By Lu Ming, China

One day in May of 2023, Sister Zhao Fei invited me to spread God’s last days’ gospel to a believer of the Lord with her. The believer’s name was Li Hao. She had previously led youth gatherings in a church, but church attendance was down in recent years, and young people were drawn by the allure of material goods and money, following worldly trends. Only the elderly remained as believers in the church. Li Hao’s faith began to wane; she stopped attending gatherings and just read the Bible at home. She knew that the increasing frequency of disasters was clearly a sign that the Lord would be coming soon and she continually awaited His return. Realizing this, I became even more eager to spread the gospel to her.

Upon meeting, we discussed our experiences in the faith and our hopes in our belief. We also talked about various evil and dark phenomena in the current world, mankind’s corruption and decadence, what will become of man without God’s salvation, etc. Li Hao agreed saying, “People are truly too corrupt these days and will do anything for profit and gain. If God doesn’t come to save mankind, they are doomed.” After that, I bore witness to her regarding God’s three stages of work. I talked about how in the later days of the Age of Law, people sinned more and more often, did not have enough sin offerings to make, and all were under threat of being convicted and cursed by the law. God then became incarnate to perform the work of redemption in the Age of Grace. The Lord Jesus was crucified as a sin offering for mankind, redeeming man from Satan’s grasp and ensuring their survival. We also talked about how even though people are forgiven for their sins as believers, and enjoy many blessings and grace, no one can deny that they have yet to break free from the fetters of sin and all live in a constant cycle of sinning and confessing, unable to practice the Lord’s words. Their inability to be patient and tolerant with others, their lying, cheating, selfishness, wickedness and greed—they cannot cast off this corruption. The brothers and sisters are envious of and compete with each other, forming factions, and when it comes to personal gain, they criticize each other behind their backs and attack each other. God says: “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45). “Can people who are full of corruption enter the kingdom of heaven?” I asked. Li Hao said, “Impure people cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, but how can we become pure?” I replied, saying, “We cannot purify ourselves, we must be saved by God. If God does not come to save man, he will not break free from sin on his own. By believing in the Lord, our sins are forgiven, but our sinful nature is still deeply rooted. If you cut down a weed, it will grow right back, and if we do not address the root issue, we will continue to sin. This shows that we still live under Satan’s power and have not been truly gained by God. In order to thoroughly save mankind from sin, wrest them from the grasp of Satan’s dark influence, and allow them to be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven, the Lord Jesus has returned in the last days to perform the work of judgment and purification through words on the foundation of the work of redemption. He expresses truth to expose man’s corrupt disposition and essence, and judge his rootedness in sin and his many satanic poisons. Only through the judgment of His words do we realize that we have been corrupted too deeply by Satan and lack a human semblance, and only then do we begin to hate and rebel against ourselves, and become willing to pursue the truth, seek to live out a true human semblance and be saved. This fulfills the Lord’s words: ‘I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth’ (John 16:12–13).” Li Hao then said, “I understand, we don’t break free from sin just by believing in the Lord, and are not yet worthy of entering the kingdom of heaven. We still need to accept God’s judgment and salvation to be purified.” I told her, “Yes, to save mankind, God performed three stages of work in the Age of Law, the Age of Grace and the Age of Kingdom. Like in farming, where one must till, plant and harvest, the work is only complete after three stages and not one can be left out. It is not enough to just be redeemed by the Lord Jesus. Only by accepting the work of judgment in the last days can our corrupt dispositions be cleansed, allowing us to survive and enter God’s kingdom.” We also bore witness to her about how all the three stages of work were done by the same God, with each building upon and deepening the work of the previous stage, and all with the goal of saving man and guiding him into God’s kingdom. Li Hao understood all this and excitedly said, “The Lord Jesus has returned to save us? What great news!”

One night, a few days later, we visited Li Hao at her home once more. But as soon as we entered, she looked panicked and told us, “You guys must leave at once. I can’t host you here!” I was confused and so I asked her what was up. She hurriedly replied, “I caught COVID, I haven’t been able to get any food down, I have diarrhea and feel weak. I feel like I won’t last much longer. You must go at once, I don’t want to infect you.” When I saw how skinny and frail she’d become, I wanted to stay with her and fellowship with her on how to experience in this situation, but I also worried that if I stayed, I might become infected. Many had died from COVID in recent times and I feared I might become infected if I came in close contact with her. Should I stay or go? I couldn’t make up my mind. I silently prayed to God and recalled a passage of His words. “God created everything, and having created it, He has dominion over all things. In addition to having dominion over all things, He is in control of everything. What does this mean, the idea that ‘God is in control of everything’? How can it be explained? How does it apply to real life? How can understanding the fact that God is in control of everything lead to an understanding of His authority? From the very phrase, ‘God is in control of everything,’ we should see that what God controls is not a portion of planets nor a portion of creation, much less a portion of mankind, but everything: from the massive to the microscopic, from the visible to the invisible, from the stars of the cosmos to the living things on earth, as well as microorganisms that cannot be seen with the naked eye and beings that exist in other forms. This is the precise definition of the ‘everything’ that God is ‘in control of’; it is the scope of His authority, the extent of His sovereignty and rule” (The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique III). God has dominion over all things, and this includes the COVID virus and other pathogens. Given that Li Hao was a true believer and had a pure and unadulterated understanding, I had to bear witness to God’s words for her as she dealt with COVID. God’s words are the truth, the way and the life. Only with God’s words do we find proper support. Without them, she wouldn’t know how to experience and would be swept up in the disasters. As for whether or not I’d be infected, that was up to God. Even if I did, I wouldn’t die without God’s permission. My life was in God’s hands, and even if I had to get COVID to allow the sister to accept the true way, I would submit. I said to Li Hao, “Do not worry, God holds sovereignty over all things. The most important thing now for us is to rely on God and read His words. No one can save us besides God.” I fellowshipped with her about God’s authority and how even the pandemic and microorganisms are all under God’s dominion. When God is with us, Satan cannot harm us. God says: “Without God’s permission, it is difficult for Satan to touch even a drop of water or grain of sand upon the land; without God’s permission, Satan is not even free to move the ants about upon the land, let alone mankind, who was created by God” (The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique I). After hearing my fellowship, she invited us to come in. We continued fellowshipping with her, saying, “The Lord Jesus prophesied in the Bible that there would be great disasters upon His arrival. The Book of Revelation also prophesies that there will be great disasters in the end days. Now that the disasters have started, what is God’s intention?” Li Hao replied, saying, “The apocalypse is coming and God is going to destroy mankind.” I said, “Is the only point of the disasters to destroy mankind? Let’s look at what God’s words say on this. God says: ‘God uses current events throughout the world as opportunities to cause humans to feel panic, spurring them to seek God so that they may flow back to be before Him. Thus, God says, “This is one of the ways in which I work, and is without doubt an act of salvation for humanity, and what I extend to them is still a kind of love.”’ (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Interpretations of the Mysteries of “God’s Words to the Entire Universe”, Chapter 10). From this we see that God uses disasters to make people seek the true way and show to them that He has arrived so that they can awaken and hurriedly welcome the Lord. For evildoers, the disasters are punishment and annihilation, but for true believers who are willing to seek, they are a warning and salvation.” Li Hao replied, “I understand. People will only seek God when faced with difficulties. God’s good intentions are reflected in all of this!” I said, “Yes, but when many in the religious world heard of the Lord’s return, they didn’t focus on seeking, thinking that if great disasters come, the Lord will protect them and they will be spared. They think that as soon as the Lord comes, they’ll be raptured into the kingdom of heaven. These are all their notions and imaginings. God has done the work of judgment starting from God’s house. Can one really welcome the Lord if one just waits in the church? This is just like how when the Lord Jesus came, many just stayed in the temple, worshiped Jehovah and didn’t go to listen to the Lord Jesus’ sermons. How, then, could they attain the way of repentance and the Lord’s grace? At the time, the Lord Jesus did not speak in the temple. He gave His sermons to followers on mountaintops and out in the wilderness. Apart from Peter, John and few others that followed the Lord at the time, the majority of people in the temple followed the chief priests and Pharisees in resisting and condemning the Lord Jesus. They were all abandoned and eliminated by God and ultimately faced His punishment and curses. The same thing is happening now. As Almighty God does His work of judgment in the last days, there are many in the religious world that hear Almighty God’s words but do not seek or welcome the Lord. Some even work hard to resist and condemn Almighty God. They believe in God but don’t listen to God’s voice or accept the truth, yet they still want to go to heaven. They must be dreaming. The disasters are becoming increasingly cataclysmic, and if we don’t repent in time, we will end up being destroyed in the disasters just like the nonbelievers. The gates of grace will soon be closing, but God has still given us a chance to repent. All those that welcome the Lord and accept God’s work in the last days and are cleansed of their corrupt dispositions will be protected by God during the disasters.” We then watched a few gospel testimony videos which demonstrated how brothers and sisters seek and listen to God’s voice and welcome the Lord. Despite being quite weak and sick, Li Hao was glued to the screen and was willing to continue investigating. After fellowshipping with her that day, I felt that any price I had to pay to spread the gospel to her was worth it.

A few days later, when it was once again time to go fellowship with Li Hao, Zhao Fei told me that Li Hao and her husband were both very sick and were hooked up to IVs, and that Li Hao’s husband knew we were spreading the gospel of Almighty God and forbade her from accepting it. He also went out in public and told several neighbors that we had spread COVID to them. As soon as I heard that, I thought, “I don’t have COVID, so how could I have spread it to them? Li Hao was so sick but she didn’t infect me and now her husband says this? What a bald-faced lie, a baseless accusation!” I also thought, “Now that Li Hao’s husband has said that we spread COVID to them, will the other villagers call the police on me and have me arrested if they spot me? I have already been arrested once for spreading the gospel, so will the CCP really go easy on me if I’m arrested again?” Considering all that, I didn’t feel confident about spreading the gospel to Li Hao and I told Zhao Fei that I would monitor the situation and go when I could. However, after that, I felt guilty, thinking, “Li Hao hasn’t read much of God’s words. What will happen if she is tricked into believing the rumors? Given that she still hasn’t recovered, she needs fellowship, support and to eat and drink God’s words now more than ever. It is not right for me not to go, but how should I go about this?”

Later, I saw this passage of God’s words: “While spreading the gospel, one will often encounter such ridicule, mockery, sneers, and slander, or even find themselves in dangerous situations. Some brothers and sisters, for instance, are denounced or abducted by evil people, and the police are called on others, who are handed over to the government. Some may be arrested and jailed, while others may even be beaten to death. These are all things that happen. But now that we know about these things, should we change our attitude toward the work of spreading the gospel? (No.) Spreading the gospel is everyone’s responsibility and obligation. At any time, regardless of what we hear, or what we see, or what kind of treatment we encounter, we must always uphold this responsibility of spreading the gospel. Under no circumstances can we give up on this duty because of negativity or weakness. The duty to spread the gospel is not smooth sailing, but fraught with danger. When you spread the gospel, you will not face angels, or aliens, or robots. You will face only evil and corrupt humanity, living demons, beasts—they are all humans surviving in this evil space, this evil world, who have been deeply corrupted by Satan, and resist God. Therefore, in the process of spreading the gospel, there are certainly all sorts of dangers, to say nothing of petty slander, sneers, and misunderstandings, which are common occurrences. If you truly regard spreading the gospel as a responsibility, as an obligation, and as your duty, then you will be able to regard these things correctly and even handle them correctly. You will not give up on your responsibility and your obligation, nor will you deviate from your original intention to spread the gospel and testify to God because of these things, and you will never put this responsibility aside, for this is your duty. How should this duty be understood? It is the value and primary obligation of human life. Spreading the good news of God’s work in the last days and the gospel of God’s work is the value of human life” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Spreading the Gospel Is the Duty to Which All Believers Are Honor-Bound). God’s words allowed me to realize that the true way has always been persecuted. There will always be dangers and difficulties when spreading the gospel. When the Lord Jesus’ disciples spread His gospel, some were pelted to death by rocks, and some were cut up with saws, some were ripped apart by horses while others were crucified. They experienced all kinds of gruesome deaths, but they bore witness for God and humiliated Satan. In the last days, God has been incarnated again and come among men to save mankind, expressing the truth to judge and purify people. Satan is not content to see everyone following God and being saved, so it works hard to obstruct and disturb God’s work. Not only the government, but the entire religious world all endeavors to resist God’s work, and spread all kinds of rumors to slander and condemn God. What’s more, our families and neighbors, swayed by the devilish words of Satan’s regime, deny and resist God, mock and slander us and may even report us and have us arrested. This is all a major obstruction to the spreading of the gospel. Take Li Hao’s husband, he heard rumors spread by the CCP and wouldn’t let us spread the gospel to her. Worried I’d be reported and arrested, I didn’t dare spread the gospel to her. I saw that I cowered in the face of difficulty and was not considerate of God’s intentions. I only worried about protecting myself, showed no responsibility for Li Hao’s life and didn’t take my duty seriously. Hadn’t I lost my function as a created being? Spreading the gospel is my obligation and my mission. Living to bear testimony to the Creator is the most meaningful pursuit. No matter how difficult, I couldn’t abandon my duty. I had to rely on God to find a way to let Li Hao read God’s words. I prayed to God, asking Him to guide me and give me intelligence and wisdom, so that I could do my duty well. After prayer, I realized that while I couldn’t go to Li Hao’s house, I could write down God’s words and have someone else give them to her for me.

A little while later, I expressed the desire to go see Li Hao, but this seemed to alarm Zhao Fei, who said, “COVID is really bad right now, four people from Li Hao’s family have died in a row and her own mother has passed. She doesn’t want to see anyone right now.” I didn’t know what to do at the time. Not only did Li Hao’s husband not want me going to their home, Li Hao herself didn’t want to see me. What was I supposed to do? Plus, with COVID as bad as it was, I was afraid I’d be reported by villagers, so I didn’t want to go either. A few days later, I came across an experiential testimony article called “My Days Preaching on the Frontline” that had a deep impact on me. Not long after the brother, the author of the article, accepted God’s work in the last days, he risked his life to go spread the gospel in a village on the frontline. Despite betraying some weakness when faced with danger, the brother relied on God to continue spreading the gospel. Through that experience, he witnessed God’s protection and His deeds in bringing so many people back before God. I felt humiliated when I compared my experience with that of the brother. Despite believing in God for years and eating and drinking so many of God’s words, I was unable to fulfill my duty of spreading the gospel. After hearing Li Hao’s husband speak nastily and forbid me from coming to their house, and learning that Li Hao herself didn’t want to see me, I was unwilling to spread the gospel to her. I saw that my faith was too weak. I came across another passage. “So, how should someone who is investigating the true way be treated? As long as they conform to the principles of God’s house for spreading the gospel, we have an obligation to preach it to them; and even if their current attitude is poor and unaccepting, we must exercise patience. For how long and to what extent must we be patient? Until they reject you and do not let you into their house, and no discussion works, nor does calling them, or having someone else go invite them, and they do not acknowledge you. In this case, there is no way to spread the gospel to them. That is when you will have fulfilled your responsibility. That is what it means to perform your duty. However, so long as there is a bit of hope, you should think of every way you can and do your utmost to read God’s words and bear witness for His work to them. Say, for instance, you have been in contact with someone for two or three years. You have tried spreading the gospel and testifying for God to them many times, but they have no intention of accepting it. Yet their understanding is quite good, and they really are a potential gospel recipient. What should you do? First of all, you absolutely must not give up on them, instead you should maintain normal interactions with them, and keep reading God’s words to them and bearing witness for His work. Do not give up on them; be patient until the end. On some unknown day, they will wake up and feel it is time to investigate the true way. That is why practicing patience and persevering to the end is a very important aspect of spreading the gospel. And why do this? Because it is the duty of a created being. Since you are in contact with them, you have an obligation and a responsibility to preach God’s gospel to them. Many processes lie between them first hearing God’s words and the gospel up until they turn themselves around, and this takes time. This period calls for you to be patient and wait, until that day comes when they turn themselves around and you bring them before God, back to His house. This is your obligation” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Spreading the Gospel Is the Duty to Which All Believers Are Honor-Bound). Through God’s words I learned that as long as someone conforms to the principles for spreading the gospel and can comprehend the truth, then no matter what difficulties they face, or what attitude they have toward us, we should not abandon them too easily. We must do whatever we can to lovingly spread the gospel to them. This is God’s intention and it is our responsibility. Li Hao truly believed in God, could comprehend the truth and had good humanity, all of which qualified her as a potential gospel recipient. It was only due to her husband’s obstruction, the deaths in her family and the rumors spread by the CCP that she had become weak in her heart. I had to do everything I could to fellowship and support her. But I didn’t spread the gospel to her for fear of being reported by her husband. Where was my sense of responsibility? I thought of God’s words: “It is very simple now: Look upon Me with your heart, and your spirit will immediately grow strong. You will have a path to practice, and I will guide your every step. My word shall be revealed to you at all times and in all places. No matter where or when, or how adverse the environment is, I will make you see clearly, and My heart shall be revealed to you if you look to Me with yours; in this manner, you will run down the road ahead and never lose your way” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 13). God’s words gave me a path of practice. I had to pray to and rely upon God in my duty. Li Hao had been very sick, but I still didn’t catch COVID from her. And as for her husband, weren’t his thoughts also in God’s hands? Without God’s permission, he couldn’t do anything to me either. I had to rely on God to spread the gospel to Li Hao and fulfill my responsibility. Having realized this, I regained the faith and strength to do my duty.

To my surprise, Li Hao’s husband didn’t say anything when he saw us, and Li Hao happily welcomed us in. This made me think of God’s words: “Man’s heart and spirit are held in the hand of God, everything of his life is beheld in the eyes of God. Regardless of whether or not you believe this, any and all things, whether living or dead, will shift, change, renew, and disappear in accordance with God’s thoughts. Such is the way in which God presides over all things” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God Is the Source of Man’s Life). The Bible also says: “The king’s heart is in the hand of Jehovah, as the rivers of water: He turns it wherever He will” (Proverbs 21:1). This couldn’t be more right! God holds sovereignty over all things and everything, living or dead, is all within His hands. Once I was willing to cooperate, the whole situation changed. I was so happy and I asked her, “Did you read the words of God I copied for you?” She replied, saying, “Yes, I did. I really thought I wasn’t going to make it. But then I read God’s words: ‘God’s word is potent medicine!’ ‘Almighty God is an all-powerful physician!’ (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 6). This gave me faith and strength. God’s words saved me.” During that meeting, I spoke about the spiritual battle in the context of the rumors spread by the great red dragon and the religious world. Satan’s disturbance and persecution follow God’s work wherever it goes. When the Lord Jesus did His work, people also spread rumors about Him, condemned Him and even crucified Him. The persecution wrought upon God as He works in the last days has been even worse. This fulfills the Lord Jesus’ prophecy: “But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation” (Luke 17:25). In returning in the last days to express His words and do the work of judgment, the Lord has continually been subject to the persecution and pursuit of the religious world and satanic government, but God’s wisdom is exercised based on Satan’s schemes, and He uses Satan’s persecution in the service of His work. He revealed the false believers from the true believers, and also revealed the cowards and those that just want to eat their fill of loaves. Those with true faith that truly love the truth all follow Almighty God closely, eat and drink His words and pursue the truth, never abandon the true way no matter what difficulties and persecution they face, and through experiencing the judgment, chastisement, trials and refinements of God’s words, they ultimately break free of their corrupt dispositions and are perfected and gained by God. Revelation characterizes them as: “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). The cowardly, fearful, false believers are revealed and eliminated. Without persecution and hardship, it would be impossible to separate the true believers from the false ones. Li Hao said, “God is truly wise! I didn’t realize that when the Lord returned to do His work, He would separate each according to their kind in this way.”

We then read a few passages together regarding God’s work of judgment in the last days. This was one of the passages. “In undertaking His work of judgment, God does not simply make clear the nature of man with a few words; He exposes and prunes over the long term. All these different methods of exposure and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words, but with the truth of which man is utterly bereft. Only methods such as these can be called judgment; only through judgment of this kind can man be subdued and thoroughly convinced about God, and moreover gain true knowledge of God. What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of God and the truth about his own rebelliousness. The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the intentions of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that are incomprehensible to him. It also allows man to recognize and know his corrupt essence and the roots of his corruption, as well as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by the work of judgment, for the essence of this work is actually the work of opening up the truth, the way, and the life of God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth). After reading God’s words I offered more fellowship, “In the last days, Almighty God has expressed many truths to do the work of judgment. He has clearly explained the mystery of God’s management plan, the inside story of the three stages of work, the mystery of the incarnation, the meaning of God’s name, etc. He has also clearly explained how Satan corrupts people, how God saves mankind, and how man ought to pursue in order to break free from the fetters of sin, be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven. Almighty God also exposed the root of man’s sinfulness, the God-resistant aspects of man’s nature, man’s corrupt disposition and all satanic poisons. If God didn’t come to express the truth, we never would have come to know about the root of our corruption. We could’ve practiced faith in the religious world for several lifetimes and would never have been purified. The work of judgment is the last stage of work in God’s management plan, the final work in God’s salvation of mankind, and is the only way that mankind can attain purification and salvation and enter God’s kingdom. Those that do not accept the truth God expresses in the last days and even resist and condemn God’s work, including those that have believed in the Lord for years but still live in sin, and whose corrupt dispositions have not been purified and transformed will not be saved and will all be destroyed in the great disasters of the last days. God’s six-thousand-year management work is coming to a close and all manner of catastrophes are unfolding. Those that do not welcome the Lord and accept His judgment and purification in the last days will have no chance of entering God’s kingdom. We are so lucky to have caught up with God’s last days’ work. This is God’s grace.” Li Hao excitedly replied, “Thanks to God for not abandoning me and moving through you to spread the last days’ gospel to me so that I could welcome the Lord. I am so lucky to have caught up with God’s work. I really must read God’s words carefully!”

While sharing the gospel with Li Hao, I saw God’s almightiness and sovereignty, as well as His wonderful protection. I didn’t get COVID even after speaking with Li Hao face to face for two hours. This showed me even more that everything is in God’s hands and gave me even more faith in my spreading of the gospel!