Inquiring Into the Facts (II)

Xiangyi

Inquiry IV

Xunguang: What on earth is the true meaning of fleeing? Now that the man used by the Holy Spirit was wanted by the CCP in China, why did he run a risk of going abroad?

Xiangming: People with some common sense of law are clear that fleeing means that one absconds to avoid punishment after breaking the law and escapes the government’s arrest in a premedi0tated and planned way. The man used by the Holy Spirit is a man who preaches the gospel to testify to and serve God, yet he, without breaking any law or regulation of the state, is wanted throughout China by the CCP government. Under this circumstance, as a rule, one will choose to hide out, rather than appear rashly at the Chinese customs which is heavily guarded. Nevertheless, the man used by the Holy Spirit took the risk. Unexpectedly, he passed the careful examination of the CCP’s military guard and then left China smoothly. In fact, it was completely God’s care and protection, because what he did followed God’s will.

Zhengyi: That’s right. Let’s read Almighty God’s words, “You must know that when My work is expanding, I will scatter you, and I will strike you just as Jehovah struck the tribes of Israel. All this will be done so that My gospel may be enlarged over all the earth, so that My work may spread to the Gentile nations. Thus, My name will be magnified by adults and children alike and My holy name will be exalted by the mouths of people from all tribes and nations” (“The Work of Spreading the Gospel Is Also the Work of Saving Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “Let all come before My throne to see My glorious countenance, hear My voice, and watch My deeds. This is the entirety of My will; it is the end and climax of My plan, as well as the purpose of My management. Let every nation worship Me, every tongue acknowledge Me, every man trust Me, and every people be subject unto Me!” (“The Seven Thunders Peal—Prophesying That the Kingdom Gospel Shall Spread Throughout the Universe” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

To spread the kingdom gospel to all countries and regions abroad, and to make all nations as well as all peoples return before God’s throne and worship the only true God are the will which God is going to accomplish in the end of His six-thousand-year management plan. The man used by the Holy Spirit going abroad is precisely to carry out His will. Just like in the Age of Law, when God called Moses to bring Israelites out of Egypt, he was fully aware that he had been chased by Egyptian Pharaoh to the wilderness, and that if he returned to Egypt he would surely be in danger. But he deeply knew that it was God’s will for him to return to Egypt, which he must obey. He believed as well that since God had promised to lead Israelites out of Egypt, His promise must be fulfilled. Consequently, he accepted God’s commission and went back to Egypt. God descended ten plagues on Egypt to force the Egyptian Pharaoh to give Moses permission to bring Israelites out of Egypt, and He clove the Red Sea in order that Moses could succeed in leading Israelites out of the hunting of Egyptian soldiers. Ultimately, Moses accomplished God’s will under His leadership and guidance. Similarly, under the circumstances that the man used by the Holy Spirit in the Age of Kingdom was wanted by the CCP, if he was not for following God’s will, and if there were no God’s care and protection, it would be impossible for him to avoid the CCP’s arrest easily and pass the examination of Chinese customs smoothly without any assist from outside forces. Almighty God says, “Of everything that occurs in the universe, there is nothing that I do not have the final say in. What exists that is not in My hands? All that I say goes …” (“The First Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The man used by the Holy Spirit could leave China successfully to shoulder the work of expanding the kingdom gospel abroad. This is entirely God’s sovereignty and arrangement and is led and guided by the Holy Spirit Himself.

Inquiry V

Xunguang: After your fellowship, the background and the reason for the man used by the Holy Spirit who could avoid the CCP’s arrest and go abroad smoothly are perfectly clear. After he arrived in America and soon got political asylum from the American government, the CCP spread again that the American authorities who were unaware of the facts approved his application for political asylum. Could it be possible that the American government grants one political asylum so casually?

Zhengyi: The Bible says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance” (Psalms 33:12). One former president of the United States also said, “If we ever forget that we are ‘One nation, under God,’ then we will be one nation gone under.” Hence, America has been respecting for the freedom of belief since its establishment, and its government has been providing political asylum for foreigners who suffer political or religious persecution. According to the American laws, asylum may be granted to people who are unable or unwilling to return their home country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. The immigration office will decide whether or not to offer them political asylum on the basis of their evidences of being persecuted. It is thus evident that the American government has a justified and lawful procedure for examining and approving political asylum applications. That the man used by the Holy Spirit could receive political asylum from the American government shows it acknowledged the fact that he was persecuted by the CCP government. Accordingly, it is also completely legitimate and legal for him to get political asylum.

Xiangming: In fact, including America, in many countries with relatively sound democracy and legal system, all cases are handled in accordance with the law, the fact, and the evidence. None of the governments of democracies will grant refugee status to an applicant without evidences at random, much less ignore the asylum application submitted by the applicants who are persecuted by the CCP. The CCP slanders that the American authorities granted Zhao XX political asylum because they were unaware of the facts, from which we can see that in order to defame him, the CCP becomes frenzied with anxiety, being desperate and disregarding anything. It would rather flout international human rights regulations and make enemies of all democracies than not discredit him so as to conceal the fact that God has appeared and worked in the last days. It just wants to hinder man from seeking and investigating God’s work of the last days, and ruin man’s opportunity of being saved. This is its real purpose.

Xunguang: Well, it appears that rumors are not frightful, and the crux is that when facing rumors, one can seek the truth and rely on God to ascertain the fact and see through the rumormonger’s intentions and purposes. Through today’s fellowship and discernment, the CCP’s plots to discredit the Church of Almighty God and to slander the man used by the Holy Spirit are exposed thoroughly, and the facts have floated before our eyes. The Lord Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Only if one investigates God’s work and utterance practically, can he see God’s appearance and keep pace with God’s work. Anyone believing rumors blindly may lose his life, while the one seeking and investigating the truth is the most blessed one. God once said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). My friends, now, do you still believe the CCP’s rumors and refuse to seek and investigate God’s work of the last days?

Thank God for leading our interview. Thank you for watching. See you!

The End.

Part One: Inquiring Into the Facts (I)

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Inquiring Into the Facts (I)

Inquiring Into the Facts (I)

Xiangyi

Synopsis: In view of rumors and slanders spread by the CCP government about the man used by the Holy Spirit in the Church of Almighty God, some people carry out an interview to question closely about the facts.
Characters:

Host: Xunguang;

Guests: Zhengyi and Xiangming.

Xunguang: Inquiring Into the Facts pays close attention to the hot topic about which the public care the most with you. In recent years, the rapid development of the Church of Almighty God has attracted widespread attention of countries and the popular media. About this topic which all of us focus on, today we’ve invited two guests from the Church of Almighty God to solve our doubts. Hello, Mr. Zhengyi and Mr. Xiangming.

Zhengyi and Xiangming: Hello, host.

Xunguang: We all know that, in 1991, the incarnate Almighty God formally began to express the truth and perform His ministry in Mainland China. He has expressed millions of words and done the work of judgment beginning with the house of God. The true believers who thirst for God’s appearance in all denominations and sects, after hearing God’s voice, have recognized that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus in the last days and have turned toward Him one after another. In recent years, Almighty God’s kingdom gospel has been spread to many foreign countries and regions, and His words as well as gospel films, videos and articles of testifying about God have been disseminated widely via the Internet, which attracts an increasing number of men to seek and investigate. However, the Church of Almighty God growing stronger day by day triggers the atheistic CCP government’s deep concern and panic. As is known to all, the CCP government has been suppressing and persecuting underground house churches in China, and we frequently hear the news that the believers in the Church of Almighty God are arrested and sentenced by it. We also see a great deal of negative words from its official media, in the midst of which there is a conspicuous condemnation on a man to draw our attention especially.

“In 2000, the Chinese government launched a large-scale, nationwide search, so Zhao XX fled to New York, the United States via Tokyo, Japan. In June, 2001, he submitted an application for political asylum to the American authorities on the grounds of suffering religious persecution. The authorities who were unaware of the truth approved his request.”

Is it really the case? Considering the CCP’s unsavory reputation of persecuting religious belief and afflicting Christians all along, which is well-known in the international community, in order to avoid listening to its one-sided statement, let’s welcome these two brothers to dig out the truth for us.

Inquiry I

Xunguang: Almighty God has been working in Mainland China for more than twenty years, and millions of people have turned toward Him. But why does the CCP consume the largest manpower and material resources for solely arresting Zhao XX? It not only offered a reward of more than one million yuan for the capture of him in China, but after he went overseas, it does not give up and dispatches spies to shadow and spy on him and does its utmost to attack him on public media opinion. What kind of person is Zhao XX, whom the CCP has put a lot of efforts to arrest in the Church of Almighty God?

Zhengyi: Bible-readers are all familiar with that God once ordained Moses to lead the Israelites when he worked in the Age of Law, which created a precedent that God uses man to cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit. When God incarnate appears and works in the last days, He again ordains a man to lead His chosen people of the churches. Zhao XX is the man He ordains in the Age of Kingdom to be in charge of leading and shepherding all people in the Church of Almighty God, and the man used by the Holy Spirit in the Age of Kingdom. Almighty God says, “The work carried out by the one who is used by God is in order to cooperate with the work of Christ or the Holy Spirit. This man is raised up by God among man, he is there to lead all of God’s chosen ones, and he is also raised up by God in order to do the work of human cooperation. With someone such as this, who is able to do the work of human cooperation, more of God’s requirements toward man and the work that the Holy Spirit must do among man can be achieved through him” (“Concerning God’s Use of Man” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

Through Almighty God’s words we can learn that Zhao XX, as the predestined and selected man used by the Holy Spirit when God carries out the work of the last days, is the man who cooperates with God’s work and leads His chosen ones to pursue salvation. He leads and shepherds God’s chosen people totally in compliance with God’s words. Since he began to be responsible for the church’s work, he has issued a good deal of work arrangements as well as fellowship and preaching to help believers enter into the reality of the truth. And he has served as the “translator” as well as the bridge to help us comprehend and receive God’s words. Under his leading, we have possessed a number of real experiences about Almighty God’s words and some practical knowledge of God. Meanwhile, we have seen clearly the facts about our corruption by Satan, and walked on the right way of human life of seeking the transformation of life disposition. Moreover, we have penetrated the atheistic CCP government’s satanic, devilish substance of resisting God frenziedly. After going through its persecution and arrest, we God’s chosen people have possessed real faith in God and have broken through the bondage of the influence of darkness, not enslaved or controlled by the CCP anymore. No matter how serious obstacles or persecution we suffer, we still persevere with our belief in and worship of God. The CCP is very clear that if all the people come to follow God, there will be no one to worship it or believe its atheistic thoughts and communist theory. That will be the time when its desires of making China a place without God and enslaving Chinese people forever are dashed. Hence, it is deeply worried that the man used by the Holy Spirit will bring all mankind before God and extremely afraid that God will reign as King among men. The reason why it frenziedly condemns and hunts the man used by the Holy Spirit is that it wants to ban the Church of Almighty God and God’s work of the last days. But when he went abroad after being persecuted, the CCP cannot arrest him anymore. It doesn’t take its defeat lying down, but spreads various rumors about him and stirs up the antagonism of men toward the Church of Almighty God. Its goal is to hinder man from seeking and investigating God’s work of the last days.

Inquiry II

Xunguang: The CCP claims that it once mobilized the nationwide policemen to search for the man used by the Holy Spirit in a large-scale way, which makes us feel as if Zhao XX had committed a felony and is a principal criminal. Could Zhao XX, a Christian really break the law? Why is such a man who worships God heart and soul listed as a wanted criminal throughout China?

Xiangming: As the law stands, the wanted criminal must meet three requirements: 1. The wanted man must be a criminal suspect. 2. The suspect should satisfy the requirements of arrest. 3. The suspect surely shirks the legal liability and his present whereabouts is unknown. Only man who fulfils the above-mentioned requirements can be wanted legitimately and legally. It is obvious that the CCP cannot list any sinful fact of the man used by the Holy Spirit or tell which law he has broken, but just says that he submitted an application for political asylum to the American authorities on the grounds of suffering religious persecution. From it, we understand that the CCP gives orders to arrest him just because he believes in and serves God. The CCP government is quite clear that if the leader of the Church of Almighty God is not eliminated, he will lead and shepherd us, God’s chosen ones all the while to make us better understand the truth and further strengthen our faith in Almighty God and our love for Him. When we all understand the truth and are made overcomers by God, we aren’t restrained or bound by any Satan’s forces anymore and can worship and serve God wholeheartedly, and the CCP will be abandoned thoroughly. Accordingly, it simply ignores the international human rights treaties and the condemnation from the international community, but just stops at nothing to arrest him.

Inquiry III

Xunguang: All right. We see that the CCP is unable to obtain its desire all the while. After the man used by the Holy Spirit went abroad, it circulates rumors through the media that Zhao XX has already fled abroad. It is incomprehensible to many people how this action, that a Christian went abroad in order to believe in God and preach the gospel seriously because he was wanted by the atheistic government, can be called fleeing. How should we treat this issue?

Zhengyi: It’s quite simple. Let’s review those apostles and missionaries who preached the Lord’s way throughout the ages, and then we can know the answer.

In 1583, Matteo Ricci, an Italian missionary, sailed across the ocean to preach in China. At that time, the gospel of the Lord Jesus’ redemption of mankind spread by him was welcomed and esteemed by Chinese scholar-bureaucrats.

In 1605, Gao Yizhi, an Italian missionary of the Societas Iesu, came to China to preach. He left China in 1616, and at the end of 1624, he returned to Shanxi, China to resume preaching until he passed away.

In 1853, James Hudson Taylor, a British missionary who was only 21 years old, bade farewell to his parents and came to China to preach the Lord’s way. Since then he had never left China.

In 1885, Herbert Dixon, a British missionary, in company with his wife, left their four young children behind in England to preach in China until they martyred themselves in Xinzhou, Shanxi in 1900.

In 1916, Zhong Aihua, an American missionary, came to preach in China, and engaged in medical missionary work for 25 years. He was also one of those who dedicated most of their lives to Chinese Christians.

For thousands of years, it was precisely these missionaries who crossed borders to spread God’s gospel all over the world. None of the governments of democracies have ever condemned them as fugitives. If we say that preaching the gospel abroad means fleeing, could it be said that all Christian churches are formed by the gospel-spreading of those criminals who flee to escape punishment? And that Christians can believe in God at all times and in all countries is because they accept the gospel preached by fugitives? In order to complete the work of the church and to expand God’s kingdom gospel, the man used by the Holy Spirit went abroad. How could he be related to the word fleeing? Obviously, the CCP’s nonsense is purely the discredit against the Church of Almighty God and the smear against him. For the sake of banning God’s work of the last days, it has told a pack of lies and stops at no evil. Now it is quite reckless of the consequences when speaking and doing things. That it makes up these rumors is, in effect, making an enemy of God as well as Christians at all times and in all places openly. So, none of the words spread by the CCP deserve to be trusted.

To Be Continued …

Part Two: Inquiring Into the Facts (II)

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Who Says Believers in God Don’t Want Family?

Who Says Believers in God Don’t Want Family?

Zhang Qiuyang

The CCP government and some people in the religious world make rumors: The believers in Almighty God are inhuman. Many of them forsake family and career, and the youth neither marry nor honor their parents. They clearly go astray in such a way.

When believing in the Lord, I had many misunderstandings of and prejudices against the brothers and sisters from the Church of Almighty God, because I believed the CCP government’s rumors. When they preached the gospel to me, I always gave them the cold shoulder. Even if I spoke to them, I was sarcastic and ironic. However, even though I did so, they still fellowshiped with me patiently. They said: Though we are no more condemned and put to death by laws through the Lord Jesus’ redemption, the Lord Jesus just forgives our sins and yet does not solve our sinful nature. The satanic dispositions such as arrogance and self-conceit, selfishness and greediness, crookedness and deception, disobedience and opposition to God and so on, still remain within us. We are still not purified completely, saved and gained by God. So, the Lord Jesus had said for many times that He would be bound to come again. Many prophecies in the Bible mention His coming to carry out the judgment, bringing saints into the kingdom of heaven. In the last days, to solve our sinful nature, to make us break free of the bondage and restraints of sin thoroughly and live out the likeness of a true person and be gained by Him, the incarnate Almighty God expresses all the truths of purifying and saving people and does the new work of judgment beginning with the house of God on the basis of the Lord Jesus’ redemption work. Only by accepting God’s work in the last days can we enter the wonderful destination. When the brothers and sisters preached the gospel to me time and again, my cold and stubborn heart was softened finally, and I felt God’s love from them. After reading many of God’s words, I firmly believed that Almighty God is truly the returned Jesus and I accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days after understanding the mysteries of the Lord’s return. Not until I appreciated God’s overwhelming love for mankind and eager desire to save us did I realize how ignorant I was before and see clearly how ridiculous the CCP’s rumors are!

Through the contact with these brothers and sisters in the following days, I saw they were flesh-and-blood and emotional like others: When they missed their children, their faces were always covered in tears; derided, ridiculed and abused by the brothers and sisters in various denominations and sects, they would become weak and feel tormented as if a knife twisting inside; faced with the persecution and affliction of the CCP government, they would also give care to the flesh. … For the sake of making China a place without God and ensuring its regime throughout the ages, the CCP government conducts negative propaganda by radio, TV, internet and other media. It starts rumors to deceive people, slander and frame the Church of Almighty God. In addition, it dispatches spies to investigate openly and secretly, searching homes arbitrarily, arresting believers secretly, interrogating believers by cruel tortures and imprisoning them with labor reeducation and even killing them secretly. How many brothers and sisters cannot return home for being chased? How many are arrested, with no one knowing their whereabouts. … Between ease and affliction, benefit and truth, they have ever hesitated, have ever given consideration, and even had a thought of backing off. However, with the leadership of God’s words and the encouragement of God’s love, they knew their commissions and missions were to care for God’s will and to rescue the soul. … Hearing their experiences and testimonies, I saw they have obtained too many precious things from God’s words. They have recognized not only the source of mankind’s corruption but also the destination of mankind, and moreover, they are continually purified through the judgment and chastisement of God and gain the utmost salvation of God, and have a knowledge of God’s righteous disposition. Called by God’s love, I also cooperated with them to spread God’s kingdom gospel in the last days.

Through preaching the gospel, I understood all the more why the brothers and sisters could forsake their family and career to cooperate with God’s kingdom gospel. In fact, in the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus ever taught the followers of Him, saying, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). “He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37). “So likewise, whoever he be of you that forsakes not all that he has, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). From the words of the Lord Jesus, we can know God’s will that one person who truly believes in God and pursues to love God should walk in the way of God in everything, take God’s commission as his duty and put his own things in the second place. In the Age of Law, the prophet Jeremiah was called by God and conveyed His words in his youth; Samuel devoted his whole life to spending for God. In the Age of Grace, disciples of the Lord Jesus spread the Lord’s gospel across the world, of whom both Peter and Paul forsook their marriage and family. Can we say they went astray in their believing in the Lord Jesus? God’s word says, “Are you aware of the burden you shoulder, your commission, and your responsibility? Where is your historic sense of mission? … They are poor, pitiable, blind, and at a loss, wailing in the darkness, ‘Where is the way?’ How they yearn for the light, like a shooting star, to suddenly descend and disperse the force of darkness that has oppressed men for so many years. Who can know just how anxiously they hope, and how they pine day and night for this? These men who suffer deeply remain imprisoned in the dungeons of darkness, without hope of release, even on the day that the light flashes; when will they weep no longer? … Have you ever thought how grieved and anxious God’s heart is? How can He bear to see the innocent mankind He created with His own hands suffering such torment? After all, mankind are the unfortunates that have been poisoned. Though they have survived to this day, who would have thought that they have long been poisoned by the evil one? Have you forgotten that you are one of the victims? Out of your love for God, are you not willing to strive to save those who have survived? Are you not willing to use all your effort to repay the God who loves mankind like His own flesh and blood? How do you interpret being used by God to live your extraordinary life? Do you really have the resolution and confidence to live out a meaningful life of a pious, God-serving person?” God is grieved and anxious for man’s living in the darkness, and He anxiously hopes they can spread the salvation of the last days. They have known God’s eager desire to save man, so how can they stand by and not care for God’s commission? While continuing rushing on the way of spreading the gospel, the experiences of the saints’ loyalty to God in the Age of Law rose before their eyes when they were subjected to ridicule and slander; when they underwent humiliation and persecution, the scene of the disciples’ being martyred for the Lord in the Age of Grace inspired them to go forward; when they felt it difficult to spread the gospel and wanted to give up, God’s words moved them time and time again, and God’s love gave them confidence and courage of being loyal to Him constantly, so that they didn’t want to live for their own selfish desires and fleshly enjoyments any longer; the testimonies of the former saints’ loyalty to God also guided them to know what the most meaningful life is. Under the guidance of God’s love, they have forsaken all their own and spread the kingdom gospel of God firmly. Even if ridiculed, abused, rejected and slandered by the worldly people, they are willing to accept and obey. They would rather run the risk of being arrested and imprisoned by the CCP government than not make their full efforts to spread God’s salvation of the last days to more people. They are also willing to take their respective missions to be faithful to God and considerate of God’s will, because they know this is the unshirkable obligation and responsibility of the creatures.

As we know, now it is the last days. Greater and greater disasters are being brought down onto the world, earthquakes, hailstones and fires occurring frequently and various plagues attacking mankind constantly. China has suffered floods and hailstones and so on unceasingly in recent years, and thousands of lives are engulfed by serious haze every day. And the rare cold current weather appeared in Taiwan and Europe, resulting in many people’s death. … The dead lose their lives in great fear, never reviving again; due to the departed relatives, the living are in agony. Four blood moons have occurred, so the rare great calamities of the prophecies in the Bible will be sent down very soon. Today, the Lord Jesus has returned to flesh and expressed words to save mankind. God’s work of the last days is the only chance of man’s salvation. Almighty God has expressed all the truths of man’s salvation and pointed out the way for us to be purified and saved. Those who can accept God’s judgment and gain the truth can receive God’s care and protection, so the work that God saves man in the last days relates to every person’s end and destination. God’s word says, “This is because only one creation and one salvation are within the plan of God. This is the first time and also the last. Therefore, none can comprehend the kind intention and fervent anticipation of God for mankind’s salvation.” “Only I am the true God; only I am your refuge. You can only now hide in My secret place, only within Me, and the disasters will not befall you and no calamity will come near to your tent.”

After the personal experience of God’s work in the last days, these brothers and sisters who follow Almighty God feel God’s love and salvation and moreover, they are cared and protected by God in the disasters again and again. They know God’s eager desire that God yearns for more people to come before Him to be saved. Because God does not have the heart to see man die in the disasters, much less has He the heart to see man live in the wailing and helplessness because they turn away from God and lack His care and protection. As Christians, they should worry God’s worries and think His thoughts. So, they resolve to preach the gospel and testify to God. It is not that they don’t want family, nor do they have no humanity, much less are they dolts or madmen but that they are merely the needy whom God has lifted from the dunghill, and are merely a group of people who were extremely corrupted but gain God’s salvation and who are awakened by Almighty God’s great love and willing to offer up their heart and body to God. As these men understand God’s will, they are willing to perform their duties and care for His will. What’s more, they willingly fulfill their missions under the encouragement of God’s love. The Lord Jesus said, “How think you? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not leave the ninety and nine, and goes into the mountains, and seeks that which is gone astray?” (Matthew 18:12). Just think: A man enjoys the bountiful grace of God, gains God’s salvation and tastes God’s love, but doesn’t know how to care for God’s heart and repay His love, doesn’t fulfill the duty of a created being before God, and pays no heed to God’s eager desire of saving man. He only cares about preserving his own little family wholeheartedly and pursues to satisfy his family. Does such man really have humanity? It can be said that such man is most selfish and ungrateful and is inhuman at all. Just as parents who work hard to raise children and to help them get married and start their career. But when parents need them to do something, they care for their own little family instead of them. Aren’t they the most ungrateful and inhuman children? So, what people say “Believers in Almighty God have no human kindness and humanity and go astray because of forsaking family and career, not leading a family life and not taking care of family” is purely fallacious knowledge. In the time of Noah, when God saw people in that age became licentious and evil to hideous depravity and He would destroy the world by flooding the earth, Noah built the ark with all his property and conveyed the information everywhere that Jehovah God would destroy the world by a flood. Didn’t people in that age also say he was mad, evil and possessed? However, when the flood came, Noah and the seven members of his family entered into the ark, whereas people who sneered at and slandered Noah were swallowed by the flood, and died in the disaster on account of not listening to God’s words. Isn’t this an ironclad fact?

Can you understand the Lord’s eager desire that He leaves the ninety-nine sheep and seeks the one which has gone astray? Almighty God says, “His substance and disposition are expressed in His dialogue with man; His thoughts and ideas are revealed completely in His deeds; He accompanies and observes mankind at all times. He speaks quietly to mankind and all of creation with His silent words: I am above the universe, and I am amongst My creation. I am keeping watch; I am waiting; I am at your side…. His hands are warm and strong; His footsteps are light; His voice is soft and graceful; His form passes and turns, embracing all of mankind; His countenance is beautiful and gentle. He has never left, nor has He vanished. From dawn to dusk, He is mankind’s constant companion.” God has been awaiting man’s return. God’s deeds and substance are revealed in His words and work. As a creature, only by accepting God’s new work and coming before God can he behold the appearance of God and gain God’s salvation of the last days. Otherwise, he will only be the forsaken one, falling into disasters.

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Realization Before the Spring Festival’s Eve

Realization Before the Spring Festival’s Eve

Zhou Ying

On the morning of the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month in 2005, snowflakes were fluttering down. After having breakfast, Zhou Ying, with a heavy heart, went outside pushing her bicycle. Two days later, it would be the Spring Festival. As the old saying goes, “One misses his family all the more on every festive day.” So her mind went to her husband, son and daughter…. I haven’t seen them for over three years. How are they? At that time, the couple of the host family went out to see her off and said, “It’s snowing. Come back earlier this afternoon. And celebrate this Spring Festival with us!” Zhou Ying nodded to them. Their short words deeply touched her heart. She couldn’t help shedding tears of gratefulness. By then she dared not turn around or speak lest they saw she was in tears.

Her thoughts returned to the day in the autumn three years ago. At a gathering, she was arrested by the atheistic CCP government and beaten brutally in the detention jail. … So weak once was she that she thought about suicide for fear that she could not bear the police’s afflictions. It was God’s words that led her to stand witness and not to betray Him. After getting out of the detention jail, she had some knowledge and discernment of the evil and contemptible substance of the CCP police, and deeply appreciated God’s love and protection. To avoid being hunted and monitored again by the CCP police and not to bring the danger of being arrested to brothers and sisters, she decided to leave her hometown for other places to hide herself. What’s more, as a creature of God, she was willing to perform her duty within her power to repay God’s love and salvation. That day, the dawn was breaking, and it was raining. Her husband called a taxi. Hardly had she gotten into the car when her daughter, draped in clothes, went out to say farewell to her. Zhou Ying felt pain in her heart at that moment. Seeing her husband and lovely daughter, she didn’t know what to say. In this way, such a happy family was forced to part from each other by the atheistic CCP. She held back her tears, saying to her daughter, “It’s raining. Just get inside the house in case you catch cold.” The car drove off into a distance and the tears blurred her vision …

Day had broken when Zhou Ying boarded the train. She looked out of the window, the rain still falling. At the time, she felt somewhat desolate. Then God’s words she had read before came into her head, “For thousands of years this has been the land of filth, it is unbearably dirty, misery abounds, ghosts roam its every corner, tricking and deceiving, making groundless accusations, being ruthless and vicious, trampling this ghost town and leaving it littered with dead bodies; the stench of decay covers the land and pervades the air, and it is heavily guarded. … Forefathers of the ancient? Beloved leaders? They all oppose God! Their meddling has left all beneath heaven in a state of darkness and chaos! Religious freedom? The legitimate rights and interests of citizens? They are all tricks for covering up sin!” (“Work and Entry (8)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God’s words enabled her to understand: China is a ghost town and is under the control of the atheistic government, which is of Satan. The CCP deceives and bounds the Chinese people with atheism to make them turn away from God and worship it. Furthermore, it disallows people to believe in God and walk on the right path. Numerous Christians suffer its arrest, are imprisoned, and even are mutilated to death, which is an obvious fact. When the incarnate Almighty God, descending into Mainland China secretly, carries out the work of judgment in the last days, the CCP does everything in its power to impair and disturb God’s work: creating fake news to frame and discredit the Church of Almighty God by using the press and buying off world-renowned media; in cities and villages, installing cameras everywhere to monitor believers in God, as well as posting up notices all over and rewarding heavily those who report believers to them; breaking into houses at will to perform investigation and search or letting neighbors trail and watch on believers; oppressing and arresting wildly the Christians of the Church of Almighty God and interrogating them by cruel tortures, as well as running the brainwashing class to brainwash them so that they can deny God and betray God…. Zhou Ying has been suffering the persecution since she began to believe in God. She can only have gatherings with a handful of brothers and sisters and dare not sing loudly; even when she walks, she needs to check whether someone tracks her, for the lackeys of the CCP are everywhere. The CCP pursues and condemns believers without restraint, but leniently deals with those who do evils, murderers, arsonists, thieves and robbers in the world, with the result that in the society run amuck the wicked. The substance of the CCP is a gang of devils, specially fighting against God. As a result, so many innocent brothers and sisters cannot go back their own home, separating from their families …

At this point, a rush of cold air drove into her face, instantly bringing her to the real world from the memory. It would be the Spring Festival two days later. Seeing others spend it with their families, she was a bit homesick. Just then God’s words appeared in her mind, “The path that I’m leading you on is My work, My responsibility, and it was ordained by God long ago so that we would be predestined to come this far, until today—that we have been able to do this is our great blessing, and although it has not been a smooth path, our friendship is everlasting, and it will be passed down through the ages. Whether they were cheers and laughter or sadness and tears, they all make up our beautiful memories! Maybe you should know that I do not have many days for My work. I have so many work projects, and I cannot accompany you often. I hope you can understand Me—because our original friendship is still the same. … I hope that the things we shared in the past may become the flower of our friendship” (“The Path… (8)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Her tears began to pour down her face. She really felt that God was by her side and was comforting her with His words. She clearly knew that in experiencing God’s work, whether it is persecution or tribulation, God’s will is to perfect and save man. At the moment, feeling God’s love, she was not lonely, because God was with her.

The snow had ceased falling and the sun came out. The sunlight shining down on her body, she felt so warm in her heart and also acquired confidence. She pedaled her bicycle to the meeting location.

On the way home, she felt she gained a lot at this meeting, realizing that every one of us, coming into this world, has our own mission, and that her mission is to cooperate in spreading the kingdom gospel of God to complete His commission. She remembered Almighty God’s words, “From the moment you come crying into this world, you begin to perform your duty. You assume your role in the plan of God and in the ordination of God. You begin the journey of life” (“God Is the Source of Man’s Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The words of God made her understand more clearly: Everyone lives in the ordination of God and all things in the universe exist under the sovereignty of Him. Everyone’s breath is from Him; no person can exist independently and all of us enjoy the gratuitous provision and nourishment of Him. She felt assured to commit her husband and children into God’s hands and allow Him to rule over their subsequent fates. She was aware that it was due to God’s ordination that she could come before Him and that doing her duty as a created being was the performance of her own obligations, which was even more God’s exaltation. She thought that thanks to God’s care and protection, she could come this far; due to God’s leading, she walked out of the negativity and weakness and all manner of dangerous situations. At the same time, she got acquainted with a number of brothers and sisters who were strange to her and weren’t her relatives but were even closer than relatives.

She returned to the sister’s home happily, and spent the Spring Festival’s Eve with them. Although she wasn’t reunited with her family, yet having God’s love and the sister’s company, she did not feel lonely.

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The Difference Between Worshiping God and Worshiping Idols

The Difference Between Worshiping God and Worshiping Idols

Now, a statement circulating online says that putting illustrations of the Lord Jesus on the Internet or sharing them with brothers and sisters is worshiping idols, not worshiping God. Does it conform to the truth? How can we tell the difference between worshiping God and worshiping idols?

The Lord Jesus said, “when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him” (John 4:23). Based on these words from the Lord Jesus, many thoughtful, savvy people will acknowledge such a fact: To judge whether or not one truly worships God depends not fully on his outward behavior, but on whether he truly believes in God and thirsts for the truth, and whether he is an honest man who shows a true representation of himself before God. That is to say, a man who appears devout on the outside is not necessarily a true worshiper of God, while a true worshiper of God focuses on worshiping God in spirit and in truth, not outward practices. So, my brothers and sisters and I all believe illustrations of the Lord Jesus are merely a symbol and metaphor which represents God is with us. We are not worshiping idols by using these pictures. What does worshiping idols truly refer to? It means to regard the illustrations or the Bible as God, and prostrate and kneel before them. That is truly worshiping idols. Let us put forward some examples. Some people must pray with a Bible in front of them, and some always take a Bible with them wherever they go and even hold it as they sleep. Still, there are some believers who must pray with their faces to a portrait of the Lord Jesus, and some others who make long prayers laying their hands on the Bible. These people all believe what they do is worshiping God. Yet, in fact, they have been unable to feel the presence of the Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit long ago. Some preachers in the churches cannot communicate any true knowledge of God, or reveal the real road for the believers to practice the truth and follow God’s will. Those who listen to the messages in a muddled way don’t know to actively search for the footsteps of the work of the Holy Spirit and only hold to various religious rituals, even though they cannot obtain the supply of life. Is this type of belief really worshiping God? If one cannot gain the work of the Holy Spirit and worships the illustrations and the Bible as God, then the object of his worship is actually empty air or a vague God in his notions and imagination, and in essence he is worshiping idols. By contrast, some people who have a picture of the Lord Jesus hanging in their homes are very pious as they pray to Him, and in their prayers, they often speak from their hearts, give thought to the Lord’s love, and are moved to tears. They normally focus on practicing and experiencing the Lord’s words, frequently receive enlightenment from the Holy Spirit and reap knowledge about the reality of the truth. This is the result reached through the work of the Holy Spirit. For such people, who can say they are worshiping idols?

Second of all, some people do not honor God as great as they believe in God, but blindly believe in and worship their pastors and elders. They believe and obey whatever their pastors and elders say, and never rely on God’s words to discern whether their words are in accordance with the truth and whether their deeds are after God’s heart. With regard to receiving the Lord’s second coming, many people are especially obedient to their pastors and elders. If their pastors and elders condemn and oppose something, they will follow them without discernment. When the pastors and elders claim that the Lord has not returned or define the way in which He shall come, they put blind faith in it, rather than discern it according to God’s words or seek a way of practice that is after God’s heart in God’s words. In their eyes, belief in God means to listen to the pastors and elders in all things. They worship and have blind faith in man so much that they even obey man as God. This is truly worshiping idols, and the men they worship are precisely their idols.

The Lord Jesus said, “Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23). As we believe in God, we should have a place for God in our hearts, often exalt and testify to God, seek truth in all things, submit to God’s word and put it into practice. This is following the will of God, and through this we can certainly obtain the work of the Holy Spirit. In this way, no matter how many illustrations of the Lord Jesus we place in our homes and churches, or on the websites, it is completely right, because it is for the sake of spreading the gospel and bearing testimony to God, and it is regarded as a positive thing commended by God, which is beyond doubt. Conversely, those who believe in God in name only and worship status and power in reality, blindly believe in and follow the pastors and elders and treat man as God, hold to letters and doctrines as the truth—such people cannot possibly have the work of the Holy Spirit. No matter how many religious ceremonies they follow, God will not like them, but instead detest and reject them, for they never take exalting and bearing witness to God as their duty, or consider implementing and experiencing God’s words as important. These people are the chaff and false believers without life. Their faith is genuinely worshiping idols.

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