What is the essential difference between the work of God and the work of man?

Relevant Words of God:

The work of God Himself involves the work of all of mankind, and it also represents the work of the entire era. That is to say, God’s own work represents the movement and trend of all of the work of the Holy Spirit, whereas the work of the apostles follows God’s own work and does not lead the era, nor does it represent the working trend of the Holy Spirit in the entire era. They only do the work man ought to do, which does not at all involve the management work. God’s own work is the project within the management work. Man’s work is only the duty of men being used and bears no relation to the management work. Due to different identities and representations of the work, despite the fact that they are both the work of the Holy Spirit, there are clear and substantive differences between God’s own work and the work of man.

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God’s work of judgment in the last days is the judgment of the great white throne, as prophesied in the Book of Revelation.

Bible Verses for Reference:

“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17).

“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

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The Lord Jesus Himself prophesied that God would incarnate in the last days and appear as the Son of man to do work.

The Lord Jesus Himself prophesied that God would incarnate in the last days and appear as the Son of man to do work.

Bible Verses for Reference:

“Be you therefore ready also: for the Son of man comes at an hour when you think not” (Luk 12:40).

“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” (Luk 17:24-25).

“And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” (Mat 25:6).

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No Matter Whether I Receive Blessings or Suffer Adversities, I Will Resolutely Follow Almighty God

No Matter Whether I Receive Blessings or Suffer Adversities, I Will Resolutely Follow Almighty God

Wei Junxiu
Shangzhi City, Heilongjiang Province

Picture of The Church of Almighty God | I Will Resolutely Follow Almighty God

I turned to the Lord through grace in 1987. After turning to the Lord, I pursued very hard. I, together with some brothers and sisters who loved the Lord, often went to various places to preach the gospel, served the Lord zealously, and also attended various kinds of training. We all pursued to suffer for the Lord and be martyred for the Lord. I also once made a resolution before the Lord: I will put my everything on the altar to be burned and will serve the Lord all my life. Later, I became a key co-worker in “the Old Local Church,” and the scope of my work was Heilongjiang Province. And later, it extended to Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Hebei, and other places.

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Christian testimonies | God’s Discipline Drove Me to Seek and His Words Conquered Me

God’s Discipline Drove Me to Seek and His Words Conquered Me

Xin Yu 

Shangqiu City, Henan Province

I was once a worker of the “Justification by Faith Church.” Since I believed in Jesus in 1987, I had expected that one day I would be received up into heaven by the Lord and enjoy the heavenly blessings. However, when the Lord “knocked” on my door, I took Him as a deceiver from Satan and condemned and resisted Him with all my effort. When I recall the past, I feel very regretful…

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Christian testimonies | Almighty God’s Word Saved Me

Almighty God’s Word Saved Me

Chen Wenge
Benxi City, Liaoning Province

Picture of The Church of Almighty God | Almighty God’s Word Saved Me

I was once a preacher in the True Jesus Church. In October 1998, I accepted Almighty God’s gospel of the last days. When I knew that Almighty God I had resisted and slandered was the returned Savior Jesus whom I had been eagerly waiting for, I was very regretful and hated myself for being arrogant and not seeking the truth and thus becoming a Pharisee of the present age. It was Almighty God’s word that saved me and made me step onto the right track of believing in God and start a true human life.

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The Origin and Development of The Church of Almighty God

3. The Origin and Development of The Church of Almighty God 

In the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus promised to His followers, “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” (Jhn 14:3). He also prophesied, “For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Mat 24:27). In the last days, as promised and foretold by Himself, God has again become flesh and descended to the East of the world—China—to do the work of judgment, chastisement, conquest, and salvation using the word, on the foundation of the redemption work of the Lord Jesus. In this, the prophecies of the Bible that “Judgment begins with the house of God” and “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” have also been fulfilled. God’s work of the last days has ended the Age of Grace and ushered in the Age of Kingdom. As the gospel of the kingdom of Almighty God spread rapidly in Mainland China, The Church of Almighty God came into being. As proven by facts, The Church of Almighty God came into being entirely as a result of God’s work of the last days, and was not established by any man. This is because the chosen people in The Church of Almighty God pray in the name of Almighty God, obey His work, and accept all the truths expressed by Him. Thus it is evident that these chosen people believe in Christ who is incarnated in the last days, the practical God who is the Spirit realized in the flesh, instead of believing in a man. Outwardly, Almighty God is nothing more than an ordinary Son of man, but in substance He is the embodiment of God’s Spirit and is the truth, the way, and the life. His work and word are the direct expression of the Spirit of God and are the appearance of God in person. Therefore, He is the practical God who is incarnated.

In 1991, Almighty God, Christ of the last days, began to officially perform His ministry in China. Then, He expressed millions of words and began the work of judgment of the great white throne in the last days. Just as Almighty God says, “The work of judgment is God’s own work, so it should naturally be done by God Himself; it cannot be done by man in His stead. Because judgment is the conquering of the human race through the truth, it is unquestionable that God still appears as the incarnate image to do this work among men. That is to say, in the last days, Christ shall use the truth to teach men around the earth and make all truths known to them. This is God’s work of judgment” (“Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “God does the work of the word in the last days, and such words are that of the Holy Spirit, for God is the Holy Spirit and can also become flesh; therefore, the words of the Holy Spirit, as spoken of in the past, are the words of the incarnate God today. … For God to speak utterances to carry out work, He must become flesh, else His work cannot accomplish His goal” (“How Can Man Who Has Defined God in His Conceptions Receive the Revelations of God?” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Because of the appearance and utterances of Christ of the last days, ever more people who thirst for and seek the truth have been conquered and purified by the word of Almighty God, and have seen in God’s judgment and chastisement the appearance of God and the return of the Redeemer.

The Church of Almighty God came into being because of the appearance and work of Almighty God—the returned Lord Jesus—Christ of the last days, and also under His righteous judgment and chastisement. The church is comprised of all those who truly accept Almighty God’s work of the last days and are conquered and saved by God’s word. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally, and is personally led and shepherded by Him, and it was by no means set up by any man. This is a fact acknowledged by all the chosen people in The Church of Almighty God. Whoever is used by God incarnate is predestined by God, and personally appointed and testified to by God, just as Jesus personally chose and appointed the twelve disciples. Those who are used by God only cooperate with His work, and cannot do God’s work in His stead. The church was not founded by those who are used by God, nor do God’s chosen people believe in or follow them. The churches of the Age of Grace were not set up by Paul and other apostles, but were the product of the work of the Lord Jesus and founded by the Lord Jesus Himself. Likewise, The Church of Almighty God in the last days has not been established by the man used by God, but is the product of the work of Almighty God. The man who is used by God only waters, supplies, and leads the churches, performing the duty of man. Although God’s chosen people are led, watered, and supplied by the man who is used by God, they believe in and follow none other than Almighty God, and accept and obey His words and work. This is a fact that no one can deny. Because of the appearance and work of God incarnate, many true believers of the Lord in all religious denominations and sects have finally heard the voice of God, have seen that the Lord Jesus has already come and carried out the work of judgment in the last days, and they have all confirmed that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus—and as a result, they have accepted His work of the last days. All those who are conquered by the word of Almighty God become subject to His name. Therefore, all the chosen people of The Church of Almighty God pray to Almighty God, and follow, obey and worship Him. Having experienced God’s work of judgment and chastisement, the chosen people in China have come to appreciate His righteous disposition, and have seen His majesty and wrath, and so they have been completely conquered by God’s word and have fallen down before Almighty God, and are willing to obey and accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s word. Thus, they have gained God’s salvation.

Precisely because the words expressed by Almighty God disclose the mysteries of God’s management plan to save mankind, God’s chosen people, in the disclosing of God’s words, come to understand that God has a new name in each age, and that His new name symbolizes that God is doing new work, and furthermore, that God is ending an old age and ushering in a new age. The meaning of God’s name is so great and profound! In it is contained the significance of God’s work. God uses names to change the age and represent His work of that age. In the Age of Law, He used the name of Jehovah to issue laws and commandments and lead the life of mankind on earth. In the Age of Grace, He used the name of Jesus to do the work of mankind’s redemption. With the arrival of the Age of Kingdom, He has used the name of Almighty God to carry out the work of judgment beginning with the house of God, to purify man, change man, and save man. God’s new name is not something He is arbitrarily called by man, but was taken by God Himself because of the needs of His work. The name God takes in each stage of work has its roots in the Bible, and the name that the Lord Jesus would take when He returned in the last days was long prophesied in the Book of Revelation: “Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God: and I will write on him my new name” (Rev 3:12). “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, said the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Rev 1:8). “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunder, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigns” (Rev 19:6). The name of Almighty God in the Age of Kingdom exactly fulfills the prophecies of the Book of Revelation. God is almighty, He created and rules over all things, and He is the First and the Last; it is most appropriate for us to call Him Almighty God. Thence, people have called the incarnate God Almighty God and have also called the incarnate Christ Practical God. And The Church of Almighty God is thus named.

When the gospel of the kingdom spread in Mainland China, God reclaimed all the work of the Spirit throughout the universe and focused it upon this group of people who accepted God’s work of the last days, and upon those who were predestined and chosen by God and sincerely sought the true way. Because the work of the Holy Spirit was transferred, all denominations and sects lost the work of the Holy Spirit and became a wasteland, leaving people with no choice but to seek the true way. This has exactly fulfilled the prophecy in the Bible, “Behold, the days come … that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah” (Amo 8:11). Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, those in various denominations and sects who pursued the truth and truly believed in God broke through the restrictions and hindrances of the antichrists and the wicked servants, and finally heard and recognized God’s voice, and more and more people returned before God’s throne. Everywhere there appeared pleasant scenes of all denominations becoming one and all nations flowing to this mountain. As those in all denominations and sects who truly believed in God returned in large numbers, most of the denominations and sects collapsed and have long since existed in name only. Who could halt the footsteps of God’s work? Who could hinder God’s chosen people from returning to God? It was as if the entire religious community had been set straight. The stream of returning was like mightily surging waves. No force could stand in the way of God’s work! Since Almighty God appeared and His work began, the CCP government has been unceasing in its persecution of The Church of Almighty God. It has been feverishly hunting Christ of the last days and those who follow God and testify of God, and cruelly persecuting God’s chosen people, attempting to abolish God’s work of the last days. It has called numerous emergency meetings to scheme how to abolish The Church of Almighty God. It has drawn up and issued many secret documents and carried out various means that are base and diabolical: putting up notices everywhere, issuing public notices, using television, radio, newspapers, the Internet, and other media to wantonly fabricate rumors, slander and frame, defaming The Church of Almighty God; forcibly indoctrinating people with evil teachings and fallacies, and carrying out brainwashing and assimilation; making use of the Three-Self Church to oversee and control, sending spies to investigate openly and inquire secretly, employing grassroots control, ordering monitoring by neighbors, and encouraging people to file reports by promising a great reward; carrying out arbitrary searches of people’s homes, ransacking their houses and confiscating their property, extorting money through fines and accumulating wealth by unfair means; making secret arrests of God’s chosen people, detaining and imprisoning them in labor camps at will, extracting confessions through torture, ravaging body and mind, and beating people to death with impunity; even employing armed police and troops to suppress The Church of Almighty God; and so on. The CCP government has inhumanly arrested and persecuted the Christians of The Church of Almighty God—God’s chosen people, causing them to suffer the unscrupulous robbery of their property and physical and spiritual torment and affliction, and even causing many deaths. The government’s actions have been appalling. As documented, at least seventy Christians have been persecuted to death up to July 2018. For example: Xie Yongjiang (male, 43-year-old), a Christian in Wugou Town of Suixi County, Anhui Province, was secretly arrested by the local police in the early hours of April 30th, 1997 and fatally abused. On May 10th, when Xie’s family saw his body at the crematorium, he was black and purple all over and stained with blood, and had suffered several fatal wounds to his head. Ye Aizhong (male, 42-year-old), a Christian of Shuyang County, Jiangsu Province, was arrested by the CCP police on March 26th, 2012 while purchasing goods for the Church. On the third day, he was beaten to death. Jiang Guizhi, a Christian in Qinghe District of Pingyu County, Henan Province (female, 46-year-old, a senior leader of The Church of Almighty God at the time), was secretly arrested and imprisoned by the CCP police on January 4th, 2013 in Xinmi City, Henan Province. The police officers set up an illegal court and used torture to extract a confession. In the early morning of February 12th, Jiang died as a result of the physical abuse inflicted by the police… Beyond that, tens of thousands of other Christians have also been arrested and imprisoned by the CCP police. Some were injected with drugs and subsequently developed schizophrenia; some were so badly maimed by torture that they were left unable to take care of themselves; some were imprisoned in labor camps, and after their release, were monitored by the CCP government and deprived of their personal freedom. According to rough statistics, in the two short years from 2011 to 2013, 380,380 of God’s chosen people were arrested and detained by the CCP government in Mainland China. Among these people, 43,640 suffered all kinds of torture while under illegal interrogation; 111,740 had various charges imposed on them and were shamelessly fined or extorted more than 243,613,000 RMB; 35,330 had their homes ransacked, and at least 1,000,000,000 RMB (including offerings to the church and personal property) was forcibly and groundlessly confiscated by the public security organs and their subordinates or pocketed by police officers. When it comes to the CCP government’s arrest and persecution of the Christians of The Church of Almighty God, these are rough statistics, and when it comes to all the Christians of The Church of Almighty God, they are just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, since Almighty God began His work, countless Christians of The Church of Almighty God have been arrested, persecuted, shadowed, or monitored by the CCP government. It used every cruel means to bloodily suppress The Church of Almighty God, turning Mainland China into a world of terror. In addition, the church was also slandered, condemned, and attacked by all denominations and sects. This instantly led to widespread rumors and a storm of every manner of slander, abuse, and curses. The whole of society and the religious community were filled with all kinds of adverse publicity. Corrupt mankind’s resistance to the true God and persecution of the true way had reached its peak.

Since mankind was corrupted by Satan, God has never stopped His management plan for saving mankind. Mankind, however, doesn’t know the truth, much less does it know God. As a result, every time God is incarnated to begin new work, He is rejected and persecuted by those in power and by religious groups. Two thousand years ago, when Jesus became flesh, He was persecuted and arrested by the Roman government and the Jewish faith, and in the end He was crucified. In the last days, since God returned to flesh in China to do the work of judgment, He has been cruelly persecuted and hunted by the CCP government, and also cursed, framed, condemned, and rejected by all denominations and sects of Christianity. It is a clear indication of man’s corruption and evil. We can imagine how hard it is for God to carry out His work in such a fortress of demons, where black clouds weigh heavily and devils wield power. Nevertheless, God is almighty, and He has supreme authority and power. No matter how rampant the forces of Satan are, no matter how they resist and launch attacks, it is all to no avail. In just about 20 years, the gospel of the kingdom of Almighty God has spread across the whole of Mainland China under severe oppression. Several hundred thousand churches have sprung up across the country and millions of people have submitted to the name of Almighty God. Almost instantaneously, all denominations and sects turned desolate, for God’s sheep have heard God’s voice, and they have already come back following the voice, fallen down before God, and been personally watered and shepherded by God. This has fulfilled the prophecy in the Bible that “all nations shall flow to it.” It is inevitable that all true believers in God will turn to Almighty God in the end, because this has long been planned and predestined by God. No one can change it! Those false believers whose faith in God is only so that they may eat their fill of the loaves, and those various enemies who commit evil, resist and condemn Almighty God have all been eliminated by God’s work. The entire religious community has been thoroughly destroyed and disintegrated by God’s work. Almighty God’s work has finally ended in glory. During this period, despite the frantic resistance and bloody suppression of the CCP government, God’s gospel of the kingdom has still spread with lightning speed. The CCP’s plot to eliminate and abolish God’s work has ended in failure. All the evil forces that resist God have been utterly destroyed and toppled amid God’s majestic and wrathful judgment. Just as Almighty God says, “All those that I love will surely live for eternity, and all those who stand against Me will surely be chastised by Me for eternity. For I am a jealous God, I will not lightly spare men for all that they have done. I will watch over the whole earth, and, appearing in the East of the world with righteousness, majesty, wrath, and chastisement, I will reveal Myself to the myriad hosts of humanity!” (“The Twenty-sixth Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “My kingdom is coming into shape above the whole universe, and My throne holds sway in the hearts of trillions of people. With the angels’ assistance, My great accomplishment will soon be brought to fruition. All My sons and My people await My return with bated breath, longing for Me to reunite with them, never to be separated again. How could the multitudinous populace of My kingdom not race toward one another in joyful celebration because of My being together with them? Can this be a reunion for which no price need be paid? I am honorable in all men’s eyes, I am proclaimed in the words of all. When I return, I will conquer all enemy forces even more. The time has come! I will put My work in motion, I will reign as King among men! I am on the point of return! And I am about to depart! This is what everyone is hoping for, it is what they wish. I shall let the whole of humanity see the arrival of My day, and let them welcome the coming of My day with joy!” (“The Twenty-seventh Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe in The Word Appears in the Flesh). As the gospel of the kingdom spreads, The Church of Almighty God grows ever larger, and the number of believers increases without cease. Today, it is thriving as never before. The word expressed by Almighty God—Christ of the last days—has long since spread to thousands of households, and is being accepted by more and more people. God’s word has demonstrated its supreme authority and power. This indisputable fact fully proves that “All Is Achieved by the Word of God!”

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jhn 1:1). In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them with the word, and led mankind with the word. In the last days, God also accomplishes everything with the word. The perfection of God’s chosen people and the realization of Christ’s kingdom will both be achieved by God’s word. As such, there is nothing exceptional about how The Church of Almighty God originated from God’s work of the word, has developed under the guidance of Almighty God’s word, and, moreover, is growing despite the brutal suppression and persecution of the CCP government and the frantic condemnation and opposition of the forces of the antichrists in religious groups. This fully demonstrates the authority and power of God’s word. It can be said that, without the appearance and work of Almighty God, there would not be The Church of Almighty God, and that without the words expressed by God, so too would The Church of Almighty God not exist. Today, He is watering and feeding His chosen people with the millions of words He expresses, and all those who have accepted His work are enjoying the shepherding of His words and experiencing His work of saving man. Almighty God says, “Throughout the universe I am doing My work, and in the East, thunderous crashes issue forth endlessly, shaking all denominations and sects. It is My voice that has led all men into the present. I shall cause all men to be conquered by My voice, to fall into this stream, and submit before Me, for I have long since reclaimed My glory from all the earth and issued it forth anew in the East. Who does not long to see My glory? Who does not anxiously await My return? Who does not thirst for My reappearance? Who does not pine for My loveliness? Who would not come to the light? Who would not look upon the richness of Canaan? Who does not long for the return of the Redeemer? Who does not adore the Great Almighty? My voice shall spread throughout the earth; I wish, facing My chosen people, to speak more words to them. Like the mighty thunders that shake the mountains and rivers, I speak My words to the whole universe and to mankind. Hence the words in My mouth have become man’s treasure, and all men cherish My words. The lightning flashes from the East all the way to the West. My words are such that man is loath to give them up and at the same time finds them unfathomable, but rejoices in them all the more. Like a newborn infant, all men are glad and joyful, celebrating My coming. By means of My voice, I shall bring all men before Me. Thenceforth, I shall formally enter into the race of men so that they will come to worship Me. With the glory that I radiate and the words in My mouth, I shall make it such that all men come before Me and see that the lightning flashes from the East and that I have also descended unto the ‘Mount of Olives’ of the East. They will see that I have already long been on earth, no longer as the Son of the Jews but as the Lightning of the East. For I have long since been resurrected, and have departed from mankind’s midst, and then reappeared with glory among men. I am He who was worshiped countless ages before now, and I am also the infant forsaken by the Israelites countless ages before now. Moreover, I am the all-glorious Almighty God of the present age! Let all come before My throne and see My glorious countenance, hear My voice, and look upon My deeds. This is the entirety of My will; it is the end and the climax of My plan, as well as the purpose of My management. Let every nation worship Me, every tongue acknowledge Me, every man repose his faith in Me, and every people be subject unto Me!” (“The Seven Thunders Peal—Prophesying That the Gospel of the Kingdom Shall Spread Throughout the Universe” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God’s chosen people have received the great salvation because of Almighty God’s word. God’s work in Mainland China has finally ended in glory. Now God’s chosen people are spreading His word and testifying His deeds to every country and place. God’s word will be spread throughout the whole world, and He will soon appear publicly to all nations and all peoples. The people of every country and place who long for God’s appearance would never have dreamt that the God for whom they long to publicly appear has already secretly descended to China and carried out a stage of the work of conquest and salvation.

In the last days, when the age is about to end, God is incarnated and secretly descends to the dwelling place of the great red dragon, the grand assemblage of dictatorial rulers: China, the staunch bastion of atheism. By His manifold wisdom and power, God battles against Satan and carries out the central work in His management plan—the thorough defeat of Satan and the salvation of all mankind. Yet because of the wild allegations, condemnation, fabrication, and slander of the CCP in power, many of those who are unaware of the facts actually believe the CCP’s rumors. Religious groups, in particular, continue to condemn and blaspheme the coming of God even to this day, and they completely stand on the side of the atheistic CCP government to resist God’s work. How tragic that is! These people never expect that Almighty God, the One they resist, is exactly the returned Lord Jesus. When God appears publicly, they will only weep while gnashing their teeth and beating upon their breasts. This completely fulfills the words of the Book of Revelation, “Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen” (Rev 1:7). The judgment of the great white throne finally begins! Almighty God says, “In the kingdom, the myriad things of creation begin to revive and regain their life force. Due to changes in the state of the earth, the boundaries between one land and another also begin to shift. Formerly, I have prophesied: When land is divided from land, and land unites with land, this will be the time that I will smash up the nations into smithereens. At this time, I will renew all of creation and repartition the entire universe, thereby putting the universe in order, transforming its old state into a new one. This is My plan. These are My works. When the nations and the peoples of the world all return before My throne, I will thereupon take all the bounty of heaven and confer it upon the human world, so that, thanks to Me, it will brim with matchless bounty. But so long as the old world continues to exist, I will hurl forth My rage upon its nations, openly promulgating My administrative decrees throughout the universe, and visit chastisement on whomever violates them: As I turn My face to the universe to speak, all mankind hears My voice, and thereupon sees all the works I have wrought throughout the universe. Those who go contrary to My will, that is to say, who oppose Me with the deeds of man, will fall down under My chastisement. I will take the multitudinous stars in the heavens and make them anew, and thanks to Me the sun and the moon will be renewed—the skies will no longer be as they were; the myriad things on the earth will be renewed. All will become complete through My words. The many nations within the universe will be partitioned afresh and replaced by My nation, so that the nations upon the earth will disappear forever and become a nation that worships Me; all the nations of the earth will be destroyed, and will cease to exist. Of the human beings within the universe, all those belonging to the devil will be exterminated; all who worship Satan will be laid low by My burning fire—that is, except for those now within the stream, the rest will be turned to ashes. When I chastise the many peoples, those in the religious world will, in differing degrees, return to My kingdom, conquered by My works, because they will have seen the advent of the Holy One riding on a white cloud. All of humanity will follow their own kind, and will receive chastisements varying with what they have done. Those who have stood against Me will all perish; as for those whose deeds on the earth have not involved Me, they will, because of how they have acquitted themselves, continue to exist on the earth under the governance of My sons and My people. I will reveal Myself to the myriad peoples and the myriad nations, sounding forth with My own voice upon the earth to proclaim the completion of My great work for all mankind to see with their own eyes” (“The Twenty-sixth Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe in The Word Appears in the Flesh). In the history of mankind, we see how all evil forces that flagrantly oppose God and frantically resist God are destroyed by God. Four thousand years ago, as a result of their grievous sins, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were scorched by the fire and brimstone that God sent from heaven. So, too, was the Roman Empire destroyed by the disasters from God due to its resistance and condemnation of the Lord Jesus and its persecution of the Christians. In the last days, any evil force that condemns and resists God will be cursed by God and surely destroyed by Him. This is precisely the righteous disposition of God!

Almighty God says, “The kingdom is expanding in humanity’s midst, it is forming in humanity’s midst, it is standing up in humanity’s midst; there is no force that can destroy My kingdom. … You will surely, under the guidance of My light, break through the stranglehold of the forces of darkness. You will surely not, in the midst of darkness, lose the light guiding you. You will surely be the master of all creation. You will surely be an overcomer before Satan. You will surely, at the downfall of the kingdom of the great red dragon, stand up amid the myriad throngs to bear witness to My victory. You will surely be resolute and unwavering in the land of Sinim. Through the sufferings you endure, you will inherit the blessing that comes from Me, and will surely irradiate within the entire universe with My glory” (“The Nineteenth Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “When the three stages of work come to an end, there will be made a group of those who bear testimony to God, a group of those who know God. These people will all know God and will be able to put the truth into practice. They will possess humanity and sense, and will all know the three stages of God’s work of salvation. This is the work that will be accomplished at the end, and these people are the crystallization of the work of 6,000 years of management, and are the most powerful testimony to the ultimate defeat of Satan. Those who can bear testimony to God will be able to receive God’s promise and blessing, and will be the group that remains at the very end, which possesses the authority of God and bears testimony to God. Perhaps those among you can all become a member of this group, or perhaps only half, or only a few—it depends on your will and your pursuit” (“Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God’s word shall be accomplished, and that which is accomplished shall last forever. The future of the kingdom is bright and splendid! Almighty God has already made a group of overcomers in Mainland China. God’s work of the last days has already been accomplished! Now, the pilot work done by God during His hidden advent in China has ended in glory, and He will soon appear publicly to all the nations and places. The chosen people of The Church of Almighty God are a group of overcomers whom God has made in China. Shouldering the holy mission, they are testifying to God’s work and proclaiming God’s holy name to all nations and places. The gospel of the kingdom of Almighty God is rapidly spreading across the world. The Word Appears in the Flesh is freely available on the Internet for all nations and places to seek out and investigate. No one dares to deny that they are the words of God, and no one dares to deny that they are the truth. More and more people who thirst for the truth and yearn for the light are seeking out and investigating Almighty God’s work of the last days. The Church of Almighty God has been established in dozens of major countries and regions all over the world as more and more people return to Almighty God. Mankind is gradually awakening amid the word of God, and has begun to accept and know the truth. God’s word will lead all mankind and accomplish everything. All the people who truly believe in God and seek the true way will surely return to God and become obedient before His throne, and the whole of mankind will know that God has come, and has appeared, and that His name will surely be great among all mankind.

The Picture of The Church of Almighty God | Eastern Lightning

         Recommended ：Eastern Lightning is the true way

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The Word of God Leads Me to Live Out the Likeness of Man

The Picture of The Church of Almighty God

The Word of God Leads Me to Live Out the Likeness of Man

December 19, 2017

77

Xiao Ye, Japan

I was born into a blessed family. From a young age, my parents loved me very much. In addition, my grades were good and adults often praised me in front of my brothers, sisters and me: “Xiao Ye will certainly have good prospects in the future….” I really felt so much pride for myself after hearing this and always indulged in self-admiration and wild arrogance, thinking I was better than my siblings, regarding myself as a rare talent in the family…. I grew up in such a superior environment.

In 2013, when I stayed at Aunt Liu’s home to study, Aunt Liu told me about the gospel of the kingdom. Because I was busy with my studies, I did not attend meetings very often and I knew very little about God’s work. However, during this period, I experienced God’s love and blessings. So in my heart I always believed in and trusted God. In 2016 when I was a sophomore, the university had an overseas internship program and because of this I had the opportunity to go to Japan to be an intern. In addition to this Aunt Liu told me: “Now God works very fast. There are brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God everywhere. God’s work has already extended to all parts of the world.” Hearing Aunt Liu’s words, I could not suppress the excitement in my heart, because in China it really is too hard to believe in God, and every day you are on tenterhooks, hiding from the CCP government’s persecution and arrest. However, there is real freedom of religion overseas and it is so great to believe in God there. I was also attracted to that type of free and liberated life free from persecution by the CCP, free to read the word of God together with brothers and sisters, to share experiences, sing hymns, dance and praise God. So I promised Aunt Liu that I would contact brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God after arriving in Japan.

In September 2016 I arrived in Japan full of expectation. After one month’s language training, I entered a hotel in Hokkaido with several classmates and started my internship. To begin with I thought my Japanese was good and that I was smart and I could quickly pass the standard, so I did not place a lot of importance on the internship at all. However, for many reasons, I failed to connect with brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God. Work in the hotel restaurant was hard and tiring and the repetitive and hard work every day made me feel like I couldn’t go on. At that time, the thing I did most was praying to God in my heart. I especially hoped that God could give me super powers to finish these hard tasks with ease. On the eighth day of work, my senior saw me working hard with low efficiency and always having problems and scolded me: “I teach others twice and they can do the work, but you are taught several times and still cannot do it!” When I heard her say this, I had no rebuttal but in my heart I wasn’t convinced: You are insisting on me doing something that is impossible. I haven’t done anything at home. It is very normal not to be able to do these things. Of course, I also felt awful because I kept getting things wrong at work but I didn’t expect my senior to say I couldn’t do anything in front of the supervisor. That day, her “guidance” made me feel powerless to ward off, and her words “cannot do anything” threw me in the abyss of suffering even more. “I didn’t offend her. Why did she make such harsh demands of me?” I thought, very unwilling to submit. Besides, my colleagues whose Japanese was worse than mine and who were younger than me received their labels of eligibility but I still ranked as unqualified. The more I thought about that the more aggrieved I became. I could not help running to the bathroom and crying and the more I cried, the aggrieved I felt. I really wanted to flee from this environment immediately.

—This article  from  The Church of Almaighty God 

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Gospel | Testimonies of Returning to God | That Day the Sky Was Especially Clear and Sunny (Part 1)

The Picture of The Church of Almighty God

Gospel | Testimonies of Returning to God | That Day the Sky Was Especially Clear and Sunny (Part 1) 

MAY 19, 2018 BLOGADMIN GOSPEL, TESTIMONIES OF RETURNING TO GOD

Note: The author was deceived and bound by the ideas of “sola fide” and “to be saved once is to be saved forever” that were disseminated by pastors, and refused to contact brothers and sisters who were spreading the gospel of God in the last days. However, later on when she witnessed a sister spreading the gospel of God’s kingdom in her elder sister’s house, and through fellowshiping, the author came to understand God’s work of judgment in the last days, and started to see clearly the absurdity of religious notions. She broke through the pastor’s control and accepted God’s work in the last days, returning before God.I used to be a believer in the Three-Self Church in China. When I first started participating in gatherings there, the pastors would often say to us: “Brothers and sisters, it is recorded in the Bible that: ‘For with the heart man believes to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation’ (Rom 10:10). We’ve been justified due to our faith. Since we believe in Jesus, we have been saved. If we believed in any other, then we wouldn’t have been saved….” I held on to these words of the pastors. As a result, I ardently pursued and actively attended gatherings as I waited for the Lord to come and let me into the kingdom of heaven. Later on, as unlawful deeds kept occurring in the church, it made me feel fed up with the gatherings there. First of all, among the pastors they were divided and partitioned, each trying to establish themselves at the top of the faction and set up independent kingdoms. Secondly, the sermons from the pastors needed to obey the United Front Work Department (UFWD). It was up to them to decide what could be talked about, and no one dared to go against them. The UFWD didn’t allow them to discuss the Book of Revelation out of fear that it would disturb popular sentiment, so the pastors didn’t preach it. The pastors would often preach about donation, saying that the more one donated then the more blessings they would receive from God…. So when I saw that these were the circumstances in the church I felt quite bewildered: Why did the church change into this current form? Do the pastors not believe in the Lord? Why do they not fear the Lord? Why do they not follow the Lord’s word? From that point on I no longer wanted to go to gatherings at the Three-Self Church, for I felt that they did not truly believe in God, that they acted in the name of believing in God in order to obtain the hard-earned money from brothers and sisters.

In the second half of 1995, I left the church without hesitation and joined a house church (adherents of sola fide). At first I felt that their sermons were not subject to the restrictions of the national government, and they even integrated the Book of Revelation and discussed the last days and the Lord’s return. They also dove deeper into the other topics that they sermonized on compared to the Three-Self Church, and I felt there was more enjoyment to be had by gathering here compared to gathering in the Three-Self Church, which made me very happy. But after a period of time, I discovered that here too among the co-workers there were some who became envious, disputed things and wanted to break up the group. None of the brothers and sisters were living out the requirements of the Lord, they were without the love that they had in the past…. When I saw that this church didn’t have any real difference with the Three-Self Church I felt very disappointed, but I also didn’t know where I could go to discover a church that had the work of the Holy Spirit. For lack of a better option, all I could do was stay with these adherents of sola fide. As before, I pressed on with attending gatherings because the pastors and preachers all said “to be saved once is to be saved forever” and “so long as you exercise patience until the end, toil for God and defend the way of the Lord then you will be able to enter the kingdom of heaven.” I kept thinking to myself at that time: Regardless of how other people are, as long as I press on in my faith in the Lord Jesus and do not depart from the way of the Lord, then when the Lord returns I will have a chance to be raptured into Lord Jesus.

The Picture of The Church of Almighty God

In the blink of an eye it was already the second half of 1997, and God’s gospel of the kingdom had already spread to where we were, and the church had turned into a chaotic scene. Leader Li said to us: “Nowadays a group has emerged that is spreading Eastern Lightning, they are going everywhere stealing lambs from various sects, and they are saying that the Lord Jesus has already returned and that He is carrying out a new stage of work. The Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross for us, He has already paid the price of His life in order to redeem us. We have already been saved, we just need to wait patiently until the end, and when the Lord returns we will certainly be raptured into the kingdom of heaven. So, we must pay attention and we absolutely cannot receive these people in Eastern Lightning. Whoever receives them shall be expelled from the church! Also, you must be sure not to listen to what they say, and you must be sure not to read their book….” It seemed that co-workers at all levels were all talking about these things at pretty much every gathering. After listening to them, I felt conflicting ideas unwittingly arise inside of me regarding Eastern Lightning. I felt I needed to guard against them and exercise great caution, for I feared that I would be stolen away by Eastern Lightning and lose my opportunity to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

However, the new year had just begun in 1998 when one day I unexpectedly ran into someone from The Church of Almighty God and had the fortune of listening to the way of Eastern Lightning for the first time. That day, my elder sister gave me a call and invited me to her house. She had also invited Sister Hu from her village to come over too, and whe

n she saw me she smiled and said: “Oh good you came, a remote relative of mine who is a believer is visiting, come, let’s all gather together.” I responded happily: “Okay, please have her come too.” Before long, Sister Hu came back with her relative. When the sister saw us she greeted us with enthusiasm. Although I had never met her before I felt a sort of closeness to her. After we all sat down, the sister started talking. She said: “There is widespread desolation in the church nowadays. The preachers don’t have anything new they can sermonize about, and at every gathering when they aren’t discussing how to resist Eastern Lightning, it’s all just listening to tapes and singing songs. These are the gatherings. Co-workers grow jealous over one another and get into disputes, they collude and connive, they are all extremely self-righteous and everyone refuses to obey everyone else; the brothers and sisters are negative and weak, and they are without faith and love. Many have left the Lord to return to the world to make money.” Deep inside me I felt the same way, and as I nodded my head I said to the sister: “This is what it’s like where I attend too. Before we would have 20-30 people at our monthly meetings, but now there are just a few elders, even the preachers have gone into the world to make money! There is no pleasure to be had in the gatherings.” The sister nodded her head and said: “This kind of situation isn’t just at certain churches anymore, it is a widespread phenomenon throughout the religious world. This shows that the work of the Holy Spirit is not found within the church any longer, so unlawful deeds will always continue to emerge. This is a sign of the Lord’s return. It’s just like the end of the Age of Law, when the temple became a place that sold livestock and exchanged money. It was because God had already stopped carrying out His work in the temple. Instead, God had become incarnated as the Lord Jesus to carry out a new stage of work outside of the temple.” I listened attentively and nodded frequently. The sister continued speaking: “Sister, in Luke 17:24-26 it says: ‘For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines to the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.’ How do you interpret these lines from Scripture?” I thought seriously about them for a while, and with an awkward smile I said: “Sister, aren’t these lines from Scripture talking about the Lord’s arrival?” The sister replied, saying: “These lines from Scripture are discussing the Lord’s arrival, however, they are not talking about the Lord Jesus who came during that time. Rather, they are referring to the arrival of the Lord of the last days. Where it says ‘But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation,’ this ‘and’ confirms that it is the Lord returning. Sister, right now the faith of the believers in the church has grown cold, they are negative and weak. This is because God has become flesh once again to carry out a new stage of work. God’s work is moving forward, and everyone who does not follow God’s new work will lose the work of the Holy Spirit….” As soon as I heard the sister say that the Lord Jesus has already returned I immediately guessed that she belonged to Eastern Lightning, and my heart immediately sank. The smile on my face also disappeared as the words from my leaders who sealed off the church at once started floating around in my head: “To believe in Jesus is to be saved, to be saved once is to be saved forever! … Do not receive those from Eastern Lightning! …” As I thought about these words from my leaders I wanted to rush back home. But when this idea came across my mind the Lord enlightened me by having me remember a verse from a song: “Jesus is our refuge, when you have troubles hide with Him, when the Lord and you are together what do you have to fear?” That’s it! If I have the Lord by my side then what do I have to fear? The things I am afraid of do not come from God, they come from Satan. At this time, the sister said: “If anyone has any questions, go ahead and share them, the word of God will be able to solve all the problems and difficulties that we have.” When I heard the sister say this, I thought to myself: I hope you will not be stumped with my questions! Today I’d like to hear about what has really been preached in Eastern Lightning, which is able to steal away so many of the “good sheep.”

As I thought about this I started to ask: “Our leaders are always saying that the Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross for us, and that He has already paid the price of His life in order to redeem us, so we have already been saved. As it is recorded in Scripture: ‘For with the heart man believes to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation’ (Rom 10:10). Since we have been saved once we have been saved forever, so long as we exercise patience until the end and wait for the Lord’s return, then we will certainly be raptured into the kingdom of heaven. This is the promise that the Lord has made to us. So, we do not need to accept any new work being carried out by God.”

The Picture of The Church of Almighty God

After hearing me say this, the sister smiled and said to me: “Many believers think that the Lord Jesus has already been nailed to the cross for them, and that since He paid the price of His life they have been redeemed and they have been saved. They think that to be saved once is to be saved forever, that all they need to do is exercise patience until the end, to wait for the Lord’s return when they will certainly be raptured into the kingdom of heaven, and that they do not need to accept any new work carried out by God. But is this way of thinking really correct or not? Does it really conform to the Lord’s will? Actually, this idea that ‘to be saved once is to be saved forever, and when the Lord returns we will be raptured into the kingdom of heaven’ is just man’s conceptions and imagination, it simply does not conform to the Lord’s word. The Lord Jesus never once said that ‘those who have been saved by their faith may enter into the kingdom of heaven,’ rather, He said, ‘but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven’ (Mat 7:21). To ‘be saved’ and ‘doing the will of the Father which is in heaven’ are not the same thing. When we speak of ‘being saved for your faith,’ this ‘being saved’ refers to being forgiven for your sins. That is to say, if someone was supposed to be put to death according to law, but then they came before the Lord and repented, receiving the Lord’s grace and having the Lord forgive them for their sins, then this person would break away from the law’s conviction, they would no longer be put to death according to law. This is the true meaning of ‘being saved.’ But to be saved doesn’t mean that a person has broken away from sin and been cleansed. We all know this to be deeply true through experience. Even though we have believed in the Lord for many years, often admit our sins to the Lord and repent, and also enjoy the joy and safety of being forgiven for our sins, we still often involuntarily commit sins, we become bound by our sins. This is a fact. For example: Our arrogance, slyness, selfishness, greediness, evilness and other parts of our corrupt disposition still continue to exist; we still enjoy pursuing the trends of the world, and wealth and fame, and the pleasures of the flesh. We cling to sinful pleasures, unable to free ourselves. In order to protect personal interests we are also able to often tell lies and deceive others. So, to ‘be saved’ does not mean that one has attained full salvation. That is a fact. As God says: ‘Be you holy; for I am holy’ (1 Pe 1:16). God is holy, but is He able to allow those who often sin and resist God to enter the kingdom of heaven? If you believe that those who have been saved by their faith may enter into the kingdom of heaven, then why does the Lord Jesus also say the following words? ‘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’ (Mat 7:21-23). Why is it said that when the Lord returns He will separate the goats from the sheep and the wheat from the tares? We believe that it is completely invalid to say that ‘those who have been saved by their faith may enter into the kingdom of heaven!’ It completely deviates from the words of the Lord Jesus! These are words that resist those of the Lord! So, if we do not receive and believe in the Lord’s word, but rather hold on to the fallacies disseminated by the pastors and elders, if we rely on our own conceptions and imagination in our faith in God, then we will never be able to achieve God’s requirements, and we will never be able to be raptured into the kingdom of heaven.”

I mulled over the sister’s words and felt that what she said made a lot of sense, so I sat there listening quietly …

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Gospel Testimonies | Perception of Life | Where Does This Voice Come From? (Audio Article)

 Gospel Testimonies  | Perception of Life | Where Does This Voice Come From? (Audio Article)

April 22, 2018

Shiyin, China

I was born in a religious family, and I have many relatives who are preachers. From the time I was young, I followed my parents in believing in the Lord. After I grew up, I addressed to the Lord in prayer: If I could find a husband who believed in the Lord, I would offer myself up together with him in service to the Lord. After I got married, my husband really did believe in the Lord, and in fact became a full time devoted preacher. In order for my husband to feel at ease in his work for the sake of the Lord, and to be able to fulfill his commitment in the presence of the Lord, I actively undertook the burdens of running a household. Although it was a little bit difficult and tiring, my heart was filled with joy and peace no matter how much suffering I endured because I had the Lord as my support.

After 1997, I discovered that my husband no longer had much light he used to have in his preaching. When I got him to do some housework, he would always make excuses about being busy with his preaching work, and would often become enraged with me because of a few little things. I was resentful of my husband’s behavior and was no longer as perfectly happy to do the housework as I had been before. The difficult burdens of household life and the darkness of my spirit caused me to live in agony, but there was no one who I could turn to tell what I was feeling. All I could do was come into the presence of God and pray in the dead of night when everyone was asleep, and ask the Lord to give me more faith and strength. At the same time, I yearned for the Lord to return quickly.

The Picture of The Church of Almighty God

One day in April of 2000, when I was arranging the clothes, I found my husband’s bag. I noticed that it was bulging, so I pulled open the zipper out of curiosity and saw that there were a Bible and a book of hymn inside. There was also a new book which was bound in an outer cover. I thought to myself: “How have I never seen this book before? It has to be some kind of reference book, or a book containing the experiences of some spiritual person. I have to read it, because it might be of some help to me.” Led along by my curiosity, I saw a title which read, “Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement.” “What a fresh and uncommon title!” I thought, “Judging by the title, refinement is not a bad thing! I am now in a state of refinement that is beyond my abilities, so I have to read carefully how he experiences refinement and thus I can find the way from within that.” At that, I began to read: “It used to be that people would all make their resolutions in front of God and say: ‘No matter who doesn’t love God, I must love Him.’ But now, you are faced with refinement. It is not in line with your notions, so you lose faith in God. Is this genuine love? You have read many times about the deeds of Job—have you forgotten about them? … When you face sufferings you must be able to not consider the flesh and not complain against God. When God hides Himself from you, you must be able to have the faith to follow Him, to maintain your previous love without allowing it to falter or disappear. No matter what God does, you must submit to His design, and be more willing to curse your own flesh than to complain against Him. When you are faced with trials you must satisfy God in spite of any reluctance to part with something you love, or bitter weeping. Only this can be called true love and faith. No matter what your actual stature is, you must first possess the will to suffer hardship as well as true faith, and you must have the will to forsake the flesh. You should be willing to personally endure hardships and suffer losses to your personal interests in order to satisfy God’s will. You must also have a heart of regretting yourself, that you weren’t able to satisfy God in the past, and be able to regret yourself now. Not a single one of these can be lacking and God will perfect you through these things. If you lack these conditions, you cannot be perfected” (“Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). I was reading and crying at the same time, as the words were saying exactly my circumstances. Before I had resolved to dedicate myself and my husband to the Lord, and that I would be completely content to do so no matter how painful or exhausting it was. Now, however, because of difficulties at home and my husband’s lack of consideration, I always felt that I have been especially wronged, living in a state of undergoing refinement, and losing the faith and love I had once had. I was unable to maintain the resolution I had made in the presence of God, and would often cry alone in secret. I thought about how Job was able to stand witness to God in the midst of such a great and arduous trial, and not lose faith in God, and had even said, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). How could I have forgotten that? I then felt deeply regretful about all that I had done in the presence of God: Others would rather suffer hardships and lose out on their interests and yet still want to satisfy God. I had believed in the Lord for so many years, but had lost faith in the Lord. I complained to the Lord while enduring refinement, and where did I express any love for the Lord at all? With this in mind, I secretly made the inward determination, that I could no longer be as I had been before, that I should support my husband in the work he was doing for the Lord, and that it was right for me to suffer a bit of hardship.

The Picture of The Church of Almighty God

When I was thinking like this, all of a sudden I felt much better emotionally. I felt these words were very well spoken, and were able to get to the heart of my actual circumstances. I felt they were able to point out the way to me and cause faith and strength to unconsciously arise within me. I thought to myself: “Who was it who said these words? How was his knowledge so lofty? I have read some books written by well-known spiritual people, and although those books have been of benefit to some people, they were not written in as clear and elucidating a way as this book, nor one which possessed truth. Really, who was it who spoke these words?” I was drawn by this book to continue reading on, and the more I read the more I felt that these words were spoken so well. Each and every line spoke directly to my inmost heart. From these words I understood that no matter how great one’s suffering is, he must follow God to the very end. In the face of suffering, one must willingly submit to God. If one becomes weak in the face of trial, he should have faith, and rely on God to stand firm. The more I read, the more I felt illuminated in my heart and the more I had a way to put into practice. It was right then that my husband came home, and I asked him right away, “Where did you get this book?” My husband smiled and said, “I borrowed it from somebody, and I have to give it back to him soon.” I really wanted to keep reading the book, and I said, “I also want to read this book.” My husband said, smiling, “Then pray! God may make it so.”

One day, when I was cooking, I was listening off and on to some hymn my husband had playing, “Who is not adoring? Who doesn’t long to see God? … God once shared joys and sorrows with man, and today He has been reunited with mankind, and shares tales of times gone by with him. After He walked out of Judea, people could find no trace of Him. They yearn to once more meet with God, little knowing that today they have again met with Him, and been reunited with Him. How could this not stir thoughts of yesterday? Two thousand years ago today, Simon Bar-Jonah, the descendant of the Jews, beheld Jesus the Savior, he ate at the same table as Him, and after following Him for many years felt a deeper affection for Him: He loved Him to the bottom of his heart, he loved the Lord Jesus profoundly. How about us today? Today God has been reunited with mankind, and shares tales of times gone by with him” (“Two Thousand Years of Longing” in Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs). The lyrics of this hymn gave voice to my own thoughts and evoked my feeling of longing for the return of the Lord. I wept as I listened, and thought to myself: “Ever since I first believed in the Lord, I have thought of the Lord Jesus every day, and hoped that He might return more quickly so that I could share tales of times gone by with Him. These lyrics were so genuine and moving, and even more were able to express people’s longing for the Lord.” I then put down what I was working on and listened with full attention, hearing another hymn called “Seek Only a Heart That Loves God.” “I ask for nothing in my life but that my thoughts of love for God and my heart’s desire be accepted by God.” I thought, “Who wrote this hymn? How can his resolution be so great? This hymn is greatly motivating for me, and how pure is the heart that loves God as it says in the line, ‘ask for nothing in my life but that my thoughts of love for God!’” Before, when I believed in the Lord, I did not know to love the Lord, and just want to enjoy the grace, peace, and joy of the Lord. Today, this hymn greatly opened my worldview, and I saw the people who believe in God must love God, and they must not seek anything for themselves and only this kind of love can be pure. This hymn is well expressed. I then secretly resolved in my heart that I too wanted to pursue this goal, and that I would love the Lord no matter who didn’t love Him.

After reading the words in that book, as well as hearing those hymns, I then went to act in accord with those words. When my husband went out to work again and had no time to help with the housework, my heart wasn’t as distressed as it had been before. If the brothers and sisters had any flaws or mistakes in what they said, I could also forgive them for it, because I wanted to make God content. I wanted only to seek a heart that loves God like the hymn had sung about.

 In the blink of an eye, the time for planting the fields had come. One evening, my husband was tidying up and said to me, “Tomorrow, I will head out to work in a church in another area.” I said immediately, “Will you be able to come back after a few days?” He said, “I don’t know. I’ll try my best to come back earlier, so you don’t have to worry about the housework.” When I heard what he said, my face darkened, and I thought, “You say don’t worry about it, but how can I not worry? You’re going off without any idea of when you’ll be back, and the fields in other people’s houses have already been sown. Our field has not yet even been plowed, and if the seeds are planted late, in fall there won’t be a good harvest. When that time comes, what will we do? If only my husband would finish sowing his field and then go off to assist the brothers and sisters!” In the evening of that same day, I lay in my bed unable to sleep wracked by great turmoil in my heart: The last time my husband traveled for more than half a month before coming back, but then it hadn’t been the season for farm work. Now, the crucial time for farm work has arrived, and if he is gone for another half a month, what will I do? I might just have to get him to go find his co-worker to do the work and be done with it. But I thought about it again: “That won’t do, as the brothers and sisters are waiting for him to go assist them. If he doesn’t go, won’t that be an offense against the Lord?” In the state of being refined, I came into the presence of God and prayed: “Lord! It isn’t that I am unwilling for my husband to go and assist the brothers and sisters, just that it’s the right time when our household should be working the fields. In my heart, I am enduring quite an intense refining indeed, and I don’t know what to do. Lord! I ask for Your help, to safeguard my heart and not let me be disturbed by these things.” After I prayed, these words occurred very clearly to me in my mind: “No matter what your actual stature is, you must first possess the will to suffer hardship as well as true faith, and you must have the will to forsake the flesh. You should be willing to personally endure hardships and suffer losses to your personal interests in order to satisfy God’s will” (“Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). These words instantly took hold of my heart, and brought a clarifying light to it: That’s right! If someone wants to satisfy the Lord, he must have the resolution to endure hardship and should rather suffer physically and endure losses in his interests in order to satisfy the will of God! These words gave me faith, and I thought: If the fields are planted a bit late, then so be it! However much we harvest is up to God, and the most important thing is my husband working for the Lord’s sake. With this in mind, I felt light and liberated in my heart, and before I knew it I had fallen asleep. On the morning of the next day, I said to my husband: “Be at ease and go work in the service of the Lord! Whenever you come back, it doesn’t matter. I submit to God’s arrangement.” When I thought about what I was doing was satisfying the Lord, I felt joy and steadiness in my heart.

My husband came back after a few days, and I found that he seemed to have changed into another person. He helped me with the housework, and said to me: “You’re working too hard! These last few years have been difficult enough for you, doing everything both inside and outside of the house. I’m aware of this. Before, I would often go out to work, not helping share the burdens of housework with you. In the future, I will do more when I have time.” Hearing his words, I was very moved because my husband had never spoken like this before. I thought to myself: “Ever since my husband read that book, there has been a big transformation in him. Not only does he preach with great light, but his attitude toward me is different than it had been before. Reading the Bible hadn’t resulted in any such changes in him in the past, but after reading that book he had transformed so much in such a short time. It seems the words in this book really have the power to change people!” At the same time I sensed that the words in this book had been of great benefit to me. After reading it, I had faith and strength, and when I acted in accord with the words in that book, the dissatisfaction I felt with my husband went away. After my husband read this book, his attitude toward me also changed, and he understood how to be considerate of me and take care of me. All these changes made me even more think that the words in this book were really powerful and authoritative! But really, who was it who had written the words in this book? I had never found the answer to this.

One day, two months later, my husband said he wanted to take me with him to attend a gathering. I had a feeling that this gathering would be something very special, otherwise my husband wouldn’t take me with him to listen to it. I was filled with anticipation in my heart, and looked forward to seeing that book again. The following day, my husband and I, together with two sisters, were sitting happily in a vehicle on the way to a sister’s house. There were many brothers and sisters taking part in that gathering, among them a sister in her thirties who integrated the Bible and fellowshiped about many truths about God’s work in the last days to us. When I was listening to what the sister fellowshiped about, I felt a special kind of brightness in my heart, and I came to thoroughly understand many passages of the Bible and about God returning to do the work of judgment that I hadn’t understood before. I thought to myself, “How can she fellowship about this so well, and communicate the Bible so clearly? How does she have so much understanding?” Then, the sister, her face filled with a smile, said loudly to us, “I’ll tell brothers and sisters an excellent piece of information that will excite people’s hearts. The Lord Jesus for whom we have long yearned has returned incarnate among us to do His new work, to express the word and open up all the mysteries, to lay bare the three stages of God’s work and His six-thousand-year management plan, as well as the incarnation of God and the mysteries of the Bible. Today, the content of what I fellowship about all comes from the words that have been expressed by God.” The brothers and sisters and I who were sitting heard this great news, and finally understood why the sister had understood so much. It turns out it had all been told to her by the voice of the Lord who had returned. Now we too heard the voice of the Lord, and we all happily embraced each other, shed tears of excitement, and the whole place began to quiver with enthusiasm. I was so happy that I felt like jumping for joy, and thought: All along I have been hoping for the Lord Jesus to return a bit earlier. Two thousand years have passed, but now the Lord really has returned! While I am alive, I am able to welcome the Lord Jesus’s return, and for that I am truly blessed!

Soon, when the time came for us to disperse, the sisters gave each of us a book called Judgment Begins With the House of God. Holding onto the book of the word of God, I suddenly thought of that book from before. Could it be that it is this book? When I got back home, I impatiently asked my husband, “The book that I saw that day—is it the same word of God that the sister mentioned today?” My husband smiled and said, “It is.” At that time, it was like I was waking up from a dream. That voice comes from God after all, is the voice of the incarnation of the returned Lord Jesus, and is the voice of God! No wonder these words could be so moving to me, give me faith and strength, change my corrupt disposition, and take me out of suffering. Then, I blamed my husband, saying, “You have received the new work of God; why did you conceal it from me?” My husband said, “At the time I really wanted to tell you, but most of the people in your family are preachers in the church, and I was afraid that you might not understand when I explained it. I was afraid that your relatives would find out about it, and once they came out to disturb and hinder you, not only would this cause you to lose your opportunity to receive salvation, but also it would have made me become an evil person!” Hearing what my husband said, my misunderstanding of my husband vanished, and I was all the more thankful to God for saving me. I resolved to read this book well.

 Through reading the word of Almighty God, my parched spirit obtained nourishment and sustenance…. I never thought that I would be able to hear the word of the returned Lord with my own ears, to be raised up into the presence of God, to meet face-to-face with God, and I felt especially grateful to God for His love and salvation. After over 10 days, my husband and I together with the sisters who spread the gospel got together, and took the brothers and sisters of our church who had true faith in the Lord over to meet Almighty God. All honor and glory be unto God!

—This article  from  The Church of Almaighty God,   Gospel Testimonies 

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