Only With Fear of God Can One Tread Upon the Path of Salvation (Part One)
Those who have no God-fearing hearts will not change, no matter how long they believe in Him. Only those who fear God can obtain the work of the Holy Spirit and step onto the path of salvation. How crucial it is, for man to have a God-fearing heart! Why do some people never come to know themselves? It is because they have no God-fearing hearts. Why are some people never able to obtain the work of the Holy Spirit? It is because they have no God-fearing hearts. Only those who have God-fearing hearts are able to often self-reflect and come to know themselves; they are always afraid of making mistakes or walking down the wrong road. When things happen to them that require them to make choices, they would rather offend man than offend God, and they would rather suffer persecution than distance themselves from God or betray Him. Job was a man who feared God and shunned evil, and he received God’s approval.
So, where must your experience begin, if you would attain salvation in your belief in God? You must start by accepting God’s judgment and chastisement, attaining a true knowledge of yourself, and truly repenting—this is stepping onto the path of salvation. It is not easy for people to know themselves; it is even more difficult for them to know their own corrupt disposition and essence, to know how small and insignificant they are before God, before the Creator. If people cannot know their own corrupt dispositions or what their corrupt essence is, will they then know what kind of relationship they have with God, their measure before God, or whether God likes them? (They will not.) So what have they obtained after all these years of believing in God? Have they obtained the truth? Have they stepped onto the path of salvation? If, after coming to believe in God, they eat and drink His words, live a church life, and perform their duty, does that amount to having a relationship with God? What can a person do, what should they pursue, what position should they stand in, and how should they choose their path, in order to have a relationship with the Creator? Do you know? You cannot answer. It seems you lack too much, which means that you do not focus on seeking or fellowshipping about the truth in many things you do not understand, so your church life is lacking in specifics, and the results thereof cannot possibly be very good. You have on your lips the spiritual terms and sayings that are often spoken in believing in God, but you do not take them seriously, nor do you return to your own spirit and quiet your heart to ponder: “What do these words that God said mean? How do I apply them in my real life? How do I make these words concrete—how do I turn them into reality? What can I do so that these words do not stop at doctrine and theory, but become a part of my life, become the direction in which I walk? How must I behave so that God’s words become a part of my life?” If you can ponder such things, you will be able to reason out many details. But in general, you never ponder such things, so for the majority of the truths commonly spoken about, you stop at a literal understanding. If people stop at a literal understanding, what will others be able to see about them? People often preach about spiritual theories, spiritual terminology, and spiritual sayings, but in their lives, you cannot see the reality of them putting God’s words into practice or experiencing God’s words. Today, you face a very large problem. What problem is that? It is that, because you are capable of preaching a little doctrine, and have a grasp of certain spiritual sayings, and can talk a little about your experiences of knowing yourselves, you think that you understand the truth, that your faith in God has reached a certain level, that you are above most people, but in fact, you have not entered the truth reality, and without people to support and provide for you, without people to fellowship the truth to you and guide you, you would come to a standstill, and grow dissolute. You are incapable of undertaking the work of testifying to God, you are not able to complete God’s commission, yet inside, you still have a high opinion of yourselves, you think that you understand more than most people—but in fact, you lack stature, you have not entered the truth reality, and have grown arrogant merely from being able to understand a few words and doctrines. As soon as people enter this kind of state, when they think they have already gained the truth, and become complacent, what kind of danger are they in? If a glib-tongued false leader or antichrist really does appear, you will undoubtedly be misled and start following them. This is dangerous, is it not? You are liable to be arrogant, self-righteous, and complacent—in which case, will you not stray from God? Will you not betray God and go your own way? You do not have the truth reality, and you are unable to testify to God; you can only testify to yourselves and flaunt yourselves—so are you not in danger? Additionally, if you are mired in this circumstance, what corrupt dispositions will you reveal? First of all, you will reveal an arrogant and self-righteous disposition; that goes without saying. Will you not also pull rank and flaunt your seniority? Will you not lecture people from on high? If you reveal these corrupt dispositions, will God not detest you? If someone is especially arrogant and self-righteous, and they do not self-examine, then is it not possible that God will spurn them? It is truly very possible. For example: You may have performed your duties for several years, but there has been no discernible progress in your life entry, you merely understand a few superficial doctrines, and have no true knowledge of the disposition and essence of God, no breakthroughs to speak of—if this is your stature today, what will you be liable to do? What revelations of corruption will you have? (Arrogance and conceitedness.) Will your arrogance and conceitedness intensify, or remain unchanged? (They will intensify.) Why will they intensify? (Because we will think ourselves highly qualified.) And on what basis do people judge the level of their own qualifications? On how many years they have performed a certain duty, on how much experience they have gained, is it not? And with this being the case, will you not gradually start thinking in terms of seniority? For example, a certain brother has believed in God for many years and performed a duty for a long time, so he is the most qualified to speak; a certain sister has not been here long, and although she has a little caliber, she is not experienced in performing this duty, and hasn’t believed in God for long, so she is the least qualified to talk. The person who is most qualified to speak thinks to themselves, “Since I have seniority, that means the performance of my duty is up to standard, and my pursuit has reached its peak, and there is nothing I should strive for or enter into. I have performed this duty well, I have more or less completed this work, God should be satisfied.” And in this way they begin to grow complacent. Does this indicate they have entered the truth reality? They have stopped making any progress. They have still not gained the truth or the life, and yet they think themselves highly qualified, and talk in terms of seniority, and wait for God’s reward. Is this not the revelation of an arrogant disposition? When people are not “highly qualified,” they know to be cautious, they remind themselves not to make mistakes; once they believe themselves to be highly qualified, they grow arrogant, and start to have a high opinion of themselves, and are liable to be complacent. At such times, are they not likely to ask for rewards and a crown from God, as Paul did? (Yes.) What is the relationship between man and God? This is not the relationship between the Creator and created beings. It is nothing more than a transactional relationship. And when that is the case, people have no relationship with God, and God will likely hide His face from them—which is a dangerous sign.
Some people set God aside, controlling God’s chosen people themselves, transforming the setting in which people do their duty into an independent kingdom of antichrists; they transform churches that serve God and worship Him into religious organizations. Have these people entered into the truth and life? Do these people follow, serve, or testify of God? They absolutely do not. Are they doing their duty? (No.) So what are they doing? Are they not involved in the operations and enterprises of man? No matter how well you engage in the operations and enterprises of man, if God is not in your heart, and if you do not pursue the truth, then does that not mean that you have no relationship with God? Is that not a terrible thing? When someone believes in God and follows Him, what is most to be feared is that they depart from God’s words and the truth to engage in human operations and human enterprises. To do so is to stray onto one’s own path. Say, for example, that a church elects a leader. This leader knows only how to preach the words and doctrines, and focuses only on their own prestige and status. They do no practical work. Yet you hear them preaching the words and doctrines well, and in accord with the truth, and all they say is right, so you very much admire them and feel them to be a good leader. You heed them in all things and ultimately, you follow them, obeying them completely. Are you not then misled and controlled by a false leader? And has that church not become a religious group with a false leader at its head? The members of a religious group with a false leader as its head may appear to be performing their duties, but are they truly performing their duties? Are they truly serving God? (No.) If those people are not serving God or performing their duties, do they have a relationship with God? Does a gang that has no relationship with God believe in Him? Tell Me, do followers of a false leader or people under the control of an antichrist have the work of the Holy Spirit? Certainly not. And why is it that they do not have the work of the Holy Spirit? Because they have deviated from God’s words, and they do not submit to God or worship Him, but heed false shepherds and antichrists—God spurns them and does no more work on them. They have deviated from God’s words and been spurned by Him, and they have lost the work of the Holy Spirit. So, can they be saved by God? (No.) They cannot, and that means trouble. Therefore, however many people there are in a church performing their duties, whether they can be saved depends crucially on whether they are really following Christ or a person, on whether they are really experiencing God’s work and pursuing the truth or engaging in religious activities, in human operations and human enterprises. It depends crucially on whether they can accept and pursue the truth and on whether they can seek the truth to resolve problems when they discover them. It is these things that are most crucial. What people really pursue and what road they walk, whether they really accept the truth or abandon it, whether they submit to God or resist Him—God is constantly scrutinizing all these things. Every church and every individual is observed by God. No matter how many people there are performing a duty or following God in a church, the moment they depart from God’s words, the moment they lose the work of the Holy Spirit, they cease to experience the work of God, and thus they—and the duty they are performing—have no connection to and no part in God’s work, in which case this church has become a religious group. Tell Me, what are the consequences once a church becomes a religious group? Wouldn’t you say these people are in great danger? They never seek the truth when faced with problems and they don’t act according to the truth principles, but are subject to the arrangements and manipulations of human beings. There are even many who, while performing their duty, never pray or seek the truth principles; they only ask others and do as others say, acting on cues from others. Whatever other people tell them to do, that’s what they do. They feel that praying to God about their problems and truth-seeking is vague and difficult, so they look for a simple, easy solution. They figure that relying on others and doing what others say is easy and most practical, and so they simply do what other people say, asking others and doing as they say in everything. As a result, even after believing for many years, when faced with a problem, they have never once come before God, praying and seeking His desires and the truth, and then achieving an understanding of the truth, and acting and behaving according to God’s intentions—they’ve never had such an experience. Do such people really practice faith in God? I wonder: Why is it that some people, once they have entered a religious group, are so liable to go from believing in God to believing in a person, from following God to following a person? Why do they change so quickly? Why, having believed in God for so many years, would they still heed and follow a person in all things? So many years of belief, yet there has never really been a place for God in their hearts. Of all that they do, none of it ever has anything to do with God, and nothing to do with His words. Their speech, actions, life, dealings with others, handling of matters, even their performance of their duty and service of God, and all their acts and deeds, and all their behaviors, and even each thought and idea that pours forth from them—none of them have anything to do with belief in God, or with His words. Is such a person a sincere believer in God? Can the number of years one has believed in God determine that person’s stature? Can it prove whether their relationship with God is normal? Absolutely not. What is crucial for seeing whether a person sincerely believes in God is looking at whether they can accept God’s words into their heart, and at whether they can live amid His words and experience His work.
Ponder this: As you believe in God, if you just involve yourself in religious rituals and keep some regulations; if you just go through the motions as you perform your duty and act, without focusing on the truth principles; if you only talk about words and doctrines as you fellowship on the truth, but have no practical knowledge; if the words of your fellowship are superficial as you spread the gospel and bear testimony; if you only speak the spiritual words and doctrines to provide for and support people—can you achieve results? If you only pursue outward spirituality as you believe in God, is such belief as yours an experience of God’s work? Can you obtain the truth as you perform your duty this way? Is this true belief in God? (No.) What is true belief in God, really? You may have followed God for many years, read many of His words, listened to more than a few sermons, and understand many doctrines—and of course, some of you have partially entered into the truth reality—but would you dare say that you have already attained the stature of salvation? Can you be sure that you will not again be misled and taken captive by Satan? Can you be sure that you will not again worship and follow man? Can you ensure that you will follow God to the end of the road, that you will absolutely not backtrack, that you will not merely believe in a heavenly, vague God, as religious people do, rather than following the practical God? You may follow the incarnate God, but are you pursuing the truth? Are you capable of achieving true submission to God and knowledge of Him? Are you not still in danger of betraying God? You should ponder all these things. Today, which of your means of belief, views, and states are the same as, or similar to, those of believers in Christianity? In what do you share the same state? If someone who believes in God adheres to the truth as though it were a set of regulations, is their belief not liable to become an engagement in religious ritual? (It is.) Observing religious rituals is really no different from Christianity—those who do so are merely more advanced and have progressed further in terms of teaching and theory, and are a bit more elevated and advanced in their faith. That is all. If belief in God turns into religious belief, into a study of theology, into a set of regulations or rituals, has it not then turned into Christianity? There is a difference between new and old teachings, but if all you do is understand the truth as doctrine, and you do not know how to practice the truth, much less how to experience God’s work—and if, however many years you believe in God, however many hardships you undergo, however many good behaviors you have, what you have is nevertheless not a genuine understanding of the truth, and you have not gained the truth or entered the truth reality—then is your mode of belief not that of Christianity? Is that not the essence of Christianity? (Yes.) So, what views or states do you have in your actions or the performance of your duty that are similar to those of Christians, or the same as theirs? (We adhere to regulations and equip ourselves with the words and doctrines.) Adherence to regulations, preaching the words and doctrines, regarding the truth as the words and doctrines—what else? (We focus on doing work, not life entry.) You focus only on exerting yourselves, not on gaining life or entering into the truth reality—what else? (We focus on the appearance of spirituality and good behavior.) You’ve said a bit now, so I’ll summarize: to pursue the appearance of good behavior, and to try mightily to wrap oneself in a veneer of spirituality, and to do things that people hold to be correct in their notions and imaginings, things that people tend to endorse—this is a pursuit of false spirituality. Such a person is a hypocrite who stands on their soapbox to preach the words and doctrines, who instructs others to do good deeds and to be good people, who poses as a spiritual person. Yet in their dealings with others and handling of matters, and their performance of their duty, they never seek the truth, but live by satanic dispositions. Whatever befalls them, they go by their own will, putting God off to the side. They never act according to the truth principles; they merely adhere to regulations. They do not understand the truth at all, nor do they understand God’s intentions, or the standards of His requirements for man, or what He will achieve by saving man. They never look seriously into these details of the truth or ask about them. All that these sayings and behaviors of man reveal is the stuff of hypocrisy. Having looked at the true states in such people’s hearts along with their outward behavior, one can be certain that they have nothing of the truth reality, that they are in fact hypocritical Pharisees, that they are disbelievers. If someone believes in God but does not pursue the truth, is their belief genuine? (No.) Can someone who believes in God for however many years, but who does not accept the truth at all, come to fear God and shun evil? (No.) They cannot achieve that. What, then, is the nature of the outward behavior of such people? What kind of path can they walk? (The path of the Pharisees.) With what do they spend their days equipping themselves? Is it not with words and doctrines? They spend their days arming themselves, dressing themselves up with words and doctrines to make themselves more like the Pharisees, more spiritual, more like people who serve God—just what is the nature of all these deeds? Is it worshiping God? Is it genuine faith in Him? (No, it isn’t.) So, what are they doing? They are deceiving God; they are just going through the steps of a process. They are waving the flag of faith and performing religious rites, attempting to deceive God in order to achieve their aim of being blessed. These people do not worship God at all. In the end, such a group of people will end up just like those within the chapels who supposedly serve God, who supposedly believe in and follow God.
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