Bible Verses for Reference:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in” (Matthew 23:13).

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves” (Matthew 23:15).

Relevant Words of God:

There are those who read the Bible in grand churches and recite passages all day long, yet not one among them understands the purpose of God’s work, nor are there any among them who can know God—let alone any who can accord with God’s intentions. They are all worthless, vile people, who stand on high to lecture “God.” They are people who act under the banner of God yet deliberately resist God, who bear the label of believing in God while eating the flesh and drinking the blood of man. All such people are evil devils who devour human souls, head demons who deliberately disturb people from embarking on the right path, and stumbling blocks that obstruct people from seeking God. They may appear to be “physically robust,” but how are their followers to know that they are antichrists who lead people to resist God? How are their followers to know that they are living devils dedicated to devouring human souls? Those who believe themselves noble in God’s presence are the lowliest of all, while those who think themselves lowly are the most noble. And those who presume to know the work of God and who can proclaim His work to others without restraint as they set their eyes upon Him are the most ignorant of all. Such people have no testimony to God, and are all arrogant and conceited. Those who believe they know too little of God but who actually do have practical experience and practical knowledge of God are the ones most beloved by Him. Only such people truly have testimony and are truly capable of being perfected by God.

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

Do you wish to know the root of why the Pharisees opposed Jesus? Do you wish to know the essence of the Pharisees? They were full of fantasies about the Messiah. What is more, they believed only that the Messiah would come, yet did not pursue the life truth. And so, even today they still await the Messiah, for they have no knowledge of the way of life, and do not know what the way of truth is. How, say you, could such foolish, stubborn and ignorant people gain God’s blessing? Could they behold the Messiah? They opposed Jesus because they did not know the direction of the Holy Spirit’s work, because they did not know the way of truth spoken by Jesus, and, even more so, because they did not understand the Messiah. And since they had never seen the Messiah and had never associated with the Messiah, they made the mistake of clinging to the mere name of the Messiah while opposing the essence of the Messiah by any means possible. These Pharisees in essence were stubborn, arrogant, and did not obey the truth. The principle of their belief in God was: No matter how profound your preaching, no matter how high your authority, you are not Christ unless you are called the Messiah. Is this belief not preposterous and ridiculous? I ask you further: Is it not extremely easy for you to commit the mistakes of the Pharisees of that time, given that you have not the slightest understanding of Jesus? Are you able to discern the way of truth? Can you truly guarantee that you will not oppose Christ? Are you able to follow the work of the Holy Spirit? If you do not know whether you will oppose Christ, then I say that you are already living on the brink of death. Those who do not know the Messiah are all capable of committing acts of opposing Jesus, of rejecting Jesus, of slandering Him. People who do not understand Jesus are all capable of rejecting Him and reviling Him. Even more so, they are capable of seeing the return of Jesus as the misleading of Satan, and the majority of these people shall condemn Jesus returned to flesh. Does not all of this make you afraid? What you face shall be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the ripping up of the words of the Holy Spirit to the churches, and the spurning of all the words expressed by Jesus. What can you gain from Jesus if you are so befuddled? How can you understand the work that Jesus does when He returns to flesh on a white cloud, if you obstinately refuse to come to your senses? I tell you this: People who do not accept the truth, yet blindly await the arrival of Jesus upon white clouds, are surely those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, and they are surely the category that shall perish. You merely wish for the grace of Jesus, and merely want to enjoy the blissful realm of heaven, yet you have never obeyed the words spoken by Jesus, and have never accepted the truth expressed by Jesus when He returns to flesh. What will you hold up in exchange for the fact of Jesus’ return upon a white cloud? Is it the sincerity in which you repeatedly commit sins, and then speak your confession, over and over? What will you offer in sacrifice to Jesus who returns upon a white cloud? Is it the capital of the many years of work with which you exalt yourselves? What will you hold up to make the returned Jesus trust you? Is it that arrogant nature of yours, which does not submit to any truth?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. By the Time You Behold the Spiritual Body of Jesus, God Will Have Made Heaven and Earth Anew

Every step of work that God does on people externally appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements or from human disturbance. But behind every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and they require people to stand firm in their testimony for God. Take when Job was tried, for example: Behind the scenes, Satan was making a wager with God, and what Job was faced with was the actions and disturbances of people. Behind every step of work that God does on you is Satan’s wager with God—behind it is a battle. … When God and Satan do battle in the spiritual realm, how should you satisfy God, and how should you stand firm in your testimony for Him? You should know that everything that happens to you is a great trial and the time when God needs you to bear witness. Though they may seem insignificant from the outside, when these things happen, they show whether or not you love God. If you do, you will be able to stand firm in your testimony for Him, and if you have not practiced loving God, this shows you are not someone who puts the truth into practice, that you are without the truth, and without life, that you are chaff!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God

If many things come upon you that do not align with your notions but yet you are able to let them go and gain knowledge of God’s deeds from these things, and in the midst of refinements reveal your God-loving heart, then this is standing firm in your testimony. If your home is peaceful, you enjoy comforts of the flesh, no one is persecuting you, and your brothers and sisters in the church obey you, can your God-loving heart be revealed? Can this situation refine you? It is only through refinement that your God-loving heart can be shown, and it is only through things occurring that do not align with your notions that you can be perfected. With the service of many negative things, and by employing all sorts of Satan’s manifestations—its actions, its accusations, its disturbances and misleading—God shows you Satan’s hideous face clearly, and thereby gives you the ability to discern Satan, so that you may hate Satan and rebel against it.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement

You should not be afraid of this and that; no matter how many difficulties and dangers you might face, you should be able to remain steady before Me, unobstructed by any hindrance, so that My will may be carried out unimpeded. This is your duty; otherwise, I shall bring My anger upon you, and with My hand I shall…. You will then endure endless suffering in your heart. You must endure all; for Me, you must be ready to forsake everything and follow Me with all your might, and be ready to pay any price. Now is the time that I test you: Will you offer your loyalty to Me? Can you loyally follow Me to the end of the road? Be not afraid; with Me as your support, who could ever block your way? Remember this! Remember! Everything contains My good intentions and is under My scrutiny. Does your every word and deed follow My word? When the tests of fire come upon you, will you kneel down and call out? Or will you cower, incapable of moving forward?

You must possess My courage within you, and you must have principles when it comes to facing nonbelieving relatives. For My sake, however, you also must not yield to any dark forces. You must rely on My wisdom to follow the perfect way, and not allow any of Satan’s plots to succeed. Do all that you can to place your heart before Me, and I shall comfort you, and bring peace and joy to your heart. Do not care about how you appear to other people; does making Me satisfied not carry more value and weight? Won’t it even more so bring you eternal and lifelong joy and peace? Your current suffering indicates just how great your future blessings will be; they are indescribable. You know not the greatness of the blessings that you shall have; you could not even dream of it. Today it has become real; so very real! This is not so far away—can you see it? Every last bit of this is within Me; how bright the future is! Wipe away your tears, and feel no more pain or sorrow. All things are orchestrated by My hands, and My goal is to soon make you the overcomers and to bring you into glory alongside Me. For all that happens to you, you should have this kind of gratitude and praise; that will bring Me satisfaction.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 10

As created beings, people should fulfill the duties that they ought to, and stand firm in their testimony to God in the midst of refinement. In every trial they should uphold the witness that they should bear, and bear resounding witness for God. A person who does this is an overcomer. No matter how God refines you, you should remain full of faith and never lose faith in Him, and you should also do what man should do. This is all that God requires of man—He requires that man’s heart be able to fully return to Him and turn toward Him at every moment. Such a person is an overcomer. Those whom God refers to as “overcomers” are people who can still stand firm in their testimony, maintain their faith and their loyalty to God, and no matter what, keep a pure heart before God and maintain their genuine love for God, while under the influence of Satan and while being laid siege to by Satan—that is, while they are amid the forces of darkness. In this way, they have stood firm in their testimony before God. Such people are those whom God refers to as “overcomers.” If your pursuit is excellent when God blesses you, but you retreat without His blessings, is this purity? Since you are certain that this way is true, you must follow it until the end; you must maintain your loyalty to God. Since you have seen that God has come to the earth to personally perfect you, you should give your heart entirely to Him. If, no matter what God does—perhaps giving you an unfavorable outcome at the very end—you can still follow Him, this means you’ve maintained your purity before God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. You Should Maintain Your Loyalty to God