Almighty God Saved Me

 Almighty God Saved Me

Wang Shiliang

Xinyang City, Henan Province

I, formerly a co-worker of the Local Church, returned to Almighty God in December 2001. The following are fragments of my memory of how I resisted Almighty God’s work of the last days and how I accepted it.

The first person who preached Almighty God’s gospel of the last days to me was one of my in-laws. I not only didn’t accept it but also called him blind. And in the next three years I gave him a cold shoulder every time I met him. I also took him as a negative example in my preaching to lecture the other believers, so as to prevent them from accepting the work of the last days of Almighty God. Later, several sisters came to our church to preach the gospel, but I drove them out immediately when I discovered that. My desperate resistance restrained many brothers and sisters, and they dared not accept the true way. What’s more, I followed the “emergency announcement” against Almighty God which was distributed from the above, and made blasphemies and slanders at will and said evil words to attack the believers of Almighty God. And I also said to the believers, “Firstly, the Church of Almighty God only recruits young people but not the old. Secondly, it’s a heresy, a cult, and they always tempt people with money and beauty. Thirdly, they cut off people’s nose, gouge out their eyes, or break their legs.” Moreover, I also invented a lie that two people had been killed at such-and-such a place. This made some believers fearful and trembling, and they dared not come into contact with the preachers of the gospel of the last days. And meanwhile, I dragged one believer who had just accepted Almighty God back to our church…

Although I was so disobedient and resistant, God did not treat me according to my evil deeds but led and guided me to accept His salvation of the last days, so that I came out of the dense fog and returned to His family, having an opportunity to start a new life. I sincerely thank Almighty God for His grace and uplifting.

One day in December 2001, I suddenly felt a longing to visit my nephew (I seldom paid him visits). At his home, I met with a brother who preached Almighty God’s work of the last days (at first I didn’t know he believed in Almighty God). So, we began to fellowship about belief in God. I found his fellowship was all in conformity with the Bible, and I had never heard such truths in the Local Church during the past years. This made me sincerely convinced. However, when he said that the Lord had come back, I immediately realized that he was a preacher of Almighty God. At that moment, I struggled within myself: “Should I listen or not? I was scared of the believers in Almighty God before, and I said a lot of blasphemies and slanders when I sealed off the church. But today I find that his fellowship is all in conformity with the truth and the Bible, and I have never heard such fellowship before.” In order to get to the bottom of the whole thing, I asked the brother three questions. The first one was: “Does your church only accept young people but not the old?” Then he took out the book of God’s word and read me a piece of God’s word, in which God says: “Today everyone in this stream who truly loves God has the opportunity to be perfected by God. Whether young or old, as long as one has a heart that obeys God and a heart that fears God, he can be perfected by God. … Both young and older brothers and sisters should know the functions you yourselves should perform. The young should not be arrogant, and the older should not be passive or draw back. And you should complement each other, minister to each other, and hold no prejudice against each other, so that a bridge of friendship can be built between you young and older brothers and sisters, and you can understand each other better because of God’s love. Young brothers and sisters do not look down upon the older brothers and sisters, and the older brothers and sisters are not self-right. Isn’t this a harmonious coordination? If you all have this resolution, the will of God will surely be accomplished in your generation.” At these words, I realized what I had heard before were all rumors and hearsay and were not the facts at all. Am I not also an old man? Is the brother not preaching to me now? How foolish and stupid I am!

Then, I asked the second question. “I heard that the believers in Almighty God tempt people with money and beauty. How do you explain this?” Then the brother read me the Article 3 of the Administrative Decrees: “… All the offerings offered by man (including the money and the material things for enjoyment) are offered to God but not to man. So man should not enjoy these things. If man enjoys these things, he is stealing offerings. All such ones are a Judas, because Judas not only sold the Lord but also stole the money in the purse.” The brother said, “I have believed in Almighty God for several years, but nobody has ever given me a cent, and neither have I ever given anyone a cent. Today, preaching the gospel to others is our duty. It is to repay God’s love and to bring more true believers before God so that they can all receive God’s salvation. If we know God’s great salvation and His anxious heart, how can we not preach this gospel to more brothers and sisters? As to the rumor of committing adultery, God has stipulated in Article 4 of the Administrative Decrees: ‘Man has corrupt disposition and even more has emotion. So, in the service in coordination, two people of different sexes are forbidden to coordinate alone. If discovered, they shall be expelled, no matter who they are.’” After hearing the Administrative Decrees God issues, I felt enlightened all of a sudden: God’s requirement of man is higher and stricter in the last days. This is the work done by the true God.

However, I still felt somewhat insecure. So I asked the brother, “I heard that you gouge out people’s eyes, cut off their nose, or break their legs. What’s this all about?” “Brother, have you ever seen these with your own eyes?” he asked. “No.” I responded. Then he continued, “As the saying goes, seeing is believing. If things happened as you say, wouldn’t they have long caused a sensation? Just think about this: Around you, there are some who have accepted Almighty God, and also some who listened but didn’t accept. Is there anyone among them who has his eyes gouged out, nose cut off, or limbs broken? Isn’t it a very obvious lie? Today, we just preach God’s gospel of the last days to the brothers and sisters of all sects and denominations. It’s up to them to choose whether they accept it or not, because God never forces man. I have accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days for several years. I have personally tasted how hard it is for God to do the work on earth, and have also seen God’s great love and care for mankind. Encouraged by God’s love, we brothers and sisters actively cooperate with God by performing our duties, preaching this greatest good news to the brothers and sisters of all sects and denominations whatever it takes. However, some of them shut the door on us; some beat us up with sticks; some pour water on us; some sic the dog on us; and some report us to the police. Aren’t all these facts obvious to all?” Hearing that, I felt so ashamed and didn’t know where to conceal myself.

Through eating and drinking God’s word and the brother’s fellowship, as well as the contrast between the facts and the truths, I realized that I had been deceived by my upper leaders and at the same time I had deceived others. At that moment, I really hated myself for being so blind and foolish and lacking in discernment that I echoed what others said and blindly resisted and condemned Almighty God. “I have really disappointed God. I never expected that the Savior Jesus whom I have been yearning for day and night had already come to the world, and that I had even resisted and rejected him. How inhuman I am!” As I thought about it, I felt growing distress and could no longer refrain from tears. “O God! I am really indebted to You. I am corrupted so deeply by Satan that I do not have any likeness of a man, really benumbed and obtuse. I hate myself for being so evil and so bad. According to my actions and deeds, I only deserve to be cursed and do not deserve to receive Your salvation, much less to live before You. Yet You have selected me and saved me. O God! Your love for me is so great that I cannot disappoint Your kind intention anymore. I’m willing to make a resolution to follow You to the end to testify and glorify You. I will cooperate with You to spread Your gospel and bring before You the true believers who are still blinded by deception, so as to make up for my indebtedness and repay Your love, thereby putting Satan to shame.”

Dear spiritual brothers and sisters in the Lord, wake up quickly! I hope you will never be foolish and ignorant as I was. Almighty God is the truth, the way, and the life. Now God’s work is drawing to a close and is about to be accomplished successfully. Brothers and sisters, seek and make an investigation quickly! If you miss this good opportunity, you will regret all your life. Just as 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. I advise you to tread the path of belief in God with care. Do not jump to conclusions; what’s more, do not be casual and carefree in your belief in God. You should know that, at the very least, those who believe in God should be humble and reverential.” “… do not treat belief in God as a game. Think for the sake of your destination, for the sake of your prospects, for the sake of your life….” “You must know that all of the Israelites spurned and denied Jesus, yet the fact of Jesus’ redemption of mankind still spread to the ends of the universe. Is this not the fact that God has long ago fulfilled?”

Brothers and sisters, from God’s words we have seen God’s kind intention for man and His warnings and exhortations for man. God is earnestly expecting everyone who sincerely believes in Him to return to His family as soon as possible, for He doesn’t bear to see anyone that belongs to Him fall into the disasters rare through the ages. May we be a man with conscience, and not let God worry and grieve over us any more.

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Almighty God Is the Returned Jesus

Almighty God Is the Returned Jesus

Wang Yang

Guichi City, Anhui Province

I was formerly a leader of the Justification by Faith Church in the city of Guichi. Before I accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days, I, like all brothers and sisters, had been eagerly expecting the Lord Jesus’ coming again. But because of the constant “warnings” from the senior leader above and the biblical verse that there will surely appear many false Christs in the last days, I became one who resisted and condemned God’s work of the last days. Thinking of these, I feel very guilty. Now, I will tell brothers and sisters my personal experience, hoping that brothers and sisters will learn a lesson from it and come back to God’s family soon.

One day in September 1999, I was collecting cotton on our own threshing floor, because it was going to rain. Two sisters who preached the work of the last days of Almighty God came to me. Seeing them, I said, “How come you preachers of the false way come again to draw me? Save your breath! I won’t be deceived by you! You say that God has come, but no matter what you say, I believe that whatever departs from the Bible is false, because it says clearly in Matthew 24:36 that no one knows when the Lord comes. How could you know?” Seeing that they didn’t leave, I swore, “What a cheek, like the skin of an old sow! I will never let you enter my house!” I ran back home as I swore, and shut them out.

Soon, it began to rain. The two sisters didn’t have their umbrella with them and had to stand in the rain. Then I thought to myself, “They don’t get angry in spite of my abuse and don’t leave even when it rains. For what do they do so? For money? No! I won’t give them money. For fame? No! The worldly people all ridicule them as insane. They are not afraid of being mocked or abused or suffering. I have to ask them for what they do so.” Just when I was about to open the door, I remembered the words of the senior leader, “Those who preach that God has been incarnated and has opened the little scroll are from the ‘Eastern Lightning.’ No matter who they are and in what weather and at what time they come, don’t sympathize with them, much less receive them.” So, I began to struggle in my heart, “If what they believe in is false, why do they have far greater faith, love, and patience than we believers in Jesus? Am I a believer in Jesus by treating them this way?” I walked back and forth in the room and didn’t know what to do. The struggle in my heart was very fierce. The rain outside became heavier and heavier. In the end, I couldn’t bear it any longer, and said to myself, “Regardless of whether it is true or false, I have to ask them first for what they do so and where their faith, love, and patience come from.”

I opened the door and saw that they got soaked and trembled with cold. I felt quite sorry and let them in. As there were no clothes at home for them to change into, I urged them to hurry home. The sisters said, “If we want to go back, why do we wait until now? Brother, we come just to talk about the Bible with you.” My heart was moved by their sincerity. At that point, I no longer considered how people in the church would think about me, and said to them, “Just say whatever you want to!” One sister said, “Brother, we’ve come to fellowship with you about what Christ is.” I said, “Jesus is Christ and Christ is Jesus.” The sister continued, “Why can Jesus be called Christ?” I said, “Because the Lord Jesus is God, He is called Christ.” The sister asked again, “Is Jehovah not God? Why can He not be called Christ?” I said, “Christ means the anointed King.” The sister went on, “Saul, David, and Solomon were all anointed and were kings, but why could they not be called Christ?” Her questions rendered me speechless. Seeing that I was silent, she said, “Why can Jehovah not be called Christ? Because He only has full divinity and does not have a normal humanity. Why could Saul, David, or Solomon not be called Christ? They only had humanity and didn’t have full divinity, so they couldn’t be called Christ. Then why can Jesus be called Christ? Because He has both full divinity and a normal humanity, He is called Christ.” I was suddenly enlightened, “Ah! That’s how it is then. Thank God very much!” The sister went on, “Christ refers to the incarnate God. Only the incarnate God can be called Christ or the Son of man. In the Bible, Jesus is called Christ and the Son of man many times but Jehovah is never called Christ or the Son of man. This is because Jehovah is the Spirit and cannot be called Christ. When Christ or the Son of man is mentioned, it refers to the incarnate God. In the Bible, the prophets such as Ezekiel and Daniel are also called the ‘son of man.’ Although they and Christ were both men outwardly, they were different in substance. Ezekiel and Daniel could only speak some words and do some work among the people in behalf of Jehovah, and they were human in substance and were performing the duty that a created being should do. Christ, however, is different. He is God’s Spirit in substance, and when He speaks and works, He is performing His ministry. Although Christ can be called the Son of man, not all sons of man can be called Christ. Except the incarnate God, no one else can be called Christ. In the Bible, it mentions the Son of man many times, such as Matthew 24:27, 30; 25:31, Luke 17:30, and Revelation 14:14. Moreover, the Bible prophesies that the Lord Jesus will appear with the image of the Son of man when He comes again. Let’s read Luke 17:22-30. The Lord Jesus said to the disciples, ‘The days will come, when you shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines to the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.’ From these verses, it’s not difficult for us to see that when God comes again, He will also appear as the Son of man. When the Son of man is mentioned, it refers to the incarnate God. We have just mentioned that the incarnate Son of man has a normal humanity and full divinity and the spiritual body cannot be called the Son of man. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples personally, ‘The days will come, when you shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you shall not see it.’ Does the word ‘the days will come’ mean that the days have come or not? Do they refer to the time He was incarnated or the future time?” I said, “They refer to the time the Lord Jesus was incarnated.” The sister continued, “If the Lord Jesus meant Himself, why did He say the word ‘The days will come, when you shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you shall not see it’? If the Lord Jesus was referring to Himself, hadn’t the disciples seen Him already? Moreover, they had followed Him and known that He was the Son of man and the Christ. (Matthew 16:15-16) How could He say that they shall not see it? Obviously, He wasn’t referring to the time He was incarnated but was speaking a prophecy concerning His coming again. He also prophesied that there would be false Christs appearing when He came back. In Luke 17:23, it says, ‘And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.’ The Lord Jesus was warning people that they should not be deceived by false Christs when He came the second time, because where there is God’s work, there is Satan’s work. Man cannot recognize or know the image God takes when He comes by his physical eyes. Can man really know what image God will take when He comes again? Acts 1:11 says that the Lord Jesus will come in the same way as He went. At that time, the Lord Jesus went up in the clouds with the image of a Jew, dressed in the Jewish clothes, and with the print of the nails and the wounds of spears. Are you sure that He will still be like this when He comes again? If it were the case, whom should the Son of man described in Revelation refer to? It is written in Revelation 1:13-16, ‘And in the middle of the seven candlesticks one like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like to fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shines in his strength.’ Then how should man know this appearance? Moreover, in Luke 24:13-16, it is written, ‘And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village … Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were held that they should not know him.’ John 20:14-15 says, ‘And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, Woman, why weep you? whom seek you? She, supposing him to be the gardener….’ So, man cannot recognize God through the outward appearance; rather, he can only know God through God’s work and word. Isn’t the Pharisees’ resistance against God a typical case? So, the Lord Jesus warned us many times not to be deceived by false Christs and also taught us how to distinguish false Christs. In Matthew 24:23-24, it is written, ‘Then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.’ Here the Lord Jesus was giving us a hint that when God came again, He would not perform these signs and wonders but would do a new work, and if anyone performed signs and wonders, he must be a false Christ, a deceiver. We should know God from His work, as Christ cannot be recognized by man through His appearance. Since the Son of man comes, He will surely bring His new work. But a false Christ cannot bring any new work, and it only imitates and follows the work God did to achieve its purpose of deceiving people. While Satan is imitating the work Jesus did (healing the sick, driving out the demons, and performing signs and miracles), God has already done a new work again. God’s work is always done based on Satan’s plots. So, the Lord Jesus repeatedly taught us that anyone who misuses the name of Jesus and heals the sick, drives out the demons, and performs signs and wonders and says that he is the returned Lord Jesus is a false Christ. In Luke 17:24, the Lord Jesus prophesied the work He would do when He came again, ‘For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines to the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.’ He prophesied that the work the Son of man did when He came again would be like the lightning and would be done from the east to the west in the universe and be finished within the shortest time. That indicates that the work God does when He comes again will be done very quickly. As it is the work of reaping, it can be finished within a short time, and will not last two thousand years like the work of sowing. If it is a new work, that is, the work that has never been done, such as reaping, purifying, winnowing, and judging, which is beyond man’s capacity, it is undoubtedly God’s work. We should be cautious and not miss it! We should know God according to the work God does, and this is most after the Lord’s heart.”

“However, when God opens a new age and does a new stage of work, He will be confronted with many people’s resistance and great hindrances. This is because men are ignorant about the direction of the Holy Spirit’s work and they resist God’s new work according to God’s former work, measure God’s work by their imaginations and notions, and check God’s new work according to the old regulations. Every time when God is incarnated to do the work of saving men, men don’t like to accept or follow but instead do their utmost to resist, saying that this is a deceiver coming, and also spread slanders, blasphemies, and condemnations. God is so great, noble, and holy, yet He is incarnated into the world and lives with the most corrupt and filthy people, and He, humble and hidden, is saving men in obscurity. Men not only don’t repay God but requite evil for good, denying Him as the true God, and reviling, mocking, ridiculing, and rejecting Him. God endures all these silently for man’s sake. This is what will happen when Jesus comes again, as prophesied by Jesus personally, and is the true meaning of the word ‘But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation,’ (Luke 17:25) which prophesies that He will suffer many things when He comes the second time. The word ‘and be rejected of this generation’ means that He will not be accepted by this generation again. If He comes as a spiritual body and not as an incarnate flesh, He need not suffer, not to mention being rejected by men. Because when He is a spiritual body, He is not restrained by space or geography, and only the incarnate Son of man will undergo such sufferings.” I argued at once, “It means that Jesus suffered many things when He was on earth, and it doesn’t mean that He will be incarnated when He comes again.” The sister said, “Well, we will be clear after reading the following scriptures in Luke 17:26-30, ‘And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.’ From these verses, we see that the day when the Son of man is revealed is like the days of Noah and the days of Sodom when they all were destroyed. If it referred to the fact that the Lord Jesus Himself suffered things at that time, firstly, it would not be called a prophecy. This is because a prophecy prophesies things that have not happened; only if it prophesies things that will be fulfilled in the future can it be called a prophecy; otherwise, it is not called a prophecy. Secondly, if it referred to the fact that Jesus suffered things at that time, why did Jesus say that the day when the Son of man comes will be like the days of Noah and the days of Sodom? As we all know, the days of Noah were the days of destruction of the flood when the whole world was cursed and destroyed by God and only the eight people of Noah’s family received God’s blessings and were left. The days of Lot were the days when Jehovah God destroyed the sins of the city of Sodom. Because the sins of the people of Sodom reached Jehovah’s ears, God poured down the brimstone and fire from heaven and burned them all and only left three people of Lot’s family. If it referred to the first incarnation of the Lord Jesus, how do we explain it that we have never seen any work of destruction done by God over the two thousand years after the Lord came to the world? Doesn’t it refer to the second coming of the Son of man?”

Through the biblical verses we studied and the sister’s fellowship, I knew much about God’s coming again through being incarnated as the Son of man. Thank God very much! I was much enlightened! Then I said to them, “I can accept that Jesus will be incarnated when He comes again, but I still don’t understand one thing. You say that God has come, but the Bible says, ‘But of that day and that hour knows no man … but the Father.’ Then how do you know that?” The sister answered, “It means that man cannot possibly know the specific time of Jesus’ coming again. But when God comes and begins to work, won’t people know it? This is like Jesus’ first coming. First, Mary and Joseph knew it. Then after He was born, the three Magi and the shepherds knew it. When He began to perform His ministry, His disciples knew it; and the woman of Samaria said that He was Messiah, the Savior. If no one knew it, how could His work be carried out? The object of God’s work is man, so His work requires man to cooperate. If no one knew it, how could God save man? The Bible tells us clearly that ‘the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.’ Today, if we hold fast to the Bible and deny God’s work of today, aren’t we too rash and thoughtless? If it were the case, as we imagine, that He who does not come with white clouds is not Jesus, why would Jesus have spoken so many parables and prophesied things about His coming again? The Lord repeatedly warned us to watch, but we misunderstand Jesus’ words and just ‘close the door tight.’ As such, to guard against false ones, we shut the real One out. What will we gain in the end through believing in God then?” What the sister said and the biblical prophecies made me change my mind: The fulfillment of the biblical prophecies cannot be within the Bible, and since it is beyond “the Bible,” it means that God has done a new work. Only God can do new work, and no one else can make such a start. And the sister said, “All that we have known and talked about today is in God’s word. God has made all the mysteries and truths clear to man. As long as you read God’s word more, you will understand the truths of all aspects and all your notions and difficulties will be solved by God’s word.”

Unconsciously, we talked like this for several hours. Thank God for His enlightenment, so that I understood many truths and mysteries I had been unclear about in believing in God for years. From the fulfillment of the biblical prophecies and the speech and living out of the people led by Almighty God, I was sure that the incarnate Almighty God today is the Jesus who has appeared. I was really remorseful for my deeds, blindness, and ignorance and regretted that I believed in God for years but didn’t know God, and blindly believed people’s rumors, rejected the true way, and drove away the brothers and sisters who preached the gospel. Yet, God didn’t treat me according to my evil deeds but saved me time after time and brought me back to His throne. I sincerely hope that the brothers and sisters who have not come before Almighty God will not be like me, who believed in God but relied on men. Wake up! Almighty God is the returned Jesus, only He can bring us the truth, the way, and the life, and only Almighty God can spare us from the disasters of the last days. Come back to God’s family quickly! Almighty God is expecting us!

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Almighty God's Word "What Do You Know of Faith?"

Almighty God's Word "What Do You Know of Faith?"

Almighty God says, "My deeds are greater in number than the grains of sand on the beaches, and My wisdom greater than that of all those sons of Solomon, yet men merely think of Me as a physician of little account and an unknown teacher of man! How many believe in Me only so I would heal them? How many believe in Me only so I would use My powers to drive unclean spirits out of their bodies? And how many believe in Me simply to receive peace and joy from Me? How many believe in Me only to demand from Me more material wealth, and how many believe in Me just to spend this life in safety and to be safe and sound in the world to come? How many believe in Me only to avoid the suffering of hell and to receive the blessings of heaven? How many believe in Me only for temporary comfort but do not seek to gain anything in the world to come?"

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Almighty God, Where Is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Almighty God, Where Is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Wu Ming

One day on my return flight to America, I felt bored, so I opened the Bible to read. A lady next to me asked, “Are you a believer in the Lord?” I said, “Yes. All four generations of my family are believers in the Lord. Do you also believe in the Lord?” She replied, “Right!” “What a coincidence!” I said, “Thanks be to the Lord!” Learning that she also believed in the Lord Jesus, I was very glad. Then we launched into a talk about the condition of the churches. The sister asked me, “How about the condition of your church?” I answered, “Alas! I don’t know what’s wrong with me these years. I have no enjoyment at the meetings. Inland churches and overseas churches are in the same boat. I even don’t want to attend the service. When I thought back on the past, the gatherings were very good, and my father was a preacher at that time. We had great enjoyment in the gatherings all day. Unfortunately, such gatherings are little more than a memory now.” The sister said, “The churches are all in such a condition because the prophecies concerning the Lord’s return have come into reality. The Lord has already returned.” “Oh, the Lord has come back? But why didn’t we meet Him? If He really is back, we should have been raptured into the kingdom of heaven.” I said with confusion, and then opened the Bible, “The Lord Jesus once said, ‘I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also’ (John 14:2-3). The Lord Jesus has prepared a place for us in heaven. He will bring us directly into the kingdom of heaven when He comes again. If the Lord has already come, why are we still on earth and not taken into heaven?”

The sister said, “It is true that the Lord Jesus promised us He would prepare a place for us. Yet we should be clear that never did the Lord say He would take us to heaven in the future.”

I said, “Are you saying the place that the Lord prepares for us is not in heaven? In Matthew 4:17, the Lord Jesus said, ‘Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Isn’t the kingdom of heaven in heaven?”

The sister replied gently, “Many believers think that the Lord Jesus ascended to heaven to prepare a place for man, so God’s kingdom is in heaven. However, is the place the Lord prepares for man truly in heaven or on earth? Let’s see the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught us, ‘Our Father which are in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven’ (Matthew 6:9-10). And Revelation 21:2-3 says, ‘And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven…. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.’ Revelation 11:15 says, ‘The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.’ From these verses, we can see that the Lord Jesus has already told us plainly that God’s kingdom will come down on earth and that His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. He never said the kingdom He would prepare for us was in heaven.”

I said, “What you say sounds reasonable. These verses all refer to God’s kingdom descending upon earth. But in terms of the Lord going to prepare a place and then coming to take us, He obviously ascended to heaven for the preparation!”

Then the sister continued to say, “We all know that man created by God in the beginning lived in the Garden of Eden. Think about it: Was the Garden of Eden in heaven or on earth? Besides, after man was corrupted by Satan, is God’s work of saving mankind in heaven or on earth? Thus we can know whether God’s kingdom is in heaven or on earth. Let’s see Genesis 2:7-8, ‘And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground…. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.’ Genesis 1:28-29, ‘And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.’ We can see from here that all things God created are on earth. After making man out of the dust of the ground, God allowed man to live in the Garden of Eden, and wishes them to be fruitful and multiply on earth. What’s more, He gives man every herb bearing seed and all fruits of trees yielding seeds on earth as their food, and allows them to enjoy and manage all things created by Him on earth. These are God’s intention in creating man and His requirements for man.”

I thought: Oh! I have read the Bible for many years; why didn’t I understand this? God’s creating man in the beginning is to let them live on earth.

I said, “Sister, what you say does make sense. God created man, allows man to live on earth and govern all things. It seems that God’s kingdom is on earth. Your fellowship is so great! Where did you learn these?”

The sister said happily, “Praise God! I learned all these from the words expressed by Almighty God. Let me recite a passage of Almighty God’s words to you. Almighty God says, ‘God will return to His original position, and each person will return to his or her respective place. These are the destinations that God and man will respectively reside in after the end of God’s entire management. God has God’s destination, and man has man’s destination. While resting, God will continue to guide all of humanity in their lives upon earth. While in God’s light, man will worship the one true God in heaven. … When humanity enters into rest, it means that man has become a true creation; humanity will worship God from upon the earth and have normal human lives. People will no longer be disobedient to God or resist God; they will return to the original life of Adam and Eve. These are the respective lives and destinations of God and humanity after they enter into rest. Satan’s defeat is an inevitable trend in the war between God and Satan. In this way, God’s entering into rest after the completion of His management work and man’s complete salvation and entrance into rest likewise become inevitable trends. Man’s place of rest is on earth, and God’s place of rest is in heaven. While man rests, he will worship God and also live upon earth, and while God rests, He will lead the remaining portion of humanity …’ (“God and Man Will Enter Into Rest Together” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Almighty God’s words tell us clearly that God and man will enter into rest after the completion of God’s management work; God’s place of rest is in heaven while man’s place of rest is on earth; humanity will only worship the God in heaven from upon the earth. At that time, man will truly enter a wonderful destination that God has prepared for him. That is to say, man will return to a wonderful life like that in the Garden of Eden. Actually, the Lord Jesus’ promise that He will prepare a place for us means that God become flesh descends upon earth in a hidden way in the last days; at the same time, He has predetermined us to be born in the last days and welcome His return on earth. When we accept Almighty God’s end-time work, and have been purified, saved, made overcomers by Him, we will have actually been raptured to God’s kingdom.”

I said excitedly, “Praise Almighty God! It is Almighty God’s word that has corrected my mistaken knowledge of years. I have been living in a vague belief, and even dreaming to go to heaven and enjoy good blessings. Now I’ve finally understood that only by accepting God’s work in the last days can we enter God’s kingdom. I am willing to investigate Almighty God’s work in the last days.”

The sister said, “Thanks be to God! I can meet you here, and testify to God’s end-time work to you. This is really God’s sovereignty and arrangement. I’ll give you my phone number so that we can make an appointment in the future.”

I replied readily, “Great! We shall be landing soon. This is my phone number in the United States. I’ll get to learn about the Church of Almighty God when I am free.”

The sister smiled warmly, saying, “Good! This is the official website of the Church of Almighty God. You can visit it directly. There are Almighty God’s utterances, and various videos testifying to God’s work in the last days, like gospel films, songs and dances, and so on. And there are also the testimonies of the overcomers. The content is very rich. You can browse it freely.”

I said with excitement, “Praise God! That’s great!”

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Almighty God's Word "To Whom Are You Loyal?"

Almighty God's Word "To Whom Are You Loyal?"

Almighty God says, "For throughout these many years, I have never received “loyalty” from any of you. You have followed Me these many years, yet have never given Me an iota of “loyalty.” Rather, you have revolved around the people you love and the things that please you, so much so that they are kept close to your heart and never forsaken, anytime, anywhere. When you are eager or passionate about any one thing that you love, it is always during the time that you are following Me, or even when you are listening to My words. So I say, you are using the loyalty that I ask of you, to instead be loyal to and cherish the objects of your affections.Though you may sacrifice a thing or two for Me, it does not represent your all, and does not show that it is Me to whom you are truly loyal."

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Almighty God's Word "Three Admonitions"

Almighty God says, "As a believer of God, you should be loyal to none other and align with His heart in all things. However, though all understand this doctrine, these most apparent and basic of truths to man cannot fully be seen to be embodied in them, due to their difficulties, such as their ignorance, absurdity, or corruption. Therefore, before your end is determined, I ought to first tell you some things, which are of utmost importance. Before I continue, you should first understand this: the words I speak are the truths directed to all mankind, not only for a specific person or type of person. Therefore, focus solely on receiving My words from the standpoint of truth, and retain an attitude of diligence and sincerity. Do not ignore a single word or truth that I speak, and do not regard My words with disdain. In your lives I see much that you do that is irrelevant to truth, therefore I am expressly asking you to become servants of truth and be not enslaved by wickedness and ugliness. Tread not on the truth and defile not any corner of the house of God. This is My admonition to you."

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I Fell in the Light of Almighty God

I Fell in the Light of Almighty God

Zhou Liwei

Bei’an City, Heilongjiang Province

I was a church leader of the Pentecostal Church in Bei’an City. I turned to the Lord by grace in 1993. Since then, reading the Bible had been my great pleasure. Several months later, I began to teach hymns and give sermons in my church. I always reckoned myself as a loyal believer of the Lord, who was most worthy to see the Lord in the future. However, when the Lord truly came, I became one who resisted His new work.

At the end of 1998, I attended a co-workers’ meeting called by the leader of the upper level. At the meeting, the leader said to us, “There now appears a false Christ, called the ‘Eastern Lightning.’ Nobody knows where this gang come from. They are very horrible. As long as you join them, you’ll never get out. If you try to do so, you’ll be beaten to death. They are purely ‘heretics,’ ‘cultists,’ and are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Tell the believers, throw them out when they come to their home, and if they don’t leave, beat them away with a stick. Such behavior is loyalty to God, not a sin.” I had no doubt about what he said, and began to hate the “Eastern Lightning” from my heart. After I came back, I immediately got the brothers and sisters together and indoctrinated them with what I heard from the leader in an exaggerated way, in order to prevent them from accepting the “Eastern Lightning.” And I also told them, “Without my permission, no one shall receive any outsider, not even your parents.” What’s more, I wrote on the blackboard the words of cursing the “Eastern Lightning,” which I put down at the co-workers’ meeting, and ordered them to recite together and to say these words in every prayer.

In May, 2001, two sisters who had once sustained me came to my home to preach God’s new work of the last days. I said to myself, “Even though you sustained me before, I can’t be soft on you.” I pulled a long face and said, “Get out of here! I don’t know you devils!” Seeing this, one sister said softly, “We mean no harm. We just came here to testify God’s new work to you. Sister, let me read God’s word to you and you’ll understand!” As the sister took out the book and was about to read, I grabbed the book with fury and dashed it to the ground, and shouted at her, “Read what? I don’t want to listen! I order you to leave at once in the Lord Jesus’ name!” With that, I pushed and shoved them out of the door.

One day in the late fall of 2001, an elderly sister came to my home in the rain. When I was well aware that she was a believer of the “Eastern Lightning,” I said to her fiercely, “Who sent you here?” “God,” said the sister. “God expects you to come to Him earlier, so He gives me this burden. That’s God’s love!” I flung her a scornful smile, “You don’t deserve to talk about ‘love,’ I don’t need this kind of ‘love.’ Go away!” The sister said sincerely, “Sister, please don’t resist anymore. God truly has come and done a new work…” “Don’t talk nonsense here. I don’t want to listen. Go away!” As I was saying, I jerked the door open and shoved the sister out with force… I felt no guilty at all as I watched her doddering away in the heavy rain. After that, many people constantly came to my home to preach the gospel, but they were all refused by me by various means. Meanwhile, I put stringent measures in “flock guarding.” I paid a visit to every believer and told them never to go easy on the people of the “Eastern Lightning” and that it wasn’t a sin to treat them with any means.

Just when I spared no effort to resist Almighty God’s new work of the last days, my five-year-old child suddenly began to keep crying all day long. No matter how earnestly I prayed, there was no effect. I took her to the church and fasted and prayed with others for her. However, she not only didn’t turn better but got even worse instead. I was so exhausted that I couldn’t eat or sleep. Just when I was in anxiety, my child accidentally stepped her foot into the pan filled with hot dish. It was scalded and the whole skin peeled off, and she cried more fiercely. My husband hence shouted his complaints at me and quarreled with me every day. Furthermore, the church fell into a gradual decline, and I got no nourishment in preaching and received no moving of the Holy Spirit in praying. Facing all these, I was consumed by an unspeakable misery. The double pressure, the family problem and the desolation of the church, put me into a tight corner. Many times I called out to God with tears, “O God! Please turn and look at me. O God! What have I done to You? Please enlighten me. O God! I can’t live without You.”

When I was in a bitter struggle of weakness and disappointment, Almighty God’s great love came to me again.

One day in January, 2003, I went to the home of a relative of mine (who believed in the Lord) on business. There I met several brothers and sisters who preached God’s new work of the last days. (At that time, I didn’t know they had accepted God’s new work.) At first, we fellowshipped very harmoniously. But when they talked about God’s new work of the last days, His judging and purifying men through words, and showed me the little scroll, I took the book and slammed it aside, and said, “I didn’t expect you’re the preachers of the ‘Eastern Lightning’! You are the tares plucked out by God. But you even attempt to deceive me. A colossal joke!” But the sister said mildly, “Sister, man cannot decide who are the tares and who are the wheat, for only God can separate the wheat from the tares. It says in John 4:37, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ Here ‘One sows’ means that when Jesus did the redemptive work in His first incarnation, He sowed the seeds of the kingdom gospel in the world. ‘Another reaps’ refers to God’s carrying out the work of judgment with words in the last days through His incarnation and separating the good from the evil, that is, separating the wheat from the tares. When Jesus sowed the seeds, the tares and the wheat grew together. But when it’s time to reap, the wheat will be gathered into the barn and the tares will be burned with fire. Sister, God’s reaping is not as simple as man imagines. God has His own plan and He does not do the work according to man’s notions. For example, at the end of the Age of Law, the Israelites expected a king, like David, to lead them to overthrow the Roman rule. But when Jesus came, He didn’t work according to people’s concepts, and so people denied the truth expressed by Him, rejected Him, and nailed Him onto the cross. Today, God has done a new work on the basis of redemptive work of the Age of Grace so as to bring the people from the Age of Grace into the Age of Kingdom. Though this stage of work is likewise inconsistent with man’s notions, yet those who truly belong to God can drop their notions and seek the truth, and they can accept God’s new work and seek the transformation of their disposition and finally become sanctified. Such people are the wheat in God’s eyes. If those who don’t know God’s work and condemn it with their notions insist on refusing to accept it until the end of the work, then they will be the tares in God’s eyes. Just as 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.” (from “When You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus Will Be When God Has Made Anew Heaven and Earth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) Sister, today only those who keep up with God’s new work can be purified completely in the chastisement and judgment of God’s word, and the holy ones who are purified are the grains God desires to gain. Only such mankind can glorify God, manifest God, and testify God. These people have accepted the truth God expresses in the last days and kept pace with God’s footsteps. They are the very ones approved by God. So, we can’t confine God’s work within our imaginations and notions.” At this point, the sister read the following passage of God’s word to me: “When Jesus came into the world of man, He brought the Age of Grace and ended the Age of Law. During the last days, God once more became flesh, and when He became flesh this time, the Age of Grace ended and the Age of Kingdom began. All those who accept the second incarnation of God will be led into the Age of Kingdom, and be able to personally accept the guidance of God. Though Jesus did much work among man, He only completed the redemption of all mankind and became man’s sin offering, and did not rid man of all his corrupt disposition. Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to take on the sins of man as the sin offering, but also required God to do greater work to completely rid man of his disposition, which has been corrupted by Satan. And so, after man was forgiven his sins, God returned to flesh to lead man into the new age, and began the work of chastisement and judgment, which brought man to a higher realm. All those who submit under His dominion shall enjoy higher truth and receive greater blessings. They shall truly live in the light, and shall gain the truth, the way, and the life.” (from “Preface” to The Word Appears in the Flesh) “I am never hurried in My work. No matter how man follows Me, I do My work in accordance with each step, as in My plan. Therefore, though you rebel against Me so much, I do not stop My work and still continue to speak the word I wish. I call to My house all those I predestined to listen to My word, then place all who obey and long for My word before My throne. Those who rebel against My word, those who do not obey and submit to Me, and those who openly defy Me, shall all be cast off to the side to await their final punishment. All men live in corruption and under the hand of the evil one, so not many of those who follow Me actually long for the truth. That is to say, most do not worship Me with a true heart or with the truth, but try to gain My trust through corruption, rebellion, and deceitful measures. It is for this reason I say, ‘Many are called, but few are chosen.’ All those called are deeply corrupted and live in the same age, but those who are chosen are only the ones who believe in and acknowledge the truth and who practice the truth. …” (from “Many Are Called, but Few Are Chosen” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) God’s words, with authority, struck my heart. “In the past, I thought I was most loyal to the Lord. But faced with my family problem and the desolation of the church, I either became weak or made complaints. Do I have any loyalty? I condemned and resisted Almighty God and despised and slandered the brothers and sisters who believed in Almighty God. Do I have any love? But the brothers and sisters in front of me, who were once considered as demons by me, have such a good living out, and they can suffer and pay the price for the sake of preaching Almighty God’s gospel.” Compared with them, I felt extremely ashamed, and tears rolled down my face. The brothers and sisters saw that I was moved by the Holy Spirit, and they all shed tears with excitement. I took the book of God’s word from the sister and read it sentence by sentence. Every word of God, which carried power, shook my heart. Almighty God says: “Do many people not oppose God and obstruct the work of the Holy Spirit because they do not know the varied and diverse work of God, and, furthermore, because they possess but a smidgeon of knowledge and doctrine with which to measure the work of the Holy Spirit? Though the experiences of such people are superficial, they are arrogant and indulgent in nature, and they regard the work of the Holy Spirit with contempt, ignore the disciplines of the Holy Spirit and, moreover, use their trivial old arguments to ‘confirm’ the work of the Holy Spirit. They also put on an act, and are wholly convinced of their own learning and erudition, and that they are able to travel across the world. Are such people not those who are rejected by the Holy Spirit, and will they not be eliminated by the new age? Are not those who come before God and openly oppose Him myopic little people, who are merely trying to show how clever they are? With but a meager knowledge of the Bible, they try to straddle the world’s ‘academia,’ with but a superficial doctrine to teach people, they try to reverse the work of the Holy Spirit, and attempt to make it revolve around their own thought process, and short-sighted as they are, they try to behold in one glance 6,000 years of God’s work. Do these people have any reason to speak of? In fact, the greater people’s knowledge of God, the slower they are to judge His work. Furthermore, they only talk a little of their knowledge of God’s work today, but they are not rash in their judgments. The less people know of God, the more arrogant and overconfident they are, and the more wantonly they proclaim God’s being—yet they only talk of theory, and offer no real evidence. Such people are of no value whatsoever.” (from “Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) God’s words, like a sharp two-edged sword, pierced through my joints and marrow, and I knelt down, bursting into tears, “O Almighty God, I am the kind of person You speak of. I am arrogant and willful by nature and slight the work of the Holy Spirit, and I have shallow knowledge and am worthless. I, like a worm, dare to measure and condemn Your new work and reject Your coming by my only little Bible knowledge. Too arrogant I am! O God! I’m unworthy to live before You, and really deserve to be cursed. Thank You for Your mercy. You didn’t treat me according to my transgression but instead opened my blind eyes with Your words and showed me Your wonderful deeds. O God! I’m willing to accept Your work of the last days and accept the chastisement and judgment of Your word, so that I may become a person after Your heart, to glorify and testify Your holy name.”

It has been over one year since I accepted Almighty God’s new work. My family has restored to its former peace. I am performing my bounden duty under the guidance of God’s word, and feel very delighted. Dear brothers and sisters, maybe you are now full of suspicion and hostility toward Almighty God’s work of the last days and haven’t dropped your notions as I did before. I hope you may learn from my experience and come to Almighty God earlier. Almighty God will tell you all the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and even more, bring you the truth, the way, and the life.

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Almighty God's Word "God Is the Lord of All Creation"

Almighty God's Word "God Is the Lord of All Creation"

Almighty God says, "His initial work was carried out in Judea, within the scope of Israel; in Gentile nations He did not do any era-launching work whatsoever. The final stage of His work is not only carried out among the people of Gentile nations; even more so, it is carried out among those cursed people. This one point is the evidence most capable of humiliating Satan; thus, God “becomes” the God of all creation in the universe and becomes the Lord of all things, the object of worship for everything with life."

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Almighty God's Word "The Wicked Must be Punished"

Almighty God's Word "The Wicked Must be Punished"

Almighty God says, "‘Righteousness’ does not mean giving alms, it does not mean loving your neighbor as yourself, and it does not mean not fighting, arguing, robbing, or stealing. Righteousness means taking God’s commission as your duty and obeying God’s orchestrations and arrangements as a heaven-sent vocation, regardless of the time or place, just like all that was done by the Lord Jesus. This is the very righteousness spoken of by God."

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