How to Tell the Difference Between the Voice of God and the Voice of Man

Many Christians eagerly await the return of the Lord Jesus and long for the Savior’s coming. What we have longed for has now finally been realized, for the Lord Jesus returned long ago as the incarnate Almighty God, and Almighty God expresses the truth and performs the work of judgment beginning with the house of God. The Lord Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice” (John 10:27). The key to greeting the Lord is hearing the Lord’s voice, yet there are some who do not know how to hear the Lord’s voice, and they are unable to tell the difference between the voice of God and the voice of man, and so are unable to confirm that Almighty God’s words are the voice of God. We will now fellowship the difference between God’s words and man’s words, so that we may become certain about God’s voice and greet the return of the Lord.

1. God’s utterances are the expressions of the Holy Spirit and they represent the identity of God, and there is a difference in essence between them and the words of man.

As we all know, the incarnate God is the Spirit of God clothed in flesh, He is God Himself, and the words expressed by Christ are the utterances of the Holy Spirit. These words are the truth, possessing both power and authority, and we can feel this when we hear them. When we hear the Lord Jesus making His promise to mankind, for example, when we hear the commandments He proclaimed to mankind, the words He spoke when He rebuked the Pharisees, His teachings, and so on, we immediately feel that the Lord’s words are the truth, that they have power and authority, they inspire reverence in our hearts, and we know deep down inside that these are the words of God. People, however, do not possess the essence of God, much less the identity of God. When we hear people speak, we are able to understand it, but we can in no way feel that people’s words have any power or authority, much less feel that they are the truth; they are just some words that benefit us, nothing more. This is the greatest difference between the words of God and the words of man, and we need only listen with our hearts to be able to tell them apart.

The words expressed by Almighty God, Christ of the last days, are all the direct expressions of God’s Spirit. Many people, after hearing Almighty God’s words, know them to be the truth, and know them to possess power and authority, only then recognizing them to be the voice of God. Just as Almighty God says: “Throughout the universe I am doing My work, and in the East, thunderous crashes issue forth endlessly, shaking all nations and denominations. It is My voice that has led all men into the present. I shall cause all men to be conquered by My voice, to fall into this stream, and submit before Me, for I have long since reclaimed My glory from all the earth and issued it forth anew in the East. Who does not long to see My glory? Who does not anxiously await My return? Who does not thirst for My reappearance? Who does not pine for My loveliness? Who would not come to the light? Who would not look upon the richness of Canaan? Who does not long for the return of the Redeemer? Who does not adore the Great Almighty? My voice shall spread throughout the earth; I wish, facing My chosen people, to speak more words to them. Like the mighty thunders that shake the mountains and rivers, I speak My words to the whole universe and to mankind. Hence the words in My mouth have become man’s treasure, and all men cherish My words. The lightning flashes from the East all the way to the West. My words are such that man is loath to give them up and at the same time finds them unfathomable, but rejoices in them all the more. Like a newborn infant, all men are glad and joyful, celebrating My coming. By means of My voice, I shall bring all men before Me. Thenceforth, I shall formally enter into the race of men so that they will come to worship Me. With the glory that I radiate and the words in My mouth, I shall make it such that all men come before Me and see that the lightning flashes from the East and that I have also descended unto the ‘Mount of Olives’ of the East. They will see that I have already long been on earth, no longer as the Son of the Jews but as the Lightning of the East. For I have long since been resurrected, and have departed from mankind’s midst, and then reappeared with glory among men. I am He who was worshiped countless ages before now, and I am also the infant forsaken by the Israelites countless ages before now. Moreover, I am the all-glorious Almighty God of the present age! Let all come before My throne and see My glorious countenance, hear My voice, and look upon My deeds. This is the entirety of My will; it is the end and the climax of My plan, as well as the purpose of My management. Let every nation worship Me, every tongue acknowledge Me, every man repose his faith in Me, and every people be subject unto Me!”

“But so long as the old world continues to exist, I will hurl forth My rage upon its nations, openly promulgate My administrative decrees throughout the universe, and visit chastisement upon whosoever violates them:

“As I turn My face to the universe to speak, all mankind hears My voice, and thereupon sees all the works I have wrought throughout the universe. Those who set themselves against My will, that is to say, who oppose Me with the deeds of man, will fall under My chastisement. I will take the multitudinous stars in the heavens and make them anew and, thanks to Me, the sun and the moon will be renewed—the skies will no longer be as they were and the myriad things on the earth will be renewed. All will become complete through My words. The many nations within the universe will be partitioned afresh and replaced by My nation, so that the nations upon the earth will disappear forever and all will become a nation that worships Me; all the nations of the earth will be destroyed and cease to exist. Of the human beings within the universe, all those belonging to the devil will be exterminated, and all who worship Satan will be laid low by My burning fire—that is, except for those now within the stream, all will be turned to ashes. When I chastise the many peoples, those in the religious world will, to varying extents, return to My kingdom, conquered by My works, because they will have seen the advent of the Holy One riding on a white cloud. All people will be separated according to their own kind, and will receive chastisements commensurate with their actions. All those who have stood against Me will perish; as for those whose deeds on earth have not involved Me, they will, because of how they have acquitted themselves, continue to exist on the earth under the governance of My sons and My people. I will reveal Myself to the myriad peoples and the myriad nations, and with My own voice, I will sound forth upon the earth, proclaiming the completion of My great work for all mankind to see with their own eyes.”

Every word spoken by Almighty God carries the power and authority of God; they manifest God’s identity and are replete with the majesty and wrath of God. They are words no created being could speak, and this is something no created being could achieve, for this is God uttering His words to all mankind. Besides God, who else could utter words to the whole of mankind? Who else could relate and express to mankind God’s ultimate will to save man? We can perceive in the words of Almighty God that these words are spoken to the entire world and the whole of mankind through the identity and status of the Creator, and that they entirely reveal the righteous and majestic disposition of God that tolerates no offense. Even if people are unable to understand the truth of God’s words, after hearing Almighty God’s words they can perceive the might and authority within them, and recognize them to be the voice of God and the direct expressions of God’s Spirit.

2. The words of God can begin the new age and end the old age, and they can show people the way to practice in the new age. People can only stand upon the foundation of God’s words and work to talk a little about their own experiences and understanding.

The words expressed by God incarnate can begin the new age and end the old age, and they can show people the way to practice in the new age. This is determined by God’s essence. The words of man, on the other hand, cannot begin the new age, nor can they show people the path to practice in the new age. All people can do is stand upon the foundation of God’s words and work to talk about their own insights and understanding, and they cannot go beyond the scope of God’s work and words. This is another difference between the words of God and the words of man. At the end of the Age of Law, for example, people were committing more and more sins, and many people were unable to keep the laws and were faced with being condemned and put to death by the laws. According to the needs of man, God Himself then became flesh and performed the work of redemption. The words and work of the Lord Jesus brought the Age of Law to a close and began the Age of Grace. He no longer taught people how to abide by the laws, but rather showed people a new path of practice: He asked that they confess their sins and repent, that they love their enemies, that they be humble, patient, forgiving, and that they love their neighbors as themselves, and so on. These words were newer, higher words spoken upon the foundation of the Age of Law. From that point on, people all spoke a little about their own understanding and knowledge upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus’ words and work, yet no one could go beyond the scope of God’s words and work.

Although mankind underwent the Lord Jesus’ redemption during the Age of Grace, yet man’s sinful nature remained deeply rooted within. People still constantly live a life of sinning in the day and confessing at night, without ever being able to cast off the bonds and fetters of sin. Who of mankind was ever able to speak words that could enable people to cast off the bonds of sin once and for all and show them a new path of practice? No one! Only the words of God can purify and save people, bring the old age to an end, and show people the way of practice in the new age. Almighty God says, “When Jesus came into the world of man, He ushered in the Age of Grace and ended the Age of Law. During the last days, God once more became flesh, and with this incarnation He ended the Age of Grace and ushered in the Age of Kingdom. All those who are able to accept the second incarnation of God will be led into the Age of Kingdom, and will moreover become able to personally accept the guidance of God. Though Jesus did much work among man, He only completed the redemption of all mankind and became man’s sin offering; He did not rid man of all his corrupt disposition. Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to become the sin offering and bear the sins of man, but it also required God to do even greater work to rid man completely of his satanically corrupted disposition. And so, now that man has been forgiven of his sins, God has returned to the flesh to lead man into the new age, and begun the work of chastisement and judgment. This work has brought man into a higher realm. All those who submit under His dominion shall enjoy higher truth and receive greater blessings. They shall truly live in the light, and they shall gain the truth, the way, and the life.”

“In the work of the last days, the word is mightier than the manifestation of signs and wonders, and the authority of the word surpasses that of signs and wonders. The word exposes all the corrupt dispositions buried deep in the heart of man. You have no way of recognizing them on your own. When they are laid bare before you through the word, you will naturally come to discover them; you will not be able to deny them, and you will be utterly convinced. Is this not the authority of the word? This is the result achieved by the work of the word today. Therefore, it is not through the healing of sickness and casting out of demons that man can be fully saved from his sins, nor can he be made fully complete by the manifestation of signs and wonders. The authority to heal sickness and cast out demons only gives man grace, but the flesh of man still belongs to Satan and the corrupt satanic disposition still remains within man. In other words, that which has not been made clean still pertains to sin and to filth. Only after he has been made clean through the agency of the word can man be gained by God and become sanctified.”

Almighty God, incarnated in the last days, has come to the earth. He has ended the Age of Grace and begun the Age of Kingdom; He has expressed millions of words, bestowed upon man all the truths he needs to attain full salvation, and exposed all of our various corrupt dispositions; He has told us who He loves and who He hates, how we are to practice in order to be able to resolve our corrupt dispositions and our sinful nature, to be able to escape Satan’s influence once and for all, and to be purified and attain the full salvation of God; He has told us how we can become people who do the will of the heavenly Father, and what true obedience to God and true love for God are. Who is capable of expressing words that can save and purify mankind? And who can save us from sin? No human being can do this; only God can do this.

We now see that the words of God can begin the new age and end the old, and that they can save and purify people, and show people the path of practice in the new age. No human being could possibly speak such words, for the essence of man is man, and the words of man are not the truth. All people can do is stand upon the foundation of God’s work and words to talk a little about their own insights and understanding, and they cannot go beyond the scope of God’s work and words.

3. The words of God can reveal mysteries; the words of man cannot.

God became flesh to save man and so He must express many truths and reveal many mysteries. That is why each time God becomes flesh, He always unveils many truths and mysteries, and this is something no human being can do. For example, when the Lord Jesus came, He revealed the mystery of how to enter the kingdom of heaven, and He also told us what work He would do when He came in the last days, and what omens would appear to signify His return, and so on.

The words spoken by Almighty God, Christ of the last days, likewise reveal many mysteries. For example, Almighty God says, “It is only during the last days that the work I have been managing for thousands of years is entirely revealed to man. It is only now that I have disclosed the full mystery of My management to man, and man has learned the purpose of My work and, moreover, has come to understand all My mysteries. I have already told man everything of the destination about which he is concerned. I have already uncovered for man all of My mysteries, mysteries that were hidden for over 5,900 years.”

“No matter how great an understanding man has of the Bible, it remains nothing more than words, for man does not understand the substance of the Bible. In reading the Bible, man may understand some truths, explain some words, or subject some famous passages and chapters to his petty scrutiny, but he will never be able to extricate the meaning contained within those words, for all man sees are dead words, not the scenes of the work of Jehovah and of Jesus, and man has no way of unraveling the mystery of this work. Therefore, the mystery of the six-thousand-year management plan is the greatest mystery, the most profoundly hidden, and wholly unfathomable to man. No one can directly grasp the will of God, unless God Himself explains and reveals it to man; otherwise, these things will forever remain riddles to man, remaining forever sealed mysteries. Never mind those in the religious world; if you had not been told today, you would not have grasped it either. This work of six thousand years is more mysterious than all the prophecies of the prophets. It is the greatest mystery from creation to the present, and no one among the prophets throughout the ages has ever been able to fathom it, for this mystery is only unveiled in the final age and has never before been revealed.”

Almighty God reveals to us the mystery of His six-thousand-year management plan to save mankind, such as what His purpose in His management of mankind is, how He does the work of judgment in the last days, what the significance of the work of judgment is, the mysteries of the incarnations, the inside story on the three stages of God’s work, the root cause of mankind’s sin, the truth of mankind’s corruption by Satan, how Satan corrupts mankind, how God saves man, how man will be separated each according to their kind, how God perfects a group of people into the overcomers, how the kingdom of Christ will come to be, the beauty of the Millennial Kingdom, and more. God reveals all these mysteries to us. These words are truths and mysteries we have never heard before which precisely fulfill the Lord Jesus’ prophecies, “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).

Let us think about it: If God Himself did not come to perform His work and speak His words, who else would be able to express so many truths? Who else would be able to fully articulate the work of God Himself? And who else would be able to tell us these mysteries? These mysteries are matters which relate to God and to the kingdom of heaven, and they relate to what God will accomplish in the future. These mysteries are all connected to God’s management plan, and besides God, no one can know them. As it says in the Book of Revelation 5:3–5: “And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders said to me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.” We human beings are just God’s creatures, and we cannot reveal mysteries. Before God revealed these mysteries to us, all we could read in the Bible were just letters. There are many doctors of theology who devote themselves to studying the Bible, yet still all they can do is infer some literal meanings according to their own mental capacity and experience. This is the difference in essence between God and man.

We can see from the above fellowship that, in essence, there is a great difference between the words of God and the words of man, and we need only listen with our hearts to be able to tell whether or not the words we hear are the voice of God.