By Zhuiqiu
At a meeting, a sister summarized some things in the Bible and fellowshiped with me about the prophecies regarding the means of the Lord’s return, the Lord’s new name and the work done by the Lord’s return, and so on. I really wanted to know about the Lord’s work in the last days, so I continuously prayed to the Lord, asking Him to enlighten me so that I could understand His words. During the time I was studying God’s work of the last days, my husband and I quarreled with each other again because of some small matter. I felt very upset, so I asked the sister, “Why do I always quarrel with my husband instead of getting along with him calmly?” She found two passages of God’s words for me: “Before man was redeemed, many of Satan’s poisons had already been planted within him and, after thousands of years of being corrupted by Satan, he has within him an established nature that resists God. Therefore, when man has been redeemed, it is nothing more than a case of redemption in which man is bought at a high price, but the poisonous nature within him has not been eliminated. Man that is so defiled must undergo a change before becoming worthy to serve God. By means of this work of judgment and chastisement, man will fully come to know the filthy and corrupt essence within his own self, and he will be able to change completely and become clean. Only in this way can man become worthy to return before the throne of God” (“The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)”). “Though Jesus did much work among man, He only completed the redemption of all mankind and became man’s sin offering; He did not rid man of all his corrupt disposition. Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to become the sin offering and bear the sins of man, but it also required God to do even greater work to rid man completely of his satanically corrupted disposition. And so, now that man has been forgiven of his sins, God has returned to the flesh to lead man into the new age, and begun the work of chastisement and judgment. This work has brought man into 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 they shall gain the truth, the way, and the life” (“What It Means to Truly Believe in God”).
Then she said, “In the beginning, Adam and Eve lived in a happy world of togetherness with God. They could hear God’s words and enjoyed God’s love, and there was no quarrel or pain between them. However, after they listened to the serpent’s words and ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they abandoned God and lived under the domain of Satan, and they couldn’t live before God happily any longer. Then the sorrow and pain began. After we were corrupted by Satan, we became full of the corrupt disposition and poison of Satan, and started to become selfish, treacherous, arrogant, willful, and put ourselves first in all things; people even started to fight and kill each other. Though we also pray to the Lord and repent and follow the example of the Lord Jesus to love our neighbors as ourselves, as we still have corrupt satanic disposition within controlling us, we sin unceasingly. The Lord Jesus just did the work of redeeming humanity, but not the work of eliminating sin. That is to say, after we accept the Lord Jesus’ salvation, we no longer are entirely sinful, and can have the opportunity to pray before God, gain His mercy, and have our sins are forgiven. But the nature of our sins within is still deep-rooted, and we still need God to perform another stage of the work of purifying and changing people. Nowadays, God has once again become flesh and has expressed His word to do the work of judgment and purification. Only if we keep pace with God’s new work, accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words and pursue the truth can our corrupt disposition be changed and can we live out the likeness of a true person. Only then will true harmony be achieved between people.”
Through the sister’s fellowshipping, I came to understand that the actual reason why we always live in a state of sinning and confessing is because we have Satan’s nature. Nowadays, God has become flesh again to do the work of judgment. As long as we accept God’s new work we will have the chance to change. At that moment, I felt somewhat moved, and thought: “There are many brothers and sisters who believe in the Lord enthusiastically in our church, but I never thought that I’d actually hear the news of the Lord’s return first. Thank the Lord! I asked, “But I still don’t really understand. This time God is uttering words to purify and change us. How do words change us?”
Then she read another passage of God’s words to me: “In the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, to expose the substance of man, and to dissect the words and deeds of man. These words comprise various truths, such as man’s duty, how man should obey God, how man should be loyal to God, how man ought to live out normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and the disposition of God, and so on. These words are all directed at the substance of man and his corrupt disposition. In particular, the words that expose how man spurns God are spoken in regard to how man is an embodiment of Satan, and an enemy force against God. In undertaking His work of judgment, God does not simply make clear the nature of man with a few words; He exposes, deals with, and prunes over the long term. These methods of exposure, dealing, and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words, but with the truth of which man is utterly bereft. Only methods such as these can be called judgment; only through judgment of this kind can man be subdued and thoroughly convinced into submission to God, and moreover gain true knowledge of God. What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of God and the truth about his own rebelliousness. The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the will of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that are incomprehensible to him. It also allows man to recognize and know his corrupt essence and the roots of his corruption, as well as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by the work of judgment, for the essence of this work is actually the work of opening up the truth, the way, and the life of God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God” (“Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth”).
She fellowshiped this with me, “God’s words have clearly explained how He does the work of judgment. Though God’s words are spoken plainly, they are the truth God expresses and are directed at our corrupt disposition. They are the truths we must practice so that we can be cleansed and saved. They tell us how to obey and worship God, how to live out the normal humanity, what God’s will for man is, what kind of person God punishes, what kind of person He eliminates, what mankind’s satanic nature is, and so on. Though the words are ordinary, they have authority and power, and are a manifestation of the life disposition of God. When we read God’s words of judgment and chastisement, we can feel that God is speaking face-to-face with us and that His words have thoroughly revealed our corrupt satanic disposition, our rebelliousness and resistance toward Him, and our conceptions and imaginings. Only through the judgment of God’s words can we see the truth that we have been corrupted by Satan. Therefore, we will hate ourselves and be disgusted with ourselves within our hearts, and we won’t want to live under the domain of Satan and be fooled by it anymore. Meanwhile, from God’s words of judgment and chastisement, we can see God’s holy and righteous disposition that tolerates no offense. God loathes and hates our corrupt disposition, but when we practice the truth to satisfy Him, His love and mercy will appear to us. As we continuously read God’s words and experience His judgment and chastisement, we will have had a deeper understanding of our corrupt disposition and have a better understanding of the truth expressed by God, so that we even more want to forsake our flesh and practice the truth to satisfy God. Hence, our expressions of corruption become less and less, we practice the truth easier and easier, and gradually we walk on the path of revering God and shunning evil. If we don’t experience the judgment and chastisement of God’s words, we will never have a way to live out the manner of a true person.”
Hearing her fellowshipping, I was very much moved, and felt that God’s work of judgment and chastisement is really practical and that we indeed need such judgment and chastisement. So I also prayed to God in my heart: “God, I wish for You to use Your words to water and feed me so that I can know myself and my corrupt disposition can be changed.”
Once, another sister read a passage of God’s words to me, “Women imagine that their other halves will be Prince Charming, and men imagine that they will marry Snow White. These fantasies go to show that every person has certain requirements for marriage, their own set of demands and standards. … Marriage is an important juncture in a person’s life. It is the product of a person’s fate and a crucial link in one’s fate; it is not founded on any person’s individual volition or preferences, and is not influenced by any external factors, but completely determined by the fates of the two parties, by the Creator’s arrangements and predeterminations for the fates of both members of the couple. … When one enters into a marriage, one’s journey in life will influence and touch upon one’s other half, and likewise one’s partner’s journey in life will influence and touch upon one’s own fate in life. In other words, human fates are interconnected, and no one can complete one’s mission in life or perform one’s role in complete independence from others. One’s birth has a bearing on a huge chain of relationships; growing up also involves a complex chain of relationships; and similarly, a marriage inevitably exists and is maintained within a vast and complex web of human connections, involving every member of that web and influencing the fate of everyone who is a part of it. A marriage is not the product of both members’ families, the circumstances in which they grew up, their appearances, their ages, their qualities, their talents, or any other factors; rather, it arises from a shared mission and a related fate. This is the origin of marriage, a product of human fate orchestrated and arranged by the Creator” (“God Himself, the Unique III”). Then she fellowshiped this with me, “Getting married is predetermined by God, and if we do, the one with whom we will establish a family has also already been predetermined by God. This is God’s wise arrangement. When God arranges our marriages, He doesn’t look at our social status, nor does he look at our appearances and qualities, but instead determines each marriage according to our missions when we come into this world. However, as we are controlled by our corrupt disposition, we always have our own requirements and preferences regarding our partners, so when they aren’t in line with our will, we suffer within. This kind of pain is not caused by others, nor is it caused by God’s predetermination, but instead it is caused by our corrupt disposition.”
I recalled how my husband and I got along with each other: I was never satisfied with his performance and always demanded that he reach my standards. Otherwise, I would blame him, thinking he didn’t care about me and that everything was his fault. Not until the sister’s fellowshipping did I realize that I was really a senseless and selfish person who only thought of my own preferences and interests when doing things. Thinking it over, in reality it was not that my husband didn’t take care of me; he was just not capable of voicing his feelings. However, I forced him to do things he didn’t like, thus causing so many conflicts between us. I also thought about how he once told me, “Back then, you preached the Lord’s gospel to me and now I’m preaching the gospel of God’s work of the last days to you. This is God’s great grace for us. We are the most blessed ones.” However, I didn’t know to give thanks to God, but was full of complaints about my marriage instead. Thanks be to God. Having found the source of the suffering in my marriage, I felt calmer and more liberated in my heart.
Now, my husband and I often read God’s words and fellowship about the truth together, and also do our best to fulfill our duties. We accept the watering and nourishing of God’s words every day, so our life dispositions have changed in some ways and our lives have become fuller and fuller. What moves me the most is that because my husband’s comprehension of the truth is better than mine, he often fellowships with me about the pure comprehension of God’s words and some people’s experiences and understanding of them. When he sees me reveal my corrupt disposition, he will communicate with me about the truth and God’s will. Now that I can feel his concern and care for me, I feel very happy within. Reflecting back on the road we have taken, I am still I and he is still he, but because we have accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days and understood the truth, everything has changed. Thank Almighty God for saving us and resolving our family’s conflicts.
The End.
Part One: Testimony in Marriage: Who Resolved My Family’s Conflicts? (I)