Why the Lord Jesus Gave the KWhy the Lord Jesus Gave the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to Petereys of the Kingdom of Heaven to Peter

Why the Lord Jesus Gave the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to Peter

October 2, 2018

Yang Qing

Baffled From Reading the Bible

When I got up early in the morning, I made a prayer, then opened up the Bible to Matthew 16:19, where the Lord Jesus says to Peter: “And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Reading this passage of scripture, I became confused, thinking: “Peter didn’t do any great work nor were the epistles he wrote very famous. On top of that, when the Lord Jesus was arrested and stood trial, Peter denied Him three times. Why didn’t the Lord give the keys of the kingdom of heaven to other disciples, but only to Peter?” I searched and searched through the Scriptures, but nothing resolved my confusion. I had no choice but to go off to work.

Why the Lord Jesus Gave the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to Peter

What Is the Meaning of Christmas, and Are You Truly Worshiping the Lord Jesus?

What Is the Meaning of Christmas, and Are You Truly Worshiping the Lord Jesus?

December 8, 2018

By Siyuan

The Origins of Christmas

Every year, as Christmas approaches, shops on the street arrange a dazzling display of Christmas presents, with Santa Claus and Christmas trees, and so on. Festooned in trees and on buildings there are many-colored lights, and whole cities are decorated with lanterns and colored hangings, and everywhere there is joy and excitement. To Christianity, Christmas is a very special holiday, and several months before Christmas, many churches will begin to busy themselves preparing everything necessary for the Christmas holiday. On Christmas Day, the churches are filled, and brothers and sisters get involved in the celebrations, eating Christmas dinner, putting on performances and worshiping the Lord Jesus, and so on. Everyone’s face is flushed with happiness. However, when we get together in joyous gatherings to celebrate the Lord Jesus’ birth, do we understand the meaning of Christmas? Perhaps brothers and sisters will say, “The Lord Jesus was nailed upon the cross to redeem all mankind, and so as to remember and celebrate the Lord Jesus’ birth, Christians established Christmas. Though the specific day on which the Lord Jesus was born is not recorded in the Bible, Christmas gradually became a universal holiday in the wake of the expansion of Jesus Christ’s gospel.” We may have known this, but do we know God’s love and His will for us that was actually hidden behind the birth of the Lord Jesus? And how should we approach Christmas in a way that is after the Lord’s heart?

Can We Enter the Kingdom of Heaven Now That Our Sins Have Been Forgiven(Part 1)

Can We Enter the Kingdom of Heaven Now That Our Sins Have Been Forgiven (Part 1)

September 18, 2018

He Jun, Sichuan

Sunday August 5th, 2018. Cloudy.

Picture of The Church of Almighty God

After the meeting today, a brother came seeking me, his face filled with worry. He said that God requires people to be sanctified, but that he often involuntarily commits sin, and if he always lives like this in sin, then will he be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven when the Lord comes? I told him that the Lord Jesus was crucified and that He took upon Himself all our sins, paying the price with His life. I said that our sins had been forgiven because of our faith in the Lord Jesus, and that the Lord no longer saw us as sinners, and that as long as we could give up everything and expend ourselves, work hard for the Lord, and endure till the very end, then we would be raptured up into the kingdom of heaven when the Lord returned. After the brother heard me say this, he looked as though he hadn’t gotten the answer he’d wanted, and he left looking somewhat disappointed. As I watched him walk away, I felt some very complex emotions. To tell the truth, didn’t I have the same worries as this brother did? Thinking of how I had believed in the Lord for many years but had often been bound by sin, and had been living in a condition whereby I sinned in the daytime and confessed in the evening, I didn’t wish to keep living that way either. But I really wasn’t capable of overcoming sin, and so I often prayed to the Lord and strengthened my reading of the scriptures. And yet I never resolved the problem of my sins. The Lord is holy, so would He commend someone like me, so filled with sin?

The Church of Almighty God | “Pigeon” Mail

“Pigeon” Mail

Su Jie, China

One day in 1999, after the meeting had ended, the pastor said to me, “Su Jie, here is a letter for you.” As soon as I saw it, I knew that it came from the church I established in Shandong. I took the letter and on the way home, I thought as I walked: This letter is so thick, could it be that they have encountered some difficulties? …

The Tabernacle of God Is With Men

By Chen Bo, China

The Tabernacle of God Is With Men

Editors’ Note: Many brothers and sisters long for the day when they can be raised up into heaven and can meet the Lord, and this is the greatest dream of everyone who believes in the Lord. But it is prophesied in Revelation: “The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them….” This passage of scripture says that the kingdom of God will come on earth, so will we go up to heaven in the future, or will we be reunited with the Lord on earth? We trust you would all like to know the answer to this question. Today, we recommend a sister’s experiences for you to read, and we believe that, when you have finished reading it, you will all reap the harvest.

The Lord Has Appeared in the East(part1)

The Lord Has Appeared in the East(part1)

August 25, 2018

Qiu Zhen, China

One day, my sister phoned me and said that she was back from the north and that she had something important to tell me. She asked me to come over right away. I had a feeling about what might have happened and went to my sister’s house after the phone call. As soon as I entered and saw that my sister was reading a book, I felt relieved. My sister saw that I had arrived, suddenly stood up and said: “Sister! This time in the north I got some good news: The Lord Jesus has returned!”

Questions and Answers About Requirements for Entry Into the Kingdom of Heaven

Jesus-Bible-Almighty-God

Question 4: All of us have believed in the Lord for many years, and have always followed the example of Paul in our work for the Lord. We have been faithful to the name and way of the Lord, and the crown of righteousness surely awaits us. Today, we need only focus on working hard for the Lord, and watching for His return. Only thus, can we be taken into the kingdom of heaven. Because it is said in the Bible, “for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me” (Isaiah 49:23). We believe the Lord’s promise: He will take us into the kingdom of heaven at His return. Could there really be anything wrong with practicing in this way?

Answer: In watching for the arrival of the Lord, most people believe that they need only work hard for the Lord, and follow the example of Paul, thus can be directly taken into the kingdom of heaven when the Lord arrives. They think it is quite right to practice in this way, and no one disagrees. Yet we who believe in God should seek the truth in all things. Though practicing in that way is in keeping with people’s conceptions, is it in keeping with God’s wishes? I think we should know: God’s words are the principles of man’s actions, they are the standard by which all people, things, and matters are measured.

The Church of Almighty God | The Road to Purification

reading Almighty God's words

Christopher, Philippines

      My name is Christopher and I am a pastor from a family church in the Philippines. In 1987, I was baptized and returned to the Lord Jesus. By the Lord’s grace, in 1996 I became a pastor of the local church. At that time, apart from preaching in many places around the Philippines, I also preached in places like Hong Kong and Malaysia. Because of the work and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I felt that I had inexhaustible energy in my work for the Lord and an unceasing flow of words in my sermons. I would often go to support brothers and sisters when they were negative and weak. Sometimes members of their family who did not believe in the Lord were unfriendly toward me, yet I could be tolerant and patient and not lose faith in the Lord and I believed that the Lord could change them.

Is There Any Biblical Basis for the Statement “Once Saved, Always Saved” (Part 1)

Is There Any Biblical Basis for the Statement “Once Saved, Always Saved”

 (Part 1)

September 13, 2018

By Yang Xin, Shandong Province

The sun sank into the west, and the last light of the sinking sun spread across the world as I walked back home after a meeting, thinking of what the pastor had said: “Once saved, then we are always saved, for the Bible says, ‘That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation’ (Romans 10:9-10). As we believe in the Lord Jesus, as long as we believe in our hearts and acknowledge Him with our mouths, then we are saved, and if we are saved once then we are always saved. As long as we keep working and expending ourselves for the Lord and endure till the very end, then when the Lord returns, we will immediately be raptured up into the kingdom of heaven!” I gave an Amen to the pastor’s words: “Yes! The Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross so that we could be redeemed, so as long as we call upon the Lord’s name, confess our sins and repent to the Lord, then our sins will be absolved and we will be saved by His grace—once saved, always saved, and afterward we will surely be raptured up into the kingdom of heaven.” Over the years of my belief in the Lord, I had always firmly believed that this view was correct, and never once doubted it.

I Have Come Home (Part 1)

December 16, 2018

By Chu Keen Pong, Malaysia

God’s Wonderful Orchestration and Guidance

I have believed in the Lord for more than ten years and served in the church for two years, then left the church to go abroad for work. I have been to many places including Singapore and have earned a lot of money, but in this existence in modern society, where the strong prey on the weak, and where people compete with and scheme against each other, where each person tries to outdo the other in treachery, I have faced innumerable complex interpersonal relations and was always on my guard against others. They were also on their guard against me, and this gave me the feeling the whole time in the depths of my heart that I couldn’t find any stable ground to stand on. This way of life made me feel exhausted in body and spirit. The only thing that offered me any consolation was the diary I carried with me in which I kept some pages of scriptures I had excerpted. Sometimes I would read them and they would fill in the emptiness in my spirit. Even though I hadn’t gone to a church gathering in many years, since last year I just had one thing in mind: to find a church in which I could serve the Lord in earnest. After that, I took advantage of some free time to go to large and small churches in Malaysia but I always went there happy and left feeling discouraged. I always felt I was lacking something inside, but I could never figure out exactly what it was. In this contradictory state, I went to another extreme, just playing video games online and watching movies, sometimes playing all night or watching one movie after another. My work and sleep schedule were a mess. When I first started doing this I was somewhat conscious that the Lord was displeased with me, but I gradually became numb. It was just at that time that I lost my cell phone. At the time, I complained inwardly about it. My cell phone was lost, and with it a lot of data was gone, and I had no way to log in to Facebook…. On the surface, this was a bad thing, but I never expected that it would be a turning point for my life. It was just like the Chinese proverb, “An old man loses his horse, but who knows what good fortune will come?”

The Return of a Prodigal Son（Part 1)

February 26, 2018

Ruth, United States

I was born in a small town in southern China, and starting from my paternal great-grandmother’s generation, our family has believed in the Lord. Stories from the Bible, hymns of worship and ecclesiastical music in the church accompanied me as I passed through the happy days of my childhood. As I started getting older, pressure grew in my studies, and in my heart I started to slowly grow distant from the Lord. However, the Lord never left me, whenever I would call out for Him, He would help me. The grace and holy name of the Lord Jesus are rooted deep within my heart. I remember in the year I took the college entrance exam that no one thought I’d be able to test into a good college, and this included my teachers. Amidst all these setbacks I nearly gave up all hope, and I too thought that I certainly would not be able to test into the college I wanted to get into. But I inadvertently recalled a phrase I heard in the church in my childhood: “When people have reached their limit, that’s when God begins,” and in a flash it was as if I’d been enlightened: That’s right, my extremity is God’s opportunity, the Lord’s abilities are the greatest, I believe that as long as I sincerely rely on the Lord then He will certainly help me. Thereupon, I often prayed to the Lord Jesus: “Oh Lord, please help me, if I’m able to test into the college of my dreams without a hitch then starting from today I promise I will never shun You, and I will accept You as my only Savior in this life.” At the same time, I also paid a price that a normal person would be unable to imagine, during my entire senior year of high school, besides when I was eating and sleeping, I was practicing the piano. I was basically keeping up 10 to 12 hours of practice a day. I didn’t know where this strength was coming from that was supporting me, but I thought that it must be the Lord listening to my prayers and secretly helping me, and in my heart I gave more thanks to the Lord. In the end, I was awarded with my long-cherished wish by testing into one of the top music academies in the country, and as a result I believed firmly that the Lord Jesus was my only Savior. In my fourth year of college I didn’t know what path I should take after graduating, so I called on the Lord Jesus and asked the Lord to show me the way and set up a path for me to take. In 2004, shortly after America had gone through the 9/11 terrorist attack, when almost all visas for entry into America were frozen, I was relying on a music CD that I had recorded professionally for myself, and to my surprise I received a full-ride scholarship to a university in America. On top of that, I got a student visa without a hitch and went to America to pursue my studies. After experiencing these two events—testing into college and going abroad—I saw that the Lord had helped me to achieve goals that I would not have been able to achieve by relying solely on myself, and I was of even firmer conviction that the Lord Jesus is the true God and that He is my Savior, and I need to properly practice my faith in the Lord and follow the Lord.

I Have Come Home (Part 1)

By Chu Keen Pong, Malaysia

God’s Wonderful Orchestration and Guidance

I Have Come Home (Part 1)

I have believed in the Lord for more than ten years and served in the church for two years, then left the church to go abroad for work. I have been to many places including Singapore and have earned a lot of money, but in this existence in modern society, where the strong prey on the weak, and where people compete with and scheme against each other, where each person tries to outdo the other in treachery, I have faced innumerable complex interpersonal relations and was always on my guard against others. They were also on their guard against me, and this gave me the feeling the whole time in the depths of my heart that I couldn’t find any stable ground to stand on. This way of life made me feel exhausted in body and spirit. The only thing that offered me any consolation was the diary I carried with me in which I kept some pages of scriptures I had excerpted. Sometimes I would read them and they would fill in the emptiness in my spirit.

IX Questions and Answers About God’s Work of Judgment in the Last Days

Jesus-the Bible

Question 4: You said that the most prophesied thing in the Bible is God’s judgment work in the last days. There are at least 200 places in the Bible mentioning that God will come to carry out His judgment. This is completely true. This was stated even more clearly in 1 Peter 4:17: “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.” It seems God’s judgment work in the last days is a certainty. But what you witnessed is God coming into the flesh to do His judgment work in the last days. This is different to what we accept. We believe the Lord in the last days will appear to mankind and work in the form of Jesus’ spiritual body following the resurrection. This is also the view of the majority in religious circles. This concept of the returned Lord appearing to man and working in the flesh is something we still cannot see through. Please communicate some more with us.

The Church of Almighty God ｜I Have Come Home

I Have Come Home

By Chu Keen Pong, Malaysia

I have believed in the Lord for more than ten years and served in the church for two years, then left the church to go abroad for work. I have been to many places including Singapore and have earned a lot of money, but in this existence in modern society, where the strong prey on the weak, and where people compete with and scheme against each other, where each person tries to outdo the other in treachery, I have faced innumerable complex interpersonal relations and was always on my guard against others. They were also on their guard against me, and this gave me the feeling the whole time in the depths of my heart that I couldn’t find any stable ground to stand on. This way of life made me feel exhausted in body and spirit.

The Church Of Almighty God | Believing in God Without Obeying Truth Will Lead to Elimination

Believing in God Without Obeying Truth Will Lead to Elimination

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When God was doing the work of the Age of Law, the first time He used man, He used Moses to issue the laws and commandments of God. At that time, there were many Israelites who opposed Moses and who had some notions about Moses. What did they say? “God speaks to you, Moses, but does He not speak to us too? God enlightens you, but does He not also enlighten us? In what way are you different from us? Why is it you who will lead us?” Isn’t this what they

The Church of Almighty God ｜ That Day the Sky Was Especially Clear and Sunny

That Day the Sky Was Especially Clear and Sunny

By Tian Ying, China

I used to be a believer in the Three-Self Church in China. When I first started participating in gatherings, the pastors would often say to us: “Brothers and sisters, it is recorded in the Bible that: ‘For with the heart man believes to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation’ (Rom 10:10). We’ve been justified due to our faith. Since we believe in Jesus, we have been saved. If we believed in any other, then we wouldn’t have been saved….” I held on to these words of the pastors. As a result, I ardently pursued and actively attended gatherings as I waited for the Lord to come and let me into the kingdom of heaven. Later on, as unlawful deeds kept occurring in the church, it made me feel fed up with the gatherings there. Among the pastors they were divided and partitioned, each trying to establish themselves at the top of the faction and set up independent kingdoms. The sermons from the pastors needed to obey the United Front Work Department (UFWD).

The Road to Purification | Gospel Testimonies

The Road to Purification

Christopher, Philippines

My name is Christopher and I am a pastor from a family church in the Philippines. In 1987, I was baptized and returned to the Lord Jesus. By the Lord’s grace, in 1996 I became a pastor of the local church. At that time, apart from preaching in many places around the Philippines, I also preached in places like Hong Kong and Malaysia. Because of the work and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I felt that I had inexhaustible energy in my work for the Lord and an unceasing flow of words in my sermons. I would often go to support brothers and sisters when they were negative and weak. Sometimes members of their family who did not believe in the Lord were unfriendly toward me, yet I could be tolerant and patient and not lose faith in the Lord and I believed that the Lord could change them. So I felt like I had changed a great deal since believing in the Lord. However, since 2011, I have not felt the work of the Holy Spirit as strongly as before.

The Church of Almighty God ｜The Awakening of a Deceived Spirit

By Yuanzhi, Brazil

The Awakening of a Deceived Spirit

      I was born in a small city in Northern China. In 2010, I followed my relatives to Brazil. In Brazil, I got acquainted with a Christian friend. He brought me to church to listen to sermons. But though I went three times, I never absorbed it. Afterward, because my job was keeping me busy, I didn’t go to church again until one day in June, 2015, when my friend brought me to church once more. This time, through what brothers and sisters shared, I had some understanding that the Lord Jesus is the Redeemer. Especially, when I first read Genesis, I understood that man was actually created by God and that God had created all things, and I felt that the Creator is truly wondrous. In school, the textbooks had taught me that man evolved from apes and monkeys and all the things in the world were formed naturally. Suddenly, I felt that, for more than twenty years, I had been deceived. Only after reading the Bible did I completely awaken. From that point on, I believed in the Lord Jesus.

I Welcomed the Return of the Lord

By Qingxin, Myanmar

My parents are both Christians and from an early age I started going with them to church to attend services. At the age of 12 I attended a grand Christian camp in Myanmar, and while I was there a pastor told me: “The only way to avoid death and enter the kingdom of heaven is to be baptized.” And so in order to enter the kingdom of heaven I decided to get baptized while I was at the camp. From that time on, I became a genuine Christian.

I Have Come to Know How to Distinguish Between the True Christ and False Christs

I Have Come to Know How to Distinguish Between the True Christ and False Christs

Chuanyang, United States

In 2010, the winter in the United States made me feel very cold. In addition to the bitter cold from the combination of wind and snow, what was even more serious was that my heart had been invaded and attacked by a “cold wave.” For those of us in the interior decorating business, winter is the hardest time of the year, because once winter starts there is very little work. We even face losing our jobs. This year was my first year in the United States, I was fresh off the boat, and I felt that everything was unfamiliar to me. Renting an apartment, finding a job, nothing was easy, and my days were full of hardships. It got to the point to where I was borrowing money to rent an apartment. Being faced with this kind of predicament put me in a bout of sadness, and I felt like the days were really hard to bear. At night I faced the ice-cold wall, with so much pain in me that all I wanted to do was cry.