Disturbances From the “May 28” Rumor (Part 1-2)
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May 09, 2018 |
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Disturbances From the “May 28” Rumor (Part 1-2)
The Rumors Collapsed in Light of the Facts, and Through Listening to God’s Voice I Returned Before Him
Two days later two sisters from The Church of Almighty God came to our store in the evening, and as soon as they saw our mom they got very excited and came up and hugged her. It was as if they were close relatives meeting again after being apart from each other for many years. They were both concerned with and respectful toward one another. I felt stunned seeing this, but I couldn’t help but be moved by this touching scene, and tears started falling down my face uncontrollably. Why was this? How could people who we had never met before seem just the same as warm-hearted family members coming together? I also saw that they were very dignified in their speech and manner and very friendly and good-natured in the way they treated people. They were nothing like how they were rumored to be! But then I thought to myself: “Ok, this might be how they appear in this moment, but I cannot let myself be deceived by them, I must continue observing them.” After this, I started keeping in touch with brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God.
After meeting with them several times I realized that the brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God just wanted to fellowship about the truth with us and share their experiences and knowledge, they didn’t deceive us in any way, nor did they harm us. On the contrary, they very patiently and compassionately helped us to understand certain perplexities and difficulties in believing in God. At the outset they bore witness to Almighty God being the appearance of the Lord Jesus. I did not accept this in my heart, so then they used the Bible to patiently explain to me the reasons that the religious world had become so desolate. They gave me an example, telling me: “Why was it that in the end of the Age of Law the temple turned into a den of thieves where money was exchanged and livestock and poultry were sold? One reason for this was that the religious leaders did not follow God’s laws and commandments, they were just abiding by what had been passed down by man, by the rules, and they were performing illegal deeds, resisting God and being rejected by God; another reason for this was that the work of the Holy Spirit had already developed forward, God had already become flesh, carrying out the work of the Age of Grace outside of the temple. The Holy Spirit was no longer carrying out work in the temple, the temple had become desolate. In the same way, the church today is also desolate because the pastors and elders are not following the way of God, they are going against the Lord’s commandments, they are frantically resisting God’s new work, God has long ago rejected them, the Holy Spirit is not carrying out the work among them; at the same time, it’s also because God is carrying out new work in the last days that He has taken back all the work of the Spirit throughout the entire universe and given it to those who follow His new work. These people have already once more received the work of the Holy Spirit and entered into the city of “rain.” But those who have not received God’s new work will be left in the city where there is no “rain,” and there they will wither up. This “rain” is referring to the work of the Holy Spirit, it is referring to the new word of God. This has fulfilled exactly what is said in the Book of Amos 4:7: ‘And also I have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city: one piece was rained on, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.’”
Their fellowship really was in line with the Bible, and it was in line with the word of the Lord. What they said made a lot of sense, but since I had been deeply influenced by the rumors disseminated by the CCP and the pastors and elders in the religious world, I still guarded against them and resisted them in my heart. I did everything that I could to find a hole that I could use to refute them. Even though this was how I treated them they still very patiently fellowshiped with me, which made me realize God’s will and know God’s work. Later on the sisters also fellowshiped with me about the truth of God’s three stages of work. After hearing about this I felt shocked, apparently Christ of the last days—Almighty God has uncovered all the mysteries of God’s 6,000-year management plan to save mankind. God’s work in the Age of Law was that He used the name “Jehovah” to lead the lives of the Israelites, and through Moses issuing the law He made man aware of his sins; God’s work in the Age of Grace was that He used the name “Jesus” to carry out the work of redemption, ultimately being nailed to the cross and becoming a sin offering for man, thereby bearing his sins and forgiving him for them; God’s work in the Age of Kingdom is that He is using the name “Almighty God” to carry out the work of judging man and cleansing man in the last days. Almighty God has issued words to judge man and chastise man, thereby disposing man of his sinful nature and allowing man to be cleansed and attain God’s salvation, bringing him into God’s kingdom, and entering into a new heaven and a new earth. God’s three stages of work are closely linked together, proceeding deeper step by step, complementing one another, not a single one is dispensable, they are the work of one God, and it fulfills the prophecies in the Book of Revelation where it says: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, said the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Rev 1:8). “It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end” (Rev 21:6). In that moment my heart felt like it was being woken up, and I felt very excited. Up to now I had already had faith in the Lord for over twenty years, but regardless of whether it was in Mainland China or overseas I had never before heard any pastor or elder preach a sermon as good as this. As far as God’s plan and the prophesies of the Bible are concerned, these are all mysteries, nobody knows, yet those who believe in Eastern Lightning speak so clearly about so many things, such as God’s plan for managing mankind, and the steps, principles, details and effects to be achieved in each age of God’s work, as well as the disposition expressed by God, and God’s demands and will for mankind, as if they were enumerating their family’s valuables. I felt confirmation in my heart that the word of Almighty God is the expression of the Spirit of truth, that it truly is the voice of God. The Lord Jesus once said: “However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come” (Jhn 16:13). Now these prophecies have all been fulfilled and accomplished through Almighty God of the last days appearing and carrying out His work! Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus, and all this really is the work carried out by the same God.
Later on I also read the word of Almighty God where it says: “Christ of the last days brings life, and brings the enduring and everlasting way of truth. This truth is the path through which man shall gain life, and the only path by which man shall know God and be approved by God. If you do not seek the way of life provided by Christ of the last days, then you shall never gain the approval of Jesus, and shall never be qualified to enter the gate of the kingdom of heaven, for you are both a puppet and prisoner of history. … Without the coming of God, can you take yourself into heaven to enjoy family happiness with God? Are you still dreaming now? I suggest, then, that you stop dreaming, and look at who is working now, at who is now carrying out the work of saving man during the last days. If you do not, you shall never gain the truth, and shall never gain life” (“Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The word of Almighty God is full of God’s authority and majesty, and it reveals God’s righteous disposition. I know that the work that Almighty God of the last days is carrying out is the work of expressing the truth and bestowing man with life. So long as we accept Christ of the last days—Almighty God, and accept the word expressed by Almighty God, then we will finally be able to solve the root cause of our sin. Only then will we be able to attain the way of eternal life. And those who are not able to keep up with the pace of God’s work, who do not accept God’s salvation in the last days will never be qualified to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and in the end they can only be eliminated by God, causing them to perish and be destroyed. In the face of God’s words of judgment, I thought about how I had been so negligent these past years in my treatment of the fact of the return of the Lord, and I couldn’t help but feel somewhat afraid, and I no longer dared to go on treating this fact with such irreverence. I also thought back on the situations where I got along with the brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God and saw that they had some living out of God’s words: No matter what issues I raised, they always were very patient in giving me an answer using the word of Almighty God, they wouldn’t stop until I understood; sometimes sisters would come to my shop, and since the shop was small and didn’t have enough room for them to sit, they would stand for several hours, and they would even bring their own food to feed themselves; sometimes, in order not to affect my business, they would wait until the nighttime when I was finished with my business to meet with me and fellowship about the truth, and by the time our gathering was over it was already midnight when they returned home. One time there were two sisters who fellowshiped with me so late into the night that there was no train for them to take home, so they spent the night at the subway station. I saw these brothers and sisters bear such hardships and be so compassionate and patient, and I couldn’t help but think of what it says in the Bible: “You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit” (Mat 7:16-18). Ever since I kept in touch with the brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God, I saw that they lived in a way that was quite admirable, that they put into practice the two great commandments that the Lord Jesus asks men to practice: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like to it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mat 22:37-39). I wouldn’t dare say that they had already reached the Lord’s demands, but I saw that they were living out a part of the reality of these two commandments. And when this was compared with how brothers and sisters lived this out from the various sects and denominations, they were simply as different as the heaven and earth, these brothers and sisters didn’t live out even the least bit of forgiveness and patience, and they were full of jealousy and strife, and fought and struggled with one another, so much so that they would fight each other for fame and profit and status within the church, and as for what kind of tree they belonged to, it could be told according to the kind of fruit they bore. But I felt confirmation in my heart for the way that the brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God lived, the way they lived was not fake, it was an expression of their life after practicing God’s words. Because they followed the footsteps of the Lamb, had the work of the Holy Spirit, and had God’s word as their life, they were able to live out the likeness of a true Christian who brings glory to God and bears witness to God. At this time, under the leadership of the word of God and the powerful counterattack of these facts, these rumors about Eastern Lightning slowly collapsed within my heart.
