By Mildred, Malaysia

Shortly after I came to accept Almighty God’s work in the last days, Pastor Li found out. One day, he called and asked me to come by the church. I figured he was well versed in the Bible, had been serving the Lord for a number of years, and was really devout in his life. On top of that, he was always telling us to wait vigilantly for the Lord’s return, and I had been wanting to share the gospel with him, and tell him that the Lord Jesus had returned. I thought this was a good opportunity. But when we met up, to my surprise, he looked at me reproachfully and demanded to know, “Deacon Zhang, how could you possibly believe in Almighty God? Why didn’t you come consult with me before accepting this? I could have checked up on it for you! You are clearly lacking biblical knowledge, and without us standing watch, you can be very easily misled.” Hearing Pastor Li say this made me really uncomfortable. I thought, “Investigating the true way is my own personal freedom—why should that have to undergo your approval or supervision? Besides, I have believed in the Lord for more than two decades, and even though I don’t know as much about the Bible as you do, it’s not like I don’t have my own thoughts and opinions! I have been diligently investigating it for three months, I have read many of Almighty God’s words, and only once I was certain that Almighty God’s words are the voice of God did I accept.” So I responded: “Pastor Li, one need only read Almighty God’s words to know whether He is the Lord Jesus returned or not.” Then I opened up the app of The Church of Almighty God on my phone and read a passage of Almighty God’s words out. Almighty God says: “Throughout the universe I am doing My work, and in the East, thunderous crashes issue forth endlessly, shaking all nations and denominations. It is My voice that has led all men into the present. I cause all men to be conquered by My voice, to fall into this stream, and surrender before Me, for I have long since reclaimed My glory from all the earth and issued it forth anew in the East. Who does not long to see My glory? Who does not anxiously await My return? Who does not thirst for My reappearance? Who does not pine for My loveliness? Who would not come to the light? Who would not look upon the richness of Canaan? Who does not long for the return of the Redeemer? Who does not adore Him who is great in power? My voice shall spread throughout the earth; I will face My chosen people and speak more words to them, like a mighty thunder shaking the mountains and rivers. I speak My words to the whole universe and to mankind. Hence the words in My mouth have become man’s treasure, and all men cherish My words. The lightning flashes from the East all the way to the West. My words are such that man is loath to give them up and at the same time finds them unfathomable, but rejoices in them all the more. Like a newborn infant, all men are glad and joyful, celebrating My coming. By means of My voice, I shall bring all men before Me. Thenceforth, I shall formally enter into the race of men so that they will come to worship Me. With the glory that I radiate and the words in My mouth, I shall make it such that all men come before Me and see that the lightning flashes from the East and that I have also descended unto the ‘Mount of Olives’ of the East. They will see that I have already long been on earth, no longer as the Son of the Jews but as the Lightning of the East. For I have long since been resurrected, and have departed from mankind’s midst, and then reappeared with glory among men. I am He who was worshiped countless ages before now, and I am also the infant forsaken by the Israelites countless ages before now. Moreover, I am the all-glorious Almighty God of the present age!” (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). He didn’t even wait for me to finish, but interrupted, saying impatiently, “There’s no need to go on. I downloaded this app ages ago and have read Almighty God’s words. They bear witness that His words are the words of God, but that’s not possible! All of God’s words are in the Bible. There can’t be any utterances from God outside of that. Even if the words of Almighty God do contain authority, I still won’t believe in Him!” I was really surprised to hear him say this. As a pastor, how could he say that he wouldn’t believe in Almighty God even if His words did contain authority? Wasn’t he a believer? I countered, saying, “Pastor Li, can you dare to be certain that all of God’s words are in the Bible? You yourself have often shared John 21:25, ‘And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.’ The Lord Jesus worked and preached on the earth for three and a half years. How much do you think He said every day? How much do you think He said in every sermon He delivered? Over those three and a half years, the Lord Jesus must have delivered so many sermons, said so many things—they would be innumerable! What’s recorded in the Four Gospels can only account for a small, limited portion, the tip of the iceberg. That’s why claiming that there are no words of God outside of the Bible is simply out of line with reality. Besides, the Lord Jesus prophesied long ago: ‘I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth’ (John 16:12–13). It’s also prophesied in the Book of Revelation that the Lord would return in the last days and open the scroll, that He would speak to the churches. These would all be new words uttered by God in the last days, and there’s no way they could have been recorded in the Bible beforehand. So, if no work or words of God existed outside of the Bible, how could those prophecies be fulfilled? In the last days, Almighty God has expressed all the truths that purify and save mankind, and this is precisely the scroll that the Book of Revelation prophesied would be opened by the Lamb. It’s what was referred to by ‘He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’ (Revelation 2:7). We should seek with an open heart. This is the only way to welcome the return of the Lord.” When I finished speaking, Pastor Li said disdainfully, “You have a fair amount of knowledge on the topic, and it seems you’ve read quite a bit of Almighty God’s words! But we cannot stray from the Bible in our faith. If you do, how can you still call yourself a believer in the Lord? No matter how wonderful Almighty God’s words are, even if they are the truth, I will never acknowledge or accept anything that goes beyond the Bible. I urge you to give up your faith in Almighty God. Otherwise, your permission to serve in the church will be revoked and you will end up regretting it!” So I said, “Pastor Li, as believers, aren’t we waiting for the Lord to come and receive us? Now that the Lord has returned and expressed so many truths, shouldn’t we look into this thoroughly? If we don’t seek with an open mind and just cling to our own notions and imaginings, and miss out on our chance to welcome the Lord’s return, it will be too late for regrets!” To my surprise, he responded angrily, “That’s enough! I am not going to believe in Almighty God. I’ll give you a little more time to think it over, and if you maintain your belief in Almighty God, I will expel you from the church.” Then he walked off and didn’t look back. I was really shocked to see the pastor behave like this. He was always telling us that only those who seek with an open mind will be accepted by the Lord. I never imagined that in the face of something as momentous as the Lord’s coming, he not only wouldn’t do any seeking, but he would stop us from investigating it, and even threaten me with expulsion from the church. Isn’t that saying one thing and doing another, being a hypocrite? That’s not someone who longs for the Lord’s appearance!

I went to church on Sunday, and Pastor Hong sought me out and said, “I heard you’ve been looking into The Church of Almighty God? The way they preach is outside of the Bible and our faith is based on Scripture. Straying from the Bible is betraying the Lord. You must give up this faith of yours in Almighty God!” So I asked him, “When the Lord Jesus came to work, did He follow the Old Testament? He preached the way of repentance, healed the sick, and cast out demons. He was crucified as mankind’s sin offering. All these things that the Lord Jesus said and did were entirely beyond Scripture and were not contained in the Old Testament. Would you say that the Lord Jesus isn’t the true God, that His work isn’t the true way? Would you say that believing in the Lord Jesus is betraying Jehovah God? Would you dare claim that God’s work and words can’t go beyond the Bible? Isn’t that making use of the Bible to try to delimit and resist God?” He cut me off angrily: “That’s enough! If you insist on believing in Almighty God, don’t bother with any regrets.” At that, he chuckled scornfully and stalked off. Seeing the look on his face scared me a bit—I didn’t know what he was going to do next. To my surprise, after the service started, Pastor Hong put on some videos slandering The Church of Almighty God—these groundless videos full of fabrications incensed me. The pastors and elders had been serving the Lord for many years, and they generally appeared to be really devout, but I never imagined they’d lack even the most basic God-fearing heart. How is that being a person of faith? Almighty God has expressed so many truths and they’re all publicly available online, provided for everyone to seek and investigate. Whether or not you accept them, you should never engage in slander or make false claims, and you particularly shouldn’t stop others from investigating the true way. How was the pastors’ behavior any different from the Pharisees who resisted the Lord Jesus back in the day? After the videos, Pastor Hong stood up at the pulpit and read a passage of Paul’s words from the Bible: “I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ to another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6–8). Then he said, “We are already believers in the Lord Jesus, and we must stay true to the Lord’s name and His way. We can’t go out and listen to just any old thing that’s preached, and moreover, we cannot accept any other gospel. Right now, we cannot listen to The Church of Almighty God bearing witness that the Lord Jesus has already returned. This would be straying from and going against our faith. Anyone who is found to have accepted Almighty God will be thrown out of the church immediately! Report to me immediately if anyone shares the gospel of Almighty God with you, otherwise you are betraying the Lord!” Once he’d said all that, he looked pointedly over at me. Seeing how pleased he looked with himself, I thought of the Pharisees in the temple, misleading believers and inciting them to reject the Lord Jesus. I was really angry to see that everyone there looked terrified by what Pastor Hong said. Pastor Hong knew the Bible very well—could he really not know what was behind Paul saying this? The reality is that Paul was saying that there was only one gospel for the Age of Grace, which was the gospel of the Lord Jesus’ work of redemption. Listening to any other gospel in the Age of Grace would have been betraying the Lord. But when Paul said this, God hadn’t done His work in the last days yet and no one was sharing the kingdom gospel. That’s why saying “another gospel” here absolutely couldn’t have been referring to the gospel of the Lord’s return in the last days. Paul never said that it was wrong to preach the kingdom gospel when the Lord returns, and moreover, he never dared to say that accepting the gospel of the Lord Jesus’ return was betraying the Lord. Pastor Hong was arbitrarily applying what Paul said to Almighty God’s work in the last days. Isn’t that taking the passage out of context and misinterpreting the Bible to lead people astray? After the service, Pastor Hong warned me once again not to share the gospel of Almighty God with any of the brothers and sisters. I thought, “The brothers and sisters all belong to God’s flock, and God’s sheep hear His voice. Pastor Hong is telling me not to share the gospel with them, doing everything in his power to keep them from hearing God’s voice and prevent them from turning toward God. Isn’t that blocking their path to entering the kingdom of heaven?” This made me think of something the Lord Jesus said, condemning 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). “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves” (Matthew 23:15). Hearing testimony of the Lord’s return, the clergy not only didn’t do their own seeking, but they also stopped God’s sheep from hearing His voice and welcoming the Lord. They were entirely the same as the Pharisees—they were all evil servants, preventing others from entering into the kingdom of heaven. I couldn’t be constrained by the pastors, I had to seize any chance to share the gospel with my brothers and sisters, and keep them from being further misled by the pastors and missing out on their chance to welcome the Lord’s return.

Not long after that, Pastor Li called and asked me to come by the church out of the blue. When I arrived, there were five other people there, including him, the deacons, and administrators. Pastor Li asked me, all smiles, “So have you thought it over?” I responded earnestly, “Almighty God has expressed many truths and is doing the work of judgment in the last days. I have already determined that Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus by reading His words. The only way to cast off the shackles of sin and be cleansed is to accept God’s judgment work in the last days. Only then will we be worthy of entering the kingdom of heaven. I will always believe in Almighty God no matter what.” The words were barely out of my mouth when a deacon stood up and said, pointing at me angrily, “As a believer in Almighty God, starting tomorrow you are no longer permitted to teach Sunday School or take charge of the church’s finances!” Pastor Li turned toward that deacon and waved his hand at him, then said to me, “Our sins have already been forgiven through our faith in the Lord Jesus. There’s absolutely no need for the Lord to do the work of judging and cleansing mankind. He will take us directly up into the kingdom of heaven when He comes.” I responded, “It is true that the Lord Jesus forgave us of our sins when He was crucified, but does having our sins forgiven mean that we no longer sin, that we have been purified? Forgiveness of sins refers to receiving the Lord Jesus’ redemption so that we are no longer condemned under the law. It does not mean that we no longer sin or that we are worthy of entering the kingdom of heaven. We believe in the Lord and in the forgiveness of sins, but our sinful natures have not been eliminated—meaning we still constantly sin, confess, and sin again, reveal satanic dispositions such as arrogance and deceit, fight over fame and fortune, jockey for power, and rebel against and resist God. We are unable to escape the bonds of sin. The Bible says: ‘Without holiness no man shall see the Lord’ (Hebrews 12:14). The Lord is holy, so as we are replete with sordidness and are completely unworthy of seeing the Lord’s face, how could we be worthy of the kingdom of heaven? This is why the Lord Jesus promised us that He would return in the last days, to express truths and do another step of work to judge and cleanse mankind. We aren’t worthy of entering God’s kingdom unless we accept God’s judgment in the last days and our corruption is cleansed.” Pastor Li then said contemptuously, “We are waiting for the Lord Jesus with nail marks on His hands, who comes on a cloud to receive us into the kingdom of heaven. Even if everything Almighty God says is the truth, I still will not accept it!” The deacons also chimed in, saying, “Yeah, we’re waiting for the Lord Jesus to descend on a cloud and take us into the kingdom of heaven.” Then they said some things slandering and blaspheming Almighty God. Seeing how rigid and stubborn they were was really infuriating for me. I said, “You are leaders in the church, but when you hear testimony that the Lord has returned, you not only refuse to seek and investigate it with an open mind, but you dare to spread fallacies, and resist and condemn Almighty God’s work. You are doing everything you can to stand in the way of us looking into and accepting the true way. Have you thought about the nature of this behavior and what the outcome and consequences will be? The Pharisees clung to their own notions and imaginings, madly defied and condemned the Lord Jesus. They had Him crucified, offending God’s disposition, and were thus damned and punished by God. Does this lesson from the Pharisees’ failure really not serve as a warning to you? You should at least listen to Almighty God’s words before coming to a decision!” Then I read them a passage of Almighty God’s words: “Those who wish to gain life without relying on the truth spoken by Christ are the most ridiculous people on earth, and those who do not accept the way of life brought by Christ are lost in fantasy. And so I say that those who do not accept Christ of the last days shall forever be loathed by God. Christ is man’s gateway to the kingdom during the last days, and there are none who can go around Him. None may be perfected by God except through Christ. You believe in God, and so you must accept His words and submit to His way. You cannot only think of gaining blessings while being incapable of accepting the truth and incapable of accepting the provision of life. Christ comes during the last days so that all those who truly believe in Him may be provided with life. His work is for the sake of concluding the old age and entering the new one, and His work is the path that must be taken by all those who would enter the new age. If you are incapable of acknowledging Him, and instead condemn, blaspheme, or even persecute Him, then you are bound to burn for eternity and shall never enter the kingdom of God. For this Christ is Himself the expression of the Holy Spirit, the expression of God, the One whom God has entrusted to do His work on earth. And so I say that if you cannot accept all that is done by Christ of the last days, then you blaspheme the Holy Spirit. The retribution to be had by those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit is self-evident to all” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life). Before I could even finish reading, one of the administrators stood up and shouted at me, his face red with anger, “That’s enough of that! I will never accept this, no matter how much truth there is in Almighty God’s words!” I said, “You are all incredibly arrogant! These are all words from the Holy Spirit, words from the mouth of God Himself. Can’t you tell? Are you actually capable of recognizing the voice of God? Are you actually God’s sheep?” Pastor Li responded as contemptuously as before, “I believe in no one but the Lord Jesus!” I saw how incredibly unreasonable all of them were, and I didn’t want to say anything else to them. As I was getting ready to leave, Pastor Li threatened me: “I’ll give you one more month to reconsider. If you still believe in Almighty God, you will be expelled!” I told him angrily, “There’s no need to wait another month—you can kick me out now. I’m not afraid of being removed from the church. What I’m afraid of is failing to hear the voice of God or failing to see the Lord’s appearance, not being able to welcome the Lord, and missing out on the blessings of entering the kingdom of heaven for all eternity. I have now heard the voice of God and have been taken up before God’s throne, and am attending the Lamb’s wedding feast. Even if you don’t expel me, I still won’t ever come to services here again!” To my surprise, Pastor Li laughed coldly and said, “We can’t remove you now, or the brothers and sisters will say we aren’t treating you with love. Once another month goes by, we’ll tell them that you’ve betrayed the Lord and are determined to leave the church, that we’ve been working hard to advise you, but you still insist on believing in Almighty God. We’ll say we have no choice but to expel you from the church.” I was furious when I heard him say this. He was such a hypocrite! Pastor Li was usually very caring toward his parishioners, but it turned out it was all an act. He did that just to maintain his own image, to consolidate his position, and create a fake image of himself. It reminded me of something the Lord Jesus said, cursing the Pharisees: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like to white washed sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:27–28). I thought about how the brothers and sisters had been believers for years, waiting all along to welcome the Lord’s return, but they were being misled and deceived by the pastors. Believing their rumors and devilish words, they were missing out on their chance to welcome the Lord’s return. This was truly tragic. No one ever would have thought that those clergy members who were constantly calling out for us to be on our guard against false christs and antichrists would be the real antichrists, and the ones leading people astray. They are like thieves crying “Thief!”—how utterly detestable! At this thought I walked out, not wanting to exchange any further words with them. Pastor Li warned me again, saying, “It’s your business if you want to believe in Almighty God, but I will not allow you to share this gospel with the other brothers and sisters.”

Whenever I ran into brothers and sisters I’d been in services with before, they were really cold toward me and some tried to avoid me. This was really upsetting for me, but I knew this was entirely due to the pastors misleading them, provoking them, and stirring them up. I thought of a passage of God’s word that I had read in a gathering before: “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). It made me think about the pastors and elders. They are familiar with the Bible, they outwardly appear devout and loving, and it seems as if they’re remaining alert, longing for the Lord’s coming. But when they do hear someone bear witness that the Lord has returned, not only do they refuse to seek and investigate, but they stubbornly hold fast to their religious notions and distort the Scripture. They know very well that Almighty God has expressed all sorts of truths, but they still refuse to accept Him, instead intentionally resisting and condemning Him, even going so far as to spread all sorts of heresies and fallacies. They do everything possible to elevate and bear witness to the Bible, saying that all of God’s work and words are contained within it, that anything else is heresy and a betrayal of the Lord, making people blindly worship and idolize the Bible. It is an attempt to use the Bible to keep believers firmly under their control. They’re always making noise about being responsible for believers’ lives while doing everything they can to stand in the way of them seeking and investigating Almighty God’s work in the last days. They are even using stopping us from serving and kicking us out of the church as despicable tactics to threaten and frighten us, to pressure us to give up the true way. They would rather see people stranded in a religious wasteland without the Holy Spirit’s work so that they give them offerings, provide for them, and have their chance to welcome the Lord’s return ruined. They don’t allow people to read Almighty God’s words, hear God’s voice, or turn to God. It’s incredibly malicious! They are the evil servants, antichrists, and modern-day Pharisees exposed by God’s work of the last days. They are demons standing in the way of people’s entry into the kingdom of heaven. I saw the true face of their hypocrisy and made a resolution: No matter what they do to stand in the way or disrupt me, I will never be constrained by them, and I will continue praying to and relying on God, and looking for every chance to keep sharing the gospel with those brothers and sisters who genuinely believe in the Lord. That way God’s sheep can hear His voice sooner, break free from the misleading and control of the religious world’s antichrists, and follow the footsteps of the Lamb.