Awaken in God’s Discipline
April 21, 2018
By Liu Jie, China
Liu Jie believed in the Lord Jesus because of illness, and after her recovery, she preached the Lord’s holy name everywhere and shepherded brothers and sisters. When she saw the scripture, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), she resolved secretly that whatever environments she encountered, she would adhere to the Lord Jesus’s name and swear on her life to follow Him until the end and she would never betray the Lord!
At a co-workers meeting, the leader seriously said: “Brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus is the only God. Only if we hold on to the Lord Jesus’s name, can we be saved to enter into the kingdom of heaven. This is unquestionable. However, now there’s a sect called the Eastern Lightning, which testifies that the Lord Jesus has come to the earth and is doing the new work, and says that God has changed His name. Humph, how come the Lord will have a new name. It is absolutely impossible. In order to prevent them from stealing sheep from our church, we must take responsibility for defending the Lord’s way and protecting the flock. In addition, I heard that the Eastern Lightning specially steals good sheep from all denominations and sects and so we must be careful.” The co-workers raised their eyebrows at this and started talking. Instantly Liu Jie’s heart was also in tumult: In the Bible it says, “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Who, apart from the Lord Jesus, can be so mighty and steal leading sheep and good sheep from all sects? Liu Jie felt confused, but due to what the leader said, she couldn’t but be nervous and on guard. At the crucial time, she could never betray God, must defend the Lord’s way and protect the flock, and could never allow people from the Eastern Lightning to snatch away brothers and sisters. Or else, she wouldn’t have any way to face the Lord.
In the following days, in every gathering point where she went to, Liu Jie not only expounded the Bible knowledge, but preached that the Eastern Lightning wasn’t good according to what the leader said. She told the brothers and sisters never to be deceived by the people of the Eastern Lightning, but to pray for the Lord and curse them, and that they must firmly adhere to the Lord’s name, and never come in contact with them lest they be abandoned by the Lord. What’s worse, she many times obstructed an old sister who was seeking and investigating the Eastern Lightning. At last, the old sister had no choice but to return the books of the Eastern Lighting.
Misfortunes Happened to Her Family in Succession
Liu Jie’s husband was very healthy all the time, but one day, he was suddenly laid up and was diagnosed as leukemia. His unexpected and incurable disease gave her whole family a deadly strike and thus they were all immersed in sorrow. Although Liu Jie felt unspeakably grieved and pained and was at a loss about why such a misfortune came upon her family when she loyally defended the way of the Lord, she still believed her protecting the sheep flock for the Lord was certainly right; perhaps, the thing was the trial sent by the Lord and He was testing her loyalty, she thought. Therefore, Liu Jie was more active than before. When she gave sermons every week, she especially emphasized that the brothers and sisters mustn’t contact strangers or investigate the Eastern Lightning. Very soon, her “loyalty” of defending the Lord’s way received the results. Most of the brothers and sisters were all willing to listen to her and all promised to reject all the other preachings about the Lord’s assuming a new name when He returns.
Having gone out to the churches, Liu Jie got rather comforted within her. As she was riding home on a bike, she felt very relieved, thinking: The Lord’s little sheep all have been protected in the pen; I no longer need to worry that my brothers and sisters will be snatched away by the people from the Eastern Lightning. Thus, I can give an account to the Lord when He returns. While she was thinking happily, her bike suddenly hit a piece of cement board, and then she fell down together with her bike. Her left leg was scratched by a steel bar on the cement board and instantly bled unceasingly. She went to hospital and took seven stitches. Afterward, before she could reflect on herself, once in a market, her right leg hit the rear-wheel brake of a motorbike, her right knee was injured, and she took twelve stitches. One evening after not a few days, she went out for a meeting by bike. On the way, she again fell down and consequently, her right wrist fractured.
Facing these successive calamities, Liu Jie couldn’t help having fear in her heart and at the same time, she felt extremely confused. Since she believed in the Lord, she had been very loyal to the Lord; no matter whether it was windy or rainy, no matter how busy she was with her farming work, she could fellowship on time with brothers and sisters and bustle around the church, and moreover, the Lord’s grace and protection always accompanied her. However, from the day when the leader asked her to do her utmost to defend the way of the Lord, protect the brothers and sisters and oppose the Eastern Lightning, why did misfortunes happen time and time again to her family? Wasn’t it right that she opposed the Eastern Lightning to defend the Lord’s way? But in case the sheep flock were snatched away, how would she give an account to the Lord? What after all was the will of the Lord? Liu Jie was pondering …
Searching Answers in the Lord’s Words
In darkness and helplessness, Liu Jie, tears streaming down her face, sought and prayed to God. Then she read a scripture “For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and whips every son whom he receives” (Hebrews 12:6). She seemed to have a sudden realization: Those who the Lord teaches are His loving sons and it is the Lord’s love that has come to me. Since this is the Lord’s discipline, it’s certain that I have done something wrong. Where was I wrong? All that I have done is for the Lord. These brothers and sisters are all redeemed through the Lord’s precious blood; also, for so many years I have traveled a lot and preached many sermons, and I want to be a loyal servant of the Lord and rely on the Lord to protect them from being snatched away by the Eastern Lightning. In this way, when the Lord returns I will give the flock to Him personally. Isn’t doing like this right? Am I really wrong? She called out to God time after time, longing for God’s manifestation.
Seeking the Truth
One day, Liu Jie came across a preacher in her relative’s home and felt the fellowship of the preacher was full of light and enlightenment. In the conversation, she said out her confusion: “In the Bible it is clearly recorded, ‘Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12). As long as we hold on to the name of the Lord Jesus, we can be saved. However, now it’s preached that the Lord has come back and that He has taken a new name and is doing new work. How can this be?”
The preacher with a smile took out a book and said, “To understand the question whether the Lord will take a new name when He returns in the last days, we should first know why God takes on different names in different ages. There are the records of this aspect in a book, ‘You should know that God originally had no name. He only took on one, or two, or many names because He had work to do and had to manage mankind’ (‘The Vision of God’s Work (3)’) ‘“Jehovah” represents the Age of Law, and is the honorific for the God worshiped by the people of Israel. “Jesus” represents the Age of Grace, and is the name of the God of all those who were redeemed during the Age of Grace. If man still longs for the arrival of Jesus the Savior during the last days, and still expects Him to arrive in the image He bore in Judea, then the entire six-thousand-year management plan would stop in the Age of Redemption, and would be incapable of progressing any further. The last days, furthermore, would never arrive, and the age would never be brought to an end. That is because Jesus the Savior is only for the redemption and salvation of mankind. I took the name of Jesus for the sake of all the sinners in the Age of Grace, and it is not the name by which I shall bring the whole of mankind to an end. Although Jehovah, Jesus, and the Messiah all represent My Spirit, these names only denote the different ages in My management plan, and do not represent Me in My entirety” (‘The Savior Has Already Returned Upon a “White Cloud”’). From these words, it can be clearly seen: God is the Creator and He originally has no name. Only because of the need of the work of God’s managing and saving man, does God take more names; moreover, God will change a new name every time He opens a stage of new work. Just as in the Age of Law, God took on the name ‘Jehovah,’ which represents God’s work in that age and His dispositions of majesty, wrath, curse and mercy He expressed to man. In the Age of Grace, God took on the name ‘Jesus,’ which means He is able to redeem man. The name mainly represents God’s disposition of love and mercy and also represents His work in the Age of Redemption. Obviously, the name God takes in each age has its representative significance and represents God’s work of the age and the dispositions He expresses. In the Age of Grace, if the Lord hadn’t been called Jesus but still Jehovah when He came, then God’s work would have stopped in the Age of Law, we corrupt mankind would never have received God’s redemption and finally we would inevitably have been condemned and punished because of offending laws. Similarly, in the last days, if God were still called Jesus, then we corrupt mankind would only be able to be forgiven of sins but could never be cleansed and enter into God’s kingdom. It is because, as for us who have been redeemed, although our sins have been forgiven, our sinful nature within is deep-rooted and we still can sin often and aren’t fully obtained by God. Thus, in order to utterly save us from sins, the Lord must do a stage of work of casting out sin and cleansing. So, God must have a new name and bring new work. About this aspect, there are already prophecies in the Bible. Revelation 1:8 states, ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, said the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.’ Also 11:17 states ‘Saying, We give you thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which are, and were, and are to come; because you have taken to you your great power, and have reigned.’ In Revelation there are still many scriptures which all foretell that God will take a new name in the last days and the name is the Almighty, that is, Almighty God.”
After hearing the sister’s fellowship, Liu Jie came to a sudden realization. As it turned out, the Lord Jesus only did the work of redemption. Our wanting to be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven still needs the Lord to do a stage of cleansing work, that is, not only do we need to accept the Lord Jesus’s name, but we need to accept the work He will do when He returns and His new name; only in this way, can our sins be cleansed and can we enter the kingdom of heaven. Liu Jie considered these chapters in Revelation read by the preacher. She had ever read and pondered over them, but why had she not gained these illuminations? This fellowship reminded her that in Revelation, the name “the Almighty” is indeed recorded in many places, and that Revelation 3:12 clearly states: “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.” Here, God’s new name is clearly mentioned. Apparently Almighty God, Jehovah and Jesus should be different names taken by one God in three different ages. Almighty God who the Eastern Lightning bears witness to is quite possibly the Lord Jesus’s return. Liu Jie had never imagined the Lord Jesus really has returned and just is “Almighty God” she had been opposing day and night. Her remorseful tears streaming unceasingly down her face, she regretted that because of her foolishness and ignorance, she blindly listened to what the leader said and held on to the biblical conceptions without the thirsting and searching heart, so that she actually had done such a lot of evil things to oppose the Lord. Thinking of those misfortunes she had encountered, Liu Jie couldn’t help feeling terrified. So she continuously prayed to God within and repented, “Oh, the Lord! I’m too rebellious and arrogant. If Almighty God really is Your return, I will really have done evil and opposed You. Oh, God! Could I still get Your mercy and forgiveness?”
Judgment of God’s Word Made Her Feel Both Remorse and Hatred
At night, Liu Jie took the preacher, the sister, to her home, and continued to explore the issue about the Lord’s return. Liu Jie opened the book given by the sister and saw the words in it: “You believe in God, and so you must accept His words and obey His way. You must not just think of gaining blessings without receiving the truth, or accepting the provision of life. Christ comes during the last days so that all those who truly believe in Him may be provided with life. His work is for the sake of concluding the old age and entering the new one, and is the path that must be taken by all those who would enter the new age. … if you oppose Christ of the last days, and deny Him, then there is no one who can bear the consequences on your behalf. Furthermore, from this day onward you will not have another chance to gain the approval of God; even if you try to redeem yourself, you will never again behold the face of God. For what you oppose is not a man, what you deny is not some puny being, but Christ. Are you aware of this consequence? You have not made a small mistake, but committed a heinous crime. And so I advise everyone not to bare your fangs before the truth, or make careless criticisms, for only the truth can bring you life, and nothing except the truth can allow you to be reborn and behold the face of God” (“Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life”). These stern words, like a sharp double-edged sword, stung Liu Jie’s heart. She felt these words are from the Lord’s lips and stand for God’s disposition of majesty, wrath and tolerance of offense. Liu Jie recalled why time and time again of calamities happened to her. It was not because the Lord didn’t love or have mercy on her; on the contrary, it was because she believed in the Lord yet always held on to the Lord’s name and lived in conceptions and imagination, so that she opposed and condemned the Lord’s new work, even prayed and cursed the people of the Eastern Lightning, and crazily sealed off the church to bind and hinder brothers and sisters from accepting the new name of the Lord’s return. She had long ago offended God’s disposition. If she lived in the Age of Law, she would have long been struck down by God. Because what she denied and opposed is not a man, but Christ of the last days, God Himself, she had committed a heinous crime. Although those who preached the gospel to her were average brothers and sisters, they were carrying out God’s will; however, she believed in God but not knew God. She didn’t seek humbly or hunger and thirst for righteousness, but instead blindly believed the leader’s lies, blindly denying and opposing God’s work of the last days. For this reason, many brothers and sisters lost the good chance to meet with the Lord. She had really done all kinds of evil and should be punished. Thinking back to the scenes of her opposing God’s work, Liu Jie felt endless remorse. During many years of believing in the Lord, she had been bitterly expecting Him to return, but when He came back and sent brothers and sisters to knock at her door, she condemned and opposed God’s work. Just at that moment, feeling both remorse and hatred, she burst out crying with the book in her hands. She bitterly hated her blindness and ignorance, for she believed in God yet didn’t knew Him and finally became a God-resisting Pharisee. She, sobbing, asked the sister, “For someone like me who has done many different evil things, will the Lord still save him?”
Such a Great God’s Grace She Can Never Repay
The sister gently said to Liu Jie, “God’s essence is love. God’s work of the last days is to do all He can to save man. As long as we truly turn toward God to accept the judgment and purification of God’s word, God still will give us a chance to repent.” With these words, the sister opened the book and handed it to Liu Jie. Liu Jie saw God’s word: “During the time of the work of words, many people will expose their rebelliousness and defiance, and they will expose their disobedience toward the incarnate God. But He will not punish all these people because of this…. Each and every person who has accepted the conquering of words will have ample opportunity for salvation. God’s salvation of each one of these people shows them His utmost leniency, meaning that they are showed the utmost tolerance. So long as people turn back from the wrong path, so long as they can repent, then God will give them the opportunity to obtain His salvation. When people first rebel against God, God has no desire to put them to death, but instead does all He can to save them. If someone really has no room for salvation, then God will cast them aside. That God is slow to punish someone is because He wants to save all those who can be saved. He judges, enlightens and guides people only with words, and does not use a rod to put them to death. Using words to save people is the purpose and significance of the final stage of work” (“You Should Put Aside the Blessings of Status and Understand God’s Will for the Salvation of Man”).
While Liu Jie was reading, her grateful tears blurred her vision and she experienced that God’s love is too great. God’s love is boundless; as long as there is a thread of hope, God will do all He can to give mankind the opportunity to be saved. She sincerely thanked God for His mercy on and salvation to her and for bestowing upon her the rarest opportunity to be saved. In the future, she will try her best to pursue the truth and knowledge of God, perform her duty as a creation and bring more souls in darkness before Him to repay His great love.
Source The Internet
Almighty God, Christ of the last days, is the returned Lord Jesus. Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was founded by God personally and is formed by all those who truly follow Almighty God. Only by following Almighty God's work in the last days can we be purified and brought into the wonderful destination. Dear brothers and sisters, have you followed God's footsteps?
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