Return to God, Testimony to 18-year-old Christian’s True Repentance（Part-1）
My grandmother was a Christian. She used to ask me to listen to sermons together with her, but I just sneaked away each time. In 2013, she passed away and her last wish was that all our family members could accept the Lord’s gospel. To fulfill her wish, we tried going to church on the Lord’s day. When I learned from the pastor’s sermons that the Lord Jesus is the God who gave us life, and who sacrificed His life on the cross for our redemption, I was very moved in my heart. Therefore, I accepted the Lord Jesus as my Savior and went to listen to sermons every week.
Our pastor is a seminary graduate. He knew the Bible well and he often testified to us about the grace he had gained from the Lord and his devotions to the church, so brothers and sisters all worshiped him. At that time, he often told us, “‘And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory’ (Matthew 24:30). We must abide by the Lord’s way, so that we will be raptured into the kingdom of heaven when the last days come and the Lord Jesus publicly appears to all peoples in the glorified flesh.” As soon as I thought that the Lord would appear openly in the last days to take us into the heavenly kingdom, I was very excited. To please the Lord, in 2015, I served as a servant in the church, and worked part-time as the church choir accompanist, and sometimes went to other places to preach with the pastor and brothers and sisters. During that time, I had frequent contact with the pastor. He often told me some stories of the apostles and I listened with relish. I thought: He really knows the Bible well. Under the leadership of such a good pastor, we will definitely welcome the appearance of the Lord.
One day in 2016, my mother said that she knew some brothers and sisters of the Lord when surfing the Internet. They often studied the Bible together, which benefited her a lot. Thinking that it was fine for my mother to attend meetings online since she was usually busy, I didn’t pay much attention to it. One day, my mother asked me to attend meetings online with her and I agreed. We fellowshiped our understanding and knowledge of the Bible with brothers and sisters online. I felt their fellowship indeed had the light and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. When the meeting was about to end, a brother said that the Lord Jesus has already become flesh and done the work of judgment and chastisement. It hit my heart all of a sudden and I thought: The pastor said that in the last days, the Lord would openly appear to all peoples in the glorified flesh and rapture us into the kingdom of heaven. But why does this brother say that the Lord has already come back in the flesh? Why do they have different point of views? I was much entangled after the meeting, so I decided to ask the pastor for advice.
Two days later, I went to ask the pastor, “Pastor, I heard someone testify online that the Lord Jesus has already become flesh and done the work of judgment and chastisement. What’s this all about?” After hearing this, the pastor said, “Impossible! God won’t become flesh for the second time. The Revelation records: ‘Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him’ (Revelation 1:7). This verse tells us that when the Lord comes back, all the people on earth will see Him, and will weep and mourn. But now it’s so quiet, so how is it possible that the Lord has already come? We should welcome the Lord’s appearance based on the Bible. Don’t believe others’ sermons.” After a few seconds’ pause, he continued, “Now there is a church online called Eastern Lightning, and they preach that the Lord Jesus has become flesh again. You must remember: All news preaching that the Lord Jesus has returned in the flesh is false. As long as you remember this, you won’t be deceived. Why do many pastors and elders all say that the Lord can’t return in the flesh? Spare your time to search on the Internet and you will know all about it.” Having heard his words, I thought: Right. Revelation clearly says that the Lord will ride a cloud appearing in public to all peoples. It doesn’t say that the Lord will return in the flesh. Besides, the pastor knows the Bible well, so his understanding of the Bible must be pure. I must go home quickly to pass on his words to my mother, preventing her from contacting Eastern Lightning.
Upon arriving home, I searched on the Internet Eastern Lightning, Almighty God, and so on, and got both positive and negative information about them. Then I told my mother the negative information and the pastor’s words. After hearing my words, she had no discernment and was also somewhat scared, so she told us to blacklist all the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God. But about two weeks later, my mother told me, “We shouldn’t blacklist the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God. They only testified the gospel of the Lord’s coming to me. Moreover, they fellowshiped about the Bible, their fellowship conformed to the truth and have resolved lots of my confusion and problems.” Hearing her say so, I thought: Mum is right. They only studied the Bible during the meetings, absolutely unlike what the negative information said online. However, as soon as I thought of the pastor’s words, I said to my mother, “That’s not right. The pastor can’t be wrong.” But my mother disagreed with me, and she said she would go on with the investigation.
At the end of 2016, my mother said she wanted to join The Church of Almighty God, which came as a big surprise for me. I never thought that she should believe in Almighty God. Thinking of the rumors on the Internet, I was very scared within. So I said to her angrily, “Haven’t I shown you the online information condemning The Church of Almighty God? How can the Lord return in the flesh? Why do you still want to join The Church of Almighty God?” She said, “After a period of investigation, I see: The words expressed by Almighty God are the truth, and Almighty God is the appearance of the Lord Jesus. The Lord has already returned in the flesh and we should welcome Him.” Regardless of how I tried to persuade her to give it up, she still insisted on her belief. But at the thought of the pastor’s words and the online rumors, I was really worried about her, so I asked my maternal grandmother to persuade her, which came to no result. Seeing her insistence, I burst into anger and shouted at her, “Why must you believe in Almighty God? You even don’t listen to grandma.” After saying this, I cried and ran to my own room and closed the door angrily. I prayed to the Lord tearfully, “O Lord, why is mother so sure that Almighty God is Your return? I can’t accept this. Please guide mother back before You.” In the next few days, we didn’t talk to each other, but I was still worried about her. There being no way out, I called in the pastor to explain the Bible to my mother, but even the pastor couldn’t change her attitude. I couldn’t but come before the Lord praying, “O Lord! What’s Your will? May You care for and keep my mother.”
After that, my mother tried reading Almighty God’s words to me every now and then, but I just wouldn’t take in even one single word. She also turned on the loudspeaker of her cellphone when she had meetings with the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God. On this occasion, I would stuff the earphones into my ears and told myself silently: I must firmly wait for the Lord to come riding a cloud, because the pastor said that God wouldn’t become flesh again.
In January 2017, my mother said she would go out to meet the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God. Being more anxious, I earnestly pled with her not to go, but she wouldn’t listen. After she left, I was very concerned about her safety so that I phoned her every ten minutes. Only by knowing she was alright would my concern lessen a bit. That night, my mother didn’t come back home, I kept praying for her. On the second morning when it was still dark, I went to look for my mother with my two younger brothers.
Right when we arrived, I saw my mother and a sister. They came to receive us and that sister warmly greeted me. When I saw more brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God, I found each of them was kind and easy-going. But I was still in doubt. Afterward, I went with my mother to another sister’s home. When I found that her life was normal, I suddenly came to realize that there were so many Malaysians believing in Almighty God and that they were all very normal. I began to think the online rumors were unreliable. Then a sister shared with me her testimonies and experiences of accepting Almighty God’s work in the last days. After hearing her experiences, I was moved somewhat, and felt her sharing very real. And through my contact with them, I saw they were happy and released when they had gatherings together. Gradually, the doubt in my heart was removed and I thought that I was only too young, too naive to have easily believed the rumors on the Internet. From that day on, I wasn’t opposed to my mother attending meetings with them.
One day, my mother fellowshiped with me, “We always hear the pastors say that the Lord will come with a cloud and appear before all peoples on some gigantic scale. In fact, there are many other prophecies about the way of the Lord’s appearance. ‘Behold, I come as a thief’ (Revelation 16:15). ‘for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man comes’ (Matthew 24:44). ‘If therefore you shall not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and you shall not know what hour I will come on you’ (Revelation 3:3). Here it’s mentioned that the Lord will come as a thief. That is, no one knows when the Lord comes. Actually, the Lord will come in two ways: One is secret arrival; the other is public appearance. Secret arrival refers to God becoming flesh. Just like when the Lord Jesus became flesh, He looked no different from any normal man; no one knew He is God. And so, for man, God is hidden. But from His words and work we can know that He is the incarnate God. For example, the Lord Jesus could end the Age of Law and began the Age of Grace; He brought the way of repentance; He worked miracles — feeding five-thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish, and raising the dead. This work is not what man can do. Nowadays, God has become flesh secretly among us under the name of Almighty God. He has expressed words and done the work of judgment starting from the house of God; He has revealed many aspects of truth, such as the three stages of work of God’s management of mankind, the mystery of the incarnation and God’s name, and so forth; He also has exposed our corrupt dispositions with His words. After the good lambs from all denominations and sects recognized God’s voice from Almighty God’s utterances, they have returned to Almighty God in succession. However, there are still some people who stubbornly cling to their notions and imaginations. Even though they have heard God’s voice, they still only wait for the Lord to appear publicly on a cloud to take them into the kingdom of heaven. These people are all unbelievers exposed by God. This way, the tares and the wheat, the true believers and the false believers are separated. After those who get purified through experiencing the chastisement and judgment of God’s words are made overcomers by God, God’s work of secret arrival will be concluded. Then, God will send down the greater disaster, appearing to all peoples in public to reward the good and punish the wicked. Only then will those who resist God know Almighty God who they have resisted and condemned is the appearance of the Lord Jesus. At that time, they will beat their breast, weep and gnash their teeth. This fulfills Revelation 1:7, ‘Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.’ So, on the great event of welcoming the Lord’s return, we should have a heart of seeking, we shouldn’t blindly believe the pastors.”
My mother’s fellowship was reasonable and made my heart brighten up. But I still had some doubts: God is so lofty, prestigious, possessed of authority, so God’s appearance should be on some gigantic scale. But why does God choose to become flesh and arrive in a hidden way? Besides, my mother’s fellowship is about the Lord’s prophecies, but why hasn’t the pastor interpreted this verse to us since he often interpreted Revelation? After all, I still thought the pastor knew much about the Bible and that his understanding should be correct.
To be continue…
Source from: find the shepherd.
If you want to know more about the mysteries about the second coming of Jesus, click on our Second coming bible verses page.
