The Confession of a Disobedient Son—The Church of Almighty God

The Confession of a Disobedient Son

Wang Jianwen

Anqiu City, Shandong Province

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I was once a leader of the Church of the “Truth of the Cross of Christ.” I was born into a Christian family. My grandpa and my father had been elders in the church. Nurtured by them, I was resolved from childhood to follow their will and devote a lifetime to serving the Lord faithfully. After graduation from senior high school, I began my full-time service. By the gifts given by the Lord, healing the sick and driving out demons and laying hands and praying, I brought 300 to 400 people to the Lord and built dozens of churches after several years of gospel preaching in and around Anqiu City. As I was a leader and was capable of preaching and much gifted, I won the believers’ admiration wherever I went. And I also considered myself as most faithful to the Lord. But I never expected that these things which I took as my merits led me to resist God’s work of the last days. Thanks to Almighty God’s loving chastisement and His authoritative word, I was conquered. Or else, I would have long died somewhere.

God Will Enlighten Anyone Who Has One Ten Thousandth of Desire to Seek—The Church of Almighty God

God Will Enlighten Anyone Who Has One Ten Thousandth of Desire to Seek

Wu Ming

Tieling City, Liaoning Province

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I was once a co-worker in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and I accepted the Lord Jesus in 1990. In 2001, our church heard a lot of unfavorable publicity about Almighty God’s work in the last days, such as, “The ‘Eastern Lightning’ is ‘heresy,’ something deceiving people. They always preach and have meetings in a sneaky way….” On the strength of such words, I vehemently resisted and blasphemed Almighty God’s work of the last days in the church, hindered the brothers and sisters from contacting the preachers of the “Eastern Lightning,” and reviled,unfavorable slandered, and drove away them many times. I thought, “If their God is the true God and their way is the true way, they should preach publicly in a big way. Who will not believe in the true God? Since they preach in secret for fear of being discovered by others, they cannot be doing anything good. As the saying goes, ‘Anything good won’t be hidden from others, and anything hidden from others cannot be good.’ And if they really beat and disable those who refuse to accept their belief, and also commit adultery, this further shows that they are heresy and a mafia.” So, I warned the brothers and sisters to “keep at a respectable distance” from the people of the “Eastern Lightning.”

A Confession by a Son of Sin—The Church of Almighty God

A Confession by a Son of Sin

Liang Meihua
Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province

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Your kind attention and your last admonition awake me from my deep sleep for years

My unatonable transgressions are a painful memory for me striking my conscience

Being at a loss I pray to you with trembling searching my heart with bitter repentance

….

Whenever I hear the hymn “A Repentance,” tears gush out from my eyes. My feelings of pain, remorse, and self-reproach are beyond expression. I bitterly hate myself for being so blind and foolish that I did not know God’s work and became a ferocious wolf which hindered the lambs from entering into the kingdom and became the foremost of sinners who resisted Almighty God’s work. I bitterly hate myself for being so numb and obtuse that although I was disciplined by God many times, I did not examine myself but instead stepped up efforts to resist Almighty God. If it had not been for Almighty God’s extremely great mercy and salvation, I would have long since died an unnatural death. Here, to make up for the pain and grief I have brought to God and for my indebtedness to God, I cannot but expose my taint and evil deeds to you brothers and sisters so that you can take warning from them and therefore break free from being bound by the rumors and come before Almighty God soon.

Almighty God’s Love Is So Real

Almighty God’s Love Is So Real

Chen Yunfeng
Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province

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In 1990, my wife and I found grace in the sight of the Lord and returned to Him. We both pursued hard, and a year later, I was selected as a co-worker in the Family Church of the Truth. Starting from April 2001, there were people preaching God’s work of the last days to me. In more than two years, those who preached the new work preached to me numerous times. But I rejected them all, for I had long heard from the leaders above that they believed in a “heresy,” a “cult,” and were a group of gangsters. I hated them to the bones, and resolutely refused to accept their way no matter what they said. And I went to the meeting places with other brothers to distribute adverse materials. We wantonly spread that the “Eastern Lightning” was a “cult,” a “heresy,” and a mafia, and they would gouge out people’s eyes or cut off their ears if they didn’t accept their way, and if they wanted to back out after accepting it, they would break their legs. We frightened the brothers and sisters by many alarmist words. As a result, they were so scared that none dared to accept Almighty God’s new work. Moreover, when I heard that anyone in the church had accepted the way, I would go with other brothers to denounce them, and if they didn’t turn back, we would expel them.

The Foolish Me Woke Up At Last—The Church of Almighty God

 The Foolish Me Woke Up At Last

Li Wei

Zhumadian City, Henan Province

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I was once a believer of the “Praise Church.” At the end of 1998, our leader warned us again and again in a meeting, “Now some people are preaching that the Lord has returned in the flesh. You must never believe it. It’s precisely a false way! It’s a false Christ, a deceiver! Because the Lord will come on the white cloud, and we all can see Him. Just as Revelation 1:7 says, ‘Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him….’” Hearing this, I thought, “Leader Liu has believed in the Lord for a long time and knows much about the Bible. It must be right to listen to him.” Since then, I strictly observed the leader’s words. I shut the door on the brothers and sisters time after time who came to preach Almighty God to me. Leader Liu showed more “care” for me than before and often came to my home to “water” me. So I assured him, “Brother Liu, you can rest assured! I only listen to you and follow you to the end. I will never believe in the false way! …”

Almighty God’s Word Woke My Heart Out of Its Deep Sleep

Almighty God’s Word Woke My Heart Out of Its Deep Sleep

Liu Xin

Zhumadian City, Henan Province

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I was born into a Christian family. I believed in Jesus with my parents since childhood. After I graduated from high school in 1990, the church began to focus on training me. In the summer of 1993, I was sent to Guangzhou to attend a three-month “professional preachers training class.” Because I was zealous in pursuing, I soon became a leader of the “Justification by Faith Church.” Since then, I rushed about among different churches all day, working for the Lord diligently.

Holding the Book of God’s Word in Hands, I Shed Floods of Tears—The Church of Almighty God

Holding the Book of God’s Word in Hands, I Shed Floods of Tears

—A Repentance Before the Coffin

Liu Jie

Shangqiu City, Henan Province

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I turned my face outward and saw that my coffin and shroud were there ready-made. When the moment I slipped my breath came, I would be put into them. Despair and loneliness welled up in me all at once. “I’m done! I’m done! I’m only in my forties. I’m very unwilling to die like this!” I looked out the window to the blue sky, tears wetting my pillow… Just at the moment I was at my last gasp and was dying, Almighty God stretched out His loving hands to me and conquered me by His powerful and authoritative words, so that I was revived in mind and body and gained a new life. Facing God’s great grace, I bitterly hated myself for grievous disobedience and great resistance. Thousands of words couldn’t express my great indebtedness to God. Thank Almighty God for giving me this opportunity to tell my personal experience of how I resisted God, suffered God’s punishment, and received God’s salvation. I hope all brothers and sisters will learn a lesson from it and not follow my footsteps…

Almighty God’s Word Awakened My Heart

Almighty God’s Word Awakened My Heart

Xu Yi

Chongqing Municipality

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I was formerly a co-worker of the Shouters. At a co-workers’ meeting in March 1996, our leader specially emphasized this: “A group of people are preaching ‘the queen of the south’ now. They go everywhere to steal the sheep from the churches. You must guard the church well and watch over the flock.” After I came back from the meeting, I immediately called together the local workers and told them of the “important” meeting content. From that time, I was on the alert, guarding against at every time the strangers who might come to steal the sheep.

Almighty God’s Word Conquered My Hardened Heart

 Almighty God’s Word Conquered My Hardened Heart

Fan Ni

Rizhao City, Shandong Province

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In autumn of 2001, I went back home for the National Day holiday. Before I arrived at home, I heard from a classmate that now there was a very powerful “heresy” called the “Eastern Lightning,” and my mother had been “deceived” by it for seven months. At the news, I was overwhelmed with anxiety, and I hurried to my uncle’s home (who was a preacher I adored). Before I asked anything about my mother, he said to me, “Your mother has accepted the ‘Eastern Lightning,’ and she runs around outside all day long. She went to the brothers’ and sisters’ homes to preach the gospel and even didn’t leave when they drove her. She has really disgraced me. Brothers and sisters in the church all came to ask me what to do with her, and I said to them that I didn’t acknowledge her as my sister anymore, she had been expelled by the church, and they could just drive her away. I heard that those people had discarded the Bible but read a so-called little scroll. That book is very powerful. Once you read it, you will be captivated. Do be careful, Xiao-ni. You must stand the ground. Though she is your mother, this is about belief. That doesn’t count…” Every word of my uncle pierced my heart, and I couldn’t help feeling nervous. “So it is true that the ‘Eastern Lightning’ is a heresy! Otherwise, how could my uncle speak about my mother in that way? How could my mother become like this now? Is it really true that she refused to leave others’ homes even when they drove her? …” I was sad and frightened. How I hoped that my uncle could draw her back! But from his words, I could know that my mother was already “irredeemable.” At that time, I just wanted to go home quickly to see my mother.

The way to home wasn’t far, but I felt that it took me a long time. On the way, my mind was in turmoil. I didn’t know how to face my mother and what I should do to recover her. However, after I got home, my mother showed great care for me as usual, and I couldn’t find anything abnormal about her. Watching her familiar figure, I thought of my uncle’s words. A fit of sadness seized me. I thought, “My father passed away not long before, and my elder sister got married. Only my mother and I were left relying on each other for life. But now, I have to draw a clear line between us for the Lord’s sake. And I have to guard against her lest I be deceived by her. She has been rejected by the brothers and sisters, and the Lord has also deserted her. Now, even her dearest daughter will keep away from her and guard against her…” As I thought of this, my tears gushed out. I called on the Lord in my heart, “O Lord! What is all this about? Why does such a thing happen to me? What should I do, Lord?”

I observed that my mother indeed stopped reading the Bible, so I argued with her many times, in the hope of persuading her back. But she insisted that the way she took was right, and she even tried to persuade me to accept Almighty God. My efforts proved fruitless. As I was sure that she had indeed gone astray, I prayed in the name of the Lord Jesus, asking the Lord to drive the “demon” in my home away. And I also racked my brains for a way to prevent my mother from reading that book. I thought, “If I burn the book, she can’t read it.” But several times when I wanted to burn it, I felt uneasy in my heart. So I failed to do it.

Soon, the holiday was over, and I had to leave home. But I still felt worried about my mother. So I said to my elder sister again and again, “Keep a good watch over Mum. If there is anything wrong with her, do give me a call.” However, my sister said, “Don’t think strange thoughts. I think our Mum is very normal, but the people in your church are abnormal. They abused others, beat others, and threw urine over others. I think they are even worse than the unbelievers.” I didn’t expect that my unbelieving sister could say such words. I had nothing more to say. So, with great worry in my heart, I went back to Beijing. But whenever I thought of what my uncle said about my mother, I felt very distressed. I had never expected that my mother, who had always been so stubborn and proud and never tolerated others’ disrespect for her, could bow to others! “Mum, how could you become like this? Why are you so silly? What force makes you do this? I really don’t understand!” How eagerly I hoped that my mother could “wake up.” I cried to the Lord, “O Lord! Where are You? Please save my mother! …” I prayed like that almost every day, and I hoped that I could go back home earlier to bring my mother back to the Lord.

Finally, in early August of 2002, I had an opportunity to go home. But after I arrived home, I learned that three aunts of mine and my cousin had all believed in Almighty God. I was stunned! It never occurred to me that within less than one year, there was such a big change. What troubled me more was that after knowing that I had come back, they came to preach to me every day. I thought, “You have no discernment and can’t stand the ground. I’m not like you.” So, no matter what they said, I refused to accept it. My mother got very worried about it. So, whenever she had time, she tried to persuade me to read that book. Later, I thought, “Right. If I don’t know what’s written in that book, how could I bring them back to the Lord? They are ‘captivated’ because of reading the book. What is there in the book that makes them so obsessed?” With that thought, I went to my uncle and discussed with him. However, he opposed it strongly. He said that reading that book was testing God. Hearing his words, I dared not read it. And I prayed for the Lord to strengthen my faith, so that I could stand and not be swayed by the “heresy.” Seeing that my heart was so hardened, my mother said to me, “My child, please read the book. Otherwise you will regret it! God has revealed all the mysteries and made clear all the truths to man. You will be clear after you read it.” “No, I won’t regret. I believe that the Lord Jesus won’t desert me.” I said determinedly. My mother cried, saying, “I am your mother. I won’t harm you. I have never begged you for anything before. But today I beg you. My dear girl, read it! This is indeed God’s word. If you don’t read it, how could you know whether it’s true or false? If you don’t read it now, it will be too late for you to regret when the fact is revealed…” My mother’s heartfelt words cut me like a whip. I began to struggle in my heart. “If Mum’s words are true, will I really not regret it then?” But I again remembered my uncle’s words, “Do be careful! Stand the ground. We should never betray the Lord Jesus! …” I was in a great dilemma, not knowing what to do. So I cried with tears, “Enough! Stop it! I don’t want to read it! You believe in yours and I believe in mine. Let’s not interfere with each other…” Hearing my words, my mother knelt on the floor and prayed in bitter tears, “O Almighty God! I have received such a great grace from You, but I can’t testify You. I’m really useless. I’m too ignorant and have hindered Your work. God! Please enlighten my daughter, so that she can understand Your eagerness of saving man and not be deceived by rumors anymore…” However, my mother’s earnest words didn’t move my numb and hardened heart. I watched her crying bitterly there with cold eyes, and even heartlessly took it as Satan’s scheme. I thought to myself, “What other trick do you have? Just play it! …” In the end, I could no longer bear listening to any of her advice, and only wanted to escape from there. Just when I turned around and was about to leave, my mother stood up and took hold of me, asking me not to leave. But I refused to hear anything. I flung her hands off and opened the door and ran out. “Child, come back! Listen to me…” My mother’s cries kept resounding in my ears… I wandered aimlessly, tears flowing down my cheek incessantly. I kept asking myself, “Why? Why is it so hard to believe in the Lord? Must my mother and I become enemies? …”

After walking around outside for a while, I went back home. I saw that my mother’s eyes were red, her voice became hoarse, and there were blisters on her lips. I couldn’t control my tears, and I covered my head with the quilt, and cried loudly. Distress, confusion, and despair welled up in my heart. I cried to the Lord, “Lord! I don’t want to leave You, and even less do I want to betray You. But You know I don’t have the ability to discern. You said that You would come again. Is Almighty God my mother preached really You? O Lord! I’m willing to seek You. If You have really come back, please enlighten me and give me guidance. I have no strength to struggle and no longer want to struggle. I’m willing to commit everything into Your hand…”

In the afternoon, my mother saw that my attitude changed for the better, so she asked two brothers to come to testify to me. At that time, I thought, “Anyway, I must make the matter clear!” One brother said, “Sister, I know that you feel pain and distress in your heart. We once experienced this as you do today. If you have anything you don’t understand, we can fellowship about it together…” Strangely, when I heard their words, I felt as if they were my relatives, and I didn’t feel strange to them at all. They were amiable and ordinary and were not as frightening as what those rumors said at all. So I put forward the question I was puzzled about all along: Why don’t you read the Bible anymore? One brother took out the Bible and showed me Hebrews 8:13, which says, “In that he said, A new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away.” And he also read me Revelation 5:1-5, “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. … And one of the elders said to me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.” Then he asked me, “God has opened the book and revealed all the mysteries of the Bible to us. Which one should we read, this opened book or the Bible?” I thought to myself, “Only God can open the book. Could it be that God has really come and opened the book? Is the book I wanted to burn the book opened by the lamb? If it is so, who will still read the Bible?” The brother seemed to read my thoughts. He opened the book of God’s word and read these words to me: “You all need to understand the Bible—it is very necessary that you do so. Today, you don’t need to read the Bible any longer, for there is nothing new in it; it’s all outdated. The Bible is a history book. If during the Age of Grace you were to eat and drink the Old Testament, practicing the requirements of the Old Testament age, then Jesus would forsake you, condemn you. If you had tried to impose the Old Testament on Jesus’ work, you would have been called a Pharisee. And so today, if you eat and drink and practice the Old and New Testaments, then the God of today will condemn you; you cannot keep pace with the work of the Holy Spirit today. If you eat the Old and New Testaments, then you are one outside the stream of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ day, He led the Jews and all those who followed Him according to the work of the Holy Spirit in Him. He did not look to the Bible for evidence, but spoke as His work dictated. He did not concern Himself with what the Bible said, did not lead His followers down a path found in the Bible. From the very beginning, He preached the way of repentance, and the word ‘repentance’ was not mentioned at all in all the prophecies in the Old Testament. Not only did He not follow the Bible, He brought forth a new path and did a new work. He did not make reference to the Bible when He preached, and the miracles He worked—healing the sick, casting out demons—had never been performed by men during the Age of Law. No one in the Age of Law did the work He did, taught those lessons, had that authority. He simply did His new work, though many people condemned Him, even crucified Him, by using the Bible. His work went beyond the Old Testament; if that had not been the case, why would they have nailed Him to the cross? Was it not because His teachings, His power to cure the sick and cast out demons, had never been recorded in the Old Testament? The work of Jesus was to bring forth a new path; He did not deliberately set out to ‘wage war’ against the Bible or abolish the Old Testament, but simply performed His ministry, bringing the new work to those who thirsted for Him and sought Him out. He was not trying to explain the Old Testament or defend its work. Carrying on the Age of Law was not His goal, for He did not care in the least whether His work was grounded in the Bible, but simply did the job that He needed to do. So He did not attempt to explain the Old Testament prophecies, did not base His work on words spoken in the Old Testament Age of Law. He did not concern Himself with what the Old Testament said, whether it accorded with His own work, did not care how other people saw His work or condemned His work. He simply kept on doing the job He needed to do, though many people condemned Him, invoking the words of the Old Testament prophets. In people’s eyes His work was not based on a shred of evidence, and in many ways it ran counter to what was recorded in the Bible. Were they not grossly in the wrong? Must God’s work obey any rules? Does He need to follow the words of prophets? Which is greater, the Bible or God? Why must God’s work be in line with the Bible? Is it really not within His right to stand above the Bible? Can He not depart from it and do other work? Why did Jesus and His disciples not observe the Sabbath? If He was to observe the Sabbath, to practice the commandments of the Old Testament, then why, after His coming, did He not observe the Sabbath, but washed others’ feet and covered His head, broke bread and drank wine? Were these commandments mentioned in the Old Testament? If Jesus was to adhere to the Old Testament, why did He break these rules? You must know which came first, God, or the Bible? As He is the Lord of the Sabbath, can’t He also be the Lord of the Bible?” I was greatly enlightened by God’s words, and I understood this: “God does not work according to the Bible, but speaks according to His work. God has already come now, and He has opened the book, expressed new words, and brought new ways outside the Bible.” At that time, I knew why my mother and those people didn’t read the Bible. Then the brother said to me, “God has unlocked all the mysteries in the Bible, and all the truths have been made clear to us. You will understand everything after you read the book of God’s word.” So, I agreed to read the book and make an investigation.

Early next morning, my mother said to me, “Read the book carefully. As long as you have a seeking heart, God will enlighten you.” So I began to read the book seriously. I sat there motionless for over four hours, reading the book in tears. God is really wonderful. When I read with a seeking heart, all the hindrances in my heart disappeared. I felt that God was speaking to me, communing with me like a bosom friend, so kindly and warmly. God says: “No one who believes in Jesus is qualified to curse or condemn others. You should all be someone who is rational and accepts the truth. Perhaps, having heard the way of truth and read the word of life, you believe that only one in 10,000 of these words are in line with your convictions and the Bible, and then you should continue to seek in that 10,000th of these words. I still advise you to be humble, to not be over-confident, and to not exalt yourself too highly. With your heart holding such meager reverence for God, you will gain greater light. If you carefully examine and repeatedly contemplate these words, you shall understand whether or not they are the truth, and whether or not they are life. Perhaps, having only read a few sentences, some people will blindly condemn these words, saying, ‘This is nothing more than some enlightenment of the Holy Spirit,’ or, ‘This is a false Christ come to deceive people.’ Those who say such things are blinded by ignorance! You understand too little of the work and wisdom of God, and I advise you to start again from scratch! You must not blindly condemn the words expressed by God because of the appearance of false Christs during the last days, and must not be someone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit because you fear deception. Would that not be a great pity? If, after much examination, you still believe that these words are not the truth, are not the way, and are not the expression of God, then you shall ultimately be punished, and be without blessings. If you cannot accept such truth spoken so plainly and so clearly, then are you not unfit for God’s salvation? Are you not someone who is not fortunate enough to return before the throne of God? Think about it! Do not be rash and impetuous, and do not treat belief in God as a game. Think for the sake of your destination, for the sake of your prospects, for the sake of your life, and do not play around with yourself. Can you accept these words?” After reading God’s words, I felt extremely ashamed. It was clear that these words were the truths. However, I believed others’ rumors and didn’t seek or investigate but blindly condemned and jumped to a conclusion. Wasn’t I trifling with my life? I believed in God yet denied God and even held to the Bible like the Pharisees of that time, thinking that it was wrong not to read the Bible and it was forsaking the Lord’s way. I was really too blind and ignorant!

I also read these words of God: “Are you aware of the burden you shoulder, your commission, and your responsibility? Where is your historic sense of mission? How will you serve as a good master for the next age? Do you have a great sense of masterhood? … How many people are waiting for you to be their shepherd? Is your task a heavy one? They are poor, pitiable, blind, and at a loss, wailing in the darkness, ‘Where is the way?’ … They have long been sealed off by the ruthless ropes and the history that is frozen in place. Who has ever heard the sound of their wailing? Who has ever seen their miserable visage? Have you ever thought how grieved and anxious God’s heart is? How can He bear to see the innocent mankind He Himself created suffering such torment? After all, mankind are the unfortunates that have been poisoned. Though they have survived to this day, who would have thought that they have long been poisoned by the evil one? Have you forgotten that you are one of the victims? Out of your love for God, are you not willing to strive to save those who have survived? Are you not willing to use all your effort to repay the God who loves mankind like His own flesh and blood?” After reading these words, I thought of what my uncle said, “Believers in Almighty God have gone astray. They abandoned their families…” Now, I fully understood why the believers in Almighty God were willing to give up everything. It was because they were burdened with the sacred mission to cooperate with God to rescue souls. Those rumors were purely slanders of the unreasonable people who were ignorant of the inside story. They were made out of nothing! We only saw that the believers in Almighty God ran around all day long, but we never quieted ourselves before God to think about and seek why they did so and what drove them to run around. Now when I thought about those rumors again, I realized that they were actually poorly fabricated, and if I had given them some thought, I could have discerned them. I really hated myself for having been so foolish and ignorant that I believed whatever others said and didn’t read God’s word earlier. I was too stubborn and too hardened in my heart, so that I missed many opportunities to be saved by God. I was really a muddlehead without any discernment! At that time, I regretted a lot. I was ashamed of my yesterday’s ignorance, blushed at my echoing others’ words, and felt bitterly remorseful for my stubborn disobedience. I knelt on the floor and prayed in tears, “O Almighty God! I’ve misunderstood You and grieved Your heart! You are the Lord Jesus we have been expecting, but I didn’t know You and thought that my mother had been taken captive by a ‘cult.’ Actually, she had already returned to Your bosom, but I resisted You and offended You! O Almighty God! I thank You that although I have been so disobedient and detestable, You have tolerated me and taken me back to Your home. Now, I won’t escape nor struggle. I only want to quiet my heart before You to enjoy Your words and seek to know You!”

From: How Was I Conquered by the Word of God

Recommendation:  About the Church of Almighty God

Believing Rumors Led to a Lifelong Regret—The Church of Almighty God

Believing Rumors Led to a Lifelong Regret

Zhu Lin

Shangqiu City, Henan Province

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I was formerly a middle-level leader in “Pentecostal Church.” One day in December 1999, I received from our General Assembly a booklet entitled “Resisting the Temptation from the ‘Eastern Lightning.’” It said, “The ‘Eastern Lightning’ is a heresy, a cult, which claims that the Lord has been incarnated as a female. It’s a mafia. If you refuse to join them after hearing their messages, they will gouge your eyes, cut off your nose, break your arms or legs. And they are promiscuous…” After reading these words, I accepted them as true without thought and immediately called the co-workers together for a meeting. At the meeting, I wantonly spread the words in the booklet, and emphasized that every co-worker must hammer them into all the believers so that they could have discernment and resist the “Eastern Lightning.” And I also made a rule: No one is allowed to receive strangers; whoever disobeys will be expelled. Despite this, I still felt worried, and I often went to the churches for a public or private investigation, ensuring that no believer would accept the “Eastern Lightning.”

Once when I was told that an elderly sister had accepted the “Eastern Lightning,” I hastened to her home and frightened her, “You are converted to a ‘cult.’ Aren’t you afraid that they will gouge out your eyes, cut off your nose, or kill you?” But to my surprise, she answered undisturbedly, “The ‘Eastern Lightning’ is indeed the true way, and they are not at all like what the booklet says! …” I was shocked: These people are really not simple! They have “taken captive” the long-time faithful believer in such a short time and even made her dead set on following them! I tried my best to persuade her back but failed. So I went to the churches and declared that the elderly sister had joined the “Eastern Lightning.” I also gave an order that all the brothers and sisters should reject her.

At a meeting in April 2000, I suddenly noticed a stranger among the attenders. I suspected him to be a scout from the “Eastern Lightning.” I really wished to pull him out and denounce him, but couldn’t do so because of the lack of proof. I could not but suppress my anger. Fixing my eyes on him, I insinuated that he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing and a fox entering a vineyard… A few days later, a sister came to me and said, “God has come back and started a new work…” Before she finished her words, I flew into a rage, saying, “The booklet says that you believers of the ‘Eastern Lightning’ are all corrupt and licentious, terribly filthy. But you have the cheek to preach your way to me! …” Just in this way I resisted God’s work of the last days crazily.

Despite my devoted effort and diligent service for the Lord, I was put into prison because of belief in the Lord in July 2000. There I was beaten and tortured terribly. However, I was too desensitized to realize that it was a discipline for my resisting Almighty God, but instead misinterpreted it as a trial from the Lord. So, after I was released in October, I again threw myself into resisting the “Eastern Lightning.”

One day, I heard that a renowned co-worker in our church had led some brothers and sisters into the “Lightning.” I hurried to his home and rebuked him, “The ‘Eastern Lightning’ is from a false Christ. You’ve followed the Lord for so many years; how can you be so undiscerning?” The brother responded, “Do you know how to distinguish the true Christ and a false Christ?” His question rendered me stunned and speechless. “How could you try to persuade me when you yourself can’t discern? Those nasty things you said about the ‘Lightning’ at meetings are actually all rumors made out of nothing! Now I have known that only the ‘Lightning’ is the true way! …” At such a rebuff, I felt my cheeks burning. Aware that he was too deep-poisoned to be brought back, l left in anger. From then on, my hatred for the people of the “Eastern Lightning” increased, and I made more effort to seal off the church, in the hope that my “loyalty” could defend the true way and revive the church.

Yet things went against my wish. The church not only failed to be revived by my “loyalty,” but instead it found itself almost on the brink of ruin: Jealousy, strife, and division arose among the co-workers. The believers’ faith and love grew cold, and some even returned to the world. I, who had been eloquent in preaching, now felt ever more empty and almost became a “stammering preacher.” I had no way but to muddle through it by explaining some verses and then talking about how to guard against the “Eastern Lightning.” The brothers and sisters were bored with it, and they either dozed or slouched. They seemed to come to suffer more than attend meetings. Seeing this, I was overwhelmed with bitterness, depression, and sadness. Many times I even cried out in dreams, “O Lord, where are You? Please save me!”

Just when I was in a tight corner, the King of the universe—Almighty God—stretched out His saving hand to me. One day in April 2001, I came to a host family through God’s miraculous arrangement. I had a fellowship with a brother about belief in God. When he said that God’s management plan includes three stages, that is, the Age of Law, the Age of Grace, and the Age of Kingdom, my heart banged in sudden alarm, “He’s from the ‘Eastern Lightning’!” At once, the words in the booklet came to my mind: If you refuse to join them after hearing their messages, they will gouge your eyes, cut off your nose, or break your arms or legs; and they are promiscuous… I trembled with fear and kept looking out of the window, seeking a chance to escape. In alarm, I thought to myself, “God is with me. What shall I fear? I will see what they can do to me.” So I gave up the thought of fleeing. I lay on the bed and shut my ears to anything they fellowshipped about. It was sultry hot that day, and they put a fan in front of my bed and kept it on. To relieve me from boredom, they played the tapes of hymns of God’s word for me. And they also asked me to put on the clean clothes and washed my dirty ones. Their good living out made me wonder, “They don’t seem to be evil people. They are all decent, well-behaved, and keep a clear distance from the opposite sex. There isn’t any sign of licentiousness on them!” At that point, that elderly sister’s words sounded in my ears, “The way they believe in is indeed the true way. It’s not like what the booklet says!” My heart gave a sudden bound, “That’s right! They are indeed not like what the booklet describes! Is it that what the booklet says are lies?” In order to confirm whether it was true or not, I pretended that I must leave, by which to see what they would do to me. Unexpectedly, they all knelt down on the floor and begged me to stay, with tears in their eyes. I was shocked. At that moment, a brother in his forties looked at me with expectant eyes and said, “Brother, please stay and hear God’s words! …” The moving scene and their warm, expectant eyes and sincere words melted my hardened heart. I asked myself, “Is this the ‘mafia’ the booklet says about? If what the booklet says is true, would they kneel down and persuade me to stay? Wouldn’t that be absolutely impossible?” The plain fact convinced me that the words in the booklet were completely tales!

So I agreed to stay. I came straight to the question I had in my mind, “You say that the Lord has returned to flesh. Do you have biblical basis?” One brother began to fellowship patiently, “In Luke 17: 23-25, the Lord Jesus 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 again be rejected of this generation.’ The ‘Son of man’ in these verses refers to the ‘incarnate flesh of God,’ not to the ‘Spirit,’ for the Spirit cannot possibly suffer and much less be rejected by this generation. ‘Again’ clearly shows that God will become flesh when He returns. Since it says ‘again,’ it doesn’t refer to God’s first incarnation. This is because there had been no case of God’s incarnation before Jesus’ incarnation. So from these verses we can see that God will come in the form of flesh this time.” “That’s right! I know these verses well, but why didn’t I understand the spiritual meaning?” The brother went on, “Apart from these verses, there are many other verses which can prove God’s coming this time in the form of flesh, such as Matthew 24:27, Hebrew 9:28, Luke 18:8, Revelation 1:13 and 11:15, and so on.” Then he read me the following words of Almighty God: “God became flesh because the object of His work is not the spirit of Satan, or any incorporeal thing, but man, who is of the flesh and has been corrupted by Satan. It is precisely because the flesh of man has been corrupted that God has made fleshly man the object of His work…. Man is a mortal being, is of flesh and blood, and God is the only One who can save man. In this way, God must become a flesh that possesses the same attributes as man in order to do His work, so that His work might achieve better effects. God became flesh to do His work precisely because man is of the flesh, and incapable of overcoming sin or divesting himself of the flesh. … For those to be saved, the use value of the Spirit is far inferior to that of the flesh: The work of the Spirit is able to cover the entire universe, across all mountains, rivers, lakes, and oceans, yet the work of the flesh more effectively relates to every person with whom He has contact. What’s more, God’s flesh with tangible form can better be understood and trusted by man, and can further deepen man’s knowledge of God, and can leave upon man a more profound impression of the actual deeds of God. The work of the Spirit is shrouded in mystery, it is difficult for mortal beings to fathom, and even harder for them to see, and so they can only rely on hollow imaginings. The work of the flesh, however, is normal, and based on reality, and possessed of rich wisdom, and is a fact that can be beheld by the physical eye of man; man can personally experience the wisdom of the work of God, and has no need to employ his bountiful imagination. This is the accuracy and real value of the work of God in the flesh. …” “God’s saving of man is not done directly through the means of the Spirit or as the Spirit, for His Spirit can neither be touched nor seen by man, and cannot be approached by man. If He tried to save man directly in the manner of the Spirit, man would be unable to receive His salvation. And if not for God putting on the outward form of a created man, they would be unable to receive this salvation. For man can in no way approach Him, much like how none could go near the cloud of Jehovah. Only by becoming a man of creation, that is, putting His ‘word’ into the flesh He will become, can He personally work the ‘word’ into all who follow Him. Only then can man hear for himself His word, see His word, and receive His word, then through this be fully saved. If God did not become flesh, no fleshly man would receive such great salvation, nor would a single man be saved. If the Spirit of God worked directly among man, man would be smote or completely carried away captive by Satan because man is unable to associate with God. … Only if God becomes flesh can He live alongside man, experience the suffering of the world, and live in an ordinary flesh. Only in this way can He supply man of His creation with the practical word that they need. Man receives full salvation from God because of God incarnate, not directly from their prayers to heaven. For man is fleshly; man is unable to see the Spirit of God and much less able to approach Him. All that man can associate with is God’s incarnate flesh; only through Him can man understand all the words and all the truths, and receive full salvation.” After hearing these words, I understood this: Mankind indeed needs God to become flesh this time. Otherwise, how could man be purified and completely saved by God? Then the brother fellowshipped with me about all the questions that confused me, such as why God is incarnated as a female, why people no longer need to read the Bible in the Age of Kingdom, why the churches have become so desolate, and so on. After his fellowship, my puzzle dissipated completely, “I have read the Bible for over ten years, but there were many truths I didn’t understand. Today I have understood all of them. The Lord has really come back!” I was excited and joyful beyond measure. Almighty God, who has unlocked all the mysteries, conquered me with His authoritative words. I couldn’t help falling down before God and prayed tearfully, “O Almighty God! I’m really most foolish! I neither sought nor investigated Your work but believed the rumors in the booklet blindly. And I sealed off the churches by spreading them and even disturbed those who had accepted the true way. It greatly hindered Your work and made many innocent souls lost. My rebellion was too much to speak of. I’m an unpardonable sinner. Even if I was cut into pieces, I couldn’t atone for my indebtedness to You. However, You still have mercy on me and uplift me, so that I have the honor to come to Your throne and hear Your voice. O Almighty God! Your tolerance is boundless, and Your love is exceedingly long and wide and high and deep! I will do my best to cooperate with Your gospel work in the rest of my life. And I will bring those brothers and sisters who truly love You to Your throne as early as possible to repay Your love and console Your heart!”

Dear brothers and sisters, here I just want to use my own experience to bear witness to you: Words are but wind, but seeing is believing. The words in the booklets are all unfounded attack and deceitful rumor, and they are also slander and blasphemy against the true way! In the past I believed them blindly, so I resisted God’s new work, which left me an irretrievable transgression and an indelible and shameful mark in my life. Whenever I think of it, I feel terribly remorseful. However, it is too late to regret it. Dear brothers and sisters, I sincerely hope that you can learn a lesson from me and no longer believe the malicious lies in the booklets or resist the Savior Jesus who has come again in the last days. Or else, you will end up in an eternal regret. Wake up, brothers! Wake up, sisters!

From: How Was I Conquered by the Word of God

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Almighty God Saved Me Through His Punishment

 Almighty God Saved Me Through His Punishment

Li Meirong

Zhumadian City, Henan Province

Picture of the Church of Almighty God

My name is Li Meirong, and I was a preacher in “the Sunday Meeting.” Because I was a long-time believer with seniority, I was given the name “Li Daogao” (which means my teaching was high) by the brothers and sisters. This is their opinion of me: Though without a high education, she can memorize the whole Scriptures; though without much power, she can “summon wind and rain” in the church. I was always proud of it. When the gospel of Almighty God was preached to our church, to show my “loyalty,” I resisted and condemned it frantically, hence God’s new work was hindered greatly in our area. I acted as a real antichrist and an unpardonable evil man. In the end, the punishment of Almighty God awoke me. Looking back, I was heartbroken with remorse…

It was in October, 1999. Our leader preached in a co-workers’ meeting, “Now there appears a false way, the ‘Eastern Lightning.’ It’s very aggressive! They believe in a female Christ. It’s an underworld organization. They are drawing people in from everywhere by all kinds of means. If you refuse to accept after hearing their preaching, they’ll gouge out your eyes, cut off your nose, and break your legs. From now on, you shall never receive any strangers. Whoever does it will be cast out of the church! …” Hearing what the leader said, I felt hatred and fear for this way. I thought to myself, “The ‘Eastern Lightning’ followers are so malevolent. It’s really a cult. I will fight against it with my last breath!” On my return, I immediately conveyed the words of the leader to the brothers and sisters and also devised a set of methods against the “Eastern Lightning.” I repeatedly told them to report to me or call “110” once they found the preachers of the “Eastern Lightning.”

One day in May 2000, no sooner had I come back home from the fields than a sister came and told me that two preachers of the “Eastern Lightning” were at her home. After hearing that, I rushed there. On seeing two stranger brothers, I burst into a storm of abuse: “You scums, what are you doing here? Want to snatch my ‘lambs’? You’re daydreaming!” “Sister, we just come to preach God’s gospel of the last days. We mean no harm to you. Besides, the ‘sheep’ all belong to God…” “Don’t talk nonsense here. Go away! Otherwise, I will call ‘110’!” I roared, driving them away.

On the morning of August 7, 2000, two strange sisters came to preach again, and I snarled at the sight of them, “You’re so cheeky! You stick to anyone you contact. Get out! Don’t foul my threshold! … You yourself believe in a queen and even want to take me in. A vain idea!” “Sister,” one of them said solemnly, “You condemn God’s work blindly without making any discernment. Do you not fear God?” I got furious, grabbing the broom and hitting her violently, and swearing ferociously, “You devil, God will punish your kind! …” They had no choice but to go away with tears. At that time, I was like a victorious “hero,” very pleased with myself.

God’s disposition is as a consuming fire. How could He tolerate my wild resistance against Him? One day in September, when I was cooking at home, I suddenly felt dizzy and weak at the knees, and I fell on the ground and fainted. It was a long time before I was found and sent to the hospital by my neighbor. The doctor diagnosed me with cerebral thrombosis. I was hospitalized for one month and spent 5,000 yuan on medical treatment. But the disobedient I didn’t realize it was God’s punishment. So, after I got out of the hospital, I still did everything to seal off the church and hinder the spreading of God’s gospel of the last days.

In the early spring of 2001, my daughter accepted God’s new work, and she came with a sister to preach it to me. I roared at my daughter wildly, “Damn rat, you believe in a cult behind my back. You’ve really disgraced me! Don’t come to my house any more. I’m not your mother and you’re not my daughter. I’ll have nothing more to do with you from now on. Just believe in your female Christ! …” The sister hurried to exhort me, “Aunty, aren’t we believing in one God? How could there be many Gods?” “Who believe in one God with you? You are of a heresy, a cult, and an underworld organization!” I said, in great anger. “Aunty, whether it’s right or wrong, you may have a listen and discern.” My daughter also pleaded with me with crying, “Mom, listen to me once. Sit down to have a listen!” “Get out! I have preached for years. How can I be fooled by you!” With this, I drove my daughter and the sister out mercilessly.

Due to my resistance, Almighty God’s punishment came to me again. One night in February, 2001, I suddenly got a tight feeling in my stomach. I thought that I ate too much and it would be all right after I rubbed it. However, the pain became more intense as I rubbed it, and in the end, it was so severe that I writhed on the bed. After a doctor’s examination, he told me that there was a tumor the size of a fist in my stomach, and the operation was impossible, which could only cause death. My husband had to bring me back from the hospital. During the several months, I suffered from the unbearable pain all day long, and truly tasted the pain of hell. I thought to myself, “I’ve served the Lord for years and guarded the church faithfully. Why does the Lord treat me in this way? Is the ‘Eastern Lightning’ I resist and condemn the true way? Is the One I resist the true God? …” At the thought of this, I felt very frightened. Then I had a heart to seek.

One day in May of the same year, my daughter and the sister came to see me again. Because of the illness, I dared not resist any more. I asked them, “The Lord Jesus is a male, but why do you say He has returned as a female?” The sister asked me, “What is God’s substance?” “His substance is Spirit.” “Since His substance is Spirit, does the Spirit have a gender? Gender is for created beings. There is no gender with God before He becomes flesh, and He has a gender only after He is incarnated and puts on the shell of a man. This flesh can do His work and represent Himself either in a male shell or a female shell.” Then she opened the book of God’s word and read: “Each stage of work done by God has a real significance. When Jesus arrived, He was male, and this time He is female. From this, you can see that God created both male and female for His work and with Him there is no distinction of gender. When His Spirit arrives, He can take on any flesh at will and the flesh represents Him. Be it male or female, both represent God as long as it is His incarnate flesh. If Jesus arrived and appeared as a female, in other words, if the conception by the Holy Spirit was to an infant girl and not a boy, that stage of work would have been completed all the same. If so, this stage of work would have to be completed instead by a male and the work would then be completed all the same. The work done in both stages is significant; no work is repeated or conflicts with each other. … If only the work of Jesus was done without the complement of this stage in the last days, then man would forever hold onto the notion that Jesus alone is the only Son of God, that is, God only has one son, and that any who comes afterward with another name would not be the only Son of God, much less God Himself. … There are some who believe that as long as He is a male who comes, He can be deemed the only Son of God and a representative of God. … If this stage of work is not done in the final age, then all mankind would be shrouded in a shadow of notion about God. If so, man would think himself to be of a higher status than woman, and women would never be able to hold their heads high. At such time, no female would receive salvation. People always believe that God is a male, and He always loathes woman and would not give woman salvation. If so, then is it not true that all women created by Jehovah and also corrupted would never have the opportunity to be saved? Then would it not have been pointless for Jehovah to have created woman, that is, to have created Eve? And would not woman perish for eternity? Therefore, this stage of work in the last days is to save all mankind….” Hearing this, I was brightened within: I always had notions about God’s gender in the past, and that is because I was too foolish and blind, and did not know God’s substance or understand God’s kind intention to save men!

But at the thought of the leader’s words, I felt worried. So I asked the sister, “Some people say you are of an underworld organization. Is it true?” “Aunty,” the sister said, “If we were really of an underworld organization, could we spare the lives of those who resisted God’s work and beat and cursed us? Besides, if their words were true, the victims would have reported it and the government wouldn’t sit back and do nothing. But in fact, throughout the whole country, is there anyone who has their eyes gouged out and ears cut off because of believing in Almighty God? Aren’t they rumors fabricated out of thin air by those who have ulterior motives?” The sister’s words caused me to think, “Yes, if they were of an underworld organization, how could I still live well like this after I repeatedly drove, abused, and beat them?” The sister read me another passage of Almighty God’s word: “The work of every age is begun by God Himself, but you ought to know that whatever the work of God, He does not come to start a movement or to hold special conferences or to establish any sort of organization for you. He comes only to carry out the work that He ought to do. His work is not restricted by any man. He does His work however He wishes; no matter what man thinks or knows, He focuses only on carrying out His work. Since the creation of the world, there has already been three stages of work; from Jehovah to Jesus, and from the Age of Law to the Age of Grace, God has never convened a ‘special conference’ for man, nor has He ever assembled all mankind together to convene a ‘special global working conference’ in order to expand on His work. He simply carries out the initial work of an entire age when the time and place are right, and through this ushers in the age to lead mankind in their lives.” At that time, I woke up as if from a dream and saw the light. Facing every word of truth of God, the disobedient me finally fell down before God and accepted Almighty God’s work gladly.

Through eating and drinking the word of Almighty God, I understood many truths I didn’t understand before and became more certain about God’s new work. The recollection of my disobedience and resistance against God threw me into deep remorse. Many times I confessed to God with tears, “O Almighty God, in all these years, I resisted You while believing in You, yet I thought I was loyal to You. I’m so blind and ignorant! I really hate it that I listened to my leader’s words without discernment, wantonly spread rumors to seal off the church, desperately hindered Your gospel of the last days from spreading in this area, serving as a Pharisee, and I even insulted, abused, and beat the brothers and sisters who preached Your good news to me. I’m really a heinous person deserving to die, worse than a beast! I should have been cursed according to my doings, but You awoke me through punishment and aroused me with Your words filled with power and authority, so that I saw Your wide, long, high, and deep love. Your selection of me is really Your exceptional grace and uplifting for me. Your kindness to me is so great that I cannot repay it enough, but I am willing to offer up my whole being to testify Your deeds.”

After accepting Almighty God’s new work, I began to cooperate in God’s gospel work. Soon, over thirty people in our church came before God. All the Glory be to Almighty God! Unexpectedly, several months later, the tumor in my stomach miraculously disappeared and other diseases all healed, from which I even more saw God’s wonderfulness. I thanked and praised God from the bottom of my heart!

Dear spiritual brothers and sisters, don’t believe the lies of those deceivers any more, and don’t resist God’s work because of believing rumors as I did. It will be too late to repent when God’s punishment comes. Think about it! Brothers and sisters, don’t adhere to your foolish way! When this opportunity is missed, it never comes again! It will be too late to repent when the gospel work of Almighty God comes to an end in the mainland China!

From: How Was I Conquered by the Word of God

Recommendation: Know more of the Church of Almighty God