I Happily Welcomed the Returned Lord

At the age of 36 I developed bone hyperplasia. I went to many hospitals, but my illness didn’t respond to treatment. In the spring of 1996, I believed in the Lord, and then my illness was cured. After having enjoyed the Lord’s grace, I started to be zealous in my faith. Before long, I became a co-worker in the church and was in charge of teaching the sisters and brothers to sing hymns. In September of 1998, two sisters from other areas came to witness to us about the good news that the Lord had returned. After three days and three nights of fellowship, over 130 believers in our church all accepted God’s work of the last days. I couldn’t express how glad I was and never thought I could welcome the return of the Redeemer in my lifetime. Just as I was awash in the joy, I encountered all means of obstruction and trouble from the leaders and co-workers of my former denomination. I nearly fell into Satan’s cunning trap and departed from the true way. Right in the middle of the crises, it was God who sent brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God in time to fellowship about God’s words with me time and again, so that I could see through the leaders’ antichrist essence, break away from their bondage and stand firm on the true way.

A Spiritual Battle Started

About a week after I accepted God’s new work, the two sisters who preached the gospel of the last days came to hold a gathering for us. There were fifteen sisters and brothers who were listening to sermons at my home that day. One of the two sisters fellowshiped, “You’ve just accepted God’s work in the last days, so you need to have a good read of God’s words. Only by reading more of God’s words can we have faith to stand firm. The work done by God during the last days is principally that of separating the wheat from the chaff, and classifying all people according to kind. As for those who accept God’s work in the last days, believe in God with true hearts and love the truth, God will thoroughly save and perfect them; those who don’t accept God’s work in the last days, but instead resist and condemn it will be revealed as false believers, tares and evil servants and they will fall into disasters and be punished therein in the end. Now we’ve accepted God’s work in the last days. But in the spiritual world, Satan does not want us to accept God’s salvation, so it will use the leaders of your former denomination to hinder and disturb you. This is a spiritual battle, and we must rely on God to stand firm. …”

Since I hadn’t believed in Almighty God for very long, I seemed to understand the sister’s fellowship but did not really understand it. But what she fellowshiped about were truths and mysteries that I had never heard of before, so I thought that I must do my best to believe in Almighty God. While we were fellowshiping, two leaders of my former denomination suddenly came to my home with faces full of rage. When I saw them, my heart stopped and I felt a little afraid. I thought, “What are they doing here? If they know that we all have accepted the new work of God and that so many sisters and brothers listen to sermons at my home, what will they do to me?” As I was thinking about these things, I greeted them hurriedly, “You’re here! Come in!” They stormed into the room and one of them pointed at the two sisters, saying with a very fierce look on his face, “What are you doing? Are you preachers of Eastern Lightning? Are you stealing our sheep?” Then he looked around and pointed at the brothers and sisters angrily, saying, “Do not listen to them anymore!” As I heard the way he spoke, I thought, “The Lord Jesus taught us to love other people as we love ourselves. But, what love is there in this?” Therefore, I boldly and confidently said, “What they preach is the return of the Lord Jesus and is the true way. Today you are here. Just the right time for you to listen and study it.” The other leader turned his nose up at me, saying, with his hands on his hips, “Humph, you want us to listen together? Every day several knots of preachers of Eastern Lightning came to my home to preach to me, but I turned them away. Their preaching was indeed very profound, but I just couldn’t listen to them. Humph! All of you really have no foundation, so you’ve been bewitched after you listen to them.” Then he fiercely shouted at the two sisters, “You are adherents of Eastern Lightning. Even if it is the return of the Lord Jesus, we will not accept the gospel you are preaching!” Finally, he advised me, “The way of Eastern Lightning is different from the work the Lord Jesus did. Now you believe in Eastern Lightning. Isn’t it apostasy?” After hearing that, I felt somewhat miserable and thought to myself, “Is my faith wrong?” Just when I was hesitating, the young sister (one of the two sisters) said seriously, “Brother, we’re not committing apostasy. Think back to when the Lord Jesus arrived to do His work. When the Jewish Pharisees saw His work went beyond the law, they condemned that those who departed from the Old Testament law to believe in the Lord committed apostasy, abandoned the way of Jehovah God and betrayed Jehovah God. But in reality, the work the Lord Jesus did is a stage higher than that of the Age of Law and He freed people from the bindings of the law. Though the work of the Lord Jesus was different from the work of Jehovah God, they were still performed by one God. This is a fact nobody can deny. Will we say those who followed the Lord Jesus in the Age of Grace were apostates? Definitely not. But instead, we will say they were the wise virgins, kept up with God’s new work and enjoyed the presence of the Lord. Similarly, today our following the work of Almighty God is keeping up with God’s footsteps—”

But before she could even finish speaking, a leader said angrily with a wave of his hand, “Don’t say anymore! We don’t want to hear it!” Then he turned to me, “At our meetings, we’ve more than once told you not to receive strangers. This is all for your benefit. However, you don’t listen but believe in what they preach. You’re straying from the Lord’s way and being an apostate! How can you account for your actions to the Lord when He returns? …” After hearing these fallacies disseminated by him and threatening words, I felt a little bit afraid and thought, “If I really take the wrong path and lead so many believers to the same wrong path, how can I give an account to the Lord?” At that moment, my heart was in turmoil and I couldn’t calm myself. Later, I recalled slowly the days when I made contact with the two sisters from Eastern Lightning. I sensed that their fellowship was very enlightening. Right after that, I remembered a passage from the word of God: “From the work of Jehovah to that of Jesus, and from the work of Jesus to that of this current stage, these three stages cover in a continuous thread the entire gamut of God’s management, and they are all the work of one Spirit. Since the creation of the world, God has always been at work managing mankind. He is the Beginning and the End, He is the First and the Last, and He is the One who begins an age and the One who brings the age to an end. The three stages of work, in different ages and different locations, are unmistakably the work of one Spirit. All those who separate these three stages stand in opposition to God. Now, it behooves you to understand that all the work from the first stage until today is the work of one God, the work of one Spirit. Of this there can be no doubt.” With the timely enlightenment of God’s words, I understood: Right! The three stages of work are done by the same God. This isn’t wrong. In thinking of this, my heart was somewhat at ease. I said to them, “I think what they fellowshiped about is right. It is the same God that does the work of the three ages. That today we believe in Almighty God isn’t apostasy, but instead, is keeping up with God’s footsteps and His new work. As it says in Revelation 14:4, ‘These are they which follow the Lamb wherever He goes.’—” But before I could even finish what I was saying, he said in an exasperated tone, “It’s no use even if what you say is true. As long as you don’t listen to us, we’ll expel you from the church, warn the entire church you’ve believed in Eastern Lightning and let all believers forsake you.” After saying that, they left panting in rage.

Hearing that they would expel me, I felt somewhat miserable. I thought: If I, a believer of God, am expelled from the church, when my brothers and sisters know it, what will they think of me? How can I face them when we meet? Seeing that I had some worries in my heart, one of the two sisters hurriedly found a passage of God’s words and read it to me: “In My plan, Satan has, all along, been stalking behind each step and, as the foil of My wisdom, has always been trying to find ways and means to disrupt My original plan. Yet could I succumb to its deceitful schemes? Everything in heaven and on earth serves Me; could the deceitful schemes of Satan be any different? This is precisely where My wisdom intersects; it is precisely that which is wondrous about My deeds, and it is the principle of operation for My entire management plan.” Then she started to fellowship, “From God’s words, we see that in this stage of work, Satan always tails God from behind and tries all kinds of tricks to cause havoc to destroy God’s work of saving people. It can be said that where there is God’s work there is Satan’s disturbance. Now the leaders block you from turning to God. This is Satan’s trick and is God and Satan battling with each other over mankind. It’s fair to say, this is an intense spiritual battle. So we must rely on God to stand firm and can’t fall for Satan’s tricks.” After I listened to what the sister fellowshiped and to the word of God, some light began to shine in my heart. Only then did I realize that this was a spiritual fight and that Satan was using the fallacies disseminated by the leaders to disturb me so as to wrest me away from the presence of God. I would not fall for Satan’s tricks and must keep up with God’s footsteps. At this thought, I slowly calmed down. As it was getting late, we appointed a time for the next gathering and then everyone dispersed to their homes.

I Encountered Another Disturbance From the Leaders and Co-workers of My Former Denomination

When it was time for the meeting, over ten sisters and brothers came to my home. However, before we started the meeting, six leaders and co-workers of my former denomination came again by motorcycles with sullen scowls and they were all on their high horse. Because of my previous experience, I knew they came to disturb us. But I couldn’t help but feel a little timid and afraid, thinking, “Who knows how they will threaten me today?” I worried that I couldn’t deal with them because I understood too little of the truth. Then I hurriedly prayed to the Lord in my heart, “O Lord, today when facing these co-workers, I am a little constrained. I don’t know how to handle them. Please protect my heart so that I can stand the witness.” After my prayer, gradually I began to feel grounded. I greeted them calmly, “What are you doing here?” One of them started to insincerely advise me, “We heard that you have led the sisters and brothers to accept Eastern Lightning. You are fervent in your belief. I never thought that you would leave the Lord’s way so quickly. We come to advise and encourage you with love. You come back soon. We want the best for you….”

They continued saying many other words. Then they took out the Bible and said to me, “In the Bible, it is written, ‘This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven’ (Acts 1:11). ‘Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him’ (Revelation 1:7). The Lord left upon a white cloud and He will surely arrive upon a white cloud when He returns. Now we haven’t seen the Lord coming on a white cloud, so how can you say the Lord has already returned?” Seeing just how aggressively they were behaving, I called on the Lord silently in my heart, begging Him to protect my heart and lead me to stand witness. Thinking of what the sisters from The Church of Almighty God fellowshiped to me before, I said to them, “There are many prophecies in the Bible about the return of the Lord Jesus. In waiting for the Lord to return, we can’t just hold onto the prophecy that the Lord will descend on a cloud. The Bible also prophesied that the Lord will come as a thief, such as ‘Behold, I come as a thief’ (Revelation 16:15). ‘And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him’ (Matthew 25:6). In fact, there is no contradiction between these prophecies predicting the Lord’s return. They fully prophesy the way the Lord returns. That’s to say, the Lord will first come as a thief and descend secretly to do His work, and will appear to all of humanity in public atop clouds after He has completed His work. So when it comes to receiving the returned Lord Jesus, we can’t define the way the Lord returns based on our own imagination and conceptions. I urge you all to listen carefully. Look into it first and don’t blindly convict Almighty God.”

At that moment, some sisters and brothers whispered, “These leaders are expecting the Lord’s return every day. However, when the Lord has returned now, they don’t listen or accept His return; moreover, they hinder and disturb us from keeping up with God’s new work.” “They neither seek nor allow us to investigate. What kind of intentions are they harboring?” Seeing that I was unmoved, the leaders said to me intimidatingly, “You’ve taken the wrong path and led so many brothers and sisters to the same wrong path. When the Lord comes, He will condemn you as a great sinner. It isn’t too late for you to repent to the Lord earnestly now….” Then, they found some other passages of scripture and let me read them. Although they continued propagating some fallacies, I was no longer disturbed. I knew God was leading me all along.

I said to them, “Almighty God is the embodiment of the Spirit of truth and all He expresses is truth. He has revealed to us all the mysteries of the truth, such as the purpose of God’s management work, how Satan corrupts mankind, how God saves mankind, how God determines the outcome for people, what mankind’s destination is, and so on. It fulfills the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘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’ (John 16:13). Only God can do this type of work. I recall that the scripture also says: ‘Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert’ (Isaiah 43:19). Now God has done new work, but you neither listen nor look, much less investigate. How can you know whether or not Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus?” After hearing what I said, they had no reply to that and looked somewhat embarrassed. A leader said, pointing at me, “You’re irredeemable.” They looked at each other, saying, “This way is too lofty. As long as people listen, it’s so easy for them to get sucked into it and they can’t be budged by even nine oxen.” Hearing what they said and seeing their battered images, I thanked God from the bottom of my heart. I saw the authority of God’s word and knew God’s work cannot be stopped. Just like this, they disturbed me for one day. Because of God’s protection, I wasn’t deceived by them but stood witness. Seeing me still persist in my faith, they said to my unbelieving husband, “If someone from other areas comes, don’t receive him.” However, my husband said, “Aren’t you all believers of God? How can you say this way is wrong while that way is right?” Having seen my husband not hear them, they uttered some slanders against God’s work to block the sisters and brothers who preached God’s work of the last days from coming to my home. They didn’t leave until it was nearly dark.

Just like this, these leaders and co-workers took turns to come almost every day. One day, unexpectedly, there were eighteen leaders and co-workers coming to my home. Facing their constant disturbance, I was under a lot of stress and blows and my life was also disrupted. From then on, every time my husband saw I attended gatherings, he would beat and scold me. I became terribly upset. Then I could not help but be a little weak and negative and was caught in a dilemma. I thought: It’s not easy to welcome the return of the Lord. If I give up, I’ll miss this opportunity. However, if I continue to persist in my faith, it is so hard that I don’t know how to proceed. In my misery, I called out to the Lord earnestly, “O Lord! Ordinarily, the preachers admired by us interpret the Bible very convincingly. They told us that the Lord would soon come and that we should be the wise virgins waiting for and welcoming His return. Now I’ve welcomed the return of the Lord, but they, almost every day, come to my home to disturb me and block me from accepting it. What is going on? Why would they do this?”

Under the Guidance of God’s Word, I Have Seen Through the Essence of the Leaders of My Former Denomination

One evening, I went to a sister’s home and happened to meet the two sisters from The Church of Almighty God. Then I told them about my situation and difficulty in tears. Seeing me become a little negative, they comforted me and one of them read two passages of God’s word to me: “Be not afraid; with My support, who could ever block this road? Remember this! Do not forget! All that occurs is by My good intention, and everything is under My observation. Can you follow My word in all that you say and do? When the trials of fire come upon you, will you kneel down and call out? Or will you cower, incapable of moving forward?” “You must possess My courage within you, and you must have principles when it comes to facing relatives who do not believe. For My sake, however, you also must not yield to any dark forces. Rely on My wisdom to walk the perfect way; do not allow any of Satan’s conspiracies to take hold.”

Then she said, “From the words of God we can see: Now the last days have arrived, the devil Satan is searching for people everywhere to devour like a roaring lion. Today God has come to carry out the work of saving man during the last days. It is the time when His six-thousand-year battle with Satan is about to be concluded. Having seen so many sisters and brothers all accept God’s work in the last days, Satan is having a conniption. Thus, it does its utmost to use the leaders of your former denomination to disrupt and hinder you. Its purpose is to bear you away from God’s hands in order to make you lose God’s final salvation. This is Satan’s treacherous intention! We must see through its schemes. The more Satan disturbs us like this, the more we have to stand testimony to God and shame Satan.” After listening to what the sister fellowshiped and to the word of God, I thought: Yes! Since this is the true way, I will have God’s support, so I have nothing to fear and can’t be tied down or controlled by them. I must rely upon God in order to no longer fall for Satan’s temptations and to stand firm.

Finally, the other sister found another passage of God’s word and fellowshiped to me so that I could distinguish the religious leaders’ essence of opposing God. God’s word says: “There are those who read the Bible in grand churches and recite it all day long, yet not one among them understands the purpose of God’s work. Not one among them is able to know God; still less can any one among them accord with God’s will. They are all worthless, vile people, each standing on high to lecture God. They willfully oppose God even as they carry His banner. Claiming faith in God, still they eat the flesh and drink the blood of man. All such people are devils that devour the soul of man, head demons that deliberately get in the way of those trying to step onto the right path, and stumbling blocks impeding those who seek God. They may appear of ‘sound constitution,’ but how are their followers to know that they are none other than antichrists who lead people to stand against God? How are their followers to know that they are living devils dedicated to the devouring of human souls?”

The sister fellowshiped, “From the words of God we can see: Although these religious leaders have believed in God for years and know the Bible very well, when it comes to the return of the Lord, they not only don’t seek God’s will or lead the believers to investigate God’s work, but instead resist and condemn God’s work in the last days based on the letters of the Bible and their own conceptions and imaginings, and try to stop the believers from examining the true way. They have been revealed as evil servants and antichrists by God’s work of the last days. It is quite similar to the Jewish leaders. When the Lord Jesus came to do His work, the true appearance of the Jewish leaders who resisted God and hated the truth was exposed. The Lord Jesus once condemned the Pharisees: ‘But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in’ (Matthew 23:13). Today those leaders of the religion who condemn God’s work and prevent believers from accepting the true way are the same in nature as the scribes and Pharisees revealed by God’s words. Not only do they not accept God’s work in the last days, but they prevent you from accepting it. This further proves that they are none other than the wicked servants, antichrists and Pharisees who have been exposed during God’s work of the last days. Furthermore, we must be able to clearly see that the reason why they resist the work of God in the last days and disturb and hinder you from accepting it is that they see that more and more believers follow Almighty God and then no one will follow them, so their positions and livelihoods will be at risk. Therefore, to protect their positions and meal-tickets, they try every possible means to prevent you from accepting God’s salvation in the last days. It’s fair to say, their behavior is exactly the same as that of the Pharisees that hindered the Jewish people from following the Lord Jesus. We must see this clearly and be able to discern this!” Through God’s word and the sisters’ patient fellowship, I finally felt at ease. I said excitedly, “Thank God! Through your fellowship, I understand: Their intent and purpose of coming to disturb us time after time is to cage us believers. They are stumbling blocks to our entering God’s kingdom! They are just so despicable. From now on, no matter how hard it is to walk on the road and how the leaders and co-workers of my former denomination deceive and disturb me, I’ll no longer give in to Satan and will resolutely follow God to the end.”

I Overcame Satan and Stood Witness

Later on, although the leaders and co-workers of my former denomination came ceaselessly, I was no longer restrained. Seeing me not listen to them, they had the fact that I had accepted Eastern Lightning printed in small brochures, and distributed them to the sisters and brothers to make them all reject me and not receive me. My husband had some discernment of them after he saw their contemptible behavior. Gradually, he didn’t beat or scold me any longer. When I read God’s words or attended meetings, I was no longer controlled by him. Through over 40 days of the intense spiritual battle, I could see the wickedness and despicableness of Satan. In order to force me to abandon the true way, time and time again, Satan frantically besieged me and disturbed and obstructed me from accepting God’s work in the last days. This was truly an intense battle. Although I once felt that I was exhausted physically and mentally, and wanted to compromise with Satan, when I was besieged by Satan again and again, it was God who sent the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God to fellowship about God’s words with me. So that I no longer doubted but became certain about the true way, and gradually, I had faith in God again. Otherwise I couldn’t have stepped up at all. In the fierce, spiritual war like this, I acquired much discernment. I saw these so-called leaders of my former denomination were not people who loved the truth and thirsted for God’s appearance at all. Without such a revelation from God, I never would have known their true God-resisting faces. Thank God for saving me so that I broke away from the bonds and control of the leaders of my former denomination, and for leading me to see through Satan’s tricks, so that I could stand firm on the true way. Thank God! All the glory be to the only true God! Amen!