July 5, 2018 – 1 John 4:12

No man has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us.

– 1 John 4:12

　　Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

　　God has the substance of love. His will is that brothers and sisters can love one another. But in real life, many people don’t know how to love them. For example: When we see their weakness, or their words or actions go against our wish, we start to despise and dislike them without love, tolerance or patience. Let’s see how the Lord Jesus loves people. God says, “To humanity He was always tolerant, never vengeful, but forgave them their sins, exhorted them to repent, and taught them to have patience, forbearance, and love, to follow in His footsteps and sacrifice themselves for the sake of the cross. His love for the brothers and sisters exceeded His love for Mary. The work that He did took as its principle healing the people and driving out demons, all for the sake of His redemption. No matter where He went, He treated all who followed Him with grace. He made the poor rich, the lame walk, the blind see, and the deaf hear; He even invited the lowliest, destitute ones, the sinners, to sit at the same table with Him, never shunning them but always being patient, even saying, ‘When a shepherd loses one sheep out of a hundred, he will leave behind the ninety-nine to seek the one lost sheep, and when he finds it he will rejoice greatly.’ He loved His followers as a ewe loves her lambs. Though they were foolish and ignorant, and were sinners in His eyes, and furthermore were the humblest members of society, He considered these sinners—men whom others despised—as the apple of His eye. Since He favored them, He gave up His life for them, as a lamb was offered up on the altar. He went about in their midst as if He were their servant, letting them use Him and slaughter Him, submitting to them unconditionally.”

Questions and Answers on Being Saved and Being Finally Saved (9)

Question 9: If we accept Almighty God, are we guaranteed to enter the kingdom of heaven?

　　Answer: Almighty God has spoken very clearly about this problem. Let’s first take a look at what he has said.

　　“The return of Jesus is a great salvation for those who are capable of accepting the truth, but for those who are unable to accept the truth it is a sign of condemnation. You should choose your own path, and should not blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and reject the truth. You should not be an ignorant and arrogant person, but someone who obeys the guidance of the Holy Spirit and longs for and seeks the truth; only in this way will you benefit.”(“When You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus Will Be When God Has Made Anew Heaven and Earth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

Movie Clip "Stay Out of My Business" (5) - Exposing the Truth of the Pharisees' Resistance to God

When Lord Jesus appeared and did work, the Jewish priests, scribes, and Pharisees wildly slandered, condemned, and blasphemed Lord Jesus. They nailed Lord Jesus to the cross, and obstructed people from accepting Lord Jesus. During the last days, God has become incarnate again. He has become manifest and is doing work. Pastors and elders of religious circles again wildly resist and condemn God's work of the last days, blocking believers by hook or by crook from accepting Almighty God. Why did God's two incarnations, when He became manifest and did work, meet with resistance and condemnation from religious leaders? What is the source and true nature of the religious leaders' resistance?

More content:

"The Eastern Lightning" has testified that the Lord Jesus has already returned, expressed the truth, and made complete a group of overcomers. Does this fulfill the prophecies from the Bible?

July 4, 2018 – Matthew 13:10-13

　　And the disciples came, and said to him, Why speak you to them in parables? He answered and said to them, Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whoever has not, from him shall be taken away even that he has. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

– Matthew 13:10-13

Praise Song | Only God's Intimates Are Worthy of Serving Him

I

Those who serve God

should be His intimates,

be loved by God and be loyal to Him.

Whether in front of

or behind others you act,

God's joy you are able to gain

and you'll stand firm before God.

No matter how others treat you,

you will walk your own path,

give your cares to God's burden.

This is being an intimate of God.

This is being an intimate of God.

God's intimates are His confidants.

They share with Him

His worries and His wants.

Though painful and weak,

they could endure pain,

forsake what they love

to satisfy God, to satisfy God.

Questions and Answers on Being Saved and Being Finally Saved (8)

Question 8: As to those who have believed in the Lord Jesus for many years and sacrificed for Him their entire lives, if they do not accept Almighty God’s work in the last days, they really won’t be able to be raptured into the kingdom of heaven?

　　Answer: As for this problem, Almighty God has already given us a clear answer. Almighty God says, “If you do not seek the way of life provided by Christ of the last days, then you shall never gain the approval of Jesus, and shall never be qualified to enter the gate of the kingdom of heaven, for you are both a puppet and prisoner of history. Those who are controlled by regulations, by letters, and shackled by history will never be able to gain life, and will never be able to gain the perpetual way of life. That is because all they have is turbid water that has lain stagnant for thousands of years, instead of the water of life that flows from the throne. Those who are not supplied with the water of life will forever remain corpses, playthings of Satan, and sons of hell. How, then, can they behold God? If you only try to hold on to the past, only try to keep things as they are by standing still, and do not try to change the status quo and discard history, then will you not always be against God? The steps of God’s work are vast and mighty, like surging waves and rolling thunders—yet you sit and passively await destruction, sticking to your folly and doing nothing. In this way, how can you be considered someone who follows the footsteps of the Lamb? How can you justify the God that you hold on to as a God who is always new and never old? And how can the words of your yellowed books carry you across into a new age? How can they lead you to seek the steps of God’s work? And how can they take you up to heaven? What you hold in your hands is the letters that can provide but temporary solace, not the truths that are capable of giving life. The scriptures you read are that which can only enrich your tongue, not words of wisdom that can help you know human life, much less the ways that can lead you to perfection. Does this discrepancy not give you cause for reflection? Does it not allow you to understand the mysteries contained within? Are you capable of delivering yourself to heaven to meet God on your own? Without the coming of God, can you take yourself into heaven to enjoy family happiness with God? Are you still dreaming now? I suggest, then, that you stop dreaming, and look at who is working now, at who is now carrying out the work of saving man during the last days. If you do not, you shall never gain the truth, and shall never gain life.

The Word of God | "Only the Perfected Can Live a Meaningful Life"

Almighty God says, "Those who have been perfected are not just able to achieve obedience after being conquered, but they are also able to have knowledge of the work of judgment, change their disposition, and know God. They experience the path of loving God and are filled with the truth. They know how to experience God’s work, are able to suffer for God, and have their own wills. …The perfected refers to those who, after the conquering work ends, are able to pursue the truth and be gained by God. It refers to those who, after the conquering work ends, stand firm in tribulation and live out the truth."

More information:

Why Does Eastern Lightning Surge Forward With Unstoppable Progress?

How to Be an Honest Christian in the Workplace?

By Yang Qifeng, Canada

　　Looking at the coffeemakers which were heaped up on my testing-table, my monitor said impatiently, “Young man! Look! You test the products so slowly that so many of them are heaped up. When you see that the QC who checks over the products isn’t here, you don’t need to test them. Directly give them to the other members of staff. If the QC asks you whether you have tested the products, you can say you have done. The former employee didn’t test all the products. Therefore, the products were not heaped up. How can you be so stupid?” “The previous employee tested the products very fast and didn’t heap them up,” my colleague opposite to me said contemptuously. Hearing their words, I felt very aggrieved in my heart …

　　I work in an appliance installation company and am responsible for testing the quality of the export coffeemakers. These machines need to be tested by putting some water into them one by one. As soon as I’m not careful, my hands will be blistered by scalding water. In order to prevent any quality problems emerging, I tested each of them carefully. However, to increase the output and gain more awards, my monitor urged me to work quickly more than once. I felt a little shaken within: Since the previous employee didn’t test the products one by one and nothing happened, then I won’t test all of them. But then I thought: I’m a believer in God and God requires us to be honest people. If I don’t test the products one by one, then I’m irresponsible as well as cheating others, and I’m not an honest person that brings God joy. I’ll test what I should test. Therefore, I prayed to God silently in my heart, “Oh God! I’m willing to put into practice being an honest person.” After the prayer, I still tested the products one by one. Seeing that I didn’t do according to what she said, my monitor blamed me in front of my colleagues, “You’re too stupid and your mind is inflexible.” Hearing that she talked about me like this, I thought: This is not because I’m stupid or I can’t do like that. Before I believed in God, I also cheated others. Now that I believe in God, I should practice according to God’s words.