By Alyssa, South Korea

I was a believer in the Lord Jesus for 11 years and before only went to gatherings at Pastor Ben’s church. Pastor Ben was a really well-known preacher in our area. He was pious and kind, served the Lord for many years, and knew the Bible well. He conducted all of the church’s biblical training, so I really admired him. I’d go ask him every time there was something I didn’t understand. He’d pray for us any time our family faced difficulties. Unwittingly, I came to see him as a spiritual father in my faith.

In 2017, I heard Almighty God’s gospel of the last days, and in Almighty God’s words, I saw that He reveals the mysteries of God’s 6,000-year management plan to save mankind, the inside story of God’s three stages of work, the mysteries of God’s incarnations, how Satan corrupts people, how God works step by step to save humanity, how God sorts each according to their kind, how He determines our outcome and destination, and what kind of pursuit we should have to achieve salvation and enter the kingdom. All these truths and mysteries were things I’d never heard after all my years as a Christian. It was really a feast for the eyes! I became certain in my heart that Almighty God is the Lord Jesus returned and I also brought my two children before God. I thought of Pastor Ben, who’d been a preacher for so many years. He was always telling us to watch and wait, not to miss our chance to be raptured by the Lord. If he knew that the Lord had returned, he’d certainly accept it happily. I decided to equip myself with the truth as fast as I could so I could share the gospel with him. But before long, Pastor Ben came to seek me out first.

That day, he visited our family’s fruit stand and asked me, smiling, “Deacon Alyssa, it’s been a while. I heard you’re attending another church, and I thought you were going to a bigger one. I was surprised that you’re going to The Church of Almighty God. That church testifies that the Lord Jesus has returned in the flesh. That’s impossible! This is heresy, and your faith is mistaken. Return to the Lord and repent right away.” I was stunned to hear him say this. I thought, “You don’t know anything about that church and haven’t looked into Almighty God’s work of the last days. How can you casually condemn it?” But then I thought, “I guess he hasn’t heard Almighty God’s words so he won’t know it’s the true way. He has served the Lord for years and is longing for His coming. If he reads Almighty God’s words and sees they’re all the truth, he’ll certainly accept it.” So, I bore witness to him about God’s work of the last days. I said, “Pastor Ben, you just said the Lord can’t possibly return in the flesh. Is this based on the Lord’s words?” He confidently replied, “It says in Matthew 24:30, ‘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.’ The Lord Jesus clearly said that when He returns He will openly appear with great glory on a cloud for everyone to behold. So, it’s not possible that the Lord will return in incarnate form. I dare say, any preaching that the Lord is coming in the flesh is a false way, it’s heresy. I’ll never believe in it!” I hastily responded, “Pastor, there are many prophecies in the Bible about the Lord’s return. There are prophecies of the Lord coming on a cloud, but there are also many about the Lord coming in secret, such as, ‘If therefore you shall not watch, I will come on you as a thief’ (Revelation 3:3), ‘Behold, I come as a thief’ (Revelation 16:15), ‘And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him’ (Matthew 25:6). The Lord Jesus also said: ‘For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines to the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in His day. But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation’ (Luke 17:24–25). ‘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). These verses mention the Lord returning ‘as a thief,’ and ‘the coming of the Son of man.’ Would a thief coming to steal treasure come openly, with a grand spectacle? Of course not. They’d sneak in at night and most people wouldn’t know. So the Lord coming as a thief refers to Him coming in secret, and that is God coming in the flesh as the Son of man. If you insist only on the Lord coming openly on a cloud, how will the prophecies of His coming in secret as a thief be fulfilled? If the Lord came on a cloud, everyone would see Him. Would anyone need to shout ‘The bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him’? So based on the Lord’s prophecies we can be sure that His return will be in two stages. First He comes in secret in the flesh, then He appears openly. This way these prophecies of the Lord’s coming correspond.” Pastor Ben had an awkward look on his face as I told him this. I went on, “Pastor, Almighty God expresses all truths to cleanse and save mankind, does the work of judgment beginning with God’s house, and has already made a group of overcomers. The work of God’s secret incarnation is about to come to an end, then He’ll unleash the great disasters, reward the good and punish the wicked, appearing openly to all peoples. At that time, all who resist and condemn Almighty God will fall into the disasters, weeping and gnashing their teeth. This fulfills Revelation 1:7 that says: ‘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.’” Hearing this, Pastor Ben just gave me a scornful look and said, “You don’t know much about the Bible, but you’re preaching to me?” I was so disappointed to see that was his attitude. Was this the Pastor Ben I’d known? I’d always thought he was a humble man. He often told us to be the wise virgins and keep watch to welcome the Lord’s coming. How could he have no desire to seek and investigate news of the Lord’s return? I advised him, “Pastor, is having lots of Bible knowledge the same as knowing God? Does it guarantee someone won’t resist God? The Jewish Pharisees knew the Scriptures by heart and thought that they knew God. But when the Lord Jesus appeared and worked, they saw His words had power and authority, but they didn’t seek or investigate it. They clung to the literal Scriptures, and insisted that He wasn’t God if He wasn’t called Messiah. They even blasphemed Him, saying He drove out demons by relying on Beelzebub. They condemned and resisted the Lord Jesus’ work based on their notions and finally had Him crucified. They offended God’s disposition and incurred His punishment and curses. Pastor Ben, we must learn a lesson from the Pharisees’ failure.” He was left speechless for a moment, then said in a huff, “Since you’ve been an ardent seeker all these years in your faith, I’ll pray for you. Leave The Church of Almighty God right away!” He then stalked off.

After he’d gone, I thought that based on his attitude toward the Lord’s coming, it didn’t seem like he truly longed for it. Why wouldn’t he listen to Almighty God’s word, look into it, and then come to a conclusion? All those years, he’d been a believer, making sacrifices, expending himself, and working hard. It would be such a shame if he missed his chance to be raptured. I decided to wait for another chance, and talk to him again about God’s work of the last days. He’d probably accept it once the fellowship was clear. A couple days later, Pastor Ben showed up at our fruit stand again. I thought he must’ve studied the Bible and come to understand how the Lord returns, and he was ready to investigate it. To my surprise, he said, “Deacon Alyssa, last time you said the Lord first comes secretly in the flesh, and then openly appears. I disagree. 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). The Lord Jesus went up to heaven on a white cloud in the form of a Jewish man, so He will return on a white cloud in the form of a Jewish man. You’ve been misled. You must turn back.” Pastor Ben went on and on like this, apparently determined to convince me. Seeing him stubbornly clinging to the idea of the Lord returning on a cloud, judging and condemning Almighty God’s work, I didn’t really understand. There are so many biblical prophecies about the Lord’s return in the flesh, in secret. Why wasn’t he seeking or investigating it at all? How should I fellowship with him? I said a silent prayer, asking God for His guidance. Just then, a passage of Almighty God’s words came to mind. I read it to Pastor Ben. Almighty God says: “Many people may not care what I say, but I still want to tell every so-called saint who follows Jesus that, when you see Jesus descend from the heaven upon a white cloud with your own eyes, this will be the public appearance of the Sun of righteousness. Perhaps that will be a time of great excitement for you, yet you should know that the time when you witness Jesus descend from the heaven is also the time when you go down to hell to be punished. That will be the time of the end of God’s management plan and it will be when God rewards the good and punishes the evil. For the judgment of God will have ended before man sees signs, when there is only the expression of truth. Those who accept the truth and do not seek signs, and thus have been purified, shall have returned before the throne of God and entered the Creator’s embrace. Only those who persist in the belief that ‘The Jesus who does not ride upon a white cloud is a false christ’ shall be subjected to everlasting punishment, for they only believe in the Jesus who exhibits signs, but do not acknowledge the Jesus who proclaims severe judgment and releases the true way and life. And so it can only be that Jesus deals with them when He openly returns upon a white cloud. They are too stubborn, too confident in themselves, too arrogant. How could such degenerates be rewarded by Jesus? The return of Jesus is a great salvation for those who are capable of accepting the truth, but for those who are unable to accept the truth it is a sign of condemnation. You should choose your own path, and should not blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and reject the truth. You should not be an ignorant and arrogant person, but someone who submits to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and longs for and seeks the truth; only in this way will you benefit” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. By the Time You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus, God Will Have Made Heaven and Earth Anew). Reading this, I was thinking that God’s words are so clear. Pastor Ben should understand now. But the moment I was done, before I could say anything, he said, looking grim, “No matter what, I only believe the Lord Jesus will come on a cloud. That can’t be wrong! I’m a pastor and have served the Lord for many years. Could you really know more than me? Besides, all the clergy in the religious world condemn The Church of Almighty God. That means Almighty God can’t possibly be the Lord Jesus returned. I suggest you turn back immediately!” Seeing him so obstinate without any intention of seeking was worrying, I said, “Pastor Ben, do the clergy of the religious world represent God? Is every view of the religious world the truth? When the Lord Jesus came to work, He was madly condemned and opposed by the entire Jewish religion. Can you say that His work wasn’t the true way? To welcome the Lord, we have to focus on listening for His voice, not blindly following religious trends. You should listen to Almighty God’s words and see if it’s the truth, if it’s the voice of God….” But he interrupted me before I finished, and said in a dismissive tone, “I read Almighty God’s words ages ago. I don’t think they are the voice of God, and you shouldn’t read them anymore.” I was disgusted by his look of contempt. I thought, “Almighty God has expressed so many truths surpassing everything God said in the Age of Law and Age of Grace. Also, all His words are so authoritative—one can tell right away it’s God’s voice. Surprisingly, Pastor Ben just doesn’t get it. Is he actually one of God’s sheep?”

Pastor Ben kept coming to talk to me from time to time over the next couple of weeks, telling me to leave The Church of Almighty God. One day, he stormed angrily over to the fruit stand and didn’t address me as Deacon Alyssa like before, but just said right away in a commanding tone, “You’re not to believe in Almighty God anymore or bring your two kids into it! You particularly can’t preach this to the church’s brothers and sisters. Otherwise, I’ll make an announcement that you now believe in heresy, and I’ll expel you. I’ll make everyone shun and reject you!” I was really angry. I was thinking that accepting the true way was my own freedom, and he had no right to stop me. We believers have all been hoping for the Lord’s return and now I should share the wonderful news that I’d welcomed the Lord with the others. Why did he keep standing in my way? Justly and sternly, I said to him, “God’s sheep hear His voice and no one can stop that. My kids have read Almighty God’s words, have recognized God’s voice and want to follow Him. This is their freedom. On what grounds are you trying to restrict their freedom of belief?” He was speechless for a moment, then cursed me out in a rage and stormed off. A while later, I preached Almighty God’s gospel of the last days to two sisters from my old church. They were happy to hear Almighty God’s words and contacted me regularly. Before too long, Pastor Ben found out about it, misled and held them back. They stopped contacting me and began avoiding me. I was so upset and angry. I couldn’t help thinking of what the Lord Jesus said to the Pharisees: “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). Pastor Ben didn’t seek and look into God’s work of the last days and did all he could to stop others from looking into it and welcoming the Lord. Wasn’t that ruining people’s chance to get into the kingdom? How was that any different from what the Pharisees did? I just couldn’t make any sense of it. Pastor Ben was a long-time believer who seemed devout and was waiting for the Lord’s return. Why wouldn’t he seek at all when he heard news of the Lord’s coming, but resisted and condemned it?

Later, at a gathering, I told my brothers and sisters what had happened. They read a few passages of Almighty God’s words and then I could see the root of the problem. Almighty God says: “Do you wish to know the root of why the Pharisees opposed Jesus? Do you wish to know the essence of the Pharisees? They were full of fantasies about the Messiah. What is more, they believed only that the Messiah would come, yet did not pursue the life truth. 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 clinging to the mere name of the Messiah while opposing the essence of the Messiah by any means possible. These Pharisees in essence were stubborn, arrogant, and did not obey the truth. The principle of their belief in God was: No matter how profound Your preaching, no matter how high Your authority, You are not Christ unless You are called the Messiah. Is this belief not preposterous and ridiculous?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. By the Time You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus, God Will Have Made Heaven and Earth Anew). “There are those who read the Bible in grand churches and recite it all day long, yet not one among them understands the purpose of God’s work. Not one among them is able to know God; still less can any one among them accord with God’s intentions. They are all worthless, vile people, each standing on high to lecture God. They willfully oppose God even as they carry His banner. Claiming faith in God, still they eat the flesh and drink the blood of man. All such people are devils that devour the soul of man, head demons that deliberately disturb those trying to step onto the right path, and stumbling blocks impeding those who seek God. They may appear of ‘sound constitution,’ but how are their followers to know that they are none other than antichrists who lead people to stand against God? How are their followers to know that they are living devils dedicated to the devouring of human souls?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. All People Who Do Not Know God Are People Who Oppose God). Almighty God’s words were enlightening for me. Why do the pastors and elders so strongly resist and condemn God’s work of the last days? It’s mainly because they’re so stubborn and arrogant by nature. They not only don’t accept the truth, but they even despise it. It’s just like the Jewish Pharisees who always expounded on the Scriptures in the synagogues. But when the Lord Jesus came and worked, though they knew His words had authority and power, they still refused to look into them. They rigidly clung to the literal Scriptures and used the Old Testament law to condemn Him. To protect their status and living, they even made up rumors and bore false witness to frame the Lord Jesus and had Him nailed to the cross in the end. I saw that Pastor Ben was just like that. He knew Almighty God is expressing lots of truths and doing judgment work, and not only did he not look into it, but he madly resisted and condemned it. He clung to the words of the Bible and to his own notions and imaginings. He believed that if it’s not the Lord Jesus coming on a cloud, it’s not God’s appearance and work. He spread all kinds of heresies to keep believers from looking into the true way. He kept the believers firmly under his own control. The more I thought about it, the scarier it seemed. What kind of pastor was that? How was that being the Lord’s servant? He was a modern-day Pharisee, a living demon keeping people out of the kingdom! Almighty God’s work in the last days exposes the hypocritical faces of these pastors and elders. They’re not true believers at all, nor are they waiting to welcome the Lord’s appearance. They believe in the Lord Jesus in name only, just those three words “the Lord Jesus,” but they don’t know His divine essence at all, and they really don’t believe that He’s the way, the truth, and the life. That’s why they never submit to the truth or seek when they hear the way of the truth. They even hate and condemn Christ who expresses the truth. They are the Pharisees, the antichrists exposed by God’s work of the last days. Before I didn’t understand the truth and I lacked discernment, so I was misled by the clergy’s devout presentation, and I even saw them as my spiritual parents. I was so blind! Thank Almighty God for letting me see their true hypocritical colors, and their antichrist essence of hating the truth and opposing God. I was finally free of the misleading and bonds of the Pharisees and antichrists of the religious world and I returned before God’s throne. Thank Almighty God for His salvation!