“Get out of the house if you still want to spread the gospel to me.”

“That’s enough! I don’t want to hear it. Get out of here!”

“From today on, you’re no longer my son. Get out of the house now!”

…………

This was what my father said to me when I spread the gospel of the Lord’s return to him. Once, faced with my hardened father, I felt negative, weak and sad. However, in my helplessness, it was God’s words that gave me faith and allowed me to resolutely spread the gospel. In the end, my father had an awakening and accepted it. Thinking of the scenes from the past, they are as vivid to me now as they were then …

After Accepting the Gospel of the Lord’s Return, I Spread It to My Father

I got a serious illness when I was a child, so my father relied on his faith and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord brought me back from the brink of death. In order to repay the Lord’s love, I attended seminary, hoping that I could serve the Lord all my life. However, I saw many wicked deeds during the three years in the seminary. The pastors struggled for fame and fortune, and fought and squabbled amongst themselves. Their sermons were just the same old things, and we as believers were utterly bereft of spiritual supply. Not only that, but I myself also often committed sins, such as being selfish and arrogant, and having evil thoughts in my heart. This caused me a lot of distress: Why can I never cast off the bonds of sin? Just as I was feeling lost and helpless, God’s salvation of the last days came to me. Through reading the words expressed by Almighty God, I understood that God has come to carry out a new stage of work in the last days to judge and chastise man in order to resolve our problem of committing sins. Only by accepting God’s work of the last days can we be cleansed of corrupt dispositions, become people after God’s heart, attain God’s true salvation and enter into the kingdom of heaven. Thereupon, I willingly accepted Almighty God’s work in the last days.

Afterward, I left the seminary. I wanted to bear witness to Almighty God’s work of the last days for my family, but when I was full of hope and shared the good news of the Lord’s return with my father, his attitude was beyond my expectation.

He said haughtily, “You are my son and as you were growing up, it was I who had taught you to read the Bible. Now after attending seminary for just three years, you want to teach me? You say that God has come to do the work of judgment. Does this have any basis in the Bible? Without a biblical basis, I wouldn’t be so quick to believe it. Besides, we who believe in the Lord have already had our sins absolved, and we basically do not need God to do His work of judgment. When the Lord returns we’ll be immediately raptured to the kingdom of heaven.”

“Dad, the Bible says, ‘I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come’ (John 16:12–13). ‘And if any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world’ (John 12:47). These verses prophesy that when the Lord returns in the last days, He shall express the truth and perform the work of judgment in order to thoroughly cleanse our sinful nature. If God’s work of salvation had been completed, then how would the prophecies of the Lord Jesus be fulfilled? Nowadays, Almighty God is expressing the truth and is performing the stage of work of judgment beginning in God’s house. This fulfills these biblical prophecies. Only by accepting God’s work of the last days can we be cleansed of our sins and enter the kingdom of heaven. If we don’t seek it, we’ll gain nothing.”

After hearing this, my father angrily said, “I’ve been reading the Bible since I was young and have been serving God for so many years, so don’t I know more biblical knowledge than you? You have only read the Bible for three years and you want to teach me? Shut up! Don’t talk anymore!”

I saw that my father simply could not calm down, and if I continued fellowshiping with him, it would not achieve good results, so all I could do was go back to my room. I thought, “My father is a true believer in the Lord. He is unable to immediately accept the gospel maybe because he has never heard of anything like this before. I must continue spreading the gospel to him.”

My Father Refused to Accept the Gospel Again and Again and Chased Me out of the House

After I told the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God about the situation of my spreading the gospel to my father, they sent me some gospel films and suggested that I have my father watch them. On the fourth day, seeing that my father’s attitude was getting a little better, I then once again tried to spread the gospel to him, saying, “Dad, I want to share with you some prophecies in the Bible about the Lord returning in the last days to do the work of judgment—” Before I could finish, my father once again lost his temper, saying, “The Lord has already taken on all of our sins and His work of redemption has already been completed. It is unnecessary for God to return to do the judgment work. Get out of the house if you still want to spread the gospel to me!” My father seemed like a completely different person. Seeing his furious expression, I felt very surprised as well as a little nervous and scared, so I had to stop once again.

Thinking of how my father again refused to accept the gospel, I felt very upset. My father had served the Lord for many years and had been very loyal to the Lord; moreover, he had acted with godliness and been mild and humble toward others. I really never imagined that when I preached God’s gospel of the last days to him, he not only would not seriously investigate it, but would instead get so angry. At that moment, I became a little discouraged and also felt my father was too stubborn. I thought, “My father knows a lot about the Bible and stubbornly holds on to his notions. How should I fellowship with him?” For a while, I lived within difficulties. After learning of my situation, the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God sent me some God’s words to encourage me.

I read God’s words, “As members of the human race and devout Christians, it is the responsibility and obligation of us all to offer up our minds and bodies for the fulfillment of God’s commission, for our entire being came from God, and it exists thanks to the sovereignty of God. If our minds and bodies are not for God’s commission and not for the righteous cause of mankind, then our souls will feel unworthy of those who were martyred for God’s commission, and much more unworthy of God, who has provided us with everything.” “You should not be afraid of this and that; no matter how many difficulties and dangers you might face, you are capable of remaining steady before Me, unobstructed by any hindrance, so that My will may be carried out unimpeded. This is your duty.”

God’s words comforted me greatly. Yes. God created us and provided us with everything we need to live, so it is natural for us to offer up our heart and body to the work of spreading the gospel. Spreading the gospel is our responsibility and obligation. No matter how great the difficulties are, I shouldn’t cower down but instead should come more before God and rely on Him. Preaching the gospel is my duty. However, now I’ve just started spreading the gospel to my father and haven’t put much effort into it and I wanted to recoil when encountering difficulties—I’m not being devoted to God. If I retreat, I will have failed in my duty. I thought about how my father had been a believer in the Lord for many years, and had been too tightly constrained by religious notions, so it was natural that he could not accept God’s new work for now. I should rely on God, and no matter whether my father accepted or not, I should fulfill my responsibility and fellowship clearly about the truth with him, so that he could have an understanding of God’s work in the last days. Only this was a manifestation of caring for God’s will. Thereupon, I prayed to God, “O God, now my father cannot accept Your new work, and my faith is paltry. I ask that You give me faith and strength, so that I can cooperate with You. If my father is Your sheep, please enlighten him so that he can understand Your words and come back before You.”

On the fifth day, I continued spreading the gospel to my father. I said, “Dad, the Lord taught us to love our enemies, and I’m not even your enemy but your son. I’m only telling you the truth of the Lord’s returning to perform His work. But you not only didn’t seek but also got so angry. You haven’t lived out the Lord’s words. I know the truth is that you don’t want to lose your temper, but we have satanic nature, which is the culprit. The Bible says, ‘Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord’ (Hebrews 12:14). Also, the Lord Jesus said, ‘Not every one that said to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father which is in heaven’ (Matthew 7:21). These words make it very clear. Because the Lord is holy, only when we are able to practice God’s words, are cleansed of our sins, and become people who do God’s will, can we enter God’s kingdom. But now we still often commit sins; we know perfectly well the Lord’s words, and yet we cannot put them into practice. Like this, how can we enter God’s kingdom? The Lord Jesus prophesied that He will return in the last days to perform the work of salvation. Now the Lord has returned and carried out a new stage of work to judge and chastise man to thoroughly resolve our sinful nature. Only through accepting God’s judgment and chastisement can we be cleansed of our corruption and only then can we be qualified to enter God’s kingdom. Dad, God’s sheep can recognize God’s voice. Faced with God’s work of the last days, we should seek humbly and hear whether or not Almighty God’s words are the voice of God, for only in this way will we not miss the opportunity to welcome the Lord’s return.”

Then I had my father watch the skit My Father, the Pastor, but he couldn’t concentrate on it at all and still clung to his own notions. I saw that although my father understood a lot of biblical knowledge and appeared on the outside to be very loyal and humble, when God’s new work befell him, he just stubbornly held on to his own notions and didn’t seek or investigate it. I could not help but think of the Pharisees who stubbornly clung to their own notions and imaginings. I was very worried that my father would resist God like the Pharisees and thus lose God’s salvation of the last days, so I reminded him, “The Pharisees knew the Bible well and looked very reverent on the outside, but they had no understanding of the Lord. When the Lord Jesus’ work did not conform to their notions, they were completely lacking in humility or an attitude of seeking, and they frantically opposed and condemned the Lord Jesus based on their notions and imaginings. The Pharisees believed in God but did not know Him, and so ended up becoming people who resisted God—”

My father instantly cut me off and said angrily, “Is this the way you should speak to your father? Are you saying that your father is a Pharisee?”

“Dad, I didn’t mean that. I just want to remind you not to take the same path of serving God yet resisting Him like the Pharisees did. You’ve been following the Lord for many years and longing for His return. But when you hear the news of the Lord’s return, you don’t have a heart of humility and seeking, nor do you investigate it, but instead you cling to your own notions, feel conflicted and refuse to accept it. If you treat God’s work in the last days with this kind of attitude, you could only be like the Pharisees of the past and lose God’s salvation of the last days. Dad, God’s six-thousand-year management plan for the salvation of man is about to be finished. No matter how much of the Bible we’ve read, no matter how many years we’ve served the Lord, if we don’t accept God’s work of judgment in the last days, we’ll be unable to achieve purification and will never enter into God’s kingdom—”

“That’s enough. Stop talking. Get out of here!” With that, my father angrily stood up and said, “From today on, you’re no longer my son. Get out of the house now!”

God’s Words Led Me to Understand God’s Will

Hearing my father’s words, I felt very upset. My father and I had been very close before, but little did I think that when I preached the gospel to him, he would be so oppositional and actually drove me out. The distance between us suddenly became so far. I felt a little lonely and helpless. Therefore, I sent a message to my brothers and sisters to communicate about my state. A sister sent me some of Almighty God’s words to help me. I read these words of God, “There is not one person among you who is protected by the law—you are, instead, sanctioned by the law. Even more problematic is that people do not understand you: Be it your relatives, your parents, your friends, or your colleagues, none of them understand you. When you are abandoned by God, it is impossible for you to continue living on earth, but even so, people cannot bear to be away from God, which is the significance of God’s conquest of people, and is the glory of God. What you have inherited this day surpasses that of the apostles and prophets throughout the ages and is greater even than that of Moses and Peter. Blessings cannot be obtained in a day or two; they must be earned through great sacrifice. Which is to say, you must possess a love that has undergone refinement, you must possess great faith, and you must have the many truths that God requires you to attain; what is more, you must turn toward justice, without being cowed or evasive, and must have a love for God that is constant unto death. You must have resolve, changes must occur in your life disposition, your corruption must be healed, you must accept all of God’s orchestrations without complaint, and you must be obedient even unto death. This is what you ought to attain, this is the final aim of God’s work, and it is what God asks of this group of people. Since He gives to you, so He will surely ask of you in return, and will surely make fitting demands of you. Therefore, there is reason to all the work God does, which shows why, time and time again, God does work that sets high standards and strict requirements. It is because of this that you should be filled with faith in God. In short, all the work of God is done for your sake, so that you may become worthy of receiving His inheritance. This is not so much for the sake of God’s own glory but for the sake of your salvation and for perfecting this group of people who have been so profoundly afflicted in the unclean land. You should understand the will of God.”

God’s words consoled my heart and I understood that if we want to be purified and perfected, we not only need to suffer the hardships of judgment and chastisement, as well as those of trials and refinements, but also have to suffer our family’s misunderstanding and persecution. These sufferings are God’s blessings for us, because if we conduct our faith in a comfortable environment, our faith and love toward God will be very little, and we won’t come before God to truly rely on Him, much less will our lives grow. On the contrary, when we undergo hardships, we will pray to God and seek the truth more frequently, and the more hardships we experience, the more our faith in God increases. Just like my encounter with my father’s rejection, this was God tempering me. Only through such hardship could my stature and deficiencies be revealed, so that I could see my frailties. Without such an environment, I wouldn’t have recognized my shortcomings and my faith wouldn’t have increased. At that time, I thought of how in order to seek to love God, Peter disregarded his parents’ opposition and left home to preach everywhere, and was ultimately perfected by God. I had to follow Peter’s example, and no matter how much I suffered, no matter how my family did not understand me, I must perform my duty well. If I stopped preaching the gospel because of my family’s persecution and failed to complete the commission God gave to me, then I would be unworthy to attain God’s salvation. After understanding God’s will, I had the faith to stand witness for God.

The next morning, when I had packed all my things and was ready to leave, my father tried to persuade me, “Son, you can stay if you still want to live with me, but you must stop preaching.”

I said firmly, “Dad, you know I had been wanting to be loyal to the Lord. In order to repay the Lord’s love, I studied theology for three years and read the Bible many times, but I didn’t understand the truth and I felt very dry in my spirit. Moreover, I often lost my temper; sometimes I was selfish and arrogant, and had evil thoughts in my heart. I thought of many ways to get rid of these thoughts, but I failed no matter how I tried. Only until after I accepted God’s gospel of kingdom and read many of Almighty God’s words did I know that the Lord Jesus did the work of redemption, not the end-time work of ridding us of sin. Therefore, we haven’t escaped our satanic nature and still live in a state of sinning and confessing. In the last days, the Lord has come as Almighty God and is doing a stage of work of judging, chastising, and purifying man. Only by accepting God’s judgment and chastisement can we cast off the bondage of sin. Now I’ve known the great news of the Lord’s return. If I don’t spread the gospel, I’ll be unworthy of God’s commission. Dad, I’ll move out and continue preaching the gospel.”

After hearing how resolved I was, my father was calm unlike before. He said, “You can go. I’ll pray for you. If Almighty God really is the returned Lord Jesus, I’ll believe in Him with you. Otherwise, you must come back home and stop preaching.”

When I Unremittingly Spread the Gospel I Saw God’s Deeds

After leaving home, I stayed at a little hotel and found a job nearby. As I worked to sustain myself, I continued spreading the gospel. I thought of how, my father was in the highest position in my family, and if he did not accept the gospel, my whole family would be less likely to accept it. But he possessed a lot of biblical knowledge, so I did not know how I should spread the gospel to him. So I knelt down and prayed to God, “O God, You are the Creator. You understand every single person. If my father and my other family members are Your sheep, may You move their hearts and enable them to recognize Your voice and accept Your salvation in the last days. O God, please lead me to spread the gospel. No matter whether my father accepts it, I won’t stop performing my duty. I want to be like Peter and stand witness for You.” In the following days, I prayed to God like this every day.

One day, about a couple of weeks later, my father suddenly gave me a call and asked how I was doing. He said, “After losing my temper at you last time, I felt a deep sense of regret. I often tell others to be humble but I got angry at you. I indeed didn’t obey the Lord’s commandments. Please forgive me.”

Hearing my father’s words was astonishing for me, and I hastily said to him, “It doesn’t matter. When we don’t understand the truth, we all cling on to our own notions. If you want to understand more about God’s work in the last days, I’m willing to share more fellowship with you.” My father said, “Yes. Please come back.” After hearing this, I was thrilled. My father had been so resistant to God’s work of the last days before, but this time he was actually willing to seek. Aside from God, nobody could untie the knot in his heart. I could not help but offer up my thanks and praise to God.

After I returned home, my father said to me, “After you left, I often suffered from insomnia; I also pondered your words and felt they were right. Although I’m well-versed in the Bible, have served the Lord for many years, and frequently preach sermons to make people love others as themselves, I myself often get angry at my family. Am I not still living in sins and haven’t I failed to achieve purification? The Lord once clearly prophesied that He will return in the last days to do the work of judgment and chastisement. This is clearly recorded in the Bible. But when I heard the news of the Lord’s return, why didn’t I want to seek? Although what you preached was something I had never heard before, it was in line with the biblical prophecies. However, I thought I had followed the Lord for many years and had rich biblical knowledge, so I didn’t humbly seek but instead got angry at you and threatened you, so much so that I drove you out of our home. Aren’t these the behaviors of the Pharisees? I finally realized that when faced with the very important matter of the Lord Jesus’ return, what I did was wrong. Now I’m willing to follow the Lord’s teachings and humbly seek the truth regarding God’s work in the last days.”

I said with excitement, “Thank God! Dad, it’s great that you are able to recognize this. As long as we have hearts that seek with an open mind, God will lead us to understand the truth. Dad, let’s watch a movie clip together, and you’ll come to have a clearer understanding of the truth regarding God’s judgment work in the last days.”

I played my father a clip Why Does the Lord Come Back to Do the Judgment Work in the Last Days from the movie Song of Victory. The protagonist in the film is a church elder who has believed in the Lord for many years. He always thought that he who believed in the Lord had already been absolved of his sins, and when the Lord returned, he would be brought directly into the kingdom of heaven. He did not understand why the Lord came to do the judgment work of the last days. With regard to this issue, the sisters from The Church of Almighty God read two passages of God’s words. Almighty God says, “Before man was redeemed, many of Satan’s poisons had already been planted within him and, after thousands of years of being corrupted by Satan, he has within him an established nature that resists God. Therefore, when man has been redeemed, it is nothing more than a case of redemption in which man is bought at a high price, but the poisonous nature within him has not been eliminated. Man that is so defiled must undergo a change before becoming worthy to serve God. By means of this work of judgment and chastisement, man will fully come to know the filthy and corrupt essence within his own self, and he will be able to change completely and become clean. Only in this way can man become worthy to return before the throne of God. All the work done this day is so that man can be made clean and be changed; through judgment and chastisement by the word, as well as through refinement, man can purge away his corruption and be made pure. Rather than deeming this stage of work to be that of salvation, it would be more apt to say it is the work of purification. In truth, this stage is that of conquest as well as the second stage in the work of salvation. It is through judgment and chastisement by the word that man arrives at being gained by God, and it is through the use of the word to refine, judge, and disclose that all of the impurities, notions, motives, and individual aspirations within man’s heart are completely revealed.” “The sins of man could be forgiven through the sin offering, but as for just how man can be made to sin no more, and how his sinful nature may be extirpated completely and transformed, he has no way of solving this problem. 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. … Therefore, after that stage of work was finished, there still remained the work of judgment and chastisement. This stage is to make man pure by means of the word, and thereby give him a path to follow. … This stage is more meaningful than the previous one, as well as more fruitful, for now it is the word that directly supplies man’s life and enables the disposition of man to be completely renewed; it is a much more thorough stage of work.”

Sister Yang in the movie gave fellowship, saying, “Almighty God’s words couldn’t be more clear! In the Age of Grace, Jesus only did His redemptive work. Mankind’s sins were forgiven for their belief, and yet still their sinful nature has not been resolved. Mankind’s sinful nature is Satan’s nature. It has already taken root deep inside men’s hearts and has become their lives. That is why man still can’t help but give in to sin and try to resist God. Man’s satanic nature is the reason behind his resistance to God. Mankind’s sins can be forgiven, but can God forgive his satanic nature too? Our satanic nature directly opposes God and is in direct enmity to the truth. God would never forgive it. Therefore, for God to completely save mankind from the bondage of their satanic nature, He must judge and chastise all of mankind. God’s judgment in the last days is targeted at man’s satanic nature and disposition. They’re still deep inside the hearts of mankind. Now knowing that you might wonder: Can that satanic nature only be removed from us through judgment and chastisement? Can’t we through suffering subduing our bodies and restraining ourselves resolve this satanic nature ourselves? Definitely not. Look at the many saints throughout all of history who paid the price through suffering and restraint, who all wanted to escape the bondage of their sin and transcend their own flesh. How many of them could defeat Satan and become truly obedient to God? Almost none. Even if they did, they were people who were especially perfected by God. But just how many people did this? This was because there was no judgment from God, so that sinful nature was never able to be cleansed. So man’s disposition was unable to be really changed. This one fact sufficiently proves that using human means will not help us resolve our satanic nature. Man must ultimately go through God’s judgment, chastisement, trials, and some refinement before they gain the truth and finally receive the way of eternal life. This is the only way that we can resolve man’s satanic nature. That’s why based on the groundwork of Jesus Christ’s redemption of mankind, Almighty God carries out His judgment in the last days to free man from the grip and control of his satanic nature so that mankind can be cleansed and can receive God’s salvation and be gained by God. From this we can understand that it’s God’s judgment in the last days that can thoroughly cleanse mankind and save all of mankind. We know this is the truth.”

Having finished watching the video in earnest, my father didn’t say much, but later he said with sincerity, “I’ve understood why the Lord has returned to do the work of judgment. I’m willing to investigate Almighty God’s work in the last days.” After a period of investigating, my father was certain that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus, so he accepted God’s work in the last days.

Not long after, when the pastors from our original church came to visit my father, he testified God’s new work to them. He said, “Brothers and sisters, you know that I’ve served the Lord for many years and that I’m well-versed in the Bible and appear on the outside to be loyal. But when I heard the news of the Lord’s return, I didn’t seek the truth nor modestly investigated it. I neglected many prophecies in the Bible about the Lord returning to do the work of judgment in the last days, and even drove my son, who preached to me, out of the house. Through investigation now I finally understand that the Lord Jesus redeemed us and absolved our sins, but we have not been rid of our sinful nature, and that corrupt nature and satanic poisons remain deeply rooted within us. Almighty God’s judgment work in the last days is to resolve the problem of our sinful nature. Only by accepting it can we be cleansed of our sins….”

Thinking back on how in the past my father had resisted Almighty God’s work, then seeing him fellowshiping with the pastors like this at that time, I was moved to tears.

The Fruits of Spreading the Gospel

As I preached the gospel to my father, I felt that the Holy Spirit was with me, and from the bottom of my heart, I became even more sure that the words of Almighty God are the truth and carry authority. I thought about how my father had possessed a lot of biblical knowledge, and not many people could win him in a Bible discussion, but when I fellowshiped with him the truth expressed by Almighty God, he could not raise any questions. I truly saw that God’s words are the truth and can conquer people’s hearts. Under God’s guidance, my family of nine all accepted God’s work in the last days. Thank God! God’s sheep listen to God’s voice. The people whom God is determined to save will ultimately return before Him.

» Read more on our Christian Testimonies page, or click on the related articles below:

• Can Those Who Live in Sin Lose Their Salvation? My Confusion Is Released

• Welcoming the Lord’s Return Means Escaping Sin Is No Longer a Dream!