Chen Yunfeng
Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province
In 1990, my wife and I found grace in the sight of the Lord and returned to Him. We both pursued hard, and a year later, I was selected as a co-worker in the Family Church of the Truth. Starting from April 2001, there were people preaching God’s end-time work to me. In more than two years, those who preached the new work preached to me numerous times. But I rejected them all, for I had long heard from the leaders above that they believed in a “heresy,” a “cult,” and were a group of gangsters. I hated them to the bones, and resolutely refused to accept their way no matter what they said. And I went to the meeting places with other brothers to distribute adverse materials. We wantonly spread that the “Eastern Lightning” was a “cult,” a “heresy,” and a mafia, and they would gouge out people’s eyes or cut off their ears if they didn’t accept their way, and if they wanted to back out after accepting it, they would break their legs. We frightened the brothers and sisters by many alarmist words. As a result, they were so scared that none dared to accept Almighty God’s new work. Moreover, when I heard that anyone in the church had accepted the way, I would go with other brothers to denounce them, and if they didn’t turn back, we would expel them.
In October of 2001, my wife accepted Almighty God’s new work. It was completely beyond my expectation, and I practically foamed at the mouth. I at once found the leader, and then we two questioned her, “Who preached the way to you? We’ve warned you many times that it’s a ‘heresy,’ a ‘cult,’ a ‘mafia,’ which will make you handicapped. How could you turn a deaf ear to it? It would be wise for you to turn back right now before you sink deeper!” However, my wife not only didn’t turn back but tried to persuade us to accept it. She insisted that it was the true way, what we had said were all rumors, not the facts, and we should instead investigate the way. Her words made me even angrier, and I beat her then and there and cursed Almighty God terribly. And I threatened her, saying, “If you don’t turn back, I will divorce you.” But she said decisively, “I’d rather divorce you than not believe in Almighty God! This is the true way, nothing like what you said.” At her words, I tore my hair, and stretched out my evil hand and gave her two boxes on the ear, and I raved wildly against her. Seeing that I was fuming with rage, she didn’t speak again and went into the inner room to pray, tear-soaked. After that, I began to restrict her from going to the meetings. Each time she went out, I would curse her and also blaspheme Almighty God. Although I resisted Almighty God’s work so fiercely, God’s love didn’t leave me. Two brothers came to my home several times in the hope of fellowshipping with me. Yet I didn’t give them any opportunity to speak, but shouted abuses at them, and even beat them if they didn’t leave. Once, I stopped them as soon as they entered the courtyard, and said to them savagely, “What a cheek! Didn’t I tell you not to come to ‘deceive’ me? I’ll never be cheated by you.” One brother said, “Brother, don’t take offence. Please let us finish our words, and you can decide after listening.” I said angrily, “I won’t listen to your deceitful lies. Get lost! My wife has been ‘deceived’ by you people. Don’t expect to ‘blind’ me. Out! Get Out!” The other brother said gently, “Brother, the Lord Jesus we believe in is the true God. If you have God in your heart, you will have the nerve to listen.” Hearing that, I was provoked. “Sure! I have nothing else but the nerve.” I turned around and caught sight of a spade. Then I took it and swung at them with it, shouting, “I’ll show you whether I have the nerve. Get lost if you don’t want to be disabled.” They dodged nimbly. This didn’t slake my hatred, so I ran after them until out of the gate.
In November of 2002, God’s discipline came upon me. Our great black dog killed a villager’s sheep, and I compensated him 500 yuan. Later, our chicken, ducks, gooses, and dog died one after another as if suffering a plague. The ducks even shed tears when dying. I was surprised at that but didn’t care much about it. Later, I saw the surviving gooses, seemingly blind, often hit hard against the wall. I was puzzled, yet I didn’t give it much thought either. After a couple of days, our dog turned up its toes. Before its death there wasn’t any sign. I just saw it fall dead after a few hops. However, all these happenings didn’t withhold me from my evil doings, and I continued to run here and there with my leader to resist and hinder God’s new work. Not long after, I had a severe stomachache and vomited out whatever I ate, unable to take in anything. Doctors in the hospital couldn’t diagnose what was wrong with me. Later, I was bedridden. Lying in bed for days, weak all over, I felt unbearably miserable, worse than death. I thought a lot. “Medicine and prayers usually worked when I had a stomachache in the past. How come they don’t work this time? I even can’t eat anything. Why? It’s strange. Also, the ducks shed tears, and the gooses hit against the wall. Is God warning me that I am blind and don’t know God?” When I thought this way, the pain subsided. At this time, my wife said, “Brother, wake up. You have committed a great sin of resisting and cursing God. God is disciplining you to wake you up. The chastised ones are sons, not bastards. Turn back quickly! Or you will regret it.” As she saw I was silent, she hastened to read God’s words to me. While reading, she glanced at me from time to time. Seeing that I said nothing, she continued, “Jesus’ coming again is an exceedingly great salvation to those who can accept the truth, but to those who cannot accept the truth it is a mark of being condemned. You should choose your way. Do not do things of blaspheming the Holy Spirit and rejecting the truth. Do not be ignorant and arrogant people, but be ones who obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit and thirst for and seek the truth. Only this will be good for you. I advise that you should cautiously walk the path of believing in God. Do not make judgments rashly, much less believe in God casually and carelessly. You ought to know that a believer in God should at least have a meek heart and a God-fearing heart. Those who hear the truth but turn up their noses at it are all foolish and ignorant people. Those who hear the truth but casually make judgments about it or condemn it are all arrogant people. As a believer in Jesus, no one has the right to curse or condemn others. You all should be ones who have sense and accept the truth. Maybe after you hear the way of truth and read the words of life, you think that only one ten thousandth of these words agree with your thought or with the Bible. Then you should continue to seek in this one ten thousandth of the words. Again I advise you to be a meek person. Do not be too self-confident, and do not be too self-important. In what little fear of God you have, you will receive greater light. Investigate carefully and ponder repeatedly, and you will understand whether these words are the truth and the life. Some people may blindly condemn them after reading only a few of them, saying, ‘These are nothing but some inspiration of the Holy Spirit,’ or ‘This is a false Christ coming to deceive people.’ Those who can say such words are simply too ignorant! You know too little about God’s work and God’s wisdom. I advise you to start all over again! You should not blindly condemn the words expressed by God because there will be false Christs appearing in the end time, and should not be ones who blaspheme the Holy Spirit for fear of being deceived. Won’t that be too regrettable? If after investigating repeatedly, you still think that these words are not the truth, not the way, and not God’s expression, then you are one who will suffer punishment in the end and one who has no blessing. Such truths are spoken so clearly and so plainly and yet you cannot accept them; then aren’t you one unworthy to be saved by God? Aren’t you one having no blessing to return before God’s throne? Think carefully! Do not be careless, and do not be rash. Do not take the matter of believing in God as child’s play. You should think about your destination, your future, and your life. Do not trifle with yourself. Can you accept all these words?” (from “When You See Jesus’ Spiritual Body, It Will Already Be the Time God Renews Heaven and Earth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh) After my wife finished reading the words, I couldn’t calm down for a long time, with inexpressible regret and guilt in my heart. These words of God especially touched me: “Maybe after you hear the way of truth and read the words of life, you think that only one ten thousandth of these words agree with your thought or with the Bible. Then you should continue to seek in this one ten thousandth of the words. …” “I advise you to start all over again! You should not blindly condemn the words expressed by God because there will be false Christs appearing in the end time, and should not be ones who blaspheme the Holy Spirit for fear of being deceived. Won’t that be too regrettable?” “Yes, these words are so sincere! We shouldn’t take the true God as a false Christ because of fearing a false one. We should discern. However, I followed others and believed their rumors and rejected God’s coming. I’m really foolish and blind, unworthy of God’s salvation. O God! I have resisted, condemned, slandered, and blasphemed You this way; I should have perished according to my crimes. However, You didn’t destroy me but advised me to start anew again. Only You have such a great heart and love.” I was suddenly awoken. I understood the reason why those who had read the little scroll wouldn’t drop out. It was because the words were the truth, the way, and the life that people most needed presently. Today, I was also attracted by these words, because they are the truth, God’s personal utterance. Who would reject the treasure after receiving it? I knelt before God, praying in bitter tears, “O God! I have done so many evils. I didn’t accept You, and hindered others from accepting You, and I even beat my wife. I’m completely without humanity. I regret myself to the core. How can I make up for my transgressions? O God, You didn’t treat me according to my disobedience, but still saved me. Your love is so real! I’m resolved to dedicate the rest of my life to bringing more people who truly love You to Your home earlier.”
Later, I attended the church life of the Age of Kingdom. There I saw the two brothers I had cursed and beat, and my face grew hot. The scene when they preached the new work to me came into my mind. “I cursed and beat them, but they never retaliated. They are truly believers in God. What am I?” I was extremely ashamed of myself. I also reflected that each time after our former leader came back from working, he would perform for us how they beat the heads of the people of the “Eastern Lightning” in with sticks and spades, how they almost broke their legs, and how they reported them to the police after beating them. Thinking of those, I felt so disgusted with their doings. And I really regretted not having discernment at that time and even applauding them. I was too blind! I saw the brothers and sisters there all had normal humanity, who were by no means like the members of a mafia as had been said. Had they been a mafia, could they have allowed us to curse and beat them and live until now? It was actually we who almost broke their legs. We were thieves crying “stop thief,” purely blatant liars. Now I saw the facts. I would never believe those lies anymore. I made a resolution to accept Almighty God’s teaching and start with a new sheet to comfort God’s heart.
Dear brothers and sisters, God’s thoughts are always higher than man’s, God’s wisdom is unfathomable to man, and God’s work always counters man’s notions. If we don’t put aside our old notions, we can only be the accomplice of satan and resist God, thereby falling into darkness weeping and gnashing our teeth evermore. Now the Lord Jesus has returned to the world and done a new work. This is absolutely true! Even though He is not a spiritual body, not in the image of a Jews, no longer called Jesus, and only speaks word, He is the incarnation of the truth, the symbol of righteousness and the highest authority. He is the slaughtered Lamb, the lion loaded with wrath. He has opened the little scroll and brought us the way of being Holy. Only He can bring mankind into the pleasant destination.
Source From: Find the Shepherd
