With Life Hanging by a Thread, the Hand of God Came to the Rescue | Eastern Lightning

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With Life Hanging by a Thread, the Hand of God Came to the Rescue | Eastern Lightning

August 10, 20175

Ling Wu, Japan

“If I were not saved by God, I would still be drifting in this world,

struggling hard and painfully in sin; every day gets bleak and hopeless.

If I were not saved by God, I’d still be crushed below the devil’s feet,

snared in sin and its enjoyments, ignorant of what my life would be.

If I were not saved by God, I’d be without my blessings here today,

much less know why we should live on or the meaning of our lives.

If I were not saved by God, I’d still be confused about my faith,

still in empty space passing the days, unaware in whom to put my faith.

I have finally understood God’s loving hand holds mine as we go.

I would never go and lose my way ’cause I’m on this brilliant course to stay”

(“If I Were Not Saved by God” in Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs). Whenever I hear this hymn of experience, I am always deeply moved. If it weren’t for God saving me, as described in the hymn, I might still be wandering aimlessly in the world, tiring myself out chasing after money, even to the point that I would long since have lost my life and died abroad in a foreign land …

I’m a child of the eighties, and was born in an ordinary farmer household. My older brother was always unwell and sick since he was little. My father was wounded in an accident when I was 10; he was paralyzed two years after that. Our family’s financial situation was poor to begin with, and we went heavily into debt treating my father. Our friends and relatives were afraid that we would never be able to pay back the debt, and weren’t willing to loan us money. Helpless, I was forced to drop out of school at 16 to work away from home. In deep and quiet night, I would often think: When they were young, children the same age as me would play freely after school, while I would have to be in fields doing farming work; now they have grown up as me, and they are still going to school, acting like spoiled children with their parents, but I have to start working at an early age and suffer all kinds of hardships to support my family. … At that time, I complained to my parents about why they gave birth to me, and asked why it was that I came into this world just to suffer and toil. But there was nothing I could do about it, and I could only accept this reality. At the time, my greatest wish was to work hard, earn money, and allow my parents to live comfortably, and no longer be looked down on by others.

At first I worked in a private aluminum alloy factory. Since I was a child laborer, the boss always took good care of me with my food and housing. After one year, I felt that my wages were too low, and chose to go do the lacquer spraying work in a furniture factory that other people didn’t want to do. At that time, no matter what kind of work I was doing, as long as I didn’t break the law, I would go do it if I could make more money. My only goal was that I wanted to become a person with money, so I wouldn’t have to live the life of a poor person again. After that, my relatives introduced me to a company that offered me the opportunity to leave the country for work. I had never thought that after a few years I would go abroad.

In the Spring of 2012, I had my wish granted when I came to Japan and began my new life. I was involved in the shipbuilding industry, and through an apprenticeship I signed a three-year contract with the company. When I started work, I was exhausted and suffering. Because I didn’t know how to cook, I ate instant noodles for a month, until I couldn’t eat them with the feeling like I was going to throw up and was forced to learn to cook. I have no idea how many days I ate half-cooked rice. In Japan, we were foreigners, so it was hard for the company’s workers to keep from having an unfair treatment toward us. They made us do a lot of dirty, tiring, and dangerous tasks. When I was spraying lacquer, I was rather scared, because if the gas came into contact with fire it would ignite, and if I stopped paying attention for a moment it could endanger my life. But no matter if it was suffering in my life or danger in my work, as long as I thought of making more money to send back to my family, and being able to buy a car and a house after I returned home and elevate myself over others and no longer be poor, I felt that my suffering at the time actually wasn’t too bad. Three years of my life passed in the blink of an eye working there, and the time period on my visa was almost up. The company had a policy of renewing contracts, so in order to make more money, I chose to renew my contract and continue to work in Japan. What pleasantly surprised me was that not long after I renewed my contract, I encountered the gospel of the kingdom of Almighty God.

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In September of 2015, a friend I had met in Japan told me about God’s work in the last days. When she was telling me about believing in God, I thought this was just a kind of belief, and didn’t think it was interesting. I felt that believing in God wouldn’t be able to change my destiny. Soon after that, I told my friend about my own way of thinking and the hardships I had endured, then asked her, “Can believing in God change my destiny? I’ve suffered so much, I’m just an ill-fated person. If I had money I wouldn’t be suffering, and right now the most real thing for me is to make money. For me, believing in God is something remote.” When my friend heard me speaking like this, she read to me a section of the word of God: “Where you will go every day, what you will do, who or what you will encounter, what you will say, what will happen to you—can any of this be predicted? People cannot foresee all these occurrences, much less control how they develop. In life, these unforeseeable events happen all the time, and they are an everyday occurrence. These daily vicissitudes and the ways they unfold, or the patterns by which they play out, are constant reminders to humanity that nothing happens at random, that these things’ ramifications, and their inevitability, cannot be shifted by human will. Every happening conveys an admonition from the Creator to mankind, and it also sends the message that human beings cannot control their own fates; at the same time every event is a rebuttal to humanity’s wild, futile ambition and desire to take its fate into its own hands. They are like powerful slaps about humanity’s ears one after another, forcing people to reconsider who, in the end, governs and controls their fate. And as their ambitions and desires are repeatedly thwarted and shattered, humans naturally arrive at an unconscious acceptance of what fate has in store, an acceptance of reality, of the will of Heaven and the Creator’s sovereignty. From these daily vicissitudes to the fates of entire human lives, there is nothing that does not reveal the Creator’s plans and His sovereignty; there is nothing that does not send the message that ‘the Creator’s authority cannot be exceeded,’ that does not convey the eternal truth that ‘the Creator’s authority is supreme’” (“God Himself, the Unique III” in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh). After hearing this, I felt that these words made a lot of sense, and I couldn’t help but think that being able to renew my contract also seemed like something that had been arranged by God. It also made me think about the home I was born into and my life with my family were things I had no choice about. I had the feeling that somewhere out there is a Sovereign in control.

My friend also had me read this section of the word of God “‘God Himself, the Unique III’ in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh” which talks about six junctures that a person must pass through in life: Birth: The First Juncture; Growing Up: The Second Juncture; Independence: The Third Juncture; Marriage: The Fourth Juncture; Progeny: The Fifth Juncture; Death: The Sixth Juncture. When I had read the word of God, I was amazed. I had never imagined that God had spoken so clearly about man’s destiny, and the facts are indeed as He described. According to ordinary circumstances, a person will experience these six junctures in his life. I thought of how many people there are on earth suffering, and how it wasn’t just me. If destiny were really up to a person’s choice and he were in control of it, then everyone would choose to live in a big, fancy house, and would there be anyone suffering from poverty and hardship? In fact, the family a person is born into is absolutely not up to them to choose, and they can’t choose what kind of parents they have. After they grow up, the kind of husband or wife they have is also not up to them. … The more I pondered them, the more I felt these words were practical, and I then began in my heart to believe what Almighty God had said. Fate is not something that can be changed by oneself. Since then, I began to get more and more interested in believing in God, and I believed that God exists, and believed that a person’s fate is not under his own control. But because I didn’t know much about God, I felt that God was very remote from me. However, in an experience not long after that, I genuinely felt: God is beside me, watching over and protecting me.

It was raining that day, and I got to work as usual, but I had absolutely no idea that there was a disaster sneaking up to strike me. Over 10:00 in the morning, I was at work on the jobsite, when I suddenly heard a “boom.” I didn’t know what it was that had smashed to the ground, and it gave me an icy shudder of terror. When I turned my head to look, I was stunned, and saw a 40 cm diameter and 4 m long iron pipe weighing about half a ton which had fallen from a crane. It smashed to the ground less than half a meter from where I was standing. I was so terrified in that moment that I was totally speechless, and it took a while for me to regain my composure from the shock. In my heart I was yelling nonstop: “Thank You God! Thank You God!” If God hadn’t been there watching over and protecting me, then the iron pipe would have smashed straight down onto me, and my insignificant life would have been over.

After I got off work, when I was talking with the brothers and sisters about what had happened that day, they fellowshiped to me that it had been God’s protection. They also read to me from the word of Almighty God: “Throughout your long lives, basically every individual has encountered many dangerous situations and undergone many temptations. This is because Satan is right there beside you, its eyes fixed on you constantly. It likes it when disaster strikes you, when calamities befall you, when nothing goes right for you, and likes it when you are caught in Satan’s net. As for God, He is protecting you constantly, keeping you from one misfortune after another and from one disaster after another. This is why I say that everything man has—peace and joy, blessings and personal safety—is in fact all under God’s control, and He guides and decides the life and fate of every individual” (“God Himself, the Unique VI” in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh). After reading the word of God I understood that people live every day in Satan’s net and that they are cruelly harmed. Without God watching over and guarding them, people would have long since been swallowed up by Satan. All these years, I don’t know how many times I enjoyed God watching over and protecting me, but all along I did not know God or worship Him; I truly had no conscience. Starting from that moment, I understood God’s grace of salvation better. That I was able to live up to the present is all thanks to God’s loving hand guarding me, and I thanked God from my heart. I also decided that in the future I would do all I can to follow God. In the days to come, I frequently attended gatherings with brothers and sisters, and went over into leading a regular church life, and there were slowly changes in my life. I no longer had the anxiety, suffering, and emptiness that I once had. We brothers and sisters were reading the word of God together, and fellowshiping about the word of God, singing hymns in praise of God, free and liberated in our hearts, helping each other and assisting one another in the spiritual life. Not one of them looked down on me, nor was there anyone who had disdain for the poor and fawned over the rich, and I felt I was able to live with dignity. Living among this big, warm, and blessed household of The Church of Almighty God, I felt much happier and fulfilled than in the past.

One day, something happened to a Japanese individual in our company. He was a longtime employee there and already had more than ten years of experience in the company. He was strong whether it was safety awareness or technology. That day, when he was at work, he was driving a lifting truck and was doing some work while lifted 20 meters in the air. In the course of operating it, from lack of attention he caused the truck’s liquified gas to leak onto him. There was another worker at the same time above him doing some welding, and suddenly a spark fell down and landed on his clothing. When the gas that had leaked out came into contact with the spark, it rapidly burst into flame, and a fire broke out. Many people just stared blankly at this old worker who was being engulfed in flames on the spot, but they were totally helpless and unable to do anything. It was already too late to go find someone to save him, and in a few minutes, he was burned to death. When we saw this tragedy occur, many people felt sorry for him, and couldn’t help but think about our own lives: What is it, after all, that people are living for? Because of something like this happening right next to me, I truly realized that if a person has departed from God and doesn’t have God watching over and protecting them, then their life is unprotected at all times. People are so insignificant in the face of calamities and can easily collapse, and no matter how high a person’s expertise is or how much more money a person has they are unable to save themselves.

Afterward, I read a passage of the word of God: “Because of the Creator’s sovereignty and predestination, a lonely soul that started out with nothing to its name gains parents and a family, the chance to become a member of the human race, the chance to experience human life and see the world; and it also gains the chance to experience the Creator’s sovereignty, to know the marvelousness of the creation by the Creator, and most of all, to know and become subject to the Creator’s authority. But most people do not really seize this rare and fleeting opportunity. One exhausts a lifetime’s worth of energy fighting against fate, spends all of one’s time bustling about trying to feed one’s family and shuttling back and forth between wealth and status. The things that people treasure are family, money, and fame; they view these as the most valuable things in life. All people complain about their fates, yet still they push to the back of their minds the questions that it is most imperative to examine and understand: why man is alive, how man should live, what the value and meaning of life is. All of their lives, however many years that may be, they just rush about seeking fame and fortune, until their youth has fled, until they become gray and wrinkled; until they see that fame and fortune cannot stop one’s slide toward senility, that money cannot fill the emptiness of the heart; until they understand that no one is exempt from the law of birth, aging, sickness, and death, that no one can escape what fate has in store. Only when they are forced to confront life’s final juncture do they truly grasp that even if one owns millions in property, even if one is privileged and of high rank, no one can escape death, every person will return to his or her original position: a solitary soul, with nothing to its name” (“God Himself, the Unique III” in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh). After I finished reading the words of God, I was deeply stirred: People’s spirits come from God, and are destined by God to come among the world of men. But people still don’t want to believe in and worship God, and they don’t treasure the opportunity to experience the Creator’s authority, but only know to live for money, fame, and kinship. They are all busy rushing about strenuously trying to throw off the arrangement of their fate, but what can people obtain by seeking after these things? Has anyone ever thought which of these things—relatives, fame, or wealth—can save their lives when death is imminent? Look at my old coworker’s death—isn’t that the best demonstration of this fact? Thinking about the things I have sought in the past, isn’t it the same? When I went abroad to work, I would take on any filthy, tiring, or dangerous job, just to earn some more money, make people look highly upon me, and so I wouldn’t suffer the humiliation of poverty. Even though I went through every kind of suffering, I never thought to change this way of living. I just followed the same road all along. In my heart, I didn’t know if there is a God, nor did I know that man’s fate is in God’s hands. I relied on myself to change my destiny, and I strove to escape from God’s orchestration and arrangement destined in my life. Wasn’t it the road to ruin that I was following? If it weren’t for God’s salvation, or God watching over and protecting me, I’m afraid that my meager life would have long ago been snatched away by Satan. Even further, how could my life become fulfilled and meaningful as I am now? In that moment, I finally saw that the meaning of life isn’t to seek wealth or fame, it isn’t to seek to get ahead of others so they look highly upon you, but rather is to come into the presence of God, to worship God and receive His salvation, and to break free from Satan’s harm. The more I think like this, the more moved I am. I see that I am able to believe in God, and this is God treating me with a special grace. I don’t know how to express the feeling of gratitude toward God in my heart, and so I learned the hymn “If I Were Not Saved by God” to show my praise of God and to thank Almighty God for saving me!

Eastern Lightning | It Is Almighty God Who Saved Me | The Church of Almighty God

23 It Is Almighty God Who Saved Me

Li Tianhong

Lingbao City, Henan Province

I believe that every brother and sister in the Lord is expecting the Lord’s coming and is expecting the Lord to take us to heaven and into the glorious and beautiful home soon. Like you all, I also expected that all along. I remember that as early as March 1999, I had heard that there were a group of people of “the Eastern Lightning” preaching that the Lord had already returned, yet our leader said that that band of people were wrong and were cultists and antichrists…. He did not allow us to contact them lest we be deceived. So I, as an instructor of the Praise Church, actively cooperated with the leader and spread his words wherever I went. Moreover, I kept myself on full alert, always afraid that the brothers and sisters would be deceived by them.

One day in July 1999, several people of our village came to preach God’s end-time gospel to me. They told me that the Lord had already returned to do the work of judgment and chastisement and of unifying all denominations into one. As soon as I heard it, I shouted at them, “I won’t listen! Our leader has said that God hasn’t returned yet! Besides, you’re almost illiterate, yet you even come to preach to me? I teach the Bible every day. Don’t I know more than you? If God had come back, he would surely let me know first. Is it necessary for you to tell me? Go away now! I won’t listen!” As I said that, I drove them out. That night, I went to the church and told the brothers and sisters about how I had driven away those who preached the end-time gospel. I also told them to keep a strict guard and never let people of “the Eastern Lightning” take a “sheep” away from us!

In October of the same year, my leader assigned me to make rounds among the churches in a certain region. Once, I met several strangers in a host home. They said, “Do you know? God has returned and done a new work….” Before they had finished their words, I retorted immediately, “You are of ‘the Eastern Lightning.’ You are preachers of a false way. It’s a deceitful trick!” Then I said to the host family, “We can’t listen to them. Drive them away!” Later, I announced in the church seriously, “From now on, without my permission, no one is allowed to contact people of ‘the Eastern Lightning.’ Whoever disobeys will be expelled!” So, I made those rules wherever I went so as to seal the churches.

In May 2000, six or seven people of a church accepted “the Eastern Lightning.” After I learned it, I immediately went to disturb them with a co-worker. I said to them, “That band of people of ‘the Lightning’ use various means and tricks to deceive people. You have been fooled! You are small in stature and know little about the Bible, so you don’t have discernment. But as long as you confess your wrong and try hard to do good deeds to atone for your sins, you can come back. Never ever contact them again….” Then, the co-worker who came with me added, “People of ‘the Lightning’ are extremely brutal. It’s said that once you accept, they will take you out and force you to do this and that. If you don’t obey, they will gouge out your eyes, cut off your ears, break your legs, or use a knife to force you to commit adultery. …” At these words, they turned pale with fear and all stated that they would never contact people of “the Lightning” again. To further insure that the brothers and sisters would not contact “the Eastern Lightning,” I spent all my time bustling about among the churches everywhere, so much so as to neglect my meals and sleep. Sometimes, I even prayed all night long to curse people of “the Lightning.” Besides, every time I made rounds among the churches, I would tell with embellishment the rumors I had heard about “the Lightning” to the brothers and sisters so that they would stay away from “the Eastern Lightning.”

Because of the “price” I had paid, my leader thought more highly of me. But somehow the churches’ condition got worse and worse. The co-workers formed factions, had jealousy and strife, and scrambled for power and profit among themselves. The lectern became an emplacement, and the Bible became a weapon to attack each other. Whoever occupied the lectern had the opportunity to attack others, and even prayer became a way to dig at or fight against each other. In the churches the previous vigor had been completely lost, and even more, the love among the brothers and sisters had disappeared. The attendance at the meetings kept on dropping, and a meeting which had sixty or seventy people had now only four or five left. What puzzled me more was: There was a brother Fu in our church. He was only 42 years old and had been zealous in expending himself for the Lord all the year round. Now instead of receiving peace, he got cardia cancer. A good many people fasted and prayed for him, but it did not help. The brothers and sisters felt very puzzled, and I was also downhearted, not knowing why all these happened. However, I still forced myself to go on. On the one hand, I was afraid of being deceived; on the other hand, I was afraid of losing the position of “instructor.” I thought to myself, “It’s really not easy for me to get the position of instructor. I must ‘cherish’ it!” So, in order to preserve my position, I ingratiated myself with my leader and did the work of resisting God over and over again to gain his trust and favor.

One day in early June of 2001, I went to Yima City of my native province. There I gave a message about discernment to the brothers and sisters. Unexpectedly, a relative of the host family came. Through the introductions, I knew that he was also a believer in Jesus. So, we began to fellowship together. During the fellowship, I found that the light the brother had received was much higher than mine and that he had unique views on the Bible. I admired him from the bottom of my heart, but, as an instructor, how could I bow my head before him? Later, when we spoke of Paul, the brother said, “Paul is one we imitate. He suffered many hardships and ran around much for the Lord. His thirteen letters are very beneficial to the brothers’ and sisters’ experience of life. However, in his letters, there are also some things which are not after the Lord’s heart. For example, ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness….’ (2 Timothy 4:7-8). These words revealed his intent and purpose in working for the Lord. The efforts he expended were to make a deal with God. Such a viewpoint of pursuit and such knowledge are not after God’s heart….” Before he had finished his words, I retorted immediately, “How dare you belittle Paul? If it had not been for Paul’s preaching, how could we have our today? Paul is one for us to imitate and is a model for us to follow in preaching the gospel. If people believe in Jesus not to gain anything, is there any meaning in such belief? Who will ever believe?” Then I pointed my finger at him and said, “You dare condemn Paul. Aren’t you arrogant? Paul suffered so many hardships and received so many lashes for the Lord! Have you suffered any? Paul could say those words boldly, can you?” I got so emotional that even my complexion changed, and I glowered at him, as if in a quarrel. But that brother did not get angry at all. He said gently, “Sister, don’t be angry. Let’s take our time talking about it. Here! Have a glass of water.” I did not even give him a look, but he did not mind at all. He continued, “Even though Paul suffered a lot for the Lord, as a created being he should…” I interrupted him again, “As the instructor of the Praise Church in Lingbao City, I know much more than you. I read The Bible for Intensive Study, The Bible With Commentaries, and Jia Yuming’s Essentials every day. Is there anything that I don’t know? Just drop it!” “Yes, what I know is very limited, but I’m willing to discuss this subject with brothers and sisters,” he said, still gently. At that time, I thought, “I treat him in such a way, yet he doesn’t get angry at all. Instead, he is so gentle, humble, sober, and natural. He is a preacher; am I not a preacher as well? But I get so impatient as to forget myself when encountering things. Why is that? …” “Sister, why are you silent? What are you thinking?” asked the brother. I hesitated a moment and then said, “Nothing, you may go on.” Afterward, through the brother’s dissection of the viewpoint of Paul’s pursuit, I understood a truth: It is only right and proper for a created being to worship God. He should not harbor his own intent and purpose, and even less should he use his suffering as the capital for receiving blessings to make a deal with God. That was what I had never heard before. I felt his fellowship was so good and so high.

Following that, the brother fellowshipped with me about many more verses of the Bible, and I felt that everything he said was very good and clear. However, when speaking of God’s work, he said, “The Old Testament records the work of the Age of the Law: God led people in the form of the Spirit and was called Jehovah. He worked in Israel, issuing the laws to make people conscious of sin. The disposition he expressed was righteousness, burning, and curse. The New Testament records the work of the Age of the Grace: God was incarnated to be man’s sin offering and was called Jesus. He worked in Judea, and the disposition he expressed was love, mercy, forbearance, and patience. Revelation prophesied that God would do a work of judgment and purification in the end time, that is, the work of the Age of the Kingdom. Since the age has changed and the work has become different, his disposition and name as well as the place he works in, and so on have changed accordingly. The disposition he expresses is no longer love and mercy but righteousness, majesty, and judgment. God is no longer called Jesus but the Almighty as prophesied in Revelation….” Hearing that, I could no longer hold myself back. “Our senior leader Qiao says that now there are a band of people preaching Almighty God. The one they believe in is a false christ and a deceiver. He also says that if we refuse to accept their way after listening to it, they will gouge out our eyes, cut off our ears, break our legs, or force us to commit sexual immorality. I think you are with them, aren’t you? I won’t be taken in by you….” As I said that, I got up to go. “Sister, from these days of contact, do you think I’m like what your leader says? Why do we not respect the fact but trust only one side?” “Right!” I thought to myself, “Through these days of contact with the brother, I have seen that he is very humble and gentle, and there is nothing in him like what our leader says. But I shouldn’t disobey my leader’s words. He can’t cheat me, and he can’t be wrong. Besides, what if my leader finds out that I have contacted them? Won’t I lose the position of instructor? Then won’t my years of pursuit be all in vain? I must go!” As I thought of this, I said to them firmly, “I have been out so long. I have to go back….”

The brothers and sisters saw me out reluctantly. All the way I kept thinking, “When I get back, I’ll tell my leaders in detail about how I debated with the people of ‘the Lightning’ and how I fought for the truth. They are bound to give me some credit.” When I got back to Lingbao, it was already past 8 o’clock at night. Immediately after I got off the train, I saw Brother Zhao and Brother Guo of my church. I greeted them joyfully, but they ignored me. Just when I felt puzzled, I saw my leader, Brother Li, who was not far away. He was staring at me and looked extremely displeased and fierce. As I saw this, my heart pounded as if I had done something to be ashamed of. A three-wheeler took us to a host home, and not long after we entered the room, they began to question me, “What did you do in Yima?” “How did you preach? Could it take such a long time?” “Did you actually preach? You didn’t commit sins, did you?” “Did they beat you? Did they force you to do anything? Have you contacted them? You have accepted, haven’t you?” “Never mind, all you have to do is to admit your mistake and speak out the inside story….” They bombarded me with questions, so that I lost my bearings. Their questioning in such a way hurt my self-respect terribly, and I felt as if my heart would break. “How come these people all become like this? …” That night, I could not fall into sleep. I wept and thought, feeling extremely wronged.

After a few days, I still could not get the better of it. The expressions shown that night by the leaders I looked up to and admired all along, and their questioning tones and cold words kept appearing in my mind and ringing in my ears. I felt wave after wave of grief piercing my heart, extremely distressed. At that time, I thought, “This time they will expel me. What will they say about me? What will the brothers and sisters think of me? …” In despair, I constantly reflected on the scenes in Yima. Not only was the way that the brother preached higher than ours, but he also behaved calmly and naturally, spoke gently, and was easy to approach. He was very pious during the fellowship and always treated others sincerely. Our leaders, however, were all full of arrogance and appeared superior and domineering. Even more, our co-workers had no love for one another but all supplanted each other and scrambled for fame and gain. Thinking of that, I did not feel like seeing them anymore, disgusted with their words and deeds. Those whom they called the people of “the Lightning,” however, constantly appeared in my mind. Their living out roused my admiration and respect. I remembered that at the time when I lost my temper and accused them of being wrong, evil, and false, that brother remained amiable, still treated me sincerely, and fellowshipped with me in a patient and painstaking way. I was simply filled with admiration for their magnanimity and love. I really could not figure out what kind of power was driving them to live out completely differently from us. Then I thought, “At that time, I didn’t accept their way after listening to their fellowship. Didn’t they still treat me sincerely? And isn’t it that my nose and eyes are intact and not a single hair of my head has lost? Doesn’t this even more prove that those words our leader says are purely lies?” Thinking of that, I could not help shuddering. I felt that it was not the people of “the Lightning” who were to be dreaded, but the leaders whom I looked up to and admired! They had the audacity to give false testimonies. It was really unbelievable! So, I decided to go to the people of “the Lightning” alone for a good talk without letting anyone know.

On June 19, I set out on my journey to Yima again. On the train, I felt it was so slow, and I wished I could fly to that unforgettable place instantly. At that time, I really felt that when the mind was bent on returning, it was like a flying arrow. After I got off the train, I headed straight to that host home. When I walked in the door, the brothers and sisters were all taken by surprise. They were stunned for quite a while and then said excitedly, “You are back. How surprising! Great! Great!” “Thank God! It’s God’s moving that causes me to come back here,” I also said excitedly, holding the sister’s hands tightly. … The next day, the brother fellowshipped with me again in detail about God’s three stages of works and God’s eager intention to save man. He also read me several passages of God’s word: “He has already descended, but people do not recognize him, nor do they know it, and they are just waiting for him aimlessly. Little do they know that he has already descended on the white cloud (the white cloud refers to his Spirit, his word, and all his disposition and being) among a group of overcomers he will make in the end time! How could people know: Although the holy Savior Jesus is full of lovingkindness and full of love for man, how could he work in the ‘temples’ that are full of filthiness and inhabited by swarms of unclean spirits? Although people are all waiting for his descent, how could he appear to those who eat the flesh of the unrighteous, drink the blood of the unrighteous, and wear the clothes of the unrighteous, and who believe in him but do not know him and yet keep extorting from him? People only know that the Savior Jesus is full of lovingkindness and full of mercy and that he is the sin offering full of redemption, but they do not know that he is God Godself who is laden with righteousness, majesty, wrath, and judgment and who is with authority and full of dignity. So, even though people all eagerly expect and thirst for the return of the Redeemer and their prayers have even moved ‘Heaven,’ the Savior Jesus does not appear to them who believe in him but do not know him.” “If people always call me Jesus Christ and yet do not know that I have opened a new age again and carried out a newer work in the end time but keep waiting for the descent of the Savior Jesus infatuatedly, I call all such people ones who do not believe in me, ones who do not know me, and ones who pretend to believe in me.” “Maybe many people do not pay attention to what I am saying. But I still want to tell every so-called saint who follows Jesus: When you see with your own physical eyes Jesus descending from heaven on a white cloud, it will already be the time the Sun of righteousness appears publicly. At that time, you may be beside yourself with excitement. But have you ever known this: When you see Jesus descending from heaven, it will be the very time you go to hell to receive punishment. That will already be the time God’s management plan is declared concluded and the time God rewards the good and punishes the evil. This is because God’s judgment has ended at the time when people have not seen miraculous signs but only the truth is expressed.” Hearing that, I felt much clear and regretted my past deeds very much. So, I came before God and prayed to God, “O Lord! Almighty God! Thank you for saving me so that I can have the honor of hearing your voice and seeing your work. In the past, because I was blind and ignorant and didn’t know you and blindly listened to my leaders’ words without seeking or investigating, I was deceived by the lies. Moreover, I slandered and blasphemed your work, and spread the rumors and sealed the churches everywhere. This has blinded many brothers’ and sisters’ eyes and closed many brothers’ and sisters’ hearts, so that they are now still unwilling to accept your end-time salvation and thus live in darkness. O God! I am indeed sinful and evil to the uttermost. Please give me an opportunity to repent. I’m willing to expose my evil deeds to the light so that those innocent brothers and sisters who are still being deceived by the rumors can see the truth of the matter and return to your family. O Almighty God! It is because of your moving and your revealing that I, a foolish, ignorant, numb, and obtuse person, begin to wake up. Now, I’m convinced that you are the One whom I have been expecting. I resolve to follow you and expend myself for you in all my life so as to repay your grace of salvation and repay your great love!”

Dear brothers and sisters, this is my personal experience. I wonder if it can give you some warnings. Now, are you still being deceived by rumors? Are you also looking up to your leaders? If so, then I advise you to drop the place for any man in your heart right now, for only the One who rules over everything can save us! May brothers and sisters see through satan’s schemes and not be deceived by lies or restrained by evil leaders anymore. Step forward boldly and take the initiative to seek. I believe God will surely make a way out for you and bestow to you abundantly! Amen!

from "It Is Almighty God Who Saved Me" Ironclad Proofs of God’s Words Conquering Denominations’ and Sects’ Leaders