Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “You Should Seek the Way of Compatibility With Christ”
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These words of God that we are fellowshiping today, you must pray-read them well. God’s judgment, God’s chastisement, what do they ultimately aim to achieve? Their aim is to allow us to become truly compatible with Christ. If we should become compatible with Christ, then we are also compatible with God. To be compatible with Christ is to be compatible with God, because Christ is the embodiment of God, which is God Himself speaking and uttering His own voice. Regardless of the many notions with which you view this incarnation, seeing how ordinary this incarnation is, seeing how this is only a normal person, this incarnation is still the embodiment of the Spirit of God, the embodiment of the truth. As Christ is clothed in normal humanity on the outside, no one can see through to His essence, saying: “Your humanity is all too normal. No matter how I look, You appear to be merely a person, You appear to be an ordinary person! You are only an ordinary and normal person, how can You be God? How can I not comprehend?” This is a general question that those who believe in God incarnate have. If such a question should exist, then such a notion must also exist inside of you, therefore are you someone who is compatible with Christ? You can only see the normal humanity of Christ, you do not know the divine essence of Christ, and this shall be the end of you. God says: “The two incarnations complete the significance of the incarnation.” What do these words mean? Even with ten years of experience, you would not be able to comprehend these words. Although I have twenty, thirty years of experience, even I have only attained this degree of comprehension. Someone says: “So many people believed in the Lord during the stage of the Lord Jesus. Wasn’t believing in the Lord an acknowledgement that the Lord Jesus is God, that He is God incarnate? Didn’t they all acknowledge that the Lord Jesus is Christ, the Son of God?” Were there people who treated the Lord Jesus as God? Did anyone know that the Lord Jesus is the appearance of the true God? Was there such an understanding? No. Therefore, when they pray to the Lord Jesus, “Lord Jesus, You are the Lord, You are the Son of God, You are Christ,” that is all that they say. They do not say “You are God. Lord Jesus Christ, You are Father God. You are Jehovah God.” There are very few prayers like this, and even for those who can say such words, they still do not have such comprehension in their hearts. So, during the Age of Grace, when God incarnate completed the work of redemption, did He truly allow men to know God? No. No one knew God. Therefore, during that stage, the Holy Spirit was only able to witness thus, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear you him” (Matthew17:5). If He should have said “The Lord Jesus is God,” would it be easy for people to believe? During that stage, the Holy Spirit was only able to witness thus. Why must the Holy Spirit witness thus? Because that stage of the Holy Spirit’s work was to complete the work of redemption, therefore the demands placed on men were not too high. “You must know the Lord Jesus: He is the Father, He is the one true God who has created the heavens and earth and all things, He is the Creator.” This was not what that stage aimed to fulfill, it only aimed to fulfill the work of redemption. It was sufficient that you knew the redemption of the Lord Jesus, that you acknowledged it, then you were able to pray to the Lord Jesus and confess, to repent and return to Him, to bear witness for Him, and God has completed His work. During that stage, God’s demands on men were not high, but they are different during this stage. During this stage, when God utters His voice, has He said words such as “Almighty God is the Son of God, He is Christ incarnate”? The Holy Spirit is no longer witnessing thus; He is directly witnessing that Almighty God is the appearance of the one true God. He is the First and the Last, He is Almighty God, He is the Master that created the heavens and earth and all things. Direct witnessing. Therefore, when Christ of the last days arrives, what is it that God wants to fulfill? All of humanity must be under God’s authority. When God arrives in the last days, He arrives with the kingdom, He shall make perfect a group of people, to have the kingdom of Christ appear on earth. All men who attend the feast with Christ and with God will receive God’s cleansing and God’s perfection. These men will then be brought within the kingdom, to become people of the kingdom. This is the vision for God’s work of judgment during the last days, which is also the purpose of God’s work, the fact that God shall achieve in the end—to have the kingdom of Christ appear on earth.
Why are Satan’s evil forces attacking God’s work in such a way, judging God’s work so? Why are the evil forces of the great red dragon frenziedly attacking and condemning God, and oppressing the Church of God? Why do all evil forces belonging to Satan, including the antichrist communities within the religious circle, condemn Almighty God? That is because Satan knows that its end is near, that God has already secured His kingdom and has arrived, and that Satan shall immediately perish if it does not engage in a decisive battle with God. Have you grasped this fact? Once they have heard the frenzied condemnations from the Chinese Communist Party government, many confused people decide that this is not the true way; once they have seen the widespread condemnation from the pastors and elders of the religious circle, they decide that this is not the true way. In what ways are these people confused? Are they able to see through the dark and evil essence of the world? The Bible said, “And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:5). Do they truly understand these words? “The whole world lies in wickedness” (1John 5:19). Can they comprehend the true meaning of these words? They are unable to see through anything. They think that if it should be the true way, if God has arrived, then the Chinese government should be welcoming it, the religious circle should be welcoming it, and that would make it the true way. What kind of logic is this? Is this not the Satan’s logic? Some people study the work of God, they first look at whether the world welcomes and agrees with the Church of Almighty God, the Eastern Lightning, whether the religious circle welcomes and agrees with it. “If the world welcomes it, and especially, if the Chinese Communist Government declares that it is the true way, only then can we believe in it. If all the pastors and elders from the religious circle declare that this is the true way, that this is the return of the Lord Jesus, only then can we accept it.” There are many confused people like this. Some people, just as they are going to spend for God, the great red dragon and Satan come to test them: “The Church of Almighty God kidnaps people. If you believe in Almighty God, then you won’t be able to leave, otherwise they would cut out your eyes, cut off your ears, and break your legs.” Tell me, if this is truly the case, how many people in this world would already have their eyes cut out and their ears cut off? Have you seen one such case? Tell me, of all the people who have spent for God, have you seen any one of them who has been kidnapped, who was forced to spend for God because they would not be able to return otherwise? If they were truly kidnapped, would their work and their preaching be effective? Once someone with a clear head ponders this matter, they would come to the conclusion that: “This is the case, this is a rumor made up by the CCP, this is a lie told by the CCP. The devil Satan is really good at spreading rumors, how come I didn’t see the truth?” Some people do not believe these words, while others do. Some people, just when they want to spend for God, they hear that “The Church of Almighty God kidnaps people. If you get kidnapped by them, do not have any hope that you can come back. Even if you should come back, at the very least, you will have your eyes cut out, your ears cut off.” Once they hear this, they no longer dare to spend for God. “I cannot dedicate myself. This is dangerous, I might lose my life!” and they leave. Do these people have the ability to understand? Some people also say: “I see that the words of Almighty God are the words of God, they are the voice of God. I have basically determined that the words of Almighty God are true, but what is this organization, the Church of Almighty God? I still have not thoroughly studied this. I have no understanding of the Church of Almighty God. Are they actually capable of kidnapping people? If they should kidnap me, are they capable of cutting out my eyes and cutting off my ears?” This is where they get confused. They say: “I cannot go. If they should cut out my eyes and cut off my ears, then I would become disabled for the rest of my life. I still have a question mark hanging over the Church of Almighty God, I do not understand it; regarding the utterances of God, I have basically determined them to be true, that they are the voice of God, that they have the truth.” They are very careful in their examination, doing so in two steps: First examine the words of Almighty God, and see if they are the words of God. If they have accepted that these are truly the words of God, then they further examine if the Church of Almighty God is a real church. If the Church of Almighty God should be a criminal organization, while the words of Almighty God are real, doesn’t that still spell trouble for them? Is this possible? If this should be the case, then the Church of Almighty God is not a real church, but a criminal organization. Then who is preaching and bearing witness to God’s words? Who is bearing witness for Almighty God? If things are as they imagined, that the Church of Almighty God that is preaching God’s words and bearing witness for Almighty God is an organization of men, who are not of God, then isn’t the work of Almighty God just a sham? How could God allow people from a criminal organization, an organization of man, to exalt Him and bear witness for Him? Is this not a humiliation of God? Can God humiliate Himself? Some people are unable to see through this matter. They have acknowledged the words of God, yet they are unable to see clearly what type of a church the Church of Almighty God is, and they do not dare to believe in it. People from the Church of Almighty God say: “Can we meet and talk with you? Let us fellowship.” “No, I am busy at the moment, I do not have time,” while they are thinking: “I do not want to come into contact with you. What am I going to do if the people from your Church should kidnap me after I come into contact with you?” These people cannot come close to compare with those saints who have martyred themselves for the Lord through the ages. When the Lord Jesus sent them to preach, it was as if throwing lambs into the midst of wolves, and those people dared to martyr themselves for the Lord. Now these people view the Church of Almighty God as a criminal organization. They have become timid and afraid. Is God disappointed by this? People are of little belief and they listen to the devil Satan, this is a tragedy of man.
Adam and Eve were quite happy in the garden of Eden, obeying God and hearing God’s voice, but what caused them to sin in the end? After God had spoken to them, Satan came, said a few words to tempt them, and they were tricked, they blundered. After their blunder, they were cut off from God, God no longer spoke to them, God hid His face from them. Is this not a tragedy of man? After listening to the words of Almighty God, many said, “Oh, this is truly the voice of God, this is really the truth. These words are so practical, there were not so many words uttered during the stage of the Lord Jesus.” All at once, it was as if they have once again returned to the embrace of God, and they felt blissful and content. Who would have thought that the Satan’s temptation should come at this very moment: “Have you heard of the Eastern Lightning? It is a criminal organization, it is a cult. If you do not believe in the gospel that they preach, they will cut out your eyes and cut off your ears. They are terrible! Therefore, if you should come into contact with the Eastern Lightning, you must be careful, and you must never fall for their trickery.” And with this temptation from Satan, these men have been trapped. They are transfixed, and they no longer dare to spend for God. This is called “being clever your entire life, but ruined by a moment of foolishness.” Is there one person in all of Taiwan who has his eyes cut out and his ears cut off? There is not a single case in all of Taiwan. There is also not a single case of anyone with eyes cut out and ears cut off in all of Mainland China. If there should be even one such case, would the CCP relent? It would have employed all the media to make announcements to the entire world, even zealously publicize such incidents for days. Not even one such case can be found. The CCP is all-pervasive, yet those tempted by Satan do not know the true identity of the CCP, they are unable to see through all the sins that the CCP has committed, all the evil deeds that it has done. There is not one single grain of truth in all the things that the media of the CCP has ever said, yet these people are unable to see through this. You say that it is not easy to know God, because God is Spirit, because God is mysterious; but to know the CCP, to know Satan, this should be something that man is capable of, is this not? I heard some words spoken by several God’s elects from the United States (Americans), they said: “We are all concerned with the fate of the United States. The rise and decline of the Unites States are intimately relevant to us. We must speak up during the US elections, we must go out and vote. If we should allow the villains and Satan’s evil forces to come into power, then we will also be threatened, therefore we must participate in the election and speak up. Is this participating in politics?” The God’s elects from the United States put forth such a question, and I was so moved once I heard this. I told them that the Chinese people do not have such rights. Citizens of China, do you have the right to vote? You want to elect government officials, but do you have the rights? You do not have such rights. Therefore, the Chinese people only have the right to pay taxes, but they do not have the right to vote. They have no rights as citizens, they do not even have the right to religious freedom. If you should say that you are seeking the true way, that you accept Almighty God, that you bear witness to the work of God, that you spend for bearing witness of God, then Satan shall condemn you. Americans have their rights as citizens, have their right to vote, they have the right to the freedom of speech. The United States is different in the eyes of the Chinese people, the United States is a truly democratic country, while we Chinese people do not have such rights. However, the Americans say, our citizens participating in the election, and doing all the things that we do in accordance with the rights of being a citizen, are those things participating in politics? These things are not participating in politics, these things are themselves the rights of citizens. Citizens exercising their rights and fulfilling their duties, these are not participating in politics, is that not correct? During the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus said that we must be the light and the salt of the earth, what does that mean? To be the light and the salt of the earth is to bear witness for God, to live out the decency of saints, to live out the so-called reality that God has demanded, in accordance with God’s words. That is being the light and the salt of this earth. Those God’s elects from the United States have a sense of justice, therefore they demand so, therefore they have this responsibility to bear. With such people accepting God’s work, they can certainly understand many truths, and they shall be able to bear witness for God in the future. Many things done in the name of the political powers of the world are not approved by God; yet the much work done in the name of bearing witness for God, in the name of carrying out God’s will, such work shall gain the approval of God. Have you fully grasped this issue by now? Exercise the rights as a citizen, as well as fulfill the responsibilities and duties as a citizen, but don’t become a politician, and be a person who bears witness for God, this is key. Do you understand now?