God’s Blessing to Noah After the Flood

Gen 9:1–6 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, and on every fowl of the air, on all that moves on the earth, and on all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall you not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man.

God Intends to Destroy the World With a Flood, Instructs Noah to Build an Ark

Gen 6:9–14 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked on the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way on the earth. And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make you an ark of gopher wood; rooms shall you make in the ark, and shall pitch it within and without with pitch.

Will everyone who doesn’t accept Almighty God really succumb to disaster?

Relevant Words of God:

My judgment is completely revealed, is aimed at different people, and they must all take their proper places. Depending on which rule is broken, I will administer and judge them in accordance with that rule. As for those who are not in this name and who do not accept Christ of the last days, there is only one rule: I shall immediately take the spirit, soul and body of whoever defies Me and cast them into Hades; whoever does not defy Me, I shall wait for you to mature before carrying out a second judgment. My words explain all in complete clarity and nothing is hidden. I only wish that you are able to bear them in mind at all times!

Since God loves mankind, why does He send down disasters to destroy all evil people who deny and resist Him?

Since God loves mankind, why does He send down disasters to destroy all evil people who deny and resist Him?

The Answer from God’s Word:

The approach of the end of all things indicates the end of God’s work and indicates the end of humanity’s development. This means that humanity as corrupted by Satan has reached their end of development, and that the descendants of Adam and Eve have propagated to their respective ends, and it also means that it is impossible for such a humanity, having been corrupted by Satan, to continue to develop. … When His work ends, those people who remain will be cleansed and enjoy a more wonderful second human life upon the earth as they enter a higher realm of humanity; in other words, they will enter into humanity’s day of rest and live together with God. After those who cannot remain have undergone chastisement and judgment, their original forms will be entirely revealed; after this they will all be destroyed and, like Satan, will no longer be allowed to survive upon the earth. The humanity of the future will no longer contain any of this type of people; these people are not fit to enter the land of the ultimate rest, nor are they fit to enter the day of rest that God and man will share, for they are the targets of punishment and are the wicked, and they are not righteous people. … His ultimate work of punishing evil and rewarding good is entirely done in order to utterly purify all of humanity, so that He may bring an entirely holy humanity into eternal rest. This stage of His work is His most crucial work. It is the final stage of the whole of His management work. If God did not destroy the wicked but rather let them remain, then the whole of humanity would still not be able to enter into rest, and God would not be able to bring all of humanity into a better realm. This kind of work would not be completely finished. When He finishes His work, the whole of humanity will be entirely holy. Only in this manner can God peacefully live in rest.

Why is the world so dark and wicked? With mankind being at the height of corruption, should it be destroyed?

1) Why is the world so dark and wicked?

Bible Verses for Reference:

“The whole world lies in wickedness” (1 John 5:19).

“And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:5).

The Secret Held Deep Within My Heart

By Wuzhi

In the spring of 2006, I was stripped of my position as leader and sent back home because I was considered a “yes-man” and had been disturbing and disrupting the work of the church. For the first few days after I got back, I languished in a constant state of pain, thinking: “I never imagined that after years of serving as a leader I would be replaced on account of being a ‘yes-man.’ This is the end for me; I will be held up as a bad example in the church. How will those who know me think of me? How can I face them?” The more I thought about it, the more negative I became, until I finally lost all faith to continue pursuing the truth. However, when I thought of all the sacrifices I had made in these past few years and of how much I’d expended myself, I couldn’t bring myself to quit, and I thought: “If I completely write myself off and abandon myself to vice, won’t all my suffering be for nothing? Won’t people then think even less of me? I can’t let that happen! I’ve got to stand up for myself and not let others look down their noses at me. Now, no matter how much I suffer, or how wronged I feel, I’ve got to buck up—I can’t quit halfway! As long as I remember the lessons of failure and focus on pursuing the truth, then maybe one day I can become a leader again.” With these thoughts in mind, suddenly all the negativity and sadness faded and I felt a renewed energy in my pursuit of the truth.

Christian Persecution: Who Tore Her Family Apart?

Christian Persecution: Who Tore Her Family Apart?

By Zheng Rong, China

A Walk Down Memory Lane

One fall afternoon, the warm sunlight floods every corner of the streets and the plaza, a gentle breeze rustles the gingko trees, their golden leaves fluttering like little yellow butterflies flying off the branches and dancing with the wind. In one corner of the square, a little boy, nearly ten years old, is happily playing on a swing with the help of his parents. This scene of a happy, harmonious family is fully laid out before Zheng Rong, watching from the window of an apartment building across the way. She quietly watches as her mind travels back to the past …

Seeing God’s Hand in the Hardships of Selling and Buying a Home

Ma Ling

Part 1

Deep in the night when all was quiet, Ma Ling stood in silence by the window thinking about a conversation she had had with a church leader that day.

The leader, Sister Bai, said: “Sister Ma, one of the people taken in the most recent wave of arrests of brothers and sisters by the CCP government was a sister who used to stay at your home. We’re afraid that the police will track her movements through video surveillance recordings, and in that case you would certainly be implicated. The duty that you’re currently performing would be impacted too. I don’t know if you have any particular plans.”

Tribulation Inspired My Love for God

By Meng Yong, Shanxi Province

I am by nature a nice person. In this dark and evil society, I have always been bullied by other people, so I have tasted the coldness of the world of man and felt that my life was empty and without meaning. After I started believing in Almighty God, through reading God’s words and living the church life, I enjoyed an earnestness and joy in my heart I had never felt before. Seeing the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God love each other like a family made me realize that only God is righteous, and that only in The Church of Almighty God is there light. Through several years of personally experiencing Almighty God’s work, I have come to truly appreciate that the words of Almighty God can indeed change people and save people. Almighty God is love, and He is salvation. So that more people can enjoy God’s love and receive God’s salvation, my brothers and sisters and I all try to do our best to spread the gospel, but we never expected to be captured and persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party government.

What Lies Behind Lies

By Xiaojing

Each time I saw God’s words calling on us to be honest people and to speak accurately, I thought, “It’s easy to speak accurately. Isn’t it just calling a spade a spade and telling things objectively as they are? Isn’t that easy? What had always most annoyed me in this world were people who embellished when they spoke.” Because of this, I felt super confident, and I believed that I could easily practice the truth of being an honest person and speaking accurately. But as the facts revealed themselves, I discovered that, without entering into the truth or changing one’s disposition, one can in no way speak accurately.

God’s Love Has Fortified My Heart

By Zhang Can, Liaoning Province

In my family, everyone has always gotten along very well. My husband is a very considerate and caring man, and my son is very sensible and always respectful to his elders. What’s more, we’ve been pretty affluent. In theory, I should have been very happy, but reality didn’t play out that way. No matter how well my husband and son treated me and no matter how well off we were, none of that could make me happy. I was never able to sleep at night because I developed arthritis and also suffered from severe insomnia, which led to reduced blood circulation to my brain and overall weakness in my limbs. The torment of these illnesses combined with the constant pressure of running a business caused me to live in unspeakable suffering. I tried to overcome it in many different ways, but nothing ever seemed to work.

Having Been Devastated by Demons, I Realize Even More How Precious God’s Grace Is

BY Xu Qiang, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

My name is Xu Qiang. I used to work as an engineering contractor, heading up large teams of people in engineering projects every year, and I made a respectable income. In the eyes of my peers, I had a perfect family, a smooth career, and limitless prospects; they must have thought me the luckiest of people. However, at the same time that I was enjoying a materialistic lifestyle, I always had an inexplicable feeling of emptiness. This was especially true in my constant efforts to land projects: I had to curry favor with the leaders of the relevant departments, endeavoring to read their thoughts through their body language and always needing to apply just the right amount of obsequiousness and flattery to get what I wanted; otherwise, I would not make any money. On top of all that, I had to deal with scheming among my colleagues, the guard they always kept up against each other, and their calculations. All this had me wracking my brains even more…. For these reasons, I felt very demoralized and extremely exhausted; I seemed to have turned into a puppet, a money-making machine, and I had completely lost all my dignity and integrity. This went on until 1999, when I accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days. I was deeply moved by the release brought by church life and the simplicity and honesty of my brothers and sisters. I wanted very much to live this life of the church, fellowshiping with my brothers and sisters about God’s word and talking with one another about our individual experiences and knowledge of God’s words. I also cherished times like these very much. As I kept on reading God’s utterances and participating in congregations, I came to understand many truths, and my soul found enormous release. I was especially glad that I had finally found the true way to live, and had found true happiness. My heart was filled with gratitude toward God: Had it not been for God’s having rescued me from the world’s sea of suffering, I would never have had anything to look forward to in life. Later, I began to actively spread the gospel, happily and tirelessly engaging with those people investigating the true way and enabling them, too, to hear God’s voice and gain Almighty God’s salvation.

Methods on How to Pray So That God Will Listen

Cheng Shi

Brothers and sisters:

Peace to you in the Lord! Praying is an important way for us Christians to establish a normal relationship with God. This is especially the case during the morning and at night. That is why learning how to pray is extremely important. However, many brothers and sisters feel perplexed: Every single day, we pray both in the morning and at night; we also pray before we eat and after we finish eating as well as when we have gatherings; furthermore, each time we pray, we say a lot to the Lord and pray for a long time. However, we always feel as if God is not there; it feels as if we are just talking to ourselves when we pray, and our spirit does not feel peace or joy. Why does God not listen to our prayers? How should we pray so that we can receive God’s praise?

How to Have True Faith in God

How to Have True Faith in God

By Huafei

Contents

Do We Have True Faith in the Lord?

What True Faith Really Is

1. Abraham’s Faith

2. Job’s Faith

True Stories of Faith in God: God Saved My Daughter From Death

True Stories of Faith in God: God Saved My Daughter From Death

By Li Qin

“Mom, my older sister was in a car accident and she’s at the Military District General Hospital in emergency care. The doctor said … he said that her injuries are really severe and they may not be able to save her. He said her family should get to the hospital as soon as possible and make preparations….” My youngest daughter was breaking down in tears over the phone. My legs suddenly went completely weak and I nearly fainted; tears streamed down my face and I felt like I had been stabbed through the heart. Just how badly was my daughter injured? How could I go on living if I lost her at such a young age? In the midst of my pain it occurred to me that since I’m a believer, I had to pray and lean on God—I knew He would certainly help and guide me.

Testimony of Faith: An Elderly Woman’s Liver Ascites Miraculously Heals After Leaning on God

Testimonies of Faith: An Elderly Woman’s Liver Ascites Miraculously Heals After Leaning on God

By Zhong Qin

Editor’s Note: “I believe in God so why would I suffer from this kind of illness? Why wouldn’t God protect me?” When we become ill we always tend to have these kinds of complaints about God. The woman in this story is no exception. When her condition deteriorates she starts to blame God because she’s unable to endure the torment of her illness, but when she genuinely prays to God and submits to His orchestrations and arrangements, she’s able to calmly face her own mortality and her condition miraculously improves. Do you want to know what her experience was? Please read on.

VI. The Differences Between Being Saved in the Age of Grace and Full Salvation in the Age of Kingdom

2. What are the essential differences between being saved and attaining full salvation?

Bible Verses for Reference:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever commits sin is the servant of sin. And the servant stays not in the house for ever: but the Son stays ever” (Jhn 8:34–35).

“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” (Mat 7:21).

Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life

Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life

Not just anyone can possess the way of life, nor can every single person easily obtain it. That is because life can only come from God, which is to say, only God Himself possesses the substance of life, and only God Himself has the way of life. And so only God is the source of life, and the ever-flowing wellspring of living water of life. Ever since He created the world, God has done much work involving the vitality of life, has done much work that brings life to man, and has paid a great price so that man might gain life. This is because God Himself is eternal life, and God Himself is the way by which man is resurrected. God is never absent from the heart of man, and He lives among man at all times. He has been the driving force of man’s living, the root of man’s existence, and a rich deposit for man’s existence after birth. He causes man to be reborn, and enables him to tenaciously live out his every role. Thanks to His power and His inextinguishable life force, man has lived for generation after generation, throughout which the power of God’s life has been the mainstay of man’s existence, and for which God has paid a price that no ordinary man has ever paid. God’s life force can prevail over any power; moreover, it exceeds any power. His life is eternal, His power extraordinary, and His life force is not easily overwhelmed by any created being or enemy force. The life force of God exists and shines its brilliant radiance regardless of time or place. Heaven and earth may undergo great changes, but God’s life is forever the same. All things may pass away, but God’s life will still remain, for God is the source of the existence of all things and the root of their existence. Man’s life originates from God, the existence of heaven is because of God, and the existence of earth stems from the power of God’s life. No object possessed of vitality can transcend the sovereignty of God, and no thing with vigor can elude the domain of God’s authority. In this way, regardless of who they are, everyone must submit under the dominion of God, everyone must live under God’s command, and no one can escape from His hands.

Do You Know the 4 Key Elements of Christian Prayer?

By Yang Yang

Brothers and sisters, we all know that praying to God is the most direct way for Christians to communicate with God. This is why, aside from morning and evening prayers, we pray at many other times such as when reading the Bible, when in gatherings, observing the Sabbath, or when we encounter difficulties. But are our prayers in accordance with the Lord’s will, and will He hear us? This is something that is important for every brother and sister to understand; otherwise, no matter how many times we pray or for how long, these prayers will not gain God’s approval. Actually, the Lord Jesus gave us these answers long ago, so together, let’s seek what the truth says in this regard!

The True Meaning of Rapture in the Bible

The True Meaning of Rapture in the Bible

By Zhang LiContents

Is Rapture Really Being Taken Up Into Heaven?

The True Meaning of Rapture

Chen Li was walking home after a gathering when she thought of what Sister Wang had just said to her about the Lord Jesus already having returned, and asking Chen Li to go to her house that afternoon to listen to a sermon. Thinking over what she had said, Chen Li couldn’t help but ask herself: “The Lord Jesus gave us a promise: ‘I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also’ (John 14:2–3). He went back up to heaven on a white cloud, so the place He’s preparing for us has to be in heaven, and when the Lord returns, He’ll take us straight into the kingdom of heaven. Plus, the pastors and elders often say that when He returns we’ll be raptured up and meet with the Lord—we’ll be together with Him. If the Lord Jesus had already returned we should have been raptured up by Him, so why we are all still here on earth?” At this thought, Chen Li furrowed her brows; her face was clouded with doubt.