We are all followers of the Lord Jesus.
Why is this not enough to gain the way of eternal life?
The words of Lord Jesus in the Age of Grace were the way of repentance.
The returned Lord Jesus will express the truth
and give man the way of eternal life.
Only Christ of the last days can bestow the way of eternal life,
and only if we believe in Almighty God can we gain this truth and life.
Amen!
Everyone,
during this time, I've listened to the fellowship of the Church of Almighty God
and have read many of Almighty God's words.
When it comes to the inner truth of the Bible,
the relationship of God and the Bible, and how we should treat the Bible
as well as the true meaning of faith in God,
God's management plan to save humanity,
how to experience God's work,
how to seek truth and attain salvation and perfection,
and the right way to practice our faith—
about all these things, I began to understand. (Amen.)
What Almighty God expresses is the truth and is the voice of God. (Amen.)
It is the word of the Holy Spirit to the churches. (Amen!)
I believe Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus. (Amen.)
This is great! The Lord has returned? This is so great!
Elder Liu, has the Lord really returned? (Yes!)
It's really true? (The Lord has returned.)
The Lord really has returned!
Impossible.
Amazing! I can't believe it!
If this is true, why didn't I see Him?
Please settle down, please settle down, I'll explain it.
Today, I've invited preachers of the Church of Almighty God
to talk to us, (Good! Great!)
to help us seek the truth and examine the true way,
so we can hear the voice of God, be brought before His throne,
be purified before the judgment seat of Christ and attain salvation.
Amen!
Welcome them!
If you have any questions, please ask any time.
They will fellowship and answer them for us. (Okay.)
Brother Gao. (Mm.)
Everyone, thanks be to God for giving us this opportunity
to gather together and fellowship. (Thanks be to God.)
Feel free to ask questions at any time.
Almighty God's word can resolve all our difficulties at any time.
Amen!
Brother Gao, in our last fellowship,
we learned about the true relationship between the Bible and God.
The Bible is the Bible, God is God.
They are different, and they can't be thought of as the same.
Praise God!
We should all hold God to be great and worship Him, obey Him, fear Him.
We can't use the Bible to replace Him. (Right.)
Man has blind faith in the Bible, seeing the Bible as equal to God.
This is simply blasphemous to God.
Yes.
But many people might be confused by this.
Since the Bible's a record of God's word and man's testimony,
why can't we receive eternal life from reading the Bible?
The Bible is a testimony to God's work and has been so beneficial to mankind.
Through reading the Bible,
man comes to acknowledge God as the Creator of all things;
he comes to learn of God's omnipotence and deeds how great they are.
Amen.
So since the Bible contains God's words,
why is the way of eternal life not found in the Bible?
Yes. Right. Why?
Everyone has yet to understand this aspect.
Brother Gao, please fellowship with us on this.
Yes, please fellowship with us.
That's right. Seeing as the Bible is so important to man,
why doesn't it have the way of eternal life? (Yeah, why?)
You say the Bible can't give eternal life,
so why do I have some doubts?
Please discuss this with me. (I do wonder that.)
You know, I also wonder this. Please fellowship with us.
Please let's hear it.
Brothers and sisters, with the Bible,
we understand that God is the Creator of all things.
It lets us see His wondrous deeds.
That's because the Bible is a testimony to God's past works.
It is a record of His word and work
and the testimony of man in the first two ages.
So of course, the Bible is important to our faith. (Yes.)
It's true, if not for the Bible,
how would man come to understand the words of the Lord?
How else could man know God's deeds and begin to develop his true faith?
Yeah.
If we don't read the Bible,
how else would we find the testimony of all the saints
throughout the ages obeying God?
So reading the Bible is essential to practicing faith,
and no believer of the Lord should go without reading it.
You could say he who goes astray from the Bible could not believe in the Lord.
Yeah. That's right. That's true.
The saints throughout the ages have verified this fact.
No one denies the value of the Bible when it comes to practicing faith.
So then, saints through the ages all agreed the Bible is very important
and should be read.
Some would say reading the Bible and praying are essential,
just like our two legs both are needed.
Mm. Yes, of course.
But the Lord Jesus has said,
Yes. Amen.
Well, some people are confused.
They think that since the Bible contains God's word and man's testimony,
reading the Bible should give man eternal life. (Right. Yes.)
Why is it the Lord Jesus said eternal life is not in the Bible?
Yeah, why did He say this?
What is that about?
Actually, it's not that hard to understand.
Just as long as we understand the inside story of God's work
in the Age of Law and Age of Grace
and what they each achieved,
we'll come to understand why we can't receive eternal life in the Bible.
First, let's look at the Age of Law.
In this age, Jehovah issued laws and commandments for man to follow.
His words were a guide for humanity which was newly born.
These words did not involve changing man's life disposition.
So God, during the Age of Law, aimed to make people follow and abide
by the laws and commandments.
And although these words were truth, this truth was superficial.
During the Age of Grace,
the Lord Jesus' words and work focused more instead on redemption.
His words were about redemption,
and they taught people they should confess their sins
and repent and refrain from evildoing,
and they taught how to pray
and demanded that man must love the Lord with all their heart and soul,
love their neighbor as themselves,
be tolerant and patient, and forgive others seventy times seven times, etc.
These are all included in the way of repentance.
Yes.
So then, by reading the Bible,
man understands the work of God in the Age of Law and the Age of Grace.
They learn that all things are created by God
and learn how to live on earth and how to worship God.
They understand what is sin, who are God's blessed and who are cursed by God.
They come to know how to confess their sins and repent.
They learn humility, forbearance, and forgiveness,
and how to take up the cross and follow Lord.
They learn about unlimited mercy and compassion of Lord Jesus, (Amen!)
and learn that only by coming before Lord Jesus in faith
will they enjoy His abundant grace and the truth.
Amen!
The words and work of God during the Age of Law and the Age of Grace
as written in the Bible
were the truth spoken by God according to His management plan
and the needs of mankind at that time.
These truths caused man to adopt some good behaviors,
but they were unable to solve the root of sin,
to change man's life disposition
or allow mankind to attain purification, salvation, and perfection.
Thus, the words said by the Lord Jesus in this age
can only be called the way of repentance,
not the way of eternal life.
Amen.
The Lord Jesus gave way of repentance, not way of eternal life.
You know, it all makes sense now.
Then what is the way of eternal life?
Well, let's hear his answer.
Brothers and sisters, so what is the way of eternal life?
The way of eternal life is the way of truth that lets man live forever;
the way that allows man to cast off the binds of his own sinful nature,
change his own disposition and gain the truth, the truth as life,
break free of Satan's influence and become compatible with Christ.
It allows man to know, obey, and revere God
so as to never again sin or oppose or betray God.
Only with this effect can it be called the way of eternal life. (Amen!)
Amen.
Man dies as a result of sin.
If man attains the truth as life and resolves his sin,
then of course God will bless him with eternal life. (Thanks be to God.)
So then, only by receiving salvation in the last days
can man enjoy the way of eternal life that God has given us.
Amen!
Thanks be to God.
I finally understand why the way of eternal life isn't in the Bible.
As it turns out, the Bible only records God's words and work
during the Age of Law and the Age of Grace,
is not the way of eternal life God expresses in the last days.
Of course you're right.
Without this fellowship today, we might never have realized.
Thanks be to God! (Right. Yes!)
The fellowship is clear today.
Thanks be to the Lord. This fellowship has been a great help to me.
The Bible is merely a record of the first two stages of God's work.
So if we only read the Bible, we cannot gain eternal life. (Yes.)
The Bible can't give eternal life. Of this, there is no doubt.
Thanks be to God.
But we believe, by following the Lord, we can achieve it. (Right.)
The Lord's own words back this up.
Amen.
This passage is the Lord Jesus' promise. (Yes.)
The Lord Jesus can grant eternal life.
His way is the way of eternal life. (Amen.)
However,
you testify that Christ of the last days brings us the way of eternal life.
I don't quite understand this.
We are all followers of the Lord Jesus.
Why is this not enough to gain the way of eternal life?
We can gain the way of eternal life this way, right?
My brothers, please fellowship on this issue.
Yes, fellowship. Let us know, please.
He's right. The Lord Jesus is Son of man. Is He not Christ?
The Bible says,
Didn't Lord Jesus have the way of eternal life?
By believing in the Lord Jesus,
we should then also have the way of eternal life.
So why do we also have to accept the words and work of Christ in the last days?
I'm also unsure of this. I'd like to learn more about this.
Yes, fellowship, please. We'd like to learn more.
Alright.
Everyone, the Lord Jesus is God become flesh, is God's appearance.
Amen.
The Bible says,
All these words are truth. They are fact.
Lord Jesus is God become flesh.
He has God's substance and identity.
He Himself is the way of eternal life. (Amen.)
All He says and does is a manifestation of God's life.
All He expresses is truth and what God is.
Amen.
So Lord Jesus Himself is eternal life
and can grant the way of eternal life. (Amen.)
He can bring the dead back to life.
By believing in Lord Jesus, the one true God, we can receive eternal life.
This is known fact. (Amen.)
There is proof in the resurrection of Lazarus,
proof that Lord Jesus can give us eternal life,
and He has this authority. (Amen!)
Then, why did Lord Jesus not grant way of eternal life in the Age of Grace?
Yeah. Right. Why is that?
Because Lord Jesus had to be nailed to the cross to redeem mankind,
not for the work of purification and salvation in the last days.
The Lord Jesus' work of redemption only pardoned man's sins,
but it did not rid man of his satanic nature and disposition.
So yes, with belief man was pardoned for his sins,
but his satanic nature was never cleansed.
Man still sins in spite of himself and betrays God.
Isn't this undeniable? (Indeed.)
Mm. Having said this, let's be clear on something.
Lord Jesus' work during the Age of Grace
paved the way for the judgment of the last days
so that after Lord Jesus completed the work of redemption,
He promised He would come again. (Oh …)
The Lord Jesus once said,
Amen!
From the words of Lord Jesus, we can see
only when the Lord comes again will He express all truth that saves man.
Here,
These truths are exactly the truths
that Almighty God of the last days expresses
in purifying and saving mankind. (Amen!)
They are the words the Holy Spirit says to the churches, (Amen.)
also the way of eternal life
which God in the last days gives to mankind. (Amen!)
That is why the Lord's followers
were unable to obtain eternal life in the Age of Grace.
Amen!
Oh …
I see. Only the returned Lord Jesus can give the way of eternal life.
Yes, this fellowship made it so clear. (Yes, thanks be to God.)
Yes, praise Almighty God.
And the Bible also says,
However, the Lord said this to testify that He is God's appearance,
and only He can grant man eternal life.
The Lord Jesus' promise that those who believe in Him would never die
is a testimony to God's authority.
God Himself is the way of eternal life, (Amen.)
and He can grant us eternal life. (Amen!)
That's not to say
man receives eternal life only upon accepting Lord's work. (Right.)
I trust everyone understands this. (Yes.)
But many religious people think that
as long as their sins are forgiven, they'll enter the kingdom of heaven.
Is there basis for this found in the word of God?
No. There's not. There isn't.
Right. Lord Jesus never said anything like that.
Why don't we really think about it.
According to our imagination,
as long as our sins are forgiven, we can enter the kingdom of heaven.
But why did Lord Jesus prophesy that He would come again?
Yeah.
And why did He tell His disciples so many prophecies, so many parables?
These are things He is going to accomplish when He returns.
Can we believe in the Lord for years and still not know this?
Ah, yes.
We need this fellowship to understand.
If man only accepts the Lord but not His return, that's an issue.
Isn't this betraying the Lord? (It's true.)
No wonder Lord Jesus said,
Amen!
And now, the Lord's words come completely true.
If you accept the Lord Jesus but don't accept His return,
do you really believe in the Son? (No, we don't.)
This is betrayal of the Lord.
True believers in the Son refer to those
who not only believe in the Lord but accept His return,
following Christ to the end.
Only they can gain eternal life. (Amen!)
Those who believe in Lord Jesus but reject Almighty God
are people who betray Lord Jesus.
They believe in the Lord
but because they don't follow God to the end,
their belief is for nothing, and they fail.
Yes, of course.
The Lord Jesus has determined that they are evildoers
because they only acknowledge His name,
but they don't accept His return.
He had said,
Amen.
Those people who are condemned and cast out by the Lord,
those who only keep His name,
how can they gain eternal life? (No, they can't. It's impossible.)
Yes. It is known they'll gain nothing.
They will descend into hell and suffer.
This is proof of God's righteous, holy disposition.
Don't you think that's the case?
Yes!
Brother Gao was right.
We once read the Lord's words,
I always thought belief in Lord Jesus gave man eternal life.
But after this fellowship, I understand more now. (Yes. Thanks be to God!)
Not only must we believe in Him, we must also accept His return.
Then we'll have eternal life! (Amen!)
Now I see how important it is to accept the work of the returned Lord Jesus.
That's right, we can't miss this opportunity! (That's right!)
We can't! Praise God.
Brothers and sisters,
we all know this fact that even though man accepted Lord's redemption,
and their sins were forgiven and they were given the right to pray to God
and enjoy His grace and blessings,
it can't be denied that man is still being controlled
by their nature of sinning.
Yes, that's right.
And they're incapable of practicing Lord's word, obeying and revering God.
Man often still lies and deceives God, (Yes.)
they seek fame and fortune,
lust for wealth and follow worldly trends. (Mm.)
Especially when the work of God is not in line with man's notions,
mankind blames, resists God, judges God.
These people can't even really repent.
So can they obtain the Lord's approval?
Absolutely not.
How can they gain Lord's approval without repenting? (I agree.)
Though many men are able to testify and be martyred for the Lord,
and all have even truly repented,
in all honesty, have they been cleansed so that they may attain holiness?
No, they haven't. Definitely not. They haven't.
So have they truly known the Lord? (No.)
Are they rid of Satan's influence and gained by God? (No, they are not.)
Right, they are not. This is known fact.
This proves the work of Lord Jesus in the Age of Grace was for redemption,
not salvation and perfection of the last days.
The words of Lord Jesus in the Age of Grace were the way of repentance,
not the way of eternal life. (Amen.)
That's why Lord Jesus said that He would come again.
The returned Lord Jesus will express the truth
and give man the way of eternal life. (Amen!)
So then, they can break free from Satan's influence and gain truth as life,
and they become men who know God, obey God, and are compatible with Him.
So they can enter the kingdom of heaven. (Amen!)
Based on Lord Jesus' redemption,
Almighty God has commenced the work of judgment starting from God's house
and has expressed all truths to purify and save mankind.
He has revealed God's righteous, majestic, unoffendable disposition, (Amen!)
judged and exposed man's corruption by Satan.
He has unearthed the root of man's rebellion
and told man all of God's intentions and requirements.
Also, He's told mankind all truths we need to achieve salvation,
including the inside story and essence of three stages of God's work
and the relationship of these stages,
the difference between the work of God and the work of man,
the truth of the Bible,
the mystery of the judgment of the last days, the rapture of the wise virgins,
perfecting people into overcomers before the disasters,
and God becoming flesh, what is to truly believe in, obey, and love God,
how to revere God and shun evil, be compatible with Christ,
and how to live a life of meaning and so on.
These truths are the way of eternal life
and are all bestowed by God to mankind in the last days. (Amen!)
The truths from Almighty God are the way of eternal life.
Within the religion, that's something we could never attain. (Yes.)
So then,
if we want to attain truth and life, salvation, and also be perfected,
then we must accept and obey the words and work of Almighty God. (Amen!)
This is the only way that man may attain truth and life. (Amen!)
Thanks be to God!
Let us look at the words of Almighty God. (Yes.)
Brother, may we have a book of God's word? (Of course.)
The word of Almighty God.
Brother Chen, can you please hand these out? (Certainly.)
We'd like one over here, please!
Sister, yeah, we need some over here! (Oh, thanks.)
May I have one as well?
This is wonderful.
The word of Almighty God!
This is God's word.
Please turn to page 1459. (Yes.)
Amen.
Turn to page 1460.
Amen!
Amen.
Amen!
Almighty God has explained the path
for us to gain truth and the everlasting life so clearly,
and told us explicitly what will be the end result for us
if we only cling to the Bible and don't accept Christ of the last days. (Yes!)
How ignorant would we be to not accept Almighty God! (Yes! Indeed.)
Yes. Because we have heard the voice of God,
we can't cling to the Bible anymore. (Amen!)
We must accept and obey the words and work of God in the last days! (Amen!)
Yes.
Now, I understand what the Bible means
by "He that believes on the Son has everlasting life."
Thanks be to God!
"Believing on the son" also means
believing in the second coming of the Lord Jesus, (Amen!)
accepting all the truths of Christ of the last days. (Amen!)
Only in this way can we gain the way of eternal life. (Amen!)
Thanks be to Almighty God!
Thanks be to God!
Almighty God has expressed truths
which will purify and save mankind in the last days. (Amen!)
These words are abundant, comprehensive and give all the sustenance we need.
They open our eyes and give us knowledge, (Amen.)
letting us see Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. (Amen.)
Christ is the way of eternal life. (Amen!)
The words that God expresses in the Age of Kingdom reach far beyond anything
that was said in the Age of Law and the Age of Grace. (Mm. Yes.)
Especially, as in "God's Utterances to the Entire Universe"
in The Word Appears in the Flesh,
God makes Himself known for the first time.
It is also the first time
humankind hears the Creator's utterances to all of man. (Amen!)
This has sent shockwaves through the entire universe
and opened the eyes of man.
This is the work of judgment
before the great white throne in the last days. (Amen!)
The Age of Kingdom is when God does His work of judgment,
and God's righteous disposition is made manifest to all mankind. (Amen!)
So, in the Age of Kingdom,
God expresses His word, judging, purifying and perfecting man.
He'll send down disasters.
The bad will be punished, the good rewarded.
We will see God's righteousness, majesty, and wrath.
Amen!
Truths from Almighty God aim to purify, save and perfect mankind
and are the way of eternal life in the last days. (Amen!)
These truths are the water of life which flows from the throne. (Amen!)
It's great! (So great.)
Thanks be to God. (Mm. Thanks be to God.)
So then, to attain the way of eternal life
and rapture into the kingdom of heaven,
man must accept the work of judgment of Almighty God,
Christ of the last days, (Amen!)
as well as the judgment and chastisement of His words. (Amen.)
This way, they can gain the work of the Holy Spirit, (Amen.)
understand and gain the truth,
and then be purified and be saved. (Amen.)
Only those who undergo God's judgment in the last days
are entitled to enter the kingdom of heaven. (Amen.)
This is absolutely a fact. (Amen.)
Therefore, if some continue to hold onto their religious notions,
in the end, they will suffer loss. (Right.)
The wise virgins focus on the truth and hear God's word,
and the foolish virgins keep to the letters of the Bible
and their own imaginations.
Those men don't hear God's voice, they don't seek the truth.
But one day, they'll fall into disaster, and they will suffer.
They won't be able to escape. (Yeah.)
Those who do not accept Almighty God will all fall into disasters and suffer.
God has ordained this. It cannot be changed. (Amen!)
Those who condemn the work of Almighty God in the last days
have been revealed by God to be antichrists in the last days.
They will be punished for all eternity,
and they have lost their chance to ever meet God. (Yes. That's right.)
It is clear the work of Almighty God is to classify man according to kind
and bring the age to an end. (Amen!)
Today, we are able to accept Almighty God's work,
and we have received His grace and mercy.
We have been raised up by Him. (Amen!)
We should give thanks to Almighty God. (Thanks be to God!)
Praise God.
Praise Almighty God!
We should truly thank Almighty God.
We are really blessed. Amen!
I thank God for His grace.
Recently, with the help of the fellowship here,
I've come to understand the truth.
As for God's three-stage work of salvation, substance of Christ
and the source of truth and life as well as the way of eternal life,
all of these I understand finally! (Amen!)
Truths of Almighty God are abundant for us, are full sustenance from God.
I know no matter what difficulties and questions we have,
we can always find the answer and resolution in the words of Almighty God.
The more I read these words, the more I am sure
Almighty God is the embodiment of the Spirit of truth. (Amen!)
He guides us to understand the truth in a practical way, (Amen!)
and provides for our every need. (Yes.)
Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus, (Amen!)
and comes bearing the way of eternal life. (Amen!)
Thanks be to Almighty God! (Thanks be to God!)
Praise God!
I've learned so much from the words of Almighty God
just in the past few days alone.
You could say, I learned more now than in decades of faith before.
Almighty God has opened the door to every truth and mystery
and clarified His management plan, mystery of the incarnation,
and the inside story of the Bible for all of us to finally understand.
Yes.
The words of Almighty God have solved so many things for me in faith,
letting … letting me no longer be blind, blindly worshiping the Bible,
but learning the Bible does not have eternal life.
Only Christ is the life, the truth, and the way. (Amen!)
Only Christ of the last days can bestow the way of eternal life,
and only if we believe in Almighty God can we gain this truth and life. (Amen!)
And now I … I feel very strongly
that only belief in God incarnate and experiencing His words and work
qualifies as true belief in God.
It lets us know the truth, truly understand Him and obey Him. (Amen!)
In this way, we'll receive God's approval. (Amen!)
Praise God!