Preface | The Overcomers’ Testimonies | Eastern Lightning

Picture of the Church of Almighty God

The year 1991 is of great and far-reaching significance to the whole mankind who are deeply corrupted. In that year, all those who devoutly believed in the Lord and thirsted for the truth finally welcomed the appearing of the Savior Jesus. He is Almighty God who is incarnated in the end time. Almighty God’s coming countered everyone’s notions, because he didn’t descend in Israel on the white cloud or publicly appear to all nations and all peoples.
Instead, he descended in China—the strong bastion of atheism in a hidden way and started the work of “judgment beginning with the family of God” in the dwelling place of the great red dragon. China is the darkest and most corrupt country in the world which resists God most severely, and it is exactly the dwelling place of the great red dragon and various evil spirits. Therefore, through uttering his voice and speaking in this place, God judges, chastises, purifies, and saves those who are deeply blinded and corrupted by the great red dragon, and gains a group of overcomers in the East of the world, who become the evidence of God’s overcoming satan. This can even more manifest God’s wisdom and almightiness. Just as Almighty God says, “As God has prophesied in many places that he will gain a group of overcomers in the land of Sinim, that is, gain the overcomers in the East of the world, without a doubt the place God stays when he is incarnated the second time is the land of Sinim, just the dwelling place of the great red dragon, where he will gain the offspring of the great red dragon so that it will be thoroughly defeated and put to shame. God will arouse these people in deep misery and thoroughly awaken them, so that they will come out of the dense fog and reject the great red dragon, wake up from their dream and know the essence of the great red dragon and turn their heart completely to God, rise up in the oppression of the forces of darkness and stand in the East of the world, and become the evidence of God’s triumphing. Only thus will God have gained glory.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) Because of the end-time Christ’s work and word, all God’s chosen people in China who were deeply blinded by the great red dragon under its dark rule were conquered by Almighty God’s word. They broke away from the bondage and control of the great red dragon, came before God’s throne, and accepted the watering, supply, pruning, dealing, judgment, chastisement, and all kinds of trials and refinings of Almighty God’s word. In the end, they stood testimony in all sorts of hunting and persecution from the regime of the great red dragon. Therefore, they have become the specimens and models that God makes in China through his end-time work, and they are the powerful evidence of God’s overcoming satan’s evil forces.

Since Almighty God’s end-time work was carried out in Mainland China, the great red dragon has never stopped its persecution on the Church of Almighty God. In order to abolish God’s end-time work, turn China into a region without God, and achieve its purpose of controlling mankind forever, it stops at nothing to disturb and damage and resists God’s work with all its might. Not only does it spread all kinds of rumors and fallacies to attack and frame God’s chosen people, but it also uses various base means to persecute them, such as investigating openly and inquiring secretly, monitoring their phones, shadowing in secret, arresting secretly, searching the house and imposing a fine, extorting confessions by tortures, threatening and tempting, damaging body and mind…. As a result, countless God’s chosen people are arrested, beaten, or put into the labor camp, and some of them are even maimed or killed. The great red dragon attempts to force God’s chosen people to reject and betray God through this, so that they will be ruled, enslaved, and trampled by it forever. However, God is almighty, and God’s wisdom is always based on satan’s schemes. In the cruel tortures of the great red dragon, God’s chosen people suffered all kinds of miseries and torments and were even at the death’s door many times, but they saw clearly the great red dragon’s reactionary evil substance and devilish face of running counter to right principles and going against Heaven, bitterly hated it in their heart, and thus had the will to stand testimony for God even at the cost of their life. In the end, they overcame the weakness in their flesh and transcended the bondage of death by relying on the enlightenment and guidance of God’s word and the strength God gave them, and they bore resounding testimonies for God before the great red dragon by the true faith and the heart of loving God, so that satan was completely ashamed and defeated. Just as Almighty God says, “The overcomer God speaks about is one who, under the influence of satan and the siege of satan, that is, in the forces of darkness, can still stand the testimony, and can still keep his original faith and keep his faithfulness to God. In any case, you can still keep your pure heart before God and keep your true love for God. Thus you have stood the testimony before God. This is the overcomer God speaks about.”(from The Word Appears in the Flesh) These overcomers are a group of people built up and perfected by God’s word under the dark oppression of the great red dragon.

In man’s eyes, they are only a group of ordinary people, but under the watering and supply of Almighty God’s word, they understand some truths and have the faith and will to break away from satan’s influence of darkness and follow God to walk the right way of human life. Therefore, in the inhuman tortures and afflictions of the great red dragon and in the dark prison, they still prayed to and relied on God and upheld justice and never gave in by the strength bestowed by God’s word. Although some were afflicted until they were at their last gasp, their will to pursue the truth became firmer; although some were at their beautiful age, they gave off the fragrance of love and lived a regretless youth in the face of the devil’s tortures and imprisonment; although some suffered persecution and tribulation and underwent the devil’s affliction, they even more felt the preciousness of God’s grace and their heart of loving God became stronger; on the way of tribulation, some were severely afflicted yet received the enlightenment, encouragement, and guidance of God’s word, so their heart was awakened and they wrote a paean of life; some rose up in the dark oppression and tasted the supernaturalness and greatness of God’s life power at times of danger; some were rescued from the desperate situations by relying on God, felt that God’s love is boundless, and found the pillar of life in God’s word…. Obviously, although this group of God’s chosen people who overcame satan under God’s leading lost fleshly enjoyment, they gained the truth, got released in spirit, and lived out a meaningful life; although they went through wind and rain and underwent many hardships, they bore strong and resounding testimonies for God before satan and became the overcomers God built up and perfected in tribulation. This fully fulfills Almighty God’s word, “In the past, it was said that God would gain from the East a group of overcomers, who had come out of the great tribulation. …”

After reading this book, you may have such a notion: Isn’t God almighty? How can he allow the regime of the great red dragon to afflict his chosen people like this? If you have such a thought, it means that you don’t know God’s almightiness and wisdom, for only those who don’t know God’s work will view things according to the outward phenomena and man’s notions and imaginations. In that case, they can never know the true result of God’s work. Almighty God says, “When I formally begin to work, all men move as I move, so that men in the entire universe are all busy along with me, and the entire universe is a scene of ‘jubilation.’ All men are caused to move by me. Thus, even the great red dragon is ordered about by me so much so that it is busy rushing around and at a loss what to do, doing service for my work. Though unwilling in heart, it cannot act according to its own will; so it has no choice but to ‘let me manipulate.’ In all my plan, the great red dragon serves as a setoff to me and becomes my ‘enemy,’ but it is also my ‘servant.’ Thus, I am never loose in my ‘requirements’ for it. So, the work of my incarnation at the last stage is to be completed in ‘its home.’ In this way, it can be better utilized to do service for me. Through this I will conquer it and accomplish my plan.” “God will perfect some people through some works of the evil spirits so that these people can thoroughly know the acts of the devil and all people can truly know their ‘ancestor.’ Only thus can people break away from it completely. Not only will they be caused to reject its offspring but they will also be made to reject their ancestor. This is God’s original intention in thoroughly defeating the great red dragon, which is to make all people know the true face of the great red dragon, and to peel off its mask completely and let people see its true face. Only this is what God wants to achieve, is God’s ultimate purpose in doing so many works on earth, and is what God wants to do on all people. This is maneuvering all things to serve for God.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) Since God started his end-time work in China, he has maneuvered all matters and all things to serve for his end-time work. Without exception, the great red dragon also becomes a setoff and a service-doer in God’s work. Through its resistance and disturbance, God wants all people to know the true face of the great red dragon and thus completely break with it and get released from its bondage. God wants man to see through the devil’s deeds and rebel against the great red dragon completely. Then what is the relationship between it and man’s being saved? As everyone knows, the great red dragon runs counter to right principles, goes against Heaven, and is extremely reactionary. In order to turn China into a region without God and fully keep Chinese people under its dark rule, it always confounds black and white, wantonly advocates atheism and materialism, and spreads all kinds of fallacies and evil teachings. In this way, it corrodes man’s thoughts, blinds man’s heart, and hinders man from coming before God to receive God’s salvation, thus achieving its purpose of controlling man forever and devouring man. If man wants to awaken from the blinding of the great red dragon, break away from its arbitrary oppression, and turn to God completely, he has to experience the persecution of the great red dragon. Only in this way can he see clearly its devilish face of being evil, brutal, mean, and shameless and hate and curse it from his heart, pledge his life to break with it, completely break away from satan’s forces, and follow and obey God to walk the bright way of human life of pursuing the truth to be saved. It can be seen that God uses the great red dragon as a setoff and a service-doer so that God’s chosen people can understand the truth, gain discernment, and stand testimony for God, and thus be saved and perfected in the end. The way of God’s working is really so good! God uses the frenzied persecution of the great red dragon to do service for perfecting God’s chosen people so that they can know God’s righteous disposition, wisdom, and almightiness, and see that God’s work is so practical, thus uttering true praises to God from their heart! Just as Almighty God says, “Satan, in my plan, always follows in my wake at every step, and it, as a setoff to my wisdom, always tries various devices to disturb my original plan. However, will I yield to its schemes? In the heavens and the earth, what is not my serving object? Is satan’s scheme an exception? This is just the joint point of my wisdom and the wonderfulness of my deeds and is the principle of practice in my entire management plan. In the age of the building up of the kingdom, I still do not avoid satan’s schemes and continue to do the work I want to do. I have chosen satan’s doings from all things in the universe as my setoff. Isn’t this my wisdom? Isn’t this just the wonderfulness of my work? When the Age of the Kingdom starts, all things in and under heaven are changing tremendously and are rejoicing and jubilating. Isn’t this so with you? Who does not feel as sweet as honey in his heart? Who is not bursting with joy in his heart? Who is not dancing joyfully with his feet and hands? Who does not utter praise from his mouth?” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh)

The book The Overcomers’ Testimonies includes the overcoming testimonies of God’s chosen people in China who have been perfected by God’s word in the frenzied persecution of the great red dragon. The facts prove that God uses the frenzied resistance and persecution of the great red dragon to build up and perfect God’s chosen people and make their life grow. At the same time, God also reveals and eliminates all the wicked people who don’t sincerely believe in God and don’t love the truth. This is sufficient to show that “God’s wisdom is based on satan’s schemes.” God has completely defeated the great red dragon and fully gained glory!

Almighty God says, “The place God’s incarnated flesh is in is just the place where the enemies will perish. China is the first to be demolished, and destroyed by God’s hand, and God will show no mercy to it at all. The maturer the people become, the sooner it proves the great red dragon will collapse. The maturity of the people is the sign of the perishing of the enemies. …” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh) These chosen people of God who stand testimony for God are exactly a group of people who bear testimony for God when the country of the great red dragon collapses, are the overcoming evidence of God’s warring against satan, and are even more the irrefutable evidence of satan’s being ashamed and defeated. The maturity of the people indicates that the country of the great red dragon has collapsed, God’s work in Mainland China has been concluded with glory, and God has made a group of overcomers and gained glory! Now God’s chosen people, shouldering the holy mission, are testifying God’s work and proclaiming God’s holy name to every nation and every place in the world. God’s name will soon be great in the whole universe, the whole mankind will become subject before God and worship the incarnated Almighty God, and the kingdom of earth will surely become the kingdom of Christ, which is a fact God is about to accomplish!

August 16, 2014

From  The Overcomers’ Testimonies

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