Eastern Lightning| The Twenty-seventh Utterance

Human behavior has never touched My heart, nor has it ever struck Me as precious. In the eyes of man, I am always treating him very strictly, and I am always exercising authority over him. In all of man’s actions, there is scarcely anything done for Me, scarcely anything standing firm before My eyes. Ultimately, everything pertaining to man has imperceptibly crumbled before Me, and only in such a time do My actions become apparent, letting everyone, in their own failure, come to know Me. Human nature remains unchanged. What is in their hearts is not in accordance with My will—it is not what I need. What I detest the most is man’s stubbornness and recidivism, but what force would there be provoking them to continue being a stranger to Me, to always keep a distance, to never act in accordance to My will before Me and oppose Me behind My back instead? Is this their loyalty? Is this their love for Me? Why can’t they repent and be born again? Why are people forever willing to live in the swamp instead of a place free of mud? Could it be that I have mistreated them? Could it be that I have led them astray? Could it be that I lead them to hell? Everyone is willing to live in “hell.” When the light comes, their eyes go instantly blind, as everything they have stored up in them comes from hell. However, they are ignorant of this, and they are just enjoying “infernal pleasures.” They even hold them as treasures close to their chests with an intense fear that I will steal them away, leaving them without “the source of existence.” People fear Me, which is why they stay far away from Me and hate to draw near to Me when I come to earth, for they are unwilling to “cause trouble for themselves,” wishing instead to maintain a peaceful family life so that they might enjoy “happiness on earth.” However I cannot allow them to fulfill their wishes, as destroying their families is precisely what I am here to do. From the moment of My arrival the peace in their homes will be disturbed. I will shatter all the nations, not to mention the families. Who could ever escape My grasp? How could it be that those who receive blessings could escape by virtue of their unwillingness? How could it ever be that those who suffer chastisement could gain My sympathy by virtue of their fear? In all of My words, people have seen My will and seen My actions, but who could ever break free of the entanglement of his own thoughts? Who could ever find a way out from within or without My words?

Eastern Lightning| Almighty God's Word "The Difference Between the Ministry of the Incarnate God and the Duty of Man"

　　Almighty God says, "Whether the incarnate God speaks, works, or manifests wonders, He is doing great work within His management, and such work cannot be done by man in His stead. The work of man is only to do his duty as a created being in a given stage of God’s work of management. Without such management, that is, if the ministry of God incarnate is lost, so too is the duty of a created being. God’s work in carrying out His ministry is to manage man, whereas man doing his duty is the performance of his own obligations to meet the demands of the Creator and can in no way be considered to be carrying out one’s ministry. To the inherent essence of God, that is, Spirit, the work of God is His management, but to God incarnate wearing the external form of a created being, His work is the carrying out of His ministry. Whatever work He does is to carry out His ministry, and man can only do his best within His scope of management and under His leadership."

Eastern Lightning| The Way to Kingdom of Heaven | Gospel Movie "Break the Spell"

　　Fu Jinhua was an elder of a house church in China. Like many other Christians, she enthusiastically dedicated herself to the Lord, and toiled hard in her labor for Him. She was particularly self-confident, and thought herself to be someone who truly loved the Lord. Having followed the Lord for many years, she wholeheartedly believed that the Bible was inspired by God, and that the words in the Bible were all God's words. Therefore, in her mind, she equated believing in the Lord with believing in the Bible. She thought that those who departed from the Bible could not be called followers of the Lord. She also believed that she needed only to adhere to the Bible to be raptured into the kingdom of heaven when the Lord descends with the clouds. So when a bunch of people began to testify to Almighty God's work of the last days, Fu Jinhua believed in the misconceptions of the religious pastors and elders, and never sought to investigate things any further. One day, Fu Jinhua visited Sister He, a fellow member of the church. Sister He spoke about her own confusion: "The prophecies about the Lord's return have basically all come true, and the Lord is supposed to have come back already. So why haven't we beheld the Lord descending with the clouds yet?" Her co-worker Fang Jianjie also mentioned: The four blood moons have appeared, which means that great disasters will soon befall us. According to the prophecies from the books of the prophets and the Book of Revelation, the Church of Philadelphia will be raptured before the great disasters, and God will nourish His servants and handmaids with His Spirit to make complete a group of overcomers before the disasters. If we are not raptured before the disasters, we will most likely perish among these great disasters. But now, "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? Is the Eastern Lightning the manifestation of the Lord and His work? After listening to her co-workers, Fu Jinhua fell into deep reflection and began to reassess these matters …

Eastern Lightning| Almighty God's Word "Only Those Who Know God and His Work Can Satisfy God" | Eastern Lightning

　　Almighty God says, "Knowing the work of God is no simple matter: You should have standards and an objective in your pursuit, you should know how to seek the true way, and how to measure whether or not it is the true way, and whether or not it is the work of God. What is the most basic principle in seeking the true way? You have to look at whether or not there is the work of the Holy Spirit, whether or not these words are the expression of the truth, who is testified to, and what it can bring you. Distinguishing between the true way and the false way requires several aspects of basic knowledge, the most fundamental of which is to tell whether or not there is the work of the Holy Spirit."

Almighty God| The Twenty-sixth Utterance

Who has abided in My home? Who has stood up for My sake? Who has suffered in My behalf? Who has pledged his word before Me? Who has followed Me to the present and yet has not become indifferent? Why are all human beings cold and unfeeling? Why has mankind abandoned Me? Why has humanity grown weary of Me? Why is there no warmth in the human world? While in Zion, I have tasted the warmth that is in heaven, and while in Zion I have enjoyed the blessing that is in heaven. Again, I have lived in mankind’s midst, I have tasted the bitterness in the human world, I have seen with My own eyes all the different states that exist amongst men. Unawares, man has changed along with My changes, and only in this way has he arrived at the present day. I do not require that man be able to do anything for My sake, nor do I require that he make any increase on My account. I only want him to be able to accord with My plan, neither disobeying Me nor becoming a mark of shame to Me, and to bear resounding witness unto Me. Among men, there have been those who have borne Me good witness and glorified My name, but how can man’s practices, man’s conduct possibly satisfy My heart? How can he possibly meet with My desire or fulfill My will? Of the mountains and waters on the earth, and the flowers, grasses, and trees on the earth, not one but shows the work of My hands, not one but exists for My name. Yet why cannot man attain to the standards of what I demand? Could this be due to his abject lowliness? Could it be due to My elevation of him? Could it be that I am too cruel to him? Why is man always fearful of My demands? Today, among the multitudes in the kingdom, why is it that you only listen to My voice but do not wish to see My face? Why do you only look at My words without trying to match them to My Spirit? Why do you keep Me apart in heaven above and on the earth below? Could it be that I, when I am on earth, am not the same I that I am in heaven? Could it be that I, when I am in heaven, cannot come down onto the earth? Could it be that I, when I am on earth, am unworthy to be borne up to heaven? It is as though I, when I am on earth, am a lowly creature, as though I, when I am in heaven, am an exalted being, and as though there lies between heaven and earth an unbridgeable chasm. But in the world of men they seem to know nothing of the origins of these things, but all along have been going contrary to Me, as though My words have only sound and no meaning. All men spend effort on My words, undertaking investigations of their own into My outward semblance, but they all meet with failure, without any results to show, but instead are struck down by My words and dare not get up again.

Eastern-Lightning| Almighty God's Word "Only the Perfected Can Live a Meaningful Life" | The Church of Almighty God

　   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 and change their disposition. They know God, 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 are those who have an actual understanding of the truth thanks to having experienced the truth. The conquered are those who know of the truth but have not accepted the real meaning of the truth. After being conquered, they obey, but their obedience is all the result of the judgment they received. They have absolutely no understanding of the real meaning of many truths. They acknowledge the truth verbally, but they have not entered the truth; they comprehend the truth, but they have not experienced the truth. The work being done to those being perfected includes chastisements and judgments, along with the provision of life. A person who values entering the truth is a person to be perfected. The difference between those to be perfected and the conquered lies in whether they enter the truth. Those who comprehend the truth, have entered the truth, and are living the truth are the perfected; those who do not comprehend the truth, do not enter the truth, that is, those who are not living the truth, are people who cannot be perfected. If such people are able to now obey completely, then they are conquered. If the conquered do not seek the truth—if they follow but do not live the truth, if they catch sight of and hear of the truth but do not value living the truth—they cannot be perfected. Those to be perfected practice the truth according to the path of perfection, that is, they practice the truth founded on the path of perfection. Through this, they fulfill God’s will, and they are perfected. Anyone who follows to the end before the conquering work concludes is a conquered one, but he cannot be said to be a perfected one. 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."

Eastern Lightning| You Should Know How the Whole of Humanity Has Developed to the Present Day (Part Two)

　　Almighty God says, "All of His work is the most actual work. He carries out His work according to the development of the times, and He carries out His most actual work according to the changes of things. For Him, carrying out work is akin to administering medicine to an illness; He observes while doing His work; He works according to His observations. In every stage of His work, He is capable of expressing His ample wisdom and expressing His ample ability; He reveals His ample wisdom and ample authority according to the work of that particular age and allows any of those people brought back by Him during those ages to see His entire disposition. He supplies people’s needs and carries out the work He should do according to the work that must be done in each age; He supplies people’s needs according to the degree to which Satan has corrupted them."

Eastern Lightning| The Twenty-fifth Utterance

Times passes, and in the blink of an eye today has arrived. Under the guidance of My Spirit, all people live amid My light, and no longer does anyone think of the past or pay heed to yesterday. Who has not ever lived in the present day? Who has not spent wonderful days and months in the kingdom? Who has not lived beneath the sun? Though the kingdom has descended among man, no one has truly experienced its warmth; man only regards it from the outside, uncomprehending of its substance. During the time that My kingdom is formed, who does not rejoice because of it? Can the countries on earth really escape? Is the great red dragon really able to escape thanks to its cunning? My administrative decrees are announced throughout the universe, they institute My authority among all people, and come into effect across the cosmos; nevertheless, man has never truly known this. When My administrative decrees are revealed to the universe is also when My work on earth is about to be completed. When I rule and wield power among all men and when I am recognized as the one God Himself, My kingdom will fully descend to earth. Today, all people have a new beginning upon a new path. They have begun a new life, yet no one has ever truly experienced a life on earth akin to heaven. Do you truly live amid My light? Do you truly live among My words? Who does not give thought to their own prospects? Who is not distressed by their own fate? Who does not struggle amid the sea of affliction? Who does not wish to free themselves? Are the blessings of the kingdom in exchange for man’s hard work on earth? Could all of man’s desires be fulfilled just as he wishes? I once presented the beautiful sight of the kingdom before man, yet he merely stared at it with greedy eyes and there were none who truly aspired to enter it. I once “reported” the true situation on earth to man, but he did no more than listen, and did not face the words that came from My mouth with his heart; I once told man of the circumstances in heaven, yet he treated My words as wonderful tales, and did not truly accept that which My mouth described. Today, scenes of the kingdom flash among man, but has anyone ever “crossed peak and vale” in search of it? Without My urging, man would still not have awoken from his dreams. Is really he so enthralled by his life on earth? Are there really no high standards in his heart?