To man’s naked eye, there appears to be no change in God’s utterances during this period, which is because people are incapable of grasping the laws by which God speaks, and do not understand the context of His words. After reading the words of God, people do not believe there to be any new mysteries in these words; thus, they are incapable of leading lives that are extraordinarily fresh, and instead live lives that are stagnant and lifeless. But in God’s utterances, we see that there is a deeper level of meaning, one that is both unfathomable and unreachable to man. Today, for man to be fortunate enough to read such words of God is the greatest of all blessings. If no one were to read these words, man would forever remain arrogant, self-righteous, unknowing of himself, and unaware of just how many failings he has. After reading the profound, unfathomable words of God, people secretly admire them, and there is true conviction in their hearts, untainted by falsehood; their hearts become the genuine article, not counterfeit goods. This is what really happens in people’s hearts. Everyone has their own story in their heart. It is as if they are saying to themselves: “Most likely this was spoken by God Himself—if not God, who else could utter such words? Why can’t I speak them? Why am I incapable of doing such work? It appears the incarnate God of which God speaks truly is real, and is God Himself! I will doubt no more. Otherwise, it may well be that when the hand of God arrives, it will be too late for regrets! …” This is what most people think in their hearts. It is fair to say that, from when God began to speak until today, all people would have fallen away without the support of God’s words. Why is it said that all of this work is done by God Himself, and not by man? If God did not use words to support the life of the church, everyone would disappear without trace. Is this not the power of God? Is this truly man’s eloquence? Is this man’s singular talents? Absolutely not! Without dissection, no one would know what blood type runs through their veins, they would be unaware of how many hearts they have, or how many brains, and they would all think they know God. Do they not know that there is still opposition contained within their knowledge? Little wonder that God says, “Every person in mankind should accept being scrutinized by My Spirit, should closely inspect their every word and action, and, moreover, should look upon My wondrous deeds.” From this it can be seen that God’s words are not aimless and without basis. God has never treated any man unfairly; even Job, with all his faith, was not let off—he was also dissected, and left with nowhere to hide from his shame. And that is to say nothing of the people of today. Thus, God then immediately asks: “How do you feel at the time of the kingdom’s arrival on earth?” God’s question matters little, but it leaves people perplexed: “What do we feel? We still do not know when the kingdom will arrive, so how could we talk of feelings? What’s more, we don’t have a clue. If I had to feel something, it would be ‘astonished,’ and nothing else.” In fact, this question is not the aim of God’s words. Above all, this single sentence—“When My sons and people stream to My throne, I formally commence judgment before the great white throne”—summarizes the developments of the entire spiritual realm. No one knows what God wants to do in the spiritual realm during this time, and only after God utters these words is there a slight awakening in people. Because there are different steps in God’s work, God’s work throughout the universe also varies. During this time, God chiefly saves the sons and the people of God, which is to say, shepherded by the angels, the sons and the people of God begin to accept being pruned and broken, they officially begin to dispel their thoughts and notions, and to say goodbye to any trace of this world; in other words, the “judgment before the great white throne” spoken of by God officially begins. Because it is the judgment of God, God must utter His voice—and although the content varies, the aim is always the same. Today, judging from the tone with which God speaks, it seems that His words are directed at a certain group of people. In fact, above all, these words address the nature of all mankind. They cut directly to man’s spinal cord, they do not spare man’s feelings, and they reveal the entirety of his substance, leaving nothing out, not letting anything through. Starting from today, God officially reveals the true face of man, and thus “releases the voice of My Spirit to the entire universe.” The effect that is ultimately achieved is this: “Through My words, I will wash clean all the people and things among all that is in heaven and on earth, so that the land is no longer filthy and licentious, but is a holy kingdom.” These words present the future of the kingdom, which is entirely of Christ’s kingdom, just as God said, “All is good fruit, all are diligent farmers.” Naturally, this will occur throughout the universe, and will not just be limited to China.

It is only when God begins to speak and act that people have a little knowledge of Him in their notions. In the beginning, this knowledge exists only in their notions, but as time goes by, people’s thoughts are increasingly futile and unfit for human use; thus, they come to believe all that God says, to the extent that they “create a place for the practical God in their consciousness.” It is only in their consciousness that people have a place for the practical God. In reality, however, they do not know God, and speak nothing but empty words. Yet compared to the past, they have made tremendous progress, although there is still a great difference from the practical God Himself. Why does God always say, “Each day I walk among the unceasing flow of people, and each day I operate within every person”? The more God says such things, the more people can compare them to the actions of the practical God Himself of today, and so they can better know the practical God in reality. Because God’s words are spoken from the perspective of the flesh and uttered using the language of humanity, people are able to comprehend the words of God by measuring them against material things, and thereby a greater effect is achieved. In addition, time and time again God speaks of the image of the “Me” in people’s hearts and the “Me” in reality, which makes people more willing to purge the image of God in their hearts, and thus willing to know and engage with the practical God Himself. This is the wisdom of God’s words. The more God says such things, the greater the benefit to people’s knowledge of God, and thus God says, “If I did not become flesh, man would never know Me, and even if he came to know Me, would not such knowledge still be a notion?” Indeed, if people were required to know God according to their own notions, it would be easy for them; they would be relaxed and happy, and thus God would be forever vague and not practical in people’s hearts, which would prove that Satan, and not God, holds dominion over the whole universe; thus, God’s words that “I have taken back My power” would forever remain empty.

When divinity begins to act directly, that is also the time when the kingdom officially descends to the world of man. But what is said here is that the kingdom descends among man, not that the kingdom takes form among man—and thus what is spoken of today is the construction of the kingdom, and not how it takes form. Why does God always say, “All things fall silent”? Could it be that all things stop and stand still? Could it be that great mountains really fall silent? So why do people have no sense of this? Could it be that God’s word is wrong? Or is God exaggerating? Because everything that God does is carried out within a certain environment, no one is aware of it or capable of perceiving it with their own eyes, and all that people can do is listen to God speak. Because of the majesty with which God acts, when God arrives, it is as if there has been a tremendous change in heaven and on earth; and to God, it appears that all are watching this moment. Today, the facts have yet to arrive. People have merely learned a little from part of the literal meaning of God’s words. The true meaning awaits the time when they purge themselves of their notions; only then will they become aware of what God incarnate is doing on earth and in heaven today. In the people of God in China there is not only the venom of the great red dragon. So, too, is the nature of the great red dragon revealed more abundantly, and more clearly, in them. But God does not speak of this directly, merely mentioning a little about the venom of the great red dragon. In this way, He does not expose man’s scars directly, which is more beneficial to man’s progress. The spawn of the great red dragon do not like to be called the descendants of the great red dragon in front of others. It is as if the words “great red dragon” bring shame upon them; none of them are willing to speak of these words, and thus God only says, “This stage of My work is primarily focused on you, and this is one aspect of the significance of My incarnation in China.” More precisely, God has chiefly come to conquer the archetypal representatives of the spawn of the great red dragon, which is the significance of God’s incarnation in China.

“When I personally come among man, the angels simultaneously begin the work of shepherding.” In fact, it is not taken literally that God’s Spirit only arrives in the world of man when the angels commence their work among all peoples. Instead, these two pieces of work—work of divinity and the shepherding of the angels—are carried out simultaneously. Next, God talks a little about the shepherding of the angels. When He says that “all the sons and people not only receive trials and shepherding, but are also able to behold, with their own eyes, the occurrence of all kinds of visions,” most people have abundant imaginings about the word “visions.” Visions refer to the supernatural happenings in people’s imaginations. But the content of the work remains the knowledge of the practical God Himself. Visions are the means by which angels work. They may give people feelings or dreams, allowing them to perceive the existence of the angels. But the angels remain invisible to man. The method by which they work among the sons and the people of God is to directly enlighten and illuminate them, added to which is the pruning and breaking of them. Rarely do they give sermons. Naturally, communion between people is the exception; this is what is happening in countries outside of China. Contained within God’s words is the revelation of the living circumstances of all mankind—naturally, this is primarily directed at the spawn of the great red dragon. Of the various states of all mankind, God selects those which are representative to serve as models. Thus, God’s words strip people naked, and they know no shame, or else they have no time to hide from the shining light, and are beaten at their own game. The many manners of man are a plethora of images, which God has painted from ancient times until today, and which He shall paint from today until tomorrow. All He paints is the ugliness of man: Some weep in the darkness, seemingly grieving for the sight lost from their eyes, some laugh, some are buffeted by great waves, some walk upon undulating mountain roads, some search amid the vast wilderness, quivering with fear, like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow-string, deeply fearful of being eaten by wild animals in the mountains. In God’s hands, these many ugly manners become touching, lifelike tableaus, most of them too horrible to look at, or else enough to make people’s hair stand on end and leave them bewildered and confused. In God’s eyes, all that is manifested in man is nothing but ugliness, and even though it might provoke compassion, it is still ugliness. The locus of man’s difference from God is that man’s weakness lies in his tendency to show kindliness toward others. God, however, has always been the same to man, which means that He has always had the same attitude. He is not always as kindly as people imagine, like an experienced mother whose children are always at the forefront of her mind. In reality, if God did not want to employ an array of methods to conquer the great red dragon, there is no way He would submit to such humiliation, allowing Himself to be subjected to the limitations of man. According to God’s disposition, all that people do and say provokes God’s wrath, and they ought to be chastised. In God’s eyes, not one of them is up to standard, and they all are the ones to be struck down by God. Because of the principles of God’s work in China, and, moreover, because of the nature of the great red dragon, added to which is the fact that China is the country of the great red dragon and the land in which God incarnate resides, God must swallow His anger and conquer all of the spawn of the great red dragon; yet He shall always detest the spawn of the great red dragon—that is, He will always detest all that comes from the great red dragon—and this will never change.

No one has ever been aware of any of God’s actions, nor have His actions ever been looked upon by anything. When God returned to Zion, for example, who was aware of this? Thus, words such as “I quietly come among man, and then I drift away. Has anyone ever seen Me?” show that man does indeed lack the faculties to accept the happenings of the spiritual realm. In the past, God said that when He returns to Zion, “the sun is fiery, the moon is lustrous.” Because people are still preoccupied with God’s return to Zion—because they have yet to let it go—God directly utters the words “the sun is fiery, and the moon is lustrous” to conform with people’s notions. As a result, when people’s notions are struck by God’s words, they behold that God’s actions are so wondrous, and they see that His words are profound, unfathomable, and indecipherable to all; thus, they put this matter completely aside, and feel a little clarity in their spirits, as if God has already returned to Zion, and so people pay no great attention to this matter. From then on, they accept God’s words with one heart and one mind, and no longer fret that catastrophe will strike after God’s return to Zion. Only then is it easy for people to accept God’s words, focusing the entirety of their attention on God’s words, leaving them without the desire to consider anything else.