Escaping the Jaws of Death(Part 2)

By Wang Cheng, China

The weather was really cold then. I was wearing really light clothing and was completely soaked, and on top of that, I hadn’t eaten for days. I felt like I wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer. It was at that point that the police tried another one of their tricks, calling in a psychologist to try to influence my thinking, to brainwash me. The psychologist said, “You’re still young, with parents and children of your own. Since your arrest, the other believers, including your leader, haven’t shown any concern for you. Isn’t it foolish of you to suffer so much on their behalf?” Hearing these lies, I thought, “If my brothers and sisters came to visit me, wouldn’t they be walking right into a trap? You’re trying to deceive me and lure me in with these tricks, to play on my relationships with brothers and sisters so I’ll misunderstand, blame, and reject God. I won’t let you succeed.” Thanks to God’s protection, I saw through Satan’s trick and wasn’t taken in. Defeated, the psychologist then shook his head and said, “This guy is beyond help. No matter what we do, we just can’t get anything out of him. He won’t budge.” Saying this, he shook his head and walked away in defeat.

The police immediately showed their true colors again and hung me up for another day. By that evening, I was so cold that I was shivering from head to toe and my hands felt like they were going to fall off. It was very painful. My mind got fuzzy, and I felt like I really couldn’t keep holding on. Just then, a bunch of officers suddenly rushed in, each one holding a stick about a meter long. They started viciously hitting me in the knees and ankles, and some other officers started pinching me. I was in so much pain that I wanted to die. That time, I really did fall apart. I finally couldn’t bear it anymore, and I started crying. The thought of betraying God crossed my mind. I thought that perhaps I could talk about my own faith as long as I didn’t bring my brothers and sisters into it. Seeing me crying, the police let me down onto the ground. They let me lie there, poured me a little water, and allowed me to rest a bit. They got out a pen and paper they’d prepared in advance, ready to take notes. Just as I was sliding deeper and deeper into Satan’s temptation and was about to betray God, God’s words suddenly clearly came to mind: “Toward those who showed Me not the slightest loyalty during times of tribulation, I shall be merciful no more, for My mercy only extends so far. I have no liking, furthermore, for anyone who has once betrayed Me, much less do I like to associate with those who sell out the interests of their friends. This is My disposition…. Anyone who breaks My heart shall not receive clemency from Me a second time” (“Prepare Sufficient Good Deeds for Your Destination” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). This made me realize that God’s disposition tolerates no offense, and anyone who betrays God will never gain His mercy. My mind suddenly cleared and I thought of Judas betraying the Lord Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Would I really betray God for a moment of physical comfort? If it hadn’t been for God’s words guiding and enlightening me just in time, I probably would have betrayed God and been condemned for all time! I thought of a line from a hymn just then: “My head may break and blood may flow, but the mettle of God’s people can’t be lost. God’s exhortations rest on the heart, I determine to humiliate Satan the devil” (Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs). I softly hummed this within my heart and felt my faith grow. My life and death were in God’s hands, and I knew I should obey His arrangements. As long as I had a single breath remaining, I should stand witness and never yield to the CCP demons!

Seeing that I was just lying on the floor without moving at all, they kept wheedling me. One said, “Is it worth all this suffering? We’re giving you a chance to compensate for your wrongdoing, to tell us what you know. We already know everything, whether you talk or not. We have plenty of witnesses and evidence to get you charged and sentenced.” Seeing them trying every trick in the book to get me to betray God and sell out other believers, I couldn’t contain my rage, and I yelled at them, “Since you know everything, there’s no need to ask me. Even if I knew everything, I’d never tell you!” Exasperated, an officer said, “If you don’t talk today, it’ll be the death of you. Don’t even think about getting out of here alive!” In response, I said, “Since I’ve fallen into your hands, I wasn’t expecting to get out alive, anyway!” Angered, an officer kicked me in the gut, leaving me feeling like I had been disemboweled. They all swarmed around me again and started kicking and punching me, and I passed out from the pain once again. When I came to, I was strung up just like before, only higher this time. I could feel my entire body starting to swell and I couldn’t even speak. But thanks to God’s protection, I didn’t feel any pain at all. When evening came, four police officers stayed to watch me and they ended up falling asleep all over the place. Suddenly, my handcuffs just opened on their own and I fell lightly to the floor as if supported by something underneath. If I hadn’t experienced it myself, I never would have believed it! I then thought of when Peter was in prison, and an angel from the Lord saved him. At the time, Peter’s chains just fell off of him and the door to his cell opened up by itself. I didn’t dare believe that I was experiencing God’s wondrous deeds just like Peter had. At that moment I felt I’d truly been elevated and blessed by God! Incredibly moved, I rushed to kneel before God and offer up a prayer of gratitude. “Oh God! Thank You for Your mercy and care for me. I was tortured by Satan within an inch of my life so many times, and You were quietly protecting me every time, allowing me to see Your almightiness and Your wondrous deeds.” This prayer left me feeling incredibly moved and with a warm feeling inside. I really wanted to stand up and walk out, but I couldn’t move my hands or feet, so I didn’t leave. I then slept on the floor until the next day, when the police kicked me awake. Those evil policemen then began torturing me in a new way. They moved me to another room and had me sit on a tiger chair that was hooked up to electricity. They secured my neck and head with iron clamps and locked up both of my hands so that I couldn’t move at all. All I could do was silently pray to God. At that moment an officer flipped the switch for the electricity and the other dozen or so policemen snapped their gazes onto me, to see what I looked like when I was being electrocuted. They were shocked to see that I didn’t react at all. They checked all the wiring, and after a while longer, when I still didn’t react, one of them said, “Is the tiger chair broken? Why isn’t there a current?” Without thinking, he tapped me with his hand and with a “zap!”, the shock sent him flying a meter back where he lay there on the floor crying out in pain. All the other officers were so scared they ran out, and one of them tripped and fell in his rush to leave. Quite a while passed before two officers came back to unlock me, trembling with the fear of being shocked. I’d been sitting on that tiger chair for a full half an hour but couldn’t feel the electricity at all. It felt just like sitting on a regular chair. This was another of God’s marvelous works. I was so moved. At the time I felt like I was ready to lose anything, even my life. As long as God was with me, that would be enough.

They took me back to the detention house later. I was entirely covered with wounds and the pain in my hands and feet was unbearable. My whole body was limp and weak. I couldn’t sit up or stand, or get any food down. All I could do was lie there, prostrate. When one of the guys I was sharing that death row cell with found out I hadn’t sold anyone out, he really admired me. He said, “You believers are real heroes!” In my heart, I said a prayer offering up my praise to God. The police later tried to get the other prisoners to beat me and torment me, but surprisingly, they stood by me and came to my defense. They said, “This man believes in God, and he hasn’t done anything wrong. You’re about to torture him to death.” Afraid of things getting out of hand, the police didn’t dare say anything, but just slunk off, defeated.

Seeing they weren’t getting anywhere, the police switched to yet another tactic, and began working with the prison guards in the detention house to give me lots of extra labor to do. Every day they had me make two bundles of joss paper to burn for the dead, and each bundle was made up of 1,600 sheets each of tinfoil and flash paper. This was twice as much work as what other prisoners had to do. My hands were in terrible pain and I couldn’t pick anything up, and even working all through the night, there was no way I could have finished all that. The police used this excuse to mete out corporal punishment on me, forcing me to either take cold showers out in temperatures 20 below zero, or to have me work nights on end, or stand watch for long periods of time. I was getting less than three hours of sleep every night. I suffered this way for one year and eight months at that detention house. The CCP later slapped me with a charge of “using a xie jiao organization to undermine the enforcement of the law” without any evidence whatsoever, and sentenced me to three years in prison. When I got out I was still kept under close surveillance by the local police station. I wasn’t free to go where I wanted, and had to be ready to show up the moment they summoned me. I didn’t have any personal freedom whatsoever. I couldn’t attend church gatherings or do my duty. This was really difficult for me, and I thought that if I were kept under constant CCP surveillance and couldn’t do my duty as a created being, how would that be anything but a living death for me? So, I later left my hometown to go to another region where I could finally do my duty.

The CCP’s savage persecution is etched deep in my memory. I’ve seen its vile face, its demonic opposition to God and the way it harms people, and I hate it to the marrow of my bones. I also witnessed God’s wondrous deeds and His almightiness and sovereignty. It was God’s wondrous deeds that protected me so that I could escape from Satan’s grasp and that was what snatched me back from the jaws of death. Through the CCP’s brutal persecution, it was God’s words that guided me, and it was His life force that supported me so I could cling to life, and this strengthened my faith to follow God. Thanks be to God! May all glory be to Almighty God!

Source From: The Overcomers’ Testimonies

Popular Content:

What is following God’s will? Is it following God’s will if one only preaches and works for the Lord?