—The Story of a Person Who Fiercely Resisted Almighty God’s Work of the Last Days
Zheng Yongshen
Funan County, Anhui Province
I was a co-worker of the Stream of Recovery. On December 8, 1998, a brother of our church came to me to preach the work of Almighty God of the
last days. He gave me a book of Almighty God’s word and asked me to read it. I was very angry and rebuked him, “We only believe in the
Lord Jesus; why did you convert to the
faith of another god?” Running my eyes over more than one page of the book, I laid it aside, because I thought the words were plain and simple, and too shallow. The brother said to me earnestly, “Better finish reading it, and you will know it is truly the word personally spoken by God.” “I don’t think so. Now that you insist it is
God’s own word, you get a pen and a notebook, put them on the table, and ask God to speak!” I said rudely. And then I murmured to myself angrily, “You believers in Almighty God have stolen many of our lambs, and now you also want to draw me in. No way!” Then I went to the church, and called some other co-workers together and discussed how to guard against the “Eastern Lightning,” trying to work out ways to fight back against it. After that, we went to every meeting place spreading these slanderous and blasphemous words: “You mustn’t believe in the ‘Eastern Lightning.’ It is a false Christ, a false prophet, who tries to deceive people in the disguise of the Lord. What we believe in is the truth. Don’t listen to their messages. Those people are the disturbers of the church. It is a test of whether we have foundation. If your foundation is built on sand, you will be taken away by them; if you have foundation, you will be able to stand no matter how they disturb.” And I also started rumors among the believers, “The sect of Almighty God is a mafia, and they have guns. Once you join them, you can’t withdraw. If you want to, they will gouge out your eyes, cut off your nose or ears, or break your legs. And they are promiscuous.” In order to preserve my position and fame and prevent the brothers and sisters from receiving the truth, I fabricated horrible lies to seal off the church and used the biblical verses out of context to condemn God’s work of the last days. As a result, many who had no discernment and didn’t know the truth were too frightened to accept Almighty God’s work of the last days. These are the evils I have done.
One day in February 2000, my younger sister came to my house, and she preached Almighty God’s gospel of the last days to me. I said to her, “Don’t come again if you preach it. I’ve heard it a few times. I won’t believe in it whatever you say.” But she kept talking about how God does the reaping, choosing, and judging work when He has come this time. No matter what she said, I couldn’t take it in. Since then, my sister often came to preach the gospel to me, and meanwhile, she helped me do any work. Even so, my marble heart was not moved. Several times she left in tears because of my stiff resistance to the gospel. Each time after she left, I still did evil as before—desperately blaspheming and slandering Almighty God’s work and sealing off the church, for fear that all the believers might accept Almighty God and I would become a “general without an army.”
One day in September 2000, my sister came again. She invited me to her home to listen to the gospel of the last days, because some preachers were there, but I brushed her off. She said to me, “Why do you believe in God, brother? People often say, ‘With the truth on your side, you can go anywhere; without it, you can’t take a step.’ Since you believe in the true God, why don’t you dare to fellowship with others?” My believing wife also said, “Why don’t you go to meet them? Are you afraid of losing face?” I was annoyed by her words and said, “Afraid of losing face? I’ll go!” So I left with my sister in a fit of pique. Arriving there, I saw seven people were present, and they were waiting for me. We immediately started to fellowship. When a brother said that God came to do the work of the word this time, I got furious and asked, “Where is the word God has personally spoken?” The brother took out a book entitled “Utterances of Christ” and said that it was God’s personal word. “You all preach the same. The book is plainly written by a man, but you say that it is God’s word. I don’t believe!” I said angrily. With that, I charged out of the door in exasperation. After I returned from there, I sealed off the church more fiercely, for I was certain that what I believe in was the most true God. I went to the meeting places everywhere preaching, “What those people believe in is the antichrist, the one written in the Bible who ‘sits in the temple of God and shows himself that he is God.’ …. What we believe in is the truth. As long as we stand firm, we will be overcomers and pillars. When the coming of the kingdom of the Lord Christ is declared, we will enter the kingdom.” I ran around sealing off the church for the sake of preserving my position, just like what Jesus said in the Bible: “… for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in” (Matthew: 23:13).
On December 9 of 2000, my sister came to my home again. She warned me not to speak without fear, not to blaspheme God, or I would be punished by God. I didn’t believe her words at all, and even retorted arrogantly, “Don’t try to frighten me. I’ve never feared anything.” But several days later, I really received God’s discipline. On the afternoon of December 16, I went to preach with a co-worker, and after speaking only two sentences in the meeting, I lost my voice. Seeing that, the co-worker gave me a glass of water, and I drank it. But after I said two sentences, I lost my voice again. This happened three times. Shaking my head, I had to stop preaching for a rest.
On the morning of February 6, 2001, a brother in my village, who had been a co-worker of mine, came to my home and talked with me about belief in God. While we were talking, my sister came again. She begged me to go to listen to the messages about Almighty God’s work. The brother also urged me to go, and he wanted to accompany me. I said, “We can’t go. Being weak doesn’t matter, but we mustn’t go astray.” But he said, “Since we joined the Stream of Recovery, we have heard that Brother Li talked about the oneness and the building up, but why have the churches not been united into one by now but instead divided? There must be something wrong. And Brother Li said that the ‘corporate new man’ would appear before 2000. Now is already 2001, but why has it not appeared yet? The ‘corporate new man’ is sure to have appeared, but we don’t know where it is. We should seek! Let’s go hear their messages. If it is a true way, we accept it, and if it isn’t, that’ll do us no harm, and we’ll just take it as a visit to the relative….” After much of his persuasion, I agreed to go listen to their fellowship. When we got there, we saw several brothers were waiting for us. One brother asked me how long I had believed in God and what was the condition of our church. I said, “I’ve believed for five years. Our church life is not normal.” The brother continued to ask, “What do you think is the root of the desolation of the church?” I gave no reply. Then he began to fellowship from Genesis to Revelation. He fellowshiped, “God’s work is always new and never old, and does not repeat, and it doesn’t conform to men’s notions. God can open up a new age and bring the old age to an end…. The key feature of God’s work is ‘new’ and ‘wondrous,’ and if one keeps up with God’s work, he will ‘live,’ or he will ‘die.’ For example, in the Age of Grace, when the Lord Jesus came, He spoke new words and did new work. Those disciples kept up with the steps of God’s work. They accepted the words and work of the Lord Jesus and received God’s new supply and blessings. The chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees, however, failed to follow the steps of God’s work. They held on to the Old Testament and used the letters of the prophecies in it to resist and condemn the Lord Jesus and even crucified the Lord Jesus. They committed a heinous sin and received God’s punishment and curse in the end. This shows that as a believer in God, one should closely follow the footsteps of the Lamb, and wherever He went, he should follow Him closely. If one cannot give up his old notions or keep pace with God’s work, he will only end up being eliminated by God.”
The brother also fellowshiped about the causes of the Pharisees refusing to acknowledge the Lord Jesus as Christ and resisting Him: 1. The Old Testament made no record of the genealogy of Jesus. If there had been a detailed genealogy of Jesus in it, people wouldn’t have resisted Him. 2. The Old Testament prophesied that a virgin should conceive, and bear a son, and should call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14). However, people saw that Jesus had both parents and brothers and sisters, and moreover, His name was not called Immanuel, which were not in agreement with the prophecy. 3. The prophecy said that He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah5: 2), but people saw that Jesus preached as a Nazarene, which didn’t correspond with the prophesy either. 4. What Jesus did was completely different from the work that Jehovah did in the age of the Old Testament. He didn’t enter the temple, nor did He keep the Law, not observing the Sabbath and other things. People thought that Jesus destroyed the Law and opposed Jehovah. Moreover, He even claimed Himself to be the Son of God. So the Pharisees nailed Jesus to the cross for the sake of safeguarding the Law and the work of Jehovah. 5. The Old Testament prophesied that there would come One who would be ruler over Israel (Micah 5: 2), and the government should be on His shoulder (Isaiah 9: 6). But actually a very ordinary “Nazarene” came. The chief priests, elders, scribes, and Pharisees all despised Him and all people sneered at Him (Matthew 27:29-44). The brother then asked me, “If the Pharisees had known that Jesus was the Messiah who would come, would they have resisted Him?” “Of course not!” I said quickly. “Right,” he said. “The Pharisees and scribes rejected Jesus and crucified Him simply because they didn’t recognize that Jesus was Christ and because what Jesus did was completely different from the Old Testament. Today we are all expecting the Lord Jesus to come. Will He still be called Jesus when He returns in the last days? Will people be able to recognize Him?” I replied, “It’s hard to say.” Then he continued, “The Lord has already come. He has become flesh and started new work. He is female this time.” Hearing this, I changed color, and my head buzzed instantly. I cried, “It is possible that the Lord has already come, but it is absolutely impossible that He has become flesh and is female!” These two things were most unacceptable to me, so I didn’t like to listen anymore, and I got up and wanted to leave. The brother who came with me stopped me, saying, “Since you agree with most of what he has said, let’s hear him out and see how he will explain the other questions, so that we may gain more insight….” I sat down reluctantly and prayed in my heart, “Lord, please help me and give me discernment so that I won’t be deceived.” However, I couldn’t take in anything. The brother asked me some questions, and I didn’t answer him. Seeing this, he suggested, “Let’s stop talking about that. Shall we talk about the Bible?” I nodded and said, “OK.” So he showed me several verses which predicted the coming of the Lord: Luke 17:24-25, 17:26-30, Revelation 1:12-16, Hebrews 9:28, Revelation 11:15, and Revelation 14:1-4, 17:14. The brother said, “These verses mention the ‘Son of man,’ ‘Christ,’ and the ‘Lamb.’ Then, what actually is the Son of man, Christ, or the Lamb? Both Jehovah and Jesus are God Himself. Why is Jesus called the Son of man, Christ, or the Lamb but Jehovah is not?” I really didn’t know the answer. I had believed several years but I had never thought about this question. However, for the sake of my vanity and face, I was ashamed to say I didn’t know the answer. So I said, “You can fellowship about it.” The brother said, “The ‘Son of man,’ ‘Christ,’ and the ‘Lamb,’ all are the names by which God incarnate is called. The Lord Jesus was called Christ because He was the holy flesh donned by the Spirit of God. He had both a normal humanity and a complete divinity. Only the One who has the two qualities can be called Christ. Jehovah was the Spirit, and He at times appeared in the spiritual body. But He had only complete divinity and didn’t have normal humanity. So Jehovah could not be called Christ, the Son of man, or the Lamb. The Bible predicts that when the Lord comes the second time, He will be called the Son of man, Christ, or the Lamb. Doesn’t it mean that God will come in the flesh? If the Spirit or the spiritual body comes, can He be called those names?” Hearing these words, I suddenly saw the light: It turns out that the Lord will become flesh when He comes the second time! All at once I felt much relieved and was willing to seek. The brother went on saying, “Luke 17: 24-25 says, ‘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.’ Doesn’t it also mean that the Lord will become flesh when He comes the second time? If the Spirit or the spiritual body comes, could He suffer or be rejected by people? Besides, the Bible says that false Christs will appear to deceive people in the last days (Matthew 24:3-5). We all know that false Christs must be men. If the Lord came not in the flesh but in the spiritual body, could the false Christs imitate Him or impersonate Him? Could they deceive people? Why did Jesus say there would be false Christs in the last days? Wasn’t He giving a hint to His disciples that He would become flesh when He came again? What do you think of it, brother?” Thank God! Through the brother’s fellowship, I finally understood the truth of this aspect. Then I asked, “How come I have never thought of that before?” The brother said, “You didn’t think of that because you have defined God and refused to seek. Didn’t Jesus say that ‘Seek, and you shall find,’ and that ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’ and ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness’? How could one, who doesn’t seek, humble himself, or hunger and thirst for righteousness, receive the enlightenment and guidance from the Lord?” Hearing these words, I felt ashamed of myself and regretted my blind condemnation of God’s new work without seeking it because of my stubbornness and arrogance.
Afterward, through reading God’s word, I realized: Whether God chooses to do the work through the means of the Spirit or God incarnate is according to the need of His work, the need of mankind, and the extent of Satan’s corruption of man. This is like a doctor treating a patient’s illness. What methods and medicine the doctor will use must be in accordance with the need of the patient. The doctor cannot treat the patient as he likes. In the Age of Law, because men had been shallowly corrupted, God worked through the means of the Spirit, and He only asked them to keep the law and be conscious of sin. But as the times developed, men’s corruption has become deeper, and moreover, they have no power to overcome sin. If God still works by the means of the Spirit, the work wouldn’t achieve a desirable effect on them. Therefore, in the last days, God came in the flesh again, and He eats and lives together with men. He gives men accurate words and specific guidance, supplying them according to their needs. Only in this way can they be saved from the influence of Satan step by step, so that they will live in the light and live under God’s care and keeping. It is just as what Almighty God says: “This time, God comes to do work not in a spiritual body but in a very ordinary one. … In Him, you cannot see anything that is different from others, but you can receive from Him the truths you have never heard before. This insignificant flesh is the embodiment of all the words of truth from God, that which undertakes God’s work in the last days…. He is your gate into the kingdom, and your guide into the new age.” “Though what man sees this day is a God that is the same as man, a God with a nose and two eyes, and an unremarkable God, in the end God will show you that without the existence of this man, the heaven and earth will undergo a tremendous change; without the existence of this man, the heaven will grow dim, the earth will become chaos, and all mankind will live in famine and plagues. He will show you that without the salvation of God incarnate in the last days, then God would have long ago destroyed all mankind in hell; without the existence of this flesh, then you would forever be chief of sinners and corpses evermore. You should know that without the existence of this flesh, all mankind would face an inevitable calamity and find it difficult to escape God’s more severe punishment of mankind in the last days. Without the birth of this ordinary flesh, you would all be in a state where neither life nor death will come no matter how you seek it; without the existence of this flesh, then this day you would not be able to receive the truth and come before the throne of God. Rather, you would be punished by God because of your grievous sins. Do you know? If not for the return of God to the flesh, none would have a chance at salvation; and if not for the coming of this flesh, God would have long ago ended the age of old. As such, can you still reject the second incarnation of God? Since you can so greatly profit from this ordinary man, then why would you not accept Him readily?” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) Through God’s words and the brother’s fellowship, I came to understand that corrupt men are in great need of the salvation of God incarnate. My notion about God’s incarnation was completely resolved. But I still couldn’t get my head around the fact that the God incarnate is female. So the brother read me the biblical verse in Genesis 1:27, which says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” And he also read me these words of Almighty God: “Each stage of work done by God has a real significance. When Jesus arrived, He was male, and this time He is female. From this, you can see that God created both male and female for His work and with Him there is no distinction of gender. When His Spirit arrives, He can take on any flesh at will and the flesh represents Him. Be it male or female, both represent God as long as it is His incarnate flesh.” “If in this stage He did not become flesh to personally do work for man to witness, man would forever hold on to the notion that God is only male, not female.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) The brother fellowshiped, “We cannot understand a prophecy until it is fulfilled and God explains it. If God doesn’t interpret, we can’t understand it even though it is fulfilled. For God says: ‘In the eyes of God, man is smaller than an ant, so how can man fathom God’s work?’ (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) God is so great, so wondrous and unfathomable, and no believer in God can deny that. Since God can be incarnated as male, can’t He become female? So, as a believer in God, we should pray and seek more before God when we don’t understand, and shouldn’t jump to conclusions. This is what a true believer in God should do.”
After two days’ fellowship, I finally understood the questions that had baffled me and gave up my former notions. Only then did I realize that all that I had done before were deeds that resist and rebel against God. If God had treated me according to my evil doings, I should have long been cursed by God. I am sincerely grateful to Almighty God for giving me a second life, which left me a chance to receive God’s salvation of the last days. The above is the story of how I fiercely resisted Almighty God’s work of the last days. I hope that none of the brothers and sisters who have not accepted Almighty God’s gospel of the last days will resist God and reject His salvation while expecting Him to come like me. Because the word of Almighty God says: “The return of Jesus is a great salvation for those who are capable of accepting the truth, but for those who are unable to accept the truth it is a sign of condemnation. You should choose your own path, and should not blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and reject the truth. You should not be an ignorant and arrogant person, but someone who obeys the guidance of the Holy Spirit and longs for and seeks the truth; only in this way will you benefit.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh)
When I finished writing this testimony, my face was covered with tears. I remembered the scenes of the past, when I rebelled against and resisted Almighty God and when my sister left my home in tears. I thought: How hard Almighty God carries out the work on the earth and how much humiliation He has suffered for saving man. Although I fabricated rumors, spoke blasphemous and slanderous words against Him, and sealed off the church, Almighty God didn’t abandon me or repay me according to my sins of resistance against Him; rather, He did all He could to save me, sending people to preach the gospel to me again and again, and finally brought me before Him and gave me an opportunity to repent and start anew. At that time, I couldn’t help crying to God, “O Almighty God! I was too rebellious and I grieved You. I feel deeply indebted to You…. In the rest of my life, I will devote myself to testifying Your wonderful deeds!”
In
1996, God’s gospel of the last days was preached to our churches.
Since then, I began to resist, blaspheme, and condemn God’s work,
and desperately hinder the brothers and sisters from accepting it. I
went everywhere to seal off the churches. I specially assigned people
to guard each church, and forbad anyone to receive those who preached
Almighty God’s gospel of the last days or go out to contact them.
If I found that a church member had received them, I would hold
meetings to denounce and disgrace him. I would have all the brothers
and sisters attack and reject him and force him to confess his sins
before them, so that he would never be able to hold up his head
again. The churches were sealed off by me so tightly as to be
impenetrable, and the brothers and sisters were strictly controlled
in my hands. But this could in no way hinder their hearts from
thirsting for and seeking the truth.
Once,
the leader of a church secretly received some preachers of the gospel
of the last days. After he heard their preaching about the true way,
he was willing to follow Almighty God and also wanted to bring the
brothers and sisters in his church to Almighty God. When I learned of
that, I immediately rushed there to “save” them. I led some
believers to abuse, slander, and insult the gospel preachers and
spite them by every means, and I also prayed loudly to curse them,
and told the believers to mock and drive them until they were thrown
out. After they left, I rebuked the brother who received them, and
began to consider how to punish him. Another time, when I learned
that a brother whose home was a meeting place also wanted to accept
Almighty God, I braved the snow and walked dozens of miles visiting
several places at that very night, trying to find a home to host the
church in his home’s stead. After that, I had all the believers
accuse him of taking the wrong way and falling into the trap of the
“Eastern Lightening,” so that he was under attack by all, unable
to lift up his head in the churches.
At
another time, the believers in several meeting places were gathered
together celebrating Christmas. I knew that a brother among them had
received the believers in Almighty God, so I dragged him out and
forced him to confess his sin in front of everyone and denounced him.
I also told all the believers to rise up against him. He was so
frightened that he slunk off into a cave-house and hid himself. When
I found him, I pulled him out, and forced him to stand still before
everyone and confess what he had done, and made an example of him. I
pointed at him, like a criminal, and said to the brothers and
sisters, “He received the ‘Eastern Lightning’ followers. If I
hadn’t kept a close watch over him, he would have followed them and
led away the believers in his charge. Today, I make him lose face
before all the brothers and sisters just for you never to be like him
or to be deceived by the ‘Eastern Lightning’ followers! From now
on, whoever receives them will suffer what he suffers today…” At
that, all the brothers and sisters were scared into silence.
One
day in 1998, I remember, it was raining heavily when two brothers
came to my house to preach the gospel to me. No sooner had they
opened their mouth than I jumped down my throat and rudely drove them
away. After that, some other brothers and sisters came several times
to preach to me, but I drove all of them out of the door. Once, a
brother came again. It was a Sunday, and there was a meeting going on
in my house. At the sight of him, I told the congregation to sing the
songs of driving out demons, and I also called him a big gray
serpent. But he told us calmly, “God has already returned and done
a new work…” Before he had finished his words, I pointed at his
head and shouted, “Is your father male or female? It is written:
‘Our Father which are in heaven, Hallowed be your name. …’
Isn’t the Father male? The one you believe in is female; you came
here to deceive people. Get away quickly!” Then, I threw him out
before he could say anything. Later, some other people came to preach
to me, but I still refused to listen, and I even fasted and prayed to
the Lord and asked Him to shut up their mouths. Before long, on a
rainy night, two brothers came to our church again to preach Almighty
God’s work of the last days. When I learned of that, I rushed there
in anger. Pointing at their heads, I said, “Get out, you preachers
of the ‘false way’! Or else, I won’t be so easy on you…”
Then, I called the brother who guarded the church to me and rebuked
him, “How did you guard the church? Why didn’t you drive them
away?” Just before the preachers went out of the church, I suddenly
thought to try a scheme, and so I said to them, “If you want to be
friends with us from now on, come to visit me in my house, and don’t
come here again.” They immediately asked me, “Where is your
house? We are glad to be friends with you.” I then told them my
address. The next day, they really came to my house. I forced them to
kneel before the cross and “confess their sins and repent.” And I
also spoke some offensive words to them. After a period of time, one
of them didn’t come anymore. That might be because he was busy with
other things or because he couldn’t bear my ill-treatment. The
other brother still came to have meetings in my house. I often asked
him to do a lot of work for me, but he never complained. He helped me
do the farm work and cook meals, and he never talked much. Once we
went up a hill to cut sesame plants, and he alone pulled the cart. By
the time he had reached the top of the hill, he was sweating like a
pig, but he didn’t say anything. After we cut off and bound up the
sesame plants, he pulled them to my house and carried them up to the
roof by himself. Seeing all that, not only did I not feel ashamed and
uneasy, but I still told him to kneel before the cross and continue
to confess his sins. I thought, “Who told you to join in the
‘Eastern Lightning’? You deserve this!” Like this, I didn’t
have any feelings of guilt about what I had done, but believed that
by doing so, I was loyal to God, responsible for the life of the
brothers and sisters, and completely after God’s heart. I rushed to
and fro all day long, busy with guarding against the “false way.”
However, the more I did so, the less faith the brothers and sisters
had. They were passive, cold, weak, and fell. Some went to work out
of town to earn money; some, though they attended the meetings, dozed
or slept during the service. The number of the believers in the
churches kept on dropping. I also found that while preaching, I was
dry and had no guidance of God, and what I delivered was all old
stuff. I didn’t know the reason for that, and so I prayed to God,
“O God! Why all these happened? Have I done any thing wrong? If I
have done something wrong and resisted You, I’m willing to confess
my sins and repent. May You enlighten me, guide me, and give me the
direction ahead. I am willing to seek and understand Your will and
bring the brothers and sisters before You.”
God
heard my prayer. A few days later, the brother who had never talked
much but often labored for me without any complaints said to me
gently, “Sister, would you like to go and hear messages with me?”
I looked at him, and somehow, a sense of indebtedness welled up
within me: In the past, I deliberately created difficulties for him
and treated him badly, but he never took it to heart, and instead
just kept silent and treated me sincerely as before. If God had not
worked in him, how could he have had such great patience, faith, and
love? I shall not hurt him anymore. At the moment, I said to myself,
“It’s all right to go and listen. Anyway, I have my own judgment,
and I won’t follow others blindly.” So, I went with him. After we
got there, a sister told me, “God has already come among men and
begun to do a new work. His first stop is China, the nation of the
great red dragon, the most dark, corrupt, filthy, and cruel place,
where God is resisted the most. And enduring rejections and slanders,
God has been saving those who are desperately longing and waiting for
Him in darkness. But they do not know Him, and even try every
possible means to resist Him. No one welcomes His coming, because His
work does not conform to man’s notions, and especially His
incarnation as a female this time all the more shatters man’s
notion.” Having said this, she took out the book of Almighty God’s
word and read, “The work of God continues to advance, and though
the purpose of His work remains unchanging, the means by which He
works are constantly changing, and thereby so are those who follow
God. The more work of God, the more thoroughly man comes to know God,
and the disposition of man changes accordingly along with His work.
However, it is because the work of God is ever-changing that those
who do not know the work of the Holy Spirit and those absurd men who
do not know the truth become opponents of God. Not ever does the work
of God conform to the conceptions of man, for His work is always new
and never old. Not ever does He repeat work of old but rather forges
ahead with work never before done. As God does not repeat His work
and man invariably judges the work of God today based on His work of
the past, it is exceedingly difficult for God to carry out each stage
of work of the new age. Man presents far too many hindrances! The
thinking of man is too hidebound! No man knows the work of God, yet
they all define such work.” “His substance and what He has and is
shall never change. His work, however, is always progressing forward,
always going deeper, for God is always new and never old. In every
age God assumes a new name, in every age He does new work, and in
every age He allows the creatures to see His new will and His new
disposition. If people do not see the expression of God’s new
disposition in the new age, would they not forever nail Him to the
cross? And by doing so, would they not define God? If God was only
incarnated as a male, people would define Him as male, as the God of
men, and would never believe Him to be the God of women. Then, men
would believe that God is of the same gender as men, that God is the
head of men—and what of women? This is unfair; is it not
preferential treatment? If this were the case, then all those whom
God saved would be men like Him, and there would be no salvation for
women. When God created mankind, He created Adam and He created Eve.
He did not create only Adam, but made both male and female in His
image. God is not only the God of men, He is also the God of women.”
When I heard this, I couldn’t help crying. I had never expected
that the God whom I had been longing for day and night had returned,
yet I had failed to recognize Him. I had opposed, rejected, and
slandered Him time and again, and had actually become a leading demon
that resists Him. “O my God! My God! Why are Your enemies the
members of Your own household?” I choked with sobs, and began to
recall the scenes of the brothers and sisters preaching the gospel to
me in the past years. “The painstaking effort God has exerted on me
and the price He has paid for me are too great. He has given me so
many opportunities to be saved, but I, a blind, foolish, ignorant,
arrogant, and malicious person, have missed them all, and I have even
done everything possible to resist, condemn, and impede His work, and
have tried by every means to bully, disgrace, abuse, and mock the
brothers and sisters who preached the gospel to me. I am really a
most wicked servant. Am I different from the Pharisees who opposed
the Lord Jesus?” The more I thought about that, the more remorseful
I felt, and the more deeply I regretted. I cried and prayed to God to
confess my sins and repent, “O dear Almighty God! I, a sinner, have
done so many things that resist You in these years. And for so many
times I have abused, disgraced, and bullied the people sent by You to
preach Your work of the last days to me, and I have hindered the
brothers and sisters from accepting the true way. I am grievously
sinful and deserve more than death. O God, not only have You not
abandoned me, but sent people time and again to preach Your new work
to me. O Almighty God, no matter how You punish me in the future, I
will be most willing to accept it. O God, I will hand all Your sheep
over to You, so that this hungry and lost flock will be filled.” I
cried every day confessing my sins to God and asking His forgiveness.
When I read the words from the very mouth of God, I felt that every
word struck right home to my heart. My hardened and numb heart was
touched, and I knew for sure that the work of Almighty God is the
work of God Himself. I always couldn’t help shedding remorseful
tears. I cried for over ten days, and finally I resolved to offer up
my whole being to bear witness to God.
Soon
I brought the brothers and sisters under my charge to Almighty God,
and so they all could read the words from the very mouth of God, and
they were extremely excited. The once lifeless churches completely
changed, as if placed under a new heaven and on a new earth. All the
brothers and sisters wore smiles on their faces and were in good
spirits. They sang new songs, danced new dances, and drank the
inexhaustible living water of life flowing out from the throne of
Almighty God, of which no one can enjoy the last. All the churches
saw the true light of Almighty God and were lightened up by His
words. Seeing these, I felt my indebtedness was somewhat relieved.
But I knew that what I had done was far from enough to make up for my
indebtedness to God. So, I made up my mind to bring more hungry and
lost lambs in darkness to the house of Almighty God, so that they
would, like us, enjoy the nourishment of the words of Almighty God,
the watering of the living water, and receive His personal guidance
and shepherding and all the riches bestowed by Him.
Later,
I went out to preach the gospel, and I saw with my own eyes how the
people of various denominations and sects resisted, slandered,
blasphemed, and falsely accused Almighty God, and how they reviled
and hit the gospel preachers and even reported them to the police,
which was no different from how I had resisted Almighty God. So I
even more regretted my past doings and disobedience and resistance.
And I couldn’t help but fall down before Almighty God and prayed,
“O God!
Dear Almighty God! If You had not enlightened and saved me, I would
still live in darkness like them, and would still resist and disobey
You. Thank You for bestowing such great grace upon me. Such a person
like me, who has done all kinds of evil, can still receive
Your salvation and
have an opportunity to know You and enjoy You, and this is really a
great uplifting and favor from You. What You have done in me has
revealed Your loving kindness and mercy, Your infinite and boundless
love for man, and moreover, revealed that Your intention is to save
rather than to destroy mankind. O God! Your love is so great and so
real that it has melted my heart. I will love You with all my heart,
and will devote all my life to Your gospel work to repay You, and use
my personal experiences to wake up those who are still fooled and
deceived by Satan and live in darkness. O God! I will live for You,
enjoy Your words gratefully, and seize the opportunity You give me to
fulfill the duty of a created being and cooperate with Your gospel
work properly, so that more innocent souls may come back to Your
house and Your sorrowful and anxious heart may be comforted. O God! I
will offer up to You all I have to repay Your love for
me!”
