Christ is the Truth, the Way, and the Life

Christ is the Truth, the Way, and the Life

X The Classic Words of God Concerning How to Pursue the Truth to Enter Into the Reality of Life

732 True faith in God means experiencing the words and work of God based on a belief that God holds sovereignty over all things. So you shall be freed of your corrupt disposition, shall fulfill the desire of God, and shall come to know God. Only through such a journey can you be said to believe in God.

from Preface to The Word Appears in the Flesh

733 Faith means belief and trust; love means adoration and admiration in the heart, never parting. Yet your faith in and love of the Christ of this day fall far short of this. When it comes to faith, how do you have faith in Him? When it comes to love, how is it that you love Him? You know not at all of His disposition, much less His substance, so how is it that you have faith in Him? Where is the reality of your faith in Him? How do you love Him? Where is the reality of your love for Him?

from “How to Know the God on Earth” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

734 You should know whether there is true faith and true loyalty within you, whether in your record you have suffered for God, and whether you wholly submit to God. If you lack these, then within you remains disobedience, deceit, greed, and discontent. As your heart is not honest, you have never received the appreciation of God and never lived in the light.

from “Three Admonitions” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

735 Since you believe in God, then you must put faith in all of the words and work of God. That is to say, since you believe in God, you must obey Him. If you are unable to do this, then it matters not whether you believe in God.

from “The Truly Obedient Shall Surely Be Gained by God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

You Should Know That the Practical God Is God Himself

What should you know about the practical God? The Spirit, the Person, and the Word make up the practical God Himself, and this is the true meaning of the practical God Himself. If you only know the Person—if you know His habits and personality—but do not know the work of the Spirit, or what the Spirit does in the flesh, and only pay attention to the Spirit, and the Word, and only pray before the Spirit, unknowing of the work of God’s Spirit in the practical God, then this yet proves that you do not know the practical God. Knowledge of the practical God includes knowing and experiencing His words, and grasping the rules and principles of the work of the Holy Spirit, and how the Spirit of God works in the flesh. So, too, does it include knowing that every action of God in the flesh is governed by the Spirit, and that the words He speaks are the direct expression of the Spirit. Thus, if you wish to know the practical God, you must primarily know how God works in humanity and in divinity; this, in turn, concerns the expressions of the Spirit, which all people engage with.

Knowing God Is the Path to Fearing God and Shunning Evil

Everyone should examine anew his life of believing in God to see whether, in the pursuit of God, he has truly understood, truly comprehended, and truly come to know God, whether he truly knows what attitude God bears to the various types of human beings, and whether he truly understands what God is working upon him and how God defines his every act. This God, who is by your side, guiding the direction of your progress, ordaining your destiny, and supplying your needs—how much do you, in the final analysis, understand and how much do you really know about Him? Do you know what He works on you every single day? Do you know the principles and purposes on which He bases His every action? Do you know how He guides you? Do you know the means by which He supplies you? Do you know the methods with which He leads you? Do you know what He wishes to obtain from you and what He wishes to achieve in you? Do you know the attitude He takes to the multifarious ways in which you behave? Do you know whether you are a person beloved of Him? Do you know the origin of His joy, anger, sorrow, and delight, the thoughts and ideas behind them, and His essence? Do you know, ultimately, what kind of God is this God that you believe in? Are these and other questions of the sort something that you have never understood or thought about? In pursuing your belief in God, have you, through real appreciation and experience of God’s words, cleared up your misunderstandings about Him? Have you, after receiving God’s discipline and chastening, arrived at genuine submission and caring? Have you, in the midst of God’s chastisement and judgment, come to know the rebelliousness and satanic nature of man and gained a modicum of understanding about God’s holiness? Have you, under the guidance and enlightenment of God’s words, begun to have a new outlook of life? Have you, in the midst of the trial sent by God, felt His intolerance for man’s offenses as well as what He requires of you and how He is saving you? If you do not know what it is to misunderstand God, or how to clear up this misunderstanding, then one can say that you have never entered into true communion with God and have never understood God, or at least one can say you have never wished to understand Him. If you do not know what is God’s discipline and chastening, then you surely do not know what are submission and caring, or at least you have never truly submitted to or cared for God. If you have never experienced God’s chastisement and judgment, then you will surely not know what is His holiness, and you will be even less clear as to what man’s rebellion is. If you have never truly had a correct outlook on life, or a  correct aim in life, but are still in a state of perplexity and indecision over your future path in life, even to the point of being hesitant to go forward, then it is certain that you have never truly received God’s enlightenment and guidance, and one can also say that you have never truly been supplied or replenished by God’s words. If you have not yet undergone God’s trial, then it goes without saying that you will certainly not know what is God’s intolerance for man’s offenses, nor would you understand what God ultimately requires of you, and even less what, ultimately, is His work of managing and saving man. No matter how many years a person has believed in God, if he has never experienced or perceived anything in God’s words, then assuredly he is not walking the path toward salvation, his faith in God is assuredly without actual content, his knowledge of God too is assuredly zero, and it goes without saying that he has no idea at all what it is to revere God.

39. Principles of Being Wise in Your Belief in God

1. You must know the essential differences between wisdom and deceit. Being wise is in order to properly perform your duty and carry out God’s will; it is something positive.

2. You must adopt wise means toward the great red dragon and all other satanic forces, taking upholding God’s work and not causing any harm to the work of the house of God as the principle.

3. You must be honest, and you must be loving and wise toward others, taking being of benefit to others and the work of God as the principle.

4. In spreading the gospel and saving others, you must search for those who are able to accept the truth. Making sure your methods are judicious means taking the effectiveness of salvation as the principle.

Relevant Words of God:

One must use wisdom in every aspect and use wisdom to walk My perfect way. Those who conduct themselves by My word are the wisest of all and those who conduct themselves in accordance with My word are the most obedient. What I say goes and you need not debate with Me or try to reason with Me. Everything I say I say with you in mind (no matter if I am strict or gentle), if you focus on being obedient that will be fine, and this is the way of true wisdom (and it’s the way[a] to avoid the judgment of God befalling you).

from “The Forty-ninth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

At that time when Jesus worked in Judea, He did so openly, but now, I work and speak among you in secret. The unbelievers are completely unaware of it. My work among you is isolated from others. These words, these chastisements and judgments, are known only to all of you and no other. All of this work is carried out among you and opened up only to you; none of those unbelievers knows this, for the time has not yet come. These men are near to being made complete after enduring chastisements, but those on the outside know nothing of this. This work is much too hidden! To them, God become flesh is secretive, but to those in this stream, He can be considered to be open. Although in God all is open, all is clear and all is released, this is only true with those who believe in Him, and nothing is made known to those unbelievers. The work being carried out here now is strictly isolated to keep them from knowing. Should they become aware, all that awaits is condemnation and persecution. They will not believe. To work in the nation of the great red dragon, the most backward of places, is no easy task. If this work was to be made known, then it would be impossible to continue. This stage of work simply cannot progress in this place. How could they tolerate it if such work were carried out openly? Would this not bring even greater risk? If this work were not concealed, and rather continued as in the time of Jesus when He spectacularly healed the sick and cast out demons, then would it not have long ago been “seized” by the devils? Could they tolerate the existence of God? If I were to now enter into the halls to preach and lecture man, then would I not have long ago been dashed to pieces? And if so, how then could My work continue to be carried out? The reason that signs and wonders are not manifested openly is for the sake of concealment. So My work can neither be seen, known or discovered by unbelievers. If this stage of work were to be done in the same manner as that of Jesus in the Age of Grace, it could not be so steady. So, the work to be concealed in this way is of benefit to you and to all work.

from “The Mystery of the Incarnation (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

You must have My courage within you and you must have principles when facing relatives who do not believe. But for the sake of Me, you must also not yield to any of the dark forces. Rely on My wisdom to walk the perfect way; do not allow the conspiracies of Satan to take hold.

from “The Tenth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

When they bring God into their real lives, God primarily requires that people worship God, pursue the knowledge of God, and perform the duty of a creature of God amid normal humanity. … They are not asked to abide by doctrine. Each should act according to their individual stature: If your husband does not believe, treat him as an unbeliever, and if he believes, treat him as a believer. Focus not on love and patience, but on wisdom.

from “Practice (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

To fellowship with others you must understand matters of the spirit. You must have wisdom, and know their hearts. To serve people you must be a correct person yourself and fellowship what you have.

from “The Thirteenth Utterance” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The Man’s Fellowship:

That deceitful people practice deceit is an exposure of their nature. That honest people use wisdom is God’s demand, it is a necessity in work as well, and still more is it necessary to possess it in fulfilling one’s duty. If honest people are foolishly ignorant they are not suitable for being used by God, because without wisdom they cannot accomplish results in their work. What is wisdom? It is being able to use all sorts of ways and means to carry out God’s will and practice the truth. Wisdom is among the things that are positive and it is what is employed to attain proper goals, so using wisdom is what God praises. In any matter involving carrying out God’s will and completing what God has entrusted to us, no matter what ways or means we adopt to accomplish the goal, that is wise, and if people can use ways and means to get things done that is wise. Deceit, however, is among the things that are negative, and among the methods that people of Satan adopt to achieve their reactionary aims and individual ambitions. Sometimes the means used out of wisdom and out of deceit may look the same in how they appear, but because the meaning of each and the aims that are to be achieved are different, they are different by nature. The deceitful people commit misdeeds by adopting all sorts of methods in order to achieve individual aims that are despicable, which cannot be called wise, and can only be called deceitful or scheming. God’s people use wisdom to defeat the foe, to support God’s work, and to achieve satisfying God’s intentions, this is among the things that are altogether positive. That is wisdom. And using wisdom is right. If someone says that it is scheming, that’s denigrating what is positive and confusing right and wrong, as well as an absurdity of foolish, ignorant people without any discernment. In judging something you must see into its essence and feel out its source before you reach a fitting conclusion. You can’t just judge by external appearances and spout some nonsense.

from “Difference Between Wisdom and Deceit” in Records of Christ’s Talks With Leaders and Workers of the Church

In interacting with others it is impossible to avoid many difficulties, and besides possessing a loving heart, wisdom is indispensable. The principle of using wisdom is for the sake of allowing people to gain benefits and not causing harm to others, oneself, or the church. Some problems are not easily resolved without wisdom. For example, you should consider thoroughly what kinds of consequences something that you want to do will generate, how to go about it in a way that won’t bring trouble with it, or what sort of disposition the person you are interacting with has, what you should pay attention to in interacting with him or her, how to go about things in a way that benefits them and does not harm them, what sorts of things you should let them know, what sorts of things you should not say to them, what will be the consequences for saying these things, or if you must say them what is the best approach to adopt. These all refer to using wisdom.

from “Principles of Practice That We Should Have in Establishing Normal Interpersonal Relationships” in Records of Christ’s Talks With Leaders and Workers of the Church

The fourth characteristic is dealing with people with wisdom. Some people say: “Does getting along with brothers and sisters require wisdom?” Yes, it does, because using wisdom provides even greater benefits for your brothers and sisters. Some will ask: “Isn’t being wise with brothers and sisters being cunning?” Wisdom is not cunning. Rather, it is the complete opposite of cunning. To use wisdom means paying attention to the way you talk to brothers and sisters when they have small stature, in case they won’t be able to accept what you say. Also, for people with small stature, especially those who are not possessed of the truth and who reveal some corruption and have some corrupt disposition, if you are too simple and open and tell them everything, it can sometimes be easy for them to have something on you or for you to be used. This is not good either. Since humans have corrupt disposition, you must more or less take some precautions and have some technique when speaking. But being cautious against people doesn’t mean not helping them or not having love for them. It just means not telling them some of the important things about God’s household right away, and simply communicating the truth to them. If they need spiritual assistance in life and the truth to be supplied to them, we have to do everything in our ability to satisfy them in this regard. But if they are inquiring about this and that about God’s household, or this and that about its leaders and workers, then there’s no need to tell them. If you tell them, they are likely to leak this information and this will affect the work of God’s household. In other words, if it is something they shouldn’t know or something they have no need to know, then don’t let them know about it. If it is something they ought to know, then do all you can to let them know about it, concretely and without reservation. So what are things they ought to know? The pursuit of truth is what they should know; what truth they should be equipped with, what aspects of the truth they should understand, what duties they should fulfill, what duties they are suited to fulfill, how they should fulfill those duties, how to live out normal humanity, how to live the church life—these are all things people should know. On the other hand, the rules and principles of God’s household and the work of the church cannot be divulged to outsiders, nor can the situations of your brothers and sisters be disclosed to outsiders or non-believers in your family. This is the principle that must be abided by when we use wisdom. The names and addresses of your leaders, for example, are things you should not talk about. If you talk about these things, you never know when this information might fall into the ears of outsiders, and things could get very troublesome if it then gets passed on to some evil spies or secret agents. You must be wise about these things. That is why I say wisdom is very necessary. Moreover, when you are being simple and open, you cannot just tell anyone certain private things. You have to judge the stature of your brothers and sisters to see if, after you tell them, they might be ungodly and joke about what you say. It will be a problem if they let it get out there; it will damage your character. So being simple and open also requires wisdom.

from “How to Build Church Life and the Meaning of Building Church Life” in Fellowship and Preaching About Life Entry (I)

The purpose of evangelism is to bring all those who are able to believe in God and accept the true way before God to experience His work and receive salvation and enter into God’s kingdom. This is the purpose and meaning of preaching the gospel. The principles and methods of evangelism are of course determined based on the goals and meaning of preaching the gospel. If people’s practicing principles and methods cannot achieve the purpose and meaning of evangelism, then this proves that such principles and methods are wrong and that there is a deviation. Why are wisdom and technique used in preaching the gospel? It’s because the nation of the great red dragon is under the domain of Satan, the devil. This gang of devils do all they can to resist God and destroy His work and seek to ban His work. Against such a backdrop of darkness, some practicing principles and wise methods must be adopted in order to achieve the purpose of saving mankind.

How to Know the God on Earth

All of you are glad to receive rewards before God and to be recognized by God. This is everyone’s wish after he begins to have faith in God, for man wholeheartedly seeks higher things and none are willing to fall behind others. This is the way of man. For this reason, many among you always try to gain the favor of the God in heaven, yet in truth, your loyalty and sincerity to God are far less than your loyalty and sincerity to yourselves. Why do I say this? Because I do not acknowledge your loyalty to God at all, and I further deny the existence of the God that is within your hearts. That is to say, the God that you worship, the vague God that you admire, does not exist at all. The reason I can say this so definitively is that you are too far away from the true God. The loyalty you possess comes from the existence of another idol within your hearts, and as for Me, the God regarded as neither great nor small in your eyes, you acknowledge Me with nothing but words. When I speak of your great distance from God, I am referring to how far away you are from the true God, while the vague God seems to be near at hand. When I say “not great,” it is in reference to how the God that you have faith in this day appears to merely be a man without powerful abilities; a man that is not very lofty. And when I say “not small,” this means that though this man cannot summon the wind and command the rain, He is able to call upon the Spirit of God to do work that shakes the heavens and earth, thus baffling man. Outwardly, you all appear to be very obedient to this Christ on earth, yet in substance you neither have faith in Him nor love Him. What I mean is that the one you truly have faith in is that vague God in your feelings, and the one you truly love is the God you yearn for night and day, yet have never seen in person. As for this Christ, your faith is merely a fraction, and your love for Him is nothing. Faith means belief and trust; love means adoration and admiration in the heart, never parting. Yet your faith in and love of the Christ of this day fall far short of this. When it comes to faith, how do you have faith in Him? When it comes to love, how is it that you love Him? You know not at all of His disposition, much less His substance, so how is it that you have faith in Him? Where is the reality of your faith in Him? How do you love Him? Where is the reality of your love for Him?

Many have followed Me without hesitation to this day, and over these years, you have all suffered much fatigue. I have thoroughly grasped the disposition and habits of each of you. It was supremely arduous to associate with you. The pity is that though I have grasped much knowledge about you, you have not the slightest understanding of Me. No wonder others say you were tricked by a man in a moment of confusion. Indeed, you understand nothing of My disposition, and much less can you fathom what is in My mind. Now your misunderstandings toward Me are an added insult to injury, and your faith in Me remains one of confusion. As opposed to saying that you have faith in Me, it would be more apt to say that you are all trying to gain My favor and fawn over Me. Your motives are very simple—whosoever can reward me, I shall follow, and whosoever can enable me to escape the great disasters, I shall believe in, be he God or any certain God. None of this is of any concern to me. There are many such men among you, and this situation is very serious. If one day, a test is made to see how many among you have faith in Christ because you have insight into His substance, then I’m afraid that not one of you will be as I desire. Consider this question: The God in which you have faith is vastly different from Me, so what then is the essence of your faith in God? The more you believe in your so-called God, the further away you stray from Me. What, then, is at the core of this issue? I am sure none of you have ever considered this issue, but have you considered the gravity of it? Have you given thought to the consequences if you continue with such manner of faith?

Now, the problems set before you are many, and none of you are adept at bringing about solutions. Should this continue, then the ones who stand to lose are only yourselves. I will help you recognize the problems, but it rests on you to find the solutions.

I very much appreciate those who harbor no doubts about others and very much like those who readily accept the truth; to these two kinds of men I show great care, for in My eyes they are the honest. If you are very cunning, then you will have a guarded heart and thoughts of doubt regarding all matters and all men. For this reason, your faith in Me is built upon a foundation of suspicion. Such manner of faith is one I shall never acknowledge. Without true faith, then your love is far from true love. And if you even doubt God and speculate about Him at will, then you are certainly the most cunning of men. You speculate whether God can be like man: unpardonably sinful, of petty character, without fairness and reason, lacking a sense of righteousness, employing measures of malice, treachery, and cunning, as well as being pleased by evil and darkness, and so on. Is not the reason that man has such thoughts because man has not the slightest knowledge of God? Such manner of faith is nothing short of sin! Moreover, there are even some who believe that I am pleased by none other than those who ingratiate and fawn, and that those who know nothing of such things will be unpopular and be unable to keep their place in the house of God. Is this the knowledge you have received over these many years? Is this what you have gained? And your knowledge of Me is far from only such misunderstandings; much more, there is your blasphemy against God’s Spirit and vilification of Heaven. This is why I say that such manner of faith as yours will only cause you to stray further from Me and be in greater opposition against Me. Throughout many years of work, you have seen many truths, but do you know what My ears have heard? How many among you are willing to accept the truth? You all believe that you are willing to pay the price for the truth, but how many have truly suffered for the truth? All that exists in your hearts is iniquity, and hence you believe that anyone, no matter who, is cunning and crooked. You even believe that God incarnate would be as a normal man: without a heart of kindness or a benevolent love. Moreover, you believe that a noble character and merciful, benevolent nature exist only within the God in heaven. And you believe that such a saint does not exist, and that only darkness and evil reign on earth, while God is merely a glorious goal upon which man places hope, and a legendary figure fabricated by man. In your hearts, the God in heaven is very upright, righteous, and great, worthy of worship and reverence, but this God on earth is merely a substitute and instrument of the God in heaven. You believe this God cannot be equivalent to the God in heaven, much less be mentioned in the same breath as Him. When it comes to the greatness and honor of God, they belong to the glory of the God in heaven, yet when it comes to the nature and corruption of man, they are attributed to the God on earth. The God in heaven is forever lofty, while the God on earth is forever insignificant, weak, and incompetent. The God in heaven is not given to emotion, only righteousness, while the God on earth only has selfish motives and is without any fairness or reason. The God in heaven has not the slightest crookedness and is forever faithful, while the God on earth always has a dishonest side. The God in heaven loves man dearly, while the God on earth cares for man inadequately, even neglecting him entirely. This erroneous knowledge has long been kept within your hearts and may also be perpetuated onward in the future. You regard all deeds of Christ from the standpoint of the unrighteous and judge all His work and His identity and substance from the perspective of the wicked. You have made a grave mistake and done that which has never been done by those before you. That is, you only serve the lofty God in heaven with a crown upon His head and never attend to the God you regard as so insignificant as to be unseen. Is this not your sin? Is this not the typical example of your offense against the disposition of God? You very much worship the God in heaven. You very much adore lofty figures and esteem those with great eloquence. You are gladly commanded by the God that gives you handfuls of riches, and greatly pine for the God who can fulfill your every desire. The only one you do not worship is this God who is not lofty; your sole object of hatred is association with this God whom no man can regard highly. The only thing you are unwilling to do is to serve this God who has never given you a single penny, and the only one for whom you do not yearn is this unlovely God. Such kind of God cannot enable you to broaden your horizons, to feel as if you have found a treasure, much less fulfill what you wish. Why, then, do you follow Him? Have you given thought to this question?

What you do does not merely offend this Christ, but more importantly, offends the God in heaven. I think that this is not the purpose of your faith in God! You desire greatly for God to delight in you, yet you are very far away from God. What is the matter here? You accept only His words, yet not His dealing or pruning, much less His every arrangement. Moreover, you are unable to have complete faith in Him. What, then, is the matter here? Fundamentally, your faith is an empty eggshell that can never give rise to a chick. For your faith has not brought you the truth or gained you life, and has instead brought you an illusory sense of hope and support. The purpose of your faith in God is for this hope and support rather than for the truth and life. Therefore, I say that the course of your faith in God is none other than trying to gain the favor of God through servility and shamelessness, and can in no way be deemed a true faith. How can a chick appear from faith such as this? In other words, what fruit can such manner of faith bear? The purpose of your faith in God is to fulfill your motives through making use of God. Is this not further a fact showing your offense against the disposition of God? You believe in the existence of the God in heaven but deny that of the God on earth. However, I approve not of your views. I commend only those men who keep their feet on the ground and serve the God on earth, never those who never acknowledge the Christ on earth. No matter how loyal such men are to the God in heaven, in the end, they will not escape My hand that punishes the wicked. Such men are the wicked; they are the wicked ones who resist God and have never gladly obeyed Christ. Of course, their number includes all those who do not know and, further, do not acknowledge Christ. You believe that you can act as you please toward Christ as long as you are loyal to the God in heaven. Wrong! Your ignorance of Christ is ignorance too of the God in heaven. No matter how loyal you are to the God in heaven, it is merely empty words and pretense, for the God on earth is not only instrumental in man receiving the truth and more profound knowledge, but even more instrumental in the condemnation of man and afterward in seizing the facts to punish the wicked. Have you understood the benefits and consequences here? Have you experienced them? I wish for you to one day soon understand this truth: To know God, you must know not only the God in heaven but, more importantly, the God on earth. Do not confuse what holds priority or allow the subordinate to supersede the dominant. Only in this way can you truly build a good relationship with God, become closer to God, and draw your heart closer to Him. If you have been of the faith for many years and long associated with Me, yet remain distant from Me, then I say it must be that you often offend the disposition of God, and your end will be very difficult to reckon. If the many years of association with Me have not changed you into a man who has humanity and the truth, and instead your evil ways become ingrained in your nature, if you are not only doubly arrogant but your misunderstandings of Me become even more grievous, such that you come to regard Me as your sidekick, then I say that your affliction is not skin deep, but has penetrated into your bones. And all you can do is wait and prepare for your funeral! You need not beseech Me then to be your God, for you have committed a sin deserving of death, an unforgivable sin. Even if I could have mercy on you, the God in heaven will insist on taking your life, for your offense against the disposition of God is no ordinary problem, but one very grave in nature. When the time comes, do not blame Me for not having informed you beforehand. It all comes back to this: When you associate with the Christ—the God on earth—as an ordinary man, that is, when you believe that this God is nothing but a man, it is then that you shall perish. This is My only admonishment to you all.

                 from ：“The Word Appears in the Flesh ”
                  Recommendation:"Fellowship and Preaching About God’s Word “Those Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God”
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What a Real Man Means

Managing man is My job, and having him be conquered by Me was even more predestined when I created the world. People do not know that I will completely conquer them in the last days, and they are also unaware that the evidence of My defeating Satan is to conquer the disobedient members of mankind. But I had already told My enemy when it struggled with Me that I would become the conqueror of those who had been taken away by Satan and had long become its children, and its loyal servants watching over its home. The original meaning of conquer is to defeat, to humiliate. In the way Israel’s people put it, it is to completely defeat, destroy, and make one unable to resist Me further. But today as used among you people, its meaning is to conquer. You should know My intent is to completely extinguish and reduce to ruin the evil one of mankind, so that it can no longer rebel against Me, much less have a breath to interrupt or disturb My work. Thus, as far as people are concerned, it means to be conquering. Whatever the term’s connotation, My work is to defeat mankind. For truly mankind is an adjunct to My management, but more accurately, mankind is none other than My enemy. Mankind is the evil one that resists and disobeys Me. Mankind is none other than the progeny of the evil one accursed by Me. Mankind is none other than the descendant of the archangel that betrayed Me. Mankind is none other than the heritage of the devil that was already detested and rejected by Me and came at odds with Me. The sky above all mankind is murky and gloomy, lacking in even a glimmer of clarity. The human world is in pitch darkness, and when living in it one cannot see his own hand when he stretches it out before him and cannot see the sun when he lifts his head. The road beneath his feet is muddy and rife with potholes, and it is meandering and tortuous; the whole land is littered with corpses. The corners in the dark are filled with the remains of the dead. The cool and dark corners are crowded with hordes of demons taking up residence. Throughout mankind hordes of demons also come and go. The progeny of myriad beasts covered in filth is fighting hand to hand, in a brutal struggle, the sound of which strikes terror in the heart. In such times, such a world, and such an “earthly paradise,” where does one go to seek out life’s felicities? Where would one go to find his life’s destination? Mankind, trampled under Satan’s feet long ago, has been acting in Satan’s image—even being its embodiment. They are the evidence of being Satan’s “witness, loud and clear.” Such mankind, such scum, or such offspring of this corrupt human family, how could they bear witness to God? From whence comes forth My glory? Where is My witness? The enemy that stands against Me and corrupts mankind has already soiled mankind, My creation, brimming with My glory and My living out. It has stolen away My glory, and what it has imbued man with is nothing but poison heavily laced with the ugliness of Satan, and juice from fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the beginning, I created mankind, that is, I created mankind’s ancestor, Adam. He was tangible and formed, brimming with life, brimming with vitality, and furthermore, having My glory’s company. That was the glorious day when I created man. Following that, Eve was produced from the body of Adam, also the ancestor of man, and so the people of My creation were filled with My breath and brimming with My glory. Adam was originally produced by My hand and was the representation of My image. Thus the original meaning of “Adam” was to be My creation imbued with My vitality, imbued with My glory, tangible and in good form, having spirit and breath. He was the only creation endowed with a spirit that could represent Me, have My image and receive My breath. In the beginning Eve was the second person endowed with breath that I had determined to create, so the original meaning of “Eve” was to be a creation to continue My glory, filled with My vitality and furthermore be endowed with My glory. Eve came out of Adam, so she was also of My image, for she was the second person created in My image. The original meaning of “Eve” was to be a living being, given a spirit, existing in flesh and bone, being My second testimony as well as My second image in mankind. They were mankind’s ancestors, his pure and precious treasure, and originally living beings with a spirit. However the evil one trampled and looted the progeny of mankind’s ancestors, closing the human world into complete darkness, such that this progeny no longer believes in My existence. What’s even more detestable is that at the same time when the evil one corrupts and tramples people, it cruelly takes away My glory, My testimony, the vitality I bestowed on people, the breath and life I blew into them, all My glory in the human world, and all the painstaking effort that I have invested into mankind. Mankind is no longer in the light, and has lost everything I have bestowed on them, discarding the glory I have bestowed. How could they ever confess that I am the Lord of the creation? How could they believe in My existence in heaven? How could they discover My glory’s manifestation on earth? How could these grandsons and granddaughters take the God their own ancestors revered as Lord of their creation? These pitiful grandsons and granddaughters have generously “presented” to the evil one the glory, the image, as well as the testimony that I had bestowed on Adam and Eve, and the life bestowed on mankind that they depend on, without minding in the slightest the evil one’s presence, giving all My glory to it. Is this not the source of the title of “scum”? How could such mankind, such evil demons, such walking corpses, such figures of Satan, such enemies of Mine have My glory? I will repossess My glory, repossess My testimony among man and all that once belonged to Me, which I had given to mankind long ago—completely conquer mankind. However you should know, the humans I created were holy men with My image and My glory. They were not originally of Satan, nor subjected to its trampling, but purely My manifestation, free of the slightest trace of its poison. Thus, I let everyone know that I only want that which was created by My hand, My beloved pure ones that never belonged to any other entity. Furthermore, I will take pleasure in them and see them as My glory. However, what I want is not the mankind corrupted by Satan, belonging to Satan today, which is no longer My original creation. Because I want to repossess My glory in the human world, I will gain complete conquest over the remaining survivors of mankind, as the proof of My glory in My victory over Satan. I only take My testimony as My crystallization, as the object of My enjoyment. Such is My intention.

Relevant Words of God:

God is incarnated in the Chinese mainland, what the compatriots in Hong Kong and Taiwan call the inland. When God came from above to the earth, no one in heaven and earth knew about it, for this is the true meaning of God returning in a concealed fashion. He has been in the flesh working and living for a long time, yet no one has known about it. Even to this day, no one recognizes it. Perhaps this will remain an eternal riddle. God’s coming into flesh this time is not something anyone is able to be aware of. No matter how large-scale and powerful the Spirit’s work, God always stays composed, never giving Himself away. One can say that it is as if this stage of His work is taking place in the heavenly realm. Even though it is perfectly obvious to everyone, no one recognizes it. When God finishes this stage of His work, everyone will awake from their long dream and reverse their past attitude. I remember God once saying, “Coming into flesh this time is like falling into the tiger’s den.” What this means is that because this round of God’s work has God coming into flesh and being born in the dwelling place of the great red dragon, His coming to earth this time is accompanied even more so with extreme dangers. What He faces are knives and guns and clubs; what He faces is temptation; what He faces are crowds wearing murderous looks. He risks being killed at any moment. God did come with wrath. However, He came in order to do the work of perfection, meaning to do the second part of His work that continues after redemption work. For the sake of this stage of His work, God has devoted utmost thought and care and is using every conceivable means to avoid the assaults of temptation, concealing Himself humbly and never flaunting His identity. In rescuing man off the cross, Jesus was only completing redemption work; He was not doing perfection work. Thus only half of God’s work was being done, and finishing the redemption work was only half of His whole plan. As the new age was about to begin and the old one about to recede, God the Father began to deliberate the second part of His work and started preparing for it. In the past, this incarnation in the last days may not have been prophesied, and therefore that laid a foundation for the increased secrecy surrounding God’s coming into flesh this time. At the break of dawn, unbeknownst to any, God came to earth and began His life in the flesh. People were unaware of this moment. Maybe they were all fast asleep, maybe many who were watchfully awake were waiting, and maybe many were praying silently to God in heaven. Yet among all these many people, not one knew that God had already arrived on earth. God worked like this so as to more smoothly carry out His work and achieve better results, and it was also to avoid more temptations. As man’s spring slumber breaks, God’s work will have long been finished and He shall depart, bringing to a close His life of roaming and sojourning on earth. Because God’s work requires God to act and speak personally, and because there is no way for man to help, God has endured extreme pain to come to earth to do the work Himself. Man is unable to stand in for God’s work. Therefore God risked dangers several thousand times greater than those during the Age of Grace to come down to where the great red dragon dwells to do His own work, to put all His thinking and care into redeeming this group of impoverished people, redeeming this group of people mired in a heap of manure. Even though no one knows of God’s existence, God is not troubled because it greatly benefits God’s work. Everyone is atrociously evil, so how can anyone tolerate God’s existence? That is why on earth God is always silent. No matter how excessively cruel man is, God does not take any of it to heart, but just keeps doing the work He needs to do so as to fulfill the greater commission that the heavenly Father gave Him. Who among you has recognized God’s loveliness? Who shows more consideration for God the Father’s burden than His Son does? Who is able to understand the will of God the Father? God the Father’s Spirit in heaven is often troubled, and His Son on earth prays frequently over God the Father’s will, worrying His heart to pieces. Is there anyone who knows of God the Father’s love for His Son? Is there anyone who knows how the beloved Son misses God the Father? Torn between heaven and earth, the two are constantly gazing after each other from afar, side by side in Spirit. O mankind! When will you be considerate of God’s heart? When will you understand God’s intention? Father and Son have always depended on each other. Why then should They be separated, one in heaven above and one on earth below? The Father loves His Son as the Son loves His Father. Why then should He have to wait with such longing and long with such anxiety? Although They have not been separated for long, does anyone know that the Father has already been anxiously yearning for so many days and nights and has long been looking forward to His beloved Son’s quick return? He observes, He sits in silence, He waits. It is all for His beloved Son’s quick return. When will He again be with the Son who is wandering on earth? Even though once together, They will be together for eternity, how can He endure the thousands of days and nights of separation, one in heaven above and one on earth below? Tens of years on earth are like thousands of years in heaven. How could God the Father not worry? When God comes to earth, He experiences the many vicissitudes of the human world just as man does. God Himself is innocent, so why let God suffer the same pain as man? No wonder God the Father longs so urgently for His Son; who can understand God’s heart? God gives man too much; how can man adequately repay God’s heart? Yet man gives God too little; how could God not therefore be worried?

Scarcely one among men understands God’s urgent heart because people’s caliber is too low and their spiritual sensitivity quite dull, and because they all neither notice nor heed what God is doing. So God keeps worrying about man, as if man’s beastly nature could break out at any moment. This further shows that God’s coming to earth is accompanied by great temptations. But for the sake of completing a group of people, God, laden with glory, told man of His every intention, hiding nothing. He has firmly resolved to complete this group of people. Therefore, come hardship or temptation, He looks away and ignores it all. He only quietly does His own work, firmly believing that one day when God has gained glory, man will know God, and believing that when man has been completed by God, he will fully understand God’s heart. Right now there may be people tempting God or misunderstanding God or blaming God; God takes none of that to heart. When God descends into glory, people will all understand that everything God does is for the well-being of mankind, and people will all understand that everything God does is so that mankind can better survive. God’s coming is accompanied by temptations, and God also comes with majesty and wrath. By the time God leaves man, He will have already gained glory, and He will leave fully laden with glory and with the joy of return. The God working on earth does not take things to heart no matter how people reject Him. He is just doing His work. God’s creation of the world goes back thousands of years, He has come to earth to do an immeasurable amount of work, and He has fully experienced the human world’s rejection and slander. No one welcomes God’s arrival; everyone merely regards Him with a cold eye. In the course of these several thousand years’ worth of hardships, man’s conduct has long ago shattered God’s heart. He no longer pays attention to people’s rebellion, but is instead making a separate plan to transform and cleanse man. The derision, the slander, the persecution, the tribulation, the suffering of crucifixion, the exclusion by man, and so on that God has experienced in the flesh—God has tasted enough of these. God in the flesh has thoroughly suffered the miseries of the human world. The Spirit of God the Father in heaven long ago found such sights unbearable and threw His head back and shut His eyes, waiting for His beloved Son to return. All He wishes for is that people all listen and obey, are able to feel great shame before His flesh, and not rebel against Him. All He wishes for is that people all believe that God exists. He long ago stopped making greater demands of man because God has paid too high a price, yet man is resting easy, not at all taking God’s work to heart.

         From “Work and Entry (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
 Recommendation:"God Himself, the Unique X God Is the Source of Life for All Things (IV）"

Only by Experiencing Refinement Can Man Truly Love God

How should man love God during refinement? Having experienced refinement, during refinement people are able to truly praise God and to see just how much they are lacking. The greater your refinement, the more you are able to renounce the flesh; the greater your refinement, the more your love for God. This is what you should understand. Why must people be refined? What effect does it aim to achieve? What is the significance of God’s work of refinement in man? If you truly seek God, then having experienced His refinement to a certain point you will feel that it is so good, and that it is of the utmost necessity. How should man love God during refinement? By using the resolve to love God to accept His refinement: During refinement you are tormented inside, as if a knife were being twisted in your heart, yet you are willing to satisfy God using your heart, which loves Him, and you are unwilling to care for the flesh. This is what is meant by practicing the love of God. You hurt inside, and your suffering has reached a certain point, yet you are still willing to come before God and pray, saying: “O God! I cannot leave You. Although there is darkness within me, I wish to satisfy You; You know my heart, and I would that You invest more of Your love within me.” This is practice during refinement. If you use the love of God as the foundation, refinement can bring you closer to God and make you more intimate with God. Since you believe in God, you must hand over your heart before God. If you offer up and lay your heart before God, then during refinement it will be impossible for you to deny God, or leave God. In this way your relationship with God will become ever closer, and ever more normal, and your communion with God will become ever more frequent. If you always practice in this way, then you will spend more time in God’s light, and more time under the guidance of His words, there will also be more and more changes in your disposition, and your knowledge will increase day by day. When the day comes and God’s trials suddenly befall you, you will not only be able to stand by God’s side, but will also be able to bear testimony to God. At that time, you will be like Job, and Peter. Having borne testimony to God you will truly love Him, and will gladly lay down your life for Him; you will be God’s witness, and one who is beloved by God. Love that has experienced refinement is strong, and not weak. Regardless of when or how God subjects you to His trials, you are able to care not whether you live or die, to gladly cast aside everything for God, and to happily endure anything for God—and thus your love will be pure, and your faith real. Only then will you be someone who is truly loved by God, and who has truly been made perfect by God.

If people fall under the influence of Satan, then they have no love for God within them, and their previous visions, love, and resolution have disappeared. People used to feel that they were supposed to suffer for God, but today they think it is shameful and have no shortage of complaints. This is the work of Satan; it shows that man has fallen under the domain of Satan. If you encounter this state you must pray, and turn the other way as soon as you can—this will protect you against Satan’s attacks. It is during bitter refinement that man can most easily fall under the influence of Satan—so how should you love God during such refinement? You should summon your will, laying your heart before God and devoting the last of your time to Him. No matter how God refines you, you should be able to put the truth into practice to fulfill God’s will, and you should take it upon yourself to seek God and seek communion with God. At times like these, the more passive you are, the more negative you will become and the easier it will be for you to regress. When it is necessary for you to serve your function, although you don’t serve it well, you do all you can, and do it using nothing more than your love of God; regardless of what others say—whether they say you have done well, or that you have done badly—your motivations are correct, and you are not self-righteous, for you are acting in behalf of God. When others misinterpret you, you are able to pray to God and say: “O God! I do not ask that others tolerate me, nor that they forgive me. I only ask that I am able to love You in my heart, that I am certain in my heart, and that my conscience is clear. I do not ask that others commend me, or hold me in high regard; I only pursue to satisfy You from my heart, I serve my role by doing all that I can, and although I am foolish and stupid, and of poor caliber, and blind, I know that You are lovely, and I am willing to devote all I have to You.” As soon as you pray in this way, your love for God emerges, and you feel much more certainty in your heart. This is what is meant by practicing the love of God. As you experience, you will fail twice and succeed once, or else fail five times and succeed twice, and as you experience in this way, only amid failure will you be able to see the loveliness of God and discover what is lacking within you. When you next encounter such situations, you should caution yourself, temper your steps, and pray more often. You will gradually develop the ability to triumph in such situations. When that happens, your prayers have been effective. When you see you have been successful this time, you will be gratified inside, and when you pray you will be able to feel God, and that the presence of the Holy Spirit has not left you—and only then will you know how God works within you. Practicing in this way will give you a path to experiencing. If you do not put the truth into practice, then you will be without the presence of the Holy Spirit within you. But if you put it into practice, then although you hurt inside, afterward the Holy Spirit will be with you, you will be able to feel the presence of God when you pray, you will have the strength to practice the words of God, and during communion with your brothers and sisters there will be nothing weighing on your conscience, and you will feel at peace, and in this way, you will be able to bring to light what you have done. Regardless of what others say, you will be able to have a normal relationship with God, you will not be constrained by others, you will rise above everything—and in this, you will demonstrate that your practice of God’s words has been effective.

The greater God’s refinement, the more people’s hearts are able to love God. The torment in their hearts is of benefit to their lives, they are more able to be at peace before God, their relationship with God is closer, and they are better able to see God’s supreme love and His supreme salvation. Peter experienced refinement hundreds of times, and Job underwent several trials. If you wish to be made perfect by God, you too must undergo refinement hundreds of times; only if you have to go through this process, and have to rely upon this step, are you able to satisfy God’s will, and be made perfect by God. Refinement is the best means by which God makes people perfect; only refinement and bitter trials can bring out the true love for God in people’s hearts. Without hardship, people lack the true love for God; if they are not tested within, and are not truly subjected to refinement, then their hearts will always be floating in the outside world. Having been refined to a certain point, you will see your own weaknesses and difficulties, you will see how much you are lacking and that you are unable to overcome the many problems you encounter, and you will see how great is your disobedience. Only during trials will you be able to truly know your real state, and trials make you better able to be made perfect.

During his lifetime, Peter experienced refinement hundreds of times and underwent many painful ordeals. This refinement became the foundation of his supreme love of God, and became the most significant experience of his entire life. That he was able to possess a supreme love of God was, in one sense, because of his resolve to love God; more importantly, however, it was because of the refinement and suffering that he underwent. This suffering became his guide on the path of loving God, and became the thing that was most memorable to him. If people do not undergo the pain of refinement when loving God, then their love is full of naturalness and their preferences; love such as this is full of the ideas of Satan, and simply incapable of satisfying God’s will. Having the resolve to love God is not the same as truly loving God. Even though all that they think of in their hearts is for the sake of loving God, and satisfying God, as if their thoughts are without any human ideas, as if they are all for the sake of God, when their thoughts are brought before God, such thoughts are not commended or blessed by God. Even when people have fully understood all truths—when they have come to know them all—this cannot be said to be a sign of loving God, it cannot be said that these people actually love God. Despite having understood many truths without undergoing refinement, people are incapable of putting these truths into practice; only during refinement can people understand the real meaning of these truths, only then can people genuinely appreciate their inner meaning. At that time, when they try again, they are able to put the truths into practice properly, and in accordance with God’s will; at that time, their human ideas are lessened, their human naturalness is reduced, and their human emotions are diminished; only at that time is their practice a true manifestation of the love of God. The effect of the truth of the love of God is not achieved through spoken knowledge or mental willingness, nor can it be achieved simply by being understood. It requires that people pay a price, and that they undergo much bitterness during refinement, and only then will their love become pure, and after God’s own heart. In His requirement that man love Him, God does not demand that man love Him using passion, or naturalness; only through loyalty and the use of the truth to serve Him can man truly love Him. But man lives amid naturalness, and so is incapable of using the truth and loyalty to serve God. He is either too passionate about God or too cold and uncaring, he either loves God to the extreme or loathes Him to the extreme. Those who live amid naturalness always live between these two extremes, and they always live in a state without truth, and believe that they are right. Although I have brought this up time and time again, people are incapable of taking it seriously, they are incapable of fully knowing its importance, and so they live amid the faith of self-deception, and in the delusion of love for God that has no truth. Throughout history, as mankind has developed and the ages have passed, God’s requirements of man have become ever higher, and He has increasingly demanded that man be absolute toward Him. Yet man’s knowledge of God has become more and more vague and abstract, and his love of God has concomitantly become more and more impure. Man’s state and all that he does are increasingly at odds with the will of God, for man has become ever more deeply corrupted by Satan. This requires that God do more, and greater, work of salvation. Man is increasingly exacting in his requirements of God, and his love of God is becoming less and less. People live in disobedience, without the truth, and they live lives that are without humanity; not only are they without the slightest love of God, but they are teeming with disobedience and opposition. Although they think they already have the utmost love for God, and could not be any more accommodating toward Him, God does not believe so. It is perfectly clear to Him how tainted man’s love of Him is, and He has never changed His opinion of man because of man’s pandering, nor ever repaid man’s goodwill as a result of his devotion. Unlike man, God is able to differentiate: He knows who truly loves Him and who does not, and instead of being overcome with fervor and losing Himself because of man’s momentary impulse, He treats man according to man’s essence and behavior. God, after all, is God, and He has His dignity, and His insights; man, after all, is man, and God’s head will not be turned by a love of man that is at odds with the truth. On the contrary, He treats all that man does appropriately.

Faced with man’s state and his attitude toward God, God has done new work, allowing man to possess both knowledge of and obedience toward Him, and both love and testimony. Thus, man must experience God’s refinement of him, as well as His judgment, dealing and pruning of him, without which man would never know God, and would never be capable of truly loving and bearing witness to Him. God’s refinement of man is not merely for the sake of a one-sided effect, but for the sake of a multi-faceted effect. Only in this way does God do the work of refinement in those who are willing to seek the truth, in order that man’s resolve and love are made perfect by God. To those who are willing to seek the truth, and who yearn for God, nothing is more meaningful, or of greater assistance, than refinement such as this. God’s disposition is not so easily known or understood by man, for God, in the end, is God. At the end of the day, it is impossible for God to have the same disposition as man, and thus it is not easy for man to know His disposition. The truth is not inherently possessed by man, and is not easily understood by those who have been corrupted by Satan; man is devoid of the truth, and devoid of the resolve to put the truth into practice, and if he does not suffer, and is not refined or judged, then his resolve will never be made perfect. For all people, refinement is excruciating, and very difficult to accept—yet it is during refinement that God makes plain His righteous disposition to man, and makes public His requirements for man, and provides more enlightenment, and more actual pruning and dealing; through the comparison between the facts and the truth, He gives man a greater knowledge of himself and the truth, and gives man a greater understanding of God’s will, thus allowing man to have a truer and purer love of God. Such are God’s aims in carrying out refinement. All the work that God does in man has its own aims and significance; God does not do meaningless work, nor does He do work that is without benefit to man. Refinement does not mean removing people from before God, nor does it mean destroying them in hell. It means changing man’s disposition during refinement, changing his motivations, his old views, changing his love for God, and changing his whole life. Refinement is a real test of man, and a form of real training, and only during refinement can his love serve its inherent function.

  From"Listen to the Voice of God  Know Christ"

 Recommendation: "Only by Experiencing Painful Trials Can You Know the Loveliness of God"

Knowing God’s Work Today

To know God’s work in these times is, for the most part, to know God incarnate of the last days, what His principal ministry is, and what He has come to do on earth. I have previously mentioned in My words that God has come to earth (during the last days) to set an exemplar before departing. How does God set this exemplar? By speaking words, by working and speaking throughout the land. This is God’s work during the last days; He only speaks, so that the earth becomes a world of words, so that every person is provided for and enlightened by His words, and so that man’s spirit is awakened and he is clear about the visions. During the last days, God incarnate has come to earth chiefly in order to speak words. When Jesus came, He spread the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, and accomplished the work of redemption of the crucifixion. He brought an end to the Age of Law, and abolished all the old things. The arrival of Jesus ended the Age of Law and ushered in the Age of Grace. The arrival of God incarnate of the last days has brought an end to the Age of Grace. He has come chiefly to speak His words, to use words to make man perfect, to illuminate and enlighten man, and to remove the place of the vague God within man’s heart. This is not the stage of work that Jesus did when He came. When Jesus came, He performed many miracles, He healed and cast out demons, and He did the work of redemption of the crucifixion. As a consequence, in his conceptions, man believes that this is how God should be. For when Jesus came, He did not do the work of removing the image of the vague God from man’s heart; when He came, He was crucified, He healed and cast out demons, and He spread the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. In one regard, the incarnation of God during the last days removes the place held by the vague God in the conceptions of man, so that there is no longer the image of the vague God in man’s heart. Using His actual words and actual work, He moves across all lands, and the work He does among man is exceptionally real and normal, such that man comes to know the reality of God, and the vague God loses his place in man’s heart. In another regard, God uses the words spoken by His flesh to make man complete, and accomplish all things. This is the work that God will accomplish during the last days.

What you must know:

1. The work of God is not supernatural, and you should not harbor conceptions about it.

2. You must understand the principal work that God incarnate has come to do this time.

He has not come to heal, or to cast out demons, or to perform miracles, and He has not come to spread the gospel of repentance, or to grant man redemption. That is because Jesus has already done this work, and God does not repeat the same work. Today, God has come to bring an end to the Age of Grace and cast out all the practices of the Age of Grace. The practical God has come chiefly to show that He is real. When Jesus came, He spoke few words; He primarily displayed miracles, performed signs and wonders, and healed and cast out demons, or else He spoke prophecies in order to convince man, and to make man see that He really was God, and was a dispassionate God. Ultimately, He completed the work of crucifixion. The God of today does not display signs and wonders, nor does He heal and cast out demons. When Jesus came, the work He did represented one part of God, but this time God has come to do the stage of work that is due, for God does not repeat the same work; He is the God that is always new and never old, and so all that you see today is the words and work of the practical God.