By Clinging to My Notions About God’s Name, I Nearly Missed God’s Salvation in the Last Days

The Significance of God’s Name

Brother Wang then said, “Let’s fellowship about the significance of God taking different names in the Age of Law and the Age of Grace. First, let me read a passage of Almighty God’s word. Almighty God says: ‘“Jehovah” is the name that I took during My work in Israel, and it means the God of the Israelites (God’s chosen people) who can take pity on man, curse man, and guide the life of man. It means the God who possesses great power and is full of wisdom. “Jesus” is Emmanuel, and it means the sin offering that is full of love, full of compassion, and redeems man. He did the work of the Age of Grace, and represents the Age of Grace, and can only represent one part of the management plan. That is to say, only Jehovah is the God of the chosen people of Israel, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of Moses, and the God of all the people of Israel. And so in the current age, all the Israelites apart from the tribe of Judah worship Jehovah. They make sacrifices to Him on the altar, and serve Him wearing priests’ robes in the temple. What they hope for is the reappearance of Jehovah. Only Jesus is the Redeemer of mankind. He is the sin offering that redeemed mankind from sin. Which is to say, the name of Jesus came from the Age of Grace, and existed because of the work of redemption in the Age of Grace. The name of Jesus existed to allow the people of the Age of Grace to be reborn and saved, and is a particular name for the redemption of the whole of mankind. And so the name Jesus represents the work of redemption, and denotes the Age of Grace. The name Jehovah is a particular name for the people of Israel who lived under the law. In each age and each stage of work, My name is not baseless, but holds representative significance: Each name represents one age. “Jehovah” represents the Age of Law, and is the honorific for the God worshiped by the people of Israel. “Jesus” represents the Age of Grace, and is the name of the God of all those who were redeemed during the Age of Grace.’”

After finishing reading, he continued, “After reading God’s words, we are able to know that the different names God is called by in different ages have different meanings; each one represents God’s disposition and the work that He needs to do during that age. In the Age of Law, for example, the name of God was Jehovah, and with this name He began His work; He proclaimed His law for mankind to follow, and led mankind in their lives on earth. The Israelites all adhered to the laws proclaimed by Him and held His name as holy. At the same time, they, through His work, also gained some understanding of His disposition of majesty, wrath, cursing and mercy and started worshiping Him. They lived under His guidance for a few thousand years. At the end of the Age of Law, mankind was becoming more and more corrupted by Satan, and they were all in danger of being put to death by the laws. Therefore, to save mankind, with the name Jesus, God began the work of redemption that ushered in the Age of Grace, and redeemed mankind from Satan’s domain. As long as we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, then our sins can be forgiven and we can enjoy God’s grace and blessings. The name Jesus represents God’s work of redemption and the disposition of mercy and lovingkindness He expressed in the Age of Grace and is something all those who were redeemed could rely on to be saved. God uses His name to distinguish between ages, and to help us have a clearer understanding of His disposition and work in that age. This is God’s wisdom. Now it’s the last days. In order to save us completely from the bonds of sin, and bring us to a beautiful final destination, God’s name has changed again, and with the name Almighty God, He has begun the new age and has done the work of judgment beginning from the house of God. Then what is the meaning behind the work of judgment and chastisement under the name of Almighty God? Let’s read a passage of God’s words.”

Sister Si’en said, “Let me read it. Almighty God said: ‘People have never engaged with Me, have never known Me, and have always been ignorant of My disposition. From the creation of the world until today, not one person has seen Me. This is the God who appears to man during the last days but is hidden among man. He resides among man, true and real, like the burning sun and the flaming fire, filled with power and brimming with authority. There is not a single person or thing that shall not be judged by My words, and not a single person or thing that shall not be purified through the burning of fire. Eventually, all nations shall be blessed because of My words, and also smashed to pieces because of My words. In this way, all people during the last days shall see that I am the Savior returned, I am the Almighty God that conquers all of mankind, and I was once the sin offering for man, but in the last days I also become the flames of the sun that burn all things, as well as the Sun of righteousness that reveals all things. Such is My work of the last days. I took this name and am possessed of this disposition so that all people may see that I am a righteous God, and am the burning sun, and the flaming fire. It is so that all may worship Me, the only true God, and so that they may see My true face: I am not only the God of the Israelites, and am not just the Redeemer—I am the God of all creatures throughout heavens and earth and seas.’”

After she finished reading, Brother Wang shared in fellowship: “From God’s words, we know that in the last days, God uses the name Almighty God to carry out the stage of work of judging, chastising, and cleansing people with words, and reveal to us His righteous and majestic disposition. This allows man to see that not only is God a merciful and loving God, but even more so He is a righteous God. Not only can God perform the work of redeeming mankind, but He can also purify and change mankind, and then take them to their wonderful final destination. Man will also see that God is the beginning and the end, is God to the whole of mankind, and, moreover, He is God Himself—He who possesses great power. That is the significance of God taking the name ‘Almighty God’ in the last days. So, if we want to receive full salvation from God, we must accept God’s work of judgment in the last days under the name Almighty God. Only if we experience the work of God in the last days can we know God’s entire disposition, be purified by God and enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Through Brother Wang’s fellowship, I gained a better understanding of the significance of God taking the name Almighty God in the last days. God works using the name Almighty God in order to show His entire disposition to us, and thus allows us to have knowledge of His righteousness and majesty, so that we understand that not only can God use the name Jesus to express His compassionate and loving disposition and do the work of redeeming mankind, but He can use the name Almighty God to express the disposition of righteousness and majesty and do the stage of work of purifying and changing us. God is almighty and the only one true God who leads us into the kingdom of heaven.

Then Brother Wang continued, “Now God has done the new work. So if we want to gain the work of the Holy Spirit, we should pray in God’s new name, that is, we should call out the name Almighty God.”

Hearing Brother Wang asking me to pray in the name Almighty God instantly worried me a lot. I thought, “I have followed the Lord Jesus for so long, and over nearly twenty years, I have been praying to the Lord Jesus. Yet you asked me to pray in Almighty God’s name instead. Is doing that way betraying the Lord Jesus? If I betrayed the Lord, I would have nothing to do with Him.” At the thought of this, I said, “I won’t pray to Almighty God, but instead will still pray to the Lord Jesus. God is inherently almighty, so I don’t have to pray in Almighty God’s name.”

Brother Wang said, “In the Age of Grace, we all pray to the Lord Jesus. But now it is the Age of Kingdom, and we have accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days, so we must pray in Almighty God’s name, because only doing things this way proves that we keep up with God’s work and we will be God’s followers acknowledged by God.”

Even though I thought Brother Wang spoke correctly, yet I just couldn’t come around right away, for fear that not praying in the name of the Lord Jesus means not acknowledging the Lord. Seeing me like this, the brothers and sisters in The Church of Almighty God didn’t try to force me to do that way. Thus when I gathered with them, they prayed to Almighty God, while I still prayed in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Changing My Mistaken Beliefs

Until one day, a sister asked me, “Brother, do you still pray in the name of the Lord Jesus?”

I answered, “Yeah. I have been praying to the Lord Jesus all along. The Lord Jesus said: ‘Whoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven’ (Matthew 10:32–33). If I pray to Almighty God, that means that I don’t acknowledge the Lord Jesus, and then I will have nothing to do with Him. So I can’t pray in the name Almighty God. Moreover, you say that the Lord Jesus and Almighty God are one God. If so, my praying to the Lord Jesus is the same with praying to Almighty God.”

After listening to me speak, the sister patiently gave me fellowship: “So together, let’s seek what the truth says in this regard! In fact, if we carefully study the Bible, we can understand that at that time there was a context to what the Lord Jesus said. He said these words when He sent the disciples out to various places to preach the gospel because He knew that after man was corrupted by Satan, man’s nature is in opposition to God so the disciples would suffer some persecution and difficulties during that time. This was why He admonished His disciples that no matter what kind of persecution or difficulties they encountered, they must not deny Him in front of others just for the sake of staying alive by any means necessary and that if they forsook Him and survived in shame, then they were destined to be forsaken by God. These words were just the Lord Jesus’ exhortation to His disciples at that time. So, we should understand these words based on the context behind them, instead of applying these words to God’s work in the last days and thinking that praying in the name Almighty God means not acknowledging the Lord.

“Besides, since the Lord Jesus and Almighty God are one God, why do we have to pray in the name Almighty God? Let’s read a passage of God’s words. Almighty God says, ‘The Age of Grace began with Jesus’ name. When Jesus began to perform His ministry, the Holy Spirit began to testify to the name of Jesus, and the name of Jehovah was no longer spoken of; instead, the Holy Spirit undertook the new work principally under the name of Jesus. The testimony of those who believed in Him was borne for Jesus Christ, and the work they did was also for Jesus Christ. The conclusion of the Old Testament Age of Law meant that the work principally conducted under the name of Jehovah had come to an end. Henceforth, the name of God was no longer Jehovah; instead He was called Jesus, and from here on the Holy Spirit began the work principally under the name of Jesus. So, today, the man who still eats and drinks the words of Jehovah, and still does everything according to the work of the Age of Law—aren’t you blindly conforming to regulations here? Are you not stuck in the past? You know now that the last days have arrived. Can it be that, when Jesus comes, He will still be called Jesus?’

“From God’s words, we can know God uses His different names to delineate the different ages. Every time God performs a new stage of work, He adopts a new name, and the Holy Spirit works in His new name. So we must accept God’s new name and new work in that age so as to receive the work and guidance from the Holy Spirit. For example, as the Age of Grace began, the work of the Age of Law under the name of Jehovah came to an end; the Holy Spirit began to testify to the name of Jesus and maintain the Lord Jesus’ work. Thus, all who prayed to the name of the Lord Jesus had the work of the Holy Spirit, and had faith and strength; however, as for those who refused to accept the name of the Lord and still held to the name Jehovah, the Holy Spirit did not work on them and they all fell into darkness. It is evident then, that whether or not a person can receive the work of the Holy Spirit and be provided with the living water of life depends on whether he can accept God’s new name and new work. Nowadays, God has returned in the flesh and is performing the work of judgment beginning in God’s house under the name Almighty God, and so the work of the Holy Spirit also has been withdrawn from the religious venues and is working only on those who accept God’s work in the last days. Thus, we must keep up with God’s work and pray in the name Almighty God, and only then will we gain the work of the Holy Spirit and obtain more enlightenment and illumination. If we are unable to remedy our views but instead hold onto the old ways we practice, then we are walking old paths in new shoes—we are ones who keep to old ways and will not gain God’s approval. Therefore, if we want to be saved by God, then we should let go of our own notions and pray in the name Almighty God, practicing according to God’s requirements during the Age of Kingdom.”

After listening to the fellowship from the sister I suddenly realized: Right. I am now in the Age of Kingdom; God has done new work and made new requirements of us. If I still pray to the Lord Jesus, that is antiquated and I won’t gain God’s approval because of being unable to receive the work of the Holy Spirit. I thought: Alas, I have been so rebellious in these days. I am willing to let go of my old-fashioned practice and pray in the name Almighty God.

Enjoying the Bountiful Provision of God’s Words

From then on, I began to pray to the name of Almighty God. Praying this way brought my relationship with God even closer and when I read God’s words, I got more enlightenment and illumination from the Holy Spirit. Brother Wang also sent me The Church of Almighty God app, and I downloaded many programs on it: films, crosstalks, sketches, hymns, and recitations. Watching these things taught me about the mysteries of God’s six-thousand-year management plan, the inside story of the Bible, the difference between true and false Christs, the difference between false churches and the true church, how God cleanses and changes people’s corrupt dispositions in the Age of Kingdom, and so on. The word of Almighty God is so rich. I really have attended the feast of the Lamb, and have been nourished with the water of life that flows from the throne and my thirsty soul has been greatly watered. Now, I read Almighty God’s word every day, and actively coordinate with preaching the gospel of the kingdom, wanting to lead before God all those brothers and sisters who still uphold the name of the Lord Jesus in the Age of Grace just like me before.

When I recall my experiences of welcoming the Lord’s return during this period of time, I feel that my clinging to my old conceptions is really dangerous. If it hadn’t been for God’s mercy, then I would have missed out on the Lord’s return. Thank Almighty God for saving me. I am willing to follow Almighty God to the very end.