In May of 1990, a friend preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus to my wife and me because of our long-term living with sickness. After accepting His salvation, we attended meetings actively and pursued zealously. And before long, we all became well. From then on, we had more faith to sacrifice and spend for the Lord.
On one evening of May 2008, I returned home from factory to attend meeting. When I arrived home, my wife told me: “The Lord Jesus we have yearned for so long has come back. Tonight, a brother is coming to testify about God’s new work for us.” At her words, I said seriously: “The senior preacher often emphasize that it is the last days and there will be many false Christs to deceive us. So we must be cautious of those preaching God’s work in the last days. Did you forget it? You often preach to brothers and sisters that we shouldn’t accept other ways easily, how could you let the stranger come to our home to preach God’s new work? The Lord Jesus said: ‘Then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect’ (Matthew 24:23–24). The Lord Jesus has reminded us clearly that false Christs and false prophets would deceive us in the last days. How could you forget it? So foolish you are!”
After hearing my complaints, my wife counseled me very calmly: “It’s true that there will be false Christs appearing in the last days to deceive people. But if we don’t hear or contact all preaching God’s work in the last days absolutely, how could we possibly meet the returned Lord? Having believed in the Lord for many years, we have been looking forward to the Lord’s return every day. Since someone has come to preach that the Lord has come back, we should take the initiative to seek and investigate it. Only by doing so can we welcome the return of the Lord!”
When I heard my wife’s advice, I said impatiently: “Stop it! Go to cook dinner! There is a meeting tonight!” Seeing my firm attitude, my wife didn’t say any other words. Yet I couldn’t calm down and I thought: How could my wife be so impetuous? The Lord’s coming is a great matter. Without discussing with me, she allowed the preacher to come to our home. If what he preaches isn’t the return of the Lord Jesus, won’t we be betraying the Lord? What should I do? That’s it! I must tell them not to come again. Thus we won’t be betrayers of the Lord! But then I changed my mind and thought: It is not correct either. The Bible also says, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2). Ah! Forget it! I’d better listen first.
When the evening for meeting came and we just finished our prayers, Sister Wang in our church came to our home with a brother. As soon as they came in, Sister Wang introduced the brother to us happily: “Brothers and sisters, we have believed in the Lord and been waiting for the Lord’s return for many years. Now the Lord Jesus has already come back. Today I invite Brother Li to fellowship God’s work in the last days with us.” At the same time, Brother Li was greeting us with a smile. After Sister Wang’s words, brothers and sisters began to discuss with each other. I was so unhappy but greeted them reluctantly and asked them to sit down.
Brother Li said smilingly: “Brothers and Sisters, thank God! We can get together tonight, this is prepared by God! As we all know, now is already the last days, and the biblical prophecies of the Lord’s return have been fulfilled one after another. What do you think of the subject of the return of the Lord?”
Being somewhat unhappy, I said: “There is no doubt that the Lord will return in the last days. But in the terms of the coming of the Lord, the Lord Jesus reminded us, ‘Then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect’ (Matthew 24:23–24). The Lord Jesus told us clearly that false Christs and false prophets would come to deceive people during the last days. Then we should be careful and cautious lest we should be betrayers of the Lord. What’s more, there are a few persons having followed false Christs. So we must be careful and cautious in preparing for the return of the Lord. The only thing we can do is awaiting the Lord to come and take us to the kingdom of heaven.”
Sister Zhang said: “It’s true! Certainly we should be cautious in preparing for the Lord’s return. Because the Lord Jesus said, ‘And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many’ (Matthew 24:10–11). From the Lord’s words, we can know that in the last days many believers in the Lord will be offended and betray one another. Also, there will be false prophets deceiving people. So we can’t be hasty, we’d better be careful and cautious.”
Brother Li said: “Brothers and sisters, as we prepare for the coming of the Lord, it is right for us to have a careful and cautious heart. But we should be clear about the Lord’s Jesus’s intention in these words. If we think the meaning of these words is to let us guard against false Christs and not seek and investigate the work of true Christ, it is not after the Lord’s will. Because the Lord Jesus once said: ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me’ (Revelation 3:20). From these words, we can know that the Lord requires us to know how to identify the voice of God. And the one who hears God’s voice and opens the door can sup with Him. Now, Almighty God, the return of the Lord Jesus in the last days, has expressed truth and carried out a stage of judgment and chastisement work. It is the Lord that is knocking at our doors. Only after we have understood how to discern the true Christ from false Ones, and dispelled the fear of being deceived by false Christs at root, can we not be deceived by false Christs.”
Sister Wang said: “Yeah! If we don’t want to be deceived by false Christs, we have to distinguish the differences between the true Christ and false Christs. In this way, regardless of how cunning the false Christs are, and how many brilliant impersonations of God they do, we won’t be deceived.”
Hearing that, I thought: What they are saying is kind of reasonable. Someone once preached Almighty God’s work in the last days to us many times. But being scared of being deceived, I closed my heart tightly and dared not listen. Today, Brother Li preaches that only those who can discern true Christ from many false ones cannot be deceived. Then how exactly should I distinguish them? I’d better listen more, and see what they will fellowship.
My wife said: “As a matter of fact, there was someone preaching Almighty God’s work in the last days to us before. But being afraid of being deceived by false Christs, we dared not listen. And we just waited for the Lord to receive us. However, how many years have passed, we have not seen the Lord’s appearance. It turns out that guarding passively is also not right. Yet we can’t distinguish the differences between the true Christ and the false. So, we want Brother Li to fellowship the truth with us about how to recognize the true Christ. It is of the utmost importance to us in investigating the true way.”
Brother Li said with a slight smile: “Brothers and sisters, the question you raised is critical. It involves the major issue of us believers in the Lord—whether we can welcome the return of the Lord. If we don’t understand this aspect of the truth, and are deceived by false Christs, it will be in vain even if we follow God for life. Actually, if we want to differentiate between the true Christ and the false, we must first understand what Christ is. Let me read a passage of Almighty God’s words. Almighty God says: ‘God become flesh is called Christ, and so the Christ that can give people the truth is called God. There is nothing excessive about this, for He possesses the essence of God, and possesses God’s disposition, and wisdom in His work, that are unattainable by man. Those who call themselves Christ, yet cannot do the work of God, are frauds. Christ is not merely the manifestation of God on earth, but also the particular flesh assumed by God as He carries out and completes His work among man. This flesh cannot be supplanted by just any man, but is a flesh that can adequately bear God’s work on earth, and express the disposition of God, and well represent God, and provide man with life. Sooner or later, those who impersonate Christ will all fall, for although they claim to be Christ, they possess none of the essence of Christ. And so I say that the authenticity of Christ cannot be defined by man, but is answered and decided by God Himself’ (“Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). From Almighty God’s words, we can see that Christ is the incarnate God. That is to say, the incarnate God is Christ. So, to distinguish the true Christ from the false ones, we should first know the substance of Christ. There are substantial differences between the true Christ and false ones. And the primary ones are as follows: First, God’s incarnation flesh is a particular flesh, and is His own flesh. God’s incarnate flesh is entirely different from the flesh of man. And this flesh has never been corrupted by Satan. Second, it is Christ that can bring His work to be done, end the old age and usher in a new age, and bring the ways to practice to people. Just as when the Lord Jesus came, in order to redeem mankind, He personally became flesh, was crucified for mankind and redeemed man back by His blood. From then on, man’s sins were forgiven. While, neither can the false Christs conclude the old age and usher in a new age, nor can they do God’s work. They can only and imitate some work God did. Third, Christ become flesh can supply the life of people, express word to supply what people need for their life, and replenish people’s deficiencies. Just as the word the Lord became flesh expressed, all of them were in accordance with people’s needs at that time. For example: “love others as ourselves, love our enemies”, “be tolerant and patient, forgive others seventy times seven times”, and so on. We are keeping His teachings until this day. While the false Christs can’t express the truth, nor do they supply what people need for their life. And the false Christs have no truth but evil in their essence, much less supply the life of people. So the authenticity of Christ cannot be defined by us man, but is determined by God’s substance. If He is Christ, He is able to express truth to supply people, and bring people hope and light. If he is evil spirit, what he reveals is indeed evil, and it is to afflict and devour people.”
Hearing God’s words and his fellowship, I couldn’t help but feel shocked. I thought: Having believed in the Lord for many years, I only called the Lord Jesus Christ, but I have never known what Christ is. Today, Almighty God’s words have interpreted clearly what Christ is. So the incarnate God is Christ. And he fellowshiped the truth about how to tell the true Christ from the false ones so clearly. Why haven’t I known before? It shows that Almighty God’s word is out of the ordinary!
Brother Li continued his fellowship: “In fact, pertaining to how to distinguish the false Christs, the Lord Jesus has told us the manifestations of false Christs’ deception of people long ago.”
Upon hearing this, I looked up at Brother Li instantly and thought: The Lord Jesus has told us? Why haven’t I known? I have read the Bible many times, but why haven’t I found it?
Brother Li looked at me and said smilingly, “The Lord Jesus said: ‘For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect’ (Matthew 24:24). The words of the Lord show us that false Christs and false prophets mainly rely on performing signs and wonders to deceive people. That is to say, any that claim to be Christ and show many signs and wonders in the last days are surely the false Christs. This is the primary manifestation of false Christs’ deception of people. The Lord Jesus reminded us not to follow them because of the signs and wonders they show. From these, we can know that the Lord will never show signs and wonders again when He returns. But it doesn’t mean that all those who preach the second coming of the Lord are testifying false Christs. We can’t twist the Lord’s words and fall into Satan’s trap. The Lord Jesus has told us the false Christs’ characteristics. Then let’s have a look at what Almighty God says about this! Almighty God says: ‘If, during the present day, there is to emerge a person who is able to display signs and wonders, cast out demons, heal the sick, and perform many miracles, and if this person claims that they are Jesus who has come, then this would be a counterfeit produced by evil spirits which imitate Jesus. Remember this! God does not repeat the same work. Jesus’ stage of work has already been completed, and God will never again undertake that stage of work. … In the notions of man, God must always display signs and wonders, must always heal the sick and cast out demons, and must always be just like Jesus. Yet this time, God is not like that at all. If, during the last days, God still displayed signs and wonders, and still cast out demons and healed the sick—if He did exactly the same as Jesus—then God would be repeating the same work, and the work of Jesus would have no significance or value. Thus, God carries out one stage of work in every age. Once each stage of His work has been completed, it is soon imitated by evil spirits, and after Satan begins to follow on the heels of God, God changes to a different method. Once God has completed a stage of His work, it is imitated by evil spirits. You must be clear about this’ (“Knowing God’s Work Today” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). From Almighty God’s words, we can know that God doesn’t repeat the same work! Just as when the Lord Jesus came to work, the Age of Grace was begun and the Age of Law was ended. And He did the work of redeeming all of mankind and saved man from sin. In the last days, Almighty God has come and brought to the end the Age of Grace and opened up the Age of Kingdom. Instead of repeating the work that has been done by the Lord Jesus, He has carried out the work that is uplifted and deepened on the basis of the Lord Jesus’s redemption work, expressed the truth to save man and resolve the root of man’s sinning and man’s satanic corrupt disposition thoroughly, so that man can be saved completely out of Satan’s influence of darkness and be gained by God. While both the false Christs and false prophets are the evil spirits claiming to be Christ. They are incapable of doing the work of starting a new age and concluding the old age. Also, they have no truth within them and can’t express the truth. What they can do only are imitating the work the Lord Jesus has carried out and showing some supernatural signs and wonders to deceive those who lack recognition. Yet like the signs and wonders shown by the Lord Jesus, such as bringing Lazarus back from the dead, feeding five thousand with just five loaves of bread and two fish or rebuking the wind and sea, the false Christs and the evil spirits are not able to imitate them at all. And those are totally beyond them. The essence of the false Christs is wicked, ugly and base, they are evil spirits, and they have no reality of truth at all, so they deceive man only by showing signs and wonders. And sometimes they admonish man and deceive man by imitating the tones of God’s words and simple words once spoken by God. These are their habitual tricks. So we should learn to discern in case of being deceived.”
Brothers and sisters were talking in a low voice …
When I heard this, I thought: Brother Li has fellowshiped the truth about how to tell the true Christ from the false ones so clearly. So the essence of true Christ is God. He can do the work of ushering in a new age and concluding the old age. While the false Christs are evil spirits, they are incapable of doing this work. The true Christ can express truth to save man, while the false Christs have no truth and they can’t express the truth. What they can do only is to imitate the work the Lord Jesus has done. Oh! So clear his fellowship is! Is it really wrong that I have been daring not investigate Almighty God’s work in the last days for fear of being deceived by the false Christs? So is Almighty God the return of the Lord Jesus? If He isn’t, who can state the truth about discernment between the true Christ and false ones so thoroughly? But when I thought what I had upheld these years was wrong, I had an unspeakable sense of upset and couldn’t accept this fact.
Hence, I told the Brother: “Brother Li, it’s too late and I have to go to work tomorrow, let’s stop here for today! I’ll take God’s work in the last days seriously. If I am free, we can continue!” Brother Li said smilingly: “Yeah all right.” After they left, I tossed and turned in bed and could not fall asleep. Myriads of thoughts welled up in my mind: Has the Lord Jesus truly come back? It relates to the major issue of my ending and destination. If my belief is wrong, won’t it be in vain? But Brother Li has fellowshiped the truth about how to distinguish between the true Christ and the false ones so clearly, and the words read by Brother Li can’t be spoken by ordinary people. Is Almighty God truly the Lord Jesus we have been longing for? In confusion, I prayed to the Lord: “Lord, Brother Li said that You have come back. I don’t know whether it is right. I am so confused. If Almighty God is Your return truly, I am willing to investigate, and may You lead me!”
The next day, I took the Bible to the factory and spent all my spare time in looking for the scriptures about the Lord’s coming. I read these words in the Bible, “The kingdom of heaven is like to a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatted calves are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise” (Matthew 22:2–5). “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” (Revelation 1:8). “Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8). “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come” (John 16:12–13). From these verses, I could see that the Lord would come again, prepare grand feast for us and guide us into all truth. Does this fulfill that God is to do the work of word in the last days which is testified by the Church of Almighty God? Is Almighty God’s word really the whole truth the Lord would guide us into? Yet how could I verify that Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus? Then, I came before the Lord and prayed to Him: “Lord! May You lead me and guide me! I don’t know how to confirm whether what they preached is Your return. May You open the eyes of my spirit, so that I’ll know what to do!” After prayer, I saw the words speaking of “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” in Revelation 2:7, 2:11, 2:17 and 2:29. Also, I thought of the words in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” From these words, I could see that the Lord requires us to hear God’s voice. And those who hear God’s voice and open the door can feast with Him. Is the truth Almighty God expresses during the work of judgment really “what the Spirit says to the churches”? It seems that if I want to discern whether Almighty God is the return of the Lord, reading Almighty God’s word is the only way. So I decided to investigate Almighty God’s work in the last days carefully!
One day, after dinner, my wife advised: “Sister Wang has some hymns of The Church of Almighty God. Let’s go to listen.” I responded to her without thinking: “Ok!” After we arrived at Sister Wang’s home, she played the hymns for us fervently. I asked her curiously: “Sister Wang, do you have the book of the Church of Almighty God? I wanna read it!” She handed me the book happily and I received the book with my hands. Looking at “The Scroll Opened by the Lamb” written on the surface of the book, I thought: Is it the little scroll mentioned in Revelation? I couldn’t wait to open God’s word. God says: “Today, God has done new work. You may not be able to accept these words, and they may seem odd to you, but I would advise you not to expose your naturalness, for only those who truly hunger and thirst for righteousness before God can obtain the truth, and only those who are truly devout can be enlightened and guided by Him. Results are obtained by seeking the truth with sober tranquility, not with quarrel and contention. When I say that ‘today, God has done new work,’ I am referring to the matter of God’s returning to the flesh. Perhaps these words do not bother you; perhaps you despise them; or even perhaps they are of great interest to you. Whatever the case, I hope that all those who truly yearn for God to appear can face this fact and give it their careful scrutiny, rather than jump to conclusions about it; that is what a wise person should do” (Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh). Almighty God’s words remind us that we’d better seek and investigate God’s new work calmly with a heart of hungering and thirsting for righteousness, so that we can be enlightened and guided by God. It’s quite true! For God’s work, we can’t get anything unless we consider it carefully with a devout heart. Hence I continued. Almighty God says: “He who is God incarnate shall possess the essence of God, and He who is God incarnate shall possess the expression of God. Since God becomes flesh, He shall bring forth the work He intends to do, and since God becomes flesh, He shall express what He is, and shall be able to bring the truth to man, bestow life upon him, and point the way for him. Flesh that does not have the essence of God is decidedly not the incarnate God; of this there is no doubt. If man intends to inquire into whether it is God’s incarnate flesh, then he must corroborate this from the disposition He expresses and the words He speaks. Which is to say, to corroborate whether or not it is God’s incarnate flesh, and whether or not it is the true way, one must discriminate on the basis of His essence. And so, in determining whether it is the flesh of God incarnate, the key lies in His essence (His work, His utterances, His disposition, and many other aspects), rather than external appearance. If man scrutinizes only His external appearance, and as a result overlooks His essence, this shows that man is benighted and ignorant” (Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh). Reading this, I felt brightened immediately. And I thought of the Lord Jesus’s words in the Bible, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Almighty God also says, “Since God becomes flesh, He shall be able to bring the truth to man, bestow life upon him, and point the way for him” (Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh). So Almighty God really is the return of the Lord Jesus. The words are said by one God. No one else could say these words apart from God. It’s really God’s voice! From then on, I opened my heart to God, and didn’t fear any more.
After a period of seeking and investigating, not only did I understand the truth about distinguishing between the true Christ and the false, but I understood the differences between following God and following man, the differences between theoretical reasoning and reality, and the differences between good behavior and dispositional change. I was certain that Almighty God is the return of the Lord Jesus. I was so excited for my hope that God would return had finally been realized. After accepting Almighty God’s work in the last days, I have been attending meetings actively and brought the brothers and sisters in our area before Almighty God to accept God’s salvation! All the glory be to Almighty God!
Source From: Find the shepherd