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| The Church of Almighty God | Gospel Testimonies | The Work of God Is So Wise! |
Shiji Ma’anshan City, Anhui Province
During my time working as a leader in the church, my leader would often share examples of others’ failures to serve as a lesson for us. For instance: Some leaders only spoke of letters and doctrines but failed to mention their own corruption or commune with regard to their understanding of how truth applies to reality.
As a result, such leaders often were ineffective in their years of service and even became ones who do evil and resist God. Some leaders would show off, hold themselves aloft and testify to themselves to protect their status. In the end, such leaders would become antichrists, bringing their inferiors before them in blatant competition with God. Some leaders, in the course of their work, would show too great a consideration for their own flesh, lusting for leisure and never doing any real work. Such leaders were like parasites living off the benefits of church status. In the end, they were exposed and eliminated. … Having heard these stories of failure, a question came into my mind: Is God not almighty? Given that these leaders were perpetrating evil, resisting God and negatively influencing the church’s work, why didn’t God step in sooner to expose and eliminate these false leaders? In this way, would not the life of my brothers and sisters and all the church’s work be free from harm? This question remained in my thoughts without resolution.
Until one day, I read the following passage from “Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life”: “Some people are always hurling criticism at leaders of every level and making irresponsible remarks. What does this behavior expose in these people? It exposes that the wildly arrogant and irrational and those who have no understanding of the work of God will not receive things in a correct fashion. If you recognize that this person lacks the work of the Holy Spirit and is not bringing God’s chosen into the truth with his work, does this not prove that you have entered into the truth? If one sees this kind of thing happen—if false workers or false apostles appear—what is the duty of God’s chosen? How should God’s chosen resolve this situation? How should they deal with this kind of issue? You can report the issue to your superiors and expose the person in question. Take the appropriate measures to allow even more of God’s chosen to recognize the problem. By taking the appropriate measures to report, expose, and propose suggestions is the problem not in this way resolved? Thus, God’s chosen also must bear responsibility and must know how best to resolve such matters. If God’s chosen people are without truth, they will certainly not act appropriately in resolving these issues. Some people have a strong sense of justice—they just won’t allow disturbers and destroyers of God’s work within their church. As soon as they find such a person, they immediately report and expose them. Some people will resist against the disturbers or destroyers, while some blindly obey. Some people blindly worship and follow the leader no matter who he is, others act without discernment, accepting whatever anyone says. So you see, in this way all different kinds of people are exposed. When things like this happen, it really exposes people: This is God’s good intention. If God’s chosen people have a strong grasp of the truth, they can recognize, resist and abandon false apostles and false workers as they appear. What does this mean? This means that God’s chosen have matured and grown up in their life and have completely received God’s salvation. It shows that they have come into God’s possession and have been made complete by Him. As such, God’s good intentions are present in all that occurs” (“How to Know Man’s Conceptions and Judgments” in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (III)). This thoroughly resolved my confusion. As it turned out, God allows false apostles and false workers to emerge within our church, because this allows God to expose all different kinds of people. It allows Him to plant the truth within people and gives people recognition and knowledge, so that they may realize the truth and enter into the reality of God’s word. All those who seek the truth and have a sense of justice will stand up and report, expose, resist and abandon the actions of false apostles and false workers when they commit acts of evil and disturb the church’s work, so as to safeguard the church’s interests and stand testimony for God. Because they lack recognition, are only capable of going along with the masses, blindly follow and acquiesce to others, those who do not seek the truth, but indiscriminately follow others end up conspiring with evil-doers. Because they do not love truth, but only worship and seek after others, those lowly upholders and sycophants of the influential will be deluded by false apostles and false workers. Because they do not recognize the work of God, the arrogant and irrational only opine and develop notions regarding the church’s work and even cast suspicion or pass judgment on God’s work. For this, they are exposed. As is clear, God’s work is so very wise! God works through these things which are not in line with people’s notions to expose, train and perfect man. Those who truly believe in God and pursue the truth are capable of seeking the truth, understanding God’s will, practicing the truth, and standing testimony to satisfy God and receive God’s remedy and perfection. Those who do not seek truth only mirror the words of others, blindly worship, or pass judgment on God in the context of their own notions and imaginations. For this, they are exposed and eliminated. I thought to the following passage of God’s word, “It is through many negative things, many adversities that God perfects you. It is through many of Satan’s actions, accusations, and its expression in many people that God allows you to acquire knowledge, thus perfecting you” (“Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Indeed, this is true. People might regard an event as adverse or negative, but God is working through this adverse situation to allow people to gain recognition and knowledge. He is working through this situation to make people realize the truth, recognize God’s wisdom, omnipotence and wondrous acts and see through Satan’s plots to forsake Satan and return to God. This is the meaning behind God’s working through that which is not in line with people’s notions to perfect man. If God had exposed and eliminated the false leaders and false workers as soon as they emerged, people would, given their inability to understand the truth and as a result of their inability to recognize and see the true nature of others, be deluded by the superficial sacrifices and investments of those leaders and workers. They would, as a result, develop notions and judgments of God’s work, voice grievances and even come to the defense of the supposed injustice incurred by these false leaders or false workers. In this way, God would be unable to achieve His goal of perfecting man. God didn’t neglect to expose these false leaders and false workers because He is not omnipotent or because He didn’t recognize their falsity. Rather, He wanted to bring out these negative actions as a way of training people to recognize the difference between those who have the work of the Holy Spirit and those who do not, between true and false leaders and workers, and between those who speak of doctrines and those who have the reality of truth. He wanted to train us to see to the heart of those who seek the truth and have a sense of justice and of those who do not seek the truth and lack recognition, and those arrogant people who constantly hold notions with regard to the work of God. Once all people have understood the truth, entered into the reality of God’s word, and been possessed by God, those false apostles, false leaders and false workers will have served their purpose. In this way, when God thoroughly eliminates these people, not only will people not misunderstand God, they will praise His righteousness and omnipotence. As is clear, God works through these adverse and negative events to allow people to realize the truth, recognize different kinds of people and have a true understanding of the real work of God.
Thank You God for Your enlightenment and guidance, which has allowed me to understand that God’s good intention and wisdom are there even in those events which do not align with people’s notions. Just as God’s word says, “My wisdom is exercised based on Satan’s schemes,” and “God employs all things in the execution of His work” to expose and perfect man in the most meaningful way. In the future, I vow not to use my lowly human perspective to weigh situations good or bad. In all the affairs in which I engage, I vow only to seek the truth, seek recognition of God’s wisdom and omnipotence, and of God’s disposition and what He has and is to truly understand the truth and come into possession of the truth.
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