Why the Second Age Is Called the Age of Grace

Harvest after reading:

After reading some passages of the utterance of Christ of the last days─Almighty God, I found that the Israelites were getting more frequent to commit sin. Because they didn’t have sin offering to replace their sins so they were facing to be condemned and put to death at that age. But God promised to become flesh and bestow grace upon them so that they wouldn’t die under the law. When the first time God incarnated in the name of Jesus, He brought a new era─the Age of Grace, with great mercy and love. The Lord Jesus let the blind saw, the dead resurrected, and He also performed many signs and wonders. As long as they accepted Jesus as their savior, they could gain the sin offering and enjoy the abundant grace.

　　Jesus represents all the work of the Age of Grace; He was incarnated in the flesh and crucified on the cross, and He also inaugurated the Age of Grace. He was crucified in order to complete the work of redemption, to end the Age of Law and begin the Age of Grace, and so He was called the “Supreme Commander,” the “Sin Offering,” the “Redeemer.” Thus the work of Jesus differed in content from the work of Jehovah, although they were the same in principle. Jehovah began the Age of Law, established the home base, that is, the point of origin, of His work on earth, and issued the commandments; these were two of His accomplishments, which represent the Age of Law. The work Jesus did in the Age of Grace was not to issue commandments but to fulfill the Commandments, thereby ushering in the Age of Grace and concluding the Age of Law that had lasted two thousand years. He was the trailblazer, who came in order to begin the Age of Grace, yet the main part of His work lay in redemption. And so His accomplishments were also twofold: opening up a new age, and completing the work of redemption through His crucifixion. Then He departed. At this point, the Age of Law came to an end and mankind entered into the Age of Grace.

God's Utterance "God's Work, God's Disposition, and God Himself III" (Part Two)

Harvest after watching:
This reading of God’s words lets me understand that the step of God’s work is more profound than the previous stage. In the Age of Law, God commanded men to keep the Sabbath and stop everything we do to worship God, and everyone kept His commandments. When the Lord Jesus incarnated and came to the new work, He hoped that the Israelites would come out of the law to accept His salvation, so when the Lord Jesus went through the wheat field on a Sabbath with the disciples, He plucked the ears of corn and ate… This is the starting point of where the regulations of the Age of Law were being broken, and also God told them that the Age of Grace has arrived. Let’s know more about God’s disposition, God’s will and God’s requirements from God’s new work… God says, “When the Lord Jesus came, He used His practical actions to communicate to people: God had departed the Age of Law and had begun new work, and this new work did not require observation of the Sabbath; when God came out from the confines of the Sabbath day, this was just a foretaste of His new work, and His truly great work was continuing to play out. When the Lord Jesus began His work, He had already left behind the shackles of the Age of Law, and had broken through the regulations and principles from that age. In Him, there was no trace of anything related to the law; He had cast it off entirely and no longer observed it, and He no longer required mankind to observe it. So here you see that the Lord Jesus went through the corn fields on the Sabbath; the Lord did not rest, but was outside working. This action of His was a shock to people’s conceptions and communicated to them that He no longer lived under the law, and that He had left the confines of the Sabbath and appeared in front of mankind and in their midst in a new image, with a new way of working. This action of His told people that He had brought with Him new work that began with going out from the law and going out of the Sabbath. … When He initiates new work, He appears to mankind with a completely new image, from a completely new angle, and in a completely new way so that people can see different aspects of His disposition and what He has and is. This is one of His goals in His new work".

God's words in this video are from the book "Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh".

The content of this video:

1. (Matt 12:1) At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat.

2. (Matt 12:6-8) But I say to you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

God Only Perfects the Person Who Has a Heart That Truly Loves God

　　Why must the person that God perfects be one who loves Him? This is because man has a spirit, and there is a substantial difference between whether the spirit is that of a man or the devil. The spirit that is of man has love and he is able to love God. If a man loved God, he would obey God in all that he does and would care for God’s will. He would be able to bear with hardship and forsake everything in order to satisfy God. Such true love is very important to God. You see, when a woman chooses her partner, she would ask of the partner’s true love and a sincere heart. She would never choose the man if he did not have true love. Why is it so? This is because he would surely have hate if he did not have love. If he had hate in him, disputes would easily arise between them and they two would always be at daggers drawn. He would betray her readily. Such love and hate is thus too important. In the course of experiencing God’s work, as man is not able to penetrate the spiritual world directly, he is not able to understand God’s will. However, he would not begrudge God when he has love; he is able to understand God when he has love, and he would be able to treat all that God does in the right way. When he understands God’s love and that all that God does is the truth, his love for God would become stronger. Therefore, the man who loves God can be perfected more easily, and he would not betray God easily. It is very dangerous if he does not have love. He who does not have love would surely have hate, and he would begrudge easily. A man with hate makes enemies and betrays easily. We see that if a husband and a wife did not have true love between them, they would not understand each other easily. They will always doubt, suspect and complain about each other. They cannot get along with each other, and their conflicts deepen in the end. When the conflicts come to a boil, they would go their separate ways. Therefore, if a person has a heart that truly loves God, no matter what God does and no matter how much pain he goes through, he would not begrudge God. He believes firmly in one thing, that all that God does is love. He believes firmly that God is the truth. He believes firmly that all that God does is for the salvation of man and to perfect man. You can see that his heart is pure and that he would not have any conceptions on any matters. He has no misunderstandings about God, and is able to submit to God instead. He would conversely comfort God when he sees that God is suffering. He would spare no effort in satisfying God when He needs him. Such a person has a heart that truly loves God. He can be perfected by God easily because he understands God. He is a man with the greatest conscience and the most rationality before God. A person without conscience and rationality has no true love for God. If he does indeed show a little love for God, what do you think his love is built on? He would only show a little love for God when he really sees that God has benefited and blessed him in some ways, when he really sees that he has gained something from God and achieved his objectives. Such love is totally built on the basis of a transaction and can exist completely with the purpose of satisfying oneself. Such love is therefore neither pure nor true. The more conscience and rationality a person has, the truer his love is. A person without conscience and rationality has no love. God is thus willing to perfect the person who loves Him. … Why doesn’t He perfect those who do not love Him? Why is a person who does not love God not perfected by Him? Because such a person is inhuman and is without conscience and rationality. A person without conscience and rationality would not have a heart that loves God, and a person without a heart that loves God is one who does not have conscience and rationality. Such a person is not fit to be human. A person who does not have a heart of love for God has hatred for God. A person who has hatred for God is an enemy of God and is one whom He punishes. Can God perfect His enemy? A person who has a heart of hatred of God is an evil person. An evil person is an object of God’s punishment and destruction. A person who truly loves God is one who has conscience and is rational. He is one who is truly a human. Therefore, only a person who truly loves God can be perfected by Him. Those who do not love God are the evil ones, God’s enemies, people without conscience and rationality, and people who are inhuman. God thus does not perfect them. People without conscience and rationality have no love in them. They know only to seek their own interest and selfish gains and have never known what love is. Don’t you see that some people only seek their own selfish gains? They operate on the principle of doing something only if it benefits them in some ways. Can such people have love? Who can they love? They love whoever benefits them, and the love they show is not true at all. You benefit them today and they love you today. They will kick you aside tomorrow when you no longer benefit them. They love you for a day today when you are of use to them and kick you aside tomorrow when you are no longer of use to him. Such are mercenary people. Can such people have love? What is your basis for making friends? You have to base it on whether the person has conscience and rationality and whether he has humanity. This is key. Do not be acquainted with an inhuman person without conscience and rationality because he seeks only his own interest and selfish gains. He goes with whoever benefits him. Do any of you have such friends? Can you be friends with such people? It is of no use to be friends with such people as they cannot be a close friend. He has a transactional motive in making friends with people. He makes friends with you when you are of use to him and walks out on you when you are no longer of use to him and kicks you aside. He cares nothing about conscience and friendship and has even less credibility to speak of. All that he seeks is selfish gains. There are too many of such people around! Very few people care about conscience and rationality, and thus very few are perfected by God even though there are many who believe in Him. Why is this so? It is because very few have conscience, rationality and humanity. Most of the people who believe in God want to make use of Him and seek to gain something from Him. They seek to use God to achieve their objectives. Such a person leaves and forsakes God when he sees that God no longer blesses or perfects him. See, does such a person have a heart that truly loves God? God reveals this kind of person in His work and the person’s ugliness would be exposed. “So, he is such a person.” Therefore, a person who loves God is a man after His heart. God is pleased with him because he has humanity and has conscience and rationality. Those who cannot love God are inhuman because they have no conscience and rationality. A person who is inhuman is an evil person. An evil person is an object of God’s punishment rather than one of God’s salvation, much less an object of His perfection. This is the most crucial point.

Praise and Worship Song "God's Love Circles My Heart" | Praise and Thank God for His Power of Love

Understanding:

I heard the lyrics ” I love nothing in the world; with all my heart I only love my God. “
Amen. After experiencing God’s work in the last days, and the judgment and purification of God’s words, I truly feel that God’s love is real and practical! Now, I would like to share with you the happy time. Hope brothers and sisters from all over the world can listen to the voice of God soon and then return before God’s throne and accept God’s work in the last days, enjoying the greatest love. Praise and Worship Song God's Love Circles My Heart | Praise and Thank God for His Power of Love

The Sun of righteousness rises in the East.

O God! Your glory fills the heaven and earth.

My beautiful beloved, Your love circles my heart.

Those who seek the truth—they love God, one and all.

In the early morning, though I rise alone, joy is in my heart as I ponder God’s words.

His gentle words, like those of a loving mother; His words of judgment, stern like father’s scolding.

Naught else in the world do I love, with my whole heart I love only Almighty God.

Ah hey, ah hey,

ah hey, ah hey.

Naught else in the world do I love, with my whole heart I love only Almighty God.

God’s Name Jehovah From the Age of Law

My understanding:

I know that God’s name is Jehovah in the Old Testament and is Jesus in the New Testament. But what is the significance of God’s names? I read a passage of God’s word today and I feel like I’ve gained a lot! I’ve found that the name Jehovah God in the Age of Law means God has mercy while He can also curse and also lead the Israelites to live on earth in an orderly way. And the name Jesus means… I’m really thankful for the guidance of God’s word and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. I’d like to share with you God’s Name Jehovah From the Age of Law.

“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. … 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. … 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….

from “The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a “White Cloud”” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

 Know more :

English Christian Skit "Starving for Fear of Choking"

The Word the Holy Spirit Speaks to the Churches | "Knowing God's Work Today"

My impression:

“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”（Hebrews 12:14）Thank God! Returned Savior, End-time Salvation! Almighty God's words gives us the guidance of knowing God. Share with you Readings of God's Word videos

Almighty God says, "The work done by God during this age is chiefly the provision of the words for the life of man, the disclosure of the substance of the nature of man and the corrupt disposition of man, the elimination of religious conceptions, feudal thinking, outdated thinking, as well as the knowledge and culture of man. This must all be laid bare and cleansed away through the words of God. In the last days, God uses words, and not signs and wonders, to make man perfect. He uses His words to expose man, to judge man, to chastise man, and to make man perfect, so that in the words of God, man comes to see the wisdom and loveliness of God, and comes to understand the disposition of God, so that through the words of God, man beholds the deeds of God."

Only by Satisfying God’s Final Requirements Can One Be Saved

God’s Ten Requirements for His Chosen People

　　The practical standard of entry into life is to satisfy God’s requirements, and the greatest reality of man’s entry into life is to satisfy God’s final requirements. Regardless of how deeply a man has entered into life, if he fails to meet God’s requirements and lacks real testimonies in his trials, the reality he has is empty. All of those who believe in God know that entry into life refers to entry into the truth, and that only when one has entered into the truth will he have reality. Because the truth is the life of man, only he who truly understands the truth and lives out the truth is a man who has entered into reality. Then what is the greatest reality of entry into life? Anyone who pursues salvation must know it clearly. Most people only pursue to have entry in certain aspects, but they have not truly entered into God’s requirements, especially the most critical requirements of God. What do you call this? This is called “giving up a goose for a feather.” Does barely having entry in trivial matters mean that you are standing firm in your testimony? Does it mean you are obedient to God? Does it mean you are faithful to God? Does it mean you are someone who loves God? If you fail to achieve these results, such entry of yours is worthless. If you are seemingly obedient in minor aspects but are not truly obedient to God’s will and cannot satisfy God in His requirements, this kind of entry of yours is meaningless. The work of God is to change man’s life disposition through judgment and chastisement so as to achieve the goal of saving man from the influence of Satan. Since this is the work that changes man’s life disposition, there are criteria for receiving salvation. Some major requirements that God finally makes of man are the criteria for receiving salvation. Now we all know some of God’s requirements, which are actually His major requirements for His chosen people. The first requirement is what God required of us at the initial stage of His work. Whoever expends himself for God wholeheartedly shall receive His blessings. This is God’s earliest requirement for His chosen people. Whoever expends himself for God wholeheartedly shall be greatly blessed by Him. The second one is that God requires all those to be made perfect by Him to undergo refinement, to have the refined faith. This is God’s second requirement for His chosen people. Whoever believes in God must have true faith in God. Faith becomes true after refinement, which is like that of Job, who was able to stand firm regardless of what trials befell him. The third requirement is that God requires us to follow Peter’s example, to have true love for God and become a person who truly knows God. This is also a requirement made by God at the early stage of His work. It is mainly written in “How Peter Came to Know Jesus,” through which God particularly requires man to follow Peter’s example, to pursue to know God and love God. The fourth requirement is that God requires His chosen people to have enough good deeds, because only those who have enough good deeds will have a good destination. God has made this requirement in the piece of His words “You Ought to Prepare a Sufficiency of Good Deeds for Your Destination.” The fifth requirement is that God requires us to pursue the truth tirelessly to know our own corrupt essence and enter ont0 the right track of believing in God. This requirement is very important, because entering onto the right track of believing in God requires man to know his corrupt essence. The sixth requirement is that we must resolve our transgressions, because only by resolving our transgressions can we truly be saved. This is a requirement God has made in the piece of His words “Transgressions Will Take Man to Hell.” This requirement is also very important, because no matter how you pursue in believing in God, if you have too many transgressions which remain unresolved all along, according to the words of God, transgressions will take you to hell. This requirement is quite important. The seventh requirement is that God requires us to be a person who is loyal to God. We believers in God should be loyal to God rather than to any people, matters, or things, and we are also required to offer up our final devotion for God’s work. This is the seventh requirement. The eighth requirement is that God requires us to be honest people. Because God is pleased with honest people, only by being an honest person can we truly receive salvation. The ninth requirement is that God requires us to pursue to be made perfect. God requires us to enter into all truths and become witnesses of God. The tenth requirement is that the chosen people of God must understand the disposition of God and know the practical God on earth. These are the most important things God has required of us, which are also the ultimate effects God’s work will achieve in us. God has made the tenth requirement in the two pieces of His words “It Is Very Important to Understand God’s Disposition” and “How to Know the God on Earth.” We see from God’s work that God has these ten greatest requirements for His chosen people. If a person has met all these ten requirements, he is undoubtedly someone who has been saved and made perfect. If someone has experienced God’s work but not met God’s requirements in the end, or if he has not met even one of God’s requirements, what do you say, can such a man receive God’s salvation? That is absolutely impossible. Not satisfying even one requirement, he is destined to be eliminated. To be sure, those who are eliminated are those who are to be punished by God.

How to Pray in Accordance With God’s Will

The Outcomes and the Content of Prayer

What can be effected through prayer? We have to be clear on this. First of all, prayer can enable man to understand God’s word, to understand the truth of His word. This is the first outcome. Secondly, prayer can enable us to understand God’s will, to understand what He requires of us. Thirdly, prayer can increase our faith; in times of trial and tribulation, in particular, prayer enables us to confidently walk the road ahead. Fourthly, prayer enables us to feel God as dear and beloved, and to grow a heart that loves God and satisfies Him. Finally, prayer enables us to truly know God, especially His disposition, His loveliness, and His wondrous works. The more we pray, the more we sense the wonder of God, the more we touch Him. Hence, the more we pray, the more we come to know God. Prayer is the only way for man to come into contact with God’s Spirit. Without prayer, you have no means to contact God’s Spirit. God sees into man’s heart, yet man cannot see Him. But through prayer we touch the work of the Holy Spirit, we understand the work of the Holy Spirit and know what the Holy Spirit does upon us and with what effects. This produces real knowledge of God. Prayer can effect so many outcomes upon us, and has then an immeasurable effect on our salvation through belief in God, on our entering the truth to our final perfection by God. A heart that truly loves God is won through prayer. When man does not pray or prays little, he does not know God, and even should he wish to love God he will fail. Through prayer we are able to know something of how God’s Spirit acts, what it is to be moved by God’s Spirit; we are able to know something of God. In this way, we can see His wondrousness, and a heart is born within us that loves Him. Thus, contacting God’s Spirit through prayer results in a genuine knowledge of God. Now, many people know how to pray, and have some experience of it. It is through this experience that they have learned how to have their prayers heard, and what kind of prayers God will not answer. I believe all of us have some experience and knowledge of this. What is the nature of prayers that God hears? It must be a prayer that accords with His will. If we pray to God to understand the truth, do you think this accords with His will? If we pray for guidance of the Holy Spirit, does this accord with His will? Such prayers are all in accordance with His will. Praying to seek out God’s will, to seek out what He requires of us, accords too with His will. Praying for God to deal with real difficulties within our family accords with His will: When we seek to entrust the unbelievers in our family to God for Him to save them, that accords too with His will. When we pray for our brothers and sisters, when we pray for those religious people to return to God, this all accords with God’s will. When we meet with persecution, with adversity or are faced with all kinds of disasters and we pray for God’s deliverance, this too accords with His will. You can say that all prayers that accord with His will, will be heard. Then what might you pray for that does not accord with His will? Some pray to be rich; do you think that accords with God’s will? Some pray for their children to get into university; does that accord with His will? Some pray for God to find them a good job with more money; does that accord with His will? Or some pray for God to find them a suitable spouse; does that accord with His will? None of these prayers accord with God’s will. It is clear now too what kind of prayers do not accord with His will, isn’t it? How should we then distinguish between those things we pray for that are in accordance with God’s will and those that are not? We must be able to distinguish. We have to figure out in our own hearts the things we encounter that can be brought before God in prayer. Since the work of God is to save man, if what we pray for is in contradiction to our seeking salvation from God, if it conflicts with that, and is not beneficial to our salvation, then we need not pray for such a thing. For example, if you wish to go among the unbelievers to get rich, is this not rebellion? Does praying for this accord with God’s will? For certain, it does not. Do not pray or ask for anything that betrays God, or that offends Him. So, we have to distinguish which things accord with God’s will and should be put in our prayers, and which things do not. Furthermore, there are times we encounter something, and we are faced with a choice: Do we choose to care for God’s will or care for and submit to the flesh? These are times when man is tested, and we see which road man will take; this is temptation coming upon us. Therefore, in praying we must make distinction; we should pray for whatever things we ought to. How do we judge which things we should pray for, according to what do we ascertain them? We discern them on the basis of God’s work, on the basis of His word. Judging from what the work is that God does, do the things we pray for conflict with God’s work? Do they interrupt His work, are they beneficial to our seeking salvation? We ascertain the things we should pray for on these grounds. And what problem does this touch upon? In praying before God man must possess conscience and reason, he must possess a pure and open, an honest heart; you cannot be deceitful with God, you must be pure and open. You must possess a heart that seeks the truth, a heart that thirsts for the truth. Most importantly, you must possess a heart that genuinely loves God, a heart obedient to God. Only in this way, when coming before Him to pray, are we pleasing to God. If the heart you bear within does not love God, is not obedient to Him, and yet you pray, saying “God, what am I to do in this matter?”, and you are not willing to obey, then you are seeking God’s agreement to your rebelling against Him, to contravening Him. Is this not an expression of blasphemy? Such prayer will not be pleasing to God, and He will say, “When you pray you still are disobeying Me, you still are going against Me, you are not seeking the truth at all, you have not an iota of obedience in you.” So, there are prayers that do not accord with God’s will, that go against God, that disobey Him, prayers that you must not pray to Him. If you pray thus, you are going against God; to put it seriously, this is blasphemy. What we bring before God to pray for must accord with His will; we must be genuinely seeking truth, and not testing God. There are some whose prayers are testing in nature; they are only too eager for God to fulfill their wishes, to satisfy their needs of the flesh, to satisfy their extravagant desires. If man comes before God to pray with such a heart, this is utterly unacceptable to Him for this is an expression of going against Him, of opposing Him. In addition, there are some meaningless things we need not pray for. What are the meaningless things? Some will pray to God as to whether they should read His word, or whether they should meet together; there are even some who will pray to Him as to whether they should eat, or whether they should go shopping. They ask God whether He agrees, whether He permits. I ask you, does such prayer have any meaning? Such people appear a little crazy; they’re not too normal. I have observed that some people who are afflicted by evil spirits pray much this way: They even pray to God about going to the restroom, about whether they’re allowed; when they go to eat, they ask Him whether they’re allowed. Even more absurd are those who when they go to do any little thing, have God do it for them: When they go out the door, they have God watch over their home, protect their property and keep thieves away. Don’t you think praying for these kinds of things is absurd? What kind of prayers a person puts before God proves what kind of person they are. What someone absurd prays for is also absurd.

From Classic Selections From Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life