God's word | What Is Your Understanding of God?

Eastern Lightning | God's word | What Is Your Understanding of God?

People have long believed in God, yet most of them have no understanding of what the word “God” means, and merely follow in bewilderment. They have no clue as to why exactly man should believe in God, or what God is. If people know only to believe in and follow God, but not what God is, and if they also do not know God, then is this not just a great big joke? Even though, having come this far, people have witnessed many heavenly mysteries, and have heard much profound knowledge never before understood by man, they are ignorant of many of the most elementary truths never before contemplated by man. Some might say, “We have believed in God for many years. How could we not know what God is? Does this question not belittle us?” In reality, however, though people follow Me today, they know nothing of any of the work of today, and fail to grasp even the most obvious and easiest of questions, let alone such highly complex ones as those about God. Know that the questions that you have no concern for, that you have not identified, are the ones that are most important for you to understand, for you know only to follow the crowd, paying no attention and giving no care to what you should be equipping yourself with. Do you truly know why you should have faith in God? Do you really know what God is? Do you truly know what man is? As a person who has faith in God, if you fail to understand these things, do you not lose the dignity of a believer of God? My work today is this: to have people understand their essence, understand all that I do, and know the true face of God. This is the closing act of My management plan, the last stage of My work. That is why I am telling you all of life’s mysteries in advance, so that you can accept them from Me. As this is the work of the final age, I must tell you all the truths of life that you have never been receptive to before, even though you are incapable of understanding or bearing them due to being simply too deficient and too ill-equipped. I shall conclude My work; I shall complete the work I am supposed to do, and shall tell you of all I have commissioned of you, lest you again stray and fall for the evil one’s schemes when darkness descends. There are many ways that you do not understand, many matters of which you have no knowledge. You are so ignorant; I know full well your stature and your shortcomings. Therefore, though there are many words you are incapable of understanding, I am still willing to tell you all these truths that you have never been receptive to before, because I keep worrying whether, in your current stature, you are able to stand firm in your testimony to Me. It is not that I think little of you; you are all beasts that have yet to undergo My formal training, and I absolutely cannot see how much glory is within you. Though I have expended much energy working on you, the positive elements in you seem practically nonexistent, and the negative elements can be counted on one’s fingers and serve only as testimonies that bring shame on Satan. Just about everything else in you is Satan’s poison. You look to Me like you are beyond salvation. Therefore, as matters stand, I look at your various demeanors, and I finally know your true stature. This is why I am always fretting over you: Left to live life on their own, would humans really be better off than or comparable to how they are today? Does your infantile stature not make you anxious? Can you truly be like the chosen people of Israel—loyal to Me, and to Me alone, at all times? What is revealed in you is not the mischievousness of children who have strayed from their parents, but the beastliness that bursts forth from animals that are out of reach of their masters’ whips. You should know your nature, which is also the weakness that you all share; it is an ailment common to you all. Thus, My only exhortation to you today is to stand firm in your testimony to Me. Do not, under any circumstances, allow the old ailment to flare up again. Bearing testimony is what’s most important—it is the heart of My work. You should accept My words just as Mary accepted Jehovah’s revelation that came to her in a dream: by believing, and then obeying. Only this qualifies as being chaste. For you are the ones who hear My words the most, the ones most blessed by Me. I have given you all My valuable possessions, I have bestowed everything upon you, yet you are of such vastly different status to the people of Israel; you are simply worlds apart. But compared to them, you have received so much more; while they desperately await My appearance, you pass pleasant days with Me, sharing My bounty. Given this difference, what gives you the right to squawk and squabble with Me and demand your share of My possessions? Have you not gained much? I give you so much, but what you give Me in return is just heartrending sadness and anxiety, irrepressible resentment and discontent. You are so repugnant—yet you are also pitiable, so I have no choice but to swallow all My resentment and voice My objections to you again and again. Over thousands of years of work, I have never remonstrated with mankind because I have discovered that, throughout humanity’s development, it is only the “hoaxes” among you that have become the most renowned, like precious inheritances left to you by famous ancestors of ancient times. How I hate those subhuman swine and dogs. You are too lacking in conscience! You are of too base a character! Your hearts are too hardened! If I had taken such words and work to the Israelites, I would have gained glory long ago. But among you this is unattainable; among you, there is only cruel neglect, your cold shoulder, and your excuses. You are too unfeeling, and utterly worthless!

How does God’s work of judgment during the last days purify and save mankind?

Bible Verses for Reference:

“And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (Jhn 12:47-48).

“I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come” (Jhn 16:12-13).

Relevant Words of God:

When God becomes flesh this time, His work is to express His disposition, primarily through chastisement and judgment. Using this as the foundation, He brings more truth to man, shows more ways of practice, and so achieves His objective of conquering man and saving man from his corrupt disposition. This is what lies behind the work of God in the Age of Kingdom.

International Society for Human Rights Condemns the CCP's Violations of Human Rights

International Society for Human Rights Condemns the CCP's Violations of Human Rights | Eastern Lightning

For years, the issue of worsening human rights in China has drawn the international community's concerns and vigorous denouncement. On December 7, 2017, the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR), headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, held a news conference in Cologne on the Current Situation of Human Rights in China. Those invited to attend the forum were experts concerned about the human rights situation in China, representatives of persecuted groups in China, the press corps and so on. The Church of Almighty God, which has been subject to brutal suppression and persecution for years by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has gained the understanding and support of increasingly more international organizations recently. At the press conference, Christians of The Church of Almighty God addressed the audience as victims of persecution. ISHR expressed that the purpose for convening the press conference was to inform the international press corps of the dire human rights situation in China currently, while stressing that China is the country with the most serious human rights violations in the world, and China’s ruling party, the Chinese Communist Party, has committed the most serious crimes against human rights in China.

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The Experiences of Peter: His Knowledge of Chastisement and Judgment

Eastern Lightning | God's will | The Experiences of Peter: His Knowledge of Chastisement and Judgment

When he was being chastised by God, Peter prayed, “O God! My flesh is disobedient, and You chastise me and judge me. I rejoice in Your chastisement and judgment, and even if You do not want me, in Your judgment I behold Your holy and righteous disposition. When You judge me, so that others may behold Your righteous disposition in Your judgment, I feel content. If it can show forth Your disposition, and allow Your righteous disposition to be seen by all creatures, and if it can make my love of You purer, so that I can attain the image of one who is righteous, then Your judgment is good, for such is Your gracious will. I know that there is still much in me that is rebellious, and that I am still not fit to come before You. I wish for You to judge me even more, whether through a hostile environment or great tribulations; no matter how You judge me, to me it is precious. Your love is so profound, and I am willing to lay myself at Your mercy without the slightest complaint.” This is Peter’s knowledge after he experienced the work of God, and is also a testimony to his love of God. Today, you have already been conquered—but how is this conquest expressed in you? Some people say, “My conquest is the supreme grace and exaltation of God. Only now do I realize that the life of man is hollow and without significance. Living is so pointless, I’d rather be dead. Though man spends his life rushing about, producing and raising generation after generation of children, man is ultimately left with nothing. Today, only after being conquered by God have I seen that there is no value to living in this way; it really is a meaningless life. I may as well die and be done with it!” Can such people who have been conquered be gained by God? Can they become specimens and models? Such people are a lesson in passiveness, they have no aspirations, and do not strive to improve themselves! Even though they count as having been conquered, such passive people are incapable of being made perfect. At the near end of his life, after he had been made perfect, Peter said, “O God! If I were to live a few more years, I would wish to achieve a purer and deeper love of You.” When he was about to be nailed to the cross, in his heart he prayed, “O God! Your time has now arrived, the time You prepared for me has arrived. I must be crucified for You, I must bear this testimony to You, and I hope that my love can satisfy Your requirements, and that it can become purer. Today, to be able to die for You, and be nailed to the cross for You, is comforting and reassuring to me, for nothing is more gratifying to me than to be able to be crucified for You and satisfy Your wishes, and to be able to give myself to You, to offer up my life to You. O God! You are so lovely! Were You to allow me to live, I would be even more willing to love You. As long as I am alive, I will love You. I wish to love You more deeply. You judge me, and chastise me, and try me because I am not righteous, because I have sinned. And Your righteous disposition becomes more apparent to me. This is a blessing to me, for I am able to love You more deeply, and I am willing to love You in this way even if You do not love me. I am willing to behold Your righteous disposition, for this makes me more able to live out a life of meaning. I feel that my life now is more meaningful, for I am crucified for Your sake, and it is meaningful to die for You. Yet still I do not feel satisfied, for I know too little of You, I know that I cannot completely fulfill Your wishes, and have repaid You too little. In my life, I have been incapable of returning my entirety to You; I am far from that. As I look back at this moment, I feel so indebted to You, and I have but this moment to make up for all of my mistakes and all the love that I have not repaid You.”

The Son of Man Has Come | Gospel Song | "The Substance of Christ Is God"

Eastern Lightning | The Son of Man Has Come | Gospel Song | "The Substance of Christ Is God"

I

God who becomes flesh is called Christ, so the Christ that can give people truth is called God. It is not too much to say like that. For He possesses the substance of God. He possesses God's disposition and wisdom in His work, which are unreachable by man. Those who call themselves Christ yet cannot do the work of God are frauds. Christ is not merely the manifestation of God on earth, but the particular flesh assumed by God, as He carries out, completes His work among man. Christ is not merely the manifestation of God on earth, but instead, the particular flesh assumed by God, as He carries out, completes His work among man.

The significance of God’s judgment in the last days can be seen in the results achieved by God’s work of judgment in the last days.

(1) God’s work of judgment in the last days is done to purify, save and perfect man, and to make a group of overcomers.

　Bible Verses for Reference:

　“Because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation, which shall come on all the world, to try them that dwell on the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which you have, that no man take your crown. Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God: and I will write on him my new name” (Rev 3:10-12).

　“These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God” (Rev 14:4-5).

　Relevant Words of God:

　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, until the coming of the age of God Himself, the work that God shall do is not to observe the deeds of man or to inquire into the life 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, and this being so, every single person who accepts God’s work in its final phase is the object of God’s purification. In other words, everyone who accepts God’s work in its final phase is the object of God’s judgment.

from “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

#9 The Church of Almighty God’s Members Entitled to Refugee Status in S. Korea - Massimo Introvigne

#9 The Church of Almighty God’s Members Entitled to Refugee Status in S. Korea - Massimo Introvigne

On November 20–21, 2017, in just two days, seventeen reports attacking The Church of Almighty God (CAG) were published intensively on Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po, the mouthpiece media of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Hong Kong (HK), citing the rumors and fallacies consistently fabricated by the CCP to discredit and condemn the CAG. The reports also described at length the development of the CAG in South Korea. They claimed that the CAG had been condemned as a “cult” in Korea, and that the Korean government should not grant refugee status to Christians of the CAG. Prof. Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist, the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), makes comment on this.

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What is the consequence and the outcome of the religious world rejecting God’s work of judgment in the last days?

The Church of Almighty God | What is the consequence and the outcome of the religious world rejecting God’s work of judgment in the last days?

Relevant Words of God:

In each period of time, God will begin new work, and in each period, there will be a new beginning among man. If man only abides by the truths that “Jehovah is God” and “Jesus is Christ,” which are truths that only apply to a single age, then man will never keep up with the work of the Holy Spirit, and will forever be incapable of gaining the work of the Holy Spirit. Regardless of how God works, man follows without the slightest doubt, and he follows closely. In this way, how could man be eliminated by the Holy Spirit? Regardless of what God does, as long as man is certain that it is the work of the Holy Spirit, and cooperates in the work of the Holy Spirit without any misgivings, and tries to meet the requirements of God, then how could he be punished? The work of God has never ceased, His footsteps have never halted, and prior to the completion of His work of management, He has always been busy, and never stops. But man is different: Having gained but a modicum of the Holy Spirit’s work, he treats it as if it will never change; having gained a little knowledge, he does not go forth to follow the footsteps of God’s newer work; having seen but a bit of God’s work, he immediately prescribes God as a particular wooden figure, and believes that God will always remain in this form that he sees before him, that it was like this in the past and will always be thus in the future; having gained but a superficial knowledge, man is so proud that he forgets himself and begins to wantonly proclaim the disposition and being of God that simply do not exist; and having fastened upon one stage of the Holy Spirit’s work, no matter what kind of person it is that proclaims the new work of God, man does not accept it. These are people who cannot accept the new work of the Holy Spirit; they are too conservative, and incapable of accepting new things. Such people are those who believe in Godbut also reject God. Man believes that the Israelites were wrong to “only believe in Jehovah and not believe in Jesus,” yet the majority of people act out a role in which they “only believe in Jehovah and reject Jesus” and “long for the return of the Messiah, but oppose the Messiah who is called Jesus.” No wonder, then, that people still live under the domain of Satan after accepting one stage of the work of the Holy Spirit, and still do not receive God’s blessings. Is this not the result of man’s rebelliousness? Christians across the world who have not kept up with the new work of today all hold onto the belief that they are the lucky ones, that God will fulfill each of their wishes. Yet they cannot say for sure why God will take them up to the third heaven, nor are they certain about how Jesus will come to collect them riding upon a white cloud, much less can they say with absolute certainty whether Jesus will truly arrive upon a white cloud on the day that they imagine. They are all anxious, and at a loss; they themselves don’t even know whether God will take up each of them, the varied small handfuls of people, who hail from every denomination. The work that God does now, the present age, God’s will—they have no grasp of any of these, and can do nothing but count down the days on their fingers. Only those who follow the footsteps of the Lamb to the very end can gain the final blessing, whereas those “clever people,” who are unable to follow to the very end yet believe they have gained all, are incapable of witnessing the appearance of God. They all believe they are the smartest person on earth, and they cut short the continued development of God’s work for no reason at all, and seem to believe with absolute certainty that God will take them up to heaven, they who “have the utmost loyalty to God, follow God, and abide by the words of God.” Even though they have the “utmost loyalty” toward the words spoken by God, their words and actions still feel so disgusting because they oppose the work of the Holy Spirit, and commit deceit and evil. Those who do not follow to the very end, who do not keep up with the work of the Holy Spirit, and who only cleave to the old work have not only failed to achieve loyalty to God, but on the contrary, have become those who oppose God, have become those who are rejected by the new age, and who will be punished. Are there any more pitiable than them?

from “God’s Work and Man’s Practice” in The Word Appears in the Flesh