By Alisha, South Korea

One day, I watched a hymn video titled “God Has Brought His Glory to the East,” which really struck a chord in me. The lyrics read: “I gave My glory to Israel and then took it away, thereby bringing the Israelites to the East and all of humanity to the East. I have brought them all to the light so that they may be reunited with it, and be in association with it, and no longer have to search for it. I shall let all who are searching see the light again and see the glory I had in Israel; I shall let them see that I have long ago come down upon a white cloud into the midst of mankind, let them see the countless clouds of white and fruits in their abundant clusters, and, what is more, let them see Jehovah God of Israel. I shall let them look upon the Master of the Jews, the longed-for Messiah, and the full appearance of Me who have been persecuted by kings throughout the ages. I shall work upon the entire universe and I shall perform great work, revealing all My glory and all My deeds to man in the last days. I shall show My glorious countenance in its fullness to those who have waited many years for Me, to those who have longed for Me to come upon a white cloud, to Israel that has longed for Me to appear once again, and to all mankind who persecute Me, so that all will know that I have long ago taken away My glory and brought it to the East, and it is no longer in Judea. For the last days have already come!” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Seven Thunders Peal—Prophesying That the Gospel of the Kingdom Shall Spread Throughout the Universe). This video really blew me away. God brings His glory from Israel to the East in the last days. In China, the most God-resisting of all nations, He has appeared, performing His work and expressing the truth to conquer and save all people throughout the universe. This is God’s almightiness and wisdom. In the past, I was unfamiliar with God’s work. Based on my notions, I thought the Lord would appear in Israel upon His return. It was only after I read Almighty God’s words that I came to understand the incredible significance of God’s appearance and work in China.

I found faith in the Lord in 1997, and I was an enthusiastic seeker. Whenever I had time I’d volunteer at the church, and I steadfastly gave tithing every month. In April of 2011, I came to South Korea for a job, and no matter how busy I was with work, I would still attend Sunday service. But the pastor’s sermons were always just the same old same old. The congregants would either nod off or end up chatting amongst each other. There was no enjoyment or sustenance at all. Over time, I stopped wanting to go to services. But being as I’m a Christian, I just didn’t feel right not attending. So I forced myself to keep going.

Then, by chance one day, I happened to meet one of my old church friends. She invited me to her house and her friend Audrey also came along. It was the first time we’d met, but we clicked right away. We chatted about our situations and also about the desolation in the church. Audrey fellowshiped with me about how the church’s desolation was mostly because God is doing new work, and the Holy Spirit’s work has shifted, and that we must be like the wise virgins, seeking God’s appearance and work, and listening for His voice, in order to welcome the Lord and gain the sustenance of the living waters. I found what she said to be very enlightening. Then, Audrey said: “The Lord Jesus has already returned, He has incarnated in flesh as Almighty God, and has appeared to perform His work in China, expressing the truth and doing the work of judgment beginning with God’s house to fully purify and save mankind. Almighty God has begun the Age of Kingdom and ended the Age of Grace. All those that accept His work in the last days are the wise virgins caught up before God’s throne; they’re receiving the provision of God’s word and attending the wedding feast of the Lamb.” I was really shocked by what Audrey said and had a hard time believing her: “The Lord has returned? And He has come to China? In the time of the Old and New Testament, God did His work in Israel, and it says in the Bible: ‘And His feet shall stand in that day on the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall split in the middle thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south’ (Zechariah 14:4). In the last days, the Lord should arrive in Israel on the Mount of Olives. How could He be in China?” I voiced my confusion to Audrey.

She just smiled and said: “The prophecies of the Lord’s return are all mysterious. We can’t comprehend their meaning until they have been fulfilled and we see how God has carried out His work—only then can anyone understand what was meant by the prophecies. We shouldn’t delimit God’s work using the literal meaning of prophecies, based on our notions and imaginings, because we’re likely to resist God in so doing. Take the Pharisees, for example. They looked at the prophecy of the Messiah’s coming, clinging to its literal meaning, thinking when the Lord came He’d have to be called Messiah. As a result, when the Lord Jesus came and He wasn’t called Messiah, they thought it didn’t match up with the words of prophecy, and put their all into denying and resisting the Lord Jesus. It didn’t matter how authoritative and powerful what the Lord Jesus preached was—they just wouldn’t accept it, and ultimately had Him nailed to the cross. They were cursed and punished by God. If we delimit God’s work based on the words of prophecies in the Bible, and don’t investigate the facts of God’s appearance and work, we’re likely to make the same mistake as the Pharisees. In the last days, Almighty God performs the work of judgment starting with the house of God, expressing all truths that purify and save mankind, like a brilliant light appearing in the East. In just over 20 years, Almighty God’s work in the last days has spread throughout China, and has now even reached other nations around the world. The Word Appears in the Flesh, a collection of Almighty God’s words, has been translated into over 20 languages, and published online for people all over the world to seek and investigate. Almighty God’s work has spread like lightning, flashing from the East to the West, rocking the entire world and completely fulfilling the Lord Jesus’ prophecy: ‘As the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be’ (Matthew 24:27). And it has also fulfilled the prophecy in the Book of Malachi 1:11: ‘For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same My name shall be great among the Gentiles…, said Jehovah of hosts.’” Hearing this, it suddenly clicked: The Lord has returned in China, not Israel, and the Bible prophesied this long ago.

Next, Audrey read me a passage of Almighty God’s words: “In actuality, God is the Master of all things. He is the God of all creation. He is not only the God of the Israelites, nor of the Jews; He is the God of all creation. The previous two stages of His work took place in Israel, which has created certain notions in people. They believe that Jehovah did His work in Israel, that Jesus Himself carried out His work in Judea, and, furthermore, that He became flesh to work—and whatever the case, this work did not extend beyond Israel. God did not work in Egyptians or Indians; He only worked in the Israelites. Thus do people form various notions, and delineate God’s work within a certain scope. They say that when God works, He must do so among the chosen people, and in Israel; save for the Israelites, God works upon no others, nor is there any greater scope to His work. They are especially strict when it comes to keeping God incarnate in line, and do not permit Him to move beyond the bounds of Israel. Are these not all just human notions? God made all of the heavens and earth and all things, He made all of creation, so how could He restrict His work to only Israel? If that were the case, what would be the point of Him making all creation? He created the whole world, and He has carried out His six-thousand-year management plan not only in Israel, but upon every person in the universe. … If God were to act according to human notions, He would only be the God of the Israelites, and would thus be incapable of extending His work to the Gentile nations, for He would only be the God of the Israelites, and not the God of all creation. The prophecies said that Jehovah’s name would be magnified among the Gentile nations, that it would spread to the Gentile nations. Why was this prophesied? If God were only the God of the Israelites, then He would only work in Israel. Moreover, He would not spread this work, and He would not make such a prophecy. Since He did make this prophecy, He will surely extend His work among the Gentile nations, among every nation and all lands. Since He said this, He must do it; this is His plan, for He is the Lord who created the heavens and earth and all things, and the God of all creation. Regardless of whether He works among the Israelites, or throughout the whole of Judea, the work He does is the work of the entire universe, and the work of all humanity. The work He does today in the nation of the great red dragon—in a Gentile nation—is still the work of all humanity. Israel could be the base for His work on earth; likewise, China can also be the base for His work among the Gentile nations. Has He not now fulfilled the prophecy that ‘the name of Jehovah shall be magnified among the Gentile nations’?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God Is the Lord of All Creation).

After reading Almighty God’s words, Audrey fellowshiped: “God is the Lord of all creation, He rules over the entire universe and presides over the fates of all men. God is not only the God of the Israelites, but even more so He is the God of all creation. God has the right to perform His work within any nation and amongst any people. But no matter what country He appears and works in, His work is directed at all mankind, and in order to lead them in their development. In the Age of Law, for example, Jehovah God worked in Israel, proclaimed His law and began the Age of Law. Then, using this land as a center, He gradually expanded His work to other lands, so that all nations and peoples would honor His name as great. In the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus did the work of redemption in Judea. But the Lord Jesus didn’t just redeem Jews, He redeemed all of mankind. Now, two thousand years later, the Lord Jesus’ gospel has spread to every corner of the world. In the last days, Almighty God has come and He appeared and started working in China before expanding it throughout the universe. Now Almighty God’s words and work are like a brilliant light shining out from the East, being spread and testified among many nations of the West. Great multitudes have heard God’s voice in the words of Almighty God, and have come before God’s throne to accept the judgment and purification of His words. We can see that no matter the age, when God decides to appear and work among a people or in a country, He always chooses a place to work first and then, using this place as an example, gradually extends His work to other places to complete His work of saving man. This is the principle behind God’s work. If we go by our notions and imaginings, thinking that because God worked in Israel in the Age of Law and the Age of Grace, then God must only be the God of Israel, the gospel can only come out of Israel, the people of Israel are God’s only real chosen people and the only ones worthy of His blessings, and God won’t appear and work in the Gentile nations, wouldn’t we then be delimiting God? God said: ‘The name of Jehovah shall be magnified among the Gentile nations,’ so how would this then be accomplished and fulfilled? God has become flesh in the last days and does His work in China, a country ruled by atheism, smashing people’s notions. He’s shown that He doesn’t work according to rules, but rather according to His own plan. He has also shown us that He doesn’t just save the people of Israel, but also the Gentiles, and that He is not just the God of the Israelites, but the God of all humanity. He is the God of all created beings. Wherever God appears and works, it is always significant, and He always chooses the place which will best serve the purpose of saving man.”

Audrey’s fellowship made me feel so ashamed. I really didn’t understand God. Knowing that God performed His work during the Age of Law and the Age of Grace in Israel, I thought God would only appear and work in Israel. If God performed His work in Israel again in the last days, then I would have delimited Him still further as the God of the Israelites, and that would have been to deny God as the Ruler of all mankind! Where God appears and does His work is always a reflection of His plan and His wisdom. We are unfit to make comments about God’s work, much less delimit His work. But I still had some reservations. China is a country run by an atheist government. It is the worst country for denying and resisting God. If God doesn’t intend to appear and work in Israel, why doesn’t He work in nations like the US or the UK, where Christianity is the main religion? Why does He choose to perform His work in China of all places? I voiced these questions to Audrey. Audrey said, “Almighty God has spoken clearly about this. Almighty God says: ‘The work of Jehovah was the creation of the world, it was the beginning; this stage of work is the end of work, and it is the conclusion. At the start, God’s work was carried out among the chosen ones of Israel, and it was the dawn of a new epoch in the most holy of all places. The last stage of work is carried out in the most impure of all countries, to judge the world and bring the age to an end. In the first stage, God’s work was done in the brightest of all places, and the last stage is carried out in the darkest of all places, and this darkness will be driven out, the light brought forth, and all the people conquered. When the people of this most impure and darkest of all places have been conquered, and the entire population has acknowledged that there is a God, who is the true God, and every person has been utterly convinced, then this fact will be used to carry out the work of conquest throughout the entire universe. This stage of work is symbolic: Once the work of this age has been finished, the work of six thousand years of management will come to a complete end. Once those in the darkest of all places have been conquered, it goes without saying that it will also be so everywhere else. As such, only the work of conquest in China carries meaningful symbolism. China embodies all forces of darkness, and the people of China represent all those who are of the flesh, of Satan, and of flesh and blood. It is the Chinese people who have been most corrupted by the great red dragon, who have the strongest opposition to God, whose humanity is most base and impure, and so they are the archetype of all corrupt humanity. … It is in the people of China that corruption, impurity, unrighteousness, opposition, and rebelliousness are manifested most completely and revealed in all their varied forms. On the one hand, they are of poor caliber, and on the other, their lives and mindset are backward, and their habits, social environment, family of birth—all are poor and the most backward. Their status, too, is low. The work in this place is symbolic, and after this test work has been carried out in its entirety, God’s subsequent work will be much easier. If this step of work can be completed, then the subsequent work goes without saying. Once this step of work has been accomplished, great success will have been fully achieved, and the work of conquest throughout the entire universe will have come to a complete end. In fact, once the work among you has been successful, this will be equivalent to the success throughout the entire universe. This is the significance of why I have you act as a model and a specimen. Rebelliousness, opposition, impurity, unrighteousness—all are found in these people, and in them is represented all the rebelliousness of mankind. They are really something. Thus, they are held up as the epitome of conquest, and once they have been conquered they will naturally become specimens and models for others’ (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Vision of God’s Work (2)). We can see from God’s words that God chooses the location and target of His work in every stage based upon the needs of His work. It is always with a specific meaning, and always to further the salvation of mankind. For instance, God performed the first two stages of work in Israel because the Israelites were God’s chosen people. They believed in and worshiped God, they had God-fearing hearts and were the least corrupted of all mankind. It was thus easiest for God to create an exemplary group of God-worshipers by working among them. And in this way, God’s work could spread more quickly and smoothly so that all of mankind could learn of God’s existence and work and even more people could come before God and receive His salvation. God’s first two stages of work being done in Israel were truly symbolic. God selected Israel entirely according to the needs of His work. In the last days, God does the work of judgment and purification. He expresses truth to judge and expose the corruption and unrighteousness of mankind, displaying His righteous, wrathful and unoffendable disposition for all mankind to see. So He has to select the most corrupt, most God-resisting people as an example. Only in so doing can God’s work achieve the best result. As everyone knows, of all humanity, the Chinese have been most corrupted by Satan. They are the most backward, impure, lowly, God-denying, and God-resisting race in all of humanity. They are the archetype of all corrupt humanity. By doing the work of judgment in China, and targeting the Chinese people’s corrupt disposition, God most thoroughly and incisively reveals mankind and the truth He expresses is the most complete and the most able to reveal His holy and righteous disposition. God uses the truth expressed through His work on the chosen people of China to conquer and save all of mankind and allow them to see His holy and righteous disposition, so that they all come before God to praise Him. This is the wisdom of God’s work. If the most corrupt people can be made complete by God, then making others complete is just a matter of course and Satan will then be thoroughly defeated. By working in China, God will receive the most resounding testimony and the greatest glory. If God’s work of the last days were done in Israel or predominately Christian countries like the US or the UK, the end goal of conquering and saving all mankind could not be achieved. So according to the needs of the work of judgment, God has appeared and is working in China, which is most meaningful. From the target and location of God’s work and its ultimate effect in each stage, we can see that God’s work is truly wise and wonderful!” Hearing this, I said excitedly, “Yes, Israel is a God-worshiping nation and people there are the least corrupted among mankind. If the Lord returned to work in Israel, God’s work of conquest would not achieve a good outcome. China is the most backward and God-resisting of all nations, so by conquering the Chinese, not only does His work of conquest achieve the greatest outcome, He also better manifests His almightiness, His wisdom and His wondrous deeds. I now see just how significant God working in China in the last days truly is! I didn’t know God’s work but delimited His work using notions and imaginings—how arrogant I was!”

Then Audrey said: “No matter how or where God does His work, there is always mystery and truth to seek. As for how we should welcome the Lord’s return, the Lord Jesus told us: ‘And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him’ (Matthew 25:6). ‘My sheep hear My voice’ (John 10:27). There’s this prophecy in Revelation, too: ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears My voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me’ (Revelation 3:20). So, in welcoming the Lord’s coming and seeking His appearance, most important is to listen for the voice of God. If we hear testimony that the Lord has returned, we have to seek and investigate it, to see if there is expression of the truth and if it’s the voice of God. For wherever the truth is expressed, there too will be the voice of God, as well as His appearance and work. This is absolutely true. Just as Almighty God says: ‘The more that people believe something is impossible, the more likely it is to occur, because the wisdom of God soars higher than the heavens, God’s thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts, and the work of God transcends the limits of man’s thinking and notions. The more that something is impossible, the more it has truth that can be sought; the more something lies beyond man’s notions and imagination, the more it contains the will of God. This is because, no matter where He reveals Himself, God is still God, and His essence will never change on account of the location or manner of His appearance. The disposition of God remains the same regardless of where His footprints are, and no matter where the footprints of God are, He is the God of all mankind, just as the Lord Jesus is not only the God of the Israelites, but is also the God of all the people of Asia, Europe, and America, and even more than that, He is the one and only God in the entire universe. So let us seek God’s will and discover His appearance in His utterances, and keep pace with His footsteps! God is the truth, the way, and the life. His words and His appearance exist concurrently, and His disposition and footprints are open to mankind at all times’ (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Appendix 1: The Appearance of God Has Ushered in a New Age).” Almighty God’s words thoroughly resolved my confusion. They uncovered the mysteries of God’s appearance and work, decisively refuting my prior notions. I had longed to welcome the Lord’s return for years, but never realized I was delimiting God’s appearance and work to what I imagined and to the literal words of the Bible. How ignorant and blind I’d been! After the gathering was over, I took the initiative to ask Audrey for a copy of The Word Appears in the Flesh expressed by Almighty God.

Reading Almighty God’s words, I saw how He unravels many of the mysteries of the Bible, like God’s six-thousand-year management plan for the salvation of humankind, the inside story of the Bible and God’s three stages of work, the meaning of God’s names, the mystery of the incarnation, the significance of God’s judgment work in the last days, how God sets the outcome and destination of all kinds of people, how Christ’s kingdom will be realized here on earth, and more. Almighty God has expressed such a rich array of truths, and they’re all mysteries and truths that I had never heard before. No one other than God could unravel these mysteries. The words Almighty God expresses are full of authority, power and majesty. They are indeed God’s utterances—they are the voice of God. I became absolutely certain that Almighty God is the Lord Jesus returned. I accepted Almighty God’s work without hesitation, and I’m now following the footsteps of the Lamb.