By Liu Xue, China

In 1991, since we were enduring the hardships of family conflict, my husband and I believed in the Lord Jesus together. From then on, we no longer quarreled. We read the Bible and attended gatherings together very zealously. Not long afterward, my husband left the Three-Self Church and switched over to the Stream of Recovery. In regards to the matter of my husband switching denominations, I did not mind. I believed that as long as we believed in one God, it did not matter which denomination we belonged to.

In 1995, my husband started to persuade me by every possible means to enter the Stream of Recovery. If I did not go, he would not be happy. Afterward, he once again allowed the leaders and fellow workers to come and persuade me. However, I was unable to accept the doctrines that they were teaching and I remained a member of the Three-Self Church. Since our doctrines of faith were not the same, my husband and I no longer spoke the same language and we started to grow distant. When my husband brought fellow workers from the Stream of Recovery upstairs to host gatherings, I did not participate. When my brothers and sisters from the Three-Self Church came to our place to attend gatherings, my husband did not join. In our daily lives, I sold glass frames and my husband produced art layouts. We worked on our own businesses, kept our own accounts and earned our own money. I cooked my own food and ate it myself, and so did my husband. It was as if there were two separate families in our household. In the spring of 1997, I moved elsewhere and I told my 11-year-old son, “From now on, your father is not allowed to come into the house. If someone asks about your father, you must tell them that he is dead!” I suffered a lot due to the fact that the churches my husband and I attended were incompatible. At this time, I discovered that the elders and leaders of the Three-Self Church that had believed for decades were in fact the same as common people. In public, they mocked and satirized each other, formed gangs and fomented dispute and jealousy. In light of this situation, all I could do was come before the Lord with tears in my eyes and pray, “Lord! Why is it that those who believe in You must separate into so many different denominations? Moreover, even those that are in the same denomination cannot coexist together. Why is this the case? Lord! When can all these denominations unite? When will my husband and I reunite and serve You with one heart? …” Afterward, in order to search for the way of unification, I visited other denominations such as the Justification by Faith Church, the Born Again Church, the Eternal Salvation Church, and the Praise Church. The result was that I saw that at the same time as each denomination boasted about being the denomination that was most in accordance with God’s intentions, its own members were clearly fighting and competing and excluding each other. After I visited these denominations, not only was I unable to find the way of unification, on the contrary, I lost the faith that I originally had. In the dead of the night, when I reflected on the few years that I believed in God and this situation, I shed silent tears and my heart felt intense despair and pain. I did not know where my path was taking me.

I am thankful that God noticed how painfully I was struggling in the dark. One night, my husband suddenly came to find me. He was even smiling as he was talking to me. However, my anger toward him had not subsided at all. I persistently told him to leave. When he saw that I was getting angry, he stopped talking to me. The next night, he calmly told me, “Even though we both have turned toward the Lord, all these years, all along, we have adhered to our own separate doctrines and have been unable to unite. The situation has been in this kind of a deadlock all along and our days have been spent fighting this cold war. It is all because we do not understand God’s intentions. When Jesus came to do His redemption work on earth, there was only one denomination. Why is it that, 2000 years later, there are so many different denominations? Moreover, each denomination claims that their beliefs are the most correct and in accordance with the Lord’s intentions. They all believe that when the Lord returns, He will descend upon their own denomination first. If it really happened according to people’s imaginations: When the Lord returned, He would first descend upon a certain denomination, isn’t this unfair toward other people?” What my husband was saying was completely beyond what I had anticipated. I never thought my husband could speak so objectively about such a realistic and penetrating problem. Wasn’t this exactly the riddle that I had been struggling with for so many years? I was captivated by what he had to say. He continued to elaborate, “Actually, all those under the Lord Jesus’ name, regardless of which denomination, they all look upon Jesus’ salvation of the cross. They all put into practice baptism, breaking bread, humbleness, patience, tolerance, love…. The paths that they walk were all started by Jesus. This is all true. However, because the founders of each denomination viewed the Bible differently and their understanding and acceptance was different, the doctrines that they drew up differ only on minor points. Some emphasize the truth of justification by faith alone, while others stress the teaching of ‘once saved always saved.’ Some advocate praising God through drum and dance while others focus on rebirth, confession and repentance. Furthermore, others say to submit to authority and others focus on adhering to the laws and decrees…. There are all sorts of doctrines. Actually, much of each denomination’s teachings originate from man’s imaginations and notions. Their teachings interpret the Bible out of context and they only work within that denomination. They are basically unable to win over the brothers and sisters in other denominations. That is why the members of each and every denomination say that what they adhere to is the truth but they are unable to do the work of unification. This is because the founders and leaders of each denomination are man and not God. Only God Himself can do the work of unification.” I was won over by what my husband said. This was the pure and unadulterated truth. I could not help but ask, “How will God do the work of unification?” My husband happily replied, “Right now, it is already the last days. God has already returned in the flesh and spoken. He has clearly expressed His intentions to mankind. Moreover, He has opened up the secret of His 6,000-year management plan for mankind. He wants to bring all the brothers and sisters from each and every denomination that genuinely believe in Him and thirst for the truth before Him. All the brothers and sisters who have heard God of the last days speak out will leave their different denominations and unite with God. This is the unification work of God of the last days and it fulfills the following words from the Bible, ‘That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him’ (Eph 1:10). ‘And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd’ (Jhn 10:16). The unification work of God of the last days also fulfills the predictions of the prophet from the Book of Isaiah: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. … And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more’ (Isa 2:2, 4). Presently, God’s work of the last days has already caused many brothers and sisters from different denominations to come together. I have also started following Almighty God’s work of the last days. I have returned this time specifically to tell you this good news.”

As we continued talking, my husband took a book out and said, “These are the words that came out of Almighty God’s mouth, let’s read them together!” So, we began to read God’s words together, “Regardless of what religion you belong to, ultimately you will all submit under the dominion of God. Only God Himself can carry out this work; it cannot be done by any religious head. There are several major religions in the world, and each has its own head, or leader, and the followers are spread across different countries and regions all over the world; almost every country, be it large or small, has different religions within it. However, regardless of how many religions there are across the world, all people within the universe ultimately exist under the guidance of one God, and their existence is not guided by religious heads or leaders. This is to say that mankind is not guided by a particular religious head or leader; rather, the whole of mankind is led by the Creator, who created the heavens and earth and all things, and who also created mankind—this is a fact. Although the world has several major religions, regardless of how great they are, they all exist under the dominion of the Creator, and none of them can exceed the scope of this dominion. The development of mankind, the supersedure of society, the development of natural sciences—each is inseparable from the arrangements of the Creator, and this work is not something that can be done by any given religious head. A religious head is merely the leader of a particular religion, and cannot represent God, nor can they represent the One who created the heavens and earth and all things. A religious head can lead all those within the entire religion, but they cannot command all creatures beneath the heavens—this is a universally acknowledged fact. A religious head is merely a leader, and cannot stand equal to God (the Creator). All things are in the hands of the Creator, and in the end they will all return to the hands of the Creator. Mankind was made by God, and regardless of the religion, every person will return under the dominion of God—this is inevitable” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God). I silently listened to God’s words. A warm feeling rushed into my heart. This really was God’s voice. Jesus really had returned. I prayed silently, “Almighty God, You really do know what man needs. I desire unity. Certainly, my husband and I have not been able to unite, let alone all the different denominations. Only You can do the work of unification. Nobody can substitute You. God! You are truly lovable! From now on, all the brothers and sisters from each and every denomination will submit under Your dominion and live in harmony. There will no longer be any estrangement and disputes…. I have waited so long for this day.” Seeing how happy my husband was at this time, my bellyful of complaints vanished like smoke in the air. When I thought of the attitude I treated him with, I started feeling very remorseful. All these years, he had suffered, yet he did not haggle with me. He still told the good news of God’s work of the last days to me. I emotionally told my son, “From now on, do not blame your father anymore. I must also accept God’s new work.” When he heard what I had to say, my son smiled. My husband and I smiled at each other knowingly.

From then on, it was like my husband was a different person. He was happy throughout the entire day. Each time brothers and sisters came to our house, he would take the initiative to go buy groceries and cook. We would frequently pray together, read God’s words together and communicate our understanding of God’s words with each other. He even taught me to sing some new songs. Through reading God’s words, I understood some truths and I understood that God’s intention is to save people to the greatest extent possible. As a result, my husband and I joined the ranks of those who spread and bore witness to the good news of God of the last days. There was one time when my husband was riding a bicycle and bringing me along to spread the gospel to one of the elders of the Three-Self Church. That elder said in a very surprised tone, “It seems like this really is God’s unification work, otherwise you basically would not be sitting on his bicycle.” In the end, that elder also accepted God’s work of the last days. Nowadays, in this family of The Church of Almighty God, there are brothers and sisters from all sorts of denominations such as the Stream of Recovery, the Justification by Faith Church, the Praise Church, the Way of Life Church, the Eternal Salvation Church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Three Grades of Servants Church. They have abandoned their past conceptions and prejudices and together, they eat, drink and enjoy God’s words. Everyone uses other’s strengths to make up for their own weaknesses and they all harmoniously coexist. Everyone cooperatively fulfills duties and there are shared ambitions and goals. They all work hard in seeking the truth and seeking an understanding of God so that they can become people who obey and worship God. When I see my brothers and sisters experience the work of God together, my heart is unspeakably happy. It is God’s unification work that has caused my husband and me to reconcile and reunite and allowed brothers and sisters from all sorts of denominations that previously differed in opinions and had no contact with one another to gather together in one place. Thank Almighty God! I wish that all honor returns to Almighty God!