By Chunqiu, China

I was a co-worker in the Local Church. In April 1997, at a co-workers’ meeting, Brother Zhang, the leader, said, “Recently, a group preaching Eastern Lightning has emerged, and they are really formidable. They have an extensive biblical knowledge, and if we are not careful and cautious, we may be misled. They say that the Lord Jesus has already returned and is Almighty God. They no longer read the Bible in their gatherings but only the words of Almighty God. The Bible says: ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness’ (2 Timothy 3:16). This passage of Scripture clearly tells us that all the words in the Bible are inspired by God. We must keep this in mind that everything in the Bible is God’s word, and the Bible is the foundation of our faith in the Lord, and to believe in the Lord is to believe in the Bible. Departing from the Bible is not believing in the Lord—it is betraying Him!” All present echoed his words in agreement. Brother Zhang waved his hand and continued, “You must remember this: No matter how profound or good their sermons sound, if it is not in the Bible, we must not believe it. Even if your own father or mother preaches it to you, do not believe it. If these people come to your house to preach, drive them away! If you are misled and go astray, the Lord Jesus will not acknowledge you, and by then, no amount of weeping will help.” At the time, I didn’t have discernment. I thought of what the Lord Jesus once said: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). And I thought, “All that is contained within the Bible are the Lord’s words, so how could they pass away? The Bible is our pass to enter the kingdom of heaven, and it is also the guarantee of our life, so not reading the Bible means not believing in the Lord.” Then, he went on to spread some sensational baseless rumors. I believed Brother Zhang’s words to be true. In order to protect the flock and defend the Lord’s way, after I got home, I told the believers that they had to guard against Eastern Lightning. But later, more and more brothers and sisters still accepted Eastern Lightning.

At one gathering, Brother Zhang said that Sister Liu had been drawn away by Eastern Lightning. I found it hard to believe. Sister Liu was very familiar with the Bible and gave good sermons. How could someone of such caliber be drawn away? Later, Brother Wang, who often preached alongside Brother Zhang, also came to believe in Eastern Lightning. I started to wonder, “At every gathering, we’re told not to receive people from Eastern Lightning and to not listen to them or read their books. But why are brothers and sisters still going to believe in Almighty God one after another? What exactly is so appealing about the teachings of Eastern Lightning? What do their books actually say? Brother Wang and Sister Liu, among a few other co-workers, really pursued and had great faith, and they often preached and were very familiar with the Bible, so how could they have been drawn away so easily? Our church is the stream of recovery, and our teachings are more profound than those of other sects. Could it be that the teachings of Eastern Lightning are even more profound than those of our Local Church? Otherwise, why else would all these people be drawn away one after another and absolutely refuse to come back?” Afterward, Brother Zhang specifically set up a prayer meeting, mainly to pray and curse those who preached Eastern Lightning. I felt that this was not in line with the Lord’s intentions. The Lord Jesus taught that to hate is as bad as murder and that we should love our enemies. Wasn’t what they were doing going against the Lord Jesus’ words? I didn’t agree with this, so I didn’t take part.

At the end of October 2002, my niece came to my house. She said that the Lord Jesus had returned, had expressed the truth, and was doing the work of judgment in the last days. She also said that God’s work of saving mankind was carried out in three stages. The first stage was the work done by Jehovah in the Age of Law, the second stage was the work done by the Lord Jesus in the Age of Grace, and the third stage is the work done by Almighty God in the Age of Kingdom. These three stages of work advance step by step, rising higher each time. I realized that my niece might have accepted Eastern Lightning, so I interrupted her, “The first stage is the Age of Law, and the second stage is the Age of Grace—do you really need to mention this? You think I don’t already know this? No matter the number of work stages, you can’t believe in anything without the Bible! How many times have I told you? Don’t believe in anything except the Bible. Why don’t you listen? They say the Lord has returned. Where is the Lord? Who has seen Him?” My niece said, “The Lord has returned and expressed many truths. If we want to see God, we must seek in His words. If you read the words of Almighty God, you will hear God’s voice and see His appearance.” Hearing her say this made me feel even more resistant. I thought of how Brother Zhang always said, “No matter who preaches the Eastern Lightning, if they preach something from outside the Bible, no matter how profound the preaching sounds, we cannot listen. Even if it’s from family or friends, it’s still unacceptable.” So I argued with her, “Aren’t God’s words all in the Bible? No matter how profound or good any preaching outside the Bible sounds, we cannot believe in it! How many years have you been reading the Bible? What do you know? You’ve been misled and don’t even realize it, yet you’re trying to preach to me! If you are here to visit me, you can stay for a few more days, but if you’re here to preach to me, then get out! After that, I’ll cut ties with you!” My niece said, “Auntie, please investigate it! You’ve believed in the Lord for so many years and suffered so much. If you don’t accept God’s work of the last days, all your efforts will be in vain. After I accepted the true way, you were the first person I thought of.” No matter how much my niece tried to persuade me, I just wouldn’t listen, and in the end, she left crying. Later, I felt very upset. My niece had come all this way to preach the gospel to me, yet I’d chased her away. This didn’t align with the Lord’s teachings! But then I thought, “She has betrayed the Lord, so chasing her away wasn’t really wrong.”

One day in January 2003, my niece called and said her mother had been poisoned by gas, and she wanted me to come check on her. I thought I would take this opportunity to talk to her again, and try to persuade her to give up the way of Eastern Lightning. The next day, I went to visit my elder sister, and after dinner, a brother came and greeted me warmly, but at that time, I was on guard against him. The brother said, “Sister, what is your view on the Lord’s coming?” I said, “If you believe in the Lord, we can discuss matters from the Bible, but if you’re here to persuade me to believe in Eastern Lightning, then we have nothing to discuss. I only believe in the words of the Bible, and I don’t believe in anything except the Bible!” The brother said, “I can understand your feelings; I used to cling to the Bible just like you. So, let’s talk about this topic today.” At that moment, I remembered what Brother Zhang had said, “No matter how profound or good their preaching sounds, never listen to it, so as not to be misled.” So I came up with an excuse and said I was tired and went to rest. The next day, two sisters came, and I kept coming up with excuses to avoid and reject them. At that time, I just wanted to go home. However, the snow outside was over half a foot deep, and the buses had stopped running, so I couldn’t leave. I was feeling restless and uneasy, and the words of Brother Zhang kept running through my head. The two sisters urged me to listen carefully, or else I’d miss the chance to welcome the Lord’s coming. One of them continued, “The Lord Jesus said: ‘Seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you’ (Matthew 7:7). In Revelation, it says: ‘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). ‘He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’ (Revelation 2:7). If we don’t open our hearts to God, how can He enlighten us?” I saw that each of them behaved with dignity, decency, and love. No matter how badly I treated them, they never got angry with me, and they just kept guiding me with the Lord’s words. They were nothing like what Brother Zhang had said, and I no longer felt so opposed to them. On the third day, a few brothers and sisters came. I said to them, “‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God’ (2 Timothy 3:16). The words in the Bible are all God’s words, and believing in the Lord cannot be separated from the Bible. If you don’t read the Bible, aren’t you deviating from the Lord’s way?” A brother said, “Let’s first see who said the phrase ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God’ and whether there is any basis in God’s words for this. The Lord Jesus never said that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and the phrase ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God’ was said by Paul, not by the Lord Jesus.” As he said this, he took out the Bible, and showed me the verse “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” I took a look, and indeed, it was Paul who said it, not the Lord Jesus. I usually just focused on reading this verse, but how had I not noticed this issue?

Then, the brother read a passage from Almighty God’s words to me: “Today, people believe the Bible is God, and that God is the Bible. So, too, do they believe that all the words of the Bible were the only words God spoke, and that they were all said by God. Those who believe in God even think that, although all of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament were written by people, they were all given by inspiration of God, and a record of the utterances of the Holy Spirit. This is the distorted comprehension of man, and it does not completely accord with the facts. In fact, apart from the books of prophecy, most of the Old Testament is a historical record. Some of the epistles of the New Testament come from people’s experiences, and some come from the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit; the Pauline epistles, for example, arose from the work of a man, they were all the result of the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment, and they were written for the churches, and were words of exhortation and encouragement for the brothers and sisters of the churches. They were not words spoken by the Holy Spirit—Paul could not speak on behalf of the Holy Spirit, and neither was he a prophet, much less did he see the visions that John beheld. His epistles were written for the churches of Ephesus, Corinth, Galatia, and other churches of that time. And thus, the Pauline epistles of the New Testament are epistles that Paul wrote for the churches, and not inspirations from the Holy Spirit, nor are they the direct utterances of the Holy Spirit. They are merely words of exhortation, comfort, and encouragement that he wrote for the churches during the course of his work. So, too, are they a record of much of Paul’s work at the time. They were written for all who are brothers and sisters in the Lord, so that the brothers and sisters of the churches at that time would obey his advice and follow the way of repentance of the Lord Jesus. By no means did Paul say that, be they the churches of that time or of the future, all must eat and drink the things he wrote, nor did he say that his words all came from God. According to the circumstances of the church at that time, he simply communed with the brothers and sisters, and exhorted them, and inspired belief in them, and he simply preached or reminded people and exhorted them. His words were based upon his own burden, and he supported the people through these words. He did the work of an apostle of the churches of that time, he was a worker who was used by the Lord Jesus, and thus he must take on the responsibility for the churches, and must undertake the work of the churches, he had to learn about the states of the brothers and sisters—and because of this, he wrote epistles for all of the brothers and sisters in the Lord. All he said that was edifying and positive to people was right, but it did not represent the utterances of the Holy Spirit, and it could not represent God. It is an egregious understanding, and a tremendous blasphemy, for people to treat the records of a man’s experiences and a man’s epistles as the words spoken by the Holy Spirit to the churches!” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Concerning the Bible (3)). The brother continued, “God’s words are very clear. In the Old Testament, besides the prophetic books revealed by Jehovah God to the prophets, most of it is records of people’s experiences of God’s work during the Age of Law, for example, how the Israelites came out of Egypt, the experiences of Jacob, David, Solomon, and so on. These are all people’s experiences and cannot be called God’s inspiration. All the words given by God’s inspiration in the Bible are clearly marked, with phrases such as ‘Thus says Jehovah’ and ‘Jehovah says this.’ The New Testament records the work of Jesus, and the words of the Lord Jesus in it are the words of God. The book of Revelation is the vision that John saw on the island of Patmos, and this is inspired by God, and it is God’s word. The rest are people’s words and experiential understanding, and even if people’s words have the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, they cannot be called God’s words or God’s inspiration. Therefore, the Bible is only a historical record of God’s work, a testimony of God’s work, and not all the words in the Bible are God’s inspiration. If we take all the words in the Bible as inspired by God and treat them as God’s words, isn’t this blasphemy against God?” Hearing the brother say this, I felt my heart become enlightened, and I thought, “So the Bible is not all God’s inspiration, there are also people’s words in it. If we treat people’s words as God’s words, this is blasphemy against God. I can’t mix God’s words with people’s words anymore. In the Local Church, no one has ever made the distinction so clearly between God’s words and people’s words. This is the first time I have heard such fellowship.” The brother continued, “I too used to think that besides the Bible, there was no other work or words of God, that all of God’s words were recorded in the Bible, and that the words of God in the Bible were whole and complete, but we have neglected an important issue.” Hearing him say this, my curiosity was piqued, and I quickly asked, “What important issue did we overlook?” He asked me, “Tell me, which came first, God or the Bible? Is God greater, or is the Bible greater?” I was surprised when he asked this. No one had ever asked me this, and it really caught me off guard. After a pause, I remembered that chapter one in Genesis talks about God creating all things. When God existed, there was no Bible yet, so of course, God came first. I blurted out, “God came first, then the Bible. Of course God is greater.” After saying this, I felt a sudden clarity, “All things were created by God, so God is surely greater, but in the past, I’ve placed the Bible above God. Wasn’t that wrong?” The brother continued, “First came God’s work and words, then came the record of the Bible. So if we limit God to the Bible and think there are no words of God outside the Bible, is this viewpoint correct? Let’s see what the Lord Jesus said. In John 16:12–13: ‘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.’ In Revelation 2:7: ‘He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the middle of the paradise of God.’ The Lord Jesus clearly told us that there are many things He has not yet told people, because the people at that time could not bear them. So, when the Lord returns in the last days, He will express more words, and He will open all the mysteries of truth to humanity, allowing them to understand and enter into it. The book of Revelation also prophesies that in the last days, the Holy Spirit will speak to all the churches, the little scroll will be opened, and the hidden manna will be given to the people of the last days. If there are no words from God outside the Bible, how can these prophecies be fulfilled? Therefore, when God comes in the last days, He will express more words, none of which are in the Bible.” Hearing these verses read by the brother, I thought that Jesus indeed said such words. God’s words are inexhaustible and abundant. To say that there are no words of God beyond the Bible is indeed not in line with facts. What he said aligns with the Bible. But then I remembered that it says in the book of Revelation: “For I testify to every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add to these things, God shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Revelation 22:18–19). The people of Eastern Lightning say that God has done new work and spoken new words, which means words outside the Bible. Wasn’t this adding to the Bible? If I accepted what they preached, I would be accepting words outside the Bible, which would be betraying the Lord. So I made an excuse and went out, not wanting to listen any longer.

At night, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. I thought about what this brother had said, and about how it was good and all based on the Bible. If what Brother Zhang said about “There will be no words of God outside the Bible” was true, then the Lord’s prophecy could not be fulfilled, and the little scroll could not be opened. But then I thought about how Brother Zhang had said in a special meeting that those people were proficient in the Bible, and that no matter how profound or good their preaching sounded, we should not listen to them, so I still worried, “What if I believe in the wrong thing?”

On the fourth day, I said to them, “Revelation 22 says: ‘For I testify to every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add to these things, God shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book’ (Revelation 22:18–19). These two verses clearly say that the Bible must not be added to or subtracted from. You read Almighty God’s words alone—isn’t that casting aside the Lord’s words? If I believe in the wrong thing, not only will I not receive God’s approval, but God will also bring disasters upon me.” After hearing this, the brother smiled and said, “So you are concerned about these things! God’s words are all truth and will never pass away, no matter when. This is absolutely true. The Bible says that no one should add to or subtract from the Bible, which means humans cannot add to it, but if God personally comes to work and expresses His words, we cannot say that it is an addition. Just like how the Lord Jesus did new work and expressed new words on the basis of the Age of Law, can we say that He added to the Old Testament?” At that moment, I thought, “Yes, the Bible says that no one should add to or subtract from prophecies, but it doesn’t say that God will not speak new words.” At that moment, my heart became bright, and I became somewhat interested in the brother’s fellowship.

The brother went on to read me God’s words, so I got some better understanding about the inside story of the Bible and how to properly treat the Bible. Almighty God says: “Do regulations need to be applied to the work of God? And must God work according to the foretelling of prophets? After all, which is greater: God or the Bible? Why must God work according to the Bible? Could it be that God has no right to exceed the Bible? Can God not depart from the Bible and do other work? Why did Jesus and His disciples not keep the Sabbath? If He were to practice in light of the Sabbath and according to the commandments of the Old Testament, why did Jesus not keep the Sabbath after He came, but instead washed feet, covered head, broke bread, and drank wine? Is this not all absent from the commandments of the Old Testament? If Jesus honored the Old Testament, why did He break with these regulations? You should know which came first, God or the Bible! Being the Lord of the Sabbath, could He not also be the Lord of the Bible?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Concerning the Bible (1)). “The work done by Jesus during the time of the New Testament began new work: He did not work according to the work of the Old Testament, nor did He apply the words spoken by Jehovah of the Old Testament. He did His own work, and He did newer work, and work that was higher than the law. Thus, He said: ‘Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.’ Thus, in accordance with what He accomplished, much doctrine was broken with. On the Sabbath when He took the disciples through the grain fields, they picked and ate the heads of grain; He did not keep the Sabbath and said ‘the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.’ At the time, according to the rules of the Israelites, whosoever did not keep the Sabbath would be stoned to death. Jesus, however, neither entered the temple nor kept the Sabbath, and His work had not been done by Jehovah during the time of the Old Testament. Thus, the work done by Jesus exceeded the law of the Old Testament, it was higher than it, and was not in accordance with it. During the Age of Grace, Jesus did not work according to the law of the Old Testament, and had already broken with those doctrines. But the Israelites clung fiercely to the Bible and condemned Jesus—was this not denying the work of Jesus? Today, the religious world also clings fiercely to the Bible, and some people say, ‘The Bible is a holy book, and it must be read.’ Some people say, ‘God’s work must be upheld forever, the Old Testament is God’s covenant with the Israelites, and cannot be dispensed with, and the Sabbath must always be kept!’ Are they not ridiculous? Why did Jesus not keep the Sabbath? Was He sinning? Who can thoroughly understand such things? No matter how people read the Bible, it will be impossible to know the work of God using their comprehension ability. Not only will they not gain a pure knowledge of God, but their notions will become ever more egregious, such that they will begin to oppose God. If it were not for the incarnation of God today, people would be ruined by their own notions, and they would die amid God’s chastisement” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Concerning the Bible (1)). After reading God’s words, the brother fellowshipped, “From God’s words, we understand that after God’s work, people recorded and compiled the facts of God’s work, and this is what became the Bible. The Bible is merely a historical book, and a record of God’s previous two stages of work. The Bible is God’s testimony, serving God’s work, and it is not meant to limit God’s work. The Old Testament records Jehovah’s work in the Age of Law, mainly recording how God created the world and His work in the Age of Law. The New Testament records God’s work in the Age of Grace, recording the work and words of the Lord Jesus, calling people to repent and confess, to love their neighbors as themselves, and to forgive seventy times seven, as well as the Lord Jesus forgiving sins, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, and so on. Weren’t the work and words of the Lord Jesus also outside what is recorded in the Old Testament? To human eyes, didn’t this also go beyond the Bible? But this was not an addition outside of the Bible, and rather an elevation of God’s work. Today, Almighty God has come, building upon the work of the Age of Grace to open up the work of the Age of Kingdom, and He has expressed new words. These are the words of the Holy Spirit to the churches prophesied in Revelation, and the little scroll has been opened. How could it be said that something has been added to the Bible? This is completely a different matter. When people see that Almighty God has expressed so many truths, that the mysteries of the little scroll have been unveiled, and that these words are exactly what humanity needs right now—truths that concern whether humanity can be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven—will people still return to religion and listen to Bible preaching every day? Just like those who followed the Lord in the Age of Grace; when they heard the Lord Jesus express new words and do new work, would they still go to the temple to hear the Pharisees preach the Old Testament? If we reject God’s new words because God’s new work goes beyond or above the Bible, aren’t we making the same mistake as the Pharisees opposing God?” The brother’s words convinced me completely, and I had no rebuttal. I’d truly idolized the Bible, and I’d placed it above God. I also understood that the people of Eastern Lightning not reading the Bible doesn’t mean they are denying the Bible; but rather they are following the steps of God’s work. Just as those who followed the Lord Jesus focused on the New Testament and laid aside the Old Testament; this didn’t mean they’d deviated from God’s way. I realized I could no longer carry on in this mistaken way, and that if Almighty God truly was the returned Lord, and I failed to carefully investigate and missed the opportunity to welcome the Lord’s return, wouldn’t I become a foolish virgin? I prayed to the Lord, “Lord, if You truly have returned, I am willing to set aside my own notions and follow the enlightenment and guidance of the Holy Spirit. If this is Your work, please enlighten me so that I can recognize Your voice.” After I prayed like this, I felt a great sense of peace and ease in my heart.

Afterward, we read more of Almighty God’s words: “God Himself is life, and the truth, and His life and truth coexist. Those who are incapable of gaining the truth shall never gain life. Without the guidance, support, and provision of the truth, you shall only gain words, doctrines, and, above all, death. God’s life is ever-present, and His truth and life coexist. If you cannot find the source of truth, then you will not gain the nourishment of life; if you cannot gain the provision of life, then you will surely have no truth, and so apart from imaginings and notions, the entirety of your body shall be nothing but your flesh—your stench-ridden flesh. Know that the words of books do not count as life, the records of history cannot be worshiped as the truth, and the regulations of the past cannot serve as an account of words presently spoken by God. Only that which is expressed by God when He comes to earth and lives among man is the truth, life, God’s intentions, and His current way of working. If you apply the records of words spoken by God during ages past to today, that makes you an archaeologist, and the best way of describing you is as an expert on historical heritage. That is because you always believe in traces of the work that God did in times past, only believe in the shadow of God left from when He previously worked among man, and only believe in the way that God gave to His followers in former times. You do not believe in the direction of God’s work today, do not believe in the glorious countenance of God today, and do not believe in the way of truth presently expressed by God. And so you are undeniably a daydreamer who is completely out of touch with reality. If now you still cling to words that are incapable of bringing life to man, then you are a hopeless piece of deadwood, for you are too conservative, too intractable, too impervious to reason!” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life). “Christ of the last days brings life, and brings the enduring and everlasting way of truth. This truth is the path by which man gains life, and it is the only path by which man shall know God and be approved by God. If you do not seek the way of life provided by Christ of the last days, then you shall never gain the approval of Jesus, and shall never be qualified to enter the gate of the kingdom of heaven, for you are both a puppet and prisoner of history. Those who are controlled by regulations, by words, and by the shackles of history will never be able to gain life nor gain the perpetual way of life. This is because all they have is turbid water which has been clung to for thousands of years instead of the water of life that flows from the throne. Those who are not supplied with the water of life will forever remain corpses, playthings of Satan, and sons of hell. How, then, can they behold God? If you only try to hold on to the past, only try to stand still and keep things as they are, and do not try to change the status quo and discard history, then will you not always be against God? The steps of God’s work are vast and mighty, like surging waves and rolling thunders—yet you sit passively awaiting destruction, clinging to your folly and doing nothing. In this way, how can you be considered someone who follows the footsteps of the Lamb? How can you justify the God that you hold on to as a God who is always new and never old? And how can the words of your yellowed books carry you across into a new age? How can they lead you to seek the steps of God’s work? And how can they take you up to heaven? What you hold in your hands are words that can provide but temporary solace, not truths that are capable of giving life. The words of scriptures you read can only enrich your tongue and are not words of philosophy that can help you know human life, much less the paths that can lead you to perfection. Does this discrepancy not give you cause for reflection? Does it not make you realize the mysteries contained within? Are you capable of delivering yourself to heaven to meet God on your own? Without the coming of God, can you take yourself into heaven to enjoy family happiness with God? Are you still dreaming now? I suggest, then, that you stop dreaming and look at who is working now—look to see who is now carrying out the work of saving man during the last days. If you do not, you shall never gain the truth, and shall never gain life” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life). God exposed all of my notions. I was well aware that God is the truth, the way, and the life, and that God’s abundance is inexhaustible and never runs dry. But I stubbornly clung to the work that the Lord Jesus had done in the past. The Lord has returned in the last days and is performing new work, yet I was still holding onto the Lord’s past words and work in the present day. Was I not the archeologist God refers to? The Lord no longer clings to His past work and has come again to do new work, yet I clung to God’s past work, even using it to measure His new work. Was I not opposing God in this? If I still held onto the Bible and didn’t accept the way of life supplied by Christ in the last days, then my belief in the Lord to the end would not bring me life, nor the Lord’s approval, let alone allow me to enter the kingdom of heaven. God’s words struck me deeply and filled me with shame. My face burned, and I felt a deep sense of condemnation in my heart. At that moment, I was both happy and ashamed. I was happy because I had finally seen the return of the Lord Jesus, but I was ashamed because I’d been so blind, blindly worshiped people, and believed in baseless rumors, and because I’d repeatedly rejected God’s work of the last days, thinking I was loyal to the Lord. I’d been so foolish and obstinate! I thought back to when I believed in baseless rumors and sealed off the church, and I even pulled brothers and sisters who had just accepted Almighty God back to the religious church. I did many evil things. I was busy with work in the Local Church every day—was I not busying myself with opposing God and going against God? The evil I did was no different from that done by the Pharisees or the Jewish Sadducees. I closed the door to the kingdom of heaven for my brothers and sisters, not entering myself, nor letting them enter either. I did so many evil things in opposition to God, yet God did not deal with me according to my evil deeds, instead sending brothers and sisters to preach the gospel to me, bringing me before Him. I truly didn’t deserve such great love from God! I could no longer hold back the self-blame and guilt in my heart, and in tears, I kneeled on my bed to pray and confess to God, “Lord, I have heard Your voice, and You have truly returned. I am so excited and happy, yet I am also full of regret. You sent people to bring me the good news, to preach the gospel to me, yet not only did I not listen, but I also kept believing the baseless rumors and notions spread by religious leaders, and time and again, I shut the door on You. I also misled my brothers and sisters and obstructed them from coming before You. Like the Pharisees, I delimited You within the Scriptures. God, I have been so wrong. I was so blind! I wish to confess and repent to You, I no longer want to walk the path of the Pharisees, and I am willing to follow in the steps of Your work.” After praying, my heart felt so bright and at ease. It was as if I had become a different person.

In the following days, by gathering and fellowshipping God’s words with the brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God, all the confusion in my heart was resolved. I completely confirmed in my heart that Almighty God is the Lord Jesus returned, whom I have long been waiting for. My heart was so stirred up, and I wanted to hurry back and share this great news with my brothers and sisters. I first went to my mother’s house, and a week later, I converted a few brothers and sisters. Later, I returned to my locality and preached the gospel to Sister Li from my denomination. Sister Li was very happy to hear it and was willing to investigate the true way. But unexpectedly, she was disturbed and pulled back by the co-workers from the Local Church.

Later, when the co-workers from the Local Church found out that I had accepted Almighty God, they expelled me. I wasn’t constrained by them and continued to preach the gospel. Seeing they couldn’t stop me, they started using softer tactics. They sent people in groups of two or three to my house, crying and pleading for me to return to the Local Church. They apologized to me, saying that they shouldn’t have expelled me. I thought about all the years I’d spent with them preaching the gospel, supporting my brothers and sisters, and attending co-worker gatherings together. All these memories kept playing on a loop in my head like a movie. I felt really distressed, and so I prayed to God, “God, what should I do? I still have lingering feelings for them and can’t let go, but I also know that You have returned to perform the work of judgment and cleansing, and that if I go back to the religion with them, I would be betraying You. I don’t want to fail to live up to Your salvation. I cannot be someone without a conscience.” After praying, I suddenly remembered the words of God that my brother read to me: “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). God’s words brightened my heart, and I finally understood that their having brothers and sisters plead with me and say flattering words to elevate me contained Satan’s schemes. They were trying to use this soft tactic to mislead me, to make me betray Almighty God and abandon the true way. I couldn’t fall for their tricks. When they saw that they couldn’t persuade me, they left. But to my surprise, ten days later, Brother Zhang brought over ten co-workers to my house to disturb me. I thought to myself, “The Lord has now returned, and as leading figures of the Local Church, not only do they refuse to accept this, but they also spread notions and fallacies to mislead us, and they condemn God’s work in the last days. Are they really believers in the Lord?” I preached the gospel of God’s work in the last days to my brothers and sisters, and everyone was willing to seek and investigate. But as soon as I left, they came and dragged them back. I thought of the words of the Lord Jesus, condemning and cursing 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). Weren’t the actions of Brother Zhang and the others just like those of the hypocritical Pharisees? In the past, when the Pharisees saw the Lord Jesus express so many truths, and perform so many miracles, they did not seek but instead resisted and condemned the Lord Jesus. They even bore false witness to mislead people and hinder them from following the Lord, and their nature essence was one of hating God and the truth. Now Almighty God has expressed so many truths, and so many people have accepted and come to follow Him. But Brother Zhang and the others not only refused to investigate but also resisted and condemned Almighty God, sealing off the church, spreading baseless rumors and fallacies, to intimidate believers and hinder them from investigating the true way. They weren’t entering the kingdom of heaven and were preventing others from entering too. They were making others resist God along with them, leading them into hell. Were they not Pharisees and living demons, who blocked others from entering the kingdom of heaven and made them children of hell? When I thought of this, I was able to discern them, and I saw clearly their God-resisting essence. No matter how they tried to disturb me, I wouldn’t fall for their tricks, and I was determined to follow the footsteps of the Lamb.

It was God’s words that led me to break free of the bondage of the religious leaders’ baseless rumors, and see through Satan’s schemes. After that, I actively joined the ranks of those preaching the gospel, and working together with my brothers and sisters, we brought in over thirty people from the Local Church. Having seen God’s guidance, my faith to follow Him grew even stronger. Thanks be to Almighty God!