They are the ones who can be perfected, and they will inevitably walk the path of perfection. Those without a clear understanding of God’s work, who do not eat and drink of God’s words, who pay no attention to His words, and who are without any love for God in their hearts—people like this cannot be perfected. Those who doubt God in the flesh, who remain uncertain about Him, who are never serious about His words, and who always deceive Him, they resist God and are of Satan—there is no way to perfect such people.
If you wish to be perfected, you must first be favored by God because He perfects those whom He favors and who are after His own heart. If you wish to be after God’s own heart, your heart must be obedient to God in His work, you must strive to pursue the truth, and you must accept God’s observation in all things. Has all you do undergone God’s observation? Is your intent correct? If your intent is correct, God will approve of you; if your intent is wrong, this shows that what your heart loves is not God, but the flesh and Satan. Therefore you must accept God’s observation in all things through prayer. When you pray, although My person is not there in front of you, the Holy Spirit is with you, and when you pray to this person, you also pray to the Spirit of God. Why do you believe in this flesh? Because He has the Spirit of God. Would you believe in this person without the Spirit of God? When you believe in this person, you believe in the Spirit of God. When you fear this person, you fear the Spirit of God. Faith in God’s Spirit is faith in this person, and faith in this person is also faith in the Spirit of God. When you pray, you feel the Spirit of God is with you, and that God is before you; therefore you pray to His Spirit. Today, most people are too afraid to bring their actions before God, and while you may deceive His flesh, you cannot deceive His Spirit. Any matter that cannot withstand God’s observation is not in accord with the truth and should be cast aside; otherwise it is a sin against God. So, no matter whether it’s when you pray, when you speak and fellowship with your brothers and sisters, or when you perform your duty and handle your business, you must lay your heart before God. When you fulfill your function, God is with you, and so long as your intent is correct and is for the work of God’s house, He will accept all you do, so you should earnestly devote yourself to fulfilling your function. When you pray, if you have love for God in your heart and seek God’s care, protection, and observation, if these are your intent, your prayers will be effective. For example, when you pray at meetings, if you open your heart and pray to God and tell Him what is in your heart without speaking falsehoods—then your prayers will be effective. If you earnestly love God in your heart, then make an oath to God: “God, who is in the heavens and on earth and among all things, I swear to You: May Your Spirit examine all I do and protect and care for me at all times. It makes it possible for all I do to stand in Your presence. Should my heart ever cease to love You or betray You, give me Your severe chastisement and curse. Pardon me in neither this world nor the next!” Do you dare make such an oath? If you do not, this shows you are cowardly, and that you still love yourself. Do you have this resolve? If this is truly your resolve, you must make this oath. If you have the resolve to make such an oath, God will fulfill your resolve. When you swear an oath to God, He listens. God determines whether you are sinful or righteous by your prayer and your practice. This now is the process of perfecting you, and if you truly have faith in being perfected, you will bring all you do before God and accept His observation, and if you do something outrageous or betray God, He will “perfect” you according to your oath, and then no matter what happens to you, be it perdition or chastisement, it is your own business. You made the oath, so you should carry it out. If you make an oath, but don’t carry it out, you will suffer perdition. Since you make the oath, God will perfect you according to your oath. Some are afraid after they pray, and say, “Oh no, my chance at debauchery is gone; my chance to do wicked things is gone; my chance to indulge my worldly greed is gone!” These people still love the world and sin, and they are certain to suffer perdition.
To be a believer in God means that all you do must be brought before Him and made subject to His observation. If what you do can be brought before God’s Spirit but not before God’s flesh, this shows that you have not subjected yourself to the observation of His Spirit. Who is the Spirit of God? Who is the person witnessed by God? Are They not one and the same? Most see Them as two, believing the Spirit of God is His alone, and the person witnessed by God is merely a man. But you’re wrong, aren’t you? On whose behalf does this person work? Those who do not know God incarnate do not have spiritual understanding. God’s Spirit and His incarnate flesh are one, because God’s Spirit is materialized in the flesh. If this person is unkind to you, will God’s Spirit be kind? Aren’t you confused? Today, any who cannot accept God’s observation cannot receive His approval, and any who do not know God incarnate cannot be perfected. Look at all that you do and see if it can be brought before God. If you cannot bring all that you do before God, this shows that you are an evildoer. Can evildoers be perfected? All that you do, every action, every intent, and every reaction must be brought before God. Even your daily spiritual life—your prayers, your closeness with God, eating and drinking of God’s words, fellowship with your brothers and sisters, living the life of the church, and your service in partnership—must be brought before God and observed by Him. It is such practice that will help you mature in life. The process of accepting God’s observation is the process of purification. The more you accept God’s observation, the more you are purified, and the more you are in accord with God’s will, so that you will not hear the call of debauchery and dissipation, and your heart will live in His presence. The more you accept His observation, the more ashamed Satan is and the more you are able to forsake the flesh. So, the acceptance of God’s observation is a path people must practice. No matter what you do, even during fellowship with your brothers and sisters, if you bring your acts before God and seek His observation, and if your intent is to obey God Himself, what you practice will be much more correct. Only if you bring all you do before God and accept God’s observation can you be someone who lives in the presence of God.
Those without understanding of God can never completely obey. People like this are sons of disobedience. They are too ambitious, and there is too much rebellion in them, so they distance themselves from God and are unwilling to accept His observation. People like this cannot be perfected easily. Some people are selective in how they eat and drink of God’s words and in their acceptance of them. They accept portions of God’s words which accord with their notions while rejecting those which do not. Is this not the most blatant rebellion and resistance against God? If someone believes in God for years without gaining even a little understanding of Him, he is an unbeliever. Those who are willing to accept God’s observation are those who pursue an understanding of Him, who are willing to accept His words. They are the ones who will receive God’s inheritance and blessings, and they are the most blessed. God curses those with no place for Him in their hearts. He chastises and abandons such people. If you do not love God, He will abandon you, and if you do not listen to what I say, I promise that God’s Spirit will abandon you. Try it if you don’t believe! Today I tell you a path of practice, but whether you put it into practice is up to you. If you are faithless, if you do not practice, you’ll see whether or not the Holy Spirit works in you! If you don’t pursue understanding of God, the Holy Spirit will not work in you. God works in those who pursue and treasure His words. The more you treasure God’s words, the more His Spirit will work in you. The more a person treasures God’s words, the greater his chance of being perfected by God. God perfects those who truly love Him. He perfects those whose hearts are at peace before Him. If you treasure all of God’s work, if you treasure God’s enlightenment, if you treasure God’s presence, if you treasure God’s care and protection, if you treasure how God’s words become your reality and provision for your life, you are most after God’s heart. If you treasure God’s work, if you treasure all the work that He has done upon you, He will bless you and cause all that is yours to multiply. If you do not treasure God’s words, He will not work on you, but He will only give you a little grace for your faith, or bless you with a little material wealth or safety for your family. You should strive to make God’s words your reality, satisfy Him and be after His own heart, and you should not merely strive to enjoy His grace. Nothing is more important for believers than to receive God’s work, gain perfection, and become ones who do God’s will. This is the goal you should pursue.
All that man pursued in the Age of Grace is now obsolete, because there is currently a higher standard of pursuit, a pursuit of something both loftier and more practical, a pursuit that can better satisfy what man requires inside. For those in ages past, God did not do today’s work upon them, He did not speak to them as much as He has spoken today, nor were His requirements of them as high as today. That God raises these things to you now shows that God’s ultimate intention is focused on you, this group. If you truly wish to be perfected by God, then pursue it as your central goal. No matter whether you are running around, spending yourself, serving a function, or are entrusted by God, you should seek to be perfected and satisfy God’s will. You should seek these in all you do. If someone says he does not pursue perfection by God or entry into life, but only pursues fleshly peace and joy, then he is utterly blind. Those who do not pursue the reality of life, but only pursue eternal life in the world to come and safety in this world are utterly blind. So, all that you do should be done for the purpose of being perfected and gained by God.
The work God does in people is to provide for them based on their different requirements. The larger a man’s life, the more he requires, and the more he pursues. If at this phase you have no pursuits, it proves the Holy Spirit has abandoned you. All those who pursue life will never be abandoned by the Holy Spirit—they always pursue, and always yearn. People like these are never content to rest where they are. Each phase of the Holy Spirit’s work aims to achieve an effect in you, but if you grow complacent, if you no longer have needs, if you no longer accept the work of the Holy Spirit, He will abandon you. People require God’s observation every day; they require abundant provision from God every day. Can people do without eating and drinking of God’s word every day? If someone always feels like he can’t eat or drink enough of God’s word, if he always seeks it and hungers and thirsts for it, the Holy Spirit will always do work upon him. The more someone yearns, the more practical things can come out of his fellowship. The more intensely someone seeks the truth, the more quickly his life grows, giving him rich experience and making him a wealthy man in the house of God.
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