81. The root cause of man’s opposition and rebelliousness against God is his corruption by Satan. Because of Satan’s corruption, man’s conscience has grown numb, he is morally corrupt, his thoughts are degenerate, and he has a backward mental outlook. Before he was corrupted by Satan, man originally submitted to God and submitted to His words after hearing them. He was originally of sound reason and conscience, and of normal humanity. After man was corrupted by Satan, his original reason, conscience, and humanity all grew numb and were spoiled by Satan. Thus, he has lost his submission and love toward God. Man’s reason has become abnormal, his disposition has become the same as that of a beast, and his rebelliousness against God is ever increasing and growing more grievous. Yet man still neither knows nor understands this, and merely opposes and rebels persistently. The revelations of man’s disposition are the expressions of his reason, insight, and conscience. Because his reason and insight are unsound, and his conscience has grown supremely numb, his disposition is rebellious against God. If man’s reason and insight cannot change, then changes in his disposition are out of the question, as is according with God’s intentions. If man’s reason is unsound, then he cannot serve God and is unfit for use by God. “Normal reason” refers to submitting to and being loyal to God, to yearning for God, to being absolute toward God, and to having a conscience toward God. It refers to being of one heart and mind toward God, and not deliberately opposing God. Having abnormal reason is not like this. After being corrupted by Satan, man has come up with notions about God, and he has no loyalty to God or yearning for Him, to say nothing of a conscience toward God. Man deliberately opposes God and passes judgments on Him, and, furthermore, hurls invective at Him behind His back. Man passes judgment on God behind His back, knowing full well that He is God; man has absolutely no intention of submitting to God, but merely keeps making demands and requests of Him. Such people—people who have abnormal reason—are still incapable of knowing their own despicable behavior or of regretting their acts of rebellion. If people are capable of knowing themselves, then they have regained a little of their reason; the more that people are rebellious against God and yet do not know themselves, the less sound of reason they are.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Remain Unchanged in Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God

82. Throughout several thousand years of corruption, people have all grown numb and dull-witted; they have all become evil demons that oppose God, to the extent that their rebelliousness against God has been documented in historical records, and that even people themselves are incapable of giving a full account of their rebellious behavior—for they have been profoundly corrupted by Satan, and have been led astray by Satan such that they know not where to turn. Even today, people still betray God. When they see God, they betray Him, and when they cannot see God, so too do they betray Him. There are even those who, having witnessed God’s curses and God’s wrath, still betray Him. And so I say that man’s reason has lost its original function, and that man’s conscience, too, has lost its original function. In My eyes, people are all beasts in human attire and venomous snakes. No matter how pitiable they try to appear before My eyes, I will never be merciful toward them, for they have absolutely no grasp of the difference between black and white, and none of them understand the difference between truth and non-truth. Their reason is so benumbed, yet still they wish to gain blessings; their humanity is so ignoble, yet still they wish to hold power as kings. Who could they be the kings of, with reason such as that? How could they with such humanity sit atop thrones? People are truly shameless! They are wretches who overestimate themselves! I suggest that you who wish to gain blessings first find a mirror and look at your own ugly reflection. Do you have what it takes to be a king? Do you have the facial features of one who could receive blessings? There has not been the slightest change in your disposition and you have not been able to put any of the truth into practice, yet still you wish for a wonderful tomorrow. This is sheer delusion! Man, who was born into such a filthy land, has been infected by society to a severe extent, he has been conditioned by feudal ethics, and he has received the education of “institutes of higher learning.” The backward thinking, corrupt morality, debased outlook on life, despicable philosophy for worldly dealings, utterly worthless existence, and base customs and day-to-day life—all of these things have been severely intruding upon man’s heart, and have been severely damaging and attacking his conscience. As a result, man grows ever more distant from God, and ever more opposed to Him. Man’s disposition becomes more ruthless by the day, and there is not a single person who willingly gives up anything for God, not a single person who willingly submits to God, and even less is there a single person who willingly seeks the appearance of God. Instead, man pursues pleasure to his heart’s content under the power of Satan, and corrupts his flesh in the mire with abandon. Even when they hear the truth, those who live in darkness have no desire to practice it, and they aren’t inclined to seek even when they see that God has already appeared. How could a depraved mankind like this have any room for salvation? How could a decadent mankind like this live in the light?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Remain Unchanged in Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God

83. The revelation of man’s corrupt disposition has its root in nothing more than man’s numb conscience, his malicious nature, and his unsound reason; if man’s conscience and reason are able to become normal again, then he will become someone fit for use before God. It is simply because man’s conscience has always been numb, and because man’s reason has never been sound and is growing ever more numb, that man’s acts of rebelliousness against God are multiplying, such that he even nailed Jesus to the cross and shuts his door on God’s incarnate flesh in the last days, and condemns God’s flesh, and sees God’s flesh as lowly. If man had but a little humanity, he would not be so cruel in his treatment of God’s incarnate flesh; if he had but a little reason, he would not be so vicious in his treatment of God’s incarnate flesh; if he had but a little conscience, he would not “give thanks” to God incarnate in this way. Man lives in the era of God become flesh, yet doesn’t thank God for giving him such a good opportunity, and instead curses the coming of God, or completely ignores the fact of God’s incarnation, appearing to be against it and averse to it. Regardless of how man treats the coming of God, God has always been doing His work, without ever tiring of it—even though man has not been the slightest bit welcoming toward Him, and keeps making requests of Him. Man’s disposition has become supremely malicious, his reason has grown supremely numb, and his conscience has been completely trampled by the evil one and long ago ceased to be the original conscience of man. Man is not only ungrateful to God incarnate for bestowing so much life and grace upon mankind, but even has loathing for God because of the truth He bestows upon him; because man is disinterested in the truth, he has loathing for God. Not only is man unable to lay down his life for God incarnate, but he instead tries to extract favors from Him, and demands repayment that is dozens of times greater than what man has given to God. This is what man’s conscience and reason are like, yet he still thinks this is no great matter, still believing that he has expended too much for God, and that God has bestowed upon him too little. There are people who, having given Me a bowl of water, hold out their hands and demand I pay them for two bowls of milk, or, having given Me a room for one night, demand I pay lodging fees many times over. With such humanity and such a conscience, how could you still wish to gain life? What contemptible wretches you are!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Remain Unchanged in Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God

84. If I did not unearth the ugliness in the depths of your hearts, then each of you would place a crown upon your head and attribute all the glory to yourselves. Your arrogant and conceited natures drive you to betray your own consciences, to rebel against and resist Christ, and to reveal your ugly faces, thereby bringing to light your intentions, notions, extravagant desires, and eyes full of greed. And yet you keep declaring your lifelong passion for the work of Christ, and keep saying and repeating the truths long ago spoken by Christ. This is your “faith”—your “faith without impurity.” I have held man to a strict standard throughout. If your loyalty comes with intentions and with conditions, then I would rather be without your so-called loyalty, for I abhor people deceiving Me with their intentions and extorting Me with conditions. I wish only for man to have undivided loyalty toward Me, and to do all things for the sake of and in order to prove one word: faith. I detest your use of blandishments to try to make Me rejoice, for I have always treated you with sincerity, and so I wish for you to also act with true faith toward Me. When it comes to faith, many may think that they follow God because they have faith, and would not endure such suffering otherwise. So I ask you this: If you believe in God’s existence, why do you never fear Him? If you believe in God’s existence, why is there not the slightest dread of Him in your heart? If you acknowledge that Christ is God’s incarnate flesh, why do you hold Him in contempt? Why do you act irreverently toward Him? Why do you openly judge Him? Why do you always spy on His movements? Why do you not submit to His arrangements? Why do you not take His word as your criterion in your actions? Why do you extort and steal His offerings? Why do you try to speak from the position of Christ? Why do you evaluate whether His work and His word are correct? Why do you dare blaspheme Him behind His back? Are these and others what constitute your faith?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Are You Really a Believer in God?

85. If you use your notions to measure and delimit God, as if God were an unchanging statue of clay, completely delimiting God to the Bible and fixing Him within a limited scope of work, then this proves that you have condemned God. Because the Jews in the age of the Old Testament took God to be an idol of fixed form that they held in their hearts, as if God could only be called the Messiah, and only He who was called the Messiah could be God, and because people served and worshiped God as if He were a (lifeless) clay statue, they nailed the Jesus of that time to the cross, sentencing Him to death—the guiltless Jesus was thus condemned to death. God was innocent, yet man refused to spare Him, and insistently sentenced Him to death, and so Jesus was crucified. Man always believes that God is unchanging, and delimits Him on the basis of one single book, the Bible, as though man has a full grasp of God’s management, as though man holds all that God does in the palm of his hand. People are absurd in the extreme, arrogant in the extreme, and they all have a flair for talking big. No matter how lofty your knowledge of God is, I still say that you do not know God, that you are someone who opposes God the most, and that you have condemned God, because you are utterly incapable of submitting to the work of God and walking the path of being made perfect by God. Why is God never satisfied with the actions of man? It is because man never knows God, he has too many notions, and his knowledge of God in no way agrees with reality, but is formulaic and repetitive, and mechanically copied and rigidly applied. And so, having come to earth today, God is once more nailed to the cross by man. Cruel mankind! The intrigue and scheming, the snatching and grabbing one from another, the scramble for fame and gain, the mutual slaughter—when will it ever end? Despite the hundreds of thousands of words God has spoken, no one has come to their senses. People act for the sake of their families, sons and daughters, for their careers, future prospects, status, vainglory, and money, for the sake of food, clothing, and the flesh. But is there anyone whose actions are truly for the sake of God? Even among those who act for the sake of God, there are but few who know God. How many people do not act out of their own interests? How many do not oppress or ostracize others in order to protect their own status? And so, God has been forcibly sentenced to death innumerable times, and countless cruel judges have condemned God and once more nailed Him to the cross. How many can be called righteous people because they truly act for the sake of God?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Evil Will Surely Be Punished

86. Don’t many people resist God and obstruct the work of the Holy Spirit because they do not know the varied and diverse work of God, and, furthermore, because they use the little bit of knowledge and doctrine which they possess to measure the work of the Holy Spirit? Though these people have only had superficial experiences, they are haughty, willful and unrestrained in nature, they regard the work of the Holy Spirit with disdain, ignore the discipline meted out by the Holy Spirit and, moreover, use their trifling old doctrines to “confirm” the work of the Holy Spirit. They are also posers, and are wholly convinced of their own erudition, believing they range freely throughout the whole world. Are such people not those who are spurned by the Holy Spirit, and those who are eliminated by the new age? Aren’t those who come before God and openly resist Him despicable individuals with shallow and limited knowledge who are flaunting their own “brilliance”? They have just a tiny bit of knowledge of the Bible, and yet they wish to have free rein throughout the world’s “academic circles”; they have just a tiny bit of superficial doctrine to teach people, and yet they want to reverse the course of the work of the Holy Spirit and attempt to make it revolve around their own thought processes. Short-sighted as they are, they wish to behold the magnificence of God’s 6,000 years of work. These people do not have any reason to speak of! In fact, the more knowledge people have of God, the less they judge His work lightly—they only talk a little of their knowledge of God’s present work, but do not casually pass judgment on it. The less people know God, the brasher they are, the more they overestimate themselves, and the more wantonly they proclaim what God is, and yet what they proclaim is only doctrine and has no factual basis. These are the most worthless people. Those who treat the work of the Holy Spirit as a game are frivolous people! Upon encountering the new work of the Holy Spirit, they do not approach it cautiously, but instead run their mouths off and are quick to judge, give free rein to their own will to deny the correctness of the Holy Spirit’s work, and even insult or blaspheme it—aren’t these disrespectful individuals ignorant of the Holy Spirit’s work, and, furthermore, people of great arrogance who are inherently haughty and unrestrained? Even if a day comes when such people accept the Holy Spirit’s new work, they still won’t obtain God’s forgiveness. Not only do they look down upon those who work for God, but they also blaspheme God Himself. Such desperados will not be pardoned, either in this life or the world to come, and they shall forever perish in hell! Such disrespectful, self-indulgent people merely wear the label of believers, and the more people are like this, the more liable they are to violate God’s administrative decrees. Don’t all those arrogant individuals who are innately unbridled, and who have never obeyed anyone, walk this path? Do they not, day in and day out, in this manner resist God who is always new and never old?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God

87. Know that you resist God’s work, or use your own notions to measure the work of today, because you do not know the principles of God’s work, and because of your rash treatment of the work of the Holy Spirit. Your resistance to God and obstruction of the work of the Holy Spirit is caused by your notions and inherent arrogance. It is not because God’s work is wrong, but because you are naturally too rebellious. After finding their belief in God, some people cannot even say with certainty where man came from, yet they dare to make public speeches judging the rights and wrongs of the Holy Spirit’s work. They even lecture the apostles who have the Holy Spirit’s new work, passing comment and making insolent remarks; their humanity is too low, and there is not the slightest reason in them. Will the day not come when such people are spurned by the work of the Holy Spirit, and burned by the fires of hell? They do not know the work of God, but instead judge His work, and also try to instruct God how to work. How can such people who are devoid of reason know God? Man comes to know God during the process of seeking and experiencing; knowledge of God is not gained through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit in the course of man making arbitrary judgments. The more accurate people’s knowledge of God becomes, the less they resist Him. In contrast, the less people know of God, the more likely they are to resist Him. Your notions, your old nature, and your humanity, character, and moral outlook are the capital with which you resist God, and the more corrupt your morals are, the viler your character is, and the baser your humanity is, the more you are the enemy of God. Those who are possessed of strong notions and who have a self-righteous disposition are even more in enmity of God incarnate; such people are the antichrists. If your notions are not rectified, then they will always be against God; you will never be compatible with God, and will always be apart from Him.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God

88. Those who don’t understand the purpose of God’s work are ones who resist God. This is even more the case for those who do understand the purpose of God’s work yet don’t pursue satisfying Him. There are those who read the Bible in grand churches and recite passages all day long, yet not one among them understands the purpose of God’s work, nor are there any among them who can know God—let alone any who can accord with God’s intentions. They are all worthless, vile people, who stand on high to lecture “God.” They are people who act under the banner of God yet deliberately resist God, who bear the label of believing in God while eating the flesh and drinking the blood of man. All such people are evil devils who devour human souls, head demons who deliberately disturb people from embarking on the right path, and stumbling blocks that obstruct people from seeking God. They may appear to be “physically robust,” but how are their followers to know that they are antichrists who lead people to resist God? How are their followers to know that they are living devils dedicated to devouring human souls? Those who believe themselves noble in God’s presence are the lowliest of all, while those who think themselves lowly are the most noble. And those who presume to know the work of God and who can proclaim His work to others without restraint as they set their eyes upon Him are the most ignorant of all. Such people have no testimony to God, and are all arrogant and conceited. Those who believe they know too little of God but who actually do have practical experience and practical knowledge of God are the ones most beloved by Him. Only such people truly have testimony and are truly capable of being perfected by God. Those who do not understand God’s intentions are ones who resist God. Those who do understand God’s intentions yet do not practice the truth are ones who resist God. Those who eat and drink the words of God, and yet go against the essence of God’s words, are ones who resist God. Those who have notions about the incarnate God, and moreover intentionally engage in rebellion, are ones who resist God. Those who pass judgment on God are ones who resist God. And whoever is unable to know God and cannot bear witness to Him is someone who resists God. So, I exhort you: If you really have the faith to walk this path, then keep on following. But if you are unable to refrain from resisting God, then you had best step away before it’s too late, or else things really will not bode well for you, as your nature is simply too corrupt. You are devoid of loyalty, devoid of submission, devoid of a heart that thirsts for righteousness and truth, and devoid of love for God. It could be said that your state before God is essentially a complete mess. You are unable to abide by what you ought to abide by, unable to say what you ought to say, unable to put into practice what you ought to practice, and unable to fulfill the function you ought to fulfill; you do not have the loyalty you ought to have, the conscience you ought to have, the submission you ought to have, or the resolve you ought to have; you haven’t endured the suffering you ought to have endured, and you do not have the faith you ought to have either. You are all but completely devoid of any merit. Are you not ashamed to go on living? I advise you that you might as well close your eyes in eternal rest sooner rather than later, thereby sparing God from worrying on your account and suffering for your sake. You believe in God and yet do not understand His intentions; you eat and drink the words of God and yet are unable to comply with God’s requirements of man. You believe in God and yet do not know Him, and you live without a goal to strive for, without any values or any meaning whatsoever. You are a human being and yet have no conscience, integrity, or credibility in the slightest—can you still call yourselves human? You believe in God and yet deceive Him; you even covet God’s money and eat the offerings that are made to Him. And yet in the end you still fail to show the slightest consideration for God’s feelings or the faintest conscience toward Him. You can’t even satisfy one small requirement made by God. Can you still call yourselves human? You eat the food God provides you, breathe the oxygen He gives you, and enjoy His grace, but in the end you do not have the slightest knowledge of God. On the contrary, you have become good-for-nothings that resist God. Does that not make you a beast that can’t even compare to a dog? Among animals, are there any that are more malicious than you?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. All People Who Do Not Know God Are People Who Resist God

89. The biggest problem with man is that he only loves things that he cannot see or touch, things that are supremely mysterious and wondrous, and that are unimaginable by man and unattainable by mortals. The more unrealistic things are, the more they are analyzed by people, and people even pursue them heedless of all else, vainly hoping to obtain them. The more unrealistic they are, the more closely people scrutinize and analyze them, even going so far as to make up their own exhaustive ideas about them. On the contrary, the more realistic things are, the more dismissive people are toward them; they simply look down their noses at them, and are even contemptuous of them. Is this not precisely your attitude toward the realistic work I do today? The more realistic such things are, the more prejudiced you are against them. You do not allow even the slightest room for examining them, but simply ignore them; you look down your noses at these realistic, low-standard requirements, and even harbor numerous notions about this God who is most practical, and are simply incapable of accepting His practicality and normality. In this way, do you not hold to a nebulous belief? You have an unshakable belief in the nebulous god of times past, and no interest in the practical God of today. Is this not because the god of yesterday and the god of today are from two different eras? Is it not also because the god of yesterday is the great and lofty god of heaven, whereas the god of today is a tiny human being on earth? Is it not, moreover, because the god worshiped by man is the one produced by his notions, whereas the god of today is of tangible flesh, produced on earth? When all is said and done, is it not because the God of today is too realistic that man does not pursue Him? For what the God of today asks of people is precisely that which people are most unwilling to do, and which makes them feel ashamed. Is this not making things difficult for people? Does this not lay bare people’s scars? Consequently, many people do not pursue the realistic God, the practical God, and become enemies of the incarnate God, which is to say, antichrists. Is this not an obvious fact? In the past, when God had yet to become flesh, you may have been a religious figure, or a devout believer. After God became flesh, many such devout believers unwittingly became antichrists. Do you know what is going on here? In your belief in God, you do not concentrate on reality or pursue the truth, but instead focus on unreal things—is this not the clearest source of your enmity to God incarnate?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Those Who Know God and His Work Are the Ones Who Satisfy God

90. Prior to contact with Christ, you may believe that your disposition has been entirely transformed, that you are a loyal follower of Christ, and that no one is more worthy of receiving the blessings of Christ than you, because you have traveled many roads, done much work, and brought forth much fruit, and so you think that in the end you will surely be one of those who receive the crown. But do you know the following fact, which is that the corrupt disposition of man and his rebelliousness and resistance are exposed when he sees Christ, and that at this time his rebelliousness and resistance are exposed more absolutely and completely than at any other? It is because Christ is the Son of man—a Son of man who possesses normal humanity—that man neither honors nor respects Him. It is because God lives in the flesh that the rebelliousness of man is brought to light so thoroughly and in such vivid detail. So I say that the coming of Christ has unearthed all the rebelliousness of mankind and has thrown the nature of mankind into sharp relief. This is called “luring a tiger down the mountain” and “luring a wolf out of its cave.” Dare you presume to say that you are loyal to God? Dare you presume to say that you show absolute submission to God? Dare you presume to say that you are not rebellious? Some will say, “Whenever God orchestrates an environment for me, I never complain and am always able to submit, and furthermore I entertain no notions about God.” Some will say, “Whatever God tasks me with I complete to the best of my ability and am never perfunctory.” In that case, I ask you this: Can you be compatible with Christ when you live alongside Him? And how long will you be compatible with Him? One day? Two days? One hour? Two hours? Your faith may well be commendable, but you do not have much in the way of steadfastness. Once you are really living with Christ, your self-righteousness and self-importance will be revealed through your words and actions, bit-by-bit, and so too will your extravagant desires, your disobedient mindset and discontent naturally be revealed. Finally, your arrogance will become ever greater, until you are as much at odds with Christ as water is with fire, and then your nature will be completely exposed. At that time, your notions can no longer be covered up, your complaints, too, will naturally come out, and your despicable humanity will be completely exposed. Even then, however, you still refuse to acknowledge your own rebelliousness, believing instead that a Christ such as this is not easy for man to accept, that He is too exacting of man, and that you would wholly submit if He were a better Christ. You believe that your rebelliousness is justified, that you only rebel against Him when He pushes you too far. Never once have you considered that you do not look upon Christ as God, that you lack the intent to submit to Him. Rather, you stubbornly insist that Christ act in accordance with your own wishes, and as soon as He does a single thing that is at odds with your own thinking, you believe that He is not God but a person. Are there not many among you who have contended with Him in this way? Who is it, after all, that you believe in? And in what way do you pursue?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Are Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God

91. You always wish to see Christ, but I urge you not to hold yourselves in such high esteem; anyone may see Christ, but I say no one is fit to see Christ. Because the nature of man brims with evil, arrogance, and rebelliousness, at the moment you see Christ, your nature will destroy you and condemn you to death. Your association with a brother (or a sister) may not show much about you, but it is not so simple when you associate with Christ. At any time, your notions may take root, your arrogance begin to sprout, and your rebelliousness bear figs. How can you with such humanity be fit to associate with Christ? Are you truly able to treat Him as God every moment of every day? Do you truly have the reality of submission to God? You all worship the lofty god within your hearts as Jehovah while regarding the visible Christ as a person. Your reason is extremely poor and your humanity too lowly! You are incapable of always looking upon Christ as God; only occasionally, when you’re in a good mood, do you grab hold of Him and worship Him as God. This is why I say you are not believers of God, but a posse of accomplices who oppose Christ. Even people who show kindness to others are repaid, and yet Christ, who has done such work among you, has received neither man’s love nor his recompense and submission. Is this not something heartrending?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Are Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God

92. It may be that in all your years of faith in God, you have never cursed anyone or committed a bad deed, yet in your association with Christ, you cannot speak the truth, act honestly, or submit to the word of Christ; in that case, I say that you are the most insidious and malicious person in the world. You may be exceptionally amiable and devoted toward your relatives, friends, wife (or husband), sons and daughters, and parents, and never take advantage of others, but if you are incapable of compatibility with Christ, if you are unable to interact in harmony with Him, then even if you expend your all in relief to your neighbors or take meticulous care of your father, mother, and members of your household, I would say that you are still an evil person, and moreover one full of cunning tricks. Do not think yourself compatible with Christ simply because you get along with others or do a few good things. Do you think that your charitable intent can finagle the blessings of Heaven? Do you think that doing a few good things is a substitute for your submission? Not one of you is able to accept being pruned, you all find it difficult to embrace the normal humanity of Christ, and on top of this, you are constantly trumpeting your submission to God. Such faith as yours will bring down a fitting retribution. Stop indulging in fanciful illusions and wishing to see Christ, for you are too little in stature, so much so that you are not even worthy of seeing Him. When you have completely cast off your rebelliousness, and are capable of interacting harmoniously with Christ, at that moment God will naturally appear to you. If you go to see God without having undergone pruning or judgment, then you shall surely become an opponent of God and shall surely be one who perishes. The nature of man is inherently hostile to God, for all people have been subjected to Satan’s most profound corruption. If man tries to interact with God from the midst of his own corruption, it is certain that nothing good can come of this; his actions and words will surely reveal his corruption at every turn, and in associating with God his rebelliousness will be revealed at every turn. Unknowingly, man comes to oppose Christ, to deceive Christ, and to reject Christ; when this happens, man will be in an even more precarious situation and, should this continue, he shall become the object of punishment.

Some may believe that, if association with God is so dangerous, then it might be wiser to keep God at a distance. What can people like this possibly gain? Can they be loyal to God? Assuredly, association with God is very difficult—but that is because man is corrupted, not because God is unable to associate with him. It would be best for you to dedicate some effort to the truth of knowing oneself. Why does God not appreciate you? Why is your disposition detestable to Him? Why does your speech arouse His hatred? When you have demonstrated a bit of loyalty, you sing your own praises; when you make a small contribution, you demand a reward; you look down upon others when you have shown a modicum of submission, and become contemptuous of God when you accomplish some petty task. For hosting God, you ask for money, material things, and compliments. It makes you heartsore to give two coins; when you give ten, you ask for blessings and to be distinguished from the others. Your kind of humanity is positively offensive to speak or hear of. Is there anything praiseworthy in your words and actions? Those who do their duty and those who do not; those who lead and those who follow; those who host God and those who do not; those who give offerings and those who do not; those who preach the way and those who receive the way, and so on: all such people praise themselves. Do you not find this laughable? Knowing full well that you believe in God, you nevertheless cannot be compatible with God. Knowing full well that you are utterly without merit, you persist in boasting all the same. Do you not feel your reason has reached a point where it’s beyond control? With reason like this, how are you fit to come into contact with God? Are you not worried about yourselves at this time? Your disposition has already deteriorated to the point where you are incapable of compatibility with God. This being so, is your faith not laughable? Is your faith not preposterous? How are you going to approach your future? How are you going to choose the path you take?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Are Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God

93. Some people do not love the truth, much less judgment. Instead, they love power and riches; such people are called power seekers. They search only for those denominations in the world with power, and they search only for pastors and teachers that come from seminaries. Though they have accepted the way of truth, they are only half-believing, and they are incapable of devoting all of their bodies and minds; their mouths speak words of expending themselves for God, but their eyes are focused on the great pastors and teachers, and they do not spare Christ a second glance. Their minds are filled with thoughts of fame, gain, and glory. They think it out of the question that such a meager person could be capable of conquering so many, that one so unremarkable could perfect man. They think it out of the question that these nobodies among the dust and dunghills are the people chosen by God. They believe that if such people were the objects of God’s salvation, then heaven and earth would be turned upside down, and all people would bust a gut laughing. They believe that if God chose such people to be perfected, then those great figures would become God Himself. Their perspectives are tainted with unbelief; more than not believing, they are simply unreasonable beasts. For they value only status, prestige, and power, and they esteem large groups and denominations, and have not the slightest regard for those led by Christ. They are simply betrayers who have turned their backs on Christ, on truth, and on life.

You do not admire Christ’s humility, but you do revere those false shepherds of prominent status. You do not adore the loveliness or wisdom of Christ, but you are fond of those libertines who go along with the world’s filth. You only sneer at Christ’s pain of having no place to lay His head, but you admire those corpses that poach offerings and live in debauchery. You are not willing to suffer alongside Christ, but you gladly throw yourself into the arms of those reckless and willful antichrists, though they only supply you with flesh, words, and control. Even now, your heart still turns toward them, toward their reputation, toward their status, their forces. And yet you continue to adopt an attitude of finding the work of Christ difficult to accept and being unwilling to accept it. It is only because of this that I say that you are devoid of the faith of acknowledging Christ. The reason you have followed Him to this day is only because you had no other option. A series of lofty images are forever towering in your heart; you cannot forget their every word and deed, nor their influential words and hands. They are, in your heart, forever supreme and forever heroes. But this is not so for the Christ of today. In your heart, He is forever insignificant, He is a human forever undeserving of fear. For He is far too ordinary, has far too little influence, and is far from lofty.

In any case, I say that all those who do not value the truth are disbelievers and betrayers of the truth. Such people shall never receive the approval of Christ. Have you now identified how much unbelief is within you, and how much betrayal of Christ you have? I exhort you thus: Since you have chosen the way of truth, then you should devote yourself wholeheartedly; do not be ambivalent or half-hearted. You should understand that God is not God of the world nor of any one person, but God of all those who truly believe in Him, all those who worship Him, and all those who are devoted and faithful to Him.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Are You Really a Believer in God?

94. Many who follow God are only concerned with how to gain blessings or stave off disaster. As soon as God’s work and management are mentioned, they fall silent and lose all interest. They think that understanding such tedious issues will not help their life to grow or provide any benefit. Consequently, although they have heard information about God’s management, they approach it in an unserious manner. They do not see it as something precious to be accepted, much less do they comprehend it by taking it as a part of their life. The purpose of these people in following God is very simple, and it is for a single goal: to be blessed. These people cannot be bothered to pay heed to anything else that has nothing to do with this goal. To them, gaining blessings is the most legitimate purpose in believing in God—it is the very value of their faith. If something does not serve this purpose, whatever it is, they remain unmoved by it. This is the case with most people who believe in God today. Their purpose and intention seem legitimate, because as they believe in God, they also expend themselves for God, dedicate themselves to God, and do their duty. They give up their youth, forsake family and career, and even spend years away from home rushing about. For the sake of their ultimate purpose, they change their own interests, their outlook on life, and even the direction they pursue; yet they cannot change their purpose in believing in God. They run about for the management of their own aspirations; no matter how far the road is, and no matter how many hardships, dangers, and obstacles there are along the way, they remain persistent and unafraid of death. What power compels them to continue dedicating themselves in this way? Is it their conscience? Is it their great and noble character? Is it their determination to battle the forces of evil to the very end? Is it the faith they possess to bear witness for God without seeking a reward? Is it their devotion of being willing to give up everything to fulfill God’s will? Or is it their dedicated spirit of always forgoing extravagant personal demands? For someone who has never understood the work of God’s management to be able to expend so much heart’s blood is, quite simply, a tremendous miracle! For the moment, let us not discuss how much these people have given. Their behavior, however, is highly worthy of our dissection. Apart from the benefits that are so closely associated with them, could there be any other reasons why people who never understand God would pay such a great price for Him? Here, we discover a problem previously unidentified by man: Man’s relationship with God is merely one of naked self-interest. It is a relationship between a receiver and a giver of blessings. To put it plainly, it is the relationship between an employee and an employer. The employee works hard only to receive the rewards bestowed by the employer. There is no kindred affection in this kind of relationship based on self-interest, only transaction. There is no loving or being loved, only charity and mercy. There is no understanding, only helpless suppressed indignation and deception. There is no intimacy, only an uncrossable chasm. Now that things have gotten to this point, who can reverse such a course? And how many people are capable of truly understanding how dire this relationship has become? I believe that when man immerses himself in the joyful atmosphere of being blessed, none can imagine how embarrassing and unsightly such a relationship with God is.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Appendix 3: Man Can Only Be Saved Amid God’s Management

95. The saddest thing about mankind’s belief in God is that man engages in his own enterprise amid the work of God and yet pays no heed to God’s management. The biggest failure of mankind’s belief in God is that, as he pursues submitting to God and worshiping God, he simultaneously constructs his own dream of an aspirational destination and plots how to gain the greatest blessing and the best destination. Even if people understand how pathetic, hateful, and pitiable they are, how many can readily give up their aspirations and hopes? And who is able to halt their own steps and stop making plans on their own behalf? God needs those who will cooperate closely with Him to complete His management. He needs those who will devote their entire mind and body to the work of His management in order to submit to Him. He does not need people who hold out their hands to beg from Him every day, much less those who expend a little for Him and then wait to demand repayment from Him. God hates those who make a paltry contribution and then rest on their laurels. He hates those cold-blooded people who are antipathetic toward the work of His management and only want to talk about going to heaven and gaining blessings. He has an even greater hatred for those who take advantage of the opportunity presented by His work of salvation for their own benefit. That’s because these people have never cared about what God wants to achieve and gain through the work of His management. They are only concerned with how they can use the opportunity provided by the work of God to obtain blessings. They are not considerate of God’s heart at all, being wholly preoccupied with their own prospects and fate. Those who are antipathetic toward the work of God’s management, and who lack even the slightest interest in how God saves mankind and His intentions, are all doing things they like to do outside the scope of God’s management work. Their actions are neither remembered nor approved of by God, much less looked upon favorably by God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Appendix 3: Man Can Only Be Saved Amid God’s Management

96. My deeds are so numerous, they are greater in number than the grains of sand on the beaches, and My wisdom is so great, it surpasses that of all the sons of Solomon, yet people merely believe in Me as though I were a physician of little account and an unknown teacher of man. So many believe in Me only that I might heal them. So many believe in Me only that I might use My power to drive unclean spirits out from their bodies, and so many believe in Me simply that they might receive peace and joy from Me. So many believe in Me only to demand from Me greater material wealth. So many believe in Me just to spend this life in peace and to be safe and sound in the next life. So many believe in Me to avoid the suffering of hell and to receive the blessings of heaven. So many believe in Me only for temporary comfort, yet do not seek to gain anything in the next life. When I grant My anger to people and seize all the joy and peace that they once possessed, they become doubtful. When I grant to people the suffering of hell and reclaim the blessings of heaven, they fly into a rage. When people ask Me to heal them, and I pay them no heed and feel loathing for them, they depart from Me to instead seek the way of evil medicine and sorcery. When I take away all that people have demanded from Me, they all disappear without a trace. Thus, I say that people have faith in Me because My grace is too abundant, and because there are far too many benefits to gain.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. What Do You Know of Faith?

97. You hope that your faith in God will not entail any difficulties or tribulations, or the slightest suffering. You always pursue those things that are worthless, and you attach no value to life, instead putting your own extravagant thoughts before the truth. You are so worthless! You live like a pig—what difference is there between you, and pigs and dogs? Are those who do not pursue the truth, and instead love the flesh, not all beasts? Are those dead ones without spirits not all walking corpses? How many words have been spoken among you? Has only a little work been done among you? How much have I provided among you? So why have you not gained it? What do you have to complain about? Is it not the case that you have gained nothing because you are too in love with the flesh? And is it not because your thoughts are too extravagant? Is it not because you are too stupid? If you fail to gain these blessings, can you blame God for not saving you? All that you pursue is to be able to gain peace after believing in God—for your children to be free from illness, for your husband to have a good job, for your son to find a good wife, for your daughter to find a good husband, for your oxen and horses to plow the land well, for a year of good weather for your crops. This is what you pursue. Your pursuit is only to live in comfort—for no accidents to befall your family, for the winds to pass you by, for your face to be untouched by grit, for your family’s crops to not be flooded—to be unaffected by any disaster, to live in “God’s embrace,” to live in a cozy nest. A coward such as you, who always pursues the flesh—do you have a heart, do you have a spirit? Are you not a beast? I bestow the true way on you without asking for anything in return, yet you do not pursue it. Are you still one of those who believe in God? I bestow real human life upon you, yet you do not pursue it. Are you not of the same kind as pigs and dogs? Pigs do not pursue the life of man, they do not pursue being cleansed, and they do not understand what life is. Each day, after eating their fill, they simply sleep. I have bestowed the true way on you, yet you have not gained it, you remain empty-handed. Are you willing to continue in this life, the life of a pig? What is the significance of such people being alive? Your life is contemptible and ignoble, you live amid filth and licentiousness, and you do not pursue any goals, so is your life not the most ignoble of all? Do you have the gall to face God? If you continue to experience in this way, will you not acquire nothing? The true way has been bestowed on you, but whether or not you can ultimately gain it depends on your own pursuit.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Experiences of Peter: His Knowledge of Chastisement and Judgment

98. In people’s life experiences, they often think to themselves: “I’ve given up my family and career for God, and what has He given me? I must add it up, and confirm it—have I received any blessings recently? I’ve expended a lot during this time, I’ve run and run, and have suffered much—has God given me any promises in return for my performance during this time? Has He remembered my good deeds? What will my outcome be? Can I receive blessings? …” At heart, every person makes such calculations frequently and continually, harboring motivations, ambitions, and a transactional mentality as they solicit things from God. This is to say, in his heart man is constantly testing God, constantly devising plans about God, constantly “arguing the case” for his own outcome with God, and trying to extract a statement from God and see whether or not God will give him what he wants. At the same time as pursuing God, man does not treat God as God. Man has always tried to make deals with God, ceaselessly soliciting things from Him, and even pressing Him at every step, trying to take a mile after being given an inch. At the same time as trying to make deals with God, man also argues with Him, and there are even people who, when trials come to them or they find themselves in certain situations, often become weak, negative and slack in their work, and full of complaints about God. From the time when man first began to believe in God, he has considered God to be a cornucopia, a Swiss Army knife, and he has considered himself to be God’s greatest creditor, as if soliciting blessings and promises from God were his inherent right and obligation, while protecting, caring for, and providing for man were the responsibilities that God should fulfill. Such is the basic apprehension of the three words “belief in God” of all those who believe in God, and such is their deepest understanding of the concept of belief in God. From man’s nature essence to his subjective pursuit, there is nothing that relates to the fear of God. Man’s aim in believing in God could not possibly have anything to do with the worship of God. That is to say, man has never intended to fear and worship God in his belief in God, and has never understood that such things are required in belief in God. In light of this state, man’s essence is obvious. What is this essence? It is that man’s heart is malicious, sinister, and deceitful, does not love fairness and righteousness and positive things, and it is contemptible and greedy. Man’s heart could not be more closed to God; he does not give it to God at all. God has never seen man’s true heart, nor has He ever been worshiped by man. No matter how great the price God pays, or how much work He does, or how much He provides to man, man remains blind and indifferent to it all. Man has never given his heart to God, he only wants to mind his heart himself, to make his own decisions—the subtext of which is that man does not want to walk the way of fearing God and shunning evil, or to submit to the sovereignty and arrangements of God, nor does he want to worship God as God. Such is the state of man today.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II

99. Whenever destination is mentioned, you treat it with special seriousness; it is, moreover, something that you are all particularly sensitive about. Some people cannot wait to knock their heads against the ground, kowtowing before God in order to get a good destination. I see your eagerness, which does not need to be expressed in words. It is no more than that you do not want your flesh to fall into disaster, and still less do you wish to descend into everlasting punishment in the future. You only hope to allow yourselves to live a little more freely, a little more easily. And so you feel particularly agitated whenever destination is mentioned, deeply afraid that, if you are not attentive enough, you may offend God and thus be subject to the retribution you deserve. You have not hesitated to make compromises for the sake of your destination, and even the many of you who were once devious and flippant have suddenly become especially gentle and sincere; your appearance of sincerity is utterly chilling. Nevertheless, you all have “honest” hearts, and you have consistently opened up to Me the secrets in your hearts without keeping anything back, whether it be complaint, deception, or loyalty. All in all, you have very candidly “confessed” to Me the substantive things that lie within the deepest recesses of your being. Of course, I have never skirted around such things, for to Me they have become all too familiar. You would rather enter the sea of fire for the sake of your final destination than lose a single strand of hair to gain God’s approval. It is not that I am being too dogmatic with you; it is that you are too lacking in a heart of loyalty to come face to face with all that I do. You may not understand what I have just said, so let Me provide you with a simple explanation: What you need is not truth and life, nor the principles of how to conduct yourselves, much less My painstaking work. Rather, what you need is everything you possess in the flesh—wealth, status, family, marriage, and so on. You are utterly dismissive of My words and work, so I can sum up your faith in one word: perfunctory. You will go to any lengths to achieve the things to which you are absolutely loyal, but I have discovered that you would not do the same for the sake of matters concerning your belief in God. Rather, you are relatively loyal, and relatively earnest. That is why I say that those who lack a heart of utmost sincerity are failures in their belief in God. Think carefully—are there many failures among you?

You ought to know that success in belief in God is achieved as a result of people’s own actions; when people do not succeed but instead fail, that too is due to their own actions, and no role is played by any other factor. I believe that you would try all possible means to achieve something that is more difficult and entails more suffering than believing in God, and that you would treat it very seriously, so much so that you would be unwilling to tolerate any errors; these are the kinds of unremitting efforts all of you put into your own lives. You are even capable of deceiving My flesh under circumstances in which you would not deceive any member of your own family. This is your consistent behavior and the principle by which you deal with the world. Are you not still projecting a false facade to deceive Me for the sake of your destination, so that your destination may be wonderful and all that you desire? I am aware that your loyalty is but temporary, as is your sincerity. Isn’t it the case that your resolve and the price you pay are only present now, and will be absent in the future? You want only to exert one final effort to strive to secure a beautiful destination. Your sole aim is to make a trade, not to avoid becoming indebted to the truth, much less to repay Me for the price I have paid. In short, you are willing only to employ clever stratagems to get what you want, but not to do open battle for it. Are these not your innermost thoughts? You must not disguise yourselves, much less rack your brains over your destination to the point where you have no appetite for food or drink by day, and are unable to fall asleep peacefully at night. Is it not true that your outcome will have already been determined in the end?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. On Destination

100. You have followed Me all these years, yet have never given Me one iota of loyalty. Instead, you have revolved around the people and things you like—so much so that at all times, and wherever you go, you keep them close to your hearts and have never abandoned them. Whenever you are being eager or passionate about any one thing that you love, you are doing so at the same time as following Me, or even at the same time as you are listening to My words. Therefore, I say you are using the loyalty that I ask of you to instead be loyal to and cherish your “pets.” Though you may sacrifice a thing or two for Me, it does not represent your all, and does not show that it is Me to whom you are truly loyal. You involve yourselves in undertakings about which you are passionate: Some of you are loyal to your sons and daughters, others to your husbands, wives, riches, work, superiors, status, or to women. You never feel weary or annoyed toward the things you are loyal to; instead, you grow ever more eager to possess these things in greater quantity, and to possess them in a better way, and you never give up. My words and I are always pushed back behind the things you are passionate about, and you have no choice but to rank them last. There are even those who leave this last place for things they are loyal to but haven’t discovered yet. Never has there been the slightest trace of Me in their hearts. You may think that I ask too much of you or am wrongfully accusing you—but have you ever given any thought to the fact that while you are happily spending time with your family, you have never once been loyal to Me? At this time, does it not pain you? When your hearts are filled with joy at being paid for your labors, do you not feel disheartened at not having equipped yourselves with sufficient truths? When have you wept for not having received My approval? You rack your brains and take great pains for the sake of your sons and daughters, yet still you are not satisfied; still you believe that you have not been diligent on their behalf, that you have not done everything you can for them. Toward Me, however, you have always been remiss and careless; I am only in your memories, but I do not endure in your hearts. You never try to understand My painstaking intentions, or to show consideration for them. You merely engage in brief reflection and believe that this will suffice. Such “loyalty” is not what I have long yearned for, but that which I have long hated.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Whom Exactly Are You Loyal?

101. If I were to place some money in front of you right now and give you the freedom to choose—and if I did not condemn you for your choice—then most of you would choose the money and forsake the truth. The better among you would give up the money and choose the truth reluctantly, while those in-between would grab the money in one hand and the truth in the other. Would your true colors thus not become self-evident? When choosing between the truth and anything to which you are loyal, you would all choose in this manner, and your attitude would remain the same. Is that not so? Many of you have wavered between right and wrong, have you not? In all of the struggles between positive and negative, black and white—between family and God, children and God, harmony and rupture, wealth and poverty, status and ordinariness, being supported and being rejected, and so on—surely you’re not ignorant of the choices that you have made! Between a harmonious family and a broken one, you chose the former, and you did so without any hesitation; between riches and duty, you again chose the former, even lacking the will to return to shore;^[a] between luxury and poverty, you chose the former; when choosing between either your children, wives, and husbands or Me, you chose the former; and between notions and the truth, you still chose the former. Faced with all manner of your evil deeds, I have simply lost faith in you, I have simply been astounded. Your hearts are unexpectedly so incapable of being softened. The heart’s blood that I have expended for many years has, surprisingly, brought Me nothing more than your abandonment and resignation, but My hopes for you grow with each passing day, for My day has been completely laid out before everyone. Yet now you are still pursuing dark and evil things, and refuse to loosen your grip on them. What, then, will be your outcome? Have you ever given careful consideration to this? If you were asked to choose again, what then would be your position? Would it still be the former? Would you still repay Me with disappointment and painful sorrow? Would your hearts still only possess a modicum of warmth? Would you still be unaware of what to do to comfort My heart?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Whom Exactly Are You Loyal?

Footnotes:

a. Return to shore: a Chinese idiom, meaning “turn from one’s evil ways.”

102. Each and every day, the deeds and thoughts of each and every person are beheld by the eyes of the One, and, at the same time, are in preparation for their own tomorrow. This is the path that must be walked by all who are living; it is the path that I have predestined for all, and no one can escape it or be made exempt. The words I have spoken are without number, and the work I have done is all the more so without measure. Every day, I watch as each person naturally carries out all that they are to do in accordance with their inherent nature and the development of their nature. Unknowingly, many have already set upon the “right track,” which I have laid to reveal the different kinds of people. These different kinds of people I have long since placed in different environments and, in their respective places, each is displaying their inherent attributes. There is no one to bind them, no one to seduce them. They are free in their entirety and what they reveal comes naturally. Only one thing keeps them in check: My words. Thus do some people read My words grudgingly, never practicing them, doing so only to scrape by with an outcome of avoiding death; others, meanwhile, find it difficult to endure the days without My words to guide and supply them, and so they naturally hold My words at all times. As time goes on, they discover the secret of human life, the destination of mankind, and the worth of being human. This is simply how mankind is in the presence of My words, and I merely allow matters to take their course. I do not do any work that forces people to make My words the foundation of their existence. So those who have never had a conscience, and whose existence has never had any value, boldly cast aside My words and do as they wish after quietly observing how things go. They start to feel averse toward the truth and all that comes from Me, and they feel even more averse toward staying in My house. For the sake of their destination, and to escape punishment, these people dwell within My house for a time, even if they are laboring. However, their intentions and actions never change. This increases their desire for blessings, and increases their desire to enter the kingdom a single time and remain forever thereafter—even to enter the eternal heaven. The more they yearn for My day to come soon, the more they feel that the truth has become an obstacle, a stumbling block in their way. They can hardly wait to step foot in the kingdom to forever enjoy the blessings of the kingdom of heaven—all without needing to pursue the truth or accept judgment and chastisement and, most of all, without needing to grovel within My house and do as I command. These people enter My house not to satisfy their desire to seek the truth, nor to cooperate with My management; their aim is merely to be among those who are not destroyed in the coming age. Hence their hearts have never known what the truth is, or how to accept the truth. This is the reason why such people have never practiced the truth or realized the depth of their corruption, and yet have dwelled in My house as “servants” throughout. They “patiently” await the coming of My day and are tireless as they are tossed about by the manner of My work. But no matter how great their efforts or what price they pay, no one has ever seen them suffer for the truth or give anything for My sake. In their hearts, they are itching to see the day I put an end to the old age and, furthermore, cannot wait to find out how great My power and authority are. That which they have never hastened to do is to change themselves and to pursue the truth. They love that which I am averse to, and are averse to that which I love. They long for that which I hate, but fear losing that which I abhor. They live in this evil world, never hating it, and yet deeply afraid that I will destroy it. Amid their conflicting intentions, they love this world that I abhor, but also yearn for Me to destroy it with all haste, that they may be spared the calamity of destruction and transformed into masters of the next age, before they have departed from the true way. This is because they do not love the truth and are averse to all that comes from Me. They might become “obedient people” for a short time for the sake of not losing blessings, but their anxiousness to be blessed, and their motivation of fearing being destroyed and entering the lake of burning fire, can never be covered up. As My day draws near, their desire grows ever stronger. And the greater the disaster, the more it renders them helpless, not knowing where to start so as to make Me rejoice and to avoid losing the blessings that they have long yearned for. Such people are eager to take action to serve as the vanguard as soon as My hand begins its work. They think only of surging to the very front line of the troops, deeply afraid that I will not see them. They do and say that which they think to be right, never knowing that their deeds and actions have never been relevant to the truth, and that their deeds merely undermine and disturb My plan. They may have put in great effort, and may be true in their resolve and intention to endure hardships, but nothing they do relates to Me, for I have never seen that their deeds are done with good intentions, much less have I seen them place anything upon My altar. Such are the deeds which they have done before Me over these many years.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. You Ought to Consider Your Deeds

103. Many people hold up God’s words to read day by day, even to the point of carefully committing to memory all the essential passages therein as their most prized possession, and moreover preach God’s words everywhere, providing and aiding others with God’s words. They think that to do this is to bear witness to God, to bear witness to His words, that to do this is to follow God’s way; they think that to do this is to live by God’s words, that to do this is to bring His words into their actual lives, that doing this will enable them to receive God’s approval, and to be saved and perfected. But, even as they preach the words of God, they never comply with God’s words in practice, or try to match themselves up against what is exposed in God’s words. Rather, they use God’s words to trick others into idolizing and trusting them, to engage in their own enterprise, and to fraudulently obtain and steal God’s glory. They hope, vainly, to exploit the opportunity afforded by propagating God’s words so as to obtain God’s work and His approval. How many years have gone by, but not only have these people been incapable of earning God’s approval in the process of “preaching God’s words,” and not only have they been incapable of discovering the way that they should follow in the process of “bearing witness to God’s words,” and not only have they not aided or provided for themselves in the process of “aiding and providing others with God’s words,” and not only have they been incapable of knowing God, or developing in themselves genuine fear of God, in the process of doing all these things; but, on the contrary, their misunderstandings about God grow ever deeper, their suspicion of Him ever graver, and their imaginings about Him ever more hyperbolic. Supplied and guided by their theories about God’s words, they appear as if completely in their element, as if plying their skills with effortless ease, as if they have found their goal in life, their mission, and as if they have won new life and been saved, as if, with God’s words rolling crisply off their tongue in recital, they have gained the truth, grasped God’s intentions, and discovered the path to knowing God, as if, in the process of preaching God’s words, they often have come face to face with God. Also, they are often “moved” to bouts of weeping, and, often led by the “God” in God’s words, they appear to be ceaselessly grasping at His painstaking intentions, and at the same time to have grasped God’s salvation of man and His management, to have come to know His essence, and to have understood His righteous disposition. Based on this foundation, they seem to believe even more firmly in God’s existence, to be more cognizant of His honorableness, and to feel even more deeply His greatness and transcendence. Steeped in superficial knowledge of God’s words, it would appear that their faith has grown, their resolve to endure suffering has strengthened, and their knowledge of God has deepened. Little do they know that, until they actually experience God’s words, all their knowledge of God and their ideas about Him come out of their own wishful imaginings and conjecture. Their faith would not hold up under any kind of test from God, their so-called spirituality and stature would simply not hold up under God’s trial or inspection, their resolution is but a castle built upon the sand, and their so-called knowledge of God no more than a figment of their imagination. In fact, these people, who have, as it were, put a lot of effort into God’s words, have never ever realized what is real faith, what is real submission, what is real consideration, or what is real knowledge of God. They take theories, imaginings, knowledge, gifts, traditions, superstitions, and even the moral values of mankind, and make them into “capital” and “weaponry” for believing in God and following Him, even making them into the foundations of their belief in God and their following Him. At the same time, they also take this capital and weaponry and make them into magic talismans for knowing God, and for facing and dealing with God’s inspections, trials, chastisement, and judgment. In the end, what they garner still consists of nothing more than conclusions about God that are steeped in religious connotation, in feudal superstition, and in all that is mythical, grotesque, and enigmatic. Their way of knowing and defining God is stamped in the same mold as that of people who believe only in Heaven Above, or the Old Man in the Sky, while God’s practicality, His essence, His disposition, His possessions and being, and so forth—all that relates to the real God Himself—are things that their knowledge has failed to grasp, from which their knowledge is completely divorced, and even as far apart as the north and south poles. In this way, although these people live under the “provision and nourishment” of God’s words, they are nevertheless unable to truly embark upon the way of fearing God and shunning evil. The true reason for this is that they have never become acquainted with God, neither have they ever had genuine contact or communion with Him, and so it is impossible for them to arrive at mutual understanding with God, or to develop in themselves genuine belief in, following of, or worship for God. That they should thus regard God’s words, that they should thus regard God—this perspective and attitude has doomed them to return empty-handed from their endeavors, has doomed them to never be able to embark upon the way of fearing God and shunning evil. The goal and direction of their pursuit signifies that they are God’s enemies through eternity, and that they will never be able to receive salvation.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. Preface

104. During My many years of work, people have gained much, and forsaken much, yet still I say that they do not truly believe in Me. For people merely acknowledge that I am God with their mouths, but they disagree with the truths I express, and, moreover, do not practice the truths that I require of them. That is, people acknowledge only the existence of God, but not the existence of the truth; people acknowledge only the existence of God, but not the existence of the life; people acknowledge only God’s name, but not His essence. I detest them for their zeal, as they only use nice-sounding words to deceive Me, and none of them worship Me with a true heart. Your words contain the lure of the serpent; and they are arrogant in the extreme, a veritable expression by the archangel. Even more so, your deeds are tattered and torn to a disgraceful degree, and your excessive desires and covetous intentions are offensive to the ear. You have all become moths in My house, objects to be spurned by Me. For none of you love the truth; instead, you would like to be blessed, to ascend to heaven, to behold the magnificent vision of Christ wielding His power on earth. But have you ever thought how someone like you, someone so deeply corrupted, who has no idea what God is, could be worthy of following God? How could you ascend to heaven? How could you be worthy of beholding the beautiful scene of that unprecedented magnificent vision? Your mouths are filled with words that deceive Me, words of filth, of betrayal of Me, and words of arrogance. Never have you spoken words of sincerity to Me, no sanctified words, no words of experiencing My word and submitting to Me. What, in the end, is your faith like? There is nothing but desire and money in your hearts, and nothing but material things in your minds. Every day, you calculate how to get something from Me. Every day, you count how much wealth and how many material things you have gained from Me. Every day, you await ever more blessings to come upon you so that you may enjoy more, higher things that can be enjoyed. It is not Me who is in your thoughts at each and every moment, nor the truth that comes from Me, but rather your husband or wife, your children, and the things you eat and wear. You think of how you can gain ever better, ever higher enjoyment. But even if you fill your stomach to bursting, are you not just still a corpse? Even if you adorn yourselves in such beautiful apparel, are you not just still a walking corpse devoid of vitality? You toil for the sake of your stomach, to the point that your hair becomes streaked with gray, yet none of you sacrifice a single hair for My work. You are constantly rushing about, taxing your bodies and racking your brains, for the sake of your own flesh, and for your sons and daughters—yet not one of you shows any worry or concern for My intentions. What is it that you still hope to gain from Me?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Many Are Called, but Few Are Chosen

105. I have expressed so many words, and have also expressed My intentions and disposition, yet even so, people are still incapable of knowing Me and believing in Me. Or, it could be said, people are still incapable of submitting to Me. Those who live within the Bible, those who live within the law, those who live on the cross, those who live within regulations, those who live amid the work I do today—who among them is compatible with Me? You only think of receiving certain blessings and rewards, but have never spared a thought as to how to actually be compatible with Me, or to how to prevent yourselves from being against Me. I am so disappointed in you, for I have bestowed so much upon you, yet I have gained so little from you. Your deception, your arrogance, your greed, your extravagant desires, your betrayal, your disobedience—which of these could escape My gaze? You treat Me in a perfunctory way, you try to fool Me, you dishonor Me, you wheedle Me, you extort Me and exact My offerings from Me—how could such evil deeds elude My punishment? All these evil deeds are proof of your enmity against Me and are proof of your incompatibility with Me. Each of you believes yourself to be so compatible with Me, but if that were the case, then to whom would such irrefutable evidence apply? You believe yourselves to possess the utmost sincerity and loyalty toward Me. You think that you are so kindhearted, so compassionate, and have devoted so much to Me. You think that you have done more than enough for Me. But have you ever held this up against your actions? I say you are plenty arrogant, plenty greedy, plenty perfunctory; the tricks with which you try to fool Me are plenty clever, and you have plenty of contemptible intentions and contemptible methods. By contrast, your loyalty is too meager, your sincerity too paltry, and you are even more so devoid of conscience. You are too malicious at heart, and no one is spared by you, not even Me. You shut Me out for the sake of your children, or your husband, or your own self-preservation. What you care about isn’t Me—it is your family, your children, your status, your future, and your own pleasure. When have you ever thought of Me as you spoke or acted? On frigid days, your thoughts turn to your children, your husband, your wife, or your parents. On blistering days, I hold no place in your thoughts, either. When you do your duty, you are thinking of your own interests, of your own personal safety, of the members of your family. What have you ever done that was for Me? When have you ever thought of Me? When have you ever done whatever it takes for the sake of Me and My work? Where is the evidence of your compatibility with Me? Where is the reality of your loyalty to Me? Where is the reality of your submission to Me? When have your intentions not been for the sake of gaining My blessings? You are all trying to fool Me. You’re all deceiving Me. You’re playing with the truth, concealing the existence of the truth, and betraying the essence of the truth. Given that you go against Me in this way, what awaits you in the future? You merely pursue compatibility with a nebulous god, and merely pursue a nebulous belief, yet you are not compatible with Christ. With such evil deeds, won’t you suffer deserved retribution along with evil people? At that time, you will realize that no one who is incompatible with Christ can escape the day of anger, and you will discover what kind of retribution shall be wrought upon those who are against Christ.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. You Should Seek the Way of Compatibility With Christ

106. In your pursuit, you have too many personal notions, hopes, and prospects. The work is performed in this way now to deal with your desire for status and your extravagant desires. These hopes, this desire for status, and these notions are all epitomes of satanic dispositions. The reason that these things exist in people’s hearts is entirely because Satan’s poisons are always corroding people’s thoughts. People are never able to free themselves from these temptations of Satan, and they are living in the midst of sin yet do not believe it to be sin. What’s more, they think, “We believe in God, so He must bestow blessings on us and arrange everything for us appropriately. We believe in God, so we must be superior to others, and we must have higher status and better prospects than anyone else. Since we believe in God, He must give us limitless blessings. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be called believing in God.” For many years, the thoughts that people have relied upon for their survival have been corroding their hearts to the point that they have become treacherous, cowardly, and despicable. Not only do they not possess willpower or resolve, but they have also become greedy, arrogant, and willful. They utterly lack the resolve to transcend the self, and even more so, the slightest bit of courage to shake off the constraints of these dark influences. People’s thoughts and lives are so rotten that their perspectives behind believing in God are still unbearably hideous, and are even downright offensive to the ear. People are all cowardly, powerless, despicable, and fragile. They do not loathe the forces of darkness, and they do not feel love for the light and the truth; instead, they do their utmost to expel them. Aren’t your current thoughts and perspectives just like this? That is, since you believe in God, you should therefore gain blessings, and it should be ensured that your status never slips, that it remains higher than that of nonbelievers—you haven’t been harboring this kind of perspective for just one or two years, but for many years. Your transactional way of thinking is overdeveloped. Although you have arrived at this step today, you still can’t relax when it comes to status; you keep going out of your way to pry into it, and observe it daily, with a deep fear that one day your status will be lost and your name will be ruined. People have never let go of their desire for ease. … The more you pursue in this way, the less you will reap. The greater a person’s desire for status, the more seriously they will have to be pruned and the more they will have to undergo great refinement. Such people are so worthless! They must undergo much pruning and judgment in order for them to thoroughly let go of their desire for status. If you pursue this way, you will reap nothing in the end. Those who do not pursue life cannot be transformed, and those who do not thirst for the truth cannot gain the truth. You do not focus on pursuing personal transformation and entry, but instead always focus on extravagant desires and things that restrict you from loving and drawing close to God. Can those things transform you? Can they bring you into the kingdom?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Why Are You Unwilling to Be a Foil?

107. Man lives amid the light, yet he is unaware of the preciousness of the light. He is ignorant of the essence of the light, and the source of the light, and, moreover, to whom the light belongs. When I confer the light among man, I immediately observe the conditions among man: Because of the light, all people are changing and growing, and have left the darkness. I look upon every corner of the universe, and see that the mountains are engulfed in fog, that the waters have frozen in the cold, and that, because of the coming of the light, people look to the East, that they might discover something more precious—yet they remain incapable of discerning a clear direction within the mist. Because the whole world is blanketed by fog, when I look on from among the clouds, there is never a man who discovers My existence. Man is searching on earth for something; he seems to be foraging; he intends, it seems, to await My arrival—yet he does not know My day, and can only look often to the glimmer of light in the East. Among the myriad of My chosen people, I seek those who accord truly with My intentions. I walk among the myriad of My chosen people, and live among them, but man on earth is safe and sound, and so there are none who accord truly with My intentions. People do not know how to show consideration for My intentions, they cannot see My actions, and they cannot move within the light and be shone on by the light. Although man once treasured My words, he is incapable of seeing through the schemes of Satan; because man’s stature is too small, he is unable to do as his heart wishes. Man has never loved Me sincerely. When I exalt him, he feels himself unworthy, but this does not make him try to satisfy Me. He merely holds the “status” I have given him in his hands and scrutinizes it; insensible to My loveliness, he instead keeps indulging in the benefits of his status. Is this not the deficiency of man? When the mountains move, could they make a detour around you for the sake of your status? When the waters flow, could they cease before man’s status? Could the heavens and the earth be reversed by man’s status? I once showed man mercy over and over again—yet no one cherished or treasured this. They merely listened to it as a story, or read it as a novel. Do My words really not touch the heart of man? Do My utterances really have no effect? Could it be that no one believes in My existence? Man does not love himself; instead, he unites with Satan to attack Me, and uses Satan as an “asset” with which to serve Me. I will penetrate all the schemes of Satan, so that from now on the people of earth are no longer misled by it, and so that they do not oppose Me because of its existence.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 22

108. Many people—behind My back—revel in the benefits of status; they indulge in food, they love to sleep, and they give every care to the flesh, always afraid that there is no way out for the flesh. They do not fulfill their function properly in the church, but freeload off the church, or else they lecture their brothers and sisters with My words, constraining others from on high. These people keep saying they are people who follow God’s will and always say they are God’s intimates—is this not absurd? If you have the right motivation, but are unable to serve in accordance with God’s intentions, then you are being foolish; but if your motivation is not right, and you still say you are a person who serves God, then you are someone who opposes God, and you ought to be punished by God! I have no sympathy for such people! In the house of God, they freeload, always indulge in the comforts of the flesh, and give no consideration to the interests of God. They always seek personal benefit, and they pay no heed to God’s intentions. They cannot accept the scrutiny of God’s Spirit in anything they do. They are always cheating their brothers and sisters by being crooked and deceitful, and they are two-faced. They are much like a fox in a vineyard, always stealing grapes and ruining the vineyard. Could such people be God’s intimates? Are you fit to inherit God’s blessings? You take no burden for your life and the church, are you fit to receive God’s commission? Who would dare trust someone like you? When you serve like this, could God entrust you with a greater task? Would this not cause delays to the work?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. How to Serve in Accordance With God’s Intentions

109. Most people even speak of conditions in their service to God. They do not care whether He is God or man, and they only talk of their own conditions, and only seek to satisfy their own desires. When you cook for Me, you demand a service fee, when you run for Me, you ask for running fees, when you work for Me you demand work fees, when you wash My clothes you demand laundry fees, when you provide for the church you demand recuperation costs, when you speak you demand speaker’s fees, when you give out books you demand distribution fees, and when you write you demand writing fees. Those I have pruned even demand recompense from Me, while those who have been sent home demand reparations for the damage to their name; those who are unmarried demand a dowry, or compensation for their lost youth; those who kill a chicken demand butcher’s fees, those who fry food demand frying fees, and those who make soup demand payment for that, too…. This is your lofty and mighty humanity, and these are the actions your warm conscience dictates. Where is your reason? Where is your humanity? Let Me tell you! If you carry on like this, I will cease to work among you. I will not work among a pack of beasts in human attire, I will not suffer thus for such a group of people whose fair faces hide feral hearts, I will not endure for such a pack of animals that has not the slightest possibility of salvation. The day I turn My back on you is the day you die, it is the day that darkness comes upon you, and the day that you are forsaken by the light. Let Me tell you! I will never be benevolent to a group such as yours, a group which is beneath even animals! There are limits to My words and actions, and with your humanity and conscience as they are, I will do no more work, for you are too devoid of conscience, you have caused Me too much pain, and your despicable behavior disgusts Me too much. Such people who are devoid of humanity and conscience will never have a chance at salvation; I would never save such heartless and ungrateful people. When My day comes, I will rain down My scorching flames for all eternity upon the sons of rebellion that once provoked My fierce wrath, I will impose My everlasting punishment upon those animals that once hurled invective at Me and forsook Me, I will burn for all time with the fires of My anger the sons of rebellion who once ate and lived together with Me but did not believe in Me, who insulted and betrayed Me. I will subject all those who provoked My anger to My punishment, I will rain down the entirety of My anger upon those beasts that once wished to stand beside Me as My equals yet have never worshiped or submitted to Me; the rod with which I strike man will fall upon those animals who once enjoyed My care and once enjoyed the mysteries that I spoke, and who once tried to take material enjoyments from Me. I will be forgiving of no person who vies for My status; I will spare none of those who attempt to wrest food and clothes from Me.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Remain Unchanged in Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God

110. What you see today is merely the sharp sword of My mouth; you have not seen the rod in My hand or the flame with which I burn man. That is why you are still haughty and intemperate in My presence, and why you still fight with Me in My home, disputing with your human tongue that which I have spoken with My mouth. Man is not frightened of Me, and to this day continues to cast himself in enmity to Me, still not feeling afraid at all. You have the tongue and the teeth of the unrighteous in your mouths. Your words and deeds are like those of the serpent that enticed Eve to sin. You exact from each other an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, and you struggle in My presence to wrest position, fame, and gain for yourselves, yet you do not know that I am secretly watching your words and deeds. Before you even enter My gaze, I have sounded the very bottom of your hearts. Man always wishes to escape the grasp of My hand and elude the scrutiny of My eyes, but I have never avoided his words or deeds. Instead, I purposefully allow those words and deeds to enter My eyes, that I may chastise man’s unrighteousness and execute judgment on his rebelliousness. Thus, man’s words and deeds in secret remain always before My judgment seat, and My judgment has never left man, for his rebelliousness is too much. My work is to burn and purify all the words and deeds of man that were uttered and done in the presence of My Spirit. In this way,^[a] when I leave the earth, man will still maintain him loyalty to Me, and he will still be able to act toward My work as My holy servants do in serving Me, allowing My work on earth to continue until the day it is complete.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Work of Spreading the Gospel Is Also the Work of Saving Man

Footnotes:

a. The original text does not contain the phrase “In this way.”

111. I really appreciate those who are not suspicious of others, and I really like those who are willing to accept the truth; toward these two kinds of people I show great care, for in My eyes they are honest people. If you are very deceitful, then you will be guarded and suspicious toward all people and matters, and thus your faith in Me will be built upon a foundation of suspicion. I could never acknowledge such faith. Lacking true faith, you are even more devoid of true love. And if you can even doubt God and speculate about Him at will, then you are, without question, the most deceitful of all people. You speculate whether God can be like man: unpardonably sinful, petty, devoid of fairness and reasonableness, lacking a sense of justice, using vicious tactics, insidious and cunning, delighting in evil and darkness, and so on. Is not the reason that people have such thoughts because they lack the slightest knowledge of God? Such faith is nothing short of sin! There are even some who believe that the ones I like are only those who know how to flatter and bootlick, and that those who don’t know how to do that will be unwelcome in the house of God and will lose their place there. Is this the only knowledge you have acquired after all these years? Is this what you have gained? And your knowledge of Me does not stop at these misunderstandings; even worse is your blasphemy against God’s Spirit and vilification of Heaven. This is why I say that such faith as yours will only cause you to stray further from Me and be in greater enmity toward 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 you are willing to pay the price for the truth, but how many of you have truly suffered for the truth? There is nothing but unrighteousness in your hearts, which makes you think that everyone, no matter who they are, is equally deceitful and crooked—to the point that you even believe that God incarnate could, like a normal person, be without a kind heart or benevolent love. More than that, you believe that noble virtue and a merciful, benevolent nature exist only within the God in heaven. You believe that such a holy person does not exist, that only darkness and evil reign on earth, while God is something with which people entrust their longing for the good and beautiful, a legendary figure fabricated by them. In your minds, the God in heaven is very upstanding, righteous, and great, worthy of worship and admiration; this God on earth, meanwhile, is but a substitute, and an instrument, of the God in heaven. You believe this God could not be the equal of 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 are the glory of the God in heaven, but when it comes to the nature and the corruption of man, they are things which the God on earth has a share in. The God in heaven is eternally lofty, while the God on earth is forever insignificant, weak, and incompetent. The God in heaven has no fleshly feelings, but only righteousness, while the God on earth only has selfish motives and is without any fairness or reasonableness. 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 shows man inadequate care, even neglecting him entirely. This fallacious knowledge has long been kept within your hearts; it is erroneous, and you may continue to persist in it moving forward. You regard all deeds of Christ from the standpoint of the unrighteous and evaluate all His work, as well as His identity and essence, from the perspective of the evil. You have made a grave mistake and done that which has never been done by those coming before you. That is, you have only ever served the lofty god in heaven with a crown upon his head, while never “waiting upon” the God whom you regard as so insignificant that He is simply invisible to you. Is this not your sin? Is this not a classic example of your offense against the disposition of God? You fervently venerate the god in heaven. You deeply revere lofty images and strongly admire people of extraordinary eloquence. You are very much willing to be commanded by the god that fills your hands with riches, and you yearn so much for the god who can fulfill your every desire. The only One you do not venerate is this God who is not lofty; the only thing you detest is association with this God whom no man can regard highly. The only thing you are unwilling to do is to work for this God who has never given you a single penny, and the only One who is unable to make you yearn for Him is this unlovely God. This 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 questions like this? What you do does not merely offend this Christ; more importantly, it offends the God in heaven. This is not, I think, the purpose of your faith in God!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. How to Actually Know the God on Earth

112. Many people would rather be cast down to hell than speak and act honestly. Little wonder that I have other treatment in store for those who are dishonest. Of course, I know full well how difficult it is for you to be honest people. Because you are all so “clever,” so good at measuring the hearts of noble people based on your own mean mindset, this makes My work much simpler. And since you each hug your secrets to your bosom, well then, I shall place you, one by one, in disaster to be “schooled” by fire, so that thereafter you may become dead set on your belief in My words. Ultimately, I shall wrest from your mouth the words “God is a faithful God,” whereupon you shall beat upon your breast and lament, “The heart of man is so deceitful!” What will be your state of mind at this time? Surely you won’t be as carried away with pride as you are now! And much less will you be as “profound and abstruse” as you are now. In the presence of God, some people are all prim and proper, and especially “well-behaved,” yet they bare their fangs and brandish their claws in the presence of the Spirit. Would you number such people among the ranks of the honest? If you are a hypocrite, someone who is skilled in “interpersonal relations,” then I say that you are definitely someone who tries to trifle with God. If your words are riddled with excuses and valueless justifications, then I say that you are someone who is loath to put the truth into practice. If you have many private matters that are difficult to speak of, if you are highly averse to opening up about your secrets—your difficulties—before others to seek the way of the light, then I say that you are someone who will have great difficulty attaining salvation, and who will have difficulty emerging from the darkness.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Three Admonitions

113. I deeply understand the deceitfulness that exists within your hearts; most of you follow Me out of curiosity and have come to seek Me out of emptiness. When your third wish is shattered—your wish for a peaceful and happy life—then your curiosity also dissipates. The deceitfulness that exists within each of your hearts is exposed through your words and deeds. To speak frankly, you are just curious about Me, but not afraid of Me; you do not mind your tongues, and even less do you exercise restraint in your behavior. Then what kind of faith do you have, really? Is it genuine? You just use My words to dispel your worries and alleviate your boredom, to fill up the remaining empty spaces in your lives. Who among you has put My words into practice? Who has genuine faith? You keep shouting that God is a God who observes people’s innermost hearts, but how is the God that you shout about in your hearts compatible with Me? Since you are shouting like this, then why do you act that way? Could it be that this is the love you want to repay Me with? There is no small amount of dedication on your lips, but where are your sacrifices, and your good deeds? If it weren’t for your words reaching My ears, how could I hate you so much? If you truly believed in Me, how could you fall into such an embarrassing state? You have depressed looks on your faces as if you were in Hades standing trial. You have not even a shred of vitality, and you feebly talk about your inner voice; you are even full of complaints and curses. You long ago lost faith in what I do and even your original faith has disappeared, so how can you possibly follow until the end? Since this is so, then how can you be saved?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Words for the Young and the Old

114. Though man believes in God, man’s heart is without God, and he is ignorant of how to love God, nor does he want to love God, for his heart never draws close to God and he always avoids God. As a result, man’s heart is distant from God. So, where is his heart? In fact, man’s heart has not gone anywhere: Instead of giving it to God or revealing it to God to see, he has kept it for himself. This is despite the fact that some people often pray to God and say, “O God, look upon my heart—You know all that I think,” and some even swear to let God look upon them, that they may be punished if they break their oath. Though man allows God to look within his heart, this does not mean that man is capable of submitting to the orchestrations and arrangements of God, nor that he has left his fate and prospects and his all under the control of God. Thus, regardless of the oaths you make to God or what you declare to Him, in God’s eyes your heart is still closed to Him, for you only allow God to look upon your heart but do not permit Him to control it. In other words, you have not given your heart to God at all, and only speak nice-sounding words for God to hear; meanwhile, you hide your various deceitful intentions from God, together with your intrigues, scheming, and plans, and you clutch your prospects and fate in your hands, deeply afraid that they will be taken away by God. Thus, God never beholds man’s sincerity toward Him. Though God does scrutinize the depths of man’s heart, and can see what man is thinking and wishes to do in his heart, and can see what things are kept within his heart, man’s heart does not belong to God, and he has not given it over to God’s control. This is to say, God has the right to observe, but He does not have the right to control. In the subjective consciousness of man, man does not want or intend to let God orchestrate him. Not only has man closed himself off to God, but there are even people who think of ways to wrap up their hearts, using smooth talk and flattery to create a false impression and gain the trust of God, and concealing their true face from God. Their aim in not allowing God to see is to not allow God to perceive what they really are like. They do not want to give their hearts to God, but to keep them for themselves. The subtext of this is that what man does and what he wants is all planned, calculated, and decided by man himself; he does not require the participation or intervention of God, much less does he need the orchestrations and arrangements of God. Thus, whether in regard to the commands of God, His commission, or the requirements that God makes of man, man’s decisions are based on his own intentions and interests, on his own state and circumstances at the time. Man always uses the knowledge and experience that he has, and his own intellect, to judge and select the path he should take, and does not allow the intervention or control of God. This is the heart of man that God sees.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II

115. Many people wish to truly love Me, but because their hearts are not their own, they have no control over themselves. Many people truly love Me as they experience the trials given by Me, yet they are incapable of grasping that I really exist, and merely love Me in emptiness, and not because of My actual existence. Many people lay their hearts before Me and then pay no attention to their hearts, and thus their hearts are snatched away by Satan whenever it gets the chance, and then they leave Me. Many people truly love Me when My words provide for them, yet do not cherish My words in their spirits, instead casually using them like public property and tossing them back to where they came from whenever they feel like it. All people seek Me amid pain, and look to Me amid trials; during times of peace they enjoy Me, when in peril they deny Me, when they’re busy they forget Me, and during their free time they make some perfunctory efforts to deal with Me. And yet never has anyone loved Me throughout their whole life. I wish for people to be earnest before Me. I do not ask that they give Me anything, but only that they all take Me seriously, that, instead of wheedling Me, they allow Me to obtain their sincerity in return. My enlightenment, illumination, and My heart’s blood pervade all people, yet so too does the true fact of man’s every action pervade all people, as does their deception of Me. It is as if the ingredients of man’s deception have been with him since the womb, as if he has possessed special skills of trickery since birth. Furthermore, he has never given the game away; no one has ever seen through to the source of these skills of trickery. As a result, man lives amid deception without realizing it, and it is as if he forgives himself, as if it is the arrangements of God rather than his deliberate deception of Me. Is this not the very source of man’s deception of Me? Is this not his scheme? Never have I been befuddled by the false sweet talk of man, for I figured out his substance long ago. Who knows how much uncleanness is in his blood, and how much of Satan’s poison is within his marrow? It accumulates with each passing day, and man becomes accustomed to it, not feeling at all the afflictions of Satan, and thus has no mind to find out the “art of a healthy existence.”

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 21

116. Humans are all creatures who lack self-awareness, and they are unable to know themselves. Nevertheless, they know everyone else like the backs of their hands, as though everything others have done and said has been “inspected” by them, right in front of them, and received their approval before being done. As a result, it is as if they have completely fathomed even the psychological states of other people. Human beings are all like this. Even though they have entered into the Age of Kingdom today, their nature remains unchanged. They still do what I do in front of Me, whereas behind My back they begin to get up to their own unique “business.” However, afterward, when they come before Me, they are like completely different people, apparently calm and undaunted, with composed visages and a steady pulse. Is this not precisely the ugliness of people? So many people wear two completely different faces—one while in front of Me, and another when behind My back. So many act like newborn lambs when before Me, but when behind My back, they turn into fierce tigers, or act like little birds flitting merrily about the hills. So many make resolutions before Me. So many seek and long for My words before Me, but behind My back feel averse toward them and abandon them, as though My words were an encumbrance. So many times, upon seeing the human race corrupted by My enemy, I have given up placing My hopes in humans. So many times, upon seeing them come before Me, tearfully seeking pardon, I have nevertheless, due to their lack of self-respect and stubborn incorrigibility, closed My eyes to their actions in anger, even when their hearts are genuine and their intentions sincere. So many times, I have seen people have the confidence to cooperate with Me, who, when before Me, seem to be in My embrace, tasting of its warmth. So many times, having witnessed the innocence, liveliness, and adorability of My chosen people, how could I not take great pleasure on account of these things? Human beings know not how to enjoy their preordained blessings in My hands, for they do not understand what exactly is meant by either “blessings” or “suffering.” Thus, people are not genuine in their pursuit of Me. If tomorrow did not exist, then which of you would be as pure as the driven snow and as unblemished as jade in My presence? Could it be that your love for Me can be traded away for a delicious meal, for a classy suit of clothing, or for a high office or a generous salary? Can it be traded away for the love that others have for you? Could it actually be that undergoing trials will cause people to abandon their love for Me? Or could suffering and tribulations cause them to complain about My arrangements? No one has ever truly appreciated the sharp sword that is in My mouth: They know only its superficial meaning without truly grasping what it truly means. If human beings were genuinely able to see the sharpness of My sword, they would go scurrying like rats into their holes. Because of their numbness, humans understand nothing of the true meaning of My words, and so they don’t know how formidable My utterances are or just how much they expose of human nature and how much of their own corruption has been judged by those words. Thus, as a result of their incomplete understanding of My words, most people have adopted a lukewarm attitude.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 15

117. Throughout the ages, many have departed from this world in disappointment, and with reluctance, and many have come into it with hope and faith. I have arranged for many to come, and have sent many away. Countless people have passed through My hands. Many spirits have been cast into Hades, many have lived in the flesh, and many have died and been reborn on earth. Yet never have any of them had the opportunity to enjoy the blessings of the kingdom today. I have given man so much, yet he has gained little; due to the onslaught of Satan’s forces, he has been left unable to enjoy all of My riches. He has only had the good fortune to look upon them, but has never been able to fully enjoy them. Man has never discovered the treasure house in his body to receive the riches of heaven, and so he has lost the blessings that I have bestowed upon him. Is man’s spirit not the very organ that connects him to My Spirit? Why has man never engaged Me with his spirit? Why does he draw near to Me in the flesh, yet is incapable of doing so in spirit? Is My true face the flesh? Why does man not know My essence? Has there really never been any trace of Me in the spirit of man? Have I completely disappeared from the spirit of man? If man does not enter into the spiritual realm, how can he grasp My intentions? In the eyes of man, is there that which can directly penetrate the spiritual realm? Many are the times that I have called out to man with My Spirit, yet man acts as if he has been pricked by Me, regarding Me from a distance, in great fear that I will lead him into another world. Many are the times that I have inquired in the spirit of man, yet he remains utterly oblivious, profoundly afraid that I will enter into his home and seize the opportunity to strip him of all his belongings. Thus, he shuts Me outside, leaving Me faced with nothing but a cold, tightly-closed door. Many are the times that man has fallen and I have saved him, yet after waking he immediately leaves Me and, untouched by My lovingkindness, shoots Me a guarded look; never have I warmed the heart of man. Man is an emotionless, cold-blooded animal. Even though it is warm in My embrace, never has he been deeply moved by it. Man is like a mountain savage. Never has he treasured all of My cherishment of mankind. He is unwilling to approach Me, preferring to dwell among the mountains, where he endures the threat of wild beasts—yet still he is unwilling to take refuge in Me. I do not compel any man: I merely do My work. The day will come when man swims to My side from amid the mighty ocean, so that he might enjoy all the riches on earth and leave behind the risk of being swallowed by the sea.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 20

118. Your faith is very beautiful; you say that you are willing to expend your entire lifetimes on behalf of My work, and that you are willing to sacrifice your lives for it, but your dispositions have not changed much. You just speak arrogantly, despite the fact that your actual behavior is very wretched. It is as though people’s tongues and lips are in heaven but their legs are way down on earth, and as a result, their words and deeds and their reputations are still in tatters and ruins. Your reputations have been destroyed, your manner is base, your way of speaking is lowly, and your lives are despicable; even the entirety of your humanity is of base lowliness. You are narrow-minded toward others, and you haggle over every little thing. You quarrel over your own reputations and status, even to the point that you are willing to descend into hell and into the lake of fire. Your current words and deeds are sufficient for Me to determine that you are sinful. Your attitudes toward My work are enough for Me to determine that you are unrighteous ones, and all of your dispositions are sufficient to point out that you are filthy souls that are full of abominations. Your manifestations and what you reveal are adequate to say that you are people who have drunk your fill of the blood of unclean spirits. When entering the kingdom of heaven is mentioned, you do not reveal your feelings. Do you believe that the way you are now is sufficient for you to walk through the gate to My kingdom of heaven? Do you believe that you can obtain permission to enter the holy land of My work and words, without your own words and deeds first being tested by Me? Who can pull the wool over My eyes? How could your despicable, lowly behaviors and conversations escape My sight? Your lives have been determined by Me to be lives of drinking the blood and eating the flesh of those unclean spirits because you imitate them in front of Me every day. Before Me, your behavior has been particularly bad and lowly, so how could I not find you loathsome? Your words contain the impurities of unclean spirits: You wheedle, conceal, and flatter just like those who engage in sorcery and like those who practice deceit and drink the blood of the unrighteous. All of man’s manifestations are extremely unrighteous, so how can all people be placed in the holy land where the righteous are? Do you think that that despicable behavior of yours can set you apart as holy from those unrighteous ones? Your serpent-like tongue will eventually ruin this flesh of yours that wreaks destruction and carries out abominations, and those hands of yours that are covered with the blood of unclean spirits will also eventually pull your soul into hell. Why, then, do you not leap at this chance to cleanse your filth-covered hands? And why do you not take advantage of this opportunity to cut out that tongue of yours that speaks unrighteous words? Could it be that you are willing to suffer in the flames of hell for the sake of your hands, tongue, and lips? I scrutinize the hearts of the myriad people with both eyes, because long before I created mankind, I had grasped their hearts within My hands. I had long ago seen through people’s hearts, so how could their thoughts escape My view? How could it not be too late for them to escape being burned by My Spirit?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. You Are All So Base in Character!

119. Your lips are kinder than doves, but your heart is more sinister than that serpent of old. Your lips are as pretty even as Lebanese women, yet your heart is not kinder than theirs, and it certainly cannot compare to the beauty of the Canaanites. Your heart is so deceitful! The things I loathe are only the lips of the unrighteous and their hearts, and what I require of people is not for them to surpass the holy ones; it is just that I feel repugnance for the evil deeds of the unrighteous, and I hope that they may be able to cast off their filthiness and escape from their current predicament so that they can stand out from those unrighteous ones and live with and be holy with those who are righteous. You are in the same circumstances as I, yet you are covered with filth; you do not even have the smallest bit of the original likeness of the humans who were created in the beginning. Moreover, because every day you imitate the likenesses of those unclean spirits, doing what they do and saying what they say, all parts of you—even your tongues and lips—are soaked in their foul water, to the point that you are entirely covered with such stains, and not a single part of you can be used for My work. It is so heartbreaking! You live in such a world of horses and cattle, yet you actually do not feel distressed; you are full of joy and live freely and easily. You are swimming around in that foul water, yet you do not actually realize that you have fallen into such a predicament. Every day, you consort with unclean spirits and interact with “excrement,” and your lives are quite vulgar; you are not actually aware that you absolutely do not live in the human world and that you are not in control of yourself. Do you not know that your life was long ago trampled by those unclean spirits, or that your character was long ago sullied by the foul water? Do you think you are living in an earthly paradise, and that you are in the midst of happiness? Do you not know that you have lived a life alongside unclean spirits, and that you have coexisted with everything that they have prepared for you? How could the way you live have any meaning? How could your life have any value? You have been running around for your parents, parents of unclean spirits, yet you actually have no idea that the ones harming you are those parents of unclean spirits who gave birth to you and raised you. Even more so, you are not aware that all your filth was actually given to you by them; all you know is that they can bring you “enjoyment,” they do not chastise you, nor do they judge you, and they especially do not curse you. They have never erupted in rage at you, but treat you pleasantly and affably. Their words nourish your heart and captivate you so that you become disoriented and, without realizing it, you are sucked in and willing to be of service to them, becoming their outlet and servant. You have no complaints at all, but are willing to work for them like dogs, like horses; you are misled by them. For this reason, you have absolutely no reactions to the work that I do. No wonder you always want to secretly slip through My fingers, and no wonder you always want to use sweet words to deceitfully extract favor from Me. As it turns out, you already had another plan, another arrangement. You can see a bit of My actions as the Almighty, but you do not have the least knowledge of My judgment and chastisement. You have no idea when My chastisement began; you only know to cheat Me—yet you do not know that I will not tolerate any violation from man. Since you have already made resolutions to serve Me, I will not let you go. I am a God who abhors evil, and I am a God who is jealous of humanity. Since you have already placed your words upon the altar, I will not allow your running off before My very eyes, nor will I allow your serving two masters. Did you think that you could have a second love after having placed your words upon My altar and before My eyes? How could I allow people to make a fool of Me in such a way? Did you think that you could casually make vows and oaths to Me with your tongue? How could you swear oaths by My throne, the throne of I who am Most High? Did you think that your oaths had already passed away? Let Me tell you: Even though your flesh might pass away, your oaths cannot. In the end, I will condemn you based upon your oaths. However, you believe that you can deal with Me perfunctorily by placing your words before Me, and that your hearts can serve unclean spirits and evil spirits. How could My anger tolerate the deceit of those people who are like dogs and pigs? I must carry out My administrative decrees, and wrest back from the hands of unclean spirits all of those stuffy, “pious” ones who have faith in Me so that they might “wait on” Me in a disciplined fashion, be My oxen, be My horses, and be at the mercy of My slaughtering. I will have you pick up your previous resolutions and serve Me once again. I will not allow any created being that cheats Me. Did you think that you could just wantonly make requests and lie in front of Me? Did you think that I had not heard or seen your words and deeds? How could your words and deeds not have been in My view? How could I ever allow people to cheat Me like that?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. You Are All So Base in Character!

120. I have been walking among you for several springs and falls; I have lived among you for a long time, and have lived with you. How much of your despicable behavior has slipped away right in front of My eyes? Those heartfelt words of yours are constantly echoing in My ears; millions and millions of your resolutions have been laid upon My altar—too many even to be counted. However, as for your dedication and what you expend, you give not even one iota. You do not place even a tiny drop of sincerity upon My altar. Where are the fruits of your belief in Me? You have received endless grace from Me, and you have seen endless mysteries of heaven; I have even shown you the flames of heaven, but I have not had the heart to burn you. Nevertheless, how much have you given Me in return? How much are you willing to give to Me? With the food I have bestowed upon you in hand, you turn around and offer it to Me, even saying that it was something you got in return for the sweat of your own hard work and that you are offering Me all that you own. How can you not know that your “contributions” to Me are all just things that have been stolen from My altar? Moreover, now you are offering them to Me, are you not cheating Me? How can you not know that what I enjoy today are all the offerings upon My altar, and not what you have earned from your hard work and then offered up to Me? You actually dare to cheat Me this way, so how can I pardon you? How can you expect Me to endure this any longer? I have bestowed everything upon you, I have opened everything up to you, and provided for your needs, greatly broadening your horizons, yet you cheat Me like this, ignoring your consciences. I have selflessly bestowed everything upon you so that even though you suffer, you still have gained from Me everything that I have brought from heaven. Yet you have no dedication at all, and even if you have made a tiny contribution, you try to “settle accounts” with Me afterward. Will your contribution not amount to nothing? What you have offered up to Me is a mere grain of sand, yet what you have asked of Me is a ton of gold. Are you not simply being unreasonable? I work among you. There is absolutely no trace of the ten percent that I should be given, let alone any additional sacrifices. Furthermore, the ten percent offered up by those who are devout is seized by the evil. Are you not all scattered from Me? Are you not all antagonistic toward Me? Are you not all wrecking My altar? How could such people be seen as treasures in My eyes? Are they not the swine and dogs that I loathe? How could I refer to your evil deeds as a treasure?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. You Are All So Base in Character!

121. There are many ways that you do not understand, many matters of which you have no knowledge. You are so ignorant; I know full well your stature and your deficiencies. Therefore, though there are many words you are incapable of comprehending, I am still willing to tell you all these truths that you have never accepted before, because I keep worrying whether, in your current stature, you are able to stand firm in your testimony for Me. It is not that I think little of you; you are all beasts that have yet to undergo My formal training, and I absolutely cannot see how much glory is within you. Though I have expended much energy working on you, it seems you have few positive aspects, and the negative aspects are nowhere to be found; it is simply a testimony that brings shame on Satan. Just about everything else in you is Satan’s poison. You look to Me like you are beyond salvation. As matters stand, I look at your various expressions and demeanors, and finally, I know your true stature. This is why I am always fretting over you: Left to live life on your own, would you really be better off than or comparable to how you are today? Does your infantile stature not make you anxious? Can you truly be like the chosen people of Israel—loyal to Me, and to Me alone, at all times? What is revealed in you is not the mischievousness of children when they’re away from their parents, but the beastliness that bursts forth from animals that are out of reach of their masters’ whips. You should know your nature, which is also the weakness that you all share; it is an ailment common to you all. Thus, My only exhortation to you today is to stand firm in your testimony to Me. Do not, under any circumstances, allow the old ailment to flare up again. Bearing testimony is what’s most important—it is the heart of My work. You should accept My words just as Mary accepted Jehovah’s revelation that came to her in a dream, believing and then submitting. Only this qualifies as being chaste. For you are the ones who hear My words the most, the ones most blessed by Me. I have given you all My valuable possessions, I have bestowed everything upon you, yet your worth is vastly different than that of the people of Israel—there’s simply a world of difference. But compared to them, you have received so much more; while they desperately await My appearance, you pass pleasant days with Me, sharing My bounty. Given this difference, what gives you the right to squawk and squabble with Me and demand your share of My possessions? Have you not received much? I give you so much, but what you give Me in return is just heartrending sadness and anxiety, irrepressible resentment and discontent. You are so repugnant—yet you are also pitiable, so I have no choice but to swallow all My resentment and voice My objections to you again and again. Over thousands of years of work, I have never remonstrated with mankind because I have discovered that, throughout humanity’s development, it is only the hoaxes among you that have become the most renowned, like precious inheritances left to you by famous ancestors of ancient times. How I hate those subhuman swine and dogs. You are too lacking in conscience! You are of too lowly a character! Your hearts are too hardened! If I had taken such words and work to the Israelites, I would have gained glory long ago. But among you this is unattainable; among you, there is only cruel neglect, your cold shoulder, and your excuses. Your senses are too numb, and you are utterly worthless!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. What Is Your Understanding of God?

122. Think back on the past: When has My gaze been angry, and My voice stern, toward you? When have I split hairs with you? When have I reprimanded you unreasonably? When have I reprimanded you to your face? Is it not for the sake of My work that I call on My Father to exempt you from every temptation? Why do you treat Me like this? Have I ever used My authority to strike down your flesh? Why do you repay Me thus? After blowing hot and cold toward Me, you are neither hot nor cold, and then you try to wheedle Me and hide things from Me, and your mouths are full of the spit of the unrighteous. Do you think your tongues can cheat My Spirit? Do you think that your tongues can escape My anger? Do you think your tongues may pass judgment on the deeds of Me, Jehovah, however they wish? Am I the God whom man passes judgment on? Could I allow a little maggot to blaspheme Me thus? How could I place such sons of rebellion among My eternal blessings? Your words and actions have long since exposed and condemned you. When I stretched out the heavens and created all things, I did not allow any creature apart from Myself to participate as they pleased, much less do I allow any thing to disrupt My work and My management however it wishes. I tolerate no man or object; how could I spare those who are cruel and inhumane toward Me? How could I forgive those who betray My words? How could I spare those who rebel against Me? Is the destiny of man not in the hands of Me, the Almighty? How could I consider your unrighteousness and rebelliousness holy? How could your sins defile My holiness? I am not defiled by the filth of the unrighteous, nor do I enjoy the offerings of the unrighteous. If you were loyal toward Me, Jehovah, could you take for yourself the sacrifices at My altar? Could you use your venomous tongue to blaspheme My holy name? Could you betray My words in this way? Could you treat My glory and holy name as a tool with which to serve Satan, the evil one? My life is provided for the enjoyment of the holy ones. How could I allow you to treat My life as a plaything at your will, and use it as a tool for conflict among yourselves? How could you be so heartless, and so bereft of the way of the good, in how you are toward Me? Do you not know I have already written your evildoings in these words of life? How could you escape the day of wrath when I chastise Egypt? How could I allow you to oppose and rebel against Me in this way, time and time again? I tell you plainly, when the day comes, your chastisement will be more unbearable than that of Egypt! How can you escape My day of anger?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. No One Who Is of the Flesh Can Escape the Day of Anger

123. Man fails to gain God not because God has fleshly feelings, or because God is unwilling to be gained by man, but because man does not want to gain God, and because man does not have a heart that seeks God with urgency. How could one of those who truly seek God be cursed by God? How could one of sound reason and sensitive conscience be cursed by God? How could one who truly worships and serves God be consumed by the fires of His wrath? How could one who is willing to submit to God be kicked out of God’s house? How could one who feels that they can never love God enough live in God’s punishment? How could someone who is willing to forsake everything for God be left with nothing? Man is unwilling to pursue God, unwilling to expend his possessions for God, and unwilling to devote a lifetime’s effort to God; instead, he says that God has gone too far, that too much about God is at odds with man’s notions. With a humanity like this, even if you were unstinting in your efforts you would still be unable to gain God’s approval, to say nothing of the fact that you do not seek God. Do you not know that you are the defective goods of mankind? Do you not know that no humanity is lowlier than yours? Do you not know what others call you to “honor” you? Those who truly love God call you the father of the wolf, the mother of the wolf, the son of the wolf, and the grandson of the wolf; you are the descendants of the wolf, the people of the wolf, and you should know your own identity and never forget it. Do not think that you are some superior figure: You are the most vicious group of non-humans among mankind. Do you not know any of this? Do you know how much of a risk I have taken by working among you? If your reason cannot become normal again, and your conscience cannot work normally, then you will never be free of the name “wolf,” you will never escape the day of curse and will never escape the day of your punishment. You were born inferior, a thing without any worth. You are by nature a pack of hungry wolves, a pile of debris and rubbish, and, unlike you, I do not work upon you for the sake of personal gain, but because of the need of the work. If you carry on being rebellious in this way, then I will stop My work, and will never work on you again; on the contrary, I will transfer My work to a group that I like, and in this way will leave you forever, because I am unwilling to see those who are in enmity to Me. So then, do you wish to be compatible with Me, or in enmity against Me?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Remain Unchanged in Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God

124. As you walk the path of today, what is the most suitable kind of pursuit? In your pursuit, what kind of person should you see yourself as? It behooves you to get to know how you should approach all that you encounter today, be it trials or hardships, cursing or merciless chastisement. Faced with all of these things, you should carefully consider each of them. Why do I say this? I say it because the things that you encounter today are, after all, trials of brief duration that occur over and over again; perhaps as far as you are concerned, they are not especially stressful, and so you let things drift along their natural course, and do not regard them as a precious asset in the pursuit of progress. How thoughtless you are! So much so that you think of this precious asset as though it were a cloud floating before your eyes, and you do not treasure these harsh blows that rain down time and again—blows that are brief and that seem to you not very heavy—but rather look upon them with cold detachment, not taking them to heart, and treat them merely as running up against a brick wall. You are so arrogant! Toward these ferocious attacks, attacks akin to storms, that come time and time again, you show only flippant disregard; sometimes you even go so far as to give a cold smile, revealing an expression of total indifference—for you have never once thought to yourself why you keep suffering such “misfortunes.” Could it be that I am grossly unfair to man? Do I make it My business to find fault with you? Even though the problems with what you think may not be as serious as I have described, you have, through your outward composure, long since painted a perfect portrait of your inner world. There is no need for Me to tell you that the only things hidden in the depths of your heart are unreasonable words of abuse and faint traces of sadness that are barely discernible to others. Because you feel it so unfair to have suffered such trials, you curse; and because these trials make you feel the desolation of the world, you are filled with melancholy. You do not view these repeated blows and acts of discipline as the very best protection; you see them as the senseless trouble-making of Heaven, or else as fitting retribution upon you. You are so ignorant! You mercilessly confine the good times in the darkness; you view instance after instance of wonderful trials and discipline as attacks from your enemies. You do not know how to adapt to your environment, and you are even less willing to try to do so, for you are unwilling to gain anything from this repeated—and, to you, cruel—chastisement. You make no attempt either to seek or to explore, and, simply resigning yourself to your fate, go wherever it leads you. What may seem to you to be savage acts of chastening have not changed your heart, nor have they taken over your heart; instead, they stab you in the heart. You see this “cruel chastisement” only as your enemy in this life, and so you have gained nothing. You are so self-righteous! You seldom believe that you suffer such trials because you are too contemptible; instead, you regard yourself as so unfortunate, saying moreover that I am always finding fault with you. And now that things have arrived at this pass, how much do you really know about what I say and do? Do not think that you are a natural-born prodigy, only slightly lower than the heavens but infinitely higher than the earth. You are not smarter than anyone else—and, it could even be said that it is simply adorable how much sillier you are than any of the people on earth who are possessed of reason, for you think too highly of yourself, and have never had a sense of inferiority, as if you can see My actions clearly down to the tiniest detail. Actually, you are simply not a person who possesses reason, because you have no idea of what I intend to do, and you are even less aware of what I am doing now. And so I say that you are not even the equal of an old farmer, a farmer who has not the faintest perception of human life and yet puts all their reliance on the blessings of Heaven as they cultivate the land. You couldn’t care less about your own life, you even know nothing of renown, and still less do you have any self-awareness. You’re really so “great”!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Do Not Learn and Remain Ignorant—Are They Not Beasts?

125. Some adorn themselves beautifully in terms of their outward appearance: The sisters adorn themselves as prettily as flowers, and the brothers dress like princes or rich young dandies. They care only about outward eating and clothing; inside, they are destitute and have not the slightest knowledge of God. What meaning can there be in this? And then there are some who are dressed like poor beggars—they really look like East Asian slaves! Do you really not understand what I ask of you? Fellowship among yourselves: What have you actually gained? You have believed in God for all these years, and yet this is all that you have reaped—are you not embarrassed? Are you not ashamed? You have been pursuing on the true way for all these years, yet today your stature is still lower than a sparrow’s! Look at the young princess-types among you, pretty as pictures in your clothes and makeup, comparing yourselves to one another—and what do you compare? Your pleasure? Your demands? Do you think I have come to recruit models? You have no shame! Where is your life? Is what you pursue not just your own extravagant desire? You think you are so beautiful, but though you might be dressed in all manner of finery, are you not still a wriggling maggot, born in a dung heap? Today, you are fortunate to enjoy these heavenly blessings not because of your pretty face, but because God is making an exception by elevating you. Is it still unclear to you where you came from? At the mention of life, you shut your mouth and say nothing, as dumb as a statue, yet still you have the gall to dress yourself up! Still you have a mind to apply blush and powder to your face! And look at the dandies among you—they are simply indecent. They spend the whole day sauntering about, with nonchalant expressions on their faces—wherever they go, they lack the slightest sense of propriety. Do they have human likeness? What does each among you, man or woman, devote your attention to all day? Do you know upon whom you depend to feed yourselves? Look at your clothing, look at what you have reaped in your hands, rub your belly—what results have you gotten from the heart’s blood that you’ve expended over all these years of faith? You still think to go sightseeing, you still think to embellish your stinking flesh—this is all worthless! You are asked to be a normal person, yet now you are not simply abnormal, you are aberrant. How can such a person have the audacity to come before Me? With a humanity such as this, parading your charms and flaunting your flesh, living always within the lusts of the flesh—are you not a descendant of filthy demons and evil spirits? I will not allow such a filthy demon to remain in existence for long! And do not suppose I do not know what you think in your heart. You might not unleash your lust and your flesh, but how could I not know the thoughts you harbor in your heart? How could I not know all that your eyes desire? Do you young princess-types not make yourselves so pretty in order to parade your flesh? What benefit are men to you? Can they truly save you from the sea of affliction? As for the dandies among you, you all dress to make yourselves seem gentlemanly and decent, but is this not also designed to bring attention to your dashing looks? Who are you doing this for? What benefit are women to you? Are they not the source of your sin? All you men and women, I have said many words to you, yet you have complied with but a few of them. Your ears are hard of hearing, your eyes have grown dim, and your hearts are intransigent, to the point that there is nothing but lust in your bodies, and you are ensnared in it, unable to escape. Who wants to go anywhere near you maggots, you who squirm in the filth and grime? Do not forget that you are nothing more than those whom I have raised from the dung heap, that you were not originally possessed of normal humanity. What I ask of you is the normal humanity that you did not originally possess, not that you parade your lust or give free rein to your rancid flesh, which has been trained by the devils for so many years. When you dress yourselves so, do you not fear that you will become more deeply ensnared? Do you not know that you were originally of sin? Do you not know that your bodies are filled with lust? It has reached the point that lust even seeps from your clothing, revealing your unbearably ugly appearance as filthy demons. Is it not the case that you know all this more clearly than anyone? Your hearts, your eyes, your lips—have they not all been defiled by filthy demons? Are these parts of you not filthy? Do you think that as long as you do not act, then you are the most holy? Do you think that dressing up in lavish clothes can conceal your sordid souls? That will not work! I advise you to be more realistic, not to be fraudulent and fake, and not to parade your charms. You flaunt your lust to each other, but all you will receive in return is everlasting suffering and ruthless chastening! What need have you to bat your eyes at each other and indulge in romance? Is this your uprightness? Is this your unyielding rectitude? I loathe those among you who engage in evil medicine and sorcery; I loathe the young men and women among you who love their own flesh. You had better restrain yourselves, because you are now required to possess normal humanity, not given permission to flaunt your lust—yet you take every opportunity you can, for your flesh is too plentiful, and your lust too great!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Practice (7)

126. Those who think only of their flesh and who enjoy comfort; those who seem to believe but who do not really believe; those who engage in evil medicine and sorcery; those who are promiscuous and broken-down; those who steal sacrifices to Jehovah and His possessions; those who love bribes; those who dream idly of ascending to heaven; those who are haughty and conceited, who vie only for personal fame and gain; those who spread impertinent words; those who blaspheme God Himself; those who do nothing but make judgments against and slander God Himself; those who form cliques and seek independence; those who exalt themselves more than they exalt God; those frivolous young, middle-aged and older men and women who are ensnared in licentiousness; those men and women who enjoy personal fame and gain and pursue personal status among others; those unrepentant people who are trapped in sin—are they not, all of them, beyond salvation? Licentiousness, sinfulness, evil medicine, sorcery, blasphemous words, and impertinent words all run riot among you; the truth and the words of life are trampled in your midst, and the holy words are defiled among you. You Gentiles, bloated with filth and rebelliousness! What will your outcome be? How can those who love the flesh, who commit sorcery of the flesh, and who are ensnared in licentious sin have the audacity to continue living! Do you not know that people such as you are maggots beyond salvation? What entitles you to demand this and that? To date, there has not been the slightest change in those who do not love the truth and only love the flesh—how can such people be saved? Those who do not love the way of life, who do not exalt God and bear witness to Him, who scheme for the sake of their own status, who exalt themselves—are they not still the same, even today? What is the value in saving them? Whether you can be saved does not depend on how great your seniority or how many years you have been working, and much less does it depend on how many credentials you have built up. Rather, it depends on whether your pursuit has borne fruit. You ought to know that those who are saved are the “trees” that bear fruit, not the trees with lush foliage and abundant flowers that yet yield no fruit. Even if you have spent many years wandering the streets, what does that matter? Where is your testimony? You have far less of a God-fearing heart than you do of a heart that loves yourself and is infatuated with your lustful desires—is this kind of person not a degenerate? How could they be a specimen and model for salvation? Your nature is incorrigible, you are possessed of too much rebelliousness, you are beyond redemption! Are such people not those that will be eliminated? Is the time when My work is finished not the time of the arrival of your last day? I have done so much work and spoken so many words among you—how much of it has truly entered your ears? How much of it have you ever submitted to? When My work ends, that will be the time when you stop opposing Me, when you stop standing against Me. As I work, you act against Me constantly; you never comply with My words. I do My work, and you do your own “work,” making your own little kingdom. You are a pack of foxes and dogs, doing nothing but acting against Me! You are constantly trying to bring those who offer you their undivided love into your embrace—where are your fearful hearts? Everything you do is deceptive! You have no submission or fear, and everything you do is deceptive and blasphemous! Can such people be saved? Men who are sexually immoral and lascivious always want to draw coquettish harlots to them for their own enjoyment. I absolutely will not save such sexually immoral demons. I utterly hate you filthy demons, and your lasciviousness and coquettishness will plunge you into hell. What have you to say for yourselves? You filthy demons and evil spirits are loathsome! You are disgusting! How could such trash be saved? Can they who are ensnared in sin still be saved? Today, your hearts are not drawn to this truth, this way, and this life. Rather, they are drawn to sinfulness, and to money, status, fame, gain, the enjoyments of the flesh, and the beauty of men and the coquettishness of women. How does that make you qualified to enter My kingdom? Your images are even greater than God’s, your status even higher than God’s, to say nothing of your prestige among people—you have actually become idols that people worship. Have each of you not become the archangel? When people’s outcomes are revealed, which is also when the work of salvation will draw near its end, many of those among you will be corpses beyond salvation and must be eliminated.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Practice (7)

127. Humans are worthless wretches, for they do not treasure themselves. If they do not even love themselves, trampling on themselves instead, then does this not show their worthlessness? Humanity is like a harlot who plays games with herself and gives herself arbitrarily to others to be violated. Even so, people still do not recognize just how lowly they are. They find pleasure in working for others or in talking with others, putting themselves under the control of others; is this not precisely the filthiness of humankind? Although I have not experienced a life among humanity or truly experienced human life, I have gained a very clear understanding of their every move, every action, every word, and every deed. I am even able to dissect humans to their deepest shame, to the point that they no longer dare to display their own tricks or give way to their lust. Like snails that retreat into their shells, they no longer dare to expose their own ugliness. Because humans do not know themselves, their greatest flaw is a willingness to parade their charms before others, showing off their ugly countenances; this is a thing that God detests most. This is because the relations between people are abnormal, and there is a lack of normal interpersonal relationships between people, much less normal relationships between them and God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Unveiling of the Mysteries of “God’s Words to the Entire Universe,” Chapter 14

128. Before people experience God’s work and understand the truth, it is Satan’s nature that takes charge and dominates them from within. What, specifically, does that nature entail? For example, why are you selfish? Why do you protect your own status? Why are you so influenced by your feelings? Why do you like those unrighteous things and those evil things? What is the basis for you liking such things? Where do these things come from? Why do you like and accept them? By now, you have all come to understand: The main reason is that Satan’s poisons are within man. So what are Satan’s poisons? How can they be expressed? For example, if you ask, “How should people live? What should people live for?” everyone will answer, “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost.” Just this single phrase expresses the very root of the problem. Satan’s philosophy and logic have become people’s life. No matter what people pursue, they actually do it for themselves—and so they all live for themselves. “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost”—this is the life philosophy of man, and it also represents human nature. These words have already become the nature of corrupt mankind and they are the true portrait of corrupt mankind’s satanic nature. This satanic nature has entirely become the foundation for corrupt mankind’s existence. For several thousand years, corrupt mankind has lived by this poison of Satan, right up to the present day. Everything that Satan does is for the sake of its own desires, ambitions, and aims. It wants to surpass God, to break free from God, and to seize control of all things created by God. Today, people have been corrupted by Satan to this extent. They all have satanic nature, they all tend to deny and oppose God, and they want to take their fates into their own hands and try to oppose the orchestrations and arrangements of God. Their ambitions and desires are already exactly the same as Satan’s. Therefore, man’s nature is Satan’s nature. In fact, many mottos and aphorisms held by people represent human nature and reflect man’s corrupt essence. The things that people choose reflect their own preferences, and they all represent people’s dispositions and pursuits. In every word a person says, and in everything they do, no matter how disguised it is, this disguise cannot cover up their nature. For example, the Pharisees usually preached quite nicely, but when they heard the sermons and truths expressed by Jesus, rather than accepting them, they condemned them. This exposed the Pharisees’ nature essence of being averse to and hating the truth. Some people speak quite prettily and are good at disguising themselves, but after others associate with them for a while, they find that those people are highly deceitful by nature, and not honest in the slightest. After a long time of associating with those people, they discover their nature essence. In the end, they draw the following conclusion: Those people never speak a word of truth, and are deceitful. This statement represents such people’s nature and it is the best illustration and proof of their nature essence. Their philosophy for worldly dealings is to not tell anyone the truth, as well as to not trust anyone. Man’s satanic nature contains a great deal of Satan’s philosophies and poisons. Sometimes you yourself are not aware of them. If you do not understand the truth, you are unable to discern Satan’s disposition. And yet, you are living by Satan’s disposition every minute of every day, and you think that this is quite correct and reasonable, and not at all mistaken. This suffices to show that when you live by Satan’s philosophies you are living by Satan’s disposition, and that Satan’s philosophies and disposition have become your nature. All too often, people live by Satan’s philosophies but still think this to be pretty good, and don’t have any sense of repentance at all. Why is this? It’s because people don’t understand the truth. Therefore, they are constantly revealing their satanic nature at every turn, and they are constantly living by Satan’s philosophies at every turn. Satan’s nature is man’s life, and it is man’s nature essence.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. How to Walk the Path of Peter

129. Man’s nature is quite different from My essence, for man’s corrupt nature originates entirely from Satan; man’s nature has been processed and corrupted by Satan. That is, man lives under the influence of its evil and ugliness. Man does not grow in a world of truth or a holy environment, and still less does man live in the light. Therefore, it is not possible for anyone to possess truth within their nature from the moment of birth, and less can anyone be born with an essence that fears and submits to God. On the contrary, people are possessed of a nature that opposes God, rebels against God, and has no love for the truth. This nature is the problem I want to discuss—betrayal.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. A Very Serious Problem: Betrayal (2)

130. Behavior that cannot submit to Me absolutely is betrayal. Behavior that cannot be loyal to Me is betrayal. Cheating Me and using lies to deceive Me is betrayal. Harboring many notions and spreading them everywhere is betrayal. Being unable to uphold My testimonies and interests is betrayal. Offering false smiles when far from Me in heart is betrayal. These are all acts of betrayal of which you have always been capable, and they are commonplace among you. None of you may think of this as a problem, but that is not what I think. I cannot treat a person’s betrayal of Me as a trifling matter, and I even more so cannot ignore it. Even now, when I am at work among you, you behave in this way—if a day comes when there is no one to watch over you, will you not become like bandits who have declared themselves kings of their own little territories? When that happens and you cause a catastrophe, who will be there to clean up after you? If you think some acts of betrayal are mere occasional actions rather than your persistent behavior, which shouldn’t be brought up with such severity, making it so your pride is injured, and if this is what you truly believe, then you’re utterly devoid of sense. The more someone thinks this way, the more they are an archetype and model of rebellion. Man’s nature is his life; it is a principle on which he relies to survive, and he cannot change it. Take the nature of betrayal as an example. If you can do things to betray any of your relatives or friends, it proves that it is part of your life and a nature with which you were born. This is something nobody can deny.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. A Very Serious Problem: Betrayal (1)

131. Anyone can use their own words and actions to represent their true countenance. This true countenance is, of course, their nature. If you are someone who speaks in a tortuous way, then you have a tortuous nature. If your nature is deceitful, then you act in a sly way, and you make it very easy for others to be tricked and duped by you. If your nature is sinister, your words might be pleasant to hear, but your actions cannot conceal your sinister tricks. If your nature is lazy, then with everything you say you’ll be trying to exculpate yourself for being perfunctory and lazy, and your actions will be slow and perfunctory, and quite good at concealing the truth. If your nature is empathetic, then your words will be reasonable, and your actions, too, will align well with the truth. If your nature is to be loyal to everyone, then your words are certainly sincere and the way you act is grounded, free of anything that might make your master uneasy. If your nature is lustful or greedy for money, then your heart will often be filled by these things, and you will unwittingly commit deviant, immoral acts that people will not forget lightly and that will disgust people. Just as I have said, if you have a nature of betrayal, then you can hardly extricate yourself from it. Do not harbor a mentality of trying your luck, presuming that because you have not wronged others, you do not have a nature of betrayal. If that is what you think then, truly, you are revolting. Every time I speak, My words are targeted at all people, not just one person or one type of person. The fact that you have not betrayed Me in one matter does not prove that you will not betray Me in any matter. Some people, during setbacks in their marriage, lose their faith in seeking the truth. Some people forsake their obligation to be loyal to Me during a family breakdown. Some people abandon Me to seek a moment of joy and excitement. Some people would rather fall into a dark ravine than live in the light and gain the delight of the work of the Holy Spirit. Some people ignore the advice of friends for the sake of satisfying their lust for wealth, and even now cannot acknowledge their mistake and change their course. Some people live only temporarily under My name in order to receive My protection, while others grudgingly devote only a little to Me because they cling to life and fear death. Aren’t these and other such actions, which are immoral and, even more so, devoid of integrity, just behaviors with which people have long betrayed Me deep in their hearts? Of course, I know people do not plan in advance to betray Me, but their betrayal is a natural revelation of their nature. Nobody wants to betray Me, much less is anyone happy because they have committed an act of betrayal against Me. On the contrary, they are trembling with fear, are they not? So, are you thinking of how to redeem these betrayals, and how to change the current situation?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. A Very Serious Problem: Betrayal (1)

132. You were separated out from mud and, no matter what, you were of that stuff which was picked out from among the dregs, and were filthy and loathed by God. You belonged to Satan and were once trampled upon and tainted by it. That is why it is said that you were separated out from mud and are not holy; instead you are nonhuman things that have long been made fools of by Satan. This is the most appropriate assessment of you. You need to know that you were originally impurities found in stagnant water and mud, as opposed to desirable catches like fish and shrimp, for nothing that provides enjoyment can be derived from you. To put it bluntly, you are the most debased beasts of a low society, worse than pigs and dogs. Frankly speaking, to address you in such terms is neither overstatement nor hyperbole; rather, it simplifies the issue. To address you in such terms could even be said to be a way of paying you respect. Your insight, speech, behavior as human beings, as well as every aspect of your life, and your status in the mud, are sufficient to prove that your identity is “out of the ordinary.”

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Man’s Inherent Identity and His Worth: What Are They Really Like?

133. Humans are none other than My enemies. Humans are the evil who oppose and rebel against Me. Humans are none other than the progeny of the evil one accursed by Me. Humans are none other than the descendants of the archangel that betrayed Me. Humans are none other than the legacy of the evil devil who has long been spurned by Me and is in direct enmity with Me. For the sky above all mankind is turbid and dark, without the slightest impression of clarity, and the human world is plunged into pitchy darkness, so that one living in it cannot even see their outstretched hand before their face or the sun when they lift up their head. The road beneath their feet, muddy and rife with potholes, meanders tortuously; the whole land is littered with corpses. The dark corners are filled with the remains of the dead, and in the cool and shady corners crowds of demons have taken up residence. At every turn, demons come and go in hordes among people. The progeny of all manner of beasts, covered in filth, are locked in pitched battle, the sound of which strikes terror to the heart. At such times, in such a world, such an “earthly paradise,” where does one go to seek out life’s felicities? Where could one go to find their life’s destination? Mankind, long since trampled under Satan’s feet, is a performer taking on Satan’s image—more than that, mankind is the embodiment of Satan, and serves as evidence that bears a “resounding witness” to Satan. How can such a human race, such a bunch of degenerate scum, such offspring of a corrupt human family, bear witness to God? Whence comes My glory? Is there any testimony to Me to speak of? For the enemy that stands against Me, and that corrupted mankind, has already taken mankind—the mankind that I created long ago and that was filled with My glory and My living out—and soiled them. It has snatched away My glory, and all it has imbued man with is poison heavily laced with the ugliness of Satan, and juice from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. What It Means to Be a Real Person

134. Your many years of behavior before Me have given Me an answer without precedent, and the question to this answer is: “What is man’s attitude before the truth and the true God?” The heart’s blood I have poured out for man proves My essence of love for man, and man’s actions and deeds before Me prove his essence of hating the truth and being inimical to Me. At all times, I am concerned for all who followed Me, yet at no time are those who follow Me able to accept My words; they are not even able to accept My suggestions. This is what saddens Me most of all. No one has ever been able to understand Me, much less has anyone ever been able to accept Me, even though My attitude is sincere, and My words are gentle. Everyone does the work I have entrusted to them according to their own intentions, not seeking My intentions, let alone asking what I require of them. They still claim to serve Me loyally, all while they rebel against Me. Many believe that the truths that are unacceptable to them or that they cannot practice are not truths. In such people, My truths become something that is denied and cast aside. At the same time, people acknowledge Me as God in word, yet also believe Me an outsider who is not the truth, the way, or the life. No one knows this truth: My words are the forever unchanging truth; I am the supply of life for man and the only guide for mankind; the value and meaning of My words are not determined by whether they are acknowledged and accepted by mankind, but by the essence of the words themselves; and even if not a single person on this earth can accept My words, the value of My words and their help to mankind are beyond the estimation of any person. Therefore, when faced with the many people who rebel against, refute, or are utterly contemptuous of My words, My attitude is only this: Let time and facts be My testimony and prove that My words are the truth, the way, and the life. Let them prove that all I have said is right, that it is that which man should possess and, even more so, that which man should accept. I will let all who follow Me know this fact: Those who cannot fully accept My words, those who cannot practice My words, those who cannot find a goal in My words, and those who cannot receive the grace of salvation through My words, are those who are condemned by My words; even more so, they are those who have lost the grace of My salvation, and My rod shall never leave them.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. You Ought to Consider Your Deeds