It Is Almighty God Who Has Saved Me | The Church of Almighty God

It Is Almighty God Who Has Saved Me | The Church of Almighty God

54 It Is Almighty God Who Has Saved Me

Wu Xiangtao

Luoyang City, Henan Province

My name is Wu Xiangtao, and I was formerly in the Third Redemption sect (whose founder is Ji Sanbao). Because my stomach trouble was healed after I believed in God, I thanked “God,” Ji Sanbao, in my heart and resolved to repay the love of “God.” Over those four years, I had worked for “God” wholeheartedly regardless of others’ rumors and gossips, and I became the leader of two hundred and fifty people.

In October 2002, the “council” of the Third Redemption sect issued a message titled “Hold Fast to the True Way and Resist Heresies,” in which it condemned the “Eastern Lightning” to be a heresy and slandered that the “Eastern Lightning” preachers used women as a bait, drew people on with petty favors, and forced people to accept by using anaesthetic, and they targeted at those first-rate talents between sixteen and forty years old. And it also said that they would get 50 yuan for converting a common believer and 200 yuan for converting a leader… At that time, I believed these words to be true without thinking and thought to myself, “I’d rather believe in nothing than believe in Almighty God, much less would I let the brothers and sisters believe.” So, I went around to the churches to bind the brothers and sisters according to the requirement of the “council.” And I also made up a lie to frighten them, saying, “If anyone hears the messages of the ‘Lightning sect,’ his family will encounter disasters, either being unpeaceful or, even worse, being chastised and cursed.” During that period, I preached the rumors and fallacies from the “council” again and again, for fear that the brothers and sisters might accept Almighty God.

On November 20, 2002, two sisters who believed in Almighty God came to my door. Seeing them, I hurriedly closed the door. They stood outside and waited for more than two hours, and they said with weeping, “Sister, open the door! We came to preach the gospel to you with God’s commission. We’ll leave after telling you God’s will…” To avoid being pestered by them, I said to them fiercely, “Since God asks you to come, you just go to God. I don’t know who you are.” Seeing that I was unshakable, the two sisters left in tears.

The next day, one of my leaders came to my home, and unexpectedly, he said to me, “Almighty God, whom those of the ‘Eastern Lightning’ believe in, is the true God. Ji Sanbao, whom we believe in, is a false Christ. It’s the work of an evil spirit.” And he brought with him a book of God’s word named The Sound of the Trumpet of the Truth. He said that he wasn’t very clear about it yet, and would just read God’s words to me and let me discern whether it was the true way or a false way, and if it was the true way, he would accept it together with me. I judged that he had already accepted it and was just making an excuse by saying so. I thought to myself, “At first when you asked me to believe in Ji Sanbao, you said that Ji Sanbao was the true God, and you told me again and again that I would be captivated if I believed in the ‘Eastern Lightning.’ But today you say that Ji Sanbao is a false Christ, an evil spirit, he imitates the work that Jesus did, and only the One those of the ‘Eastern Lightning’ believe in is the true God.” I was unconvinced of what he said. I didn’t take in any word of God he read to me, and even less had a mind to discern whether it was the true way or a false way. Seeing that, the brother could only leave the book to me and left.

After he left, I was plunged into perplexity. I was really confused and fell into a dilemma. I didn’t know which one I should believe in and how to discern the true way and a false way. At a loss, I thought of God and prayed silently, “O God, I don’t know which one is from You? Please show me a way and lead me forward so that I can know clearly which is the work of the Holy Spirit and which is the true God…” That night I had a dream. I dreamed that four sisters in our sect went to carry water but the water was too dirty to drink. I was thinking what we should do if there was no water to drink. While I was worrying, suddenly a voice said, “Follow the person behind and you will have water to drink.” I hastened to turn around and look, and it was the leader who gave me the book in the day. After I woke up from the dream, I thought, “Is God revealing to me with the dream? Is Almighty God really the true God?” I pondered, “Why do the brothers and sisters who believe in Almighty God have so much love? They can bear any harsh words upon them in preaching the gospel, and even when they were hit or reviled, they never fought back. Where does their love come from? What is the mystery in it?” At that time, I thought of the book the brother left to me, and wanted to see what it actually said. I opened the book at random and these words met my eyes: “After the work of Jehovah, Jesus became flesh to do His work amongst man. His work was not carried out in isolation, but built upon the work of Jehovah. It was work for a new age after God had concluded the Age of Law. Similarly, after the work of Jesus ended, God still continued His work for the next age, because the entire management of God is always progressing forward. When the old age passes, it will be replaced by a new age, and once the old work has been completed, a new work will continue the management of God. This incarnation is God’s second incarnation following the completion of Jesus’ work. Of course, this incarnation does not occur independently, but is the third stage of work after the Age of Law and the Age of Grace. Each new stage of God’s work always brings a new beginning and a new age. So too are there corresponding changes in the disposition of God, in His way of working, in the location of His work, and in His name. No wonder, then, that it is difficult for man to accept the work of God in the new age. But regardless of how He is opposed by man, God is always doing His work, and is always leading the whole of mankind forward. When Jesus came into the world of man, He brought the Age of Grace and ended the Age of Law. During the last days, God once more became flesh, and when He became flesh this time, the Age of Grace ended and the Age of Kingdom began. All those who accept the second incarnation of God will be led into the Age of Kingdom, and be able to personally accept the guidance of God. Though Jesus did much work among man, He only completed the redemption of all mankind and became man’s sin offering, and did not rid man of all his corrupt disposition. Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to take on the sins of man as the sin offering, but also required God to do greater work to completely rid man of his disposition, which has been corrupted by Satan. And so, after man was forgiven his sins, God returned to flesh to lead man into the new age, and began the work of chastisement and judgment, which brought man to a higher realm. All those who submit under His dominion shall enjoy higher truth and receive greater blessings. They shall truly live in the light, and shall gain the truth, the way, and the life.” From these words I knew that Jehovah, Jesus, and Almighty God are actually one God, and God does different work in different ages and different places. In the Age of Law, Jehovah did the work of issuing the law; in the Age of Grace, Jesus did the work of redeeming mankind through crucifixion; and today Almighty God does the work of the word. God can do both the work of opening a new age and the work of ending an old age, and only God can bring new work… At that point, I seemed to realize something. Then I compared “three great periods” and “three stages of the spiritual journey” preached by Ji Sanbao with these words. I thought, “If Ji Sanbao was the true God, the Creator, why didn’t he dare to issue his messages to all denominations and sects and the whole universe? Why are they only aimed at our sect? Furthermore, what Ji Sanbao did imitated Jesus’ work. If he was the true God, why didn’t he bring a new work? Almighty God, however, has done a new work different from that of the Age of Law and that of the Age of Grace, which is directed at the whole mankind. Moreover, from my contact with the believers in Almighty God, I find that they are not at all like what is spread in our sect. Is it true that Ji Sanbao is a false Christ?” While I was doubting him, a sister who believed in Almighty God came to my home. She said, “If one is God’s incarnate flesh, He will have God’s substance. God’s substance is the Spirit and is holy. His purpose in being incarnated is to do His work, to save mankind, but not to lead a life on earth. How could God get married and start a career and have and raise children?” Then she opened the book of God’s word and read these words: “God comes to this earth only to do the work of leading the age; to open up a new age and bring the old to an end. He has not come to live out the course of a man’s life on earth, to experience for Himself the joys and sorrows of life as a man, or to perfect a certain person by His hand or personally watch someone as he grows. This is not His work; His work is merely to open up the new age and bring an end to the old. That is, He will open up an age, bring the other to an end, and defeat Satan by carrying out work in person. Each time He carries out work in person, it is as if He is putting a foot onto the ‘battleground.’ In the flesh, He first defeats the world and prevails over Satan; He gains all glory and raises the ‘curtains’ on the work of all two thousand years, giving all man on earth the right path to follow, and a life of peace and joy. However, God cannot live with man on earth for long, for God is God, and unlike man after all. He cannot live the lifetime of a normal man, that is, He cannot reside on earth as a man that is nothing out of the ordinary, for He has only a minimal part of the normal humanity of ordinary men to sustain His life as such. In other words, how could God start a family and raise children on earth? Would this not be a disgrace? He possesses the normal humanity only for the purpose of carrying out work in a normal manner, not to enable Him to start a family as an ordinary man would. His normal sense, normal mind, and the normal feeding and attire of His flesh are sufficient to prove He has a normal humanity; there is no need for Him to start a family to prove that He is furnished of a normal humanity. This is completely unnecessary! God comes to earth, meaning the ‘Word’ becomes flesh; He is simply allowing man to understand His word and to see His word, that is, allowing man to see the work carried out by the flesh.” These words confirmed my view about Ji Sanbao, and I was certain in my heart that Ji Sanbao was a false Christ and an evil spirit and that only Almighty God is the only true God. So, without hesitation, I led the brothers and sisters under me to return to Almighty God.

When I came to the Church of Almighty God, I saw that in the Church there were both elderly people over sixty and young people over twenty. They were all vigorous and full of vitality. It was not, as our sect fabricated, that the Church of Almighty God only received the first-rate talents between sixteen and forty. I also saw that all the brothers and sisters were well-behaved when they were together, and they spoke and acted properly, and no one coordinated with the opposite sex alone. In Article 4 of the Ten Administrative Decrees of Almighty God, it is stipulated: “Man has corrupt disposition and even more has emotion. So, in the service in coordination, two people of different sexes are forbidden to coordinate alone. If discovered, they shall be expelled, no matter who they are.” God’s word carries authority, God’s administrative decrees represent God’s disposition, and God’s disposition does not tolerate man’s offense, so no one dares to overstep the bounds. The facts finally exposed the shameful and evil lies such as “using women as a bait,” which were fabricated by Ji Sanbao and others. I accepted God’s new work, not because I was dazed by a magic drug, but because I was conquered by the truth, God’s word, the living out of the brothers and sisters who believed in Almighty God, and the facts.

The lie that they would get some money if they converted a person was even more fabricated by those with ulterior motives. I saw that some brothers and sisters lived frugally and used all the money they saved for preaching the gospel. They bought the gospel friends medicine, clothes, or foodstuff, and sometimes they helped them plough, fertilize, water, or reap the field under the scorching sun… They moved them with their love so that they could return to God’s family soon. All these facts even more proved that it was a sheer lie fabricated by “Ji Sanbao sect” that “they will get some money if they convert a person.” In the piece of God’s word “How Should You Attend to Your Future Mission,” God says: “These men who suffer deeply remain imprisoned in the dungeons of darkness, without hope of release, even on the day that the light flashes; when will they weep no longer? These fragile spirits who have never been granted rest are truly suffering such misfortune. They have long been sealed off by the ruthless ropes and the history that is frozen in place. Who has ever heard the sound of their wailing? Who has ever seen their miserable visage? Have you ever thought how grieved and anxious God’s heart is? How can He bear to see the innocent mankind He Himself created suffering such torment? After all, mankind are the unfortunates that have been poisoned. Though they have survived to this day, who would have thought that they have long been poisoned by the evil one? Have you forgotten that you are one of the victims? Out of your love for God, are you not willing to strive to save those who have survived?” Every word of God is full of God’s eager intention of saving mankind. God wants everyone to be saved and doesn’t want to destroy the mankind He created with His own hand. I saw Almighty God’s beautiful countenance of saving souls at any cost. I deeply tasted the sweetness of God’s love, walked on the true way of human life, and found the spring of living water of life. As a man, I’m willing to perform my bounden duty as a created being, and I won’t hesitate to offer up everything.

In the past, facing God’s salvation, I condemned it arbitrarily without thinking and desperately bound the brothers and sisters and resisted Almighty God. I was really poor and blind, and deserved to be cursed. However, God didn’t repay me according to my evil doings but woke me up with His immeasurable love and led me out of the dense fog, which made me absolutely ashamed of myself. All I can do is to preach the gospel to more people, bringing the brothers and sisters who are groping in the dark back to God’s family, to repay God’s love.