Modern Day Pharisees’ Disruption Showed Me Their True Face

Pictures of the Church of Almighty God

Modern Day Pharisees’ Disruption Showed Me Their True Face

2019年4月20日

By Li Xianghe, South Korea

    In the eleven years my husband and I have been believers, we always attended gatherings at Pastor Jin’s church. He’s really well versed in the Bible and is quite well known in our area. In Bible studies he always explained things very systematically and I would go to him every time there was an issue I didn’t understand, and he’d resolve it using passages from the Bible. Every holiday I would take some fruit to pay a visit to him and he was always really warm with our entire family. He would always pray for us when something cropped up in our family and he was always very loving with the other believers, as well. I felt that Pastor Jin was genuinely serving the Lord so I looked up to him; I adored him. I felt that he was our spiritual father.

     Then, I had the good fortune of hearing Almighty God’s gospel of the last days, and after a period of time of reading Almighty God’s words and hearing brothers’ and sisters’ fellowship, I came to understand all sorts of truths: the mysteries of God’s six-thousand-year management plan to save mankind, the purpose of His three stages of work, the mysteries of God incarnating and doing work, how Satan corrupts people, how God judges and cleanses people through His words, as well as how God sorts people according to their kind and reveals every type of person’s destination and outcome, plus how to seek to attain full salvation and enter the kingdom of heaven. I saw how Almighty God’s words open up all the mysteries of the Bible, allowing me to understand truths I had never understood in all my years of faith. I became certain within my heart that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus. I accepted God’s work of the last days and also brought my two children before God; I began running my business while also performing my duty as well as I could.

    Once I was watching a gospel film on The Church of Almighty God website, and there was a pastor in it who wouldn’t accept Almighty God’s work of the last days and even used all sorts of tactics to crazily disrupt and hinder other believers from seeking and accepting it. I didn’t really dare to believe it because I felt that pastors were all people who devoutly served the Lord and always told members of their congregations to be watchful in their prayers to make sure they didn’t miss their chance at being raptured. If they heard that the Lord Jesus had returned wouldn’t they accept it joyfully? Why would they stand in the way? But not long after that, the plot of the movie played out in my own life….

    The Start of the Debate: Seeing the Pastor Scorn the Lord’s Return

    That day I was working at our fruit stand and listening to hymns of God’s words. Pastor Jin came by, smiled and greeted me, and then right away asked me why I had joined The Church of Almighty God. He said some things condemning it and advised me to go back to our former church. Hearing this angered me a bit, and I thought “You haven’t even looked into Almighty God’s work of the last days and you don’t understand the church, so how can you just condemn it like that?” But then I thought, “Pastor Jin probably hasn’t heard Almighty God’s words so he doesn’t know that it’s the true way. But he does understand a lot about the Bible and has served the Lord for many years and has always been awaiting the Lord’s coming. If he hears that the Lord Jesus has returned and has expressed truths to fully save mankind, he’d certainly happily accept it, right? If Pastor Jin accepted God’s work of the last days he could lead the other brothers and sisters in the church to accept it as well.” At this thought, I wanted to share the gospel with Pastor Jin, but because of my own limited understanding, I was afraid my fellowship wouldn’t be clear. I prayed to God within my heart, asking for His guidance. I then asked him, “Pastor Jin, how do you think the Lord will return and take us into the kingdom of heaven?”

    Utterly confident, he replied, “Isn’t it clearly stated in the Bible? ‘And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory’ (Matthew 24:30). So, when the Lord returns He’ll descend on a cloud in great glory for all mankind to see….”

    I quickly responded, “Pastor Jin, when investigating the Lord Jesus’ return we can’t just base it on one Bible verse. In fact, the Bible doesn’t just prophesy Him returning on a cloud; there are also a lot of prophecies about Him coming in secret, like ‘If therefore you shall not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and you shall not know what hour I will come on you’ (Revelation 3:3) and ‘Behold, I come as a thief’ (Revelation 16:15). These two verses very clearly prophesy that the Lord will return like a thief, which refers to Him coming in secret, so He wouldn’t let us know. So will the Lord’s coming be a secret, or will He openly come down on a cloud? On the outside, it looks like these passages are contradictory but the reality is that they aren’t. That’s because the Lord is trustworthy and His words cannot fail to come true. Since it was prophesied it absolutely has to come to be, so we can be certain that the Lord’s return will occur in two stages. First He’ll come in secret, and then He’ll appear openly. He has already become flesh and has been secretly working among mankind; He is Christ of the last days, Almighty God. Almighty God has already done the work of judgment beginning with the house of God and has uttered millions of words to purify and save mankind. He is separating the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares, and He is going to complete a group of overcomers before the great disaster. Once God’s secret work has been completed He’ll begin to rain down great disasters, rewarding good and punishing evil in accordance with every person’s deeds. He will then appear to all peoples on a cloud. At that time, everyone who has resisted, condemned, and refused to accept God’s work of the last days will fall into disaster, weeping and gnashing their teeth. This will fulfill this prophecy in Revelation 1:7: ‘Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.’ But the people who recognized God’s voice from Almighty God’s words, returned before His throne, accepted His work of judgment in the last days and were cleansed will remain and will enter into God’s kingdom. It’s evident that the Lord Jesus’ period of time of working in secret is the time that God saves mankind, and by the time He openly appears it will be too late to accept His work. That will be the time of punishment! Pastor Jin, I didn’t understand any of this until I read Almighty God’s words. Only God can express the truth and unveil mysteries; Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus. You really should look into Almighty God’s work of the last days.”

    After I had finished, Pastor Jin said disdainfully, “You’re trying to debate with me with your level of Bible knowledge? Haven’t I been the one to teach you everything you know about the Bible?”

    Seeing that attitude from him, I felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over me. I thought, “Is this the same Pastor Jin I’ve known all these years? I always thought of him as a very humble person. He was always telling us that we had to be the wise virgins and watchfully await the Lord’s coming. Now that he’s heard that the Lord has returned, why wouldn’t he seek it at all, but have such a scornful attitude?” I couldn’t really make sense of it, but I still wanted to advise him to look into it, so I responded, “Pastor Jin, God’s wisdom surpasses all and we as humans cannot fathom it. How can we just arbitrarily delimit how the Lord should come and work? We all know that the Pharisees knew the Scripture like the backs of their hands, but when the Lord Jesus came to work, not only did they not recognize Him as the Lord but they didn’t even seek or investigate His new work. Instead, they arrogantly clung to the letter of the Scripture and delimited the Lord Jesus’ work and words based on their own notions and imaginings. Ultimately, they nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross and were punished by God. Pastor Jin, do you really think that knowing a lot about the Bible is the same as knowing God? We should learn a lesson from the Pharisees, and seek and investigate God’s work of the last days with an open mind. That’s the only way we can welcome the Lord’s appearance!”

    Pastor Jin was at a loss for a response to that, so he just said bitterly, “Since you’ve been an enthusiastic seeker over your years of belief in the Lord, I’ll be praying for you. You have to get out of that church as soon as possible!” He then left in a huff.

    After he was gone I thought about his attitude about the Lord’s coming and felt that he didn’t remotely seem like someone who was eagerly awaiting His return. But then I thought of how he had served the Lord for many years and had expended so much in his work for the Lord—wasn’t that out of hope for the Lord’s return? Maybe it was because I wasn’t adequately equipped with the truth and my fellowship wasn’t clear enough. I figured that when he came by again I’d do my best to talk with him about God’s work of the last days.

    Another Debate: The Pastor Threatens Me With Expulsion so I’d Give Up the True Way

    Hardly a few days went by and Pastor Jin came back to the fruit stand. I was really excited at first, thinking that he had been looking through the Bible and had gained understanding of the Lord’s return. But to my surprise, he said smugly, “Deacon Li, the Bible says, ‘You men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? 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). This verse is very clear. The Lord Jesus went up into heaven on a white cloud, and when He returns He will certainly be on a white cloud as well.” Seeing that Pastor Jin was still so certain that the Lord would return on a cloud in the last days, I felt a little confused and thought, “Last time we talked about how the Bible also prophesies that He’ll come in secret. I thought that Pastor Jin would go back and engage in seeking, so why does he still think this?” Pastor Jin was going on and on about how the Lord should come on a cloud as if he were bound and determined to convince me of it, and I felt a bit of concern. “Although I’m totally certain that Almighty God’s work is the true way, I don’t understand enough the truth yet and he’s been a believer and a pastor for many years. He knows so much about the Bible. What if I don’t have enough discernment and I’m led astray by all those absurdities?”

    I quickly made a silent prayer to God and asked for His guidance so that I wouldn’t be deceived by the fallacies Pastor Jin was spouting. I then thought of a passage of God’s words that brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God had read for me: “Man believes that, following the crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus went back to heaven upon a white cloud, and took His place at the Most High’s right hand. Man conceives that similarly, Jesus shall descend, again upon a white cloud (this cloud refers to the cloud that Jesus rode upon when He returned to heaven), among those who have desperately yearned for Him for thousands of years, and that He shall bear the image and clothes of the Jews. After appearing to man, He shall bestow food upon them, and cause living water to gush forth for them, and shall live among man, full of grace and love, living and real. And so on. Yet Jesus the Savior did not do this; He did the opposite of what man conceived. He did not arrive among those who had yearned for His return, and did not appear to all men while riding upon the white cloud. He has already arrived, but man does not know Him, and remains ignorant of His arrival. Man is only aimlessly awaiting Him, unaware that He has already descended upon a ‘white cloud’ (the cloud which is His Spirit, His words, and His entire disposition and all that He is), and is now among a group of overcomers that He will make during the last days” (“The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God’s words clearly tell us that the “white cloud” is God’s Spirit, God’s words, and God’s disposition and all that He has and is. It’s not something physical at all. While God is working in secret we won’t see the Lord Jesus returning on a white cloud; it’s only after God’s secret work is completed that we’ll see that. This passage of God’s words is really clear; since I thought Pastor Jin would surely understand if he heard them, I read it out to him. Surprisingly, the moment I finished, before I could say another word, Pastor Jin pulled a long face and said with scorn, “The Bible is crystal clear on the issue of how the Lord will return. Why read another book? I’ve served the Lord as a pastor for many years—you really think you understand more than I do? Besides, if what you believe in were really the true way, why would leaders across the entire religious world condemn it? I urge you to turn back right away. At first I thought I could get Deacon Pu (my husband) to urge you to come back to our church—I never imagined you’d be so stubborn. If you insist on continuing to believe in Almighty God’s words, you can’t blame me for taking the necessary action. I’ll make a report in the church that you are believing in a heresy and I’ll have you expelled from the church. I’ll make sure everyone steers clear of you and casts you aside.”

    Hearing this left me stunned. I thought, “I’ve been a member of that church for more than a decade and the brothers and sisters there feel like my own family. Now that I’ve welcomed the Lord Jesus’ return, I wanted to share the gospel of the last days with you so that you could accept it and lead them into the fold as well. However, not only did you not seek or accept it, but turned the truth on its head and falsely claimed that my belief is heretical, wanting to kick me out of the church. That’s not how someone who’s been serving the Lord for all these years should behave.” I then thought of how my husband had yelled at me a few days earlier, “Pastor Jin said in church that anyone who believes in Almighty God will be expelled from the church. Aren’t you afraid of being kicked out if you keep believing in this? What will we do if the other brothers and sisters won’t have anything to do with us anymore? Some of them have already found out and they won’t even acknowledge us when they walk by the fruit stand. From now on you can’t go to The Church of Almighty God!” With all these facts laid out clearly before me, I finally realized that Pastor Jin was stopping believers from investigating God’s work of the last days by using threats of expulsion. It was so despicable, so sinister. I used to always think that he had served the Lord for all these years, that he was humble, and had love in his heart for other believers. But it turned out, he was a fake; he was deceiving others. Then that film popped into my mind—those pastors and elders of religious circles were pretending to be humble and pious in front of believers, but behind all that they were using all sorts of tactics, all sorts of methods to keep them from investigating and accepting God’s work of the last days. Seeing that Pastor Jin’s behavior was exactly the same as the pastors in that film, I felt a sense of revulsion and the high esteem I had held him in came crashing down in an instant. At that moment, I just continued to do my business and no longer paid him any mind. Seeing I was no longer paying attention to him, he slunk off.

    Continuing on the True Way but Cursed by the Pastor

    For the following two weeks, Pastor Jin would come to the fruit stand to talk to me from time to time, trying to convince me to return to his church, which I never agreed to. Seeing I wouldn’t listen to him, his humiliation morphed into anger.

    One day Pastor Jin stormed over to my fruit stand and, no longer referring to me as “Deacon Li”, said, “Xiangming’s mother (my son’s name is Xiangming), don’t be such a fool! The Bible clearly states ‘This same Jesus … shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven’ (Acts 1:11). So when the Lord returns He will definitely be on a white cloud—let go of this Almighty God stuff! On top of that, if you’re going to believe in that you can, but do you really need to drag your two kids into it? Deacon Pu has always had such a devout family, and even the kids’ grandparents were devout during their lives, too. I can’t let your family’s name be destroyed!” I was indignant hearing him say this and thought, “I’ve accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days which is keeping up with the footsteps of the Lamb and being raptured up before God’s throne. This is an incredibly wonderful thing, so how could you say I’m destroying my family’s name? What’s even more upsetting is that not only do you want to keep me from believing in Almighty God, but you’re even trying to control my children’s freedom of belief. How could you try to control our investigation of the true way?” I then rebuked him in my righteous anger: “God’s sheep heed God’s voice. No man can stand in the way of a person’s faith in God. My children have read Almighty God’s words and they understand that it’s God’s voice. That is the guidance of God! When I went to church before to seek and investigate, my children weren’t interested, but now they want to go to The Church of Almighty God with me. They have their own freedom of belief and I’m not putting limitations on them. Why would you try to restrict our children’s freedom of belief?” Pastor Jin couldn’t say anything to refute that, so he just said some angry, debased things to curse me and then stalked off. I was shocked by his behavior. Although I felt upset, I primarily felt confused. I thought, “Pastor Jin used to always pray for our family to be blessed, so why would he be so vicious today? Is it really because I’ve accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days that he’s so hateful and oppressive, that he’s cursing me this way?” I was really at a loss.

    After some time I shared Almighty God’s gospel of the last days with two sisters from my old church. They were happy to listen to Almighty God’s words and got in touch with me frequently. But not long after, Pastor Jin learned that they were looking into God’s work of the last days. I don’t know what sort of tactics he used to threaten them, but they stopped contacting me and started intentionally avoiding me. I felt not only upset, but angry, and I couldn’t help but think the Lord Jesus’ words rebuking 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). Not only did Pastor Jin refuse to accept God’s work of the last days himself, but was doing everything in his power to stop the other brothers and sisters from seeking and investigating it. He was even threatening people with expulsion from the church to keep them from accepting Almighty God’s work of the last days. Isn’t that just like the Pharisees who stood in the way of believers accepting the Lord Jesus’ work of redemption? Not only did they refuse to accept God’s salvation themselves, but even dragged other brothers and sisters down into hell with them. That will certainly be damned by God!

    Through God’s Words I Clearly See the Pastor’s True Face

    At a later gathering I related all of this to the brothers and sisters there, and Sister Li read a couple of passages of God’s words to me, “Do you wish to know the root of why the Pharisees opposed Jesus? Do you wish to know the substance of the Pharisees? They were full of fantasies about the Messiah. What’s more, they believed only that the Messiah would come, yet did not seek the truth of life. And so, even today they still await the Messiah, for they have no knowledge of the way of life, and do not know what the way of truth is. How, say you, could such foolish, stubborn and ignorant people gain God’s blessing? How could they behold the Messiah? They opposed Jesus because they did not know the direction of the Holy Spirit’s work, because they did not know the way of truth spoken by Jesus, and, furthermore, because they did not understand the Messiah. And since they had never seen the Messiah, and had never been in the company of the Messiah, they made the mistake of paying empty tribute to the name of the Messiah while opposing the substance of the Messiah by any means. These Pharisees in substance were stubborn, arrogant, and did not obey the truth. The principle of their belief in God is: No matter how profound Your preaching, no matter how high Your authority, You are not Christ unless You are called the Messiah. Are these views not preposterous and ridiculous?” (“When You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus Will Be When God Has Made Anew Heaven and Earth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “Those who read the Bible in grand churches recite the Bible every day, yet not one understands the purpose of God’s work. Not one is able to know God; moreover, not one is in accord with the heart of God. They are all worthless, vile men, each standing on high to teach God. Though they brandish the name of God, they willfully oppose Him. Though they label themselves believers of God, they are ones who eat the flesh and drink the blood of man. All such men are devils who devour the soul of man, head demons who purposefully disturb those who try to step onto the right path, and stumbling blocks that impede the path of those who seek God. Though they are of ‘robust flesh,’ how are their followers to know that they are antichrists who lead man in opposition to God? How are they to know that they are living devils who specially seek souls to devour?” (“All Who Do Not Know God Are Those Who Oppose God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

Pictures of the Church of Almighty God

    Sister Li shared this fellowship: “God’s words very clearly explain the root of the Pharisees and the current religious leaders condemning and resisting God. It’s primarily because of their arrogant nature, that they don’t understand God’s work, and don’t seek the truth at all. They really uphold themselves; they despise and hate the truth. They’re just like the Jewish Pharisees, who were always in the temple explaining the Scripture and praying for believers, even standing in the corners of the streets praying, so they seemed to be really devout. However, when the Lord Jesus came to work, even though the Pharisees clearly saw that His words contained authority and power, they remained arrogant, stubbornly clinging to their own notions and imaginings, thinking that anyone who wasn’t called Messiah couldn’t be God. They thought that anyone who wasn’t saving them from the Roman government wasn’t God, so they didn’t seek or look into it, much less accept the Lord Jesus’ work. And so they could maintain their own status and living, they wantonly fabricated rumors and bore false witness to madly condemn and frame the Lord Jesus. They did everything they could to stop believers from following the Lord, ultimately colluding with the people in power to nail Him to the cross. This was an enormous sin. Though the Pharisees waved the flag of serving God, they were secretly doing their own business, working and expending themselves for the sake of their status and their living. When the Lord Jesus came to work and save mankind, they became enemies to Him so they could keep believers firmly controlled within their own grasp. Looking at the facts of how the Pharisees treated the Lord Jesus, their attitude toward the truth, and the way they crazily wrested people away from God, it’s clear that in essence, they were antichrists who hated the truth.

    Now take a look at the pastors and elders within the religious world today. They’re very familiar with the Bible, they’re able to explain a lot of Scripture and theology, on the outside they appear very humble and devout, and believers all think of them as people who wholeheartedly serve the Lord and really adore them. However, now that God has returned in the flesh to work, the pastors and elders don’t recognize Him at all, but instead behave in an arrogant, self-aggrandizing way; they stubbornly cling to their own notions and imaginings and completely lack hearts of reverence for God. They refuse to seek or investigate Almighty God’s work of the last days. Just think—they are well aware that The Church of Almighty God has borne witness for years that the Lord has returned; the words expressed by Almighty God as well as gospel films and all sorts of other videos bearing witness to God’s work of the last days have been online for a long time. People from all denominations who love the truth have heard God’s voice, and one by one have come before Almighty God through seeking and investigating God’s work of the last days. But how many of the pastors and elders in religious circles have made the effort to seek and look into God’s work of the last days? And how many have accepted it? Most religious leaders have condemned Almighty God’s work of the last days just based on their own notions and imaginings and have used all sorts of tactics to ensnare and control believers under the guise of protecting their flocks. They don’t allow members of their congregations to look into or accept the true way, but try to play a mad tug-of-war with God over His people. Doesn’t this expose them as antichrists? Take this Pastor Jin, for example: When encountering God’s work of the last days, not only did he refuse to seek, but he trotted out his old qualifications, thinking of himself as so well versed in the Bible and so familiar with the Bible, so he just blindly clung to the Bible verses about the Lord Jesus descending on a cloud. He refuted and refused to accept the prophecies that the Lord Jesus would come in secret, even doing his utmost to condemn Almighty God’s work of the last days as well as hinder believers and keep them from investigating the true way. Plus, he tried to delude, intimidate, and threaten believers who had already accepted God’s work of the last days, even using the tactic of cursing in his efforts at disruption. He doesn’t want to allow anyone to follow Almighty God. We can see from how the pastors and elders approach the Lord’s return that they have arrogant nature and have intense hatred for the truth; they won’t remotely accept the truth. They are the antichrists revealed by God’s work of the last days—they are the modern-day Pharisees! However, God is almighty, and He employs His wisdom based on Satan’s trickery, so God has us gain discernment through the pastors’ and elders’ disruption and hindrances so we can see through their true faces as hypocrites who hate the truth. That’s the only way we’ll be able to completely reject them within our hearts, escape from the grasp of those antichrists, and unwaveringly follow Almighty God.”

    Nodding, I said, “This fellowship really makes sense to me. I used to lack discernment in this area and was taken in by Pastor Jin’s apparent devoutness. I thought that he was genuinely serving the Lord, and when I saw that film where the pastors and elders clung to the Bible and stopped other believers from turning toward God, I still believed that Pastor Jin couldn’t possibly be that way, just relying on my own notions and imaginings. I thought that he has such a good understanding of the Bible and is a devoted servant of the Lord, so when he heard the news of the Lord’s return he would certainly seek with humility. But after experiencing his attempts at hindering and disrupting me time after time, I finally realized that God’s words reveal people’s nature and essence. It doesn’t matter if it’s a pastor or just a regular believer—as long as they refuse to accept the truth, are arrogant and resist God’s work based on their notions and imaginings, their essence is the same as the Pharisees’ was. I then became able to clearly see Pastor Jin’s deception and hypocrisy When he heard the Lord’s coming he didn’t have any intention of seeking or looking into it. Not only would he not accept it, but he just wildly condemned and resisted it, also standing in the way of other believers so they wouldn’t investigate or accept God’s work of the last days. When I refused to be constrained by him and still accepted God’s work of the last days, he did everything he could to disrupt me, even cursing me. He’s not genuinely serving the Lord at all! He doesn’t bring believers before God. On the contrary, he has believers follow him all the while resisting God’s work of the last days so that they miss out on God’s end-times salvation. He is a modern-day hypocritical Pharisee and is a roadblock, a stumbling block for others on the path of entering the kingdom of heaven. He’s an evil demon swallowing up our souls!”

Pictures of the Church of Almighty God

    Now when I think back on all of Pastor Jin’s attempts to stand in my way, I have a myriad of feelings, and I’m particularly grateful for God’s salvation! Every time he took Bible passages out of context in an attempt to mislead me, God enlightened and guided me to refute his fallacies. Also, the other brothers’ and sisters’ fellowship helped me see the pastors’ and elders’ essence of hating the truth and being enemies of God, keeping me from being confused by the fallacies Pastor Jin was spreading, and thus losing out on God’s salvation. I really give thanks for God’s protection so that I could escape from the deceptions and binds of the religious world’s Pharisees and antichrists, and return before God. I also have sympathy for those brothers and sisters who have been hoodwinked by the pastors and elders, who do not seek, investigate, or dare to accept Almighty God’s work of the last days. I’ve seen that as far as welcoming the Lord’s coming goes, we can’t just blindly follow another human being or believe whatever another person has to say—we must focus on hearing the voice of God, praying more and seeking the truth, and viewing things in accordance with God’s words. This is the only way we’ll be able to welcome the Lord’s return. Otherwise, we will lose God’s salvation!

from The Church of Almighty God

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Dec 23, 2017167

Zhao Gang, China

It was bitterly cold this past November in Northeast China, none of the snow that fell to the ground melted away, and many people who walked outside were so cold that they stuffed their hands into their armpits and walked along cautiously, bodies bent over. The other day in the early morning the winds were blowing from the northwest, when I, my brother-in-law and his wife and about a dozen brothers and sisters were sitting in my home on the warm kang (a heatable brick bed). Everyone had a copy of the Bible beside them and in their hands everyone was holding a copy of the book Judgment Begins With the House of God. Two sisters from The Church of Almighty God were fellowshiping on the truth concerning God’s three stages of work. The two sisters were drawing pictures of the three stages of work as they fellowshiped: “God’s work for the salvation of mankind can be divided into three stages, from the Age of Law to the Age of Grace and then to the Age of Kingdom. Each stage of work is newer and more improved and also more profound than the previous stage. The work done in the last days is the final stage of work, in which God expresses words to judge and cleanse man….” We nodded our heads as we listened, and our minds felt especially clear: Who would’ve thought that God’s management plan for the salvation of mankind would have so many mysteries! Besides God Himself, who else could speak of the mysteries of these three stages of God’s work so clearly? This truly is the work of God! We fellowshiped into the evening of the following day, and our whole group expressed a willingness to seek out and look into Almighty God’s work of the last days.

After this the two sisters then fellowshiped on the truth regarding the significance of the incarnation of God, and the rest of us were listening attentively when all of a sudden our church leader Wang Ping showed up. When she entered the house she pointed a harsh finger at the two sisters from The Church of Almighty God and asked me: “What are these two doing?” I spoke frankly: “These are Sister Zhang and Sister Mu …” But before I could even finish speaking she said in an exasperated tone: “Who are Sister Zhang and Sister Mu? I see that they are preachers of the Eastern Lightning, they are sheep-stealers….” After Wang Ping finished talking, we all sat there in shock. I thought to myself: Sister Wang Ping has almost always talked about loving others as you love yourself and loving your enemies; why is it that today she comes in here saying such unreasonable things? Why is she judging and condemning these two sisters? I was thinking this over when I heard Sister Zhang calmly say to Wang Ping: “Sister, there are no hidden intentions in us coming here today. We just want to spread the gospel of the Lord’s return to you …” Wang Ping interrupted Sister Zhang and yelled out: “The Lord’s return? Not even those of us who serve as leaders know anything about the Lord’s return, so how could you know anything about it? That is not possible! The Lord Jesus said: ‘All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them’ (John 10:8). You both need to leave right now and never come back here.” When I heard Wang Ping say this I felt disgusted inside: Usually she always preaches well; how is it that she can be so compassionless all of a sudden? So I asked Wang Ping: “Sister Wang, it’s late. Where are you asking them to go? The Lord teaches us that we must love even our enemies, to say nothing of these two sisters who believe in God. If we treat these two in this way, we would in no way resemble believers in the Lord …” But before I could even finish what I was saying Wang Ping anxiously grabbed the hand of my brother-in-law’s wife and said to her and her husband: “If Zhao Gang doesn’t want these two women to leave then let’s go. We won’t listen to them!” When she finished saying this she furiously grabbed a hold of these two and walked out.

Pictures of the Church of Almighty God

       After they left Sister Mu turned to us and asked: “Brothers and sisters, how do you all feel about the scene that we just witnessed? Let’s discuss this together!” The brothers and sisters all turned their heads toward me, without anyone saying a word. I said frankly: “Sister, through our readings of the word of God over these past two days, and through listening to your fellowship, I firmly believe that Almighty God’s words are the truth, and that Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus. However, the things that Wang Ping said aren’t without reason. After all, she is our leader and she has had faith in the Lord for a long time. She is very familiar with the Bible and she has always used her energy to run around serving the Lord. If the Lord has returned, she ought to be the first to know.” Sister Zhang replied kindly: “People believe that God’s return should first be known by leaders who then tell believers about it, but is there really any kind of basis in the word of God for this kind of thinking? Is this a fact that conforms to the truth and to God’s work or is it not? Let us think back to the previous time that the Lord Jesus came to carry out His work. Those Jewish Pharisees also believed that they who had served God for generations certainly ought to be the first people that the Messiah should appear before if He came. The thought never crossed their minds that the Lord Jesus did not first reveal Himself to them, but rather first had those fishermen and publicans who were looked down upon listen to the gospel and come before the Lord. This fact should make us realize that God does not only enlighten those who serve as leaders. It’s not as though He does not enlighten the ordinary believers who follow them, for God is righteous and He certainly does not favor anyone. God approves kind-hearted people who thirst to seek out the truth. It’s just as the Lord Jesus said: ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. … Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God’ (Matthew 5:6,8). Almighty God also said: ‘God seeks those who long for Him to appear. He seeks those who are able to hear His words, those who have not forgotten His commission and offer up their heart and body to Him. He seeks those who are as obedient as babes before Him, and do not resist Him’ (“God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). This allows us to see that so long as we love the truth and thirst for the truth, regardless of whether or not we have any status, regardless of how much we know about the Bible, God will enlighten and guide all of us. He will allow us to listen to His voice and witness His appearance. If those who serve as leaders think that God must first give revelation to them when He returns, then this shows that they do not have any understanding of the work of God, they do not know God’s righteous disposition. It also shows that they are very arrogant. Just as it is said in the word of Almighty God: “And so I say that those who have ‘seen through’ God and His work are ineffectual, they are all arrogant and ignorant. Man should not define the work of God; moreover, man cannot define the work of God. In the eyes of God, man is smaller than an ant, so how can man fathom God’s work? Those who are constantly saying, ‘God does not work in this or that way’ or ‘God is like this or that’—are they not all arrogant?” (“Preface” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God’s almightiness and wisdom are deep and immeasurable. People are just little creatures. Their minds, their thoughts are finite. How could they be able to fathom the work of the Creator? So, as we wait for the Lord to return we ought to keep reverence for God in our hearts and search and investigate carefully. We ought not to use our own conceptions and imaginations to confine God and judge God according to our wishes, for this will offend God’s disposition, and it will also ruin one’s own chances of receiving salvation.” After listening to the sister’s fellowship I understood that we are so insignificant in the presence of God. We are even smaller than ants, and furthermore we have been corrupted by Satan to the point that we are full of corrupt disposition of arrogance and self-conceitedness. We love to always rely on our imaginations and conceptions to confine God. Whenever God’s work does not conform to our conceptions we even deny God, condemn God and resist God. Apparently if man does not understand the truth and does not have a single speck of reverence for God in his heart, it is possible for him to do whatever he wants. It’s very dangerous! This made me remember that the Lord Jesus once said: “I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in your sight” (Matthew 11: 25-26). It wasn’t until today that I saw that this really is how things are! Sister Zhang’s fellowship allowed me to recognize that this idea that “leaders ought to be the first ones to receive revelation when the Lord returns” is false and absurd, it simply does not conform to the truth, and it’s absolutely the conception and imagination of man. In reality, only those who thirst for the truth and seek the voice of God will have the opportunity to receive God’s work and His guidance and be brought before God. This gave me a new understanding of God’s fairness and righteousness. Thanks be to God!

Pictures of the Church of Almighty God

 Early in the morning on the following day, after Sister Zhang and Sister Mu had left, my fellow Brother Guan who is higher up than me in our church came to me and asked: “Brother Zhao, I heard that you all believe in Eastern Lightning?” I told him solemnly: “Yes, I accept Almighty God’s work in the last days, because through the words of Almighty God I have come to understand many truths that I previously didn’t understand, such as the mysteries of His three stages of work and the significance of the incarnation of God. I see that the words of Almighty God are ‘the words spoken by the Holy Spirit to the churches’ as prophesied in the Book of Revelation.” Brother Guan glanced over at me and said: “Brother Zhao, are you really going to follow what these people believe? Do you know what kind of people they are?” I said: “I see that their humanity is great and that they fellowship about the truth very clearly. Everything they discuss has to do with the truths of God’s work. I truly have gained a lot these past two days.” Brother Guan said to me angrily: “How can you be so stubborn? Hebrews 6:6-8 tells us: ‘If they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that comes oft on it, and brings forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receives blessing from God: But that which bears thorns and briers is rejected, and is near to cursing; whose end is to be burned.’ You are a preacher, you enjoy so much of the Lord’s grace, but not only are you not leading brothers and sisters to believe in the Lord, rather you are leading them to depart the church. Could it be that you are not afraid of being punished? If you do not turn around you might lose the Lord’s protection, and you will not be able to wish for the good days of old. Your previous sicknesses will recur, and your two children will not have good jobs….”

After brother Guan left I felt a little nervous, and I thought to myself: The things he said seem to have some reason to them, so what should I do just in case my faith in Almighty God causes me to lose the Lord’s grace? When I thought about this I felt my heart grow weak, so I hurriedly got down on my knees and prayed to God: “Almighty God! Brother Guan’s words have made me weak. God! Are the things he said actually true or not? I really don’t know what to do now….” As I was praying to God my wife came back, and I told her about what had just happened. After hearing this she said nervously: “Is that really what he said?” I nodded my head, and my wife said worriedly: “He has been a major leader who has believed in the Lord for many years, and he’s very familiar with the Bible. I feel that he would not tell lies. If it’s really going to be like what he says then what should we do?” At this time I suddenly thought of the truth of God’s three stages of work that Sister Zhang and Sister Mu had fellowshiped about: God’s work for the salvation of mankind is divided into three stages, but all three stages of work are carried out by one God. As I thought about this it suddenly became clear to me, and I blurted out to my wife: “I know that what Brother Guan said doesn’t seem right. He said that by accepting God’s work in the last days we are leaving the way of the Lord and betraying the Lord Jesus, but the words of Almighty God that we have been reading these few days are truly God’s voice. Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus. By following Almighty God we are actually following the footsteps of the Lamb. We are the ones who are the wise virgins. Why would the Lord punish us? …” We were in the middle of discussing this when Sister Zhang and Sister Mu came in …

from The Church of Almighty God

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I Found the Way to Discern Between the True Christ and False Christs (Part 1)

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I Found the Way to Discern Between the True Christ and False Christs (Part 1)

May 9, 201912

By Xiangwang, Malaysia

Editor’s Note: We are now at the crucial time of the Lord’s return. Because they believe in what the pastors and elders say, some believers fear being deceived by false Christs and so have become passive and guarded to the point where, even when they hear someone testifying that the Lord has returned, they still won’t dare to seek the way. Although by doing this they avoid being deceived by false Christs, they also become prone to rejecting the true Christ. So then, how exactly can one welcome the Lord’s return whilst at the same time be on one’s guard against false Christs? Sister Xiangwang found the answer, so let’s have a look together at her experiences.

The Pastor Won’t Let Us Listen to Sermons From Other Churches Because False Christs Have Appeared in the Last Days

I’ve believed in the Lord ever since I was a child, in which I followed my mother (who was a church deacon and Sunday school teacher). I would often attend gatherings and read the Bible with her and, as I got older, I moved from the infant’s group into the junior’s group.

Pictures of the Church of Almighty God

The pastor responsible for giving sermons to the junior’s group was a doctor of theology. He often told us that being a pastor was not easy and that it was very difficult to keep on being a pastor unless one was constantly being moved by the Holy Spirit. We therefore idolized him, believing him to be someone who was moved by the Holy Spirit and whom the Lord was most delighted in. When he would give us a sermon, he would often use two verses from the Bible: “And then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ; or, see, he is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect” (Mark 13:21–22). He would tell us that there would be many false Christs appearing in the last days and would exhort us to always be careful and not just casually go and listen to other sermons. Especially for those of us who had not yet laid firm roots in the Bible and whose statures were too small, he said it was best for us not to listen to, read or investigate any sermon preached by anyone from another denomination, so as to avoid being deceived.

Besides this, the pastor would also often mention some churches that we absolutely had to avoid at all costs, including that of Eastern Lightning, and he related to us some of the negative publicity that was circulating about Eastern Lightning, after which the members of my group all said that they would avoid that church. The pastor would often preach to us that, as long as we read the Bible a lot, maintained our regular attendance at gatherings and regularly performed spiritual devotions, confessed and repented our sins to the Lord every day and kept a patient watch at all times, then when the Lord came we would be raised up into the heavenly kingdom. I strongly believed in what he said and didn’t dare to casually go and listen to any sermon preached by another church, and I followed whatever the pastor said. And so, I felt that I was living in the safety zone of “waiting for the Lord to come.”

One day in August 2017, Brother Hu from our church suddenly came to my school looking for me, and he spoke very earnestly, saying, “I’ve got something very important to tell you. It seems as though your mom and your sister are now believing in Eastern Lightning.” I was stunned when I heard this news, and I thought to myself: “Isn’t the pastor always exhorting us not to have anything to do with Eastern Lightning? How could my mom start believing in it?” Brother Hu then talked about some of the negative publicity about Eastern Lightning, and the more I heard, the more afraid I became, and I felt very panicky. I couldn’t stop thinking: “What can I do? What can I do?” Just then, Brother Hu said, “Hurry home and ask your mom if she really has started to believe in Eastern Lightning. But when you ask her, pretend that you don’t know anything. First listen to what she has to say, then give me a recording of your conversation.” Because I was afraid that my mom had gone astray, I agreed.

I Argue With My Mom

Sure enough, no sooner had I returned home than my mom told me that the Lord Jesus had returned as Almighty God and that, in the last days, Almighty God was expressing many words and was performing the work of judgment beginning in God’s house in order to purify and change man, and to save man utterly from the bonds of sin. She went on to say that this was the last stage of God’s work to save mankind and that, if we missed it, we would not have another chance to be saved. She said that she hoped I would hurry to look into God’s work of the last days and attend a gathering with The Church of Almighty God. When she’d said this, I suddenly thought of the negative publicity concerning Eastern Lightning Brother Hu had told me about and I felt very conflicted. But in order to secretly record our conversation, I restrained my feelings and continued to listen to her.

The next day, my mom asked me to go online for a gathering with people from The Church of Almighty God, but I instantly cut her off and said, “Mom, I won’t attend their gatherings, and you shouldn’t attend them anymore either. You seem to be leaning more and more toward them.” My mom said gently, “Since I’ve been attending gatherings and fellowshiping with brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God, I’ve come to have a new awareness and understanding of God’s words in the Bible, and I feel certain in my heart that their fellowships are filled with light and that they arise from the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. What’s more, the words of Almighty God have solved many things that I was confused about, and I am now absolutely certain that The Church of Almighty God definitely has the work of the Holy Spirit and that the words expressed by Almighty God are the truth….” At that point, my mind was filled with notions about Eastern Lightning and I simply didn’t accept anything my mom said. Afterward, I went online to show my mom the negative publicity about Eastern Lightning that Brother Hu had told me about, and I said, “You see, mom? It says clearly here online, and our pastor often tells us not to look into Eastern Lightning as well. Please tell me you won’t have anything to do with them from now on.”

My mom didn’t look at the negative publicity online, but just continued to speak patiently to me, saying, “My dear daughter, the Chinese Communist government is an atheist organization that despises the appearance and work of God and despises anyone who has a religious belief. In China, Christianity and Catholicism are condemned by the CCP as cults, and the Bible is condemned as being a cultist book, with countless copies burned or destroyed, and now it is even banned from being sold in China. Many Christians and Catholics have been arrested, persecuted and imprisoned by the CCP, and some have even been maimed or killed. International human rights groups and western nations have vehemently denounced the Chinese Communist government many times. Can you really believe the words of such a God-opposing satanic regime? Is it qualified to assess and condemn the appearance and work of God? And why don’t the pastors and elders allow us to look into God’s work of the last days? Do their actions conform to the Lord’s teachings? The Lord Jesus told us, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 5:3). We can see from the Lord’s words that the Lord wants us to be open-minded seekers who actively investigate when we hear someone testifying the Lord’s return, for only then can we welcome the return of the Lord. My dear daughter, seeing as we believe in the Lord, why don’t we heed the Lord’s words but instead listen to what other people say? If we believe what the pastor says and we become passive and guarded, and we believe the negative publicity released by that satanic regime, does that accord with the Lord’s will? By doing that, aren’t we going against the Lord’s words? The Jewish believers at the time of Jesus did not seek or look into the Lord’s gospel, but instead they believed blindly in the rumors fabricated about the Lord by the Pharisees, and so they resisted and condemned the Lord Jesus and finally they crucified Him upon the cross and were thus punished by God. As believers in God, we must learn the lesson of the failure of the Jews and avoid missing our chance to welcome the Lord. It is prophesied many times in Revelation: ‘He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’ (Revelation 2, 3). From this verse we can see that, when the Lord returns, He shall yet speak more words, and if we wish to welcome His return, then we must learn to listen to God’s voice. Only by reading and investigating the words of Almighty God will you know whether or not they are the voice of God.” Having said her piece, my mom picked up a book entitled “Utterances of Christ of the Last Days” and handed it to me.

I looked at the book in her hands but didn’t take it. Because I still couldn’t accept what she was saying, I just said, “I don’t want to read it,” then turned and went to my bedroom.

As I Was Conflicted, I Sought the Lord’s Will

Sitting at my desk, I calmed down and thought about what my mom had just said, and I thought to myself: “What mom said actually wasn’t wrong. Eastern Lightning testifies that the Lord has returned, but I have just blindly believed what the pastor says and believed the negative publicity put out about Eastern Lightning by the Chinese Communist government without having even read the words expressed by Almighty God, and this now seems like an arbitrary decision on my part. If Almighty God truly is the Lord Jesus returned and I refuse to accept Him, then I will miss my chance to welcome the Lord. But the pastor always preaches to us that false Christs will appear in the last days, and if I happen to go astray, won’t my belief in the Lord all be for nothing?” My heart swayed back and forth, and I just didn’t know who to believe, so I called on the Lord: “O Lord! I’ve always yearned for Your return but now I’m afraid of being deceived by false Christs that appear in the last days. O Lord! People from Eastern Lightning are now testifying that You have returned, so if You truly have returned as Almighty God, then I ask that You enlighten and guide me, and allow me to recognize Your voice.”

The next day, my mom encouraged me again to attend one of her gatherings. After some hesitation, I decided to go online and listen to what they had to say.

When the gathering had just begun, I felt very agitated and I didn’t really listen to what the brothers and sisters were fellowshiping about. Later on, Brother Zhang gave fellowship about aspects of the truth such as God’s management plan to save mankind, the mystery of God’s three stages of work as well as the work of judgment God performs in the last days; my heart was drawn in and the more I listened, the fresher and newer it all felt. Although I had previously attended Bible study classes, the preacher had only talked about the miraculous nature of God’s work by mentioning the miracles He performed, or else he talked about how saints of the past had obeyed God to accomplish God’s commissions, and so on. He never once mentioned anything about God’s management plan to save mankind. Brother Zhang’s fellowship allowed me to gain some understanding about God’s work to manage mankind and everything he said were things I’d never before understood despite having read the Bible for so many years. By the time the gathering was over, I’d changed my mind. I decided that I would first investigate Almighty God’s work of the last days and that I would delete the recording I had made of my conversation with my mom.

Wise Virgins Hear the Voice of God

During our gathering on the third day, we talked about the difference between the wise virgins and the foolish virgins. Brother Zhang said, “The wise virgins are wise because they yearn for the appearance of God and know how to listen to God’s voice. They are intelligent and they possess caliber, and they are people who love the truth and seek the truth. Consequently, when they hear the news that the Lord has come, they actively go to seek and find out about Him, and people like this cannot be deceived by false Christs. The foolish virgins do not love the truth, they pay no attention to listening to God’s voice, nor do they know how; they are confused and have no discernment and, concerning the coming of the Lord, they can only cling to their own notions and imaginings to resist and condemn God’s work. For example, some brothers and sisters don’t pay attention to listening to the Lord’s words in their belief in Him, but instead they believe what the pastors and elders say. Whatever the pastors and elders say, that is what they believe and, although they believe in the Lord in name, in truth they follow and obey the pastors and elders. Then there are some brothers and sisters who focus solely on guarding against false Christs, and they don’t seek or investigate even when they hear someone spreading the news of the Lord’s return—isn’t this like giving up eating for fear of choking? Are People like this capable of welcoming the Lord’s return?”

Brother Zhang’s words suddenly jogged my memory, and I thought, “That’s right! For such a long time now, I’ve believed in what my pastor says, and I haven’t looked into God’s work of the last days. If Almighty God truly is the Lord Jesus returned, then does that not make me a foolish virgin who has been exposed? The Lord Jesus said, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you’ (Matthew 7:7). I’ve always looked forward to welcoming the Lord and now The Church of Almighty God is testifying that the Lord has returned. I should be a wise virgin and actively seek and investigate Almighty God’s work of the last days, for only that accords with God’s will.” And so, I decided to carry on looking into Almighty God’s work of the last days.

How to Discern Between the True Christ and False Christs🐳

At a gathering the next day, I asked, “Brother, you fellowshiped yesterday that the key to being a wise virgin is to focus on listening to God’s voice, and I feel like I now have a path to follow to investigate God’s work of the last days. But my pastor often says in his sermons that false Christs will appear in the last days to deceive people, so how should we discern between the true Christ and false Christs? I don’t understand this aspect of the truth, so I was wondering if you could fellowship this with me?”

Brother Zhang said, “This question you ask is crucial as it relates directly to whether or not we can welcome the Lord’s return. As long as we can understand the truth about discerning between the true Christ and false Christs, then no matter how false Christs may try to impersonate the true Christ, we will remain undeceived by them. In relation to how to discern between the true Christ and false Christs, the Lord’s word says, ‘Then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect’ (Matthew 24:23–24). The Lord’s words tell us clearly that false Christs in the last days will mostly use signs and wonders to deceive people. Because false Christs are devoid of truth and their essence is that of evil spirits and demons, they can only imitate the past work of God and perform some simple signs and wonders, or else misinterpret the Bible to confound people with profound theories. Only Christ is the truth, the way and the life, and only He can express the truth, show us the way and give us life. All who call themselves Christ but who cannot express the truth, the way or the life are certainly false Christs and pretenders, and this is the principle by which we can possess basic discrimination of false Christs.”

After listening to the brother’s fellowship, I carefully read this passage of Scripture again and then it suddenly all became clear: “Yes, it says assuredly in the Bible that false Christs will perform great signs and wonders to deceive people. So then how could those pastors who are so well-versed in the Bible not have seen this principle by which we can discern false Christs?”

Brother Zhang then sent through a passage of Almighty God’s words: “If, during the present day, there is to emerge a person who is able to display signs and wonders, cast out demons, heal the sick, and perform many miracles, and if this person claims that they are Jesus who has come, then this would be the counterfeit of evil spirits, and their imitation of Jesus. Remember this! God does not repeat the same work. Jesus’ stage of work has already been completed, and God will never again undertake that stage of work. … If, during the last days, God still displayed signs and wonders, and still cast out demons and healed the sick—if He did exactly the same as Jesus—then God would be repeating the same work, and the work of Jesus would have no significance or value. Thus, God carries out one stage of work in every age. Once each stage of His work has been completed, it is soon imitated by evil spirits, and after Satan begins to follow on the heels of God, God changes to a different method. Once God has completed a stage of His work, it is imitated by evil spirits. You must be clear about this” (“Knowing God’s Work Today” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

Brother Zhang gave fellowship, saying, “We can see from the words of Almighty God that God is an ever new and never old God, and He has never done the same work twice. Each time God launches a new stage of work, He expresses new words and gives man new paths of practice. When the Lord Jesus came, for example, He did not repeat the work of proclaiming the laws and commandments, but instead He used that work as a basis to perform the work of redeeming all mankind, and He gave the people of that time new ways to practice. For example, He taught people to confess and repent, to love their enemies, to learn to forgive and to love one another, and so on. Now Almighty God has come in the last days and He does not express the way of repentance over again, but instead He uses the work of redemption as a basis upon which to perform the work of judging and purifying man through words. During this stage of work, God does not perform signs and wonders, but instead expresses His words practically in order to reveal our corrupt dispositions and to judge our injustice. At the same time, God bestows on us all the truths we need to attain true salvation and He enables us to understand the path to dispositional change, through which we can cast off our corrupt dispositions and be led by God into His kingdom. The majority of false Christs, on the other hand, are possessed by evil spirits and are all exceptionally arrogant and absurd. They are unable to begin new ages, neither can they bring ages to an end, much less express the truth to show people the path to dispositional change. All they can do is imitate the past work of Jesus and perform a few simple signs and wonders to deceive people. As for the great miracles which the Lord Jesus performed, such as bringing the dead back to life and feeding the five thousand with two fish and five loaves of bread, false Christs are simply unable to imitate these deeds, for only God possesses such authority and power, and false Christs could never achieve such things.”

Only through the brother’s fellowship did I come to understand that God’s work is ever new and never old, and false Christs are only capable of imitating God’s past work and performing a few simple signs and wonders. They are incapable of doing God’s work, and as long as we understand the principles behind God’s work, then we will not be deceived. I had always been afraid of being deceived and I’d dared not listen to any sermon given by Eastern Lightning, much less seek and investigate Almighty God’s work of the last days. Instead, I’d stayed put in my church, listened to sermons there and praised the Lord, thinking that was the safest way to go, and that I would be reunited with the Lord in the future. Thinking about it now, however, being so passive and guarded and not proactively seeking the Lord’s utterances in the last days had really made me prone to missing my chance to welcome the Lord.

from The Church of Almighty God

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