The Church of Almighty God | How I Fell Down Before Almighty God

52. How I Fell Down Before Almighty God

Fu Xuemin

Huaian City, Jiangsu Province

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I was formerly an area leader of the Joseph Church. In 1998, at a co-worker meeting, a senior area leader warned me in particular, “Brother Fu, the situations of the churches in your area are rather messy, so you have to work harder. Now the preachers of Almighty God are very aggressive and grow very fast in number. And their so-called little scroll is quite deceitful. You must guard the flock properly and not let any of them be taken captive. If you neglect your duty, you will have no crown.” From then on, I began to wantonly close all the churches in my area to outsiders. I said to the brothers and sisters, “Those who believe in Almighty God have departed from the Bible. Any belief apart from the Bible is heresy or cult. So, all of you, never come into contact with the believers in Almighty God, much less receive them. They are as dangerous as poisonous hooks. Once you contact them, you will become swollen and sore all over, and no doctor can cure you. If they read you their so-called little scroll, shut your ears to them. Once you listen to them, you will be bewitched, unable to escape no matter how you try….” In this way, I regarded the believers in Almighty God as enemies, did my utmost to resist Almighty God’s new work, and bound the brothers and sisters tightly in my hands.

One day in April 1999, a sister secretly told me, “Brother Zhang in our church is in contact with some believers in Almighty God.” At this, I immediately came to the worker in charge of the meeting places in that church and said to him, “I’ve heard that Brother Zhang in your church is in contact with some believers in Almighty God. Look into it. Warn him not to get close to the believers in Almighty God, because they have ‘evil spirits’ in them. You must keep a strict eye upon him lest he be taken captive.” Three days later, I went to that worker in charge of the meeting places again because I still felt uneasy about it. He told me, “Brother Zhang has stopped going with those people.” At this, my anxious heart was relieved, and I thought that the Lord had cared for and kept that church. Not long afterward, another sister told me that her younger brother had accepted Almighty God and asked her to listen to the message. I said to her, “Don’t go to listen. You must stand firmly on your ground. Apart from our Joseph Church, there is no true way. Only the house of Joseph is most blessed. Genesis 49:25-26 says: ‘…the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breast and womb. … Let all these rest on the head of Joseph….’ If you go astray, your many years of believing in God will be in vain.” Urged by me, the sister had no more contact with her brother. Thereafter, I resisted the end-time work of Almighty God more and more fiercely. Many believers in Almighty God had been ruthlessly driven away by me when they came to preach the gospel to the brothers and sisters in our churches.

One day in June 2001, I suddenly felt numb all over, and my legs became so weak that I was even unable to stand. My family hastily sent me to hospital. There I was given intravenous infusions and medicines. However, I did not get better, but got worse, and eventually I even lost all feeling in my legs—I became paralyzed. After a period of treatment, the doctor said, “You’ve got spinal tuberculosis. It is incurable.” At this, tears burst forth from my eyes. “I’m only forty-four years old. Will I just wait for death at home like this?” On October 26, I left the hospital with despair. Being paralyzed, I was unable to look after myself. I struggled hard in agony and called on God in despair, feeling that days wore on like years and that I would rather die than live. One day, some brothers and sisters told me, “The founder of our Church (Wei Zuqiang) will come to our churches.” At this news, I immediately felt that I could be healed because in our eyes the founder was God. I wished and wished, waited and waited. More than a month passed, but he still did not come. Later, some brothers and sisters told me, “The founder won’t come. He says that the situation of the churches in our area is too messy and chaotic, so he gives up the whole flock here.” The news was simply a head-on blow to me. I could not help crying out in my heart, “O Lord! Why is this happening? I had been utterly faithful to you over all these many years of believing in you. In order to protect the flock, I did my utmost to resist ‘Eastern Lightning.’ How come I end up like this? O Lord! Where are you? The house of Joseph has been most blessed by you. Why do you not care about us anymore? Have you really left us and done a new work? …”

Just when I was extremely distressed and confused, Brother Chen of our Church came and said to me, “Brother Fu, a brother will come to our area to testify about the end-time work of Almighty God in a couple of days. Let’s give it a listen! We can’t stick to our way anymore. As you’re unable to leave your bed, can I bring him here to have a fellowship with you?” Hearing that, I thought, “Since I’m dying, what do I have to fear? I’ll give it a listen. Whether it’s true or false, I must figure it out; otherwise, I cannot die in peace.” So, I agreed. Two days later, the brother came as expected. He first asked me about my illness, and then he patiently fellowshipped with me about the three stages of God’s work in detail, starting from Genesis and going all the way to Revelation. His preaching was really good. I had never heard that during my years of believing in God. To solve my notion that “the believers in God cannot read the little scroll but only the Bible,” he looked into the Bible and read me Revelation 5:1-5: “Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?’ … Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.’” After reading, the brother explained, “Today, Almighty God has come and opened the little scroll, and it has completely fulfilled this prophecy in Revelation. How can we say that the believers cannot read the little scroll? If we say so, doesn’t it mean that we take this prophecy away from the book of Revelation? Almighty God has opened the little scroll, disclosed to people all the mysteries in the Bible that they do not understand, and set forth the truths concerning God’s six-thousand-year management plan, God’s entire intention to save mankind, how man has his nature transformed and becomes holy, and so on. If we still stick to the Bible, we cannot receive the truth and the life that God bestows upon people in the end time, much less receive eternal life. In John 5:39-40, Jesus said: ‘You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.’ From these verses, we can see it is man’s idea and man’s imagination that by the Scriptures people possess eternal life. Actually, there is no eternal life in the Scriptures. Only if we come to God can we receive eternal life, because only God Godself is the source of life, and only God Godself is the truth, the way, and the life. The Bible is only the record of the work that God has done. It cannot be compared with God, and much less can it represent God.” Then, the brother read me a passage of God’s word: “You all have to know about the Bible. This is very necessary! Today you do not need to read the Bible, because there is nothing new but only old things in it. The Bible is a book of history. If you eat and drink the Old Testament of the Bible in the Age of the Grace, and you practice what was required in the Old Testament age in the Age of the Grace, Jesus will reject and condemn you. If you measure the work done by Jesus according to the Old Testament, then you are a Pharisee. If today you eat and drink and practice the New Testament as well as the Old Testament, the God of today will condemn you, and you cannot keep up with the Holy Spirit’s working of today! As you eat the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, you are outside the stream of the Holy Spirit! In the age of Jesus, he led those Jews and all his followers according to the work the Holy Spirit did on him at that time. He did not work according to the Bible but spoke according to his work. He did not care what the Bible said, nor did he look for a path in the Bible to lead his followers. From the beginning of his work, he preached the way of repentance. Yet the word ‘repentance’ was not at all mentioned in the many prophecies in the Old Testament. He not only did not work according to the Bible, but on the contrary, he brought in a newer path and did a newer work. He never preached according to the Bible. As to the miracles of healing the sick and driving out demons he performed, no one had been able to perform them in the Age of the Law. As to his work, his teachings, and his authority, no one had done them in the Age of the Law. He simply did his newer work though many people condemned him according to the Bible and even nailed him onto the cross according to the Old Testament of the Bible. However, his work went beyond the Old Testament of the Bible. If this had not been the case, how could they have nailed him onto the cross? Wasn’t all that because there was no record about his teachings and his power to heal the sick and drive out demons in the Old Testament? All the work he did was to bring in a newer path and not to purposely ‘fight against’ the Bible or abolish the Old Testament of the Bible. He came only to fulfill his ministry, bringing his new work to those who thirsted for and sought him. He did not come to interpret the Old Testament or to uphold the work of the Old Testament. He did not work to continue the Age of the Law. In doing the work, he simply did not care whether there was any scriptural basis to it but only did the work he ought to do, so he did not interpret the prophecies in the Old Testament or do the work according to the words in the Old Testament Age of the Law. He did not care what the Old Testament said. Whether it agreed with what he did or not, he was not concerned about it. He did not care how others knew his work or condemned his work. He simply continued to do the work he ought to do, though many people condemned him according to the prophecies of the prophets of the Old Testament. In people’s view, he did the work without any basis, and much of it did not agree with the records in the Bible. Wasn’t all this people’s erroneous view? Does God need to work according to regulations? Does God have to work according to the prophecies of the prophets? Who is greater, the Bible or God? Why does God have to work according to the Bible? Could God have no right to go beyond the Bible? Could God not do another work apart from the Bible?” After hearing God’s words and the brother’s fellowship, I was enlightened all at once. “Actually, the Almighty God whom I have blindly blasphemed, slandered, and resisted is none other than the returned Savior Jesus whom I have been earnestly expecting for years. What I have prevented the brothers and sisters from accepting is exactly the new work the returned Lord does in the end time. The little scroll which I have had resistance to and which in my view cannot be read or touched, is precisely God’s utterance of the new age and the truth God bestows upon people in the end time.” At that moment, I felt bitterly regretful, and tears gushed out from my eyes. “I believe in God but do not know God, sticking to the letters of the Bible. As a result, so many brothers and sisters have been hindered from coming before Almighty God. I have really committed countless unpardonable sins and deserve damnation. Now I have known why I end up being paralyzed. This is my fitting retribution. I indeed deserve more than death.”

Later, through continually eating and drinking God’s word, I gained some knowledge of the three stages of God’s work and came to understand this: “The three stages are closely linked together and are all indispensable works of God’s saving mankind. If Jehovah had not issued the law to lead mankind in the Age of the Law, they would have lived in sin forever. If the Lord Jesus had not been crucified to bear people’s sins in the Age of the Grace, all would have died under the law. If Almighty God did not express the truth to purify people today, they would never be freed from sin but could only fall into punishment. Only God’s end-time work can thoroughly save people, and only God Godself can bring the truth to people, bestow the life upon people, and show the way to people. However, the founder of the Joseph Church is merely a human. He can only teach us the letters of the Bible, but he cannot bring a new way to us, much less bring the truth to us. He cannot do God’s work at all. In the past, I was so blind and foolish that I echoed what others said, blindly condemned and resisted God’s work without seeking and investigating it, and fabricated many rumors along with my leader. In order to preserve my position, I cheated many brothers and sisters, spoke many blasphemous words against Almighty God, and slandered the little scroll that God had opened…. It is due to Almighty God’s tolerance and grace that I, a dying person, have personally heard and read the word expressed by him; otherwise, I would have died without knowing why.” At the time, I felt extremely remorseful. I hated myself for my yesterday’s disobedience and resistance, and even more deeply regretted that I was unable to repay God’s love because of my paralysis.

However, a miracle occurred. I was getting better every day after I accepted the end-time work of Almighty God. By October 2002, I miraculously threw away my crutches and could even go to perform my duty by bike. Confronted with all this, I was deeply touched. Thankfulness and praise welled up within me. “O Almighty God! Your love for me is so great, so deep, and so real! Your love is above the heavens. You have forgiven me, the disobedient one who deserves to be cursed and struck by you, so that I have had a chance to survive. And I have also tasted your majestic nature that tolerates no offense. O Almighty God! You are the only hope for mankind and the only Redeemer of mankind!”

Dear brothers and sisters, I hope that my personal experience can supply a reference for your investigating God’s work of the last days. Hope that you wake up soon! Almighty God is indeed the last Christ, the returned Savior Jesus we have been awaiting for a long time. Today, God is earnestly expecting us to return to his family as soon as possible. With a heart that has been deeply grieved by us, he is still waiting for us to turn back. Dear brothers and sisters, come back!

Source: "How I Fell Down Before Almighty God" in How Was I Conquered by the Word of God

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