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| Myth saved me |
Almighty God’s Word Woke My Heart Out of Its Deep Sleep
Liu Xin
Zhumadian City, Henan Province
I was born into a Christian family. I believed in Jesus with my parents since childhood. After I graduated from high school in 1990, the church began to focus on training me. In the summer of 1993, I was sent to Guangzhou to attend a three-month “professional preachers training class.” Because I was zealous in pursuing, I soon became a leader of the “Justification by Faith Church.” Since then, I rushed about among different churches all day, working for the Lord diligently.
In the fall of 1996, it was said that there arose a very powerful sect called the “Eastern Lightning,” they claimed that the Bible had been outdated and the Lord had come back to do the work of salvation, and so on, and whoever had contact with them couldn’t break away from them. Hearing that, I just turned up my nose at it, thinking, “The Bible is outdated? It’s purely a deception!”
Soon came the summer of 1997. One noon, while I was sitting under the fan, reading the Bible, an unfamiliar sister came to my home. She greeted me and said, “Brother, you are reading the Bible? Shall we have a talk about the work the Holy Spirit is doing now? …” Knowing that she was from the “Eastern Lightning,” I roared at her before she finished her words, “So, in your view, I shouldn’t read the Bible anymore? Who are you? You came here to talk nonsense. Get out of here!” With that, I pushed her out and slammed the door shut. Later, many people came to preach Almighty God’s work of the last days to me, but I rejected them all ruthlessly. To prevent the brothers and sisters of our church from being drawn away, leaving me to be a “general without an army,” I preached by adding inflammatory details at every meeting, “The ‘Eastern Lightning’ says that the Bible is outdated. It’s purely a heresy. They specially deceive people. They will treat you kindly at first, but if you don’t accept their way after listening, they will sever your arms or legs, blind your eyes, or cut off your nose. And they will even ruin your family, making you live worse than death. In future, you can’t receive any stranger without my permission…” Even so, I still didn’t rest assured. I distributed several brochures (over 100 copies in all) resisting Almighty God which I got from the upper leaders, such as, Resisting the Eastern Lightning, and so on, to the brothers and sisters, and as soon as I heard that any brother or sister believed in Almighty God, I went to threaten and frighten them. Just like that, instead of giving good messages, I did many evil deeds of resisting God.
On an early morning of a snowy day in December of 1998, a sister walked into my home, covered with snow all over, just like a snowman. Seeing that she was also from the “Eastern Lightning,” I shouted at her, “Get out! Don’t defile my home!” The sister said smilingly, “Brother…” “Don’t call me brother. You traitor of the Lord Jesus. Go to hell!” I cursed her viciously. As I said that, I picked up a bucket of urine and splashed it over her. Instantly, she was spattered with urine from head to foot. But strangely, she didn’t get angry but said with tears in her eyes, “Brother, the Lord has truly done a stage of new work. If you miss this opportunity, you will regret it!” “It is you scum who should regret, not me! Get away! …” I said stubbornly. The sister saw that I was so rude and unreasonable. She left in tears.
I exerted all my efforts to seal off the church and resist the “Eastern Lightning,” and I also broke up the brotherhood with my elder brother who accepted the work of Almighty God (because he tried to preach to me many times). But somehow, the church gradually sank into a fallen state and was close to collapse. The brothers and sisters had no love for each other anymore, and the co-workers intrigued against each other out of envy and strife, and they even started fights over the charge of the church money. Seeing these, I was very worried. So many times I knelt before the Lord, crying for Him to save us and lead us out of the “valley of the shadow of death” with His love and mercy. But it was of no avail. Instead, more and more brothers and sisters who truly loved the Lord accepted the “Eastern Lightning,” and they were all so determined that no one could drag them back. Seeing that the “Eastern Lightning” become more and more prosperous, I had an unspeakable sense of loneliness and desolation in my heart. I had no way out and could only look hard in the Bible to find an answer. One day, while I was searching the scriptures, two verses suddenly caught my eyes. “… if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nothing: But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it; lest haply you be found even to fight against God.” (Act 5:38-39) I started to ponder, “Right! The ‘Eastern Lightning’ is really irresistible. These years we’ve been exerting efforts to resist it and ‘protect the flock,’ yet not only we can’t hinder it, but instead more and more people believe in it. If it is of men, how can it not come to nothing but become more and more prosperous? Is it really of God? If so, wasn’t I resisting God? …” Thinking of that, I couldn’t help shuddering with fear. I immediately came before the Lord and prayed, “O Lord! I can’t see through Your work. If the ‘Eastern Lightning’ isn’t Your work, I will protect the church to the death. If You have really come back and done a new work, please give me a seeking heart and let me follow Your footsteps!”
Thank God for hearing my prayer. On March 13, 2003, my elder brother came to my home again with a brother. This time I dared not resist anymore. I let them into the room and said to the brother directly, “Brother, I know why you are here. But you have to answer my questions first. If your answers are in accordance with the truth, I’ll accept your way. If not, I’ll walk my way and you walk yours, and let’s not disturb each other anymore from now on.” The brother nodded with a smile. Then I asked, “I heard that you don’t read the Bible anymore and say that the Bible is outdated. Is it true?” The brother said, “Brother, let me give you an example. If a senior high student doesn’t learn the senior high school courses but still learns those of the junior high, can he get into the university in the future? It’s actually the same with our belief in God. The Bible is only the record of the first two stages of work God did in the Age of Law and in the Age of Grace. God’s work always progresses forward. Only if we eat and drink God’s word in the new age can we have ways to go on…” Then the brother read me a few passages of Almighty God’s word: “To understand God’s work in the Age of Law and how the Israelites followed Jehovah’s way, you must read the Old Testament. To understand His work in the Age of Grace, you must read the New Testament. How will you understand the work of the last days, then? You have to accept God’s guidance and enter into His work today, because this is the new work, which no one could ‘record’ beforehand in the Bible. … The work of today is a path that no one has ever walked before, a way that no one has ever seen. It is a work that has never been done before; it is God’s latest work on earth. So, the work that has not yet been done is not history, as the present is present, and it is not yet past. … How could such work be recorded explicitly in the Bible? Who could have recorded every single detail of today’s work in advance? Who could have documented this greater, wiser, convention-defying work in that moldy old book? The work of today is not history. Hence, if you want to walk the new path today, you have to come out of the Bible, step beyond the limits of the books of prophecy and history. Only in this way can you follow the new path successfully, enter into the new realm, the new work. … Now that there is a higher way, why study the obsolete and lower way? Now that there is new word, a new work, why live in the old history record? The new word can supply you; it shows that this is a new work. The old records cannot sate you, cannot satisfy your present desires; it proves that they are history, not today’s work. The highest way is the newest work. And when there is a new work, the old way, no matter how high, becomes history to be recalled by men. No matter how valuable it is as a reference, it is still an old way. The old way is history, even if recorded in the ‘holy book.’ The new way is reality, even if it is not mentioned on a single page of the ‘holy book.’ This way can save you and transform you, for it is the work of the Holy Spirit.” (from “Concerning the Bible (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) “By dissecting the Bible in this manner today, I am not saying that I despise it, or deny its value as a reference; rather, I am clarifying its origins and its original value so that you do not remain forever in the dark. For people hold so many opinions about the Bible, most of which are incorrect, and reading the Bible in this way not only prevents people from getting the things they need, but more importantly, it impedes the work that I am going to do. It is a massive disruption to My future work, bringing no good, only harm. So all I want is for you to understand the Bible’s substance and the true story behind it; I am not forbidding you to read the Bible or asking that you decry it as a worthless book. Rather, I am trying to give you a correct understanding of the Bible, an accurate view. Don’t be too one-sided!” (from “Concerning the Bible (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) This is really God’s personal utterance! Only God can speak clearly about the inside truth of the Bible, which people have held on to for thousands of years, and only God can unlock the mysteries of the work of the last days. My numb heart, which had been sealed in the darkness for years, was finally woken up by Almighty God’s words. I asked the brother eagerly, “Brother, can you give me a copy of the book?” The brother said happily, “God has long said in the Bible, ‘And whoever will, let him take the water of life freely.’ (Revelation 22:17)” I took the book of God’s word and read it thirstily. I read “The ‘Savior’ Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud,’” “The Work in the Age of Law,” “The Truth Concerning the Work in the Age of Redemption,” and other pieces of God’s word at one sitting. The more I read it, the more I was clear and certain about the work. “Yes! The Lord has really come back! This time He opens a new age and ends the old age with the word, and He conquers and perfects a group of people with the word.” In front of God’s words of truth, I burst into tears, shame and regret welling up within me. I fell down before God and prayed, “O Almighty God! I was so arrogant that I stubbornly held on to the Bible. To preserve my power and position, I took Your salvation as Satan’s deception. I blindly condemned and blasphemed it, and wantonly fabricated rumors and gave false testimonies to blind the brothers and sisters. I even used foul means to frighten and disturb those who have accepted Your work. I abused and insulted and drove away the brothers and sisters whom You sent to preach the gospel to me. I once even threw urine over a sister. I have completely lost my conscience and sense and am scum worse than a beast, an evil servant who disrupted Your work, and one who shall be burned for eternity. But You are so magnanimous that You gave me opportunities to be saved again and again. O God, even if I’m smashed to pieces, I can’t make up for the sin I committed before You. From now on, I’m willing to consecrate all the rest of my life to You to repay Your grace with all my strength!”
Then, under God’s guidance I actively participated in spreading God’s gospel work. In the end, over 90 people accepted this stage of work by our reading God’s word to them. All the glory be to Almighty God! This even more made me see the power of God’s word and believe more firmly that Almighty God is the truth, the way, and the life. And I also knew the true meaning of the word “you are unable to get away once you have contact with them.” “God’s people listen to God’s voice.” Who will leave after he comes before the true God? As for those words such as “if you don’t accept their way after listening, they will ruin your family, cut off your arms, legs, or nose, or blind your eyes, making you live worse than death,” they are all lies I fabricated to control others. You can look at those around you who have listened to the preaching about God’s new work but didn’t accept. Who of them had his arms, legs, or nose cut off or became blind? Moreover, God’s new work has been spread in Mainland China for over ten years, but why hasn’t there been any such case reported in the media? And if we look at the living out of the brothers and sisters who preach God’s gospel of the last days, the fact is even clearer. When they were beaten or reviled by others, they never fought or reviled in return. Even when others threw shit and urine over them, they endured it silently. If they were really like what I made up in rumors, could they have endured that way? Dear brothers and sisters, please don’t believe my groundless rumors anymore, and don’t blindly believe in and worship the Bible anymore, but seek and investigate Almighty God’s work immediately! God’s gospel work in China is about to end. If you don’t accept it, there will be no more opportunities for you to be saved. Wake up quickly!
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