By Shunyi, Japan
One morning, when walking in the alley of a park, I saw the cherry trees beside me were wreathed. The fragrance assailed my nose, and made me feel fresh. At that point, I came to realize the spring had already come. With people being eagerly anticipation, the spring came and brought us gladness and hope. Similarly, aren’t we who believe in the Lord hoping for the return of the Lord Jesus night and day? But we have no idea at all that He has already come into the world and secretly worked for many years, bringing people a new age and bestowing upon people higher truth and life. When thinking of this, I couldn’t help being grateful to God inside, because when the flowers blossomed in spring last year, I was reunited with the Lord, welcoming the “spring” of my life of faith …
When I was young, my parents split up, so I was brought up by my grandmother. In those days I always felt very lonely, feeling as if I were an abandoned child. At the age of nine, my aunt led me to believe in the Lord. After that, the sorrow in my heart was gradually healed and I became quite happy. Especially, each time when attending the meeting and singing hymns to praise God with my brothers and sisters, I felt peaceful and joyful in my heart. In October of 2011, I arrived in Japan to study. At the beginning, I had to face all the issues by myself. Not only did I need to attend school, but I had to work to earn money to pay my tuition. Due to the language barrier, I could only do some manual labor. The pressure of study and the onerous work made me somewhat breathless. When being suffering and without recourse, I thought of the Lord Jesus and then I poured out the miseries in my heart to Him, hoping He could help me. The wonderful thing was that every time when I reached my limit, as long as I prayed to and relied on God, it would be easy for me to solve all the difficulties. Having enjoyed so much of God’s grace, I longed to go to the church to worship the Lord, but there were no Chinese churches around. I didn’t find the church until it was in April of 2013 when I went to another city to study. When just going to the church, I found the sisters and brothers were all loving, and that the preaching of the pastor could help me some.
Good things never last. Gradually, I found the pastor went over the old ground when delivering sermons. Usually, when he opened his mouth, we knew exactly what was coming next, so I couldn’t find any enjoyment. During the meetings, the believers would doze off or play with their phones or chat with each other about eating, drinking and having fun; at the end of the meetings, they would pray to the Lord, asking Him to bestow grace and blessings upon them. Their faith and love became colder and colder: When meeting each other, they were without even saying hello; some of them had gone back to the world to earn money and didn’t come to attend meetings anymore. After seeing these phenomena, I was a little negative and my faith was not as full as before; furthermore, sometimes I even didn’t want to go to the church to attend meetings. However, when I thought of the fact that the Lord had bestowed so much grace upon me, I would feel indebted to Him if I didn’t go to the church. Thus I had no choice but to continue attending the meetings. Nevertheless, after getting there, I expected nothing but to go home earlier. Worship of God should have been happy and joyful, but now every time after attending services, I couldn’t feel the Holy Spirit’s work; instead, I appeared terribly fatigued.
In the spring of 2017, by chance, I got acquainted with an elder sister who believed in the Lord and Brother Li. After some communication with them, I found Brother Li was a true believer in the Lord and had unique insights into the Bible. Later, he said the reason why the churches were desolate now, our faith and love grew cold, and we all lived in a state of sinning and confessing and couldn’t feel God’s presence was because the Holy Spirit had no longer worked in the churches. Combining with the prophecies in the Bible, he also said that God would come to perform a new stage of work in the last days. What he communicated was logical and justified and solved the confusions in my heart. It turned out that the reason why the churches became desolate was because the work of the Holy Spirit had moved, so the churches didn’t have the Holy Spirit’s work and the believers were all living in the midst of sin. I thought: In the past, when reading the Bible, how come I didn’t see these enlightenments? I must focus my attention on listening to his preaching.
Brother Li said, “The Lord Jesus has already come back in the flesh as the Son of man to come into the world and done His work in secret for many years. Christ of the last days—Almighty God is the second coming of the Lord Jesus! The Lord Jesus once prophesied: ‘For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be’ (Matthew 24:27). Given that He is called the Son of man, it means God becomes flesh in the image of a person and in outward appearance He looks like a normal and ordinary human. Now the Lord Jesus has already returned to flesh and come to earth, incarnating as a female to do the work of purifying and saving mankind …” When I heard this, my heart was hit by his words all of a sudden, and I thought: God’s return is incarnating as a female to do His work? This isn’t right! The Bible records the Lord Jesus is a male, so when He returns, He should be also a male. How could He be a female? I don’t accept it. I mustn’t listen to his preaching. How can we who believe in the Lord betray and abandon Him? Isn’t it being the greatest disloyal toward Him? With this in mind, rebelliousness swelled within me and I didn’t want to investigate anymore. For the sake of saving face, I didn’t leave immediately, but I was completely deaf to his words and was like sitting on pins and needles, only wanting to leave. After that meeting, I got extremely angry and blamed the sister for my being nearly deceived. So no matter what she communicated with me, I didn’t want to listen to her.
In the following several days, I often thought of what the Brother Li had preached, pondering that whether the Lord’s return was true or not and whether or not Almighty God and the Lord Jesus were one God. These made me not sleep or eat well, work downcast and dejected, and feel tormented inside. Afterward, I quieted my heart and thought: Actually, Brother Li’s fellowship was all on the basis of the Bible and was really reasonable. After hearing that, I felt especially enjoyable in my heart. Moreover, the reason for the desolation of the church and mysteries in the Book of Revelation he fellowshiped about were something that the pastor of the church is unable to talk about. But he said the Lord had returned as a female; how is this possible? No, I must figure it out, because the arrival of the Lord is a major event and this is not something to be trifled with. If Almighty God truly is the return of the Lord, but I give up without seriously investigating, will I not miss the opportunity to welcome the Lord? After thinking the matter over and over again, I decided to do thorough pursuit and investigation again on the weekend.
On that day, when meeting Brother Li, I told the confusions in my heart to him. After hearing my words, he fellowshiped to me, “What form God takes to work when He becomes flesh has profound significance. Though God’s work doesn’t accord with our notions, we must learn to seek His will. Because His thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts, we can’t view the work of God relying on our imaginations. The Lord Jesus once said, ‘God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth’ (John 4:24). The Genesis also records, ‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them’ (Genesis 1:27). From these two passages, we can see that God created man and woman in His image and that they made no mention of His only creating man but not creating woman. If we define God as male, isn’t it going against the words ‘God created male and female in His image’? Since God created male and female in His image, His incarnate can be a male or a female, so we can’t define God as male. If we define God in a certain gender, that’s resisting God and is regarded as blaspheming God. God is of the Spirit. Spirits are formless and amorphous, cannot be seen or touched, and aren’t differentiated into sexes. There is no distinction of male and female until God becomes flesh; therefore, we can’t define God as male or female, because He can do the work of redemption as a male, and in the same way, He can also come to complete the work of conquering and saving mankind as a female. But regardless of whether He becomes flesh as a male or a female, His work is all for the sake of man’s salvation. Regarding this aspect of the truth, we will understand more after reading two passages of God’s words.”
Immediately after, he let me read God’s words, “Each stage of work done by God has its own practical significance. Back then, when Jesus came, He was male, but this time He is female. From this, you can see that God created both male and female for the sake of His work, and with Him there is no distinction of gender. When His Spirit comes, He can take on any kind of flesh at will and that flesh can represent Him. Whether male or female, it can represent God as long as it is His incarnate flesh. If Jesus had appeared as a female when He came, in other words, if an infant girl, and not a boy, had been conceived by the Holy Spirit, that stage of work would have been completed all the same. If such had been the case, then the present stage of work would have to be completed by a male instead, but the work would be completed all the same. The work done in either stage is equally significant; neither stage of work is repeated nor conflicts with the other. At the time, Jesus in doing His work was called the only Son, and “Son” implies the male gender. Then why is the only Son not mentioned in this stage? This is because the requirements of the work have necessitated a change in gender different from that of Jesus. With God there is no distinction of gender. He does His work as He wishes and in doing His work He is not subject to any restrictions, but is especially free. However, every stage of work has its own practical significance. God became flesh twice, and it goes without saying that His incarnation in the last days is the last time. He has come to reveal all His deeds. If in this stage He did not become flesh in order personally to do work for man to witness, man would forever hold on to the notion that God is only male, not female.” “If God came into the flesh only as a male, people would define Him as male, as the God of men, and would never believe Him to be the God of women. Men would then hold that God is of the same gender as men, that God is the head of men—but what then of women? This is unfair; is it not preferential treatment? If this were the case, then all those whom God saved would be men like Him, and not one woman would be saved. When God created mankind, He created Adam and He created Eve. He did not only create Adam, but made both male and female in His image. God is not only the God of men—He is also the God of women.”
Then he fellowshiped, “From God’s words we can see that each stage of work done by God has a real significance. When the Lord Jesus arrived, He was male, and this time He is female. From this, we can see that God created both male and female for His work and with Him there is no distinction of gender. Brother, regardless of whether God incarnates as a male or a female, as long as He really is the Spirit of God in human form, this flesh is Christ and the substance is still God Himself. If God were incarnated only as a male, we would define Him as male, as the God of men, and would never believe Him to be the God of women. God being incarnated as a female in the last days is to counter our notions and to eliminate our former erroneous beliefs of God, making us know God is not only the God of men, He is also the God of women, and that God not only saves men but also saves women. From these we can see God being incarnated as a female in the last days is so meaningful.”
After hearing his fellowship, I suddenly saw the light and this matter which was gnawing at my mind disappeared almost instantly. I thought: Right, God’s essence is spirit. Spirits aren’t differentiated into sexes. Regardless of whether God being incarnated as a male or a female, He is all based on the needs of the work and is in order to save man. Furthermore, what form God takes when He does His work is His choice. How could we be qualified to make the decisions for Him? The Bible records that in the beginning, God created man and woman in His image, so why can’t God return as a female? Before, I believed that the Lord Jesus is a male and that He would surely return as a male; if the returned Lord is not a male, then He is false. Wasn’t I defining God? I was too arrogant and senseless! Thank God! At that time, my notions about God’s return as a female was solved.
Then he also fellowshiped with me about the truth—the mysteries of God’s incarnation, the inside story and the essence of the Bible, the significance of the work of judgment by God in the last days, and so on, which solved many of my confusions and troubles. So, the more I listened the clearer I became, and the more enjoyment I felt. What’s more, through my interactions with the brothers and sisters from the Church of Almighty God, I felt their fellowship was enlightened by the Holy Spirit and was very helpful to me; moreover, they were sincere in treating others and had love for others; they were innocent, candid and honest. Here I felt at home and felt very warm. This was something that I did not experience at the church I attended in the past.
Over a period of investigating, I had confirmed from within my heart that Almighty God is the second coming of the Lord Jesus and that Almighty God’s words are the truth: Not only have they revealed all the mysteries of God’s six-thousand-year management plan and the destination and end of mankind, but they have authority and power and have exposed and dissected the substance of our nature and the truth about our corruption, which made me sincerely convinced and feel embarrassed. Hence, I happily accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days.
Later on, as long as I had time, I would read God’s words and watch the various movies and videos of the Church of Almighty God. The more I read and watched, the more enlightened I became and I have understood many truths that I didn’t understand in the past. I thought: By the grace of God I had the good fortune to welcome the return of the Lord. Nowadays, there are also many sisters and brothers who truly believe in the Lord looking forward to His coming, and God feels anxious. Therefore, I must be considerate toward God’s desires to repay His love, making more people hear His voice and return before His throne. Hence, I spread the gospel to several sisters and brothers of the former church. After listening, they were willing to investigate and accept it and ultimately followed the footsteps of the Lamb.
Now I have believed in God for nearly a year. During the period, I felt like I have gained a lot. In the past, I felt belief in God was something very simple, thinking all we need to do was just attend meetings and read the Bible. Afterward, I read Almighty God’s words, “True faith in God means experiencing the words and work of God based on a belief that God holds sovereignty over all things. So you shall be freed of your corrupt disposition, shall fulfill the desire of God, and shall come to know God. Only through such a journey can you be said to believe in God.” I came to understand what it meant to have true faith in God—Since we believe in God, we must believe His words, experience His work and put His words into practice. Only in this way can we understand the truth and have true knowledge of God. After accepting the work of Almighty God of the last days and through experiencing His judgment and chastisement, I’ve finally seen that I have been too deeply corrupted by Satan and that I was too arrogant and senseless. When it came to the arrival of the Lord, I didn’t seek or investigate, nor did I have fear of God in my heart and instead defined God with my conceptions and imaginations. Wasn’t I just believing in God and yet resisting God? It was God’s mercy that allowed me to hear His voice and accept His judgment and purification in the last days. By continually reading God’s words and experiencing His judgment and chastisement, I understand some truth, see my own God-resisting and God-betraying satanic nature more and more clearly and also have some understanding of God’s holy essence and His righteous disposition intolerant of offense. Unconsciously, I’ve developed a reverence of God and a thirst for the truth and I keep a lower profile than I did before. When I’m confronted with things, I can consciously deny and forsake myself to practice the truth. This is all the result reached through God’s judgment and chastisement. If I continued believing in God in the church, not only would I not know the work of God of the last days, but I wouldn’t be able to escape from my satanic disposition, receive cleansing or be saved by God. Thank God for leading me to come out of the vague religious belief, keep up with His footsteps and step onto the proper path of believing in God.
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