Almighty God Led Me Onto the Path of Obtaining Cleansing (三)

Almighty God Led Me Onto the Path of Obtaining Cleansing

Ever since I accepted the work of Almighty God in the last days, I read much of the word of God, and gradually understood something about the three stages of God’s work, the mystery of the incarnation, the meaning of God’ names, the inside story of the Bible, and other aspects, and I also had better faith in God. When I had just begun, I was cut to my heart and pained when I read the words about God judging people’s satanic nature. I still had some notions inside me, and thought that God spoke too sternly. Later, I read in the word of God: “In the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, reveal the essence of man, and dissect his words and deeds. 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 the normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and disposition of God, and so on. These words are all focused on the essence of man and his corrupt disposition. In particular, those words that reveal how man spurns God are spoken in regard to how man is an embodiment of Satan and an enemy force against God. When God does the work of judgment, He does not simply make clear the nature of man with just a few words, but carries out revelation, dealing, and pruning over the long term. Such manner of revelation, dealing, and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words but with the truth that man does not possess at all. Only such manner of work is deemed judgment; only through such judgment can man be persuaded, be thoroughly convinced into submission to God, and gain true knowledge of God” (“Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). I understood from the word of God that God’s work of judgment in the last days uses the truth that man does not possess at all to show people’s rebelliousness and corruption and to analyze people’s speech and behavior. Only through God’s long-term exposing, dealing and pruning can they be able to know their corrupt disposition and essential nature little by little, and to see clearly their own corrupt, ugly manners, and reach a state of hating themselves and then transforming themselves. If God did not work in this way, I would not know my own corrupt disposition, so how could I break free of my sinful nature and obtain cleansing? The more I read the word of God, the more I felt that God’s work of judgment was very good! The word of God can indeed cleanse, transform, and save people.

Once, in a meeting, when I was sharing my own experiences where I always would say phrases like “I think,” and “here’s what I think,” a brother pointed out that this habit in my speech was an indication of arrogance. If anyone else had exposed me like this before, I would have argued with and quickly refuted him. But at the time, I chose to be silent without arguing and justifying myself, because I thought of the words of “Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life”: “If you always say ‘I think’ when it comes to any subject you encounter, well, it is best that you let go of your opinions. I urge you to let go of your opinions and seek the truth. Examine the words of God. Your ‘opinion’ is not the truth! … You are too arrogant and self-righteous!  In the face of the truth, you cannot even let go of and deny your own conceptions and illusions. You do not want to obey God in the slightest! Of those that truly seek the truth and truly have a heart that reveres God, who still says ‘I think’? This saying has already been eliminated. This is the revealing of the satanic disposition.” So I felt that what the brother had just said was right, and I had no grounds on which to refute him. What man thinks is true can’t substitute for the truth. Whatever man thinks comes from Satan. If someone always uses the word “I” at the beginning of what they say, this is a state of not having God in one’s heart, and is a mark of not revering God. How arrogant was it of me to always talk like that!

—This article from The Church of Almighty God, Gospel Testimonies,  Perception of Life, Almighty God Led Me Onto the Path of Obtaining Cleansing