Wang Yang
Guichi City, Anhui Province
I was formerly a leader of the Justification by Faith Church in the city of Guichi. Before I accepted Almighty
God’s work of
the last days, I, like all brothers and sisters, had been eagerly expecting the Lord Jesus’ coming again. But because of the constant “warnings” from the senior leader above and the biblical verse that there will surely appear many false Christs in the last days, I became one who resisted and condemned God’s work of the last days. Thinking of these, I feel very guilty. Now, I will tell brothers and sisters my personal experience, hoping that brothers and sisters will learn a lesson from it and come back to
God’s family soon.
One day in September 1999, I was collecting cotton on our own threshing floor, because it was going to rain. Two sisters who preached the work of the last days of Almighty God came to me. Seeing them, I said, “How come you preachers of the false way come again to draw me? Save your breath! I won’t be deceived by you! You say that God has come, but no matter what you say, I believe that whatever departs from the Bible is false, because it says clearly in Matthew 24:36 that no one knows when the Lord comes. How could you know?” Seeing that they didn’t leave, I swore, “What a cheek, like the skin of an old sow! I will never let you enter my house!” I ran back home as I swore, and shut them out.
Soon, it began to rain. The two sisters didn’t have their umbrella with them and had to stand in the rain. Then I thought to myself, “They don’t get angry in spite of my abuse and don’t leave even when it rains. For what do they do so? For money? No! I won’t give them money. For fame? No! The worldly people all ridicule them as insane. They are not afraid of being mocked or abused or suffering. I have to ask them for what they do so.” Just when I was about to open the door, I remembered the words of the senior leader, “Those who preach that God has been incarnated and has opened the little scroll are from the ‘Eastern Lightning.’ No matter who they are and in what weather and at what time they come, don’t sympathize with them, much less receive them.” So, I began to struggle in my heart, “If what they believe in is false, why do they have far greater faith, love, and patience than we believers in Jesus? Am I a believer in Jesus by treating them this way?” I walked back and forth in the room and didn’t know what to do. The struggle in my heart was very fierce. The rain outside became heavier and heavier. In the end, I couldn’t bear it any longer, and said to myself, “Regardless of whether it is true or false, I have to ask them first for what they do so and where their faith, love, and patience come from.”
I opened the door and saw that they got soaked and trembled with cold. I felt quite sorry and let them in. As there were no clothes at home for them to change into, I urged them to hurry home. The sisters said, “If we want to go back, why do we wait until now? Brother, we come just to talk about the Bible with you.” My heart was moved by their sincerity. At that point, I no longer considered how people in the church would think about me, and said to them, “Just say whatever you want to!” One sister said, “Brother, we’ve come to fellowship with you about what Christ is.” I said, “Jesus is Christ and Christ is Jesus.” The sister continued, “Why can Jesus be called Christ?” I said, “Because the Lord Jesus is God, He is called Christ.” The sister asked again, “Is Jehovah not God? Why can He not be called Christ?” I said, “Christ means the anointed King.” The sister went on, “Saul, David, and Solomon were all anointed and were kings, but why could they not be called Christ?” Her questions rendered me speechless. Seeing that I was silent, she said, “Why can Jehovah not be called Christ? Because He only has full divinity and does not have a normal humanity. Why could Saul, David, or Solomon not be called Christ? They only had humanity and didn’t have full divinity, so they couldn’t be called Christ. Then why can Jesus be called Christ? Because He has both full divinity and a normal humanity, He is called Christ.” I was suddenly enlightened, “Ah! That’s how it is then. Thank God very much!” The sister went on, “Christ refers to the incarnate God. Only the incarnate God can be called Christ or the Son of man. In the Bible, Jesus is called Christ and the Son of man many times but Jehovah is never called Christ or the Son of man. This is because Jehovah is the Spirit and cannot be called Christ. When Christ or the Son of man is mentioned, it refers to the incarnate God. In the Bible, the prophets such as Ezekiel and Daniel are also called the ‘son of man.’ Although they and Christ were both men outwardly, they were different in substance. Ezekiel and Daniel could only speak some words and do some work among the people in behalf of Jehovah, and they were human in substance and were performing the duty that a created being should do. Christ, however, is different. He is God’s Spirit in substance, and when He speaks and works, He is performing His ministry. Although Christ can be called the Son of man, not all sons of man can be called Christ. Except the incarnate God, no one else can be called Christ. In the Bible, it mentions the Son of man many times, such as Matthew 24:27, 30; 25:31, Luke 17:30, and Revelation 14:14. Moreover, the Bible prophesies that the Lord Jesus will appear with the image of the Son of man when He comes again. Let’s read Luke 17:22-30. The Lord Jesus said to the disciples, ‘
The days will come, when you shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. 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. And as it was in the days of Noe, 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 Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.’ From these verses, it’s not difficult for us to see that when God comes again, He will also appear as the Son of man. When the Son of man is mentioned, it refers to the incarnate God. We have just mentioned that the incarnate Son of man has a normal humanity and full divinity and the spiritual body cannot be called the Son of man. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples personally, ‘
The days will come, when you shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you shall not see it.’ Does the word ‘
the days will come’ mean that the days have come or not? Do they refer to the time He was incarnated or the future time?” I said, “They refer to the time the Lord Jesus was incarnated.” The sister continued, “If the Lord Jesus meant Himself, why did He say the word ‘
The days will come, when you shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you shall not see it’? If the Lord Jesus was referring to Himself, hadn’t the disciples seen Him already? Moreover, they had followed Him and known that He was the Son of man and the Christ. (Matthew 16:15-16) How could He say that they shall not see it? Obviously, He wasn’t referring to the time He was incarnated but was speaking a prophecy concerning His coming again. He also prophesied that there would be false Christs appearing when He came back. In Luke 17:23, it says, ‘
And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.’ The Lord Jesus was warning people that they should not be deceived by false Christs when He came the second time, because where there is God’s work, there is Satan’s work. Man cannot recognize or know the image God takes when He comes by his physical eyes. Can man really know what image God will take when He comes again? Acts 1:11 says that the Lord Jesus will come in the same way as He went. At that time, the Lord Jesus went up in the clouds with the image of a Jew, dressed in the Jewish clothes, and with the print of the nails and the wounds of spears. Are you sure that He will still be like this when He comes again? If it were the case, whom should the Son of man described in Revelation refer to? It is written in Revelation 1:13-16, ‘
And in the middle of the seven candlesticks one like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like to fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shines in his strength.’ Then how should man know this appearance? Moreover, in Luke 24:13-16, it is written, ‘And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village … Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were held that they should not know him.’ John 20:14-15 says, ‘And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her,
Woman, why weep you? whom seek you? She, supposing him to be the gardener….’ So, man cannot recognize God through the outward appearance; rather, he can only know God through God’s work and word. Isn’t the Pharisees’ resistance against God a typical case? So, the Lord Jesus warned us many times not to be deceived by false Christs and also taught us how to distinguish false Christs. In Matthew 24:23-24, it is written, ‘
Then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.’ Here the Lord Jesus was giving us a hint that when God came again, He would not perform these signs and wonders but would do a new work, and if anyone performed signs and wonders, he must be a false Christ, a deceiver. We should know God from His work, as Christ cannot be recognized by man through His appearance. Since the Son of man comes, He will surely bring His new work. But a false Christ cannot bring any new work, and it only imitates and follows the work God did to achieve its purpose of deceiving people. While Satan is imitating the work Jesus did (healing the sick, driving out the demons, and performing signs and miracles), God has already done a new work again. God’s work is always done based on Satan’s plots. So, the Lord Jesus repeatedly taught us that anyone who misuses the name of Jesus and heals the sick, drives out the demons, and performs signs and wonders and says that he is the returned Lord Jesus is a false Christ. In Luke 17:24, the Lord Jesus prophesied the work He would do when He came again, ‘
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.’ He prophesied that the work the Son of man did when He came again would be like the lightning and would be done from the east to the west in the universe and be finished within the shortest time. That indicates that the work God does when He comes again will be done very quickly. As it is the work of reaping, it can be finished within a short time, and will not last two thousand years like the work of sowing. If it is a new work, that is, the work that has never been done, such as reaping, purifying, winnowing, and judging, which is beyond man’s capacity, it is undoubtedly God’s work. We should be cautious and not miss it! We should know God according to the work God does, and this is most after the Lord’s heart.”
“However, when God opens a new age and does a new stage of work, He will be confronted with many people’s resistance and great hindrances. This is because men are ignorant about the direction of the Holy Spirit’s work and they resist God’s new work according to God’s former work, measure God’s work by their imaginations and notions, and check God’s new work according to the old regulations. Every time when God is incarnated to do the work of saving men, men don’t like to accept or follow but instead do their utmost to resist, saying that this is a deceiver coming, and also spread slanders, blasphemies, and condemnations. God is so great, noble, and holy, yet He is incarnated into the world and lives with the most corrupt and filthy people, and He, humble and hidden, is saving men in obscurity. Men not only don’t repay God but requite evil for good, denying Him as the true God, and reviling, mocking, ridiculing, and rejecting Him. God endures all these silently for man’s sake. This is what will happen when Jesus comes again, as prophesied by Jesus personally, and is the true meaning of the word ‘But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation,’ (Luke 17:25) which prophesies that He will suffer many things when He comes the second time. The word ‘and be rejected of this generation’ means that He will not be accepted by this generation again. If He comes as a spiritual body and not as an incarnate flesh, He need not suffer, not to mention being rejected by men. Because when He is a spiritual body, He is not restrained by space or geography, and only the incarnate Son of man will undergo such sufferings.” I argued at once, “It means that Jesus suffered many things when He was on earth, and it doesn’t mean that He will be incarnated when He comes again.” The sister said, “Well, we will be clear after reading the following scriptures in Luke 17:26-30, ‘And as it was in the days of Noe, 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 Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.’ From these verses, we see that the day when the Son of man is revealed is like the days of Noah and the days of Sodom when they all were destroyed. If it referred to the fact that the Lord Jesus Himself suffered things at that time, firstly, it would not be called a prophecy. This is because a prophecy prophesies things that have not happened; only if it prophesies things that will be fulfilled in the future can it be called a prophecy; otherwise, it is not called a prophecy. Secondly, if it referred to the fact that Jesus suffered things at that time, why did Jesus say that the day when the Son of man comes will be like the days of Noah and the days of Sodom? As we all know, the days of Noah were the days of destruction of the flood when the whole world was cursed and destroyed by God and only the eight people of Noah’s family received God’s blessings and were left. The days of Lot were the days when Jehovah God destroyed the sins of the city of Sodom. Because the sins of the people of Sodom reached Jehovah’s ears, God poured down the brimstone and fire from heaven and burned them all and only left three people of Lot’s family. If it referred to the first incarnation of the Lord Jesus, how do we explain it that we have never seen any work of destruction done by God over the two thousand years after the Lord came to the world? Doesn’t it refer to the second coming of the Son of man?”
Through the biblical verses we studied and the sister’s fellowship, I knew much about God’s coming again through being incarnated as the Son of man. Thank God very much! I was much enlightened! Then I said to them, “I can accept that Jesus will be incarnated when He comes again, but I still don’t understand one thing. You say that God has come, but the Bible says, ‘But of that day and that hour knows no man … but the Father.’ Then how do you know that?” The sister answered, “It means that man cannot possibly know the specific time of Jesus’ coming again. But when God comes and begins to work, won’t people know it? This is like Jesus’ first coming. First, Mary and Joseph knew it. Then after He was born, the three Magi and the shepherds knew it. When He began to perform His ministry, His disciples knew it; and the woman of Samaria said that He was Messiah, the Savior. If no one knew it, how could His work be carried out? The object of God’s work is man, so His work requires man to cooperate. If no one knew it, how could God save man? The Bible tells us clearly that ‘the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.’ Today, if we hold fast to the Bible and deny God’s work of today, aren’t we too rash and thoughtless? If it were the case, as we imagine, that He who does not come with white clouds is not Jesus, why would Jesus have spoken so many parables and prophesied things about His coming again? The Lord repeatedly warned us to watch, but we misunderstand Jesus’ words and just ‘close the door tight.’ As such, to guard against false ones, we shut the real One out. What will we gain in the end through believing in God then?” What the sister said and the biblical prophecies made me change my mind: The fulfillment of the biblical prophecies cannot be within the Bible, and since it is beyond “the Bible,” it means that God has done a new work. Only God can do new work, and no one else can make such a start. And the sister said, “All that we have known and talked about today is in God’s word. God has made all the mysteries and truths clear to man. As long as you read God’s word more, you will understand the truths of all aspects and all your notions and difficulties will be solved by God’s word.”
Unconsciously, we talked like this for several hours. Thank God for His enlightenment, so that I understood many truths and mysteries I had been unclear about in believing in God for years. From the fulfillment of the biblical prophecies and the speech and living out of the people led by Almighty God, I was sure that the incarnate Almighty God today is the Jesus who has appeared. I was really remorseful for my deeds, blindness, and ignorance and regretted that I believed in God for years but didn’t know God, and blindly believed people’s rumors, rejected the true way, and drove away the brothers and sisters who preached the gospel. Yet, God didn’t treat me according to my evil deeds but saved me time after time and brought me back to His throne. I sincerely hope that the brothers and sisters who have not come before Almighty God will not be like me, who believed in God but relied on men. Wake up! Almighty God is the returned
Jesus, only He can bring us the
truth, the way, and the life, and only Almighty God can spare us from the disasters of the last days. Come back to God’s family quickly! Almighty God is expecting us!
