Fellowship From the Brother Above – July 1, 2025 (Part Five)

Let’s continue answering this question. Why are most people unwilling to go out and preach the gospel? It’s because preaching the gospel isn’t easy; it’s just too hard! Corrupt mankind doesn’t seek the truth. They live only for personal benefit and to indulge in the comforts of the flesh. If you were to say to them, “If you believe in Almighty God, I’ll give you a hundred dollars every day,” or, “If you believe in Almighty God, God will immediately grant you whatever you pray for,” they would say, “Really? I’ll believe in Him! I’ll believe in Him right now!” They would believe and accept regardless of whether they have determined this way to be true. Tell me, why are there so many people who believe in the Lord Jesus? It’s because in the Age of Grace, as long as you believed in the Lord Jesus and accepted Him as your Savior, the Lord would grant any grace you asked for. As long as you prayed to God, He would fulfill your request. That’s why people acknowledged that the Lord Jesus is the true God, and that’s how many people came to believe in Him. Now, when we preach the gospel and testify to God, some people ask, “If I have difficulties, can Almighty God resolve them for me? If I don’t have a job, can Almighty God find one for me? If I’m sick, can Almighty God heal me? If Almighty God resolves all these problems for me, then I’ll simply have to believe in Him!” Are there many people who think this way? (Yes.) Most people have this kind of intention. Even if they don’t say it, that’s what they’re thinking in their hearts. When they see that you have testified for a few days, and it is all fellowship on the truth—all about getting people to believe in, pursue, and gain the truth—what do they say to themselves?” How much money will I get for practicing the truth? How many benefits will I get for pursuing the truth? How many of my problems will be solved if I gain the truth? If I can’t get these things, I’m not going to pursue the truth. Don’t even think about making me accept the truth!” Isn’t this the mentality of a nonbeliever? (It is.) That’s why there are many among corrupt mankind who believe in Jesus, but few who believe in Almighty God. Why are there so few who believe in Almighty God? It’s because Almighty God only expresses the truth, only wants people to gain the truth, and only wants people to do their duty. Gaining the truth takes time, doing one’s duty takes even more time, and there’s no profit in it at all. So people think, “Why should I do this? What profit is in it for me?” What people seek to gain is profit, not the truth. They don’t know that the truth is life—eternal life. They can’t see this matter clearly, so they don’t believe. If you testify to them about Almighty God’s work of the last days, they’ll say, “If I believe in Almighty God, can He heal my sickness? If He can heal my sickness, then I’ll believe in Him.” Or, “My family is struggling financially. If Almighty God can solve our financial problems, then I’ll believe in Him.” This is the kind of thing such people say, but we don’t make such promises to them; we just fellowship on the truth and testify to God. After listening to you testifying for a few days, without seeing God bestow any grace on them or receiving any tangible, visible blessings, they lose their enthusiasm and don’t want to listen anymore. So, can you now see clearly why so few people believe in Almighty God? (We can.) Very few people among this deeply corrupt mankind love the truth, and very few can recognize the value of the truth. People are shortsighted; they only see the profit right in front of their noses and cannot see the eternal blessings of the future. Therefore, they are all foolish, ignorant, and stubborn. Is this not correct? (It is.) Can religious people see this matter clearly? They cannot. Only when the great disasters begin, when great earthquakes and tsunamis suddenly strike them and they are just a minute away from death, will they say, “If I believe in Almighty God now, can I avoid death?” But it will be too late; it will all be too late. At that point, you’d be believing in Almighty God just to avoid death, not because you love the truth, so you would surely die. Tell me, is gaining the truth such an easy thing? (Gaining the truth is not an easy thing.) Then what does Almighty God mean when He says “The road to the kingdom is not so smooth”? It means that it is not easy to gain the truth and life, and it is not easy to achieve a change in disposition. Achieving a change in disposition means that you are able to seek and practice the truth in every matter, you can be loyal to God, and ultimately, you live your entire life to complete God’s commission and to follow God’s will. Then your disposition will have changed, you will be someone who truly submits to God, and you will have a share in the kingdom of Christ. If your life is not lived to follow God’s will, but for your flesh, for your career, or for the pursuit of fame and gain, then you are destined for destruction. You are of the vile sort who resist God. Therefore, no matter how great a person’s career is or how high their reputation, what will their outcome be if they do not accept Almighty God’s salvation? The final outcome for all who do not accept the truth and Almighty God’s work of the last days is to die during the catastrophes. Recently, the war between Russia and Ukraine has escalated again, with both sides resorting to large-scale bombing. Tell me, what is the consequence of this bombing? Not only are buildings destroyed, but many people are killed. There is no war in China for now, but many workers in the major cities of southern China have lost their jobs. Many can’t even afford to stay in a hotel and are sleeping outdoors. Subsequently, some have died after contracting plagues, some have collapsed and died while walking, and some have starved to death because they had no money for food. So, many people are dying in China right now. But the Chinese media doesn’t report on this; the CCP doesn’t allow it, so no one on the outside knows the real situation. The movie Meeting the Lord During the Catastrophes, produced by God’s house, talks about some of these facts, like how the rivers in China are severely polluted and many villages have no clean water to drink. People who drink the contaminated water get strange diseases, and some villages have become “cancer villages,” where many people have died. So don’t be fooled by the fact that there’s no war in China right now; many people are dying every day, definitely not just dozens, and definitely not just hundreds. Tell me, is this not a disaster? (It is.) Then tell me, if people don’t pursue the truth, is it not the case that they may die at any time, in any place? People who don’t pursue the truth may die at any moment. What does it mean when God says: “God wishes mankind will pursue the truth and survive”? It means that if you don’t pursue the truth, you cannot survive. Not pursuing the truth leads to a dead end. Can we say this? (Yes.) Then tell me, after the great catastrophes, who will be the ones to survive? They will all be people who believe in Almighty God, who can pursue the truth, and who can do their duty in a way that is up to standard. The nonbelievers will all be dead. The evil people, the devils, and the Satans will all be dead. That will be the final result. At that time, you will see clearly that not pursuing the truth leads to a dead end, with no way out at all. Can you see this matter clearly? (We can.) Then what is the purpose of pursuing the truth? Why must you pursue the truth? This is a very practical question. To be completely honest, isn’t attaining salvation the purpose of believing in God and pursuing the truth? (It is.) And what does attaining salvation mean? Doesn’t it simply mean not dying? If you fail to be saved, then you will surely die. Therefore, we pursue the truth in order to be saved. When a person is saved, it means they will not die. Isn’t that how it is? (It is.)

Some people say, “Many nonbelievers are still alive now, so I’m not convinced that those who believe in Almighty God and pursue the truth will be the only ones who survive.” Well, when the time comes, you can see for yourself if the ones who are left are all believers in Almighty God. However, some people who haven’t believed in Almighty God will also survive. So who are these people who don’t believe in Almighty God but are able to survive? God has spoken on this matter. God says: “As for those whose deeds on earth have not involved Me, they will, because of how they have behaved, continue to exist on the earth under the governance of My sons and My people” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 26). These words are very clear. Nonbelievers whose deeds don’t involve God, and who don’t resist God or do evil, can also survive. They are the ones who will render service in the Age of Millennial Kingdom. Do you understand? (Yes.) This is something you must see clearly. Then, some people may say, “I can’t see this matter clearly. I see that many nonbelievers and believers in the Lord are still alive now, so it’s not necessarily the case that only believers in Almighty God will survive. I’ll wait until I’ve seen that this is true for myself, and then I’ll pursue the truth.” If you wait to pursue the truth until you’ve specifically verified this, won’t it be too late? (It will.) So what caused it to be too late? There is a key issue here: Such a person doesn’t believe that all of God’s words will be accomplished. What do the administrative decrees promulgated by Almighty God say? “Of the human beings within the universe, all those who are of devils will be annihilated. All who worship Satan will fall down amid My burning fire—that is, except for those now within the stream, all will be turned to ashes” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 26). Every word of God will be fulfilled, and every word will be accomplished. If someone doesn’t believe God’s words will be accomplished, it shows their faith in God is too small and they don’t acknowledge God’s almightiness. In that case, they are the most foolish of people—utterly foolish! Every single one of the kingdom’s administrative decrees published by Almighty God will be fulfilled. God said: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). Not a single word spoken by God will be abolished, and not a single one is invalid. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but God’s words shall not. What does this prove? It proves that God’s almightiness is supreme over all! The heavens and earth and all things were accomplished by God’s words. If God causes something to be, it comes into being. If He causes it to exist, it exists. If He causes it to disappear, it disappears. Every word of God will be accomplished. This is God’s almightiness. Therefore, God has said this about His words: “I mean what I say, what I say shall be done, and what I do shall last forever” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 37). This is God’s almightiness and God’s authority. Every word He speaks will surely be accomplished. If you have this faith, will you still wait until after the great catastrophes are over and you have verified God’s words before you pursue the truth? By the time that day truly comes, it will all be too late. You will have been eliminated by then. Look at what the Lord Jesus said to Thomas after He was resurrected from the dead: “Because you have seen Me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). What the Lord Jesus meant by these words was, “If you had believed that I could be resurrected from the dead and that I am the true God before you saw My spiritual body appear, then you would have been blessed. But you insisted on seeing My spiritual body appear to you before acknowledging that I am the true God. That was too late, and you have no blessings!” So now, some people say, “Is it really true that only those who believe in Almighty God and pursue the truth can survive? I’ll have to see what kind of people are actually left after the great catastrophes. If the ones who are left are all believers in Almighty God, then I’ll pursue the truth and expend myself for God.” By that time, won’t it all be too late? (It will.) Aren’t people who think this way very foolish and stubborn? (They are.) Now is the time when people’s faith is tested. Those who do not have true faith in God will all be destroyed in the great catastrophes. Therefore, people must now seize all the time they have to pursue the truth and do their duty, and must have an indomitable spirit in doing their duty. If you constantly have misgivings, thinking, “I don’t have the truth, I can’t fellowship the truth clearly with others, and I can’t accurately find principles of practice. How can I achieve results in my duty?”, or if you become negative and lose your motivation because of some difficulties at home, and you say, “I can only pursue the truth and do my duty when everything in my family life is going well. If there’s even a little difficulty at home, I can’t do my duty”—do you have faith in God? (No.) If people don’t have faith, they can’t gain the truth, and there’s no way for them to attain salvation. There was once a religious preacher named Wang Mingdao. He was arrested by the Chinese Communist Party for his opposition to joining the Three-Self Church. The police told him, “If you sign, agreeing to join the Three-Self Church and submit to the Communist Party, you can go home and even preach in the Three-Self Church in the future. If you don’t agree, then you’ll be sentenced.” He thought to himself at the time, “If I’m in prison the whole time, how will my wife and children live? That just won’t do!” So he signed. As he was walking home after signing, he felt reproach in his heart. “Lord,” he thought, “by doing this, am I compromising with Satan? Am I betraying God? The path the Three-Self Church walks is wrong. The house church is the church that You delight in.” The more he thought about it, the more he felt that what he had done was a betrayal of God and that he had committed a great sin. When he got home, his body gave out and he couldn’t stand up. He wanted to go back and retract his signature. In the end, he went back to the public security bureau and retracted his signature. The CCP sentenced him, and he spent over twenty years in prison. Tell me, did bearing this testimony for the Lord require suffering? (It did.) Was the price great? (It was.) Is the suffering we endure in preaching the gospel that great? (No.) He could endure such great suffering and stand firm in this testimony, so why can’t we endure a little suffering for the sake of preaching the gospel? What’s the issue here? Do you have loyalty to God? Are you truly submissive? When you’re asked to spend a little time preaching the gospel, you say, “I can’t, my family still has difficulties.” What’s more important, your family life or the gospel work? Since you want to gain the truth, attain salvation, and survive, you must lower your standards for family life a bit and be content with just having food and clothing. If you insist on living a good life, find an average standard of living unacceptable, and consider a slightly lower one even less acceptable, then does this standard of yours align with God’s requirements? Can it satisfy God’s intentions? This is something that requires reflection. Tell me, for how many years has the Communist Party been hunting me? For almost forty years. It started trying to arrest me in 1987 when I came to believe in the Lord. Then, in 1991, when God appeared and began His work, it issued a warrant for my arrest with a reward of five hundred thousand yuan. The Central Committee even issued a secret document, saying I was to be “eliminated quietly.” That’s how the CCP has been hunting me. If the CCP were to capture ordinary brothers and sisters, it might torture them cruelly, forcing them to deny God. If they refused to deny God, it would sentence them, imprison them, or send them to a reeducation through labor camp. But if it were to capture a leader or worker in the church, especially me, would it handle things that way? (No.) If the CCP were to capture me, it would shoot me on the spot, without even an interrogation. It would definitely shoot me to make me disappear. Tell me, was it difficult for me to do my work under these circumstances? (It was.) Every time I attended a gathering, I was filled with fear and apprehension, and I had to pray to God. These people in the CCP are so evil. They want those who believe in and follow God to disappear, but they don’t know that God holds sovereignty over everything and that if God doesn’t permit it, anything they try to do will be in vain! Just as the saying goes, “Man proposes, God disposes.” Isn’t that how it is? (It is.) What the Communist Party does goes against Heaven’s will, runs counter to Heaven, and is utterly perverse. Therefore, it has been cursed by God. Persisting in evil brings about self-destruction.