Breaking Out of the Cocoon I

Fangfang

My whole family believed in the Lord in the Head Covering Church. I was an ordinary believer, and my father was a junior leader. In February 2004, I accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days, and then I took Sister Zhang of the Church of Almighty God to preach the kingdom gospel to my youngest sister. I had planned to preach it to my father after I equipped myself with enough words of God. But unexpectedly, he soon learned that I had accepted the kingdom gospel, and started to disturb me frantically.

One late afternoon, my father rushed to my house and said to me angrily, “I never expected that you would believe in the Eastern Lightning. You’ve taken the wrong way. … Go to the church quickly and repent before the leader, and ask the Lord Jesus to forgive your sin.” I said, “Dad, I’m not on the wrong way. I have read many of Almighty God’s words and recognized they are truly God’s voice. Almighty God is exactly the returned Lord Jesus. The Age of Grace has passed. Now is the Age of Kingdom, and God has come to do new work. Doesn’t the Bible say, ‘These are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes’ (Revelation 14:4)? I have kept pace with the Lord’s footsteps….” Whatever I said, however, my father just wouldn’t listen. He insisted on me going to the leader to explain myself, and my husband stood beside him stoking the tension. I thought to myself, “It seems that my father won’t be satisfied until I go to the church.” I prayed in my heart, asking God to protect me. Then my husband drove me together with my father to a meeting place on his instructions. About sixty or seventy people were there, including my youngest sister, who was brought there by her mother-in-law. A senior leader came to my sister and me, spoke many blasphemies against Almighty God and slandered His Church. His words, so horrible, hit me like a ton of bricks and sent a chill down my spine. I got confused and thought, “I haven’t attended meetings for a few years, and I’m certainly ill-informed. Since the leader is a servant of the Lord who shepherds the church, he is unlikely to cheat us. Have I really been deceived?” Finally, my father and my sister’s mother-in-law forced my sister and me to close our eyes and asked the leader to pray for the Lord Jesus to forgive our sin. While the leader was praying, my sister and I didn’t pray and remained silent. …

After I returned home that evening, I considered the words of the leader and recalled the days of my contact with Sister Zhang, who was not at all like what the leader said. I also turned over the words of Almighty God in my mind, feeling that they indeed couldn’t be spoken by man. The positive and negative thoughts kept recurring to me, and I tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. When I got up next morning, I felt dazed and distressed. I didn’t feel like eating breakfast and had no heart to do anything. Owing to my poor sleep the night before, I got into bed after lunch, and my youngest sister came when I had just lain down. She said, “We’ve been deceived. We are believing in a wrong way. So just back out.” I said, “I have read through The Scroll Opened by the Lamb several times. The word of Almighty God is indeed God’s voice, and Almighty God is really the Lord Jesus we’ve been yearning for. I don’t think we are on the wrong path.” Then my sister left as she couldn’t persuade me. I thought, “It is absolutely true that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus. But what explains those things the leader said about the Eastern Lightning?” While I was thinking of this, my husband told me that my father called and asked me to go to meet him at once. I knew he would interfere with me again, so I didn’t want to go, but my husband pushed me into his car forcefully. When I got to my parents’ home, I found my youngest sister and her mother-in-law were also there. Upon seeing me, my father said sulkily, “… Yesterday evening the leader prayed to the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin, but you haven’t confessed and repented for your own. Today you are invited here to pray and fully repent before the Lord and promise Him that you will no longer believe in Almighty God. Only in this way will the Lord forgive your sin.” I thought to myself, “I’ve kept up with God’s work by accepting Almighty God. What sin have I committed?” I refused to pray and repent. Then my father, my sister’s mother-in-law, and my mother all jumped at me. They also exaggerated those dreadful rumors about the Eastern Lightning and slandered and blasphemed Almighty God. My head was already groggy due to the poor sleep in the night, and their threats left it even more so. I felt tired out, and gradually didn’t know my own mind. I thought, “It seems that if I don’t make a prayer of repentance, they simply won’t give over. Their continuous disturbance is just killing me. Oh! I’d better continue to believe in the Lord Jesus lest I suffer this.” When they saw I still didn’t pray, they assailed me again and even forced my sister and me to close our eyes and pray and repent. Facing their aggressive behavior, I couldn’t restrain my tears any longer. I closed my eyes and prayed to the Lord Jesus in tears, “O Lord Jesus! I know Almighty God is You who have come back, but now I don’t dare to believe in Almighty God. I beg You to pardon me and forgive my sin …” I choked and couldn’t go on. After the prayer, I suddenly felt so weak that I didn’t have any strength or faith within. I said to my sister, “Before I prayed, I still had some strength, but after the prayer, I felt all my strength was gone abruptly, as if the Holy Spirit forsook me. Actually, Almighty God is our longed-for Lord Jesus. We shouldn’t have prayed and repented; that is betraying God.”

Although I had prayed the prayer of repentance, in my heart the struggle never stopped. I thought, “I have read so many words from Almighty God, and I am certain they are the utterances of God and that the Lord Jesus has truly come back. If I reject Almighty God, I will not only miss the salvation but even be condemned by the Lord. But if I insist on believing in Almighty God, the leader and my parents won’t let me go, and I won’t have a peaceful life.” I was also afraid that the rumors my parents and the leader spread about the Eastern Lightning were true. I was terribly upset and in a quandary about what to do, and my head ringing. I really couldn’t bear it and my nerves were almost in shreds. I said to myself, “I might as well return the book of God’s word and the hymn book to Sister Zhang when she comes next time, and then I will be free from such pain and trouble.”

A few days later, Sister Zhang came to water me at my shop. I was nervous, dreading that my husband would see her and tell it to my father. I poured out to her all that had happened to me during those few days, and then quickly took out the book of God’s word and the hymn book from under the goods and gave them to her, saying, “Sister, the disturbance of my parents and husband and the rumors they spread about the Eastern Lightning have torn my hair out and overwhelmed me. It’s better for me to continue my belief in the Lord Jesus. Take away the books, please.” Sister Zhang said to me earnestly, “Sister, each time God carries out His work, the religious leaders use rumors to deceive and control God’s chosen people and oppose God’s work. At that time when the Lord Jesus worked, the Jewish chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees used the rumors to deceive people. They said that the Lord Jesus drove out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils, and was a glutton and drunkard. After the Lord Jesus was resurrected, they bought off the soldiers and asked them to spread the word that His body had been stolen by His disciples. Their very purpose was to prevent the Jews from coming before the Lord Jesus. Similarly, today the religious leaders purposely use the rumors to deceive and control people, prevent the believers from receiving God’s salvation, and disturb and impair God’s work. Your parents and husband disturbed you because of the rumors spread by the leader, and they are victims too….” I knew what Sister Zhang said was all true, but I hung back and didn’t dare to keep the books in case my father kicked up turmoil at my home. Seeing me in a dilemma, Sister Zhang gave me a phone number and said, “All right, sister, I’ll take the books away and keep them for you. When you want to read them, call me, and I will bring them back to you right away.” I agreed and walked her to the door. Then my husband came bowling over and pointed at Sister Zhang shouting, “Go away quickly with the books. Never come again, or I won’t be easy on you!” Sister Zhang left with the books reluctantly. Looking at her receding figure, I felt an inexplicable poignancy.

I had imagined that after I returned the books, I could resume my former peaceful life since my father wouldn’t come to disturb me. But, on the contrary, I felt a nameless emptiness inside and didn’t have a clue how to deal with things properly. God’s words and the hymns recurred to me now and then, and the leader’s words and the scenes of my father and others disturbing and besieging me also often flashed in my mind. I struggled in agony, as if I had fallen into an abyss and were unable to climb out of it no matter how hard I tried. I was in a daze all day, my head almost splitting. I had no appetite, slept badly and couldn’t bear the mental stress, so that I wasted away. In agony, I thought of praying. I knelt down and called out to God, “The only true God who created the heavens and earth and all things, I’m suffering terribly in my heart and feel perplexed now. I know Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus, but my stature is too small, and I am timid and fearful at the thought of my father and others’ disturbance and siege. O God, I am at a crossroads, not knowing what course to take. I ask You to guide and lead me….” During prayer, I unknowingly thought of God’s words: “Do not fear this or that. No matter how many difficulties and dangers there are, you should be stable before Me and not be hindered by anything, letting My will be carried out smoothly. … Remove your fear. I am your rear guard, so who can block the way? Remember! Remember!” (“The Tenth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). These words of God gave me strength. “That’s right! With God as my rear guard, what do I have to fear? Since I am certain that this is the true way, I should not be restrained by anyone; I should break through the forces of darkness and follow God unflinchingly.” Thinking of this, I immediately took out Sister Zhang’s phone number from the drawer and called her. She agreed to bring the books to me at a certain place.

After I got the books back, I read God’s words and sang hymns with avidity when my husband was out. The more I read, the more I felt gratified, and the more I sang, the more I felt joyful. I was very happy. My former faith returned to me, and my distress disappeared completely. Three months later, Sister Zhang took me to the meetings of the Church of Almighty God.

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Going Through the Tunnels and Getting Warmed by the Sun I

Going Through the Tunnels and Getting Warmed by the Sun I

Lin Fang

Like hundreds of millions of other Christians, I had been longing desperately for the Lord to come soon to take me to the kingdom of heaven and enjoy the blessings there. One day in November 2006, I finally heard the news of the Lord’s return. Under the guidance of God’s words, the brothers and sisters who spread the gospel patiently communicated with me, so that I recognized at last that the incarnate Almighty God is exactly the returned Lord Jesus and joyfully accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days.

After I accepted the gospel, Sister Yang solemnly fellowshiped with me, “We are now in the last days when God is doing the final stage of work to save man. God does His utmost to save man, while Satan continuously carries out its plots to disturb man and prevent them from coming before God to receive His salvation. So, the battle in the spiritual realm now is very intense. Let’s read a passage of Almighty God’s words.” I took the book and seriously read, “As God works, Satan harasses. In the last days, it will finish its harassment; likewise, God’s work will be finished, and the kind of person God wishes to complete will be completed. God directs people positively; His life is living water, immeasurable and without limits. Satan has corrupted man to a certain degree; in the end, the living water of life will complete man, and it will be impossible for Satan to interfere and carry out its work. Thus, God will completely obtain these people. Satan still refuses to accept this now; it continuously pits itself against God, but God pays it no attention. He has said, I will be victorious over all of Satan’s dark forces and over all dark influences. … God is wiser than it, and His work far exceeds it. Therefore, I previously stated the following: The work that I do is carried out in response to Satan’s ruses. In the end I will reveal My almightiness and Satan’s powerlessness. When God does His work, Satan tails Him from behind, until in the end it is finally destroyed—it will not even know what hit it! It will only realize the truth once it has already been smashed and crushed; at that time it will already have been burned in the lake of fire. Will it not be completely convinced then? For it has no more schemes to employ!” (“You Should Know How the Whole of Humanity Has Developed to the Present Day” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Sister Yang then said gently, “From Almighty God’s words, we can see that in God’s management work, Satan never spares anyone that God is to save. It uses people, events, and things to interfere with man, so that they may turn away from God, deny God, betray God, and finally lose God’s salvation. However, God’s wisdom is exercised based on Satan’s schemes. God just takes advantage of Satan’s disturbance to let us know His work, His wisdom and omnipotence, and see through Satan’s evil and ugliness. So, no matter what we encounter in the future, we should seek the truth, see through Satan’s schemes, and stand testimony for God! As long as we consider things by standing on the side of God, Satan can do nothing with us.” Hearing the sister’s fellowship, I said with full confidence, “Yeah. We believe in the true God, so I’ll rely on Him and fear nothing. If I am tempted, I will absolutely stand on God’s side.”

Soon after, one day I went home happily after spreading the gospel. As I was coming to the gate, my neighbor rushed to me and, vividly gesturing with his hands, said, “Why do you come back so late? Something big happened! Your son’s friend Xiaoliu came to borrow your pickup, but it wouldn’t start. Then he drove a farm tractor and tried several times in vain to pull the pickup. Xiaohu was also there. Seeing that, he insisted on giving it a try. He put the tractor in fifth gear after sitting on it. As soon as the tractor was started, however, the ring at the end of the steel rope broke unexpectedly. It whizzed back and hit Xiaohu right in the temple, leaving him bleeding all at once…. Now Xiaohu is in the hospital.” Abruptly, my head went blank. I hurried home and prayed, “Oh Almighty God! I don’t understand Your will. Why do I encounter such a thing suddenly? May You enlighten me.” After praying, I recalled the words in the Bible, “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil” (Luke 4:1-2). Then I suddenly thought of the truth regarding the battle in the spiritual realm, about which my sister had fellowshiped with me before, and realized that it was Satan’s temptation and disturbance. Satan wished to use that adversity to make me blame God, stray from God, and give up following Almighty God. That was a battle in the spiritual realm. At that time, I thought of God’s words, “… you are able to stand on the side of God when He does battle with Satan, and you do not turn back to Satan, then you will have achieved the love of God, and you will have stood firm in your testimony” (“Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God’s words gave me great faith. I thought: Satan, I will never fall into your schemes and complain about God however you interfere. I will stand on God’s side and follow Almighty God. After understanding God’s will, I felt much assured.

Nonetheless, Satan did not resign itself to the failure, and still interfered with me through people, events, and things. More than twenty days later, Xiaohu recovered, but he refused to leave the hospital in order to squeeze money out of us. He said, “The pickup is yours, so you should pay the whole cost.” His wife stood up, shouting, “Right! Since the pickup is yours, you should pay the full amount….” Facing their perverse behaviors, I was very angry and got caught up in this matter. In extreme pain and upset, I did not want to communicate with them anymore and walked out of the ward. When I went downstairs, I thought: I am a believer in God. I’m not supposed to get angry like that in the face of problems. I should entrust this matter to God and rely on Him. After I arrived home, I opened the book of God’s word and saw the following, “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. … You should know that everything that happens to you is a great trial and the time when God needs you to bear testimony” (“Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Looking at God’s words, I remembered that day when I boasted before Sister Yang, “If I am tempted, I will absolutely stand on God’s side.” However, when Satan interfered with me time after time, I did not stand testimony for God. With my heart constantly occupied by that matter and unable to be at peace before God, I did not seek the mind of God, but got entangled in the problems and lived in darkness, falling prey to Satan’s trickery. Only then did I recognize that Satan was truly evil and treacherous. It used that matter to disturb me, and thought of every possible way to let me deny God’s sovereignty, sway between right and wrong, get annoyed, and live in pain and darkness. I should not be tricked by Satan anymore. I was willing to rely on God and put that matter in God’s hands. Whether Xiaohu would leave the hospital and how much I had to pay at last were subject to God’s orchestration. Whatever the result, I would obey it. To my surprise, I saw God’s wondrous deeds the next day. God aroused a young man to criticize Xiaohu, “I’m really disdainful of people like you who bully good men and even want to squeeze money out of them. If I were in this situation, I would give you not a single penny.” The other patients in the ward also muttered, “Yeah. He got on the tractor himself, but asked others to pay for him. He was so unreasonable.” “Exactly. The person who borrowed the pickup should pay part of the expense. The owner isn’t obliged to pay the full amount.” Mutely, Xiaohu bent his head. Three days later, he left the hospital.

That experience allowed me to see Satan’s evil and baseness. It took advantage of people, events, and things to interfere with me, and attempted to make me complain about God and live in suffering and sorrow due the loss of money. Finally, I also saw God’s authority of mobilizing and ruling over all things when I was willing to rely on Him and stand on His side by faith. Just as the word of God says, “I will maneuver all things to serve Me. Even more I am to manifest My great power, for everyone to see that in the entire universe nothing is not in our hand, no man is not serving us, and no matter is not accomplished for our sake” (“The One Hundred and Nineteenth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The more I read God’s words, the more confidence I had in God. I only wished to experience God’s work more and overcome Satan’s temptation by relying on God in future environments.

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God’s Word Led Me to Reunite With the Lord I

Enhui    Malaysia

I am an ordinary Christian and I have believed in the Lord for 28 years. When I first started believing in the Lord, I felt that the church was a pure land, a sanctified place in this evil age. I was very proud that I could emerge separately from the world because of my belief in the Lord. However, good times didn’t last long. I gradually discovered that the pastors and elders followed the trends in the world. They sought fashion, lusted for money and struggled for position like worldly people so that no one obeyed God’s commandments or followed the Lord’s way. Believers often gossiped about others, judged others, blindly fabricated rumors, had jealous disputes with others and sowed dissension. They liked to vent their dissatisfactions on the Internet due to some trivial matters, which brought shame to God’s name. No one wished to be the light and the salt of the earth for the Lord and the church was full of sin. An unbelieving colleague of mine said to me, “Nowadays, Christians even do much worse than unbelievers.” The situation made me feel sorrow and pained. I often thought: What’s wrong with the church nowadays? Why is it bereft of the blessings of the Lord Jesus? I not only don’t receive nurturing at gatherings, but hear or witness the darkness in the church, which makes me feel disheartened and lose all my hope about the church.

I sought on the Internet for the supply of spiritual life. Thanks to God’s mercy. In May of 2016, I met Brother Zheng and his cousin on Facebook who bore witness to me about God’s work of judgment in the last days. After that, Brother Zheng said, “Now, the age has changed, and the work of God has renewed, so has His name. In the Age of Kingdom, God no longer does His work under the name of the Lord Jesus but instead reveals Himself to man by the name of Almighty God, working and expressing His words, the truth.” What he said was incredible yet confusing to me. I thought: Why has the name of God changed? My notion emerged, but then I had a second thought: Man can’t fathom God’s work. Perhaps there are mysteries. Instead of holding on to my own conception, I should seek. So I asked, “Brother, please fellowship with me about why God changes His name.” He sent me one verse, “Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God: and I will write on him my new name” (Revelation 3:12). He then sent me a passage of Almighty God’s words, “‘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. … And so, when the final age—the age of the last days—arrives, My name shall change again. I shall not be called Jehovah, or Jesus, much less the Messiah, but shall be called the powerful Almighty God Himself, and under this name I shall bring the entire age to an end. I was once known as Jehovah. I was also called the Messiah, and people once called Me Jesus the Savior because they loved and respected Me. But today I am not the Jehovah or Jesus that people knew in times past—I am the God who has returned in the last days, the God who shall bring the age to an end. I am the God Himself that rises up at the ends of the earth, replete with My entire disposition, and full of authority, honor and glory” (“The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). After reading these words, Brother Zheng fellowshiped, “The name of Almighty God is exactly the new name recorded in Revelation. God is the Creator, the Ruler of the universe. No one name can fully represent what God has and is. God takes names because of His work. He uses the name to initiate the age and end the age and represent His work and the disposition He expresses in that age. For example, God used the name of the Lord Jesus to conclude the Age of Law and usher in the Age of Grace. This name represented God’s redemptive work and His disposition of love and mercy. In the last days, God ended the Age of Grace and brought the Age of Kingdom under the name of Almighty God. This name represents God’s work of judgment in the last days and majesty, wrath, righteousness, and holiness of His disposition. It can be seen that God’s name is a mystery of great significance.”

Almighty God’s words solved my puzzle and made me finally understand that there is only one God. Jehovah, Jesus, and Almighty God are three names in different ages based on different work. No wonder God’s name recorded in the whole Old Testament is Jehovah, and God is called by the name Jesus in the entire New Testament, and God’s name is the Almighty, Almighty God, in Revelation which prophesies God’s work of judgment in the last days. Almighty God’s words disclosed the mysteries in the Bible and made me understand the mystery and meaning of God’s name. I was very happy.

Later, Brother Zheng read many more of Almighty God’s words and communicated in his knowledge of these words. I have understood that God incarnate expresses His words to do the work of judgment in order to allow man to realize and gain the truth, through which He leads him to know Him, His work and His disposition. So that he can thoroughly break away from the influence of Satan and return to God, no longer being bound or constrained by sin. Only after man experiences God’s work of the last days can he cast off the sinful nature and attain the transformation of his disposition, being someone who is in line with God’s will and completely gained by God. What’s more, I have also understood that why the churches are dark, desolate and full of sin. One aspect is that God has done a new work and the Holy Spirit is not working in the churches of the Age of Grace. The churches have subsequently become wastelands. People have lost confidence, no longer seek the light but wallow in the same filth as Satan and live in insouciant sin. Another aspect is that the pastors and elders don’t lead people to walk in the way of the Lord or abide by His commandments, leading to their loathing and rejection by God and the churches’ loss of God’s care and protection. It is just as the Lord Jesus prophesied, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12). Thanks be to God! My doubts were resolved in the Church of Almighty God. I believed that the words of Almighty God are the truth and recognized that Almighty God is the Lord Jesus I have longed for. He has returned to flesh on earth and done the work of judgment and purification. Thus I accepted God’s work in the last days happily.

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One Step Forward and You Will See a Brand-New World

Xiaofang

In 2012, my husband’s sister came to visit us with the sisters from the Church of Almighty God. They witnessed to the work of Almighty God—the Lord Jesus’ second coming—in the last days, and communicated with us why believers in the churches became cold in their faith and why preachers had nothing to preach. They said that God has done a new work and ceased working in the churches of the Age of Grace and that only by following God’s new work could we gain God’s leadership and the Holy Spirit’s work…. What they conveyed sounded reasonable and supplied me with much strength. I couldn’t help recollecting the scenes of my attending meetings in our church: Each time I went out full of faith and yet came back discouraged and disappointed, because the preachers were unable to deliver new light, there was no enjoyment in the meetings, and I couldn’t receive any supply in the spirit. I always felt as if we had been abandoned by the Lord. I thought to myself: Can it be that God has done a new work, just as they say? If so, I must seek actively. Therefore, after their first communication and witness, I decided to listen carefully to them when they came again.

One morning several days later, my husband and I went to plant beans in the field after breakfast. While working I told my husband, “After listening to the fellowship of the sisters in the Church of Almighty God, I feel what they said was full of enlightenment and far better than the sermons given by the priests in our church. We’d better listen again if we can.” He nodded in agreement. Just then, I caught sight of co-workers Wang and Li of our church hastily approaching our field. Facing us, co-worker Li said not nicely, “You two haven’t attended meetings quite a few times. I heard you had listened to the messages of the Eastern Lightning.” I looked at them and said nothing. My acknowledgment in silence set co-worker Wang saying in astonishment, “It seems that you’ve really believed in the Eastern Lightning!” I said earnestly, “Sister Li, Sister Wang, you’d better make an investigation. I feel it’s of great benefit and enjoyment to listen to the sermon given by the sisters in the Church of Almighty God. They are unlike the preachers in our church, who are always long-winded and repeating themselves and whose sermons can’t offer me any enjoyment other than drowsiness.” I standing on the side of the Church of Almighty God, co-worker Wang glared at me and said, “Who was it that saved you when your illness was at its worst? It was the Lord Jesus! But now, you are leaving the Lord and turning to Almighty God. It’s ungrateful of you to do so.” Hearing what she said, I somewhat hesitated: Yeah, it was the Lord Jesus who saved me and gave me a second life when I was haunted by diseases and dying. If I leave the Lord, am I not an ingrate without conscience? Nonetheless, I indeed feel it good to listen to what the sisters in the Church of Almighty God preached. If I don’t follow, what if I miss the salvation of the Lord’s second coming? While I was thinking, co-worker Li went on saying, “Sister Fang, we are both believers in the Lord. I will never harm you. You can’t forget the Lord’s grace and turn to believing in another God. That will disappoint our Lord! …” Their persistent persuasion made me change my mind: Such great grace has the Lord given me that I really can’t leave Him! Thus my husband and I promised them to attend meetings in our church. After that, the brothers and sisters in the Church of Almighty God came to find me several times but I kept refusing to communicate with them.

During that time when I had meetings in our church, I had no strength when listening to brothers and sisters singing and I just couldn’t listen to what the preachers said. So I always missed the presence of the sisters in the Church of Almighty God. Their sermon was beneficial and nourished my spirit, inspiring me with faith. Although I first met them, I felt as if they were my family. When having dinner, I said to my husband, “We’d better go to find the sisters in the Church of Almighty God. Their sermon sounded enjoyable. You see, there are some talking about domestic trivia and some dozing off during meetings in our church. We can’t draw any enjoyment from the preachers’ preaching. Such a church is without the work of the Holy Spirit.” Nevertheless, my husband said, “There is no difference in where to believe in the Lord. Besides, we can’t leave the Lord Jesus.” Our views were divided and I was torn, not knowing which was right. During that time, I often saw my sister-in-law had meetings with brothers and sisters in the Church of Almighty God and that she hummed songs daily, looking quite happy. In contrast, I just couldn’t cheer up but felt listless all day long. I thought: We both believe in God, but why is my sister-in-law so happy while I seem to live in the darkness of being forsaken by the Holy Spirit? The more I possessed such feeling, the more I fancied going to their church to listen again. However, I was too embarrassed to express myself to her, fearing that she might have an opinion of me. Consequently, I didn’t go and engage with her all along.

One day, wanting to listen to hymns, I switched on the recorder and accidentally heard the hymn “Grace in Grace,” whose lyrics went like this, “Lord, You have delivered me out of so great a death, sending me onto the road of life. Lord, You will deliver me from myself, free me from the control of sin, and save my soul-life. Walking a humble path, dying to myself, and possessing resurrection, freedom and relief. In the past, I went for special gifts and grace. Today, I will gain You. …” Hearing out the hymn, I felt much brightened. Thinking back to the past, I gained the Lord’s grace. Nowadays, the sermon that the sisters in the Church of Almighty God preached gave much enjoyment to me. It’s probable that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus. They might be preaching the true way. Why not seek? If by any chance it’s the work done by the returned Lord Jesus, won’t I miss the chance of gaining God since I don’t seek? Thereupon, I prayed to God day after day, “Lord! People from the Church of Almighty God preached the gospel to me and I took enjoyment in their sermon. They saidAlmighty God is Your second coming. Without discernment, I’m afraid of walking the wrong path and departing from You, but I don’t want to miss the work of Your return, either. May You guide me!” One day, it leaped into my mind that there was a book of God’s word left to me by the sisters in the Church of Almighty God. I found it straight away and read a passage of God’s word, “Since man believes in God, he must closely follow the footsteps of God, step-by-step; he should ‘follow the Lamb wherever He goes.’ Only these are the people who seek the true way, only they are the ones who know the work of the Holy Spirit. People who slavishly follow letters and doctrines are those who have been eliminated by the work of the Holy Spirit” (“God’s Work and Man’s Practice” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God’s words set me pondering: Believers in God must closely follow the footsteps of the Lamb, or they are probable to be eliminated at any time. The sermon from the Church of Almighty God furnished me with enjoyment. And have a look at my sister-in-law: Ever since she began to attend meetings in the Church of Almighty God, she has beendelighted every day. By comparison, she is likely to have followed the footsteps of God. At that moment, I recalled what the Bible says, “These are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (Revelation 14:4). Aren’t Almighty God’s words in line with the words in the Bible? Almighty God may be really the returned Lord Jesus.

After rumination, I eventually determined on stepping forward to visit my sister-in-law. Seeing my arrival, she received me with pleasure and hospitality, saying, “Thank God indeed! Here you come. In this period of time, my brothers and sisters and I all pray for you every day.” Knowing that they cared about me so much, I felt sort of self-reproach and said embarrassedly, “There remains confusion in my mind these days and today I want to talk about it with you.” My sister-in-law smiled, “Don’t hesitate to speak out whatever you have in mind. Almighty God’s words can solve all our difficulties.” I said, “I have thought a lot these days. I think your fellowship has enlightenment, unlike that of our church, which provides no enjoyment. But I have enjoyed too much grace from the Lord Jesus. He is the One who healed me of my diseases. Isn’t it departure from the Lord Jesus if I believe in Almighty God? Doesn’t it mean I have no conscience? And I will feel sorry toward the Lord.” She fellowshiped with me, “Accepting the work of Almighty God in the last days is not departure from the Lord Jesus but following the footsteps of the Lamb. As we all know, when the Lord Jesus came to work, those who accepted Him not only didn’t betray Jehovah but kept up with God’s new work and gained Hisapproval. For the work of the Holy Spirit went to a higher stage upon the arrival of the Lord Jesus Christ, His work differed from that of the past, and He made new requirements for man. Jehovah and the Lord Jesus are one God. Just as the Lord Jesus once said, ‘I and my Father are one’ (John 10:30). God’s work is always new and never old. As the age moves forward, God’s work also rises higher with each stage, grounded on the needs of man. We’ll understand more after reading several passages of Almighty God’s words. Almighty God says, ‘It could be said that this stage of work is built on the foundation of the Age of Law and the rock of the work of Jesus. The work is built stage by stage, and this stage is not a new beginning. Only the combination of the three stages of work can be deemed the six-thousand-year management plan. … This stage of work builds entirely on the previous stage. This is why only such work can bring man to salvation stage by stage. Jesus and I come from the same Spirit. Though Our fleshes have no relationship, Our Spirits are one; though what We do and the work We bear are not the same, We are alike in essence; Our fleshes take different forms, and this is because of the change in era and the need of Our work; Our ministries are not alike, so the work We bring forth and the disposition We reveal to man are also different. That is why what man sees and receives this day is unlike that of the past; this is so because of the change in era’ (‘The Two Incarnations Complete the Significance of the Incarnation’ in The Word Appears in the Flesh). ‘Because the visions of man are unclear, and man only knows Jehovah as God, and Jesus as the Lord, and is in two minds about the God incarnate of today, many people remain devoted to the work of Jehovah and Jesus, and are beset by conceptions about the work of today, most people are always doubtful, and do not take the work of today seriously’ (‘Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God’ in The Word Appears in the Flesh). ‘The work done by God differs across periods of time. If you show great obedience in one phase, yet in the next phase show less or none at all, then God shall desert you. If you keep pace with God as He ascends this step, then you must continue to keep pace when He ascends the next. Only such men are obedient to the Holy Spirit’ (‘The Truly Obedient Shall Surely Be Gained by God’ in The Word Appears in the Flesh).”

After reading God’s words, my sister-in-law communicated, “The work of the Age of Law done by Jehovah God, the work of the Age of Grace done by the Lord Jesus and the work of the Age of Kingdom done by Almighty God at present share the same origin, though God works in different ways by different names. What’s more, each stage of work continues on from the foundation of the last. In the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus did the work of redemption. God redeemed man from sin and no longer would man be condemned to death by the law. However, the root of man’s sin still exists, and man still lives in the circle of sinning by day and confessing by night without breaking free from the bondage of sin. God still hasn’t completely gained man. Under this circumstance, God has to do the work of removing sin and saving man from sin thoroughly. Only in this way can man eventually be taken into God’skingdom. From that we can see: No matter how God does His work, the purpose of His work is to save man. Today, it’s not ungrateful or conscienceless that we accept the work of Almighty God. Rather, we are following the Lamb’s footsteps! It’s approved by God!”

Having listened to God’s words and the fellowship of my sister-in-law, I beat my forehead and sighed, “Oh! What a fool I am! Jehovah, the Lord Jesus and Almighty God are one God. Belief in Almighty God is not departure from the Lord. I had no enjoyment when listening to sermons in our church these days. Seeing you happy every day, I really envied you at heart but I daren’t contact you, for fear of offending the Lord. I felt dark inside and had nowhere to turn. Thank God for His leadership. I fully understand that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus through your fellowship.” Hearing me say this, my sister-in-law smiled.

Later on, my sister-in-law taught me some hymns of the Church of Almighty God. The more I sang, the more my strength increased. I learned several hymns quickly and felt heartily glad. I was completely certain that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus, and vowed never to leave Him. May all the glory be to Almighty God!

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