By Li Jing, China

I became a Christian in 1993, and afterward, I met Pastor Liu. On the outside, she seemed kind and spoke with a sense of humor. She had a lot of Bible knowledge and broad experience. She also frequently went to various places to study, and preached in many churches. She was also loving, and she would always patiently help believers no matter what difficulties they had encountered. Most believers esteemed her. I also really admired and esteemed her. I thought that she was a true believer in the Lord. Pastor Liu really valued me, and arranged for me to be in charge of the choir. When she went elsewhere to study, she would leave me in charge of the church.

In March 1999, a distant relative of mine brought along two brothers and preached God’s gospel of the last days to me. They asked me to bring along a few more brothers and sisters who truly believed in the Lord to hear it together. The first person I thought of was Pastor Liu, so I asked her over to hear it. Unexpectedly, she said that in the last days, false christs would appear to mislead people. She asked me not to listen, and asked me to drive away the two brothers. I saw that the two brothers were dignified and decent, and they fellowshipped in accordance with the Bible, so I didn’t listen to her. I even brought a few co-workers along to hear their preaching without telling her. The two brothers fellowshipped with us about the root cause of the desolation of the church, God’s three stages of work, how to distinguish between the true Christ and false christs, and how in the last days, God performs His work of judgment to purify people. The more we listened, the more we wanted to hear. Our spirits felt particularly nourished. We read the words expressed by Almighty God and determined that they are indeed the words of God. These words carry authority and power, and they are the voice of God. No person would be able to speak them. We became certain through investigation that Almighty God is the Lord Jesus returned. We were all very excited. We never expected that the Lord Jesus, whom we had been expecting for so many years, had really returned. We are really so blessed! I thought to myself, “Pastor Liu truly believes in the Lord. She can forsake things and expend herself for the Lord, and she also understands the Bible. Last time, she didn’t listen because she was worried about being misled. Once she knows that the Lord Jesus has returned, she will definitely accept it.” So, filled with joy and delight, I brought the two brothers to preach God’s gospel of the last days to her. I said, “Pastor Liu, the Lord Jesus has truly returned, and is now performing the work of judgment beginning with the house of God. Aren’t you worried about being misled by false christs? These two brothers fellowship very clearly about how to distinguish false christs from the true Christ. You should listen to them!” She reluctantly received us. The two brothers read the words of Almighty God to her, and fellowshipped about the truth of how to distinguish between false christs and the true Christ. Unexpectedly, she said impatiently, “Stop talking! Even if I understood it, I would not accept it! Even if it were the true way, I would not accept it! You want me to listen to your preaching? I have been working and preaching in the church for so many years. I’ve also been all over the place for meetings and study. Every year, I go to the seminary for several months for further study. Are you saying this was all in vain?” She continued, counting on her fingers, “I’m in charge of six churches. All these believers have been shepherded by me. This church asks me to go and pray there. That church asks me to go and preach there. I simply will not listen to your preaching. I must be responsible to my believers. I must protect my sheep!” With glaring eyes, she pointed at me and said sternly, “I told you not to listen, but you didn’t obey me. You’ve been misled, and now you want me to be misled along with you? Do you think that’s going to happen? Do you think I’m as muddled as you? You don’t understand the Bible. I advise you, turn around quickly!” One brother said, “We all believe in the Lord and look forward to the coming of the Lord. Now, Almighty God is the Lord Jesus returned. Almighty God says: ‘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).” Pastor Liu was furious when she heard this. She pointed at the two brothers and said viciously, “Shut up. Get out now! If I catch you preaching the gospel within my area of responsibility again, I will send you to the public security bureau right away!” Pastor Liu shocked me by saying this. Usually, when she was interpreting the Bible, she had a very kind tone. I had thought that when I told her today that the Lord is back, she would have been happy to accept it. I didn’t expect her to have such an attitude. I was utterly confused, and I thought to myself, “We believe in the Lord, and we all look forward to the coming of the Lord. The Lord has returned and expressed the truth, but she didn’t accept it. She even lost her temper and drove us away. She also said that even if it were the true way she still wouldn’t accept it. So why does she believe in the Lord?”

One day in April, I invited seven key co-workers in the church to my home so they could also hear the two brothers testify to God’s work of the last days. Through reading the words of Almighty God, everyone saw that Almighty God’s words are the truth, and became certain that Almighty God is the Lord Jesus Christ returned. Some were so excited that tears flowed down their faces. At this moment, Pastor Liu broke in fiercely. Seeing that the key co-workers were there, she pointed at us and said angrily, “No wonder there’s nobody at the church gathering. You’re all in here!” Then, she started to blaspheme against God. I was very angry, and said, “You shouldn’t talk about what you don’t understand. The sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven in this life or the world to come! Are you not afraid of offending God?” Hearing me say this, she got even more angry. She pointed at me, saying, “I told you not to listen to their preaching, but you didn’t obey me. You even brought so many co-workers to listen to them as well! I have been cultivating you for several years. I discussed everything with you. Now, you have actually betrayed me, and even brought outsiders into our church to preach. I cultivated you in vain!” I said, “We believe in the Lord, and we all look forward to the coming of the Lord. Now the Lord has returned and expressed so many truths. Why don’t you let the brothers and sisters listen?” The co-workers all said, “Yeah, Pastor Liu. This is the true way. Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus.” Pastor Liu pointed at them and said, “If you want to hear a sermon, I will preach one to you. You are all co-workers. You are the backbone of the church. I’ve supported you and cultivated you for years, but now, you’ve run here to listen to this sermon. The Bible says that false christs will appear in the last days to mislead people. How can you not know this? If you’re misled, then won’t you lead all the people in the church onto the wrong path? How will I account for this to the Lord? Do you think the Lord has returned just because those two say He has? You’re too simple-minded! Don’t listen to this, any of you!” Three of the co-workers present were disturbed by Pastor Liu and didn’t dare to carry on listening. I knew that Pastor Liu was wrong to say that. The Lord Jesus did indeed say that there would be false christs in the last days who would mislead people. But the Lord Jesus also said that false christs would mislead people with great signs and wonders, so that we would gain some discernment. The Lord absolutely did not say that because of the appearance of false christs, we should not welcome the Lord and not listen to the Lord’s voice. Wasn’t she misinterpreting the Lord’s words here? At that time, Pastor Liu pointed at the brothers who preached the gospel and said, “What you preach is heresy. If God has come, where is He? Have you seen Him? I am the legal representative of the church, and these people are in my church. You cannot preach here without going through me!” The two brothers said calmly, “Pastor Liu, the sheep belong to God, not to any one person. The Lord Jesus said: ‘My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me’ (John 10:27). The Lord returned to express the truth and to find His sheep. You cannot stop people from listening to God’s words. This is not in accordance with God’s intentions!” In a commanding tone, Pastor Liu said, “If I do not allow you to preach here, you simply cannot preach here! If you continue preaching, I will send you to the police station immediately!” When I saw how vicious Pastor Liu was, I was reminded of the parable of the evil tenants that the Lord Jesus spoke of in the Bible. When the landowner sent his servants and son to harvest the fruit, the tenants killed them all and wanted to take possession of the landowner’s property. Was Pastor Liu’s approach not the same as that of these tenants? It was a good thing that the two brothers were preaching the gospel of the Lord’s coming. They were preaching joyful tidings, good news. But she was capable of treating those who preach the gospel like this, and even threatening to call 110 to send them to the police station, handing them over to the devils to be harmed. This shows that she was truly an evil servant! I had gained some discernment of Pastor Liu, and said, “Pastor Liu, We are all believers in God. How could you send these brothers to the police station? Is this not being a Judas? I take it you are well aware of what Judas’ outcome was, right?” When she saw me say this, she didn’t say anything more. I followed on by saying, “Pastor Liu, I can understand your feelings. But do we not believe in the Lord in order to look forward to the coming of the Lord? Now, people have come to preach that the Lord has come. Are you not being too arbitrary when you say it is false without seeking or investigating it? What I heard the two brothers talk about is all in accordance with the Bible. The Lord has come to do His new work …” Pastor Liu said impatiently, “Stop talking! What do you know? You’d better turn around fast!” After she finished speaking, she left bitterly. At that time, the three co-workers who had been disturbed left with Pastor Liu. The remaining co-workers continued to seek and investigate, and in the end, they accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days.

After that, Pastor Liu spread baseless rumors in the church in order to prevent people from investigating the true way. She said, “What Li Jing believes in is heresy. Don’t listen to her. When I was at a meeting at the Religious Affairs Bureau, I asked the standing committee members of the Bureau and the Three-Self Church about this. They all said that the entire religious community opposes Eastern Lightning and the state is oppressing and arresting its believers. If you believe in it, you will be arrested, and everyone in your family will be dragged in.” Pastor Liu also went to the houses of the brothers and sisters who had accepted God’s work of the last days one by one to disturb and threaten them. Some were so misled by her that they didn’t stand firm and withdrew. In the past, the brothers and sisters in the church had a good relationship with me, but because of Pastor Liu’s disturbances, everyone started to avoid me when they saw me. I felt pain and weakness in my heart, so I prayed to God, “Dear God, the people who used to have a good relationship with me in the church are now ignoring me. When they see me, they hide as if they are hiding from a plague. I am in great pain. May You enlighten and lead me to understand Your intention.” Later, I read some of the words of God: “In every step of work that God does on people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements or from human disturbance. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God. Take when Job was tried, for example: Behind the scenes, Satan was making a wager with God, and what happened to Job was the deeds of men and the disturbance of men. Behind every step of work that God does in you is Satan’s wager with God—behind it all is a battle” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God). I only understood after reading God’s words that the environment coming upon me today was a spiritual battle. On the surface, it looked like people were blocking us from accepting the work of Almighty God, but actually, Satan was using these people to block our return to God. God has come to work for people’s salvation, and Satan comes to disturb and destroy this. I had to see through Satan’s tricks and not be constrained by these people, events, and things. I had to stand firm in my testimony. I then wondered, why was I in such pain? It was because, to start with, I had really good relationships with these people. Some of them even admired me. But now, they ignored me. I felt that I had suddenly been left out in the cold. I remembered that the Lord Jesus had said: “And he that takes not his cross, and follows after Me, is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:38). The Lord Jesus came to work for people’s salvation, enduring ridicule, slander, condemnation, and rejection. God suffered all this long ago, so is it not right that every person who follows God should bear the suffering of these rejections in order to propagate God’s gospel? When I thought about this, I didn’t feel so much pain in my heart anymore.

Later, as Pastor Liu disturbed people from accepting the true way up front, I and my brothers and sisters hurriedly supported and watered them from the back, and continued to preach the gospel in the church. One after another, we brought in eighty or ninety people. In August, Pastor Liu saw fewer and fewer people in the church, and noticed the offerings started to dry up. Therefore, she became even more crazed in blocking and disturbing. One day, Pastor Liu came to my house and said with a smile, “Recently, our relationship has been a bit awkward, and I feel very uncomfortable about this, and I’m worried about you. You see, the church is really big, and I can’t attend to everything. I wouldn’t rest easy if I handed it to anyone else, so I am preparing to put you in charge of this church. What do you think?” I realized that Pastor Liu had said this to pull me back in. But then I thought, when I believed in the Lord in the church before, I was not persecuted, and my brothers and sisters were also very polite to me. If I were to return, then maybe everyone would admire me again, and I wouldn’t have to bear the suffering of rejection. I felt a little hesitant in my heart. At this time, I remembered the words of God: “When the mountains move, could they make a detour for the sake of your status? When the waters flow, could they cease before man’s status? Could the heavens and the earth be reversed by man’s status?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 22). God’s words made me understand that status cannot save people. Status can only bring temporary satisfaction to my pride, but when disaster strikes, status cannot help me escape my predicament. I knew well that the religious church did not have the work of the Holy Spirit, so what would I be doing going back there? I was so stupid! It was Satan’s trick, and I must not be fooled. So I told Pastor Liu, “We believe in the Lord, and constantly look forward to the Lord’s coming. Now that I have welcomed the Lord, how can I go back? I have accepted the third stage of God’s work: God’s judgment work of the last days, which is the work of resolving people’s sinful nature. The work of God has progressed, so how could I still go back to the church? Wouldn’t that be going backward? It would be like going back to primary school after I’d moved on to middle school. Would that make sense?” Pastor Liu said angrily, “I’m giving you an off ramp here, but you still don’t recognize I’m doing you a favor! You’re obstinately clinging to your wrong path! You have been seriously misled! From now on, if you ever come to the church to steal sheep again, I’ll stop showing you mercy—I’ll send you straight to the police station!” I thought to myself, “If you are capable of calling the police on those who believe in God, you are a Judas.” Pastor Liu left angrily. Because of the guidance and leadership of God’s words, I had seen through Satan’s tricks. I felt really at ease in my heart.

In September, my brothers and sisters and I brought in more than a dozen people from a nearby church. When Pastor Liu found out, she came to my house to make trouble. She incited problems in front of my husband. She also said that the state opposed my belief in Almighty God, and that if I were arrested one day, we couldn’t even dream about our son being able to go to university. My husband believed Pastor Liu’s words and was afraid that my belief in God would affect our son’s future. He started to persecute me, and threatened me with divorce. When I heard my husband bring up divorce, I was shocked. My husband had always been very good to me, and hadn’t opposed me believing in God. Why had he become like this? Was this not all incited by Pastor Liu? I was very angry. As a pastor, how could she do such a despicable thing? She didn’t let people follow God on the right path, and she got people to follow her and exalt her, while she lived the high life on offerings. How despicable and vicious a person she was! She was a devil who devoured the souls of people. For three months on end, my husband was angry with me and made a fuss about divorce. In the end, he said, “I’ll give you three days. You must make a decision between your belief in God and our family!” I felt very sad at heart, thinking, “If my husband really divorced me, what would I do? If I were arrested and this affected my child’s prospects, and my child and husband both hated me, what would I do?” I didn’t want to get divorced. I wanted my family, and I also wanted to believe in God. So I came before God to pray, and asked God to lead me. After praying, I remembered these words of God: “Your temperament, caliber, appearance, and stature, your family into which you were born, your job, and your marriage—you in your entirety, even including the color of your hair and your skin, and your time of birth—were all arranged by My hands. I arranged by hand even the things you do and the people you meet every single day, not to mention the fact that bringing you into My presence today was actually done by My arrangement. Do not throw yourself into disorder; you should proceed calmly” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 74). My destiny is in God’s hand, and my child’s prospects are also in God’s hands. I can’t compromise with my husband. When the three days were up, my husband asked me to give my answer. I said to him, “Everyone’s destiny is held in God’s hands. What school our son goes to and what job he has is all orchestrated in God’s hands. Even if you divorce me, I will still choose to believe in God!” My husband said angrily, “Fine, have it your way!” After that, he didn’t mention divorce anymore.

After that, Pastor Liu spread various baseless rumors and fallacies, and disturbed those newcomers who had just accepted God’s new work, but had not yet put down deep roots in it. Forty to fifty of them stopped attending gatherings. My brothers and sisters and I split up to water and support these newcomers. We fellowshipped with them about God’s words so that they could understand the truth and see through Satan’s schemes, and we rescued more than 30 people. At 4 p.m. one afternoon in November, I was reading God’s words at home when the police suddenly came to the door and arrested me. When I arrived at the police station, I saw that several brothers and sisters had also been arrested. I only learned from what the police said that it was Pastor Liu who had reported me together with several other brothers and sisters. The police kept interrogating me about where the offerings of our church were, and where the books of God’s words were. I didn’t say anything, so the police went to my house to search it. Fortunately, after I was arrested, my husband and sister-in-law had transferred all my books related to my belief in God. The police couldn’t find any evidence and so they let me go home. I saw how Pastor Liu had colluded with the government to get them to arrest us. This was exactly the same as how the Pharisees had joined with the Roman government to persecute the Lord Jesus and His disciples. I remembered these words of Almighty God: “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). Only then did I understand the true meaning of God’s words. God exposed the pastors and elders who stand at the pulpit every day and interpret the Bible, but who block people from investigating the true way. They are pious and loving on the outside, but actually they are all hypocrites. They rely on interpreting the Bible to maintain their status and livelihood. When they hear people testify that the Lord has returned, not only do they not seek and investigate, they also stubbornly resist and condemn it. Under the guise of protecting their flock, they also prevent believers from investigating the true way. They do not enter the kingdom of heaven themselves, and they also stop believers from entering, making people resist God and descend to hell together with them. I thought back to everything Pastor Liu did. She interpreted the words of the Bible every day, but she didn’t understand the true meaning of the Lord’s words. She merely used her interpretation of Bible words to mislead people and prevent them from listening to God’s voice. As concerns the matter of the Lord’s coming, the Lord Jesus asked people to be wise virgins and focus on listening to God’s voice, but Pastor Liu prevented believers from investigating the true way. She was clearly doing this for her own status and livelihood, but she still claimed it was to protect her brothers and sisters. When she saw that she failed in her objective, that more and more brothers and sisters accepted God’s work of the last days, and that offerings to the church kept on dwindling, she used baseless rumors to intimidate believers, and spread heresies and fallacies to mislead believers, attempting to forever control them in her own hands. When she saw that she really couldn’t stop it, she handed me and my brothers and sisters over to the evil police of the CCP, forcing us to abandon the true way and give up preaching the gospel. Pastor Liu shouted every day about being responsible for the lives of the believers and protecting the safety of believers, but she acted like this. It was clear that her usual way of speaking in a pleasant manner was actually just in order to control and cage people. She took God’s sheep as her own. She is a living ghost, an evil demon, who prevents others from entering the kingdom of heaven and devours their souls. She is an authentic hypocritical Pharisee: an evil servant and antichrist who hates the truth and is an enemy to God! If it hadn’t been for the exposure of God’s words and the revelation of the facts, it would have been hard for me to see the essence of these pastors clearly. I would have been misled and ruined by them without realizing it. The pastor’s “performance” had actually helped me to improve our discernment. God is truly so wise! This arrest allowed me to thoroughly see Pastor Liu’s true face clearly: She is hypocritical and resists God. It was the guidance of God’s words that allowed me to overcome the pastor’s many attempts to disturb, obstruct, and mislead me. Thanks be to Almighty God!