The Word of God Leads Me to Live Out the Likeness of Man （ 三)

The Picture of The Church of Almighty God

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

 December 19, 2017

 In this way, almost a month passed and I had still not made the grade. I felt particularly aggrieved and that this senior was so bad for making things difficult for me and intentionally finding fault with me. Thinking of these two months’ work experience and seeing that my classmates had already qualified and only I and a rather introverted girl had not, I felt very tired and having suffered both physically and mentally! I suddenly really wanted to go home, but my home was in China and it was very unrealistic to go back. Back in the dormitory, I inadvertently saw a passage of a sermon about life entry: “Sometimes God does not say this to your face and does not come to you Himself to tell you: ‘I saw your corruptions today. I’m going to utter words of judgment to you’ and then read you a passage of God’s words. That’s not how it is. God may send or move a person, a person whose views are least like yours or who you least look up to, to prune and deal with you. Then what will you do? It is God who sends them. Tell me, do you obey them? How do you approach the Holy Spirit moving people whose views are least like yours and who you dislike the most to prune and deal with you? … This obedience is a most real issue, which is put in front of people; everyone must choose and put it into practice. You cannot evade the issue” (“How to Eat and Drink the Words of God to Achieve Good Results” in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (I)). Having read this passage of fellowship I understood that God wanted me to learn a lesson about obeying God and accepting pruning and being dealt with. When encountering difficulties, I judged right or wrong from the surface and felt that my senior was directing things at me. For several times, I really wanted to find an opportunity to retaliate against her. But I believed in God and could not do anything which shames God, so I had to feel angry and depressed in my heart. Thinking about it now, I should accept this environment from God and pursue entry into the truth of obeying God. When I continued to pray to God and seek God on the lesson of obeying God, I saw it said in God’s words: “If you believe in the dominion of God, then you must believe that the things that happen every day, be they good or bad, don’t happen accidentally. It is not that someone doesn’t get on with you or opposes you on purpose; it is actually all arranged by God and He orchestrates everything. What does God orchestrate everything for? It is not to reveal your shortcomings for everyone to see or to expose you; exposing you is not the final aim. The aim is to perfect you and save you. How does God perfect you and save you? Firstly, He makes you aware of your own corrupt disposition, your own nature and essence, your own shortcomings and what you lack. Only by knowing these things and understanding them in your heart can you cast them off—this is a God-given opportunity. You must learn to seize this opportunity and know how to seize it; don’t lock horns and don’t resist. If you are always competing with the people, events, and things that God has arranged around you, if you are always trying to extricate yourself from them, always feeling dissatisfied, always harboring a disagreeable mentality and always misunderstanding, then you will find it very difficult to enter into the truth. … God works on each and every person. Regardless of what method He employs, what form it takes or what tone He uses to speak to people, there is only one final aim, and that is to save you. Before saving you, He needs to change you. But can you change without suffering anything at all? You must suffer a little” (“If You Wish to Attain the Truth, Then You Must Learn From the People, Matters, and Things Around You” in Records of Christ’s Talks). After reading God’s words, my heart did not feel so much pain. Actually, there is God’s will behind my always being dealt with by my senior. It is not a case of someone making life difficult for me, but God wishing to change me and let me see how I am lacking and flawed, able to press onward, learn how to take responsibility and live out a normal humanity. In God’s words it is said: “How is it expressed when the truth doesn’t act as a person’s life? What do they reveal and live out when satanic dispositions act as their lives? They are arrogant and conceited, selfish and contemptible, reckless, autocratic, and love to brag; they are deceitful and treacherous. They are prone to suspicion of others, and to attacking and judging others. Their appraisals of other people are never accurate; they always carry selfishness and ulterior motives. In addition, they are always negative. They’re either negative to the point that they want to find a hole in the ground to hide in, or arrogant to the point that they are on top of the world. If they’re not baring their teeth, then they’re putting on a sad face” (“A Change in Disposition Can Only Be Achieved by Pursuing Entry Into Life” in Records of Christ’s Talks). “Because the essence of God is holy, that means that only through God can you walk the bright, right road through life; only through God can you know the meaning of life, only through God can you live out a real life, possess the truth, know the truth, and only through God can you obtain life from the truth. Only God Himself can help you shun evil and deliver you from the harm and control of Satan. Besides God, no one and nothing can save you from the sea of suffering so that you suffer no longer: This is determined by the essence of God” (“God Himself, the Unique VI” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Comparing God’s words and thinking back to my behavior over the last two months, I saw that I was living in arrogant and conceited corrupt disposition because I did not have God’s words as life. From arriving at the hotel I thought that my Japanese was good and so I would pass very quickly and that the hard work and dirty work was done by people whose Japanese was not good. I had never thought of conducting myself in a steadfast manner, but wanted to take short cuts and preferred to pick easy jobs and shirk the hard ones. I did not know how to be humble and looked down upon everyone. I had never thought to bow my head and learn from others and always felt that as soon as I bowed down, I would let people look down upon me and would be inferior. As for my senior who always picked on me, I obeyed her even less. As soon as she said something to me, I would argue things out in my heart and be unwilling to see my shortcomings from her words. So I often lived in disobedience and suffering. Now I really understand a little of God’s intentions. Although this environment is very hard, all that God intends to achieve is to change my arrogant disposition and enable me to humble myself, ask when I do not understand, and become an honest, humble, rational, down-to-earth person.

After this, although I was still doing the internship, every day doing hard dirty work, being dealt with from time to time by my senior, I no longer wanted to escape and I knew this was God using this environment to change my arrogant disposition and let me live out the likeness of a real man a little bit. Every time my senior dealt with me regarding some work issues when I was unwilling to humble myself, I prayed to God: “God, my senior has started to deal with me again and I still feel some resistance in my heart, but what she says is right and I should accept it. I am not willing to be hard again and live by Satan’s arrogant and conceited disposition. I ask God to give me an obedient heart and the will to endure hardships and enable me to live out the likeness of man!” In this way, when I relied upon God and looked to God, every time I prayed it brought me peace and joy and made me feel particularly close to God and able to lay my life down and obey. Although my flesh endured a little pain, my heart was still incomparably sweet and joyful and I tasted the sweetness of practicing the word of God and depending on God. Later, when my senior scolded me again, I did not argue or resist anymore, but accepted it and carefully compared what I had done and if I had done something wrong then I did my best to correct it. After two months, I finally qualified and moreover, I was nominated for praise in a customer’s feedback. This was all because the word of Almighty God had changed me and enabled me to live out the human likeness a little.

The Word of God Leads Me to Live Out the Likeness of Man Just half a month after I was labelled as qualified, I contacted brothers and sisters from the local Church of Almighty God and started my normal church life. Looking back to the path, I saw God’s omnipotence and dominion and felt God’s good intentions. God arranged all this for me to change my arrogant disposition and let me live out the likeness of man. If I had found brothers and sisters sooner, maybe I would not have suffered so much, but without experiencing such hardship, I would not know my corruptions such as arrogance, inertia and failure to pursue excellence, nor be able to learn how to seek and depend upon God and experience God’s cleansing and salvation and would be even less able to live out the likeness of a real man. As to the girl who was the same with me at the beginning who has never qualified, because she had not come before God and did not have the guidance of the word of God, every day was very hard and depressing for her. When other people raised her problems or gave her advice, she never understood how to humbly accept and often sulked, resulting in her becoming like a hedgehog over just a few months, untouchable by anyone and not even being able to bear a joke amongst friends. Now no one dare make friends with her or speak to her. Seeing such a vivid example beside me, as a comparison, I realize even more that God’s grace of salvation is so great! If it had not been for God guiding me, I would not have changed so much in such a short three months. Thank God! All glory to Almighty God!

 Recommended ：Spreading and testifying to Almighty God’s work of the last days—this is God’s commission to His chosen people, and the aims of The Church of Almighty God.

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Gospel Testimonies | Judgment Before the Seat of Christ | The Real Face of a So-called Good Person

Gospel Testimonies | Judgment Before the Seat of Christ | The Real Face of a
So-called Good Person 

2015年3月5日 13

Kemu Zhumadian City, Henan Province

In my own mind, I’ve always thought of myself as having good humanity. I’ve thought this because, my neighbors often complimented me in front of my parents for being sensible and showing concern for our family; saying I was the apple of my parents’ eyes. After getting married, my in-laws praised me in front of neighbors for being kind and filial to them. In my unit, my leader praised me for being honest and competent. And since accepting this stage of God’s work, I’ve been obedient with whatever the church asks me to do. I never contradict the leader even if I get rebuked by the leader for not doing a good job, and I often help brothers and sisters who are in need. As such, I believe myself to be a reasonable, compassionate, and kindhearted person with humanity. I’ve never thought of myself in terms of the words in which God reveals that man lacks humanity or that man has weaker humanity. When communing God’s words with brothers and sisters, even though I know I need to be aware of my own nature, I still maintain my own view, thinking in my heart: Even if I am not a person of good humanity, I still have relatively good humanity compared with others. In other words, regardless of what God’s word says or what brothers and sisters say, I am not willing to disassociate myself from the idea of being a person of good humanity.

christian life, spiritual growth, The Real Face of a So-called Good Person,

One day, as I was eating and drinking the word of God, a passage caught my attention. God says, “Some people are inherently good; they are able to practice truth. Some people’s humanity is weaker, thus it is hard for them to practice truth…. Would you say that he who does not practice truth has ever sought the truth? He absolutely has not sought it! His own thinking arises: ‘This way is good, it is to my advantage.’ In the end, he still acts based on his own ideas. He does not seek the truth because there is something wrong with his heart, his heart is not right. He does not seek, does not examine, nor does he pray before God; he just stubbornly acts according to his own wishes. This type of person simply holds no fondness for the truth. … Those without love for the truth will neither seek it in the moment, nor will they examine themselves afterward. They never scrutinize whether the act was carried out rightly or wrongly in the end, thus they always violate principles, violate the truth. … A person who has a heart is only able to make a mistake once when undertaking a course of action, twice at the very most—once or twice, not three or four times, this is normal sense. If they are able to commit the same mistake three or four times, this proves that they harbor no love for the truth, nor do they seek the truth. This kind of person is definitely not a humane individual” (“Resolving Nature and Practicing Truth” in Records of Christ’s Talks). After reading this passage of God’s words, I had a sudden revelation. As it turns out, good or bad humanity is closely connected with the implementation of the truth. A person of good humanity will seek the truth and practice the truth in everything, and examine himself afterward. I have always considered myself to have good humanity, so am I someone who seeks and practices the truth in everything? Thinking back, I did not pray or seek the truth with regard to many things I encountered. I did not examine or understand myself afterward. Even though I had expressed my corrupt disposition, I did not resolve my issues by seeking the truth, but continued to commit the same mistake repeatedly. Sometimes even if I understood an aspect of the truth, I didn’t seem to want to practice it. I recall many examples of this vividly. One time, I remember feeling a sense of estrangement with the person I was partnered with. I was aware it would directly affect work effectiveness if the problem was not solved, but because of my pride and vanity, I refused to let go of my ego and have an open communication with her. Instead, I bit the bullet and continued working, resulting in very ineffective work. When I sometimes saw brothers and sisters reveal a certain aspect of their corrupt disposition, I didn’t try to commune in truth with them to help them know themselves, but instead judged them behind their back. I didn’t repent or try to change my ways even after being dealt with a few times, but instead persisted in my old ways. I did not strive for the best results in doing my duty, but was always lazy and sneaky, dealing with things sloppily, always deceiving God to maintain my own standing, fortune, and status. I didn’t think much of it or have a guilty conscience. I didn’t seek or investigate when things happened in my work, but just did as I wanted. Even if it brought serious losses to the church, I did not feel like I was indebted to God, nor was I embarrassed by my evil deeds. Even if God reminded me through His words and exposed my corruption through dealing and pruning, I continued to ignore Him, and committed the same transgressions upward of three or four times. Do these actions not prove that I lack humanity and am not a lover of the truth in the eyes of God? Regardless, I haven’t sought to know myself based on my

Right now, my heart is filled with guilt, and at the same time full of gratitude to God. I cannot help but pour myself out before God, “God, thank You for Your enlightenment, letting me know I am not a person with good humanity, helping me understand a person with true humanity is one who loves the truth, is someone who listens to God and obeys God, is someone who is willing to practice the truth and pursue a love of God. I also realize my understanding of myself is not based on the truth of God’s words, but is based on my own imagination and ideas, as well as my worldly views. It’s totally absurd. God, from now on, I don’t want to measure myself according to Satan’s viewpoint or my own imagination. I want to know myself based on Your words, and do my utmost in pursuit of the truth, so I can soon become a person with truth and humanity to comfort Your heart.”

—This article  from  The Church of Almaighty God, Gospel Testimonies, Judgment Before the Seat of Christ

Recommended ：Almighty God has initiated the work of judgment beginning with the house of God by expressing the truth.  Eastern Lightning is the return of Lord Jesus

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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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Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment Volume I | Discriminating Against Outsiders Is Too Malicious!

picture of the Church of Almighty God 

42. Discriminating Against Outsiders Is Too Malicious! 

Xiaojin Pan’an County, Zhejiang Province

In February of 2007, the church received a work arrangement entitled “Water and Supply the New Believers to Help Them Take Root as Quickly as Possible.” It emphasized that “It is necessary to utilize all who are effective and experienced at watering the new believers in order to complete this work. People unsuitable for watering the new believers must not be used; they must be replaced to avoid delaying the work” (“The Issues the Church Is Currently Facing Must Be Resolved” in Annals of Fellowship and Work Arrangements (I)). After seeing this arrangement, instead of using the principles to measure whether the sister from our district who watered the new believers was suitable, I held preconceived ideas against her: This person perfunctorily performed her duty and did not focus on eating and drinking the words of God. Besides, she cared for the flesh, so she wasn’t suitable for watering the new believers. More importantly, she thought she had some caliber and so she became arrogant and looked down on others. Last time, she went to the person in charge of the region watering work and spoke ill of me. If it were not for the demands of my work, I wouldn’t have paid any more attention to her. In thinking about this, I made a plan: Why not take advantage of this opportunity and replace her so that I won’t have to see her anymore? Isn’t she arrogant? I’ll just replace her and then I’ll see how prideful she is!

Consequently, I didn’t weigh out the effectiveness of her work and I was not thinking in the interest of the church. I was just in a hurry to replace her. Afterward, I carelessly transferred a church leader to the district to fulfill the duty of watering. In my view, this person could endure hardships, she spoke kind words and was a fast worker. She had compassion for people and was very suitable for the work of watering. I didn’t realize that the person responsible for the region watering work and the coordinator thought that this person was unsuitable and that the original sister was quite suitable. I did my best to speak highly of this church leader, even to the point of saying there was no one better than her. Just when I wasn’t willing to accept their suggestions, I received news saying that this church leader was being watched by the great red dragon. Without any other option, I put myself aside and grudgingly reinstated the original sister. My heart was severely distraught and depressed, and I felt I had nowhere to vent my frustrations.

This continued until one day when I read in a passage in the man’s preaching: “How leaders treat brothers and sisters who they find disagreeable, who oppose them, who hold completely different views than them—this is a very serious issue and should be handled with caution. If they do not enter into the truth, they will certainly discriminate and strike against this person when met with this kind of issue. This type of action is precisely revealing the nature of the great red dragon resisting and betraying God. If the leader is someone who pursues the truth, who possesses a conscience, and sense, they will seek the truth and handle it correctly” (“Reckless Leaders Who Do Not Carry Out Their Proper Work Must Be Dismissed” in Annals of Fellowship and Work Arrangements (I)). At this time, I couldn’t help but think back about the recent district watering personnel transfer. At that time, God prevented me from doing a wicked thing in order to defend His own work, which prevented my plan from succeeding. However, the satanic nature and the great red dragon’s poison within me completely came to light. The work arrangement clearly emphasized to do everything possible to water new believers and transfer in suitable watering personnel. But in spite of God’s urgency to save people, and without thinking about carrying out the work properly, I took the liberty to discriminate and attack the person who offended me. In doing so, was I not using the same contemptible method as the great red dragon to eliminate outsiders? How was this serving God? It was simply oppressing people and punishing them. It was interrupting and disturbing the work of the church. I have really been deeply corrupted by Satan and have completely become the embodiment of the great red dragon. My actions were no different than those of the great red dragon. The great red dragon uses deplorable means to eliminate outsiders. I was also replacing the person who offended me in the name of putting the work arrangement into practice. The great red dragon promotes those it trusts and I was promoting someone who I personally thought was good and who conformed to my opinion. The great red dragon follows the satanic code of “Those who submit will prosper; those who resist shall perish.” I also used my “authority” to get revenge on the person who offended me and who had an opinion about me. The great red dragon twists facts; it is unjust and unfair. I was emotional when I blindly criticized the person who didn’t conform to my will. I persistently spoke in favor of the person that I liked even to the point of exaggerating, speaking contrary to the fact. … Now I see that the poison of the great red dragon is deeply rooted in me. It has already become a part of my life, to such an extent that it affects every aspect of my behavior. The poison of the great red dragon makes me sinister and malicious; it makes my soul filthy, deplorable, and ugly, which makes me unwittingly resist God. If it were not for God’s enlightenment, I would still be living in my own corruption and would still be brooding over my failed schemes. I would surely not know I had completely lost my sense and conscience and that my conduct had offended God’s disposition.

Almighty God, Your revelations have made me see that my nature is too evil and deplorable. I am completely the embodiment of the great red dragon; my conduct is no different than that of the great red dragon. From now on, I am willing to actively pursue truth. I will analyze myself by contrasting my thoughts, words and actions with the word of God, and recognize the nature of the great red dragon within me. I will see its substance clearly and will truly hate it, turn away from it, and be a real man with humanity to comfort Your heart!

This article  from The Church of Almighty God Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment Volume I 42. Discriminating Against Outsiders Is Too Malicious!
    

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Christian Movie | The Lord Jesus Christ Awakens My Soul | "Stinging Memories"

Christian Movie | The Lord Jesus Christ Awakens My Soul | "Stinging Memories"

Fan Guoyi was an elder of a house church in China. In his over twenty years of service, he always emulated Paul, sacrificing for the Lord zealously and working hard. He firmly believed that he was doing the will of the heavenly Father by pursuing that way and he would surely be raptured to the kingdom of heaven at the return of the Lord. However, when Almighty God’s salvation of the last days came upon him, he clung to his notions, rejecting, resisting, and condemning it time and time again…. Later, after several debates with the preachers from the Church of Almighty God, Fan Guoyi finally woke up. He truly understood the meaning of doing the will of the heavenly Father and the way of pursuing to be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven….

At every thought of the past, the memories were stinging in his heart….

Picture of The Church of Almighty God | Stinging Memories

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Eastern Lightning | I Have Received Almighty God’s Great Salvation

65 I Have Received Almighty God’s Great Salvation

Wang Shouzhen

Qixia City, Shandong Province

Picture of The Church of Almighty God | I Have Received Almighty God’s Great Salvation

My name is Wang Shouzhen. I had followed the Lord Jesus for more than ten years and was once a co-worker in the “Local Church.” Before I accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days, I often heard my leaders say, “The ‘Eastern Lightning’ is from a false Christ, a deceiver. They preach the gospel for money. If one is deceived and joins them, he has to sell his house and land and submit to them…” I had no doubt about the leaders’ words at all because I admired them much. So I sealed off the three churches under my charge and warned the brothers and sisters at every meeting, “Never accept the ‘Eastern Lightning.’ It is from Satan, an evil spirit, a deceiver. If you join them, there’s no chance for you to turn back. Keep away from them, and drive them off when they come!”

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Eastern Lightning | The Hymn of God's Word "The Countenance of the Kingdom's King Is Glorious Beyond Compare"

The Hymn of God's Word "The Countenance of the Kingdom's King Is Glorious Beyond Compare"

I

God has made a new beginning on Earth, so on Earth He has found His glory. The final prospect is so beauteous God cannot keep the pride in His breast from swelling. God's heart is beating, and the hills leap for joy in time. The waters dance merrily, and the waves keep time, slapping against the rocks. God's heart is ineffable. From this we see, what God plans is just what He has made, is what He's foreordained, and asks that man should experience, that man should see.

II

The kingdom's prospect is great, it's King victorious. From head to foot He has no flesh or blood. Holiness makes up His whole part. From Him radiates a holy luster, mixed with no jot of human will. He is filled with righteousness, with the breath of heaven, gives off a bewitching scent, like the beloved in the "Song of Songs." Lovelier than the assembled saints, loftier than the saints of old, an exemplar for all mankind. Man is unfit to compare with Him, unworthy to look Him in the face. God's glorious countenance, God's face, and God's image, are ever unattainable to man. None may compare with God, none can lightly praise God, praise God with his mouth.

from “The Interpretation of the Twelfth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Picture of The Church of Almighty God | The Countenance of the Kingdom's King Is Glorious Beyond Compare

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Almighty God's Word | God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III (Part One)

God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III (Part One)

These several fellowships have had a great impact on every single person. As of now, people can finally really feel the true existence of God and that God is actually very close to them. Although people have believed in God for many years, they have never truly understood His thoughts and ideas as they do now, neither have they truly experienced His practical deeds as they do now. Whether it’s knowledge or actual practice, most people have learned something new and achieved a higher understanding, and they have realized the error in their own past pursuits, realized the superficiality of their experience and that too much is not in line with God’s will, and realized that what man most lacks is knowledge of God’s disposition. This knowledge on the part of people is a type of emotional knowledge; to rise to the level of rational knowledge requires a gradual deepening and strengthening through their experiences. Before man truly understands God, subjectively it could be said that they do believe in the existence of God in their hearts, but they have no real understanding of specific questions such as what kind of God He actually is, what His will is, what His disposition is, and what His real attitude toward mankind is. This greatly compromises people’s faith in God—their faith simply cannot achieve purity or perfection. Even if you are face to face with God’s word, or feel that you have encountered God through your experiences, it still cannot be said that you completely understand Him. Because you don’t know God’s thoughts, or what He loves and what He hates, what makes Him angry and what brings Him joy, you do not have a true understanding of Him. Your faith is built on a foundation of vagueness and imagination, based on your subjective desires. It is still far from an authentic belief, and you are still far from being a true follower. Explanations of the examples from these Bible stories have allowed humans to know God’s heart, what He was thinking at every step in His work and why He did this work, what His original intention and His plan were when He did it, how He achieved His ideas, and how He prepared for and developed His plan. Through these stories, we can gain a detailed, specific understanding of God’s every specific intention and every real thought during His six thousand years of management work, and His attitude toward humans at different times and in different eras. Understanding what God was thinking, what His attitude was, and the disposition He revealed as He faced every situation, can help every person more deeply realize His true existence, and more deeply feel His realness and authenticity. My goal in telling these stories is not so that people can understand biblical history, nor is it to help them become familiar with the books of the Bible or the people in it, and it’s especially not to help people understand the background of what God did during the Age of Law. It is to help people understand God’s will, His disposition, and every little part of Him, and gain a more authentic and more accurate understanding and knowledge of God. This way, people’s hearts can, little by little, open up to God, become close to God, and they can better understand Him, His disposition, His essence, and better know the true God Himself.

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Eastern Lightnong | Only the Word of Almighty God Can Save Me

Only the Word of Almighty God Can Save Me

Shi Lianjun

Huai’an City, Jiangsu Province

Picture of The Church of Almighty God | Only the Word of Almighty God Can Save Me

I joined the Joseph Church in 1997. In 1999, I was appointed as the district leader of the church in Shuyang County. At that time, the kingdom gospel of Almighty God had spread to our county. I remember that one day in August of that year, someone in our church told me that a person who preached the gospel of the last days was in the home of a believer in Huji Township. After I heard it, I immediately called in four young brothers, and we impersonated the local village cadres and headed swiftly toward the house of that believer on our motorcycles. When we were about 200 meters away from his house, we switched off the engines, and walked up to the house quietly. Peeking through a crack in the door, I saw a stranger in the room reading something aloud from a book in his hands. Furious, I kicked the door open with violence. At the sight of my sudden action, the man hastily put the book into his pocket. I lunged forward, and tore his pocket and snatched the book from him, which I found was a copy of The Truth That One Must Be Equipped With. I leafed through a few pages and flung it onto the desk, and then I grabbed him by the coat front with my left hand, and poking his forehead with my right hand, I asked him with a ferocious tone, “Where did you get this book? Where do you come from?” As I said this, I gave him a violent push that sent him reeling against the door. Before he realized what had happened, I grabbed the book on the desk and tore it in half fiercely. Then I ripped several pages from it and tore them to pieces, and after balling them up, I threw it at his face while blaspheming loudly, “This is purely from the devil, Satan, from an evil spirit, a deceiver!” When he saw I had torn his book, he immediately fell on his knees to pick up the torn book and the balled-up pieces of paper with his hands, and said in tears, “O God, how hard is Your work on earth!” Seeing him so grieved, I was not moved at all, and instead I shouted with glaring eyes, “Get out quickly! If you come again, I’ll send you to the police station!” In this way, I drove him out.

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The Church of Almimghty God | I Have Received Almighty God’s Great Salvation

I Have Received Almighty God’s Great Salvation

Xie Qiang

Shangqiu City, Henan Province

Picture of The Church of Almighty God | I Have Received Almighty God’s Great Salvation

I was formerly the president of a mission of the “China Gospel Fellowship” in the Pentecostal Church. Since 1997, there had been people preaching Almighty God’s work of the last days to me many times, but I always stopped them before they finished their words and said, “I may receive you when you come to preach a male Christ. But if you still preach that your God is a female, then don’t come! You say God has come, but how come I haven’t seen Him? Have you seen Him?” Every time I met the brothers and sisters who testified God’s work of the last days, I always rebuffed them with these words. Then, I went around “guarding the church” to prevent those “heretics” from disturbing our churches. I treated Almighty God, the “Eastern Lightning,” as “a cult.” And I, together with my upper leaders, collected the rumors that resisted and slandered Almighty God from various denominations and sects, and with my imaginations added, we printed them into booklets, The Sound of the Trumpet in the Church and Resist the Heresy—the Eastern Lightning, and then distributed them to all the churches in my charge. And I said to the brothers and sisters wherever I went, “The ‘Eastern Lightning’ is a cult. If you read their books or fellowship with them, you will be deceived. You must stay away from them. Don’t fellowship with them. They are of an underworld organization which is against the Communist Party. Their key persons even have guns. And they seduced people with beautiful men and women. If you join them, you cannot drop out. If you try to do so, they will gouge out your eyes or cut off your nose, or even your whole family will be in danger!” I wantonly sealed off the churches in such a way at that time, yet I regarded myself as faithful to the Lord, responsible for the churches, and a guard for the churches. Little did I realize that I had become an antichrist. Now, I regret it very bitterly.

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Almighty God's Word | God's Utterance "God's Work, God's Disposition, and God Himself I" (Part One)

God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself I (Part One)

Today we are communicating an important topic. This is a topic that has been discussed since the commencement of God’s work until now, and is of vital significance to every single person. In other words, this is an issue that everyone will come into contact with throughout the process of their belief in God and an issue that must be touched upon. It’s a crucial, unavoidable issue mankind cannot separate itself from. Speaking of importance, what is the most important thing for every believer in God? Some people think the most important thing is understanding God’s will; some believe it is most important to eat and drink more of God’s words; some feel the most important thing is to know themselves; others are of the opinion that the most important thing is knowing how to find salvation through God, how to follow God, and how to fulfill God’s will. We will put all of these issues aside for today. So what are we discussing then? We are discussing a topic about God. Is this the most important topic to every person? What is the content of a topic about God? Of course, this topic certainly cannot be separated from God’s disposition, God’s essence, and God’s work. So today, let’s discuss “God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself.”

From the time man started believing in God, they have been in touch with topics such as God’s work, God’s disposition, and God Himself. When it comes to God’s work, some people will say: “God’s work is done on us; we experience it every day, so we are not unfamiliar with it.” Speaking of God’s disposition, some people will say: “God’s disposition is a topic we study, explore, and focus on our entire lives, so we should be familiar with it.” As for God Himself, some people will say: “God Himself is who we follow, who we have faith in, and the One we pursue, so we are also not uninformed about Him.” God has never stopped His work since creation, throughout which He has continued to express His disposition and used various ways to express His word. At the same time, He has never stopped expressing Himself and His essence to mankind, expressing His will toward man and what He requires from man. So from a literal perspective, these topics should not be foreign to anyone. For people who follow God today, however, God’s work, God’s disposition, and God Himself are actually all very unknown to them. Why is that the case? As man experiences God’s work, they are also coming into contact with God, making them feel as though they understand God’s disposition or know a part of what it is like. Accordingly, man does not think he is a stranger to God’s work or God’s disposition. Rather, man thinks he is very familiar with God and understands a lot about God. But based on the current situation, many people’s understanding of God is restricted to what they’ve read in books, limited to the scope of personal experiences, restrained by their imaginations, and above all, confined to facts they can see with their own eyes. All of this is very far off from the true God Himself. So just how far is this “far”? Perhaps man is not sure himself, or perhaps man has a bit of a sense, a bit of an inkling—but when it comes to God Himself, man’s understanding of Him is much too far off from the essence of the true God Himself. This is why we necessarily have to use a topic like “God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself” to systematically and specifically communicate this information.

Picture of The Church of Almighty God | God's Work, God's Disposition, and God Himself I

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