I was formerly a mid-level leader of the Justification by Faith Church. In the summer of 1966, I believed in the Lord Jesus. Because I was a teacher, I was literate; so I read the Bible in the church at first. Later, thanks to the Lord’s favor, I became a leader. In order to serve the Lord wholeheartedly, I quit my teaching job. Although I was criticized by my relatives and friends, complained by my children, and mocked by the unbelievers because of this, and was afterward imprisoned twice because of attending meetings, I didn’t lose faith. On the contrary, I pursued more persistently and went around the churches in different cities all year round to do the work for the Lord. For over thirty years, I had suffered some from rushing around and being mocked and slandered, but I had gained more grace from the Lord. Maybe because of my “extraordinary” experiences in believing in God, the brothers and sisters looked at me with new eyes. And I myself often felt self-satisfied because of that and took that as my capital, thinking that I had the greatest faith in the Lord, had the greatest love for him, and was most qualified to please him, and that I only needed to wait for him to come and take me up.

In recent years, without knowing why, the churches had gradually become desolate. I was often worried about it in my heart and prayed hard before the Lord, but the condition of the churches still didn’t turn better. That left me very puzzled. “Why are the sick not healed by laying hands on them and praying? Why do I always feel that I have no strength and am not so burdened for the church work as before though I pursue as hard as before? Since the Lord’s words have all been fulfilled, why hasn’t the Lord come to take us up? …” These questions lingered in my mind. What shocked me more was that more and more people were preaching “Eastern Lightning” and they even spread throughout Mainland China. The churches of all sects and denominations seemed to have been cleaned up. Many brothers and sisters who pursued sincerely had been “snatched” by them, and it was really hard for us to guard against them. Even I was also disturbed by them many times. I remember that one time when they preached their gospel to me, I rebuked them, saying, “How many days have you believed? What do you know? You are really devoid of self-knowledge!” But they said with a smile, “Brother, don’t get angry! You don’t understand God’s new work. Let’s seek…” “Don’t I know more than you? I have traveled extensively for decades. Could I be easily swayed by you? I tell you, my foundation has been laid on the rock—the Lord Jesus. I have been justified freely through the redemption of the Lord Jesus. As long as I confess with my mouth that Jesus is the Lord and believe in my heart that he was raised from the dead, I will be saved. It’s enough that I have the Lord Jesus. I needn’t seek anymore. It’s you who need seek. It is only because you have too little faith and do not understand that you are deceived.” Thus, I drove them away. Every time I drove them away, I had a kind of unspeakable joyfulness and complacence. But I did not know why they had such great faith and perseverance. They still often came to visit me. One day, two brothers came to preach the gospel to me. They advised me earnestly, “Brother, please have a listen. God’s end-time work is really good. You have believed in God for many years, but if you cannot keep up with God’s working and don’t know God, you will fall into disasters in the end. Won’t you regret it at that time?” At this, I got irritated and said, “What? What? I don’t know God? I will fall into disasters? Today, I’d like to see what new work God has actually done. Can you two make it clear to me? Tell your ‘leader’ to come. I will keep him accompany to the very end! Fix a time!” Unexpectedly, they said immediately, “Brother, how about tomorrow?” “That’s settled then! I’ll give you only one day and I’ll see what you can preach!” I answered in a contemptuous tone.

Early next morning, they came as expected. I threw them a contemptuous glance and said, “You go into the room first. Both the Bible and the cross-reference Bible are on the table. I’ll join you after I wash my face.” Then, I hid in the kitchen and prayed, “O Lord! I know that both success and failure are in your hand and that reward and punishment are in your hand too. Today, I’m willing to rely on your great power and your wisdom to defeat them thoroughly so that they will not ‘deceive’ your lambs anymore.” After I finished my prayer, I stepped into the room full of confidence, and said, “Who will talk first? But we will make it clear beforehand: if you cannot convince me, don’t come to my home anymore from now on.” One of the brothers said smilingly, “We will do as you say!” Then, he began to fellowship about the condition of the churches. And he asked me, “Brother, now, the churches have become desolate, the believers have returned to the world, and we ourselves also feel distant from the Lord and are less enthusiastic than before. What’s the reason for this?” This question happened to touch my “weak spot.” It was exactly the question that I had been thinking about day and night but couldn’t figure out. From his composed expression, I could see that he knew quite a lot. Though unable to answer this question, I forced myself to say, “The Lord knows man’s weakness!” He said, “Brother, the reason for the desolation of the churches is that God has already stopped working in all sects and denominations. God has done a new work. He has withdrawn all of the Spirit’s work from the entire universe and done it on a group of people who follow him in the end time. The believers in Almighty God are so enthusiastic, and that is the result achieved by the working of the Holy Spirit and is all given by God. That is to say, without the working of the Holy Spirit and the keeping of God, people would all become weak.” Hearing his words, I wanted to argue with him, but because I didn’t understand, I had to continue listening to him. Then he said, “God’s work of saving men includes three stages. In the first stage, Jehovah did the work of issuing the laws to let people know what sin was. In the second stage, Jesus did the work of crucifixion, redeeming men from sin with his precious blood. However, they still live in sin, committing sins in the day and confessing them at night. So, God has again done a new work, that is, the end-time judging and purifying work that the incarnated Almighty God does today.” At this, I could no longer hold myself back but cut him short: “I don’t believe! I don’t believe! It’s impossible for God to do a new work, because the Lord Jesus has accomplished the redemption once for all. The Lord also told us that there would be great earthquakes and famines and that the stars would fall when he returned. Now everything is safe and sound. You say the Lord has come. Who can believe it?” He said, “It’s a fact that the Lord Jesus has accomplished the redemption once for all, but the Lord said that he would come again and do the judging and purifying work. The Lord Jesus is man’s sin offering, but he has not done the work of removing the root of man’s sin. As for what is said that there will be great earthquakes when the Lord returns, Almighty God says today that his incarnation has shaken every sect and denomination and shaken the heart of everyone who thirsts after his appearing. Brother, do you still feel peace in your heart? Hasn’t this eternal gospel of God in the end time shaken your heart?” I was rendered speechless because what he said was indeed the real situation. Then, he continued, “The Bible says: ‘The days are coming, when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.’ Now, many believers have returned to the world. Brother, even you, a believer who has believed in the Lord for decades, are not so burdened for the church as before, right? You can see that now the churches have become desolate, the international situation is getting tenser and tenser, and all kinds of pestilences and disasters are befalling one after the other. Is everything still safe and sound as you said? Isn’t this a famine? Doesn’t the stars’ falling refer to the fact that the believers return to the world and don’t believe in God anymore?” I could say nothing to refute his words, so I had to continue listening to him. He said, “The work of the Age of the Law and the work of the Age of the Grace are the first two stages of the work done by God. The work of the Age of the Grace is done on the basis of the work of the Age of the Law, while God’s work of today is done on the basis of the work of the Age of the Grace. These three stages of the work complement each other, none of which is dispensable. They compose the whole course of God’s saving mankind and are done by one God. This is the exact fulfillment of the words in the Bible: I am the Beginning and the End. I am the One who sows and also the One who reaps. I am the Almighty who was, and who is, and who is to come. We human beings cannot draw any conclusion about God’s work for we are only a handful of dust in God’s hand. What we know is too limited. Can God’s wonder and unfathomableness be imagined and fathomed by us human beings? Besides, God’s work is not what we can draw conclusions about. We have believed in God for so many years. If we repeat the mistake of the Pharisees of those days and end up being punished by God, won’t it be really a pity? Brother, you have to discern. You cannot refuse God’s salvation and blindly condemn God’s work for fear of believing wrongly. God’s sheep will return before God after hearing his voice.” After hearing the brother’s fellowship, I couldn’t help thinking, “If by any chance it is the true way, won’t I become a sinner of a thousand generations?” At this time, he said, “Brother, please listen to God’s own utterance. It’s up to you to decide whether you will believe it or not. We will definitely not force you!” “Yes! They mean me no harm.” Thinking of that, I said, “Please read. I’ll listen.” So, the brother opened the book of God’s word and read a passage in “Only the Last Christ Can Bestow to Man the Way of Eternal Life”: “What the end-time Christ brings is life and the perpetual and eternal way of truth. Such truth is the pathway for people to receive life and the single pathway for them to know God and be commended by God. If you do not seek the way of life supplied by the end-time Christ, then you will never possibly receive Jesus’ commendation and will never be qualified to step into the gate of the kingdom of heaven, for you are a puppet of history and a prisoner of history. Those who are bound by regulations, letters, and the chains of history will never receive life and never receive the perpetual way of life, because what they receive is only the turbid water that has been observed for thousands of years, but not the water of life that flows out from the throne.” Then, he read this passage in “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth”: “…the end-time Christ will teach people from every place with the truth and speak all the truths to them. This is God’s work of judgment. Many people feel very disturbed by God’s second incarnation, because they all can hardly believe that God would be incarnated to do the work of judgment. However, I tell you, the work God does is often utterly contrary to man’s expectation and difficult for man’s mind to accept, because man is only a maggot on earth, whereas God is the supreme One who fills the universe; and man’s mind is like a pit of stinking water, which produces nothing but maggots, whereas the work at every stage directed by God’s thoughts is the crystallization of God’s wisdom. Man always wants to compete against God. Then I say it is self-evident who will suffer loss in the end. I advise everyone not to consider yourself more valuable than gold. Other people can accept God’s judgment. Why can’t you? Are you better than other people? Other people can bow their heads before the truth. Why can’t you? God’s work is the trend of the times. He will not repeat the work of judgment on account of your ‘merits.’ If you lose such a good opportunity, you will be heartbroken with regret. If you do not believe my words, then wait for that great white throne in the sky to ‘judge’ you! You should know that although all the Israelites rejected and denied Jesus, the fact that Jesus redeemed mankind has spread to the ends of the universe. Isn’t this a fact that God has accomplished long ago? If you are still waiting for Jesus to take you to heaven, then I say that you are an obstinate, hopeless case. Jesus will not accept such a false believer as you who is not faithful to the truth but only wants to receive blessings. On the contrary, he will mercilessly throw you into the lake of fire to be burned for tens of thousands of years.” As I listened to God’s words, my hardened heart was softened without my knowing it and my high-held head was also bowed. These words were so good and were indeed the expression of God! Otherwise, who could express these heavenly words? Just when I was lost in thought, they said again, “Brother, do you think it’s the word of God? Please ponder over it carefully. We’re leaving.” I said hurriedly, “Can you lend me the book?” They said, “OK! As long as you seek with a sincere heart, this book of God’s word is given to you, because God says, ‘…whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.’” So, they gave me the book and then left. I felt as if I had found a priceless treasure and was in no mood to do anything else. I read it over and over again. The persuasive words, the affectionate comfort, and the words with majesty and judgment all expressed God’s limitless and measureless love for man…. As I read it, tears gushed from my aged eyes, and my gratitude was beyond expression. “O God! Your deeds are indeed unfathomable to any man. To save corrupt mankind, you have undergone all kinds of sufferings. The first time, you were crucified for man and shed all your blood, but no one knew you. Today, after two thousand years, you have returned in the flesh again to personally save people, but they still don’t know you and also draw conclusions about your work. Not only do they mock and abuse you, but they also blaspheme and slander you. And I am exactly one of those who believe in you yet resist you….” By then, I had already choked with sobs.

From God’s words, I had finally understood the actual meaning of these words: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, … Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:21-23). “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first” (Matthew 19:30). I had even more understood that no one can receive salvation without the judgment and punishment of God’s word of today and that man can never become holy or know God without such a judgment work. That is to say, those who do not accept God’s end-time work are all the ones to be punished by God. At that time, I looked back to the path of belief in God I had walked: Although I had believed in God for so many years, I had not succeeded in believing in God but had succeeded in believing in the Bible and taking the words and sentences to my heart. And I had thought that I had been justified through faith and had been saved by calling on the Lord’s name. I had even boasted that I was better than anyone else in belief in God but didn’t know that I was the most arrogant and ignorant person who even dared to resist God’s work. Thanks to Almighty God’s being incarnated, I have received the extremely great salvation. Now, when I think of those arrogant words that I spoke before the brothers and sisters who preached the end-time gospel, I really feel ashamed and abashed, wishing I could sink through the ground.

Since I accepted Almighty God’s end-time work, through eating and drinking God’s word and fellowshipping about God’s word at meetings, I have enjoyed the abundance of God’s word and tasted the warmth of God’s family. The church life under the leading of Almighty God is really full of vitality and vigor. The brothers’ and sisters’ fellowship about God’s word and their personal experiences all have reality. They pray with burden, praise with vitality, and vie with one another in testifying about God and satisfying God. And they encourage each other. The new life and the new hope have finally made me understand why they are so enthusiastic and can endure such great sufferings in preaching the gospel. Actually, it is all because of the encouragement of God’s love and even more because of the power of God’s word. At this time, I also have a mighty power in my heart that impels me to spread Almighty God’s end-time gospel widely so that the brothers and sisters of various sects and denominations can know that Almighty God is precisely the returned Jesus, and thus can receive this extremely great salvation and return before God’s throne as soon as possible. Dear brothers and sisters, it is Almighty God’s word that has conquered me. Almighty God is the truth, the way, and the life, and salvation is found in no one else! I hope that all the brothers and sisters can draw a lesson from my experience and make a wise choice as soon as possible. Otherwise, you will be heartbroken with regret because of missing God’s salvation!

Zhao Junjie

Jieshou City, Anhui Province