I was formerly an ordinary believer of the Praise Church. One day in October, 2011, two young brothers came to my home and preached the gospel to me, saying, “The Lord Jesus that we have been longing for has returned and done a new work. His name is Almighty God.” Hearing this, I thought: It says clearly in the Bible that there is none other name under heaven given among men, and that only Jesus is the Savior. So I said to them, “You say that the returned Lord Jesus is called Almighty God. That is impossible. The Bible clearly records, ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever’ (Hebrews 13:8). ‘Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12). The name of the Lord will never change and we believers in the Lord will only hold onto the name of the Lord Jesus. I don’t want to listen to you anymore! Go away.” Afterward, I pretended I had something else to do and turned them away.
Not long after, one day on my way home after the meeting, I stepped after Sister Hu and Sister Wang. Then I heard Sister Hu asked Sister Wang in an undertone, “For the sake of time, we didn’t fellowship much about the truth of God’s name last time. Do you understand that the Lord has returned and His name is called Almighty God rather than Jesus?” At their words, I thought: How could it be possible? The Bible clearly says the name of the Lord Jesus will never change. Then I heard Sister Wang said, “Now I understand a bit. We won’t have the Lord’s presence if we still pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, for God’s work has moved and He no longer does the work of the Age of Grace. Only when we pray to the name of Almighty God can we have the presence of the Holy Spirit.” Sister Hu said before she accepted Almighty God, she could hardly touch the Lord’s presence or have any enjoyment when praying to the name of the Lord Jesus. It was not until she accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days and began to pray to the name of Almighty God that she finally tasted the sweetness of having the work of the Holy Spirit. With these words, she gave a book to Sister Wang, telling her that the words in it were all expressed by Almighty God, and asked her to read it carefully and pray more to Almighty God if there was anything she didn’t understand. We separated at the crossroad, but their words resounded in my ears. I couldn’t help thinking: When my mother was ill before, I earnestly prayed to the Lord to heal her, and she really got better day by day. At that time, I truly felt the peace and joy of having the presence of the Lord. But nowadays, no matter what I pray for, my prayers are so dull and I can’t feel the Lord’s presence anymore. Has the Lord really returned and changed His name to Almighty God as Sister Hu said? Is it true that only by praying to Almighty God can we have the work of the Holy Spirit?
Once I got home, I prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, Sister Hu said that You have returned and are called Almighty God, and that only if we pray to the name of Almighty God can we have Your presence. But the Bible says that Your name will never change. What’s this all about? O Lord, You are a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. May You enlighten and guide me.”
Soon it came to May, 2012. One day I was burning the wheat straw in the field. The wind was very light when I just lighted the fire; but after a while, it suddenly grew fiercer and changed direction. The winds fanned the fire, and it seemed that the fire was spreading to the adjacent 60 mu of wheat field. Seeing this, I felt extremely anxious and frightened, thinking: If the wheat was burned, how could I afford the compensation? At this thought, my heart was pounding with fear, my legs felt weak and my entire body broke out in a sweat. Then I put forth all my strength to fight the fire. During that time, I felt a cruel burning pain all over my body as if it were on fire. So I continuously cried out to the Lord loudly, “O Lord, please save me! I beg you to control the fire! If You do, I will bear witness for You in the church!” Unexpectedly, the more I called out to the Lord Jesus, the stronger the fire grew, and I was so anxious that I didn’t know what to do. In desperation, I suddenly remembered what Sister Hu had said, “At present, we won’t have the presence of the Lord if we still pray in the name of the Lord Jesus; only when we pray in Almighty God’s name, will we have the presence of the Holy Spirit.” So, I immediately prayed to Almighty God, “O Almighty God! Please help me put out the fire! Please save me!” To my surprise, soon after the prayer, the wind marvelously changed direction, and the fire became weak bit by bit. As the fire was dying out, my nervous tension relaxed and I suddenly sank to the ground. This wondrous scene made me lost in thought: Only the true God has the ability to let the wind blow up and die down. So has the Lord Jesus really come back and changed His name to Almighty God?
When I was puzzled, I experienced another thing. One afternoon in November, 2012, I was on my way home from downtown, riding on an electric tricycle. When I had just reached a junction of three roads, suddenly two big trucks were running at high speed toward me. Before I could react, my electric tricycle was sandwiched in between them, and the two trucks kept impacting my tricycle from side to side. I sat on the tricycle, holding on to the handlebar tightly, and felt so nervous that my heart was about to burst. I thought: Can I survive this? In distress, I suddenly thought of Almighty God, so I called out to God earnestly in my heart: “O Almighty God, please help me!” Instantly, I was flung out. After I realized what happened, I found my tricycle had been knocked out of shape, but I was not a bit hurt. At this time, more and more people came around to see what was going on, and tongues were wagging, “You see her tricycle has been badly damaged, while she is not in the least hurt. How lucky!” Hearing that, I thought to myself, “My surviving is not because of my good fortune but because of my calling upon Almighty God.”
Thinking back, I realized: Two times when I was in danger, it was Almighty God Who rescued me. Since only true God can save man, then can it be that Almighty God is really the returned Lord Jesus? But the Bible says there is none other name under heaven given among men, and that the name of the Lord Jesus will never change. How can we explain that? Carrying my confusion and puzzlement, I came to pray to the Lord, asking Him to prepare me the way ahead so that I could understand it soon.
A few days later, Sister Wang and Sister Hu came to my home. Sister Wang told me in delight, “The Lord Jesus has returned and assumed a new name—Almighty God. And today we come only to preach God’s last-days work to you.” At her words, I excitedly told them my two experiences of being protected from danger through calling to Almighty God’s name. And also, I put to them the questions that puzzled me. I said, “The Bible says, ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever’ (Hebrews 13:8). ‘Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12). Ever since we believed in the Lord, we have always been praying in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the Bible says that only the Lord Jesus is the Savior, that there is no other name whereby we must be saved, and that the name of the Lord Jesus is forever unchanging. Then why does God’s name change to Almighty God now?”
With regard to my question, Sister Hu read two passages of Almighty God’s words to me, “Some say that the name of God does not change. Why, then, did the name of Jehovah become Jesus? It was prophesied that the Messiah would come, so why then did a man by the name of Jesus come? Why did the name of God change? Was such work not carried out long ago? Is God unable to do newer work today? 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 other work? If the name of Jehovah can be changed to Jesus, then cannot the name of Jesus also be changed? None of this is odd; it is just that people are too simple-minded. God will always be God. No matter how His work changes, and regardless of how His name might change, His disposition and wisdom will never change. If you believe that God can only be called by the name of Jesus, then your knowledge is far too limited. Do you dare assert that Jesus will forever be the name of God, that God will forever and always go by the name of Jesus, and that this will never change?” (“How Can Man Who Has Delimited God in His Notions Receive the Revelations of God?” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “In each age, God does new work and is called by a new name; how could He do the same work in different ages? How could He cling to the old? The name of Jesus was taken for the sake of the work of redemption, so would He still be called by the same name when He returns in the last days? Would He still be doing the work of redemption? Why is it that Jehovah and Jesus are one, yet They are called by different names in different ages? Is it not because the ages of Their work are different? Could a single name represent God in His entirety? This being so, God must be called by a different name in a different age, and He must use the name to change the age and to represent the age. For no one name can fully represent God Himself, and each name is able only to represent the temporal aspect of God’s disposition in a given age; all it needs to do is to represent His work. Therefore, God can choose whatever name befits His disposition to represent the entire age” (“The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). After reading, she fellowshiped, “God uses the name to launch a new age. Whenever God begins new work, He assumes a new name. Since the age has changed, the work of God has also changed, and so has His name. While the Bible says that the name of the Lord Jesus will never change, it refers to God’s name in that age. Like the Old Testament says, ‘Jehovah … is My name for ever.’ It means that the name of Jehovah was unchanging in the Age of Law; when the Lord Jesus came to work in the Age of Grace, people all prayed to the name of the Lord Jesus rather than Jehovah, and the name of Jesus was unchanging in the Age of Grace; and in the Age of Kingdom, we no longer call upon the Lord Jesus’ name but Almighty God’s name. If we still stick to the name of the Lord Jesus, we won’t have the presence of the Holy Spirit; and only by calling to the name of Almighty God, can we receive the Holy Spirit’s work. God is always new and never old and His work is always moving forward, so His name changes accordingly along with this. God’s name in a new age represents His work in that age. Although the name of God may change, God’s substance and His disposition will never change. God will always be God.” Through God’s words and her fellowship, I came to understand: God’s name is not unchanging. Since the name of Jehovah could change to Jesus, then how can I come to the conclusion that the name of the Lord Jesus won’t change in the new age? It seems that I am lacking too much in the knowledge of God. Not until then was I aware that God is called by a different name according to the work He intends to do; just like in the Age of Law, God’s name was Jehovah; in the Age of Grace, He was called Jesus; and in the Age of Kingdom, the name of God is Almighty God, not Jehovah or Jesus. Each name God assumes in each age represents His work in that age, and only if man prays to the name God takes in the new age, can he receive the work of the Holy Spirit. Then I thought of my two experiences. Although at that time I hadn’t accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days, I still saw God’s protection for me when calling upon the name of Almighty God, which further proved that Almighty God is exactly the true God and is the returned Lord Jesus.
Then Sister Hu went on to read a passage of God’s words to me, “Although Jehovah, Jesus, and the Messiah all represent My Spirit, these names only denote the different ages of My management plan, and do not represent Me in My entirety. The names by which people on earth call Me cannot articulate My entire disposition and all that I am. They are merely different names by which I am called during different ages. And so, when the final age—the age of the last days—arrives, My name shall change again. I shall not be called Jehovah, or Jesus, much less the Messiah—I shall be called the powerful Almighty God Himself, and under this name I shall bring the entire age to an end” (“The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a ‘White Cloud’” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). She continued, “The name God takes in each age has its meaning, and it represents God’s disposition in that age. Just like the name Jehovah, it means that God Who can take pity on man, curse man, and even more guide the life of man. The name of Jesus represents God’s compassionate and loving disposition. Under this name, God carried out the work in the Age of Grace, bestowing abundance of grace and mercy upon man in that age. In the Age of Kingdom, Almighty God does the work of judgment and chastisement with His righteousness, majesty and wrath of His disposition, and uses His word to conquer, purify and change man so that man can achieve a change in disposition. And in the end He will reward the good and punish the wicked, class all things according to their kind, and bring the six-thousand-year management plan to an end. We can see from all of this that the name God takes in each age has a great significance.” Listening to her fellowship, I understood: It is also meaningful that the Lord Jesus changed His name to Almighty God when He came back. The name of Almighty God represents God’s majestic, wrathful, unoffendable and righteous disposition expressed in His work of the last days. And under this name God will bring the age to an end, and ultimately mankind will be divided into their kind under the judgment of Almighty God. In this way, God’s great work will be realized in its entirety.
The more I read God’s words, the clearer I felt in my heart. And then I acknowledged from my heart that Almighty God is exactly the second coming of the Lord Jesus, and that only by calling upon Almighty God can man receive the Holy Spirit’s work, as well as God’s leadership and protection. Thereupon, I delightedly accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days. May all the glory be to Almighty God!