3. I acknowledge that what is preached by The Church of Almighty God is the true way, but because the people in our church have been deceived by the lies and fallacies spread by the pastors and elders, they’re all hostile to The Church of Almighty God. I’m worried that after accepting Almighty God’s work of the last days, I’ll be rejected and vilified by my brothers and sisters from my old church. My stature is too small, and I’m not brave enough to face all this—what should I do?
Bible Verses for Reference:
“Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42–43).
“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:10–12).
“Enter you in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13–14).
Relevant Words of God:
You should not be afraid of this and that; no matter how many difficulties and dangers you might face, you ought to remain steady before Me, unobstructed by any hindrance, so that My will may be carried out unimpeded. This is your duty; otherwise, I shall bring My wrath upon you, and with My hand I shall…. You will then endure endless mental suffering. You must endure all; for Me, you must be ready to forsake everything and follow Me with all your might, and be ready to pay any price. Now is the time that I shall test you: Will you offer your loyalty to Me? Can you loyally follow Me to the end of the road? Be not afraid; with My support, who could ever block this road? Remember this! Remember! Everything contains My good intentions and is under My scrutiny. Can you follow My word in all that you say and do? When the tests of fire come upon you, will you kneel down and call out? Or will you cower, incapable of moving forward?
You must possess My courage within you, and you must have principles when it comes to facing nonbelieving relatives. For My sake, however, you also must not yield to any dark forces. Rely on My wisdom to walk the perfect way; do not allow any of Satan’s conspiracies to take hold. Do all that you can to place your heart before Me, and I shall comfort you and bring you peace and joy. Do not strive to be a certain way in front of other people; does making Me satisfied not carry more value and weight? In satisfying Me, will you not be even further filled with eternal and lifelong peace and happiness? Your current suffering indicates just how great your future blessings will be; they are indescribable. You know not the greatness of the blessings that you shall have; you could not even dream of it. Today it has become real; so very real! This is not so far away—can you see it? Every last bit of this is within Me; how bright is the road ahead! Wipe away your tears, and feel no more pain or sorrow. All things are arranged by My hands, and My goal is to soon make you the overcomers and to bring you into glory alongside Me. For all that happens to you, you should be correspondingly grateful and full of praise; that will bring Me deep satisfaction.
—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 10
Those who truly follow God are able to withstand their work being tested, whereas those who do not truly follow God are incapable of withstanding any of God’s trials. Sooner or later they will be expelled, while the overcomers will remain in the kingdom. Whether or not man truly seeks God can only be determined by testing his work, that is, by God’s trials, and has nothing to do with what man himself concludes. God does not reject any person lightly; all that He does can utterly convince man. He does not do anything that is invisible to man, or any work that cannot convince man. Whether man’s belief is true or not is proved by the facts and cannot be determined by man. That “wheat cannot be made into tares, and tares cannot be made into wheat” is without doubt. All those who truly love God will ultimately remain in the kingdom, and God will not treat anyone who truly loves Him poorly.
—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Work and Man’s Practice
Today, most people do not have that knowledge. They believe that suffering is without value, they are rejected by the world, their home life is troubled, God does not find them pleasing, and their prospects are bleak. Some people suffer to a certain extent, even wanting to die. This is not true love for God; such people are cowards, they have no perseverance, they are weak and incompetent! God is eager for man to love Him, but the more man loves Him, the greater man’s suffering, and the more man loves Him, the greater man’s trials. If you love Him, then every kind of suffering will befall you—and if you do not, then perhaps everything will go smoothly for you and all will be peaceful around you. When you love God, you will always feel that much around you is insurmountable, and because your stature is too small you will be refined; moreover, you will be incapable of satisfying God, and you will always feel that God’s intentions are too high, that they are beyond the reach of man. Because of all this you will be refined—because there is much weakness within you, and much that is incapable of satisfying the intentions of God, you will be refined internally. Yet you must clearly see that purification is only achieved through refinement. Thus, during these last days you must bear testimony to God. No matter how great your suffering, you should walk until the very end, and even at your last breath, still you must be loyal to God and at the mercy of God’s orchestration; only this is truly loving God, and only this is the strong and resounding testimony. When you are tempted by Satan, you should say: “My heart belongs to God, and God has already gained me. I cannot satisfy you—I must devote my all to satisfying God.” The more you satisfy God, the more God blesses you and the greater the strength of your love for God; so, too, will you have faith and resolve, and will feel that nothing is more worthy or significant than a life spent loving God. It can be said that man has but to love God to be without sorrow. Although there are times when your flesh is weak and you are beset by many real troubles, if during these times you truly rely on God, then within your spirit you will be consoled, you will feel grounded, and you will have something to depend upon. In this way, you will be able to overcome many environments, and so you will not complain about God because of the anguish that you suffer. Instead, you will want to sing, dance, and pray, to assemble and fellowship, to give thought to God, and you will feel that all the people, events, and things around you that are organized by God are fitting. If you do not love God, all that you look upon will be irksome to you and nothing will be pleasing to your eyes; in your spirit you will not be free but downtrodden, your heart will always complain about God, and you will always feel that you suffer so much torment, and that it is so unjust. If you do not pursue for the sake of happiness, but in order to satisfy God and to not be accused by Satan, then such pursuit will give you great strength to love God. Man is able to practice all that is spoken by God, and all that he does is able to satisfy God—this is what it means to be possessed of reality. Pursuing the satisfaction of God is using your God-loving heart to put His words into practice; regardless of the time—even when others are without strength—inside of you there is still a God-loving heart, and you yearn for and miss God from deep within. This is real stature. Just how great your stature is depends on how much of a God-loving heart you possess, on whether you are able to stand fast when you are tried, whether you are weak when a certain environment comes upon you, and whether you can stand your ground when your brothers and sisters reject you; the arrival of the facts will show just what your God-loving heart is like.
—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only by Experiencing Painful Trials Can You Know the Loveliness of God
God seeks those who long for Him to appear. He seeks those who are able to hear His words, those who do not forget His commission and offer up their hearts and bodies to Him. He seeks those who are as submissive and unresistant as babes before Him. If you devote yourself to God, unimpeded by any force, then God shall look upon you with favor and shall bestow His blessings upon you. If you have high status, a great reputation, a wealth of knowledge, a multitude of assets, and the support of many people, yet you remain untroubled by these things and still come before God to accept His calling and His commission and to do what God asks of you, then all that you do shall be the most meaningful cause on earth and the most just undertaking of mankind. If you reject the call of God for the sake of status and your own goals, all that you do shall be cursed and even loathed by God.
—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Appendix 2: God Holds Sovereignty Over the Fate of All Mankind
