In 1988, I believed in the Lord Jesus and worshipped in the Three-Self sect. Three years later, I joined a house church which held on to “justification through faith,” and became a leader in this church. Having had a position, I got acquainted with many upper-class religious people. In 1997, I, nominated by my co-workers, went to Guangzhou City to attend the biggest “training course in studying the original text of the Bible” for the house churches nationwide. In 1998, I went to Shenzhen Theological Seminary for further training, and I came into contact with many famous people from various denominations all over the country as well as some pastors and elders from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the U.S. Under the influence of these upper-class people, I “mastered a lot of skills.” With an eloquent tongue and rich biblical knowledge, I showed off everywhere, set myself up as a superior, and had no regard for others at all. At that time, I heard that some people preached the Lord had returned. I particularly looked down on them and regarded them as the most ignorant ones who had been deceived by satan and gone astray because of not understanding the Bible. Later, a co-worker told me, “Those who preach ‘the Eastern Lightning’ now are very dangerous. Once you come into contact with them, you will be deceived. Many co-workers have been deceived into joining them, even some senior co-workers who have believed in the Lord for decades. They tempt brothers and sisters with money, beauty, or other means to accept what they preach. Whoever does not accept it will be beaten up and even crippled. All the brothers and sisters who love the Lord with a sincere heart are on their hit list. I’m afraid you are no exception.” After saying that, he gave me some booklets that resisted the Almighty God to read, such as Curfew, Guard the True Way, and so on. They increased my hatred toward “the Eastern Lightning” and caused me to do more evil deeds that resisted the Almighty God.
I remember that as early as 1994, a sister said to me, “Brother Li, I hear that the Lord has returned….” “Nonsense! Who said that? It’s a sheer heresy! What do you know? You do not have any discernment and blindly spread what you hear from others. Have you seen the Lord? Do not believe those lies. They are all words of the false christ to deceive people. Confess to the Lord right now and ask the Lord to forgive you! Do not get in touch with those people from now on. It’s too dangerous!” I condemned it thoughtlessly before the sister finished her words.
In 1995, I resisted the Almighty God even more fiercely. I not only made a rule in the church that no one should receive those who preached that the Lord had come, but I also sealed the church, saying, “There is a sect called ‘the Eastern Lightning.’ It’s a heresy. It’s a false christ coming to deceive people. Never believe it. They have a book called The Lightning Coming from the East. That book contains poison, and once you read it, you will be deceived. Never read it. Anything that goes beyond the Bible is false. Never ever believe it!” When I desperately resisted the Almighty God, my wife suddenly got sick and died. Although I was punished by God, I still did not wake up but thought it was a trial from God. How shameless I was!
In 1998, I was going to Shenzhen for further training, so I entrusted the church to other co-workers. Before leaving, I told them repeatedly, “Guard strictly against the intrusion of ‘the Eastern Lightning’ into our church. Do not receive any stranger! …” Later, I brought back from other places Curfew and some other booklets which resisted the Almighty God, and distributed them to the brothers and sisters. I also fabricated rumors, saying, “What’s written in these books are facts the brothers and sisters who love the Lord got through infiltrating into ‘the Eastern Lightning’ at the risk of their lives. After reading, tell more people about them.” In 1999, I resisted the Almighty God more madly. I spread rumors in the church, saying, “‘The Eastern Lightning’ is a false christ through and through. They do not acknowledge the salvation of the cross of the Lord Jesus and say that the Bible is outdated.” I also said, “The people of ‘the Eastern Lightning’ will receive 300 yuan if they convert an ordinary believer and 2,000 yuan a co-worker. These people are all specially trained. If a brother is unmarried, they will seduce him with beauty. You are no match for them at all. You’d better stay away from them. If by any chance you meet them, don’t listen to their preaching. Otherwise, you will be deceived into joining them….” Thus, because of my blindness and ignorance, I regarded the followers of the Almighty God as enemies and as plagues. Whenever they came to preach the gospel to me, I either drove them away or avoided them.
I remember that a relative of mine came to preach the gospel to me many times, but each time I drove him away. I even spoke to him sarcastically, “You must take a lot of trouble to come here, Mr. Preacher. But I have to go out, so don’t bother to come in. If you turn back to Jesus now, we’re still relatives. If you believe in the Almighty God, go away right now!” Later, three brothers came to my home to preach the gospel to me. One of them said to me smilingly, “Brother, busy?” Knowing that he was a believer in the Almighty God, I abused him, “What a foxy smile and a pitiful look you have. Why not piss on the ground and look at your face in the puddle? You are simply shameless! Go, go, go! Don’t bother me here!” With that I drove them out forcibly. Several days later, another three people came to my home. As soon as I saw them, I shouted at them, “You people, what a nerve! They do not come but you come….” One of them said with a smile, “Brother…” “I’m not your brother. You people are promiscuous, so filthy. You are not worthy to call me brother.” That brother said calmly, still with a smile, “Brother, you say all these because you do not know the facts. We’ll let the facts speak for themselves later. Today, we want to talk with you about the Bible.” I said contemptuously, “Are you worthy to talk about the Bible with me? I have read through the Bible thirty times.” An elder brother said mildly, “Brother, does being familiar with the Bible mean knowing God? The teachers of the law and the Pharisees in the Age of the Law were all familiar with the Bible. Why did they not recognize their long-expected Messiah but nailed the incarnated Lord Jesus onto the cross? Today we should seek what is the work of the Holy Spirit and understand God’s present will.” At the time, I had no words to answer, so I was ashamed into anger and said, “You have lived in vain. You don’t even know God’s will and the work of the Holy Spirit. Are you qualified to come out to preach? Stop pestering me here. Get out!” So saying, I threw them out. That person said in tears, “Brother, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. If you refuse to hear, you’ll regret.” “Pooh! How shameless! You have the face to say that. It is you scum who will regret. Get out right now!” I shouted, exasperated. Thus, the brothers and sisters, who preached God’s new work to me time and time again, were all ruthlessly driven out by me.
To guard against the intrusion of “the Eastern Lightning” into our church, I ran around all day long. But during several years, the more I guarded against it, the smaller the number in the church became; the more I guarded against it, the more desolate the church became. The brothers and sisters had jealousy and strife and intrigued against one another. The co-workers formed factions and were apparently of one accord but divided in heart. Seeing this condition, I was at a loss what to do and felt dispirited. Besides, I was burdened by a family and was in straitened circumstances. All these were weighing me down. My sufferings at that time were far beyond description, and I had no peace and joy to speak of. Thus, gradually, my zeal for the Lord grew cold and my hope for the Lord faded away. In the end, I violated my oath, giving up serving the Lord and throwing myself into the boundless world overflowing with material desires…. I thought back on my past. I had gone through trials and hardships more than ten years, but my belief in the Lord had come to nothing. The more I thought, the more I became distressed; the more I thought, the more I felt unable to bear it. Alas! I would rather die. Indeed man’s end is God’s beginning. Just when I lost hope in life, the King of the universe, the Almighty God, stretched out his hand of salvation to me once again. He conquered me by his word with authority and power, so that I, a filthy and corrupt person, was saved again and returned to God’s family.
In December of 2001, a brother fellowshipped about God’s end-time work with me. After listening, I was sincerely convinced, and my former notions and those rumors all collapsed by themselves before the facts and the truth. In the past, I had thought that anything that went beyond the Bible was false, and that I must not believe the end-time work, because the Bible had told us that the Lord would come “on the white clouds” and every eye would see him. In regard to this point, the brother read me two passages of God’s word: “The Bible is a book of history. If in the Age of the Grace you ate and drank the Old Testament and practiced the requirements of the Old Testament age, Jesus would reject you and condemn you. If you judged the work of Jesus according to the Old Testament, you were a Pharisee. If now you eat and drink and practice the New Testament and the Old Testament together, the God of today will condemn you, and you cannot follow the Holy Spirit’s work of today! If you eat the Old Testament and the New Testament, you are one outside the stream of the Holy Spirit! In the age of Jesus, he led the Jews and all his followers according to the work the Holy Spirit did in him at that time. He did not work according to the Bible but spoke according to his work. He did not care what the Bible said and did not look for paths in the Bible to lead his followers. From the time he began to work, he preached the way of repentance. Yet the word ‘repentance’ was not at all mentioned in the many prophecies of the Old Testament. He not only did not work according to the Bible, but he brought a newer path and did a newer work. He never preached by consulting the Bible. His miracles of healing the sick and driving out demons could be performed by no one in the Age of the Law. And his work, his teachings, and his authority had never been done by anyone in the Age of the Law. He just did his newer work though many people condemned him according to the Bible and even crucified him according to the Old Testament. However, his work went beyond the Old Testament. Otherwise, how could people have crucified him? Wasn’t it because his teachings and his power of healing the sick and driving out demons were never recorded in the Old Testament? All the work he did was to bring a newer path but not to purposely ‘fight against’ the Bible or purposely abolish the Old Testament. He came only to perform his ministry, bringing the new work to those who thirsted for and sought him. He did not come to interpret the Old Testament or to uphold the work of the Old Testament. He did not do the work to let the Age of the Law continue to develop. In his working, he did not at all consider whether there were Biblical bases for it but only did the work he ought to do. So he did not interpret the prophecies in the Old Testament or work according to the words in the Old Testament Age of the Law. He did not care what the Old Testament said. He was not concerned whether it agreed with what he did. He did not care how others knew his work or how they condemned his work. He just kept doing the work he ought to do, though many people condemned him according to the prophecies of the prophets of the Old Testament. In man’s view, he did his work without any basis, and much of it did not agree with the records in the Bible. Weren’t these man’s erroneous views? Does God have to work according to regulations? Does God have to work according to the prophecies of the prophets? Is the Bible or God greater? Why does God have to work according to the Bible? Does God not have any right to go beyond the Bible? Could God not do a new work outside the Bible? Why did Jesus and his disciples not keep the Sabbath? If he had to keep the Sabbath and practice according to the commandments of the Old Testament, why did he not keep the Sabbath but practiced foot-washing, head-covering, bread-breaking, and wine-drinking after he came? Aren’t these the commandments that cannot be found in the Old Testament? If he had to practice according to the Old Testament, why did he break those regulations? You should know whether there was God first or the Bible first! Since he could be the Lord of the Sabbath, can he not be the Lord of the Bible?”
“Do you want to know the root of the Pharisees’ resisting Jesus? Do you want to know the substance of the Pharisees? They were full of fancies about Messiah. And they only believed that Messiah would come but did not pursue the truth of life. So they are still waiting for Messiah today, because they do not know the way of life and do not know what is the way of truth. As they are so foolish and so ignorant, do you think that they will receive God’s blessing? Can they see Messiah? They resisted Jesus, because they did not know the direction of the Holy Spirit’s working, because they did not know the way of truth from Jesus’ mouth, and even more because they did not know Messiah. Because they had never seen Messiah or stayed with Messiah, they all made the mistake of holding onto the name of Messiah vainly but resisting the substance of Messiah unscrupulously. And the substance of these Pharisees is stubborn, arrogant, and disobedient to the truth. The principle of their believing in God is: Regardless of how high is the way you preach or how great is your authority, as long as you are not called Messiah, you are not Christ. Isn’t their such viewpoint very absurd and very ridiculous? Let me ask you again, ‘You do not have any knowledge about Jesus, so won’t you very easily repeat the mistake the Pharisees made at that time? … All those who do not know Jesus can do things of rejecting Jesus and reviling Jesus. And even more they can consider Jesus’ coming again to be satan’s deception. Many more people will condemn the Jesus returning in the flesh. Do you not feel afraid? What you are facing will be blaspheming the Holy Spirit, tearing up what the Holy Spirit says to the churches, and spurning the words expressed by Jesus. You are so dizzy, so what can you receive from Jesus? You are so obstinate, so how can you understand the work Jesus does when returning in the flesh on the white cloud? I tell you, those who do not receive the truth but blindly wait for Jesus’ coming on the ‘white clouds’ are surely the ones who blaspheme the Holy Spirit. These people are surely the kind to be destroyed.” After listening to these two passages, I was at a loss for a reply. “Ah, yes! I stubbornly stuck to the Bible. When other people preached that God had come, I condemned it blindly without seeking or investigating it. I simply held on to the belief that ‘any work that goes beyond the Bible is not God’s work,’ but did not seek the truth or the direction of the Holy Spirit’s working. I was so foolish and so arrogant and stubborn; how could I not resist God? Were my deeds any different from the Pharisees’?” In the face of all these truths, I was extremely ashamed and regretful. I remembered that God had sent many brothers and sisters to save me. They had fellowshipped with me in tears but had all been ruthlessly rejected by me. I was so blind and foolish that I lost so many opportunities to be saved. “O Almighty God! According to what I have done, I only deserve to be cursed and punished. For I have not only blasphemed and slandered you but also hindered many brothers and sisters from accepting your end-time gospel, with the result that they are still living in darkness today. O God! I thank you for your salvation for me, thank you for your great love, thank you for conquering me with your incomparably powerful words. Otherwise, I would never know I am the worst of sinners who resists you. O God! I’ll offer up all I have to repay your love. I’ll expend myself for you all my life so as to make up for my sinful deeds.”
After I followed the Almighty God, I thought back to my past. I had believed the words in Curfew and kept spreading rumors in the church, saying that the people of “the Eastern Lightning” would receive 300 yuan if they converted an ordinary believer and 2,000 yuan a co-worker, that they seduced people with beauty, and so on. Today, I feel all the more guilty when I read the administrative decrees of the Kingdom issued by God. The fourth decree says: “Man has corrupt nature and even more has emotions. So, in serving in coordination, all are forbidden to coordinate with the opposite sex alone. If they are discovered to do so, they shall be expelled, no matter who they are.” From this decree, it is not hard to see that only the righteous and holy God can make such a requirement of man, for God has the substance of holiness, and he loathes man’s filthiness and corruption. Again look at the brothers and sisters who follow the Almighty God. They are all decent and natural. Whether in their daily life or at meetings, they keep a very clear distance from the opposite sex. As for the rumor that they will receive a certain amount of money if they convert a person, it is even more groundless. For I am also a follower of the Almighty God now, and I also go out to preach the gospel. But nobody has ever given me a cent, nor have I ever given anyone a cent. And those brothers and sisters who preach the gospel always go out by bike or on foot. They are dressed simply, and what they eat and use are even simpler. If the rumor is true that they will receive 300 yuan if they convert an ordinary believer and 2,000 yuan a co-worker, do they need to go out by bike or on foot? Do they need to suffer the humiliation of sleeping under bridges or in haystacks? Before the facts and the truth, I am ashamed of myself and deeply feel that I have never seen such a good living out in my former church. Thus it can be seen that the rumors, such as “they seduce people with beauty, they will receive a certain amount of money if they convert a person,” and so on, are purely lies. However, I have been deceived by these rumors and lies. I believed them without discerning them and joined others in spreading them blindly. Now, I know the facts, but it is too late for me to regret. Dear brothers and sisters, my past is your mirror. Never believe the rumors readily and act as satan’s messengers like me. If you resist the true God, it will be too late for you to regret it.
Now, the work of the Almighty God in Mainland China is about to end. I heartily wish that the brothers and sisters in all sects and denominations can follow the footsteps of God unhesitatingly. Return to the embrace of the Almighty God, because God has been watching you by your side, waiting for you to turn back, and expecting your coming. Dear brothers and sisters, wake up at once! Do not be deceived by satan anymore. Do not believe those rumors and the lies in Curfew anymore. Shouldn’t the believers in God pay attention to the facts and seek the truth more? When there is still a little bit of time, accept the end-time salvation of the Almighty God right now. If you miss such an opportunity, you will regret it all your life!
Li Guofu
Xiangcheng City, Henan Province
From: 1. I Was Conquered by the Word of the Almighty God ? Ironclad Proofs of Being Conquered by God?s Word - The Church of Almighty God