Sun
Yongping
Datong
City, Shanxi Province
I am Sun Yongping,
formerly a co-worker of a house church. Because I was single, without
family burdens, and was willing to pursue to make progress, the
church paid special attention to training me. So I often had chances
to work and study in other places. In recent years, every time I went
to work out of town, I came back loaded with rumors about “theEastern Lightning.” Unconsciously, I was deeply poisoned.
Especially after I read a book called Refute the Cult the EasternLightning, I was more encouraged to resist the Almighty God. Without
verification or investigation, I had a strong aversion and hostility
to this “way” that I knew nothing about. So, I joined others in
rebuking and refuting “the Eastern Lightning,” and even mobilized
all the brothers and sisters to curse “the Eastern Lightning” in
their daily prayers. Meanwhile, I also heard the rumors say, “The
means of ‘the Eastern Lightning’ is extremely cruel. If you do
not accept what they preach, they will use violence on you, such as
gouging out your eyes, cutting off your nose, or cutting off your
ears. Besides, they will seduce you with beauty or buy you off with
money. And as long as you accept their ‘way,’ they will give you
whatever you lack. …” Soon those rumors were spread everywhere.
The entire religious world accepted them to be true. And I felt more
hatred, hostility, and fear toward this “way.” All day long I
lived in dread, fearing that I might “lose my footing” and fall
into the “trap” of “the Eastern Lightning.”
In the summer of
1999, a sister who believed in the Almighty God, introduced by
someone else, came to my home to fellowship with me with the purpose
of preaching the way of truth to me. However, I drove her out of my
house and warned her, “Don’t come to me anymore from now on. I
won’t accept that stuff you preach!”
At another time, a
brother told me, “A female colleague of mine also believes in
Jesus. She often comes to my home and talks about something
concerning belief in God with me. Could she be of ‘the Eastern
Lightning’?” I asked him what she talked about. He said, “She
fellowshipped with me from Genesis about how God created man and
woman, and went all the way to…” Before the brother finished his
words, I stopped him by saying, “That’s enough. Ten to one she is
a heretic, because I have known some contents of their doctrine and
some of the ways in which they preach it. Her fellowship quite fits.”
Then and there I devised a plan and said, “Let’s do it this way.
When she comes again, you and she can fix a time when she can give
you a good fellowship. Then I will bring some people to catch her on
the spot.” Thus, we acted according to our plan but did not succeed
in the end.
One morning in the
autumn of 2001, while I was saying a morning prayer at home, I
vaguely heard someone speaking to my mother outside, “Aunty…”
At this, I thought there might be strangers who wanted to enter our
house. So I immediately stopped praying and walked out. Sure enough,
there were two strangers. Seeing me come up, they nodded to me and
greeted me kindly. Without saying a word, I pushed them outward and
said, “Go, go, go!” They said in surprise and bewilderment,
“Brother, how can you do this? …” I pushed them all the way out
of the yard and shut the gate behind me. Later, I learned that the
two sisters specially came from another place to preach God’s
end-time gospel to me. However, I drove them away mercilessly.
In retrospect, I
had done too many evil things. And there was one worse thing, which
happened in the summer of 2002. One day at noon, I received a call
from a sister, who said, “A woman who preaches heresy has come to
the home of a co-worker. What should we do? We can’t handle it.”
“You stall her first. We’ll be there in a minute!” After I hang
up the phone, we immediately took a taxi there. That sister had
already come out of the co-worker’s home and was standing outside
talking about something with the several sisters of our church. I
said, “Catch her!” Then, six people forcibly took her upstairs to
that co-worker’s home. As soon as we got in the door, we began to
search her and took her bag. I even pointed at her and said fiercely,
“I tell you, I won’t let you go easily if you don’t lay it on
the line! Having fallen into my hands, you’d better admit defeat!”
However, these words did not make her frightened; instead, she became
calmer and more collected, sitting there without saying a word.
Seeing this, I became furious and gave her a heavy slap on the face.
Instinctively, she covered her face with her hands, and blood
immediately flowed out through her fingers. The several sisters
beside me were so scared that they were all in a fluster. For fear of
getting into trouble, they helped her wipe the face with tissues. At
that time, I became so devoid of humanity that I even said such
words: “Don’t help her. Let her wipe by herself. Don’t have
pity on such a person.” After the blood was wiped away, I continued
questioning her but she still remained silent. At this time, the tall
brother who came with me rushed at her fiercely, kicked her and the
chair to the floor, and then gave her several more kicks. Afterward,
I walked forward, dragged her up from the floor by her hair, and
shouted, “Stop pretending! Today if you don’t make a full
confession, the good part is yet to come! …” Thus, under our
beating, that sister had no strength to resist. By two and more in
the afternoon, I still did not give her anything to eat or drink. And
even when she asked me for the medicine in her bag, I did not give it
to her. In the end, seeing that we would not release her, she asked
me, “Are you believers in Jesus or not? How come you don’t have
any love or mercy as a believer in Jesus?” I said, “What makes
you say that I don’t have love or mercy?” She said, “Will
anyone who has mercy stand by and watch someone suffering from
illness? Will anyone who has love beat a weak woman?” I walked up
to her and retorted upon her, saying, “How can I treat you people
with love? I will beat you as many times as you come, until you dare
not come again. …” After a while, that tall brother called me out
and said, “Leave here now. I have reported her to the police.” So
we left in a hurry. Later, I heard that that sister was taken to the
police station. Just like that, I gave the sister who preached the
gospel a good beating and handed her over to the “authority of
Herod.” Now, as I think of this matter, I extremely hate myself,
and I also realize that I am too bad in humanity and really deserve
to be cursed.
Later, I found that
a large number of brothers and sisters of various churches turned to
the Almighty God, and the trend was irresistible. But this did not
arouse my desire to seek, nor did I see God’s hand from it, much
less see that it was the working of the Holy Spirit and God Godself
wanted to call back his sheep. When I heard that the leaders and
workers who were admired by many people had also accepted the
Almighty God’s end-time work, I still did not wake up. On the
contrary, I said to the brothers and sisters when preaching, “None
of those who have accepted ‘ the Lightning’ is a good person! You
think they are good; that’s because they were hypocritical at
ordinary times. Now the Lord has exposed them, so they have naturally
shown their true colors. Though they were eloquent and seemed to be
spiritual at ordinary times, haven’t they fallen in the end?”
Brothers and
sisters, the account of each event I gave above is true, and there is
not any exaggeration in it. After reading about my acts of resisting
God, you may feel very angry. Yes! I also bitterly hate myself and
also feel that I deserve to be cursed and destroyed. However, God’s
great love, tolerance, and mercy are beyond measure. Even though I
had resisted and slandered the Almighty God so terribly, God’s
end-time salvation was still not withheld from me.
One day in 2003,
thanks to God’s wonderful arrangement, I was fortunate to hear the
testimony about God’s end-time work. But during the fellowship, I
could in no way accept the “name” and “gender” of Christ.
Then I said to the brother who gave the testimony, “Hebrews 13:8
says: ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.’
So why do you preach another Christ today? And you even say Christ is
a female. Can it be right?” He replied gently, “Brother, don’t
be angry. Calm down. Let’s read several passages of God’s word,
and you will understand.” God says: “When Jesus began to
perform his ministry, the Holy Spirit began to testify to the name of
Jesus, and the name of Jehovah was no longer mentioned…. When the
Old Testament Age of the Law ended, it meant that the work God did
mainly with the name Jehovah ended. From then on, God’s name was no
longer Jehovah but Jesus. Thereafter, the Holy Spirit began to do the
work mainly with the name Jesus. So if now you still eat and drink
Jehovah’s word and judge the work according to the work of the Age
of the Law, aren’t you judging it according to regulations? Aren’t
you holding on to old things? Now you know that the end time has
come, so could Jesus still be called Jesus when he comes? … Could
God only be called Jesus? Couldn’t he be called by a new name in
the new age? Could one image of a ‘man’ and one particular name
be God’s everything? God does a new work and takes a new name in
each age. How could he do the same work in different ages? How could
he hold on to old things? The name ‘Jesus’ was taken for the sake
of the redemptive work. Could Jesus still be called by this name when
he comes again in the end time? Could he still do the redemptive
work? Jehovah and Jesus were one, but why were they called by
different names in different ages? Isn’t it because the ages of
their works were different? Could one name represent God’s
everything? So, God has to take a different name in a different age,
changing the age with his name and representing the age with his
name, because no name can fully represent God Godself but one name
can only represent God’s nature typical of one age and God takes a
name as long as it can represent the work. So, God can choose any
name that matches his nature to represent a whole age. Whether it was
the age of Jehovah or the age of Jesus, God used his name to
represent the age. … He was called Jesus when he came before; could
he still be called Jesus when he comes this time? He was a male when
he came before; could he still be a male when he comes this time? …
Some people say that God is unchanging. That is also right, but it
means that God’s nature and God’s substance are unchanging. When
his name and work change, it does not prove that his substance
changes. In other words, God is forever God, and this is unchanging.
If you say that God’s work is unchanging, could God’s
six-thousand-year management plan come to an end? You only know that
God is unchanging, but do you know that God is also ever new? If his
work were unchanging, could he have led mankind until today? If he
were unchanging, why would he have done the works of two ages? …
God is not as simple as man imagines. His work cannot stop in one
age, just as the name Jehovah cannot replace God’s name forever and
God can also work with the name Jesus. This is a mark that God’s
work continuously progresses forward.” After reading this
passage, the brother continued to read: “If God were only a
male when he was incarnated, people would consider that God is a male
and a God of men and would never think that he is a God of women.
Then, men would think that God and men are of the same gender. So God
would be men’s head. What about women then? That would be unfair.
Wouldn’t that be showing favoritism? In that case, God only saved
men who are the same as him, so no woman would be saved. When God
created mankind, he created Adam and Eve. He did not only create Adam
but created man and woman in his image. God is not only the God of
men, but also the God of women.” “Every stage of work done by God
has practical significance. At that time when Jesus came, he was a
male. This time when God comes, he is a female. From this you can see
that God’s creating both man and woman can be for his work and with
God there is no gender. When his Spirit comes, he can put on any
flesh as he wants, and this flesh can represent him. Whether this
flesh is a male or a female, he can represent God as long as he is
God’s incarnated flesh.” After listening to these two
passages, I woke up all at once. “Actually, that God never changes
means his substance never changes, but God’s work continuously
progresses forward. Otherwise, how could mankind have developed till
today? Today when God comes to earth through being incarnated, he
takes the outer shell of a female; this even more shows God’s
wisdom. Otherwise, wouldn’t man circumscribe God?” Before God’s
words, I was really quite convinced, and I also became much calmer.
Then, I asked the
brother another question: “You say that God comes the second time
through being incarnated. But I have never read such words in theBible as ‘God will come through being incarnated.’ I only read in
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 that there will be three kinds of voices when
God comes. And the Bible also says that he will come on the white
clouds with thousands upon thousands of his angels. But how come the
Lord does not come today as the Bible says?” The brother answered,
“Luke 17:24-25 says: ‘For the Son of Man in his day will be like
the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to
the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by
this generation.’ When the ‘Son of Man’ is mentioned, he has to
be a person born in a normal family, and when the ‘Son of Man’ is
mentioned, he has to have the likeness of a man. If God comes as a
spiritual body, he cannot be called the ‘Son of Man.’ Take
Jehovah and Jesus as an example. They were both God, but only Jesus
could be called the ‘Son of Man’ whereas Jehovah could not be
called the ‘Son of Man.’ This is because Jesus was the flesh in
which God’s Spirit was clothed, and he had normal humanity and full
divinity. Jehovah, however, only had full divinity, and he worked in
Israel in the way of the Spirit and appeared to men in the way of the
Spirit, so he could not be called the ‘Son of Man.’ Besides, only
when God comes to earth through being incarnated can he be said to
suffer things and be rejected by this generation. If he came as a
spiritual body, those things would be out of the question. Since the
Spirit is formless and imageless, intangible and invisible, and not
limited by any person, matter, or thing, or by any space or place,
how could he be said to suffer things? So, from these verses we can
see that the Lord will come the second time through being incarnated
instead of appearing to men as a spiritual body.” Checking this
against the facts, I found it was truly so. “The religious world
says that ‘the Eastern Lightning’ is a heresy, and the government
condemns it as a ‘cult.’ Isn’t this the rejection by this
generation?”
Having understood
that the Lord came the second time still through being incarnated, I
was more anxious to know how exactly the Lord came. I thought to
myself, “Isn’t it as 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says?” With regard
to this point, the brother fellowshipped, “As to how the Lord
comes, we cannot just pay attention to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 but
ignore other verses, such as Revelation 3:3: ‘But if you do not
wake up, I will come like a thief,’ and Matthew 24:44, 50: ‘because
the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.’
These verses all prophesied the Lord’s second coming. Also, Acts
1:9-11 says that as the Lord went, so will he come. Which verse is
accurate, then? Which verse will be fulfilled when the Lord comes? In
fact, all will be fulfilled, and none will fail. Then, how to solve
the contradiction between them? As long as we look at them according
to the sequence of the events, the problem will be easily solved. The
angel said that as the Lord went, so would he come. Then what do you
think the angel meant by saying those words? Do you really dare to
say that coming on the clouds is the only way for the Lord to come?”
“I dare to say so!” I said firmly. “Turn to John 20:16-17 and
see why the Lord Jesus didn’t allow Mary to touch him at that
time.” I answered, “That’s because Mary is unholy.” He said,
“No. Just look for the answer in these verses.” I read them
carefully. Indeed, I found that the answer was given plainly in verse
17: “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father….”
Then, the brother asked me to read John 20:24-29. After I finished
reading, he asked, “Why did Jesus allow Thomas to touch him at this
time? What does it indicate? If Jesus had not ascended to the Father,
how could he have allowed Thomas to touch him? From these two
passages, we can see that the Lord Jesus had ascended to heaven
secretly once before he ascended to heaven in public. Now, have you
understood what the angel meant by saying that as Jesus went, so
would he come? Jesus went secretly, so he would come secretly. This
has exactly fulfilled the prophecies in Matthew 24:44, 50 and
Revelation 3:3. Thus it can be seen that Jesus will come twice as he
went twice. Now he has come secretly, and shortly he will come
publicly. None of the verses will fail, and all will be fulfilled.”
After hearing the brother’s fellowship, I was filled with shocked
wonder and felt terribly ashamed. Before the truth and under the
enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, my notions had been overturned one
by one. At that moment, I said to the brother excitedly, “Now I
know what you have preached is correct and is the true way. I have
misunderstood you!”
Only after
following the Almighty God have I truly realized that all I heard in
the religious world in the past are rumors and slanders against the
true way. This is because I have personally experienced that God
conquered me with many truths. It was not by means of “seducing
with beauty, buying off with money, or threatening with violence,”
as the rumors say, that I was made to turn to the Almighty God. Of
course, those who do not know about my story may think that I was
seduced by women of “the Eastern Lightning” into joining it, or
that I was swayed by a lot of money they gave me, or that because
they are an underworld gang, I had to accept for fear of their using
violence on me. Brothers and sisters, now I tell you this seriously:
All these thoughts of yours are not facts but misunderstandings about
and slanders against the Almighty God! If you still don’t believe
after reading my testimony, you may as well come to my home
personally to make an investigation and see whether I have become
very rich or whether I have ladies accompanying me. Besides, if they
were really an underworld gang, how could they have allowed me to
frenziedly resist and even beat and abuse them? Then, could I live
safely to this day? Could my home and family remain sound? Didn’t
they know to revenge?
Dear brothers and
sisters, I am a person who loves vainglory, and I really did not have
the courage to make public the facts about how I resisted God and how
I was conquered by God. But because God’s word kept moving me
inside, I could not resist anymore. God says: “Have you
ever thought how grieved and worried God’s heart is? How could he
bear to see the innocent mankind he created with his own hands
suffering such torment? After all, mankind are the unfortunate who
have been poisoned. Although they have survived today, who knows that
they have long been poisoned by the evil one? Have you forgotten that
you were one of the victims? Are you not willing to try hard to save
all these survivors because of loving God? Are you not willing to
exert all your strength to repay the God who loves man as his own
flesh and blood?” It is God’s word that has moved my
heart, and it is God’s love that has encouraged me, so that I have
broken away from the power of darkness and stood up to bear this
testimony for God and for the true way. Thank God for giving me this
chance to atone for my sins. I am willing to dedicate all my strength
for God’s gospel work at this final time. No matter how great
suffering and hindrance there will be, I am willing to make public
the facts about my disobedience so that more people who are deceived
by rumors can see through satan’s schemes and receive God’s
end-time salvation soon.
Wake up! Dear
brothers and sisters! God is expecting you, expecting you to turn
back now. Throw yourself into his arms quickly, because time is too
short, too short! Brothers and sisters, don’t refuse God’s
arrival again. Don’t shut the door on the true God who has long
since come because there will be false christs appearing in the last
days. As God’s word says: “You should not blindly condemn
the words expressed by God because there will be false christs
appearing in the end time, and should not be ones who blaspheme the
Holy Spirit for fear of being deceived. Won’t that be too
regrettable?” “I have spoken to you all that I ought to. What
path you should choose will be totally decided by your own choice.You
should understand such a word: God’s work never waits for anyone
who cannot keep up with his pace, and God’s righteous nature is
merciless toward anyone.”
