Kidlat ng Silanganan - Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life
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Let’s first read a passage of God’s words, “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life.”
The way of life is not something that can be possessed by just anyone, nor is it easily obtainable by all. That is because life can only come from God, which is to say, only God Himself possesses the substance of life, there is no way of life without God Himself, and so only God is the source of life, and the ever-flowing wellspring of living water of life.
From when He created the world, God has done much work involving the vitality of life, has done much work that brings life to man, and has paid a great price so that man might gain life, for God Himself is eternal life, and God Himself is the way by which man is resurrected. God is never absent from the heart of man, and lives among man at all times. He has been the driving force of man’s living, the fundament of man’s existence, and a rich deposit for man’s existence after birth. He causes man to be reborn, and enables him to tenaciously live in his every role. Thanks to His power, and His inextinguishable life force, man has lived for generation after generation, throughout which the power of God’s life has been the mainstay of man’s existence, and for which God has paid a price that no ordinary man has ever paid. God’s life force can prevail over any power; moreover, it exceeds any power. His life is eternal, His power extraordinary, and His life force not easily overwhelmed by any created being or enemy force. The life force of God exists, and shines its brilliant radiance, regardless of time or place. God’s life remains forever unchanged throughout the upheavals of heaven and earth. All things pass away, but God’s life still remains, for God is the source of the existence of all things, and the root of their existence. Man’s life originates from God, the existence of the heaven is because of God, and the existence of the earth stems from the power of God’s life. No object possessed of vitality can transcend the sovereignty of God, and no thing with vigor can break away from the ambit of God’s authority. In this way, regardless of who they are, everyone must submit under the dominion of God, everyone must live under God’s command, and no one can escape from His control. Perhaps, now, you wish to receive life, or perhaps you wish to gain the truth. Whatever the case, you wish to find God, to find the God that you can rely on, and who can provide you with eternal life. If you wish to gain eternal life, you must first understand the source of eternal life, and must first know where God is. I have already said that only God is immutable life, and only God possesses the way of life. Since His life is immutable, so it is eternal; since only God is the way of life, so God Himself is the way of eternal life. As such, you should first understand where God is, and how to gain this way of eternal life. Let us now fellowship about these two issues separately.
From when He created the world, God has done much work involving the vitality of life, has done much work that brings life to man, and has paid a great price so that man might gain life, for God Himself is eternal life, and God Himself is the way by which man is resurrected. God is never absent from the heart of man, and lives among man at all times. He has been the driving force of man’s living, the fundament of man’s existence, and a rich deposit for man’s existence after birth. He causes man to be reborn, and enables him to tenaciously live in his every role. Thanks to His power, and His inextinguishable life force, man has lived for generation after generation, throughout which the power of God’s life has been the mainstay of man’s existence, and for which God has paid a price that no ordinary man has ever paid. God’s life force can prevail over any power; moreover, it exceeds any power. His life is eternal, His power extraordinary, and His life force not easily overwhelmed by any created being or enemy force. The life force of God exists, and shines its brilliant radiance, regardless of time or place. God’s life remains forever unchanged throughout the upheavals of heaven and earth. All things pass away, but God’s life still remains, for God is the source of the existence of all things, and the root of their existence. Man’s life originates from God, the existence of the heaven is because of God, and the existence of the earth stems from the power of God’s life. No object possessed of vitality can transcend the sovereignty of God, and no thing with vigor can break away from the ambit of God’s authority. In this way, regardless of who they are, everyone must submit under the dominion of God, everyone must live under God’s command, and no one can escape from His control. Perhaps, now, you wish to receive life, or perhaps you wish to gain the truth. Whatever the case, you wish to find God, to find the God that you can rely on, and who can provide you with eternal life. If you wish to gain eternal life, you must first understand the source of eternal life, and must first know where God is. I have already said that only God is immutable life, and only God possesses the way of life. Since His life is immutable, so it is eternal; since only God is the way of life, so God Himself is the way of eternal life. As such, you should first understand where God is, and how to gain this way of eternal life. Let us now fellowship about these two issues separately.
If you truly wish to gain the way of eternal life, and if you are voracious in your search for it, then first answer this question: Where is God today? Perhaps you’ll reply that God lives in heaven, of course—He wouldn’t be living in your home, would He? Perhaps you might say, God obviously lives among all things. Or you might say that God lives in each person’s heart, or that God is in the spiritual world. I don’t deny any of this, but I must clarify the issue. It isn’t totally correct to say that God lives in the heart of man, but neither is it completely wrong. That is because, among believers in God, there are those whose belief is true and those whose belief is false, there are those of whom God approves and those of whom He disapproves, there are those who please Him and those whom He detests, and there are those whom He makes perfect and those whom He eliminates. And so I say that God lives in but a few people’s hearts, and these people are undoubtedly those who truly believe in God, those of whom God approves, those who please Him, and those whom He makes perfect. They are the ones who are led by God. Since they are led by God, so they are the people who have already heard and seen God’s way of eternal life. Those whose belief in God is false, those who are not approved by God, those who are despised by God, those who are eliminated by God—they are bound to be rejected by God, are bound to remain without the way of life, and are bound to remain ignorant of where God is. In contrast, those in whose hearts God lives know where He is. They are the people unto whom God bestows the way of eternal life, and they are the ones who follow God. Do you know, now, where God is? God is both in the heart of man and at man’s side. He is not only in the spiritual world, and above all things, but even more on the earth upon which man exists. And so the arrival of the last days has taken the steps of God’s work into new territory. God holds sovereignty over all things in the universe, and He is the mainstay of man in his heart, and moreover, He exists among man. Only in this way can He bring the way of life to mankind, and bring man into the way of life. God has come to earth, and lives among man, so that man may gain the way of life, and so that man may exist. At the same time, God also commands all things in the universe, so that they might cooperate with His management among man. And so, if you only acknowledge the doctrine that God is in heaven and in the heart of man, yet do not acknowledge the truth of God’s existence among man, then you shall never gain life, and shall never gain the way of truth.
God Himself is life, and the truth, and His life and truth coexist. Those who are incapable of gaining the truth shall never gain life. Without the guidance, support, and provision of the truth, you shall only gain letters, doctrines, and, moreover, death. God’s life is ever-present, and His truth and life coexist. If you cannot find the source of truth, then you will not gain the nourishment of life; if you cannot gain the provision of life, then you will surely have no truth, and so apart from imaginations and conceptions, the entirety of your body shall be nothing but flesh, your stinking flesh. Know that the words of books do not count as life, the records of history cannot be feted as the truth, and the doctrines of the past cannot serve as an account of words presently spoken by God. Only that which is expressed by God when He comes to earth and lives among man is the truth, life, God’s will, and His actual manner of working. If you apply the records of words spoken by God during past ages to today, then you are an archaeologist, and the best way of describing you is as an expert on historical heritage. That is because you always believe in traces of the work that God did in times gone by, only believe in the shadow of God left from when He previously worked among man, and only believe in the way that God gave to His followers in former times. You do not believe in the direction of God’s work today, do not believe in the glorious countenance of God today, and do not believe in the way of truth presently expressed by God. And so you are undeniably a daydreamer who is completely out of touch with reality. If now you still cling to words that are incapable of bringing life to man, then you are a hopeless piece of deadwood,[a] for you are too conservative, too intractable, too impervious to reason!
God become flesh is called Christ, and so the Christ that can give people the truth is called God. There is nothing excessive about this, for He possesses the substance of God, and possesses God’s disposition, and wisdom in His work, that are unattainable by man. Those who call themselves Christ, yet cannot do the work of God, are frauds. Christ is not merely the manifestation of God on earth, but instead, the particular flesh assumed by God as He carries out and completes His work among man. This flesh is not one that can be replaced by just any man, but one that can adequately bear God’s work on earth, and express the disposition of God, and well represent God, and provide man with life. Sooner or later, those fake Christs will all fall, for although they claim to be Christ, they possess none of the substance of Christ. And so I say that the authenticity of Christ cannot be defined by man, but is answered and decided by God Himself. In this way, if you truly wish to seek the way of life, you must first acknowledge it is by coming to earth that He bestows the way of life unto man, and you must acknowledge it is during the last days that He comes to earth to bestow the way of life unto man. This is not the past; it is happening today.
Christ of the last days brings life, and brings the enduring and everlasting way of truth. This truth is the path through which man shall gain life, and the only path by which man shall know God and be approved by God. If you do not seek the way of life provided by Christ of the last days, then you shall never gain the approval of Jesus, and shall never be qualified to enter the gate of the kingdom of heaven, for you are both a puppet and prisoner of history. Those who are controlled by regulations, by letters, and shackled by history will never be able to gain life, and will never be able to gain the perpetual way of life. That is because all they have is turbid water that has lain stagnant for thousands of years, instead of the water of life that flows from the throne. Those who are not supplied with the water of life will forever remain corpses, playthings of Satan, and sons of hell. How, then, can they behold God? If you only try to hold on to the past, only try to keep things as they are by standing still, and do not try to change the status quo and discard history, then will you not always be against God? The steps of God’s work are vast and mighty, like surging waves and rolling thunders—yet you sit and passively await destruction, sticking to your folly and doing nothing. In this way, how can you be considered someone who follows in the footsteps of the Lamb? How can you justify the God that you hold on to as a God who is always new and never old? And how can the words of your yellowed books carry you across into a new age? How can they lead you to seek the steps of God’s work? And how can they take you up to heaven? What you hold in your hands is the letters that can provide but temporary solace, not the truths that are capable of giving life. The scriptures you read are that which can only enrich your tongue, not words of wisdom that can help you know human life, much less the ways that can lead you to perfection. Does this discrepancy not give you cause for reflection? Does it not allow you to understand the mysteries contained within? Are you capable of delivering yourself to heaven to meet God on your own? Without the coming of God, can you take yourself into heaven to enjoy family happiness with God? Are you still dreaming now? I suggest, then, that you stop dreaming, and look at who is working now, at who is now carrying out the work of saving man during the last days. If you do not, you shall never gain the truth, and shall never gain life.
Those who wish to gain life without relying on the truth spoken by Christ are the most ridiculous people on earth, and those who do not accept the way of life brought by Christ are lost in fantasy. And so I say that the people who do not accept Christ of the last days shall forever be despised by God. Christ is man’s gateway to the kingdom during the last days, which none may bypass. None may be perfected by God except through Christ. You believe in God, and so you must accept His words and obey His way. You must not just think of gaining blessings without receiving the truth, or accepting the provision of life. Christ comes during the last days so that all those who truly believe in Him may be provided with life. His work is for the sake of concluding the old age and entering the new one, and is the path that must be taken by all those who would enter the new age. If you are incapable of acknowledging Him, and instead condemn, blaspheme or even persecute Him, then you are bound to burn for eternity, and shall never enter the kingdom of God. For this Christ is Himself the expression of the Holy Spirit, the expression of God, the One whom God has entrusted to do His work on earth. And so I say that if you cannot accept all that is done by Christ of the last days, then you blaspheme the Holy Spirit. The retribution that should be suffered by those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit is self-evident to all. I also tell you that if you oppose Christ of the last days, and deny Him, then there is no one who can bear the consequences on your behalf. Furthermore, from this day onward you will not have another chance to gain the approval of God; even if you try to redeem yourself, you will never again behold the face of God. For what you oppose is not a man, what you deny is not some puny being, but Christ. Are you aware of this consequence? You have not made a small mistake, but committed a heinous crime. And so I advise everyone not to bare your fangs before the truth, or make careless criticisms, for only the truth can bring you life, and nothing except the truth can allow you to be reborn and behold the face of God.
Footnotes:
a. A piece of deadwood: a Chinese idiom, meaning “beyond help.”
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The text containing the words of God entitled, “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life” that we just finished is the truth pertaining to the vision. What we get first from reading God’s words should be the knowledge of Christ. In what primary respect do we know Christ? Not only do we know that Christ is the incarnate God, and that Christ is the manifestation of God, but the most importantly we should be aware that, “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life,” which is what matters most. Many have understood and admitted the fact that God has become flesh, and admitted that Christ is the real God, God’s appearance to mankind—they have confirmed this as a fact. Many people are able to follow Christ, to forsake all and do their duty to Him, which is a fact; but after years have gone by, there are those out there who are still not with the truth. Theirs is an evil heart, one that does not fear God and shun evil. So what exactly is the problem? Where is the root of it? We have read these words of God, and should see the root of the problem is that these people do not have profound understanding that “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life.” In the last days Christ came again to do the work of judgment, exactly what will be the fruits? When you have experienced the judgment before the seat of Christ, have you been made pure? Have you obtained the truth? Have you been saved? This is the fundamental question with belief in God. A lot of people, who have believed in God for many years, are still without the truth. So exactly what is the problem? Have you figured it out yet? Can these people be counted with those who actually know Christ? No, they cannot. If they do not know Christ, then are they someone who can be said to be a true believer in God? Their faith remains vague. It is almost as if they actually believe in the God of heaven. So today we will commune about the key questions in these words of God. For we believers in God, what exactly are God’s words expressed by Christ that make the truth known? If you have truly seen such a way of eternal life that Christ of the last days has given mankind, then you should be able to go in search of the truth, or at least, to accept it in part. He who is ignorant of the truth Christ has passed on to us cannot receive it, so if people have been believers in God for many years but have not gained the truth, this is a truly serious issue. We’ve finished reading this article of God’s words. Now, if I fellowship about it all the way from the beginning, then we will probably at most fellowship about one passage, and then our meeting will be over. But if the focal point of our fellowship is on the actual problems themselves, then everyone here will benefit from it to a much greater extent. So let us read now from the word of God.
Let us start at the third paragraph, “It isn’t totally correct to say that God lives in the heart of man, but neither is it completely wrong. That is because, among believers in God, there are those whose belief is true and those whose belief is false, there are those of whom God approves and those of whom He disapproves, there are those who please Him and those whom He detests, and there are those whom He makes perfect and those whom He eliminates.” There are a great many differences among believers in God; they are most certainly not equal. And God said, “It isn’t totally correct to say that God lives in the heart of man, but neither is it completely wrong,” but why did God say that? Because believers in God are not all the same, and the difference between them is, that there are some whose faith is true and others whose faith is false. There are some who God approves of and others who He does not. There are some who He delights in and others who He loathes. There are some whom He makes perfect and others who are rejected by Him. That is the key difference; if you say that God abides in the hearts of mankind, is this completely fitting? It is not accurate—at least not entirely accurate, nor is it entirely inaccurate. God abides in people’s hearts, but what kind of people? This is the crux of the question. According to God’s word, as for the difference between believers in God, first and foremost, “there are those whose belief is true and those whose belief is false,” does He abide in the hearts of those of true faith or false faith? If you say that He abides in the hearts of the true believers, then your answer is absolutely correct. In the hearts of those of false faith, there is no God, and God does not abide in the hearts of false believers. Some may ask, why does He not abide in the hearts of the false believers? A man of false faith does not truly eat and drink the word of God, he does not truly commune with God, his prayers are false, he does not fear God in his heart, and beyond that he does not respect God above all others, which is to say this kind of person does not welcome God, and so, could God ever abide in such a person’s heart? According to His disposition, God gives everyone a free will; He does not force man to do what is against his will. If a person does not welcome Him, does not like Him, does not truly believe in Him, if a person is disobedient, and does not honor God as great, or fear God, then He will not abide in the heart of such a person. In addition, nonbelievers are, in reality, enamored with evil, and are keen on Satan’s fallacies, they love negative things and could even take pleasure in all pertaining to Satan, and all pertaining to worldliness. They do not love God, nor do they love the truth that God expresses, such people are filthy and evil, and live under Satan’s domain. They are part of Satan’s minions, so they could not possibly have God in their hearts, because God is holy and pure, which means simply that God exists in a temple of purity.
Through how we are communing now, why would God not abide in the hearts of those of false faith? Well, the answer should be perfectly clear by now! But there are those out there who would say, “Man has been deeply corrupted by Satan and has corrupt disposition. Who among us has been truly sanctified? Who among us is not filthy and corrupt in some way? But all we need to do is just truly believe in Him, and God will abide in our hearts!” These words are correct. Does it not come to pass that God abides in the hearts of the true believers? It is possible for this to come to pass for the true believers, because the sin offering is effective for those who truly believe, and their guilt will not be seen by God. He who now has no real belief in God, he whose heart has no place in it for God, he who has no respect for God’s greatness, and he who does not fear God nor shun evil, is a person in possession of false faith. His faith in God is nothing but lip service. He does not truly welcome God in his heart. He does not truly accept God, and so God would never abide in this man’s heart. Now, is it not a fact that God will not abide in the hearts of those of false faith? Therefore, we do not see the work of the Holy Spirit and can see even less of the blessings of God in those who do not pursue truth. And what do the blessings of God include? The work of the Holy Spirit, the leading of the Holy Spirit, the disciplining of the Holy Spirit and the presence of the Holy Spirit. A person who does not pursue the truth has none of these, and so if you cannot see the blessings of God and the work of the Holy Spirit in a person, he is most certainly not a true believer in God. We have seen those who have been eliminated or expelled from our church: They did evil and lied openly, and acted perfunctorily; they cheated God’s family and cheated God Himself, without the least sense of rebuke or the least bit of discipline; they were willful and disobedient. No matter how the house of God communicated the truths and dealt with them, it was for naught. So is this kind of person’s faith true or false? It’s false, right? So once a person is unmasked as a false believer he should be purged and eliminated, which is in complete accordance with God’s will.
Continuing on to the next part, “there are those of whom God approves and those of whom He disapproves.” And whom specifically does this approval refer to? He who truly believes in God, whose heart is true and could forsake all for God and go all out for Him. In doing his part for Him, this kind of person can receive His truth and will be able to accept how he’s dealt with and pruned, and when he undergoes God’s judgment and chastisement, he will not be passive or weak of character, but will work to conform to His truth, and likewise do all he can to do what God asks of him. Regardless of how many times he may have failed, or how many frustrations he may have suffered, he can still follow God. This is he who will meet God’s approval. Then there is he who does not pursue truth in the least, who does his part but is always trying to make a deal with God, who is constantly trying to fool God through paying lip service to Him. No matter how he is dealt with or pruned, he will never accept it, no matter how the truth is communicated he will never take it to heart, and so, this kind of person will not meet with God’s approval. This is a person who refuses to accept the truth, who does not reach for the truth; thus God cannot complete this man, and cannot gain him; and so God will disapprove this kind of man. But what is meant by “disapproval”? It means this person is a goner and should be exposed and eliminated. So this brings us full circle and I must ask again: Does God abide in the hearts of those whom He approves, or in the hearts of those whom He does not? Some among you say that God abides in the hearts of those whom He approves, which is correct. It is also said that “there are those who please Him and those whom He detests.” But whom does He delight in? Men of honesty, men who truly go all out for Him. Men of obedience to Him, and obedience to the truth. These men are the objects of the delight of God. He rejoices in these kinds of people. Pure men whose hearts are open to God, men who are honest—sometimes they may be a little ignorant, but God does not look at that, and their ignorance is easy to solve. By just understanding His truths, wisdom will happen naturally, and they will become men of principles in all dealings; these kinds of people are the ones who God delights in. You see there are some people in the family of God who are especially innocent, open and submissive; they give their obedience to the family of God, and they believe and follow everything God’s family says. Everyone looks and sees this kind of person, someone of such purity, such obedience—it is pleasing to God. Now, what kind of man displeases God? What kind of man does God loathe? We know that God rejoices in a man of honesty, integrity, purity and open-heartedness, a man who can truly go all out for God, who can obey the truth; what God hates most is certainly a deceitful, cruelly selfish, mean-spirited person who is not considerate of His will, a man who is not accepting of truth, unwilling to accept dealing and pruning. Whatever you say to this man, however you try to deal with and prune him, however you try to enlighten him, whatever you try to do; this man will always hold fast to his own fossilized ideas. What is in this man’s head? “You’re just full of advice. Thanks, but no thanks, I have my own ways of doing things. You think you’re going to make me put truth into practice? No way I would ever have anything to do with something so stupid!” So we can see that wily and conniving, deeply self-interested sort who is withdrawn and difficult to figure out, working in secret while hiding trickery and chicanery behind a straight face, is none other than the devil—old Satan itself. These kinds of people are God-loathing sorts, especially politicians and scientists. They are people who God detests the most. But whose hearts does God abide in? The hearts of honest men, upright men, not the hearts of deceitful men. We can see right through this! If anyone knows in his heart that he himself is that really deceitful sort who never tells the truth, but lies through his teeth wherever he goes, whose every word is nothing but a bald-faced lie—God will never abide in his heart.
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God’s word says: “… and there are those whom He makes perfect and those whom He eliminates.” “And there are those whom He makes perfect,” who is this referring to? It is referring to those that seek the truth and those in God’s house who are comparatively more honest. They lie a lot less than most, they are a lot less cunning than most and they are more innocent and open than most. There are those in the church that ask these people, “What kind of sins have you committed?” These people will, without hesitation, say what kind of sins they are guilty of. Isn’t this an honest person? Some people have secrets that they will not talk about. No matter how you ask them, they will say, “I have none, none!” They have hidden these secrets deep inside! These kinds of people are so sly. These kinds of people think they are so smart, but they have fallen prey to their own crafty schemes. God does not live in their hearts. You say an honest person is silly but, God will live in their heart. You can see who is smart and who is silly. “And there are those whom He makes perfect,” what kind of person does God perfect? Those that live according to His intentions. What kind of person lives according to God’s intentions? Honest, upright people. People who love the truth and truly make an effort for God. This can be summarized in a single phrase: people that seek the truth. These people can be perfected by God. How does God perfect them? Through the work of the Holy Spirit. Those that love the truth, always encounter dealing and pruning and trials. When it comes to communicating God’s words, they are always enlightened and illuminated within. God enlightens them. God moves them. Once they finish listening, they feel they have been reproached. They try to know themselves and reflect upon themselves. The more they do this, the more they see the depth of their corruption. The more they see their corrupt dispositions, the more they see themselves as poor and pitiful and the more they see themselves as lacking human-likeness. They begin to have regrets. They begin to hate themselves. They begin to think, “I must seek the truth. Those who do not accept the truth will be destroyed. God loathes and hates these people. God curses these kinds of people. I must seek the truth!” As a result, these people strive for the truth. The more they strive for the truth, the more the Holy Spirit works in them. The more they strive for the truth, the more the Holy Spirit enlightens them to understand the truth and the more able they are to find a path to practice. They understand more and more of the truth. In the end, they are able to do things according to principles. Once they understand one aspect of the truth, they start to have a path to practice it. They can begin doing things according to principles and put the truth into practice. The result is they unconsciously understand and gain more and more of the truth. Their life disposition starts to change, they start to blossom and they start seeing results. God’s work starts to yield more and more results with these kinds of people. After a few years of experience, they can enter the reality of many truths, and obtain some real experience with witnessing. Now they are able to assist and supply others at church and take on more of the work responsibilities at church. Doesn’t this confirm that they have stepped onto the path of perfection?
Presently, there are many people who fulfill their duties and feel, “In fulfilling my duties, I can see that I do not have any reality of the truth. Before, I felt that I understood some of the truth, but now, I realize it is all letters and doctrines and spiritual theoretical knowledge. None of it is the reality of the truth.” As a result, as these people perform their duties, they feel they are quite lacking. The more they feel they are lacking inside, the more they feel empty. The more empty they feel, the more uneasy they feel. If they are uneasy, they start feeling that a crisis exists, “If I do not seek the truth, I will surely be eliminated!” They have a sense of crisis. Once they have a sense of crisis, they become more honest, calm and low key. “I must bury my head in work. I won’t foolishly draw attention to myself. I won’t foolishly make myself visible. I am nothing, I have nothing to show!” When God’s chosen people see this, they say, “Why is this person burying his head in work without any complaints? Why doesn’t he show off his abilities? This person has changed for the better. He is not the same as before.” Is this someone who seeks the truth? He focuses on reality. He does not focus on doing things this way or that way. He does not focus on drawing attention to himself. He sees clearly what unbelievers seek and like. He thoroughly rejects all the things that are empty and superficial. He stops chasing after reputation, status and pride. These things do not have any value. He seeks the truth and fulfills his duties to repay God’s love. He pursues to become an honest person. These are the most important and dependable things to him. This kind of person will become perfected by God. After I pruned and dealt with some workers and leaders, I saw some of them become silent. They started focusing on doing actual work. I thought it was very good. They gained some self-knowledge. Not bad. After a period of further inspection, I found that they started getting some results. Their work started bearing fruit and they resolved some practical problems. I thought these people were okay. They could receive the truth. Not bad! They started seeing results in their work. Once they understand the truth, have an accurate target, direction and principles in terms of serving God, they will carry out God’s will. At the very least, they are able to follow God’s will, follow God’s way. With this kind of quality, there shouldn’t be any problems. Those whom God makes perfect are seekers of the truth. If they spend a lot of time and effort striving for the truth, they can still improve their inner qualities. They can reach an understanding of the truth and enter into the reality. Besides, they can put the truth into practice and do things according to principles. This kind of person will be perfected by God. If God makes them perfect, then they have God within their heart. God lives inside this person’s heart. This does not mean that God is controlling this person to the point where he or she directly speaks God’s words and does God’s work. God living in someone’s heart means He does the work of perfection, He watches over them, leads them and even disciplines them. In the end, the truth of God’s words and the way of eternal life that Christ has brought will reside in this person’s heart.
There are also those that are unable to be perfected. Those who are unable to be perfected by God will be eliminated by God. There are a few kinds of situations when it comes to being eliminated by God. There are those who are bored of the truth or who hate the truth. They are the first to be eliminated. There are those who are muddleheaded. They have gone through many sessions of discipline, pruning and dealing, yet they still do not seek the truth. They will also be eliminated. There is also another type of person that will be eliminated. Their inner qualities are inadequate and they are unable to understand the truth. You must have a certain amount of inner preparation to understand the truth. Some people’s inner quality is insufficient and they are unable to understand the truth. If their inner quality is insufficient, then no matter how you communicate with them, they will not understand the truth. No matter how you communicate the truth to them, they are unable to find a path of practice. No matter how you communicate the truth to them, the only thing they can do is abide by the rules. They cannot do anything else. What kind of problem is this? Those whose inner qualities are too deficient, who can only abide by the rules, can they be perfected by God? They cannot be perfected by God. If their inner qualities are deficient, but they have a heart that truly believes in God, and they devoutly make an effort for God, then how will God treat this kind of person? Do you know the plans that are in place for this kind of person? This kind of person is a service-doer. Devoted service-doers will be saved. Those who are not devoted, those who are eliminated along the way or those who abandon the path themselves along the way will be eliminated and exterminated. Their fate is the same as that of unbelievers. Within the category of service-doers, there is a small portion that will be saved. This small portion encompasses the service-doers that have a comparatively good humanity and are devoted to the end. These people will be saved. These people will not die. When they encounter disasters, they will be protected by God. Understood? Right now, if you look at each and every person who cannot understand the spirit, there is a certain number of these people who will never be able to understand the spirit. There is also another portion that, if they repeatedly listen to sermons, will one day eventually be able to understand the spirit. If they listen long enough, if they hold fellowship over the truth and work hard to obtain the truth, eventually they will be able to understand the spirit. Those that can understand the spirit and practice and understand the truth can be perfected by God. They will become God’s people, citizens of the kingdom. They too can be perfected. So, for those who are unable to understand the spirit, will they be able to obtain life? There is no way they can obtain life. If you cannot understand the spirit, how can you obtain life? You can see that there are some people who have performed their duties for many years, yet they do not have any reverence for God in their hearts. These kinds of people do not understand the spirit. No matter how they believe, or how many years they believe, they do not have reverence for God within their hearts and thus, they cannot do things according to principles. This kind of person belongs to the group of people that cannot understand the spirit. People who cannot understand the spirit cannot be perfected.
Let’s continue and take a look at some of God’s words, “And so I say that God lives in but a few people’s hearts, and these people are undoubtedly those who truly believe in God, those of whom God approves, those who please Him, and those whom He makes perfect. They are the ones who are led by God.” “They are the ones who are led by God,” God directly leads these people. God’s Spirit lives in these people’s hearts. The Holy Spirit works in them, leads them, perfects them and guides them. This is absolutely correct! “Since they are led by God, so they are the people who have already heard and seen God’s way of eternal life.” Basically, they are people that are led by God, God works to lead these people. Colloquially, from the day they started believing in God, the Holy Spirit works on these people. These people are people that are led by God. God lives within these people’s hearts. The Holy Spirit lives within these people’s hearts. Starting from when they first believed in God, no matter how many years they believe, if the Holy Spirit does not work on them all along, would this kind of person have God living in their hearts? God does not live there. Each and every person whom the Holy Spirit works on, God lives in these people’s hearts. Those whom the Holy Spirit does not work on, will not have the Holy Spirit living inside their hearts. God does not live in such people’s hearts. This matter has now been clearly explained! Some religious people say, “God lives within our hearts.” Is this correct? Some people who do not seek the truth say, “God lives within my heart.” Is this correct? There are some evil-doers who say, “God lives within my heart.” Is this correct? Do not believe their words. We must follow God’s word. We must see clearly whose heart God inhabits. If you do not see through this matter, people will ask you, “Of the people who believe in God, whose heart does God live in?” You say, “Each and every one of the people in the Church of Almighty God has God living in their hearts. God lives in all our hearts.” That is wrong. There are some people who belong to the Church of Almighty God that do not seek the truth. Even more so in the religious world. You cannot carelessly say these things! That is why, no matter which passage of God’s word we read, or which phrase we understand, from now on, you must be able to differentiate those that violate the truth with their words. This can be compared to the following situation. There is a confused person that believes in God. He is so confused that it’s unbelievable! He has absolutely zero grasp of the reality of the truth. He only has a theoretical grasp of things. If he says that God lives in his heart, would you believe him? Would you accept it? Do not believe people who randomly and carelessly say things. It’s not right, it shows you don’t know how to differentiate. After you have listened to this sentence of God’s word, you understand, “Oh, God does not live in every believer’s heart. He lives in the hearts of those who truly believe in and follow Him. He lives in the hearts of those whom He praises and loves.” Once you understand this truth, you will know which people’s hearts God lives in and which people’s hearts God does not live in. You will also understand in which group you belong and whether or not your heart has God. After understanding this truth, you should also have self-knowledge about which group you belong to, is it right? Some people say, “According to what you say, this is very troublesome. All these years, I have not sought the truth. I am still a crafty person. Perhaps God does not live in my heart. Does that mean I will be eliminated?” This person starts getting negative, “Fine, then I’ll just go home!” What kind of problem is this? He has been revealed as a non-believer. If this person returns home, then it is certain that God does not live in his heart. It is confirmed that this person is a non-believer. Would you want this person to remain? Should you try and assist him out of love? Some people think you should not. Why should you not? He has been revealed. What use is it if you help him out? If you allow him to remain, you allow a demon to remain. He is not a true believer. Some people specialize in doing this type of work. Once they see a demon that is potentially going to leave the church, they quickly try to comfort and assist him. Is this right? Is this a good deed? I see this as a little bit evil. Even though it is not something that is clearly evil, this person is a little confused, without principle and blindly doing things! If the person in question is a new believer who does not understand, helping them out is acceptable. However, if they have believed for a certain number of years, and it has been revealed that they are demons and you still assist them, then you are assisting demons. Do you want to allow demons to take root in God’s house and disturb God’s chosen people? Would you be happy then? Can demons do any service? Demons will never render any service. All they do is disturb others.
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The words of God are as follows: “Those whose belief in God is false, those who are not approved by God, those who are despised by God, those who are eliminated by God—they are bound to be rejected by God, are bound to remain without the way of life, and are bound to remain ignorant of where God is.” These stipulations are quite severe but they reveal the truth of the matter. “In contrast, those in whose hearts God lives know where He is,” the people who have God in their hearts know where God is. Now, where would you say God is? You say, “God is in my heart!” Do not even dare to say this! Where exactly is God? If you actually do not know, what kind of problem is this? Those who do not know are the people who God has eliminated. Those who truly have God living in their hearts know where God is. Do you now understand? “In contrast, those in whose hearts God lives know where He is. They are the people unto whom God bestows the way of eternal life, and they are the ones who follow God.” From this, we can understand another aspect of the truth. “Those in whose hearts God lives know where He is.” These people have an understanding of God because God lives in their hearts and has done His work through them for many years. As such, they know where God is, they understand the way of eternal life. They know what eternal life is and the way of eternal life. These people, objectively speaking, are followers of God. These people follow God. Each and every person whose heart God lives in, is a person who truly follows God. Each and every person whose heart God lives in, when God’s work is finished, these people will truly understand God. They will be perfected by God. They will be obtained by God. Those who do not have God in their hearts do not know where God is. Also, when they are asked what Christ brings in God’s work of the last days, they say, “I do not know.” When they are asked what the way of eternal life is, they say, “I do not know.” This kind of person does not understand God in the slightest. This is a person who has been eliminated by God.
“Do you know, now, where God is?” Do you know where God is? Some people would say that God is in the hearts of those who truly believe in God. Is that it? If you only understand this statement, it is not enough! “God is both in the heart of man and at man’s side. He is not only in the spiritual world, and above all things, but even more on the earth upon which man exists.” You must have a clear understanding of these statements! Presently, how much of this do you understand? First, “God is both in the heart of man and at man’s side.” Would you say that God is only in man’s heart? This is not entirely correct. He is also “at man’s side.” “He is not only in the spiritual world, and above all things, but even more on the earth upon which man exists.” This is a more complete and accurate understanding. In more colloquial language, God is not only in the heavens, but in the world as well. He is above all things. He lives in man’s heart and is at man’s side. This is also an accurate account of this concept. Here it is said: “He is not only in the spiritual world, and above all things.” What does “above all things” mean? He is above all the things that He created. Now, what does “not only in the spiritual world” mean? God is a Spirit and He controls the entire universe. The entire universe includes the spiritual realm as well as the physical world. Colloquially it means, He is both in the mortal and the immortal world. “But even more on the earth upon which man exists.” Why is God on the earth upon which man exists? Why is He not on some distant planet? Why is He not where animals are living? What is the reason for this? This is because mankind was created by God. Most importantly, He has His work to do on mankind. He wants to perfect man to be the master of all things! However, man has been corrupted by Satan. If man does not experience God’s salvation, then he cannot be perfected. This is why God works through mankind. This is why He is on the earth upon which man exists.
“And so, the arrival of the last days has taken the steps of God’s work into new territory. God holds sovereignty over all things in the universe, and He is the mainstay of man in his heart, and moreover, He exists among man. Only in this way can He bring the way of life to mankind, and bring man into the way of life.” These words clearly describe God’s intentions. “God holds sovereignty over all things in the universe, and He is the mainstay of man in his heart, and moreover, He exists among man. Only in this way can He bring the way of life to mankind, and bring man into the way of life.” God does all this in order to bestow the way of eternal life upon mankind and to allow mankind to obtain the way of truth. This is the purpose of God living among man. “God has come to earth, and lives among man, so that man may gain the way of life, and so that man may exist. At the same time, God also commands all things in the universe, so that they might cooperate with His management among man.” These words are also quite clear. Only through obtaining the way of life can man live better. God does His work among man so that man can obtain the way of life. What is the purpose of this? The purpose is for the survival of man. Someone said, “If God did not do the work of the last days, could mankind still survive?” Mankind would be exterminated. This is determined by God’s disposition. Mankind is evil and extremely corrupted, they are like satanic demons. God must destroy mankind. God’s righteous disposition cannot allow this type of satanic brood to exist. This is why before God extinguishes the world, He performs His salvation work. His work in the last days is to allow man to obtain the way of life. Let’s say you receive God’s work in the last days, if you do not seek the truth and cannot obtain the way of life, what is the result? The result is that you will be destroyed in the disasters! This disaster of the last days is getting bigger and bigger. Once God’s work is finished, the great disaster will commence. Once the great disaster begins, mankind will be destroyed gradually. They will be destroyed in steps. Each of these steps has a number. A certain number of people will be killed in each disaster. Each disaster will carry away a certain number of people. Each step has a number. It is impossible for the doomed to escape! Earthquakes will kill a certain number of people. Great fires will exterminate a certain number of people. Epidemics will kill a certain number of people. Wars will kill a certain number of people. Each of these disasters will have a mission because these disasters have been preordained by God. If you receive Christ in the last days and if you are unable to obtain the way of life, what is the result? The result is death. You will be exterminated. If you accept God’s work in the last days and obtain the way of life, then you will not die. You will be protected by God in all these disasters.
Let us now look again at how God works. “God also commands all things in the universe.” One aspect is God expressing the truth and the word in Christ and doing the work of judgment through Christ. Another aspect of God’s work is His command of all things. These two aspects do not interfere with each other. In the past, there were some people who had their own notions, “God’s Spirit is materialized in the flesh. That means He is unable to command all things. Perhaps, at this time, it is not known who can replace God as the Master of all things. God can only do His own work through the flesh.” Are these thoughts correct? He has forgotten that God is almighty. God is omnipresent. He is present throughout the entire universe. Why do I say that He is omnipresent? God’s Spirit has permeated everything in the heavens and the earth. Wherever you are, whatever you are thinking, whatever you are doing, God can see it. He knows you like the palm of His hand. This is why God is omnipresent. “God also commands all things in the universe, so that they might cooperate with His management among man.” Here, it says that God commands all things. How does He command all things? What connection does this have to the work of God in the last days? The following sentence explains this, “so that they might cooperate with His management among man.” How should we interpret this point? Well, as God is performing each step of His work, what kind of work is He also performing amongst all things? They cooperate with each step of God’s work. What does “cooperate” mean? It means to do service for God in each age. In the last days, He commands all things so that they cooperate to serve His work of the last days. During the Age of Grace, God performed redemption work. He commanded all things so that they would cooperate with Him to serve His redemption work. What does “cooperate and serve” mean? Here is an example. As God is doing His work in the last days, the great red dragon surfaces and is mobilized. It captures and suppresses people and disseminates propaganda through its media. Through various campaigns, it obstructs people from examining the true way. It discredits the Church of Almighty God in China and in the world and causes people to abandon us. This is what it has done. The great red dragon and all things were mobilized to serve this work. This is called well-coordinated cooperation. Someone prayed, “God, hinder the great red dragon, do not let it oppress and persecute God’s chosen people. Do not allow it to beat down and convict the Church of Almighty God.” Is this prayer appropriate? This prayer goes against God’s intentions. God has done this work and has mobilized all things to carry out God’s management plan. The existence and mission of the great red dragon is to do service. Once its effectiveness is used up, it will be exterminated. God will then discard it.
God’s words are as follows, “And so, if you only acknowledge the doctrine that God is in heaven and in the heart of man, yet do not acknowledge the truth of God’s existence among man, then you shall never gain life, and shall never gain the way of truth.” So, where exactly is God? Why does God exist among man? God’s words have explained these matters very clearly. If you are a person who sincerely seeks the truth, after you have read God’s words, you should understand God’s intentions and why God does this. You will understand how God works and how He lives within man’s heart. You will know why He exists among man, what He wants man to obtain and, in the end, what results will be achieved. Once you understand these things, you will have a clear understanding of God’s work. Once you experience God’s work, you will have principles and you will know how you should experience it. Some people do not comprehend when they encounter the government’s coercion and persecution, “God, why do You allow them to persecute me?” They complain to God. Some people experience a death in their family. Perhaps their father or mother died, their wife died, or their son or daughter died. They complain to God and say, “Why did You allow them to die?” They do not know the answer. Do you now understand? Are you able to see through these matters? These are things that are used to perfect us. They help us understand the truth, understand God, understand God’s work and understand the way of the truth. After you have understood this, when you encounter trials, you will know how to pray. You will know what is complaining and what is bearing witness. You will know how to act in accordance with God’s intentions. You will know how to humiliate Satan the devil. You will be certain about the principles of practice. That is why these words are very important. Do not assume that a surface-level understanding of these concepts is sufficient. Do you think this means that you understand the truth? These concepts are the vision of God’s work. If you do not understand this, when you encounter trials and frustrations, you will not know how to deal with them. You will not know what God’s intentions are. If you do not know God’s intentions, then how are you to bear witness? You cannot bear witness. If you cannot bear witness, then all you can do is complain to God, resist God or betray God. This is a big problem. Do you understand?
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“God become flesh is called Christ,” what does “Christ” mean? Christ is the Savior. The Savior is Christ. “Christ” in Hebrew is Messiah. The Messiah is also the Savior. Why can’t we call God’s Spirit the Savior? Why is it that God incarnate can be called the Savior? The key is to understand that He can do this kind of work. When God is in heaven, you can call Him any number of names. You can call Him God, Lord, the Creator or the Savior. If you call Him the Savior, it is not practical. When God is in heaven, He cannot do the work of the Savior. If God were to do this work, how would He do it? God has to become flesh in order to do it. Once He is clothed in flesh He can express the truth and save mankind. He can save mankind from Satan’s influence, that is why only Christ can be the Savior. When God is incarnate, He is the Savior. He is the Lord that saves mankind. This is absolutely correct! However, God’s incarnation is the most difficult to accept. It is the most incompatible with people’s notions. For example, once people see God incarnate, the first thing they notice is that He looks very ordinary. The words that He speaks are those of a human language. His habits and customs are also those of a human. “How can this person be called God? He can’t, He can’t!” It is difficult for people to accept this. However, if this person can finish God’s work, save mankind from the domain of Satan and obtain mankind, then is this person not the Savior? This person is the Savior. He has completed God’s work and saved mankind from Satan’s domain. Those who have been saved are Christ’s witnesses. Christ is the Savior, Christ is God incarnate. He is the Savior revealed. His true identity is the Savior. He is God. This is absolutely correct! Someone said, “I have some notions regarding Christ. He is just a normal person. His external appearance, His emotions are all those of a human. He is exactly the same as a human. This is why I do not call Him God.” Is this correct? This is incorrect. You do not call Him God, yet He has completed all of God’s work. You do not call Him God, yet He has expressed the way of truth. You do not call Him God, yet He has perfected a group of people and obtained them. Whether or not you call Him God is not important. He has done all these things, and therefore, He is Christ. Does it matter what people’s notions are about this? It does not. Now, what kind of people do not have any notions of Christ? Those who truly understand the essence of Christ. Those who truly see that Christ expresses the way of truth, that what He does is saving mankind, and, in the end, He will get mankind cleansed and saved. These people no longer have any notions of Christ. Someone said, “Why did God let Christ have His humanity and appearance like that?” This shows God’s wisdom and disposition. Why do I say that this indicates God’s wisdom? If Christ were very lofty, too special, who would not believe? Everyone would believe! By making Christ look very normal, very average, so much so that most people would not even look at Him twice, God has concealed His great wisdom! What kind of wisdom did He conceal? The kind that only those who love the truth and have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit can accept Him. God does not let those that belong to Satan the devil easily accept Him. This “door” is under close guard! Is this not God’s wisdom? Christ’s external appearance, and characteristics are incompatible with people’s preconceived notions. This “door” is closely guarded. People allowed to enter are mostly those who truly believe in God and acknowledge that Christ’s word is the voice of God and the truth. No one who would believe based solely on external appearances will come into His church. This result can be achieved, right? This is God’s wisdom and it represents His disposition. God’s disposition is that no matter how much of the truth He expresses, He still will not show off Himself. God does not have an arrogant or conceited nature. Instead, He is quite low-key. This kind of disposition cannot be replicated by corrupt people!
Why is it said that Christ is the particular flesh that carries out God’s work in the last days? “Particular flesh” means that Christ was predestined to embody God. Could a corrupt person be chosen to undertake the work? Why is this not possible? Once he expressed God’s words, he would show off himself, saying, “I am God!” Once he did so, wouldn’t this bring dishonor to God? This would allow Satan to take advantage of the situation, would it not? The consequences would be severe. This is why the incarnate Christ is the particular flesh that carries out God’s work. There can be no other way. Nobody else could replace Christ. Therefore, though the image of Christ, God incarnate, does not fit into people’s notions, inside this there is God’s wisdom. This was all preordained and the most appropriate way to carry this out. Once you understand a little bit of the truth, and have some knowledge of Christ, you will feel that people’s notions and imaginations are extremely childish, laughable, silly and not worth mentioning. Look at how God works. He just takes on this flesh, it does not matter if all of humanity has grievous notions about this. Those who were preordained by God will return to God. Nobody can obstruct this. This is called God’s almightiness and wisdom. Look at those who are arrogant and conceited, who do not love the truth. Because God’s flesh is very plain, they say, “I will take a look at His flesh before I decide to believe. If I do not see Him, then I will not believe.” Aren’t these kind of people confined to being outside the door? They have been confined outside the door. Other people study God’s flesh. “If God’s flesh does not match my notions, then I will not accept Him.” That’s fine that you do not accept Him. You do not accept Him, then you will die. If you do not fear death, then you are done. It’s over. You’re just a hopeless person. Some people are opposed to this, “I will not obey. I do not believe He is Christ.” If you do not believe, then you will die. You will not die right away. You will see that Christ is the appearance of God, then you will die. Is God’s wisdom in this? God’s wisdom represents His administrative decrees. His administrative decrees are closely related to His wisdom. A good example of this is the man used by God. Externally, he is not very tall, he looks quite average. Someone said, “I will not obey!” Is there any point to not obeying? God said, “You do not obey. But I will not find another just because you will not obey. I will not replace him with another. It has already been determined earlier and it will never change!” What God preordains is heaven’s edict. Nobody can break this. Nobody can change what God has preordained. Those antichrists do not obey. In the end, it doesn’t work no matter what we say or how we try to communicate. They will be expelled or purged. That is the end of that. Ask them, “Can you obey?” “I cannot.” Then they will be expelled! Ask them, “Are you willing to repent?” “I do not want to repent.” Then they will be expelled! Isn’t this how they will be dealt with? It’s this simple. Someone said, “So I am expelled? Even if I get expelled I will not obey.” Being expelled from the church is basically a death sentence. Their body will perish when they encounter the great disaster. After they die, they will be sent to hell and there, they will pay the price. When they are in hell, is there anyone who can save them? There is no escaping hell. Nobody can escape God’s punishment. Once they go to hell, it’s over. Each day they are in hell, they will scream, “Save me, save me!” No one will respond. For those who do not obey anyone, what happens to them in the end? They will receive punishment. It does not matter what kind of person you are, whether you are a president, prime minister, chancellor or a hero. If you do not obey, you will die. This has been preordained by God. This is heaven’s edict. No one can break this. Therefore, when Christ comes in the last days, if you do not believe, if you resist, then you will surely die! Is this not God’s administrative decree? This is God’s public administrative decree to the entire universe. From the day God announced this, it is His public administrative decree. One of God’s statements reads as follows, “that is, except for those now within the stream, the rest will be turned to ashes.” What does this translate into? It means that it does not matter if it happens now or later, all who do not accept Almighty God will die in the end. They will be destroyed. This means that they will be set on fire and turned into ashes. When God destroyed Sodom, the people in the city were burned to ashes. Not even their souls remained. Everything was turned into ashes. This is God’s public administrative decree. So, when Christ comes in the last days, do you have your own notions? Do you dare resist? This was preordained. Even though He is just one person, with this appearance, He is Christ of the last days. After He expresses the way of truth, if you do not accept it, then you will die. If you do not acknowledge Christ, you will surely die. If you condemn or resist Christ, then it is over, you will surely die. What can we learn from this? God’s righteous disposition has been publicly revealed to all of humanity.
Now, the most important thing about experiencing God’s work is obtaining the truth. Once you obtain the truth, then you will obtain life. If you do not obtain the truth, then you will not have life. Without life, you will die. In the beginning, when I saw that God had appeared and started to work, I said that this was great. Now, those who accepted Almighty God would not die. They would be saved and enter into the kingdom of heaven. After going through many experiences, I found out that this was not the case. I discovered that there were quite a few people who had accepted Almighty God but did not love the truth. There were also quite a few people who only wanted to enter the kingdom but did not accept the truth. I said, “These people are finished, they will still die.” Afterward, I saw it happen. There really were some people who believed in Almighty God, who accepted Almighty God but did not seek the truth in the slightest. These muddled people died. Some died in car accidents. Others died from diseases. What does this say? Even if you accept Almighty God’s name, if you do not experience God’s work, if you do not seek the truth, you will die all the same. Right now, if you do not want to die, there is only one path for you. Which path is the way of life? Let’s read a passage of God’s words, “Christ of the last days brings life, and brings the enduring and everlasting way of truth. This truth is the path through which man shall gain life, and the only path by which man shall know God and be approved by God.” These words explain everything very clearly. What does God mention first? “Christ of the last days brings life….” Someone said, “Brings life? Where is this life that Christ is supposed to bring? Why do I not see it?” The next point is, “and brings the enduring and everlasting way of truth.” Some people say, “Way of truth, I can acknowledge this. God has expressed so much truth. So it is the everlasting way of truth.” After talking about this, they acknowledge that Christ of the last days brings life. What does “brings life” refer to? “And brings the enduring and everlasting way of truth.” “Enduring and everlasting way of truth,” here it says that the way of truth is enduring and everlasting, what does this mean? It means that whoever can obtain this way of truth will live forever. This is what it means. This way of truth does not mean you can just live for a hundred years or a few decades. Some people who hear this say, “This is not right. Man’s body has a time limit. If you live to 70 or 80, then you have lived a long life. If you live to 100 or more, well that is the limit. That is the longest of lives. If our bodies can survive to more than 100 years of age, that is already very good. It cannot endure much longer than that. Even if we obtain this everlasting way of truth, our bodies will not last forever. Maybe our spirit is able to.” Is this explanation correct? This explanation is incorrect.
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Someone asked, “What is the longest our bodies can live?” Tell me how many years we can live, what is the longest lifespan. Can we live for three or five hundred years? Some people say that’s impossible. Wrong, the longest the body can live for is nine hundred years, as it is recorded in the Bible. Some people say: “I’ve never seen that, it’s impossible, seeing is believing, mere words are nothing but wind!” Is this correct? Is there anyone who gets younger as they get older in age? Have you seen this? Is this the truth in plain sight? The longer they live the younger they become; some people who are more than 80 years old appear to be only a bit over 20. Some people take one look at them and say, “Isn’t this person so young?” There are many both religious people and common folk who are more than 80 years old but appear to only be a bit over 40, there are quite a few of these people in Taiwan. Some people when they reach the age of 70 or 80, they will grow new teeth, their hair will grow black and their skin will become more tender. So on the basis of these facts, does the human flesh have an age limit? There isn’t a limit, right? This is a fact in plain sight! People can become young again. This is clear, so is there such a thing as immortality? Yes, there is. To live for 900 years is also a fact; everything that is recorded in the Bible is a fact. So for God all this is a very simple matter, for He speaks and it is done; He commands, and it stands fast. As soon as you have God’s blessing, your body can easily live for one or two thousand years; if you are without God’s blessing you will die somewhere between fifty and eighty years old from old age, so old that you are riddled with disease and are unable to move. Isn’t that all decided by God? This is surely obvious now! Can this prove that God is almighty?
Some people say: “Men are iron, but food is steel; if you don’t eat you will be mad with hunger.” Is this the truth? No, this is not the truth. If God allows it, one day you will not feel hungry if you don’t eat, even for a hundred years, isn’t this a fact? With God, He can make things become fact that don’t correspond with people’s imaginations and ideas. He speaks, and it is done; He commands, and it stands fast because God is almighty. So if one obtains all of the truths expressed by God and really finds the way of truth, will their physical flesh change? If it is God’s will, it will change instantly. For God this is an incredibly simple matter, therefore one day you will see a fact, the fact that some people can change into a spiritual body. Nowadays, people use all sorts of transport, ride bicycles, ride motor cycles, drive cars and take airplanes. “How did you come here today?” “By air!” The feeling of taking an airplane is so great. But the airplane is not a good instrument; they are instruments of pollution that do tremendous damage. In the eyes of God they are all not good things. With the spiritual body, as soon as you’ve thought of where to go you’re there. How great that is! Just see how after the Lord Jesus was resurrected He could walk through walls, appear and disappear wherever and whenever He wanted at a phenomenal speed. Does He really have a need to take public transport? What’s the point of saying all this? The point is we must believe in the words of God. God is omnipotent; the words of God can accomplish anything. As He speaks, it is done; He commands, it stands fast. Don’t always see and judge things according to the ideas and imaginations of humans. What are the ideas and imaginations of humans? As far as God’s concerned they are all hogwash. It says Christ “brings the enduring and everlasting way of truth.” If you gain the way of truth expressed by God, you will gain real life. It also says, “This truth is the path through which man shall gain life.” This way of truth is the path through which man shall gain life. All of the truths God expresses in the last days are the path to gaining life. If you want to obtain true life, obtain real life and eternal life you must pursue, accept and enter into the truths God expresses in the last days. The road to eternal life is found within all the truths expressed by God. If someone has believed in God for many years and never gained the truth, not in the slightest, then have these people gained life? No. If they haven’t then they will ultimately perish, their flesh only needs to fail and they shall die. Do you believe that true and eternal life exists? Do you believe that one can obtain the way of eternal life within the truths expressed by God in the last days? If you really believe, then can you still be relying on human imagination to judge things? You can set it aside, for in the eyes of God the notions and imaginations of men don’t hold water. They are not laws, still less the truth. Some physical laws are only temporary and some can change, if God wants them to change or break them He merely needs to say the word. In the material world some laws have already formed and have come into being, but with God none of them exist. For example, if someone wants to enter a room he must go through the door, he can’t walk through the wall. In the spiritual world does this sort of thing exist? God just needs to say a single word and any material thing will disappear into thin air, so some of the laws of the material world don’t exist in the spiritual world, they are not the truth. In the eyes of men all things that are born of flesh must die, but does this exist with God? In the eyes of God this is nonsense and is not the truth. So how long have the huge mountains existed? Are they dead? How long has the world existed? How long has the earth existed? They are not dead, anything that lives and dies is predetermined by God, some things will never perish. The life of God is everlasting. So would you say that an angel can die? How can you explain? So the laws of the human and material world are not the truth. With God all of them are false and He can change them however He likes, do you understand this? If you really understand this, then you really understand the truth. Some people don’t even understand this. You’ve been believing in vain! Sometimes I ask you, how long have you believed in God? Some will say, “Ten years or so.” You’ve believed in God for ten years but if you don’t understand this truth and haven’t seen this matter clearly, then you are truly ignorant. If you take the laws of the world of men, the material world as the truth, then you are idiotic and foolish. They are not the truth. Laws are simply laws; God never said that laws are the truth, right? God is the truth, therefore only when you pursue God can you understand many truths, and only when you know many truths are you a person who gains the way to eternal life.
Let’s take an example; some people say “I have some notions about Christ, why is Christ so normal? That sort of normality isn’t the truth and is not divine.” Is this correct? Are those ideas and concepts of yours the truth? They are not the truth; God is the truth. God has destined it that in the last days He puts on such a flesh, a flesh that is unique to God’s work in the last days. Can you change this? You have no way to change it. Every time God comes in the flesh, He comes as an ordinary man. The Lord Jesus was also an ordinary person, He wasn’t a high or noble person, nor did people look at Him as a God. He was just an ordinary person. If He said He was Christ or God, people would have their own ideas and concepts and wouldn’t have accepted Him. However, if He said He was just an ordinary person, a carpenter’s son people would accept that. Do people say and do things based only on what they see? Does the truth lie within people’s eyes? There is no truth within people’s eyes, people are blind to almost everything, they can’t break into the spiritual world, and they can’t even comprehend the laws of the physical world. So people rely solely on what they see with their eyes. This is absurd, foolish, and preposterous. People don’t seek the truth in many things; they merely rely on their own two eyes, is this right? What’s wrong with this? The problem is they don’t believe in the truth, they only believe in themselves. Why don’t people accept and practice the truth? Because they believe in themselves too much, they believe they know everything and all that they do is correct: Following the truth is not correct, I can’t practice the truth, I can’t do things based on principles, I must do everything only based on my own ideas, I will only handle things that are in line with my own ideas and imaginations. So these people believe in God for years but can’t ever practice the truth. What’s wrong with this? People who don’t practice the truth don’t believe in the truth, they deny the truth and only believe in themselves, they only think that their own philosophy of life is the truth.
Many people have believed in God for many years and heard a lot of God’s words and actually have understood some truths. They haven’t completely understood, but they have understood some truths, so why don’t they go ahead and practice the truth? What is the problem here? They just don’t believe and acknowledge the truth. They say, “The truth is just an idea, it’s just a notion, and it’s not really the truth.” They believe that their satanic philosophy and their own ideas and imaginations are the truth. So have these people gained the way of truth? No, they haven’t gained the way of truth. So, do these types of people have life? So now let’s understand a fact: What is the origin of the problem of all those who have believed in God for many years but don’t practice the truth in the slightest? The problem is they don’t believe in the truth, they don’t acknowledge the truth and they only believe their own satanic philosophy, their own ideas and imaginations are the truth, so whenever they do anything they rely solely on their own ideas and imaginations and their satanic philosophy. These sorts of people are those who have not gained the truth and are without life, and ultimately must perish. Do you understand? So why are those who are able to accept and practice the truth able to accept the truth? Why is it that once they understand the truth they are able to practice the truth? They are simple and pure, because they have real belief within them, “The words of God are the truth, and so act according to God’s words, or practice the truth after understanding them, and I am sure that God will be pleased and I can win His approval.” They believe in such a fact. So, do such people understand the truth deeply? Not necessarily. So, who can know the truth clearly without having years of experience? Anyway my knowledge is rather limited, I don’t fully understand, on a scale of 100 I understand around 1 or 2 points. So if one doesn’t fully understand, then why does one still practice the truth and put into practice what truths one does know? Why is this? Let’s consider this. Can you say that all who are able to practice the truth, however shallow or deep that practice may be, are fools? No. Why can those people practice the truth? They feel that truth is indeed a positive thing, that it is God’s words. This is certain, they understand it, that it is what God has said. Through the three stages in the work of the Age of Law, the Age of Grace, and the Age of Kingdom, there are some truths that are similar, only more profound with each stage, more obvious and distinct with each stage.
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What does it actually mean to practice the truth? A capable man will recognize the positive aspects of practicing the truth. For example, when it comes to becoming an honest person, they will say: “An honest person is a genuine person with a genuine demeanor that pleases God!” When it comes to submission to God, they say: “It’s absolutely necessary. Obeying God is a positive thing. We should do it. It’s a basic principle. Everything that God says is the truth. Moreover, God is the Lord of all creation, and who among all His creations would dare to disobey their Creator?” And when it comes to submission to God’s work—His judgment and chastisement, trials and refinement, they say: “Humans are corrupt, and therefore they must accept God’s judgment and chastisement. This is the most basic principle there is. Humans are corrupt, so if they don’t face trials while undergoing God’s work, then how will they come to understand themselves? How will they be able to prove that they’ve attained the truth? How will God examine them to see if they have attained the truth or not? Humans must face revelation through trials!” They believe that in order to undergo God’s work, one must obey God and practice the truth. These are all considered positive things; they are what men should do, and what men can do. What about those who give offerings to God, people who strive to do their duty and receive God’s chosen people? What do they think about the truth? They don’t necessarily understand the depths of the truth. They just think, “I must receive God’s chosen people, I must do my best to do my duty. Receiving God’s chosen people is a positive thing that God praises, and I must follow God’s words. I don’t care how many hardships I’ll suffer receiving God’s chosen people. Regardless of how troublesome it could be in the future, regardless of what will come, the only thing I care about right now is practicing the truth. I seek to make God happy, so I will work to fulfill God’s requests.” This is how simple this kind of person is. It is his simple faith that allows him to practice the truth. What is this person like? He is a person who believes in the truth and recognizes the truth. He will not deny the truth. He says, “Whatsoever is truth, people must practice it. People must enact and fulfill the truth. People who do not practice the truth don’t deserve to be called human.” It’s that simple. Does this kind of person have an extremely in-depth knowledge of the truth, or of its meaning and value? No, they do not. None of them possesses this knowledge. If there are others who don’t have genuine knowledge of the truth, then why is it that some people can practice the truth while others cannot? What is the reason for this? God’s words fulfill themselves here. For one thing, there is a difference between true faith and false faith. There are people who God loves and there are people God hates. In addition, God will perfect some people, whereas others He will eliminate. This is the difference: Each person is different from the other. When some leaders and workers are pruned and dealt with, they can subsequently reflect upon their own souls. Through this reflection, they will come to understand themselves, and then they can feel genuine regret and truly repent. Other leaders and workers are disobedient in their hearts, no matter how you prune and deal with them. They do not carry out the truth and reject it like they always do. They bear no indication of this on the outside, but in their hearts they follow their own way; they reject what you say. “I don’t resist at all! What can you do with me?” What kind of question is this? This question bears a certain attitude toward the truth; your attitude toward the truth decides everything! Those who love and obey the truth will accept it when you prune and deal with them. But those who don’t love or accept the truth, no matter how you prune and deal with them in accordance with the truth, they’ll completely reject it. You have to coax them, and if you don’t, getting them to practice the truth is inconceivable. This is the difference between people. When you look at people from the outside, they don’t seem to be very different at all, but when you look at the essence of their nature and the quality of their humanity, the difference is enormous.
What is the significance behind seeking and practicing the truth? The value and meaning of the truth is extremely profound. Though we may recognize that the truth is a positive thing, absolutely, this understanding is too simplistic; this is the lowest form of understanding. Truth’s inherent value and significance is far too profound: It is the essence of life itself! Truth is not merely a positive thing; it can be a person’s life. Truth is a treasure; it is what God has and is! God bestows the being of His life upon mankind. God’s love for mankind is so vast, how could mankind even begin to fathom His love? God bestows His life upon mankind. He doesn’t give it to any other creature He created, He only gives it to mankind. This shows the depths of God’s love for humanity, a love that is beyond words, a love that defies description. If you look at the love between parents and their children, this is merely one love. “I’ve raised you, I’ve given everything I have to you.” Is this one little love bigger than God’s love for humanity? No. There is a huge difference! God has given His life to mankind, He keeps humanity as the apple of His eye, treating them as His own flesh and blood. God’s love is truly enormous! God made eternal plans for mankind so that man may live forever, so that man may live with God forever at God’s side and in God’s presence. That God made man is a subject of a profound significance. When God made mankind, His plan for man was completely different from His plans for all the other living things He created. This is why God came down to live, walk, and work among men. This is why God has never left man’s side since the beginning. These things are all part of God’s plan for mankind. God speaks truth so that mankind will accept it, experience it, obey it and obtain the truth themselves. This is how God perfects mankind. What fruit does God obtain in perfecting humanity? What is His goal? God’s goal is of profound significance. His goal is to allow man to accompany Him at His side, listen to His words, communicate with Him, obey His plans, and manage all the living things. This is God’s will for mankind. After God created man, He allowed Satan to corrupt mankind so that He could save mankind and attain this goal. At the time of man’s salvation, God will perfect mankind. God planned this all out step by step; all goes according to His management plan. God will successfully complete His work on His own appointed time. Nothing His creations could muster would be able to disrupt His plan, no matter what forces are at play. This is because God is the almighty Master of all things. In our experience of God’s work, we’ve seen the great red dragon’s fierce attacks in attempt to destroy God’s work. But what about right now? Isn’t the great red dragon ashamed? The great red dragon is ashamed, for it has no way to win. God’s work moves forward step by step. In the future, His work will flow even more freely than before. When the witnessing of God reaches its peak, His work will be finished, and the great disaster will come. This is how it will be. Before the great disaster arrives, humanity will be able to witness many acts of God. They will witness the fulfillment of all of God’s prophecies, and then they will witness and acknowledge the sovereignty of God. After humanity witnesses the fulfillment of God’s prophecies, they will witness God’s accomplishments. Once humanity recognizes God as the Master of all things, the great disaster will come.
Right now, practicing the truth is of the greatest urgency. Why do we say it is of the greatest urgency? Because those who don’t practice the truth have no work of the Holy Spirit. The more man practices the truth, the more the Holy Spirit will enlighten and illuminate them. Whereas those who do not practice the truth will be eliminated. Do you understand? Some people ask, “So if I practice the truth, will I have the work of the Holy Spirit? How does the Holy Spirit work?” Don’t you know how the Holy Spirit works by now? When you practice the truth truly and sincerely, your heart and mind will be facing God, thirsting for God’s word. After you read God’s word, you will be enlightened, and you will learn the path to practicing the truth. You will understand why God says what He says. This is the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment. Is this not God’s blessing? It is also true that when you sincerely practice the truth, you will have the presence of the Holy Spirit. When you genuinely practice the truth, you will receive God’s protection, and as a result you will not encounter many fiends or temptations. Thanks to the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment, you will know the way to practice the truth. When you encounter problems, you will be able to perceive them clearly, and they won’t seem as hard; you will not be bound or chained to your problems. Is this not God’s blessing? This is God’s blessing. When some people come to understand some of the truth, they’ll say, “Whenever I encounter a problem, my mind sees clearly, and I pray to God from my heart. Then I take some time to think things over. An ordinary problem will take 2-3 days for me to process, and a big problem takes 3-5 days to a week. But after taking some time to think about it, I can understand the problem clearly. I know exactly what to do and how to practice the truth.” Is this not the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit? Yes, it is. They say, “Whenever I encountered a problem before, even if I took several months to think things over, I’d still be confused, without a path. But now whenever I have a problem, if I think things over for just a few days, I am always able to find a path. I can see so much more clearly now, I am no longer bound and chained.” Such a person has God’s blessing and has received the work of the Holy Spirit. As a result, he will always have a path to follow. On the inside, he will be full of light, and the little darkness that remains will be much easier to resolve than before. In 3-5 days, he will be able to walk out of this darkness, things will be much clearer, and he will have a clear path to follow. This is God’s blessing. If you consistently practice the truth, you will understand more and more about the truth. You encounter many problems while going about your daily lives, but only a limited number of them can confuse you and trouble you. These problems can still confine and control you, and force you to fall in darkness. If you understand the truth and practice the way of truth, these problems won’t be able to trap or confine you for long. After a short while, you’ll be able to free yourself from these problems. If you practice the truth and know how to face the matters that weaken you and give you the most trouble, then what on earth could possibly trouble you anymore? Then you can say that you’ve attained freedom and liberated yourself from many kinds of problems.
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Some people feel constrained by the prospect of marriage. By the time they reach 40 years old, they’ve yet to find a suitable partner. “If I don’t find one now, it’ll be too late. At 50 years old there’s no use having children because they won’t be able to take care of you in old age. Don’t I need to find a partner?” This person is stuck. After being stuck like this for 10 years, one day he’ll finally get it, and the truth will become clear. “Isn’t what happens to me when I get old all in God’s hands anyway? What’s the point of living in the flesh? What’s the point of worrying about those things? We’ve dedicated our whole selves to God. We believe in God, and we rely on God, and that’s all there is to it.” This person is no longer ruled by his problems, he sees right through them, and he can walk free. Some people are ruled by matters of life and existence, by marital affairs, by children, and they can’t escape these constraints. Some people are ruled by something in doing their duty and serving God, and can’t walk away from this. In fact, aren’t there just a few things that can constrain people and trap them in darkness? There are many things that people must bear, but not all of them can trap them in darkness. If you seek the truth amongst these constraints, you will be able to walk free. Some people say, “After many years, I still haven’t been able to walk free.” You’ve yet to free yourself and you know others who’ve yet to walk free. But do you deny that there are some people, a minority of people, who are able to free themselves from these constraints? Is this not true? Why don’t you seek the truth from these people, the people who have freed themselves? “How did you free yourself? Will you bear witness for us and tell us about your experience of the truth? We’re trapped here!” If this is how you seek the truth, will you be able to arrive at a solution to this kind of question? If you sincerely seek and practice the truth and genuinely have faith in God, you will be able to free yourself. Am I wrong? Other people can free themselves. They are human, and you are human too, so doesn’t that mean you are also capable of freeing yourself? That is, unless you don’t believe in God. It all boils down to a question of belief, doesn’t it? Some people become leaders and don’t think about themselves at all. They believe in God’s word, and they live their lives in order to bear witness for God. They do not think of themselves and they do not strive for fame or status. Is this not a true testimony? If this person can practice the truth like this, then why can’t you? If you really can’t practice the truth, if you are instead ruled by status and fame, then you must seek the truth from people who do not seek fame and status, and you must listen to their testimonies. If this person is able to free himself by walking the path, doesn’t it make sense that you will be able to free yourself by walking the same path? That being said, will pursuing the truth be easy regardless of what hardships a person may encounter? Are there many paths that lead to the truth? Surely there are many paths; there is not merely a single path to the truth. Within God’s word, you can also find a path. Through God’s word, you can come to understand the truth, attain the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and find your own path to practice the truth. You can also seek the truth from the experiences of your fellow brothers and sisters and find your own path to practice the truth. If you listen diligently to the sermons and fellowships of God’s family, you will be able to learn about ways of practice that suit you. There are three ways to the truth, at the very least. In addition to these, you can also find your own path. When you encounter hardships, pray to God and seek the truth, contemplate God’s word, and you will slowly be enlightened by the Holy Spirit, feel His light inside you, and you will be able to see your own path of practice. It simply takes a little bit longer to do it this way. Many people get confused and annoyed during this process. We all have our own, individual difficulties and hardships. The difficulties we face are not the same. But if you really are a person who genuinely pursues the truth, you will be able to walk free from those confusions. Do I not speak the truth? What I say is absolutely true, it’s not false in the least bit. Those who walked free from those confusions can all testify to how they triumphed over their adversities. I am not speaking blindly; I am speaking with their testimonies as my foundation.
Now are you willing to practice the truth? If you practice the truth and worry about troubles that may arise, or not getting anything good in return, what’s wrong with this? Because you lack the faith and the courage needed to practice the truth, you will not be able to suffer hardships you will encounter while doing so. I’ll give you an example. If you are persecuted by the powers at be, they’ll ask you, “Why do you believe in Almighty God?” Some people won’t dare to tell them why. This kind of person will deny that he believes in God and seek a way to evade the question. Satan knows how you think, and it will ask you directly, “Why do you believe in God? Will you deny Him? Answer me!” Some people don’t fear Satan at all, and they will tell it exactly why they believe in Almighty God. When they finish doing so, they will restate their position once more, “Not only do I believe in God right now at this moment, I will believe in God for eternity. I will believe in God even in death!” Satan will look at this person, knowing that it can’t trick him, and it will hate him. It’ll beat him up and say, “There’s nothing to be done about this one, there’s no use trying him.” Look, this person has already surpassed this obstacle. If you don’t fear suffering, you won’t suffer any additional hardships after making such a statement. But if you wish to evade suffering, if you wish to act like humans act, you’ll encounter even more trouble. On the other hand, if you do not fear death, these obstacles will be nothing to you, and you will walk free. Is this not the case? It’s that simple. People who serve God should not walk the path of the Pharisees or the path of the antichrists. Rather, we should walk the path of honest people, and do practical things in order to carry out God’s will. How can this be so difficult? If you just act without seeking fame and profit for yourself, won’t this suffice? Will you be able to attain it? Some people never do, and say, “This doesn’t work. I can’t act without seeking fame and status for myself, it’s not possible at all! If I serve as a leader, I have no choice but to do so.” Do these kinds of people really exist? Yes, and there are far too many of them. We imagine that these people only make up 10% or 1% of the leaders, but in reality, they make up 10% to 20% of the leaders at the very least. They are not few in number! This person acts for the sake of his own fame and status. If you ask him to act not on behalf of his own fame and status but to instead do some practical things to carry out God’s will, he won’t be able to do it. He won’t be able to let go of his fame and status. Is this not evil? Yes, this is what we call evil. If you ask certain people to walk the path of an honest person, they’ll feel like it’s harder than climbing straight up to heaven. It’ll feel as if you’re asking them to go to their deaths! Some people say, “Well, this doesn’t make sense at all, who wouldn’t want to become an honest person?” I’ll give you an example here. When something happens, you’ll say to him, “Tell me the truth about this matter, don’t lie. How do you really see it?” He won’t be able to say anything. Here, you designate a matter specifically to get him to clarify his perspective and speak honestly. It is like asking him to die. He won’t say anything by any means, will he? Aren’t there people like this? When you ask him about a crucial matter, “You tell me, that person is an antichrist, why did you take his side and cover up for him? Why did you defend him? Tell me! What did he say to you in private?” This is not a private matter and he still says nothing, won’t this kind of person find it difficult to practice the truth? It’s very difficult for him to speak the truth. Will this kind of person still be able to obtain God’s salvation? No, he’s totally finished. He does not uphold the work of God’s family, nor does he speak the truth. What people ask about is not his private affair, and he doesn’t dare to speak the truth or clarify his perspective. This kind of person lacks courage. Even worse, he is faithless, he is like worthless mud that can’t support a foundation, a completely useless piece of rubbish! You might meet people who appear to be extraordinary on the outside, they dress classy, their eyes twinkle, and are extremely spirited. But as soon as you try to make a person like this do his duty or do some form of concrete work, he can’t do it. If you try to get him to write an article, he’ll say, “I don’t know how to write a testimony.” What kind of person is he? Does he possess the truth? He doesn’t understand anything or see anything clearly. What kind of duty is this person able to perform? When all aspects of the principles have already been clearly communicated, how can he still not understand? How has he not found the path yet? What’s his problem? Lacking the truth is worse than being blind, and those without truth are unable to take a single step forward. This person has no way to do his duty effectively even if he wants to. It doesn’t matter what he does, because without the truth, he won’t be able to do it well. He won’t be able to do anything!
Now, some people are sincerely convinced. I said to someone once before that without truth, one is unable to take a single step forward. But he responded, “You say that without truth one is unable to take a single step forward, but I’ve been to many countries.” This person has no way to do his duties according to principle. “Oh, so the truth is like this. Since every duty is related to the truth, how am I not carrying out the truth by doing my duty?” Some people say, “I’m an old peasant, I can do all the work that old peasants do. I can even do the works of laborers. How could I not be able to do my duty well once I enter God’s family? How strange. It seems to me that the duties of God’s family are indeed connected to the truth. Writing an article is connected to the truth, attending a gathering and speaking during fellowship is connected to the truth, every work is connected to the truth. Now I feel that those without the truth are truly in a bad predicament, whatever they do they can’t do it well.” Many people say, “Before I was very smart, a very skilled person. How could I be a useless waste in God’s family? I won’t accept this.” But you must accept this. On the outside you might be very skilled, but when it comes to the spiritual matters in life, you have no experience, so you can’t do the work. Most people have experienced these things. Are you aware of how valuable the truth is? Having the truth as your life is an extraordinary and wonderful thing! If a person has the truth as his life, he will be a useful person, and a person with true humanity. Only a person who has the truth as his life can bear witness for God, fulfill his duty, be in accord with God’s heart, and carry out God’s will. But a person without the truth as his life can’t accomplish anything. He’s useless. Do you understand this by now? How is it that the antichrists will fall from power, suffer failure, be exposed and eliminated? It is because the antichrists do not have the truth as their life. They merely exploit their petty tricks and rely on their gifts. In the end they will fail absolutely and will suffer a crushing defeat. They will be exposed and eliminated. Why will false leaders be exposed and eliminated? They do not possess the reality of the truth, and speak letters and doctrines. They cheat and deceive God’s chosen people, and they will eventually be exposed. We are able to see them clearly for who they really are. So, if you lack the truth, you won’t be able to accomplish anything, even if you are elected as a leader you will be useless. Sooner or later you will be exposed and eliminated, unless you pursue the truth properly.
The most important aspect to attaining the truth is practicing the truth. How many truths are you able to practice right now? This is of crucial importance. Please speak about your experience. God’s family has a 20 Question Assessment About the Truth, and everyone has to answer those questions with their real experiences and testimony. When this test was first issued, many people were shocked. When they first looked at it, they said, “Good enough, I can answer some of the questions,” but once they put pen to paper and started to really answer the questions, no words came. They didn’t know how to write about it at all. In the end, they wrote for several days without success. These people are far too naive. This exam reveals whether or not a person has the reality of the truth. Now, are these 20 questions hard to answer? Is it complex? It’s hard to say. You may say it’s complicated, but in actuality, it isn’t that complicated at all. You say it’s superficial, but how come you can’t come up with all the answers? In actuality, those who have experience all say that this test is the bare minimum of the reality we need to have and what we need to practice in our daily life. If you genuinely practice the truth, if you really have experiences of the truth, then these questions will be very easy to answer. But if you don’t practice the truth from start to finish, and only occasionally follow the rules, then you’ll have no way to answer these questions, and this test will become an obstacle for you, an obstacle you will never be able to overcome. When you walk free from this obstacle you will be liberated and attain freedom, the reality of the truth. Can you walk free from this obstacle? Do you have faith or not? Most of you believe you can do so, this is excellent! If you are faithful, then you will be able to walk free from this obstacle, and you will surely be able to continue forward in your experience of the truth, and able to attain the truth and enter into the reality. A person who can do this will attain the life by undergoing God’s work in the last days. God will live in his heart and be with him! This person believes in God and places God in his heart, he has God inside of him, God dwells within him. This is a person who has perfect faith in God, a person who has attained God, and a person who has been attained by God.
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Ang pinagmulan: "Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life"
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