By Chengcheng

Welcoming the Lord’s Return With Joy, I Was Disturbed by My Former Church Leader

In the fall of 2008, through listening to the fellowship of two sisters from The Church of Almighty God for several days, I came to understand that God does different work in different ages according to His management plan and mankind’s needs, which includes the work in the Age of Law, the Age of Grace, and the Age of Kingdom. Although God’s name and the disposition He expresses is different in each stage of work, the three stages of work are done by one God. I also learned that God has come to earth this time primarily to do the work of judgment and chastisement and has revealed mankind’s future destination to us. From these I was certain that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus. I was so delighted and wanted to share this good news with the brothers and sisters in my former church.

One night, while I was praying at home for preaching the gospel, I suddenly heard a knock on the door. I opened the door and saw Leader Li and Elder Zheng from my original church. As they came in the door, Leader Li pointed at me and said in a harsh tone of voice, “We heard that you are listening to the preaching of Eastern Lightning these days. Is it true?” “Yeah,” I nodded and replied. Elder Zheng went on to say, “Have you forgotten that in Acts 4:12 it says ‘Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved’? When we believe in God, we can only believe in the Lord Jesus. Apart from Him, there is no other name in which we can rely on for salvation. Your believing in Almighty God now is a betrayal of the Lord and you will be abandoned by Him. So I advise you to rush to turn back.” Hearing him say that I had betrayed the Lord and seeing their menacing manner, I suddenly felt somewhat afraid, thinking: “The Bible indeed says that there is no salvation but through the Lord Jesus. Leader Li and Elder Zheng have believed in the Lord for longer than I have and they understand the Bible better than I do. Furthermore, what they said is in line with the Bible.” Just when I was wavering back and forth, I suddenly remembered what the sisters from The Church of Almighty God had fellowshiped with me: A name of God represents one stage of work and God expresses one part of His disposition in each stage of work. The content of God’s work in different ages is different, and the disposition God expresses is different, and thereby God’s name is different. Nevertheless, it is the work of saving mankind done by one God. There are no contradictions. That God’s name is ever unchanging means that God’s name remains unchanged in a single age, not throughout His entire management work. When the age changes, God’s name changes with it. For example, God was called Jehovah in the Age of Law, but in the Age of Grace He changed His name to Jesus.

When I thought of this, my heart calmed down: “God’s name has changed, but God is still one God. It is that Leader Li and Elder Zheng don’t understand the truth and explain the Bible out of context.” Then I said peacefully, “Brother Li, Brother Zheng, it’s true that the Bible says that there is no salvation but through the Lord Jesus. But have any of us thought about Jehovah’s words in the Old Testament that say ‘This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations’ (Exodus 3:15), ‘I, even I, am Jehovah; and beside me there is no savior’ (Isaiah 43:11). How do we explain this? What on earth is the only name of God and the only salvation of God, Jehovah or Jesus? Actually, God’s name doesn’t remain unchanged. Almighty God says, ‘Some say that the name of God does not change, so why then did the name of Jehovah become Jesus? It was prophesied of the coming of the Messiah, so why then did a man by the name of Jesus come? Why did the name of God change? Was not such work carried out long ago? Cannot God this day do a new work? The work of yesterday can be altered, and the work of Jesus can follow on from that of Jehovah. Cannot then the work of Jesus be succeeded by another work? If the name of Jehovah can be changed to Jesus, then cannot the name of Jesus also be changed? This is not unusual, and people think so[a] only due to their simple-mindedness. God will always be God. Regardless of the changes to His work and His name, His disposition and wisdom remain forever unchanged. If you believe that God can only be called by the name of Jesus, then you know too little.’ Brother Li, Brother Zheng, God’s words are very clear. God’s name changes, but the essence of God shall never change. It is not wrong for me to believe in Almighty God. I hope that you can come to seek and investigate the work of Almighty God. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will understand that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus.”

Before I could finish speaking, Elder Zheng furiously warned me, “I tell you, as long as He is not called by the name of Jesus, we’ll never believe in Him no matter how good His words are. You’d better confess and repent to the Lord right now.” Seeing that I didn’t listen to them, they continued, “We’ll ask your sister to talk to you.” After saying this they left in a rage. I thought in my heart: “Well, my sister is their co-worker. I can tell her the information of God’s return. If she accepts God’s work of the last days, she can lead the brothers and sisters she waters to follow God’s footprints. That will be great!”

Rejected by My Sister, I Was in Grief

Just when I was full of joy and planned to spread the gospel to my sister, one evening, my sister cycled to my home. I invited her in, but she refused and asked me unhappily, “When did you start believing in Eastern Lightning?” “I started to believe it recently. I was going to tell you this,” I responded. When she heard my words, her face immediately darkened and she scolded me in a loud voice, “You truly have no conscience! The Lord Jesus has bestowed so much grace upon us, yet you are ungrateful and turn to believe in Almighty God. Are you worthy of the Lord?” Facing such a full-frontal reproach from my sister, I felt extremely distressed, thinking: “Ever since I was little my sister has never scolded me like this, so why does she treat me as her enemy today?” Then I realized that she was deceived by the religious leaders and knew nothing of God’s new work. Thus I went near her and explained patiently, “Sister, we two have believed in the Lord for so many years and obtained a lot of grace from Him. I can understand that you fear that I will abandon the Lord’s way at the crucial moment of His arrival. But I believe in Almighty God now because I’m certain that He is the returned Lord Jesus we have been yearning for for so many years. My receiving Almighty God’s work of judgment and chastisement in the last days is following the footprints of the Lamb. How can you say I’m ungrateful?” My sister turned half round and didn’t look at me. I continued with patience, “It’s good you came. I was going to spread the gospel to you. What I understand is too shallow, so let’s read Almighty God’s words together and you’ll understand everything.” At this point, my sister ignored my words and firmly said, “I will neither read nor listen to this. Now because you believe in Eastern Lightning, Elder Zhen said that they are going to expel you and they have asked the brothers and sisters in the church to reject you. If I read the book, I will also be rejected by our brothers and sisters. Today I came here just to advise you to repent quickly. If you don’t listen to me, I will disown you. Just think about it carefully.” After that, she mounted her bike and rode away. No matter how much I called her and tried to get her to turn back, she just ignored me.

Looking at my sister leaving, I felt a wave of sorrow. I walked into the living room with heavy footsteps, and slumped into a chair, thinking: “My sister and I have been very close since we were little. When I was a child, I was in poor health. At that time, my sister cared for me in everything. She never allowed me to do any dirty or tiring work but did them by herself. When I just got married I lived in poverty, and she assisted me financially, often sending me vegetables or food. We have never gotten into angry arguments over the past decades. Does she now sever her relationship with me because of my following God’s new work? If I don’t listen to her, will she truly disown me and not have any contact with me in the future? I cannot treat this matter lightly, she is my sister after all. But I have been looking forward to the Lord’s return since I believed in Him. Today I have finally welcomed the Lord’s return, and I can’t reject God because of emotions.” However, as soon as I thought of my sister’s words, I felt a heartrending pain. I really didn’t know how to choose. Why was it so difficult for me to walk the path of belief in God? In this state of helplessness, I prayed to God, “Oh! Almighty God, my sister has been looking after me since I was young. And we’ve believed in the Lord Jesus and served the Lord together for more than ten years. Today, I accept Your work, yet my sister listened to the leaders and wants to disown me. God, I am very miserable within. I’m unable to let go of my emotions, and I know I shouldn’t abandon the true way. So I really don’t know what I should do now. May You help me.” After praying, I lay on the bed. I thought back on the situations where I got along with my sister, feeling very sad. But when I thought of how God had led me through my most difficult days over those years, I felt particularly indebted to Him. And so, I tossed and turned, and hardly slept the whole night.

To Be Continued …

Part Two: What Happened After I Was Disturbed by the Pastor and Rejected by My Family?(II)