Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life”

124-A-3

God’s word says: “… and there are those whom He makes perfect and those whom He eliminates.” “And there are those whom He makes perfect,” who is this referring to? It is referring to those that seek the truth and those in God’s house who are comparatively more honest. They lie a lot less than most, they are a lot less cunning than most and they are more innocent and open than most. There are those in the church that ask these people, “What kind of sins have you committed?” These people will, without hesitation, say what kind of sins they are guilty of. Isn’t this an honest person? Some people have secrets that they will not talk about. No matter how you ask them, they will say, “I have none, none!” They have hidden these secrets deep inside! These kinds of people are so sly. These kinds of people think they are so smart, but they have fallen prey to their own crafty schemes. God does not live in their hearts. You say an honest person is silly but, God will live in their heart. You can see who is smart and who is silly. “And there are those whom He makes perfect,” what kind of person does God perfect? Those that live according to His intentions. What kind of person lives according to God’s intentions? Honest, upright people. People who love the truth and truly make an effort for God. This can be summarized in a single phrase: people that seek the truth. These people can be perfected by God. How does God perfect them? Through the work of the Holy Spirit. Those that love the truth, always encounter dealing and pruning and trials. When it comes to communicating God’s words, they are always enlightened and illuminated within. God enlightens them. God moves them. Once they finish listening, they feel they have been reproached. They try to know themselves and reflect upon themselves. The more they do this, the more they see the depth of their corruption. The more they see their corrupt dispositions, the more they see themselves as poor and pitiful and the more they see themselves as lacking human-likeness. They begin to have regrets. They begin to hate themselves. They begin to think, “I must seek the truth. Those who do not accept the truth will be destroyed. God loathes and hates these people. God curses these kinds of people. I must seek the truth!” As a result, these people strive for the truth. The more they strive for the truth, the more the Holy Spirit works in them. The more they strive for the truth, the more the Holy Spirit enlightens them to understand the truth and the more able they are to find a path to practice. They understand more and more of the truth. In the end, they are able to do things according to principles. Once they understand one aspect of the truth, they start to have a path to practice it. They can begin doing things according to principles and put the truth into practice. The result is they unconsciously understand and gain more and more of the truth. Their life disposition starts to change, they start to blossom and they start seeing results. God’s work starts to yield more and more results with these kinds of people. After a few years of experience, they can enter the reality of many truths, and obtain some real experience with witnessing. Now they are able to assist and supply others at church and take on more of the work responsibilities at church. Doesn’t this confirm that they have stepped onto the path of perfection?

Presently, there are many people who fulfill their duties and feel, “In fulfilling my duties, I can see that I do not have any reality of the truth. Before, I felt that I understood some of the truth, but now, I realize it is all letters and doctrines and spiritual theoretical knowledge. None of it is the reality of the truth.” As a result, as these people perform their duties, they feel they are quite lacking. The more they feel they are lacking inside, the more they feel empty. The more empty they feel, the more uneasy they feel. If they are uneasy, they start feeling that a crisis exists, “If I do not seek the truth, I will surely be eliminated!” They have a sense of crisis. Once they have a sense of crisis, they become more honest, calm and low key. “I must bury my head in work. I won’t foolishly draw attention to myself. I won’t foolishly make myself visible. I am nothing, I have nothing to show!” When God’s chosen people see this, they say, “Why is this person burying his head in work without any complaints? Why doesn’t he show off his abilities? This person has changed for the better. He is not the same as before.” Is this someone who seeks the truth? He focuses on reality. He does not focus on doing things this way or that way. He does not focus on drawing attention to himself. He sees clearly what unbelievers seek and like. He thoroughly rejects all the things that are empty and superficial. He stops chasing after reputation, status and pride. These things do not have any value. He seeks the truth and fulfills his duties to repay God’s love. He pursues to become an honest person. These are the most important and dependable things to him. This kind of person will become perfected by God. After I pruned and dealt with some workers and leaders, I saw some of them become silent. They started focusing on doing actual work. I thought it was very good. They gained some self-knowledge. Not bad. After a period of further inspection, I found that they started getting some results. Their work started bearing fruit and they resolved some practical problems. I thought these people were okay. They could receive the truth. Not bad! They started seeing results in their work. Once they understand the truth, have an accurate target, direction and principles in terms of serving God, they will carry out God’s will. At the very least, they are able to follow God’s will, follow God’s way. With this kind of quality, there shouldn’t be any problems. Those whom God makes perfect are seekers of the truth. If they spend a lot of time and effort striving for the truth, they can still improve their inner qualities. They can reach an understanding of the truth and enter into the reality. Besides, they can put the truth into practice and do things according to principles. This kind of person will be perfected by God. If God makes them perfect, then they have God within their heart. God lives inside this person’s heart. This does not mean that God is controlling this person to the point where he or she directly speaks God’s words and does God’s work. God living in someone’s heart means He does the work of perfection, He watches over them, leads them and even disciplines them. In the end, the truth of God’s words and the way of eternal life that Christ has brought will reside in this person’s heart.

There are also those that are unable to be perfected. Those who are unable to be perfected by God will be eliminated by God. There are a few kinds of situations when it comes to being eliminated by God. There are those who are bored of the truth or who hate the truth. They are the first to be eliminated. There are those who are muddleheaded. They have gone through many sessions of discipline, pruning and dealing, yet they still do not seek the truth. They will also be eliminated. There is also another type of person that will be eliminated. Their inner qualities are inadequate and they are unable to understand the truth. You must have a certain amount of inner preparation to understand the truth. Some people’s inner quality is insufficient and they are unable to understand the truth. If their inner quality is insufficient, then no matter how you communicate with them, they will not understand the truth. No matter how you communicate the truth to them, they are unable to find a path of practice. No matter how you communicate the truth to them, the only thing they can do is abide by the rules. They cannot do anything else. What kind of problem is this? Those whose inner qualities are too deficient, who can only abide by the rules, can they be perfected by God? They cannot be perfected by God. If their inner qualities are deficient, but they have a heart that truly believes in God, and they devoutly make an effort for God, then how will God treat this kind of person? Do you know the plans that are in place for this kind of person? This kind of person is a service-doer. Devoted service-doers will be saved. Those who are not devoted, those who are eliminated along the way or those who abandon the path themselves along the way will be eliminated and exterminated. Their fate is the same as that of unbelievers. Within the category of service-doers, there is a small portion that will be saved. This small portion encompasses the service-doers that have a comparatively good humanity and are devoted to the end. These people will be saved. These people will not die. When they encounter disasters, they will be protected by God. Understood? Right now, if you look at each and every person who cannot understand the spirit, there is a certain number of these people who will never be able to understand the spirit. There is also another portion that, if they repeatedly listen to sermons, will one day eventually be able to understand the spirit. If they listen long enough, if they hold fellowship over the truth and work hard to obtain the truth, eventually they will be able to understand the spirit. Those that can understand the spirit and practice and understand the truth can be perfected by God. They will become God’s people, citizens of the kingdom. They too can be perfected. So, for those who are unable to understand the spirit, will they be able to obtain life? There is no way they can obtain life. If you cannot understand the spirit, how can you obtain life? You can see that there are some people who have performed their duties for many years, yet they do not have any reverence for God in their hearts. These kinds of people do not understand the spirit. No matter how they believe, or how many years they believe, they do not have reverence for God within their hearts and thus, they cannot do things according to principles. This kind of person belongs to the group of people that cannot understand the spirit. People who cannot understand the spirit cannot be perfected.

Let’s continue and take a look at some of God’s words, “And so I say that God lives in but a few people’s hearts, and these people are undoubtedly those who truly believe in God, those of whom God approves, those who please Him, and those whom He makes perfect. They are the ones who are led by God.” “They are the ones who are led by God,” God directly leads these people. God’s Spirit lives in these people’s hearts. The Holy Spirit works in them, leads them, perfects them and guides them. This is absolutely correct! “Since they are led by God, so they are the people who have already heard and seen God’s way of eternal life.” Basically, they are people that are led by God, God works to lead these people. Colloquially, from the day they started believing in God, the Holy Spirit works on these people. These people are people that are led by God. God lives within these people’s hearts. The Holy Spirit lives within these people’s hearts. Starting from when they first believed in God, no matter how many years they believe, if the Holy Spirit does not work on them all along, would this kind of person have God living in their hearts? God does not live there. Each and every person whom the Holy Spirit works on, God lives in these people’s hearts. Those whom the Holy Spirit does not work on, will not have the Holy Spirit living inside their hearts. God does not live in such people’s hearts. This matter has now been clearly explained! Some religious people say, “God lives within our hearts.” Is this correct? Some people who do not seek the truth say, “God lives within my heart.” Is this correct? There are some evil-doers who say, “God lives within my heart.” Is this correct? Do not believe their words. We must follow God’s word. We must see clearly whose heart God inhabits. If you do not see through this matter, people will ask you, “Of the people who believe in God, whose heart does God live in?” You say, “Each and every one of the people in the Church of Almighty God has God living in their hearts. God lives in all our hearts.” That is wrong. There are some people who belong to the Church of Almighty God that do not seek the truth. Even more so in the religious world. You cannot carelessly say these things! That is why, no matter which passage of God’s word we read, or which phrase we understand, from now on, you must be able to differentiate those that violate the truth with their words. This can be compared to the following situation. There is a confused person that believes in God. He is so confused that it’s unbelievable! He has absolutely zero grasp of the reality of the truth. He only has a theoretical grasp of things. If he says that God lives in his heart, would you believe him? Would you accept it? Do not believe people who randomly and carelessly say things. It’s not right, it shows you don’t know how to differentiate. After you have listened to this sentence of God’s word, you understand, “Oh, God does not live in every believer’s heart. He lives in the hearts of those who truly believe in and follow Him. He lives in the hearts of those whom He praises and loves.” Once you understand this truth, you will know which people’s hearts God lives in and which people’s hearts God does not live in. You will also understand in which group you belong and whether or not your heart has God. After understanding this truth, you should also have self-knowledge about which group you belong to, is it right? Some people say, “According to what you say, this is very troublesome. All these years, I have not sought the truth. I am still a crafty person. Perhaps God does not live in my heart. Does that mean I will be eliminated?” This person starts getting negative, “Fine, then I’ll just go home!” What kind of problem is this? He has been revealed as a non-believer. If this person returns home, then it is certain that God does not live in his heart. It is confirmed that this person is a non-believer. Would you want this person to remain? Should you try and assist him out of love? Some people think you should not. Why should you not? He has been revealed. What use is it if you help him out? If you allow him to remain, you allow a demon to remain. He is not a true believer. Some people specialize in doing this type of work. Once they see a demon that is potentially going to leave the church, they quickly try to comfort and assist him. Is this right? Is this a good deed? I see this as a little bit evil. Even though it is not something that is clearly evil, this person is a little confused, without principle and blindly doing things! If the person in question is a new believer who does not understand, helping them out is acceptable. However, if they have believed for a certain number of years, and it has been revealed that they are demons and you still assist them, then you are assisting demons. Do you want to allow demons to take root in God’s house and disturb God’s chosen people? Would you be happy then? Can demons do any service? Demons will never render any service. All they do is disturb others.

124-A-4

The words of God are as follows: “Those whose belief in God is false, those who are not approved by God, those who are despised by God, those who are eliminated by God—they are bound to be rejected by God, are bound to remain without the way of life, and are bound to remain ignorant of where God is.” These stipulations are quite severe but they reveal the truth of the matter. “In contrast, those in whose hearts God lives know where He is,” the people who have God in their hearts know where God is. Now, where would you say God is? You say, “God is in my heart!” Do not even dare to say this! Where exactly is God? If you actually do not know, what kind of problem is this? Those who do not know are the people who God has eliminated. Those who truly have God living in their hearts know where God is. Do you now understand? “In contrast, those in whose hearts God lives know where He is. They are the people unto whom God bestows the way of eternal life, and they are the ones who follow God.” From this, we can understand another aspect of the truth. “Those in whose hearts God lives know where He is.” These people have an understanding of God because God lives in their hearts and has done His work through them for many years. As such, they know where God is, they understand the way of eternal life. They know what eternal life is and the way of eternal life. These people, objectively speaking, are followers of God. These people follow God. Each and every person whose heart God lives in, is a person who truly follows God. Each and every person whose heart God lives in, when God’s work is finished, these people will truly understand God. They will be perfected by God. They will be obtained by God. Those who do not have God in their hearts do not know where God is. Also, when they are asked what Christ brings in God’s work of the last days, they say, “I do not know.” When they are asked what the way of eternal life is, they say, “I do not know.” This kind of person does not understand God in the slightest. This is a person who has been eliminated by God.

“Do you know, now, where God is?” Do you know where God is? Some people would say that God is in the hearts of those who truly believe in God. Is that it? If you only understand this statement, it is not enough! “God is both in the heart of man and at man’s side. He is not only in the spiritual world, and above all things, but even more on the earth upon which man exists.” You must have a clear understanding of these statements! Presently, how much of this do you understand? First, “God is both in the heart of man and at man’s side.” Would you say that God is only in man’s heart? This is not entirely correct. He is also “at man’s side.” “He is not only in the spiritual world, and above all things, but even more on the earth upon which man exists.” This is a more complete and accurate understanding. In more colloquial language, God is not only in the heavens, but in the world as well. He is above all things. He lives in man’s heart and is at man’s side. This is also an accurate account of this concept. Here it is said: “He is not only in the spiritual world, and above all things.” What does “above all things” mean? He is above all the things that He created. Now, what does “not only in the spiritual world” mean? God is a Spirit and He controls the entire universe. The entire universe includes the spiritual realm as well as the physical world. Colloquially it means, He is both in the mortal and the immortal world. “But even more on the earth upon which man exists.” Why is God on the earth upon which man exists? Why is He not on some distant planet? Why is He not where animals are living? What is the reason for this? This is because mankind was created by God. Most importantly, He has His work to do on mankind. He wants to perfect man to be the master of all things! However, man has been corrupted by Satan. If man does not experience God’s salvation, then he cannot be perfected. This is why God works through mankind. This is why He is on the earth upon which man exists.

“And so, the arrival of the last days has taken the steps of God’s work into new territory. God holds sovereignty over all things in the universe, and He is the mainstay of man in his heart, and moreover, He exists among man. Only in this way can He bring the way of life to mankind, and bring man into the way of life.” These words clearly describe God’s intentions. “God holds sovereignty over all things in the universe, and He is the mainstay of man in his heart, and moreover, He exists among man. Only in this way can He bring the way of life to mankind, and bring man into the way of life.” God does all this in order to bestow the way of eternal life upon mankind and to allow mankind to obtain the way of truth. This is the purpose of God living among man. “God has come to earth, and lives among man, so that man may gain the way of life, and so that man may exist. At the same time, God also commands all things in the universe, so that they might cooperate with His management among man.” These words are also quite clear. Only through obtaining the way of life can man live better. God does His work among man so that man can obtain the way of life. What is the purpose of this? The purpose is for the survival of man. Someone said, “If God did not do the work of the last days, could mankind still survive?” Mankind would be exterminated. This is determined by God’s disposition. Mankind is evil and extremely corrupted, they are like satanic demons. God must destroy mankind. God’s righteous disposition cannot allow this type of satanic brood to exist. This is why before God extinguishes the world, He performs His salvation work. His work in the last days is to allow man to obtain the way of life. Let’s say you receive God’s work in the last days, if you do not seek the truth and cannot obtain the way of life, what is the result? The result is that you will be destroyed in the disasters! This disaster of the last days is getting bigger and bigger. Once God’s work is finished, the great disaster will commence. Once the great disaster begins, mankind will be destroyed gradually. They will be destroyed in steps. Each of these steps has a number. A certain number of people will be killed in each disaster. Each disaster will carry away a certain number of people. Each step has a number. It is impossible for the doomed to escape! Earthquakes will kill a certain number of people. Great fires will exterminate a certain number of people. Epidemics will kill a certain number of people. Wars will kill a certain number of people. Each of these disasters will have a mission because these disasters have been preordained by God. If you receive Christ in the last days and if you are unable to obtain the way of life, what is the result? The result is death. You will be exterminated. If you accept God’s work in the last days and obtain the way of life, then you will not die. You will be protected by God in all these disasters.

Let us now look again at how God works. “God also commands all things in the universe.” One aspect is God expressing the truth and the word in Christ and doing the work of judgment through Christ. Another aspect of God’s work is His command of all things. These two aspects do not interfere with each other. In the past, there were some people who had their own notions, “God’s Spirit is materialized in the flesh. That means He is unable to command all things. Perhaps, at this time, it is not known who can replace God as the Master of all things. God can only do His own work through the flesh.” Are these thoughts correct? He has forgotten that God is almighty. God is omnipresent. He is present throughout the entire universe. Why do I say that He is omnipresent? God’s Spirit has permeated everything in the heavens and the earth. Wherever you are, whatever you are thinking, whatever you are doing, God can see it. He knows you like the palm of His hand. This is why God is omnipresent. “God also commands all things in the universe, so that they might cooperate with His management among man.” Here, it says that God commands all things. How does He command all things? What connection does this have to the work of God in the last days? The following sentence explains this, “so that they might cooperate with His management among man.” How should we interpret this point? Well, as God is performing each step of His work, what kind of work is He also performing amongst all things? They cooperate with each step of God’s work. What does “cooperate” mean? It means to do service for God in each age. In the last days, He commands all things so that they cooperate to serve His work of the last days. During the Age of Grace, God performed redemption work. He commanded all things so that they would cooperate with Him to serve His redemption work. What does “cooperate and serve” mean? Here is an example. As God is doing His work in the last days, the great red dragon surfaces and is mobilized. It captures and suppresses people and disseminates propaganda through its media. Through various campaigns, it obstructs people from examining the true way. It discredits the Church of Almighty God in China and in the world and causes people to abandon us. This is what it has done. The great red dragon and all things were mobilized to serve this work. This is called well-coordinated cooperation. Someone prayed, “God, hinder the great red dragon, do not let it oppress and persecute God’s chosen people. Do not allow it to beat down and convict the Church of Almighty God.” Is this prayer appropriate? This prayer goes against God’s intentions. God has done this work and has mobilized all things to carry out God’s management plan. The existence and mission of the great red dragon is to do service. Once its effectiveness is used up, it will be exterminated. God will then discard it.

God’s words are as follows, “And so, if you only acknowledge the doctrine that God is in heaven and in the heart of man, yet do not acknowledge the truth of God’s existence among man, then you shall never gain life, and shall never gain the way of truth.” So, where exactly is God? Why does God exist among man? God’s words have explained these matters very clearly. If you are a person who sincerely seeks the truth, after you have read God’s words, you should understand God’s intentions and why God does this. You will understand how God works and how He lives within man’s heart. You will know why He exists among man, what He wants man to obtain and, in the end, what results will be achieved. Once you understand these things, you will have a clear understanding of God’s work. Once you experience God’s work, you will have principles and you will know how you should experience it. Some people do not comprehend when they encounter the government’s coercion and persecution, “God, why do You allow them to persecute me?” They complain to God. Some people experience a death in their family. Perhaps their father or mother died, their wife died, or their son or daughter died. They complain to God and say, “Why did You allow them to die?” They do not know the answer. Do you now understand? Are you able to see through these matters? These are things that are used to perfect us. They help us understand the truth, understand God, understand God’s work and understand the way of the truth. After you have understood this, when you encounter trials, you will know how to pray. You will know what is complaining and what is bearing witness. You will know how to act in accordance with God’s intentions. You will know how to humiliate Satan the devil. You will be certain about the principles of practice. That is why these words are very important. Do not assume that a surface-level understanding of these concepts is sufficient. Do you think this means that you understand the truth? These concepts are the vision of God’s work. If you do not understand this, when you encounter trials and frustrations, you will not know how to deal with them. You will not know what God’s intentions are. If you do not know God’s intentions, then how are you to bear witness? You cannot bear witness. If you cannot bear witness, then all you can do is complain to God, resist God or betray God. This is a big problem. Do you understand?

124-A-5

“God become flesh is called Christ,” what does “Christ” mean? Christ is the Savior. The Savior is Christ. “Christ” in Hebrew is Messiah. The Messiah is also the Savior. Why can’t we call God’s Spirit the Savior? Why is it that God incarnate can be called the Savior? The key is to understand that He can do this kind of work. When God is in heaven, you can call Him any number of names. You can call Him God, Lord, the Creator or the Savior. If you call Him the Savior, it is not practical. When God is in heaven, He cannot do the work of the Savior. If God were to do this work, how would He do it? God has to become flesh in order to do it. Once He is clothed in flesh He can express the truth and save mankind. He can save mankind from Satan’s influence, that is why only Christ can be the Savior. When God is incarnate, He is the Savior. He is the Lord that saves mankind. This is absolutely correct! However, God’s incarnation is the most difficult to accept. It is the most incompatible with people’s notions. For example, once people see God incarnate, the first thing they notice is that He looks very ordinary. The words that He speaks are those of a human language. His habits and customs are also those of a human. “How can this person be called God? He can’t, He can’t!” It is difficult for people to accept this. However, if this person can finish God’s work, save mankind from the domain of Satan and obtain mankind, then is this person not the Savior? This person is the Savior. He has completed God’s work and saved mankind from Satan’s domain. Those who have been saved are Christ’s witnesses. Christ is the Savior, Christ is God incarnate. He is the Savior revealed. His true identity is the Savior. He is God. This is absolutely correct! Someone said, “I have some notions regarding Christ. He is just a normal person. His external appearance, His emotions are all those of a human. He is exactly the same as a human. This is why I do not call Him God.” Is this correct? This is incorrect. You do not call Him God, yet He has completed all of God’s work. You do not call Him God, yet He has expressed the way of truth. You do not call Him God, yet He has perfected a group of people and obtained them. Whether or not you call Him God is not important. He has done all these things, and therefore, He is Christ. Does it matter what people’s notions are about this? It does not. Now, what kind of people do not have any notions of Christ? Those who truly understand the essence of Christ. Those who truly see that Christ expresses the way of truth, that what He does is saving mankind, and, in the end, He will get mankind cleansed and saved. These people no longer have any notions of Christ. Someone said, “Why did God let Christ have His humanity and appearance like that?” This shows God’s wisdom and disposition. Why do I say that this indicates God’s wisdom? If Christ were very lofty, too special, who would not believe? Everyone would believe! By making Christ look very normal, very average, so much so that most people would not even look at Him twice, God has concealed His great wisdom! What kind of wisdom did He conceal? The kind that only those who love the truth and have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit can accept Him. God does not let those that belong to Satan the devil easily accept Him. This “door” is under close guard! Is this not God’s wisdom? Christ’s external appearance, and characteristics are incompatible with people’s preconceived notions. This “door” is closely guarded. People allowed to enter are mostly those who truly believe in God and acknowledge that Christ’s word is the voice of God and the truth. No one who would believe based solely on external appearances will come into His church. This result can be achieved, right? This is God’s wisdom and it represents His disposition. God’s disposition is that no matter how much of the truth He expresses, He still will not show off Himself. God does not have an arrogant or conceited nature. Instead, He is quite low-key. This kind of disposition cannot be replicated by corrupt people!

Why is it said that Christ is the particular flesh that carries out God’s work in the last days? “Particular flesh” means that Christ was predestined to embody God. Could a corrupt person be chosen to undertake the work? Why is this not possible? Once he expressed God’s words, he would show off himself, saying, “I am God!” Once he did so, wouldn’t this bring dishonor to God? This would allow Satan to take advantage of the situation, would it not? The consequences would be severe. This is why the incarnate Christ is the particular flesh that carries out God’s work. There can be no other way. Nobody else could replace Christ. Therefore, though the image of Christ, God incarnate, does not fit into people’s notions, inside this there is God’s wisdom. This was all preordained and the most appropriate way to carry this out. Once you understand a little bit of the truth, and have some knowledge of Christ, you will feel that people’s notions and imaginations are extremely childish, laughable, silly and not worth mentioning. Look at how God works. He just takes on this flesh, it does not matter if all of humanity has grievous notions about this. Those who were preordained by God will return to God. Nobody can obstruct this. This is called God’s almightiness and wisdom. Look at those who are arrogant and conceited, who do not love the truth. Because God’s flesh is very plain, they say, “I will take a look at His flesh before I decide to believe. If I do not see Him, then I will not believe.” Aren’t these kind of people confined to being outside the door? They have been confined outside the door. Other people study God’s flesh. “If God’s flesh does not match my notions, then I will not accept Him.” That’s fine that you do not accept Him. You do not accept Him, then you will die. If you do not fear death, then you are done. It’s over. You’re just a hopeless person. Some people are opposed to this, “I will not obey. I do not believe He is Christ.” If you do not believe, then you will die. You will not die right away. You will see that Christ is the appearance of God, then you will die. Is God’s wisdom in this? God’s wisdom represents His administrative decrees. His administrative decrees are closely related to His wisdom. A good example of this is the man used by God. Externally, he is not very tall, he looks quite average. Someone said, “I will not obey!” Is there any point to not obeying? God said, “You do not obey. But I will not find another just because you will not obey. I will not replace him with another. It has already been determined earlier and it will never change!” What God preordains is heaven’s edict. Nobody can break this. Nobody can change what God has preordained. Those antichrists do not obey. In the end, it doesn’t work no matter what we say or how we try to communicate. They will be expelled or purged. That is the end of that. Ask them, “Can you obey?” “I cannot.” Then they will be expelled! Ask them, “Are you willing to repent?” “I do not want to repent.” Then they will be expelled! Isn’t this how they will be dealt with? It’s this simple. Someone said, “So I am expelled? Even if I get expelled I will not obey.” Being expelled from the church is basically a death sentence. Their body will perish when they encounter the great disaster. After they die, they will be sent to hell and there, they will pay the price. When they are in hell, is there anyone who can save them? There is no escaping hell. Nobody can escape God’s punishment. Once they go to hell, it’s over. Each day they are in hell, they will scream, “Save me, save me!” No one will respond. For those who do not obey anyone, what happens to them in the end? They will receive punishment. It does not matter what kind of person you are, whether you are a president, prime minister, chancellor or a hero. If you do not obey, you will die. This has been preordained by God. This is heaven’s edict. No one can break this. Therefore, when Christ comes in the last days, if you do not believe, if you resist, then you will surely die! Is this not God’s administrative decree? This is God’s public administrative decree to the entire universe. From the day God announced this, it is His public administrative decree. One of God’s statements reads as follows, “that is, except for those now within the stream, the rest will be turned to ashes.” What does this translate into? It means that it does not matter if it happens now or later, all who do not accept Almighty God will die in the end. They will be destroyed. This means that they will be set on fire and turned into ashes. When God destroyed Sodom, the people in the city were burned to ashes. Not even their souls remained. Everything was turned into ashes. This is God’s public administrative decree. So, when Christ comes in the last days, do you have your own notions? Do you dare resist? This was preordained. Even though He is just one person, with this appearance, He is Christ of the last days. After He expresses the way of truth, if you do not accept it, then you will die. If you do not acknowledge Christ, you will surely die. If you condemn or resist Christ, then it is over, you will surely die. What can we learn from this? God’s righteous disposition has been publicly revealed to all of humanity.

Now, the most important thing about experiencing God’s work is obtaining the truth. Once you obtain the truth, then you will obtain life. If you do not obtain the truth, then you will not have life. Without life, you will die. In the beginning, when I saw that God had appeared and started to work, I said that this was great. Now, those who accepted Almighty God would not die. They would be saved and enter into the kingdom of heaven. After going through many experiences, I found out that this was not the case. I discovered that there were quite a few people who had accepted Almighty God but did not love the truth. There were also quite a few people who only wanted to enter the kingdom but did not accept the truth. I said, “These people are finished, they will still die.” Afterward, I saw it happen. There really were some people who believed in Almighty God, who accepted Almighty God but did not seek the truth in the slightest. These muddled people died. Some died in car accidents. Others died from diseases. What does this say? Even if you accept Almighty God’s name, if you do not experience God’s work, if you do not seek the truth, you will die all the same. Right now, if you do not want to die, there is only one path for you. Which path is the way of life? Let’s read a passage of God’s words, “Christ of the last days brings life, and brings the enduring and everlasting way of truth. This truth is the path through which man shall gain life, and the only path by which man shall know God and be approved by God.” These words explain everything very clearly. What does God mention first? “Christ of the last days brings life….” Someone said, “Brings life? Where is this life that Christ is supposed to bring? Why do I not see it?” The next point is, “and brings the enduring and everlasting way of truth.” Some people say, “Way of truth, I can acknowledge this. God has expressed so much truth. So it is the everlasting way of truth.” After talking about this, they acknowledge that Christ of the last days brings life. What does “brings life” refer to? “And brings the enduring and everlasting way of truth.” “Enduring and everlasting way of truth,” here it says that the way of truth is enduring and everlasting, what does this mean? It means that whoever can obtain this way of truth will live forever. This is what it means. This way of truth does not mean you can just live for a hundred years or a few decades. Some people who hear this say, “This is not right. Man’s body has a time limit. If you live to 70 or 80, then you have lived a long life. If you live to 100 or more, well that is the limit. That is the longest of lives. If our bodies can survive to more than 100 years of age, that is already very good. It cannot endure much longer than that. Even if we obtain this everlasting way of truth, our bodies will not last forever. Maybe our spirit is able to.” Is this explanation correct? This explanation is incorrect.

Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life”

124-A-1

Let’s first read a passage of God’s words, “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life.”

The way of life is not something that can be possessed by just anyone, nor is it easily obtainable by all. That is because life can only come from God, which is to say, only God Himself possesses the substance of life, there is no way of life without God Himself, and so only God is the source of life, and the ever-flowing wellspring of living water of life. From when He created the world, God has done much work involving the vitality of life, has done much work that brings life to man, and has paid a great price so that man might gain life, for God Himself is eternal life, and God Himself is the way by which man is resurrected. God is never absent from the heart of man, and lives among man at all times. He has been the driving force of man’s living, the fundament of man’s existence, and a rich deposit for man’s existence after birth. He causes man to be reborn, and enables him to tenaciously live in his every role. Thanks to His power, and His inextinguishable life force, man has lived for generation after generation, throughout which the power of God’s life has been the mainstay of man’s existence, and for which God has paid a price that no ordinary man has ever paid. God’s life force can prevail over any power; moreover, it exceeds any power. His life is eternal, His power extraordinary, and His life force not easily overwhelmed by any created being or enemy force. The life force of God exists, and shines its brilliant radiance, regardless of time or place. God’s life remains forever unchanged throughout the upheavals of heaven and earth. All things pass away, but God’s life still remains, for God is the source of the existence of all things, and the root of their existence. Man’s life originates from God, the existence of the heaven is because of God, and the existence of the earth stems from the power of God’s life. No object possessed of vitality can transcend the sovereignty of God, and no thing with vigor can break away from the ambit of God’s authority. In this way, regardless of who they are, everyone must submit under the dominion of God, everyone must live under God’s command, and no one can escape from His control.

Perhaps, now, you wish to receive life, or perhaps you wish to gain the truth. Whatever the case, you wish to find God, to find the God that you can rely on, and who can provide you with eternal life. If you wish to gain eternal life, you must first understand the source of eternal life, and must first know where God is. I have already said that only God is immutable life, and only God possesses the way of life. Since His life is immutable, so it is eternal; since only God is the way of life, so God Himself is the way of eternal life. As such, you should first understand where God is, and how to gain this way of eternal life. Let us now fellowship about these two issues separately.

If you truly wish to gain the way of eternal life, and if you are voracious in your search for it, then first answer this question: Where is God today? Perhaps you’ll reply that God lives in heaven, of course—He wouldn’t be living in your home, would He? Perhaps you might say, God obviously lives among all things. Or you might say that God lives in each person’s heart, or that God is in the spiritual world. I don’t deny any of this, but I must clarify the issue. It isn’t totally correct to say that God lives in the heart of man, but neither is it completely wrong. That is because, among believers in God, there are those whose belief is true and those whose belief is false, there are those of whom God approves and those of whom He disapproves, there are those who please Him and those whom He detests, and there are those whom He makes perfect and those whom He eliminates. And so I say that God lives in but a few people’s hearts, and these people are undoubtedly those who truly believe in God, those of whom God approves, those who please Him, and those whom He makes perfect. They are the ones who are led by God. Since they are led by God, so they are the people who have already heard and seen God’s way of eternal life. Those whose belief in God is false, those who are not approved by God, those who are despised by God, those who are eliminated by God—they are bound to be rejected by God, are bound to remain without the way of life, and are bound to remain ignorant of where God is. In contrast, those in whose hearts God lives know where He is. They are the people unto whom God bestows the way of eternal life, and they are the ones who follow God. Do you know, now, where God is? God is both in the heart of man and at man’s side. He is not only in the spiritual world, and above all things, but even more on the earth upon which man exists. And so the arrival of the last days has taken the steps of God’s work into new territory. God holds sovereignty over all things in the universe, and He is the mainstay of man in his heart, and moreover, He exists among man. Only in this way can He bring the way of life to mankind, and bring man into the way of life. God has come to earth, and lives among man, so that man may gain the way of life, and so that man may exist. At the same time, God also commands all things in the universe, so that they might cooperate with His management among man. And so, if you only acknowledge the doctrine that God is in heaven and in the heart of man, yet do not acknowledge the truth of God’s existence among man, then you shall never gain life, and shall never gain the way of truth.

God Himself is life, and the truth, and His life and truth coexist. Those who are incapable of gaining the truth shall never gain life. Without the guidance, support, and provision of the truth, you shall only gain letters, doctrines, and, moreover, death. God’s life is ever-present, and His truth and life coexist. If you cannot find the source of truth, then you will not gain the nourishment of life; if you cannot gain the provision of life, then you will surely have no truth, and so apart from imaginations and conceptions, the entirety of your body shall be nothing but flesh, your stinking flesh. Know that the words of books do not count as life, the records of history cannot be feted as the truth, and the doctrines of the past cannot serve as an account of words presently spoken by God. Only that which is expressed by God when He comes to earth and lives among man is the truth, life, God’s will, and His current way of working. If you apply the records of words spoken by God during past ages to today, then you are an archaeologist, and the best way of describing you is as an expert on historical heritage. That is because you always believe in traces of the work that God did in times gone by, only believe in the shadow of God left from when He previously worked among man, and only believe in the way that God gave to His followers in former times. You do not believe in the direction of God’s work today, do not believe in the glorious countenance of God today, and do not believe in the way of truth presently expressed by God. And so you are undeniably a daydreamer who is completely out of touch with reality. If now you still cling to words that are incapable of bringing life to man, then you are a hopeless piece of deadwood,[a] for you are too conservative, too intractable, too impervious to reason!

God become flesh is called Christ, and so the Christ that can give people the truth is called God. There is nothing excessive about this, for He possesses the substance of God, and possesses God’s disposition, and wisdom in His work, that are unattainable by man. Those who call themselves Christ, yet cannot do the work of God, are frauds. Christ is not merely the manifestation of God on earth, but instead, the particular flesh assumed by God as He carries out and completes His work among man. This flesh is not one that can be replaced by just any man, but one that can adequately bear God’s work on earth, and express the disposition of God, and well represent God, and provide man with life. Sooner or later, those fake Christs will all fall, for although they claim to be Christ, they possess none of the substance of Christ. And so I say that the authenticity of Christ cannot be defined by man, but is answered and decided by God Himself. In this way, if you truly wish to seek the way of life, you must first acknowledge it is by coming to earth that He bestows the way of life unto man, and you must acknowledge it is during the last days that He comes to earth to bestow the way of life unto man. This is not the past; it is happening today.

Christ of the last days brings life, and brings the enduring and everlasting way of truth. This truth is the path through which man shall gain life, and the only path by which man shall know God and be approved by God. If you do not seek the way of life provided by Christ of the last days, then you shall never gain the approval of Jesus, and shall never be qualified to enter the gate of the kingdom of heaven, for you are both a puppet and prisoner of history. Those who are controlled by regulations, by letters, and shackled by history will never be able to gain life, and will never be able to gain the perpetual way of life. That is because all they have is turbid water that has lain stagnant for thousands of years, instead of the water of life that flows from the throne. Those who are not supplied with the water of life will forever remain corpses, playthings of Satan, and sons of hell. How, then, can they behold God? If you only try to hold on to the past, only try to keep things as they are by standing still, and do not try to change the status quo and discard history, then will you not always be against God? The steps of God’s work are vast and mighty, like surging waves and rolling thunders—yet you sit and passively await destruction, sticking to your folly and doing nothing. In this way, how can you be considered someone who follows in the footsteps of the Lamb? How can you justify the God that you hold on to as a God who is always new and never old? And how can the words of your yellowed books carry you across into a new age? How can they lead you to seek the steps of God’s work? And how can they take you up to heaven? What you hold in your hands is the letters that can provide but temporary solace, not the truths that are capable of giving life. The scriptures you read are that which can only enrich your tongue, not words of wisdom that can help you know human life, much less the ways that can lead you to perfection. Does this discrepancy not give you cause for reflection? Does it not allow you to understand the mysteries contained within? Are you capable of delivering yourself to heaven to meet God on your own? Without the coming of God, can you take yourself into heaven to enjoy family happiness with God? Are you still dreaming now? I suggest, then, that you stop dreaming, and look at who is working now, at who is now carrying out the work of saving man during the last days. If you do not, you shall never gain the truth, and shall never gain life.

Those who wish to gain life without relying on the truth spoken by Christ are the most ridiculous people on earth, and those who do not accept the way of life brought by Christ are lost in fantasy. And so I say that the people who do not accept Christ of the last days shall forever be despised by God. Christ is man’s gateway to the kingdom during the last days, which none may bypass. None may be perfected by God except through Christ. You believe in God, and so you must accept His words and obey His way. You must not just think of gaining blessings without receiving the truth, or accepting the provision of life. Christ comes during the last days so that all those who truly believe in Him may be provided with life. His work is for the sake of concluding the old age and entering the new one, and is the path that must be taken by all those who would enter the new age. If you are incapable of acknowledging Him, and instead condemn, blaspheme or even persecute Him, then you are bound to burn for eternity, and shall never enter the kingdom of God. For this Christ is Himself the expression of the Holy Spirit, the expression of God, the One whom God has entrusted to do His work on earth. And so I say that if you cannot accept all that is done by Christ of the last days, then you blaspheme the Holy Spirit. The retribution that should be suffered by those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit is self-evident to all. I also tell you that if you oppose Christ of the last days, and deny Him, then there is no one who can bear the consequences on your behalf. Furthermore, from this day onward you will not have another chance to gain the approval of God; even if you try to redeem yourself, you will never again behold the face of God. For what you oppose is not a man, what you deny is not some puny being, but Christ. Are you aware of this consequence? You have not made a small mistake, but committed a heinous crime. And so I advise everyone not to bare your fangs before the truth, or make careless criticisms, for only the truth can bring you life, and nothing except the truth can allow you to be reborn and behold the face of God.

Footnotes:

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

124-A-2

The text containing the words of God entitled, “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life” that we just finished is the truth pertaining to the vision. What we get first from reading God’s words should be the knowledge of Christ. In what primary respect do we know Christ? Not only do we know that Christ is the incarnate God, and that Christ is the manifestation of God, but the most importantly we should be aware that, “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life,” which is what matters most. Many have understood and admitted the fact that God has become flesh, and admitted that Christ is the real God, God’s appearance to mankind—they have confirmed this as a fact. Many people are able to follow Christ, to forsake all and do their duty to Him, which is a fact; but after years have gone by, there are those out there who are still not with the truth. Theirs is an evil heart, one that does not fear God and shun evil. So what exactly is the problem? Where is the root of it? We have read these words of God, and should see the root of the problem is that these people do not have profound understanding that “Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life.” In the last days Christ came again to do the work of judgment, exactly what will be the fruits? When you have experienced the judgment before the seat of Christ, have you been made pure? Have you obtained the truth? Have you been saved? This is the fundamental question with belief in God. A lot of people, who have believed in God for many years, are still without the truth. So exactly what is the problem? Have you figured it out yet? Can these people be counted with those who actually know Christ? No, they cannot. If they do not know Christ, then are they someone who can be said to be a true believer in God? Their faith remains vague. It is almost as if they actually believe in the God of heaven. So today we will commune about the key questions in these words of God. For we believers in God, what exactly are God’s words expressed by Christ that make the truth known? If you have truly seen such a way of eternal life that Christ of the last days has given mankind, then you should be able to go in search of the truth, or at least, to accept it in part. He who is ignorant of the truth Christ has passed on to us cannot receive it, so if people have been believers in God for many years but have not gained the truth, this is a truly serious issue. We’ve finished reading this article of God’s words. Now, if I fellowship about it all the way from the beginning, then we will probably at most fellowship about one passage, and then our meeting will be over. But if the focal point of our fellowship is on the actual problems themselves, then everyone here will benefit from it to a much greater extent. So let us read now from the word of God.

Let us start at the third paragraph, “It isn’t totally correct to say that God lives in the heart of man, but neither is it completely wrong. That is because, among believers in God, there are those whose belief is true and those whose belief is false, there are those of whom God approves and those of whom He disapproves, there are those who please Him and those whom He detests, and there are those whom He makes perfect and those whom He eliminates.” There are a great many differences among believers in God; they are most certainly not equal. And God said, “It isn’t totally correct to say that God lives in the heart of man, but neither is it completely wrong,” but why did God say that? Because believers in God are not all the same, and the difference between them is, that there are some whose faith is true and others whose faith is false. There are some who God approves of and others who He does not. There are some who He delights in and others who He loathes. There are some whom He makes perfect and others who are rejected by Him. That is the key difference; if you say that God abides in the hearts of mankind, is this completely fitting? It is not accurate—at least not entirely accurate, nor is it entirely inaccurate. God abides in people’s hearts, but what kind of people? This is the crux of the question. According to God’s word, as for the difference between believers in God, first and foremost, “there are those whose belief is true and those whose belief is false,” does He abide in the hearts of those of true faith or false faith? If you say that He abides in the hearts of the true believers, then your answer is absolutely correct. In the hearts of those of false faith, there is no God, and God does not abide in the hearts of false believers. Some may ask, why does He not abide in the hearts of the false believers? A man of false faith does not truly eat and drink the word of God, he does not truly commune with God, his prayers are false, he does not fear God in his heart, and beyond that he does not respect God above all others, which is to say this kind of person does not welcome God, and so, could God ever abide in such a person’s heart? According to His disposition, God gives everyone a free will; He does not force man to do what is against his will. If a person does not welcome Him, does not like Him, does not truly believe in Him, if a person is disobedient, and does not honor God as great, or fear God, then He will not abide in the heart of such a person. In addition, nonbelievers are, in reality, enamored with evil, and are keen on Satan’s fallacies, they love negative things and could even take pleasure in all pertaining to Satan, and all pertaining to worldliness. They do not love God, nor do they love the truth that God expresses, such people are filthy and evil, and live under Satan’s domain. They are part of Satan’s minions, so they could not possibly have God in their hearts, because God is holy and pure, which means simply that God exists in a temple of purity.

Through how we are communing now, why would God not abide in the hearts of those of false faith? Well, the answer should be perfectly clear by now! But there are those out there who would say, “Man has been deeply corrupted by Satan and has corrupt disposition. Who among us has been truly sanctified? Who among us is not filthy and corrupt in some way? But all we need to do is just truly believe in Him, and God will abide in our hearts!” These words are correct. Does it not come to pass that God abides in the hearts of the true believers? It is possible for this to come to pass for the true believers, because the sin offering is effective for those who truly believe, and their guilt will not be seen by God. He who now has no real belief in God, he whose heart has no place in it for God, he who does not magnify God, and he who does not fear God nor shun evil, is a person in possession of false faith. His faith in God is nothing but lip service. He does not truly welcome God in his heart. He does not truly accept God, and so God would never abide in this man’s heart. Now, is it not a fact that God will not abide in the hearts of those of false faith? Therefore, we do not see the work of the Holy Spirit and can see even less of the blessings of God in those who do not pursue truth. And what do the blessings of God include? The work of the Holy Spirit, the leading of the Holy Spirit, the disciplining of the Holy Spirit and the presence of the Holy Spirit. A person who does not pursue the truth has none of these, and so if you cannot see the blessings of God and the work of the Holy Spirit in a person, he is most certainly not a true believer in God. We have seen those who have been eliminated or expelled from our church: They did evil and lied openly, and acted perfunctorily; they cheated God’s family and cheated God Himself, without the least sense of rebuke or the least bit of discipline; they were willful and disobedient. No matter how the house of God communicated the truths and dealt with them, it was for naught. So is this kind of person’s faith true or false? It’s false, right? So once a person is unmasked as a false believer he should be purged and eliminated, which is in complete accordance with God’s will.

Continuing on to the next part, “there are those of whom God approves and those of whom He disapproves.” And whom specifically does this approval refer to? He who truly believes in God, whose heart is true and could forsake all for God and go all out for Him. In doing his part for Him, this kind of person can receive His truth and will be able to accept how he’s dealt with and pruned, and when he undergoes God’s judgment and chastisement, he will not be passive or weak of character, but will work to conform to His truth, and likewise do all he can to do what God asks of him. Regardless of how many times he may have failed, or how many frustrations he may have suffered, he can still follow God. This is he who will meet God’s approval. Then there is he who does not pursue truth in the least, who does his part but is always trying to make a deal with God, who is constantly trying to fool God through paying lip service to Him. No matter how he is dealt with or pruned, he will never accept it, no matter how the truth is communicated he will never take it to heart, and so, this kind of person will not meet with God’s approval. This is a person who refuses to accept the truth, who does not reach for the truth; thus God cannot complete this man, and cannot gain him; and so God will disapprove this kind of man. But what is meant by “disapproval”? It means this person is a goner and should be exposed and eliminated. So this brings us full circle and I must ask again: Does God abide in the hearts of those whom He approves, or in the hearts of those whom He does not? Some among you say that God abides in the hearts of those whom He approves, which is correct. It is also said that “there are those who please Him and those whom He detests.” But whom does He delight in? Men of honesty, men who truly go all out for Him. Men of obedience to Him, and obedience to the truth. These men are the objects of the delight of God. He rejoices in these kinds of people. Pure men whose hearts are open to God, men who are honest—sometimes they may be a little ignorant, but God does not look at that, and their ignorance is easy to solve. By just understanding His truths, wisdom will happen naturally, and they will become men of principles in all dealings; these kinds of people are the ones who God delights in. You see there are some people in the family of God who are especially innocent, open and submissive; they give their obedience to the family of God, and they believe and follow everything God’s family says. Everyone looks and sees this kind of person, someone of such purity, such obedience—it is pleasing to God. Now, what kind of man displeases God? What kind of man does God loathe? We know that God rejoices in a man of honesty, integrity, purity and open-heartedness, a man who can truly go all out for God, who can obey the truth; what God hates most is certainly a deceitful, cruelly selfish, mean-spirited person who is not considerate of His will, a man who is not accepting of truth, unwilling to accept dealing and pruning. Whatever you say to this man, however you try to deal with and prune him, however you try to enlighten him, whatever you try to do; this man will always hold fast to his own fossilized ideas. What is in this man’s head? “You’re just full of advice. Thanks, but no thanks, I have my own ways of doing things. You think you’re going to make me put truth into practice? No way I would ever have anything to do with something so stupid!” So we can see that wily and conniving, deeply self-interested sort who is withdrawn and difficult to figure out, working in secret while hiding trickery and chicanery behind a straight face, is none other than the devil—old Satan itself. These kinds of people are God-loathing sorts, especially politicians and scientists. They are people who God detests the most. But whose hearts does God abide in? The hearts of honest men, upright men, not the hearts of deceitful men. We can see right through this! If anyone knows in his heart that he himself is that really deceitful sort who never tells the truth, but lies through his teeth wherever he goes, whose every word is nothing but a bald-faced lie—God will never abide in his heart.

What Does It Mean to Have Humanity?

Introduction

Brothers and sisters, peace be with you! The majority of us understand “normal humanity” as, if nothing else but, living harmoniously with others, having a loving heart, tolerance and acceptance for others or being kind and charitable. Now, do you know how we should live out a normal humanity as God requests us to? As Christians, how can we practice and gain entry so that we can live out a genuine humanity in accordance with God’s will? The essay that will be shared today will provide us with a new understanding about this topic. Please listen …

Yue Ming

God said: “Normal humanity includes these aspects: insight, sense, conscience, and character. If you can achieve normality in each of these respects, your humanity is up to standard. You should have the likeness of a normal human being and behave like a believer in God. You don’t have to achieve great heights or engage in diplomacy. You just have to be a normal human being, with a normal person’s sense, be able to see through things, and at least look like a normal human being. That will be enough” (“Improving Caliber Is for Receiving God’s Salvation” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). In the past, my understanding was that as long as one did not fight or quarrel with others and could live harmoniously with others, one was living out a normal humanity. Today, when I contemplate this passage of God’s word, suddenly I understand that when God is talking about normal humanity, it does not merely involve being conscientious and sensible when getting along with others. The key is being considerate of God’s will while one is fulfilling one’s duties, seeking to love and satisfy God and fulfill the responsibilities of one of God’s creations. When I compare God’s words with my own actions and deeds, I can see that I am quite far from fulfilling God’s demands. Many times, on the surface, I am fulfilling duties. However, when I encounter practical problems, I am not considerate of God’s will and I do not have a heart that loves God. Instead, I am very prudent in protecting my own interests and reputation. After many instances of God’s judgment and chastisement, my conscience has gradually started to perceive. I started to focus on practicing the truth to satisfy God during the daily fulfillment of my duties, thereby living out a bit of normal humanity.

Some time ago, it was mentioned in a sermon how David dedicated his entire life to constructing a temple for Jehovah God. After hearing this, I was very moved and I admired David’s humanity and the way he lived it. I became determined to be considerate of God’s will and to fulfill my own duties properly in order to satisfy God. However, my satanic nature is very deeply rooted. If something involves my own interests or reputation, I cannot help but choose the benefits of the flesh. As a result, I am unable to put the truth into practice in order to satisfy God. Living out a normal humanity has become my desire. God is faithful. He placed me in a suitable environment in accordance with my shortcomings so that I could be cleansed and so that He could change me. One morning, during our spiritual devotion, Sister Zhang complained to me, “Recently, I have encountered problems while fulfilling my duties. The suggestions that I have given have also not been accepted. I feel that I am unable to fulfill this duty. It is too difficult….” After I heard what Sister Zhang had to say, I felt blame in my heart. As I had given Sister Zhang the most suggestions on her work, I was worried that she was under my influence. However, if I neglected to offer suggestions when I saw issues, that was not protecting the church’s work! I should offer my suggestions. If Sister Zhang did not accept them, that was her problem. At that time, I thought about it a little and then went on with my day. However, after a bit of time, I thought back to this matter and I started to have some more anxiety about it. I thought, “If Sister Zhang is affected by me, and says that my humanity is not good, how would others see me? How would I interact with them? Later on, if I discover any other problems, I may as well not make a big deal out of it so that I do not offend Sister Zhang.” However, this was my duty and if I discovered issues and did not bring them up, I was going through the motions, deceiving God and not protecting the church’s interests. I could not turn a blind eye and protect my fleshly relationships with other people! But…. I thought about this matter over and over. If I did not put the truth into practice, I was afraid that I would be resisting God. If I put the truth into practice, I would be offending Sister Zhang. I felt very confused. One day, it was just before noon when, after Sister Zhang finished her work, Sister Li and I were inspecting to see if there were any issues. At this time, Sister Zhang anxiously said, “Hurry up and look. This work must be finished soon!” After repeating these words several times, Sister Zhang said to me, “Oh, sister. Is there yet another task? If you are busy, just let Sister Li inspect it by herself.” When I heard Sister Zhang say this, I felt that she was afraid that I would point out some more issues and she was deliberately trying to prevent me from inspecting her work. I thought, “If Sister Zhang does not want me to inspect her work, that is fine then! Why should I waste my time?” I embarrassingly returned to my own seat. However, my heart was not at peace. At this time, I thought about God’s words: “No one is responsible, everyone wants to wash their hands of it. No one wants to take responsibility, no one wants to put effort into it, and no one wants to lead the charge or suffer for it. So can the Holy Spirit do His work? (No)” (Records of Christ’s Talks). As I thought about God’s words, I felt that I was to blame. I felt that I was someone who wants to wash their hands of it that God was talking about. I shouldered no burden and was irresponsible in regard to the fulfillment of my duties. If I simply went through the motions in regard to the fulfillment of my duties, this would cause problems to arise in the project, it would delay the life entry of many brothers and sisters and it would affect the church’s operations. Why was I not prioritizing my work appropriately? Why was I not being considerate of God’s will? I had been consistently and frequently thinking about myself. I was truly selfish and despicable! At that moment, I wanted to go over to Sister Li and continue inspecting the work with her. However, when I thought about that day during our spiritual devotion when Sister Zhang told me how she was having difficulties with fulfilling her duties, I had misgivings. If I found more problems once again, should I mention them or not? If I mentioned them, would this cause Sister Zhang to become unhappy and think that I was specifically going after her shortcomings? I felt extremely anxious and unsure of what to do. At this time, I thought about another passage of God’s words: “All have said that they would be considerate of God’s burden and defend the testimony of the church. Who has really been considerate of God’s burden? Ask yourself: Are you someone who has shown consideration for God’s burden? Can you practice righteousness for God? Can you stand up and speak for Me?” (Utterances and Testimonies of Christ in the Beginning). God’s words gave me the courage I needed to put the truth into practice. I took the initiative and went over to finish the inspection with my fellow sisters. After a while, Sister Zhang anxiously said, “Hurry and look. If there are issues, we may deal with them as soon as possible. This work has already been delayed for a couple of days!” Originally, I had wanted to mention the issues that I had spotted but once again, the courage that I was able to summon with such difficulty began to sway. During this moment of hesitation, Sister Li said, “Even though we have a strict deadline, we must not simply go through the motions! We must examine carefully and conduct a thorough inspection!” In the afternoon, Sister Li had something else to deal with so she had me conduct the inspection by myself. At this moment, I was in a very anxious state of mind and I thought, “If I find problems and I do not mention them, I am not protecting the church’s work. If I mention them, Sister Zhang would feel constrained. Alas! Once again, I am in the same situation. Just what is it that I should do?” Thereupon, I silently prayed to God in my heart, “God! The people and situations that I encounter each and every day have all been arranged by You. It is all according to Your will. I have something to learn, it is just that I do not know what I need to learn. Please guide me so that I can understand Your will. Amen!” I sought at the same time that I reflected. At this moment, I thought of the words “selfish and despicable.” Then, I read God’s words: “If a person lacks conscience and does not have the reason of normal humanity, then what kind of person is he? Generally speaking, he is a person without humanity, a person of bad humanity. If we speak specifically, how does this person manifest corrupt humanity such that people say he does not have humanity? Let’s analyze the characteristics of this kind of person. What kinds of characteristics do all such people have? What specific manifestations do they present? (Selfishness and baseness.) Selfishness is one type of manifestation, and baseness is another. Additionally, he is perfunctory in his actions, and stands aloof from things that don’t concern him personally. He does not consider the interests of God’s house and does not show consideration for God’s intention. He takes on no burden of testifying of God or performing his duty and has no sense of responsibility. What is it that he thinks about? His first consideration is, ‘Will God know if I do this? Is it visible to other people? If other people don’t see that I do this, that I expend all this effort and behave truly, and if God also does not see it, then there is no use for my expending such effort or suffering for this.’ Is this not selfishness? At the same time, it is also a very base sort of intent. When he thinks and acts in this way, is conscience playing any role? Is there any part of conscience in this?” (“You Can Obtain Truth After Turning Your True Heart Over to God” in Records of Christ’s Talks). After I finished reading this passage of God’s words, I felt pained in my heart. What God’s words revealed was my true state. When I thought of how Sister Zhang said that she felt constrained, I became afraid of offending her. Even though I could see quite clearly the issues that were present with her work, I was not willing to directly talk about them because I was afraid that she would become prejudiced toward me. When Sister Li asked me to inspect Sister Zhang’s work by myself, the first thing that I considered was my own interests. Since I did not quite understand some issues, I had to spend some time to contemplate the relevant principles. Most importantly, I was worried that I would spend so much time helping Sister Zhang with my inspection, yet she might not be willing to accept my suggestions. Wouldn’t I have wasted a lot of effort for nothing? When I thought about how I was trying to defend the good image of myself in Sister Zhang’s mind, it occurred to me that my attitude of evading the responsibility of my duties could be summed up in the following satanic poisons: “Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost.” “Be worldly-wise for the sake of personal survival and seek only to escape blame.” “The less trouble the better.” “Let go of things if they do not affect one personally.” I realized that what these thoughts revealed was treachery and suspicion. I was trying to protect my position and image in the mind of someone else. Even though I had assumed the responsibility of such an important task, I did not take sides with God. I was not considerate of God’s will and I was not protecting the interests of God’s family. When I encountered a crucial moment, I only thought about myself. I could see that I was very selfish and despicable by nature and that my thoughts and ideas hurt God and caused God to loathe me. Truly, I do not have humanity!

Afterward, I read another passage of God’s words: “How you treat God’s commission is a very serious matter! If you cannot complete what God entrusts to you, you are not fit to live in God’s presence and should be punished. It is Heaven’s law and earth’s principle for man to complete what God entrusts to him; this is man’s highest responsibility, as important as his life. If you do not take God’s commission seriously, then you are betraying God in the most serious way; this is more grievous than Judas and is deserving of cursing. So, God commissions man: This is an exaltation and special favor from God, a most glorious thing. Everything else can be abandoned—even if one has to sacrifice his life he must still fulfill God’s commission. There is even more truth to be sought here” (“How to Know Man’s Nature” in Records of Christ’s Talks). From God’s words, I could feel God’s righteous and majestic disposition that could not be offended. I reflected on myself and realized that when my individual interests clashed with the church’s interests, the majority of the time, I relied on my corrupt disposition of selfishness and despicableness to do things and abided by the principle of protecting my own interests. From God’s harsh words, I could see that if I irreverently approached the fulfillment of my duties, it is possible that I could bring loss to the church and disturb the work of God’s family. In the long run, this kind of transgression could bring ruin upon myself and my punishment would be even more severe than Judas’. Today, after reading God’s words, I finally realized the seriousness of the issues I was facing. My heart could not help but revere God. As a result, I turned to God and prayed a prayer of repentance, “God! When I fulfill my duties, at all times, I am only thinking about my own interests. I am truly not worthy of Your exaltation. I really do not have a conscience and I am not rational. I should receive Your curse and judgment. I hope to true-heartedly repent to You. I hope to be considerate of Your will while I fulfill my duties so that I can repay the grace of Your salvation.” Afterward, I read another passage of God’s words: “When you reveal selfishness, you realize it and say, ‘I am selfish,’ and ponder, ‘How can I not be selfish? I’ll first set aside my own interests.’ As you set aside a little at a time, time and again, the more you set aside the more at ease you will feel inside, and the more you will feel that being such a person is something to be proud of, that so being is worthy of the word ‘person,’ that living this way on the earth is open and straightforward, that it is being a genuine person who lives worthy of the life which God has given him and of all the things bestowed by God. The more you live like this the more your heart will be at ease and filled with light. This is getting onto the right track, isn’t it?” (“You Can Obtain Truth After Turning Your True Heart Over to God” in Records of Christ’s Talks). In a sermon, it says: “The fourth type of expression of dispositional change is having a conscience, having sense, and being kind-hearted, and becoming an honest person. To have conscience and sense means a person is enjoying God’s grace and knows to repay God’s love. They can fulfill their duty of a created being through believing in God because they have an understanding of God, they are kind-hearted, and have become an honest person” (“The Truth One Must Enter Into to Achieve Dispositional Change and Expressions of Dispositional Change” in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (IV)). God’s words and the sermon helped me understand that living out a normal humanity involves putting the truth into action and doing things according to one’s conscience while fulfilling one’s duties. When one reveals a corrupt disposition of selfishness, one must consciously abandon or let go of his own interests, learn how to live in accordance with God’s words and prioritize protecting the interests of God’s family. Such people are those with a conscience and rationality. Even though I was quite far off from meeting the standards of living out a normal humanity, I was willing to forsake my flesh and abandon my own interests in order to practice entering into this aspect of the truth. If I highlighted the issues that I discovered while I was working so that everybody could seek the truth together in order to resolve them, this was the equivalent of protecting the church’s work. If I shared the light that I had received from God with my brothers and sisters, they could benefit and God’s heart would be comforted. This is a meaningful matter and this is a good deed! After I understood God’s will, my heart felt a lot more liberated. I was determined to forsake my flesh and fulfill this duty properly. After I prayed, I continued to inspect the remainder of Sister Zhang’s work. During this process, I found that there were still some existing difficulties. However, by relying on God, looking to God and pondering the relevant principles of the truth, I was able to resolve the problems that I previously did not understand. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I finally finished my inspection. Even though this delayed the work for a period of time, I felt steady and at peace in my spirit because I had renounced my individual interests and protected the interests of God’s family. The second day, when we talked about the work, all of us felt that the results achieved this time were much better than before this inspection. We all felt that these results were attained through the Holy Spirit’s work. From this experience, I somewhat understood the truth of what it means to live out a normal humanity and I could see that God is particularly trustworthy. As long as we did things according to God’s words, God would enlighten, illuminate, guide and bless us. From then on, I was willing to reflect more on my corrupt impurities while fulfilling my duties, learn how to seek the truth in order to resolve my own corrupt disposition and try to focus on putting the truth into practice in all things and prioritizing the interests of God’s family.

Afterward, I devoted myself to the fulfillment of my duties with great faith and my work started to show some results. As my work load gradually increased, I became particularly busy each day. However, my brothers and sisters cooperated well with me. After experiencing a period of time like this, not only did I not feel tired, my heart felt enriched. It was as if I could engage in some honest work like an adult. Through fulfilling my duties, I also learned how to be considerate of God’s will. However, as the work results gradually improved, I could not help but live within self-satisfaction. I thought, “When the upper-level leaders see our work results, they will definitely praise me and say that I am capable of performing practical work.” When I thought of this, I was even more motivated to fulfill my duties. Just as I was basking in my feelings of pride, God’s judgment and chastisement once again befell me. It wasn’t until the work reports came out at the end of the month that I found out that I had only been able to accomplish one of the several tasks that I had been given adequately. This led to a serious decrease in the quality of the final project results. I did not do as good of a job as I had imagined I did. I never thought even though all along I felt that I was taking on a lot of responsibility, in fact, in terms of practical results, the duties that I fulfilled were not worthy of God’s blessings. Within this issue, there was definitely something that I could learn. Could it be that there were aspects of my service that were not in accordance with God’s will? For a moment, I did not know which aspect I should conduct a self-examination on. During my seeking, I read a passage of God’s words: “How great a role his conscience can have when he does not understand truth depends on what his humanity is like. If this person does things without understanding truth but does not act according to conscience so that you can’t see any area in which what he does shows consideration for God’s intention nor can you see any reverence for God in him—if you can’t see these, then does this person have a conscience? This person is not a person with a conscience. Does such a person have humanity? (No.) Then what kind of person is this? The standard saying and precise definition is that this kind of person does not have humanity and has fallen below the minimum standard of humankind. He has no conscience, and he does things neither according to reason nor according to conscience” (“You Can Obtain Truth After Turning Your True Heart Over to God” in Records of Christ’s Talks). In a sermon, it says: “What were the manifestations that indicate that David loved God? What indicates his love for God? His greatest objective was to build a temple for God so that the Israelite people could come before God. This was the manifestation that showed that he indeed loved God. … Isn’t this an example of devotion, being considerate of God’s will, reverence and fear? Which aspect of God’s will was David considerate of? In the wilderness, the Israelites had no place to worship God. David wanted to build a temple so that his people could worship God there, and he strived to achieve it. … Was there a difference with the common people? (Yes.) Where is the difference? How many aspects are there that differ? (This is similar to the topic that we just discussed. There are some people who only care about themselves. They do not care about God or the work of the church. What they defend are their own interests. They do not defend God’s interests or the interests of God’s family. This is the biggest difference.) (Our faith in God is for ourselves. However, David’s faith was not for himself. His faith was for the consideration of God’s will.) The crucial point is to see how David treated God. Would you say that the attitude with which David treated the common people was related to his attitude toward God?” (“The Principles and Standards of Weighing Humanity” in The Fellowship From the Above). From God’s words and the sermon we can see that fulfilling one’s duties should not be done for one’s individual benefit. Instead, one should focus on being considerate of God’s will and should suffer and pay a price in order to satisfy God. These are the things that someone with a normal humanity does. When I reflected back to the way I was fulfilling my duties and how I only wanted to improve the work results so that the upper-level leaders and my brothers and sisters would see that I was capable of handling practical work, I could see that underneath my facade of suffering and paying a price through the fulfillment of my duties, I still had my own deliberations and objectives in mind. I was doing all this so that others would praise me. I wanted others to think highly of me. I wanted them to say good things about me whenever they thought of me. This way, no matter what kind of suffering I went through, I would feel that it was worth it. When I was fulfilling duties, I was focused on improving my own reputation. I did not realize that only if each of us shoulders a true burden for our duties, only if our hearts are turned to God, the path we are walking was correct and our deliberations were correct, would we receive God’s guidance and blessings and would the results of our duties improve as a whole. However, I was only focused on the results that were before my own eyes and I became self-satisfied and self-congratulatory. If I fulfilled my duties in this manner, how could I do it for long and how could it produce real results? As for how David lived out his humanity, he used a life time’s worth of painstaking effort to build a temple so that the Israelites would worship God even better and David did this with no demands or expectations of reward. This caused me to see that the way I was living out my own humanity was lacking too much. Through the fulfillment of my duties, I was still living by the satanic nature of selfishness and despicableness. I basically was not considerate of God’s will and I was not doing things for God. I was struggling for my own individual benefit. This caused God to loathe me and convict me. At this moment, I could see clearly that even though I was very industrious in regard to fulfilling my duties, because my selfish nature had not been thoroughly resolved, there were many corrupt impurities with the fulfillment of my duties. I was not fulfilling my duties in order to obtain the truth and satisfy God. My suffering and paying a price was basically just exerting myself and doing manual labor. Even though my duties were completed, I did not understand much of the truth. Even if I worked harder, I would still not satisfy God’s will. I truly felt unworthy of God entrusting me with these tasks. At the same time, I learned that I was corrupted deeply by Satan and my selfish and despicable nature was deeply rooted. If I did not experience even more of God’s judgment, chastisement, trials and refinement, I would not be able to experience true change and live out the likeness of a genuine human being!

Later, I read another passage of God’s words: “How does one act according to conscience? The particulars of following conscience are that when a person acts, he must do so relying on a true heart and live up to God’s having given this life and opportunity for obtaining salvation. Is this not the function of conscience? Once you have this most basic foundation you will have obtained protection, and won’t you then not so easily do things to disobey God…. Then you will not so easily just go through the motions or be perfunctory, and you will not so easily fall to scheming for your own position, fame, gain, and future—this is the role of conscience. The most basic and important components of one’s humanity are conscience and reason” (“You Can Obtain Truth After Turning Your True Heart Over to God” in Records of Christ’s Talks). “So what are the standards that God requires for how people conduct themselves? (Be honest.) Be honest—what else? (Pursue the truth.) Anything else? (Possess insight and rationality.) (Have humanity, character, and dignity.) Have character, have dignity, have a conscience, be rational, have a heart that is obedient to God and loves God—what else? (Revere God.) Yes, what God wants ultimately is that people revere Him; that’s what’s most important. What do all these things that people are capable of achieving relate to? (The truth.) They all relate to the truth. When people try and put them into practice, if they are able to achieve them, then what kind of person are they?(A real person.) … In God’s eyes, real people are those who possess the reality of the truth. God defines the standards for real people as follows: In addition to walking in the way of God—fearing God and shunning evil—they are those who have normal humanity, which means possessing the truth and entering the reality of the truth” (“Only With the Truth as Their Life Can People Live a Life of Value” in Records of Christ’s Talks). After reading God’s words, I discovered that in the past, my understanding of the aspect of the truth involving normal humanity was too one-sided. I believed that as long as I was able to get along well with other people, it meant that my humanity was good. Only after going through this instance of judgment and chastisement and reading God’s words did I understand that those who have a normal humanity, through the fulfillment of their duties, are able to be considerate of God’s will, be anxious about what God is anxious about and think about what God is thinking. They fulfill the duties they need to fulfill and they do so without heeding their individual reasons and conditions. They only want to satisfy God and fulfill the duties of one of God’s creations. God’s words really motivated me. Even though presently, every aspect of my corrupt disposition is deeply rooted and I am far off from the normal humanity that God demands, I am willing to focus on my own life entry each day as I fulfill my duties. I am willing to maintain a heart that reveres God in all matters and I am willing to seek God’s will and the principles of the truth. I am also willing to rank putting the truth into practice during the fulfillment of my duties as my number one priority. Only through focusing on putting the truth into practice will I be able to thoroughly break away from the control and bindings of my corrupt nature. In this way, the positive things in my heart will multiply, I will receive more opportunities to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work and I will have a path to live out the reality of the truth. As a result, I shared what I had acquired with my brothers and sisters. They all approved of what I had learned. Afterward, as we fulfilled our duties, we practiced accepting God’s observation in all matters, accepting God’s judgment and chastisement and abandoning our individual interests in order to satisfy God. We learned to seek God’s will in all things, seek the principles of the truth, execute in accordance with the truth, focus on seeking the truth in order to resolve the corruption that we reveal and no longer rely on our corrupt dispositions to do things. … When I stopped focusing on the so-called “results” and instead started focusing on putting the truth into practice, I never thought that the results of my duties would improve. From this, I could see the vivid and realistic nature of God’s disposition. God is at our side. Each day, He has arranged our environment so that we would seek His will and enter into the reality of the truth. God’s love is truly real!

Through seeking and pondering the aspect of the truth related to normal humanity, I gained a proper objective to pursue. Each day, as I fulfill my duties, I focus on putting the truth into practice. I no longer rely on my own corrupt disposition to do things. I make a great effort to “uphold my duty with all my heart and mind.” When I do this, my heart feels at peace and stable and my spiritual state is much improved when compared to before. Gradually, as I do things, I become principled. This has allowed me to appreciate deeply that only God’s judgment and chastisement can restore man’s insight, rationality and conscience. It has caused someone like me who has been corrupted deeply by Satan to understand how one should live out the likeness of a genuine human being. It is just as God said: “It is not the case that people become someone who has the truth as soon as they start doing their duty. Doing one’s duty is no more than one method and one channel to take. In the doing of their duties, people use these opportunities to gradually attain an understanding of the truth, an acceptance of the truth and gradually enter into the truth. They then reach a state whereby they get rid of the bonds and control of the corrupt disposition of Satan, and so they become someone who has the truth, someone who has the reality of the truth and they become someone with a normal humanity. Once people become someone with normal humanity, then the performing of their duties, their speaking and acting can be of benefit to others and can satisfy God. Only then can they become standard created beings; only then can they become the standard and qualified mankind created by God” (“To Attain the Truth, You Must Learn From the People, Matters, and Things Around You” in Records of Christ’s Talks).

Thanks for your listening. All the glory be to Almighty God!