Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment | Shaking Off the Shackles of the Spirit | Eastern Lightning

Shaking Off the Shackles of the Spirit

Wu Wen    Zhengzhou City, Henan Province

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I was a weak person with a sensitive character. When I didn’t believe in God, I would frequently feel down and distressed from things that came up in life. There were many of these times, and I always felt that my life was difficult; there was no joy, no happiness in my heart to speak of. After I started believing in God, there was a period of time where I felt particularly joyous and at peace, but after that, I once again felt the same as ever. I couldn’t make sense of why I was always that way.

Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment | There Is a Way to Resolve Arrogance | Eastern Lightning

There Is a Way to Resolve Arrogance

Xiaochen    Zhengzhou City, Henan Province

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Arrogance is my fatal flaw. I used to frequently reveal my arrogant disposition, always thinking that I was better than other people. Especially when I amended articles or communicated about work with a partner, I was always opinionated and did not modestly listen to other opinions. My inability to cooperate harmoniously with my partners often caused problems for work. Brothers and sisters raised this issue with me many times, and I also regularly read about God exposing people’s arrogant nature. But since I still had not achieved true understanding of my own nature and essence and also could not truly hate it, whenever I encountered a suitable environment I would lose control. Afterward, I would also feel quite disgusted, but since what’s done has been done, all I could do was to keep trying to understand it. And so it happened again and again. This made me feel very embarrassed and helpless.

Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment | The Bitter Fruit of Arrogance | Eastern Lightning

The Bitter Fruit of Arrogance

Hu Qing    Suzhou City, Anhui Province

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When I saw God’s words saying: “Those of you who serve as leaders always want to have greater ingenuity, to be head and shoulders above the rest, to find new tricks so that God can see how great a leader you really are. … You always want to show off; isn’t this precisely the revelation of an arrogant nature?” (“Without the Truth It Is Easy to Offend God” in Records of Christ’s Talks), I thought to myself: Who has such nerve to try to find ingenious new tricks? Who doesn’t know that God’s disposition does not tolerate man’s offense? I certainly wouldn’t dare! I personally believed that I had a heart of reverence for God, and in my work I didn’t dare to try to find tricks. However, it was only in God’s revelation of the facts that I realized that trying to find new tricks wasn’t what someone dares or doesn’t dare to do—it is entirely determined by an arrogant nature.

Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment | Breaking Off the Shackles | Eastern Lightning

Breaking Off the Shackles

Zhenxi    Zhengzhou City, Henan Province

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Ten years ago, driven by my arrogant nature, I was never able to completely obey the church’s arrangements. I would obey if it suited me, but if it didn’t I would choose whether or not to obey. This resulted in seriously violating work arrangements during the fulfilling of my duty. I did my own thing and offended God’s disposition, and was subsequently sent home. After several years of self-reflection, I had more or less some knowledge of my own nature, but regarding the aspect of the truth that is God’s essence I still did not have much knowledge. Later, the church gave me another chance, but when I was in charge of gospel work, I began to have suspicions about God: I’m so corrupted and had also offended God’s disposition. Why would God use me? Is He taking advantage of me? Will I be eliminated after being taken advantage of? Ah! Since the church gave me a chance I am going to cherish it, even if I have to become a service-doer. From then on, I fulfilled my duty carrying such a mentality, but without seeking a higher goal—being made perfect by God.

Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment | It’s Not Easy to Truly Know Yourself | Eastern Lightning

 It’s Not Easy to Truly Know Yourself

Zhang Rui    Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province

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I was a deceitful person. In God’s word we can see that deceitful people will not be saved by God; only honest people will receive His praise. So, I sought to be an honest person, to consciously practice speaking accurately, to be objective and practical, and to seek the truth from facts when reporting on issues. In my work, whether it was an error or an omission, I related it in detail to the leader. I also consciously dissected and exposed my own corruption. Every time I put this into practice, I felt that I had undergone some changes and I got a little taste of being an honest person.

Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment | Understanding God’s Will in the Midst of Difficulties | Eastern Lightning

Understanding God’s Will in the Midst of Difficulties

Xiao Rui    Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province

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When I was preaching the gospel I encountered sectarian leaders who bore false witness to resist and disrupt, and called the police. This led to those I was preaching to not daring to come into contact with us, and those who had just accepted the gospel being unable to be confident in God’s work. When I worked very hard but the results were poor, I thought: Evangelical work is so difficult to carry out. It would be so wonderful if God just showed some miracles and punished those who bear false witness as well as those who seriously resist God to show to those who have been deceived. Then wouldn’t the work of the gospel be carried out more quickly? It wouldn’t be so difficult for us to preach the gospel…. This is why this hope came up in my heart every time I encountered these types of difficulties. Later, I saw written accounts bearing witness to examples of punishment and during fellowship heard witness of some of God’s signs and wonders, and I felt very glad in my heart. I hoped even more that God would do some things in the areas that I worked in so that the predicament of our gospel work could be resolved more quickly. But no matter how I hoped, I still didn’t see God perform any miracles here or punish people. The sectarians were still fully resisting God, and difficulties in evangelical work were still great. I became negative about this: Why doesn’t God open up a way out for us? Could it be that our faith is inadequate?

Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment | There Is No Special Treatment in the Church | Eastern Lightning

There Is No Special Treatment in the Church

Liu Xin    Liaocheng City, Shandong Province

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After following God over these years, I felt I had endured some suffering and paid a certain price, so I gradually started living off my past gains and flaunting my seniority. I thought: I’ve left home for so many years and my family hasn’t heard from me in a long time. Under these circumstances, the church will surely look after me. Even if I don’t perform my work well they won’t send me home. At most they’ll just dismiss me and get me to do some other work. Due to such thinking, I did not have any burden at all in my work. I turned a blind eye to everything, and I even viewed gospel work as an encumbrance, always living in difficulties and excuses. Even though I felt my heart accused and my conscience blamed because I was owing God too much through my perfunctory behavior, and that I would be eliminated sooner or later, I still just drifted along with the mentality of hoping to luck out, dawdling away my days in the church.

Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment | The Essence of Personal Revenge | Eastern Lightning

The Essence of Personal Revenge

Zhou Li    Xintai City, Shandong Province

Some time ago, we needed to plot out districts within our area, and based on our principles for the selection of leaders, there was one brother who was a relatively suitable candidate. I prepared to promote him to district leader. One day when I was chatting with this brother, he mentioned that he felt I was overbearing in my work, too intense, and that in a gathering with me there wasn’t much enjoyment…. When I heard this, I felt that I had been belittled. I felt terrible; I immediately developed a certain opinion of this brother, and no longer planned to promote him to district leader.

When I returned to my host family, I was still stewing and I could not calm down. At that time, I thought of something from “Reckless Leaders Who Do Not Carry Out Their Proper Work Must Be Dismissed” in the man’s fellowship: “How leaders treat brothers and sisters who they find disagreeable, who oppose them, who hold completely different views than them—this is a very serious issue and should be handled with caution. If they do not enter into the truth, they will certainly discriminate and strike against this person when met with this kind of issue. This type of action is precisely revealing the nature of the great red dragon resisting and betraying God. If the leader is someone who pursues the truth, who possesses a conscience, and sense, they will seek the truth and handle it correctly. … As people, we need to be just and fair. As leaders, we must handle things according to God’s words in order to stand witness. If we do things according to our own will, giving free rein to our own corrupt disposition, then that will be a terrible failure.” I couldn’t help but compare my two entirely different attitudes from before and after my chat with that brother. I was originally prepared to promote him to district leader, but he said some things that caused me to lose face when I spoke with him, so I immediately changed my opinion of him and no longer planned to make that promotion. Wasn’t this exploiting my power to take personal revenge? What’s the difference between this and the great red dragon discriminating and striking against those who dissent? Isn’t this type of action despicable? The church is not the same as society. The church needs every level of its leaders to be people with humanity, who love the truth, and can accept the truth. It does not need people who are sycophants, who do not recognize the truth. But what I was doing was entirely contrary to God’s will. When selecting a candidate I only thought of my own interest and as soon as the other person didn’t support me, when he said something disagreeable to me, I discriminated against and resented him. Wasn’t my acting like this precisely revealing the nature of the great red dragon resisting and betraying God? Wasn’t it precisely an exposure of the disposition of Satan, “Those who submit will prosper; those who resist shall perish”? Wasn’t behaving this way being a servant of Satan, disrupting God’s work and being His enemy? Isn’t my heart so wicked? The church was about to select someone for a position, and that brother was a suitable candidate for district leader. His assessment of me was disagreeable to me; I should have sought out the truth on this matter and accepted his opinion. I should have examined myself and known myself, and made up for the deficiencies in my work. However, not only did I not look for the reason within myself, but I gave free rein to the nature of Satan in me to discriminate against him and take revenge on him. I am so arrogant, so lacking in humanity! This disposition of mine is so disgusting to God! If I had continued giving free rein to this type of corrupt nature, I would eventually have gone to my ruin as an arrogant servant of evil who is blind to God. I truly was in peril. At that time I couldn’t help but shudder at my thoughts and actions, seeing myself full of the poison of the great red dragon, that what was exposed was all enmity against God. God truly hates this, and is disgusted by it.

Oh God, thank You for Your quick enlightenment, for preventing my discriminatory behavior, for allowing me to better see my own evil nature and my face of Satan acting as Your enemy. From this day forward, I am willing to pursue a change in disposition, and when I encounter people or things that are disagreeable to me, I will learn to put myself aside, to forsake the flesh, and in all things safeguard the interests of the church, to do my utmost to fulfill my duties.

Recommended ：Second Coming，the last days，Lord Jesus

Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment | Don’t Find New Tricks When Serving God | Eastern Lightning

Don’t Find New Tricks When Serving God

Heyi    Zhuanghe City, Liaoning Province

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I had just been promoted to take on the responsibility of church leader. But after a period of hard work, not only was the church’s evangelical work fairly lackluster, but my brothers and sisters in the evangelical team were all also living in negativity and weakness. Faced with this situation, I could no longer contain my feelings. How on earth could I work to revitalize the evangelical work? After racking my brains, I finally thought of a good solution: If I held a monthly awards ceremony for the evangelical team and selected outstanding individuals and model preachers, whoever won more souls for God would be rewarded, and whoever won fewer souls would be admonished. This would not only excite their enthusiasm, but it would lift up the negative and weak brothers and sisters. When I thought of this, I was very excited for this “clever move” of mine. I thought: “This time I’ll really amaze everyone.”

Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment | I See the Path to Knowing God | Eastern Lightning

I See the Path to Knowing God

Xiaocao    Changzhi City, Shanxi Province

One day, I saw this following passage of God’s word in the piece “How Peter Came to Know Jesus”: “Over the time he followed Jesus, Peter observed and took to heart everything about His life: His actions, words, movements, and expressions. … From his time in contact with Jesus, Peter also realized that His character was different from that of an ordinary man. He always acted steadily and never with haste, never exaggerated nor underplayed a subject, and conducted His life in a way that was both normal and admirable. In conversation, Jesus was elegant and graceful, open and cheerful yet serene, and never lost His dignity in the execution of His work. Peter saw that Jesus was sometimes taciturn, yet other times talked incessantly. He was sometimes so happy that He became agile and lively like a dove, and yet sometimes so sad that He did not talk at all, as if He were a weather-beaten mother. At times He was filled with anger, like a brave soldier charging off to kill enemies, and sometimes even like a roaring lion. Sometimes He laughed; other times He prayed and wept. No matter how Jesus acted, Peter grew to have boundless love and respect for Him. Jesus’ laughter filled him up with happiness, His sorrow plunged him into grief, His anger frightened him, while His mercy, forgiveness, and strictness made him come to truly love Jesus, developing a true reverence and longing for Him. Of course, Peter only gradually came to realize all of this once he had lived alongside Jesus for a few years.” After reading this passage I thought: No wonder Peter could achieve knowledge of God! Turns out it was because during the time he lived alongside Jesus day and night, he personally witnessed Jesus’ every word and every move, and from that he discovered more of God’s adorableness. Now is also the era of when God becomes flesh to personally descend upon the world of man to work. If I could also have the fortune of being able to come into contact with God and spend time together like Peter had, then wouldn’t I also know God better? Oh! It’s a shame that now I can only read God’s word but cannot see the face of Christ. Then how would I be able to gain true knowledge of God?

Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment | Realizing I’ve Been Walking the Path of the Pharisees | Eastern Lightning

Realizing I’ve Been Walking the Path of the Pharisees

Wuxin    Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province

      Something we have always discussed in previous communions is the paths walked by Peter and Paul. It is said that Peter paid attention to knowing himself and God, and was someone God approved, while Paul only paid attention to his work, reputation and status, and was someone God despised. I have always been afraid of walking Paul’s path, which is why I normally often read God’s words about Peter’s experiences to see how he came to know God. After living like this for a while, I felt I had become more obedient than before, my desire for reputation and status had dimmed, and that I had gotten to know myself a little. At this time, I believed that even though I was not completely on Peter’s path, it could be said that I had touched the edge of it, and at least it meant I was not heading down Paul’s path. However, I would be shamed by the revelations of God’s word.

Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment | A Haughty Spirit Before a Fall | Eastern Lightning

A Haughty Spirit Before a Fall

Baixue    Shenyang City

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Because of a work requirement, I was transferred to another work area. At that time, I was very grateful to God. I felt that I was lacking so much, yet through God’s divine promotion, I was given the opportunity to fulfill my duty in such a wonderful work area. I made a vow to God in my heart: I would do my very best to repay God.

Testimonies of Experience of Christ’s Judgment | Service of This Kind Is Truly Contemptible | Eastern Lightning

Service of This Kind Is Truly Contemptible

Ding Ning    Heze City, Shandong Province

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Over the past few days, the church has arranged a change in my work. As I received this new assignment, I thought, “I need to take this final opportunity to call a meeting with my brothers and sisters, speak to them clearly about matters, and leave them with a good impression.” Therefore, I met with several deacons, and at the close of our time together, I said, “I have been asked to leave here and move on to different work. I hope you will accept the leader who is coming to replace me and work together with her with one heart and one mind.” As soon as they heard me say these words, some of the sisters who were present blanched, and the smiles fell from their faces. Some of them grasped my hands, some of them embraced me, and weeping they said, “You cannot leave us! You cannot cast us aside and ignore our needs! …” The sister of the host family was especially unwilling to let me go. She said to me, “It is so good that you are here with us. You are someone who can endure hardship, and you are good at fellowshiping about the truth. No matter when we needed you, you were always there to patiently help us. If you go, what will we do? …” Seeing their reluctance to part from me, my heart was full of joy and satisfaction. I comforted them with these words: “Depend on God. When I can, I will come back and visit you….”