Speaking of the return of the Lord, it is written in Matthew 24:36: “But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” No one can know when the Lord Jesus will return, so how do you know that the Lord Jesus has returned already? It really seems inconceivable to us!
Answer:
The Bible reads: “But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Mat 24:36). Some brothers and sisters take this to mean that the Lord has not come back. They don’t believe the Lord now has already come back. Actually, such reasoning doesn’t make sense. For the Lord comes to save man. If the Lord does not let man know of His coming, then how can men follow Him and have faith in God? How can God accomplish God's work of salvation? If we always hold to this statement, then won’t we be waiting forever for the second coming of the Lord? So, what does this verse really say? In fact, when we read this verse together with the preceding few verses, it becomes clear. Matthew 24:32-36 states: “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 these verses speak of the sign of the second coming of the Lord, and from “it is near, even at the doors” we know the Son of man is already at the doors. But when He will enter, the day, the moment He will enter we really do not know. That is to say, “that day and hour” no one knows. Further, no one knows when “the Son of man” (God incarnate) will come among men, meaning that no one knows the day, the moment of God’s arrival. The angels of heaven do not know, man does not know, only the Father (the Spirit) knows. Just as Almighty God says: “At the break of dawn, unbeknownst to any, God came to earth and began His life in the flesh. People were unaware of this moment. Maybe they were all fast asleep, maybe many who were watchfully awake were waiting, and maybe many were praying silently to God in heaven. Yet among all these many people, not one knew that God had already arrived on earth” (“Work and Entry (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
The word of Almighty God helps us to see more clearly. “But of that day and hour knows no man,” these words mean that no man knows the moment of Christ’s coming. But when Christ has come it will certainly be known by men, because the purpose of God incarnate coming among men is to save men. If He comes and does not let men know, then how can men gain salvation through Him? The Lord Jesus speaks of His second coming thus: “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” (Mat 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” (Rev 3:20). From these two verses we see, after the Lord has come, some people know it. And since He has come, we are asked to welcome Him. He wants to sup with those who hear His voice and open the door. This shows that if we take the words in Matthew 24:36—“of that day and hour knows no man”—to mean no man will know when the Lord has come, it’s completely mistaken.
from Questions and Answers on the Testimony of the Kingdom Gospel
Some brothers and sisters may ask: You say the Lord has returned, but how do you know this yourselves? On what basis do you come to know that He is God Himself? Brothers and sisters, if we want to know whether or not God has come, we must on the one hand rely on the testimony of the Holy Spirit, and on the other we must base it on the work God has done. We all know that before the Lord Jesus performed His ministry, no one knew that He was the Messiah who would come. But when the Lord Jesus began to perform His ministry, the Holy Spirit personally bore witness to Him so that man knew the Lord Jesus’ true identity. If it were not for the Holy Spirit’s testimony, man would not have recognized that He was the incarnate God. Therefore, man’s knowledge that the Lord Jesus is the Christ was based on the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Almighty God’s words regarding this aspect of the truth are very clear: “At the beginning, when Jesus had yet to officially perform His ministry, like the disciples that followed Him, sometimes He also attended meetings, and sang hymns, gave praise, and read the Old Testament in the temple. After He was baptized and came up, the Spirit officially descended upon Him and began to work, revealing His identity and the ministry that He was to undertake. Prior to this, no one knew His identity…. Jesus was 29 when He was baptized. After His baptism was completed, the heavens were opened, and a voice said: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ … If Jesus had done great work before the Holy Spirit bore testimony to Him, but without the testimony of God Himself, then regardless of how great His work, people would never have known of His identity, for the human eye would have been incapable of seeing it. Without the step of the Holy Spirit’s testimony, no one could have recognized Him as God incarnate” (“Concerning Appellations and Identity” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).“At the time, Jesus asked those around Him, ‘Who do you say I am?’ They replied, ‘You are the greatest of prophets and our good physician.’ And some answered, ‘You are our high priest.’ … Various kinds of answers were given; some said that He was John, that He was Elijah. Jesus then turned to Simon Peter and asked, ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ From then on the people became aware that He was God. When this was made known, it was Peter who first came to this realization and from his mouth was such spoken. Then Jesus stated, ‘What you said was not directed by any of flesh and blood, but by My Father’” (“The Mystery of the Incarnation (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Through Almighty God’s words we can see that, before the Lord Jesus was baptized, nobody knew that He was God. It was only until after the Lord Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened, and a voice said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” and after the Holy Spirit enlightened Peter to speak out about the true identity of the Lord Jesus, that people knew that He was God and the Christ. That is to say, it was only because of the testimony of the Holy Spirit that people understood that the Lord Jesus was Christ and the incarnation of God Himself. From this, we can see that man’s knowledge that the Lord Jesus is God incarnate was based on the testimony of the Holy Spirit. After the Holy Spirit bore witness to Him, the Lord Jesus began to perform His ministry, heal the sick, cast out demons, and perform miracles and wonders. He ended the Age of Law and brought about the Age of Grace. He promulgated new commandments, pointed out the path of practice in the new age, brought people rich and abundant grace, and bestowed upon them infinite love and mercy. In the end, He was nailed to the cross for mankind, completing His work of redeeming mankind. Brothers and sisters, we can see from such work performed by the Lord Jesus that all of the work He performed did not exist in the Age of Law. It was work God had not performed in the past. It was a new stage of work performed on the foundations of His work from the Age of Law in order to bring people new provisions and give them new knowledge of God. The words and work of the Lord Jesus were full of authority and power. He raised the dead, filled five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish, and so forth—such work could not have been done by any man. In the end, the Lord Jesus completed His work on the cross and redeemed all mankind. Back then, it was only because of such work performed by the Lord that the people who followed the Lord Jesus knew that He was the Redeemer of mankind. Through this, we can see that mankind needs the work performed by the Lord as the basis to know that the Lord Jesus was the incarnation of God.
Similarly, if we want to be certain today that Almighty God is the second coming of the Lord Jesus and know that He is God incarnate Himself, we must also base it on the testimony of the Holy Spirit and the work performed by Almighty God. Next, let’s listen together to how the Holy Spirit bore witness to Almighty God:
“Praises have come to Zion and God’s dwelling place has appeared. The glorious holy name is praised by all peoples, and is spreading. Ah, Almighty God! The Head of the universe, Christ of the last days—He is the shining Sun, and has risen over the majestic and magnificent Mount Zion in the entire universe …
“Almighty God! We cheer for You; we dance and sing. You are truly our Redeemer, the great King of the universe! You have made a group of overcomers, and have fulfilled God’s management plan. All peoples shall flow to this mountain. All peoples shall kneel before the throne! You are the one and only true God and You deserve glory and honor. All glory, praise, and authority be to the throne!” (“The First Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
“Almighty God! His glorious body appears openly, the holy spiritual body arises and He is the utterly complete God Himself! … He wears the golden crown on His head, His clothing is pure white, across the breasts is a golden girdle and all things in the world are His footstool. His eyes are like a flame of fire, the two-edged sword is within His mouth and He has the seven stars in His right hand. The way to the kingdom is boundlessly bright and His glory arises and shines; the mountains are joyful and the waters laugh, the sun, the moon and the stars all revolve in their orderly arrangement, welcoming the unique, true God whose triumphant return heralds the completion of His six-thousand-year management plan! All leap and dance with joy! Cheer! The almighty God sits on His glorious throne! Sing! The victorious banner of the Almighty is raised high upon the majestic, magnificent Mount Zion! All nations are cheering, all peoples are singing, Mount Zion is laughing joyfully, the glory of God has arisen!” (“The Fifteenth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
“After the witnessing of the Son of man, Almighty God revealed publicly to us as the Sun of righteousness. This is the transfiguration! It is now becoming more and more real, and more of a reality. We have seen the method of the work of the Holy Spirit, God Himself has emerged from the fleshly body. He is under the control of neither man, nor space, nor geography; He transcends the boundaries of earth and sea, He reaches to the very ends of the universe, and all nations and all peoples are listening quietly to His voice. As we open our spiritual eyes we see that the word of God has emanated from His glorious body; it is God Himself emerging from the flesh. He is completely and without a doubt God Himself. He speaks to us publicly, He is face-to-face with us, He advises us, He pities us, He waits for us, He comforts us, He disciplines us and judges us. He leads us by the hand and His concern for us burns like a flame within Him, with an eager heart He hastens us to awaken and enter into Him. His transcendent life has been wrought into all of us, and all who enter into Him shall transcend and overcome the world and all the evil ones, and rule together with Him! Almighty God is the spiritual body of God. If He ordains it, thus it shall be; if He speaks it, it will be, and if He commands it, then it is; He is the one true God! Satan is under the feet of God, in the bottomless pit. Everything in the universe is in the hands of God; the time has come, and all shall return to nothingness and be born anew” (“The Sixteenth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
“The one true God who administers all things in the universe—the almighty Christ! This is the testimony of the Holy Spirit, it is irrefutable proof! The Holy Spirit is working to bear testimony everywhere, so that no one will have any doubt. The triumphant King, Almighty God! He has prevailed over the world, He has prevailed over sin and accomplished redemption! He saves us, this group of people who have been corrupted by Satan, and He makes us complete to carry out His will. He reigns over the whole earth, takes it back and chases Satan into a bottomless pit. He is judging the world, and no one can escape from His hands. He reigns as King.
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