Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” (II)

Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” (II)

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　　“The work of the last days is to separate all according to their kind, to conclude the management plan of God, for the time is near and the day of God has come. God brings all who have entered His kingdom, that is, all those who have been loyal to Him to the end, into the age of God Himself. However, before the coming of the age of God Himself, the work that God desires to do is not to observe the deeds of man or to inquire about the lives of man, but to judge his rebellion, for God shall purify all those who come before His throne. All those who have followed the footsteps of God to this day are those who have come before the throne of God, hence all who accept the last of God’s work are those to be purified by God. In other words, all those who accept the last of God’s work are those who will be judged by God.

　　As previously spoken of, judgment would begin with the house of God. This “judgment” refers to the judgment God does today on those who come before His throne in the last days. Perhaps there are those who believe in such supernatural imaginings as that when the last days have arrived, God will erect a big table in the heavens, upon which a white tablecloth will be spread, then God will sit upon a great throne and all men will kneel on the ground. God shall then reveal all sins laid against each man to determine whether he shall ascend to heaven or be sent down to the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. No matter what the imaginings of man, the substance of God’s work cannot be altered. The imaginings of man are nothing but the constructs of man’s thoughts and come from the brain of man, summed up and pieced together from what man has seen and heard. Therefore I say, however brilliant the images conceived, they are still no more than a drawing and no substitute for the plan of God’s work. After all, man has been corrupted by Satan, so how can he then fathom the thoughts of God? Man conceives the work of judgment by God to be particularly fantastic. Man believes that since it is God Himself doing the work of judgment, then it must be of the most tremendous scale and incomprehensible to mortals; it must resound through the heavens and shake the earth, otherwise how can it be the work of judgment by God? Man believes that as this is the work of judgment, then God must be particularly imposing and majestic as He works, and those being judged must be howling with tears and on their knees begging for mercy. The scene must be a grand sight and very rousing…. Every man conceives God’s work of judgment to be legendary. Do you know, however, that long after God has begun the work of judgment among men, you are still nestled in sleep? Do you know, at the time that you believe God’s work of judgment has officially begun, it shall already be the time when God changes heaven and earth? At that time, perhaps you will have only just understood the meaning of life, but the merciless work of punishment of God shall bring you, still slumbering, into hell. Only then will you suddenly realize that God’s work of judgment has already concluded.

　　Let us not waste precious time and talk no more of these abhorrent and detestable topics. Let us speak instead of what constitutes judgment. When it comes to the word “judgment,” you will think of the words that Jehovah spoke to all the places and the words of rebuke that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees. Though these words are stern, they are not God’s judgment of man; these words are only those spoken by God within different environments, that is, different settings, and they are unlike the words spoken by Christ as He judges man in the last days. In the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, reveal the essence of man, and dissect his words and deeds. These words comprise various truths, such as man’s duty, how man should obey God, how man should be loyal to God, how man ought to live out the normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and disposition of God, and so on. These words are all focused on the essence of man and his corrupt disposition. In particular, those words that reveal how man spurns God are spoken in regard to how man is an embodiment of Satan and an enemy force against God. When God does the work of judgment, He does not simply make clear the nature of man with just a few words, but carries out revelation, dealing, and pruning over the long term. Such manner of revelation, dealing, and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words but with the truth that man does not possess at all. Only such manner of work is deemed judgment; only through such judgment can man be persuaded, be thoroughly convinced into submission to God, and gain true knowledge of God. What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of God and the truth about his rebelliousness. The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the will of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that could not be understood by man. It also allows man to recognize and know his corrupt substance and the roots of his corruption, as well as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by the work of judgment, for the substance of such work is actually the work of opening up the truth, way, and life of God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God. If you do not regard these truths with importance and constantly think of avoiding them or of a new way out apart from them, then I say you are a grievous sinner. If you have faith in God, yet seek not the truth or the will of God, nor do you love the way that brings you closer to God, then I say that you are one who is trying to evade judgment. You are a puppet and traitor who flees from the great white throne, and God will not spare any of the rebellious that escape from under His eyes. Such men shall receive even more severe punishment. Those who come before God to be judged and have been purified shall forever live in the kingdom of God. Of course, this is in the future.

　　The work of judgment is God’s own work, so it must naturally be done by God Himself; it cannot be done by man in His stead. Because judgment is the conquering of man through the truth, it is unquestionable that God still appears as the incarnate image to do this work among men. That is to say, in the last days, Christ shall use the truth to teach men around the earth and to make all truths known to them. This is God’s work of judgment. Many have a sour taste in their mouths about the second incarnation of God, for man finds it difficult to believe that God shall do the work of judgment as an incarnation. But I must tell you that often the work of God greatly exceeds man’s expectations and is difficult for the minds of men to accept. For men are merely maggots upon the earth, while God is the supreme One that fills the universe; the mind of man is akin to a pit of foul water that gives rise only to maggots, whereas each stage of the work directed by the thoughts of God is the fruit of God’s wisdom. Man constantly wishes to contend with God; then I say it is self-evident who stands to lose in the end. I exhort you all not to regard yourselves with more importance than gold. If others can accept the judgment of God, then why can you not? How much higher do you stand above others? If others can bow their heads before the truth, why can you not also do so? The great trend of God’s work is unstoppable. He will not repeat the work of judgment again for the sake of your “merits,” and you will sorely regret losing such a good opportunity. If you do not believe My words, then just wait for that great white throne in the sky to pass judgment upon you! You must know that all of the Israelites spurned and denied Jesus, yet the fact of Jesus’ redemption of mankind still spread to the ends of the universe. Is this not the fact that God has long ago fulfilled? If you are still awaiting Jesus to take you up to heaven, then I say that you are an obstinate piece of deadwood.[a] Jesus will not acknowledge a false believer such as you who is disloyal to the truth and seeks only blessings. On the contrary, He will show no mercy in casting you into the lake of fire to burn for tens of thousands of years.

　　Do you understand now what is judgment and what is truth? If you now understand, then I exhort you to submit to judgment, otherwise you shall never have the opportunity to be commended by God or to be taken by God into His kingdom. Those who only accept judgment but can never be purified, that is, those who flee in the midst of the work of judgment, shall forever be detested and rejected by God. Their sins are much more, and more grievous, than those of the Pharisees, for they have betrayed God and are rebels against God. Such men who are not worthy even to do service shall receive more severe, everlasting punishment. God shall not spare any traitor who once claimed loyalty with words yet then betrayed Him. Such men shall see retribution through punishment of the spirit, soul, and body. Does this not reveal the righteous disposition of God? Is this not exactly the purpose of God’s judgment and revelation of man? God shall place all those who perform all kinds of wicked deeds during the time of judgment in the place where evil spirits live for their fleshly bodies to be destroyed at the will of the spirits. Their bodies shall give off the odor of a corpse, and such is their fitting retribution. God writes down in their record books each and every one of the sins of those disloyal false believers, false apostles, and false workers, then when the time is right, He casts them amidst the unclean spirits so their entire bodies may be defiled by the spirits at will and, as a result, they will never be reincarnated and shall never again see the light. Those hypocrites who did service at one time but are unable to remain loyal to the end shall be numbered by God among the wicked so that they walk in the counsel of the wicked, becoming part of the disorderly multitude. In the end, God shall destroy them. God casts aside and takes no notice of those who have never been loyal to Christ or dedicated any effort, and shall destroy them all in the change of ages. They shall no longer exist on earth, much less gain passage into the kingdom of God. Those who have never been true to God but are forced into dealing with God shall be numbered among those who do service for His people. Only a small number of such men can survive, while the majority shall perish along with those who are not qualified even to do service. Finally, God shall bring into His kingdom all those who are of the same mind as God, the people and sons of God as well as those predestined by God to be priests. Such is the fruit begotten by God through His work. As for those who can belong to none of the categories set by God, they shall be numbered among the unbelievers. And you can surely imagine what their outcome shall be. I have already said to you all that I should say; the road that you choose shall be your decision to make. What you should understand is this: The work of God never waits for any that cannot keep pace with God, and the righteous disposition of God shows no mercy to any man.”

Footnotes:

a. A piece of deadwood: a Chinese idiom, meaning “beyond help.”

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We discussed up to the third section of this piece of the word of God the last time we congregated, now let us start our fellowship from the fourth section.

　　“The work of judgment is God’s own work, so it must naturally be done by God Himself; it cannot be done by man in His stead.” The word of God is spoken very clearly. The work of judgment is God’s own work, it is work that God must carry out among mankind, it is work that must be personally carried out by God Himself, it is work that no man is able to do in His stead. No man can do it in His stead. None of mankind can replace God and do this work in His stead. Why can no one replace Him? Some people might say: “Was God’s work not carried out by using Moses during the Age of Law? Then how come God cannot use people to carry out the work of judgment?” Is there some mystery here? In the Age of Law God issued forth laws and commandments to the Israelites, which work could be carried out by using man, but man cannot replace God and carry out the work of judgment in the last days, why is that? There is a mystery here. What is this mystery all about? We must continue reading along and see what God has to say about it. “Because judgment is the conquering of man through the truth, it is unquestionable that God still appears as the incarnate image to do this work among men.” How do we decipher these words of God? God has made known the definition of the work of judgment, but what is the nature of the work of judgment? How is this explained in the word of God? “Because judgment is the conquering of man through the truth….” How can we decipher these words? What exactly is judgment? Based on the word of God we can understand it as follows: God’s work of judgment is done through the conquering of man through the truth. “The conquering of man through the truth,” we must carefully think these words over. Why is man not able to do the work of judgment? Some people say that man does not possess the truth, that man cannot express the truth. It is totally okay to understand and accept things in this way. Man does not have the truth and does not possess the truth. Man does not possess the truth, so man cannot carry out the work of judgment. Some people say: “God is able to make use of prophets to issue forth the word of God, so if God made use of prophets to issue forth the word of God in order to carry out the work of judgment, would that be okay?” Would that be okay? Some people say it would not be okay. How come? Some people might say that prophets are people too. It’s true that prophets are also people, but prophets are able to convey the word of God, so if God uses prophets to convey the word of God in order to carry out the work of judgment, would that be okay? Everyone says it would not be okay. Why is that? Prophets conveying the word of God and God issuing forth the truth anytime and anywhere Himself will bring about different results, because prophets are not themselves the truth. What consequences will there be when someone who is not the truth conveys the word of God? Christ, when carrying out the work of judgment through His capacity as God, may issue forth the truth anytime and anywhere, reveal all that God has and is, and make known the disposition of God. So, what is the difference between these results and the results that are brought about when a prophet, who is not himself the truth and who is not able to reveal all that God has and is anytime and anywhere, conveys the word of God? If this is something you can understand thoroughly, then you have a true understanding of the words, “The work of judgment is God’s own work, so it must naturally be done by God Himself; it cannot be done by man in His stead.” “It cannot be done by man in His stead.” What does this include? It won’t do if God uses people or prophets to convey the word of God. But why won’t it do if God uses people to convey the word of God? Why will this not achieve the result that is achieved when God carries out the work Himself? If you are able to understand this thoroughly, then you will be able to accept the words that “it cannot be done by man in His stead.”It means that it is inappropriate for God to use man for this kind of work, the results will not be able to be achieved.

　　What is it exactly that makes it not okay for God to use prophets to convey the word of God in order to carry out the work of judgment? What results will not be able to be achieved if the work is done in this way? Can you see it? If prophets are used to convey the word of God, the result that will be achieved is that people will only be able to have a little bit of understanding of the words being conveyed. But as for understanding the disposition of God, all that God has and is, and the truth issued forth by God, regardless of how great an effort man exerts, it will be very difficult to achieve the best result. Isn’t that so? Why can’t the best result be achieved? In essence, prophets themselves are human. Since they are human by nature, could they reveal all that God has and is? There’s absolutely no way this could be revealed. Take me as an example, even though I have some experience and understanding of the word of God and am able to communicate this to you, I still am only able to reveal the being of humanity. Regardless of how much I pursue the truth, all that I can reveal is still all that is the being of humanity, it is not all that God has and is. Can you see that? Even though I am able to “love what God loves and hate what God hates,” I dare not say that I am able to reveal the righteous disposition of God, that is a distance too far for me to go. Based on this point, we can see that prophets, regardless of how they convey the word of God, will not be able to reveal the disposition of God, nor will they be able to reveal all that God has and is, for prophets are human by nature, they are not divine. Christ has a divine substance, and in carrying out the work of judgment He can issue forth the truth anytime and anywhere, He can reveal all that God has and is. In Christ, man is able to witness the disposition of God, and witness all that God has and is, and witness the almightiness and wisdom of God. For the man used by God, no matter how much we come to understand the word of God through him, ultimately we will still never be able to come to an understanding of God, and what we are able to attain will be very, very limited! Now you should be able to see this clearly! So now when God says, “The work of judgment is God’s own work, so it must naturally be done by God Himself; it cannot be done by man in His stead,” we should be able to understand the meaning of these words, right? However, people in the religious world are unable to comprehend the meaning of these words, they do not understand them. They believe that since God was able to use Moses to carry out His work in the Age of Law, then God should be able to use man to carry out the work of judgment in the last days. But isn’t this very far away from the intention of God? Now we can recognize this point. This is the grace of God. People in the religious world cannot recognize this, for they have no experience of God’s work in the last days. How many truths they must fail to understand! They lack an understanding of many truths. By comparison we have obtained much, much more. In the book The Word Appears in the Flesh everything that is expressed is the truth. It contains truths that have not yet been obtained through the several stages of God’s work that mankind has gone through since the creation of the world, truths that up to now have not been understood. But today, since we are experiencing the work of God in the last days, we have obtained these truths. Is this not the grace of God? Is this not the profound love of God?

　　You see that religious people are not foolish, that among them there are many pastors and elders that are very learned and knowledgeable. How is it that they have failed to discover so many of the truths that have been issued forth by God during His work in the last days? How is it that they fail to see these facts? How did the Lord Jesus say it? “For this people’s heart is waxed gross…” (Matthew 13:15; Acts 28:27). They do not have knowledge of God, they do not have knowledge of God’s work, and they do not have knowledge of the word of God. These people all believe that they understand the Bible, but they do not have knowledge of God or of the truth. What a pity, isn’t it? Each and every one of those in God’s house that have experienced several years of God’s work, that have some reality of the truth, if they were to fellowship on the truth, if they were to give sermons, I dare say that their words would be a hundred times more powerful than those pastors and elders in the religious world. Is this not a fact? They would be one hundred times better than them. There would be no comparison. When you see the religious pastors stand there in impeccable attire, wearing their glasses, “Wow, what mannerisms, look at the mannerisms of the pastor.” But whenever they talk about something, none of the reality of the truth will be found within their words. But this is not the same for people who have received the work of God in the last days. They don’t have such mannerisms on the outside, but whenever they say a few sentences the reality of the truth will be there. The pastors will be amazed, their eyes will light up and they’ll say: “Where did these words come from? I have never heard them before! How could your faith be different from ours? The things you are saying are so much more real compared to what we are saying.” They will be shocked, they will be bewildered, and they will say: “What is going on here? We are all reading the same Bible, we all believe in the one true God, so how is it that you all are saying things that are so real? How is your understanding so much deeper than ours?” What is the problem here? This is the result achieved by the experience of God’s judgment and chastisement. They have not experienced His judgment and chastisement; even if they studied the Bible for 100 years they would not be able to attain this result. Paul was most adept at studying the Bible under the wing of the law teacher Gamaliel, but he did not have an understanding of the Lord Jesus. He spread the gospel as an apostle of the Lord Jesus, but ultimately he did not have an understanding of the Lord Jesus, he was only able to exalt the God and Father, and uphold the “Holy Trinity.” What does this illustrate? If he had a true understanding of the Lord Jesus would he still be able to talk of the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit? How did the “Holy Trinity,” the greatest misconception in the religious world, come about? It came about from religious figures not having an understanding of God and misinterpreting the Bible. It is very clear what effect judgment and chastisement have had on us, we do not need to go into detail about this. That is not the topic we are discussing today.

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　　Let’s continue to read the word of God, “it is unquestionable that God still appears as the incarnate image to do this work among men.” “God still appears as the incarnate image to do this work among men,” the meaning of this statement is profound. Is it feasible for God to appear among men as the Spirit? Some people say it is not. Why is it not feasible? You all have feelings in spirit, and you know whether it is feasible or not. But when I ask you, “Why is it not feasible?”, you can’t explain it, right? If one can explain it, then he truly understands. He does not merely have the perceptual knowledge, but he also has the rational knowledge. If God appeared as the Spirit to work among men, could men see Him then? Could men touch Him? No. When men could neither see nor touch Him, what kind of trouble would it cause? Imagine yourself sitting at home when you suddenly hear the Spirit talking to you. You run toward the sound to investigate but see nothing. “Who is talking to me? Yikes! Where is He?” What would happen when you couldn’t find anyone? You would be scared to death and afraid to stay at home. You would be fleeing from the house and telling everyone, “There is a voice in our house, but no one is there!” No one would dare to enter your house. Investigating reporters would wonder, “We don’t hear any voice. Are you losing your mind?” When you are sent to the mental hospital for examination, they would say, “This person is not ill.” “Why the delirious talk when there is nothing wrong in him?” It is easy to cause chaos. Therefore, God cannot do this kind of work directly as the Spirit. Doing this kind of work as the Spirit, whether speaking through thunder in the sky, in the flame, in a tornado, in the middle of the house, or talking to someone in a crowd, is utterly out of the question. People will lose their nerve; they will panic and fall apart. Is it not the case?

　　You see, when a Christian wants to pray to God, he can serenely close his eyes anytime, anywhere, and starts praying to God. However, if the Spirit suddenly spoke up to you one day, would you be able to keep on praying? If God’s Spirit abruptly spoke to you each time you prayed to God, you would be scared out of your wit in one or two episodes. You wouldn’t dare to pray anymore. Is it not so? The human fabric is not cut out to handle such supernormal event. If you don’t believe it, imagine yourself in a room alone at night. After turning off the light, you see a pair of glowing eyes in the dark staring at you. Aren’t you afraid? You bet. People cannot take it; they break down easily; they lose their minds easily. Even a ghost story frightens most people, doesn’t it? This is the frailty of mortal flesh. It cannot withstand supernormal acts. Therefore, when God wants to save man, when God wants to appear to him, there is only one befitting way—to incarnate and appear to him as the Son of man. This is most suitable for humanity itself and for its needs. Look at how man behaves when he greets the incarnate God. When his heart says, “You are the incarnation of God,” what does he think in his mind? “I don’t see any semblance of God in Christ. He does not seem to carry a divine air.” Yet his heart still admits, “This is the incarnate God. Since He expresses the truth, He is the Spirit of God realized in the flesh.” Then he ponders in his mind, “The Spirit realized in the flesh indeed lacks an air of divinity after all.” His heart is always in such a dilemma. His dilemmatic state makes him think, “Oops, the incarnate God is not supernormal, how nice! He is just a common man regardless of how I look at Him.” So he no longer has fear in his heart. “I am veritably looking at an ordinary man, not God’s Spirit realized in the flesh. This kind of contact with God does not frighten me. I will simply treat Him like any other man.” Isn’t this the mindset of man? When man harbors this mindset, the intended result of God’s work is actually achieved. God’s normality and reality are achieved. Man is no longer afraid. No matter how you look at it, he is treating God like a man. As such, God’s word and work can proceed as normal without hindrance. God can deliver His word and express the truth at will. On the part of man, since the incarnate God’s humanity is so normal, His appearance so common in every aspect, you treat Him as a man in your heart. However much you recognize Him as God incarnate deeply within, you interact with Him like a man. This way, when His judgment, revelation and stern words become intolerable to man, man resists and defies in his heart. The corrupt disposition of man is inevitably revealed. If God spoke to man in the image of the Spirit or an angel, would he dare to reveal his corruption, resistance and defiance? You wouldn’t dare. No amount of gall would make you dare. “This is God after all! God speaks as He pleases. When He judges me, I must submit. I am powerless. If I resist, I am dead!” This way, God appears and works among man through the incarnate image of a man. When He expresses the truth, man’s defiance and corruption manifest themselves. The manifestation of such things provides the foundation and convenient evidence for God’s judgment work. As soon as man reveals himself to resist and defy God, God’s expression of the truth will be a natural outcome, with all the pieces falling into place. Therefore, the work of God is based on the corruption of man to express the truth, relying on the evidence and fact of man’s defiance and resistance for Him to express the truth for His work of judgment. As such, God’s work of judgment will proceed smoothly, in a way that is practical, normal and consistent with man’s concepts. When God judges the corruption and defiance of man and exposes his nature and essence with the truth, His work can proceed normally and attain the desired results. Unwittingly, man undergoes God’s judgment and chastisement. After he has suffered a lot from the judgment, condemnation, chastisement, and refinement of the word of God, he learns about God’s disposition and essence. Then he realizes this, “Oh! The incarnate Christ is the embodiment of God’s Spirit. He is really God appearing in the flesh. He is so different from the people and prophets used by God. He really has divine essence!” This is the actual empirical process in which God’s chosen people experience God’s judgment and attain the knowledge of God. So he who has endured so much pain from judgment, trial and chastisement because of the truth expressed by Christ will be utterly convinced of the incarnate God and prostrate before Him. Such a person is conquered by God’s word, completely conquered.

　　He who is conquered by the word of God, why can he prostrate before God? Why can’t the antichrists prostrate before God? Where is the difference? Similarly reading the word of God, experiencing the work of God, why are the chosen people of God able to prostrate before Christ, the incarnate God they have accepted? These truths can conquer all those who truly accept God, make them prostrate, obey and recognize that the incarnate God is the practical God, the heavenly God. Why are the antichrists unable to prostrate before God, unable to really obey God, despite having accepted Almighty God and having acknowledged His word as the expression of God? What are the reasons for this? Why do religious pastors not accept these truths? Why do they not recognize the incarnate God? What are the reasons for this? If you can see through these things, you will know what kind of people are cleansed, saved and completed by God’s work of judgment, and what kind of people are eliminated. Man can prostrate before God, not because Christ’s flesh is great and agreeable to man’s concepts, but because the word expressed by His flesh is the truth and expression of God that represents God’s disposition. Man has experienced it, so he could prostrate before Christ to truly obey the work of Christ, to truly have fear for Christ. For those who completely reject the truth, they are not interested in the truth. They think, “I am such an important person. Can I obey an insignificant Christ? This does not work. It is a loss of dignity.” They can’t be submissive. What is the problem? They have no fear for God in their hearts. So God humbly conceals Himself in the flesh of a normal man, to see who can prostrate, who can obey, who can really love and worship Him. Doesn’t the incarnate God reveal man the most? The incarnate God reveals man the most. The truth expressed by God reveals man the most. Therefore the way God works is so wonderful, so wise, and so practical! Some people had believed in the incarnation of God for twenty to thirty years without genuine obedience and fear. They were eliminated ultimately. Other people have believed in the incarnation of God for a few years. When they see the image of God in the flesh, see the disposition and essence of God and all that God has and is, a true love for God is born in their hearts. They say in their hearts: “Christ, even if You are more humble, hidden, and inconspicuous in appearance, You are still my most admired God, to whom I’m most grateful. You are also the most supreme and honorable God. Even if You are more humbly hidden in the flesh, You are still worthy of praise and worship!” In which people has the judgment work of God achieved such results? In those who love the truth. Results are achieved on those who accept the truth. Those people will be ultimately completed. Their names are inscribed in the book of life of the Lamb, that is, in the book of life of Christ. Some people say, “Does Christ have a huge book called the book of life?” It is not a huge book or great book; it is a number inscribed in the heart of Christ for you which says, “This is a man who genuinely pursues the truth. This is a man who fears God.” The heart of Christ recognizes you. Isn’t there a place for you in the book of life of the Lamb? There are some people who have believed in the incarnation of God for ten or twenty years. Christ does not recognize them because their faith is professed rather than true. They do not love the truth. God does not recognize them. Their belief is in vain. Without the recognition of God, is there a place in the book of life of the Lamb for this kind of man? No. They believe in God for nothing. It is all in vain.

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　　We will now continue, and read the passage of God’s words below: “That is to say, in the last days, Christ shall use the truth to teach men around the earth and to make all truths known to them. This is God’s work of judgment.” But what exactly is God’s work of judgment? “That is to say, in the last days, Christ shall use the truth to teach men around the earth and to make all truths known to them. This is God’s work of judgment.” Can religious people recognize this? They cannot. God has revealed these mysteries to us. Even though religious people hear them, they do not understand and even though they read them, they cannot comprehend. This is because their heart is waxed gross! What do religious people think? They say, “In the final days, there will be judgment. In the sky, there will be a white throne, and on that throne will be the Son of man. Then, the judgment will begin. The book of life and the book of the dead will be opened. This is the work of judgment.” Is this not man’s conception of the work of judgment? Then, what is the actual picture as painted in the Book of Revelation? If you only consider things in accordance with the scene as described in words, then you will not understand and you will not be able to explain it. Will the throne appear in the sky for you to see? You should experience the work God actually does on you and upon mankind. If you fail to do that, you would simply form images from the words you have read, and such images are just your imagination. Isn’t this the way of it? If the prophecies in the Book of Revelation come true, what will they really be like? Christ incarnate expresses the truth to those who accept Him, or rather, to all mankind. If you accept it, then you will experience judgment and chastisement. If you do not accept it, then you will not experience judgment and chastisement. This is the reality. This is the truth regarding God’s work, the situation as it really is. Even if you memorize the scene as laid out in Revelation, it is not realistic, and such memorizing does not mean you understand God’s work of judgment. God said, “This is God’s work of judgment.” Now we can see that Christ has expressed all the truth for humanity’s purification and salvation, making it known to all mankind regardless of nationality or language. These words of God, these truths, they are all online; they are all being transmitted through the air. The gospel is being transmitted through the air! All kinds of people all over the world have now started searching and investigating the truth. And in the end, however many accept it, they will be the ones who have a part in God’s judgment work during the last days. Those who do not accept the truth are outside of God’s words, and they are non-believers. In the end, they will be destroyed. So, isn’t accepting God’s work in the last days to accept His favor, His love? It is His favor and His love.

　　So, what have we received from our years of experience of judgment and chastisement? And what is God’s work of judgment? It is to express the truth. It is to open up Christ’s truth, way, and life to mankind. But what do we gain from experiencing God’s judgment? We get the truth, we get the life. There are those who say, “What we gain is the truth? How can you explain the truth?” If you ask me to explain what the truth is, I cannot do so clearly. But I have much real knowledge of God. Is this not to have gained the truth? Along with increasing my understanding of the truth, I also began to truly obey God. Isn’t this life? Because I have experienced the righteousness of God’s judgment and chastisement, I have developed a reverence for Him. Is this not life? I can speak of much real knowledge about God. Is this not the reality of the truth? Now, there are many of God’s chosen people who can share their experiential knowledge of God’s judgment. But what is this true experiential knowledge? This is the fruit one gains from understanding the truth. If the experiential knowledge which you speak of contains much truth which you really understand, this is called experiential knowledge. If you do not have experience or knowledge of the truth, does this mean you have gained the truth? It does not. There are many people who share their experiential knowledge, and you can tell straightaway that it really contains the reality of the truth! If it really contains the reality of the truth, then this proves they have gained the truth and life. There are some who previously did not know what it meant to obey God. After communicating many words of God to them, someone asked them, “Do you know what it means to obey God?” They answered, “I understand the literal meaning of the words. They mean, whatever God says we must obey, whatever He says we must listen to. Isn’t this obedience?” “Then tell me, what true obedience do you have to God? Are you one who obeys God?” When asked this question, they had no words. That shows they did not have the truth. Suppose someone says, “I have followed the Lord all my life.” Others may ask him, “You have great seniority because you have believed in Him your whole life, but what knowledge do you have of our Lord?” Then, such a person can utter no practical words in response. “What knowledge do I have? The Lord is merciful and loving. After believing in Him I have enjoyed the Lord’s grace and blessing. My daughter got in to university, and after I prayed for her she also got a good job. Later, I prayed for her to find a good partner, and before they had children I prayed for them to have a son. As a result, they did have a son. You see how much we have been blessed! Does this not show that I know the Lord?” Does this mean one knows the Lord? It does not. If one has experienced God’s judgment and chastisement, and has personal experience of His righteous disposition, His searching of one’s heart, His intolerance of offense against His disposition; if they have been taught a painful lesson and in the end have truly repented, and they have developed a reverence for God in their heart, then do such people know God? We would all agree they do. What knowledge do they have of God? They would say, “I can bear witness that God’s disposition is righteous and holy, and this is absolutely true! I can bear witness that God can search a person’s heart, and this is undoubtedly true! God exposed in full the truth of my corrupt self. He did it perfectly and precisely.” No one has spoken to God of the things within you. Yet, anything that you can think of, God can point out to you. Many people, on reading God’s words of revelation, will cry and shout, stating, “God’s words, they describe me, He is totally correct. How could God know what is in my heart? Yesterday, I had such thoughts and now God has spoken and revealed them to me.” There are many who have spoken such words. They go on to say, “God searches people’s hearts. This is so true. God really does search people’s hearts!” Deep down, in your bones, you yourself may not be sure what your nature is, what you really are. But when God reveals it to you, then you will suddenly see with clarity: “Now, I know that God’s searching of our hearts is absolutely true.” This is knowledge from experience. Then, when you hear, “God’s disposition does not tolerate offense. Have you experienced this?” You can reply, “Oh, it is so awesome! God’s disposition really is not to be offended!” If you reveal your corruption without realizing it, God will show you the essence of your corrupt nature. If you deliberately offend and resist Him, then He will become enraged, and then He really will discipline you and even punish you. Some people, when they are cutting vegetables, “bang,” the knife slips and cuts at their finger. Luckily, the finger isn’t severed, but looking down at their exposed bone, they say, “Oh! I know that something I’ve said has offended God. He is disciplining me.” While working, “bang,” they get injured, and they think, “I know clearly why I have been hurt.” Some are in car accidents, some get sick. All of them are being disciplined by God. They say, “God’s disposition really allows no offense!” There was a person who spread his own notions about God. After spreading such things, he became sick, his stomach was in pain. At the hospital, he was discovered to have “late-stage cancer.” After returning home, he spoke frankly to his relatives. What did he say? “I have offended God.” His family replied, “Why did you always spread your notions and negativity? I knew you wouldn’t have a good end, it was inevitable that God would punish you!” And he said, “Now I know, God’s disposition allows no offense!” Too late. A few months later he was dead. There is a book belonging to God’s house entitled Classic Examples of Punishment for Resisting Almighty God. In it there are over 800 examples which represent His punishment. In actuality, there are more than ten thousand examples, at least fifteen thousand cases. Because many are quite similar, it would be meaningless to include them all in the book. After verifying their accuracy, eight hundred examples were compiled. So what can we see in these eight hundred examples? That God’s disposition is not to be offended! If you deliberately condemn God and resist Him, then in the end He will take your life! So, as God has carried out His work for the last days, there have been many within the religious community who have resisted God and been punished, more than ten thousand examples in fact. Within God’s house there have also been many who have received punishment. Those antichrists are expelled. The evil ones, those antichrists, are all eliminated, some are even cursed and die. The fruit of God’s judgment is as follows: On the one hand, those who pursue the truth become pure, and are made perfect. On the other, those who do not pursue the truth; who hate and despise the truth; who do much evil, they are the ones who are punished. This is the reality of God’s judgment. It is exactly so!

　　Let us read a passage of God’s words: “Many have a sour taste in their mouths about the second incarnation of God, for man finds it difficult to believe that God shall do the work of judgment as an incarnation. But I must tell you that often the work of God greatly exceeds man’s expectations and is difficult for the minds of men to accept.” These words are very true. On hearing that God has become flesh once again, many get a sour taste in their mouth. “How can He become flesh again? The first time God incarnated Himself in the flesh was to absolve us of sin. He made us a wonderful promise, to come again and accept us into the kingdom of heaven. Isn’t this great? Isn’t this the end? Why does He return again in the flesh, especially when it is to carry out judgment?” Since things do not adhere to their notions, people feel a little conflicted. This is true, is it not? What does this truth show us? With regard to this, God said, “But I must tell you that often the work of God greatly exceeds man’s expectations and is difficult for the minds of men to accept.” These words explain it clearly, do they not? With regard to God’s second coming and His work, man always makes guesses and judgments based upon his own conceptions and imagination. As a result, God’s work exceeds the expectations of man, it does not adhere to his conceptions and imagination and in fact it is completely at odds with man’s notions of God. Isn’t this the reality of the situation? It is, and this is how God works. In accordance with such truth, you should be able to come up with a conclusion. What conclusion? With regard to God’s work, one should never, ever view it according to the conceptions and imagination of man; one should never, ever define God’s work in accordance with man’s ability to think and infer. If you continue to do such a thing, you are truly a fool. Worst of all, if you stubbornly persist with your conceptions and imaginings, you would continue to resist Him and be cast out by Him, and the consequences are unimaginable! Isn’t this a lesson in of itself? Some ask, “Why? How can it be this way?” Here, God’s words explain it, “For men are merely maggots upon the earth, while God is the supreme One that fills the universe….” If God’s work exceeds the expectations of man and none of it adheres to man’s conceptions and imagination, then how should we understand the following words? “For men are merely maggots upon the earth….” You are merely a maggot upon the earth, how can you measure the supreme One who fills the universe? You are an insignificant creation; how can you fathom what our Creator does and how He works? Is it not so? These words are the truth, are they not? Have any of you discovered the truth in these words? Please tell me. Of course they have the truth, all of God’s words are the truth. But many people read them time and again, year after year, and they cannot see the truth in them. This is very problematic. Such people cannot read the truth in the words, and they ask, “Where is the truth? Tell me. I cannot see where the truth is.” The truth is in God’s words; sometimes, the words themselves are the truth, sometimes the truth is hidden. “For men are merely maggots upon the earth….” In these words, the truth is hidden. What truth is hidden within them? That man, the creation, is, in the eyes of God, but a hoard of maggots upon the earth with no means of ever measuring all that the Creator does. Isn’t this the truth? It is the truth. To put it in a nicer way, we are all His creations. To put it in more realistic terms, how insignificant are we the creations? To what extent are we insignificant? How pathetic is our intellect, our intelligence and our mode of thinking? In God’s eyes, we are merely maggots upon the earth. Man’s intellect is hardly any different to that of a maggot. How many years would a person need to live before developing an intellect which could understand God? If they lived to a thousand, would it be enough? What about ten thousand? Some say it would still not be enough. What about 100 million years? People still say one would not be able to measure God. Why? Man’s intellect will not increase indefinitely, it is fixed, it is limited. No matter how long a person lives, their intellect is limited. For example, throughout a person’s life, what level can their intellect reach? They can understand things as they appear on the outside, but can they explain them all? They cannot. Can they understand the inner essence of animals? Can they discover the ultimate laws which govern all things? They cannot discover any of it. When man learns some knowledge, nothing changes. Look at what happens after man learns a little knowledge, a little science, what things does he create? Man’s development of science has allowed him to create weapons and tools and the means to destroy himself and the natural environment. Isn’t this fact? So, what of man’s intellect? Man’s intellect isn’t even enough for him to protect himself, or to live a long life, or to prevent himself from becoming ill, or even to plan for and realize his own wishes. Nor can he curb his own desires. So, what of this supposed intellect? It is equal to having no intellect and no skill. What is the cost of using man’s intellect to develop science? The cost is the destruction, by man, of the natural and ecological environment. And what will be the end result? The development of science will, in the end, destroy mankind. When scientific development reaches its peak, it will be the end for humanity. Is this not true? This is the highest achievement of the intellect of man, to create his own destruction. Now tell me, is man smart and intelligent? Will he be able to protect himself? God’s words say, “For men are merely maggots upon the earth….” Actually, man is dust upon the earth, and if we speak of dust, it is not living, it has no brain, it is simply a material. But if we speak of maggots, they have life, they can crawl upon the ground, they can eat and they can live for a few days. This is a maggot. Are maggots worth anything? They are not. Then tell me, if men are merely maggots upon the earth, then does their vanity have any meaning? It is meaningless, is it not?

137-B-5

　　The word of God says “For men are merely maggots upon the earth, while God is the supreme One that fills the universe.” The supreme One mentioned here is the Creator, the one true God who dominates all, who is supreme. How can the maggots that crawl upon the ground ever be compared with the supreme One that fills the universe? The two are incomparable! The maggots are vastly inferior, their wisdom is inferior to that of God. How could the maggots ever know the heart and mind of God, the possessions and being of God, and the nature and disposition of God? They could not possibly know! Then why is it that men cannot know God? They are not intelligent enough, the level of their thinking is not high enough. Most people do not understand the spirit, they cannot understand the truth. Only a small minority of people possess the qualities required by God, but it is also necessary for them to go through the perfection of the work of the Holy Spirit. People cannot attain the truth on their own. Despite the fact that the work of God brings to light many truths that exude His disposition, people are still powerless to comprehend them. Thus, they still need to be perfected through the work of the Holy Spirit. Isn’t this the truth? So we see that the work of the Holy Spirit does not come so easily for most of the people who are undergoing the work of God. Is it possible for those who cannot obtain the work of the Holy Spirit to comprehend the truth by virtue of their own intelligence? The answer is that they cannot comprehend it. Some people are of a particularly arrogant nature, they are obedient to no one, saying, “Isn’t your ability to communicate the truth contingent upon reading the word of God? Listen brother, if you can read the word to commune with the truth, then I can too. I’ll read God’s word at home, and I’ll read it every day. You want me to listen to your sermons? Listen to your fellowship? Who do you think you are?” There are many people like this, they don’t obey anyone. If man doesn’t have the work of the Holy Spirit, can he understand the truth? The religious pastors preach the Bible for their entire life, but they do not know the word of God, and have only biblical knowledge, then what could people like this comprehend? Some biblical names and places, geographical knowledge of all the nations mentioned in the Bible and the origin and the character of the apostles for instance. If people only grasp this, then would it mean that they comprehend the word of God? And so, having biblical knowledge does not equate to understanding the word of God, nor does it equate to knowing God. Some of you out there may ask, why is that? It is because man has a low essence, he is living in the flesh, he is not spirit. He is a living thing made of physical substance, he cannot directly penetrate the spiritual world. And when he cannot do so, he cannot understand God, nor can he understand spiritual warfare; he cannot fathom anything. Therefore, man must be enlightened by the Holy Spirit; only under the guidance of the Holy Spirit can he understand God’s word, only then can he know God. Thus, it is predestined that in undergoing God’s work, if you cannot receive the work of the Holy Spirit, you can never possibly be saved, nor can you be perfected.

　　Let us continue to read the word of God, “the mind of man is akin to a pit of foul water that gives rise only to maggots.” Here God is speaking figuratively about the human mind, that it is like a pit of putrid water. What do you think about the revealing of this phrase? Do you think it’s easy to accept? The scientist would be defiant and say, “Look, though my mind may be like a pit of putrid water, I can produce lots of nifty things, I can create planes, I can make spaceships, I can fly to the stars.” He may talk a good game, but regardless, “the mind of man is akin to a pit of foul water that gives rise only to maggots.” It doesn’t matter whether you can take this metaphor into your heart now, it doesn’t matter how you feel about this kind of figurative language that God uses, one day you will admit to its truth. The word of God does not mean to deliberately disparage man; because God made man, He would not disparage him, but God has given an analogy to the arrogant and conceited people out there to help them understand His meaning. At this point, you may say, “God’s word seems to belittle me; it’s comparing my mind to a pit of foul water, and comparing me to the maggots born of those filthy effluents.” If you have in your mind all sorts of notions and imaginings about God, then they represent your understanding of Him. You’ve come before God, yet you still disobey and resist Him. This proves that all those thoughts and your so-called knowledge of God are nothing more than the pitiful human conceptions and imagination, and that you are a maggot, and your mind is a pit full of stinking sewage! You think you can preach the Bible, right? You can give sermons, right? You say that you are the source of living water, but God said that you are not, because your mind is a pit of foul, putrid water, which maggots are born of. This phrase is part reality, part irony, right? And so one day when people are so full of their own notions and imaginings, and are so resistant to God, to the point that they fall down before God in shame, they will say, “My mind is a pit of foul water, and the thoughts born of it are maggots.” They should acknowledge this. So there are some of you out there unconvinced now, right? Don’t worry. When you have experienced the word of God and His judgment to a certain extent, then you will admit to the truth of this, because it describes what is fit for the corrupted mankind, the people who resist God.

　　Let us look at the word of God once more, “whereas each stage of the work directed by the thoughts of God is the fruit of God’s wisdom.” This is the truth. Where is the truth in this phrase? People usually don’t understand this passage after reading it, and they never recognize the mystery in it. Now, how should one receive this passage? Here it says, “whereas each stage of the work directed by the thoughts of God is the fruit of God’s wisdom.” Every stage of work is the crystallization of the wisdom of God. In His every stage of work, God expresses many truths, and His work achieves the fruits that God has predetermined, and every step is what the mind of God has commanded. The mind of God will be able to command every stage of His work. So just how high are the mind and thoughts of God? Can they be measured by man? No, they are forever immeasurable to man! The mind of ​​God absolutely cannot be measured or apprehended by any man. The mind of ​​God can reveal His omnipotence! Every stage of the work His thoughts command is unable to be interrupted, disturbed or ruined by any evil force of this world. The work commanded by the mind of God can achieve victory over Satan, it can conquer mankind, and accomplish all. The mind of ​​God is much higher than the mind of man, but how much higher are the thoughts of God? No metaphor can be used here; no words can express it, correct? This is the biggest difference between God and man; there is no language with which we can fittingly describe it. God said the following, “Man constantly wishes to contend with God; then I say it is self-evident who stands to lose in the end.” Does this even require explanation? Were man and God to contest, would God have to make a great effort, or rack His brains to figure out how to deal with man? Of course He wouldn’t have to. And why not? Because long ago, tens of millions of years ago, before the creation of human beings, God had perfectly understood the resistance and rebelliousness of mankind. Therefore, every stage of the work commanded by the mind of God is the crystallization of His wisdom. God just uses His mind to command the work and how each stage should be accomplished. In this way, He can fulfill His management plan and save mankind. His work is sufficient to conquer man, cleanse man, and save man. What His mind commands can accomplish all, so is it really necessary for God to stew over how to deal with mankind? Absolutely not. Why is it unnecessary? People are maggots on the ground, every person’s mind is a pit full of foul water. God sees all with perfect clarity and knows all before the ages. Man is God’s creation, so He knows everyone all too well. Right? Everything we have communicated today serves sufficiently to confirm and ascertain this passage.

　　Lots of people out there say, “There are many in the religious community who have not yet accepted the work of Almighty God in the last days, is God’s work at this stage over? Will God still save those people?” Did God ever talk about this? Has God explained it clearly? Yes, clear as a bell. Way back at the beginning of this stage, when the chosen people of God had not yet truly experienced His word, God first spoke about the accomplishments and the disasters to be brought in this stage, as well as the fruits of this work. That is, when the work had not yet officially started, God had said all that needed to be said. First there was the word of God, that which God has foreordained, the fruits established by God, and the fact that God has established this stage of work, and then the chosen people of God began to experience His word. So, what do you see from this point? Some people say, “How is it that you’ve been explaining this for a long while, but I still don’t understand? So what you’re saying is that God first spoke, and when no one had experienced His word, the work of God at this stage was essentially complete, which is supposedly a simple fact, but, I still don’t get it. Is it that when people have not yet been born, their lives have been mapped out for them from beginning to end? That the problems people run into every day of every year, and the things that happen in life have all been predestined? Like the people had been through it all before; is that what you’re saying? Come on, it’s all so implausible.” What I am saying may sound a bit unrealistic, but the completion of God is absolutely real. You may not admit it today, but there will come a day when you will admit it, and so when this stage is over, when the great disasters are over, you will look again at the fact of God’s completion, and see that it was done long ago. So what we experience of our life, what will come, the duty that we are to perform, and the road that we are to take; are these not all that God has in store for us? God has predetermined all for you; from the day you were born, everything has been arranged for you. Though you may have not taken a single step down the road of life, the direction has been preset for you. Everything in your life has already been made real for you by God. So, when I put it to you this way, can you wrap your mind around it? Why is it that no one can escape the dictates of fate in his life? No matter how you struggle or how much knowledge you learn, it cannot allow you to escape the rule of God, isn’t that just the way it is? Non-believers and ignoramuses refuse to give themselves over to God, they say the fate of man is in his own hands; yet what happened in the end? They were unable to change their own destiny, they died exactly as they were supposed to, and did exactly what it was set out for them to do, they struggled against fate for their entire life, and finally were not able to win over fate. Some people say, “I’m not the prettiest rose in the bunch, I’m going to get plastic surgery.” But you’d still be the same you even if you did it—fate will never change. Some people spend money on many cosmetic surgeries only to destroy the bones in their face, but that cannot stop fate. Some people have their legs sawed to lengthen them, so they saw them and then have a section added, but that can’t stop fate. Whatever will be is all due to fate. Wouldn’t you say that just about sums it up? So is plastic surgery a good thing? I hear you all saying no. Whatever image God gives us is what we should keep for our entire life, we should obey the arrangements of God, and pursue the truth with every ounce of energy in us. According to what God requires of us, we should give it our all and ultimately live a proper human life. If so then we will not have lived in vain, and if we can perform our duty well in the end, it will mean that we’re a qualified creature. It is what people should pursue in this life; to perform one’s duty properly is a mark of a qualified creature. We should put forth our best effort to perform our duty well, and in performing our duty we try to live out the reality of the truth, become obedient to the truth, become obedient to all that God has arranged; we should perform our duty in accordance with God’s requirements to satisfy Him. Thus, we can perform our duty up to standard. When the performance of our duty is up to standard, we will become a qualified creature, and we can receive God’s approval, and ultimately God will arrange for us the beautiful destination. And how do we attain the beautiful destination? We have to do our duty properly and pursue the truth and be able to obey God and worship God, thereby becoming a qualified creature who meets with God’s approval. It’s just that simple.

　　Some people prefer to stay at home believing in God, but are you really able to perform your duty by just sitting at home? No, you are not able to do it well. So are you following God? The answer is no. You are just an idle, self-entitled homebody who happens to be a believer. If you are not a follower of God, can you attain the truth and the life? Can you achieve knowledge of God? If you are nothing but a lazy idler sitting staring off into space, then you’re good for nothing and will achieve nothing. Therefore, you should do your duty. And in doing so you need to practice and experience what God asks of you so that you may bear fruit—only in this manner can you be counted as a follower of God whose name will be written into the Lamb’s book of life. You spend all your time in the secular world in the pursuit of money and wealth, you sow your wild oats with great abandon, you buy luxury cars, you live in a mansion in the lap of luxury, so is this following God? This is not believing in God, nor is it following Him! God does not recognize this kind of faith, and God says you are an unbeliever, a false believer. Then you are finished; you believe in vain! You see in religion there are those who say, “How can I believe in the Lord and be saved?” “You need to be baptized!” “How can I be baptized?” “Go to the river, or if conditions aren’t right, you can be baptized in a vat of water.” Or if there are no material conditions like a vat available, then pour a pot of water on your head, or the pastor could take a bit of water in his hands and rub it onto the top of the head. “Fantastic! You’re baptized and you now have a place in the kingdom of heaven.” Is this following God? Is this following in the footsteps of the Lamb? Never leaving His side and being faithful unto death? This is what is called religious ritual. Do religious people do ridiculous or nonsensical things? Following in the footsteps of God requires that you first must accept all the truths that God has expressed, which are the life that God has given unto mankind, and the foundation for man’s survival. If you do not accept these truths, then believing in the Lord for eight hundred years would all be in vain—and an exercise in futility! To receive all the truths expressed by Christ in the last days is true faith in God. In performing your duty, you should experience and practice the truths, so that these truths and these words of God can become your life, your true faith and your true love. Only this means that you are someone who has attained the truth and the life, and who truly follows in the footsteps of the Lamb. Only this kind of person will have his name written into the Lamb’s book of life.

137-B-6

　　When it comes to following the Christ of the last days, following the footsteps of the Lamb, the most important thing is to accept God’s words of judgment and chastisement. This is the main manifestation of obeying God. If you say that you obey God, but you do not accept God’s words of judgment and chastisement, then you do not obey God and God does not acknowledge your obedience. Obeying God’s judgment and chastisement, obeying God’s dealing and pruning, obeying the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment and illumination, obeying all the truth that God expresses, obeying God’s arrangements, obeying the work arrangements of God’s family, obeying anything the workers and the leaders, brothers and sisters say that is in accordance with the truth. This is what a person who truly obeys God is like. You do not obey any of this, yet you say that you are someone who obeys God. Who are you kidding? Who are you deceiving? Who would believe this? Other people cannot accept or acknowledge this, much less God. Isn’t this the case? What criteria must one meet in order to be included in the Lamb’s book of life? What realities of the truth should you have? If you believe in God at home and do not fulfill your duties, is this someone who obeys God? If you crave the world, money and enjoyment and focus on domestic bliss, is this someone who follows God? If you stay at home and do nothing but love your kids and respect your parents, is this someone who follows God? Someone said, “I respect my parents. Could it be that man cannot follow the laws and commandments that God enacted?” The commandments can be followed, but even though you follow the commandments, you do not obey the judgment of Christ of the last days. The commandments you follow, can they save you? Which is more important? The most important thing is to obey God’s work in the last days. His commandments are things from 3,000 years in the past. It is useless to grasp at it now, it’s in the past, right? Someone said, “Is it out of date if I follow the Lord Jesus’ commandments?” That’s 2,000 years ago, it was out of date a long time ago. It is useless to follow the Lord Jesus’ commandments! It is not possible for you to follow them! Can you even follow the commandment, “do not commit adultery”? Someone said, “I have been married to one person all my life, so I have not committed adultery.” Are these words correct? What did the Lord Jesus say? “That whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). What can you follow? You cannot follow anything. If you only try to follow the Lord Jesus’ words, you would be unable to follow it even if you had an entire life to do so. Can you tell who is not guilty of lust? Everyone is guilty of lust. If you see a beautiful woman or good-looking man and you say, “Wow, pretty good. It would be great if I could find a partner that looks like this.” Isn’t this lust? Even if nothing happens you think, “What would it be like if we have a sexual relationship? This would be great!” What is this? Isn’t this lust? You have lusted, you just haven’t had a sexual relationship with that person, but in God’s eyes, you have already committed the sin of adultery. Are you able to follow this commandment? Even if you tried, you cannot. Someone said, “Then why did God issue commandments?” This is a very interesting question, it would take more than a single sentence to answer it. Issuing commandments helps you understand what sin is. It helps you acknowledge your own filthiness and corruption. You cannot follow them, so you acknowledge, “Oh no, I have committed the sin of adultery! I am truly a murderer. I haven’t killed anyone, but my heart has hatred! I have not stolen before, but my heart has greed!” For you to acknowledge your own corruption, this word is enough to reveal it. Once revealed, you admit your guilt without delay. We already know the purpose of God issuing commandments. In the end, how does God solve this problem? He solves it through the judgment of the last days. Aren’t you apt to commit adultery? If in God’s words you accept His judgment, accept God’s chastisement and accept the trials and refinement, it will allow you to see the essence of adultery. You will know what the essence of greed and sordidness is. The truth that God expresses during His judgment of the last days can resolve this corruption, this satanic disposition, this sordid nature. It does not matter if it was in the Age of Law or the Age of Grace, the laws and commandments that Jehovah God issued and all the truth that the Lord Jesus spoke, all of this was for man to acknowledge his own corrupt essence, the truth of his corruption. It was for man to see his own filthiness and corruption, lie prostrate in front of God and seek and pray to God. Afterward, God uses the judgment of the last days to resolve and cleanse all of humanity’s corruption. In this way, after the work of the last days has been finished, all the words that God expressed during the Age of Law and the Age of Grace will have been fulfilled during the judgment work of the last days. God’s work is all closely interconnected, each stage of the work goes deeper than the last. In the end, all of humanity’s corruption will have been ended through the judgment of the last days. Now, after this has been said, can you enter the kingdom of heaven if you only believe in the Lord Jesus of the Age of Grace? Someone said you cannot. Why can you not enter the kingdom of heaven? It is because you have not been cleansed. If your sins have been pardoned but you have not been cleansed, you will not be able to cast aside the corruption of your flesh or break free from the influence of Satan. That is why it is only God’s work of the last days that can thoroughly cleanse and save humanity. The work in the Age of Grace is only one stage of the redemption work. In other words, it is only one stage of work of the sin offering. It is the work that paves the way for the Age of Kingdom. If you only accept this one stage of preparatory work and yet want to enter the kingdom of heaven, is this not a delusion? It is similar to graduating from junior high school and wanting a university diploma or a job that is for university graduates. Is this not a delusion? Now, would you say that those religious pastors and elders of the Age of Grace are clever people? You all say that they are not. How are they blind? First, they do not recognize the voice of God. This is one of their biggest blind spots. Second, they cannot see God’s work. This is yet another blind spot. Third, God has already become flesh, His judgment work has already concluded. They still cannot see these facts clearly, then this is very blind, isn’t it? They are still brazenly resisting God. Aren’t they courting death? Now you can see clearly that religious people are stupid! If you communicate all the truth that God expresses in the last days to one of these religious people, after they finished hearing it, they will have a blank stare and keep shaking their head. They do not acknowledge the truth. What kind of person is this? Is this not blind? They do not even acknowledge the truth, how can they acknowledge Christ? Isn’t this right?

　　Let’s continue looking at God’s words. “I exhort you all not to regard yourselves with more importance than gold. If others can accept the judgment of God, then why can you not? How much higher do you stand above others? If others can bow their heads before the truth, why can you not also do so? The great trend of God’s work is unstoppable. He will not repeat the work of judgment again for the sake of your ‘merits,’ and you will sorely regret losing such a good opportunity. If you do not believe My words, then just wait for that great white throne in the sky to ‘pass judgment’ upon you! You must know that all of the Israelites spurned and denied Jesus, yet the fact of Jesus’ redemption of mankind still spread to the ends of the universe. Is this not the fact that God has long ago fulfilled? If you are still awaiting Jesus to take you up to heaven, then I say that you are an obstinate piece of deadwood. Jesus will not acknowledge a false believer such as you who is disloyal to the truth and seeks only blessings. On the contrary, He will show no mercy in casting you into the lake of fire to burn for tens of thousands of years.” “On the contrary, He will show no mercy in casting you into the lake of fire to burn for tens of thousands of years.” “To burn for tens of thousands of years,” what can we understand from the meaning of this phrase? This is the amount of time that someone will burn in hell, right? They will burn for ten thousand years. What is this concept of ten thousand years? How many lives can man live before he can reach ten thousand years? Ten thousand years is an astounding figure, it is a very long period of time. Isn’t this very similar to eternity? Burning for ten thousand years, does not refer to ten thousand years exactly, it may be tens of thousands of years. This means burning for eternity. Now, burning for eternity, how long and how great would you say this pain is? An eternity of pain! Isn’t this the meaning? Suffering pain for eternity! What kind of pain? The pain you feel when you are burnt by fire. Is the pain you feel from being burnt by fire greater than normal? This kind of pain is greater! On average, do you know how long does it take to be poisoned to death if you ingest poison? Usually, it does not take a long time. Typically, a few hours, and then you die. It can be as quick as a few minutes. If you jump off a building, on average how many minutes does it take to die? Jumping off a building is the quickest way to die. If you jump from the 5th floor, or the 10th floor, usually, you will fall to your death in less than a minute. Now, isn’t it quicker than being poisoned? The pain is short-lived. However, the pain of going to hell, can they escape this? The pain of the flesh is very easy to resolve. The pain of burning in hell is extremely long-lived, you will be burned for ten thousand years. Ten thousand years is like an eternity. The pain of the flesh ends in an instant, it is settled in the span of a minute. However, the soul will be in hell. One cannot escape the pain of burning for ten thousand years if he is cast into the lake of fire.

　　Within the period of each stage of God’s work, there are those that receive punishment. During the Age of Law, there were two cities that were exterminated by God. Sodom is the classic example. The judgment that God passed on the Sodomites was extermination. In that instance of extermination, God used brimstone and fire to burn them into ashes. According to God’s meaning, that instance of extermination can be called a thorough extermination. The spirits, bodies and souls of the Sodomites were exterminated. When someone’s soul is exterminated, that means their soul is completely gone, it has been exterminated, never to return. When God exterminates humans, He does not just call down a disaster and get rid of man’s flesh. The most important aspect is how He deals with man’s soul. Some souls are dropped into the fire to be burnt for ten thousand years. Some souls are exterminated. The soul, spirit and body are all exterminated. How did that saying go? “Consigned to eternal damnation.” These people will never have the opportunity to be reincarnated. What kind of great sin did these people commit that would have led them to be consigned to eternal damnation? This is not a small sin! It is nothing much for someone to live and not be saved. They provoke God’s anger, and in the end, they commit a sin that consigns them to eternal damnation. Their soul will never be able to reincarnate. It is sent to hell, the 18th level of hell. This sin is definitely not insignificant. Like everyone else, they live for a few decades, but they commit this kind of sin, it is outrageous. They directly resist God and they are cursed. That is why, if a believer does not seek the truth at all, it is best that they serve in some capacity and fulfill their duties. Even if you are just a devoted service-doer, you have not wasted your life. No matter what, do not resist God, judge God or say something that is blasphemous. If you say something blasphemous, you will not be pardoned in this age or the age to come. This sin is serious! No matter what, do not commit the most serious sins: One is pilfering the sacrifice; another one is blasphemy against God; and another one is vying over God’s chosen people, which is the sin committed by antichrists. The most serious sin of the antichrists is vying over God’s chosen people. They say that these people belong to them. Man is the creation of the Creator, and he was created by God and should therefore be returned to God. The antichrist says that man is his. He controls a group of people and makes them listen to him. He does not allow them to accept and obey God’s work. Isn’t this the sin that the antichrist commits? What is the primary sin of the antichrist? It is the sin of vying over God’s chosen people. He wants to create an independent kingdom that rivals the kingdom of God and Christ. This is a great sin! Isn’t this the same as the sin committed by religious pastors and elders? However, it seems that it is even more serious because the religious pastors and elders are just obstinate and haven’t accepted Almighty God’s work. They can be exterminated as if they were unbelievers and that would be it. If they said a lot of blasphemous things against God and deceived a lot of people, then they will receive punishment. However, antichrists have accepted God’s work, but they vie over God’s chosen people within God’s family. This is even more serious than the sins of the antichrist perpetrated by religious pastors and elders, isn’t this the case? Look at some of the areas where antichrists control the church. They do not allow people to listen to the sermons and communications of God’s family. They do not allow people to accept God’s words of judgment and chastisement. They only want people to listen to their sermons. They do not talk about how man should experience God’s judgment and chastisement, how man can accept dealing and pruning. They do not talk about this. They talk about theoretical reasoning. They just want people to understand theoretical reasoning and nothing else. In this way, can the people they control still be able to experience God’s work? Can they achieve a change in their disposition? Can they achieve an understanding of God? The working results that God has prearranged cannot be achieved with these people, this is the evil of the antichrist. Understand this. If God’s chosen people only believe in the name of God incarnate, but in reality, what they listen to and what they obey is the antichrist, would these people have a share in the Lamb’s book of life? They would not. These people would have become people that resist God because they have accepted a false shepherd. They obey a false shepherd, an antichrist. Those confused believers that follow the antichrist resist God in the same way that the antichrist resists and opposes God. These people will be condemned and punished. Now you should be able to understand this matter. The only path to being saved and entering the kingdom of heaven is to experience God’s judgment and chastisement. If you believe in God but do not experience God’s judgment and chastisement, do not accept dealing and pruning and still talk about your own reasoning, then you are not someone that follows God. Instead, you are someone who resists God. The Holy Spirit will definitely not work on someone who does not accept the truth.

　　I often ask people that have just started believing, “You have believed in God for a few years, do you have any foundation?” Some people do not understand, “What are you referring to when you ask me if I have a foundation or not?” I reply, “Basically, are you able to discern the great red dragon’s false words and the religious world’s misconceptions? If the great red dragon and the religious pastor try to confuse you, are you able to stand up to it?” They say, “Yes I can. I know of the fallacies of the great red dragon. I also know of the misconceptions of the religious world. They cannot confuse me.” I say, “It seems you have a bit of a foundation, but can you use the truth to refute these misconceptions?” They reply, “This I cannot do. I cannot use the truth to refute these misconceptions. In any case, they still cannot confuse me.” These people can’t be confused, does this mean they have a foundation? They have a bit of a foundation. However, if you cannot use the truth to refute, do you dare say that you can truly stand firm? You cannot use the truth to refute these misconceptions, that is proof that if you encountered an even more deceptive person, a person that is even more capable of confusing you, there is a danger that you might fall for it, right? If you can use the truth to refute the falsehoods and misconceptions of the Chinese Communist Party, the great red dragon, and the religious world, then you truly have a solid foundation. You have an understanding of God’s work and you know what is the truth. Satan cannot corrupt this kind of person. In the past, we often heard some people say, “Why is there such a huge difference between Christ’s human nature and the corrupt human race’s human nature? As a corrupt human race, isn’t our corrupt disposition the product of being corrupted by Satan? Well, Christ lives in the same world with us. Why can Christ not be corrupted by Satan?” Now, you have found an answer to this! Where is the answer? Christ is the truth and life itself. He possesses the truth, that is why Satan cannot corrupt Him. Once Christ has heard the words of Satan and worldly people, He says, “These are all falsehoods and misconceptions. These people are demons!” He can tell them apart right away. People that understand the truth, they only know one part of it, “Oh, these are misconceptions!” When it comes to the words of the great red dragon, they say, “Lies.” When it comes to the words of religious world, they say, “They do not understand the truth, these are empty theories.” Those that understand the truth can distinguish one portion. If someone does not understand the truth, then they cannot distinguish at all, isn’t this the case? Those that cannot distinguish, once they encounter religious pastors and elders talking about the Bible, what do they say? “This is all true.” When they hear the reality of the truth communicated in the Church of Almighty God, they say, “This is all true.” They do not distinguish. Everything is true to them. If anything is in accordance with their conceptions, then it is true. “True, it is in accordance with the truth, it is accurate. It is in accordance with the truth, everything is correct.” Can this kind of person distinguish? Why can they not distinguish? They determine whether what someone says is true on the basis of whether or not it is in accordance with their conceptions and imagination. This is bad. A man’s conceptions and imagination itself is not the truth. Man’s brain is a dirty puddle of water, isn’t this the case? Right now, we all recognize this. Now, those that genuinely understand the truth and can distinguish, what is their basis for determining the truth? Their basis is their understanding of God’s words, their solid understanding of God’s words. This is how they can distinguish those false words of doctrine. If you do not have an experience or understanding of the truth of God’s words, it would be impossible for you to distinguish the misconceptions of the religious world. Absolutely impossible.

137-B-7

There are some brothers and sisters who have started bringing up some questions. Let’s read some of the questions.

Questions & Answers

　　Question 1: When I found out that the leaders and workers’ assessment of me is that I am a crafty person that is not worthy of cultivation, the wind was knocked out of me. I feel that I am doing service by fulfilling my duties. When I think of what was communicated in the fellowship of the above, specifically, “service-doers are no good,” the words “a crafty person that is not worthy of cultivation” surface in my mind repeatedly. My heart is filled with pain and I feel very depressed to the point where I just want to give up. However, in my heart, I feel like I have been accused and I do not want to continue on like this. Unfortunately, these words keep surfacing in my mind and the situation keeps on repeating itself. I feel that this situation is very dangerous for me, I do not know how I should experience this so I can stand firm in this environment.

　　Answer: This person is always negative. When he encounters some judgment or exposure, he becomes negative. Now, what can I say so that this person won’t be so negative? “You are someone who can be cultivated, you are someone that seeks the truth, you are not a crafty person.” If I say some words that coax a child, he won’t be so negative, right? Now, how should this kind of person be dealt with? Well, then is it okay if we say some words that coax a child? When you discover someone is negative and weak, say some opposite things to them, some words meant for coddling a child, comfort them a little and they will no longer be negative. Is it okay if we work like this? Someone says it isn’t. Why is it not okay? Isn’t it easy to achieve results like this? Why is it not okay? When it comes to people who do not seek the truth, if they are not negative, they still do not seek the truth. If they are happy, they still do not seek the truth. Isn’t this the case? Now, how can this problem be resolved? The work that God has come to do is the work of cleansing man of his corruption. It is to resolve man’s corrupt nature. Now, do you acknowledge that God’s word is the truth? God’s words reveal all sorts of manifestations of satanic dispositions and all kinds of natures and essences. Doesn’t this apply to everyone? Do these words only apply to you? Do God’s words only refer to you and leave me out? This means your acceptance of God’s words is incorrect! The corrupt disposition that God’s words reveal applies to the entire corrupt human race. It does not matter whether you have accepted God’s work, these corrupt manifestations, corrupt nature and the truth of this corruption, they involve each and every one of us. Isn’t this the case? First you must know God’s work. Each person has all the different kinds of corruption of the human race that God makes known. Not only do you have it, I also have it and the manifestations of it are the same. It’s just that externally, there is a bit of difference. Some people have done some things that are clearly bad, while others have not done some things that are clearly bad. However, externally, no matter how many clearly bad things someone has done, their nature, their satanic disposition and the things they keep in their hearts are the same. There are some people who have not committed the sin of fornication and they have not performed any acts of fornication. However, is there the desire of fornication in their hearts? Outwardly, someone may never have stolen, but is there greed in his or her heart? Someone may never have embezzled, but do they have thoughts of embezzlement in their heart? Everyone has. You just haven’t been given the chance to seize the opportunity. You were not in the right position and you were not in the right environment, that is why you did not do these things. If I were in a certain position, or if I were in a particular environment, I would be capable of it. If I did not do it one day, I might have done it another. Eight years, ten years, there is no way to guarantee that anybody could fight these impulses for this long. If you stand at the river banks often, how can your shoes not get wet? Isn’t this the case? If someone has status, is he capable of being greedy when it comes to money? Does someone with status have a desire for fame and profit? Is it easy for someone with status to commit adultery and promiscuity? Status reveals what man truly is! If you want to know what kind of things someone is capable of doing, what kind of person he truly is, put this person in a position of power. Within a couple of years, everything will be revealed. His true colors will be fully revealed, right? If someone with status does not do anything that is clearly evil, bad things that the average person with status is capable of doing, if this person has status for a couple of years and does not do anything bad, what does this indicate? Well, this person is rather good. If he really did not do any of these bad things when he has status, then this person is definitely worthy of being admired. I admire these kinds of people. When you do not have status, you can say that you did not do this, and you did not do that, but this does not indicate anything. It’s just that you were not in a position or the proper environment to do these things. Look at how there are some people who are not government officials. They are extremely ugly. What kind of woman would want to be near them? However, if this kind of “ugly person” becomes a government official or the governor of a province, women, even good women, will throw themselves at him. Other people are not particularly good looking, in fact they are unbearably ugly, but they are billionaires. Do women throw themselves at them? We all say they do. Why is this? It’s because they want a share of their wealth. When people fight over wealth, they are capable of anything. They are capable of doing all sorts of evil to get what they want. This is the corrupt nature of humanity. They are unscrupulous! Now if your reasoning is, “I have never done these things, that is why I say that I am a good person,” is this tenable? It is not tenable. If you actually had the status and were under conditions where you were fully capable of carrying out all sorts of evil things, yet you still do not do these things, well, this indicates something about your morality. Everyone would admire this kind of person. You have to see things this way. Someone said, “I am not greedy for money.” Well, it is because you just don’t have the status to earn large amounts of money. If you actually had money yet you were not greedy for it and you were still able to give to charity, if you became a rich and powerful person, yet you still were able to give money to charity, well, people will admire you. This is why everyone has corruption. Nobody should say how good they are, or how great they are. These words are not okay! I used to think that I was a really good person. Once I experienced judgment and chastisement, I became aware that if I had status in the past, I would not have been any better than those corrupt politicians. It would be just a question of how greedy I was. I would not have been necessarily better than those who lusted, it would be just a matter of how much I lusted. You did not commit any crimes because you did not have status. What are you boasting about? Does this indicate anything about your morality just because you were not in a position to commit these crimes?

　　How should man deal with God’s words of judgment when he encounters them? We should be practical and realistic. What God’s words of judgment expose is the true condition of our hearts. We must accept and obey. We must not resist or oppose it. What is the use of resisting and trying to reason with God? Can you resolve the problem by doing so? God says that all of humanity is corrupt. How are you an exception? Those that seek the truth acknowledge that they themselves are very corrupt. How do you not acknowledge this? How is it that other people can accept the truth but you cannot? How is it that other people can obey God’s judgment and chastisement but you cannot? What kind of problem is this? Everything that man is, man’s character and man’s attitude toward the truth has been completely revealed. Just now, we mentioned this issue, “immediately losing strength when finding out that a leader or worker’s evaluation of them is that they are a crafty person not worthy of cultivation.” Could it be that this is even more severe than God’s words of judgment? Are God’s words of judgment more severe than this? God judges that humanity is the descendant of Satan, it all belongs to the category of Satan. Do you accept? If you can accept God saying those words and acknowledge that it is the truth, why does learning about workers and leaders’ evaluation of you as a crafty person not worthy of cultivation cause you to become negative and lose your strength? What kind of issue is this? The person who said these things has never accepted God’s judgment and chastisement. If you can accept God’s judgment and chastisement, why is it that you become negative and run out of strength when someone says one sentence? What kind of problem is this? There are many people who do not pay any attention to God’s judgment and chastisement. They especially pay a lot of attention to what workers and leaders say, they keep it in their hearts. If the workers and leaders say that they are not worthy to be cultivated and that they are crafty people, it is more useful and efficacious than God’s judgment. They immediately become negative, lose their strength and become like shriveled eggplants. What kind of issue is this? They believe in God but they do not obey God. Instead, they worship the workers and the leaders. What does it indicate when the words of the workers and leaders are so much more useful and occupy such a position in their hearts? Is there a place for God in their hearts? Are they people who revere God? These kinds of people are in trouble and in danger! They believe in God like this. They do not accept God’s words and they do not accept God’s judgment and chastisement. They only pay attention to the evaluation of the workers and leaders of them. They only care about the kind of image and position they occupy in the hearts of the workers and leaders. When all is said and done, do they actually seek the truth? Are they truly seeking to obey God? This topic really reveals people! If you truly obey God’s judgment and chastisement, then you should care about God’s will. “Oh no, I must understand myself. God’s words contain so much truth that reveals the corrupt human race. He has said so many words. Why do I not keep them in my heart? Why am I not more diligent and attentive when it comes to this? I only think about how the workers and leaders think of me. Isn’t this being too preoccupied with status and reputation?” You only want to have status in the eyes of the workers and leaders so that they will promote you and give you an “official” position. Now, have you achieved your objective? Can you enter the kingdom of heaven? Will you be rewarded and obtain a crown? Doesn’t this kind of person have this kind of intention and goal? Are the workers and leaders your lord? Are they your God? Can they save you? What’s the use if they lift you up, use you and cultivate you? Can they represent God? Notice how the person who raised this question worships the workers and leaders. He does not care about how God thinks of him and whether or not he has status in the eyes of God. He has this kind of thinking, this is very troublesome. Is the path this person takes correct? From this question he raised, you can tell that this person is not someone who seeks the truth. He is especially focused on how the workers and leaders think of him. He is particularly concerned about whether or not the workers and leaders can cultivate and promote him. He is walking the path of the antichrist! This person does not have a place for God in his heart. He does not obey the work of God. Instead, he obeys the work of the workers and leaders. He worships the workers and leaders and does not accept God’s judgment and punishment. Can this kind of person be cleansed and perfected? No, he cannot. This is troublesome.

　　Question 2: How should we deal with those whose humanity is relatively good and who are willing to seek the truth, but because they are controlled by the seeking of fame and status, they walk the path of the antichrist? I see that I myself, within the environment that God has put me in, have still been revealed as walking the path of the antichrist. I feel that my essence is not good and I am afraid of being exposed. I cannot deal with this properly and I feel restrained when performing my duties. How should I practically resolve this? Brother, please fellowship about this.

　　Answer: This person has a kind of way of accepting and understanding. First, he does not know how to deal with those who walk the path of the antichrist. Additionally, he sees that he himself has been exposed as walking the path of the antichrist within the environment that God has set him in. He feels that his essence is not good, and he is afraid of being exposed. He does not know how to properly address this and feels restrained when performing his duties. He does not know how he should tackle this. Man has a corrupt disposition, isn’t this a fact that everyone acknowledges? Man has a corrupt disposition, a satanic nature. When he chooses a path to walk, he often chooses based on his own conceptions and imagination. He also chooses based on his preferences. Isn’t this a fact? That is, when man believes in God, before he obtains the truth and has an understanding of God, he will commit a lot of errors, he will make the mistake of walking astray and taking the path of the antichrist. He will commit some transgressions and he will be exposed quite frequently as committing transgressions of resisting and acting against God’s will. These are situations that will happen often. However, this is not to say that whoever has been exposed to be walking the path of the antichrist will be eliminated right away. Also, this does not mean that if someone has committed transgressions and does not put the truth into practice, then he or she will definitely be eliminated. Therefore, we can see a truth here, that the people that God perfects, many of those who seek the truth, in the past, they have walked astray. They have all committed transgressions in the past and they have had their corruption exposed. When they did work, they also had mixed intentions. This includes me as well. Isn’t this the truth? We all say that it is. Now, if this is the truth, if someone walks astray and because of this, he thinks that his essence is not good, is this kind of thinking correct? This way of thinking is clearly incorrect.

　　Now, just what does it mean to have a bad essence? We all have a satanic nature, a satanic disposition. Who has a good essence? Could someone with a good essence obey God without having experienced God’s judgment and chastisement? Could they truly listen to God’s words and revere God without having experienced God’s judgment and chastisement? Who is able to do this? Nobody. Unless the Holy Spirit specifically works on them, right? Here, this person has some issues when it comes to accepting. He walks the path of the antichrist and afterward, he feels that his essence is not good. He is afraid of being exposed by other people, he always feels restrained when performing his duties and he does not know how to resolve this. If you know that walking the path of the antichrist is a mistake, that it is contrary to God’s will, and is the manifestation of resisting God, why do you not repent? Why do you insist on making this mistake? Don’t you need to resolve this problem? Who has not walked the path of the antichrist? I have also walked that path. When I first started believing in the Lord Jesus, I experienced the work of the Holy Spirit in that way. However, when facing the coming of Christ, I had no knowledge of Him and still thought that His word was just the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment, the Holy Spirit’s utterance. I wrote “Words of the Seven Spirits” or “Words of the Holy Spirit to the Churches” on the pieces of the word of God and then distributed them one by one. The manuscripts are still kept now. This indicates that when God first started speaking, people still did not acknowledge it, they still had some of their own notions, “Wow, the things this person is saying, it is like He is a prophet. He must have been enlightened.” When did I start to acknowledge God’s work? I suddenly saw the light when God made the truth of the incarnation known, “Oh no, how was I so blind to not acknowledge God? How could I have made this mistake?” It was especially contemptible, selfish, evil and ugly that I competed and tried to measure up to God. Haven’t we all made this mistake? But, does God condemn us? Did God say, “All those who do not know Me shall die”? God has come to do the work of saving mankind. The judgment of God in the last days is completely for the purpose of cleansing and saving man. It does not matter how many detours you have taken, or how much corruption you have revealed. When you experience God’s judgment, you must repent, you must seek the truth, you must obey the truth and you must learn to obey God. In the end, you will obtain the truth and life. Your life disposition will change. At this moment, you will be completely saved. So what happens when you experience a change in your life disposition? First, you no longer judge God. You do not rely on your own conceptions and imagination to examine God’s work. Second, no matter what God does, you are still able to choose to obey Him, even if what He does is not in accordance with your own thoughts or perspectives. Even if He does not save us and He throws us into hell even after He has finished cleansing us, you still do not complain because He is God and He is the Creator. No matter what He does, He is the truth and He is righteous. If you have this kind of reverent heart for God, if you can obey no matter what God does, wouldn’t you say that this is a manifestation that your life disposition has changed? Now, if there is this evidence that there has been a change in your life disposition, would you still be able to resist God? You would no longer resist God. No matter what God does, you would not judge Him. No matter what God does, you would still be certain of His righteousness. No matter what God does, you will still acknowledge that man cannot fathom God’s work. Even if everything that God does is not in accordance with man’s conception, you still acknowledge that it contains God’s good intentions and wisdom. There is truth and mystery that must be sought. You do not choose to judge, oppose or resist it. This kind of person has been perfected, he is a perfected man. Those who have not been perfected make mistakes when it comes to this subject. They resist the first time and they still make a mistake the next time. They resist a second time, they do not accept the truth and they make the same mistake the next time. They keep on making mistakes. This kind of person has not been saved. He is still someone who resists God. The people who have been perfected do not resist God. They do not speak words of judgment against God. Even if they do not understand God’s work, they acknowledge that it contains the good intentions and wisdom of God and at the very least, the purpose of His work is to reveal man. Externally, it would seem that there are some problems with God’s work. If you grasp onto this and do not let it go, you will die. If you hold onto it, then you will be revealed. Those who have a heart that reveres God would say, “I will not judge God. God is eternally righteous. God is the truth. This contains God’s good intentions and wisdom.” This reveals man. When those that revere God see things that are not in accordance with man’s conceptions, they seek the truth and they obey God. Some people say, “If the truth wields power in God’s family, then how come there are still false leaders and antichrists?” Do these kinds of people understand the spirit? They do not know that God has arranged for the existence of these false leaders and antichrists. These kinds of people are foils, they have a use. So why weren’t the tares and the wheat separated earlier? All of this contains God’s good intentions and wisdom. These people just can’t see through this matter.

　　The person who brought up this subject said, “I feel that my own essence is not good.” What does it mean to have a bad essence? If it has been revealed that you walk the path of the antichrist, would you be able to understand the truth? Would you be able to not bring up your conceptions? Would you be able to seek the truth? Do not abandon yourself to despair! If you can seek the truth and you can understand the truth, then you are capable of wise decisions. If you are not able to understand or obey the truth no matter how other people communicate the truth to you, then you will be eliminated. Isn’t this the case? It is useless for you now to feel that your own essence is bad. What constitutes a bad essence? The most important point is, can you accept and obey the truth? You say, “My essence is bad.” Then others ask you, “Do you actually accept the truth?” “My essence is bad.” Now, perhaps this kind of person is truly done for. He belongs to Satan, he does not accept the truth. If you could accept and obey the truth, you would have changed from the time in the past when you said that your essence was bad. Your satanic nature and disposition would have been cleansed and you would have been able to obey God, right? Now, is it the time to trap yourself or is it the time to seek and accept the truth? Everyone says it is the time to accept the truth. It is similar to a doctor letting you eat again, “You have finished the injections and the medication. You can now eat normally again and return to your normal daily activities.” “I have a bad essence, I am sick.” “What do you mean you have a bad essence? After you have finished your injections and your medication, you should eat, exercise and train yourself.” “My essence is bad, I will not train myself. My essence is bad, I will not eat.” What kind of problem is this? You must have a mental disorder, this is very troublesome. Is this a problem that is easily resolved? Do not keep trapping yourself by saying that your essence is bad. What do you mean your essence is bad? Who has a normal humanity after being corrupted by Satan? If you have a normal humanity, then there is no need for you to accept God’s work of judgment, right? Right now, the important thing is whether or not you are able to accept the truth and follow God’s demands and obey God’s judgment and cleansing. Can you put the truth into practice? It is time for you to choose. Do not allow a bad essence to be your excuse to shirk responsibility and limit yourself. You keep on making a racket about how you have a bad essence and you do not make known whether or not you acknowledge that this is the truth, that God’s words are the truth and whether or not you should obey the truth and accept God’s judgment and chastisement. If you do not make a choice, then it isn’t just because you have a bad essence. Perhaps you have some mental problems, right?

　　To the brothers and sisters who brought up these two issues, do not be negative. Perhaps the things that I had to say are not very pleasant to hear. In any case, just seek the truth and things will be fine. The things I said may not be pleasant to listen to, but I did not have bad intentions. I was just provoking you to accept the truth and not trap yourself. This was my intention. Forgive me if it is not pleasant to hear. I speak very hurriedly, I am frank and blunt. My mouth does not have a filter. This is an inherent characteristic of mine. Though there have been some changes to my life disposition, my personality remains unchanged. Should the evidence of whether or not your life disposition has changed be based on whether your personality has changed? There is no direct relationship between your life disposition and your personality. Your personality will not change at all your entire life. Man’s personality will never change and their appearance will never change. Understand?

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　　Question 3: When the disaster arrives and God returns to Zion, at that time, will there be the Holy Spirit’s work? During the great disaster, how can we experience God’s judgment, chastisement, trials and refinement so that we can perform beautiful witnessing?

　　Answer: After God returns to Zion, the great disaster will descend, this is inevitable. During the disaster, how can God’s chosen people experience God’s judgment, chastisement, trials and refinement? Which people will have the Holy Spirit’s work? This does not need to be said. Those that seek the truth will have the Holy Spirit’s work, those that do not seek the truth will not have the Holy Spirit’s work. It will be the same as it is today, understand? However, at that time, the method in which the Holy Spirit does work may go through some changes. The people who seek the truth will be guided by the Holy Spirit more frequently. The experience of the Holy Spirit’s work is not supernatural. He lets you seek God’s words by yourself when you experience things. It is similar to when Job encountered trials. He followed God’s word and did some self-reflection and analysis. We also need to follow God’s word and experience it. There are some things in which you cannot just rely on the Holy Spirit’s work. The most important thing should be to rely on God’s word. Ponder and seek the truth within God’s word, this is the most important point. God would not be happy and the Holy Spirit would not work if you only relied on the Holy Spirit’s work and you did not rely on God’s word. This is because God has already expressed His word. It has explained everything clearly. If you do not seek answers within God’s word, if you do not care for and obey God according to God’s word, then you will not have a path. The Holy Spirit’s enlightenment is also based on God’s word! Do you understand this? Job’s experience is the best testimony of God’s chosen people’s experience of God’s work during their trials. In the future, God’s chosen people will all encounter great trials, and even come close to death. These are things that also need to be experienced. At that time, because the trials will be too great, many people will be at a loss and they will be worried that they are done and that they will definitely die. So, they will not read God’s word and they will not eat and drink God’s words. These kinds of people will be eliminated. Once you have determined that you are done, then you are done. This is frustrating. Do not be so sure of yourself, seek and feel out God’s intentions, eat and drink God’s words, read more of God’s word. Once the Holy Spirit enlightens you in God’s word, you will have a path. That is why, right now, you should eat and drink more of God’s word and equip yourself with more of God’s word. When that time comes, it will come in use. If you do not eat and drink God’s word now, if you only rely on the Holy Spirit’s work at that time, I’m afraid that you will make a mistake, you will delay yourself. Do you understand? Let me give you an example. It is similar to a student studying at school. When he is at home, when he is not taking a test, he relies on other people, “Mother, father, give me the answers, help me answer these questions.” “Brother, sister, help me with these problems.” When it comes time to take the test, his parents, brothers and sisters are not there to help. Now, he has to rely on what he has learned on his own to do the test! You understand now that I say it like this! At that time, nobody can help anybody else. Everyone has their own difficulties. Everyone has their own obstacles. That is why if you do not normally read God’s word, if you do not make preparations in regard to the truth, at that time, you will be at a loss and you will have reached an impasse. You could easily be led into the darkness.

　　Question 4: How should we experience God’s judgment and chastisement so we will have results, so that we can better understand ourselves, understand God and receive cleansing? Please fellowship about this in detail.

　　Answer: Experiencing God’s judgment and chastisement means that you must accept all of God’s words that expose, judge, and chastise the corrupt humanity. You must take these words and see how they apply to you, how they relate to your own situation and understand your own corruption. For example, when God talks about the manifestations of the corruption of humanity, the notions and imagination of corrupt humanity, you must reflect on it. After you have identified these things within you, you will feel that God’s words are spoken to you, and to all of corrupt humanity. You will say, “I can see my corruption clearly. I have so much corruption.” When you see it clearly and you acknowledge all of it, you have achieved the result of understanding yourself. One aspect is God expressing the truth of judging the corruption of humanity. What is this truth? Why does God express this truth to resolve this aspect of humanity’s corruption? This truth is what God is and has. It represents God’s disposition. That is why you must truly understand that God’s words are the truth. You must truly understand that what God is revealing is man’s corrupt disposition. This is the truth of man’s situation, it is man’s genuine manifestation, it is one kind of poison in man’s satanic nature. Now, you must ponder how you can resolve this problem. You must accept this truth, accept all that God is and has and cast aside your own corruption. To cast aside your corruption, you must understand it and you must acknowledge it. If you can accept the many words of God that judge and reveal man, if you can relate these words to your own real situations and talk about your own real understanding, then this is achieving the result of genuinely understanding yourself. What is the standard for the result of genuinely understanding yourself? Seeing your own satanic nature, seeing that you have a type of nature inside and when it is revealed it is a satanic disposition. These kinds of manifestations belong to the category of satanic dispositions: arrogance and self-righteousness, chasing status and fame, worshiping man and showing oneself off. Acknowledge all of this. Have an understanding of the composition and substance of all of your own manifestations. Each one of these is a kind of satanic disposition. In the end, you will come to understand the truth of your own corruption, “Oh no, the corruption of humanity runs deep! Truly, it does not have any resemblance to man! If I hadn’t experienced God’s judgment and chastisement, I would still feel that man is good, I would still feel that I am very good! Today, when I look at this, I don’t think this is the case! No wonder corrupt humanity resists God in this way! When dissected in detail, man does not have much normal humanity, or rather, he does not have a bit of normal humanity. Now, once this is said, does he have true human likeness? Man does not live like a genuine human being. It does not matter how lofty man appears to be or how well he presents himself, his whole being is a satanic form, a form of hypocrisy.” Once you see through these facts, would you still say that you are a good person? Would you still say that on this earth, there are more good people than bad people? Would you still worship corrupt humanity? Would you acknowledge that God is righteous and holy? Do you understand why God judges humanity like this? Do you understand how God views the human race in His heart? Can you see that God’s disposition will not tolerate offense? Once you achieve these results, then you have achieved the final results of receiving God’s judgment and chastisement. Based on the final results of judgment and chastisement, we can determine that God does His work of judgment in order to cleanse and save man. This is a certainty. Therefore, by experiencing this kind of judgment and chastisement, you will surely be able to obtain cleansing. But, what is the precondition? Man must accept the truth! Man must obey God’s work! You still resist, deny and do not accept. You are always arrogant and self-righteous. No matter how God reveals the corruption of humanity, you still say that He is judging other people, that He is judging those that are corrupt among the human race, not those that are good people. Isn’t this kind of understanding of yours erroneous? Isn’t this arrogant and self-righteous? Isn’t this not acknowledging the truth and disobeying God? That is why when it comes to the work of judgment and chastisement, some people are able to seek the truth and achieve cleansing and salvation. Some people hate the truth and are fed up with the truth. They know that God’s words are correct and they acknowledge that God’s words are the truth. Even so, they do not accept and they do not obey. In the end, are these kinds of people able to experience a change in their life disposition? Can they be saved and perfected? Definitely not. They will definitely be eliminated. Now, when it comes to this topic, have I spoken clearly about the basics of how to experience God’s judgment and chastisement? First, you must accept God’s word. Do not look at God’s words and simply say to yourself, “This is incorrect, He is not referring to me. I am not so corrupt. I am one of humanity’s good people. This is referring to those who are corrupt among humanity.” If you say things like this, then it is over. In the beginning, I also believed that there were some words that did not refer to me, and there were some words that referred to me. Now, I see it. I have all this corruption inside of me. There are some things that you haven’t done, yet you are still corrupt. Even though externally, you have not committed fornication or promiscuity, inside your heart, you have. In the first few years of judgment and chastisement, it is possible to achieve these results. Now, you see it even more clearly. Whatever God’s word judges and chastises, you have a share in it; it even exists in your bones and in your blood. It does not matter whether you did that kind of thing, you have to acknowledge that God’s word is the truth, that what He says is the fact, it is real. Once you are convinced of God’s judgment and chastisement, you will eventually obey. If you experience it in this way, it is guaranteed that you will be able to achieve results. However, only one aspect of judgment and chastisement are the words. Another aspect is dealing, pruning, trials and refinement. This is also judgment and chastisement, understand? So long as this dealing, pruning, trials and refinement are completely in accordance with God’s words, then it originates from God and it is guaranteed to also be judgment and chastisement. It is an even more practical form of judgment and chastisement. There is some discipline that is an even more practical form of judgment and chastisement. Some dealing and pruning is an even more realistic form of judgment and chastisement. If you accept and obey like this, then you will obtain even more and you will change even faster.

　　Question 5: Within the work arrangements, it says, “Presently, the majority of God’s chosen people have still not completely entered into the reality of the truth. They have a genuine and solid faith and a will to spend for God. Their greatest lack is the experience of God’s judgment and chastisement and dealing and pruning. If workers and leaders can guide God’s chosen people in this aspect to enter the reality of the truth, church life will completely enter onto the right track and God’s chosen people will be able to completely enter onto the right track of faith.” Please communicate about this: How can workers and leaders guide God’s chosen people to enter into the realistic experience of God’s judgment and chastisement and dealing and pruning? How can they enter onto the right track of faith?

　　Answer: Each worker and leader has their own job that God has entrusted them with. This entrustment from God has a direct relationship with the duties one must fulfill. Additionally, it also has a direct relationship with the substantive work that workers and leaders should do. If workers and leaders do not attend to their own proper duties, if they walk the path of antichrists, if they bear witness of themselves and show themselves off, can this kind of person fulfill the duties of a created being? No. Now, just what does God entrust them with? Workers and leaders must do the necessary work to guide God’s chosen people to enter into the reality of the truth. This is a leader’s responsibility, their duty. When a family woman becomes a mother, what is the work that she must do? It is to raise their kids and help them become adults. This is the job of a mother, right? Now, as a worker or leader, your job is to hold meetings to communicate God’s word, guide God’s chosen people to eat and drink God’s word, accept God’s judgment and chastisement and dealing and pruning. How should you guide them? When eating and drinking God’s words, you should first talk about your own experience and understanding. When God’s chosen people do not know how to experience God’s word, you should guide them. When God’s chosen people cannot accept it purely, their acceptance is flawed. You must correct this. If you often communicate to them your experience and understanding, your pure experience and understanding, and the way of your practice, is this not the work that workers and leaders should do? This is doing practical work. If you do things like this, you will achieve the results of doing practical work. If you do not engage in your proper duties, if you do not do this practical work, if you do not place this work in your focus, if you always communicate words of doctrine to show yourself off, isn’t this going against God’s intentions? How do false leaders and antichrists fail? This lesson must be absorbed! To be genuine workers and leaders after God’s heart, we must be honest and down-to-earth in guiding God’s chosen people to eat and drink God’s words, to experience and practice God’s words. In the end, we must help them achieve an understanding of the truth and enter into the reality. This is the job of workers and leaders. This is also the job that God has entrusted us with. Understand this!

From Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life

Source from：The Church of Almighty God

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