Wednesday, May 24, 2017

How to Know God’s Work of Judgment and Chastisement in the End Time

In the Bible it is prophesied the most that God will come to do the work of judgment and chastisement in the end time. There are at least over two hundred places in the Bible where it is mentioned that God will come to execute judgment. It can be said that those words all prophesy that God will do the work of judgment and chastisement in the end time. Here only a small number of verses selected can sufficiently prove that God’s coming to execute judgment and chastisement is a necessary step in God’s end-time work. God’s end-time work is a work of purifying and saving and perfecting mankind by means of judgment and chastisement, and is a work of dividing men into their kinds and ending the age by means of judgment and chastisement.
 And in the end the kingdom of Christ—God’s beloved kingdom will be established, and this is the crystallization of God’s saving mankind by three stages of works and the glorious mark of overcoming satan. So, verses prophesying that God will do the judgment work in the end time can be seen everywhere in the Bible. If one has read the Bible for many years yet has never seen that God will surely do the work of judgment and chastisement in the end time, he is one who does not understand the Bible at all and he is absolutely not one who knows God’s work. Listed below are only a small number of explicit verses in the Bible to prove that God’s end-time work is the work of judgment and chastisement:
1. “And I will come near to you to judgment…said the LORD of hosts.” (Mala. 3:5)
2. “God judges the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” (Ps. 7:11)
3. “And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.” (Ps. 9:8)
4. “When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.” (Ps. 75:2)
5. “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people.” (Isa. 2:4)
6. “…when I shall execute judgments in you in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes.” (Ezek. 5:15)
7. “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” (Jn.16:8)
8. “…for he comes to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.”(Ps. 98:9)
9. “Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” (Ps.1:5)
10. “Grudge not one against another, brothers, lest you be condemned: behold, the judge stands before the door.”(Jam. 5:9)
11. “Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come….” (Rev. 14:7)
12. “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.” (Jn. 12:48)
13. “Before the LORD: for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.” (Ps. 96:13)
14. “The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder on them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.” (1 Sam. 2:10)
15. “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.” (1 Pet. 4:17)
The above 15 verses about judgment in the Bible mainly mention that God will judge the world in righteousness and that God will judge between the nations, and emphasize these shining words such as, “God judges the righteous,” “And I will come near to you to judgment,” “the judge stands before the door,” “the hour of his judgment,” “for he comes to judge the earth,” “he comes to judge the earth,” “judgment must begin at the house of God,” and so on, so that we can all see clearly that God will surely come to the world to do the work of judgment and chastisement in the end time and that God’s end-time work will surely be the work of judgment and chastisement. Since these verses have prophesied and testified that God will come to the world personally to do the work of judgment and chastisement, then in which way will God execute judgment and appear to men when he comes to the world? This has become a matter that mankind are most concerned about. From the accounts of the two stages of God’s works in the Bible, we can all see such a fact: Except that God’s Spirit directly utters his voice, only when the incarnated Lord Jesus came to the world would he speak and work in the identity of God Godself. The word “God comes to the world” is directed at corrupt mankind, not directed at the spiritual realm. Therefore, it definitely means that it is the incarnated God visible to men who comes to the world, and absolutely does not mean that it is God’s spirit invisible to men who comes to the world. From this it can be seen that if God comes to the world personally to do the work of judgment, he will surely be incarnated and become the Son of man, the Christ, and only thus can he speak and work in the identity of God. This is beyond doubt. “…if this work were not done through incarnation, it could not produce results at all and sinful men could not be saved completely. God, if not incarnated, is only a Spirit whom man cannot see or contact, while men are all created beings of flesh; man and God are in two different worlds and have different natures, and God’s Spirit and man of flesh, who are alien to each other, simply cannot ‘establish a relationship’; and man cannot become a spirit. Thus, God’s Spirit has to become a created being to do his original work. God can ascend to the highest place and can also humble himself to be a created man to work among men and live with them, but man cannot ascend to the highest place and become a spirit, much less descend to the lowest place, so God has to be incarnated to do his work. This is like God’s first incarnation. Only God’s incarnated flesh could be crucified to redeem man; God’s Spirit, however, could not at all be crucified to be man’s sin offering. God could directly become flesh to be man’s sin offering, but man could not directly go to heaven to take the sin offering God had prepared for man. Thus, it had to be that ‘God comes and goes between earth and heaven several times’ rather than let man go to heaven to take this salvation. As man had fallen and man could not go to heaven at all, much less take the sin offering, Jesus had to come among men to personally do the works that were totally beyond man’s capacity. God’s incarnated flesh each time is very necessary. If either stage of work could be done by God’s Spirit directly, he would not endure complaints and suffer humiliations to be incarnated.” (from “The Mystery of Incarnation (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) From the Bible and God’s words we can see that God will surely come to the world personally to do the work of judgment in the way of being incarnated in the end time. The three verses below can well prove it: “Because he has appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained” (Act. 17:31); “And has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man” (Jn. 5:27); “For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son” (Jn. 5:22). These verses all directly prophesy that the incarnated Christ will come to the world personally to execute judgment. Especially all the words mentioning the “Son” and the “Son of man” definitely refer to the incarnated Christ. When God is incarnated and becomes the Son of man, he is Christ. This is beyond doubt. This thus makes us see that there are quite a number of prophecies in the Bible concerning God’s being incarnated to do the work of judgment and chastisement in the end time, and as long as we look for them, we can see them. Furthermore, some other verses directly prophesy how God will do the work of judgment in the end time and the results it will achieve. This further proves that God’s judgment and chastisement in the end time is the final work by which God accomplishes his management plan and is a work of ending the dark and evil age and opening the Age of the Kingdom of Christ. For example:
1. “And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself.” (Ps. 50:6)
2. “The LORD is known by the judgment which he executes….” (Ps. 9:16)
3. “The LORD stands up to plead, and stands to judge the people.” (Isa. 3:13)
4. “He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.” (Ps. 50:4)
5. “He leads counsellors away spoiled, and makes the judges fools.” (Job 12:17)
6. “Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judges those that are high.” (Job 21:22)
7. “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” (Jn. 12:31)
8. “That brings the princes to nothing; he makes the judges of the earth as vanity.” (Isa. 40:23)
9. “And I will execute judgments on Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD.” (Ezek. 25:11)
10. “Arise, O God, judge the earth: for you shall inherit all nations.” (Ps. 82:8)
11. “Be wise now therefore, O you kings: be instructed, you judges of the earth.” (Ps. 2:10)
12. “When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth.” (Ps. 76:9)
13. “If I whet my glittering sword, and my hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my enemies, and will reward them that hate me.” (Deut. 32:41)
14. “Say among the heathen that the LORD reigns: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.” (Ps. 96:10)
15. “The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust to the day of judgment to be punished.” (2 Pet. 2:9)
16. “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved to judgment.” (2 Pet. 2:4)
17. “I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” (Eccl. 3:17)
18. “And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not listen to the priest that stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die.” (Deut. 17:12)
19. “Arise, O LORD, in your anger, lift up yourself because of the rage of my enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that you have commanded.” (Ps. 7:6)
20. “With my soul have I desired you in the night; yes, with my spirit within me will I seek you early: for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isa. 26:9)
21. “Now is the end come on you, and I will send my anger on you, and will judge you according to your ways, and will recompense on you all your abominations.” (Ezek. 7:3)
22. “Now will I shortly pour out my fury on you, and accomplish my anger on you: and I will judge you according to your ways, and will recompense you for all your abominations.” (Ezek. 7:8)
23. “A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” (Dan.7:10)
24. “O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for you shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth.” (Ps. 67:4)
25. “…But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” (Heb.10:27)
26. “But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.” (Rom. 2:2)
27. “But I say to you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” (Matt. 12:36)
28. “For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense, said the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.” (Heb. 10:30)
29. “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.” (Jn. 9:39)
From the above 29 verses of the Bible, we all can see clearly the various results the judgment and chastisement that God executes upon mankind can achieve. Besides, God’s end-time judgment is not only directed at one race or one nation, but it must spread to all nations and all peoples and to the whole mankind. So, God’s end-time judgment is a work of ending the old age and opening a new age, and at the same time it can make people see that God rescues humble men and godly men from temptation and keeps the unrighteous under punishment. God’s judgment makes all the people of the world learn righteousness and be able to pursue the truth and know God’s righteous disposition, and makes them subject to God and sing to God and praise God, and all nations will jump and shout and all will bow down and worship God. It fully shows the results achieved through God’s expressing his righteous disposition. And it further proves that God is not only a merciful and loving God, but more importantly, God also has wrath and majesty and judgment and chastisement, and God is a righteous God. In fact, God’s original disposition is mainly the disposition of righteousness. So, when God comes to the world to execute judgment, it is just the time when God’s righteous disposition is fully revealed. Because God’s righteous disposition is revealed, corrupt mankind are after their kinds. Those who can accept and obey God’s end-time judgment and chastisement can all be saved and perfected. Those who reject God’s judgment and chastisement will perish because of resisting God. These are the results directly achieved by God’s judgment and chastisement in the end time. It is God’s righteous judgment and chastisement that purifies mankind and saves mankind and even more perfects mankind. And God’s throne thus can be established on earth, and God’s will will be carried out because of God’s judgment and chastisement. That God comes to the world to execute judgment completely fulfills it that the image of the Son of man in the Revelation of the Bible is the image of the Judge, and it also fulfills the prophecy that “God’s tabernacle descends among men.” Only when God comes to the earth can he save corrupt mankind. Only God’s judgment and chastisement can end this evil age. It is God’s judgment and chastisement that lays the foundation for the coming of the kingdom of God, and so the kingdom of Christ can be realized on earth. This is the sure result and crystallization of God’s accomplishing the management plan of saving mankind. In the end, the assembly of all the saved ones is the kingdom of Christ. And it will fully fulfill the prophecies that “God comes into his kingdom” and “the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven from God.” It can be seen that the 21st century is the century when God comes into his kingdom, is the century when the kingdom of Christ is realized on earth, and is even more the century when God ends the destiny of satan and comes to the world personally to reign. The millennial kingdom will come true in the 21st century.
From many prophecies of the Bible we can fully see that God’s judgment work in the end time is advancing with mighty force and is irresistible. This can even more make people see clearly from the Bible that the three stages of works of God’s saving mankind constitute the entire management plan of God’s saving mankind. Although most of the contents of the Bible are only the accounts of God’s work in the Age of the Law and in the Age of the Grace, the prophecies of the prophets and the prophecies of the Lord Jesus and the prophecies in the Revelation have already fully showed a perfect picture of God’s work in the end time, that is, the judgment and chastisement in the Age of Kingdom, so that all people can see clearly from the Bible the three stages of works in God’s management plan. God in the end time is to save mankind and divide them into their kinds by means of judgment and chastisement and then end this evil and corrupt and dark age. This is a fact that can be seen clearly and cannot be denied. If one cannot see from the Bible the three stages of works of God’s saving mankind, he is absolutely not one who understands the Bible and absolutely not one who knows God’s work. As all people are looking forward to the Lord Jesus’ coming again, God has long been incarnated and descended to Mainland China in a hidden way. It has fully fulfilled the words of God “But of that day and that hour knows no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mk. 13:32). Almighty God expresses millions of words in total, and formally raises the curtain of the judgment of the great white throne in the end time, and judgment has begun with the family of God. God’s chosen people in China have finally seen God’s appearing in God’s judgment and chastisement. It is God’s word that testifies God’s incarnation, and it is the Holy Spirit’s utterance and word that testifies the work of judgment and chastisement God personally does in the world; so God’s chosen people all submit to the authority of God’s word and accept God’s judgment and chastisement, pruning and dealing, and all kinds of trials and refinings, and at the same time they also experience the hunting and persecution from the great red dragon and all kinds of tribulations and suffer many painful refinings. Now, God has finally conquered and saved and made complete a group of people who are of one heart and one mind with him. As Almighty God says in his personal utterance, “I … will not lightly let go any doings of anyone. I will search the whole earth and will appear as righteousness, majesty, wrath, and chastisement in the East of the world, appearing to all men!” (from “The 26th Piece of Word” of God’s Utterance to the Entire Universe in The Word Appears in the Flesh). It can be seen that God’s judgment of the great white throne in the end time has already begun and it has completely fulfilled and accomplished all the prophecies of the Bible. Let’s see how God does the work of judgment and chastisement in the Age of Kingdom. Here it is necessary to quote the words of Almighty God to testify God’s end-time work.
Almighty God says, “…the work God does through being incarnated this time is to express his disposition mainly through chastisement and judgment. On this basis, he brings more truths to men and tells more practices to men, so as to achieve his purpose of conquering men and saving men from their corrupt disposition. This is the inside truth of the work God does in the Age of the Kingdom.
from “Preface” to The Word Appears in the Flesh
In doing the work of judgment, God does not thoroughly speak about man’s nature with a few words but exposes, deals with, and prunes for a long time. These exposing, dealing, and pruning in various ways cannot be substituted with ordinary words but are substituted with the truths man does not have at all. Only such a way is judgment, and only such judgment can subdue man and can cause man to be sincerely convinced toward God and have a true knowledge of God. What the work of judgment brings is man’s knowledge about God’s real image and man’s knowledge of his true condition of being disobedient. The work of judgment causes man to understand much about God’s will, understand much about the purpose of God’s work, and comprehend much about the mysteries man could not understand. And it also causes man to know and understand the substance and the root of man’s corruption and causes man to discover his ugly face. All these work results are brought by the work of judgment, because the substance of the work of judgment is actually a work that God’s truth, way, and life are opened to all those who believe in him. This work is the work of judgment God does. If you do not value these truths and if you always want to avoid these truths and always want to search for a new way out outside these truths, then I say that you are an extremely sinful man. You believe in God but do not search for the truth, do not seek God’s will, and do not love the way that brings you closer to God. Then I say that you are one who escapes the judgment and you are a puppet, a betrayer, that runs away from the great white throne. God will not let off any rebel that runs away from his eyes. Such people will suffer a severer punishment.
from “Christ Does the Work of Judgment with the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
Through this stage of work of judgment and chastisement, men will fully know their filthy and corrupt substance within and be completely transformed and become purified ones. Only then will they be qualified to return before God’s throne. All the works God does today are for the purpose that people can be purified and transformed, and that they can be rid of their corruptions and purified through the judgment and chastisement of the word and through refining. This stage of work is more a purifying work than a saving work. In reality, this stage is also a conquering work and the second stage of the saving work. People are gained by God through the judgment and chastisement of his word. Through the refining, judgment, and disclosing of his word, the impurities, notions, intents, or personal expectations in people’s heart are all exposed.
from “The Mystery of Incarnation (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
God does the work of judgment and the work of chastisement for the purpose that people can have knowledge of him and for the sake of his testimony. If he did not judge people’s corrupt disposition, they could not possibly know his righteous disposition which is not to be offended, nor could they turn from their old knowledge of him to a new knowledge of him. For the sake of his testimony and his management, he makes his everything public, so that people can, because of his appearing openly, know him, be transformed in their disposition, and bear a resounding testimony for him. It is in the various works of God that one’s disposition is transformed. If one is not transformed in his disposition, he cannot testify God or be after God’s heart. One’s transformation in disposition marks that he has broken away from the bondage of satan and from the influence of darkness, has truly become a model and specimen of God’s work, and has truly become a witness of God and a person after God’s heart. Today when the incarnated God comes to earth to work, his requirement for people is that they can know him, obey him, and testify him, knowing his practical and normal works, obeying any of his words and works that does not fit man’s notions, and testifying all his works of saving man and all his deeds of conquering man. He who testifies God must have knowledge of God. Only such testimony is accurate and practical, and only such testimony can put satan to shame. God uses those who have known him through experiencing his judgment and chastisement and his dealing and pruning to testify him. He uses those who were corrupted by satan to testify him. And he uses those who are transformed in their disposition and receive his blessings to testify him. He does not need people to praise him with their lips, nor need the brood of satan not saved by him to praise him or testify him. Only those who know God are qualified to testify God, and only those who are transformed in their disposition are qualified to testify God. God will not let anyone purposely bring shame to his name.
from “Only Those Who Know God Can Testify for God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
You should know that for God to perfect men, make men complete, and gain men, all that it brings upon men’s flesh is sword and smiting, endless sufferings, burning of fire, merciless judgments, chastisements, and curses, and boundless trials. This is the inside truth and the real situation of the work of managing man. But all these are aimed at men’s flesh, and all the spearheads of opposition are mercilessly directed at men’s ‘flesh’ (because men are innocent). He does all these for the sake of his glory and testimony and for the sake of his management, because his work is not only for men’s sake but for his whole plan and for the fulfillment of his original intention in creating men. Therefore, perhaps ninety percent of what men experience is sufferings and fiery trials, and they have few or even no sweet and happy days as their flesh expects, much less can they enjoy the happy moments when God and their flesh have a good time together. The flesh is filthy, so all that men’s flesh sees and enjoys is chastisements from God who is unfeeling and seems to have no normal sense. This is because God wants to reveal his righteous disposition that is ‘unfeeling,’ tolerates no offense of man, and hates the enemies. He makes all his disposition known to men ‘unscrupulously,’ so as to end his work of warring against satan that has lasted for six thousand years—the work of redeeming all mankind and destroying the old satan!
from “The Purpose of Managing Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
The end time has come, and all things will be after their kinds and be divided into different kinds according to their different nature. This is the very time God reveals men’s outcomes and destinations. If men do not undergo chastisement and judgment, their disobedience and unrighteousness cannot be exposed. Only through chastisement and judgment can the outcomes of all things be revealed. Only in chastisement and judgment will men show their true self. The evil will return to the evil, and the good will return to the good, and all men will be after their kinds. God will reveal the outcomes of all things through chastisement and judgment, so that he can punish the evil and reward the good and all men will become subject under his dominion. All these works can only be accomplished through the righteous chastisement and judgment. Because men have been corrupted to the utmost and their disobedience is too grievous, only God’s righteous disposition revealed in the end time, which is mainly chastisement and judgment, can thoroughly transform men and make them complete and can expose evil so that all the unrighteous men can be severely punished.
from “The Vision of the Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
You should see that God’s will and God’s work are not as simple as creating the heavens and the earth and all things. This is because the work he does today is to transform men who have been corrupted and who are extremely numb and to purify men who have been processed by satan after being created; it is not creating Adam or Eve, much less creating light or all kinds of plants and animals. His work is to purify the things corrupted by satan and then regain them and make them become things belonging to him and become his glory. It is not as simple as creating the heavens and the earth and all things as people imagine, nor is it a work of cursing satan into the bottomless pit as people imagine; rather, it is a work of transforming men, transforming negative things, which do not belong to him, into positive things, which belong to him. This is the inside truth of God’s work this time. You all should know it. Do not consider things in too simple a way. God’s work is different from any ordinary work. It is wonderful beyond the reach of man’s mind and wise beyond the reach of man’s mind. God will not create all things, but he will not destroy all things either; instead, he will transform all things created by him and purify all things defiled by satan. So, God will carry out a great project. This is the full significance of God’s work. Have you seen from these words that God’s work is not so simple?
from “Is God’s Work So Simple as People Imagine?” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
What is judgment and what is truth, have you understood? If you have understood, I advise you to receive judgment submissively. Otherwise, you will never have the opportunity to receive God’s approval or have the opportunity to be brought by God into his kingdom. Those who only receive judgment but can never be purified, that is, those who run away in the work of judgment, will be detested and rejected by God forever. Their sins are graver and more than those of the Pharisees, because they have betrayed God and they are rebels of God. These people who are not even worthy to do service will suffer a severer punishment, an eternal punishment. God will not let off any betrayer who was once faithful to him in word but betrays him. Such people will receive the retribution that their spirit, soul, and body are all punished. Isn’t this the very expression of God’s righteous disposition? Isn’t this the very purpose of God’s judging and exposing man? God puts those who do all kinds of evil during the judgment in the place inhabited by swarms of evil spirits and lets them ravage their flesh at will. Their flesh gives off the smell of corpses. This is their deserved retribution. God lists all kinds of sins of the unfaithful false believers, false apostles, and false workers in their record book, and at the proper time, casts them among the unclean spirits, letting the unclean spirits defile their whole body at will, so that they can never be reincarnated and can never see the light again. God classes with the wicked the hypocrites who once did service for some time but who are not faithful to the end, leaving them wallowing in the mire with the wicked and becoming a mob, and will destroy them in the end. God leaves aside and never pays attention to those who have never been faithful to Christ or never dedicated any strength, and will destroy them all when the age is renewed, so they will no longer live on the earth, much less enter into God’s kingdom. God classes those who are never sincere to him but deal with him perfunctorily under compulsion with those who do service for his people; only a small number of them can remain alive, and the majority will be destroyed with those who are not even up to the standard in doing service. Finally, God will bring into his kingdom all those who are of one heart and one mind with him, his people and sons and those whom he has predestined to be priests. All these are the crystallization God gains in his work. But those who do not fall into any of the kinds God lists will all be classed with the unbelievers. You can imagine what their outcome will be. I have spoken to you all that I ought to. Which way to choose is completely up to you. You should understand such a word: God’s work never waits for anyone who cannot keep up with his pace, and God’s righteous disposition is merciless toward anyone.
from “Christ Does the Work of Judgment with the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
It was predestined by God before the ages that today you can receive the judgment, chastisement, smiting, and refining of God’s word, and even more receive God’s commission. So when you undergo chastisement, do not be too distressed. No one can take away the work done on you and the blessing bestowed upon you. No one can take away anything that is given to you. People in religion cannot compare with you. Although you do not have so much Bible knowledge or those religious doctrines, because of God’s work on you, you have received more things than anyone else in the past generations. So this is the greatest blessing to you. Because of this, you should dedicate yourselves for God and be faithful to God all the more; for the sake of God’s uplifting you should strive even harder, and ready your stature to receive God’s commission. Stand in the position given by God, pursue to be the people, accept the kingdom exercise, and be gained by God and eventually become God’s glorious testimony. Do you have these resolutions? If you have such resolutions, you will surely be gained by God and become God’s glorious testimony in the end. You should understand that the most crucial commission is to be gained by God and become his glorious testimony. This is God’s will.
from “Know God’s Newest Work and Keep Up With God’s Pace” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
From the above several passages of God’s words, we can see clearly that God’s judgment work in the end time is a work of purifying man, saving man, and perfecting man. The work of judgment is first to conquer man and then perfect man. Only after one is conquered will he truly obey God’s work and pursue the truth and enter the right track of believing in God and then gradually be perfected by God. Only those who are conquered by God’s word can truly prostrate before God and have a heart of fearing God and obey God’s work. Only those who are conquered by God’s word can know that God’s disposition indeed does not tolerate man’s offense and truly know that mankind have been corrupted too deeply and they all are the brood of disobeying God and resisting God and are full of satanic disposition and disobey God and resist God all the time in spite of themselves. Only those who are conquered by God’s word can see clearly that corrupt mankind are unworthy to see God and they should only accept God’s judgment and chastisement honestly and properly and be purified and saved. Only such are ones who have truly turned to God and obey God’s work. Only after one is conquered can he begin to pursue the truth and obey God’s work and thus enter the right track of believing in God and then gain God’s salvation and perfection. Concerning this, the following several passages of Almighty God’s word speak about it very clearly:
1. “You should know that according to my intention, I will thoroughly exterminate and beat the evil one of mankind so that it cannot rebel against me anymore, much less have any breath to disrupt and disturb my work. So with men, it becomes conquering.
from “What Is a Real ‘Man’?” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
2. “What are the main means of conquering? Chastising, judging, cursing, and exposing. God conquers people by his righteous disposition, so that they will be sincerely convinced, sincerely convinced because of his righteous disposition. God conquers people by the reality of the word and the authority of the word, so that they will be sincerely convinced. This is being conquered.
from “Only the Perfected Ones Can Live Out a Meaningful Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
3. “…the result of the conquering work is achieved by depriving man of his destiny and future and by judging and chastising man’s disobedient disposition, not by making a deal with man, that is, not by giving man blessing and grace, but by depriving man of his freedom and removing man’s future and thereby revealing man’s faithfulness. This is the substance of the conquering work.
from “Recover Man’s Normal Life and Bring Man into the Pleasant Destination” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
4. “The result to be achieved through the conquering work is mainly that men’s flesh will no longer be disobedient, that is, that they will have a new knowledge of God in their mind, they will completely obey God from their heart, and their will will be for God. When your character or flesh is changed in some way, it does not mean that you have been conquered. Rather, when your mind, consciousness, and sense, that is, your entire mental outlook, are transformed, it means that you have been conquered by God. When you have the will to obey, your mind is renewed, you have no more notions or intents concerning God’s word and work, and your mind can think normally, that is, when you can spend for God wholeheartedly, you have been completely conquered.
from “The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
5. “The inner meaning of conquering man is to conquer satan’s embodiments that have been corrupted by satan and then make them return to the Creator, so that they will forsake satan and completely return to God. Then man will have been thoroughly saved. So, the conquering work is the concluding work of warring against satan and the last stage of management in defeating satan. Without this stage of work, even in the end man could not be completely saved and thus satan could not be thoroughly defeated, and mankind could never enter into the pleasant destination and could never break free from satan’s influence. So, if the war against satan does not end, the work of saving man will not end, because the kernel of the management work is to save all mankind.
from “Recover Man’s Normal Life and Bring Man into the Pleasant Destination” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
6. “The conquering in the end time is for saving men and also for revealing men’s outcomes, disclosing their degeneration by judgment so that they will repent, rise up, pursue life, and pursue the right ways of human life; and it is for arousing the hearts of the numb and obtuse men, exposing the disobedience within them by judgment. But if one still does not repent and does not pursue the right ways of human life and cannot cast off these corruptions, he will be an irredeemable object to be devoured by satan. This is the significance of conquering, which is for saving men and also revealing men’s outcomes. Good outcomes and bad outcomes will be revealed through the conquering work. Whether one will be saved or cursed is revealed in the conquering work.
from “The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
7. “Actually, while you are being conquered, you are also being perfected. In the course of conquering you, the initial result of your being perfected is also achieved. When I say that being conquered and being perfected are different, it is in regard to the degree of one’s being transformed. Being conquered is the initial step of being perfected. Being conquered does not mean that one has been completely perfected or prove that he has been completely gained. The conquered ones also have some transformation in their disposition, but it falls far short of the transformation of the completely gained ones.
from “The Inside Truth of the Conquering Work (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
8. “What the work of judgment brings is man’s knowledge about God’s real image and man’s knowledge of his true condition of being disobedient. The work of judgment causes man to understand much about God’s will, understand much about the purpose of God’s work, and comprehend much about the mysteries man could not understand. And it also causes man to know and understand the substance and the root of man’s corruption and causes man to discover his ugly face. All these work results are brought by the work of judgment, because the substance of the work of judgment is actually a work that God’s truth, way, and life are opened to all those who believe in him. This work is the work of judgment God does.
from “Christ Does the Work of Judgment with the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
9. “My judgment is for people to better obey me, and my chastisement is for people to be better transformed. Although all that I do is for the sake of my management, none of my works is not beneficial to people, because I will make the nations outside Israel as obedient as Israel and make them real men, so that I will also have a footing outside Israel. This is my management and is my work among the Gentile nations.
from “The Work of Spreading the Gospel Is Also a Work of Saving Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
10. “Today, the words I speak are for judging man’s sin, judging man’s unrighteousness, and cursing man’s disobedience. Man’s crookedness and craftiness and man’s words and behaviors, all the things that are not after his heart are judged. Man’s disobedience is condemned as sin. The words are spoken according to the principle of judgment, and through judging man’s unrighteousness and cursing man’s disobedience and disclosing all the ugly images of man, he reveals his righteous disposition.
from “How does the Second Step of the Conquering Work Achieve Results” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
11. “God has not come to strike down or destroy but to judge, curse, chastise, and save. Before the six-thousand-year management plan ends, that is, before the outcomes of all kinds of people are revealed, God’s coming to earth to work is all for saving people and for fully making complete those who love him and bringing them under his dominion. No matter how God saves people, he saves them by freeing them from their old satanic disposition, that is, through their pursuing life. If one does not pursue life, he will have no way to receive God’s salvation.
from “Drop the Blessing of Status and Understand God’s Will to Save Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
12. “The end-time Christ uses the truths of many aspects to teach man, expose man’s essence, and dissect man’s words and deeds. These words contain the truths of many aspects such as, man’s duty, how man should obey God, how man should be faithful to God, how man should live out a normal humanity, God’s wisdom, and God’s disposition, and so on. These words are all directed at man’s essence and man’s corrupt disposition. Especially the words exposing how man rejects God are directed at man’s being the embodiment of satan and at man’s being the hostile force against God.
from “Christ Does the Work of Judgment with the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
13. “In the end, all nations will be blessed because of my word and will also be crushed because of my word, so that all people in the end time will see that I am the Return of the Savior and I am the Almighty God who conquers all mankind, and that all people will see that I was once man’s sin offering, but in the end time I become the fire of the burning sun that burns all things and the Sun of righteousness that reveals all things. This is my work in the end time.
from “The ‘Savior’ Has Already Returned on the ‘White Cloud’” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
The result achieved through God’s judgment and chastisement upon mankind is first conquering and then perfecting. This is truly a work of saving mankind. So, it can be seen that God’s judgment in the end time is so meaningful for corrupt mankind’s being saved. Those who have experienced the work of God’s judgment and chastisement have all seen clearly that those who are fortunate to experience God’s judgment and chastisement in the end time are truly ones most blessed by God. All those who truly experience God’s judgment and chastisement have achieved results of ten aspects as follows:
First, God’s judgment has made them sincerely convinced and made them realize that only God’s judgment and chastisement in the end time can truly save people and perfect people.
Second, God’s judgment has made them know that the true condition and the nature and substance of corrupt mankind are that they are exactly the offspring of satan and the brood of resisting God.
Third, God’s judgment has made them fully see clearly the true face of the great red dragon, satan the devil, so that they can hate and rebel against the great red dragon and truly return to God.
Fourth, God’s judgment has made them fully see clearly the root cause of the darkness and evil of the world and see that mankind have been so deeply corrupted that they have become devils and have had no humanity.
Fifth, God’s judgment has made them understand many truths and made them have great faith so that they can forsake everything to genuinely spend for God and do their utmost to perform their duty well.
Sixth, God’s judgment has made them thirst for pursuing to gain the truth and have a will to pursue the truth and know God and live out a true human life.
Seventh, God’s judgment has made them see clearly that God likes honest people and that only if they cast off crookedness and craftiness and pursue to be honest people will they have the likeness of a real man.
Eighth, God’s judgment has made them know that only loving God is most meaningful and only when their heart loves God can they perform their duty well and be faithful to God and thus be compatible with Christ.
Ninth, God’s judgment has made them know that the truth is most precious, and only when they gain the truth will they have life, and only when they gain the truth can they be approved by God.
Tenth, God’s judgment has made them know God’s righteous disposition and know God’s wisdom and almightiness, and so they all can spend for God genuinely and submit to God’s manipulation.
Thus it can be seen that what God’s judgment and chastisement brings to mankind is salvation and perfection and is even more God’s true love and God’s perfect love. God’s judgment and chastisement in the end time is really too meaningful to mankind’s being saved and perfected. Only the work of judgment and chastisement can make people truly return to God and obey God’s work and truly hate and rebel against the great red dragon and live out the likeness of a real man. Only those who experience God’s judgment and chastisement in the end time can truly know God and love God and thus be compatible with God and obey God and worship God forever and never resist God or rebel against God. Only this is the true meaning of being saved. If there was no God’s judgment and chastisement in the end time, mankind would never truly know the true condition and substance of mankind’s being corrupted by satan, would never truly know the root cause of the darkness and evil of the world, would never hate and rebel against the great red dragon, and could never break away from satan’s influence of darkness. Without God’s judgment and chastisement in the end time, mankind would never know God’s righteous disposition. Without God’s judgment and chastisement in the end time, mankind could never gain the truth and be transformed into new men and enter into God’s kingdom. Only God’s judgment and chastisement can save mankind and bring mankind into the real destination. Because mankind have been too deeply corrupted, even if they have been forgiven of their sins and enjoyed much of God’s grace by believing in Jesus, because they have the nature of resisting God, they can still resist God and rebel against God. Therefore, they cannot truly break away from the influence of satan and be saved. We all can see clearly that although those believers in Jesus in religion can zealously testify that Jesus is the Redeemer, because they do not know God’s righteous disposition, when the end-time Christ comes again, they can still resist God’s end-time work, judge and condemn the true way, and deny God’s coming again, and can even crucify Christ. So, such people who only experience God’s redemption in the Age of the Grace yet do not experience the judgment and chastisement of Jesus’ coming again are not ones who do the will of the heavenly Father and are not qualified to enter into the kingdom of heaven. This is because they still have not resolved their nature of resisting God and still lack too many truths and are far from knowing God and obeying God, and especially when God comes to do the end-time work, they can still judge and condemn God’s end-time work and play the role of satan to resist God and become the enemies of Christ. So, it can be seen that none of those who do not accept the work of Jesus’ coming again to receive the truth as their life is one who is truly saved. So, corrupt mankind need the salvation of the incarnated God, that is, they must experience God’s judgment and chastisement in the end time, and only thus can they truly know God and obey God, and only such people are the ones who do the will of the heavenly Father and can gain God’s approval and enter into the kingdom of heaven. There is no doubt about it.
All those who have experienced God’s end-time work can see clearly that the deeply corrupted mankind must experience God’s judgment and chastisement before they can truly know God’s righteous disposition and gain the transformation of their life disposition, and thus do the will of the heavenly Father and exert all their strength for the spreading of the kingdom gospel and have a share in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Christ and have the qualification to enter into the kingdom of heaven. All those who have not accepted God’s judgment and chastisement in the end time and remain in the Age of the Grace believing in the Lord Jesus mainly have the following ten aspects of backward and corrupt manifestations:
First, although they believe in their heart that there is a God and acknowledge that everyone has sins and also pray and confess their sins often, they never have true repentance and transformation.
Second, they show love to others but have no truth and principles and even show love to devils, satans, and evil spirits, which is a foolish love.
Third, they do not know men’s true corrupt condition and their nature and substance, and they only acknowledge that they have sins but cannot see clearly the substance and thus do not truly know themselves.
Fourth, they cannot see clearly the dark and evil substance of the age and can even follow the evil trend of the world and have no way to break away from the influence of satan.
Fifth, they all worship pastors and famous men in believing in God. Nominally they are believing in God, yet they are following men and being restrained by men, and they have an obstinate and blind faith in the Bible and take the way of antichrists.
Sixth, they only believe that God is merciful and kind and will forgive people no matter how many sins they commit, yet they do not know that God’s disposition is also righteousness, judgment and wrath.
Seventh, they only understand the letters of the Bible but do not understand God’s will and are prone to apply regulations mechanically, and they can also take the verses out of context and misinterpret them according to the letters of the Bible.
Eighth, they cannot treat the Bible correctly according to the historical facts and treat the words of apostles all as God’s word, thus causing the chaos that many denominations exist.
Ninth, they do not know the working of the Holy Spirit and even treat the working of the evil spirits as the working of the Holy Spirit, which allows the evil spirits to disturb and damage the church and deceive people.
Tenth, they worship the Bible as God and circumscribe God, judge God, and resist God with the Bible and do not seek the truth and even less seek God’s appearing.
The above ten manifestations are sufficient to show that the believers in Jesus who remain in the Age of the Grace have long fallen behind the footsteps of God’s working, and they have no growth in life at all and still remain in the initial stage of believing in God. They believe in God yet do not know God and can still resist God and rebel against God and even become God’s enemies. They have not broken away from the influence of satan and been saved at all. How pitiable and sorrowful it is! Think back to the Age of the Grace. The deeply corrupted mankind could nail the Lord Jesus to the cross. What on earth is the nature of that matter? They could hand the Lord Jesus who preached the way of the kingdom of heaven over to satan and even said that Jesus must be crucified and they would rather release the robber than crucify Jesus. Aren’t such corrupt mankind devils? Only devils can hate God so much and be God’s sworn enemies. The Jewish chief priests and teachers of the law and so many believers at that time could shout with one voice that Jesus must be crucified. Weren’t they a group of devils that hate God? Now, aren’t most pastors and leaders and many believers in the religious world also condemning Almighty God with one accord? Aren’t they a group of devils being hostile to God? Particularly, just when the great red dragon is frenziedly resisting and condemning God’s work, the religious world also stands on the side of the great red dragon and even joins hands with it to resist God and condemn God and blaspheme God. This makes mankind see with their own eyes the fact that the religious world and the great red dragon are on the same front and they both belong to satan’s camp. The religious world has long become satan’s accomplice and confederate, and its substance of “serving God” yet resisting God is completely exposed. This thus fully proves that the words with which Jesus exposed and judged the Pharisees in Judaism are just the corrupt and evil substance of the religious world of today. The religious world in the end time resists God more seriously than the religious world at Jesus’ time, and they are both groups of the antichrists, the devils, rejected and condemned by God, and they completely belong to the evil forces of satan. From here we can see that mankind have been corrupted to the utmost and they can even crucify the Christ who expresses the truth and executes judgment in the end time. This is sufficient to show that mankind have been corrupted by satan and become devils. God’s judgment work in the end time is exactly to transform the devil that has been corrupted by satan into a man. What an arduous work it will be! So, it is most suitable for God to save mankind by means of judgment and chastisement in the end time. God’s judgment and chastisement is just proper for saving corrupt mankind. This is because corrupt mankind are not simply disobeying God and resisting God, but they have long become God’s hostile forces and God’s enemies and the offspring of satan that resist God. That is why corrupt mankind, especially the religious world, can take the Christ who expresses the truth and saves men as their deadly enemy, and they only wish to crucify him to vent their hatred. Can such corrupt mankind be without judgment and chastisement? Absolutely not. For mankind are too evil and too malicious and they have long become the offspring of satan and the evil forces that are hostile to God obstinately. Therefore, to say that corrupt mankind are devils is exactly appropriate and is not excessive at all. Actually, God’s judgment and chastisement in the end time is exactly a work to end the destiny of satan. Can God let off those antichrists, the devils in the religious world that are hostile to the incarnated practical God in the end time? We can wait and see what scene it will be after all nations and all peoples see God’s public appearing. Why will all people wail? At that time the whole truth will be revealed!
Now Almighty God is still expecting all those who believe in Jesus to turn back and is patiently waiting for the return of all those who genuinely believe in God. Almighty God says, “If men only remain in the Age of the Grace, they can never break away from their corrupt disposition, much less know God’s original disposition. If men always live in abundant grace but do not have the way of life through which to know God and satisfy God, then they cannot truly gain God while believing in God. Such a belief is too pitiable. After you have finished reading this book and after you have experienced the incarnated God’s steps of works of the Age of the Kingdom, you will feel that your wish of years has finally come true, feel that today you have really seen God face to face, seen God’s face, heard God’s personal utterance, and tasted God’s working wisdom, and truly feel that God is so practical and God is so almighty. You will feel that you have gained many things that men of former times did not see or gain. At that time, you will clearly know what it means to believe in God and what it means to be after God’s heart. Of course, if you hold on to your past viewpoints and reject and do not accept the fact of God’s second incarnation, then you will only be left with empty hands and gain nothing and eventually end up with the charge of resisting God. Those who can obey the truth and obey God’s work will all come under the name of the God incarnated the second time—the Almighty. All these people will be able to receive God’s personal leading, gain more and higher truths, gain the true human life, and see the vision that men of former times did not see: ‘And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the middle of the seven candlesticks one like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like to fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shines in his strength.’ (Revelation 1:12-16) This vision is the expression of all God’s disposition, and this expression of all God’s disposition is the very expression of the work of the God incarnated this time. In the torrents of chastisement and judgment, the Son of man expresses his original disposition in a way of uttering his voice and speaking, causing all those who accept his chastisement and judgment to see the true image of the Son of man. This image is just the true portrayal of the Son of man’s image that John saw. (Of course, those who do not accept God’s work of the Age of the Kingdom cannot see these at all.) God’s true image cannot be fully described by man in words. So, God reveals his real image before man in a way of expressing his original disposition. That is to say, all those who have experienced the original disposition of the Son of man have seen the real image of the Son of man, for God is so great that man cannot fully describe him in words. After you have experienced God’s steps of works of the Age of the Kingdom, you will know the true meaning of John’s words concerning the Son of man in the middle of the candlesticks: ‘His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like to fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shines in his strength.’ At that time, you will be fully certain that this ordinary flesh who has spoken so many words is indeed the God incarnated the second time, and you will truly feel that you have received so great a blessing and that you are the most fortunate man. Are you not willing to inherit this blessing?
from “Preface” to The Word Appears in the Flesh
Today, most of those who believe in Jesus in religion in Mainland China have returned before Almighty God and gained the rich and full salvation of God in the end time. It can be seen that the wise virgins and the foolish virgins in the religious world have been revealed and become the fact. All those wise virgins have accepted the Lord Jesus’ coming again—the end-time work of Almighty God, and they are all treasures and have been “stolen” and returned to God’s family and gained God’s salvation and perfection and become the overcomers who are perfected by God before the tribulation. What a blessing it is! Those who accept God’s hidden work are all wise virgins. For these people believe in Almighty God completely because they hear God’s voice and find the truth and ascertain that this is the true way. This is the inner meaning of “being wise.” These wise virgins are suddenly “stolen” away without others being aware of it, which creates a sensation and gives rise to much discussion. Actually they are caught up to God. This is true. The Bible prophesied long ago that when God comes in the end time, he will come “like a thief.” This is the Lord’s hidden coming. To the religious world, it is the treasures that the Lord comes to “steal,” specially “steal” those who are of “gold, silver, and precious stones.” This shows that those who are “stolen” all have good qualities and can understand and accept the truth and are all ones who recognize God’s voice. So they are caught up to God to receive God’s perfection. Being “stolen” actually means being caught up to meet the Lord. This is true! When God appears publicly, these mysteries will all be revealed. The Lord Jesus said long ago, “However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.” This is even more directed at God’s end-time work. I hope that all those who genuinely believe in God in religion will be wise virgins and come to investigate the true way and accept the true way and return before the end-time Christ, the practical God. If you accept it after God appears publicly, it will be too late for you to regret then. This is just as the Lord Jesus said to Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
The Lord Jesus in the Age of the Grace had promised mankind that he would come again. So, in the end time, mankind are all expecting to welcome the Lord Jesus’ second coming. No one has ever thought that when God comes again, this deeply corrupted mankind can actually hate Christ and hate the truth so ferociously, and they can even crucify the end-time Christ. This is corrupt mankind’s second contact and collision with God, and corrupt mankind have again committed a monstrous sin of crucifying the Christ who saves mankind. Isn’t this worth mankind’s deep self-examination? Condemning the judgment work of Christ in the end time is the most serious sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. If people in the religious world do not truly repent, it is self-evident that what destinations they will have. When mankind contacted and collided with God the first time, it was in the Age of the Grace. When God was incarnated for the first time, that is, when the Lord Jesus came to the world and began to preach and work, he was crucified alive by the religious world of Judaism at that time, this gang of evil mankind. They committed a monstrous sin. When all those who believe in God in the religious world are preparing for welcoming God’s coming again in the end time, God accepts the invitation and is incarnated in Mainland China, and then judgment begins with the family of God. Then the incarnated Almighty God is condemned by the whole religious world and the great red dragon, and the voice of crucifying the end-time Christ is even higher in the religious world. Fortunately, God incarnate in the end time comes to do the work of judgment and chastisement, not to do the redemptive work again, so satan’s scheme to arrest and kill God is not successful. But in essence the tragedy of crucifying the last Christ is on. That is, the religious world and the great red dragon condemn God’s work together and fabricate many lies to judge and condemn and blaspheme God, and they chase Christ and the man used by the Holy Spirit everywhere, committing a monstrous sin. This is corrupt mankind’s second contact and collision with God. The fact has sufficiently shown that corrupt mankind in the end time have been corrupted to the extreme, and it is time for God’s righteous disposition to be revealed completely. The evil and corruption of the mankind in the end time are more serious than that of Sodom. It fulfills the prophecy of Jesus: “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matt. 24:37). People are busy with eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, and they advocate evil and are extremely licentious, which have long provoked God’s wrath. If mankind do not accept God’s judgment and chastisement in the end time, they absolutely cannot be truly saved. For in the religious world the pastors and leaders and those people deceived and controlled by them are still judging and condemning God’s work now and are still doing their utmost to deny the last Christ. By doing so, they have already crucified Christ. Do people who hate the truth and are hostile to God like this still have the qualification and face to wait for being caught up? This fulfills these words of the Lord Jesus: “Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:21-23); “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” (John 12:48). That “judge him in the last day” refers to the judgment work the Lord Jesus does when he comes again. The believers in God who remain in the Age of the Grace all think absurdly that the redemptive work God did is the last stage of work of God’s saving mankind, and so God will not do the work of judgment and chastisement. This is really misinterpreting the Bible and judging God’s work. All the prophecies of the Lord Jesus in the Age of the Grace have been fulfilled and accomplished in the God’s end-time work. If the redemptive work in the Age of the Grace was God’s final work of salvation, then why did Jesus say that he would come again? Jesus comes again just for fulfilling and accomplishing all the prophecies he spoke in the Age of the Grace, just for saving men from the influence of satan through judgment and chastisement so that they can truly return to God, just for dealing with the sinful nature which, puzzling men in the Age of the Grace, causes them to commit and confess sins repeatedly in spite of themselves and be unable to extricate themselves from them, so as to transform their disposition and cause them to truly know God and obey God and thus can be compatible with God, and just for dividing men into their kinds and ending this dark and evil age. Only thus can the saints be taken up into the kingdom of God. And only this is the real meaning of God’s doing the work of salvation. If God’s work could not achieve such results in the end, God’s prophecies would not be truly fulfilled and accomplished and God’s management plan of saving mankind would not end. So, God’s management work of saving mankind absolutely will not end up with two stages of works, and there must be the work of God’s judgment and chastisement and dividing men into their kinds in the end time. Only in this way can God’s management plan of saving mankind be accomplished, and only thus can God completely overcome satan and truly gain the glory in the war against satan.
In believing in God, people must accept God’s work of judgment and chastisement in the end time, and only thus can they receive all the truths that God bestows to mankind as life, and only thus can they be saved and break away from the influence of satan and thus know God and obey God and worship God. Otherwise, they will have no way to gain the truth and be approved by God. This is clearly spoken in the words of Almighty God: “What the end-time Christ brings is life and is the perpetual and eternal way of truth. Such truth is the pathway for man to receive life and the only pathway for man to know God and be approved by God. If you do not seek the way of life supplied by the end-time Christ, then you can never receive Jesus’ approval and will never be qualified to step into the gate of the kingdom of heaven, because you are a puppet of history and a prisoner of history.
Those who want to receive life not through the truth of Christ’s mouth are the most absurd people in the world. Those who do not accept the way of life brought by Christ are ones who indulge in the wildest fantasy. So I say that those who do not accept the end-time Christ are forever the ones loathed by God. Christ is the gate for man to enter into the kingdom in the end time, which no one can bypass, and no one can possibly be perfected by God not through Christ. Since you are a believer in God, you have to accept God’s word and obey God’s way. Do not just think about receiving blessings while being unable to receive the truth or accept the supply of life. Christ comes in the end time to supply life to all those who truly believe in him. This work is a work for ending the old age and entering into the new age and is the necessary pathway for all people to enter into the new age. If you cannot acknowledge and even condemn, blaspheme, or persecute, then you are surely one who will be burned for eternity and one who can never enter into God’s kingdom. This is because this Christ is originally the expression of the Holy Spirit, the expression of God, and the One to whom God’s work on earth is committed. So, I say that if you cannot accept all that the end-time Christ does, you are one who blasphemes the Holy Spirit. It is self-evident to everyone what retribution a person who blasphemes the Holy Spirit deserves. I still want to tell you, if you resist the end-time Christ and reject the end-time Christ, no one else can bear the consequences for you. And thereafter you will never again have the opportunity to receive God’s approval. Even when you want to retrieve, you cannot see God’s face again, because the one you have resisted is not a man and the one you have rejected is not a small man but Christ. Are you aware of such consequences? What you have done is not making a small mistake but committing a mortal sin. So, I advise everyone not to act wildly or speak loosely before the truth, because only the truth can bring you life, and apart from it, nothing can cause you to be resurrected and see God’s face again.
from “Only the Last Christ Can Bestow to Man the Way of Eternal Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
Now, after having experienced God’s work of judgment and chastisement in the end time, God’s chosen people in China have all entered the right track of believing in God and have already had a foundation on the true way. In God’s warring against satan in the end-time work, God uses the great red dragon as a setoff and a service-doer, and at the same time uses the performances of all kinds of false leaders, antichrists, and evil spirits to make God’s chosen people have richer experiences. Just as attending the great banquet of Christ, they receive God’s great love. Particularly, after experiencing many wars between justice and evil, God’s chosen people have broadened their horizons and gained insight, and have known many truths and mastered many principles of practice and finally entered into the reality of the truth. Those who pursue the truth have all understood many practical matters that people must face in believing in God, such as, what is resisting God and what is obeying God; what is spending for God genuinely and what is performing the duty in a qualified way; what is corrupt humanity and what is normal humanity; what is true love and what is hypocrisy; what are letters and doctrines and what is the reality of the truth; what is loving God and what is deception; what is from God and what is from satan; what are positive things and what are negative things; what is light and what is darkness; what is of God and what is of satan; what is being compatible with God and what is being hostile to God; what is breaking away from the influence of satan and what is being truly saved; what are false leaders and antichrists and what is knowing God and serving God, and so on. All these practical matters have been solved in their experiencing God’s judgment and chastisement. Now, God’s hidden work in Mainland China has entered into the final stage of spreading the kingdom gospel. God’s chosen people are all pursuing the truth and trying their best to perform their duty well and prepare good deeds and exert all their strength to preach the gospel and testify God and welcome God’s public appearing with good and resounding testimonies. This has sufficiently shown that God has overcome satan, God’s hidden work in Mainland China will end with glory, and God will soon appear publicly to every nation and every place and every race and every tribe.
Knowing God’s judgment and chastisement in the end time is of great significance to one’s being saved and perfected in believing in God. God’s word has spoken very clearly what judgment and chastisement is. God executes judgment and chastisement through expressing the truth, and exposes and judges and condemns men with the truth according to the corrupt substance of mankind so that they can understand the truth and know themselves and truly repent of themselves. This is the result achieved by the judgment and chastisement. God created all things and is sovereign over everything, which is God’s authority. Since God allows satan to corrupt mankind, God has the right to judge and chastise corrupt mankind and even more has the power to save mankind from the domain of satan. This is exactly where God’s wisdom and almightiness lie in defeating satan. Only thus can God save mankind and end the destiny of satan so that mankind can return to God forever and become the mankind who obey God and worship God and receive the real destination. This thus fulfills these words of Almighty God: “Those who can stand in the end-time work of judgment and chastisement, that is, in the final purifying work, will be the ones who enter into the final rest together with God. So, all the ones who enter into rest will be those who have broken away from satan’s influence and have been gained by God through the last stage of purifying work. These men gained in the end will enter into the final rest. The work of chastisement and judgment is essentially for purifying mankind and for the day of the final rest. Otherwise, the whole mankind cannot be after their kinds and cannot enter into rest. This work is the only pathway for mankind to enter into rest.
from “God and Man Will Enter Into Rest Together” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
After having experienced God’s judgment and chastisement, we all can see such a fact: The truth comes from God, and all positive things come from God. Where there is disturbance and corruption of satan and sins of resisting God, there will surely be God’s judgment and chastisement. Where there is God’s judgment, there will be the truth appearing and God’s disposition revealed. The truth and God’s disposition are revealed in God’s judgment and chastisement. Where there is the truth, there is judgment and chastisement. Where there is judgment and chastisement, there is God’s righteous disposition revealed. So, where there is God’s judgment and chastisement, there are the footsteps of God’s working. It is most accurate to seek God’s appearing in this way. Only God has the authority to judge, and only Christ has the right to judge corrupt mankind. This fulfills and proves that the Son of man—Christ is the Lord of judgment. Without God’s judgment and chastisement, people would have no way to gain the truth, and as God’s judgment and chastisement reveals God’s righteous disposition, this gives people an opportunity to know God. The course of people’s understanding the truth is the course of their knowing God. To corrupt mankind, the truth is judgment, is searching, and is chastisement. What the truth reveals are exactly God’s righteousness, majesty, and wrath. People who understand the truth can cast off their corruptions and break away from satan’s influence. This is completely because of the power and almightiness of God’s word. For God to save people and perfect people is to let them understand the truth and gain the truth. The more truths people understand, the more they will know God. And thus they can cast off their corruptions and become holy. When they live out the truth and enter into the reality of the truth, they are living in the light, living in love, and living before God. All these are the results achieved by Christ’s expressing the truth and executing judgment. Actually, all God’s words are the truth and are judgment to mankind. All of God’s words, no matter in which age they are spoken, have the effect of judgment. The words of Jehovah in the Age of the Law are judgment to corrupt mankind, and the words of Jesus in the Age of the Grace are also judgment to corrupt mankind. In the end time, in the Age of the Kingdom when God does the work of the judgment and chastisement, all the words Almighty God speaks to mankind are even more judgment and chastisement, pruning and dealing, and trials and refinings. In the end, mankind can all see that the judgment and chastisement of Almighty God to mankind is God’s greatest love, what God’s judgment and chastisement brings to mankind is all salvation and perfection, only if people accept and obey God’s judgment and chastisement will they gain God’s true love and his full salvation, and those who refuse to accept God’s judgment and chastisement will all be punished by God and suffer perdition and perish. As God’s word says, “If you do not seek the way of life supplied by the end-time Christ, then you can never receive Jesus’ approval and will never be qualified to step into the gate of the kingdom of heaven, because you are a puppet of history and a prisoner of history. Those who are controlled by regulations, letters, and the shackles of history can never receive life and can never receive the perpetual way of life, because what they have received is only the turbid water that has been kept for thousands of years, not the water of life that flows from the throne. Those who have no supply of the water of life will be forever corpses, forever playthings of satan, and forever sons of hell. …” (from “Only the Last Christ Can Bestow to Man the Way of Eternal Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh)
God’s work is advancing with mighty force like surging waves. No one can hold him back, and no one can stop his steps. Only those who listen to his word attentively and seek and thirst after him can follow his footsteps and receive his promises. Except for them, all will suffer overwhelming disasters and deserved punishments.” (from “God Is Sovereign over the Destiny of All Mankind” in The Word Appears in the Flesh)

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