The film What a Beautiful Voice aroused my interest when I only saw its title. At the beginning of the movie, the prison gates slide open and the heroine Dong Jingxin walks out of the jail. Simple as the scene is, it conveys lots of information. There must be a story about the heroine. So what happened to her? Why was she put in prison? The directors then tell it to us in explicit dialogues instead of introducing suspense. Dong Jingxin, a preacher of a house church in China, was arrested by the Chinese Communist Party’s police seven years ago because she preached the gospel. Though her seven years’ affliction in prison is not shown in the movie, we can imagine what her prison life was like from the sigh she lets out when she steps out of the prison and stares up at the sky. The prisons of the CCP are hell on earth. Dong Jingxin must have suffered a lot of pain and torture during the seven years, and God’s words must have led her a lot.

Still from the movie "What a Beautiful Voice"

Outside the prison, Liu Qiguang, Dong’s husband, says simply to her, “You’ve finally made it through the tough times in prison. Let’s go home.” These words attract my attention. In their outward appearance these words speak of going home, but in fact there is another layer of meaning behind them. Later in the movie, attentive audience can find the following lines from the co-worker Chenguang, “Well, I’m so moved that you’ve come back, so this book is my gift to you. I want you to be able to read the words of Almighty God and hear the voice of God.” It can be said that Chenguang has been touched and guided by the Holy Spirit so that she can preach the gospel to Dong on the second day of her returning. From the outside, it is her daughter and mother expecting Dong to come back home; actually, God is also waiting for her to return to God’s family. Along with the conclusion of Dong’s miserable life in prison, the days that her spirit was in drought also comes to an end. Subsequently, we can clearly see that: Since Dong and her husband started to read the book of God’s word which was given by Chenguang, the thirsty and hungry condition in their spirit has gradually changed, and they have enjoyed the Holy Spirit’s work again, as well as the warmth of God’s love.

What is great about this movie is: It points out a clear path of practice to solve the desolation of the church and believers’ spiritual darkness and dryness, that is, to seek and investigate the true way, and to heed God’s voice. In fact, the universal desolation in the religious world didn’t happen overnight. Many religious people, from pastors and elders to ordinary believers, have tried every means to change the increasingly desolate situation of the religious world, but without success. Although many Christians acknowledge the fact that the religious world has been cold and desolate to the uttermost, few of them actively seek the church with the work of the Holy Spirit. I remember that God said, “And also I have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city: one piece was rained on, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered” (Amos 4:7). The piece where God sends no rain withers—do this not refer to the present situation of the religious world? However, it contains God’s good will and His wisdom. When it doesn’t rain in one city while another city receives rain, people who truly believe in God and thirst for the truth, facing the desolation of the church, will try their best to seek out the work of the Holy Spirit and the footsteps of God’s work. In this way, they can surely find the city with rain and welcome the appearance of God. However, this has been neglected by most of the Christians today. Thus, most believers have been doing nothing but mindlessly and obsessively waiting for the Lord to bring them into the kingdom of heaven, though the religious world has been desolate for many years. 

The precious point of this movie is: Its theme points out a clear path of practice to solve the desolation of the church and believers’ spiritual darkness and dryness, that is, to seek and investigate the true way, and to heed God’s voice. In fact, all religious circles are empty and desolate, which last not one or two days. Many religious people, it can be said, from pastors and elders to ordinary believers, have tried every means, yet still can’t change the situation of the religious world of being increasingly desolate. Once I heard a pastor in mainland China said that the religious world has been desolate to the uttermost. Despite many Christians acknowledge this fact, few of them actively seek the church with the work of the Holy Spirit. I remember that God said, “And also I have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city: one piece was rained on, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered” (Amos 4:7). Don’t these words refer to the present situation of the religious world? However, this involves God’s good will and His wisdom: One city doesn’t rain while another city rains. Facing the desolation of the church, people who truly believe in God and thirst for the truth will try to seek out the work of the Holy Spirit and the footsteps of God’s work. In this way, they can surely find the city with rain and welcome the appearance of God. However, this has been neglected by most of the Christians today. Thus, they still sit and passively await destruction, mindlessly and obsessively waiting for the Lord to bring them into the kingdom of heaven, though the religious world has been desolate for many years.

In order to pass on the above message, the writer-director throws out the idea straightforwardly in the second scene. Both Dong Jingxin and Chenguang are the ones who actively seek and observe the true way. Facing the desolation of the church, they choose to go out to seek rather than wait passively, which fulfills God’s words, “And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened” (Luke 11:9-10). Chenguang finds The Church of Almighty God which has the work of the Holy Spirit and gets the book The Word Appears in the Flesh because she takes the initiative to seek. Through reading the book, she reaps great benefits, and her situation of darkness and dryness in spirit has improved. Likewise, Dong Jingxin can recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit from the words Chenguang reads because she has a desire to seek the truth. Through seeking and investigating actively, she has recognized that Almighty God’s words and the Lord Jesus’ are from the same source, and that Almighty God’s word is exactly the voice of God.

In the course of looking into the true way, Dong Jingxin has been subjected to pressure from various quarters. The emotionally charged plots that build with tension are very absorbing. 

The Pressure From the Chinese Communist Party Government

The words of the chief of the police station reveal the fact of the CCP government’s persecution of religious belief, especially its brutal persecution of The Church of Almighty God. The chief threatens Dong Jingxin, “I’m warning you, if you attend another gathering or preach the gospel again, we will get you, and if that happens, it won’t be a matter of a few years of punishment. If you don’t handle this well we’ll have to put you away for life.” Undoubtedly, these words force her to a blind alley. She has just made it through the hard times in the demonic prison, and yet is monitored by the CCP police as if under house arrest. She bows her head and keeps silent, and her horror within is exposed by her hands’ movement. If her investigation into Eastern Lightning is known by the CCP, she will be thrown into prison once again and what awaits her will be a life sentence. The pressure is indeed too great.

The Pressure From Her Mother

Dong Jingxin’s mother has only one child. During the seven years that her daughter was in prison, she has longed day and night for her to come out of prison and be back home safely and it’s been difficult, but Dong now believes in Eastern Lightning. She worries that: If her daughter is arrested again, who else could take care of her in her old age? And her daughter may even fail to see her in her last moments. Dong Jingxin knows clearly: During her seven years’ imprisonment, her mother suffered a lot. She has not only been filled with worries and borne the pain of missing her, but also been mocked and slandered by others, and lived under the surveillance of the Chinese government. Her mother has suffered both physically and mentally. Based on these facts, Dong can understand her mother’s feelings and why she doesn’t support her in accepting Eastern Lightning. However, she has believed in the Lord for years, and has been expecting the Lord’s coming. Since she has finally met the Lord, how can she reject the Lord for fear of death and drag out an ignoble existence?

The Pressure From the Pastors and Elders

The pastor says: “Dong Jingxin just got out of prison, but she’s looking into Eastern Lightning! … Eastern Lightning is always stealing sheep, and they haven’t stopped. With Dong Jingxin accepting it as well, there are only a few good sheep left in the church.” In order to hinder Dong Jingxin from accepting the true way, the pastor and the elder, soon after they got the news, arrived at her home. They use religious conceptions to deceive and bind her, and even threaten that if she dares to preach the gospel in the church, she will take responsibility for the consequences in the end. The naked threat exposes the real purpose of the pastor and the elder who hinder believers from seeking the true way. This part of the movie also reveals that we should guard against the deception of the antichrists in the religious world. The specious fallacies of the pastors and elders are really deceitful. If we don’t discern them, we will easily be duped. Then it will be too late to regret.

Faced with all the pressure, Dong Jingxin becomes weak, passive, and even puzzled and hesitant several times. However, she finally overcomes it by relying on God’s words. At the end of the movie, she says, “Almighty God’s words are so precious! Not only can they purify and change our satanic dispositions, but they can also give us a genuine understanding of God. We can see that the words expressed by Almighty God are all an expression of God’s righteous disposition. Every bit of it contains God’s authority and power. Our eyes really have been opened! Every sentence in Almighty God’s words can open up our heart’s eyes, and they can all provide sustenance for our heart and meet our heart’s needs. What a pleasant voice!” It is the words expressed by Almighty God that lead Dong Jingxin to triumph over the persecution and tribulation one after another, allowing us to see that His words do have authority and power, and that they are the truth and life. No matter what kind of conceptions or questions we have, we can always find the answer and resolution in the words of Almighty God.

Have you paid attention to listening to the beautiful voice in the movie?

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