Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “Those Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God”

Eastern Lightning-Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “Those Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God”

139-A-1

“Those Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God

　　All men wish to see the true countenance of Jesus and desire to be with Him. I believe that not one of the brothers or sisters would say that he is unwilling to see or to be with Jesus. Before you have seen Jesus, that is, before you have seen the incarnate God, you will have many thoughts, for example, about Jesus’ appearance, His way of speaking, His way of life, and so on. However, when you really see Him, your thoughts will swiftly change. Why is this? Do you wish to know? While man’s thinking indeed cannot be overlooked, it is much more intolerable for man to alter the substance of Christ. You regard Christ as an immortal, a sage, but none regard Christ as a mortal with divine substance. Therefore, many of those who yearn day and night to see God are actually enemies of God and incompatible with God. Is this not a wrong on the part of man? Even now you still think that your belief and loyalty are such that you deserve to see the countenance of Christ, but I exhort you to equip yourselves with more tangible things! For in the past, present, and future, many of those who come in contact with Christ have failed; they all play the role of the Pharisees. What is the reason for your failure? It is precisely because in your notions there is a lofty, admirable God. But the truth is not as man wishes. Not only is Christ not lofty, but He is particularly small; not only is He a man but an ordinary man; not only can He not ascend to heaven, neither can He move freely on earth. And so people treat Him as an ordinary man; they do as they please when they are with Him, and speak careless words to Him, all the while still waiting for the coming of the “true Christ.” You regard the Christ that has already come as an ordinary man and His word as that of an ordinary man. Therefore, you have not received anything from Christ and have instead completely exposed your ugliness to the light.

　　Prior to contact with Christ, you may believe that your disposition has been entirely transformed, you may believe that you are a loyal follower of Christ, and you may believe that you are most worthy to receive the blessings of Christ. For you have traveled many roads, done much work, and brought forth much fruit, so you must be a person who receives the crown in the end. Yet there is one truth that you do not know: The corrupt disposition and rebellion and resistance of man are exposed when he sees Christ, and the rebellion and resistance exposed on such occasion are more absolute and complete than on any other. It is because Christ is the Son of man and possesses normal humanity that man neither honors nor respects Him. It is because God lives in the flesh that the rebellion of man is brought to light thoroughly and vividly. So I say that the coming of Christ has unearthed all the rebellion of mankind and has thrown the nature of mankind into sharp relief. This is called “luring a tiger down the mountain” and “luring a wolf out of the cave.” Can you say that you are loyal to God? Can you say that you show absolute obedience to God? Can you say that you are not rebellious? Some will say: Each time that God creates my surroundings, I always obey and never complain. In addition, I hold no notions about God. Some will say: All the work tasked to me by God, I do to the best of my ability and am never remiss. Then I ask you this: Can you be compatible with Christ when you live alongside Him? And how long will you be compatible with Him? One day? Two days? One hour? Two hours? Your faith is indeed commendable, but you do not have much steadfastness. When you truly live with Christ, your self-rightness and self-importance will be slowly exposed by your words and actions, and so shall your excessive desires and disobedience and discontent be spontaneously revealed. Finally, your arrogance will become ever greater, and when you become as incompatible with Christ as water is with fire, then your nature will be entirely exposed. At that time, your notions can no longer be veiled. Your complaints, too, will spontaneously be expressed, and your vile humanity will be entirely exposed. However, you continue to disavow your own rebellion. And you believe that a Christ such as this is not easy to accept and He is overly stringent with man, and you would wholly submit if He were a different, kinder Christ. You believe that there is a cause for your rebellion, that you only rebel against Him when Christ has driven you to a certain point. Never have you realized that you do not regard Christ as God, nor do you have the intention to obey Him. Rather, you stubbornly insist on Christ doing work according to your mind, and upon any work that has not been done so, you believe that He is not God but a man. Are there not many among you who have contended with Him in this way? Whom is it that you believe in? And how do you seek?

　　You always wish to see Christ, but I exhort you not to exalt yourselves so; everyone may see Christ, but I say none are fit to see Christ. Because the nature of man is filled with evil, arrogance, and rebellion, when you see Christ, your nature will ruin you and condemn you to death. Your association with a brother (or a sister) may not show much about you, but it is not so simple when you associate with Christ. At any time, your conceptions may take root, your arrogance bud, and your rebellion bear figs. How can you with such humanity be fit to associate with Christ? Are you truly able to treat Him as God every moment of every day? Will you truly have the reality of obedience to God? You worship the lofty God within your hearts as Jehovah but regard the visible Christ as a man. Your sense is too inferior and your humanity too lowly! You are unable to forever regard Christ as God; rather, you simply pull Him over and worship Him as God when it strikes your fancy. This is why I say you are not believers of God, but accomplices to those who fight against Christ. Even men who show kindness to others are repaid, yet Christ, who does such work among you, is not loved or repaid by man, nor does He receive man’s obedience. Is this not a most saddening thing?

　　It may be that in all your years of faith in God, you have never cursed anyone nor committed a bad deed, yet in your association with Christ, you cannot speak the truth, act truthfully, or obey the word of Christ; then I say that you are the most devious and sinister in the world. If you are especially cordial and loyal to your relatives, friends, wife (or husband), sons and daughters, and parents, and never take advantage of others, yet you cannot be compatible and at peace with Christ, then even if you send your all in relief to your neighbors or have taken good care of your father, mother, and household, I still say that you are wicked, and cunning, too. Do not think that you are compatible with Christ if you are compatible with man or perform some good deeds. Do you believe that your kindness can purloin the blessing of Heaven? Do you think that good deeds are a substitute for your obedience? None of you can accept dealing and pruning, and all find it difficult to accept the normal humanity of Christ. Yet you always claim obedience to God. Such faith as yours will bring upon a fitting retribution. Stop indulging in fanciful illusions and wishing to see Christ, for you are too little in stature, such that you are not even worthy to see Him. When you have completely cast away your rebellion and can be at peace with Christ, then God will naturally appear to you. If you go to see God without having undergone pruning or judgment, then you shall definitely become an opponent of God and be set for destruction. The nature of man inherently is hostile to God, for all men have been thoroughly corrupted by Satan. Nothing good can come of a corrupt man associating with God. All actions and words of man will surely expose his corruption; and when he associates with God, his rebelliousness will be revealed in all aspects. Man then unknowingly opposes Christ, deceives Christ, and rejects Christ; then will man be in an even more dangerous state. Should it continue, he will become subject to punishment.

　　Some may believe that if association with God is so dangerous, then it would be wise to give God a wide berth. What, then, can such people receive? Can they be loyal to God? Indeed, association with God is very difficult, but that is entirely because man is corrupted and not because God cannot associate with man. It would be best for you to devote more effort on the truth of knowing the self. Why have you not found favor with God? Why is your disposition abominable to Him? Why are your words loathsome to Him? You praise yourselves for your little loyalty and want reward for your small sacrifice; you look down upon others when you show a bit obedience, and become contemptuous of God upon performing some petty work. You wish for riches and gifts and compliments for receiving God. Your heart aches when you give a coin or two; when you give ten, you wish for blessings and to be distinguished from others. A humanity such as yours is really offensive to speak of or hear. What is praiseworthy of your words and actions? Those who perform their duty and those who do not; those who lead and those who follow; those who receive God and those who do not; those who give and those who do not; those who preach and those who receive the word, and so on; all such men praise themselves. Do you not find this laughable? Surely you know that you believe in God, yet you cannot be compatible with God. Surely you know that you are unworthy, yet you remain boastful. Do you not feel that your sense has become such that you no longer have self-control? How can you with such sense be fit for association with God? Now are you not afraid for yourselves? Your disposition has already become such that you cannot be compatible with God. Is your faith not preposterous? Is your faith not absurd? How will you deal with your future? How will you choose the path to travel down?”

139-A-2

　　“Those Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God.” This is the word of God as well as the title of this message. The word of God itself is the truth and the fact. Is it important to know this truth? Extremely so! Why is this truth particularly important? To what extent is it so important? Can you give me an idea? It is quite possible that few people have pondered on this truth. How does one please God with his faith? How should one practice his faith in order to be saved and made perfect by God? What are the criteria for God’s salvation? Especially, many people aspire to become overcomers by being made perfect by God. What are the standards for an overcomer? Undoubtedly, most people have not given it much thought. So the word of God we are reading today is all about this aspect of truth. “Those Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God.” If this is so, what kind of a man is not an opponent of God? What qualifies a man to be a non-opponent of God? We see from the word of God that in the last days, God wants to perfect those who are of the same mind with Him. Precisely speaking, what does it mean by the phrase “those who are of the same mind with God”? They are the ones who are compatible with Christ. However, if a man does not understand the truth, will he see what this is all about? If you ask him, “How much do you believe in God? Have you received the truth and the life, and with what result? Are you perfected by God?” For most people, these are tough questions that they are afraid to answer. If you have seen through the essence of these questions and discovered the key to be after God’s heart, then you will know how to answer them. By now, there must be a lot of you who say, “Needless to say, we are sure that we have been saved.” What is the criterion for being saved? They don’t know. They say, “I have managed to obey God, and I rarely commit sin.” When you say you have managed to obey God, what is the basis of your claim? This is not easy to answer. If you say you have been saved, how do you back up your word? This question is equally difficult to answer. Nowadays, many people ask, “What does ‘being perfected by God’ mean? What are the criteria for being perfected by God?” Someone says, “A person perfected by God will never sin again.” But that is not a criterion. Whether one sins again or not is not a criterion. Strictly speaking, being perfected by God means that one can absolutely obey God without condition, judgment or resistance, regardless of what God says, and has the ability to obediently accept God’s word. This is a person who obeys God’s will. This is a person who has been perfected by God. What is the most practical way to express the term “perfected by God”? Going by God’s word, we can confirm the criterion for being perfected by God is reaching compatibility with Christ. Is it simple to be compatible with Christ? “To be compatible with Christ,” how do we know what that means? Someone may say, “‘To be compatible with Christ,’ that is easy to explain. That means accepting Christ as the incarnation of God without a scintilla of doubt ever, and following Him to the end. Isn’t that being compatible with Christ?” Is this statement accurate? The statement seems to be reasonable but impractical. In that case, what is being compatible with Christ after all? Someone says, “No matter what Christ does, I have no notions about it and I obey Him unconditionally.” What about this statement? Does it have any sense of practicality? The saying is correct, but did you live it out or just make it up? If you just made it up, that is just reasoning. If you have lived it out, your statement is more practical. Tell me, is it easy to have no notions about Christ? You all say no. Why not? Those of you who have experience can say what made you think it is not easy. Those who have no experience have no idea why it is not easy, and they can only speak some doctrine. Is it so simple to be in accord with Christ? Look at the married couples. How many husbands and wives are in accord? Almost 99% of marriages are falling apart. Husbands and wives are not in accord. Are fathers and sons in accord? What about mothers and daughters? Not at all! Humanity as a whole is not in accord. Are demons in accord with each other? Look at the dog-eat-dog carnage among them for power and positions. Look at the imperial dynasties in China, the bloodbath between fathers and sons, among brothers and among sisters. No need to say.

　　To be compatible with Christ is the ultimate requirement expected of man by God! God requires man’s obedience and love. How does it end up? What criterion is reached? To be compatible with Christ. If you are compatible with Christ, you are a person who truly obeys God. To be incompatible with Christ is to defy God. Isn’t it the truth? Yes, indeed. This is more than just a simple and practical statement. This is the truth. Are people in the religious world able to appreciate this truth? Never! Because they reject Christ, deny Christ. They even condemn and resist Christ. They don’t just fail to agree with Christ, they are antichrists. The highest decree of the incarnation of God, in His salvation for man, is for man to be compatible with Christ. To be compatible with Christ is to be compatible with God. The person who absolutely obeys Christ absolutely obeys God. If you do not accept Christ, you will never be in accord with God. How do you agree with your imaginary God, the vague God? That is simply empty talk that will never come true. Just like those people in religion who profess to believe in the Lord Jesus. Are they really in accord with the Lord Jesus? Not a single one of them! The word of Jesus Christ has no place in their hearts. Since they have never experienced the word of the Lord Jesus, they do not know anything about the Lord. Frankly speaking, if Jesus Christ were to appear among them, would they believe in Him? No, they wouldn’t, they would flee at the first sight of the Lord. So, exactly speaking, when they believe in the Lord Jesus, they actually believe in the name and label of “the Lord Jesus.” If they met the Lord Jesus in person, and the Lord preached to them and worked among them, they would be running away. Why is that so? These people have no interest in the truth. They only want to eat their fill of the loaves, get rich on the Lord’s name by cheating Him. They want to swindle the blessing of the kingdom of heaven by exploiting the Lord. When Almighty God showed up to express all the truth, they turned around and fled, refusing, denying and resisting God. What does that prove? They disagree with the Lord Jesus. They are at enmity with Him!

　　How should we look for the signs of compatibility and incompatibility with Christ? We should mainly look at the way a person regards the truth. If your heart has fear, obedience and love for the truth, then you can obey, fear and love Christ. If you have no interest in the truth, then you will never regard Christ as God because the appearance of Christ is humanity, not divinity. Judging on the outside alone, no one will know Christ. The appearance of Christ is humanity. His divinity is concealed inside. It will only manifest through His words and work. Who can see it? No one! What is it about those who are incompatible with Christ? First of all, they do not possess the truth. Their hearts are full of corruption, the disposition of Satan, the poison of Satan, the perspective of Satan, and the logics and rules of Satan. In that case, would they get along with Christ at all? Definitely not! With conflicting viewpoints, there will be confrontations and opposition. There is another most basic question—Christ’s lack of divinity in appearance. His lack of divine demeanor makes you unable to recognize Him as God. By appearance alone, no one can see the essence of God in such a modest man, an ordinary man like Christ. Conversely, if miracles flew whenever Christ spoke, people would not miss it. They would say, “Wow! Miracles and wonders pour out when He speaks. He is really God! He has such divine traits.” People would find it easy to accept Him as God. Without the outward show of divine essence and attributes, everything is so normally human, so ordinarily normal. People will take Him as how He appears to them, an ordinarily normal man with a normal humanity. No matter how people look at Him, He strikes everyone as a man, not God. Christ walks with normal and ordinary humanity. He speaks with man in human term. People say, “Everything You say is so man-like, how can You be God?” When Christ’s outward appearance resembles man so much, people doubt His identity as God. “How could He be called God?” When the Lord Jesus spoke, as long as He was not preaching, His tone was so human. He cried when He saw Lazarus die. He cried! When people saw that, they had no doubt it was the behavior of man. “Isn’t it the show of human nature? He is just a common man!” Therefore, when people see Christ speak in human language, they have no difficulty accepting Him as a man. That is why when people come in contact with Christ, first of all, they easily accept Him as a man. They would never see Him as an actual incarnation of God with divine essence. Second, since the flesh of Christ is so modest, unimposing, unspectacular, the satanic nature in man takes over. Man’s arrogance leads him to look down upon Christ. He will say, “Look at a man like You. You are not tall and handsome like me. You don’t even dress as well as me. How can You be called God?” Do you see it? When man looks at the insignificant and unimposing appearance of Christ, he responds by treating Him with disdain and contempt. What kind of disposition is that? It is man’s arrogant disposition. It is the consequence of Satan’s nature in the heart of man. When someone has the nature of Satan in his heart, how does he look at other people? He begins by sizing you up, how tall and handsome you are. If you are tall, rich and handsome, he will respect you. If you are short, poor and ugly, he will look down on you. When someone saw that I am shorter than him by a head, he looked down on me and sneered, “Why you? The man used by the Holy Spirit? I am taller than you. Why doesn’t the Holy Spirit use me?” How did he finally come around to respect me? When he started to work, when he performed his duties, he found that everything went wrong. He started to look up to anyone who performed better, who knew more about the truth. He conceded to reality, in performing his duties, in communicating the truth, and in actual living out. A man will not concede without a fight, will he? When all the cards are laid on the table and he sees that he has losing hand, that is when he will concede. Other than that, he will keep on bluffing, puffing up his chest and looking down on others. Going by someone’s appearance, going by someone’s figure, isn’t that the nature of Satan? With such satanic nature, with such arrogant disposition, is it dangerous for him to come in contact with Christ? Too dangerous!

　　Without years of judgment, chastisement, trial and refinement happening to him, man’s nature would not return to normal. Upon contact with Christ, he would cause so much ill feeling, resentment and disgust in Christ. When man has endured judgment, chastisement, trial and refinement, he will regain some normal humanity. He will learn to respect others and obey the truth. Even when others have made mistakes, he will not dish out condemnation and judgment but will seek the truth. When his humanity, conscience and reason have returned to normal, and when he approaches Christ again, God finds him acceptable. God says that this person has humanity. Actually, God does not ask too much of man. You don’t have to know much about the truth in order for God to think highly of you. If you have conscience, sense and the ability to speak normally, you will be accepted by God. When you occasionally show minor corruption, God understands. How do I know all this? I say this because I have walked with Christ for a longer time than others. It was how God looked after me when I showed my corruption sometimes. God looks at man’s occasional show of corruption with forgiveness, pity and pardon. However, if your humanity falls short of the standard, God looks at you with disgust. When man’s nature is too arrogant, full of satanic poisons, demeaning, aggressive, judgmental and mischievous manners, he will earn God’s resentment. God’s resentment is always aimed at this kind of men. God calls this kind of men lunatics and animals. God says that this kind of men should be expelled because they have no humanity. Is having minimum humanity good enough to be in accord with Christ? Not at all! Most importantly, one must understand something about the truth. What kind of truth to understand? The truth about how to be an honest man. He must speak honestly, understand how to obey God, know his place in front of God as a creature, have the sense of a man, perform his duty, and know his responsibility. He must be equipped with all these aspects of the truth. This way, his conscience and sense will pass the test of God. He will not be condemned when he comes in contact with God.

139-A-3

　　Now let’s fellowship about God’s word: “Those Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God.” What kind of men are specified as opponents of God? Those who are incompatible with God. They are convicted by God. How do they get convicted? They “are surely opponents of God.” This is for sure. Anyone who is incompatible with Christ is surely an opponent of God. So in God’s work of the last days, whether one has a place in the book of life of the Lamb has something directly to do with whether he is acknowledged and approved by Christ or not. If Christ recognizes that you believe in Him, if Christ recognizes that you are compatible with Him, then you are a person who is saved. Those who are “included in the Lamb’s book of life,” as predicted in the Book of Revelation, are the followers of Christ in the last days. Those are absolutely not the people who merely follow behind the Lord Jesus. The stage of just following behind the Lord Jesus is over. Now is the Age of Kingdom of the last days. Only during the working phase of God incarnate can God be referred as the Lamb. When God incarnate is doing work, He is Christ. But it will not be the phase of God’s incarnation when He returns to Zion. Only those who follow the incarnate God, bear beautiful resounding witness for God are the ones included in the book of life of the Lamb. People in the religious world do not understand this matter because they have not followed the Lamb. They are the ones who condemned and opposed the Lamb. They are incompatible with Christ and they are all antichrists. Antichrists are not limited to religious pastors and elders. For ordinary believers in the religion, even members of the Church of Almighty God, if they resist and judge Christ, then they are also antichrists, they belong to the category of antichrists. They are one hundred percent incompatible with Christ.  

　　“Those Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God.” When this is said, the truth is revealed. God’s intention is clear. Of those who believe in God, how is it specified that who obeys and who opposes God? It is based upon whether a person is compatible with Christ or not. This determines the outcome for a believer of God. If your belief ultimately reaches compatibility with Christ, then you are a person who obeys God. Conversely, if your belief fails to be compatible with Christ in the end, you still have many notions about Christ, you still have a lot of defiance, conflicts and suspicions, then you are specified as incompatible with Christ. Some people may say then, “We never had contact with Christ, how can we be specified as compatible with Christ or not?” It does not matter if you had no contact with Christ; whether you are compatible with Christ or not depends on how much you have accepted, how much you have obeyed, and how much you have put into practice the word of Christ. Nowadays, the great red dragon, the devil has been making a lot of rumors, smearing, and saying a lot of hostile and blasphemous words against Christ. What position did you take? Did you stand on the side of Christ to repudiate this nonsense of the great red dragon Satan or did you accept it? If you accepted the great red dragon’s nonsense and fallacy and generated some notions about Christ, what kind of problem would this be? Are people like these compatible with Christ? Everyone says no. Why are they not compatible? What events exposed them? Had the great red dragon not said these hostile, blasphemous and smearing words, these people would not have any notions. Would they be compatible with Christ in this case? Of course not! Now when the great red dragon is saying these fallacious, hostile, smearing and blasphemous things against Christ, they accept them. They have soaked them all up and generated notions and conflicts, and began to deny Christ. What kind of problems are these? Isn’t the nature of this more serious than that of Eve accepting Satan’s nonsense? Eve was bewildered because she did not have the books of God’s words on seeking the true way and distinguishing right from wrong at that time, as she had only heard one statement from God. The moment Satan came to test her, she fell for Satan’s trick and accepted its suggestion by assuming what Satan said was correct and reasonable. But it is quite different in the last days. The great red dragon is none other than the ancient serpent, which has transformed into the great red dragon in the last days. The great red dragon directly expresses the words that attack and blaspheme God. Regardless of how much work God performs, the great red dragon resists, blasphemes and judges all of it. The great red dragon’s nature has not changed but become worse since Genesis. In the last days, man accepts the nonsense of the great red dragon, and then begins to doubt and judge Christ and generate many notions about Him. What kind of problem is this? This sufficiently demonstrates that man does not love the truth, so he disbelieves God’s word. Instead, he believes the great red dragon’s word because he loves evil. In the last days God has spoken so many words, a hundred times more, even ten thousand times more than the lies of the great red dragon, so why doesn’t man believe in any of God’s word? On the other hand, he believed in the very first nonsense that came out of the great red dragon’s mouth. What was this all about? Doesn’t that show man’s satanic nature that prefers evil? He does not believe in the word of God because he loves evil.

　　Someone says, “Didn’t these people fall for the great red dragon’s trick because they had no truth, thus no discernment?” Is this a valid statement? Not at all! Why not? If they didn’t understand the truth, why didn’t they seek the truth by reading God’s word? Why didn’t they accept God’s word but Satan’s word instead? This exposed their evil nature, didn’t it? Their nature is evil. That’s why they believe in the nonsense of Satan instead of God’s word. What is the final outcome of such people? Destruction because of their opposition to God, as God doesn’t care about them. People in the religious world say, “We all do not accept Almighty God. Let’s see how God is going to destroy the entire religious world.” This statement hit the nail on its head. As it was predicted in the Book of Revelation, God will destroy the religious world in the last days. Someone else says, “Isn’t that too cruel of God? Is that still called mercy and love?” Indeed, God is merciful and loving, but not to Satan. God is merciful to His chosen people, to those who truly believe in Him, but not to the devil Satan. Someone says, “Are there any proofs for what you are saying?” Yes, this was what God had said in the Old Testament age, “visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy to thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20：5-6). Aren’t these words of God the evidence for this? Look at these two examples. Sodom was destroyed by God. Weren’t there children in Sodom? They did not sin. Why even children were destroyed? What was the problem? The problem was, when they followed the devil, they were of the devil’s brood, including innocent children and infants. They were destroyed because of the sins of their fathers and grandfathers. What was this about? Those who hated and resisted God were punished by God for their sin down to their offspring, to the third and fourth generations. Therefore, the people of Sodom, including their children, grandchildren and great-grand-children, were condemned together. They were burnt to death and burnt to ashes by God. Even their souls were obliterated. This is the proof of God’s lack of mercy to the breeds of Satan. In the age of Noah, other than Noah’s family of eight, all humans were destroyed. Didn’t those people have children, grandchildren, infants and newly born babies? Most definitely so! God destroyed them with the great flood, all of them. What did that prove? God has no mercy for the breeds of Satan who resist Him, including their offspring. God will dispose of them at the time of destruction. Let us look at one more example. What happened to the Israelites who had resisted the Lord Jesus, God incarnate? Ninety percent of the Israelite population was destroyed. Were there babies and pregnant women among them? Yes, they were all destroyed. The entire Israel was destroyed. Not one stone of the temple was left on another. The destruction was thorough and complete. And the Israelites were God’s chosen people. Why did God treat His chosen people that way? That’s because they resisted the incarnate God. They nailed the incarnate God to the cross without any room for mediation or mitigation. They were completely destroyed by God in the end. See for yourself. Even God’s chosen people were no exception. They were destroyed by God like enemies for resisting Christ, even when they were the chosen people. However, since the Israelites are God’s chosen people, what kind of promise did God leave with them? God’s salvation will be upon them in the last days. They have been cursed for two thousand years. The punishment and tribulation for two thousand years have befallen them, even when they are God’s chosen people. They were punished nonetheless for resisting God. So, to resist Christ is to resist God. The crucifixion of Christ made them enemies of God and provoked the wrath of God. As for the religious world’s condemnation of Almighty God, Christ of the last days, what will be their outcome? Will it be destruction by God?

　　In the past, when I exposed the fact of the religious world’s resistance to God, some people who came from the religious world always had some notions and opinions against me. What was the problem? What was the essence of their being unhappy with me? In fact, they were unhappy with God, they had notions about God. Why do I say this? What I say is based on the word of God, not mine. It is God who has revealed the truth behind the religious world’s resistance of God. It is God who predicted in the Book of Revelation the final outcome of the religious world. My word is consistent with the word of God. If they are unhappy with what I say in consistent with God’s word and generate some notions, then they certainly have some notions about God’s word on this matter. Isn’t that what it is all about? That’s why it is not a simple matter to be compatible with Christ. You must understand all the truth expressed by Christ without contention and incompatibility with God, completely recognize it as the truth and genuinely obey in order to be compatible with Christ. If you have conflict with God in the word of Christ and fail to accept the truth expressed by Christ, you are definitely incompatible with Christ. There are many people in the religious world who always listen to the great red dragon upon examining the true way instead of listening to the word of God. If you don’t listen to the word of God, how can you ascertain God’s work and appearance? Can it be the word of the great red dragon that bears witness for God to you? Does the great red dragon have the truth? Is the great red dragon right? Can it bear witness for God? Can it recognize God? Since the creation of the world, has there ever been a time when the devil Satan recognized God, a time when it recognized the word of God as the truth? Has Satan ever said anything like this? Look at the ruling parties in the world, does any one of them say that the word expressed by Almighty God is the truth, or the word said by the Lord Jesus is the truth and so the people of their entire country should accept this truth? Which ruling party has borne witness for God like this? Which God has the great red dragon recognized as the true God? They don’t even see through what kind of creature the great red dragon is, but they believe its word. According to the word of God, whoever believes the nonsense of the great red dragon is its pious scion. If you believe the nonsense of the great red dragon, will God acknowledge you as a believer of His? God will absolutely not acknowledge the scions of the great red dragon as those belonging to Him. God says you belong to the great red dragon. The great red dragon is your master, your god. You are a doer of evil. Therefore, what breeds are the ones who can generate notions about God in the word of the great red dragon? They are all scions of the great red dragon, the worshipers of the great red dragon, and the followers of the great red dragon. They are not fit to meet Christ! These people are certainly antichrists. They are resistors of God! There is not a good person among those who believe the nonsense of the great red dragon! If I were to spread the gospel, I would tell them, when you believe the nonsense of the great red dragon, do you still expect the great red dragon to confirm for you who is the real God? Do you really expect that? Are those the wisdom, logics and philosophy you use to verify the true way? Why don’t you read more about God’s word? Is the great red dragon capable of bearing witness for God? It is the devil that distorts, resists and blasphemes God. It will never say anything fair about God, never bear witness for God, and never recognize the word of God as the truth. Why would you believe it? The more the great red dragon blasphemes God, the more you should hate it, and the more you should love God. This is called a wise man. If someone who believes in God for years can still believe the nonsense of the great red dragon and have notions about God, clear him out, reject him! He is not fit to believe in God. In expelling and purging people, the family of God is resolute and thorough. I said this before, from the beginning of God’s work to now, God’s family has expelled about half a million people. Someone says, “So many people? If God pities, God saves these people, they will gradually improve over the time they believe in God, won’t they?” Is this a valid statement? No, it isn’t. The nature and substance of a man will never change. If he is a man who doesn’t love the truth, he will never change. The breeds of the devil Satan will never turn into people who accept the truth. For the antichrists, the wicked, and evil spirits, as well as the homosexual, God’s family resolutely and steadfastly purges, expels and totally disposes of them. Based on the word of God, the family of God only emphasizes on the quality of its members, not their large number. Look at the era of Noah, after the flood only a family of eight was left behind, not an extra one. Was there anyone to give Noah a hand? Definitely so. People said, “They should at least be allowed into the ark.” No, it was not allowed. Not a single person other than the family of eight. We can see that in His salvation, God’s administration, the administration of the kingdom is stern. It is execution by principle. It is the manifestation of God’s righteous disposition. No helpers or service-doers were allowed or kept. Noah was the only righteous person in that era. Were Noah’s three sons and daughters-in-law righteous people? No, they weren’t. Then why were they allowed to stay behind? They benefited from Noah’s clout, mainly for the purpose of reproduction of offspring. Noah’s three sons were not righteous men, but they obeyed the word of their father. For that reason, they were left behind to reproduce human beings.

139-A-4

　　“Those Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God.” What is the rule against those who are surely opponents of God? All of them will be destroyed. Don’t forget it. There is the saying, “Those Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God.” What will be the outcome of these people then? All of them will be destroyed. It can be said that those who are compatible with Christ are obedient to God. What will be the outcome of these people? They will receive salvation. They will survive and enter the kingdom of God. That’s for certain. So, what is the criterion we must attain in pursuing the truth? It is to be compatible with Christ. What does it mean by “compatible”? It means espousing no conceptions on, defiance and resistance to whatever Christ says or does, and obeying Him unconditionally. That is being compatible with Christ. If you still harbor conceptions, judgments and resistance about Christ’s work, then you are incompatible with Christ. If you play along with the great red dragon when it judges and condemns God, and play along when it smears and blasphemes God, then you are surely someone who resists Christ, an enemy of Christ. Your outcome will be the same as the great red dragon—utter destruction. Is that clear now? Some people say, “How do I become compatible with Christ? I go along with the conceptions and imagination of man. I like listening to rumors. I get all kinds of conceptions and judgments whenever I hear something inconsistent with my conceptions. What can I do?” How can this problem be overcome? Read more of the word of God and seek the truth. If you know too little about the truth, you will definitely have too much resistance and defiance to Christ. When you understand more about the truth, you will obey and acknowledge Christ more. When you understand everything Christ expresses, your obedience to Christ will become complete and more realistic. By then, you will really obey and worship Christ. “This is God indeed. Christ is the most practical God with humanity, the embodiment of the truth.” By that time, you will be completely compatible with Christ, and God will be satisfied in His heart. God will say that you are a man who receives salvation, a man who is made perfect. Those who are compatible with Christ will reign as kings in the Millennial Kingdom. They will rule all nations in the next age with an iron rod. This is awesome. Let’s say there is someone who rarely eats and drinks God’s word, and has gained very little truth, but he is quite decent in humanity and without conceptions about or resistance to Christ’s work and words. Is he considered as really compatible with Christ? No. Real compatibility is agreement in viewing things. How can a person’s way of viewing things change and confirm to the truth? It’s achieved by his understanding of the truth. To what extent people know and understand the truth, that’s the extent their view will change. If a man has changed his viewpoint and has true outlook and value of life, then when he comes into contact and speaks with Christ, his point of view will be completely compatible with Christ. Look at a good man. Even if he does not have any opinion on others, he does not speak with any view at all. Does that count as having the truth? He judges whether something is good or not only by his conceptions and imagination. He has no grasp on the truth. Without the truth, it is impossible to avoid resisting God even if he does not want to, because the view in his speech is inconsistent with the truth, which is still resistant to God. God is not satisfied with the principle of his actions, which is inconsistent with the truth. No matter how good his humanity is, it is impossible for him to say or do nothing. For this kind of person, can you tell whether he is compatible with Christ? Such a person cannot be listed among those who are compatible with Christ. A person’s compatibility with Christ is determined according to his level of understanding in the truth. He doesn’t understand the truth, even if he does not say or do anything, his heart is like a piece of dead wood. His existence is soulless.

　　So what is the way to be compatible with Christ? One must really eat and drink and figure out every word expressed by Christ, and understand more truth from the word expressed by Christ, so that he can be compatible with Christ. Even if such a person does not speak, there is principle in his way of doing things. The things he does glorify God. His actions please God. What he does is consistent with the truth. His actions bear witness for God. You see, to be compatible with Christ, no one can avoid acting with principle. If a person does not speak, can the truth be implemented by the things he does? As long as the truth is in his heart, he can implement the truth just the same, even if he doesn’t say anything. If the truth is not in his heart, the truth cannot be implemented even if he says nothing. It doesn’t matter if he says or does anything overtly. Whether he practices the truth is determined according to his understanding of the truth. If he understands the truth in his heart, what he does is bound to be consistent with the principle. What he thinks is bound to be non-resistant to God. This is absolutely so. What kinds of people are compatible with Christ? They are invariably people who pursue and understand the truth. It is not something that can be accomplished by just someone with a nice personality. If you don’t believe me, go find an old monk or nun. They are nice people who don’t do bad things. See if they are compatible with God. You all say no. Why not? Because they do not eat and drink God’s word. They don’t have the truth. So they are definitely resistant to God. For someone who doesn’t often eat and drink the word of God, who doesn’t often communicate the truth, he won’t understand the truth no matter how long he may believe in God. For someone who gets confused and dozes off when he hears the sermon or reads the words of God, can he understand the truth? This is called confusion. A confused person cannot understand the truth. He who doesn’t understand the truth, even if he has no conceptions when he meets Christ, he will still resist Christ because he has no truth. It is the truth that makes man compatible with Christ. It is the truth that makes man obey God and bear witness for Him. A person without the truth is definitely incompatible with God.

　　Let’s read two paragraphs of God’s word. “All men wish to see the true countenance of Jesus and desire to be with Him. I believe that not one of the brothers or sisters would say that he is unwilling to see or to be with Jesus.” This is the desire of man. Everyone thinks that way. The following is what God says. “Before you have seen Jesus, that is, before you have seen the incarnate God, you will have many thoughts, for example, about Jesus’ appearance, His way of speaking, His way of life, and so on. However, when you really see Him, your thoughts will swiftly change. Why is this? Do you wish to know?” Do you want to know? If so, then let us read on. “While man’s thinking indeed cannot be overlooked, it is much more intolerable for man to alter the substance of Christ.” What is the substance of Christ? The substance of Christ is divinity, truth, and Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. If you don’t have the truth, the way and the life, what then when you see Him? After exchanging a few words, you won’t get along with Him. There is a Chinese parlance that says, “Even half a phrase is too many when there is no rapport.” Conversely, the conversation won’t end when there is rapport. That’s why I say, without the truth, man will not be compatible with Christ. Why won’t there be compatibility? It is the lack of rapport. That is what “not getting along” is all about! There is no common language, isn’t it? That means the conversation will run out of topic after a couple of words and become an argument. Inconsistent opinions easily lead to arguments and disputes in short order. A person without the truth should understand the truth somewhat and fear Christ. When Christ asks him something, he will say “I don’t get it.” And if Christ continues, he will listen with an obedient heart and with reverence. If that is so, there will not be any conflict or rebellion before Christ. However, a person who lacks the truth is usually absurd, arrogant and presumptuous. When he hears the truth expressed by Christ, he doesn’t understand it. He feels that it disagrees with his conceptions and imagination. So he wants to express his view. He will reveal his views and opinions, and show off himself before Christ to win Christ’s favor. As a result, Christ will be disgusted with him. Why is that so? That is the sign of being incompatible with Christ, isn’t it? When a person puts up an animated act before Christ with his arms flying around, he is resisting Christ and offending God’s disposition! You show off in front of the master with your arms flying around, what are you trying to accomplish? Are you playing Satan the devil? How much do you know? Who are you preaching to? Are you preaching to Christ and showing off yourself? Save it. How do we say it in an idiom? It is called “showing off in front of the master,” isn’t it? “… it is much more intolerable for man to alter the substance of Christ.” The substance of Christ cannot be altered by man. That is the substance of Christ. Therefore, when you pass the absurdity of Satan, the conceptions and imagination of man, Christ is repulsed by you. If you seek the truth, Christ will see that you have some sense and will talk with you for a moment. If you don’t seek the truth but show off your tricks and knowledge instead, you will provoke the detestation of Christ. He will say it is all absurdity. What is that you are still trying to show off? Don’t you know your limit? Your lousy act is not worth a dime. Does it have anything to do with the truth? You don’t even scratch the surface. Beneath your neat and impressive outlook, your dignified, elegant and delicate demeanor, there is a pile of absurdity and nonsense. You have been humbled now, haven’t you? This is your judgment, isn’t it? That is for blindly showing off.

　　Let’s continue reading God’s word. “You regard Christ as an immortal, a sage, but none regard Christ as a mortal with divine substance.” Man regards Christ as an immortal, as a sage, with his imagination, is it wrong? It is wrong. If you have this kind of imagination, you will definitely find that Christ does not match your conceptions once you see Him. You have never thought of Christ as a normal person with divine substance. At first glance, you will say, “Oh, He is a very ordinary person. Is Christ supposed to be such a person after all? How can He be God?” You see, your conceptions are coming out. You have actually treated Christ as an immortal, as a sage, in your imagination. You ended up seeing an ordinary person and your conceptions just popped up without control. This is how you failed after seeing Christ with your imagination. Conversely, if you know that Christ is a normal-looking person with divine substance, you will understand that, though Christ has a normal and ordinary appearance He holds the essence of truth inside. The truth inside cannot be seen from appearance. A book cannot be judged by its cover. The ocean cannot be measured with a bucket. As long as you understand this, it is fine. You will not generate all sorts of conceptions and resistance when you see Christ. This means that you have some sense. “Therefore, many of those who yearn day and night to see God are actually enemies of God and incompatible with God. Is this not a wrong on the part of man?” It’s wrong to live by your imagination and conceptions. Isn’t it so? “Even now you still think that your belief and loyalty are such that you deserve to see the countenance of Christ….” That’s how many people think. They assume that they are fit to see Christ because they are faithful and loyal to God. Does merely being faithful and loyal to a vague God make you fit to see Christ? He who thinks that he is fit to see Christ merely because he is faithful and loyal to God needs to reexamine the basis of his assumption, doesn’t he? Are faith and loyalty the criteria for God’s praise? Does that represent man’s understanding of God? The saints and apostles throughout history were faithful and loyal to God too. Some were even martyred for God. Were they fit to see Christ? Some people say no. Why not? It was because they didn’t know God. Their life disposition hadn’t been transformed. People like them were unfit to see Christ. He who lacks actual knowledge of God or knows too little about the truth is unfit to see Christ. A man who lacks the truth will resist God. This has nothing to do with how much faith or loyalty he has. Does having faith and loyalty alone mean knowing God? Does having faith and loyalty alone mean the transformation of life disposition? Therefore, having faith and loyalty alone does not mean the actually possessing of the reality of truth. It does not reach the criterion for God’s salvation. A person’s faith and loyalty does not equate with absolute obedience to God. He may still resist God. A person like this may not commit heinous evil, but he is still resistant to God because he lacks the truth and transformation of life disposition. You should see this clearly. People in the religious world will never understand this aspect of truth. They reject the work of God in the last days and only believe in a vague God, so they will never understand it. Their beliefs are in vain.

139-A-5

　　Next God says: “But I exhort you to equip yourselves with more tangible things!” What does He mean by “tangible things”? He is referring to the truth. All of these truths that God issues forth in the last days are the most tangible things. To use man’s wording, the truth can be said to be the most tangible thing. Do you understand? Only the truth is the true reality! “For in the past, present, and future, many of those who come in contact with Christ have failed….” “The past” refers to the Age of Grace, “the present” refers to the here and now where we are currently experiencing God’s work, and “the future” refers to the reappearance of God. “Many of those who come in contact with Christ have failed; they all play the role of the Pharisees.” What is the main manifestation of all those who have failed? That they have all played the role of the Pharisees. What essentially is a Pharisee? A hypocrite. On the outside a Pharisee is the exact opposite of a wicked man. On the outside a Pharisee appears devout, and whenever someone looks upon them they think: “Now that’s someone who truly believes in God, they truly are worthy of being a saint!” On the outside they appear devout, but as God has said, this is not the reality of the truth, it is hypocritical! So, hypocrites appear to do no evil from their outward appearances. They appear to be saints, they appear to be good people, but, this will not be able to receive the commendation of God. On the contrary, this will invoke the wrath of God and be cursed by God, for this is tantamount to deceiving God.   

　　God says: “What is the reason for your failure? It is precisely because in your notions there is a lofty, admirable God.” The reason for people’s failure is right there, and it’s “precisely because in your notions,” which is to say in people’s thoughts and ideas, “there is a lofty, admirable God.” As people have this kind of God in mind, a vague God, a lofty God, then once they come into contact with Christ, they will find that “Not only is Christ not lofty, but He is particularly small; not only is He a man but an ordinary man; not only can He not ascend to heaven, neither can He move freely on earth.” Then what will happen to people? Their notions will suddenly erupt. But what is in their notions? The evil heart of unbelief will emerge, and they will think: “Is this really God? Isn’t this just some ordinary man? How could you say this is God? This is really far from the lofty God I had imagined in my thoughts.” How much do you think you believe in Christ? You all come gather together here every day, sometimes you don’t even go to work, you don’t go make money, so how much do you believe in Christ? If Christ were to suddenly appear among you right now, you might have notions and turn around and run away, and when you got back home you wouldn’t believe in Him because of your notions. Would you be able to promise yourself that you wouldn’t act in this way? Tell me, if Christ were to appear in front of you, just as God’s word says: “Not only is Christ not lofty, but He is particularly small; not only is He a man but an ordinary man; not only can He not ascend to heaven, neither can He move freely on earth.” What would you do? Would any new notions rise inside of you? We all eat and drink a lot in the word of God, we all realize that on the outside Christ’s humanity is normal, He appears average, ordinary. We all know this. If you were to see Him you might think: “Wow, it really is just as God has said, He is not lofty but rather He is small, not only does He appear to be ordinary, in fact He seems to be one of the most ordinary of men.” If you keep this kind of thinking stored in the back of your mind, then you won’t run. But will you not have any notions? Some people say it’s possible that they might have some notions. You must first think about this: “When God became flesh why did He not appear as a lofty body? If He appeared very dashing and elegant, then people would be able to revere Him as soon as they saw Him. Why must He appear as ordinary, in a flesh that is nothing remarkable?” Have you ever had these kinds of thoughts? Some people say: “I would never think in this way, because I have seen what is spoken in the word of God, so what else would I need to think about?” You say you would never think in this way, but think about why God put on a most ordinary flesh. What is the true significance of that? If you understand this then you really won’t think in that way, but if you don’t understand this you might say you don’t want to think in this way but you will not be able to control it. So, why is it that God appears as ordinary, in a body that is nothing remarkable? Some people say it’s in order to expose man. But is it only in order to expose man? Is there no other significance? There’s no way that God could do things in such a simple way, there must be some other deeper significance. Do you not know what it is? Is there nothing of God’s disposition, of what God is within this? Think about this for a while.  

　　It is said that Satan the devil’s inherent characteristic is that it is arrogant and conceited, so then what is the loveliest thing about God? God delights in being humble and hidden, God does not show Himself off. This is the loveliest thing about God. It truly is the opposite of the nature and disposition of Satan. Why do you think the satanic demons would reincarnate themselves as a lofty and formidable figure? And then why would God choose to incarnate Himself in the style of a regular, ordinary person that no one would look upon as out of the ordinary? Isn’t there a clear distinction? What are the forms that Satan would reincarnate itself as? Think about all those presidents and other mighty people, what kind of forms do they take? They are lofty, tall and sturdy. Their appearance is majestic. Whoever lays eyes on them regards them highly, feels adoration and reverence for them, and would rush to bow down at their feet. This is the disposition of Satan, is it not? So then why does God incarnate appear in the form of a man that others would look down upon and hold in contempt? What is the disposition of God that is manifested here? You must be able to recognize this disposition of God and all that God is from this. The loveliness of God is right there! In man’s conceptions and imagination don’t we all like lofty things? Don’t we all like things that look beautiful? Does the criteria that people have for their partners represent their nature? Whenever looking for a partner nobody likes someone who appears small and ugly. Everyone wants someone who is tall. So what kind of disposition is this? This is the disposition of Satan. So then why does God appear in the form of a normal person that people look down upon? Therein lies the truth, for this represents the disposition of God. If you’ve finished experiencing the judgment and chastisement of God and come into contact with Christ for a period of time and say that the humble and hidden manner of God is lovely, then it seems as though you have come to have some understanding of God. But if you harbor notions about God because He wears a flesh that is so ordinary and common, then you belong to the same sort as Satan! This exposes an issue. Man still has the nature of Satan, and he does not have knowledge of God! When a person truly loves the practical God, what is the cause of their love? It is because of the substance of Christ, because Christ is the embodiment of truth. He not only can save people, He can also perfect people, purify people and change people. Most importantly, from His being you can witness many of the lovely things about God. Only those who have this kind of knowledge of Christ are able to truly obey Him, for they no longer have notions about the outward appearance of Christ, but rather, the more they look upon His humble and hidden manner, how He does not show off, the more they feel that God is lovely, that the disposition of God is so beautiful, that He deserves the eternal admiration of mankind! Satan’s disposition is shameful and ignorant, and it deserves to invoke the hatred of mankind! So, through the outward appearance of God incarnate you will be able to recognize the intentions of God and understand the disposition of God. If you can do so, then you are someone that has knowledge of Christ. Can you accept this as true? Those who get more and more notions as they look more upon Christ will become part of the same sort as Satan. Those who feel that Christ is more and more lovely as they come into more contact with Him will be perfected by God and compatible with God. This is polarization! You can see in the house of God that the more that God’s chosen people listen to and study the word of Christ, the kinder they will feel that Christ is, and ultimately the more they obey Christ and the more they practice the truth, the lovelier they will feel that Christ is. With this kind of a pursuit, they will eventually be compatible with God and they will forever be without notions. No matter how much the great red dragon disparages Christ, no matter how much it discredits or blasphemes Him, it will not diminish your love of Christ. On the contrary, it will only add to it. This is what it means to be a person with true knowledge of God. God doesn’t solely use the word of God to perfect people; most importantly, it is through the conduct and deeds of Christ, the actions of Christ, and the flesh of Christ that God perfects man and enables you to witness the disposition of God, to witness all that God has and is, to witness so many of the things that make God lovely. Experience God’s work in this way, and you will ultimately be able to obtain the truth and be compatible entirely with Christ. Look at how the great red dragon blasphemes and slanders God, is it not, as a foil, rendering service to Him? What results are achieved through the service rendered by this foil? For those of you who do not love the truth, it overthrows and binds you and blocks your path to the entrance of the kingdom of heaven. For those who love the truth, it allows them to be perfected. The more that the great red dragon judges, resists, discredits and blasphemes Christ, the more they will pursue the truth and the more they will dispose of their notions, ultimately becoming more compatible with Christ. Is this not the use that the great red dragon has as a foil? So, in the Book of Revelation it is said: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still … and he that is holy, let him be holy still” (Revelation 22:11). You see. He that is unjust encounters the great red dragon doing this or that, and then he gives up his faith. He eliminates himself. For those who love the truth, the more they see the great red dragon blaspheme, disparage and attack Christ, the more they hate the great red dragon and the more they seek the truth; ultimately the effect that will be achieved is that they will be completely compatible with Christ, without a single notion about Him. And so is fulfilled God’s word that His work in the last days is to save and perfect the truth-seekers, and to reveal, eliminate and condemn those who do not love the truth, who hate the truth. Think about those who have some notions. As soon as they fellowship in the truth their notions will be resolved, and eventually they will come to have a deeper love of God. They know that these words spoken by the devil are only lies, which almost make them fall, almost ruin them, so they have even more hate for Satan the devil. For those who listen to the rumors and lies of the great red dragon, who carry notions and retreat and no longer believe, one day will come when God will appear publicly and say: “I am the Almighty God that you have persecuted and condemned.” And they shall weep and gnash their teeth! Whom can you blame? Why did you have notions and leave the church? Why did you not seek the truth? Why did you not read more of the word of God? Why did you believe the devil’s words? Some people have notions, but whenever brothers and sisters in God’s house fellowship with them out of love, some of these people’s notions will be alleviated or eliminated, and they will accept God’s work in the last days. But for some people, no matter how our brothers and sisters fellowship, it will be of no avail. Today after our fellowship is over their notions will be settled, but tomorrow when they see some bad things, once again, they will have notions. Then, our brothers and sisters will once again fellowship with them to settle these notions, and then the day after when these people see negative things, once again, they will fall down. They will continuously stand up and fall down, stand up and fall down, but in the end they will still be fallen, and eventually no one will regard them. This kind of people enjoy the words of the devil, they do not love the word of God. These people will be kicked aside, the church does not want them. They can fall down one or two times, but they are not allowed to be fallen forever, and it is in this way that some people are eliminated. Did you think that the house of God could not do without you? That’s not how it is. God does not force things on people. It is our brothers and sisters who have been fellowshiping to you with their love. As far as God is concerned, if you refuse to settle your notions through seeking out the truth, then you were kicked aside long ago. And some of the people that enter the church are those who God detests, as soon as He hears them He will be disgusted, and at first glance it will be clear they are people who do not love the truth.

　　Let’s continue reading the word of God. “And so people treat Him as an ordinary man; they do as they please when they are with Him, and speak careless words to Him, all the while still waiting for the coming of the ‘true Christ.’” Still waiting for the “true Christ” to come, is this kind of person a non-believer? This is a non-believer. Even after all of God’s work is done, this person will still be waiting for the “true Christ” to come. So what exactly is the “true Christ” referring to? It’s referring to the transfiguration of God. When God is clothed in the flesh as Christ, that is the period when God does work and saves man. If it is not until Christ is transfigured that you believe, accept and fall face down before Him, what then would God say? “Because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Who was the Lord Jesus saying these words to? Thomas. What kind of person was Thomas? He was always suspicious. He always generated suspicions toward God. He always spoke based on his notions and imagination. So, according to what we know about God’s revelation of man’s true image in our experience of God’s work, we can draw a portrait of Thomas and he can be correctly called an “unbeliever.” If Thomas were in the work of God in the last days, he would be a nonbeliever, and Paul would be of service as an antichrist. If the “true Christ” actually comes, He will be the transfiguration of Christ, like the Lord Jesus who was resurrected from death and turned into a spiritual body to appear among men for 40 days. There were at least 500 people that came to witness the appearance of the Lord Jesus. That is certain. That is the “true Christ,” Christ who fits into man’s notions. He can walk through any windows in His way, He can pass through any obstructing walls. He comes without a warning and leaves without a trace. Some people think this is what it is to be God. If you see this kind of God appear before you then you are in trouble, you will be condemned. After the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, some people finally acknowledged Him, “The Lord has been resurrected, so now I believe.” This is what it took for you to believe. It’s too late. So, in the religious world people are always waiting and hoping to see Christ come down upon a cloud. That is the “true Christ.” But when will that day come? It is the time when God will appear publicly. On that day when they witness Christ come down upon a cloud, they will be condemned. “All the people will weep in sorrow.” Isn’t this the scene that will appear? The prophecy in chapter 1, verse 7 of the Book of Revelation will come true: “Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”  But in the end people in the religious world will ask: “Who are You?” It’s just like Paul asking the Lord Jesus, “Who are You?” How did the Lord Jesus reply? “I am Jesus whom you persecute” (Acts 9:5). At that time Paul’s heart broke, a sudden chill overcame him, and his entire body went into shock as he fell down, proclaiming: “Jesus, He who I have persecuted, truly is Christ! The true Christ! It’s all over! All hell will break loose!” Now, in the religious world they are all waiting and hoping for God to descend and make Himself known, but on what day is He going to do this? Will it be on a happy day or a day of calamity? The day of weeping and gnashing one’s teeth will come. At that time, the words we speak now will come about as predicted: “You will not shed tears until death stares you in the face.”

　　Let’s continue reading the word of God. “You regard the Christ that has already come as an ordinary man and His word as that of an ordinary man. Therefore, you have not received anything from Christ and have instead completely exposed your ugliness to the light.” This is troublesome. Right now we all gather together every day to fellowship in the word of Christ—in all the truths God has expressed in the last days. The entire religious world will not understand. They will say that these people have gone mad in their faith, that they read and fellowship about the word of Almighty God every day while they set aside the word of the Bible. They will say, is this not apostasy? But they do not know it is expressed by God in the last days, and it is these words of God that are able to truly cleanse and save man! All the words that came before this have paved the way, they are all preparatory words. They cannot cleanse, save and transform man! How far backward must the notions of religious people go? At least 2,000 years! Right? You’ve witnessed many evil people and antichrists being expelled from the house of God. Few of them become believers in religion. So what kind of people are able to get into religion? Those who retreat after just believing for a few days are able to go into religion. Those who are scared away by the great red dragon, the Communist Party, are able to escape into religion. Everyone in the house of God who has believed for several years, they will not return to religion. As soon as they hear pastors or elders give a sermon they will think: “This is so shallow, this is so backward, they are behind 2,000 years!” They will not truly hear what is being said. They will not be satisfied or quenched by what they hear. What issue does this highlight? This proves that what we eat and drink here in the Church of Almighty God truly is all of the truth that will cleanse man and save man! God’s work in the Age of Grace and in the Age of Law has paved the way, but, those words are not able to ultimately cleanse man, save man and transform man’s disposition. Only that which is issued forth by Christ in the last days, only that which is issued forth in the work of judgment will be able to cleanse and rescue man.    

139-A-6

　　Let’s continue fellowshiping the word of God. “Prior to contact with Christ, you may believe that your disposition has been entirely transformed, you may believe that you are a loyal follower of Christ, and you may believe that you are most worthy to receive the blessings of Christ. For you have traveled many roads, done much work, and brought forth much fruit, so you must be a person who receives the crown in the end.” Are there a lot of people that speak these kinds of words? There are many of these kinds of people. In the Age of Grace, there were many people like this. There are also many in the Age of Kingdom. They keep these thoughts in their mind. Let’s continue reading. God said: “Yet there is one truth that you do not know: The corrupt disposition and rebellion and resistance of man are exposed when he sees Christ, and the rebellion and resistance exposed on such occasion are more absolute and complete than on any other.” This is the truth, this is a fact. Why is it that man’s rebellion and resistance becomes so completely exposed whenever he sees Christ? Why is it usually not so completely exposed? Usually man does not see God, so his rebellion and resistance to God cannot be exposed. But when he sees God, he starts to have notions in his mind, he starts to produce notions directed at God and rebel against God directly, and he starts to judge and resist God. So, at this time his rebellion and resistance is more completely exposed than at any other time, for it is aimed directly at God. What one exposes in front of his fellow man is usually directed at another person, not at God. But some of what is directed at another person partially touches upon God, though it is not aimed directly at God, so it cannot be said that this is the most complete exposure of one’s rebellion and resistance to God. You can see how that is so, right? “It is because Christ is the Son of man and possesses normal humanity that man neither honors nor respects Him.” It is because He is a man, especially an unremarkable and ordinary man that people’s arrogance and self-righteousness, and their dishonor and disrespect toward Him are so completely exposed. If Christ were a lofty man, or if He were a man who could perform miraculous signs and wonders, then people would have some fear of Him, and they would not dare expose themselves so completely. Isn’t that so? Think of someone that I have dealt with and pruned. He generated notions and resistance, and then what did he say behind my back? “How does he not have the courage to come to my home? He knows that if he came I would report him!” What do you think about this person speaking in this way? “He knows that if he came I would report him!” Antichrists and wicked men are like this. Men that have been expelled are like this. When I saw that this was a wicked man, I dealt with him, I exposed him. When I did this no words were uttered from his mouth. But behind my back, the more he pondered it, the angrier he became. As he became angrier, hatred grew in his heart until behind my back he said something like: “He knows that if he came I would report him, that I would have the police arrest him.” But if Christ were able to perform miraculous signs and wonders like the Lord Jesus, and put people to death or bring the dead back to life just by saying a single word, would this person dare report Him? He would not report Him. If he were to see this, he would think to himself: “Wow, He has divinity, He is able to perform miraculous signs and wonders, He really is God. So if someone were to say something that resisted Him, then wouldn’t they be done for as soon as He uttered a single word?” He wouldn’t dare do it. So, with God incarnate appearing as an ordinary man who cannot perform miraculous signs and wonders, and who cannot come and go as He pleases, people then dare to persecute, they dare to condemn, and they dare to resist. There’s nothing they wouldn’t dare to do. This completely exposes the nature of mankind. If God incarnate were able to perform miraculous signs and wonders, this would conform to people’s notions, and they would be able to constrain themselves a little bit more. So, would they be so completely exposed? They would not. If man is not completely exposed, how can he be unmasked and judged? So, with Christ coming again in the last days, the significance of His incarnation is complete. For there are no miraculous signs or wonders in His incarnation in the last days. He is an ordinary man. His divinity is concealed. This completely exposes the essential nature of mankind. In particular, this exposes those who do not love the truth and who dare to so frantically condemn and say all sorts of blasphemies. These people are completely exposed. Is this not the wisdom of God? This is the wisdom of God. So, in this way, when God determines the outcome of all men in the last days, it is completely just and fair, for He will determine each man’s outcome based on all they have done and all they have shown. Nobody will be able to fake who they are, the true facts will be made known, and in this way each man’s outcome will be determined in a just and fair manner. God is so wise in working this way! If Almighty God and the Lord Jesus in the flesh were completely the same, if He were conceived by the Holy Spirit and could perform miraculous signs and wonders, could this kind of result be attained? If that were so, there would be many people in the religious world who would also believe, and the great red dragon would not dare to act with such resistance. If that were so, would it make it easier or more difficult for God’s work of judgment in the last days to have a favorable result? It would make it more difficult. In addition, it would also make it more difficult to determine a man’s outcome, for many men are hypocrites and live under false identities. On the outside it doesn’t look like they do anything wrong. So, that is why it makes so much sense for God incarnate to be a normal man. Therein lies the wisdom and almightiness of God. This is totally the wisdom of God!

　　Let us continue reading the word of God: “It is because God lives in the flesh that the rebellion of man is brought to light thoroughly and vividly. So I say that the coming of Christ has unearthed all the rebellion of mankind and has thrown the nature of mankind into sharp relief. This is called ‘luring a tiger down the mountain’ and ‘luring a wolf out of the cave.’” When we have read up to here, can you see the wisdom of God or not? This is the result that is achieved when God becomes incarnate as a regular man in the last days. You see in the religious world how their resistance has become more frantic and more radical, and you see how the great red dragon’s attacks and blasphemies have gotten more savage and more sinister. This proves that the purpose of God’s work is being achieved, for they are being completely exposed. Right now we are spreading the gospel in the religious world, but the religious world is starting to totally seal the churches off. It is a new round of condemnation and blasphemy being launched by the religious world, but soon their outcome will be completely determined. So why do we say that the antichrists in the religious world are the enemy of God? It’s because they try to exercise control over God’s chosen people and those who believe in God. They do not deliver them to God. They are fighting with God over God’s chosen people. They are trying to claim that they are equal to God. They are trying to set up an independent kingdom. So, God hates and curses the antichrists much more than He hates the Pharisees. So, when the great disaster arrives, the religious world will meet with more complete and more obvious destruction, so that people can witness the hatred that God has toward the religious world. Is God’s hatred toward the religious world greater than His hatred toward nonbelievers? Yes, it is. Why is it greater? They also believe in God, so why is it that God has such great hatred toward them? Because they are interrupting and disturbing God’s work. They are obstructing the carrying out of God’s will. They are trying to hold control over people who believe in God. They are trying to control them within their churches, not allowing them to receive the true way or investigate the true way. They have ruined the souls of many people who believe in God, so it is they who are the enemy of God. Nonbelievers have no faith and are devils. God will just directly destroy them, so He does not get very angry about them. This is not so with the religious world, for they have set themselves against God, they disturb and interrupt God’s work, and they have committed countless evils! They have ruined the souls of many people who believe in God! They truly do have a lot of debts and blood on their hands. They are devils drinking the blood of saints. Therefore, God hates them even more than He hates those nonbelievers. That is because He directly destroys the nonbelievers, but for the religious world He will punish and destroy them. This you ought to understand. For many people, as soon as they hear me unmask the antichrists of the religious world, they have a bad reaction, they get notions, and they feel dissatisfied with me. What kind of people are these? These are people who do not love the truth. They worship the pastors and the elders of the religious world, which proves that they are going down the same path that those in the religious world are. So, they are in resistance to God.  

　　Let us go back and read some more from the word of God: “Can you say that you are loyal to God? Can you say that you show absolute obedience to God? Can you say that you are not rebellious?” Do you dare say these things? Your faith, faithfulness and obedience toward the vague God won’t be counted, God says there is no confirmation or piece of evidence for that. So what does God use to reveal the true fact? He uses the work of Christ and the expressions of Christ to reveal man. What is your attitude toward Christ? What is your attitude toward the truth? Do you have faith in Christ? Do you obey Christ? Do you have faithfulness in Christ? Based on this, God can determine how much faith, faithfulness and obedience you have in God. This is based on facts, so it is the most practical! You say that you obey God, the God in heaven, so now think about whether or not you are obedient in your treatment of Christ. If you are obedient in your treatment of Christ, then that proves that you are obedient to the God in heaven. You say that you have faithfulness in the God in heaven, but if you do not have faithfulness in Christ, then that proves that your faithfulness in the God in heaven is false. If you say that you have faith in the God in heaven, but you do not have true faith in Christ, then your faith in the God in heaven is also vague and not practical. But God does things in a very practical way! So, it is Christ in the last days who comes to carry out the work of judgment, to determine the outcome of every person. This is the most just, fair and rational manner.

　　Let us continue reading the word of God. “Some will say: Each time that God creates my surroundings, I always obey and never complain. In addition, I hold no notions about God. Some will say: All the work tasked to me by God, I do to the best of my ability and am never remiss. Then I ask you this: Can you be compatible with Christ when you live alongside Him?” Think about it. You say that you are able to obey everything from the God in heaven, that you are able to complete everything He entrusts you with, yet God asks you this word, “Can you be compatible with Christ when you live alongside Him?” He uses this to confirm whether your obedience, your faithfulness and your faith in God are actually true or false. If you are compatible with Christ, then everything you utter is true. If you are not compatible with Christ, then everything you say is false. God is just and fair to all people. Below the word of God also says: “And how long will you be compatible with Him? One day? Two days? One hour? Two hours?” Do you all think you are truly compatible with Christ if you are compatible with Him for one hour or two hours? If you are compatible with Him for one day or two days, is that being truly compatible? It is not. If you are compatible with Him for one or two years, is that being truly compatible? That also is not. If 3 to 5 years go by, or 7 to 8 years go by, and the whole time when the work of God is being carried out you are always able to be compatible with Christ, then this could demonstrate the point. Some people do service for Christ only for a year or two. What do these people say? “There will be great disasters in these two years, I must hurry and do service, or else I will be forsaken!” Then once two years pass, they look around and think to themselves: “No disasters have come! They haven’t come, so I might as well not do service, I might as well enjoy the world and enjoy my wealth.” Is this being compatible with Christ? The service this person did for that year or two wasn’t without resistance. They had their notions and imagination. It was limited obedience. They were reluctant. It was not real. Nowadays there are still people who always ask this question: “When will the great disasters actually come to pass? Can’t you give me a specific time? If you tell me right now a specific time, then I will forsake everything, I will cast away all, and I will expend myself for God. If you cannot give me a specific time, do not deceive me, I still want to enjoy the next several years.” What is wrong with the people who speak like this? Are they sincerely expending themselves for God? Is expending themselves in this way being truly obedient to God? Are they compatible with Christ when they pay the price like this? They expend themselves in a limited manner, for a set amount of time and under particular circumstances. “I will not expend myself for God until the great disasters are here.” They act out of fear of disasters! What does it mean to be afraid of disasters? It means that they will only do some service for God whenever they feel afraid of death. This is a transaction. This is wanting to take advantage of God. This is cheating God! So are these kinds of people resisting God? Not only are these people not obedient to God, but they are also trying to carry out a transaction with God. They are trying to cheat God, fool God and resist God. Is this an okay way to look at it? Our opinion is based on understanding thoroughly the essence of the issue and it is a definition according to the essence of the issue. Can the religious world accept this kind of definition? Would the religious world be okay with accepting it? They are not. The words are so practical and the conclusion is based on the essence of the issue, yet they do not accept it. So do these religious people love the truth? Do they have the ability to receive? This is unknown, isn’t it?     

    

139-A-7

　　God said: “Your faith is indeed commendable, but you do not have much steadfastness.” Why do you not have much steadfastness? Because you don’t have the truth and you don’t understand God, and so you use a deceitful and limited form of expenditure for God. Therefore, your steadfastness is short-lived and you don’t have much steadfastness. Now what is the duration of this steadfastness, the persistence of this steadfastness related to? What does it have to do with the intentions of man? Also, what does it have to do with the faith of man? What does it have to do with man’s submission toward God? They are all related. It has more to do with man’s understanding of God. The steadfastness of a person is not a simple thing; it involves many aspects of the reality of truth! Here God said, “but you do not have much steadfastness,” which conceals many issues. If one’s expenditure for God is not sincere, can he have great steadfastness? Can he have enduring steadfastness? Of course not. He is not in true submission to Christ and has not attained true compatibility with Him. Can he have true devotion for Christ? Can he follow Christ to the end? Certainly not.

　　Let’s continue reading God’s words: “When you truly live with Christ, your self-rightness and self-importance will be slowly exposed by your words and actions, and so shall your excessive desires and disobedience and discontent be spontaneously revealed. Finally, your arrogance will become ever greater, and when you become as incompatible with Christ as water is with fire, then your nature will be entirely exposed.” This is the entire process of man’s nature being exposed in God’s presence, it deepens and becomes worse little by little until it is completely exposed. It is not that in one day it is completely exposed. Some people are exposed in one day as enemies and as devils. That kind of person’s nature is too wicked, and it is so obvious; one look at their outer appearance and you can tell they are not good. Some have the outer appearances of good people, but in fact their inner substance is not fond of truth—this requires some time to expose. Some human natures are more crafty and more treacherous. This kind of person requires even more time to be exposed. Some people are more simple and open, and it does not take long for them to be exposed. Some people hide their natures deep inside and are more introverted. This kind of person takes longer and has to be exposed through all manner of events. Therefore, the durations needed for exposing people’s natures are all different; it is determined by the substance of the person’s nature and their temperament.

　　God said: “At that time, your notions can no longer be veiled. Your complaints, too, will spontaneously be expressed, and your vile humanity will be entirely exposed. However, you continue to disavow your own rebellion. And you believe that a Christ such as this is not easy to accept and He is overly stringent with man, and you would wholly submit if He were a different, kinder Christ.” Is there this kind of person? There is. Why is this? He rebels so much and after he is exposed, he murmurs against Christ, saying that Christ has driven him to do so and saying that if Christ were kinder, more gentle, and more loving, then he wouldn’t be exposed that much. Is this not preposterous reasoning? This is preposterous reasoning! What idiom can describe people who speak fallaciously? It is they are “beyond reason.” Can people who are beyond reason seek the truth? They won’t seek it; they are not fond of truth, and because they are not fond of truth, they speak fallaciously and always argue speciously. “And you believe that a Christ such as this is not easy to accept and He is overly stringent with man….” Whether or not Christ is easy to accept has nothing to do with whether or not the substance of people’s natures are exposed. Right? If Christ was difficult to accept, then would that mean the things exposed in the substance of your nature are fake? Are they not real? If Christ were kinder, and some of your corruption was not exposed, then would it mean that by not exposing your corruptness you don’t have that corruption? Is your nature good? Can it prove this? It cannot. Then tell me, regardless of what kind of Christ there is, would it be better to allow your rebellious nature to be exposed, or would it be better to hide it? All think it is better to be exposed. Why is it better to be exposed? It makes it easy for you to understand yourself; your corruption can be cured and cleansed! If it wasn’t exposed, then you would never come to understand yourself, you would never see through the reality of your corruption, and your corruption would never be able to be cured. Isn’t this right? Then what kind of Christ is better and more beneficial for our salvation? The Christ that is able to lure the tiger down the mountain and the wolf out of the cave is better, right? If He was a lofty Christ who was able to perform miracles, then would your corruption, rebelliousness and resistance be able to be exposed? It would not be able to be exposed! Could exposing rebellious natures be advantageous for God’s judgment work and for saving man and cleansing man? All say that is.

　　We find a common weakness among corrupt people, that is, the degree in which people’s rebelliousness and corruption is exposed, is the degree to which they are able to understand and admit. If it was not exposed, then they would never admit it and more so would not understand. Isn’t this a common weakness? This only applies to the more reasonable and conscientious people, and you could say that he who is able to do this is a good person and a reasonable person. Without reason, one would still not admit it even when his nature was exposed. He would say that this is an exceptional situation and in a normal situation he wouldn’t have this. This special case was forced upon him and this is not his true form. Therefore, many people who don’t pursue after truth don’t understand what they have exposed and revealed. They think that is something they only do occasionally, when in fact it represents the substance of their natures. People don’t bow their heads until they look at the facts, they refuse to accept the facts until they are faced with the grim reality. This is a common weakness of mankind. This was how I experienced; I admitted and bowed my head only after much of my corruption was exposed. If it wasn’t exposed, then I would think that I was really good and was better than the average person. Isn’t this how you are? All admit it. What do some people say when I deal with and expose them? “Oh, I am a devil, I am Satan, I am an antichrist. I should be expelled and cursed.” I say: “Do you really mean these words you are saying? Are they coming from the heart or are you just speaking bombastically? If it is really coming from the heart, then you are greater than myself and understand more clearly! If you are speaking bombastically, then that is troublesome and you are lying to God! You are disguising yourself and you are hypocritical. You are a Pharisee.” How do some people understand themselves? Once I deal with them and disclose their evil, they slap themselves in the mouth, saying, “I am a devil, I am Satan, I should be cursed.” When people see how this kind of person behave, they say, “Oh, speaking this way is not easy, this is remarkable, he is saying this while slapping himself. This is coming from the bottom of his heart, this is true!” I say: “You are being duped, you are foolish.” They say: “How is this foolish?” I say: “Ask him, in what way is he a devil or Satan, what has he said that is of the devil or Satan? Let him speak, he is guaranteed not to say anything. You ask him: ‘You say you should be cursed, then why should you be cursed? How is your humanity? Are you a person? Do you have humanity? Do you have a conscience?’ Let him talk about this.” Once it involves his humanity, he won’t utter a word, he won’t say that he doesn’t have humanity and he is an animal. He always says “the devil Satan” to lie, to pretend, and to get by. Isn’t this his lying technique? This person is not speaking realistically, he is speaking bombastically and is hiding his substance and truth. If he says “What I did was too immoral and I don’t have humanity. I greatly lack conscience and reason, I am not a person!” These words are more realistic. He is merely saying he is a devil, Satan, to generalize himself, and is not saying whether he is a person or what area of his humanity is most deplorable. So there is deceitfulness in what he is saying. What is the most difficult thing for people to speak about? It involves the most deplorable areas of their humanity. For example, someone who stole money says: “Oh, this matter is deplorable, I can’t talk about this, I can’t open my mouth.” For example, someone who raped someone else says: “Oh, I feel indebted to that person, this can’t be spoken of, this matter can’t be mentioned!” Once people are allowed to examine themselves regarding this kind of mistake and corruptness, then they say, “Oh, I am a devil, I am Satan,” then they are finished speaking. Isn’t this a cover-up? What should they say that is more truthful and realistic? If they said “Today I found out that I don’t have humanity, I am just an animal! I stole money from someone, I raped someone’s daughter, I cheated a widow, I took advantage of a pitiful orphan.” If someone is able to speak about these deplorable matters, and disclose them in front of everyone, then this person’s understanding of himself is honest and sincere. Being open about deplorable and unspeakable matters takes a lot of courage, and I have a lot of admiration for this kind of person. Who are you trying to deceive in speaking of your own corruption, saying “I am a devil, I am Satan”? How are you not able to speak of the most unspeakable things!

　　Now, do we understand why the flesh God wears during the incarnation is ordinary and normal in appearance? Everyone has some understanding. Then what kind of flesh is most suitable for the judgment work of revealing mankind? Is it a great image, or is it the image of an unremarkable, ordinary person? Which image is better? All say the image of an unremarkable, ordinary person is better. Is a flesh who manifests miracles better, or is a flesh who does not manifest miracles better? All say that a flesh who does not manifest miracles is better. The more ordinary and normal God’s flesh is, the more people despise Him and the more beneficial it is to revealing man. This is God’s wisdom. Not manifesting miracles in the slightest degree reveals God’s wisdom. When you experience to the end, if you are able to see much of what God has and is through Christ, see God’s disposition being revealed and exposed, and see that there is so much to love about God, then that counts as you understanding God. If you are able to see in Christ the three aspects I just spoke about, then you understand God. Finally, when one day you experience to a certain level and see all the words of God—of Christ in the last days—have been fulfilled and achieved, you will persistently praise God. God incarnate is almighty and wise, and has finally completed and gained a group of people! The more people say that you believe in a man, the more your faith is strengthened. The more people say that this is an ordinary person, the more you say that the ordinary person is the most practical God. The more people blaspheme, attack and judge the incarnate Christ, the more you follow Him, show devotion to Him and submit to Him. This proves that you are in compatibility with Christ and that you are of the same heart and mind as God. You stand at God’s side at all times, you haven’t been toppled by Satan or confused by Satan, and you have ultimately broken away from Satan’s influence and from Satan’s corruption. This is a group of people ultimately perfected and obtained through God’s work in the last days.

139-A-8

Questions & Answers

Question 1: How can I come to an understanding of the loveliness and righteous disposition of God through the judgment and chastisement work that God carries out on me, and through this, how can I find a way to love God in my heart?

　　Answer: This depends mainly on a person’s ability to accept. Nowadays there are sermons and fellowship of God’s house, leaders and workers also fellowship. Sometimes brothers and sisters come together, and they too will fellowship. In addition to all of these aspects, it is also very convenient for you to eat and drink the word of God on your own. In this kind of environment where the truth exists, if someone’s caliber is truly good, and if they love the truth, then they ought to be able to reap some rewards after believing in God for several years. And after believing in God for many years they ought to be able to obtain the truth, isn’t that so? So how come there are some people who believe in God for a decade yet they still obtain very little of the truth and have a very shallow understanding? What problem do they have? This has to do with a person’s caliber. People who have a good caliber and have a love of the truth will obtain the truth quickly, and after believing in God for several years they will be able to reap many rewards. If one’s caliber is lacking then they will obtain very little, for even though they may believe in God for many years, they simply listen to sermons and fellowship but are not able to seek entry in their own experiences. Take for instance God’s words of judgment. The paragraph from the word of God that we just read, does it contain any of God’s words of judgment? It is all words of judgment, it is judging all kinds of people’s situations. It is all words of judgment. So after reading it what did you come to understand? What aspect of God’s disposition did you come to understand? God reveals man through becoming flesh, and through coming into contact with man He makes known to us our corruption, disobedience and resistance. Why would God act in this way? What is God’s objective, what is the effect and significance of Him acting in this way? Do you have pure acceptance? This is a step that God must take to purify and save man. God’s judgment in the last days achieves its results through revealing man and perfecting man, through making man know himself, and through making man know God through His word. This is the inside story of God’s work of salvation. If someone doesn’t contemplate God’s intentions after reading the word of God, if they don’t try to figure out God’s intentions, God’s wisdom or God’s almightiness through the word of God, or the significance of God working in this way, and, in addition, if they don’t grasp God’s intentions from this as to what God wants them to understand, what God wants them to obtain and what God wants them to have knowledge of, then they will not gain anything. If someone doesn’t ponder the word of God, will they be able to obtain the truth from the word of God? They will not obtain the truth. Think about what I have been talking about today with you all, some of what I said has come from contemplating the word of God, it is all fellowship about the word of God. Look at some of the words from my fellowship, can these words be found in the word of God? They are not literally found in the word of God, but they are concealed within. They are concealed within the meaning of the word of God. Chinese people have a saying that translates roughly as “understanding the unspoken implications.” It means that there are hidden meanings in words, that the truth is concealed within words. So if you don’t think things over, if you don’t put your mind to it, if you don’t experience things, if you don’t seek things out, then you will not see beyond the surface of words, and you will never obtain what is hidden within them. There are a lot of people who have read from the word of God often and who have spent a lot of time performing their duties, so why is it that they have a shallow understanding of the truth, why is it that their knowledge always stops at the surface meanings of words? Why? This has to do with a man’s caliber. It also is directly related to someone not being good at thinking things over, or putting their mind to something, or seeking the truth.

　　What is the issue that you raised just now? “How can we experience the judgment and chastisement of God in a way that will make us come to an understanding of the righteous disposition and loveliness of God? How can we gain entry into this?” This means that you are not able to experience the judgment and chastisement of God. For this section of the word of God that we just fellowshiped, do you feel that you have gone through this kind of situation? Did these revealing words of God go straight into your heart? Is this your actual situation? You all say it is. We can say without a doubt that these situations revealed by the word of God are not just for you, and not just for me, but rather it is the situation of all of God’s chosen people who accept Christ of the last days. Isn’t that right? You accept this, so then what do you do about it? All of these people’s situations that are revealed by the word of God, aren’t they just revelations of the corruption of man? Aren’t they just the conceptions and imagination of man? What ultimate consequences will arise, can you see it? If you think to yourself that “these words are God’s judgment and revelation of me, I must accept them,” and then as soon as you accept them you think to yourself, “What should I equip myself with? What should I possess? How should I pursue the truth in a way that I’ll be able to solve these revelations of corruption and the root of my corruption?” If these are things you consider, then you ought to seek the truth! Once you seek the truth, then after a while you will be able to see the effect, and after a decade or so of believing you will have been able to solve many problems. Now, that’s not to say that after you read a passage from the word of God and ponder it for one hour, you will be able to say to yourself, “I got it, I’ve obtained the truth from this passage of the word of God and experienced all of it.” Could it really be that simple? It is not that simple. How long do you all think it would take to experience the truth in this passage of God’s words to the point to where these conceptions and imagination of man, and their corruption could be solved? It would take at least 3 to 5 years to see these issues completely clearly, right? Let me give you an example. Consider a household, with a kid who has grown to be in their early teens, and their parents tell them that later in life they will have to get married and start a career, would they be able to immediately accept this? They would not. Would they be able to admit that what their parents say is correct? Even if they admitted that what their parents were saying is correct, would they possess that kind of stature? They would not. So, without possessing this kind of stature, how many years would it take before they could comprehend, before they could come to understand these things that their parents give so much thought to, these good intentions that their parents have about them growing up, getting married and starting careers? “Without raising a child, you can’t know what parenting is like.” They would have to wait until they raise children themselves, until they get married and start a career, then they would know how their parents felt back when they told them of these things when they were in their early teens. It would take at least 10 years to be able to understand these things clearly, right? Could it happen in 5 or 6 years? Even when they are 15 or 16 years old they may not be old enough. You have to wait until you start a family and a career to understand this! So, to experience this passage issued forth by Christ, generally speaking, how long would it take from the first time you read the passage to when you come to have a complete understanding of it? Perhaps after 3 to 5 years you will come to know it thoroughly through your personal experiences, but this is the bare minimum for those whose caliber is good. At most, it would take up to twice that long to guarantee that you understand it clearly. Would 6 months or a year be okay? It would not be okay. So it takes a certain number of years for some things to happen, and it would not be okay otherwise, because they are not things that take just a few days. There are always some people that ask me: “Can you help me understand the truth more quickly? Can’t you tell me in a couple of days all the keys to believing in God, so I can do work within a year’s time?” I tell them they are talking nonsense, for this is something about life. For me to be able to fellowship with you all today in this way, to speak in this way, how much work has the Holy Spirit had to do? How many years of experience have I had to gain? It has been 30 years! For those among you who pursue the truth, who are of comparatively good caliber, it will still take at the very least 15-20 years. Won’t it require this much time? If you don’t understand that it will take a certain amount of time for things to happen, that is not good. If you just rely on your imagination that is not good. Look around you, there are those of you who are well educated, who really have a good caliber and who are of good moral standing. But if these people have less than 10 years of experience, their sermons will still rely too heavily on doctrines. But after going through 10 years of experiences, they will have more real things to say, they will be able to say more honest words, words with experience behind them. After 10 years some people are able to make something of themselves, and there are some who will be able to become better than me. Currently they are already well educated and eloquent in their speech, but it is in their experiences where they are lacking. At the very least it will take a dozen or so years before we see that some of them are better than me. It won’t do in a short period of time. No matter how good your caliber is, it won’t do if you just experience it for a short period of time. For this passage of the word of God, you will need to experience it for at least 3 to 5 years. After experiencing it for 3 to 5 years you will find that these words are so practical, and that they have laid bare man’s situation, which you have come to understand completely. You will have personally experienced these words and fulfilled some of God’s requirements of man in these words. At the very least it will take 3 to 5 years, and then when you re-read them, you will feel they are particularly familiar and particularly real. The contribution that this passage brings to man is of a very profound significance toward God’s perfection and purification of man, and this passage communicates a very important truth: “Those Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God.” Why doesn’t God say that only those who are compatible with Christ are the ones who are truly obedient to God? Why doesn’t He say it in this way? It is of more significance if He says it in His way; at a minimum if you are not able to be compatible with Christ, if you are someone who is incompatible with Christ, then you are condemned, and you will be eliminated. So, for these words, it’s not important whether they are spoken in a positive way or in a negative way, what is important is to say it in an effective way. God says things in the most intelligent way, there is always significance and wisdom in His wording. This is something that you ought to be aware of. In regard to the issue we just raised, that is, how to gain knowledge of God through experiencing the judgment of Christ, it is not enough to just explain how to do so. It requires real fellowship.

　　Question 2: In reality, when I treat my own actions that do not conform to the principles of truth and the revelation of my corruption, most of the time I am dissecting and understanding, and at the time I attach a lot of importance to it. But after a while I will go back to going down the beaten track. God says: “My sole hope is that you are able to care for yourselves, able to take care of yourselves, not place so much emphasis on your destination that you view your behavior and transgressions with indifference.” Reading these words of God makes me somewhat worried. Please fellowship about how I should go about entering this aspect of the truth where I “put emphasis on my behavior and transgressions.”

　　Answer: For this aspect of the truth, don’t just focus on any one aspect, it’s no good to just focus on any one aspect. You should first have a large, fixed and clear-cut goal. Such as having true knowledge of God, this is a big goal. Within the big goal there are also some smaller principles, such as the principle of entry into life. The principle of entry into life is included in this issue. God says, “My sole hope is that you are able to care for yourselves, able to take care of yourselves.” What is meant by “caring for” and “taking care of”? “… not place so much emphasis on your destination that you view your behavior and transgressions with indifference,” so on what foundation is your destination established? People must attach importance to reality; if all you do is just for your destination, and you don’t pursue the truth, then will you be able to resolve your transgressions and bad behavior? If you are clear about it right now, you ought to attach importance to your transgressions and bad behavior, and resolve these things quickly. So then what is required in order to resolve your transgressions? You must be equipped with the truth! If you do not possess the truth, then your behavior will not change, but as soon as you possess the truth then your behavior will change, and your transgressions will naturally cease to be. If you do not possess the truth it will not be possible to have no transgressions, nor will you be able to change your behavior in a way that conforms to God’s intentions, for these things can only be accomplished through understanding the truth. If a man understands the truth, if the truth holds power and has a place in one’s heart, then their behavior will naturally be constrained and regulated by the truth. For instance, whenever people speak they unwittingly reveal what their viewpoints are, they unwittingly lay bare their attitudes. So what control are they subjected to? Does this have anything to do with one’s intention? It does. If someone understands some truths, then their mistaken attitudes, their mistaken intentions will be changed, they will be cleansed by the truth. Through understanding the truth you will see that your intentions and your attitude are contemptible, disobedient, disgraceful and false, and once you see this then you will forsake these things and naturally they will be stomped out and cast into the back of your mind. What will happen thereafter? You will manifest yourself as just and honorable, dignified and upright, and in accord with the truth. This will come about naturally. Isn’t this a change? This is a change. But what brought this change about? Was it your own self-control? Or did this transformation come about because you came to understand the truth? It came about because you came to understand the truth. For instance, perhaps there’s someone who at one time you adored a whole lot, but after believing in Almighty God for several years you get in touch with this person again and think to yourself: “Wow, this person really says a lot of cunning things, they’re very sly and very good at being hypocritical and disguising themselves.” Then afterward you start to feel loathing, disgust and hate toward this person. So why is it that you now feel loathing, disgust and hate toward this person? Is it because your attitude toward people has changed after these past several years? Has this change happened just because you weren’t in contact with this person? What caused this change? It’s because you understand many truths, and you can distinguish the false appearances of disguise and deceit, so your attitude toward them has changed. Now as soon as you look upon them you see they are not the same. When you understand the truth you will unwittingly go through changes. That isn’t a matter of whether or not you want to change. You do want to change, but if you don’t understand the truth then you won’t be able to change; you may not think of the change, but because you do understand the truth, you will change without knowing it. Before, you adored the religious pastors and elders, you thought that everything they said was correct, that they spoke in a very elevated manner, and you wondered to yourself: How come I cannot speak in this way? But after going through experiences in the house of God for several years, you will have some reality, and when you listen to these people again you will think to yourself: “Wow, these are all empty theories! They have an eloquent way of speaking, they possess knowledge, but they have no reality. Since they have no reality they speak of doctrines. If they aren’t hypocrites, then what are they?” As soon as you look at them you should be able to see through them. So what’s going on here? Where has this ability been learned from? What caused this change that all of a sudden you are able to see through them? It is only because you understand the truth that a change has come. So, just pursue the truth, and these problems are able to be changed. If you do not pursue the truth, you might know that you have this problem, but even if you want to change it that would be of no use, you would not be able to change it. All changes depend on one thing: Only the truth can change everything!

From Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life

Source from：The Church of Almighty God