A pilgrim’s path is perilous. A Christian’s road of following God on the right path is full of difficulties and obstacles—all sorts of Satan’s tests emerge one after another. Aside from having faith in God, Christians must also learn discernment. This is the only way to see through Satan’s trickery and stand witness when Satan’s test befalls you. Now, I’d like to share my own personal story with everyone.
Wonderful News—The Lord Has Returned!
In early September 2017, one of my Facebook friends bore witness to me of Almighty God’s work of the last days. She fellowshiped on God’s three stages of work, the significance of His names, His management plan for saving mankind, and the mysteries of the Bible. This helped me understand that in the work performed by God in the Age of Law, the Age of Grace, and the Age of Kingdom, although the names and the works of Jehovah, the Lord Jesus, and Almighty God have all been different, they are all from the same source. It is all one God working, speaking, and saving us. Almighty God appearing and working in the last days fulfills what the Lord Jesus 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). “And if any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejects Me, and receives not My words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:47–48). I realized that Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus. After that, I attended gatherings with brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God, and through gatherings and fellowship I came to understand more and more truths. Each day was happier than the last; I felt fulfilled within my soul.
Some time later, a brother from my previous church learned that I had been in contact with members of The Church of Almighty God and angrily questioned me, “Why are you in contact with them?” He also told me I should turn my back on them. I replied: “They’re all believers; we’re all one family. Why would I turn my back on them? Besides, they’ve shared many truths with me in fellowship so that I have a better understanding of God!” At the time, I was thinking to myself: “Through gatherings and fellowship on God’s words with these brothers and sisters with The Church of Almighty God, I’ve understood a number of truths that I had never gotten before when reading the Bible. I’ve understood that the truth Almighty God expresses to judge and cleanse us is so that we may attain salvation and enter into God’s kingdom. You haven’t bothered to look into it, but are just arbitrarily condemning and rejecting it. That’s really arrogant.” So, I didn’t listen to him and continued to contact those brothers and sisters online.
The Pastor Spreads Lies and I See the Truth Behind Them
One day when I went to the church to worship, Pastor Li was on the podium saying all sorts of things opposing, condemning, and blaspheming Almighty God. He even played a video by the Chinese Communist Party condemning The Church of Almighty God that said that those spreading the gospel of Almighty God don’t care about their families. Hearing them say that I was somewhat concerned, thinking: “They don’t care about their families? What can they do if they can’t go home because they’re spreading the gospel?” I turned this question over and over in my head, and I felt really downcast.
After going home I sought out a sister to talk over my worries and concerns. This is what she said to me in fellowship: “Sister, if it weren’t for the persecution of the CCP, how is it possible that our brothers and sisters would have homes they couldn’t go back to? The CCP is an atheistic government that doesn’t allow its people to believe in or follow God. It particularly doesn’t allow people to spread the gospel or bear witness to God. They do everything to arrest and persecute people of faith. So many brothers and sisters have been arrested and persecuted by the CCP—some have been sentenced to prison time and have suffered brutal torture; some have even been harmed to the point of death. There have also been many who have been terrorized to the point that they cannot return to their homes. These are all facts that are plain to see. But the CCP fabricates rumors and slander, saying that these Christians don’t care about their families. Isn’t this distorting the facts, upending right and wrong?”
“The Lord Jesus said, ‘Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature’ (Mark 16:15). God’s commission for us is to spread the gospel and bear witness to God. It is also the bounden duty of all Christians. For generations, there have been so many saints and missionaries who have given up their own families to spread the gospel of the Lord Jesus, crossing oceans to bring the gospel to every corner of the world. It’s only because of this that we have received the grace of the Lord’s salvation. Could we really claim that spreading the gospel is wrong? God Himself has now become flesh and come to earth, doing the work of judging and cleansing mankind to thoroughly save us from Satan’s influence. Our brothers and sisters have understood God’s urgent will to save humanity and they are completely willing to give up everything to share the gospel of God’s salvation for mankind with more people who long for God to appear. This is an upright thing. But the CCP’s atheistic government is on the wrong side of history; it will not allow people to spread the gospel and bear witness to God. It does everything in its power to condemn and persecute Christians, fabricating rumors and slander, saying that Christians believe in God but don’t care about their families. This is nothing more than Satan’s tricks to disrupt God’s work. We must learn to have discernment! Give it some careful thought—in Malaysia and other democratic countries, we all have freedom of belief and there are a lot of believers, but no one has abandoned their family because of their faith. We cannot be deceived by the CCP’s rumors and lies.”
Through this sister’s fellowship I understood that under the CCP regime, the true reason for brothers and sisters having homes they weren’t returning to was because of the CCP’s oppression, but it was flipping the truth on its head and fabricating rumors to deceive others. I had nearly been taken in by its tricks. On top of that, as Christians, spreading the gospel and bearing witness to God are our mission and responsibility, so brothers and sisters giving up everything to share testimony of God and bring more people who long for the Lord’s appearance before God so they may attain salvation is an act of righteousness. Only then did I awaken and see into the truth behind those lies—it put my heart at ease.
She then went on to say: “When the Lord Jesus came to work He performed a number of miracles. Many people saw that His work and words possessed authority and power, and more and more people followed Him. Seeing this, hatred sprung up in the hearts of the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees; they became afraid that the believers in Judaism would all follow the Lord Jesus. This is why they did everything they could to slander and condemn the Lord Jesus in order to protect their own status and their living. Ultimately, they colluded with the Roman government in the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. In the last days, Almighty God is expressing truths to do the work of judgment and purification. God’s words are all the truth and they hold authority and power; those who love the truth can tell that they are the voice of God and are turning toward God one after another. However, some of the pastors and elders of the religious world have seen that more and more brothers and sisters are accepting Almighty God’s work of the last days and are no longer following them, so in an effort to protect their own status and living, they are not allowing these brothers and sisters to read Almighty God’s words. They are also going along with the atheistic CCP government in viciously slandering, judging, opposing, and condemning Almighty God. They are doing their utmost to disrupt and block Christians from investigating the true way. Just as the Lord Jesus said: ‘But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in’ (Matthew 23:13). If we are not capable of discernment, we will be easily misled and controlled by them, and then it will be very difficult for us to welcome the Lord’s return.”
Hearing my sister’s fellowship was a great awakening for me. Almighty God’s work of the last days is already expanding across the entire world, but when Pastor Li heard about it, not only did he not look into it, but instead madly opposed and condemned it. He even used the CCP’s rumors and lies to deceive Christians and hinder us investigating the true way. That really is another manifestation of the Pharisees. I give thanks to God for helping me gain discernment through this sister’s fellowship so that I will never again be confused by Pastor Li.
Loved Ones Stand in the Way But I See Through Satan’s Tricks
When that brother from my church later saw that I was still in contact online with brothers and sisters with The Church of Almighty God, he tried to push me into deleting my Facebook account. When I wouldn’t listen to him, he got some sisters with the church, my older sister, and my niece and nephew to all get together to try to persuade me. They were all chiming in, repeating over and over the lies spread by the pastor so that I wouldn’t believe in Almighty God anymore and would return to the church with them.
One day my niece and nephew who I love so dearly came back from a youth group meeting at the church and said to me with a dark look: “Our youth group has been looking into you. They say that you believe in a false way that deceives people. Don’t believe in that stuff anymore.” After that, they totally snubbed me and were constantly giving me looks. They spoke to me aggressively and were constantly nitpicking, intentionally cold and rejecting. I was very hurt by this; I thought of how I had helped raise them through thick and thin, how I had poured out immeasurable effort and energy for them, how I had put my heart and soul into caring for them as if they were my own children. How could they treat me like that? I was very aggrieved, but at the same time, I was concerned that more people from the church would come to harass me. The more I thought about it, the more pained and tormented I was. My spirit was in darkness. I couldn’t read God’s words and I didn’t have anything to say in prayer.
I slowly became weaker and weaker and found all sorts of excuses to avoid gatherings. I didn’t acknowledge the messages sent to me by brothers and sisters from The Church of Almighty God, and even uninstalled Facebook. But after doing that I felt incredibly distressed—I couldn’t help but experience suffering. I thought of the fact that I was completely aware that the Lord has already returned and realized that my family member hindering me was Satan’s disruption, yet I couldn’t overcome the restrictions of familial feelings. Something that sister had said to me occurred to me then, that any difficulties should be brought before God in prayer and seeking, that only God’s words can save us from Satan’s harm. I immediately reinstalled Facebook.
Even though I had just reinstalled Facebook, I felt really guilty and reproached myself. I thought of how the brothers and sisters with The Church of Almighty God had always been so caring toward me but I still treated them that way—I thought they certainly wouldn’t like me anymore, and there was no way that God would want me. But contrary to my expectations, God had not abandoned me—He arranged for a sister to seek me out and give me a call. Answering that phone call was a very moving moment for me. I shared all of my worries and concerns with her. She fellowshiped with me that facing that kind of environment is a spiritual battle to see which side we stand on. If we don’t understand God’s will we will live within misunderstandings and complaints, be weak and negative, or even abandon God.
After that, brothers and sisters showed me a wonderful clip from the film Perilous Is the Road to the Heavenly Kingdom, called How Does God Use Satan to Do Service? There was this passage from God’s words in that clip: “In My plan, Satan has, all along, been stalking behind each step and, as the foil of My wisdom, has always been trying to find ways and means to disrupt My original plan. Yet could I succumb to its deceitful schemes? Everything in heaven and on earth serves Me; could the deceitful schemes of Satan be any different? This is precisely where My wisdom intersects; it is precisely that which is wondrous about My deeds, and it is the principle of operation for My entire management plan. During the era of the building of the kingdom, still I do not avoid the deceitful schemes of Satan, but continue to do the work I must. Among the universe and all things, I have chosen the deeds of Satan as My foil. Is this not a manifestation of My wisdom? Is this not precisely that which is wondrous about My work?” I understood through Almighty God’s words and the fellowship of my brothers and sisters that Satan is hot on the heels of every new stage of God’s work, attempting to sabotage His work and harass those who follow Him, but God’s wisdom is exercised based on Satan’s trickery. The CCP government and the religious pastors and elders madly condemn, blaspheme, and resist God, fabricating rumors and lies about God’s work of the last days—all of this is just doing service for God’s chosen people. God uses their opposition to allow us to see through Satan’s evil essence of being an enemy of God so that we can gain discernment over them; it is also to increase our faith in following God. It’s just like when I accepted God’s new work and Satan couldn’t accept it, it did everything it could to disrupt and hinder me through the loved ones around me. My sister, my niece, and my nephew became tools in Satan’s hands; they urged me to give up the true way and snubbed me, intentionally giving me the cold shoulder. They blocked me time after time with the aim of getting me to give up the true way and lose God’s salvation. I also understood that when facing that kind of environment, on the outside it looks like a bad thing, but God’s benevolence is within it. God wants to allow me to gain discernment over Satan’s evil essence and to have me clearly see my own true stature, to know how paltry my faith in God is. The moment I was disrupted by Satan I became negative and weak and even cut off contact with brothers and sisters. This fired up my resolve to seek the truth even more and made me willing to, in the future, really pursue the truth and stand witness.
That sister read a passage of God’s words for me: “What God wants to see is that man’s heart can be revived. These methods that He uses to work on man are a continual effort to awaken the heart of man, to awaken man’s spirit, to enable man to understand from where he came, who is guiding, supporting and providing for him, and who has allowed man to live until the present day; they are a means to enable man to understand who is the Creator, whom he should worship, what kind of road he should walk, and in what way man should come before God; they are a means to gradually revive the heart of man, so that man knows God’s heart, understands God’s heart, and comprehends the great care and thought behind His work to save man.” Then she said in fellowship: “The truth is that God has always been by our sides, but it’s just through this kind of environment that He awakens our numb hearts. It’s through the disruption and hindering of pastors, other believers, and our families that we realize what is positive and what is negative, what is righteous and what is evil, as well as how to follow and bear witness to God. It’s this way that we understand God’s earnest intention to save mankind. This is the only way our hearts can be awakened as soon as possible and we will no longer be toyed with by Satan.”
Thanks be to God! Through God’s words and fellowship from this sister, I understood that God uses these environments to awaken our hearts. Even though the brothers and sisters from the church as well as my niece and nephew were hindering me, it allowed me to see through Satan’s tricks and understand God’s hard work and kindness in saving mankind. It inspired my faith to follow God that much more.
Restoring Our Old Warmth and Harmony
After that, I no longer felt restrained by my niece and nephew. I went back to God’s house and back to gatherings with brothers and sisters, enjoying the watering and nourishment of God’s words. At first, every time I attended a gathering I would pray to God and put everything in His hands, quieting my heart before Him so that I wouldn’t be subject to the disruption or constrains of any person, thing, or event. Incredibly, my niece and nephew started to feel that the pastor’s sermons were lacking in illumination; they gradually became less willing to go to church and no longer opposed my faith. In our daily lives I also frequently bore witness to them to God’s deeds, and they also realized that I still had the utmost consideration for the family and cared for them as I always had, that I wasn’t like what the rumors said. After that, they wouldn’t interrupt me when they saw I was in a gathering, and the warmth and harmony we had always had was restored in our home.
Undergoing one disturbance after another allowed me to understand some truths, gain some discernment, and see God’s kind intentions of saving mankind. I also deeply experienced Satan’s harmfulness to mankind. In the future, no matter how Satan disrupts or hinders me, I will certainly stand witness. Thank Almighty God. All the glory be to God!