By Su Yang, China

When I was little, I had such severe pain in my legs that I couldn’t walk, so my mother brought me before the Lord Jesus. To my surprise, my legs miraculously healed less than a month later. To repay the Lord’s love, I dropped out of school in 1997 and began enthusiastically expending myself for the Lord. Soon after, the church identified me as an important candidate for training. Elder Qu would frequently take me around to preach at different churches. At that time, the pastors and elders would often say that the Lord’s day was imminent, and that we should be like the wise virgins who prepared lamp oil and awaited the Lord’s coming. They also said, “In the Bible it is written, ‘Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him’ (Revelation 1:7). When the Lord returns in the last days, He will come with the clouds in great glory and rapture us up into the sky to meet Him. We’ll enter into the kingdom of heaven and enjoy eternal blessings. Nonbelievers will wail and gnash their teeth as they succumb to calamities.” Hearing the elders’ and pastors’ animated sermons, I immediately envisioned us all happily gathering around as the Lord descended to earth with the clouds in great glory. You can imagine how excited I was at the thought of such a stirring scene.

Then, one day early in 1999, Elder Qu and parish Elder He called the co-workers together and said: “A new church called ‘Eastern Lightning’ has arisen and claims the Lord has already become flesh and returned, expressing words, and performing the work of judgment starting from God’s house. But how could this be? The scriptures clearly state that the Lord will descend with the clouds, yet they claim the Lord has returned incarnate. This does not correspond with the Bible, so you shouldn’t listen to their sermons or read their books, much less host them. Whoever hosts them will be expelled from the church!” When they said that, I thought: “The elders have been believers for years and are well-versed in the Bible, so they must be right. What’s more, the scriptures clearly state that the Lord will descend upon the clouds, so how could He have come incarnate? I still have small stature, so I shouldn’t come into contact with people from Eastern Lightning, or I could be led astray.” But not long after that, many of my co-workers and fellow believers converted to Eastern Lightning. Elder He emphasized that we should break ties with these co-workers and believers. He also told us to get the word out to all the churches that they mustn’t allow anyone to convert to Eastern Lightning. After that, I went to all the congregation points under my supervision and sealed off the churches. I also repeatedly emphasized: “When the Lord comes, it will be on clouds, not as flesh. Any messages that the Lord has returned incarnate are false.” Hearing this, the believers all nodded their heads and said that if anyone else came to spread the gospel, they would drive them off. In order to keep the brothers and sisters from hearing Eastern Lightning’s preaching, I worked non-stop to lock down the churches. But despite my best efforts, a steady stream of co-workers and believers were still converting to Eastern Lightning.

One day, while I was at the home of a co-worker, he told me that co-worker Li and other believers were investigating Eastern Lightning. A few other co-workers and I rushed over to stop them. I told them: “The scriptures say that the Lord will descend with the clouds and that all will witness His descent. So we can’t believe these Eastern Lightning people when they say the Lord has returned incarnate.” To my surprise, no sooner than the words left my mouth, one of them said: “What they preach is very insightful and it accords with the Bible. Why can’t we listen to them? Who can fathom God’s work? I think we should continue investigating.” Hearing that made me anxious and I was about to continue dissuading them, but then, all of a sudden, my throat seized up and I had a coughing fit. My face was beet red and tears were streaming from my eyes—I couldn’t get a single word out. Everyone there just stared in shock. My co-workers rushed to pour me a glass of water, but I kept coughing even after drinking it. I was really panicked and kept praying to the Lord, asking Him to stop my coughing. Seeing the state I was in, another co-worker continued speaking in my place, but after just a few comments, he hastily wrapped up the meeting. It was an incredibly awkward scene. Afterward I couldn’t help but wonder: “I was defending the Lord’s way and protecting the flock, so why did I fall into a coughing fit at the most crucial moment? Why didn’t the Lord hear my prayers? Could it be that my words were not in keeping with His intentions?” Not long after that, I fell ill. I had a headache, felt dizzy, and my stomach felt uncomfortable. Lying there feeble and faint on my bed, I called out to the Lord over and over. But no matter how I beseeched Him, my condition just wouldn’t improve. I couldn’t help but think: “Am I not devoted enough to the Lord? I’ve done my utmost to protect His flock, so why have I fallen ill?” I racked my brains seeking an answer, but I couldn’t figure it out.

In the fall of 1999, Elder He got in a car accident on his way back from sealing off a church. He passed out in the crash and sustained a serious head injury, then was in critical condition for several days before finally stabilizing. I was shocked to hear this: Elder He had been working for the Lord for years, through thick and thin, and he had traveled far and suffered to protect the flock and keep believers from accepting Eastern Lightning. Why would something like this happen to him? But I only considered this briefly and then put the thought aside. One afternoon several months later, I heard that some more believers were looking into Eastern Lightning, so two sisters and I rushed over on our bikes and told them lots of rumors and fallacies to threaten and obstruct them. This scared them and they said that they wouldn’t listen to Eastern Lightning’s sermons anymore. Only after hearing that did I finally feel a bit relieved. But then, when I was cycling home, I lost my balance while passing over a slope, my vision went black, and I fell to the ground with my bike, landing two meters away. I immediately felt dizzy and my whole body was in pain. I had broken a collarbone in the crash, and this sudden accident left me baffled and confused: “Doesn’t the Lord Jesus bestow us with peace and joy? Why did this happen to me while I was defending the Lord’s way and protecting His flock? Could this Eastern Lightning that I’m resisting really be the return of the Lord? But the Bible clearly states that the Lord will descend upon the clouds, and Eastern Lightening testifies that He has returned incarnate. It can’t be the true way! Is the Lord testing me because I’m not devoted enough to Him? Or have I offended Him in some way?” I was really bewildered and couldn’t grasp the Lord’s intention. After that, I felt increasingly dark and depleted inside. When I read the Bible, I didn’t gain any insight and I had nothing to say in my sermons. Even my prayers felt dry and dull. I felt as though the Lord was no longer with me. Many of our believers were also becoming tepid in their faith. During congregations, most people just made small talk or dozed off, and many co-workers and believers had even left the church and returned to the secular world. What was most disappointing for me was all the jealousy and contention among my co-workers. During meetings, the elders and co-workers would be at each other’s throats over the smallest thing and would part on bad terms. When I saw all this, I just couldn’t understand how the church had become this way. I began to get fed up with congregations and even considered returning to secular life.

Then, one day in 2002, my mother excitedly told me: “The long-awaited return of the Lord Jesus has arrived. He has become flesh to express words and perform the work of judgment.” I was shocked when I heard this. Wasn’t this what Eastern Lightning was preaching? Had my mom converted to Eastern Lightning? Before she had even finished speaking, I asked her: “Who told you that the Lord Jesus has returned? Have you forgotten that the Bible clearly says that when the Lord comes, He will descend in glory upon the clouds and this will shake the heavens and the earth? You say the Lord has returned, so why haven’t we seen any of these signs? You say that the Lord has become flesh to do the work of judgment, but how could that be? You can’t just believe anything you hear.” Seeing how obstinate I was, my mother went into her room and emerged with an exquisitely bound book. She said eagerly: “Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus. These are the new words that He has expressed. Read it and you’ll see.” The book was brand new and the title The Word Appears in the Flesh was printed in large gold lettering on the cover. I immediately thought of the clergy’s warning: “You mustn’t read their book. If you read it, you’ll be taken in.” So I said: “Mom, you shouldn’t believe this stuff. You haven’t read much of the Bible, but I’m well-versed in it and have attended a number of revival meetings. Do you really think you know better than me? If you stray in your faith, won’t all your years in the church have been in vain?” I kept trying to persuade my mom not to join Eastern Lightning. But no matter what I said, my mother wouldn’t relent or change her mind at all. She even earnestly said to me: “Almighty God really is the Lord Jesus we’ve been longing for all along. He is God’s Spirit become flesh once more to speak and work. The Word Appears in the Flesh are the very words that God has spoken Himself in the last days and it unveils all the mysteries of the Bible. You’ve never read Almighty God’s words, so how do you know they aren’t the words of the Lord returned? The Bible says: ‘Faith comes by hearing’ (Romans 10:17). You have closed your eyes and your ears, so how do you expect to welcome the Lord? Think about it: If the Lord really has returned, and you don’t greet Him, won’t you regret missing that opportunity?” After hearing what she had to say, I couldn’t think of a good rebuttal, so I just sulkily replied: “I won’t read this book, I only read the Bible. We’ve enjoyed so much of the Lord’s grace—I can’t be ungrateful! No matter what you say, I won’t betray the Lord!” Seeing my attitude, she just sighed with frustration and got up to prepare dinner. Not long after, I heard the faint sounds of music coming from the kitchen. The song had a beautiful melody, but when I listened closely, I realized that it wasn’t any of the hymns I’d learned before. I knew my mom was playing it for me to hear, so I immediately left. After that, my mom started playing hymns at home a lot, and, at night, I would often hear her praying for me in tears. I couldn’t help but think: “My mom is a strong-minded person, she must have done some diligent seeking on welcoming the Lord. Could Eastern Lightning really be the return of the Lord Jesus? Otherwise, why would my mom be so anxious and worried in her prayers for me?” But then I thought of what the pastors and elders said and I decided to adhere to the Lord’s way and not relent. After that, I grew more distant from my mother.

One day, my mom put on a hymn in her room again while I was sitting on the living room couch. The lyrics of the hymn drew me in:

1  This time, God has become flesh to perform the work that He has not yet completed, to judge this age and bring it to a close, to save man from the sea of suffering, to thoroughly conquer humanity, and to change people’s life dispositions. Many are the sleepless nights that God has endured to free man from suffering and from the dark forces that are as black as night, and for the sake of the work of mankind. He has descended from the highest to the lowest of places to live in this human hell and pass His days with man. God has never complained of the shabbiness among man, nor has He ever asked too much of man; rather, God has endured the greatest humiliation while carrying out His work. So that all of humanity may soon enjoy rest, God has endured humiliation and suffered injustice to come to earth, and personally entered into the tiger’s den to save mankind.

2  So many times has He faced the stars, so many times has He departed at dawn and returned at dusk; He has endured extreme agony and been subjected to people’s attacks and breaking. God has come to this land of filth, quietly enduring man’s ravages and oppression, yet He has never fought back or made any excessive demands of people. He has performed all the work that is necessary for mankind: teaching, enlightening and reproaching people, refining them with His words, as well as reminding, exhorting, consoling, judging, and exposing them. Every step He takes is for the sake of people’s lives, is meant to cleanse them. Despite having removed their prospects and fate, everything God does is for the sake of humanity. Every step He takes is for their survival, so that people can have a beautiful destination on earth.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Work and Entry

The lyrics of this hymn spoke to me deeply. I couldn’t help but think of how the Lord Jesus became flesh to redeem mankind. He was hunted and persecuted by the Roman government, condemned and abandoned by the religious world, jeered at and slandered by the world. Despite all this, He still expressed truths to supply and feed people, healed them and drove out their demons, and was ultimately crucified as an everlasting sin offering for mankind, redeeming all of humanity from sin. When I thought of the Lord Jesus’ love for humankind and compared it to the lyrics of this hymn which spoke of how God suffers for the sake of man, my numbed and hardened heart felt deeply shaken and tears came streaming from my eyes. “Could Almighty God really be the returned Lord Jesus? Who else but God could express such words? Who else could pay such a price for man?” After that, I heard another hymn: “The innocent, after all, have grown numb; why must God always make things difficult for them? Feeble man is utterly bereft of perseverance; why should God always have such unabating anger toward him? Weak and powerless man no longer has the slightest vitality; why should God always chide him for his rebelliousness? Who can withstand the threats of God in heaven? Man, after all, is fragile, and in desperate straits, God has pushed His anger deep into His heart, so that man may slowly reflect upon himself” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Work and Entry (8)). The lyrics had a deep impact on me. They spoke of God’s profound concern and care for humankind, which is akin to a mother continually calling out to her disobedient child, even after they have broken her heart, hoping that they’ll emerge from the haze they’re in and return to her side. I felt that these words were God’s voice. I couldn’t help but think of all the times that I had disagreed with my mom during that period: No matter how she tried to persuade me, I wouldn’t listen. When she played readings of God’s word and hymns for me, I even resisted and avoided listening without the slightest intention of investigating His new work. Was I even a Christian? After that, I wasn’t as resistant when my mom played hymns.

One day, I heard this hymn: “The return of Jesus is a great salvation for those who are capable of accepting the truth, but for those who are unable to accept the truth it is a sign of condemnation. You should choose your own path, and should not blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and reject the truth. You should not be an ignorant and arrogant person, but someone who submits to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and longs for and seeks the truth; only in this way will you benefit” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. By the Time You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus, God Will Have Made Heaven and Earth Anew). After hearing it, I was suddenly seized with worry: “If Almighty God really is the returned Lord Jesus, won’t I be condemned for not accepting Him? Offending God is a serious matter⁠—it is a sin that won’t be forgiven in this life or the world to come!” I also thought of how the Lord Jesus said: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). The Lord Jesus taught us that we can only receive God’s abundant sustenance by seeking and thirsting for the truth. But if I investigated Eastern Lightning and was misled, wouldn’t all my years of faith be in vain? I kept going back and forth and couldn’t decide what to do, so I reached out to the Lord in prayer: “Oh Lord, I’m feeling really conflicted. These words seem to be Your voice, but I’m scared that if I’m wrong, I may be betraying You. Lord, I’m not sure if Almighty God is You returned. If this truly is Your work, please enlighten me. If it is not, please help me to stand my ground against it.”

A few days later, my mom pulled out The Word Appears in the Flesh again and said to me: “Give Almighty God’s words a proper read and you’ll know that He is the returned Lord Jesus. If you don’t investigate, how will you know if He’s the Lord returned? It’s like a superb banquet: If you just look at it but don’t eat any of the food, you’ll never know what it tastes like. We believe in the true God, so what are you afraid of? I’m your mother—do you really think I’d do you harm?” My mom’s words were quite convincing. I thought, “It’s true, I’ve only ever listened to the pastors and elders and parroted their words, I’ve never read Almighty God’s words or listened to Eastern Lightning’s sermons. So how would I know if Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus? Didn’t I confirm that the Lord Jesus was the Redeemer by reading the Bible?” At this thought, I picked up the book and started leafing through it. I saw that Almighty God says: “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). Reading this earnest exhortation, I began to feel nervous and scared, thinking: “Could these really be the words of God? Why else would it say that it is the word of life and the way of truth? Why would it ask people to keep seeking if even just the smallest part of it lines up with their convictions and the Bible.” I decided to investigate it. Otherwise, I might miss my opportunity to welcome the Lord, and then it would be too late for regrets. So I continued reading and came upon this passage: “It is My hope that each and every brother and sister who seeks the appearance of God will not repeat the tragedy of history. You must not become the Pharisees of modern times and nail God to the cross again. You should carefully consider how to welcome the return of God, and you should have a clear mind regarding how to be someone who submits to the truth. This is the responsibility of everyone who is waiting for Jesus to return riding upon a cloud. We should rub our spiritual eyes to make them clear, and not become mired in words of exaggerated fantasy. We should think about the realistic work of God, and take a look at the practical aspect of God. Do not get carried away or lose yourselves in daydreams, always longing for the day when the Lord Jesus, riding upon a cloud, suddenly descends among you, and takes you who have never known or seen Him, and who do not know how to follow His will. It is better to think upon more practical matters!” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Preface). Reading this was a bit confusing for me. In the Bible, it clearly states that the Lord will return in great glory upon the clouds, so why did this passage say: “We should rub our spiritual eyes to make them clear, and not become mired in words of exaggerated fantasy,” and “Do not get carried away or lose yourselves in daydreams, always longing for the day when the Lord Jesus, riding upon a cloud, suddenly descends among you”? Would the Lord really not return upon the clouds? What exactly was going on? I turned the matter over and over in my mind but still couldn’t figure it out. Then it occurred to me that believers in Almighty God came to our house a lot, so I could just ask them and see what they said.

One day, Sister Mu Yu from The Church of Almighty God came to our house and I told her about my confusion. She smiled and replied: “It’s true that the Bible mentions the Lord returning upon the clouds, but it also contains other prophecies about how He will return. ‘As the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be’ (Matthew 24:27). ‘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). And, ‘Be you therefore ready also: for the Son of man comes at an hour when you think not’ (Luke 12:40). ‘If therefore you shall not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and you shall not know what hour I will come on you’ (Revelation 3:3). ‘Behold, I come as a thief’ (Revelation 16:15). ‘And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him’ (Matthew 25:6). Also, ‘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). In these verses, why is it that the Lord keeps emphasizing ‘the coming of the Son of man,’ ‘the Son of man comes,’ and ‘the Son of man be in His day’? What is ‘the Son of man’ referring to? It’s referring to God’s Spirit becoming flesh as the Son of man. God’s Spirit alone could not be called the Son of man. Also, the Lord mentions over and over that He will return ‘as a thief,’ and says, ‘at midnight there was a cry made.’ This suggests that when the Lord Jesus returns, He will do so quietly, that He’ll become incarnate as the Son of man and descend in secret without anyone discovering what has happened. This is just like when God’s Spirit became incarnate as the Lord Jesus to appear and work. The Lord Jesus looked like a normal person, and He traveled all around preaching, but no one recognized that He was God incarnate, that He was the manifestation of Christ. So, we can be completely sure that when the Lord returns in the last days, He will become incarnate as the Son of man to appear and work.” I was really taken aback when Mu Yu said this. The pastors and elders would often say that “the Son of man” referred to the Lord Jesus, not the Lord’s return. I thought to myself: “The pastors and elders are well-versed in the Bible, so they can’t be wrong. Mu Yu was probably unfamiliar with the Bible and made a mistake.” Realizing this, I hurriedly said: “Mu Yu, the pastors and elders told us, ‘the Son of man’ refers to the Lord Jesus, not the returned Lord incarnate.” She patiently replied: “Sister, these verses all clearly state that they are prophecies of the Lord Jesus’ return. Anyone capable of understanding will be clear on this. How could this be referring to the Lord Jesus? Aren’t the pastors and elders misinterpreting the Lord’s words? Also, look at the Gospel of Luke, 17:24–25: ‘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.’ In these verses, the Lord is prophesying what the situation will be like upon His return. If the Lord returned in great glory with the clouds, then everyone would certainly be terrified and would fall to the ground. Who would dare resist and reject the Lord then? Then how would the prophecy, ‘But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation’ be fulfilled? So according to the Lord’s words, there is no doubt that He will return incarnate as the Son of man. Almighty God’s appearance and work in the last days completely fulfill the Lord Jesus’ prophecies.”

After hearing Mu Yu’s fellowship, I felt really ashamed. Her fellowship was well-grounded and it completely convinced me. I finally realized why, when the Lord Jesus spoke of His return, He’d always mention “the coming of the Son of man,” “the Son of man comes,” and “the Son of man be in His day.” He repeatedly stressed “the Son of man” to tell us that He’d return in the flesh, appearing and working as the Son of man. I was surprised that even though I knew the Bible well and often explained it to other people, I still had never noticed that it stated so clearly that He’d return as the Son of man to appear and work. I had just blindly believed what the pastors and elders told me. I was really so muddled in my faith, and all my years of Bible study had been in vain. I didn’t have the slightest understanding of the Lord’s words and was still blindly arrogant and passing my own verdicts. I lacked all reason! I was glad that I had been able to quiet my heart and listen to Mu Yu’s fellowship. If I had only listened to the pastors’ and elders’ words, I’d still be staring at the clouds, waiting for the Lord to descend upon them, and ultimately, I would have been abandoned and eliminated by God. Mu Yu continued her fellowship, saying: “God’s return in the last days takes place in two stages. First, He becomes flesh and arrives in secret, then, later, He will come in the clouds and appear openly. Almighty God’s appearance and work in the flesh is happening right now—it is the first stage of His return, where He arrives and works in secret. He is doing His work of judgment by expressing the truth, so that He can purify and save humanity, and allow man to completely break free from sin and become holy. Those who truly believe in God and long for His appearance can recognize God’s voice in the words of Almighty God, ascertain that He is the returned Lord Jesus, and turn to Him. They are all wise virgins that have been brought before God’s throne and are now receiving and experiencing the judgment and purification of God’s words. So we can’t possibly see the Lord appearing openly with the clouds during this time. It will only be after God has created a group of overcomers that His secret work in the flesh will come to an end. Only then will He bring the disasters down upon mankind, reward the good and punish the evil, and finally descend with the clouds, revealing Himself to all nations and peoples. At that time, those who previously condemned and resisted Almighty God will be filled with regret. They will beat their chests, weep and gnash their teeth in the disasters when they see that they were resisting the returned Lord Jesus. This completely fulfills the prophecy in Revelation: ‘Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him’ (Revelation 1:7).”

After that, Mu Yu read a passage of Almighty God’s words for me: “Many people may not care what I say, but I still want to tell every so-called saint who follows Jesus that, when you see Jesus descend from the heaven upon a white cloud with your own eyes, this will be the public appearance of the Sun of righteousness. Perhaps that will be a time of great excitement for you, yet you should know that the time when you witness Jesus descend from the heaven is also the time when you go down to hell to be punished. That will be the time of the end of God’s management plan and it will be when God rewards the good and punishes the evil. For the judgment of God will have ended before man sees signs, when there is only the expression of truth. Those who accept the truth and do not seek signs, and thus have been purified, shall have returned before the throne of God and entered the Creator’s embrace. Only those who persist in the belief that ‘The Jesus who does not ride upon a white cloud is a false christ’ shall be subjected to everlasting punishment, for they only believe in the Jesus who exhibits signs, but do not acknowledge the Jesus who proclaims severe judgment and releases the true way and life. And so it can only be that Jesus deals with them when He openly returns upon a white cloud. They are too stubborn, too confident in themselves, too arrogant. How could such degenerates be rewarded by Jesus? The return of Jesus is a great salvation for those who are capable of accepting the truth, but for those who are unable to accept the truth it is a sign of condemnation. You should choose your own path, and should not blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and reject the truth. You should not be an ignorant and arrogant person, but someone who submits to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and longs for and seeks the truth; only in this way will you benefit” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. By the Time You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus, God Will Have Made Heaven and Earth Anew). After hearing Almighty God’s words, I put aside my pride and finally saw that I had been harboring many notions and imaginings about the Lord’s coming. It was no wonder that I had waited all those years without seeing the Lord descend upon the clouds. He was going to return incarnate and in secret first, express His words to save humanity, and create a group of overcomers before the calamities began. Only then would He come with the clouds and appear openly. But I’d been misled by the clergy, taking passages out of context and clinging to the words of the Bible. I almost missed my chance to welcome the Lord, and was very close to being abandoned by Him. That was really dangerous!

Mu Yu continued her fellowship: “We all know that 2,000 years ago, all the Israelites were awaiting the Messiah, but when the Lord Jesus came and worked, the Pharisees clung to the words of the Scripture, and were full of notions regarding the Messiah’s arrival. They believed that when God came, He’d be called Messiah. They thought that He’d be born into an aristocratic family, have royal status and power, and that He would free them from the Roman government’s rule. But when the Lord Jesus came, He wasn’t called Messiah. He was born into a family of commoners, birthed in a stable, and He was even persecuted and hunted. So they denied and condemned Him, and ultimately had Him nailed to the cross. By committing this heinous sin, they incurred God’s curses and punishment which led to the subjugation of the Israelites for 2,000 years. This is a truly harrowing lesson! The root cause of their failure is worth reflecting on. If we do not gain insight on this, we’re likely to follow the same God-resisting path as the Pharisees when it comes to the great matter of awaiting the Lord’s coming.” When Mu Yu finished, she showed me another passage of Almighty God’s words: “Do you wish to know the root of why the Pharisees opposed Jesus? Do you wish to know the essence of the Pharisees? They were full of fantasies about the Messiah. What is more, they believed only that the Messiah would come, yet did not pursue the life truth. And so, even today they still await the Messiah, for they have no knowledge of the way of life, and do not know what the way of truth is. How, say you, could such foolish, stubborn and ignorant people gain God’s blessing? How could they behold the Messiah? They opposed Jesus because they did not know the direction of the Holy Spirit’s work, because they did not know the way of truth spoken by Jesus, and, furthermore, because they did not understand the Messiah. And since they had never seen the Messiah and had never been in the company of the Messiah, they made the mistake of clinging to the mere name of the Messiah while opposing the essence of the Messiah by any means possible. These Pharisees in essence were stubborn, arrogant, and did not obey the truth. The principle of their belief in God was: No matter how profound Your preaching, no matter how high Your authority, You are not Christ unless You are called the Messiah. Is this belief not preposterous and ridiculous?” (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). Mu Yu fellowshipped, saying: “Almighty God has revealed the essence and root cause of the Pharisees’ resistance toward the Lord Jesus. The Pharisees were stubborn and arrogant in nature, they were averse to the truth, and hated it. What’s more, they didn’t understand God’s work and clung to the words of the Scripture, passing their own verdicts on God’s appearance and work according to their own notions and imaginings. Even when the Lord Jesus expressed many truths and performed plenty of signs and miracles, they didn’t seek on or accept this at all. They stubbornly held to the words of the Scripture, and tried to get leverage on the Lord at every turn in order to condemn and resist Him, and finally had Him crucified. So, in our approach to the Lord’s coming in the last days, we must learn from the brutal lesson of the Pharisees’ failure, let go of our notions and imaginings, and investigate God’s appearance and work. Only by doing this can we hope to welcome the Lord. The pastors and elders of the present-day religious world are just like the Pharisees. When they hear people bearing witness to the Lord’s coming, they don’t seek or investigate it at all and stubbornly cling to the Bible passage about the Lord coming in the clouds. They say, ‘Whoever claims to be the Lord Jesus but does not come upon the clouds is a false christ,’ wantonly resisting and condemning Almighty God, and actively preventing believers from investigating the true way. If they never repent, they will be exposed by God’s work in the last days as false believers and antichrists, and once God’s work of salvation is over, they’ll cry and gnash their teeth as they succumb to the unprecedented calamities.”

Hearing this left me frightened and trembling. I compared my behavior to what she’d said: I had clung to the words of the Bible when it came to welcoming the Lord, and believed, based on my own notions, that the Lord would arrive with the clouds. When I heard people saying that the Lord Jesus had returned, not only did I not investigate it, I went along with the pastors and elders in blindly resisting and condemning it, spreading all kinds of rumors to slander and malign Almighty God, misleading believers and keeping them from investigating the true way. There was no difference between my behavior and that of the Pharisees who resisted the Lord Jesus. I was a modern-day Pharisee, a stumbling block obstructing believers from investigating the true way. If not for God’s mercy or Mu Yu fellowshipping on the truth with me, allowing me to hear God’s voice, then someone as stubborn and intransigent as I could only end up being abandoned, eliminated, cursed, and punished by God. I wanted to make sense of my confusions, so I sought from Mu Yu: “Given that the Lord has first become flesh to do His work in secret, how can we be sure that Almighty God is the incarnate God, Christ of the last days?” Mu Yu read me a few more passages of Almighty God’s words: “The ‘incarnation’ is God’s appearance in the flesh; God works among created mankind in the image of the flesh. So for God to be incarnated, He must first be flesh, flesh with normal humanity; this is the most basic prerequisite. In fact, the implication of God’s incarnation is that God lives and works in the flesh, that God in His very essence becomes flesh, becomes a man” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Essence of the Flesh Inhabited by God). “The incarnate God is called Christ, and Christ is the flesh donned by the Spirit of God. This flesh is unlike any man that is of the flesh. This difference is because Christ is the incarnation of the Spirit, rather than being fleshly. He has both a normal humanity and a complete divinity. His divinity is not possessed by any man. His normal humanity sustains all His normal activities in the flesh, while His divinity carries out the work of God Himself” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Essence of Christ Is Submission to the Will of the Heavenly Father). “He who is God incarnate shall possess the essence of God, and He who is God incarnate shall possess the expression of God. Since God becomes flesh, He shall bring forth the work He intends to do, and since God becomes flesh, He shall express what He is, and shall be able to bring the truth to man, bestow life upon him, and point the way for him. Flesh that does not have the essence of God is decidedly not the incarnate God; of this there is no doubt. If man intends to inquire into whether it is God’s incarnate flesh, then he must corroborate this from the disposition He expresses and the words He speaks. Which is to say, to corroborate whether or not it is God’s incarnate flesh, and whether or not it is the true way, one must discriminate on the basis of His essence. And so, in determining whether it is the flesh of God incarnate, the key lies in His essence (His work, His utterances, His disposition, and many other aspects), rather than external appearance. If man scrutinizes only His external appearance, and as a result overlooks His essence, this shows that man is benighted and ignorant” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Preface). After she finished reading, Mu Yu fellowshipped: “Almighty God’s words clearly tell us that incarnation means that God’s Spirit is clothed in flesh to become a normal person, appearing in the world to express the truth and work. Outwardly, Christ looks like a normal person, but God’s Spirit is within Him—He is the embodiment of God’s Spirit. So Christ not only has normal humanity, but He also has complete divinity, which means that God’s inherent disposition, what God has and is, His authority, almightiness, and wisdom are all realized within His incarnate flesh. Christ is God Himself, the Lord of creation. So, Christ can express the truth and unveil mysteries at any given moment, express God’s disposition and what He has and is, and perform the work of redeeming and saving humankind. It is just like how the Lord Jesus was the incarnation of God—He was Christ. Even though He looked like a normal person outwardly and really lived among humans on earth, He was able to express the truth and reveal the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven at any time, and He provided humanity with the way of repentance. The Lord Jesus forgave man’s sins and expressed God’s loving and merciful disposition. He also performed many signs and miracles: He healed the sick, drove out demons, resurrected the dead, calmed the winds and seas, fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fish, and so on. The Lord Jesus’ words and work were a complete manifestation of God’s authority and power. We all confirmed that the Lord Jesus was Christ and God incarnate based on His words and work. So when confirming whether or not He was God incarnate, we shouldn’t base our evaluation on His outward appearance, what family He was born into, if He had status or power, or whether He was supported or rejected by others, but entirely upon whether He could express the truth and do God’s work. That is key. As long as He could express the truth and do the work of saving humankind, then no matter how average He appeared outwardly, and no matter how much He was condemned and rejected, He was still undeniably God incarnate, He was Christ. Since appearing to perform His work, Almighty God has expressed millions of words and revealed all the mysteries of God’s management plan. He has revealed the purpose of God’s management plan, the truth behind the three stages of His work, the mystery of God’s incarnations and names, the truth behind the Bible, how God’s work of judgment in the last days purifies and saves people, the outcomes and destinations of each kind of person, how Christ’s kingdom is realized on earth, and much more. And that’s not all, Almighty God is also judging and exposing people’s God-resisting, satanic nature and various corrupt dispositions, and showing people the path to freeing themselves of sin and being saved, among many other things. The truths that have been expressed by Almighty God are just so abundant—He has expressed all the aspects of the truth that we need to attain salvation, and none of these mysteries or truths have ever been heard before by man. God’s chosen people are experiencing the judgment and chastisement of His words right now, and they have all gained some actual understanding of their corrupt dispositions and knowledge of God’s righteous and majestic disposition. They are gradually being freed from the fetters and constraints of sin, and have changed their life dispositions to varying degrees. Only by reading Almighty God’s words and personally experiencing His work in the last days have we all come to know that Almighty God is God incarnate and Christ of the last days.”

Almighty God’s words and Mu Yu’s fellowship were enlightening. I saw that the key to determining if Almighty God is God incarnate rests upon whether He can express truths, do the work of salvation, and if He can express God’s disposition and what He has and is. It appeared that Almighty God really is God incarnate, the returned Lord Jesus, otherwise, who else could open the scroll and the seven seals to reveal all these hidden mysteries and truths? If not God, who could save mankind from the bondage and shackles of sin?

Mu Yu continued, saying: “In this current appearance, God is primarily expressing His words to identify those who truly yearn for His arrival and can hear His voice. The Lord Jesus said: ‘My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me’ (John 10:27). All of God’s sheep long for the truth. When they hear someone say that the Lord has returned, they seek and investigate the true way. When they read Almighty God’s words, they recognize God’s voice, they accept and follow Almighty God, and have a chance at salvation. Those who are not God’s sheep cannot recognize God’s voice, and they even judge and condemn God’s work in the last days. Ultimately, they will get the punishment they deserve. So, God uses His words to reveal each kind of person in the last days, sorting them according to their kind, after which He will reward the good and punish the evil. This fully manifests God’s righteous disposition.” Hearing this, I bowed my head and tears came streaming down my face. I knew that I had really resisted God. I thought back to when I’d first heard people preaching that the Lord had returned. I hadn’t sought or investigated, I had just blindly obeyed the pastors and elders, spreading lies and intimidating believers to prevent them from investigating the true way. As a result, I fell into a coughing fit which rendered me unable to speak, I fell ill, I even broke my collarbone, and Elder He got into a car crash. I realized that none of these were mere accidents. They were all punishments and retribution for resisting God! But I had been so numb and didn’t know I needed to wake up. I kept condemning and resisting God’s appearance and work, thinking I was safeguarding the Lord’s way and protecting the flock. I was so numb! Not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine that Eastern Lightning—which I had continually slandered, condemned, and resisted—was actually the Lord Jesus that I had awaited for so long! I felt unspeakably anguished and regretful. I hated myself for being so blind and foolish, for believing in God without recognizing His work, and for following the elders in resisting and condemning God and keeping believers from investigating the true way. Based on my behavior, I really did deserve to be punished by God. But God didn’t treat me according to my transgressions, and He had still given me an opportunity to hear His voice. He used my mother playing the hymns of His words for me over and over and Mu Yu’s fellowshipping on the truth with me to help my numb, intransigent heart gradually awaken and gain insight, so that I accepted His appearance and work. Thanks be to Almighty God for His mercy and salvation!

After that, I hungrily devoured the words of Almighty God. Through His words, I learned the meaning of His name in each of the ages, the truth behind the Bible, how Satan has corrupted mankind, and how God saves mankind. I also learned that the root cause of man’s sinfulness and resistance to God is our satanic nature, and how to seek to rid myself of corruption, and attain salvation, among many other things. I saw that Almighty God’s words and work completely fulfill what was said by the Lord Jesus: “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: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come” (John 16:12–13). Almighty God’s words resolved much of my confusion and notions and I became completely sure that they were the personal utterances of God. Almighty God was the returned Lord Jesus that I’d been awaiting for so long. I felt like a child finally reuniting with their long-lost mother. I couldn’t help but hold the book of God’s words close to me and burst into tears. I hated myself for being so blind that I hadn’t recognized God, that I’d mindlessly resisted and condemned His work of the last days, that I’d become a barrier to believers investigating the true way and a person who resisted and fought against God. Realizing this, I felt deep regret and resolved to start spreading the gospel as soon as I could, to bring those I had misled and obstructed before God, and make up for my past transgressions to comfort God’s heart. After that, I joined the ranks of those spreading the gospel. While sharing the gospel, I preached the words of Almighty God, helped others to hear God’s voice, and often told people how I used to cling to the words of the Bible and do evil deeds in resistance to God. I told them to learn from the lessons of my past failures. Seeing more and more people accepting God’s work in the last days, I felt so happy, grounded, and peaceful.

Looking back on the road I’ve traveled, from resisting God to being conquered by His words, I can see what painstaking efforts God made on my account. Despite how rebellious I was, God didn’t abandon me and He even allowed me to hear His voice and welcome Him. That was God’s great love and salvation for me! Thanks be to Almighty God!