By Li Min, China

My daughter was born with epilepsy. My husband and I sought medical treatment everywhere and did everything we could, but she didn’t get better. When I felt pained and at a dead end, someone preached the gospel to me, and I started believing in the Lord Jesus. My daughter’s condition soon improved and my husband and his mother started believing in the Lord too. My husband later became a preacher, while I hosted gatherings at home for church coworkers.

Around 1997, some people came to my house and testified to my husband and me that the Lord Jesus had returned already, that He was in the flesh and doing new work, and that His name was Almighty God. I wondered how this could be possible. The Bible says: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). The Lord Jesus’ name is forever immutable, so how could He be called Almighty God? How could He be doing new work? I couldn’t accept it at the time, and I wasn’t willing to pay them any attention. After some time, they came to preach the gospel to us again but I dug my heels in and wouldn’t listen. The Bible clearly says that the Lord Jesus’ name is forever immutable and yet they were saying the Lord had come and was called Almighty God. It didn’t accord with the Bible. No matter what they said, I wouldn’t accept it. My husband didn’t listen to them either.

In 2002, my husband went to preach. When he came back, he looked excited and said to me, “I’ve got good news for you. The Lord Jesus whom we’ve longed for has returned! The Almighty God testified to by Eastern Lightning is the Lord Jesus returned! You see, God’s six-thousand-year management plan is divided into three stages: The first was the work of the Age of Law when Jehovah God proclaimed the law to guide man in their lives on earth. The second was the Age of Grace when the Lord Jesus was crucified and did the work of redeeming mankind. The third is the Age of Kingdom. Almighty God is expressing many truths and doing the work of judgment and chastisement, resolving man’s sinful nature, utterly cleansing and saving man, and finally leading man into a beautiful destination. These three stages of work are the complete work of God’s salvation of man, and each one is essential.” My husband told me many things. But I found it inconceivable. I wondered, “How could you accept Eastern Lightning? You’ve preached for so many years, so how could you be misled by them? We read the Bible all day. Galatians, Chapter 1, Verses 6 to 7 say: 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.’ We also read Hebrews, Chapter 13, Verse 8: ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.’ These verses clearly state that the Lord Jesus’ name will never change. Easter Lightning says that God’s name is Almighty God. Isn’t this changing the name of the Lord Jesus? Aren’t they changing the gospel of Christ? How can you believe this? We must always keep the Lord’s name in our faith in Him. The Lord’s name cannot change!” I knew that as my husband was versed in the Bible and was good at giving sermons, I wouldn’t be able to convince him, and that when he committed to something, no one could change his mind. So I said nothing. I thought, “I won’t accept it no matter how well you talk. The Lord Jesus has given us so much grace; I could never betray Him. I will follow the Lord till the end, even if we have to get divorced!” In the end, I said to him, “If you keep preaching about the Lord Jesus, then I’ll listen to you. We’re still family. But if you preach about Eastern Lightning, then you go your way, and I’ll go mine, and we’ll just go our own ways.” My husband shook his head helplessly as he saw me stubbornly refusing to listen, and he said nothing more.

After he’d accepted Eastern Lightning, he preached the gospel to people in our church. Unexpectedly, his closest coworker in the church, Feng, kicked him out. After that, Feng and the others began locking down the assembly places and didn’t allow the believers to hear what my husband had to say. They said to me, “Your husband has accepted Eastern Lightning. Don’t listen to him. He’s gone awry in his faith!” I said, “I haven’t accepted it, but some things he says accord with the Bible.” Because I said this, they became guarded even against me. They talked about me behind my back, saying, “Her husband now believes in Almighty God, so we mustn’t have anything to do with her. She’s bound to be affected as time goes on. She’ll definitely accept it.” I felt very wronged hearing this. No matter how I proclaimed my innocence and swore that I hadn’t accepted Eastern Lightning, they didn’t believe me. Whenever I went to an assembly place, their expressions would change. They were guarded against me, afraid that I might mislead believers. They would’ve been happy if I didn’t show up at gatherings at all, and they didn’t dare speak to me, as if I had some infectious disease. I felt so hurt and resented my husband. I felt that their rejection of me was all trouble caused by him. I felt very unhappy and repressed, so I prayed to the Lord, “Oh Lord, the brothers and sisters have rejected me. I feel so hurt. I’m wondering what Your intention is.” To prove that I hadn’t accepted Eastern Lightning, when a sister who hosted gatherings got sick and went into hospital, I purposefully bought her a gift and went to see her so she would know how sincere I was. But after she was discharged, she went right back to ignoring me. So later, I stopped going to gatherings, and just prayed and read the Bible at home. My husband saw how unhappy I was and testified to me again about God’s new work. I reprimanded him angrily, saying, “If you hadn’t accepted Eastern Lightning, would the church have rejected me? Would everyone have abandoned me? Even if they won’t let me go to gatherings, I’m not going to believe in Eastern Lightning like you! I’m going to keep the Lord’s name and will never deny that Christ is my Lord!” He didn’t get angry when he saw I was in a bad mood, but just got anxious and worried. He later brought two brothers to fellowship with me. One of the brothers said very sincerely, “Sister, the Lord Jesus really has returned and expressed millions of words. These words are all the truth. Your confusion can all be solved with God’s words. Just listen, and then you’ll know.” At the time, I was concerned only with what I was doing and wasn’t willing to pay attention to them. The brothers saw that I wasn’t listening, so they had no choice but to leave. I saw how dignified and upright the people from Eastern Lightning were, and how loving. They didn’t get angry even though I snubbed them like that, and they very patiently fellowshipped with me. They were clearly true believers but how could they believe in Eastern Lightning? I couldn’t figure it out. Afterward, my husband traveled away to preach the gospel. While he was away, people kept testifying to me of God’s new work, but I wasn’t willing to listen. Whenever anyone came, I’d lock the door and hide to one side. They’d see the door was locked and leave. In those days, whenever I thought of how the people in the church had misunderstood and rejected me, I felt so hurt. I cried and confided my suffering to the Lord so many times. Once, I suddenly thought, “The church won’t let me attend gatherings, so if I bring the good sheep that Eastern Lightning has stolen back to the church, then they’ll believe that I haven’t betrayed the Lord.” A light went on in my heart when I thought this and I prayed to the Lord immediately, “Oh Lord, You scrutinize our innermost hearts and You know I am true to You. I haven’t accepted Eastern Lightning. Oh Lord, the church doesn’t want me anymore and I’m hurting. I’m not willing to stay at home, feeling wronged and neglected like this. Oh Lord, please grant me the wisdom and strength to bring the good sheep that Eastern Lightning has stolen back to Your name. Oh Lord, please help me!” After praying, I planned to take the initiative and contact the people from Eastern Lightning, to confront them head-on, to use the Bible to refute them, and bring God’s sheep back, so I spent a lot of time every day reading the Bible.

One day, I was avidly reading the scriptures when I suddenly read: “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). I was stunned. How come I felt different from before when I read this verse now? I pondered the words “But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.” I always used to think this was about the Lord Jesus, because in the Age of Grace, God incarnated to become the Lord Jesus Christ and was rejected by that generation, crucified, and He suffered so much pain. How come the Lord said, “and be rejected of this generation” when He prophesied the Son of man’s return? Is this still talking about the Lord Jesus 2000 years ago? The more I pondered it, the more I felt that what the Eastern Lightning people said accorded with the Bible. I also thought about the Eastern Lightning people testifying that Almighty God is God’s second incarnation, and how people from all denominations are judging, resisting, and condemning Almighty God’s work, and how the ruling party of the CCP hounds and persecutes Eastern Lightning most severely—isn’t this Almighty God suffering many things and being rejected of this generation? Could “But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation” be referring to Almighty God? Is Almighty God the Lord Jesus returned? Thinking this, I got a fright, “Oh no! Had I really been resisting the Lord?” But then I thought, “Surely not! The Lord’s name is immutable!” Then again, I thought, “It is such a serious matter, I can’t just blindly condemn Eastern Lightning. I really mustn’t resist the Lord.” I then thought of the Lord’s words: “For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:8). I felt like my eyes were opened, and I thought, “Yes, I must seek.”

I remembered that my husband had a gospel pamphlet. He’d told me, “Your confusions can all be resolved by this book.” I rushed to find the book but before I read it, I said a prayer, “Oh Lord, please enlighten me and allow me to discern the content of this book. I’m of little stature and I fear being misled, but I fear resisting You, too. Oh Lord, please protect me as I read this book today.” After praying, I opened the book and took a look. There really were questions in here that I wanted to ask. The first was about God’s name. The book said: “In the Bible it is written, ‘Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12). This is absolutely true. But this couldn’t prove that God could only be called Jesus and that His name could never change. We all remember that in the Old Testament, Jehovah said: ‘I, even I, am Jehovah; and beside Me there is no savior’ (Isaiah 43:11). ‘Jehovah … is My name for ever, and this is My memorial to all generations’ (Exodus 3:15). And in the New Testament, Acts, Chapter 4, Verse 12, it says: ‘Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’ ‘Any other’ refers to anyone besides Jesus. So which one is God’s sole name—Jehovah or Jesus? God’s name was originally Jehovah, but later it was Jesus. So didn’t God’s name change? And when the Lord Jesus returns in the last days, His name undergoes a similar change. Let’s read this prophecy in Revelation and then we’ll understand. Revelation Chapter 3, Verse 12 says: ‘Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God: and I will write on him My new name.’ This clearly prophecies that when God returns in the last days, He will have a new name. So could this new name still be ‘Jesus’? How could it be a new name if He’s still called ‘Jesus’?” I felt that these words were very reasonable, that they accorded with the Bible. What they were preaching did not diverge from the Bible. I’d read these verses many times, so how had I not understood? Jehovah was God’s name in the Age of Law. Jesus was God’s name in the Age of Grace. Jehovah and Jesus were both God’s names. They were called different names in different ages. His names in these two ages were different. When I said before that God’s name was immutable, this was at odds with the facts. Revelation says the Lord will have a “new name.” It turns out that this “new name” doesn’t refer to the Lord Jesus.

In the answer to this question, the gospel pamphlet also quoted Almighty God’s words: “In each age, God does new work and is called by a new name; how could He do the same work in different ages? How could He cling to the old? The name of Jesus was taken for the sake of the work of redemption, so would He still be called by the same name when He returns in the last days? Would He still be doing the work of redemption? Why is it that Jehovah and Jesus are one, yet They are called by different names in different ages? Is it not because the ages of Their work are different? Could a single name represent God in His entirety? This being so, God must be called by a different name in a different age, and He must use the name to change the age and to represent the age. For no one name can fully represent God Himself, and each name is able only to represent the temporal aspect of God’s disposition in a given age; all it needs to do is to represent His work” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Vision of God’s Work (3)). “‘Jehovah’ is the name that I took during My work in Israel, and it means the God of the Israelites (God’s chosen people) who can take pity on man, curse man, and guide the life of man; the God who possesses great power and is full of wisdom. ‘Jesus’ is Emmanuel, which means the sin offering that is full of love, full of compassion, and which redeems man. He did the work of the Age of Grace, and He represents the Age of Grace, and can only represent one part of the work of the management plan. … The name of Jesus came from the Age of Grace and came into existence because of the work of redemption in the Age of Grace. The name of Jesus came into existence to allow the people of the Age of Grace to be reborn and saved, and is a particular name for the redemption of the whole of mankind. Thus, the name Jesus represents the work of redemption, and denotes the Age of Grace. The name Jehovah is a particular name for the people of Israel who lived under the law. In each age and each stage of work, My name is not baseless, but holds representative significance: Each name represents one age. ‘Jehovah’ represents the Age of Law and is the honorific by which the people of Israel called the God whom they worshiped. ‘Jesus’ represents the Age of Grace, and is the name of the God of all those who were redeemed during the Age of Grace. If man still longs for the arrival of Jesus the Savior during the last days, and still expects Him to arrive in the image He bore in Judea, then the entire six-thousand-year management plan would have stopped in the Age of Redemption, and could not have progressed any further. The last days, furthermore, would never arrive, and the age would never be brought to an end” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a “White Cloud”). I understood somewhat after reading this. God’s work is always progressing forward and God’s name is always changing along with His work. God does different work in different ages and is called different names. By His name, He changes the age, and His name represents the age. God is called different names in different ages to represent the different dispositions He expresses in each age. In the Age of Law, God proclaimed the law to guide the Israelites in their lives on earth. And the name Jehovah represents God’s disposition of majesty, wrath, mercy and even cursing people. In the Age of Grace, God incarnated to become the Lord Jesus. He was crucified and became the sin offering for man. The name Jesus represented God’s merciful and loving disposition. I saw that the name God takes in every age has meaning and yet I’d said that God’s work and His name could never change— hadn’t I passed a verdict on God?

I then read another passage of Almighty God’s words, and light dawned in my heart even more. Almighty God says: “I was once known as Jehovah. I was also called the Messiah, and people once called Me Jesus the Savior with love and esteem. Today, however, I am no longer the Jehovah or Jesus that people knew in times past; I am the God who has returned in the last days, the God who shall bring the age to an end. I am the God Himself that rises up from the end of the earth, replete with My entire disposition, and full of authority, honor, and glory. People have never engaged with Me, never known Me, and have always been ignorant of My disposition. From the creation of the world until today, not one person has seen Me. This is the God who appears to man in the last days but is hidden among man. He resides among man, true and real, like the burning sun and the blazing flame, filled with power and brimming with authority. There is not a single person or thing that shall not be judged by My words, and not a single person or thing that shall not be purified through the burning of fire. Eventually, all nations shall be blessed because of My words, and also smashed to pieces because of My words. In this way, all people during the last days shall see that I am the Savior returned, and that I am the Almighty God that conquers all of mankind. And all shall see that I was once the sin offering for man, but that in the last days I also become the flames of the sun that incinerate all things, as well as the Sun of righteousness that reveals all things. This is My work in the last days. I took this name and am possessed of this disposition so that all people may see that I am a righteous God, the burning sun, the blazing flame, and so that all may worship Me, the one true God, and so that they may see My true face: I am not only the God of the Israelites, and I am not just the Redeemer; I am the God of all creatures throughout the heavens and the earth and the seas” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a “White Cloud”). I felt that these words were so authoritative, that these were God’s words. I also understood that Jehovah, Messiah, Jesus, and Almighty God were all God’s names, they are all one God, and that Almighty God is God’s name in the last days. This fulfills what the Bible says: “I am Alpha and Omega, … said the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). I felt so upset when I thought this. The Pharisees of old clung to the words of the Bible, thinking that someone not called Messiah could not be God, and they crucified the Lord Jesus and were punished by God. Wasn’t I now no different from the Pharisees? I was clinging to the words of the Bible and living in my notions and imaginings, thinking that if God wasn’t called Jesus then He wasn’t God. When it came to welcoming the Lord, I wasn’t seeking or investigating, but just stubbornly clinging to my notions and imaginings, thinking I was defending the Lord’s name and upholding the Lord’s way and not realizing that I was resisting God’s new work. I felt such remorse that I wept.

I hurriedly read on and saw in the gospel pamphlet that it said: “Many people have this notion. They believe that the Bible clearly states that all who preach anything different from them will be cursed, that what is preached by Eastern Lightning is different from what they preach, that it is a different gospel, and so they don’t dare to accept it.” I was confused about this, too. The book said: “The Book of Galatians was written by the Apostle Paul around AD 60, an epistle written to the Galatian church. At that time, the Lord Jesus’ gospel had already expanded spectacularly, and many people in Galatia also accepted the new work of the Lord Jesus and established churches. That was the time when the Age of Law was transitioning into the Age of Grace, and there were two groups of preachers among the Jews of that time: One group preached the old work of the Age of Law, getting people to keep the laws of Jehovah, that is, to be circumcised, observe the Sabbath, enter the temple, and so on. The other group (led by the 12 disciples of Jesus) preached the new work of the Age of Grace, getting people to believe in the Lord Jesus and be saved, to do what the Lord Jesus asked, that is, to confess, repent, be baptized, break bread, love one another, be tolerant and patient, and so on. The Pharisees who clung to the law of the Old Testament said that the gospel preached by Jesus’ disciples was different from what they preached, that Jesus’ way went beyond the Bible and that He had abandoned the law. They condemned Jesus’ new work and disturbed those who had accepted the salvation of Jesus’ crucifixion. They said people couldn’t be saved by believing in Jesus, that it went against Jehovah’s teachings, that they had to continue keeping the Sabbath, be circumcised, and so on. However, the Galatians had no discernment back then and departed from the gospel of Jesus preached by Paul to follow the Jews who preached the law of the Old Testament. When Paul heard that the brothers and sisters in the Galatian church had rejected the Lord Jesus’ gospel and returned to the temple, he wrote to the Galatian church, saying, ‘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’ (Galatians 1:6–7). He wrote this to exhort the Galatians to return to the true way. We all know that the Pharisees clung to the law and condemned the Lord Jesus and were eliminated from the Holy Spirit’s new work, and were ultimately punished and cursed by God. So how should we approach God’s new work today?” Only after reading this fellowship did I realize that I hadn’t understood the Bible. Without knowing why Paul had said what he did, I’d interpreted it however I liked in line with my notions and imaginings. The “another gospel” mentioned by Paul referred to those who preached Jehovah’s gospel during the Age of Law to get people to keep the law of the Old Testament, and wasn’t referring to those who preach the gospel of the kingdom. This is because God hadn’t yet done His work of the last days when Paul wrote this epistle, and no one was preaching God’s gospel of the last days. I took those who preach the gospel of the kingdom as preaching another gospel. I’d gotten it all muddled and had a distorted understanding of the scriptures! I was so poor, pitiful, and blind. I really felt so ashamed! I’d shamelessly said before that I wanted to bring the sheep stolen by Eastern Lightning back to the church. Only now did I understand that they hadn’t been misled. They’d seen that Almighty God’s words are the truth and ascertained that they are God’s voice, and so they began to follow Almighty God. It was no wonder their faith was so strong after accepting Eastern Lightning that wild horses couldn’t have dragged them back. It turned out that they had welcomed the Lord. I’d thought I could read the Bible more and bring back the good sheep stolen by Eastern Lightning. I never imagined God would use this special situation to revive my numb and intransigent heart. I felt so excited!

I started eagerly reading God’s words and read this. “After the work of Jehovah, Jesus became flesh to do His work amongst man. His work was not carried out in isolation, but was built upon the work of Jehovah. It was work for a new age that God did after He had concluded the Age of Law. Similarly, after the work of Jesus ended, God went on with His work for the next age, because the entire management of God is always progressing forward. When the old age passes, it will be replaced by a new age, and once the old work has been completed, there will be new work to continue God’s management. This incarnation is God’s second incarnation, which follows upon Jesus’ work. Of course, this incarnation does not occur independently; it is the third stage of work after the Age of Law and the Age of Grace. Every time God initiates a new stage of work, there must always be a new beginning and it must always bring a new age. So too are there corresponding changes in the disposition of God, in the manner of His working, in the location of His work, and in His name. No wonder, then, that it is difficult for man to accept the work of God in the new age. But regardless of how He is opposed by man, God is always doing His work, and is always leading the whole of mankind forward. When Jesus came into the world of man, He ushered in the Age of Grace and ended the Age of Law. During the last days, God once more became flesh, and with this incarnation He ended the Age of Grace and ushered in the Age of Kingdom. All those who are able to accept the second incarnation of God will be led into the Age of Kingdom, and will moreover become able to personally accept the guidance of God. Though Jesus did much work among man, He only completed the redemption of all mankind and became man’s sin offering; He did not rid man of all his corrupt disposition. Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to become the sin offering and bear the sins of man, but it also required God to do even greater work to rid man completely of his satanically corrupted disposition. And so, now that man has been forgiven of his sins, God has returned to the flesh to lead man into the new age, and begun the work of chastisement and judgment. This work has brought man into a higher realm. All those who submit under His dominion shall enjoy higher truth and receive greater blessings. They shall truly live in the light, and they shall gain the truth, the way, and the life” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Preface). The more I read Almighty God’s words, the brighter my heart became. I understood that God’s work and His name aren’t unchangeable. God’s work keeps progressing forward, and the work of every age builds on the work of the previous age. Because God’s work is different in each age, God’s name and the disposition He expresses are different, too. If it was as I believed that God’s name and work never changed, then God would forever be called Jehovah and could not have changed to Jesus. God’s work wouldn’t have been able to progress forward, either, but would have stopped at the Age of Law. Then man wouldn’t have been able to be redeemed by God but would have died under the law. If I kept only the name of Jesus and didn’t accept God’s new work and new name in the last days, then I’d never be able to welcome the Lord’s return and in the end I would’ve fallen into the disasters, weeping and gnashing my teeth, because I’d missed God’s work in the last days.

I read more of Almighty God’s words: “Perhaps, having heard the way of truth and having read the word of life, you believe that only one in 10,000 of these words are in line with your convictions and the Bible, and then you should continue to seek in that 10,000th of these words. I still advise you to be humble, to not be over-confident, and to not exalt yourself too highly. With the bit of a God-fearing heart you possess, you will gain greater light. If you carefully examine and repeatedly contemplate these words, you shall understand whether or not they are the truth, and whether or not they are life” (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). Almighty God’s words spoke straight to my heart: This was the state I was in. A lot of what my husband had fellowshipped with me before accorded with the Bible but I was too self-important and ignorant, totally without a God-fearing heart, going by my little knowledge of the Bible to pass a verdict on God’s work and even wanting to find more basis in the Bible to deny God’s new name and new work. I really was so stubborn and my thinking was so distorted! I wanted to let go of my notions, continue seeking and investigating, and confess and repent to God. I had always refused to listen to my husband fellowshipping to me about God’s work in the last days, but now I wanted to hear about it so much. My husband, however, was away preaching the gospel and I didn’t know when he’d be back. So every day I opened the front door and waited for brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God, wanting a sister to come and give me fellowship.

One morning, I’d just eaten breakfast when I heard someone call for me. When I saw they were sisters from The Church of Almighty God, I felt incredibly excited. I happily invited them in. One of them opened The Word Appears in the Flesh. I saw a title inside the book that read “Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God.” The sister read aloud while I listened eagerly. Almighty God says: “The three stages of work are at the heart of God’s entire management, and in them are expressed the disposition of God and what He is. Those who do not know of the three stages of God’s work are incapable of realizing how God expresses His disposition, nor do they know the wisdom of God’s work. They also remain ignorant of the many ways in which He saves mankind, and of His intentions for the whole of mankind. The three stages of work are the full expression of the work of saving mankind. Those who do not know the three stages of work will be ignorant of the various methods and principles of the Holy Spirit’s work, and those who only rigidly stick to doctrine that is left over from a certain stage of work are people who limit God to doctrine, and whose belief in God is vague and uncertain. Such people will never receive God’s salvation. Only the three stages of God’s work can fully express the entirety of God’s disposition and completely express God’s intention of saving the whole of mankind, and the entire process of mankind’s salvation. This is proof that He has defeated Satan and gained mankind; it is proof of God’s victory, and is the expression of God’s entire disposition. Those who understand only one stage of the three stages of God’s work know only part of God’s disposition. In the notions of man, it is easy for this single stage of work to become doctrine, and it becomes likely that man will establish fixed rules about God and use this single part of God’s disposition as a representation of God’s entire disposition. Furthermore, much of man’s imagination is mixed within, such that man rigidly constrains the disposition, being, and wisdom of God, as well as the principles of God’s work, within limited parameters, believing that if God was like this once, then He will remain the same for all time and never change. Only those who know and appreciate the three stages of work can fully and accurately know God. At the very least, they will not define God as the God of the Israelites, or the Jews, and will not see Him as a God who will be forever nailed to the cross for the sake of man. If one only comes to know God from one stage of His work, then their knowledge is far too small, and amounts to no more than a drop in the ocean. If not, why would many of the religious old guard nail God to the cross alive? Is it not because man confines God within certain parameters? Do many people not oppose God and obstruct the work of the Holy Spirit because they do not know the varied and diverse work of God, and, furthermore, because they possess but a smidgeon of knowledge and doctrine with which to measure the work of the Holy Spirit? Though the experiences of such people are superficial, they are arrogant and indulgent in nature and they regard the work of the Holy Spirit with contempt, ignore the disciplines of the Holy Spirit and, moreover, use their trivial old arguments to ‘confirm’ the work of the Holy Spirit. They also put on an act, and are wholly convinced of their own learning and erudition, and convinced that they are able to travel across the world. Are such people not those who are spurned by the Holy Spirit, and will they not be eliminated by the new age? Are not those who come before God and openly oppose Him ignorant and under-informed villains, who are merely trying to show how brilliant they are? With but a meager knowledge of the Bible, they try to run riot in the world’s ‘academia’; with but a superficial doctrine to teach people, they try to reverse the work of the Holy Spirit and attempt to make it revolve around their own thought process. Short-sighted as they are, they try to behold in one glance 6,000 years of God’s work. These people do not have any sense worth mentioning! In fact, the greater people’s knowledge of God, the slower they are to judge His work. Furthermore, they only talk a little of their knowledge of God’s work today, but they are not rash in their judgments. The less people know of God, the more arrogant and overconfident they are and the more wantonly they proclaim God’s being—yet they only talk of theory, and offer no real evidence. Such people are of no value whatsoever” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God). When I heard these words of God, I felt that God really had seen into my heart and exposed my notions so clearly. I knew only one stage of the three stages of God’s work and was clinging to the words in the Bible that were left over from that stage of work. I restricted God to regulations and believed that God’s name was Jesus and could never be changed. I also said that accepting the work of Almighty God was betraying the Lord Jesus and committing apostasy. I saw that I knew nothing about God’s work and that my belief in God was so vague. The three stages of work are the entire expression of God’s work to save mankind. By knowing about one of the three stages of work, I knew only one part of God’s disposition, yet I restricted God’s disposition, His being, His wisdom and His work so tightly into this limited scope, believing that if God was this way once, then He must always be this way. I was short-sighted and didn’t know God, and yet I passed a verdict on God’s name and work. I really was arrogant!

Later, I read a lot more of Almighty God’s words and became certain that Almighty God is the Lord Jesus returned, so I joined The Church of Almighty God and began gathering together and reading Almighty God’s words with brothers and sisters. I feel so provided for. Thank God for showing me mercy and kindness so that, in this way, I could miraculously accept God’s salvation of the last days and welcome the appearance of the Lord!