By Shangjin
My child was born with a rare condition and died at the age of 29. Though we knew it was simply a matter of time before our child passed away, we were still in great pain at the moment of his death. My wife was a Christian, and after our child passed away, I hoped that she could escape from pain early, so I encouraged her and accompanied her to the church.
When listening to the pastor preach in the church, I knew that the Lord Jesus was the only Redeemer of mankind, the one true God. Knowing the fact that the Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross to save us humans and seeing His mercy, tolerance, patience for us, I was very moved and determined that I would follow Him in the second half of my life. After believing in the Lord, I enjoyed God’s abundant grace and blessings. The Lord cured my high blood pressure and hyperlipemia. So I often thanked for the Lord’s grace and was full of peace and joy in my heart.
This year I knew a sister on the internet and she invited me to join a Bible study group. I thought that it was beneficial for us, a few people, to study the Bible together and share different experiences, so I happily agreed to it. During gatherings, I found that they brought new light in sharing the Bible and that they had some knowledge of God. Having attended several meetings, I had a great harvest, and this was what I had never obtained in the church these years. I felt a special kind of brightness in my heart and expected to attend a meeting and share with them every day. Later, a sister told me that the Lord Jesus has come back and taken a new name, and He is called Almighty God. Hearing this, I had some doubts in my heart: In the past, the pastor told us that some brothers and sisters in the Lord who pursued the truth and had caliber had believed in Almighty God. And he asked us to hold to the name of the Lord Jesus and to wait for the Lord’s return. I told my doubts to the sister and she shared with me Revelation 2:7 and Revelation 3:12: “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the middle of the paradise of God.” “Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God: and I will write on him my new name.” Afterward, the sister fellowshiped to me, “In each age, God takes a new name. In each stage of work God uses the name to divide the ages. For instance, in the Age of Law, God took the name of Jehovah. That name represented God’s disposition of majesty, wrath, curse and mercy that He expressed to people in that age. From then on, God started the work of the Age of Law with the name of Jehovah. He issued the laws and commandments and formally guided newborn man’s life on earth until the Age of Law ended. At the end of the Age of Law, because mankind had become more and more corrupt and their sins had grown more numerous, they were not able to keep the laws, and therefore were facing the constant danger of being punished for violating the law. For that reason, God carried out a stage of work of redemption under the name of Jesus. He began the Age of Grace and put an end to the Age of Law. He expressed the disposition of mercy and love and also bestowed rich grace upon people. Finally, He was nailed to the cross for mankind, thus redeeming us from the hands of Satan. Our sins are forgiven, but our internal sinful nature still exists. We still often sin, so we have not been fully gained by God. Hence, in order to entirely save mankind from sin, God is now performing another stage of work of fully purifying and saving mankind in the last days, on the foundation of the work of redemption in the Age of Grace. God’s name must change accordingly and He is called Almighty God. This name fulfills Revelation 4:8, “LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” Although in different ages, God’s names are different, the work is still done by one spirit.”
Hearing the sisters’ sharing, I thought: “It is very reasonable. If God’s name cannot change, then why did He take the name of the Lord Jesus? According to these prophecies, the Lord will have a new name when He comes back.” I also thought: “Now various nations around the world are volatile and unstable; disasters are growing ever greater; each and every denomination says that the Lord is coming soon and tells us to be awake and waiting. Only The Church of Almighty God is testifying that the Lord has returned. The Lord Jesus said, ‘For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened’ (Matthew 7:8). Although there are many truths I don’t understand, I will still seek and investigate the work of Almighty God of the last days seriously!”
When I was investigating God’s end-time work, the matter I had never encountered happened. During that period, as long as I attended meetings, I had aches and pains from my neck to back, and I couldn’t sit or move, so that I was unable to focus on gatherings. Mysteriously, I wouldn’t hurt as soon as the meeting was over, but I would hurt again in the next meeting. Though I applied ointment, it didn’t work. In this way, the pain lasted two weeks, to an extent that I couldn’t bear it. I thought to myself: How could this happen to me? Why do I not have the Lord’s protection? In the past, when I believed in the Lord, He cured me of my sickness, but now …, is my faith wrong? However, during this time, the sisters’ fellowship indeed made me understand many truths. What is really going on? Being confused, I told my problems to a sister. At the gathering, the sisters prayed for me together and communicated with me, “Every time God becomes flesh to do His work, Satan uses all sorts of means to disturb and obstruct people from coming before God. This is Satan’s trick. It’s just like what Job faced. On the surface it seemed like thieves robbed him of his possessions; the house collapsed and his sons and daughters were crushed to death; what’s more, his body was covered with sores. But actually it was a spiritual struggle. What was behind it was Satan’s fighting over mankind with God. God wants to save people, but Satan isn’t willing to see that. Therefore, it uses some despicable methods to make people misunderstand God and doubt God. If we can’t see through the matters of the spiritual world, we will be in danger of denying and betraying God. At last, we will lose the opportunity to receive salvation. This is Satan’s vicious intention. It is Almighty God who expresses the truth and reveals the spiritual mystery, so we can have discernment.” Then the sister let me read the following passage of God’s word, “God works, God cares for a person, looks upon a person, and Satan dogs His every step. Whoever God favors, Satan also watches, trailing along behind. If God wants this person, Satan would do everything in its power to obstruct God, using various evil ways to tempt, harass and wreck the work God does in order to achieve its hidden objective. What is its objective? It does not want God to have anyone; it wants all those that God wants, to possess them, control them, to take charge of them so they worship it, so they commit evil acts alongside it. Is this not Satan’s sinister motive? Normally, you often say that Satan is so evil, so bad, but have you seen it? You can only see how bad man is and has not seen in reality how bad Satan actually is. But have you seen it in this issue concerning Job? (Yes.) This issue has made Satan’s hideous countenance and its essence very clear. Satan is at war with God, trailing along behind Him. Its objective is to demolish all the work God wants to do, to possess and control those whom God wants, to completely extinguish those whom God wants. If they are not extinguished, then they come to Satan’s possession to be used by it—this is its objective.”
Through God’s words and the sister’s communication, I felt a special kind of brightness in my heart immediately: It turns out that I’m experiencing a spiritual struggle. Since God wants to save me, Satan becomes very angry. It interferes me with sickness to make me doubt whether my faith is wrong, and thus suspect Almighty God. This is the trickery of Satan. Its goal is to make me abandon the true way and reject God. On the contrary, God’s intention is to get me to understand the truth, distinguish Satan, stand witness to Him and not lose the opportunity of salvation. Having understood God’s will, I had the resolution to bear witness to Him. I thought: “Even if I suffer pain, I will attend meetings properly.” During the meeting, a fantastic thing happened. At the beginning of the gathering, my neck hurt as if being stuck with needles. But as time passed by, it didn’t hurt unknowingly. From then on, my neck no longer hurt. Having experienced Satan’s disturbance, I had some discernment toward the tricks that Satan played on us. At the same time, I had some knowledge of its evil nature. From this, I saw that God allowed Satan to tempt me, for God’s good intention was to get me to understand the truth. Meanwhile, I understood: Although Almighty God’s name is different from that of the Lord Jesus, They both have authority and power. They are indeed one God.
