Excerpt 1

Some people come to believe in God when they see that the words expressed by God are indeed the truth. However, when they get to God’s house and see that God is an ordinary person, they develop notions in their hearts. Their words and deeds become unrestrained, they become dissolute, and they speak irresponsibly, judging and slandering however they see fit. This is how such wicked people are exposed. These creatures without humanity often do evil and disturb the work of the church, and nothing good will come to them! They openly resist, slander, judge and insult God, openly blaspheming Him and setting themselves in opposition to Him. Such people are to be recipients of severe punishment. Some people belong to the ranks of false leaders, and after having been dismissed, they feel constant resentment toward God. They seize the opportunity of gatherings to keep spreading their notions and venting their complaints; they may even blurt out any harsh words or words that vent their hate. Are such people not demons? After being cleared out of God’s house, they feel remorse, claiming they had said something wrong in a moment of foolishness. Some people fail to discern them, saying, “They’re quite pitiful, and they’re remorseful at heart. They say they are indebted to God and don’t know Him, so let’s forgive them.” Can forgiveness be given so lightly? People have their dignity, let alone God! After these people finished their blasphemy and slander, they seem remorseful to some, who forgive them and say they acted in a moment of foolishness—but was it a moment of foolishness? They always have some intention in their speech, and even dare to judge God. God’s house replaced them, and they lost the benefits of status, and in fear of being cast out, they utter many complaints and cry bitterly and remorsefully afterward. Does this do any good? Once your words have been spoken, they are like water poured on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Would God tolerate people resisting, judging, and blaspheming Him as they will? Would He just ignore it? God would have no dignity, if so. Some people, after their resistance, say, “God, Your precious blood redeemed me. You have us forgive people seventy times seven—You should also forgive me!” How shameless! Some people spread rumors about God, and grow fearful after slandering Him. Afraid of being punished, they quickly kneel down and pray: “God! Do not leave me, do not punish me. I confess, I repent, I am indebted to You, I did wrong.” Tell Me, could such people be pardoned? No! Why not? What they have done offends the Holy Spirit, and the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit will never be pardoned, in this life or the next! God stays true to His words. He has dignity, wrath, and a righteous disposition. Do you think that God is the same as man, that if someone is just a bit nicer to Him, He will look past their previous transgressions? Nothing of the sort! Will things turn out well for you if you resist God? It is understandable if you do something wrong out of momentary foolishness, or occasionally reveal a bit of a corrupt disposition. But if you directly resist, rebel against, and set yourself in opposition to God, and if you slander, blaspheme, and spread rumors about Him, then you are wholly doomed. There is no need for such people to pray any longer; they should just wait to be punished. They are unforgivable! When that time comes, do not shamelessly say, “God, please forgive me!” No matter how you plead, it will be useless, sorry to say. Having understood some of the truth, if people then knowingly transgress, they cannot be forgiven. Previously, it has been said that God does not remember one’s transgressions. That referred to minor ones that do not involve God’s administrative decrees and do not offend God’s disposition. These do not include blasphemy and slander against God. But if you would blaspheme, judge, or slander God just once, this will be a permanent stain that cannot be erased. People wish to blaspheme and abuse God as they will, and then to exploit Him to gain blessings. Nothing in the world comes as cheaply as that! People always think that God is merciful and kind, that He is benevolent, that He has a vast and immeasurable heart, that He does not remember people’s transgressions and lets bygones be bygones for people’s past transgressions and deeds. Letting bygones be bygones happens with trivial matters. God will never forgive those who openly resist and blaspheme Him.

Although most people in the church truly believe in God, they do not fear God in their hearts. This shows that most people do not have true knowledge of God’s disposition, so it is difficult for them to fear God and shun evil. If people do not revere or fear God in their belief in Him, and say whatever they like once God’s work touches their own interests, then when they finish speaking, will that be the end of it? They must then pay a price for what they say, and this is not a simple matter. When some people blaspheme God, when they judge God, do they know in their hearts what they are saying? All those who say these things know in their hearts what they say. Apart from those who have been possessed by evil spirits and whose reason is abnormal, regular people know in their hearts what they are saying. If they say they don’t, then they are lying. When they speak, they think: “I know that You are God. I’m saying that You are not doing right, so what can You do to me? What will You do when I am done talking?” They do this intentionally, to disturb others, to draw others over to their side, to make others say similar things, make others do similar things. They know that what they say is in open defiance of God, that it is going against God, blaspheming God. After they have mulled it over they think that what they did was wrong: “What was I saying? It was an impetuous moment and I really regret it!” Their regret proves that they knew exactly what they were doing at that time; it wasn’t that they didn’t know. If you think that they were momentarily ignorant and confused, that they had not thoroughly understood, then this is not entirely correct. People may not have understood thoroughly, but if you believe in God then you must have a minimum of common sense. To believe in God you should fear God and revere Him. You cannot blaspheme against God, or judge or slander Him however you like. Do you know what is meant by “judging,” “blasphemy” and “slander”? When you say something, do you not know whether or not you are judging God? Some people always talk about the fact that they have played host to God, and often see God, and have listened to God’s face-to-face fellowship. They talk about these things with whoever happens by, at length, all about externalities; they have no true knowledge at all. They may have no ill intentions when they say these things. They may mean well for the brothers and sisters and wish to encourage everyone. But why do they pick these things to speak about? If they proactively bring up this matter, then they do have something of an intent: mainly, to show off and have people look up to them. If they would make people confident and encourage people in their faith in God, they might read them more of His words, which are the truth. Why then do they insist on talking about such external things? What is at the root of their saying these things is that they have no fear at all for God. They are not afraid of God. How can they act up and shoot their mouth off before God? God has dignity! If people realized this, would they still do such things? People do not have fear for God within them. They arbitrarily say how God is and what God is like for their own motives, to achieve their personal goals and to get others to think highly of them. This is simply judging God and blaspheming God. Such people have no reverence at all for God in their hearts. They are all people who resist and blaspheme God. They are all evil spirits and demons. Some people have believed in God for a few years, but after being captured by the great red dragon, they become Judas, even following the great red dragon in blasphemy against God. Some people preach the gospel, echoing religious people in saying things that judge God’s work and condemn God. They know that speaking in this manner is resisting God and blaspheming God, but they are unconcerned. Speaking in this way is inappropriate, no matter your motives. Could you not just say something else? Why do you have to say these things? Is it not blasphemy against God? If such speech comes out of your mouth, then you are blaspheming God. It is ungodly for you to say these things, whether you do so intentionally or not. You have no reverence at all for God in your heart. You go along with others and say blasphemous words to please others and win them over. How ungodly you are; you are in league with the devil! Would God have you play around with Him, judge Him, delimit Him, and blaspheme against Him in an arbitrary manner? To do so is horrible! If you say something wrong and it offends God’s disposition, then you are doomed. This is a fatal matter! Some people think, “People in religion are deceived by pastors and elders, and most of them have said things that blaspheme God and judge and condemn His work. Some people have accepted God’s work during the last days and repented. Will they be saved, then? If they were all abandoned by God, there would be too few people who would be saved; hardly any would be saved.” You cannot see this matter clearly, can you? God’s disposition is righteousness, and He is righteous to everyone. In the days of Noah, only eight people were saved on the ark; the rest were destroyed. Do you dare say that God is unjust? Mankind is deeply corrupted. They all belong to Satan; they all resist God, and they are all base and worthless. If they cannot accept God’s work, they will be destroyed, as ever. Some people may think to themselves: “If none of us can be saved by God, then wouldn’t God’s work be in vain? It seems to me that God cannot save mankind without man. If God leaves man, God’s management will be gone.” You’re wrong. God will continue His management plan all the same, even without man. People overvalue themselves. People have no reverence for God in their hearts, they are not devout at all before God, and they do not have any well-behaved attitude. Because people live under the dominion of Satan and belong to Satan, they can judge God and blaspheme God anytime and anywhere. This is a horrible thing—an offense against God’s disposition!

Excerpt 4

The most important part of pursuing the truth is to focus on reading God’s words. The amount that a person can gain from reading God’s words depends on their capacity for understanding. Although everyone reads God’s words, some are able to grasp the true meaning and find enlightenment in them, and as long as they read God’s words, they will gain something. However, others are not like that. They focus only on understanding doctrines when reading God’s words. The result of this is that after several years of reading God’s words, they understand many doctrines, and yet whenever they experience problems, they can’t solve them; nothing they learned is of use. What is going on here? Even though people are all reading God’s words, the results are different. Those who love the truth are able to accept it, while those who do not love the truth are unwilling to accept it even if they read God’s words. They will not seek the truth in God’s words no matter what problems they encounter. People with a bit of experience can discuss some practical things when they read God’s words and talk about their practical knowledge of the truth—this is understanding the truth. Those without experience only grasp the literal meaning of God’s words, and they lack the slightest bit of knowledge and experience—this cannot be considered understanding the truth. Some leaders often tell others that they go to church specifically to provide the truth. Is this statement correct? The words “provide the truth” should not be said lightly. Who possesses the truth? Who dares to claim that they supply the truth? Isn’t this claim too grand? When you believe in God and follow Him, you are simply a person who accepts and pursues the truth. If you can do this, that is already quite good. Even if a person can understand some truths and speak about some experience and knowledge of the truth, it cannot be said that they supply the truth because no person possesses the truth. How can talking about some experience and knowledge be called supplying the truth? Therefore, leaders and workers can only be described as performing the work of watering, and as being specifically responsible for helping brothers and sisters in the church to enter into life. They cannot be said to be supplying the truth. Even if a person has some stature, they still cannot be said to be supplying others with the truth. This absolutely cannot be said. How many people understand the truth? Does a person’s stature qualify them to supply the truth? Even if someone has some experience and knowledge of the truth, it cannot be said that they can supply the truth. That absolutely cannot be said, it’s too lacking in reason. Some people take pride in watering the church and supplying the truth, as if they understand a great deal of the truth, and as a result, they are unable to discern false leaders and antichrists. Isn’t this a contradiction? If someone asks you what the truth is, and you answer, “God’s word is the truth; the truth is God’s word,” do you understand the truth? You can only speak the words and phrases of doctrine, and you lack experience and knowledge of what the truth is, so you are not qualified to supply it to others. Right now, those who serve as leaders all lack experience; they just have a little caliber and a willingness to pursue the truth. They’re suitable for nurturing and training, and they can take the lead in fulfilling duties. Even if they can fellowship about some knowledge, how can it be said that they supply the truth? Most leaders and workers can talk about some knowledge, but that doesn’t mean that they have the truth reality. After all, they have listened to many years of sermons and they have a bit of superficial knowledge; they are willing to fellowship on the truth and can be somewhat helpful to others, but they cannot be said to be supplying the truth. Are leaders and workers capable of supplying the truth? Absolutely not. Leaders and workers preach and water the church; most importantly, they must be able to solve practical problems, that is the only way that they can truly water the church. Right now, most leaders and workers are still unable to solve many practical problems. Even if they can fellowship on some knowledge of the truth, most of what they say is still just the words and phrases of doctrine. They cannot fellowship clearly on the reality of the truth, so can they really solve problems? Most leaders and workers just have a bit of a capacity for understanding and they still do not have much practical experience. Can it be said that they understand the truth more and have more of the truth reality than others? This cannot be said, they fall short of this. Some leaders and workers are promoted purely for the purpose of cultivation; they are allowed to practice because they have a little caliber, and they possess a bit of a capacity for understanding, and their family environment is suitable. It’s not as if promoting someone means that they possess the truth reality and that they can supply the truth. It’s just that those who pursue the truth obtain enlightenment and light before others, but this little light falls short of the truth, it is not a part of the truth, it is only in accordance with the truth. Only what God expresses directly is the truth. The enlightenment of the Holy Spirit is only in adherence with the truth, because the Holy Spirit enlightens people according to their stature. He does not speak the truth directly to people. Instead, He gives them a light they are able to attain. You must understand this. If a person has some insight into God’s words and has some knowledge gained from experience, does this count as truth? No. At most, they have some understanding of the truth. The words of the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment do not represent God’s words, do not represent the truth, and are not the truth. At most, the person has some understanding of the truth, and has been enlightened a little bit by the Holy Spirit. If a person gains some understanding of the truth and then supplies it to others, all they are doing is supplying their understanding and experience to others. You cannot say they are supplying the truth to others. It is alright if you say they are fellowshiping on the truth; this is an appropriate description. Why do I say this? Because what you are fellowshiping on is your understanding of the truth; it does not amount to the truth itself. Therefore, you can only say that you are fellowshiping on some understanding and experience; how can you say you are supplying the truth? Supplying the truth is not a simple matter. Who is worthy of speaking this sentence? Only God is capable of supplying the truth to people. Are people capable? Therefore, you must see this matter clearly. This is not just an issue of using the wrong words, the crux is that you are violating and twisting the facts. What you claim is an overstatement. People may have some understanding of, and experience with, God’s words, but you cannot say they have the truth, or that they are of the truth. You absolutely cannot say this. No matter how much understanding people gain from the truth, you cannot say that they possess the life of truth, let alone that they are of the truth. You absolutely cannot say this. People only understand a bit of the truth and have a bit of light and some ways of practice. They only have some reality of obedience, and some true change. But you cannot say that they have gained the truth. God provides life to people by expressing the truth. God also demands that people understand the truth and gain the truth in order to serve and satisfy Him. Even if there comes a day when people experience God’s work to the point that they have truly gained the truth, you still cannot say that people are of the truth, let alone say that people possess the truth. This is because even if people have many more years of experience, there is a limit to the amount of truth they will gain, and it is a very shallow amount. The truth is the most deep and mysterious thing; it is what God has and is. The truth that people can gain over the course of a lifetime is very limited. People will never be able to gain the truth completely, understand it completely, or live it out completely. That is what God means when He says that people will always be babies in His presence.

Some people believe that once they possess experience and knowledge of the truths expressed by God, and a thorough understanding of every aspect of the truth, and can act according to the truth, then they will be able to express the truth. They think that by doing so, they will be living as Christ, just like Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21). Is this viewpoint correct? Isn’t it another espousing of the “God-men” argument? This is absolutely wrong! People must understand one thing: No matter how much experience and knowledge you have of the truth, or even if you have entered into the truth reality, and are able to submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements, and can submit to God and testify for God, and no matter how elevated or profound your life entry becomes, your life is still a human life, and a human can never become God. This is an absolute fact that people must understand. Even if, in the end, you have experience and an understanding of every aspect of the truth, and you submit to God’s orchestrations and become a perfected person, it still cannot be said that you are of the truth. Even if you can speak of true experiential testimony, this does not mean that you can express the truth. In the past, it was common within religious groups to say that one had “the life of Christ within.” This is an erroneous and vague statement. Although people don’t say this anymore, their understanding of this matter remains unclear. Some people think, “Since we have obtained the truth and the truth is within us, we possess the truth, and have the truth in our hearts, and we are also able to express it.” Isn’t this also wrong? People often talk about whether or not they have the truth, which mainly refers to whether or not they have experience and knowledge of the truth, and whether or not they can practice according to the truth. Everyone experiences the truth, but the state each person experiences is different. What each person gains from the truth is also different. If you were to combine everyone’s experience and understanding, it still would not completely reflect the essence of the truth. That is how deep and mysterious the truth is! Why do I say that everything you have gained and all of your understanding cannot take the place of the truth? After people have heard you fellowship on some of your experience and understanding, they will understand it, and they will not need to experience for a long time in order to completely understand and gain it. Even if it is something a bit more deep, they will not need several years of experience. But as for the truth, people will not experience all of it in their entire lifetime. Even if you add everyone together, they will not have experienced it all. As you can see, the truth is too deep and mysterious. Words are incapable of explaining the truth thoroughly. Truth expressed in human language is the true essence of humans. Humans will never be able to experience it all, and never be able to completely live out the truth. This is because even if people spend several thousand years, they will not have completely experienced one item of truth. No matter how many years people experience, the truth they understand and gain will still be limited. It can be said that the truth is humanity’s eternal spring of life. God is the source of the truth, and entering the truth realities is a task which has no end.

The truth is the life of God Himself; it represents His disposition, His essence, and what He has and is. If you say that by having some experience and knowledge, you thereby have the truth, then have you achieved holiness? Why do you still display corruption? Why can’t you discern between different types of people? Why can’t you testify to God? Even if you understand some truths, can you represent God? Can you live out God’s disposition? You may have some experience and knowledge regarding a certain aspect of a truth, and you may be able to shed a bit of light in your speech, but what you can provide to people is extremely limited and cannot last long. This is because your understanding and the light you have obtained does not represent the essence of the truth, and it does not represent the entirety of truth. It only represents one side or a small aspect of the truth, it is only a level that can be achieved by human beings, and it is still far from the essence of the truth. This little bit of light, enlightenment, experience, and knowledge can never take the place of the truth. Even if all people have achieved some results through experiencing a truth, and all their experiences and knowledge were put together, it would not reach the entirety and essence of even a single line of this truth. It has been said in the past, “I sum this up with a maxim for the human world: Among men, there is no one who loves Me.” This sentence is the truth, the true essence of life, a most profound thing, and an expression of God Himself. After three years of experience, you may have a little superficial understanding, and after seven or eight years, you may have a little more understanding, but this understanding can never take the place of this line of truth. After two years, someone else may have a little understanding, or some more understanding after ten years, or a relatively high understanding after a lifetime, but the collective understanding of both of you cannot take the place of this line of truth. No matter how much insight, light, experience, or knowledge the two of you may collectively have, it can never take the place of this line of truth. That is to say, human life is always human life, and no matter how your knowledge conforms to the truth, God’s will, or God’s requirements, it can never take the place of the truth. To say that people have the truth means that people genuinely understand the truth, live out some of the realities of God’s word, have some real knowledge of God, and can exalt and testify to God. However, it cannot be said that people already possess the truth, because the truth is too profound. Just one line of God’s word can take people a lifetime to experience, and even after several lifetimes of experience, or thousands of years, a single line of God’s word cannot be fully experienced. It is clear that the process of understanding the truth and knowing God is indeed endless, and that there is a limit to how much of the truth people can understand in a lifetime of experience. Some people say they have the truth as soon as they understand the textual meaning of God’s word. Isn’t this nonsense? In terms of both light and knowledge, there is a matter of depth. The truth realities that a person can enter into over a lifetime of belief are limited. Therefore, just because you possess some knowledge and light does not mean that you possess the truth realities. The main thing you must look at is whether this light and knowledge touches upon the essence of the truth. This is the most important thing. Some people feel that they possess the truth when they can shed light or offer a little superficial understanding. This makes them happy, so they become smug and conceited. In fact, they are still far from entering the truth reality. What truth do people possess? Can people who possess the truth fall down anytime and anywhere? When people possess the truth, how can they still defy God and betray God? If you claim that you possess the truth, it proves that within you is the life of Christ—that’s outrageous! You have become the Lord, you have become Christ? This is an absurd statement, and is entirely inferred by people; it pertains to human notions and imaginings, and is not a tenable position with God.

When speaking of people understanding the truth, and living with it as their life, what does this “life” refer to? It means the truth reigns supreme in their hearts, it means they are able to live by God’s words, and it means they have real knowledge of God’s words and a genuine understanding of the truth. When people possess this new life within them, it is entirely achieved by practicing and experiencing God’s words. It is built on the foundation of the truth of God’s words, and it is attained by their living within the realm of the truth; all that people’s life contains is their knowledge and experience of the truth. That is its foundation, and it does not surpass that scope; this is the life that is being referred to when speaking of gaining the truth and life. Being able to live by the truth of God’s words does not mean that the life of truth is inside people, nor that if they possess the truth as their life, they become the truth, and their internal life becomes the life of truth; let alone that they are the truth and life. Ultimately, their life is still the life of a human. If you can live by God’s words and possess knowledge of the truth, if this knowledge takes root within you and becomes your life, and the truth you have gained through experience becomes the basis of your existence, if you live by these words of God, no one can change it, and Satan cannot deceive or corrupt you, then you will have gained the truth and life. That is, your life merely contains the truth, meaning your understanding, experience, and insight of the truth; and no matter what you do, you will live by these things, and you will not go beyond the scope of them. This is what it means to possess the truth reality, and such people are what God ultimately wants to gain with His work. But no matter how well people understand the truth, their essence is still one of humanity, and is not at all comparable to the essence of God. This is because their experience of the truth is forever ongoing, and it is impossible for them to completely live out the truth; they can only live out the extremely limited bit of the truth attainable by humans. How, then, could they turn into God? If God personally perfected a group of people into greater Gods and lesser Gods, wouldn’t that be chaos? Besides, such a thing is impossible and absurd—it is man’s ridiculous idea. God created the heavens and earth and all things, and then He created man, so that man would obey and worship Him. God’s creation of man was the most meaningful act. God only created man; He did not create Gods. God works in the form of the incarnation, but this is not the same as Him creating a God. God did not create Himself; He has His own essence, and it is immutable. People do not know God, so they should read more of God’s words; people can only understand the truth if they seek it often. People should not speak nonsense based on their imagination. If you have a bit of experience with God’s words, and are living by genuine experience and knowledge of truth, then God’s words will gradually become your life. However, you still cannot say that the truth is your life or that what you are expressing is the truth; if such is your opinion, then you are wrong. If you only have some experience with one particular aspect of the truth, can this in itself represent you possessing the truth? Can this be considered to be obtaining the truth? Can you thoroughly explain the truth? Can you discover God’s disposition, and what God has and is, from the truth? If these effects are not achieved, this proves that having only experienced a certain aspect of the truth cannot be considered to truly understand the truth, or to know God, much less can it be said to have gained the truth. Everyone has experience with only one aspect and scope of the truth; they experience it within their limited scope, and cannot touch upon all of the truth’s innumerable aspects. Can people live out the original meaning of the truth? How much does your little bit of experience amount to? Only a single grain of sand on a beach; a lone drop of water in the ocean. Therefore, no matter how precious that knowledge and those feelings you have gained from your experiences might be, they still cannot be counted as the truth. They can only be said to be in accordance with the truth. The truth comes from God, and the inner meaning and the realities of the truth cover a very wide range, and no one can fathom or refute it. As long as you have a real understanding of the truth and of God, you will understand some truths; no one will be able to refute these real understandings, and the testimonies that contain the truth realities are forever tenable. God praises those who possess the truth realities. As long as you pursue the truth, and you can rely on God to experience God’s words and can accept the truth as your life no matter what environment you are in, then you will have a path, be able to survive, and gain God’s approval. Even though the little bit people gain is in accordance with the truth, it cannot be said that this is the truth, much less can it be said that they have gained the truth. The little bit of light people have obtained is only suitable for themselves or some others within a certain scope, but would not be suitable within a different scope. No matter how profound a person’s experience, it is still so limited, and their experience will never reach the depth of the truth. A person’s light and a person’s understanding can never be compared to the truth.

When people have some experience of God’s words, understand some truths and a bit of God’s will, when they have some knowledge of God, and their disposition has undergone a bit of change and been cleansed, it can still only be said that they are a person, and a created human being, but this is precisely the kind of normal person that God wishes to gain. So, what kind of person are you? Some people say, “I am a person who possesses the truth.” It would not be fitting to say that. You can only say, “I am a person who has been corrupted by Satan, and who has experienced the judgment and chastisement of God’s words. I finally understood the truth, and had my corrupt disposition cleansed. I am merely a person who has been saved by God.” If you were to say, “I am a person who possesses the truth. I have experienced all of God’s words and understood them all. I know the meaning of everything that God says, and the context and circumstances in which those words were spoken. I know it all. Doesn’t this mean that I possess the truth?” then you would be wrong again. Having some experience of God’s words and gaining some light from them does not make you a person who possesses the truth. Those who can just understand and discuss some doctrines are even less qualified to make such a claim. People must clearly comprehend what position a person should take before God and before the truth, what people are, what the life inside man is, and what the life of God is. People must understand what the essence of man is. After experiencing God’s work for a few days, and understanding some words and phrases of doctrine, some people feel that they possess the truth. These are the most arrogant people, and they are devoid of reason. It is necessary to dissect this matter so that people can truly understand themselves and come to know mankind, and so that they can understand what corrupt mankind is, what level people can achieve after they are finally perfected, and what the appropriate way to address and name them is. People should know these things and not indulge in flights of fancy. It is better for people to be more realistic in how they comport themselves, that way they will be a bit more stable. Some people who believe in God always pursue their own dreams and always wish to live out God’s life and image. Is this realistic? People always want to possess God’s life—is this not a dangerous thing? It is the arrogant ambition of humans, and it is just like the arrogant ambition of Satan. Some people, after working in the church for a period of time, start pondering, “After the great red dragon falls from power, should we become kings and wield power? How many cities should each of us control?” If a person can pour forth such things, that is terrible. People who have no experience like to talk about doctrines and to indulge in fantasies. And as they do, they even feel clever, as if they have gained success in their faith in God, as if they are living as Christ and God. They are all disciples of Paul, and they are walking the path of Paul. If they are steadfastly unrepentant, these people will all become antichrists and suffer severe punishment.

Excerpt 5

Regarding these words spoken by God, when you listen, do you compare them with yourselves, or just listen to them as doctrine, process it in your mind until you’ve understood what it means, and that’s all? What kind of attitude and intentions do you have while listening? If you really understand what God has said—that those who do not practice the truth shall be cast out; that those who do not practice the truth are not good but wicked people in the eyes of God—then you should reflect upon yourselves and see which of your actions are not practicing the truth, and which of your methods and attitudes are seen by God as manifestations of not practicing the truth. Have you ever tried to fathom these matters? Have you reflected upon yourselves? It is not enough to just read the words of God with a cursory glance; you must contemplate them, self-reflect, and compare your own thoughts and actions with God’s words of exposure, and achieve self-knowledge—only in this way can you have genuine repentance and change. If you read the words of God but do not ponder them and do not self-reflect, instead just focusing on understanding doctrine, then your belief in God will not have any life entry, nor will you undergo any real transformation. Therefore, it is essential to ponder, seek the truth, and self-reflect when reading God’s words. What are God’s words? They are the reality of all positive things, they are the truth, they are the way, they are the life bestowed by God upon humans. The words of God are not doctrine, they are not slogans, they are not a kind of theory, nor are they philosophical knowledge; rather, they are the truth that people must understand and attain, and the life they must obtain. Therefore, the words of God are intimately related to people’s lives and life itself, the path people should walk, and people’s outcome and destination. If someone really understands the truth and has obtained the truth, everything about them will change accordingly. If someone can never understand the truth or live by God’s words, they cannot possibly achieve genuine change or gain God’s approval. The outcome and destination for that person can only be to suffer perdition and be destroyed. This is how important the words of God and the truth He expresses are to people. If you read the words of God but do not contemplate them, self-reflect, or connect them to your own real problems and difficulties, then all that you are able to understand is only superficial, and you cannot possibly understand the truth or grasp God’s will. Therefore, you must learn how to contemplate God’s words to understand the truth. This is crucial. There are many ways to contemplate God’s words: You may read them silently and pray in your heart, seeking enlightenment and illumination from the Holy Spirit; you may also fellowship and pray-read in the company of those who pursue the truth; and, of course, you may integrate fellowships and sermons into your contemplation to deepen your understanding and appreciation of God’s words. The ways are many and varied. In short, if, in reading God’s words, one wishes to achieve an understanding of them, then it is crucial to contemplate and pray-read God’s words. The purpose of pray-reading God’s words is not to be able to recite them, nor is it to commit them to memory; rather, it is to gain an accurate understanding of these words after having pray-read and contemplated them and to know the meaning of these words spoken by God, as well as His intention. It is to find therein the path of practice, and to keep from turning to one’s own way. In addition, it is to be able to have discernment on all the various sorts of states and types of people revealed in God’s words, and to be able to treat each type of person according to the principles, while at the same time avoiding going astray. Once you learn how to pray-read and contemplate God’s words, and do it often, only then can God’s words take root in your heart and become your life.

Excerpt 6

In the last days, the Creator publicly uttered all these words and exposed all kinds of people. Now, all kinds of people face the truth, the true way and the Creator’s utterances, and all sorts of voices and views are revealed: Some thoughts and views lean toward the absurd, some are self-righteous and arrogant, some are conservative, adherent to traditional culture, and rotten, and many are stupid and ignorant. There are even some people who hate and are hostile toward the truth who lash out in a frenzy like crazed dogs, casually judging and recklessly condemning the truth and positive things. They wantonly judge and condemn any positive thing and expression of the truth, and make no effort to discern whether it is right or wrong, or whether it contains the truth. These people are animals and devils. When humans are confronted with the truth and the true way, they have many different views which reveal and expose their narrow-minded, stubborn, intransigent, arrogant, satanic ugliness. You must learn to be discerning, to broaden your insight from this, while also seeking some of the truth. If these things are displayed in those who do not believe, and who have not accepted God’s work of the last days, then do you exhibit these things yourselves? Sometimes the way you exhibit them is different, and the way you say them is different, but you actually display the same dispositions as the unbelievers do. It is similar to how when some people accept the Lord Jesus, they believe that everyone under the sun who does not accept the Lord Jesus is inferior. They believe that because they have accepted the salvation of the cross of the Lord Jesus, they are a superior person, and they look down on everyone. What kind of disposition is this? They lack insight; they are too narrow-minded, and they are extremely arrogant and self-righteous. They see that others are displaying corrupt dispositions, but they do not see that they are also displaying the same corrupt dispositions. So, do you exhibit these things? You certainly do, as all of man’s corrupt dispositions are exactly the same, and it is only because of God’s work and salvation, the needs of His work, or His predestination that there is a difference in the nature essences, pursuits, and yearnings of every type of person. Some people have no heart or spirit. They are dead people and beasts who do not understand faith. These people are the most lowly of all mankind and cannot be counted as humans. Those who accept God’s new work have more understanding of the truth, their insight and their understanding of God are greater, and their theories and views are a level higher. Just like how those who believe in Christianity have a greater understanding of God and a greater knowledge of the Creator’s creations and work than law-abiding believers in Jehovah, those who accept the third stage of work have a greater understanding of God than believers in Christianity. Because each stage of God’s work is higher than the last, it of course follows that people’s understanding will certainly also become greater and greater. But, if you look at it another way, the corrupt dispositions that you display after you accept this stage of work are the same in essence as the corrupt dispositions that those in religion display. The only difference is that you have already accepted this stage of work, listened to many sermons, understood many truths, gained a true understanding of your nature essence, and have truly changed in some ways by accepting and practicing the truth. So, when you look again at the behavior those in religion exhibit, you think that they are more corrupt than you. But in fact, if you were put side-by-side with them, you would see that people’s attitudes toward God and the truth are the same; you all act according to notions and imaginings and to your preferences, and your corrupt dispositions are the same. If they had accepted this stage of work, listened to these sermons, and understood these truths, then there would not be much difference between you and them. What can you see from this matter? You can see that the truth brings change to people, that these words God speaks and these sermons He preaches are salvation for all humankind, and are things that all humankind needs. They are not meant to only satisfy people of a particular group, ethnicity, category, or skin color. All of humankind has been corrupted by Satan and has satanic dispositions. There is not a big difference in terms of their corrupt essences; it is only that their skin color, ethnicity, and the environment and social system in which they grew up are not the same, or that there are slight differences in their traditional culture, background and the education they received. But these are just outward appearances—all of humankind has been corrupted by one Satan, and their corrupt nature essence is the same. Therefore, these words that God says and this work that He does are not targeted at people from any particular ethnic group or country, but rather at all of humankind. Even when there are differences in the culture and background of different ethnicities, or differences in the education they received, their corrupt dispositions are exactly the same in the eyes of God. So, even though a stage of His work is done in one place, it affects change everywhere and is applicable to all humankind; it can save and provide for all humankind. Some people say, “Europeans and people from other countries are not descendants of the great red dragon, so isn’t it unsuitable for God to say that all humankind is deeply corrupted?” Are these words correct? (No, they are not. All humankind has the same nature essence which has been corrupted by Satan.) That’s right—“descendants of the great red dragon” is only a name for people of one ethnicity; it does not mean that people who have this name and people who don’t have this name have different essences. In fact, their essences are still the same. All of humankind lies under the hand of the evil one; they have all been corrupted by Satan, and their corrupt nature essences are exactly the same. Now, when Chinese people hear these words that God speaks, they rebel and resist; they have notions and imaginings; these are the things they exhibit. When these words are repeated to people of another ethnicity, they also exhibit imaginings, notions, rebelliousness, arrogance, self-righteousness and even resistance—it is exactly the same. All of humankind, regardless of ethnicity and cultural background, exhibits none other than the behavior of corrupted humans that God exposes.

Corrupt dispositions are common to all humankind; they are all the same, with more similarities than differences, and no obvious distinctions. These words that God speaks and truths He expresses do not only save one ethnicity, one country, or one group of people—God saves all humankind. What does this show you? Is there anyone in the human race who has not undergone Satan’s corruption, and belongs to a different category or class of people? Is there anyone who is not the object of God’s sovereignty? (No, there is not.) What is the meaning of these words I speak? God rules over all humankind, and all humankind was created by one God. No matter which ethnic group, which type of human, or how competent they are, they were all created by God. In the eyes of man, some people are different than others and are superior, but in the eyes of God, they are all the same; every human is the same in the eyes of God. Where do you see this? Differences in skin color and language are mere appearances, but people’s corrupt dispositions and their nature essences are the same; this is the truth of the matter. When confronted with any humans who have a satanic corrupt disposition, God’s words can achieve results. They are targeted at people’s corrupt dispositions and can resolve all of humankind’s corrupt dispositions. This shows that all of God’s words are the truth, that they can provide for, cleanse and save humankind; this is undeniable. Now, the words that God expresses in the last days have already spread throughout all the countries and ethnicities of the world—this is a fact! And what has man’s reaction been? (There have been all sorts of reactions.) And what do all these sorts of reactions indicate or reflect about man’s essence? They show that man’s nature essence is the same, their reactions are the same as the Pharisees and the Jews when the Lord Jesus came to do work: They have an aversion to the truth, are full of imaginings and notions about God, and their belief in Him exists within illusory imaginings and notions. Humankind as a whole does not know God and resists Him. Upon hearing God’s words, their first reaction, or the things in their nature essence that they naturally display, are resistance and hostility toward God; this is something they all have in common. All of their negative voices and views when faced with the truths God expresses are born out of the nature essence of corrupt humankind, and are representative of this human race. Their notions and imaginings are the same as the notions and imaginings the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees had about God when the Lord Jesus arrived; they have not changed. Those in religion have carried the cross for 2,000 years, but they remain the same, unchanged in the slightest. When people have not gained the truth, these are the things that they display naturally and which come out of them innately, and this is their attitude toward God. So, if a person believes in God but does not pursue the truth, can their corrupt disposition be fixed? (No, it cannot.) No matter how long they have believed, they will not be able to resolve the problem of their corrupt disposition if they do not pursue the truth. Two thousand years ago, the Pharisees furiously resisted and condemned the Lord Jesus, and nailed Him to the cross. Now, pastors, elders, fathers and bishops in the religious world still furiously resist and condemn God incarnate, just like the Pharisees did. If one were to go among them and testify that God is incarnate, then one may be seized and put to death, and if God incarnate were to go to the places of worship of each major religion to preach, they would certainly still nail Him to the cross or hand Him over to those in power. They would absolutely not go easy on Him, because the nature essences of corrupt humans are all the same. Do you have any reaction inside when you hear these words? Do you think that those who have believed in God for many years but have not pursued the truth to any degree are quite frightful? (Somewhat.) It is a very frightful thing! Holding the Bible and a cross, relying on the law, wearing the clothes of the Pharisees or the robes of priests, and resisting and condemning God publicly in temples—are these not all things that believers in God do in broad daylight? Where are the people who condemn and resist God? One does not need to look far. Anyone among His believers who does not accept the truth and is tired of the truth is a resister of God, an antichrist, and a Pharisee.

If people do not pursue the truth and cannot gain it, they will never know God. When people do not know God, they will always remain hostile to Him and it is not possible for them to be compatible with Him. No matter how much your heart subjectively desires to love God and does not wish to resist Him, it is useless. It is useless to only have the desire, or to want to restrain yourself, since this is an involuntary matter that is decided by people’s nature. So, you must pursue becoming a person who has the truth, pursue practicing the truth, discard your corrupt disposition, enter the truth realities, and achieve compatibility with God; this is the right path. You must know in your heart that the most important part of believing in God is pursuing the truth, and you must grasp some practicalities regarding which aspects you should begin with when pursuing the truth, as well as what you need to do, how to approach your duties, how to approach every type of person around you, how to approach matters and things of every kind, what view you should adopt when approaching them, and what approach is in accordance with the truth principles. If you do not seek the truth or understand the truth principles, and are only capable of following rules and defining things according to them, as well as according to logic, notions and imaginings, then your way of practicing is wrong, and only proves that in your years of believing in God, you have only followed the rules to the letter, but have not understood the truth and do not have reality. Following the rules and living according to notions and imaginings is exhausting and toilsome for you, but it is all a waste of effort and God will not give you a shred of praise. It serves you right to be exhausted! If you have spiritual understanding, and pure comprehension when you read God’s words or listen to sermons and fellowship, then the more you experience, the more you will understand and gain, and the things you understand will all be real and in accordance with the truth. Then, you will have gained the truth and gained life. If the things you have gained and understood after believing in God for many years are still the stuff of doctrine and rules, still the stuff of notions and imaginings, and rules and regulations which bind you, then you are completely done for. This proves that you have not gained the truth, and do not have life. No matter how many years you have believed in God, and no matter how many words and phrases of doctrine you can preach, you are still an absurd and muddle-headed person. Although it doesn’t sound nice to put it that way, it is a fact. There are many people who have believed in God for years, but do not see that the truth and Christ hold the power in God’s house, and that the Holy Spirit rules sovereign over all. People like this do not have any understanding whatsoever, and are as good as blind. Some see God judge and chastise people, perfect a group of people, but cast out many others, and so they doubt God’s love and even His righteousness. Do people like this have any capacity to comprehend? Do they have any understanding? It is fair to say that they are absurd people with no capacity to understand at all. Absurd people always look at things in a preposterous light; only those who understand the truth can view things accurately and in accordance with the facts.