Other Categories | GOSPEL OF THE DESCENT OF THE KINGDOM

1 What the wise virgins and the foolish virgins are

2 I’ve believed in the Lord for over half my life. I’ve worked tirelessly for the Lord and have been on constant lookout for His second coming. If the Lord came, why didn’t I receive His revelation? Has He cast me aside? This has left me very confused. How do you explain this?

3 You have borne witness that the Lord Jesus has already come, but we do not believe it. We have had faith in the Lord for many years and have always toiled tirelessly for Him, so when the Lord comes He should first reveal it to us. Since the Lord has not revealed it to us, that just shows us that He has not returned. Are we wrong to believe this?

4 The Lord Jesus in whom we believe is God’s incarnation. The Lord Jesus did God’s work of redemption, no one dares deny this, but this Almighty God in whom you believe is not necessarily God’s incarnation, because there is no record of Almighty God in the Bible. So then, the pastors and elders of the religious world all say He in whom you believe is merely a man, that you’ve been fooled. Only the Lord Jesus, in whom we believe, is Christ, is God’s Son!

5 I want to know how Almighty God of the last days performs His judgment work to save mankind from Satan’s influence. Can you tell us about your experience and testimonies?

6 The elders and pastors found out you’ve been witnessing Almighty God to us. They’ve been going around spreading heresies and lies and condemning Almighty God. They sealed off the church and have started harassing and stopping our brothers and sisters that try to hear your sermons. They see us as the thorns in their eyes, the most hated of all. They’re also saying that all those that accept Almighty God will be expelled from the church. The church has clearly split into two factions. Some of the brothers and sisters want to study the true way with us. Others are following the pastors and elders in resisting and condemning the Eastern Lightning. They also treat us as their enemies. Why has the church changed that much in just a few days?

7 People often say, “Virtue has its reward, evil its retribution,” then why doesn’t God eliminate all the evil people now?

8 I used to think that the CCP’s days were numbered and that it should collapse soon, so wouldn’t it save a lot of trouble if I waited for it to collapse before I believed? But now I see that the purpose of the CCP persecuting and arresting us is so that we will be sent to hell! If we wait until the CCP perishes before we believe in Almighty God, would we still be able to receive God’s salvation in the last days and enter God’s kingdom? Would we miss our chance at salvation?

9 What God’s church and religious groups are

10 Under the rule of the CCP government, people can be arrested, persecuted, and even executed for accepting the true way! I don’t understand, why is the CCP so afraid of the work of Almighty God?

11 Today, disasters are occurring with increasing severity and frequency. These signs indicate that the great disasters of the last days foretold in the Bible are about to begin. How can we gain God’s protection and survive amidst these disasters?

12 We have read many of Almighty God’s words. They possess authority and power, and they are indeed the voice of God. Yet the pastors and elders say that in the Bible it is written, “I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ to another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Gal 1:6–8). Going by these words spoken by Paul, the pastors and elders say that our belief in Almighty God strays from the name of the Lord Jesus, and from the way of the Lord Jesus. They say we believe in another gospel, and that this is apostasy, a betrayal of the Lord. Though we feel what they say to be wrong, we can’t say for sure in what way they are wrong. Please fellowship with us about this.

13 Today, many people in the religious world feel there is no light to the preachings of pastors. They see the faith of believers dwindling, and people discuss only physical pleasures and chase after the trends of the world, and some even do business in the churches. They worry that their church is a false church, and that they will be abandoned by the Lord when He returns. But there are also those who believe that their churches couldn’t possibly be false churches because they hold such lively events as Bible contests, Holy Communion, and celebrations of various festivals. So how should we identify false churches?

14 Various religious denominations now appear to dutifully abide by religious ceremony, but the pastors focus only on preaching words and phrases from the Bible and theological theories, and the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit are entirely absent. Believers’ lives go entirely unprovided for. They have believed in the Lord for many years but are ignorant of the truth and incapable of putting the words of the Lord into practice. Their faith in the Lord has become nothing but a religious belief. I don’t understand why churches today have descended into religion.

15 The prophecies in the Bible concerning the Lord’s return have now all largely been fulfilled, and the Lord may well be here already. We see that The Church of Almighty God is publicly testifying online that Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus, and many people from all religions and denominations who truly believe in the Lord and yearn for the appearance of God have returned to Almighty God. We would like to know just whether Almighty God is the appearance of God or not.

16 As we understand it, several prestigious international religious experts and academics have recognized that The Church of Almighty God is an emerging Christian church. What is the difference between The Church of Almighty God and traditional Christianity?

17 You testify that the Lord Jesus has returned in the flesh. So where is the Lord now? Why haven’t we seen Him? Seeing is believing, so the fact that we haven’t seen Him proves that the Lord has not yet returned. I’ll believe it when I see it.

18 The Catholicism we believe in has been passed down from the apostles, and it is the most orthodox of all religions. The Church of Almighty God belongs to Christianity, and Christianity is an offshoot of Catholicism. If we believe in Almighty God, will we not be converting to Christianity? And in so doing, will we not be turning our backs on our God?

19 We believe that the wise virgins’ preparing of the oil refers to being unfailing in prayer, in reading the Scriptures, and in attending assembly, working diligently for the Lord, and vigilantly awaiting the Lord’s return. This is what it means to be a wise virgin, and when the Lord returns, we shall welcome the bridegroom and attend the feast of the Lamb.

20 “God became man that man may become God” is the supreme vision of Brother Lin’s preachings! Even though what God created in the beginning was man, God’s purpose in creating man was to get them to become God. At first, because mankind lacked God’s life disposition, Satan was able to trick them into sinning. God’s purpose in saving mankind is to dispense His life disposition into us. Won’t we become God once we have acquired God’s life disposition?! How could there be anything wrong here?

21 About God’s words in Genesis “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen 1:26), I don’t fully understand this. If God made man in His image, doesn’t it mean we have the image of God? If we were made in God’s image, are we man or are we God?

22 Man can never become God, even if he lives out a bit of God’s image. I can totally get behind that. But when we say man can become God so long as he can manage to live out God’s image, we are not referring to the God with His person, we are instead referring to the God with His life disposition but without His person. If we live out God’s image, then we will become God with the life of God, it’s just that we won’t have the person of God. So, I think the words “God became man that man may become God” are still perfectly valid.

23 When the incarnate Lord Jesus was resurrected after His crucifixion, He became the life-giving Spirit. And thereby the life-giving Spirit dwells within us, blends with our spirit, and the two spirits will become one. So how could we not become God in the end? How could I be wrong about this?

24 I still don’t understand. Does Christ have the image of God? God has us emulate Christ, and in the end if we can live out Christ, wouldn’t we have the image of God? Then wouldn’t we become God?

25 You bear witness that Eastern Lightning is the true way, but the Chinese Communist government condemns it as a cult. What’s the difference between a proper religion and a cult?

26 Now disasters grow ever greater. The days of the Lord have come. All of us who believe in the Lord are obsessively waiting for Him to return and take us to the kingdom of heaven. So how can we ready ourselves to welcome the Lord?

27 There are varied religious groups of people who believe in the Lord Jesus. Christianity alone has thousands of denominations. I find this confusing: All denominations believe in the Lord Jesus, and read one Bible; why do so many denominations appear?

28 After the archangel betrayed God and enticed the progenitors of mankind to sin, man has become more and more evil and corrupt and the world is becoming ever darker. But here is what I don’t understand: God is all-powerful and all-knowing; since He knew the archangel would betray Him, why did He create it? After the archangel’s betrayal, why did God allow it to corrupt people upon earth?