Spiritual Warfare: A Septuagenarian Christian’s Joys and Sorrows Dealing With Her Family’s Resistance

A Septuagenarian Welcomes the Lord’s Return

I turned 74 this year. I used to be a member of the Three-Self Church in China, but after my husband passed away I came to South Korea to live with my daughter and her husband. I kept trying to find a church here that possessed the work of the Holy Spirit, but I discovered that the pastors and elders always preached on the same old things and I didn’t gain the least bit of spiritual sustenance. I was feeling really discouraged.

One day in February 2016, Sister Liu took me to The Church of Almighty God, and the brothers and sisters there bore witness to me that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus and that He had long ago come to mankind, expressed the truth, and done the step of work of judging and cleansing mankind through His word. They said that He is separating the wheat from the tares, the sheep from the goats—He’s separating all people according to their kind, doing the work of rewarding good and punishing evil, bringing the age to a close. All those who hear the voice of God, who accept and obey His new work, are those who love the truth and will be raptured up before God’s throne. These are people who seek the truth, accept God’s judgment, and can ultimately be cleansed and perfected by God. They are the wheat, the sheep, and they are those who will be fully saved by God. However, those who cannot recognize God’s voice or even resist or condemn God’s work of the last days are the ones who hate, who detest the truth. They will be exposed as the tares and the goats. They will all be cast out and punished by God. This perfectly fulfills these words from the Bible: “And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather you together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn” (Matthew 13:30). I felt that what the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God fellowshiped was entirely in line with the Bible and the prophecies of the Lord’s return, so I decided to really look into Almighty God’s work in the last days. Through a time of seeking and investigation, I saw that Almighty God’s words possess authority and power, and they unveil all the mysteries of the Bible. I also saw that they can resolve all of the confusion I’ve had in my faith—I started to understand truths I hadn’t understood over many years of faith. This is how I determined that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus, that He is the appearance of Christ in the last days. I joyfully accepted God’s work of the last days and shared God’s gospel of the last days with my two younger sisters in Korea—they also accepted God’s work and began to follow God with great faith. I then shared this with my son-in-law, and to my surprise, not only would he not accept it, but he found some of the CCP’s negative online propaganda about The Church of Almighty God and showed it to me. He became a hindrance to my faith, and thus a spiritual battle commenced …

In the Book of Zechariah in the Bible, it is prophesied: “And his feet shall stand in that day on the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east….” The Lord’s return will most certainly be on the Mount of Olives in Judea, and yet you testify that the Lord Jesus has already returned, appearing and working in China. China is an atheist nation and it is the darkest, most backward nation which defies God most severely, so how can the Lord’s return be in China? We really cannot figure this out, so please answer this for us.

Answer:

It has been nearly two thousand years since the Lord Jesus walked out of Judea. Now the last days have arrived, and all kinds of famines, plagues, earthquakes, floods and droughts are appearing more frequently, more widely and more intensively. Various nations around the world are volatile and unstable, with terrorist activities, ethnic conflicts, and all kinds of wars occurring constantly. In religious circles, all churches have fallen in the dark because they have lost the work of the Holy Spirit. There is jealousy and strife between co-workers, and the faith and love of many brothers and sisters have grown cold. False prophets and antichrists are also appearing one after the other all over the world. Brothers and sisters, this heap of facts is sufficient to explain that the prophecy of the Lord’s return has already been fulfilled. So just where did the Lord Jesus descend? Almost all people who look forward to the Lord’s return think that the Lord Jesus would descend at the Mount of Olives in Judea because of the prophecy in Zechariah 14: “And his feet shall stand in that day on the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east.” However, God’s work of the last days has gone beyond everyone’s imagination and broken through everyone’s notions. God chose a most filthy, most corrupt and dark, atheist country like China as the site of His work of the last days. This indeed does not conform with our notions and has also made everyone quite bewildered. So why did God become flesh in China? Let’s communicate about this aspect of the truth.

What is a deceitful person? Why can’t deceitful people be saved?

Relevant Words of God:

If you are very deceitful, then you will have a guarded heart and thoughts of suspicion regarding all matters and all men. For this reason, your faith in Me is built upon a foundation of suspicion. This manner of faith is one I shall never acknowledge. Lacking genuine faith, you will be even further from real love. And if you are able to doubt God and speculate about Him at will, then you are beyond doubt the most deceitful of men.

from “How to Know the God on Earth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Those who do not live their life with honesty, who behave one way in front of others but another way behind their backs, who give an appearance of humility, patience, and love while in essence they are insidious, cunning, and have no loyalty to God—these people are the typical representatives of those living under the influence of darkness. They are the ilk of the serpent.

from “Escape From the Influence of Darkness and You Will Be Gained by God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

What is an unbeliever?

Relevant Words of God:

I say that all those who do not esteem the truth are all unbelievers and traitors of the truth. Such men shall never receive the approval of Christ.

from “Are You a True Believer of God?” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

All those with a false understanding of God’s words are unbelievers. They do not have any real knowledge, much less any real stature; they are ignorant people without reality. That is, all those who live outside of the substance of God’s words are unbelievers. Those deemed unbelievers by men are beasts in the eyes of God, and those deemed unbelievers by God are those who do not have God’s words as their life.

from “Only Putting the Truth Into Practice Is Having Reality” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

What are the wise virgins? What are the foolish virgins?

Relevant Words of God:

In the past, people have made predictions of “five wise virgins, five foolish virgins”; although the prediction is not accurate, it is not entirely wrong, so I can give you some explanation. Five wise virgins and five foolish virgins certainly do not both represent the number of people, nor do they represent one type of people respectively. Five wise virgins mean the number of people, five foolish virgins represent one type of people, but these two things are not the firstborn sons, they represent creation. This is the reason why they have been asked to prepare oil in the last days. (The creation does not possess My quality; if they want to make wise ones then they need to prepare oil, and thus they need to be equipped with My words.) The five wise virgins represent My sons and My people among the humans that I created. Addressing them[a] “virgins” is because although they are born on earth, they are still gained by Me; one can say they have become holy, so they are called “virgins.” The aforementioned “five” represents the number of My sons and My people that I have predestined. “Five foolish virgins” refers to the service-doers. They do service for Me without placing the slightest degree of importance on life, only pursuing external things (because they do not have My quality, no matter what they do it is an external thing), and they are unable to be My capable helpers, so they are called “foolish virgins.” The aforementioned “five” represents Satan, and their being called[b] “virgins” means that they have been conquered by Me and are able to do service for Me, but this kind of person is not holy, so they are called service-doers.

from “The One Hundred and Sixteenth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

I don’t think believing in God is that complicated and that one doesn’t need to be too focused or too invested in it. So long as I keep going to church every week, do my devotions and give alms, and in the normal course of events also attend some activities organized by the church, then this is believing in God and I can be saved. I’d like to ask whether this conception I have is correct or not?

Bible Verses for Reference:

The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force (Mat 11:12).

Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven (Mat 7:21).

Relevant Words of God:

Though many people believe in God, few understand what faith in God means, and what they must do to be after God’s heart. This is because, though people are familiar with the word “God” and phrases such as “the work of God,” they do not know God, much less do they know His work. No wonder, then, that all those who do not know God are possessed of a muddled belief. People do not take belief in God seriously because believing in God is too unfamiliar, too strange for them. In this way, they fall short of the demands of God. In other words, if people do not know God, do not know His work, then they are not fit for God’s use, much less can they fulfill the desire of God. “Belief in God” means believing that there is a God; this is the simplest concept of faith in God. What’s more, believing that there is a God is not the same as truly believing in God; rather, it is a kind of simple faith with strong religious overtones. 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. Yet people often see belief in God as something very simple and frivolous. The belief of such people is meaningless and shall never gain the approval of God, because they tread the wrong path. Today, there are still those who believe in God in letters, in hollow doctrines. They are unaware that their belief in God has no substance, and that they are unable to gain the approval of God, and they still pray for peace and sufficient grace from God. We should stop and ask ourselves: Could believing in God really be the easiest thing on earth? Does believing in God mean nothing more than receiving much grace from God? Can people who believe in God but do not know Him, and believe in God yet oppose Him, really fulfill the desire of God?

from Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh

The Loss and Gain of Gatherings

My name is Guozi, and I’m a high school student studying abroad in the USA. I was born in a Christian family, and my mother accepted the work of Almighty God in the last days when I was one year old. I remember when I was very young that my mother would always say to me: “God created heavens, earth, and everything that exists. We humans were also created by God, and God loves us more than anything. Whenever something happens to you, remember to pray to Almighty God, and He will watch over and protect you.” So when I was very young I learned that God exists, and when anything happened to me and I prayed to God, I experienced God’s protection for me. But truly having knowledge of God and God’s work was something I gradually gained in the course of attending gatherings and fellowshiping about the truth together with brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God and practicing entering into the word of God …

Catholic Beliefs: The Lord Really Has Returned

By Renshi, USA

My whole family believes in God. I attended mass with my mom from the time I was a little girl and God bestowed so much grace on us—we were full of gratitude toward Him and we were also longing for the Lord’s return. But I never imagined that when the Lord really did return to work and save us, I wouldn’t recognize His work but would instead rely on my arrogant nature and cling to my old notions, nearly missing out on the Lord’s salvation. Every time I think of this I feel self-reproach but I also rejoice. The Lord Jesus had mercy on me and through my brothers’ and sisters’ patient fellowship on the Lord’s new words I have gained an understanding of His new work, thus becoming able to follow His footsteps. I am grateful for the Lord’s salvation for me that allowed me to catch the very last train for the Age of Kingdom. Now all sorts of scenes of me accepting the Lord are playing in my head….

Catholic Beliefs: I Have Welcomed the Lord’s Return

By Amy, USA

“Meeting with the Lord is the greatest hope of all believers. By the grace of the Lord, I have welcomed the Lord’s return and I am full of gratitude to Him….” It’s nighttime, and the clear moonlight spills into the room through the window. Under the soft light of her lamp, Amy is quickly typing out her experience of welcoming the Lord’s return. Thinking of God’s love and salvation for her, Amy stands up and softly walks to the window and gazes out at the full moon, reminiscing on the past …