The Bible says, “But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Matthew 24:36) So, some brothers and sisters rely on this scripture to say that the Lord hasn’t come yet and don’t believe that the Lord has come now. Actually, this reasoning doesn’t hold water. The Lord comes to save people, so if he has come but doesn’t let people know it, how can people follow and believe in him? How can God accomplish his work of saving man? If we always stick to this word, won’t we never be able to see the Lord’s coming again? What then does this verse mean? Actually, if we consider it in light of the previous verses, we will understand. Matthew 24:32-36 says, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near: So likewise you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Truly I say to you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” We all know that these versesare talking about the sign of the Lord’s coming again. From the word “it is near, even at the doors,” we can understand that the Son of man is already at the door, but we don’t know when, on which day or at which moment he will enter the door. That is to say, no one knows about“that day” or “that hour,” and no one knows about the time when “the Son of man” (the incarnated God) comes to the world, that is, no one knows on which day or at which momentthe Lord will descend, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (the Spirit). As Almighty God says, “When all men were unaware and the day was just dawning, God came to earth and started his life in the flesh. When this moment came, men did not know it. Maybe all men were fast asleep, maybe many watchful men were waiting, or maybe many men were praying silently to the God in heaven. But among these many men, no one knew that God had come to earth.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh)
Almighty God’s words make us clearer that “no one knows about that day or hour” means that no one knows about the moment at which Christ will come. However, after Christ comes, he will surely let men know it, because the purpose of God’s being incarnated and coming to the world is to save men. If he has come but doesn’t let men know, how can they receive salvation from him? With respect to his coming again, the Lord Jesus said, “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him.” (Matthew 25:6) “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20) From these two verses we can see that after the Lord comes, there are men who know it, because when he comes, he will ask us to meet him, and he will seat with those who hear his voice and open the door. Thus, it is completely wrong for us to understand the word “of that day and hour knows no man” in Matthew 24:36 as meaning that no one knows about it even after the Lord comes.
Some brothers and sisters may ask: Since you say that the Lord has come, how did you know it?
Before we answer this question, let’s first see how those followers of the Lord Jesus at that time knew that the Lord Jesus was the Messiah. For example, after Philip believed in the Lord, he told Nathanael that he found the one about whom the prophets wrote and he was Jesus. At that time Nathanael had a notion, thinking, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” But he still went to see Jesus. From Jesus’ words, Nathanael recognized that Jesus was “the Son of God” and was “the King of Israel,” and then he followed the Lord Jesus. (cf. John 1:45-46) Also, the woman of Samaria recognized that Jesus was the Messiah who was prophesied to come, because Jesus told her all that she ever did. (cf. John 4:15-29) Still, the other disciples of Jesus, Peter, James, John, Matthew, and so on, when the Lord called them, they didn’t know that Jesuswas the Messiah, but after they contacted Jesus, they knew that he was the Lord who had come through Jesus’ words and works. For example, Peter received inspiration and enlightenment from the Holy Spirit in the course of contacting Jesus, and knew that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. (cf. Matthew 16:15-17) … These instances show us that when we hear the message about the Lord’s coming or when God sends someone to call us, as long as we have a thirsty and seeking heart and are willing to listen to the message and seek the verification, we’ll have the opportunity to receive inspiration from God and come before God’s presence. That is to say, if we want to ascertain the news that God has come, we should seek the verification from Christ’s words and works. Those who followed Jesus at that time, through hearing Jesus’ words and seeing his deeds, recognized that Jesus was the Messiah who was to come. Besides, still more people knew that Jesus was “from God” because they had seen that Jesus could make the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who had leprosy be cured, and the dead be raised. As the Bible says, “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.” (John 2:23) “The same came to Jesus by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that you do, except God be with him.” (John 3:2) From these we can see that before Jesus came, men didn’t know the exact date when the Lord would come, but when Jesus came to earth and did his work, they knew that Jesus was the coming Messiah because they heard Jesus’ preaching and saw his work. Also, after Jesus’ resurrection, he commissioned his disciples to preach the gospel of the cross to all nations. As the Bible says, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you: and, see, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:18-20) “But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come on you: and you shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Thus, we can see that Jesus Christ’s gospel was passed down by those who first knew that Jesus was the Messiah who had come after Jesus came and did his work. In this way, the Lord’s gospel of the cross is passed down from generation to generation up to this day.
Now is the end time; though the age is different, the principle of God’s working is the same. Before God testifies the Christ publicly, no one knows that the Lord has returned in the flesh, much less know on which day or hour the Lord came. But after the incarnated God begins to work, through hearing the messages preached by those who have accepted God’s new work and reading God’s personal utterance and word, we know that the Lord has already come and he is Almighty God of today. This is just as we believed in the Lord at that time through hearing others preach the gospel of the cross, and it is completely in accordance with the word, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” So, we should imitate Nathanael and drop our notions first and listen to the way of Almighty God. As long as we come before God to seek and investigate with a humble and devout heart, we can surely receive God’s inspiration and guidance, recognize the returned Lord, understand God’s word, and gain the truth.
Almighty God tells us, “Now God has done a new work. Maybe you cannot accept this word or maybe you feel it surprising. But I advise you first not to show your naturalness, for only those who truly hunger and thirst for righteousness before God can receive the truth and only those who are truly devout can receive God’s inspiration and guidance. In seeking the truth, we cannot obtain results through arguing and disputing but can only obtain results through seeking calmly and peaceably. The word ‘Now God has again done a new work’ I say refers to the matter of God’s returning in the flesh again. Maybe you do not mind this word, maybe you are very disgusted with it, or maybe you are very interested in it. In any case, I still hope that all those who genuinely thirst after God’s appearing can face this fact and carefully investigate this fact and had better not make a judgment lightly. This is what a sensible man should do.
It is not difficult to investigate such a thing. But it requires every one of us to first know such a truth: Since a flesh is God’s incarnated flesh, he has God’s substance; since aflesh is God’s incarnated flesh, he has God’s expression. Since God is incarnated, he will bring the work he wants to do; since a flesh is God’s incarnated flesh, he will express what God is; since a flesh is God’s incarnated flesh, he can bring man the truth, bestow to man the life, and show man the way. If a flesh does not have God’s substance, he is certainly not the incarnated God. This is beyond doubt. If people want to investigate whether aflesh is God’s incarnated flesh, they have to ascertain that from the disposition and the word he expresses. That is to say, to ascertain whether a flesh is God’s incarnated flesh or whether a way is the true way, people must discern that from his substance. So, whethera flesh is God’s incarnated flesh mainly depends on his substance (his work, word, disposition, and more other aspects), not on his appearance.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh)
We should know that since God comes to earth in the end time just to save man, he will surely bring the work he needs to do, express the word he needs to speak, and reveal his disposition. From Almighty God’s word, work, and disposition, we can see that he has God’s substance and has what God is, and then we can recognize that he is the returned Lord and is the incarnated God. The brothers and sisters who are familiar with the Bible all know that in the end time, God will break the seven seals and open the scroll, the Holy Spirit will speak to the churches and guide us into all the truths, and God will separate the sheep from the goats and the wheat from the tares, reward the good and punish the evil, and decide man’s outcome. That is to say, in the end time, God will express new words; he will express the mysteries and the truths that we have never heard before, do the work of judging man, and thereby reveal man and destroy the evildoers and bring those who have been purified by his word into the pleasantdestination. Almighty God has expressed the truths that we have never heard and has revealed all the mysteries that we didn’t understand, such as the inside truth and the substance of the three stages of works of God’s saving mankind, the mystery of the incarnation, the principles of the Holy Spirit’s working, God’s disposition, God’s substance, what God has and is, how mankind has developed until today, how satan corrupts man, what man’s corrupt nature is, how man should walk the way of pursuing the truth, having his disposition transformed, and being saved by God, how man should perform his duty properly to satisfy God, how to know God and worship God, what the lake of fire and brimstone, the seven bowls, the seven plagues, and the tree of life mentioned in Revelation refer to, and so on. No created being is able to express these truths, and only God can disclose these mysteries, because only God is the truth, the way, and the life, only God knows all things, only God can do the work of saving mankind, and only God can disclose the inside truth and substance of his work of salvation so clearly. After having read many of the words of the truth of Almighty God and experienced the work of God’s word for a period of time, we have realized in different degrees that all that Almighty God expresses is what God has and is. From many aspects such as God’s word, God’s disposition, God’s substance, God’s wisdom and wonderfulness, God’s love for mankind, God’s attitudes toward different kinds of people, God’s disclosing of satan and the world, and so on, we see that Almighty God is precisely the returned Lord whom we have been expecting and is precisely the end-time Christ!
The
Church of Almighty God came into being because of the work of the
returned Lord Jesus—the end-time Christ, “Almighty
God”—in China, and it isn't established by any person. Christ
is the truth, the way, and the life. After reading God’s
expression, you will see that God has appeared.
Website: http://www.holyspiritspeaks.org/
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