I Have Walked on the Path to Purification (II)
Gangqiang United States
Sister Zhao told me they were the words of God, expressed by the returned Lord Jesus. “Has the Lord Jesus come back?!” I could hardly believe my ears when I heard this news. I was quite excited. Among the believers in the Lord, who is not looking forward to the Lord’s return? Now when I suddenly heard the news, I was somewhat at a loss what to do. “Has the Lord really come back?” I asked the sisters to tell me about that quickly.
Sister Zhao said, “The Lord Jesus has already come back indeed. The incarnate Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus. He has expressed words to do the work of judgment beginning with the house of God. For the Lord Jesus only did the work of redemption, and this was not the end-time work of judging people, cleansing people, and thoroughly saving people. We all know that although the Lord has forgiven our sins, we are still living in sin and cannot get rid of it even though we want to. This is because, after being corrupted by Satan, man’s disposition has become the same as Satan’s; the satanic corrupt dispositions such as arrogance, conceit, craftiness, selfishness, maliciousness, and so on have been deeply rooted within man; therefore people intrigue against each other, scramble for fame and fortune, are unable to get along with each other, and what’s more have been resistant to God. The Bible says, ‘… holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord’ (Hebrews 12:14). This shows us that man cannot see the Lord without being purified. In order to be saved from sin thoroughly, we need God’s further work of removing man’s sinful nature;
otherwise we cannot be purified. Let’s read God’s word.” Sister Zhao opened the book of God’s word and began to read, “For all that man may have been redeemed and forgiven of his sins, it can only be considered as God not remembering the transgressions of man and not treating man in accordance with his transgressions. However, when man, who lives in a body of flesh, has not been set free from sin, he can only continue to sin, endlessly revealing his corrupt satanic disposition. This is the life that man leads, an endless cycle of sinning and being forgiven. The majority of mankind sin in the day only to confess in the evening. This way, even though the sin offering is forever effective for man, it will not be able to save man from sin. Only half the work of salvation has been completed, for man still has a corrupt disposition” (“The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “Though Jesus did much work among man, He only completed the redemption of all mankind and became man’s sin offering; He did not rid man of all his corrupt disposition. Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to become the sin offering and bear the sins of man, but it also required God to do even greater work to rid man completely of his satanically corrupted disposition” (Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh). “The sins of man were forgiven, and this is because of the work of God’s crucifixion, but man continued to live within his corrupt satanic disposition of old. This being so, man must be completely saved from his corrupt satanic disposition, so that his sinful nature may be completely extirpated, never to develop again, thus enabling the disposition of man to be transformed. This would require man to grasp the path of growth in life, to grasp the way of life, and to grasp the way to change his disposition. Furthermore, it would require man to act in accordance with this path, so that his disposition may gradually be changed and he may live under the shining of the light, so that all that he does may be in accord with the will of God, so that he may cast away his corrupt satanic disposition, and so that he may break free from Satan’s influence of darkness, thereby emerging fully from sin. Only then will man receive complete salvation” (“The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
Then Sister Zhao fellowshiped, “From God’s words, we know that only when man understands the way of life and the way to change his disposition from the truths expressed by the second incarnate God, and acts in accordance with God’s demands, can his sinful nature be completely cast away and can he be saved. Thus we can see that the work of redemption and the work of removing sins are two different stages of work. In the work of redemption, the Lord Jesus merely took on man’s sins and spared man from the punishment which man should have received. This doesn’t mean that man no longer has sins, much less does it mean that man doesn’t sin anymore and is completely purified. In the work of removing sins, the root of man’s sin will be removed, so that man will sin no more and be purified. Only then can we win God’s approval and get into the kingdom of heaven and receive God’s promise.”
After listening to the words of God and Sister Zhao’s fellowship, I felt they fully accorded with the reality of the situation. During the past years, because of my arrogance and haughtiness, in my company, the workers were afraid of me and stayed away from me, and at home, my family feared me. I felt very distressed about that and even hated myself, but I was unable to change myself. Hearing the sister’s fellowship about the Lord Jesus’ return to do the work of expressing the truths and purifying man so that man can be changed, I felt very fortunate to meet the return of the Lord. That day before I left, Sister Zhao gave me a book entitled “Believe in God for Being Saved.” She said that she had used to live in sin and be unable to get rid of it like me, but later, she found the way to practice after she read that book. Happily, I received the book and was resolved to believe in Almighty God seriously.
After I accepted the work of Almighty God in the last days, I gradually understood the truths about God’s three stages of work and the mystery of His incarnation. When I first read the words with which God judged the satanic nature of man, I was very upset. But later I came to understand that I could only know my corruptions through the revelation of God’s severe words. If I did not know my corrupt disposition, how could I be changed? Later I read these words of God, “In the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, to expose the substance of man, and to dissect the words and deeds of man. 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 normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and the disposition of God, and so on. These words are all directed at the substance of man and his corrupt disposition. In particular, the words that expose how man spurns God are spoken in regard to how man is an embodiment of Satan, and an enemy force against God. In undertaking His work of judgment, God does not simply make clear the nature of man with a few words; He exposes, deals with, and prunes over the long term. These methods of exposure, dealing, and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words, but with the truth of which man is utterly bereft. Only methods such as these can be called judgment; only through judgment of this kind can man be subdued and thoroughly convinced into submission to God, and moreover gain true knowledge of God” (“Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
From God’s words, I knew that God uses the truths that man does not possess at all to reveal man’s sins, dissect man’s deeds and words, and carry out long-term revelation, dealing and pruning on man, and that only through such judgment can man be persuaded and be thoroughly convinced into submission. And I also realized: Only by experiencing such judgment personally can I truly feel that God’s work in the last days is to accomplish all with His words. And only if God exposes me with His words, and deals with and prunes me and exposes my satanic nature through the people, matters, and things around me, allowing me to clearly see my ugliness, will I be able to hate myself and achieve a change.
Once in a gathering, when I was sharing my experiences, I repeatedly said such words, “I think” or “I think it should be like this.” A brother pointed out to me that it was arrogant and conceited of me to say so. In the past, if someone criticized me like this, I would certainly reason with him and retort upon him. But I chose to be silent this time, and didn’t argue or justify myself, because I thought of these words in Fellowship and Preaching About Life Entry, “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. See what the words of God say. Your opinion is not the truth! … You are too arrogant and self-right! 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.” I thought that the brother’s criticism was right, and that I had no reason to argue. I was utterly convinced and chose to obey, for what man thinks can’t substitute for the truth and it all comes from Satan. Those who always put the word “I” first when speaking are those who don’t have any place for God in their heart and don’t honor God as great.
Later, I read a passage of words in Fellowship and Preaching About Life Entry: “An arrogant person should have something to be arrogant about. Take someone with high caliber, some gifts, and some strong points, and they will think, ‘I am better than other people.’ So, their arrogant disposition is revealed and they see people as insignificant. This is normal because they have something to be proud of. They have great abilities. If they really understand themselves and feel that they are not worth even one penny, how could they still be arrogant? They will feel that it’s not worth it to be arrogant. There is no longer a source for their arrogance. They will no longer be able to muster the will to be arrogant. Isn’t this the truth? There are some people who think that they are better than everyone else, that they can see through everything. Then one day comes along and what happens? They receive some major setback and experience shameful failure. Will they still be able to be arrogant then? At that moment they will feel like they won’t even be able to lift their head. They won’t dare meet anyone face to face. So, when those people with arrogant dispositions experience failure and meet with shame several times, receive great pruning and dealing from God several times, then their arrogant disposition will naturally be resolved. That’s what all people experience. They experience the judgment, chastisement, pruning, and dealing from God, the discipline of the Holy Spirit, and they also receive some failures and setbacks. Then they become more honest and they become less arrogant. They also become less self-righteous. Even though they may be able to see through things, they still want to seek help. They seek the opinions of others. They guard against making mistakes. These are the results obtained from the judgment and chastisement of God. So, it doesn’t matter how arrogant and self-righteous you are. Do not be afraid. Do not worry. All you need to do is focus on experiencing the judgment and chastisement of God, accepting more pruning and dealing from God, especially the discipline of the Holy Spirit, and then you will slowly change. No one can help you with this. You just need to pray to God, pursue the truth, obtain the work of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit works, all the problems will be resolved.”
This fellowship was really clear and thorough, through which I realized that it was my arrogant satanic disposition that caused me to stand up high and chide others at home and at the construction site. I had thought that I was capable and could earn money, so I flaunted my seniority and showed respect to no one. I thought that no one was better than me, and I always held myself aloft. After accepting God’s work in the last days, thanks to reading many words of God’s judgment and fellowshiping with my brothers and sisters in the meetings, I had just got some knowledge about my arrogant disposition. Besides, from the fellowship above I also found the way of practice, that is, accepting my brothers’ and sisters’ pruning and dealing, allowing them to point out my problems, and then reflecting on myself according to God’s words and being able to truly hate myself, and ultimately not doing things by my satanic disposition but instead acting according to God’s words. After experiencing being pruned and dealt with and reflecting on myself many times, I would surely have some changes in my arrogant disposition.
As I read more and more of God’s words and constantly live the church life, I become more and more aware that it is really good to accept God’s work in the last days. My brothers and sisters are very warm and sincere toward each other. Everyone is simple and open and communicates his or her own experiences freely. When they express corrupt disposition, they can reflect on themselves according to God’s words. I truly see that Almighty God’s words can change and purify man.
I believe that everyone who truly believes in the Lord is yearning for the return of the Lord Jesus. I will preach God’s kingdom gospel in the last days to my friends and more people. I hope that they can follow the footsteps of the returned Lord like me and see God’s salvation for mankind.
The End.
Source: Walk in the Light
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