I Learned to Discern the Work of Satan II

At dawn of the next day, I heard some knocks at the gate, so I hurried to rise and open the gate, only to see Sister Yang and Sister Zheng with their hair and eyebrows covered with white frost. They were very excited at seeing me. Sister Yang said, “Oh, brother, we finally see you. Where were you the previous two nights? We waited long but didn’t meet you.” I was deeply moved, saying, “Sisters, it’s cold outside. Hurry in.” They entered the room and sat down, and I gave each of them a cup of hot water. Then I was open with them, “Sisters, these days I actually kept avoiding you. I’m so sorry. After you left that day, I began to read Almighty God’s words. But I just felt sleepy and got a headache soon afterward. I didn’t understand what all that was about, so I didn’t want to read the words of Almighty God anymore and deliberately hid from you. Last night, I was in and I heard all that you said. Your love moved me and left me condemned, and I felt I couldn’t avoid you anymore. Today I’d like to figure out the problem. If I miss the return of the Lord Jesus, I’ll regret for the rest of my life. Now that you’re here, could you please fellowship with me about that problem?”

In reply, Sister Yang said, “Brother, the question you ask is crucial. Many people have been troubled in varying degrees when they first believe in God, which concerns the battle in the spiritual realm. In the last days, Almighty God brings us the everlasting way of life while Satan fears most that we may gain eternal life after accepting Almighty God’s work. So, Satan finds ways to interfere with us and make us doubt, fear and even deny God’s work. Only when we are capable of discerning Satan’s work and see through its schemes can we better read God’s words and follow His work. Then how does Satan disturb God’s work? Let’s look at what Almighty God says about it. The word of Almighty God says, ‘What work comes from Satan? In the work that comes from Satan, the visions in people are vague and abstract, and they are without normal humanity, the motivations behind their actions are wrong, and although they wish to love God, there are always accusations within them, and these accusations and thoughts are always interfering within them, constraining the growth of their life, and stopping them from having normal circumstances before God. Which is to say, as soon as there is the work of Satan within people, their hearts can’t be at peace before God, they don’t know what to do with themselves, the sight of an assembly makes them want to run away, and they are unable to close their eyes when others pray. The work of evil spirits wrecks the normal relationship between man and God, and upsets people’s previous visions and the path that their life has entered upon, in their hearts they can never draw close to God, things always happen that cause disruption to them and enshackle them, and their hearts cannot find peace, leaving no strength to their love of God, and making their spirits sink downward. Such are the manifestations of the work of Satan. The work of Satan is manifested in the following: being unable to stand your ground and stand witness, causing you to become someone who is at fault before God, and who has no faithfulness toward God. … it causes God’s touch to disappear within you, and makes you complain about God and oppose Him, leading you to question God, and there is even the risk of you leaving God. All this is of the work of Satan’ (“The Work of the Holy Spirit and the Work of Satan” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). ‘That which comes from Satan makes your visions disappear, it strips you of all that you used to have, it causes you to stray far from God, it takes away the love between you and your brothers and sisters, breeds in you a heart of hate, gives you nowhere to go, makes you unwilling to lead the life of the church, and leaves you without love of God in your heart. This is the result of the work of Satan and evil spirits’ (“The Twenty-second Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).”

Having read those words from Almighty God, Sister Yang continued with her fellowship, “God’s words have well explained our problem. All people, matters, and things that stop man from quieting their hearts before God come from the work of Satan. Satan uses certain methods in its work to disturb man so they become upset and can never quiet their hearts before God. For example, people have headaches, feel drowsy, and even nod off while reading God’s words, and then they will have no mind to continue. This is the disturbance of Satan. Satan just uses these methods to make man give up reading Almighty God’s words and leave His care and protection, to prevent them from accepting the true way and thus lose God’s salvation. This is the evil intention of Satan disturbing God’s work and hindering man from investigating the true way. If we want to break free from Satan’s disturbance and temptation, we should have discernment and penetrate its tricks, and come before God to pray, ‘Oh God! I know it’s Satan interfering with the relationship between You and me. Now, I can’t be restrained by it. I should stand my ground. Oh God, I beg You to give me faith and perseverance to overcome Satan’s temptation, to protect my heart, and to allow my heart to be at peace before You.’ When we cooperate with God by praying many times, God will see our heart and then help us overcome Satan’s temptation and disturbance, and in the end, Satan will draw back.”

Then Sister Zheng said, “I’ll share my own experience. I remember when I first accepted God’s work in the last days, I found God’s words are very good and practical and felt like reading them carefully. However, when I read God’s words, my waist hurt and my eyelids began to droop. But once I stopped reading God’s words, those problems just disappeared. At that time, I also doubted God’s work and didn’t read God’s words anymore. In the next meeting, when a sister asked me what I had entered into and what I had gained from reading God’s words, I answered that I didn’t read God’s words because once I read them, my waist would hurt and I would feel drowsy. Then the sister fellowshiped with me that I should have discernment about Satan’s work. Satan just takes advantage of the weakness of our flesh, like illness, headaches, and sleepiness, to interfere with us, cause us to doubt God’s work and word until we betray God in the end. So, when I was disturbed by Satan again, I immediately came before God to pray, consciously cooperated with Him to forsake the flesh, and also asked Him to give me faith and strength so as not to be constrained by the flesh. From then on, I’m no longer troubled while reading God’s words and my heart can also be at peace before God.”

After hearing the two sisters’ fellowship, I said, “Oh, so that explains it. No wonder I dozed off while reading God’s words that day after you left. Today, through your fellowship, I come to understand that Satan was unwilling to see me keep up with God’s work in the last days, meet the Lord’s return, and attain God’s salvation, so it worked behind the scenes. All this turns out to be Satan’s schemes. I didn’t understand the truth in this regard, had no discernment, and rose to Satan’s hook. I nearly betrayed God! Thanks be to God! Today you have cleared up my confusion, and I will no longer be restricted by this. I will read God’s words, pray to God more often about this, and learn to see through Satan’s tricks. I believe God will surely guide me.”

Sister Yang said happily, “Praise God! This is the result achieved by the work of the Holy Spirit. As long as we practically cooperate with God and forsake Satan, we will receive God’s enlightenment and guidance.”

Later, when I read God’s words, I sometimes was still sleepy and could not absorb them, and became upset. Then I knelt down and prayed to God, “Oh God! I know Satan tries to stop me from reading Your words, and it also hinders me from drawing near to You. I don’t want to be restricted by it, and I’m willing to forsake it. I beg You to give me faith and strength so I can overcome its disturbance and concentrate on reading Your words. Amen!” After the prayer, I did not feel that sleepy when reading God’s words and listening to the hymns. Through some time of my practical cooperation with God, I could be at peace before God to read His words and was willing to attend meetings. In the meetings, I read and fellowshiped about God’s words with my brothers and sisters, and understood the truth expressed by God more and more clearly, living freely and unrestrained amidst God’s love.

After a while, I began to cooperate in spreading the gospel, and at last brought the brothers and sisters of my former denomination who truly believed in the Lord with good humanity to God’s family. All the glory goes to God!

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I Learned to Discern the Work of Satan I

Meng Liang

One day, Sister Yang and Sister Zheng from the Church of Almighty God came to preach to me Almighty God’s work of the last days. Sister Yang said, “Almighty God carries out His work through expressing the word of judgment, which just fulfills the prophecy of the Lord Jesus, ‘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 16:13). This prophecy has been fulfilled by Almighty God expressing His word, which is the utterance of the Holy Spirit. Almighty God and the Lord Jesus are both the incarnation of God’s Spirit. Almighty God is exactly the returned Lord Jesus….” Hearing Sister Yang’s fellowship, I felt so happy. What a good fortune to be able to meet the Lord’s return! So, I made up my mind to read Almighty God’s words carefully and investigate this way closely.

Then Sister Zheng said, “Brother, we’ve known that God has expressed new words and done new work. We’ll understand more of the truth when we read God’s words more. If you have any confusion, you may pray to God and seek first, and we can fellowship together in the next meeting. After we have understood God’s will, we can preach the gospel to other brothers and sister in religion so that they will receive God’s salvation in the last days.” I replied in agreement, “Okay. Thanks be to the Lord! I feel so good to read God’s words and meet the Lord’s return. I will read seriously The Word Appears in the Flesh. If there are things I don’t understand, I’ll pray for God to enlighten me to understand His words.” “Great! Praise God!” said Sister Zheng.

After they left, I thought: The Word Appears in the Flesh is the personal utterance of God. I must read it carefully. However, I had trouble keeping my eyes open and even nodded off shortly after I started reading it. I thought to myself: What’s going on? Why am I so sleepy? I might as well stand up. But when I stood up to read, I was even more sleepy and had a headache. I massaged my temples, wondering how I became like this suddenly. With no heart to read Almighty God’s words anymore, I climbed into bed to take a rest. Yet I had not expected that as soon as I lay down, my headache was gone and I was wide awake. I thought: How did this happen? I could not figure it out anyway and did not feel like meeting with the two sisters from the Church of Almighty God.

The next afternoon when the sun was setting, I was at home and wondered where I should go since the two sisters would come soon. After thinking hard for some time, I decided to go to the home of a co-worker of my denomination.

It was over ten o’clock at night when I returned home. My neighbor asked, “Where were you, Mr. Meng? Two young women waited at your gate for a long time, and they have just left.” I knew they must be Sister Yang and Sister Zheng, and my heart was strongly condemned. I thought: It’s so cold. I made a date with them, but actually hid myself away and kept them waiting so long. Am I not to blame? But at the thought of my sleepiness and headaches upon reading the words of Almighty God, my guilt disappeared somewhat, and still I did not want to see them again. The following evening, I thought: The two sisters waited in vain yesterday. Will they still come this evening? What should I do if they come? To meet them or not? If I do, they will fellowship with me about the words of Almighty God, but I will doze off once I read those words. If I don’t, however, they will keep waiting outside, suffering from the cold. I just can’t stand to see that. After a fierce struggle, I recalled that I had vowed to repay the Lord’s great love for it was the Lord Jesus who had cured my cancer after I believed in Him. Faced with Almighty God’s work of the last days, I must be cautious in case I take the wrong way and thus be unworthy of the Lord’s grace. No, I had to avoid them, but I had nowhere else to go. At last I decided to stay at home. I said to my neighbor, “Auntie, today I feel uncomfortable, and I want to have a rest at home without being bothered. Would you mind locking my gate from the outside?”

My neighbor agreed to my request. Soon after, I heard the voices of Sister Yang and Sister Zheng coming from outside the gate. Sister Zheng said, “This brother isn’t in again. Where could he have gone?” Sister Yang said, “Yeah, where has he possibly gone? Today’s environment is set up for us by God, and He is simply testing our faith in Him. Wherever the brother goes, we should wait for him. Let’s pray to God and rely on Him.” Hearing what they said, I felt awful and shifted nervously in the room. It’s freezing cold outside. They come here for me. I have kept them waiting so long last night, yet I’m doing this again. I feel so much sorry for them. They waited at the gate for several hours, and I could hear them pacing up and down due to the cold. At around 9 P.M., I heard Sister Yang say, “We’ve waited for a long time, but the brother has not come back. There is God’s goodwill. God arranged this environment to make perfect our faith. Today we fail to wait until the brother returns, but we can come tomorrow and keep waiting until we meet him. We believe in God’s sovereignty and arrangement, and hope God can lead us. We can pray for God to move the brother’s heart.”

After they went away, I lay awake tossing and turning, feeling very upset: Am I still a believer in God? I broke my word and the two sisters froze for me again and again. What were they doing this for? Were they not trying to fellowship about the truth of the Lord’s coming for me to understand? They didn’t meet me twice, but they will still come and wait until they have met me. What’s more, they pray for me. They just wish to soon give me a firmer belief of Almighty God’s work in the last days. It would seem that people of the Church of Almighty God have genuine love. When my thoughts went there, I could not help but hate myself for shutting them out so inhumanely. I can’t go on like this. I must wait for them at home and figure out why I got a headache and dozed off while reading Almighty God’s words.

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Breaking Out of the Cocoon II

Unexpectedly, my husband found that I went to the meetings of the Church of Almighty God, and he told it to my father. One evening, when I was upstairs, I suddenly heard noises down in the yard. I opened the curtains and looked out, only to find that my father had burst into the yard angrily with four or five co-workers in his church, the sight of which brought me out in a cold sweat. My heart thudded, and I immediately knelt down on the floor and cried out to God for help, “O Almighty God! My father comes again to disturb me with some people in religion. I am timid and afraid. O God! You know I am of little stature. May You give me faith and courage….” Then God’s words suddenly occurred to me: “You should have My courage within you. Hold to the principles before your unbelieving relatives as well. But for My sake you should not yield to any force of darkness. Walk in the perfect way by My wisdom. Don’t let Satan’s schemes succeed. Lay your heart before Me as best you can, and I will comfort you and fill your heart with peace and joy” (“The Tenth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God’s words gave me strength. As I had God’s words in my heart, I was no longer timid and fearful. I thought, “No matter how they disturb me, I will never again let myself be fooled by Satan and deceived by them. It is heaven’s law and earth’s principle for me to believe in and follow God; no one has the right to interfere in it, not even my most loved ones.” So, I went downstairs composedly and greeted them. They all started speaking. A co-worker, looking with wonder at me, said, “Fangfang, I never expected that an intelligent person like you would believe in the Eastern Lightning. It is a false way! You’d better repent before the Lord Jesus….” I said with calmness, “You have never listened to the messages of the Eastern Lightning, nor have you ever read the words of Almighty God; how can you say that the way I put my faith in is a false way?” She said, “We don’t dare to read that book. It is terribly fascinating. If anyone reads it, he will be fascinated by it.” I said, “The words of Almighty God can convince people because they are God’s words and are the truth. Only God’s words have such authority and power.” But they spoke many blasphemies, and they also asked me to go to their leader to confess my sin and repent. They said that if I didn’t do so, I would be cast into hell and be judged. I said firmly, “I have attended the meetings of the Church of Almighty God and seen clearly that your defamation of it is totally groundless. There is no truth in your slander and rumor! If you cannot give proof, it shows that you are all liars, deceivers from Satan. Now the kingdom gospel of Almighty God has spread all over the China mainland, known to every household, and there are several millions of people who have accepted it. But there are also some people who hate the truth, and they have rejected the gospel. Isn’t it because of your disturbance that my youngest sister and I dared not believe in Almighty God anymore in the beginning? Aren’t we both safe and sound now? So you are telling lies and cheating people! Today I am dead set on believing in Almighty God. Don’t try to stop me since you refuse to believe. It is none of your business whether my soul will go to heaven or be cast into hell. Moreover, my fate is controlled by God’s hands, not determined by any man. Don’t come to disturb me anymore.” At that point, my father stood up and threatened me, saying, “If you insist on believing in Almighty God, I will break with you.”

When I heard such cruel words, I felt somewhat hurt, thinking, “You don’t seek or examine the true way, but listen to whatever your leader said. You choose to believe the rumors and lies made up by him rather than to believe me. You brought so many people to disturb and attack me and even said to break with me in front of them.” The more I thought about it, the sadder I felt. At that moment, these words of God came to my mind: “God created this world and brought man, a living being unto which He bestowed life, into it. In turn, man came to have parents and kin and was no longer alone. Ever since man first laid eyes on this material world, he was destined to exist within the ordination of God. It is the breath of life from God that supports each living being throughout his growth into adulthood. During this process, none believes that he lives and grows up under the care of God. Rather, man holds that he grows up under the love and care of his parents, and that his growth is governed by the instinct of life. This is because man knows not who bestowed life or from whence it came, much less how the instinct of life creates miracles” (“God Is the Source of Man’s Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). These words of God made me understand: Although my flesh was born of my parents, my life came from God. Had God not bestowed life upon me, my flesh would be an entity of corruption and a walking corpse. It is because of the care and keeping of God that I have survived until today; without God’s care and keeping, I would have long been devoured by Satan. Today I should repay God, not my parents. Although I have a physical relationship with my parents, we are incompatible in the spirit, for their essence is one of resistance to God. I should not join in their opposition to God, but should stand on God’s side. Even if my father disowns me, I should follow God to the end and stand firm in my testimony to God. So I said to my father, “Dad, in belief in God, I must obey God rather than man, and I can’t act by my emotion. If what you say corresponds to the truth and God’s will, I will obey you; if you want me to betray God, that’s impossible!” When they saw I was so determined, they shook their heads and stood up, and went away in dejection. Seeing the sorry figure they cut, I could not but shout for joy in my heart, “O God, You are so almighty! It is Your words that have given me the faith and courage to shame and defeat Satan thoroughly.”

Though the people in religion stopped coming to disturb me, my parents, instigated by their leader, often came to my home to persuade me, insisting that I should go to their leader and repent before him. One day, they came again. They attempted to mislead me with some Bible verses but failed. And then my mother wept uncontrollably, beseeching me to quickly go to their leader and repent before him. Looking at her tearful face, I felt distressed in my heart. “She lost her mother when she was three. Her stepmother ill-treated her, and she suffered a lot. Now she is getting old, but, instead of fulfilling my filial duty to her, I made her worry so much about me.” Thinking of this, I turned to my father and saw him looking at me with expectant eyes. My heart ached, and tears welled up in my eyes. But at that moment, these words of God occurred to my mind: “In every step of work that God does within people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements, or from human interference. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God. Take when Job was tried, for example: Behind the scenes, Satan was making a bet with God, and what happened to Job was the deeds of men, and the interference of men. Behind every step that God does in you is Satan’s wager with God—behind it all is a battle” (“Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God’s words made me realize that on the surface I was confronted with my parents’ interference, but behind that was Satan’s wager with God in the spiritual realm: Satan attempted to deceive me using my emotions, to make me take pity on my parents, stand on their side, and obey them and thus deny and betray God. I must see through Satan’s trick, and should not grieve or disappoint God. I must stand on God’s side firmly and never betray God. So regardless of what they said and how hard they tried to persuade me, my heart remained unshaken. They had no choice but to leave in low spirits.

Afterward, as I didn’t go to my former leader to repent, he asked my father to announce to all the believers that I was expelled from the church, and he also told my parents to draw a clear line with me. Because of the interference of my former leader and my parents, my husband began to persecute me frenziedly. Every time after I came back home from performing my duty, he would curse or beat me, shut me out of the house, or break my electric scooter or my bicycle. Once he even sent me to the local police station. I was worn out and pined away with such tortures from him. The people of our village also ridiculed and slandered me. Faced with such adverse environments, I felt very weak within, thinking that believing in God was too difficult. I was at a loss how to walk the way ahead. Many a time I knelt down before God and prayed tearfully to ask Him to give me faith and strength.

Later, I saw these words of God: “The ‘overcomers’ that God speaks of are those, who, under the siege and influence of Satan, that is, under the forces of darkness, still stand witness and maintain their original faith and their loyalty to God. Regardless of anything else, your chaste heart remains steadfast before God, and your true love of God stays unchanging. This means that you stand witness before God, and you are the ‘overcomer’ of which God speaks. When God blesses you, you pursue well. When God does not bless you, you draw back. Is this chastity? Since you are certain this is the true way, you should walk to the end and keep your loyalty to God. Since you see that God has come to earth to personally perfect you, you should give your heart to Him completely. No matter what God does—He may give you a bad outcome in the end—you can still follow Him. This means that you have kept your chastity before God” (“You Ought to Maintain Your Devotion to God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

From God’s words, I came to understand: In the last days, God will make a group of overcomers, and His followers therefore have to undergo many temptations both great and small from Satan. They have to actually experience the persecution from the CCP, the disturbance of the religious world, the rejection of their relatives, and the ridicule and insults of the worldly people. Those who can obey God and be faithful to God and do not betray God in any environment, who can stand firm in his testimony to God, will be the overcomers made by God. They will also be the ones who will receive God’s promises and survive the great disasters. Today God has arranged such environments in order to make me perfect and to see whether I will have a complaining heart, whether I have faith in God, and whether I am one who truly believes and obeys God. After I was clear about God’s will, I made a resolution before God: No matter what persecution or tribulation I may encounter, I will fulfill the duty of a creature to satisfy God. Although Satan frantically hindered and disturbed me, in an attempt to force me to deny and betray God, I prayed and looked to God at every time and equipped myself with God’s words every day. So God opened up a way out for me, which allowed me to see God’s almightiness and wondrous deeds. The more my husband persecuted me, the more God disciplined him. Later he didn’t dare to beat me or break my bike anymore. So my faith in God became greater.

One year later, I went to my youngest sister’s company with Sister Zhang to preach God’s work of the last days to her again, and she accepted it. When I saw her accepting the book of God’s word with both hands, I thought, “It is really difficult for God to save man!” At that moment, my tears streamed down my face uncontrollably, and I kept giving thanks and praises to God in my heart. In 2006, my youngest sister and I went to my younger sister to preach the gospel to her, and she also accepted it. After that, we brought several other relatives of ours to Almighty God as well. This allowed me to see that no matter how desperately the religious leaders try to hinder God’s work, it is to no avail. No force of Satan can halt God’s footsteps, and all God’s sheep will surely recognize His voice and return to Him. Just as Almighty God says: “The kingdom is expanding in humanity’s midst, it is forming in humanity’s midst, it is standing up in humanity’s midst; there is no force that can destroy My kingdom” (“The Nineteenth Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

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Breaking Through Encirclements I

Zhao Gang

The northeastern China was freezing cold in November. The snow even did not melt when it touched the ground. Hunched and tucking their hands under the armpits because of cold, many pedestrians walked forward with caution. One morning, with the northwesterly wind howling, there were me, my brother-in-law and his wife, and more than a dozen brothers and sisters in my home, sitting on the warm kang. Every one of us was holding a book titled Judgment Begins With the House of God, with the Bible laid alongside. Two sisters from the Church of Almighty God were communicating with us about the truth of the three stages of God’s work. While drawing the picture of the three stages of God’s work they fellowshiped, “God’s work is from the Age of Law to the Age of Grace, and then to the Age of Kingdom, rising higher and deeper with each stage. During the last stage God expresses His words to judge, chastise and purify man….” I listened and nodded. My heart was so enlightened: It turns out that there are many mysteries about God’s management plan to save mankind. Who can illustrate them so clearly other than God Himself? So it must be the work of the true God. At the sunset of the next day, we all agreed to seek and investigate Almighty God’s work in the last days.

Later, they two communicated about the truth concerning the significance of God’s incarnation. As we were listening with keen attention, our church leader, Wang Ping, dropped by suddenly. She pointed at the two sisters from the Church of Almighty God the moment she stepped in and asked me, “What are they doing here?” I replied frankly, “They are Sister Zhang and Sister Mu….” Before I could finish my words, she became flustered, saying, “Sister Zhang? Sister Mu? I think they are just the preachers of the Eastern Lightning, just thieves of stealing sheep, just robbers….” What she said totally shocked everyone present. I thought: Sister Wang Ping always talks about loving your neighbor as yourself and loving your enemies. How could she make such far-fetched remarks just after entering the room and even judge and condemn the two sisters? As I thought of this, I heard Sister Zhang calmly talk to Wang Ping, “Sister, today we come only for preaching the gospel of the Lord’s return to you, nothing else….” But Wang Ping interrupted her, saying, “The Lord has come back? The leaders like me don’t even know; how could you know it? That’s impossible. The Lord Jesus has said, ‘All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them’ (John 10:8). You two get away immediately and never set foot here again.” Hearing Wang Ping’s words, I felt an aversion to her. How could she have no compassion? Then I said to her, “Sister Wang, it’s so late today. How could you let them go? The Lord taught us to even love our enemies, not to mention the two sisters who are also believers in God. If we treat them like that, do we still count as believers in God? …” Wang Ping became angry before I could get my words out. She pulled the hand of my brother-in-law’s wife and said to them, “Zhao Gang doesn’t tell them to go away, then let’s go. Stop listening to them.” Then, she left in a rage with the couple.

After they left, Sister Mu asked us, “Brothers and sisters, what do you think about what just happened? Let’s talk about it.” They all glanced over their shoulders and looked at me, without saying a word. I said directly, “Through reading Almighty God’s words and listening to your fellowship in these two days, I can recognize that the words of Almighty God are all the truth and He is the second coming of the Lord Jesus. But there is something in what Wang Ping said. She is our leader after all. She has believed in the Lord for years, knows the Bible very well and has always run around and spent for the Lord. When the Lord comes back, she should have known it first.” Sister Zhang replied graciously, “Brothers and sisters, man has the notion that the Lord should first give revelation to the leaders when He comes again and then make it known to ordinary believers. Does this conception accord with the truth or the fact? Let’s recall the time that the Lord Jesus came to do His work. Those Jewish Pharisees believed that when the Messiah came, He would surely appear to them first. However, they never would have thought in a million years that the Lord Jesus did not inform them first when He came. Rather, He first let the fisher men and the tax collectors whom people looked down upon hear the gospel. This shows us that God does not give revelations to the leaders alone and He also enlightens those ordinary believers who follow Him. For God is righteous and absolutely impartial toward all men. The people that bring God joy are those who are good-hearted and who long for and seek the truth. God will enlighten and guide this type of people regardless of whether they have status. Just as the Lord Jesus said, ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled’ (Matthew 5:6) and ‘Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God’ (Matthew 5:8). As long as man yearns after the truth, God will enlighten and lead him to come before Him. If any leader claims to be given revelation first when the Lord comes back, his nature is too arrogant. Just as Almighty God says, ‘And so I say that those who have “seen through” God and His work are ineffectual, they are all arrogant and ignorant. Man should not define the work of God; moreover, man cannot define the work of God. In the eyes of God, man is smaller than an ant, so how can man fathom God’s work? Those who are constantly saying, “God does not work in this or that way” or “God is like this or that”—are they not all arrogant?’ (Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh). From God’s words, we can see that His almightiness and wisdom are unfathomable. Man is only a tiny creature with limited mind and intellect. How can he then fathom the work of the Creator? Therefore, we should maintain a heart of reverence on the matter of waiting for the Lord’s second coming and seek and investigate it carefully. We should not casually define or judge God by our notions and imaginations, which will offend God’s disposition.” Hearing her fellowship, I realized that man is so insignificant before God, even less than an ant. Moreover, corrupted by Satan, full of arrogant corrupt disposition, man always defines God according to his notions and imaginations. And when God’s work conflicts with the conceptions of man, man will even deny and condemn God. It turns out that man dares to do anything without the knowledge of the truth or the heart that fears God. It is really too dangerous. I then thought that the Lord Jesus once said, “I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in your sight” (Matthew 11:25-26). I now finally saw that it was indeed the fact. Sister Zhang’s fellowship made me realize that the viewpoint that the Lord should give revelation to leaders first when He comes back was wrong and ridiculous. Meanwhile, I have gained a new knowledge of God’s fairness and righteousness.

The next morning after Sister Zhang and Sister Mu left, Brother Guan, who was the high-level co-worker of our church, came to my home. He asked me, “Brother Zhao, I heard that you had accepted the Eastern Lightning.” I said seriously, “Yes, I have. Because from Almighty God’s words I come to understand many truths I did not understand before, such as the mystery of God’s three stages of work, the significance of God’s incarnation and so on. From them I see that Almighty God’s words are indeed what the Spirit said to the churches prophesied in Revelation.” He cast a glance at me, saying, “Brother Zhao, do you just convert to their belief? Do you know who they are?” I replied, “I think they are quite humane, and their communication of the truth is clear and illuminating. What they talked about were the truths regarding God’s work. I have gained a lot these two days.” He said angrily, “Why are you so stubborn? It is said in Hebrews 6:6-8, ‘If they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that comes oft on it, and brings forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receives blessing from God: But that which bears thorns and briers is rejected, and is near to cursing; whose end is to be burned.’ As a preacher, you have enjoyed so much grace from the Lord. Instead of leading brothers and sisters to believe in the Lord properly, you actually led them to leave the church. Aren’t you afraid of being punished? If you still don’t turn around, you will lose the Lord’s keeping. Your good life will be over, your former illness will recur and your two children won’t find good jobs….”

After Brother Guan went away, I became a little uncertain, thinking: What he said seems somewhat reasonable. I have believed in Almighty God; what if I lose the Lord’s grace? Thinking of this, I had some weakness in my heart. So I quickly knelt down and prayed to God: “Almighty God! Brother Guan’s words made me feel a bit weak. O God! I am wondering if what he said is true. I really don’t know what to do next….” In the middle of my prayer, my wife came back. Then I told her what had passed. After listening to me, she asked nervously, “Did he really say this?” I nodded. My wife said with a little worry, “He is a great leader who believes in the Lord for many years. Besides, he is familiar with the Bible very well. I think he is truthful. What will we do then if something happens as he said?” At that point, I suddenly remembered the truth of the three stages of God’s work which Sister Zhang and Sister Mu had communicated with us. Then I said to my wife, “Nevertheless, there is something wrong with Brother Guan’s viewpoint. He said that we had departed from the Lord’s way and betrayed the Lord Jesus. In fact, when we have followed Almighty God, we have kept pace with the footsteps of the Lamb. We are wise virgins. How could the Lord punish us? …” During our communication, Sister Zhang and Sister Mu showed up….

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