From Almighty God’s Word, I Have Found My Life Direction
Novo Philippines
My name is Novo, I am a Filipino. Since I was little, I believed in God with my mother. I went to church with my brothers and sisters to listen to sermons. Even though I had believed in the Lord for many years, I felt that I was like an unbeliever. Within my heart, I would think about how to earn more money and live a better life all day long. Furthermore, I would frequently go out and drink with friends. Once I had extra money, I would go out and gamble. Even though I knew that what I was doing was bad and I would frequently pray to God saying that I would change these bad habits of mine, I basically never put it into practice. In this way, I became increasingly degenerated. I did not pray sincerely to God. Each week, I would only pray a few simple prayers in a perfunctory way. Sometimes, I felt very desperate because I knew that when the Lord returned, He would judge everybody’s actions. He would then decide whether each person would go to heaven or go to hell. I felt that I was a degenerate and that God would not forgive me. Afterward, I married and had kids. All I thought about was my wife and my children. When it came to my faith, I pushed it to the back of my mind. In order to provide a better future for my children and to achieve my desires to become rich, I decided to leave the country to find work. As a result, I came to Taiwan. Even after I found work, I still had not changed my past lifestyle. During my leisure time, I would still go out to drink and sing with my colleagues. I was living the life of an unbeliever.
In 2011, I worked as a welder in a factory in Taiwan. One day in 2012, a colleague in Taiwan asked me if I was a Catholic. I replied that I was. Afterward, she invited me for Mass at her church. Then, one Sunday morning, at dawn, she came to the factory to pick us up and brought us to her friend’s house. There, I met Brother Joseph. He asked me, “Brother, do you expect the second coming of the Lord Jesus?” I said that I did. Joseph asked me again, “Do you know what work the Lord Jesus will do when He returns?” I replied, “He will sit upon a white throne and judge mankind and divide people into different groups. Afterward, God will decide, based on each man’s conducts and deeds, whether he will go to heaven or hell.” Brother Joseph continued to ask me, “If we told you that the Lord Jesus has already come and is doing the work of judgment, would you believe?” I was quite surprised when I heard him say this. I thought: Has the Lord Jesus already returned? How is this possible? Wouldn’t He judge us if He has already returned? I haven’t seen the judgment before the great white throne! However, I did not directly ask him these questions because I felt that God’s judgment is a mystery and God’s wisdom is unfathomable to man. My viewpoints may not be right. I felt it would be better for me to listen to their viewpoints first. As a result, I replied, “This is something that I do not yet dare confirm. Please continue to speak.” Afterward, Brother Joseph and others showed me many passages from the Bible that talked about the judgment work that He would do once He returned. Two verses from this selection are as follows: “He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (Jhn 12:48). “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17). After I saw these predictions, I focused my attention on what these brothers and sisters had to say. I believed that what they had shared with me was the truth because I knew that the Bible had recorded the work of God.
Afterward, Brother Joseph let us read two more passages of Almighty God’s word: “The work of judgment is God’s own work, so it must naturally be done by God Himself; it cannot be done by man in His stead. Because judgment is the conquering of man through the truth, it is unquestionable that God still appears as the incarnate image to do this work among men. That is to say, in the last days, Christ shall use the truth to teach men around the earth and to make all truths known to them. This is God’s work of judgment.” “In the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, reveal the essence of man, and dissect his words and deeds. 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 the normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and disposition of God, and so on. These words are all focused on the essence of man and his corrupt disposition. In particular, those words that reveal how man spurns God are spoken in regard to how man is an embodiment of Satan and an enemy force against God. When God does the work of judgment, He does not simply make clear the nature of man with just a few words, but carries out revelation, dealing, and pruning over the long term. Such manner of revelation, dealing, and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words but with the truth that man does not possess at all. Only such manner of work is deemed judgment; only through such judgment can man be persuaded, be thoroughly convinced into submission to God, and gain true knowledge of God. What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of God and the truth about his rebelliousness. The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the will of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that could not be understood by man. It also allows man to recognize and know his corrupt substance and the roots of his corruption, as well as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by the work of judgment, for the substance of such work is actually the work of opening up the truth, way, and life of God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God” (“Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).
