they do is in accordance with the will of God. Such people can’t even achieve true belief, let alone the love of God. God’s substance is not just for man to believe in; it is, moreover, for man to love. But many of those who believe in God are incapable of discovering this “secret.” People don’t dare to love God, nor do they try to love Him. They have never discovered that there is so much that is lovable about God, they have never discovered that God is the God who loves man, and that He is the God who is for man to love. The loveliness of God is expressed in His work: Only when they experience His work can people discover His loveliness, only in their actual experiences can they appreciate the loveliness of God, and without observing it in real life, no one can discover God’s loveliness. There is so much to love about God, but without actually engaging with Him people are incapable of discovering it. Which is to say, if God did not become flesh, people would be incapable of actually engaging with Him, and if they were unable to actually engage with Him, they also wouldn’t be able to experience His work—and so their love of God would be tainted with much falsehood and imagination. The love of the God in heaven is not as real as the love of the God on earth, for people’s knowledge of God in heaven is built upon their imaginings, rather than upon what they have seen with their own eyes, and what they have personally experienced. When God comes to earth, people are able to behold His actual deeds and His loveliness, and they can see everything of His practical and normal disposition, all of which is thousands of times more real than the knowledge of the God in heaven. Regardless of how much people love the God in heaven, there is nothing real about this love, and it is full of human ideas. No matter how little their love for the God on earth, this love is real; even if there is only a little of it, it is still real. God causes people to know Him through real work, and through this knowledge He gains their love. It’s like Peter: If he hadn’t lived with Jesus, it would have been impossible for him to adore Jesus. So, too, was his loyalty toward Jesus built upon his engagement with Jesus. To make man love Him, God has come among man and lives together with man, and all that He makes man see and experience is the reality of God.

"The City Will be Overthrown" (2) - Why Has Woe Befallen the Hypocritical Pharisees?

The Church of Almighty God-Why Has Woe Befallen the Hypocritical Pharisees?

　　It is recorded in the Bible that the Lord Jesus condemned the Pharisees with the seven woes. Nowadays, the path walked by the pastors and elders of the religious world is that of the Pharisees and they similarly suffer God's detestation and rejection. So why did the Lord Jesus condemn and curse the Pharisees? It was primarily because they had a hypocritical essence that defied God, because they only paid attention to performing religious rituals and keeping rules, they only explained the rules and doctrines in the Bible and did not put God's words into practice or follow God's commandments whatsoever, and they even discarded God's commandments. Everything they did completely ran counter to God's will and requirements. This was the hypocritical essence of the Pharisees and it was the primary reason for the Lord Jesus hating and cursing them.

Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” (IV)

Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” (IV)

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　　“The work of the last days is to separate all according to their kind, to conclude the management plan of God, for the time is near and the day of God has come. God brings all who have entered His kingdom, that is, all those who have been loyal to Him to the end, into the age of God Himself. However, before the coming of the age of God Himself, the work that God desires to do is not to observe the deeds of man or to inquire about the lives of man, but to judge his rebellion, for God shall purify all those who come before His throne. All those who have followed the footsteps of God to this day are those who have come before the throne of God, hence all who accept the last of God’s work are those to be purified by God. In other words, all those who accept the last of God’s work are those who will be judged by God.

　　As previously spoken of, judgment would begin with the house of God. This ‘judgment’ refers to the judgment God does today on those who come before His throne in the last days. Perhaps there are those who believe in such supernatural imaginings as that when the last days have arrived, God will erect a big table in the heavens, upon which a white tablecloth will be spread, then God will sit upon a great throne and all men will kneel on the ground. God shall then reveal all sins laid against each man to determine whether he shall ascend to heaven or be sent down to the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. No matter what the imaginings of man, the substance of God’s work cannot be altered. The imaginings of man are nothing but the constructs of man’s thoughts and come from the brain of man, summed up and pieced together from what man has seen and heard. Therefore I say, however brilliant the images conceived, they are still no more than a drawing and no substitute for the plan of God’s work. After all, man has been corrupted by Satan, so how can he then fathom the thoughts of God? Man conceives the work of judgment by God to be particularly fantastic. Man believes that since it is God Himself doing the work of judgment, then it must be of the most tremendous scale and incomprehensible to mortals; it must resound through the heavens and shake the earth, otherwise how can it be the work of judgment by God? Man believes that as this is the work of judgment, then God must be particularly imposing and majestic as He works, and those being judged must be howling with tears and on their knees begging for mercy. The scene must be a grand sight and very rousing…. Every man conceives God’s work of judgment to be legendary. Do you know, however, that long after God has begun the work of judgment among men, you are still nestled in sleep? Do you know, at the time that you believe God’s work of judgment has officially begun, it shall already be the time when God changes heaven and earth? At that time, perhaps you will have only just understood the meaning of life, but the merciless work of punishment of God shall bring you, still slumbering, into hell. Only then will you suddenly realize that God’s work of judgment has already concluded.

The Principles of Obeying God’s Administrative Decrees and Commandments

The Church of Almighty God -The Principles of Obeying God’s Administrative Decrees and Commandments

　　1. One must understand the essence and true meaning of God’s administrative decrees and commandments, understand God’s intention, and have fear of God so as not to offend God’s disposition.

　　2. One must seek the truth in God’s administrative decrees and commandments to understand God’s disposition and achieve true compliance with God’s administrative decrees and commandments.

　　3. One must master his own weaknesses and Achilles’ heel to develop the practical principles, know how to keep God’s administrative decrees and commandments and not offend God.

　　4. One must absolutely obey God’s administrative decrees and commandments, which is the duty man must do, and he must endeavor to keep them even if he does not understand them.

Relevant Words of God:

　　The key to keeping the commandments is having an understanding of the practical God. Once you have an understanding of the practical God, you will be able to keep the commandments. Keeping the commandments includes two components: One is maintaining steadfast belief in[a] the essence of His Spirit and being able to accept the examination of the Spirit in front of Him. Another is being able to have a genuine understanding of the incarnate flesh, and achieving genuine obedience.

from “People Who Can Be Absolutely Obedient Toward God’s Practicality Are Those Who Truly Love God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

I Experienced God’s Salvation

The Church of Almighty God-I Experienced God’s Salvation

Cheng Hao    Yongzhou City, Hunan Province

　　By the grace of God, my wife and I were promoted to the second-line gospel team to fulfill our duties. A little while ago, my wife was promoted to team director, while I, as a result of my own arrogance and wanton behavior, lost the work of the Holy Spirit and was sent home to reflect on my actions. Given that my wife and I began fulfilling our duties at the same time, it was a hard pill to swallow seeing her promoted while I was dismissed from my duties. Tears came to my eyes as I thought: “It’s over for me. God is separating out each after his kind and, given that I’ve been dismissed, this is certainly that I’ve been revealed and eliminated. Oh! Who would have thought that after all these years, my life as a believer would end in such utter failure. All I can do now is wait for my punishment.” Then I headed home with a heavy heart. From then on I became mired in defeat and full of misunderstanding and blame for God. I was hopelessly sunk in darkness.

Only by Experiencing Refinement Can Man Truly Love God

Utterances of Almighty God-Only by Experiencing Refinement Can Man Truly Love God

　　How should man love God during refinement? Having experienced refinement, during refinement people are able to truly praise God and to see just how much they are lacking. The greater your refinement, the more you are able to renounce the flesh; the greater their refinement, the more people’s love for God. This is what you should understand. Why must people be refined? What effect does it aim to achieve? What is the significance of God’s work of refinement in man? If you truly seek God, then having experienced His refinement to a certain point you will feel that it is so good, and that it is of the utmost necessity. How should man love God during refinement? By using the resolve to love God to accept His refinement: During refinement you are tormented inside, as if a knife were being twisted in your heart, yet you are willing to satisfy God using your heart, which loves Him, and you are unwilling to care for the flesh. This is what is meant by practicing the love of God. You hurt inside, and your suffering has reached a certain point, yet you are still willing to come before God and pray, saying: “O God! I cannot leave You. Although there is darkness within me, I wish to satisfy You; You know my heart, and I would that You invest more of Your love within me.” This is practice during refinement. If you use the love of God as the foundation, refinement can bring you closer to God and make you more intimate with God. Since you believe in God, you must hand over your heart before God. If you offer up and lay your heart before God, then during refinement it will be impossible for you to deny God, or leave God. In this way your relationship with God will become ever closer, and ever more normal, and your communion with God will become ever more frequent. If you always practice in this way, then you will spend more time in God’s light, and more time under the guidance of His words, there will also be more and more changes in your disposition, and your knowledge will increase day by day. When the day comes and God’s trials suddenly befall you, you will not only be able to stand by God’s side, but will also be able to bear testimony to God. At that time, you will be like Job, and Peter. Having borne testimony to God you will truly love Him, and will gladly lay down your life for Him; you will be God’s witness, and one who is beloved by God. Love that has experienced refinement is strong, and not weak. Regardless of when or how God subjects you to His trials, you are able to care not whether you live or die, to gladly cast aside everything for God, and to happily endure anything for God—and thus your love will be pure, and your faith real. Only then will you be someone who is truly loved by God, and who has truly been made perfect by God.

"The City Will be Overthrown" (1) - The Religious World Has Degenerated Into the City of Babylon

The Church of Almighty God -"The City Will be Overthrown" (1) - The Religious World Has Degenerated Into the City of Babylon

　　The leaders of the religious world stray from the Lord's way and follow worldly trends, they also cooperate with the ruling power's wild defiance and condemnation of the Eastern Lightning, and they have already begun to walk the path of opposition to God. The religious world has degenerated into the city of Babylon. The Bible says, "And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said to them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves" (Matthew 21:12-13). "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies" (Revelation 18:2-3).