The Church of Almighty God | Without God’s Salvation, I Would Not Be Here Today

Without God’s Salvation, I Would Not Be Here Today

Zhang Jin, Beijing

August 16, 2012

I am an elder sister with two faulty legs. Even when the weather is nice out, I have some trouble walking, but when the floodwaters were about to swallow me up, God allowed me to miraculously escape danger.

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The Church of Almighty God | The Best Education (Part 2)

Liu Ying

Later, I saw it said in the words of God: “You are incapable of controlling yourself: Despite always rushing and busying about for himself, man remains incapable of controlling himself. If you could know your own prospects, if you could control your own fate, would you still be a creature?” (“Restoring the Normal Life of Man and Taking Him to a Wonderful Destination” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

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The Church of Almighty God | The Best Education (Part 1)

Liu Ying

I am 50 years old this year and from a young age I lived in a very remote and backward poor mountain village. There were eight people in my family, my maternal grandparents at the top and four brothers and sisters at the bottom, with only one person, my father, earning a wage in the production team.

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The Church of Almighty God | An Arrogant Believer’s Process of Transformation

Zhang Yitao    Henan Province

“God, Your work is so practical, so full of righteousness and holiness. You have been patiently working for so long, all for us. In the past, I believed in God but I didn’t have a human manner. I disobeyed You and hurt Your heart without knowing. I am full of shame and regret and am indebted to You. Only now do I realize this.

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The Church of Almighty God | God’s Love Was With Me in the Devil’s Dark Prison

Yang Yi, Jiangsu Province

I am a Christian of the Church of Almighty God. I have been a follower of Almighty God for over ten years. During this time, one thing I’ll never forget is the awful tribulation when I was arrested by the CCP police a decade ago. Back then, despite my being tortured and trampled on by evil demons, and coming close to death several times, Almighty God used His mighty hand to guide and protect me, to bring me back to life, and take me back to safety…. Through this, I truly experienced the transcendence and greatness of the power of God’s life, and gained the precious wealth of life conferred upon me by God.

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Due to Performing My Duty, I Was Granted God’s Enormous Salvation

Hong Wei, Beijing

August 15, 2012

On July 21, 2012, a very heavy rain began to fall. That day I just happened to have a duty to perform, so after our meeting was finished and I saw that the rain had lightened up a bit, I rushed home on my bike.

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The Church of Almighty God | Spiritual Awakening of an “White Angel” (Part 2)

Miaoxiao

Recognizing Mankind That Has Been Corrupted by Satan

From then on, every day before the dawn, I got up to read God’s words, pray and sing hymns and enjoyed the kind of peace and joy that I had never experienced before. One day, I saw that it said in God’s words: “Cruel, brutal mankind! The conniving and intrigue, the jostling with each other, the scramble for reputation and fortune, the mutual slaughter—when will it ever end? God has spoken hundreds of thousands of words, yet no one has come to their senses. They act for the sake of their families, and sons and daughters, for their careers, prospects, status, vanity, and money, for the sake of clothes, for food and the flesh—whose actions are truly for the sake of God? Even among those whose actions are for the sake of God, there are but few who know God. How many do not act for the sake of their own interests? How many do not oppress and discriminate against others for the sake of maintaining their own status?” (“The Wicked Must Be Punished” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“The sky above all mankind is murky and gloomy, lacking in even a glimmer of clarity. The human world is in pitch darkness, and when living in it one cannot see his own hand when he stretches it out before him and cannot see the sun when he lifts his head. The road beneath his feet is muddy and rife with potholes, and it is meandering and tortuous; the whole land is littered with corpses. The corners in the dark are filled with the remains of the dead. The cool and dark corners are crowded with hordes of demons taking up residence. Throughout mankind hordes of demons also come and go. The progeny of myriad beasts covered in filth is fighting hand to hand, in a brutal struggle, the sound of which strikes terror in the heart. In such times, such a world, and such an ‘earthly paradise,’ where does one go to seek out life’s felicities? Where would one go to find his life’s destination?” (“What a Real Man Means” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

God’s words go straight to the heart of the matter in revealing the truth of humanity’s corruption. They are so true and real. The whole of mankind has been corrupted by Satan. Satan’s life philosophies such as “Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost” and “If you have money, you can make the devil push the millstone for you” have become our laws of survival. People deceive, use and harm each other for gain and for money. They have no tolerance and even less affection. Like cold-blooded animals, they snatch and fight for a mouthful of food, humanity and reasoning completely lost. When I officially took on my role, I saw doctors in various departments conspiring and scheming against each other and management directly recommending drug companies to the hospital, inviting expensive commercial cheats who did not understand medical treatment to teach us how to deceitfully gain patients’ trust and extort their money in order to make money…. At first I did not approve of such behavior, but later, after seeing colleagues around me making big money by all kinds of means and leading luxury lifestyles, I was also gradually led astray and started to go with the crowd and lend myself to dishonest schemes. In order to make money I vied with other doctors, prescribed large prescriptions and expensive drugs, charged fees indiscriminately and even became numb and accustomed to this unconscionable and unethical behavior…. If it was not for God coming to save me today, I would still be addicted on living in sin and would have become one of Satan’s puppets or playthings unknowingly. Thinking of this, I thanked God from the bottom of my heart for His salvation.

The Pursuit of Being an Honest Person Set Me Free

Later, I lived a church life with brothers and sisters, singing hymns and praising God and my spirit felt at ease to enjoy and my heart felt incomparably happy. I had seen that brothers and sisters of the Church of Almighty God are all open and pure, treat others with sincerity and you do not need to guard against people harming you when you come into contact with them. Everyone loves each other and is as close as a family. I felt warmth that I had never felt before.

One day, at a meeting, I saw it said in God’s words: “Honesty means to give your heart to God; never to play Him false in anything; to be open with Him in all things, never hiding the truth; never to do that which deceives those above and deludes those below; and never to do that which merely ingratiates yourself with God. In short, to be honest is to refrain from impurity in your actions and words, and to deceive neither God nor man” (“Three Admonitions” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). God requires us to be honest people and to be true in our words and actions, to not deceive God, nor deceive people. Looking at brothers and sisters in the church, everyone practices being honest people according to the word of God, speaks the truth and acts in a just and honorable manner. They accept God’s observation in all matters and do not engage in insincerity and deception. Brothers and sisters respect and understand each other and can forgive and care for others. They can also take other people into consideration and do not do things which harm others for their own gain. From brothers and sisters, I have seen that it is great to be an honest person. This kind of life is really liberating! In the past, I did whatever I could and engaged in deception to make money in the hospital and everything that I did was under-the-table deals! From now on, I will work in accordance with God’s demands and live out the likeness of an honest man, by the principle of helping cure patients and helping them spend less and no longer depend on Satan’s poisons to live and do those unconscionable things.

Being an Honest Person Is Great

One time there was a patient with a general gynecological condition.

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The Church of Almighty God | Spiritual Awakening of an “White Angel” (Part 1)

Miaoxiao

Introduction

I am a retired obstetrics and gynecology attending physician. Most of my life was spent in an overworked void. I racked my brains to pursue status, fame and fortune and was unscrupulous in my efforts to make money, busy rushing around for several decades. I even betrayed my own conscience and personality and lost my humanity and rationality, living without any meaning. Until one day when I read the word of Almighty God and saw the truth that I had been corrupted by Satan I gradually had a spiritual awakening….

Yearning for a Strong Pillar

I was born in the city of X. My father was a veteran cadre, honest and loyal, with no real power in his work place and my mother did not work. In 1972, when graduating from high school, I took universal examinations and after many selections, I was assigned to a large hospital in X city for training and studies. Here I discovered that opportunities for promotion are not determined by one’s medical ethics and skill, but depend upon one’s connections and money. Again and again I saw people around me obtain material benefits through their connections and no matter how well I worked, because I did not have money or connections, nothing good happened to me and I was always discriminated against by others. To this end, I did not feel good-tempered and I thought if only I could have a solid pillar, it would be must better and I would be able to bring about an upswing to my situation.

The Fame and Fortune Which a “Behind-the-scenes Backer” Brought Me

One time, I inadvertently heard my father mention to my mother that his friend had become vice mayor in our city. Suddenly my eyes lit up. It was an unmissable opportunity that would not occur again! I hurriedly asked my father about his family’s situation, thinking: My family also had a “behind-the-scenes backer” after all. I underhandedly set my aspirations that I must make my mark through this connection. So I recommended my dean to the deputy mayor and kept sending my dean some small gifts. Afterward, the dean gave me the green light and arranged many opportunities for me to show my talents. After all kinds of examinations and assessments, I became an obstetrics and gynecology physician with rich clinical experience and a certain reputation. In this way, for several consecutive years, I got the city merit award and the honorary title of the outstanding medical staff member and gave lectures in the technical personnel classes of many hospitals. This completely satisfied my vanity.

“Brainwashing” by Corporate Cheats

In the past, I often thought that the hospital was a place to save lives and help the injured and that the profession of doctors was sacred. People called doctors “white angel.” But when I really became a doctor, once I had some understanding of the inside story of hospitals, I knew that this wasn’t in fact the case. There is infighting amongst doctors. It is a case of if you fight, I will struggle. They are all smiling tigers—outwardly kind, but inwardly cruel, privately attacking and excluding each other. Hospital management introduce pharmacists to the hospitals for profit. In addition, hospital management take a cut from them; even the Minister for Health and ministers from other industries send people selling drugs to the hospitals and the hospital management ask us to prescribe whichever drug has the highest cut. The most detestable thing is that they actually invite corporate crooks (people who do not understand medicine) to give us medical staff lectures. They taught us how to welcome and wave off people with smiles, deceitfully gain the trust of patients and their family and find ways and means to get patients’ money. They also asked us to do things which compromise our integrity, such as: invent an illness where there is none; treat a small illness as a big one; just use half the dose for infusions (but charge according to a full dose), because in this way, the patient’s illness will reduce, but will not get better as quickly and once the patient has spent almost all their money, the dosage that should be given can be used and in doing so, we can charge higher treatment and other fees. In short, they told us that we must steal all of the patient’s money and that this counts as being skilled. The cost of a day’s fees for these corporate cheats was as much as tens of thousands of yuan and the dean even referred to these liars’ absurd theories as industry secrets.

I Was Assimilated

After hearing this theory, at the time I felt very angry: Patients who have an illness are already suffering a lot. If we further “extort” money from them, then what will happen to them? I did not want to join them in their evil deeds doing such unconscionable things. But later I saw colleagues eating luxury food and wearing luxury clothes, who had bought cars and built buildings and who were living a high-quality lifestyle. I looked again at my meager monthly salary, which was just enough to cover living costs and felt somewhat unbalanced inside. This coupled with colleagues coming to see me personally to show me the way to enrich my family fortunes gradually distorted my outlook on life and I could not help joining the ranks of those “extorting” patients. Since then, I, like other doctors, prescribed large prescriptions and randomly prescribed drugs. At first, I still had some sense of conscience, but in the face of huge monetary profits, the little compassion I felt was all gone. Gradually, I became more and more fraudulent and learned how to size people up, making huge profits for the hospital and filling my pockets too. Money became my lifeblood and I saw patients as money. I made money for pleasure and enjoyment. At this time, I changed from a conscientious doctor into a ruthless “executioner.”

In addition to making bad money from the hospital, I also extended my reach to outside the hospital. From 1996, I spent my spare time visiting township hospitals seeing patients and even stole medical equipment from hospitals to carry out operations outside, like other doctors. In addition, I also abused my position to prescribe more drugs and took them to sell outside when practicing medicine. In this way, I was busy running around making money. My income from outside the hospital was three to four-times my normal salary. I was driven by interests for seven years. Not until SARS occurred in 2003 did I finally stop the external work.

Does Money Equal Happiness?

No longer visiting patients outside, my spare time increased. When the quiet of night came, I often asked myself: What has so many years of running around actually brought me? I always used to think that by having money, my family would be happy and safe, but actually this was not the case at all. Thinking back on my life so far, my husband saw I could make money and hadn’t worked for almost thirty years; he spent full days gambling in mahjong dens and also had an affair. He would usually return home at three or four in the morning and I was so angry that I would quarrel with him the whole day and even come to blows. After arguing, tears bathed my cheeks. My daughter saw that I could make money and from a young age, she was accustomed to eating well, wearing designer clothes and using luxury cosmetics. From a young age, she never cared about other people. When my daughter got married, I bought a new apartment for her and she later yearned for an apartment with an elevator and disliked the car that she drove and wanted to replace it for a new one…. My daughter and son-in-law desired more and more. When I could not meet their demands, they cursed me behind my back…. Is this really the life that I want? What has money actually brought me? Happiness? Security? Family happiness? None of these things! And all these years I had done so many unforgivable things and there was always a sense of fear in my heart, afraid that a medical incident would occur one day. These invisible pressures made me unable to breathe.

I do not know how many times I had sighed: O Heaven, what is the point of people living?

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The Church of Almighty God | The Light of Life Shining in the Devil’s Dark Den

Lin Ying    Shandong Province

My name is Lin Ying. I’m a Christian in the Church of Almighty God. Before I believed in Almighty God, I always tried to work with my own ability for a better life. But things ran counter to my wish; I got into trouble and was frustrated everywhere. Having fully experienced life’s hardships, I felt exhausted mentally and physically and felt extremely miserable.

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The Church of Almighty God | God Didn’t Have the Heart to Let Me Fall Into the Underworld

How a Public Security Bureau Local Station Chief Was Conquered by God’s Words

Zhang Jun, Sichuan Province

Almighty God says: “Look back to the time of Noah’s ark: Mankind was deeply corrupt, had strayed from the blessing of God, was no longer cared for by God, and had lost the promises of God. They lived in darkness, without the light of God. Thus they became licentious by nature, abandoned themselves to hideous depravity. Such men could no longer receive the promise of God; they were unfit to witness the face of God, nor to hear the voice of God, for they had abandoned God, had cast aside all that He had bestowed upon them, and had forgotten the teachings of God. Their heart strayed farther and farther from God, and as it did, they became depraved beyond all reason and humanity, and became increasingly evil.

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The Church of Almighty God | Embarking on the Path of Belief in God

Rongguang    Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province

In 1991, by the grace of God, I began to follow Almighty God because of an illness. At that time I didn’t know anything about believing in God, but the interesting thing is that, when eating and drinking of the words expressed by Almighty God, I enjoyed it. I felt that His words were so good, and when I sang or prayed I was frequently moved by the Holy Spirit to the point of weeping. That sweetness in my heart, that enjoyment was as if a joyous event had come upon me.
Particularly in get-togethers during the great work of the Holy Spirit, I felt as if I had transcended the flesh and I was living in the third heaven, that everything belonging to the world had been cast to the winds. I can’t say how joyful, how happy I was in my heart. I felt that I was the happiest person in the world. So at that time I believed that believing in God was just enjoying His grace.

As more and more of God’s words were being released (at the time they were being continuously sent to the church, passage after passage), I also knew more and more. Then, I was no longer fulfilled by merely enjoying God’s grace. When I saw “firstborn sons” mentioned in His words and I learned that God bestows great blessings on His firstborn sons, I sought to become one, hoping that in the future I could reign with God. Later on, when I saw in His words that His time was coming soon, I felt even more urgency, and thought: I started believing in God so late; will I be unable to gain this blessing? I need to put more effort into it. So when the house of God arranged for me to copy out documents, I was very proactive. I wasn’t afraid of hardship. I decided I wasn’t going to find a partner or a job so that I would be able to gain the blessing of being a firstborn son. If I could become a firstborn son, I was willing to throw anything out, to pay any price. In truth, God had never said definitively in His words that we could be firstborn sons. It was just because we were ambitious and had extravagant desires, we believed that because God had called us His “sons” and that He now uplifted us, that we would certainly become the firstborn. This was how I believed that I had, naturally, become a firstborn son. Later I saw words of God that had just been released that frequently mentioned “service-doers,” and there were more and more mentions of the judgment of service-doers. I thought to myself: Luckily I am following Almighty God, otherwise I would become a service-doer. When I read about God’s blessings and promises for firstborn sons, I believed that a portion of that would be mine. When I read His words of comfort and exhortation for His firstborn, I also felt that they were addressed to me. I felt even more delighted particularly when I saw the following: “The great disasters will certainly not befall upon My sons, My beloved. I will look after My sons in every moment and in every second. You certainly will not endure that pain and suffering; rather, it is for the sake of the perfection of My sons and the fulfillment of My word in them, so that you may recognize My omnipotence, further grow in life, shoulder burdens for Me sooner, and devote your entire selves for the completion of My management plan. You should be glad and happy and rejoice because of this. I will hand over everything to you, allowing you to take control. I will place it in your hands. If a son inherits his father’s entire estate, how much more so with you, My firstborn sons? You are truly blessed. Instead of suffering from the great disasters, you will enjoy everlasting blessings. What glory! What glory!” (“The Sixty-eighth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). I thought: Am I dreaming? Such incredible manna from heaven has landed upon me? I couldn’t completely dare to believe it, but I was afraid my brothers and sisters would say that my faith was too small, so I didn’t dare to not believe it.

One day, I excitedly went to participate in a meeting, and I saw that two workers had come to the church. When I was in fellowship with them, they said that they were service-doers. After hearing this, I was shocked, and asked them: “If you are service-doers, aren’t we all service-doers?” They spoke the truth without holding back: “Nearly all of us in China are service-doers.” Hearing them say this, my heart sank. It couldn’t be! Is this the truth? But when I saw their heavy, pained expressions and that the others’ faces were also very somber, I couldn’t not believe it. But then I changed my mind and thought: As workers, they had given up their families and careers, had suffered so much and paid such a great price for God’s work. I was quite lacking compared to them; if they are service-doers, what else could I say? A service-doer is a service-doer, so at the time, I didn’t feel too terrible.

After going home, I once again took up the word of God and looked at what God had to say about service-doers, and I saw this: “Those who do service for Me, listen! You can receive some of My grace when doing service for Me. That is, you will know for a time about My later work and the things that will happen in the future, but you will absolutely not enjoy that. This is My grace. When your service is complete, leave at once and do not linger. Those who are My firstborn sons should not be arrogant, but you may be proud, for I have bestowed endless blessings upon you. Those who are targets for destructions should not bring trouble on yourselves or feel sorrow for your destiny; who made you a descendant of Satan? After you have done your service for Me, you may once again return to the bottomless pit because you will no longer be of use to Me and I shall begin to deal with you with My chastisement. Once I begin My work I do not ever stop; what I do shall be accomplished and what I accomplish shall last forever. This is applicable to My firstborn sons, My sons, My people, and this goes for you as well—My chastisements of you are everlasting” (“The Eighty-sixth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). As soon as I read these words I was beset by a pain I had never felt before. I quickly closed the book of God’s words and didn’t dare to look at it again. In one moment feelings of aggrievement, of confusion, of discontent all welled up in my heart at once. I thought: Yesterday I was in a cradle of happiness, but today I have been pushed out of God’s house. Yesterday I was God’s son, but today I have become God’s enemy, Satan’s descendant. Yesterday, the limitless blessings of God were awaiting me, but today the bottomless pit is my destination, and I will be punished into eternity. If He’s not bestowing blessings, then no matter, but why does He still have to chastise me? What on earth have I done wrong? What on earth is all of this for? I wasn’t willing to face this reality; I was unable to face this type of reality. I closed my eyes and wasn’t willing to think about it anymore. I hoped so much that it was just a dream.

From then on, as soon as I thought of myself as a service-doer, I felt an unspeakable pain in my heart, and I didn’t dare to read the words of God again. But God is very wise, and His words which chastise and reveal people are not only permeated with mystery, but there are also prophecies of the future catastrophe as well as the kingdom outlook and similar things. These were all things that I wanted to know, so I still could not turn my back on His words. When reading God’s words, His razor-sharp words repeatedly pierced my heart, and I couldn’t help but accept His judgment and chastisement. I felt that the majestic wrath of God’s judgment was always upon me. Aside from the pain, I knew the actual truth of my having been corrupted by Satan. It turned out that I was the child of the great red dragon, Satan’s descendant, and the target of destruction. In despair, I no longer dared to greedily hope for any blessings, and I was willing to accept God’s predestination that I was a service-doer. When I felt that I could put my heart into being a service-doer, God once again brought out some things that had been hidden in me. One day when reading God’s words, I saw: “After I have returned to Zion, those on earth will continue to praise Me as in the past. Those loyal service-doers remain waiting to render service to Me but their function will have come to an end. The best that they can do is to contemplate the circumstance of Me being on the earth. At that time I will begin to bring down disaster upon those who will suffer calamity, but just as[a] all believe that I am a righteous God, I will certainly not punish those loyal service-doers and they will only receive My grace” (“The One Hundred and Twentieth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Seeing this, I secretly thought to myself: I will no longer think of the birthright of the firstborn and I will no longer want great blessings. Now I will only pursue being a devout service-doer. This is now my sole pursuit. In the future, no matter what the household of God arranges for me to do, I will do it as devoutly as I can. I absolutely cannot lose the opportunity to be a devout service-doer again. If I am not even capable of being a devout service-doer but am simply a service-doer, after I have completed my service I must return to the bottomless pit or the lake of fire and brimstone. In that case what is it all for? Then it’s better to not believe! I didn’t dare to express this thought to anyone, but I couldn’t escape the searching from the eyes of God. God used words as sharp as swords to pierce my heart and cut open my soul. His words were: “No one can fathom the nature of man except Me, and they all think that they are ‘loyal’ to Me, not knowing that their ‘loyalty’ is impure. These impurities will ruin people for they are a scheme of the great red dragon. It was long ago laid bare by Me; I am the almighty God, and would I not understand something so simple? I am able to penetrate your blood and your flesh to see your intentions. It is not hard for Me to fathom man’s nature, but people try to be smart alecks, thinking that no one but themselves know their intentions. Don’t they know that the almighty God exists within the heavens and earth and all things?” “Most people now harbor a small hope, but when that hope turns to disappointment they become unwilling to go any further and ask to turn back. I have said before that I don’t keep anyone here against their will, but take care to think about what the consequences will be for you, and this is a fact, it is not Me threatening you” (“The One Hundred and Eighteenth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). After reading this, my heart was pounding. I felt that God truly does see into every facet of man’s being. We think of something and God knows; we secretly hold some little hope in our hearts and God is disgusted; He does not allow this. Only at that time did I have a bit of a heart of reverence for God. I determined that I would no longer conduct transactions with God, but I would honestly act as a service-doer and obey His designs.

Only later did I know that my experience through these three months was the trial of service-doers. It was the first work God completed in people of a trial by His words. After undergoing the trial of service-doers, I understood that God is not only a merciful and loving God, but He is a righteous, majestic God who does not tolerate the offenses of mankind. His words contain authority and power, which cannot help but produce a heart of fear in man. I also knew that mankind is God’s creation, that we should believe in God and worship Him. This is what is right and proper. There need be no reasons, no conditions, and there must not be ambition or extravagant desires. If people believe in God in order to gain something from Him, then this type of belief is exploiting and cheating Him. It is an expression of lacking a conscience and reason. Even if people believe in God but gain nothing and later gain His punishment, they should believe in Him. Mankind should believe in and obey God because He is God. I also recognized that I myself am a son of the great red dragon, Satan’s descendant, and one of those who will perish. God is the Lord of all creation, and no matter how He treats me it is deserved. All of it is righteous, and I should obey His designs and arrangements without conditions. I should not try to reason with Him, and even more I should not resist Him. Thinking back to my own idiocy revealed in this trial, I saw that I truly was shameful, and that I was a genuine descendant of Satan, arrogant and unreasonable. I only wanted to gain some high status, great blessings, or even sit side-by-side with God and rule with Him, but I didn’t even know what I was or if I was qualified; I just shamelessly, greedily fought for it. When I saw that I would not gain the blessings I had hoped for but instead would suffer catastrophe, I thought of no longer believing in God and of betraying Him. These utterly transparent demonstrations made me clearly see that my goal in believing in God was to be blessed. I was clearly trying to conduct transactions with God; I truly was arrogant to the extreme, and I had completely lost the reason that a person should have. If it had not been for such wisdom in God’s work—using the trial of service-doers to conquer me, to break my ambition of gaining blessings—my conscience and reason would not possibly have recovered. I could not possibly have honestly accepted the truth, the way, and the life from God. In that case, I would never have been able to be saved or perfected.

After undergoing the trial of service-doers, I thought I no longer dared to believe in God and fulfill my duty in order to gain blessings, and I thought I no longer dared to do things with the intention of conducting transactions with God. I felt that exploiting and cheating God in this way was too despicable. But at the same time, I had a superficial understanding that God using this trial to save mankind is His kind intention, and I knew that there is no part of Him that hates man. His love for mankind has not changed since He created the world, so, in my heart, I was willing to pursue a path of satisfying and repaying God’s love in my future faith in Him and fulfillment of my duty. However, because the intention of gaining blessings and conducting transactions with God is too entrenched in people’s hearts, it’s not possible to completely resolve it by experiencing just one trial. After some time has passed, these things will show themselves again. So, in order to more deeply and completely conquer and save us, He performs several successive trials on us—the trial of the times of chastisement, the trial of death, and the seven-year trial. Of these trials, the one that I suffered the most from and gained the most from was the seven-year trial of 1999.

In 1999, I was arranged to go to a new district to act as a church leader. This happened to be the year that the gospel of the kingdom was greatly expanded, and the house of God required that we try to save everyone who had the possibility of being saved. When I saw this arrangement from the house of God, I thought that God’s work would be done in 2000. In order to get more souls and to obtain a favorable destination for myself when the time came, I made myself busy with the work of the gospel from early morning to late at night. As for the life of the church, I was just making an appearance and going through the motions. Even though I realized that my intentions were wrong, I just could not control my desire for gaining blessings. At the time I was quite busy, and I felt that doing anything aside from the work of the gospel was just holding me up, even eating and drinking the word of God. It was this way that I threw myself into a fervor of work, and before I knew it the year was over. The house of God had selected a local person to help with the work, so I returned to the area of my hometown.

I imagined that when God’s work was done, the great catastrophe would certainly occur, so after I went back home, I just waited at home every day for the disaster, waiting for the end of God’s work. When I saw that the Spring Festival was coming, my own problems emerged. Before, in order to avoid the issue of my family and friends asking me about getting married, I would always say that I’d get married in the year 2000. At that time, I thought that God’s work would certainly conclude in the year 2000, and as far as marriage goes, I could only hold on until 2000. I hadn’t imagined that 2000 would arrive so quickly—they would all come for the Spring Festival, and how would I respond to them then? Just as I was fretting over this issue, there was fellowship from the house of God saying that it is necessary to undergo seven years of trials. After hearing this message, I felt shaken and my heart was in turmoil. I couldn’t help but start to reason with God: Right now, I don’t even have a place to live with my family. They won’t allow me to stay at home long term—even one day at home like this is difficult. Another seven years is upon me—how is this any way to live? Oh God, I beg You to extinguish me. I no longer want to be perfected by You, I truly cannot endure this suffering anymore! The next day, I still could not escape from my depression. I thought: Anyway, it has been seven years. Tomorrow is another day—I’ll go out and get this off my mind. As soon as I got in the bus, I felt the Holy Spirit was inside of me reproaching me: At the time you were willingly seeking, you had paid your price, and said that you would love God to the end, that you would never leave Him, that you would bear any hardships and share any joys. You were a hypocrite who fooled yourself! Facing the Holy Spirit’s reproach, I couldn’t help but hang my head. It was true. Before, when I had enjoyed God’s grace, I made promises to Him, but now when there are difficulties and I must suffer, I want to go back on my word. So aren’t my promises just lies? God gave me so much love, and now when I encounter an environment that is not entirely as I wish I have such great resentment to the point that I want to turn my back on God. I truly am an ungrateful beast, no better than an animal! When I thought of this, I was no longer in the mood to go out, but returned home with a heavy heart. Even though I had been forced into being “obedient,” every time I faced the dissatisfaction of my family and the odd looks from those around me, I felt that believing in God was too painful, too difficult. When I thought of the fact that there were still seven years remaining in God’s work, I let go in my heart and whatever I did, I was not hurried or worried. I slogged through every day of fulfilling my duty like it was just another day on the clock. This type of negative and confrontational condition made me gradually lose hold of the work of the Holy Spirit, and although I wanted to transform my own condition, I was unable to.

One day, when I was eating and drinking the word of God, I saw His words that said: “When some people first started out they were full of energy, as though they would never run out when they began performing their duty. But how come as they go along they seem to lose that energy? The person they were then and the person they are now are like two different people. Why did they change? What was the reason? It is because their faith in God went the wrong way before it got on the right track. They chose the wrong path. There was something hidden inside their initial pursuit, and at a key moment that thing emerged. What was hidden? It’s an anticipation that lies inside their hearts while they believe in God, the anticipation that the day of God is arriving soon so that their misery will be at an end; the anticipation that God will be transfigured and that all of their suffering will be over” (“Those Who Have Lost the Work of the Holy Spirit Are Most at Risk” in Records of Christ’s Talks). God’s words caused me to seek the root of the problem. It turned out that I had a concealed hope within my pursuits, hoping that God’s day would come soon and that I would no longer suffer, that I would have a good destination. All along, my pursuits were dominated by this hope, and when my hope came to nothing, I suffered and fell apart to the point of betraying God, even thinking of escaping through death. Only at that time did I see that I had followed God for so many years, but its essence wasn’t pursuing the path of the truth; I had always had my eye on the day of God, and I had been conducting transactions with Him in order to gain His blessings. Even though then I could not help but stay within God’s household and not leave Him, if I did not resolve the contamination within me, sooner or later I would resist and betray God. After seeing this hidden danger within myself, within my heart I asked of God: What can I do to get rid of the contamination of hoping for the day? Then, I once again read God’s words, which said: “Do you know that in this country, while you can undergo these sufferings and enjoy the work of God, foreigners really envy you all? The wishes of foreigners are: We also want to experience the work of God, we will suffer anything for it. We want to obtain the truth too! We also want to gain some insight, gain some stature, but unfortunately we do not have that chance. … Making this group of people complete in the country of the great red dragon, making them endure this suffering, can be said to be the greatest exaltation. It was once said: ‘I have moved the glory of Israel to the East.’ Do you all understand the meaning of this statement now? How should you walk the path ahead? How should you seek the truth? If you do not seek the truth then how can you obtain the work of the Holy Spirit? Once you lose the work of the Holy Spirit, then you will be in the most danger. The suffering at present is insignificant. Do you know what it will do for you?” (“Those Who Have Lost the Work of the Holy Spirit Are Most at Risk” in Records of Christ’s Talks). From these words of God, I could see that there is great meaning in people today being able to suffer, but I could not put my finger on what the meaning of that suffering actually was. I just knew that only if I could see into the meaning of the suffering would I be able to truly transform my condition of hoping for the day of God. This was a path toward resolution. Although I did not understand the meaning of suffering at that time, the only thing I could do was to really pursue the truth, to seek the truth more, because only if I gained the truth could I truly understand the meaning of suffering, and only then could I be rid of this contamination within me.

As if time had been sped up, I blinked and it was already 2009. Those seven years were long gone, without me realizing it. I had come that far and finally felt that those seven years had not been as long as I had imagined. Those few years, in the judgment revealed in God’s words, in the revelations of God’s trials and refinements, I had seen my true face. I had seen that I was, through and through, a child of the great red dragon, because I was full of its poisons, such as the poison of “Don’t get up early if there’s no benefit, benefit takes the lead in everything.” This is a classic representation of the form of the great red dragon. Under the domination of this poison, my belief in God was only to be blessed. What I expended for God had a time limit, and I desired to suffer little and gain great blessings. In order to rid me of this strong intention to be blessed and transactional attitude within me, God completed multiple trials and refinements on me. Only then was the contamination in my belief in God purified. And I saw within God’s revelations that I was full of Satan’s corrupt disposition. I was arrogant, deceitful, selfish and despicable, reckless, and half-hearted. They made me see more and more clearly my own true colors, see that I had been too deeply corrupted by Satan, that I was the son of hell. That I could believe in God and follow God at that time was truly His uplifting and grace, and that I could accept His judgment and chastisement was an even greater blessing. My gratitude to God grew, my requirements shrank, my obedience to Him grew, and my love of myself shrank. I only asked to be able to throw off my corrupt satanic disposition, to be a person who truly obeys and worships God. This small fruit was achieved after who-knows-how-much of God’s work, including too much of His painstaking effort. To this day, experiencing God’s work, I have finally understood that God’s salvation of mankind truly is not easy. His work is too practical—His work of changing and saving mankind is not as simple as people would imagine. So, now I am no longer like a naive child, just hoping that the day of God will come quickly, but I always feel that my own corruption is too deep, that I am too much in need of God’s salvation and too much in need of experiencing His judgment and chastisement, His trials and refinements. I must now possess a bit of the conscience and reason that should be present in normal humanity, and properly experiencing God’s work of salvation of mankind. In the end when I can live out the model of a true person and receive God’s joy, my heart will be fulfilled. Now, when I look back and think of what I revealed of myself when those seven years of trials came upon me, I feel that I am too indebted to God, that I wounded His heart too much. If God’s work had concluded in 2000, I certainly would have been a target of destruction. The seven years of trials really were God’s tolerance and compassion for me.

Once I had come out of those seven years and I reflected on those words from God that I hadn’t understood before: “Do you know that in this country, while you can undergo these sufferings and enjoy the work of God, foreigners really envy you all? The wishes of foreigners are: We also want to experience the work of God, we will suffer anything for it. We want to obtain the truth too! We also want to gain some insight, gain some stature, but unfortunately we do not have that chance. … Making this group of people complete in the country of the great red dragon, making them endure this suffering, can be said to be the greatest exaltation. It was once said: ‘I have moved the glory of Israel to the East.’ Do you all understand the meaning of this statement now?” (“Those Who Have Lost the Work of the Holy Spirit Are Most at Risk” in Records of Christ’s Talks). I could understand a bit of the meaning of these words; I could finally feel that suffering truly is meaningful. Even though I suffered while experiencing these trials, only after suffering did I see that what I had gained was so precious, so valuable. Through experiencing these trials, I saw the righteous disposition of the Almighty and God’s almightiness and wisdom. I understood God’s benevolence, and I tasted God’s deep, paternal love for His children. I also experienced the authority and power in His words, and I saw the truth of my own corruption by Satan. I saw God’s hardships in His work of salvation, that He is holy and honored, and that humans are ugly and despicable. I also experienced how God conquers and saves mankind to bring them onto the correct path of believing in Him. When I think of it now, if God had not performed this arduous work on me of trial after trial, I could not possibly have these understandings. Hardships and refinements are so beneficial for people’s growth in their lives. Through them, people can gain the most practical and precious thing in their course of believing in God—the truth. After seeing the value and meaning of suffering, I no longer dream of entering the kingdom riding on a sedan, but I am willing to firmly plant my feet on the ground and experience the work of God, to truly pursue the truth to change myself.

Through experiencing several years of God’s work, only now do I have a bit of practical understanding of these words from God: “True faith in God means experiencing the words and work of God based on a belief that God holds sovereignty over all things. So you shall be freed of your corrupt disposition, shall fulfill the desire of God, and shall come to know God. Only through such a journey can you be said to believe in God.” Before I had experienced these trials from God, I was full of a strong intention to be blessed and a transactional outlook. Even though I knew in principle what it was to believe in God and what the goal of belief in God was, I still only had my eyes on being blessed. I paid no mind to the truth, I did not take ridding myself of my corrupt disposition to satisfy God’s will, or recognizing God as the goal of my pursuit. Only at that time did I understand that when God became flesh His primary work was to resolve mankind’s intention to be blessed and their transactional attitude. It was because these things truly are the stumbling blocks between man and their entering into the correct path of believing in God. When these things are harbored within mankind, they will not pursue the truth. They will not have a correct goal in their pursuit; they will walk an incorrect path. This is a path that is not recognized by God. Now, God’s work of conquering and salvation has destroyed Satan’s fortress within me. I am finally no longer worried, no longer preoccupied by thoughts of gaining blessings or suffering catastrophe. I am no longer bitterly pursuing extravagant desires, and I am no longer discussing conditions or making requirements in order to escape the catastrophe. Without this contamination, I feel lighter, freer. I can calmly and properly pursue the truth. This is the fruit borne of the trials and refinements of Almighty God. It is Almighty God’s work of trials and refinements that has led me onto the true path of believing in God. From now on, no matter what more work of trials God performs, no matter how great the painful refinements I suffer, I will obey and accept, and truly experience them. I will seek the truth from them, and achieve a disposition free from corruption to satisfy God’s will, in order to repay God’s many years of painstaking effort.

Footnotes:

a. The original text omits “just as.”

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