What Should We Infer From the Seeming Reappearance of the Time of Noah?
As we watch this unfold, we are put in mind of the time of Noah. The people of that time cared little about whether God existed or not, nor did they revere God or follow His teachings. On the contrary, they committed all manner of God-defying evil deeds, such as murder, arson, theft and robbery. They were promiscuous by nature, they married over and over, their thoughts and actions reeked of evil and they were intolerably corrupt. They were therefore punished by God and destroyed by flood. Nowadays, the people of the world are just as corrupt and wicked as the people were in the time of Noah, more so even. Two thousand years ago, the Lord Jesus prophesied: “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. … Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed” (Luke 17:26–30). The Lord’s words tell us something very important: When people in the last days have become as corrupt and wicked as the people in the time of Noah, that shall be the day of the coming of the Son of man, the day the Lord returns. So how can we board the ark of the last days before the great tribulation arrives?
What Are the Principles of God’s Work to Save Man?
If we wish to board the ark of the last days, we may first think back to the principles of God’s work to save man in the time of Noah. At that time, mankind had reached the height of wickedness and depravity and had aggravated God’s disposition. God did not destroy the people of that time immediately, however, but instead worked to save man. First, God called on Noah to build the ark, then He used Noah to spread the gospel to the people of that time, telling them that God would perform the work of destroying the world. Noah told them that they must repent, accept God’s gospel, and board the ark, and that only in that way would they survive. Noah preached this gospel for over a hundred years and this was the time during which God gave people the chance to repent—this was God’s love for man. But mankind at that time did not believe Noah. They mocked him, and they relied on their own notions and imaginings to delimit God’s work, believing it impossible that God would bring down floods to destroy the world. They refused to believe in anything they could not see with their own eyes, and so not one of them accepted God’s gospel. When God had finished His work to save man, He began to unleash the floods to punish all evil-doers. At that time, the door of the ark was sealed shut, and apart from the eight people of Noah’s family who survived, everyone else, all those who had defied God and committed all manner of evil, were swept away by the floods—they had missed their chance to be saved by God. From this, we can see that God’s principles in His work to save man can be divided into two stages: First He tries to save man, then He destroys them. God’s work to save man is Him giving man a chance to repent, and it is also done to expose man and to separate each according to their kind. Those who are able to heed God’s words and act as God requires, and those who do not believe God’s words, who refuse to accept God’s work of salvation, but who instead defy and rebel against God, are all entirely exposed through God’s work of salvation. Only after God separates the good from the wicked does He begin the work of determining people’s ends and of rewarding the good and punishing the wicked. People’s ends are then set and the wicked are destroyed, and God’s love and righteousness are embodied therein.
Actually, the Lord, when He returns in the last days, also works first to save man, then He appears openly to reward the good and punish the wicked. That is, if we wish to board the ark of the last days, then we must first accept the work of the secret coming of God. At this point, many brothers and sisters may be feeling skeptical, and may be wondering, “Will the Lord not come openly riding on a white cloud when He returns in the last days?” They wonder this because it says in the Bible, “Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him” (Revelation 1:7). If the Lord really were to come openly with clouds, as we believe, then no one would dare to resist God, and how then would the work of discerning good from evil come to pass? We should take a careful look at the Bible, as besides the verses which prophesy that God will come openly with clouds, there are also many verses describing how God will come in secret.
The Lord Will First Come in Secret When He Returns in the Last Days
There are many verses in the Bible which mention God coming in secret, for example: “Behold, I come as a thief” (Revelation 16:15). “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” (Matthew 25:6). “For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:27). “Therefore be you also ready: for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man comes” (Matthew 24:44). “For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines to the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in His day. But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation” (Luke 17:24–25). These prophecies say that the coming of God will be as a thief, which means that God will come in secret in the last days. These verses also mention “the coming of the Son of man” and “the Son of man comes.” The “Son of man” refers to God incarnate. Only one born of man with a normal human body could be called the “Son of man,” whereas if He came as a spiritual body, He could not be called the “Son of man.” For example, the spiritual body of the Lord Jesus after He resurrected could pass through walls and conceal Himself in the air. Such a supernatural spiritual body could not be called the “Son of man.” This shows us that when the Lord Jesus returns in the last days, He will come among man in secret wearing normal, ordinary flesh. He will appear from the outside like a normal, ordinary person, but no one will be able to tell His true identity or position and this is kept secret from people. Only when He begins to work and speak His words to save man will those who are able to discern His voice know Him. Those who are unable to distinguish His voice will treat Him as a normal person, and they will deny Him, reject Him and even condemn Him. Just as when the Lord Jesus became flesh to perform His work, the Pharisees regarded Him as just an ordinary person, and they resisted Him, condemned Him, and crucified Him upon the cross. Ultimately, during the period in which God incarnate had come in secret, the Pharisees missed out on the Lord’s salvation and were punished by God for their wicked deeds committed in defiance of God. Moreover, only by becoming flesh in the last days can God endure much suffering. If He came openly with clouds, all people would be afraid and would prostrate themselves on the ground, and none would dare to resist Him. If that were the case, then these prophecies which tell of the secret coming of the Lord would not be fulfilled.
How the Prophecies of the Lord Coming Openly Will Be Fulfilled
When we talk about the Lord coming in secret to perform His work when He returns, some brothers and sisters fail to understand. The Bible also prophesies that, when the Lord returns, He shall appear to us coming openly with clouds, so how can these two totally different prophecies be fulfilled? Every word spoken from the mouth of God will, in fact, come to pass; it is just the order in which they will be fulfilled that differs. Furthermore, these prophecies are fulfilled one by one in line with the steps of God’s work. That is to say, in the last days, God will first come in secret to perform His work of saving man, and afterward will appear openly coming with clouds. God’s way of working in stages is directly connected to the work He will do in the last days. Let us now read some verses from the Bible: “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come” (John 16:12–13). “For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). “[The Father] has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man” (John 5:27). “He that rejects Me, and receives not My words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). “Sanctify them through Your truth: Your word is truth” (John 17:17). We can see clearly from these verses that, when the Lord returns in the last days, He will express more truths to water and provide for us. These truths are truths which we have never understood nor heard before in all the time we have believed in the Lord. Even more crucial is that, when the Lord returns, He will personally guide us to enter into these truths so that our spiritual lives may grow. Furthermore, upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus’ work, God will perform a new stage of work—the work of judgment—to purify us of our sins and to lead us to cast off the shackles of sin once and for all. This is the work God incarnate shall perform during the time in which He works in secret.
The truth is, that while we have been waiting for the Lord to come riding on a cloud, the Lord Jesus has actually returned already as the incarnated Almighty God. Almighty God began His secret work to save man back in 1991, and this time God’s work has ended the Age of Grace and begun the Age of Kingdom. He has expressed all truths so that man might attain salvation, He has performed the work of judgment beginning from the house of God, and He utterly cleanses and saves all those who come before Him. By reading the words of Almighty God and experiencing God’s work of judgment in the last days, not only do we come to a true understanding of God’s righteous disposition that brooks no offense, but we also come to know the root cause of our sins. We become able to hate ourselves and to forsake our flesh; we have the resolve to practice the truth; gradually a God-fearing heart begins to arise within us, we bear witness to changes in our dispositions, and we are then able to become overcomers who are made before the arrival of the tribulation. Today, God’s chosen people’s testimonies of experiencing His judgment and chastisement and of their dispositional change, as well as the testimonies of overcomers, have been published online. Almighty God’s utterances and work have entirely fulfilled all the prophecies in the Bible concerning God incarnate’s coming in secret, God performing the work of judgment in the last days, God opening the scroll, God making the overcomers, and more.
All who are able to hear God’s voice while Almighty God works in secret are the wise virgins. Once they have accepted God’s work of judgment, they become able to rid themselves of sin and be cleansed and perfected by God; they become the overcomers who love God, revere God and obey God, and they attain God’s salvation before the great tribulation arrives. This shows us that during the period in which God performs His work of judgment in secret, this work is nothing but salvation and love to those who sincerely believe in God and who pursue the truth. Conversely, for those foolish virgins who cling to their own notions and imaginings and who do not accept God incarnate’s secret work, as well as for all satanic forces which resist, slander and blaspheme God, God’s work exposes them, eliminates them and condemns them utterly. This is the wisdom of the work of God. When a group of overcomers is made during God’s secret work, all those who love the truth and those who are sick of the truth, the good servants and the wicked servants, the wise virgins and the foolish virgins, the sheep and the goats—all will be separated according to their kind. God will then formally begin to unleash the disasters, and He will reward the good and punish the wicked. He will also appear openly to all peoples riding on a white cloud, and when that happens, the work to save man of God incarnate’s secret coming will be completely finished, and the door of grace to the ark of the last days will be shut. At that time, those who have accepted God’s work of the last days and who have been purified and saved by God will be blessed by God and He will lead them into His kingdom. Those who refuse to accept God’s work of the last days while He works in secret, however, and who resist and condemn God incarnate, will not only lose their chance to be saved by God, but will be caught amidst the disasters and punished. This shall precisely fulfill these words from the Bible: “Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him” (Revelation 1:7). “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30). The words “they also which pierced Him” refer to those who resist and condemn Christ of the last days. Because they will see that the One they have resisted and condemned is none other than the Lord Jesus returned, yet then they will have lost their chance to be saved by Christ of the last days, and they will beat upon their chests and feel great remorse and pain. Then “shall all the tribes of the earth mourn,” means those who are just like the people in the time of Noah who forever lost their chance to board the ark.
Today, Almighty God’s work of judgment of the last days is nearing its end and the door of grace is about to be shut. Christ of the last days, Almighty God says, “I tell you, those who believe in God because of the signs are surely the category that shall be destroyed. Those who are incapable of receiving the words of Jesus who has returned to flesh are surely the progeny of hell, the descendants of the archangel, the category that shall be subjected to everlasting destruction. Many people may not care what I say, but I still want to tell every so-called saint who follows Jesus that, when you see Jesus descend from the heaven upon a white cloud with your own eyes, this will be the public appearance of the Sun of righteousness. Perhaps that will be a time of great excitement for you, yet you should know that the time when you witness Jesus descend from the heaven is also the time when you go down to hell to be punished. That will be the time of the end of God’s management plan and it will be when God rewards the good and punishes the wicked. For the judgment of God will have ended before man sees signs, when there is only the expression of truth. Those who accept the truth and do not seek signs, and thus have been purified, shall have returned before the throne of God and entered the Creator’s embrace. Only those who persist in the belief that ‘The Jesus who does not ride upon a white cloud is a false Christ’ shall be subjected to everlasting punishment, for they only believe in the Jesus who exhibits signs, but do not acknowledge the Jesus who proclaims severe judgment and releases the true way of life. And so it can only be that Jesus deals with them when He openly returns upon a white cloud. They are too stubborn, too confident in themselves, too arrogant. How could such degenerates be rewarded by Jesus? The return of Jesus is a great salvation for those who are capable of accepting the truth, but for those who are unable to accept the truth it is a sign of condemnation. You should choose your own path, and should not blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and reject the truth. You should not be an ignorant and arrogant person, but someone who obeys the guidance of the Holy Spirit and longs for and seeks the truth; only in this way will you benefit.” We should now understand that God coming openly with clouds is the time when He shall determine people’s ends, and when He openly punishes and destroys all who oppose Him, that shall be the final stage of God’s work. Only while God is working in secret can man be saved, and only by accepting God’s secret work will we be able to board the ark of the last days. Now that we are faced with the gospel of the Lord’s return, shall we let go of all our many notions and be the wise virgins who seek and investigate with an open mind? Or shall we be like the people in the time of Noah and choose not to believe it or take any notice, and even go so far as to reject and condemn the gospel of the Lord’s return? Each and every one of us should think long and hard on this!
From: Grow in Christ
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