Lord Jesus said, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come” (John 16: 12-13).
By Jianmo, U.S.
Now disasters are a frequent occurrence the world over and the signs of the last days have appeared. If this carries on, when the great tribulation arrives, will we, too, not be plunged into disaster? Just when will the Lord take us up into the heavenly kingdom?
Contents
When We Are Raptured, Will We Really Be Raised Into the Sky?
We travel from afar to gather in the house of God, eating and drinking God’s words and living the life of the church each day. We practice and experience God’s words, truly enjoying the understanding of the truth.
2020 Christian Dance | “Gathering in the House of God” | Gospel Song Video
We travel from afar to gather in the house of God,
eating and drinking God’s words and living the life of the church each day.
We practice and experience God’s words, truly enjoying the understanding of the truth.
Emptiness, pain, entanglement—they are all in the past.
God’s words bring us together;
how sweet it is to enjoy these words in our hearts.
With the good fortune to receive Christ’s shepherding,
understanding the truth and praising God, our hearts are set free! Continue reading “2020 Christian Dance | Gathering in the House of God | Praise Song | GOSPEL OF THE DESCENT OF THE KINGDOM”
Almighty God says:“The enlightenment of man by the Holy Spirit is not to sustain the passion of man; it is to open up a way out for the entry of man, as well as to allow man to come to know the Holy Spirit, and from that develop a heart of reverence and adoration for God”
God says:”In the beginning, Jesus spread the gospel and preached the way of repentance, and then went on to baptize man, heal the sick, and cast out demons. In the end, He redeemed mankind from sin and completed His work for the entire age.”
Bible Verses for Reference:
“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mat 4:17).
Almighty God says:“The work of God’s management began at the creation of the world, and man is at the core of this work. God’s creation of all things, it can be said, is for the sake of man. ”
Daily Words of God | Man Can Only Be Saved Amidst God’s Management (Excerpt 3) | GOSPEL OF THE DESCENT OF THE KINGDOM
The work of God’s management began at the creation of the world, and man is at the core of this work. God’s creation of all things, it can be said, is for the sake of man. Because the work of His management spans thousands of years and is not done in the space of mere minutes or seconds, or in the blink of an eye, or one or two years, He had to create more things necessary for mankind’s survival, such as the sun, the moon, all sorts of living creatures, food, and a hospitable environment. This was the start of God’s management. Continue reading “Daily Words of God | Man Can Only Be Saved Amidst God’s Management (Excerpt 3) | GOSPEL OF THE DESCENT OF THE KINGDOM”
In Almighty God’s judgment work of the last days, He tests, refines, purifies, and transforms people through His words. Between 1991 and 1997, God’s chosen people underwent the trial of the service-doers, the trial of death, the time of loving God, the trial of the foils, the trial of the descendants of Moab, and the trial of the children of the great red dragon. Throughout these trials, Almighty God expressed truths to expose, judge, sustain, and guide His chosen people according to their notions of God’s work and the corruption they revealed. After going through all of this, God’s chosen people’s motivations behind their faith were somewhat rectified, and their faith became much more pure. Their corrupt dispositions were also cleansed somewhat; they all felt how practical God’s work of purification and salvation for mankind is. They wrote out their personal experiences and gains to bear witness to God’s love and salvation. The Christian in this video recounts her experience of the trial of the descendants of Moab, what she gained from it, and how it changed her.
The Lord Jesus said: “When the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him” (John 4:23).
Cheng Shi
Editor’s Note: In 2020, larger and larger disasters have been occurring all over the world. During this difficult time, what we should be doing as Christians is praying, repenting, and asking God to give us faith and for Him to guide us through these difficulties. But if we find that God isn’t responding to our prayers, how can we pray effectively to God so that He will listen? Keep reading to find out.
Actually, there are a few reasons why God may not listen to our prayers. I will share my personal understanding of this with everybody.Contents
● First, do we pray to God with a sincere heart?
● Second, do we pray to God with rationality?
● Third, does our church have the Holy Spirit’s work?
First, do we pray to God with a sincere heart?
The Lord Jesus said: “When the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him” (John 4:23). God’s words have shown us how we should pray to worship God in accordance with His intentions. What God focuses on the most is whether we have a sincere heart when we are before Him and whether we speak sincere and true words to Him. As long as we have a reverent heart toward God and have a sincere heart when we pray to God, God would find our prayers acceptable. However, when we pray to God, we often are unable to quiet ourselves before God and use a true heart to pray to God. Our lips move but our heart is thinking about family or work and filled with anxious thoughts. Sometimes, our lips move but our hearts do not move. We do not have an honest attitude, and we are simply going through the motions and going over old ground, doing it perfunctorily. We even frequently say some dignified, pompous and empty words, words that merely sound good or some diluted words to deceive God. For example, we love our parents more than we love the Lord or we love our career more than we love the Lord, yet when we pray, we say, “O Lord, I love You! I am willing to relinquish everything and expend for You with all my heart!” When our families encounter some unhappy incidents, our hearts become negative and we complain to the Lord. Yet, when we pray, we give thanks to the Lord and say words of praise to the Lord…. Basically, in prayers, if one is not sincere and only goes through the motions, using some big and empty words, false words or if one disguises oneself before God and only says some pleasant-sounding words, he is deceiving God. God will not listen to prayers that are not sincere.
Second, do we pray to God with rationality?
Much of the time, when we pray to God, we blindly demand things from God or we have all sorts of extravagant requests for God. For example: if we do not have a job, we ask God to provide us with work. If we do not have a child, we ask God to bestow a child to us. If we are sick, we ask God to cure our illness. If our families are experiencing difficulties, we ask God to help us out. Business people pray to God and ask Him to bless them so that they can make lots of money. Students ask God to bless them with intelligence and wisdom. Old people ask God to protect them from sickness and calamities so that they can spend their last years in peace. In life, regardless of what difficulties and trials we encounter, we are never able to submit to God’s arrangements. We always hope that God would save us from our troubles so that we would no longer suffer. We always ask the Lord to protect us so that we can be happy and peaceful. This type of prayer is not a prayer from one of God’s creations to God. Instead, it involves asking God for things and asking Him to do things in accordance with our own thoughts. When people believe in God, they hope that God will satisfy all their requests and desires. This is basically entering into a business deal with God and it is without a shred of conscience or rationality. These kinds of people do not have genuine faith and love for God nor do they genuinely obey or revere God. They are instead using God to attain their goals. This is precisely as God said, “This people draws near to me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). Therefore, God does not listen to prayers that people make with improper intentions.
Third, does our church have the Holy Spirit’s work?
Recall the initial stage of the Age of Law when the temple contained the work of the Holy Spirit. When people committed sins, they received the Holy Spirit’s discipline. If the priests who were serving God broke the law, fire would come down straight from heaven and burn them to death. People were very afraid and they had hearts that revered God. However, during the latter period of the Age of Law when Jesus appeared and worked, the Jewish people could not keep the law, used the temple as a place to exchange money and sell livestock. They had turned the temple into a den of thieves. It no longer contained the Holy Spirit’s discipline. Since the Holy Spirit had already left the temple in order to defend the work of Jesus, those people who stayed in the temple and refused to accept the salvation of Jesus were eliminated by God’s work, falling into darkness. Even though they prayed in the name of Jehovah, God did not listen. Even more so, they were unable to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work.
Let’s take a look at our church today. The pastors and elders’ sermons are dull. There is no new light. Brothers and sisters do not receive life nourishment, and their spirits become more and more withered and dark and unable to feel the Holy Spirit’s presence. They would even start to lust for flesh and the pleasures of life as well as seek status and power. Conflicts would erupt between co-workers. Their transgressions would frequently claim victory over them and they would not feel indebted to the Lord. They do not follow the Lord’s words, nor do they keep His commandments. They have totally violated God’s will, becoming the ones who resist God…. What is the difference between this kind of church and the temple that existed in the later period of the Age of Law? This completely fulfills the prophecy in the Bible, “And also I have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city: one piece was rained on, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered to one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have you not returned to me, said Jehovah” (Amos 4:7–8). Actually, God has left the church of the Age of Grace. There are many brothers and sisters who clearly feel that the church no longer has the Holy Spirit’s work and that God has already covered His face from us. So how is it possible that our spirits do not become withered? How could God listen to our prayers?
The three circumstances mentioned above are the main reasons why the Lord does not listen to our prayers. All we can do is come before the Lord, seek His intentions and reflect upon these issues. We must also seek how to pray to the Lord so that He would listen. This is a truth that we urgently need to enter. Now, I will share with everybody three methods of implementation so that you will know how to pray in accordance with God’s intentions. As long as we are able to put them into action and practice every day with our heart, I believe that the Lord will listen to our prayers.
First, we must pray in spirit, pray sincerely and say true things that come from our hearts.
We all know that God is faithful. With God, there is no treachery, no hypocrisy and no lies. God is sincere with each and every one of us. God also hopes that we will pray sincerely and honestly to Him. This is just as Jesus said: “But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for whatever is more than these comes of evil” (Matthew 5:37). Therefore, when we pray, we should speak frankly to God. If we are weak, we should say that we are weak. Whatever thoughts, ideas, pain, difficulties, or things that we have done which are not in accordance with God’s intentions, we should completely open up our hearts and tell God about them. There are some words and some matters that we would feel embarrassed to admit to other people. However, we cannot hide these things from God. We must open up our hearts to God and tell God about them honestly. When God sees that our hearts are wide open to Him and that we are not concealing anything from Him and furthermore, we are saying things that come straight from our hearts and that we are speaking very honestly to God, God will guide us to understanding His intentions and understanding all aspects of the truth. This will give us a path to walk.
Additionally, when we pray, we must quiet ourselves before God. We must pray to God with a concentrated heart. We must not be half-hearted or have words without a heart. When we speak with our parents, we are able to respect them. Our attitude toward them is sincere. Is it not because they are our elders and have raised us? God created us, bestowed life upon us, provided us with everything we need to live and He has bestowed the truth upon us. Shouldn’t it then be even more important that we pray to God with a reverent heart? Regardless of what we pray to God about, we must have a devout heart and seek God’s intentions and tell Him with honesty about our own thoughts, difficulties and we should patiently wait for God’s time. Only in this way will we obtain God’s enlightenment and guidance, and understand His intentions. Then our difficulties will be resolved in time.
Second, we should stand in the place of a created being and have no demands for God; we must pray with a heart that submits to God.
When we pray, we must be clear that we are creations and God is our Creator. God holds all things and events in His hands. Our all is controlled by God. Whatever we encounter each and every day, regardless if it is a major matter or a minor matter, all of it is due to God’s arrangements. When we pray to God, we should stand firm in our position as creations, and seek God’s will with a devout and submissive attitude before God. We should not have any demands for God. For example, when we encounter difficulties and we do not know what to do, we can pray like this: “God! I do not understand the truth in regard to this matter. I do not know how I should do things in accordance with Your intentions. However, I am willing to seek in Your words and do things in accordance with Your requests and to satisfy Your intentions. Please enlighten and guide me. Amen!” When our hearts have a place for God and when we can stand in the place of a creation and pray, prostrate, give worship to our Creator, and when we can obey His work and put His words into action, only then will we build a normal relationship with God and obtain the Holy Spirit’s work. We all know Job was a man that feared God and shunned evil. When he lost all his livestock, sons and daughters, was covered with sores from head to toe and was enduring a great deal of pain, he believed that God was the ruler of everything and that without God’s permission, these things would not have befallen him. Furthermore, he also knew that everything that he had including his life was given to him by God. Regardless of when God wants to collect, it is natural and proper. Therefore, he did not complain to God nor did he have any demands for God. As a result, he bent over and worshiped and with a heart of submission he prayed to God. He said these words: “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah” (Job 1:21). “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). Job stood firm and bore witness for God. His sense and his submission to God obtained God’s praise. If we are also able to address God in the way that Job did, if we have a place for God in our hearts and if we are able to pray to God with a heart that submits to God regardless of what trials we encounter, God will guide us and enlighten us so that we will understand the truth. Our spirits will become more and more sharp and our thoughts will be more and more clear. When we reveal some corruption or have some bad situations, it will be even easier for us to be conscious about it and resolve it in time. Then, our relationship with God will become more and more close and our life will grow faster and faster.
Third, if our church does not have the Holy Spirit’s work, we must have prayers of seeking.
We all know, in the later period of the Age of Law, man was corrupted more and more deeply by Satan. Man lived within sin and he faced the danger of being convicted by the law and put to death. Then, God, under the name of Jesus, ended the Age of Law, started the Age of Grace and did the work of redeeming the human race. From then on, Judaism completely lost God’s glorious presence. For all those who did not accept the Lord Jesus’ name and work, regardless of what circumstances they encountered and regardless of how they prayed and appealed to Jehovah God, God would not listen to them and they would not obtain the Holy Spirit’s work. However, all those who accepted Jesus’ new work and prayed in the name of Jesus would enjoy the nourishment of God’s living water fountain. When they called on the Lord they would be able to see God’s deeds and they would have the accompaniment of the Holy Spirit’s work.
Nowadays, regardless of how we pray in the Lord’s name, we do not feel the Holy Spirit’s work, and we cannot sense His presence. We cannot obtain nourishment for our lives and we commit sins but do not receive discipline. It is very possible that the Holy Spirit’s work has once again been diverted. The Bible says, “And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 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 12:47–48). “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17). From these verses we can see that, in the last days, God will return once more to do the stage of judgement work. The Lord is faithful. What He says will happen, will happen. As for us, we should seek and pray, asking God to guide us to the fountain of life so that we can obtain watering and nourishment and follow the footsteps of our Lord. I believe that as long as we have a heart that thirsts and seeks, we will obtain God’s guidance. This is because God has promised us, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).
Thank the Lord for His guidance. I hope that the content that was shared today in regard to how to pray will benefit everybody. Prayer is an important step in establishing a normal relationship with God. It is also a key path through which we can obtain the Holy Spirit’s work. When we understand how to pray to obtain the Lord’s response and have a practical path to follow and when we practice it often, only then will the Lord hear our prayers. May our prayers soon be in accordance with God’s intentions.
Almighty God says:“God’s six-thousand-year plan of management is coming to an end, and the gate of the kingdom has already been opened to all those who seek His appearance. Dear brothers and sisters, what are you waiting for? What is it that you seek? Are you waiting for God to appear? ”
The Appearance of God Has Ushered in a New Age
God’s six-thousand-year plan of management is coming to an end, and the gate of the kingdom has already been opened to all those who seek His appearance. Dear brothers and sisters, what are you waiting for? What is it that you seek? Are you waiting for God to appear? Are you searching for His footprints? How one yearns for the appearance of God! And how difficult it is to find God’s footprints! In an age such as this, in a world such as this, what must we do to witness the day on which God appears? What must we do to keep pace with the footsteps of God? Questions of this kind are faced by all those who are waiting for God to appear. You have all considered them on more than one occasion—but with what outcome? Where does God appear? Where are God’s footprints? Have you got the answer? Many people would reply in this way: “God appears among all those who follow Him and His footprints are in our midst; it’s that simple!” Anyone can provide a formulaic answer, but do you understand what is meant by the appearance of God or His footprints? The appearance of God refers to His arrival on earth to do His work in person. With His own identity and disposition, and in the way that is innate to Him, He descends among mankind to conduct the work of initiating an age and ending an age. This kind of appearance is not a form of ceremony. It is not a sign, a picture, a miracle, or some kind of a grand vision, and even less is it a kind of religious process. It is a real and actual fact that can be touched and beheld by anyone. This kind of appearance is not for the sake of going through the motions, or for any short-term undertaking; it is, rather, for a stage of work in His management plan. The appearance of God is always meaningful and always bears some relation to His management plan. What is called “appearance” here is completely different from the kind of “appearance” in which God guides, leads, and enlightens man. God carries out a stage of His great work each time He reveals Himself. This work is different from that of any other age. It is unimaginable to man, and has never been experienced by man. It is work that starts a new age and concludes the old age, and it is a new and improved form of work for the salvation of mankind; moreover, it is work that brings mankind into the new age. This is what the appearance of God signifies.
Once you have understood what the appearance of God means, how should you seek God’s footprints? This question is not hard to explain: Wherever God appears, there you will find His footsteps. Such an explanation sounds straightforward, but is not so easy in practice, for many people do not know where God appears, much less where He is willing to, or where He should, appear. Some impulsively believe that wherever the Holy Spirit is at work, there God appears. Or else they believe that wherever there are spiritual figures, there God appears. Or else they believe that wherever there are people of high reputation, there God appears. For the moment, let us leave aside whether such beliefs are right or wrong. To explain such a question, we must first have a clear objective: We are searching for the footprints of God. We are not seeking spiritual figures, much less are we pursuing figures of renown; we are pursuing the footprints of God. For this reason, since we are searching for the footprints of God, it behooves us to search for God’s will, for the words of God, for His utterances—because wherever there are new words spoken by God, the voice of God is there, and wherever there are the footsteps of God, God’s deeds are there. Wherever there is the expression of God, there God appears, and wherever God appears, there the truth, the way, and the life exist. In seeking God’s footprints, you have ignored the words “God is the truth, the way, and the life.” And so, many people, even when they receive the truth, do not believe that they have found God’s footprints, and still less do they acknowledge the appearance of God. What a grave mistake! The appearance of God cannot be reconciled with man’s notions, still less can God appear at the behest of man. God makes His own choices and His own plans when He does His work; moreover, He has His own objectives and His own methods. Whatever work He does, He has no need to discuss it with man or seek his advice, much less to notify each and every person of His work. This is the disposition of God, which should, moreover, be recognized by everyone. If you desire to witness the appearance of God, to follow God’s footsteps, then you must first walk away from your own notions. You must not demand that God do this or that, much less should you place Him within your own confines and limit Him to your own notions. Instead, you should ask how you are to seek God’s footprints, how you are to accept God’s appearance, and how you are to submit to the new work of God: This is what man should do. Since man is not the truth, and is not possessed of the truth, he should seek, accept, and obey.
God is the God of the entire human race. He does not consider Himself the private property of any nation or people, but goes about doing His work as He has planned it, unconstrained by any form, nation, or people. Perhaps you have never imagined this form, or perhaps your attitude to this form is one of denial, or perhaps the nation where God reveals Himself and the people among whom He reveals Himself just happen to be discriminated against by everyone and just happen to be the most backward on earth. Yet God has His wisdom. With His great power, and by means of His truth and His disposition, He has truly gained a group of people who are of one mind with Him, and a group of people that He wished to make complete—a group, conquered by Him, who, having endured all manner of trials and tribulations and all manner of persecution, can follow Him to the very end. The aim of God’s appearance, free from the constraints of any form or nation, is to enable Him to complete His work as He has planned it. This is just as when God became flesh in Judea: His aim was to complete the work of the crucifixion in redeeming the entire human race. Yet the Jews believed that it was impossible for God to do this, and they thought it impossible that God could become flesh and assume the form of the Lord Jesus. Their “impossible” became the basis on which they condemned and opposed God, and ultimately led to the destruction of Israel. Today, many people have committed a similar error. They proclaim with all their might the imminent appearance of God, yet at the same time condemn His appearance; their “impossible” once more confines the appearance of God within the limits of their imagination. And so I have seen many people break into wild and raucous laughter after coming upon the words of God. But is this laughter any different from the condemnation and blasphemy of the Jews? You are not reverent in the presence of the truth, still less do you possess an attitude of yearning. All you do is study indiscriminately and wait with blithe unconcern. What can you gain from studying and waiting like this? Do you think you will receive personal guidance from God? If you cannot discern God’s utterances, in what way are you qualified to witness the appearance of God? Wherever God appears, there the truth is expressed, and there the voice of God will be. Only those who can accept the truth will be able to hear the voice of God, and only such people are qualified to witness the appearance of God. Let go of your notions! Quiet yourself and give these words a careful reading. If you yearn for the truth, God will enlighten you and you will understand His will and His words. Let go of your opinions about the “impossible”! The more that people believe something is impossible, the more likely it is to occur, because the wisdom of God soars higher than the heavens, God’s thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts, and the work of God transcends the limits of man’s thinking and notions. The more that something is impossible, the more it has truth that can be sought; the more something lies beyond man’s notions and imagination, the more it contains the will of God. This is because, no matter where He reveals Himself, God is still God, and His substance will never change on account of the location or manner of His appearance. The disposition of God remains the same regardless of where His footprints are, and no matter where the footprints of God are, He is the God of all mankind, just as the Lord Jesus is not only the God of the Israelites, but is also the God of all the people of Asia, Europe, and America, and even more than that, He is the one and only God in the entire universe. So let us seek God’s will and discover His appearance in His utterances, and keep pace with His footsteps! God is the truth, the way, and the life. His words and His appearance exist concurrently, and His disposition and footprints are open to mankind at all times. Dear brothers and sisters, I hope that you can see the appearance of God in these words, begin following His footsteps as you stride forward into a new age, and enter into the beautiful new heaven and earth that God has prepared for those who await His appearance!
Regardless of whether you are American, British, or any other nationality, you should step outside the confines of your own nationality, transcending your own self, and view the work of God from the perspective of a created being. In this way, you will not place limitations on the footprints of God. This is because, nowadays, many people conceive it to be impossible that God will appear in a particular nation or among a certain people. How profound is the significance of God’s work, and how important is the appearance of God! How can man’s notions and thinking possibly take their measure? And so I say, you should break through notions of nationality and ethnicity in order to seek the appearance of God. Only thus will you not be constrained by your own notions; only thus will you be qualified to welcome the appearance of God. Otherwise, you will remain in eternal darkness, and never gain the approval of God.
Praise Almighty God 