By Chu Keen Pong, Malaysia

The next day, March 12, I felt an indistinct sort of hope and ineffable excitement. This was because Susan and I had mostly discussed the Son of man and the incarnation the previous night. Even though I could draw a connection between the Son of man and the incarnation, and I knew in theory that the Lord Jesus is none other than Christ incarnate, I still really wanted to know the answers to questions such as what the incarnation truly is, what Christ is, on what basis one could say with certainty that God has incarnated, and so on. But since Susan and I both had work during the day and were only free in the evenings, I just hoped that time would move a bit more quickly.

Finally, evening came around and we were both online. After logging on, the first question I asked Sister Susan was about the incarnation. She sent me some passages from the words of Almighty God, and asked me to read them. And so I began to read: “The ‘incarnation’ is God’s appearance in the flesh; God works among created mankind in the image of the flesh. So for God to be incarnated, He must first be flesh, flesh with normal humanity; this is the most basic prerequisite. In fact, the implication of God’s incarnation is that God lives and works in the flesh, that God in His very essence becomes flesh, becomes a man” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Essence of the Flesh Inhabited by God). “The incarnate God is called Christ, and Christ is the flesh donned by the Spirit of God. This flesh is unlike any man that is of the flesh. This difference is because Christ is not of flesh and blood; He is the incarnation of the Spirit. He has both a normal humanity and a complete divinity. His divinity is not possessed by any man. His normal humanity sustains all His normal activities in the flesh, while His divinity carries out the work of God Himself” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Essence of Christ Is Obedience to the Will of the Heavenly Father). “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” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Preface). After I had finished reading, I felt that these words explained very clearly the mystery of the incarnation, especially regarding the definition of Christ: “The incarnate God is called Christ.” This was so clear, simple, and eloquent! Even though I had believed in the Lord for more than a decade and knew that Jesus was Christ, I had never understood mysteries of the truth such as why we say that the Lord Jesus is Christ. That day, I learned from those passages of God’s words that Susan had sent me that the incarnate God is actually what we call Christ, and Christ is He in whom God becomes incarnate. I pondered these words very carefully, and the more I pondered them, the brighter my heart became.

Sister Susan then told me that these were the words of Almighty God; she also said that God’s word is the truth, and that only God Himself is able to express the truth. When she mentioned the words “Almighty God,” I was speechless for a moment, though it didn’t come as a complete surprise since I had already guessed that she might belong to The Church of Almighty God. I had also read some rumors online about this church. It was just that I thought of myself as a Christian, and that I had to have a heart of reverence for God, so I did not want to come to any conclusions lightly before understanding the truth of the matter. This was to avoid sinning with my words and offending God. Besides, I had been thinking these last few days: Sister Susan and I had spoken together quite a few times, and even though I could not see who I was talking to, the truth she fellowshiped to me was still able to resolve my confusion. Through our discussions and by reading her posts on her timeline, I felt that she and Qi Fei were both sincere, warm, and good people. The content of their fellowship was really edifying and beneficial for me. It is written in the Bible that you can know a tree from its fruit; good trees produce good fruit, while bad trees produce bad fruit. So, through my contact with Sisters Susan and Qi Fei, I slowly let go of the doubts and apprehension in my heart, and asked Susan to go on fellowshiping.

Sister Susan said: “Since He is God incarnate, He has the expressions of God—that is, He utters words. God incarnate of the last days has come mainly to express the truth to judge, cleanse, and save people. All those who hear the voice of the returned Lord, and who can seek and accept it, are the wise virgins who attend the banquet with the Lord, and this fulfills the prophecy uttered by the Lord Jesus: ‘And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him’ (Matthew 25:6). The wise virgins hear the voice of God and go out to meet Him. Unwittingly, they are raised up before God’s throne to meet face-to-face with the Lord; they accept God’s judgment and cleansing in the last days. Through the judgment of the words of God, their corrupt dispositions are transformed and purified, and they are made overcomers by God before the disasters. This is currently the phase in which Almighty God is working in secret to save and perfect man. Once a group of overcomers has been made, God’s hidden work in His incarnate flesh will come to an end, and the disasters will befall the world. God will begin to reward the good and punish the evil, and then will make Himself known to all countries and peoples of the world. At that time, the prophecy of the Lord descending on a cloud in Revelation 1:7 will be fulfilled: ‘Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.’ One could reasonably say that when people see the Lord descending on a cloud, making Himself manifest to all people, they should all go wild with joy. But the Scripture says that all kindreds of the earth shall wail. Why is this? It is because when God manifests Himself publicly, God’s hidden work of salvation in His incarnate flesh will already have ended and He will begin the work of rewarding the good and punishing the evil. At that time, all who rejected the hidden work of God will completely lose their chance to attain salvation, and those who pierce Him—those who resist and condemn Almighty God, Christ of the last days—will see that Almighty God, whom they have resisted and condemned, is none other than the Lord Jesus returned. Just think about it, how could they not then beat their breasts, and weep and gnash their teeth? This is the context of the words ‘all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.’”

Hearing that fellowship from Sister Susan, that feeling I had had of contentment and excitement returned. I hadn’t ever really understood these passages when I was a member of my old church, but had only understood their literal meaning, thinking that the Lord’s return would be upon a cloud and known to all. Only then did I finally understand that God first comes in secret to do a stage of the work of judging and saving man. Once a group of overcomers has been made, only then will He openly manifest Himself to all nations and peoples of the world. If we blindly cling to the idea that the Lord will descend upon a cloud when He returns, if we refuse to accept God’s hidden work in His incarnate flesh and wait until the Lord openly comes down upon a cloud, that will be the time we go straight to hell, because God’s work of saving mankind will have already ended. Thank the Lord for His guidance. I had come to understand a great deal in the brief time that Sister Susan had been fellowshiping to me.

Sister Susan then asked me if I wanted to accept Almighty God as my Savior. The first time she asked me, I did not answer, and when she asked again, an indescribable feeling of excitement burst forth within me, and I began to tear up. Earnestly, I answered: “I … want … to!” Once I had uttered these words, I felt like a prodigal son who had been wandering out in the wilderness for a long time, who had finally returned to a warm home. In my heart, I felt full of joy and ease.

After I had accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days, I reposted some of Sister Susan’s own posts. Soon after that, five or six Facebook friends sent me messages telling me to “wake up” and sent me some links to sites that were full of attacks, accusations, and defamation of The Church of Almighty God. I knew that this was the disruption of Satan, and didn’t let it get to me. The next day, a pastor found me online, and after a bit of idle chatting, he asked me, “Do you really believe in Almighty God? Why is it that you want to believe in Almighty God?” This really upset me, so I asked him in return: “The sheep of God listen to the voice of God. I have recognized from the words of Almighty God that everything expressed by Almighty God is the truth, that it is the voice of God, so why should I not believe in Almighty God? Why?” He probably hadn’t anticipated that I would ask him something like that and didn’t respond for a while. So, I asked him again, “Pastor, have you investigated the work of Almighty God in the last days? Have you read Almighty God’s words? As a pastor, how can you refuse to seek and investigate, but just make random judgments and accusations?” To my surprise, he hemmed and hawed without giving a substantive response, then suddenly logged off. Seeing him so flustered, I felt an indescribably sense of happiness, and felt a satisfaction as if I had triumphed over one of Satan’s tests. In fact, all that I had done was make use of some of the questions that Sisters Susan and Qi Fei had often brought up in our discussions; I had just said something from what I had understood from the words of Almighty God. I had never expected such a formidable pastor to be stumped by my questions. This tiny little experience gave me a lot of confidence. Thanks be to God!

More than five months had gone by in the blink of an eye. By attending gatherings and reading the words of God, I gained understanding of what the incarnation is, what kind of people may enter the kingdom of heaven, and other aspects of the truth. Throughout this time, I experienced disturbances from all sorts of rumors spread by pastors and elders. At times I was negative and weak because I could not see through the trickery of Satan, but God never departed from me. Through God’s words read to me by the sisters as well as their patient fellowship on the truth, I was able to gain some discernment over the elders’ and pastors’ satanic nature and essence of hostility to the truth, and resistance to God. I also began to have some discernment over their despicable drive to do their utmost to prevent believers from seeking and investigating the true way. I will never again be led astray or controlled by them. Being able to break through the dark influence of Satan and be raised up before God’s throne was God’s grace and blessing for me. Thanks be to Almighty God! Being able to turn to God was predestined and arranged by God long ago. I will rely on God and move forward without any misgivings! When I came into the house of God, the first hymn I learned was “Walking on the Right Path of Human Life”: “God’s words are the truth, the more I read them, the brighter my heart becomes. God’s words reveal the mystery of life and they make me suddenly see the light. I see that everything I have comes from God—it is all God’s grace. I follow Christ and pursue truth and life; I’m walking on the right path of human life …” (Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs). And today, I preach the gospel and bear witness to God with my brothers and sisters in the church. I want to throw myself into my duty and repay God’s love!