Daily Words of God  Excerpt 232

I am righteous, I am trustworthy, and I am the God who examines the innermost heart of man! I will reveal at once who is true and who is false. Do not be alarmed; all things work according to My time. Who wants Me sincerely, and who does not—I will tell you, one by one. You just take care to eat up, drink up, and draw up close to Me when you come into My presence, and I will do My work Myself. Do not be too anxious for quick results; My work is not something that can be accomplished all at once. Within it there are My steps and My wisdom, and that is why My wisdom can be revealed. I will let you see what is done by My hands—the punishing of evil and the rewarding of good. I most certainly do not favor anyone. You who sincerely love Me, I will sincerely love you, and as for those who do not sincerely love Me, My wrath will ever be with them, so that they may remember through eternity that I am the true God, the God who examines the innermost heart of man. Do not act one way to others’ faces but another way behind their backs; I see clearly everything you do, and though you may fool others, you cannot fool Me. I see it all clearly. It is not possible for you to conceal anything; all lies within My hands. Do not think yourself so very clever for making your petty little calculations come out to your advantage. I tell you: However many plans man may hatch, be they thousands or tens of thousands, in the end they cannot escape from the palm of My hand. All things and all objects are controlled by My hands, never mind a single person! Do not try to evade Me or hide, do not try to wheedle or conceal. Can it be that you still do not see that My glorious countenance, My wrath and My judgment, have been publicly revealed? Whosoever does not want Me sincerely, I will judge them immediately and without mercy. My pity has come to its end; there is no more left. Do not be hypocrites any longer, and put a stop to your wild and reckless ways.

My son, take care; spend more time in My presence and I will take charge of you. Have no fear, bring forth My sharp two-edged sword, and—in accordance with My will—fight with Satan to the bitter end. I will protect you; have no worries. All concealed things will be opened up and revealed. I am the Sun that gives forth light, mercilessly illuminating all the darkness. My judgment has come down in its entirety; the church is a battleground. You should all ready yourselves and devote your whole being to the final, decisive battle; I will surely protect you so that you may fight the good, victorious fight for Me.

Be careful—nowadays the hearts of people are deceitful and unpredictable and they have no way of winning other people’s trust. Only I am completely for you. There is no deceit in Me; just lean on Me! My sons will surely be victorious in the final, decisive battle, and Satan will most certainly come out for the death-struggle. Have no fear! I am your power, and I am your all. Do not think about things over and over, you cannot attend to so many thoughts. I have said before, I will no longer pull you along the path, because time is too pressing. I do not have any more time to catch hold of you by the ear and caution you at every turn—it is not possible! You just finish your preparations for battle. I take full responsibility for you; all things are within My hands. This is a battle to the death, and either one side or the other is sure to perish. But you must be clear on this: I am forever victorious and unbeaten, and Satan will surely perish. This is My approach, My work, My will, and My plan!

It is done! All is done! Do not be faint-hearted or afraid. I with you, and you with Me, shall be kings forever and ever! My words, once spoken, will never change, and events will soon come upon you. Be watchful! You should ponder well every single line; do not be vague about My words anymore. You must be clear about them! You must remember—spend as much time as you can in My presence!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 44

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 233

I have begun to take action to punish those who do evil, and those who wield power and who persecute God’s sons. From now on, the hand of My administrative decrees will ever be upon those who contradict Me in their hearts. Know this! This is the beginning of My judgment, and no mercy will be shown to anyone, nor will anyone be spared, for I am the dispassionate God that practices righteousness, and it would be well for you all to recognize this.

It is not that I wish to punish those who do evil; rather, this is retribution they have brought upon themselves by their own evildoings. I am not quick to punish anyone, nor do I treat anyone unjustly—I am righteous to all. I certainly love My sons, and I certainly hate those evil ones who defy Me; this is the principle behind My actions. Every one of you should have some insight into My administrative decrees; if you do not, then you will not have an ounce of fear, and will act carelessly before Me. You also will not know what I want to achieve, what I want to accomplish, what I want to gain, or what kind of person My kingdom needs.

My administrative decrees are:

1. No matter who you are, if you contradict Me in your heart, you will be judged.

2. Those whom I have chosen will be disciplined immediately for any wrong thinking.

3. I will put those who do not believe in Me to one side. I will allow them to speak and act carelessly until the very end, when I will thoroughly punish them and sort them out.

4. I shall look after and protect those who believe in Me at all times. At all times I will supply them with life by way of salvation. These people will have My love, and they will surely not fall or lose their way. Any weakness they have will only be temporary, and I will certainly not remember their weaknesses.

5. Those who seem to believe, but do not actually do so—who believe there is a God but who do not seek Christ, yet who also do not resist—these are the most pitiful sort of people, and through My deeds, I will make them see clearly. By way of My actions, I will save such people and bring them back.

6. The firstborn sons, the first to accept My name, will be blessed! I will surely bestow the best blessings upon you, allowing you to enjoy them to your hearts’ content; no one will dare hinder this. All of this is wholly prepared for you, as this is My administrative decree.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 56

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 234

Blessed are those who have read My words and believe that they will be fulfilled. I will not at all mistreat you; I will have what you believe be fulfilled in you. This is My blessing coming upon you. My words strike home at the secrets hidden in every person; everyone has mortal wounds, and I am the good physician who heals them: Simply come into My presence. Why did I say that in the future there will be no more sorrow and no more tears? It is for this reason. In Me, everything is accomplished, but in humans, all things are corrupt, empty and deceitful to humans. In My presence, you are sure to gain all things, and you can definitely both see and enjoy all the blessings you could never have imagined. Those who do not come before Me are certainly rebellious, and are absolutely the ones who resist Me. I will certainly not let them off lightly; I will chastise such people severely. Remember this! The more people come before Me, the more they will gain—though it will just be grace. Later, they will receive even greater blessings.

Since the creation of the world, I have begun to predestine and select this group of people—namely, you of today. Your temperament, caliber, appearance, and stature, your family into which you were born, your job, and your marriage—you in your entirety, even including the color of your hair and your skin, and your time of birth—were all arranged by My hands. I arranged by hand even the things you do and the people you meet every single day, not to mention the fact that bringing you into My presence today was actually done by My arrangement. Do not throw yourself into disorder; you should proceed calmly. What I allow you to enjoy today is a share that you deserve, and it has been predestined by Me since the world’s creation. Humans are all so extreme: They are either overly headstrong or utterly shameless. They are unable to go about things in accordance with My plan and arrangements. Do not do this any longer. In Me, all is emancipated; do not bind yourself, as there will be loss with respect to your life. Remember this!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 74

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 235

I am the unique God Himself and, moreover, I am the one and only person of God. Even more so, I, the entirety of the flesh, am the complete manifestation of God. Whosoever dares not revere Me, whosoever dares exhibit resistance in their eyes, and whosoever dares speak words of defiance against Me will surely die from My curses and wrath (there will be cursing because of My wrath). Furthermore, whosoever dares not be loyal or filial toward Me, and whosoever dares try to trick Me, will surely die from My hatred. My righteousness, majesty, and judgment will endure forever and ever. At first, I was loving and merciful, but this is not the disposition of My complete divinity; righteousness, majesty, and judgment merely comprise the disposition of Me, the complete God Himself. During the Age of Grace, I was loving and merciful. Because of the work I had to finish, I possessed lovingkindness and mercy; afterward, however, there was no more need for such things (and there has been none ever since). It is all righteousness, majesty, and judgment, and this is the complete disposition of My normal humanity coupled with My complete divinity.

Those who do not know Me will perish in the bottomless pit, whereas those who are certain about Me will live forever, to be cared for and protected within My love. The moment I utter a single word, the entire universe and the ends of the earth tremble. Who can hear My words and not tremble in fear? Who can hold back from welling up with reverence for Me? And who is incapable of knowing My righteousness and majesty from My deeds! And who cannot see My almightiness and wisdom within My deeds! Whosoever does not pay attention will surely die. This is because those who do not pay attention are the ones who resist Me and who do not know Me; they are the archangel, and are the most wanton. Examine yourselves: Anyone who is wanton, self-righteous, conceited, and arrogant is certainly an object of My hatred, and is bound to perish!

I now pronounce the administrative decrees of My kingdom: All things are within My judgment, all things are within My righteousness, all things are within My majesty, and I practice My righteousness toward all. Those who say they believe in Me but who, deep down, contradict Me, or those whose hearts have abandoned Me, will be kicked out—but all in My own good time. People who speak sarcastically about Me, but in a way that others do not notice, will die immediately (they will perish in spirit, body, and soul). Those who oppress or cold-shoulder My beloved will be judged immediately by My wrath. This means that people who are jealous of the ones I love, and who think Me unrighteous, will be handed over to be judged by My beloved. All who are well-behaved, simple, and honest (including those who lack wisdom), and who treat Me with single-minded sincerity, will all remain in My kingdom. Those who have not been through training—meaning, those honest people who lack wisdom and insight—will have power in My kingdom. However, they have also been dealt with and broken. That they have not undergone training is not absolute. Rather, it is through these things that I will show everyone My almightiness and My wisdom. I will kick out all those who still doubt Me; I want not one of them (I detest people who still doubt Me at such a time as this). By way of the deeds I do throughout the entire universe, I will show honest people the wondrousness of My actions, thereupon causing their wisdom, insight, and discernment to grow. I will also cause deceitful people to be destroyed in an instant as a result of My wondrous deeds. All the firstborn sons who were first to accept My name (meaning those holy and unblemished, honest people) will be the first to attain entry to the kingdom and rule over all nations and all peoples alongside Me, reigning as kings in the kingdom and judging all nations and all peoples (this refers to all the firstborn sons in the kingdom, and no others). Those among all nations and all peoples who have been judged, and who have repented, will enter My kingdom and become My people, while those who are stubborn and unrepentant will be cast into the bottomless pit (to perish forever). The judgment in the kingdom will be the last one, and it will be My thorough cleansing of the world. There will then no longer be any injustice, grief, tears, or sighs, and, even more so, there will be no more world. Everything will be a manifestation of Christ, and all will be the kingdom of Christ. Such glory! Such glory!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 79

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 236

Now I promulgate My administrative decrees for you (effective from the day of their promulgation, assigning different chastisements to different people):

I keep My promises, and everything is in My hands: Whosoever doubts will certainly be killed. There is no room for any consideration; they will immediately be exterminated, thus ridding My heart of hatred. (From now on it is confirmed that whosoever is killed must not be a member of My kingdom, and must be a descendent of Satan.)

As firstborn sons, you should keep your own positions and fulfill your own duties well, and not be nosy. You should offer yourselves up for My management plan, and everywhere you go, you should bear good witness to Me and glorify My name. Do not commit shameful acts; be examples for all My sons and My people. Do not be debauched even for a moment: You must always appear before everyone bearing the identity of firstborn sons, and not be servile; rather, you should stride forward with heads held high. I am asking you to glorify My name, not to disgrace My name. Those who are firstborn sons each have their own individual function, and cannot do everything. This is the responsibility I have given you, and it is not to be shirked. You must dedicate yourselves wholeheartedly, with all your mind and all your strength, to fulfilling that with which I have entrusted you.

From this day forward, throughout the universe world, the duty of shepherding all My sons and all My people will be entrusted to My firstborn sons to fulfill, and I will chastise whosoever cannot dedicate their entire heart and mind to fulfilling it. This is My righteousness. I will neither spare nor go easy on even My firstborn sons.

If there is anyone among My sons or among My people who ridicules and insults one of My firstborn sons, I will punish them harshly, for My firstborn sons represent Myself; what someone does to them, they do also to Me. This is the most severe of My administrative decrees. I will allow My firstborn sons to, according to their wishes, administer My righteousness against any of My sons and My people who violate this decree.

I will gradually abandon whosoever regards Me frivolously and focuses only on My food, clothing, and sleep, attends only to My external affairs and has no consideration for My burden, and does not pay attention to fulfilling their own functions properly. This is directed at all who have ears.

Whoever finishes doing service for Me must obediently withdraw without fuss. Be careful, or else I will sort you out. (This is a supplementary decree.)

My firstborn sons shall pick up the iron rod from now on and begin to execute My authority to govern all nations and peoples, to walk among all nations and peoples, and to carry out My judgment, righteousness, and majesty among all nations and peoples. My sons and My people shall fear Me, praise Me, cheer Me, and glorify Me without ceasing, because My management plan is fulfilled and My firstborn sons can reign with Me.

This is a part of My administrative decrees; after this, I will tell them to you as the work progresses. From the above administrative decrees, you will see the pace at which I do My work, as well as which step My work has reached. This shall be a confirmation.

I have already judged Satan. Because My will is unimpeded and because My firstborn sons have gained glory alongside Me, I have already exercised My righteousness and majesty upon the world and all things that belong to Satan. I do not lift a finger or pay attention to Satan at all (because it does not even deserve to converse with Me). I just keep doing what I want to do. My work proceeds smoothly, step by step, and My will is unimpeded across the entire earth. This has shamed Satan to a degree, and it has been completely destroyed, but this in itself has not fulfilled My will. I also allow My firstborn sons to carry out My administrative decrees over them. On the one hand, what I let Satan see is My wrath toward it; on the other hand, I let it see My glory (see that My firstborn sons are the most resounding witnesses to Satan’s humiliation). I do not punish it in person; rather, I let My firstborn sons carry out My righteousness and majesty. Because Satan used to abuse My sons, persecute My sons, and oppress My sons, today, after its service is over, I will allow My mature firstborn sons to sort it out. Satan has been powerless against the fall. The paralysis of all nations in the world is the best testimony; people fighting and countries at war are the obvious manifestations of the collapse of Satan’s kingdom. The reason I did not show any signs and wonders in the past was to bring humiliation upon Satan and glorify My name, step by step. When Satan is completely finished off, I begin to show My power: What I say comes into being, and the supernatural things that are not in conformance with human notions will be fulfilled (these refer to the blessings soon to come). Because I am the practical God Himself and I have no rules, and because I speak according to changes in My management plan, what I have said in the past is therefore not necessarily applicable in the present. Do not cling to your own notions! I am not a God who abides by rules; with Me, everything is free, transcendent, and completely released. Perhaps what was said yesterday is outdated today, or perhaps it might be cast aside today (however, My administrative decrees, since they are promulgated, will never change). These are the steps in My management plan. Do not cling to regulations. Every day there is new light and there are new revelations, and that is My plan. Every day My light will be revealed in you and My voice will be released to the universe world. Do you understand? This is your duty, the responsibility I have entrusted to you. You must not neglect it for even a moment. I will use to the end the people I approve, and this will never change. Because I am the almighty God, I know which kind of person should do which thing, as well as which kind of person is able to do which thing. This is My omnipotence.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 88

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 237

Every sentence I utter carries authority and judgment, and no one can change My words. Once My words issue forth, things are certain to be accomplished in accordance with My words; this is My disposition. My words are authority and whosoever amends them offends My chastisement, and I must strike them down. In serious cases they bring ruination down on their own lives and they go to Hades, or into the bottomless pit. This is the only way in which I deal with mankind, and man has no way to change it—this is My administrative decree. Remember this! No one is allowed to offend My decree; things must be done according to My will! In the past, I was too easy on you and you encountered only My words. The words I spoke about striking people down have not yet come to pass. But from today, all the disasters (these in relation to My administrative decrees) will come one after another to punish all those who do not conform to My will. There must be the advent of facts—otherwise people would not be able to see My wrath but would debauch themselves over and over. This is a step of My management plan, and it is the way in which I do the next step of My work. I say this to you in advance so that you can avoid committing offense and suffering perdition forever. That is to say, from today forward, I will make all people except for My firstborn sons take their proper places in accordance with My will, and I shall chastise them one by one. I shall not let even one of them off the hook. Just you dare be debauched again! Just you dare be rebellious again! I have said before that I am righteous to all, that I am without a shred of sentiment, and this serves to show that My disposition must not be offended. This is My person. No one can change this. All people hear My words and all people see My glorious countenance. All people must obey Me completely and absolutely—this is My administrative decree. All people across the universe and at the ends of the earth should praise and glorify Me, for I am the unique God Himself, for I am the person of God. No one can change My words and utterances, My speech and deportment, as these are matters for Me alone, and these are things which I have possessed from the most ancient times and which shall exist forever.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 100

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 238

My planned work keeps pressing forward without a moment’s surcease. Having moved into the Age of Kingdom, and having carried you into My kingdom as My people, I will have other demands to make of you; that is to say, I will begin to promulgate before you the constitution with which I will govern this era:

Since you are called My people, you should be able to glorify My name; that is, stand testimony in the midst of trial. If anyone attempts to wheedle Me and conceal the truth from Me, or engage in disreputable dealings behind My back, such people will, without exception, be chased out and removed from My house to wait for Me to deal with them. Those who have been unfaithful and unfilial to Me in the past, and who rise up again today to judge Me openly—they, too, will be chased out of My house. Those who are My people must constantly show consideration for My burdens as well as seek to know My words. Only people like this will I enlighten, and they will surely live under My guidance and enlightenment, never meeting with chastisement. Those who, failing to show consideration for My burdens, concentrate on planning for their own futures—that is, those who do not aim with their actions to satisfy My heart, but rather who look for handouts—these beggar-like creatures I absolutely refuse to use, because from the time they were born, they have known nothing of what it means to show consideration for My burdens. They are people who lack normal sense; such people are suffering from “malnutrition” of the brain, and need to go home for some “nourishment.” I have no use for such people. Among My people, everyone will be required to regard knowing Me as an obligatory duty to be seen through to the end, like eating, dressing, and sleeping, something that one never forgets about for a moment, so that in the end, knowing Me will become as familiar as eating—something you do effortlessly, with a practiced hand. As for the words I speak, every single one must be taken with the utmost faith and fully assimilated; there can be no perfunctory half-measures. Anyone who does not pay attention to My words will be regarded as directly resisting Me; anyone who does not eat of My words, or does not seek to know them, will be regarded as not paying attention to Me, and will directly be swept out the door of My house. This is because, as I have said in the past, what I want is not a great number of people, but excellence. Out of a hundred people, if only one is able to know Me through My words, then I will willingly throw away all the others to focus on enlightening and illuminating this single one. From this you can see that it is not necessarily true that greater numbers alone can manifest Me and live Me out. What I want is wheat (even though the kernels may not be full) and not tares (even when the kernels are full enough to be admired). As for those who give no regard to seeking, but who instead behave in a slack manner, they should leave of their own accord; I do not wish to see them anymore, lest they continue to bring disgrace to My name.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 5

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 239

Since you are among the people of My household, and since you are faithful in My kingdom, you must adhere to the standards of My requirements in all that you do. I do not ask that you be nothing more than a drifting cloud, but that you be gleaming snow, and possessed of its essence and, even more, its value. Because I come from the holy land, I am not like the lotus, which has only a name and no essence, for it comes from the mire and not the holy land. The time that a new heaven descends upon the earth and a new earth spreads over the skies is also precisely the time that I am formally at work among humans. Who among humanity knows Me? Who beheld the moment of My arrival? Who has seen that I not only have a name, but, moreover, am also possessed of essence? I sweep away the white clouds with My hand and closely observe the skies; nothing in space is not arranged by My hand, and beneath it, no one does not contribute his or her own tiny effort toward the accomplishment of My mighty enterprise. I do not make onerous demands of the people on earth, for I have always been the practical God and because I am the Almighty that created humans and knows them well. All people are before the eyes of the Almighty. How could even those in the remotest corners of the earth avoid the scrutiny of My Spirit? Although people “know” My Spirit, they still offend My Spirit. My words lay bare the ugly faces of all people, as well as their innermost thoughts, and cause all upon earth to be made plain by My light and fall down in the midst of My scrutiny. However, despite falling down, their hearts do not dare to stray far from Me. Among the objects of creation, who does not come to love Me as a result of My deeds? Who does not yearn for Me as a result of My words? In whom are not born feelings of attachment as a result of My love? It is only due to the corruption of Satan that humans have been unable to reach the state that I require. Even the lowest standards that I require produce misgivings in people, to say nothing of today—this era in which Satan runs riot and is madly despotic—or the time when humans have been so trampled by Satan that their bodies are entirely caked in filth. When has the failure of humans to care for My heart as a result of their depravity not caused Me grief? Could it be that I pity Satan? Could it be that I am mistaken in My love? When people disobey Me, My heart secretly weeps; when they resist Me, I chastise them; when they are saved by Me and resurrected from the dead, I nourish them with the utmost care; when they submit to Me, My heart rests easy and I immediately sense great changes in heaven and earth and all things. When humans praise Me, how could I not enjoy it? When they witness Me and are gained by Me, how could I not gain glory? Could it be that however humans act and behave is not governed and supplied by Me? When I do not provide direction, people are idle and quiescent; furthermore, behind My back, they engage in those “laudable” dirty dealings. Do you think the flesh, with which I clothe Myself, knows nothing of your actions, your behavior, and your words? Many years have I endured the wind and rain, and so too have I experienced the bitterness of the human world; however, upon closer reflection, no amount of suffering can make fleshly humanity lose hope in Me, much less can any sweetness cause humans of flesh to grow cold, downhearted, or dismissive toward Me. Is their love for Me really limited to either a lack of suffering or a lack of sweetness?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 9

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 240

Today, since I have led you to this point, I have made fitting arrangements, and have My own aims. If I were to tell you of them today, would you truly be able to know them? I am well acquainted with the thoughts of man’s mind and the wishes of man’s heart: Who has never looked for a way out for themselves? Who has never thought of their own prospects? Yet even though man is possessed of a rich and dazzling intellect, who was able to predict that, following the ages, the present would turn out as it has? Is this really the fruit of your own subjective efforts? Is this the payment for your tireless industry? Is this the beautiful tableau envisaged by your mind? If I did not guide all mankind, who would be able to separate themselves from My arrangements and find another way out? Is it the imaginings and wishes of man that have brought him to today? Many people go their whole lives without having their wishes fulfilled. Is this really because of a fault in their thinking? Many people’s lives are filled with unexpected happiness and satisfaction. Is this really because they expect too little? Who of the whole of mankind is not cared for in the eyes of the Almighty? Who does not live in the midst of the Almighty’s predestination? Does man’s life and death happen by his own choice? Does man control his own fate? Many people cry out for death, yet it is far away from them; many people want to be those who are strong in life and fear death, yet unbeknownst to them, the day of their demise draws near, plunging them into the abyss of death; many people look to the skies and sigh deeply; many people cry great, wailing sobs; many people fall amidst trials; and many people become prisoners of temptation. Though I do not appear in person to allow man to behold Me clearly, many people fear seeing My face, deeply afraid that I will strike them down, that I will snuff them out. Does man truly know Me, or does he not? No one can say for sure. Is this not so? You fear both Me and My chastisement, yet you also stand up and openly oppose Me and pass judgment on Me. Is this not the case? That man has never known Me is because he has never seen My face or heard My voice. Thus, even though I am within man’s heart, are there any in whose heart I am not hazy and indistinct? Are there any in whose heart I am perfectly clear? I do not wish for those who are My people to also see Me vaguely and opaquely, and thus I embark upon this great work.

I quietly come among man, and then I drift away. Has anyone ever seen Me? Is the sun able to see Me because of its burning flames? Is the moon able to see Me because of its lustrous clarity? Can the constellations see Me because of their place in the sky? When I come, man does not know, and all things remain ignorant, and when I depart, still man is unaware. Who can bear testimony to Me? Could it be the praise of the people on earth? Could it be the lilies blossoming in the wild? Is it the birds flying in the sky? Is it the lions roaring in the mountains? No one can fully witness Me! No one can do the work that I will do! Even if they did do this work, what effect would it have? Each day I observe every action of many people, and each day I search the hearts and minds of many people; never has anyone escaped My judgment, and never has anyone divested themselves of the reality of My judgment. I stand above the skies and look into the distance: Innumerable people have been struck down by Me, yet so, too, do countless people live amid My mercy and lovingkindness. Do you also not live under such circumstances?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 11

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 241

On earth, I am the practical God Himself who abides in the hearts of humans; in heaven, I am the Master of all creation. I have climbed mountains and forded rivers, and I have drifted in and out of humanity’s midst. Who dares to openly oppose the practical God Himself? Who dares to break away from the sovereignty of the Almighty? Who dares to assert that I am, beyond the shadow of a doubt, in heaven? Moreover, who dares to assert that I am incontrovertibly on earth? There is no one among all of humanity capable of articulating in every detail the places where I reside. Could it be that whenever I am in heaven, I am the supernatural God Himself, and that whenever I am on earth, I am the practical God Himself? Surely whether or not I am the practical God Himself cannot be determined by My being the Ruler of all creation or the fact that I experience the sufferings of the human world, can it? If that were the case, then would humans not be ignorant beyond all hope? I am in heaven, but I am also on earth; I am among the myriad objects of creation, and also among the masses. Humans can touch Me every day; moreover, they can see Me every day. As far as humanity is concerned, I seem to be sometimes hidden and sometimes visible; I seem to actually exist, yet I also seem to not exist. In Me lie mysteries unfathomable to humanity. It is as though all humans are peering at Me through a microscope in order to discover even more mysteries in Me, hoping thereby to dispel that uncomfortable feeling in their hearts. However, even if they were to use X-rays, how could humanity uncover any of the secrets I hold?

In the very moment that My people, as a result of My work, gain glory alongside Me, the great red dragon’s lair will be unearthed, all the mud and dirt will be swept clean away, and all the polluted water, accumulated over countless years, will dry up in My burning fires, to exist no more. Thereupon, the great red dragon will perish in the lake of fire and brimstone. Are you genuinely willing to remain under My loving care so as not to be snatched away by the dragon? Do you really hate its deceitful stratagems? Who is able to bear staunch witness for Me? For the sake of My name, for the sake of My Spirit, and for the sake of My entire management plan, who can make an offering of all their strength? Today, when the kingdom is in the human world, is the time in which I have come in person among humanity. If this were not so, is there anyone who could venture forth into the battlefield on My behalf without any trepidation? So that the kingdom may take shape, so that My heart may be content, and furthermore, so that My day may come, so that the time may come when the myriad objects of creation are reborn and grow abundant, so that humans may be rescued from their sea of suffering, so that tomorrow may come, and so that it may be wondrous, and blossom and flourish and, moreover, so that the enjoyment of the future may come to pass, all humans are striving with all their might, sparing nothing in sacrificing themselves for Me. Is this not a sign that victory is already Mine? Is it not a mark of the completion of My plan?

The more that people exist in the last days, the more they will feel the emptiness of the world, and the less courage they will have for living life. For this reason, countless people have died in disappointment, countless others have been disappointed in their quests, and countless others suffer themselves to be manipulated by Satan’s hand. I have rescued so many people and supported so many of them, and, so often, when human beings have lost the light, I have moved them back into a place of light so that they might know Me within the light and enjoy Me amidst happiness. Because of the coming of My light, adoration grows in the hearts of the people who dwell in My kingdom, for I am a God for humans to love—a God to whom humanity clings in fond attachment—and they are filled with an abiding impression of My form. Nevertheless, when all is said and done, there is no one who understands whether this is the working of the Spirit or a function of the flesh. It would take people an entire lifetime just to experience this one thing in detail. Humans have never despised Me in their hearts’ innermost reaches; rather, they cling to Me in the depths of their spirits. My wisdom raises their admiration, the wonders that I work are a feast for their eyes, and My words boggle their minds, yet they cherish them dearly. My reality renders humans at a loss, dumbfounded and perplexed, and yet they are willing to accept it. Is this not precisely the measure of humans as they truly are?

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

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 242

1. Man should not magnify himself, nor exalt himself. He should worship and exalt God.

2. Do everything that is beneficial to God’s work and nothing that is detrimental to the interests of God’s work. Defend God’s name, God’s testimony, and God’s work.

3. The money, material objects, and all property in God’s household are the offerings that should be given by man. These offerings may be enjoyed by none but the priest and God, for the offerings of man are for the enjoyment of God. God only shares these offerings with the priest; no one else is qualified or entitled to enjoy any part of them. All of man’s offerings (including money and material things that can be enjoyed) are given to God, not to man, and so these things should not be enjoyed by man; if man were to enjoy them, then he would be stealing offerings. Anyone who does this is a Judas, for, in addition to being a traitor, Judas also helped himself to what was put in the money bag.

4. Man has a corrupt disposition and is moreover possessed of emotions. As such, it is absolutely prohibited for two members of the opposite sex to work together unaccompanied when serving God. Any who are discovered doing so will be expelled, without exception.

5. Do not pass judgment on God nor casually discuss matters related to God. Do as man ought to do, and speak as man ought to speak, and do not overstep limits nor transgress boundaries. Guard your own tongue and take care where you step, to avoid doing anything that offends God’s disposition.

6. Do that which ought to be done by man, and carry out your obligations, and fulfill your responsibilities, and hold to your duty. Since you believe in God, you should make your contribution to God’s work; if you do not, then you are unfit to eat and drink the words of God, and unfit to live in God’s household.

7. In work and matters of the church, apart from obeying God, follow the instructions of the man who is used by the Holy Spirit in everything. Even the slightest infraction is unacceptable. Be absolute in your compliance, and do not analyze right or wrong; what is right or wrong has nothing to do with you. You must concern yourself only with total obedience.

8. People who believe in God should obey God and worship Him. Do not exalt or look up to any person; do not put God first, the people you look up to second, and yourself third. No person should hold a place in your heart, and you should not consider people—particularly those you venerate—to be on a par with God or to be His equal. This is intolerable to God.

9. Keep your thoughts on the work of the church. Put aside the prospects of your own flesh, be decisive about family matters, wholeheartedly devote yourself to the work of God, and put God’s work first and your own life second. This is the decency of a saint.

10. Kin who are not of the faith (your children, your husband or wife, your sisters or your parents, and so on) should not be forced into the church. God’s household is not short of members, and there is no need to make up its numbers with people who have no use. All those who do not believe gladly must not be led into the church. This decree is directed at all people. You should check, monitor, and remind each other of this matter; no one may violate it. Even when kin who are not of the faith do reluctantly enter the church, they must not be issued books nor given a new name; such people are not of God’s household, and their entry into the church must be halted by any means necessary. If trouble is brought upon the church due to the invasion of demons, then you yourself will be expelled or will have restrictions placed upon you. In short, everyone has a responsibility in this matter, though you should not be reckless, nor use it to settle personal scores.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Ten Administrative Decrees That Must Be Obeyed by God’s Chosen People in the Age of Kingdom

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 243

People must adhere to the many duties that they should perform. This is what people should adhere to, and this is what they must carry out. Let the Holy Spirit do what must be done by the Holy Spirit; man can play no part in it. Man should adhere to what ought to be done by man, which bears no relation to the Holy Spirit. It is nothing but that which ought to be done by man, and should be adhered to as commandment, just like adherence to the law in the Old Testament. Although now is not the Age of Law, there are still many words that should be adhered to which are of the same kind as words spoken in the Age of Law. These words are not carried out merely by relying on the touch of the Holy Spirit, but rather, they are something that man should adhere to. For example:

You shall not pass judgment on the work of the practical God.

You shall not oppose the man who is testified to by God.

Before God, you shall keep your place and shall not be dissolute.

You should be moderate in speech, and your words and actions must follow the arrangements of the man testified to by God.

You should revere the testimony of God. You shall not ignore the work of God and the words from His mouth.

You shall not imitate the tone and aims of God’s utterances.

Externally, you shall not do anything that manifestly opposes the man who is testified to by God.

These are what each person should adhere to. In each age, God specifies many rules that are akin to the laws and are to be adhered to by man. Through this, He constrains man’s disposition and detects his sincerity. Consider the words “Honor your father and your mother” of the Old Testament age, for example. These words do not apply today; at the time, they merely constrained some of man’s external disposition, were used to demonstrate the sincerity of man’s belief in God, and were a mark of those who believed in God. Although now is the Age of Kingdom, there are still many rules that man must adhere to. The rules of the past do not apply, and today there are many more fitting practices for man to carry out, and which are necessary. They do not involve the work of the Holy Spirit and must be done by man.

In the Age of Grace, many of the practices of the Age of Law were discarded because these laws were not particularly effective for the work at that time. After they were discarded, many practices were set out that were suitable for the age, and which have become the many rules of today. When the God of today came, these rules were dispensed with and it was no longer required that they be adhered to, and many practices were set out that are suitable for the work of today. Today, these practices are not rules, but are instead intended to achieve effects; they are suitable for today—tomorrow, perhaps they will become rules. In sum, you should adhere to that which is fruitful for the work of today. Pay no heed to tomorrow: What is done today is for the sake of today. Maybe when tomorrow comes, there will be better practices which you will be required to carry out—but do not pay too much attention to that. Rather, adhere to that which should be adhered to today so as to avoid opposing God. Today, nothing is more crucial for man to adhere to than the following:

You must not try to wheedle the God that stands before your eyes, or conceal anything from Him.

You shall not utter filthiness or arrogant talk in front of the God before you.

You shall not deceive the God before your eyes by honeyed words and fair speeches in order to gain His trust.

You shall not act irreverently before God. You shall obey all that is spoken from the mouth of God, and shall not resist, oppose, or dispute His words.

You shall not interpret as you see fit the words spoken from the mouth of God. You should guard your tongue to avoid it causing you to fall prey to the deceitful schemes of the wicked.

You should guard your footsteps to avoid transgressing the boundaries set out for you by God. If you transgress, this will cause you to stand in the position of God and speak words which are conceited and pompous, and thus you will become loathed by God.

You shall not carelessly spread the words spoken from the mouth of God, lest others mock you and the devils make a fool of you.

You shall obey all of the work of the God of today. Even if you do not understand it, you shall not pass judgment on it; all you can do is seek and fellowship.

No person shall transgress God’s original place. You can do nothing more than serve the God of today from the position of man. You cannot teach the God of today from the position of man—to do so is misguided.

No one may stand in the place of the man testified to by God; in your words, actions, and innermost thoughts, you stand in the position of man. This is to be abided by, it is the responsibility of man, and no one may alter it; attempting to would violate the administrative decrees. This should be remembered by all.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Commandments of the New Age

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 244

There are many things I hope for you to achieve, yet not all of your actions, not everything about your lives, are able to fulfill what I ask, so I have no choice but to come straight to the point and explain to you My will. Given that your discernment is poor and your appreciation is likewise poor, you are almost utterly ignorant of My disposition and essence—and thus it is a matter of urgency that I inform you about them. No matter how much you previously understood, regardless of whether you wish to understand these issues, I must still explain them to you in detail. These issues are not entirely foreign to you, yet you lack much understanding, much familiarity, with the meaning contained within them. Many of you have only some dim understanding, and a partial and incomplete one at that. To help you to better practice the truth—to better practice My words—I think these are the issues you must be aware of first and foremost. If not, your faith will remain vague, hypocritical, and filled with the trappings of religion. If you do not understand the disposition of God, then it will be impossible for you to do the work you should do for Him. If you do not know the essence of God, then it will be impossible for you to have reverence and fear toward Him; instead, there will be only heedless perfunctoriness and prevarication, and moreover, incorrigible blasphemy. Although understanding God’s disposition is indeed important, and knowing God’s essence cannot be overlooked, no one has ever thoroughly examined or delved into these issues. It is plain to see that you have all dismissed the administrative decrees I have issued. If you do not understand the disposition of God, then you will be very likely to offend His disposition. Offending His disposition is tantamount to provoking the ire of God Himself, in which case the ultimate fruit of your actions will be the violation of the administrative decrees. Now you should realize that when you know God’s essence, so too can you understand His disposition—and when you understand His disposition, so too will you have understood the administrative decrees. Needless to say, much of what is contained within the administrative decrees touches upon the disposition of God, but not all of His disposition is expressed within the administrative decrees; hence, you must go a step further in developing your understanding of God’s disposition.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. It Is Very Important to Understand God’s Disposition

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 245

The disposition of God is a subject that seems very abstract to everyone and is, moreover, one that is not easy for anyone to accept, for His disposition is unlike a human being’s personality. God, too, has His own emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, but these emotions differ from those of man. God is what He is and He has what He has. All that He expresses and reveals are representations of His essence and of His identity. What He is and what He has, as well as His essence and identity, are things that cannot be replaced by any man. His disposition encompasses His love for mankind, solace of mankind, hatred of mankind, and even more, a thorough understanding of mankind. The personality of man, however, may be optimistic, lively, or unfeeling. The disposition of God is one that belongs to the Ruler of all things and living beings, to the Lord of all creation. His disposition represents honor, power, nobility, greatness, and most of all, supremacy. His disposition is the symbol of authority, the symbol of all that is righteous, the symbol of all that is beautiful and good. More than that, it is a symbol of Him who cannot be overcome or invaded by the darkness and any enemy force, as well as a symbol of Him who cannot be offended (nor will He tolerate being offended) by any created being. His disposition is the symbol of the highest power. No person or persons can or may disturb His work or His disposition. But the personality of man is no more than a mere symbol of the slight superiority of man over beast. Man in and of himself has no authority, no autonomy, and no ability to transcend the self, but is in his essence one who cowers at the mercy of all manner of people, events, and things. The joy of God is due to the existence and emergence of righteousness and light, because of the destruction of darkness and evil. He takes delight in bringing the light and a good life to mankind; His joy is a righteous joy, a symbol of the existence of all that is positive and, even more, a symbol of auspiciousness. The anger of God is due to the harm that the existence and interference of injustice brings upon His mankind, because of the existence of evil and darkness, because of the existence of things that drive out the truth, and even more, because of the existence of things that oppose what is good and beautiful. His anger is a symbol that all things negative no longer exist and, even more than that, it is a symbol of His holiness. His sorrow is due to mankind, for whom He has hopes but who has fallen into darkness, because the work He does on man does not come up to His expectations, and because the mankind He loves cannot all live in the light. He feels sorrow for the innocent mankind, for the honest but ignorant man, and for the man who is good but lacking in his own views. His sorrow is a symbol of His goodness and of His mercy, a symbol of beauty and of kindness. His happiness, of course, comes from defeating His enemies and gaining the good faith of man. More than this, it arises from the expulsion and destruction of all enemy forces, and because mankind receives a good and peaceful life. The happiness of God is unlike the joy of man; rather, it is the feeling of garnering good fruits, a feeling even greater than joy. His happiness is a symbol of mankind breaking free of suffering from this time forth, and a symbol of mankind entering a world of light. The emotions of mankind, on the other hand, all arise for the sake of his own interests, not for righteousness, light, or what is beautiful, and least of all for the grace bestowed by Heaven. The emotions of mankind are selfish and belong to the world of darkness. They do not exist for the sake of the will, much less for the plan of God, and so man and God can never be spoken of in the same breath. God is forever supreme and ever honorable, while man is forever base, forever worthless. This is because God is forever making sacrifices and devoting Himself to mankind; man, however, forever takes and strives only for himself. God is forever taking pains for mankind’s survival, yet man never contributes anything for the sake of the light or for righteousness. Even if man makes an effort for a time, it cannot withstand a single blow, for the effort of man is always for his own sake and not for others. Man is always selfish, while God is forever selfless. God is the source of all that is just, good, and beautiful, while man is he who succeeds to and makes manifest all ugliness and evil. God will never alter His essence of righteousness and beauty, yet man is perfectly capable, at any time and in any situation, of betraying righteousness and straying far from God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. It Is Very Important to Understand God’s Disposition

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 246

Every sentence I have spoken contains within it the disposition of God. You would do well to ponder My words carefully, and you will surely profit greatly from them. The essence of God is very difficult to grasp, but I trust that you all have at least some idea about the disposition of God. I hope, then, that you will have more to show Me of things you have done that do not offend the disposition of God. Then will I be reassured. For example, keep God in your heart at all times. When you act, do so according to His words. Seek out His intentions in all things, and refrain from doing that which disrespects and dishonors God. Even less should you put God in the back of your mind to fill the future void in your heart. If you do this, you will have offended the disposition of God. Again, supposing you never make blasphemous remarks or complaints against God throughout your life, and again, supposing you are able to discharge properly all that He has entrusted to you and also to submit to all His words throughout your life, then you will have avoided transgressing against the administrative decrees. For example, if you have ever said, “Why do I not think that He is God?” “I think that these words are nothing more than some enlightenment of the Holy Spirit,” “In my opinion, not everything God does is necessarily right,” “The humanity of God is not superior to mine,” “The words of God are simply not believable,” or other such judgmental remarks, then I exhort you to confess and repent your sins more often. Otherwise, you will never have a chance at forgiveness, for you offend not a man, but God Himself. You may believe that you are judging a man, but the Spirit of God does not consider it that way. Your disrespect of His flesh is equal to disrespecting Him. This being so, have you not offended God’s disposition? You must remember that all that is done by the Spirit of God is done in order to safeguard His work in the flesh and in order that this work be done well. If you neglect this, then I say that you are someone who will never be able to succeed in believing in God. For you have provoked the wrath of God, and so He shall use fitting punishment to teach you a lesson.

Coming to know the essence of God is no trifling matter. You must understand His disposition. In this way, you will, gradually and unknowingly, come to know the essence of God. When you have entered into this knowledge, you will find yourself stepping into a higher and more beautiful state. In the end, you will come to feel ashamed of your hideous soul, and, moreover, will feel that there is nowhere to hide from your shame. At that time, there will be less and less in your conduct to offend the disposition of God, your heart will come closer and closer to that of God, and a love for Him will gradually grow in your heart. This is a sign of mankind entering a beautiful state. But as yet, you have not attained this. As you all rush about for the sake of your destiny, who has any interest in trying to know the essence of God? Should this continue, you will unknowingly transgress against the administrative decrees, for you understand far too little of the disposition of God. So is not what you do now laying down a foundation for your offenses against the disposition of God? That I ask you to understand the disposition of God is not divorced from My work. For if you transgress against the administrative decrees often, who among you will escape punishment? Would My work then not have been entirely in vain? Therefore, I still ask that, in addition to scrutinizing your own conduct, you be cautious in the steps you take. This is the higher demand that I make of you, and I hope that you will all consider it carefully and give it your earnest regard. Should a day come when your actions provoke Me to a towering rage, then the consequences will be yours alone to consider, and there will be no one else to bear the punishment in your place.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. It Is Very Important to Understand God’s Disposition

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 247

People say that God is a righteous God, and that as long as man follows Him to the very end, He will surely be impartial toward man, for He is most righteous. If man follows Him to the very end, could He cast man aside? I am impartial toward all men, and judge all men with My righteous disposition, yet there are suitable conditions to the requirements I make of man, and that which I require must be accomplished by all men, regardless of who they are. I care not how your qualifications are, or how long you have held them; I care only whether you walk in My way, and whether or not you love and thirst for the truth. If you lack the truth, and instead bring shame upon My name, and do not act according to My way, merely following without care or concern, then at that time I will strike you down and punish you for your evil, and what will you have to say then? Will you be able to say that God is not righteous? Today, if you have complied with the words I have spoken, then you are the kind of person whom I approve. You say you have always suffered whilst following God, that you have followed Him through thick and thin, and have shared with Him the good times and the bad, but you have not lived out the words spoken by God; you wish only to run about for God and expend yourself for God each day, and have never thought to live out a life of meaning. You also say, “In any case, I believe God is righteous. I have suffered for Him, run around for Him, and devoted myself for Him, and I have worked hard despite not receiving any recognition; He is sure to remember me.” It is true that God is righteous, yet this righteousness is untainted by any impurities: It contains no human will, and it is not tainted by the flesh, or by human transactions. All who are rebellious and in opposition, all who are not in compliance with His way, will be punished; none is forgiven, and none is spared! Some people say, “Today I run around for You; when the end comes, can You give me a little blessing?” So I ask you, “Have you complied with My words?” The righteousness that you speak of is based on a transaction. You think only that I am righteous and impartial toward all men, and that all those who follow Me to the very end are sure to be saved and gain My blessings. There is inner meaning to My words that “all those who follow Me to the very end are sure to be saved”: Those who follow Me to the very end are the ones who will be fully gained by Me, they are those who, after being conquered by Me, seek the truth and are made perfect. What conditions have you achieved? You have only achieved following Me to the very end, but what else? Have you complied with My words? You have accomplished one of My five requirements, yet you have no intention of accomplishing the remaining four. You have simply found the simplest, easiest path, and pursued it with an attitude of just hoping to get lucky. Toward such a person as you My righteous disposition is one of chastisement and judgment, it is one of righteous retribution, and it is the righteous punishment of all evildoers; all those who do not walk in My way will surely be punished, even if they follow to the very end. This is the righteousness of God. When this righteous disposition is expressed in the punishment of man, man will be dumbfounded, and feel regret that, whilst following God, he did not walk in His way. “At that time, I only suffered a little whilst following God, but did not walk in the way of God. What excuses are there? There is no option but to be chastised!” Yet in his mind he is thinking, “Anyway, I have followed to the very end, so even if You chastise me, it can’t be too severe a chastisement, and after exacting this chastisement You will still want me. I know You are righteous, and will not treat me that way forever. After all, I’m not like those who will be wiped out; those who are to be wiped out will receive a heavy chastisement, whereas my chastisement will be lighter.” Righteous disposition is not as you say. It is not the case that those who are good at confessing their sins are dealt with leniently. Righteousness is holiness, and is a disposition that is intolerant of offense by man, and all that is filthy and has not changed is the target of God’s disgust. God’s righteous disposition is not law, but administrative decree: It is administrative decree within the kingdom, and this administrative decree is the righteous punishment of anyone who does not possess the truth and has not changed, and there is no margin for salvation. For when each man is classified according to kind, the good will be rewarded and the evil will be punished. It is when the destination of man will be made clear; it is the time that the work of salvation will come to an end, after which, the work of saving man will no longer be done, and retribution will be brought upon every one of those who commit evil.

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

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 248

I am an all-consuming fire and I do not tolerate offense. Because humans were all created by Me, whatever I say and do, they must obey, and they may not rebel. People do not have the right to meddle in My work, and much less are they qualified to analyze what is right or wrong in My work and in My words. I am the Lord of creation, and the created beings should achieve everything that I require with a heart of reverence for Me; they should not try to reason with Me, and they especially should not resist. With My authority I govern My people, and all those who are part of My creation should submit to My authority. Though today you are bold and presumptuous before Me, though you disobey the words with which I teach you and know no fear, I only meet your rebelliousness with tolerance; I will not lose My temper and impact My work because tiny, insignificant maggots have stirred up the dirt in the dung heap. I tolerate the ongoing existence of everything that I loathe and all the things that I abhor for the sake of My Father’s will, and I will do so until My utterances are complete, until My very last moment. Do not worry! I cannot sink to the same level as a nameless maggot, and I will not compare My degree of skill with you. I loathe you, but I am able to endure. You disobey Me, but you cannot escape the day when I will chastise you, which was promised to Me by My Father. Can a created maggot compare to the Lord of creation? In autumn, falling leaves return to their roots; you will return to the home of your “father,” and I will return to My Father’s side. I will be accompanied by His tender affection, and you will be followed by the trampling of your father. I will have the glory of My Father, and you will have the shame of yours. I will use the chastisement that I have long held back to accompany you, and you will meet My chastisement with your rancid flesh that has been corrupt for tens of thousands of years. I will have concluded My work of words in you, accompanied with tolerance, and you will begin to fulfill the role of suffering disaster from My words. I will greatly rejoice and work in Israel; you will weep and gnash your teeth, existing and dying in the mud. I will regain My original form and no longer remain in the filth with you, while you will regain your original ugliness and continue to burrow around in the dung heap. When My work and words are done, it will be a day of joy for Me. When your resistance and rebelliousness are done, it will be a day of weeping for you. I will not sympathize with you, and you will never see Me again. I will no longer engage in dialogue with you, and you will never encounter Me again. I will hate your rebelliousness, and you will miss My loveliness. I will strike you, and you will pine for Me. I will gladly depart from you, and you will be aware of your debt to Me. I will never see you again, but you will always hope for Me. I will hate you because you currently resist Me, and you will miss Me because I currently chastise you. I will be unwilling to live alongside you, but you will bitterly yearn for it and weep into eternity, for you will regret all that you have done to Me. You will feel remorse for your rebelliousness and resistance, you will even lay face-down on the ground with regret and fall down before Me and swear to never disobey Me again. In your heart, however, you will only love Me, yet you will never be able to hear My voice. I will make you ashamed of yourself.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. When Falling Leaves Return to Their Roots, You Will Regret All the Evil You Have Done

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 249

My mercy is expressed toward those who love Me and deny themselves. The punishment visited upon the wicked, meanwhile, is precisely proof of My righteous disposition and, even more, testimony to My wrath. When disaster comes, all who oppose Me will weep as they fall victim to famine and plague. Those who have committed all manner of wickedness, but who have followed Me for many years, will not escape paying for their sins; they too, will be plunged into disaster, the like of which has seldom been seen throughout millions of years, and they will live in a constant state of panic and fear. And those of My followers who have shown loyalty to Me will rejoice and applaud My might. They will experience ineffable contentment and live amid joy such as I have never before bestowed upon mankind. For I treasure the good deeds of man and abhor their evil deeds. Since I first began to lead mankind, I have been eagerly hoping to gain a group of people who are of the same mind with Me. Those who are not of the same mind with Me, meanwhile, I never forget; I always loathe them in My heart, awaiting the chance to bring retribution upon them, which I shall relish to see. Now My day has finally come, and I need no longer wait!

My final work is not only for the sake of punishing man, but also for the sake of arranging the destination of man. Moreover, it is so that all people may acknowledge My deeds and actions. I want each and every person to see that all I have done is right, and that all I have done is an expression of My disposition. It is not man’s doing, much less nature, that brought forth mankind, but I, who nourish every living being in creation. Without My existence, mankind will only perish and suffer the scourge of calamity. No human being will ever again see the beauteous sun and moon, or the verdant world; mankind shall encounter only the frigid night and the inexorable valley of the shadow of death. I am mankind’s only salvation. I am mankind’s only hope and, even more, I am He on whom the existence of all mankind rests. Without Me, mankind will immediately come to a standstill. Without Me, mankind will suffer catastrophe and be trampled underfoot by all manner of ghosts, though no one takes heed of Me. I have done work that can be done by no other, and hope only that man can repay Me with some good deeds. Though but a few have been able to repay Me, I will still conclude My journey in the human world and begin the next step of My unfolding work, because all My rushing to and fro in man’s midst these many years has been fruitful, and I am very pleased. What I care about is not the number of people, but rather their good deeds. In any case, I hope that you prepare a sufficiency of good deeds for your own destination. Then will I be satisfied; otherwise, none of you can escape the disaster that will befall you. The disaster originates with Me and is of course orchestrated by Me. If you cannot appear as good in My eyes, then you will not escape suffering the disaster. In the midst of tribulation, your actions and deeds were not considered entirely appropriate, for your faith and love were hollow, and you only showed yourselves to be either timid or tough. Regarding this, I will only make a judgment of good or bad. My concern continues to be the way in which each of you acts and expresses himself, on the basis of which I shall determine your end. However, I must make this clear: Toward those who showed Me not the slightest loyalty during times of tribulation, I shall be merciful no more, for My mercy only extends so far. I have no liking, furthermore, for anyone who has once betrayed Me, much less do I like to associate with those who sell out the interests of their friends. This is My disposition, regardless of who the person may be. I must tell you this: Anyone who breaks My heart shall not receive clemency from Me a second time, and anyone who has been faithful to Me shall forever remain in My heart.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Prepare Sufficient Good Deeds for Your Destination

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 250

When God came to the earth, He was not of the world, and He did not become flesh in order to enjoy the world. The place where working would reveal His disposition and be most meaningful is the place where He was born. Whether it is a holy or a filthy land, and no matter where He works, He is holy. Everything in the world was created by Him, though it has all been corrupted by Satan. However, all things still belong to Him; they are all in His hands. He comes to a filthy land and works there in order to reveal His holiness; He only does this for the sake of His work, which means He endures great humiliation to do such work in order to save the people of this filthy land. This is done so as to bear witness, for the sake of all of mankind. What such work shows people is God’s righteousness, and it is better able to display God’s supremacy. His greatness and uprightness are manifested in the salvation of a group of lowly people whom others scorn. Being born in a filthy land does not at all prove that He is lowly; it simply allows all of creation to see His greatness and His true love for mankind. The more He does so, the more it reveals His pure love, His flawless love for man. God is holy and righteous. Even though He was born in a filthy land, and even though He lives with those people who are full of filthiness, just as Jesus lived with sinners in the Age of Grace, is every bit of His work not done for the sake of all mankind’s survival? Is it all not so that mankind can gain great salvation? Two thousand years ago, He lived with sinners for a number of years. That was for the sake of redemption. Today, He is living with a group of filthy, lowly people. This is for the sake of salvation. Is all His work not for the sake of you humans? If not to save mankind, why would He have lived and suffered with sinners for so many years after being born in a manger? And if not to save mankind, why would He return to the flesh a second time, born in this land where demons congregate, and live with these people who have been deeply corrupted by Satan? Is God not faithful? What part of His work has not been for mankind? What part has not been for your destiny? God is holy—this is immutable! He is unpolluted by filth, though He has come to a filthy land; all of this can only mean that God’s love for mankind is extremely selfless and the suffering and humiliation He endures is extremely great! Do you not know how great the humiliation He suffers is, for all of you and for your destiny? Rather than saving great people or the sons of rich and powerful families, He makes a point of saving those who are lowly and looked down on. Is all of this not His holiness? Is all of this not His righteousness? For the sake of all mankind’s survival, He would rather be born in a filthy land and suffer every humiliation. God is very real—He does no false work. Is not every stage of work done in such a practical way? Though people all malign Him and say He sits at the table with sinners, though people all mock Him and say He lives with the sons of filth, that He lives with the lowliest of people, He still gives selflessly of Himself, and He is still thus rejected among mankind. Is the suffering He endures not greater than yours? Is the work He does not more than the price you have paid?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Significance of Saving the Descendants of Moab

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 251

God has humbled Himself to such a level that He does His work in these filthy and corrupt people, and perfects this group of people. God not only became flesh to live and eat among people, to shepherd people, and to provide what people need. More important is that He does His mighty work of salvation and conquest upon these unbearably corrupt people. He came to the heart of the great red dragon to save these most corrupt of people, so that all people may be changed and made new. The immense hardship that God endures is not only the hardship that the God incarnate endures, but most of all it is that God’s Spirit suffers extreme humiliation—He humbles and hides Himself so much that He becomes an ordinary person. God was incarnated and took the form of flesh so that people see that He has a normal human life and normal human needs. This is enough to prove that God has humbled Himself to a great extent. The Spirit of God is realized in the flesh. His Spirit is so high and great, yet He takes the form of a common human, of a negligible human, so as to do the work of His Spirit. The caliber, insight, sense, humanity, and lives of each of you show that you are really unworthy to accept God’s work of this kind. You are really unworthy to let God endure such hardship for your sake. God is so great. He is so supreme, and people are so lowly, yet He still works upon them. He not only was incarnated to provide for people, to speak to people, but He even lives together with people. God is so humble, so lovable.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Those Who Focus on Practice Can Be Perfected

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 252

Many are the sleepless nights that God has endured for the sake of the work of mankind. From up high to the lowest depths, He has descended to the living hell in which man lives to pass His days with man, He has never complained of the shabbiness among man, and He has never reproached man for his disobedience, but endures the greatest humiliation as He personally carries out His work. How could God belong to hell? How could He spend His life in hell? But for the sake of all mankind, so that the whole of mankind can find rest sooner, He has endured humiliation and suffered injustice to come to earth, and personally entered into “hell” and “Hades,” into the tiger’s den, to save man. How is man qualified to oppose God? What reason does he have to complain about God? How can he have the gall to look upon God? God of heaven has come to this most filthy land of vice, and has never vented His grievances, or complained about man, but instead quietly accepts the ravages^[1] and oppression of man. Never has He hit back at the unreasonable demands of man, never has He made excessive demands of man, and never has He made unreasonable demands of man; He merely does all the work required by man without complaint: teaching, enlightening, reproaching, the refinement of words, reminding, exhorting, consoling, judging, and revealing. Which of His steps has not been for the life of man? Though He has removed the prospects and fate of man, which of the steps carried out by God has not been for the fate of man? Which of them has not been for the sake of man’s survival? Which of them has not been to free man from this suffering and from the oppression of dark forces that are as black as night? Which of them is not for the sake of man? Who can understand God’s heart, which is as the heart of a loving mother? Who can comprehend God’s eager heart? God’s passionate heart and ardent expectations have been repaid with cold hearts, with callous, indifferent eyes, and with the repeated reprimands and insults of man; they have been repaid with cutting remarks, and sarcasm, and belittlement; they have been repaid with man’s ridicule, with his trampling and rejection, with his miscomprehension, and moaning, and estrangement, and avoidance, and with nothing but deceit, attacks, and bitterness. Warm words have been met with fierce brows and the cool defiance of a thousand wagging fingers. God can but endure, head bowed, serving people like a willing ox.^[2] So many suns and moons, so many times has He faced the stars, so many times has He departed at dawn and returned at dusk, and tossed and turned, enduring agony a thousand times greater than the pain of His departure from His Father, enduring the attacks and breaking of man, and the dealing and pruning of man. God’s humility and hiddenness has been repaid with the prejudice^[3] of man, with the unfair views and unfair treatment of man, and the soundless way God works in obscurity, His forbearance, and His tolerance have been repaid with man’s greedy gaze; man tries to stomp God to death, without compunction, and tries to trample God into the ground. Man’s attitude in his treatment toward God is one of “rare cleverness,” and God, who is bullied and disdained by man, is crushed flat beneath the feet of tens of thousands of people, while man himself stands up high, as if he would be the king of the hill, as if he wants to take absolute power,^[4] to hold court from behind a screen, to make God the conscientious and rule-abiding director behind the scenes, who is not allowed to fight back or cause trouble. God must play the part of the Last Emperor, He must be a puppet,^[5] devoid of all freedom. The deeds of man are untellable, so how is he qualified to demand this or that of God? How is he qualified to propose suggestions to God? How is he qualified to demand that God sympathize with his weaknesses? How is he fit to receive God’s mercy? How is he fit to receive God’s magnanimity time and time again? How is he fit to receive God’s forgiveness time and time again? Where is his conscience? He broke God’s heart long ago, he has long since left God’s heart in pieces. God came among man bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, hoping that man would be charitable toward Him, even if only with a little warmth. Yet God’s heart is slow to be comforted by man, all He has received are snowballing^[6] attacks and torment. Man’s heart is too greedy, his desire is too great, he can never be sated, he is always mischievous and foolhardy, he never allows God any freedom or right of speech, and leaves God with no option but to submit to humiliation, and allow man to manipulate Him however he wishes.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Work and Entry (9)

Footnotes:

1. “Ravages” is used to expose the disobedience of mankind.

2. “Met with fierce brows and the cool defiance of a thousand wagging fingers, head bowed, serving people like a willing ox” was originally a single sentence, but here is split into two in order to make things clearer. The first part of the sentence refers to the actions of man, whilst the second indicates the suffering undergone by God, and that God is humble and hidden.

3. “Prejudice” refers to people’s disobedient behavior.

4. “Take absolute power” refers to people’s disobedient behavior. They hold themselves up high, enshackle others, making them follow them and suffer for them. They are the forces that are hostile to God.

5. “Puppet” is used to ridicule those who do not know God.

6. “Snowballing” is used to highlight people’s lowly behavior.

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 253

The significance of everything God does has considerable depth, as when Jesus was crucified. Why did Jesus have to be crucified? Was it not to redeem all mankind? So, too, is this incarnation of God, and His experiencing of the world’s suffering, of great significance: It is for the beautiful destination of mankind. In His work, God always does exactly as needed. Why is it that God sees man as being without sin, and that man can have the good fortune to come before God? It is because Jesus was nailed to the cross, bore man’s sins, and redeemed man. Why, then, will mankind suffer no more, feel no grief, shed no tears, and sigh no more? This is because God incarnate this time has undertaken all this suffering unto Himself and this suffering has now been endured on behalf of man. It is like a mother who watches her child fall ill and prays to Heaven, wishing rather a shorter life for herself if it means her child can be cured. God also works in this way, offering His pain in return for the beautiful destination that will follow for mankind. There will be no more grief, no more tears, no more sighs and no more suffering. God pays the price—the cost—of personally experiencing the world’s suffering in return for the beautiful destination that will follow for mankind. Saying that this is “in return for” the beautiful destination does not mean that God has no power or no authority to grant mankind a beautiful destination, but rather that God wants to find a more practical and powerful proof to utterly convince people. God has already experienced this suffering, so He is qualified, He has the power, and even more so He has the authority to deliver mankind to the beautiful destination, to give mankind this beautiful destination and promise. Satan will surrender itself to God, and all the creations of the universe will surrender themselves to God. In the end, God will allow mankind to receive His promise and love. Everything God does is practical, nothing He does is empty, and He experiences it all Himself. God pays the price of His own experience of suffering in exchange for a destination for humanity. Is this not practical work? Parents may pay an earnest price for the sake of their children, and this represents their absolute love for their children. In doing this, God incarnate is, of course, being most sincere and faithful to mankind. The essence of God is faithful; He does what He says, and whatever He does is achieved. Everything He does for humans is sincere. He does not simply make utterances; when He says He will pay a price, He actually pays the price. When He says He will undertake humanity’s suffering and suffer in their stead, He actually comes to live among them, feeling and experiencing this suffering personally. After that, all things in the universe will acknowledge that everything God does is right and righteous, that all God does is realistic: This is a powerful piece of evidence. In addition, mankind will have a beautiful destination in the future, and all those who remain will praise God; they will eulogize that God’s deeds were indeed done out of His love for humanity. God comes among man humbly, as an ordinary person. He does not merely perform some work, speak some words, then leave; instead, He truly speaks and works while experiencing the pain of the world. Only when He is done experiencing this pain will He leave. This is how real and how practical God’s work is; all who remain will praise Him because of it, and they will see God’s faithfulness to man and His kindheartedness. God’s essence of beauty and goodness can be seen in the significance of His incarnation in the flesh. Whatever He does is sincere; whatever He says is earnest and faithful. With everything He intends to do, He actually does it, and when paying a price, He actually pays it; He does not simply make utterances. God is a righteous God; God is a faithful God.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. The Second Aspect of the Significance of the Incarnation

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 254

The way of life is not something that anyone can possess, nor is it something anyone can attain easily. This is because life can only come from God, which is to say, only God Himself possesses the essence of life, and only God Himself has the way of life. And so only God is the source of life, and the ever-flowing wellspring of living water of life. Ever since He created the world, God has done much work involving the vitality of life, has done much work that brings life to man, and has paid a great price so that man might gain life. This is because God Himself is eternal life, and God Himself is the way by which man is resurrected. God is never absent from the heart of man, and He lives among man at all times. He has been the driving force of man’s living, the root of man’s existence, and a rich deposit for man’s existence after birth. He causes man to be reborn, and enables him to tenaciously live in his every role. Thanks to His power and His inextinguishable life force, man has lived for generation after generation, throughout which the power of God’s life has been the mainstay of man’s existence, and God has paid a price that no ordinary man has ever paid. God’s life force can prevail over any power; moreover, it exceeds any power. His life is eternal, His power extraordinary, and His life force cannot be overwhelmed by any created being or enemy force. The life force of God exists and shines its brilliant radiance regardless of time or place. Heaven and earth may undergo great changes, but God’s life is forever the same. All things may pass away, but God’s life will still remain, for God is the source of the existence of all things and the root of their existence. Man’s life originates from God, the existence of heaven is because of God, and the existence of earth stems from the power of God’s life. No object possessed of vitality can transcend the sovereignty of God, and no thing with vigor can elude the domain of God’s authority. In this way, regardless of who they are, everyone must submit under the dominion of God, everyone must live under God’s command, and no one can escape from His hands.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 255

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

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

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Christ of the Last Days Can Give Man the Way of Eternal Life

Footnotes:

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

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 256

God Himself is the truth, and He possesses all truth. God is the source of the truth. Every positive thing and every truth come from God. He can pass judgment on the rightness and wrongness of all things and all events; He can pass judgment on things that have happened, things that are happening now, and future things yet unknown to man. God is the only Judge who can pass judgment on the rightness and wrongness of all things, and this means the rightness and wrongness of all things can only be judged by God. He knows the criteria for all things. He can express truths at any time and place. God is the embodiment of truth, which means that He Himself is possessed of the essence of truth. If man understands many truths and is perfected by God, would they then have anything to do with the embodiment of truth? No. This is a certainty. When man is made perfect, regarding God’s current work and the various standards God requires of man, they can have accurate judgment and methods of practicing, and they will fully understand God’s will. They can differentiate between what comes from God and what comes from man, between what is right and what is wrong. Yet there are some things which remain unattainable and unclear to man, things which they can only know after God tells them. Could man know or predict things yet unknown, things that God has not yet told them? Absolutely not. Moreover, even if man obtained the truth from God, and possessed the reality of the truth, and knew the essence of many truths, and had the ability to discern right from wrong, would they have the ability to control and govern all things? They would not have this ability. That is the difference between God and man. Created beings can only ever obtain the truth from the source of the truth. Can they obtain the truth from man? Is man the truth? Can man provide the truth? They cannot, and therein lies the difference. You can only receive the truth, not provide it. Can you be called a person that possesses the truth? Can you be called the embodiment of truth? Absolutely not. What exactly is the essence of the embodiment of truth? It is the source that provides the truth, the source of governance and sovereignty over all things, and it is also the sole criteria and standards by which all things and all events are judged. This is the embodiment of truth.

—The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Eight (Part Three)

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 257

In His expression of the truth, God expresses His disposition and essence; His expression of the truth is not based on mankind’s summation of the various positive things and statements that mankind recognizes. God’s words are God’s words; God’s words are truth. They are the sole foundation and law by which mankind exists, and all those so-called tenets that originate from man are all wrong, absurd, and condemned by God. They do not meet with His approval, and less still are they the origin or basis of His utterances. God expresses His disposition and His essence through His words. All the words brought forth by God’s expression are truth, for He has the essence of God, and He is the reality of all positive things. No matter how this corrupt mankind positions or defines God’s words, nor how it views them or understands them, God’s words are eternally the truth, and this is a fact that never alters. No matter how many words of God have been spoken, and no matter how much this corrupt, evil mankind condemns and rejects them, there remains a fact that is forever unchanging: God’s words will always be the truth, and man can never change this. In the end, man must admit that God’s words are the truth, and that mankind’s esteemed traditional culture and scientific knowledge can never become positive things, and that they can never become the truth. This is absolute. Mankind’s traditional culture and way of existence will not become truth because of the changes or passage of time, and neither will the words of God become the words of man due to mankind’s condemnation or forgetfulness. Truth is always truth; this essence will never change. What fact exists herein? All the sayings of traditional culture and idioms that are summarized by mankind come from Satan, human imaginings and notions, or they arise from human hot-headedness, and the corrupt dispositions of humans, and they have nothing at all to do with positive things. The words of God, on the other hand, are expressions of God’s essence and identity. For what reason does He express these words? Why do I say they are truth? The reason is that God rules over all the laws, rules, roots, essences, actualities, and mysteries of all things. They are grasped in His hand. Therefore, only God knows the rules, actualities, facts, and mysteries of all things. God knows the origin of all things, and God knows what exactly the root of all things is. Only God’s words are the most accurate definition of all things, and only God’s words are the standards and principles for the life of human beings and are the truths and criteria by which human beings can rely on to live.

—The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Nine (Part One)

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 258

From the moment you come crying into this world, you begin to fulfill your duty. For God’s plan and for His ordination, you perform your role and start your life’s journey. Whatever your background, and whatever the journey ahead of you, no one can escape the orchestrations and arrangements of Heaven, and no one is in control of their own destiny, for only He who rules over all things is capable of such work. Since the day man came into existence, God has ever worked thus, managing the universe, directing the rules of change for all things and the trajectory of their movement. Like all things, man is quietly and unknowingly nourished by the sweetness and rain and dew from God; like all things, man unknowingly lives beneath the orchestration of God’s hand. Man’s heart and spirit are held in the hand of God, everything of his life is beheld in the eyes of God. Regardless of whether or not you believe this, any and all things, whether living or dead, will shift, change, renew, and disappear in accordance with God’s thoughts. Such is the way in which God presides over all things.

As the night quietly approaches, man is unaware, for the heart of man cannot perceive how the night approaches, nor whence it comes. As the night quietly slips away, man welcomes the light of day, but as for whence the light has come, and how it has driven away the darkness of the night, man knows even less, and is even less aware. These recurrent alternations of day and night take man from one period into another, from one historical context to the next, while also ensuring that the work of God in every period and His plan for every age are carried out. Man has walked through these periods together with God, yet he knows not that God rules the fate of all things and living beings, nor how God orchestrates and directs all things. This has eluded man from time immemorial to the present day. As for why, it is not because the deeds of God are too hidden, nor because the plan of God has yet to be realized, but because the heart and spirit of man are too distant from God, to the point where man remains in the service of Satan even as he follows God—and still doesn’t know it. No one actively seeks out God’s footsteps and the appearance of God, and no one is willing to exist in the care and keeping of God. Instead, they wish to rely on the corrosion of Satan, the evil one, in order to adapt to this world, and to the rules of existence that wicked mankind follows. At this point, the heart and spirit of man have become man’s tribute to Satan and become Satan’s foodstuff. Even more, the human heart and spirit have become a place in which Satan can reside and its fitting playground. Thus does man unknowingly lose his understanding of the principles of being human, and of the value and meaning of human existence. The laws of God and the covenant between God and man gradually fade away in man’s heart, and he ceases to seek or pay heed to God. With the passage of time, man no longer understands why God created him, nor does he understand the words from the mouth of God and all that comes from God. Man then begins to resist the laws and decrees of God, and his heart and spirit become deadened…. God loses the man that He originally created, and man loses the root he originally had: This is the sorrow of this human race. In point of fact, from the very beginning until now, God has staged a tragedy for mankind, one in which man is both the protagonist and the victim. And no one can answer who the director of this tragedy is.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God Is the Source of Man’s Life

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 259

God created this world and brought man, a living being unto which He bestowed life, into it. Next, man came to have parents and kin, and was no longer alone. Ever since man first laid eyes on this material world, he was destined to exist within the ordination of God. The breath of life from God supports each and every living being throughout growth into adulthood. During this process, no one feels that man is growing up under the care of God; rather, they believe that man is doing so under the loving care of his parents, and that it is his own life instinct that directs his growing up. This is because man knows not who bestowed his life, or from whence it came, much less the way in which the instinct of life creates miracles. He knows only that food is the basis on which his life continues, that perseverance is the source of his existence, and that the beliefs in his mind are the capital upon which his survival depends. Of God’s grace and provision, man is utterly oblivious, and thus does he fritter away the life bestowed upon him by God…. Not a single one of this humanity that God cares for day and night takes it upon themselves to worship Him. God only continues to work on man, for whom He holds out no expectations, as He has planned. He does so in the hope that one day, man will awaken from his dream and suddenly realize the value and meaning of life, the price God paid for all that He has given him, and the eager solicitude with which God waits for man to turn back to Him. No one has ever looked into the secrets governing the origin and continuation of man’s life. Only God, who understands all of this, silently endures the hurt and the blows that man, who has received everything from God but is not thankful, gives Him. Man enjoys all that life brings as a matter of course, and, likewise, it is “a matter of course” that God is betrayed by man, forgotten by man, and extorted by man. Could it be that God’s plan is truly of such importance? Could it be that man, this living being that came from the hand of God, is truly of such importance? The plan of God is assuredly of importance; however, this living being created by the hand of God exists for the sake of His plan. Therefore, God cannot lay waste to His plan out of hatred for this human race. It is for the sake of His plan and for the breath He exhaled that God endures all torments, not for the flesh of man but for the life of man. He does so in order to take back not the flesh of man but the life He breathed out. This is His plan.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God Is the Source of Man’s Life

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 260

All who come into this world must pass through life and death, and the majority of them have passed through the cycle of death and rebirth. Those who are living will soon die, and the dead will soon return. All of this is the course of life arranged by God for each living being. Yet this course and this cycle are precisely the truth that God wishes for man to behold: that the life bestowed upon man by God is limitless, unfettered by physicality, time, or space. Such is the mystery of life bestowed upon man by God, and proof that life came from Him. Though many may not believe that life came from God, man inevitably enjoys all that comes from God, whether they believe in or deny His existence. Should God one day have a sudden change of heart and wish to reclaim all that exists in the world and to take back the life He has given, then all shall be no more. God uses His life to supply all things, both living and lifeless, bringing all to good order by virtue of His might and authority. This is a truth that can be conceived or comprehended by none, and these incomprehensible truths are the very manifestation of, and testament to, the life force of God. Now let Me tell you a secret: The greatness of the life of God and the power of His life are unfathomable to any creature. It is thus now, as it was in the past, and it will be thus in the time to come. The second secret I shall impart is this: The source of life for all created beings comes from God, however different they may be in life form or structure; whatever kind of living being you are, you cannot turn against the life trajectory set by God. In any case, all I wish is for man to understand this: Without the care, keeping, and provision of God, man cannot receive all that he was meant to receive, no matter how diligently he tries or how arduously he struggles. Without the supply of life from God, man loses the sense of value in living and the sense of the meaning of life. How could God allow man, who frivolously wastes the value of His life, to be so carefree? As I have said before: Do not forget that God is the source of your life. If man fails to cherish all that God has bestowed, not only will God take back what He gave in the beginning, but He will make man repay Him double the price of all that He has given.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God Is the Source of Man’s Life

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 261

Everything of this world swiftly changes with the Almighty’s thoughts and beneath His eyes. Things mankind has never heard of suddenly arrive, whereas things that mankind has long possessed unknowingly slip away. No one can fathom the Almighty’s whereabouts, much less can anyone sense the transcendence and greatness of the Almighty’s life force. He is transcendent in that He can perceive what humans cannot. He is great in that He is the One who is forsaken by mankind and yet saves mankind. He knows the meaning of life and death, and more than that, He knows the laws of existence that mankind, who are created, should follow. He is the foundation of human existence, and He is the Redeemer who resurrects mankind again. He weighs down happy hearts with sorrow and lifts up sorrowful hearts with happiness, all for the sake of His work, and for the sake of His plan.

Humanity, having strayed from the Almighty’s provision of life, is ignorant of the purpose of existence, but fears death nonetheless. They are without help or support, yet still reluctant to close their eyes, and they steel themselves to drag out an ignoble existence in this world, sacks of flesh with no sense of their own souls. You live in this way, without hope, as do others, without aim. Only the Holy One of legend will save the people who, moaning in the midst of their suffering, long desperately for His arrival. So far, such belief has not been realized in those who lack consciousness. Nevertheless, the people still yearn for it so. The Almighty has mercy on these people who have suffered deeply; at the same time, He is fed up with these people who lack consciousness, as He has had to wait too long for an answer from humanity. He wishes to seek, to seek your heart and your spirit, to bring you water and food and to awaken you, that you may no longer be thirsty and hungry. When you are weary and when you begin to feel something of the bleak desolation of this world, do not be lost, do not cry. Almighty God, the Watcher, will embrace your arrival at any time. He is keeping watch by your side, waiting for you to turn back around. He is waiting for the day you suddenly recover your memory: when you realize that you came from God, that, at some unknown time you lost your direction, at some unknown time you lost consciousness on the road, and at some unknown time acquired a “father”; when you realize, furthermore, that the Almighty has always been keeping watch, waiting there a very, very long time for your return. He has been watching with desperate longing, waiting for a response without an answer. His watching and waiting are beyond any price, and they are for the sake of the human heart and the human spirit. Perhaps this watching and waiting are indefinite, and perhaps they are at an end. But you should know exactly where your heart and your spirit are right now.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Sighing of the Almighty

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 262

As members of the human race and devout Christians, it is the responsibility and obligation of us all to offer up our minds and bodies for the fulfillment of God’s commission, for our entire being came from God, and it exists thanks to the sovereignty of God. If our minds and bodies are not for God’s commission and not for the righteous cause of mankind, then our souls will feel unworthy of those who were martyred for God’s commission, and much more unworthy of God, who has provided us with everything.

God created this world, He created this mankind and, moreover, He was the architect of ancient Greek culture and human civilization. Only God consoles this mankind, and only God cares for this mankind night and day. Human development and progress are inseparable from the sovereignty of God, and the history and future of mankind are inextricable from the designs of God. If you are a true Christian, then you will surely believe that the rise and fall of any country or nation occurs according to the designs of God. God alone knows the fate of a country or nation, and God alone controls the course of this mankind. If mankind wishes to have a good fate, if a country wishes to have a good fate, then man must bow down to God in worship, repent and confess before God, or else the fate and destination of man will be an unavoidable catastrophe.

Look back to the time when Noah built the ark: Mankind was deeply corrupt, people had strayed from the blessing of God, were no longer cared for by God, and had lost the promises of God. They lived in darkness, without the light of God. Then they became licentious by nature and abandoned themselves to hideous depravity. Such people could no longer receive the promise of God; they were unfit to witness the face of God or to hear the voice of God, for they had abandoned God, had cast aside all that He had bestowed upon them, and had forgotten the teachings of God. Their heart strayed farther and farther from God and, as it did, they became depraved beyond all reason and humanity and became increasingly evil. Then they walked ever closer to death and fell under the wrath and punishment of God. Only Noah worshiped God and shunned evil, and so he was able to hear the voice of God and hear His instructions. He built the ark according to the instructions of God’s word, and there assembled all manner of living creatures. And in this way, once everything had been prepared, God unleashed His destruction upon the world. Only Noah and the seven other members of his family survived the destruction, for Noah worshiped Jehovah and shunned evil.

Now look upon the present age: Such righteous men as Noah, who could worship God and shun evil, have ceased to exist. Yet God is still gracious toward this mankind and still absolves them during this final era. God seeks those who long for Him to appear. He seeks those who are able to hear His words, those who have not forgotten His commission and offer up their hearts and bodies to Him. He seeks those who are as obedient as babes before Him and do not resist Him. If you devote yourself to God, unimpeded by any power or force, then God shall look upon you with favor and shall bestow His blessings upon you. If you are of high station, of honorable reputation, possessed of abundant knowledge, the owner of plentiful assets, and supported by many people, yet these things do not prevent you from coming before God to accept His calling and His commission and to do what God asks of you, then all that you do shall be the most meaningful cause on earth and the most righteous undertaking of mankind. If you reject the call of God for the sake of status and your own goals, all that you do shall be cursed and even despised by God. Perhaps you are a president, a scientist, a pastor, or an elder, but no matter how high your office, if you rely on your knowledge and ability in your undertakings, then you shall always be a failure and shall always be bereft of the blessings of God, because God accepts nothing that you do, and He does not grant that your undertaking is a righteous one, or accept that you are working for the benefit of mankind. He will say that everything you do is done to use the knowledge and strength of mankind to thrust the protection of God away from man, and that it is done to deny the blessings of God. He will say that you are leading mankind toward darkness, toward death, and toward the start of a limitless existence in which man has lost God and His blessing.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Appendix 2: God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 263

Since mankind’s contrivance of the social sciences, the mind of man has become occupied by science and knowledge. Science and knowledge then have become tools for the ruling of mankind, and there is no longer sufficient room for man to worship God, and no more favorable conditions for the worship of God. The position of God has sunk ever lower in the heart of man. Without God in his heart, man’s inner world is dark, hopeless and empty. Subsequently many social scientists, historians, and politicians have come to the fore to express theories of social science, the theory of human evolution, and other theories that contradict the truth that God created man, to fill the hearts and minds of mankind. And in this way, those who believe that God created everything have become ever fewer, and those who believe in the theory of evolution have become ever greater in number. More and more people treat the records of the work of God and His words during the age of the Old Testament as myths and legends. In their hearts, people become indifferent to the dignity and greatness of God, to the tenet that God exists and holds dominion over all things. The survival of mankind and the fate of countries and nations are no longer important to them, and man lives in a hollow world concerned only with eating, drinking, and the pursuit of pleasure. … Few people take it upon themselves to seek out where God does His work today, or to look for how He presides over and arranges the destination of man. And in this way, unbeknownst to man, human civilization becomes less and less able to hew to man’s wishes, and there are even many people who feel that, living in such a world, they are less happy than those who have already passed away. Even people of countries that used to be highly civilized air such grievances. For without the guidance of God, no matter how much rulers and sociologists wrack their brains to preserve human civilization, it is to no avail. No one can fill the emptiness in man’s heart, for no one can be the life of man, and no social theory can free man from the emptiness with which he is afflicted. Science, knowledge, freedom, democracy, leisure, comfort: these bring man only a temporary consolation. Even with these things, man still inevitably sins and bemoans the injustices of society. These things cannot restrain man’s craving and desire to explore. This is because man was made by God and the senseless sacrifices and explorations of man can only lead to more distress and can only cause man to exist in a constant state of fear, not knowing how to face the future of mankind or how to face the path that lies ahead. Man even comes to fear science and knowledge, and fear even more the feeling of emptiness. In this world, regardless of whether you live in a free country or one without human rights, you are utterly incapable of escaping the fate of mankind. Whether you are the ruler or the ruled, you are utterly incapable of escaping the desire to explore the fate, mysteries, and destination of mankind, much less are you capable of escaping the bewildering sense of emptiness. Such phenomena, which are common to all of mankind, are called social phenomena by sociologists, yet no great man can come forth to solve such problems. Man, after all, is man, and the position and life of God cannot be replaced by any man. Mankind does not just require a fair society in which everyone is well-fed and is equal and free; what mankind needs is the salvation of God and His provision of life to them. Only when man receives God’s provision of life and His salvation can the needs, the yearning to explore, and the spiritual emptiness of man be resolved. If the people of a country or a nation are unable to receive the salvation and care of God, then such a country or nation will tread the road of decline, toward darkness, and shall be annihilated by God.

Perhaps your country currently prospers, but if you allow your people to stray from God, then it shall find itself increasingly bereft of the blessings of God. The civilization of your country shall be increasingly trampled underfoot and, before long, the people shall rise up against God and curse Heaven. And so, unbeknownst to man, the fate of a country shall be ruined. God shall raise up powerful countries to deal with those countries that have been cursed by God, and may even wipe them from the face of the earth. The rise and fall of a country or nation is predicated upon whether its rulers worship God, and whether they lead their people to become closer to God and to worship Him. And yet, in this final era, because those who truly seek and worship God are increasingly scarce, God bestows special favor upon countries in which Christianity is the state religion. He gathers those countries together to form the world’s relatively righteous camp, while the atheistic countries and those that do not worship the true God become the opponents of the righteous camp. In this way, God not only has a place among mankind in which to conduct His work, but also gains countries that can exercise righteous authority, allowing sanctions and restrictions to be imposed on those countries that resist Him. Yet despite this, still no more people come forward to worship God, because man has strayed too far from Him, and man has forgotten God for too long. There remain on earth only countries that exercise righteousness and resist unrighteousness. But this is far from the wishes of God, for no country’s rulers will allow God to preside over their people, and no political party will gather together its people to worship God; God has lost His rightful place in the heart of every country, nation, ruling party, and even in the heart of every person. Although righteous forces do exist in this world, rule in which God holds no place in the heart of man is fragile. Without the blessing of God, the political arena shall fall into disarray and become unable to withstand a single blow. For mankind, being without the blessing of God is like being without the sun. Regardless of how assiduously rulers make contributions to their people, regardless of how many righteous conferences mankind holds together, none of this shall reverse the tide or alter the fate of mankind. Man believes that a country in which people are fed and clothed, in which they live together peacefully, is a good country, and one with good leadership. But God does not think so. He believes that a country in which no one worships Him is one that He shall annihilate. Man’s way of thinking is too much at odds with that of God. So, if the head of a country does not worship God, then the fate of this country shall be a tragic one, and the country shall have no destination.

God does not partake in the politics of man, yet the fate of a country or nation is controlled by God. God controls this world and the entire universe. The fate of man and the plan of God are intimately connected, and no man, country or nation is exempt from the sovereignty of God. If man wishes to know his fate, then he must come before God. God shall cause those who follow and worship Him to prosper and shall bring decline and extinction upon those who resist and reject Him.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Appendix 2: God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind

Daily Words of God  Excerpt 264

In the vastness of the cosmos and the firmament, countless creatures live and reproduce, follow the cyclical law of life, and adhere to one constant rule. Those who die take with them the stories of the living, and those who are living repeat the same tragic history of those who have perished. And so, mankind cannot help but ask himself: Why do we live? And why do we have to die? Who commands this world? And who created this mankind? Was mankind really created by Mother Nature? Is mankind really in control of his own fate? … These are the questions mankind has asked ceaselessly for thousands of years. Unfortunately, the more that man has become obsessed with these questions, the more of a thirst he has developed for science. Science offers brief gratification and temporary enjoyment of the flesh, but is far from sufficient to free man from the solitariness, loneliness, and barely-concealed terror and helplessness deep within his soul. Mankind merely uses scientific knowledge that he can see with his naked eye and understand with his brain in order to anesthetize his heart. Yet such scientific knowledge is not enough to stop mankind from exploring mysteries. Mankind simply does not know who the Sovereign of the universe and all things is, much less the beginning and future of mankind. Mankind merely lives, perforce, amidst this law. None can escape it and none can change it, for among all things and in the heavens there is but One from everlasting to everlasting who holds sovereignty over everything. He is the One who has never been beheld by man, the One whom mankind has never known, in whose existence mankind has never believed—yet He is the One who blew the breath into mankind’s ancestors and gave life to mankind. He is the One who provides and nourishes mankind, allowing him to exist; and He is the One who has guided mankind up to the present day. Moreover, He and He alone is the One mankind depends on for survival. He holds sovereignty over all things and rules all living beings in the universe. He commands the four seasons, and it is He who calls forth wind, frost, snow, and rain. He brings mankind sunshine and ushers in the night. It was He who laid out the heavens and earth, providing man with the mountains, lakes, and rivers and all of the living things within them. His deeds are omnipresent, His power is omnipresent, His wisdom is omnipresent, and His authority is omnipresent. Each of these laws and rules is the embodiment of His deeds, and each one reveals His wisdom and authority. Who can exempt themselves from His sovereignty? And who can discharge themselves from His designs? All things exist beneath His gaze, and moreover, all things live under His sovereignty. His deeds and His power leave mankind with no choice but to acknowledge the fact that He really does exist and holds sovereignty over all things. Nothing apart from Him can command the universe, much less endlessly provide for this mankind. Regardless of whether you are able to recognize God’s deeds, and regardless of whether you believe in the existence of God, there is no doubt that your fate is determined by God, and there is no doubt that God will always hold sovereignty over all things. His existence and authority are not predicated upon whether or not they are recognized and comprehended by man. Only He knows man’s past, present, and future, and only He can determine the fate of mankind. Regardless of whether you are able to accept this fact, it will not be long before mankind witnesses all of this with his own eyes, and this is the fact that God will soon bring to bear. Mankind lives and dies under the eyes of God. Man lives for the management of God, and when his eyes close for the final time, it is for this management that they close as well. Man comes and goes over and over again, back and forth. Without exception, it is all part of God’s sovereignty and His design. God’s management has never ceased; it is perpetually advancing. He will make mankind aware of His existence, trust in His sovereignty, behold His deeds, and return to His kingdom. This is His plan, and the work that He has been managing for thousands of years.

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