Fellowship From the Brother Above – February 2, 2026 (Part Nine)

Question 18: Some people are quite active when they first start believing, and they also express a willingness to do their duty after the significance of this is fellowshipped with them. However, when it actually comes time to pay a price to do their duty, they often make excuses, saying they are too busy with work and have no time. This slows the progress of cultivating them. Is there a problem with the people we’ve chosen, or is it because we haven’t fellowshipped the truths regarding duty clearly enough? How should we help them understand the significance of doing their duty so that they can truly pay a price in their duty?

Answer: Many people today do not understand the truth. They do not know what the significance of doing their duty is, and they think, “Believing in God just means attending gatherings and reading God’s words—why must we also do a duty?” This is what they think in their hearts. If they have this view, will they have any drive in doing their duty? Will they be willing to do their duty? (No.) Even if they do a duty, they will just do it perfunctorily. What exactly is the problem here? It is that they are not clear on the truth and have no knowledge of God’s work. So, how should you fellowship with them? You should say, “The aim of God’s work of judgment in the last days is to cleanse our corrupt dispositions and perfect us so we may gain the eternal life bestowed upon us by God. And by what means does the work of judgment achieve results? Through the performance of your duty. The process of accepting God’s commission and doing your duty is the process of gaining the truth, and it is also the process of being cleansed and attaining salvation. If you do not do your duty and just say that you believe in Almighty God, then your corrupt dispositions will not be cleansed, and there will be no way for you to attain salvation. Therefore, God’s work in the last days—of judgment and chastisement and of cleansing and saving people—achieves its results through created beings doing their duty and experiencing His work. If you do not do your duty, you cannot be cleansed by God; if you do not do your duty, you will not gain the truth; if you do not do your duty, you will not gain God’s approval—and in this way, you will not be qualified to attain salvation.” If you explain this matter thoroughly, that will be enough. Some people will be unconvinced, and they will say, “According to what you’re saying, believing in Almighty God means we must do our duty, and if we don’t do our duty, then we can’t attain salvation? That’s not necessarily true. In your belief in God, you read God’s words—I also read God’s words in my spare time, and I also experience the judgment and chastisement of God’s words. How can you say that I won’t gain the truth if I don’t do my duty?” You see, if you do not explain things clearly, people will be unconvinced. We cannot hand down judgment and say that you will certainly not gain the truth if you do not do your duty, but you will certainly gain less truth, and your experience will certainly be shallow. If you do not do your duty and don’t cooperate with others as you serve, it will not be easy for your corrupt dispositions to be cleansed. It is only through cooperating with others in your duty that you can do your duty well and satisfy God. You cannot shoulder the work on your own; you must cooperate harmoniously with others before you can do the work well. However, there is always a period of adjustment when two people start to cooperate. When corrupt dispositions are revealed, people need to seek the truth to resolve them, and only then can they cooperate harmoniously in doing their duty. Only then can the two people truly love one another, be united in spirit, and be of one heart and mind. If two people can achieve being of one heart and mind in their cooperation, are they not living out normal humanity? (They are.) Then tell me, what problem does the process of achieving harmonious cooperation resolve? Primarily, it resolves the problem of corrupt dispositions; it resolves the problem of people being arrogant and self-righteous and refusing to yield to anyone; and it resolves the problem of people acting in isolation and being unable to cooperate with anyone. When people achieve harmonious cooperation, all these corrupt dispositions are resolved. In the end, they are able to cooperate harmoniously with anyone, and they are able to treat others’ strengths and weaknesses correctly in their interactions with them. They are able to treat people fairly, and they have love, tolerance, and patience for others. Is this not living out a human likeness? (It is.) Say you do your duty without cooperating with others. How much of your own corruption can you recognize? How will your corrupt dispositions be cast off? You only verbally say that you have recognized them, but does recognizing them mean you can cast them off? Even if you recognize them, you cannot cast them off. You still have to cooperate with others and go through a process of adjusting to one another for a period of time. When you cooperate with others again and corruption is revealed once more, causing you to look down on others again, then you must reflect on and know yourself, and experience pruning, trials, and refinements. Only in this way can you gradually cast off your corrupt dispositions and practice a bit of the truth. Over time, you will be able to cooperate harmoniously with anyone, and you will even be able to show understanding and treat people of poor caliber who do not pursue the truth with love. This is living out normal humanity. Therefore, harmonious cooperation can resolve many corrupt dispositions. Furthermore, if you can expend yourself for God and suffer and pay a price, and can put your life on the line at critical moments, then you will develop devotion. Some people retreat at any difficulty; they retreat at the mere sight of difficulty and shrink back when things get tough. They cannot endure hardship and are especially fragile. If these problems are also resolved through doing their duty, this is a result they have achieved by doing their duty. Therefore, there are so many corrupt dispositions and negative things that you can resolve while doing your duty—these are all problems that can only be resolved through doing your duty. If you do not do your duty and just believe in God in your spare time at home, then no matter how many years you believe for, you will never be able to cast off your corrupt dispositions or change your corrupt nature. Therefore, doing your duty is so important! Doing your duty can resolve so many problems connected to corruption, and allow you to enter so many truth realities! If you do not do your duty, what you gain will be very limited, and your life entry will be very shallow. Is this not how it is? (It is.) Once you have spoken to them about this issue thoroughly, and they understand that they truly will not gain the truth if they do not do their duty, and that gaining the truth and achieving a change in disposition can only be achieved through doing their duty—once they have truly seen this clearly, they will say, “Oh, with the way I’m believing, I might truly gain very little of the truth. My life disposition hasn’t changed that much. I’ve only recognized my corrupt dispositions but haven’t yet been able to cast them off. Whether I can attain salvation or gain God’s approval is really hard to say.” You see, once they recognize these things, they will bear a burden in their duty. They will have to pray and ask God to open a path so that they, too, can do a duty. Some people might be unconvinced, and say, “I’ll just believe in God in my spare time; it won’t interfere with my job or with supporting my family, and I’ll still be able to gain the truth and be perfected!” If they truly dare to say this—well, we’ll have to wait and see. When the time comes and they haven’t gained the truth or attained salvation, it will be too late for regrets; once this time is missed, it will not come again. When the great catastrophes descend, you won’t be able to find another opportunity to do your duty, and if you want to experience God’s work again, you won’t have the chance. Once the time has passed, the gate of grace will close. So, just how important is doing your duty? It decides your fate; it decides your outcome. Look at the experiential testimonies of the brothers and sisters—have they not all come from experiences they had while they were doing their duty? (Yes.) Has anyone ever had such experiences while just living their life at home? (No.) Has anyone experienced them while working in the world? (No.) All kinds of corrupt dispositions are revealed while doing your duty; they are also resolved through seeking the truth while doing your duty. You are also pruned while doing your duty. Who prunes you when you work in the world or live your life at home? No one does. It is only when various environments come upon you as you do your duty that you achieve life entry, thereby coming to understand the truth and be saved by God. If you do not do a duty, you will not gain any of these truths, and your life disposition will not be transformed. It can be said that if people do not do their duty, their gains will be very, very minor. How minor? To the point that they cannot cast off their corrupt dispositions or reach the standard for attaining salvation. And what is the most basic standard for attaining salvation? It is being able to cast off your corrupt dispositions, and being able to truly submit to and worship God. This is the most basic standard. If you cannot even cast off your corrupt dispositions, it will be very difficult for you to achieve submission to and worship of God. If you do not do your duty, you will have no life entry, and you won’t be able to cast off your corrupt dispositions; without a change in disposition, you will not reach the standard for attaining salvation. There is one more thing: If you do not do your duty, you will not gain the truth, and the way you see things will not be transformed. You will still look at things like nonbelievers and religious people. In that case, you will have no knowledge of God, and you will still be someone who resists God. Tell me, why is the religious world condemned by God? It is because people in the religious world do not accept God’s work of the last days, and they do not accept the truths expressed by God in the last days. They cannot gain the truth or cast off their sinful nature, so they can still often live in sin and resist God. Gaining the truth is not something that can be achieved just by relying on the few limited words in the Bible. You must rely on all the truths expressed by Almighty God, Christ of the last days. This is precisely what the Lord Jesus prophesied: “When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). If you fail to welcome this “Spirit of truth” who expresses the truth—that is, if you fail to welcome the God who expresses the truth—then it won’t matter how many years you’ve believed in the Lord Jesus; you still won’t be able to cast off your sinful nature. Why does God say that the gains of those who experience God’s work in the last days surpass the gains of Moses and Peter? Who among the people of the Age of Law or the Age of Grace could gain more than Moses or Peter? No one could surpass their gains. The gains of those who experience this stage of work in the last days surpass those of even the people who had the most knowledge of God in the Age of Law and the Age of Grace. Just think, then, how great the results achieved by God’s work of judgment in the last days must be! If you fail to welcome the God who expresses the truth, will your gains compare to those of Moses or Peter? If your gains cannot compare to those of Moses or Peter, then you will be eliminated, and your outcome is sure to be destruction. If you cannot see this clearly, you are truly foolish! Therefore, if people in the religious world—whether they are pastors and elders or ordinary believers—fail to see that the Spirit of truth has expressed so many truths and fail to welcome the Spirit of truth, they are the greatest fools, the most ignorant of people.

Question 19: We are currently training to do our duties independently. However, when we follow up on the work, some gospel preachers remain silent or do not cooperate actively, yet they respond actively and are willing to cooperate when Chinese brothers and sisters follow up on the work. This situation affects the enthusiasm of the local brothers and sisters for doing their duties and also affects the progress of the work. What is the root cause of this problem? How can this situation be changed?

Answer: Tell me, do people like this bear a burden in their duty? If they truly bore a burden, they wouldn’t care who was following up on the work; they would only think about how they could achieve better results in their duty. If they listen when a Chinese brother or sister follows up, but not when a local leader does, this shows they are not people who pursue the truth and that they bear no burden in their duty. Can we say this? (Yes.) If you truly bear a burden for doing your duty well and doing the work of the local church well, do you really need a Chinese brother or sister to prompt you? Why can’t you cooperate harmoniously with the local brothers and sisters? If you listen when a Chinese person prompts you but not when a local church leader does, then you are not someone who truly submits to God’s work. If you are a person who truly submits to God’s work, then you should submit to anyone who says things that are right, in line with the truth, and that accord with God’s intentions, whoever they are. Even if a three-year-old says something that is in line with the truth, you should accept and submit to it. This is truly submitting to the truth and to God. If you cannot submit to the truth, you are not a person who truly submits to God. Some people listen when I speak, but not when an ordinary leader or worker does. What is the problem here? They are people who submit to status and power. They submit to whoever has status or power, not to whoever has the truth. They don’t have this principle within them. Some people submit to whoever speaks in accordance with the truth. They don’t care if the person speaking is an ordinary brother or sister or a leader or worker; as long as what that person says is in line with the truth, they accept and submit. Such people can absolutely submit to the truth, and they are people who truly submit to God. Can you see this clearly? (We can.) From their manifestations, then—listening to what a Chinese leader says but not what a local leader says—it is clear that they are not someone who truly submits to God. A person who truly submits to God listens to anyone as long as what they say is in line with the truth; otherwise, they do not listen. Therefore, if what a Chinese leader says does not align with the truth, they wouldn’t listen to them, and if what a local leader says is in line with the truth, they would listen to them. Such a person is someone who truly submits to God. You see, are there principles in submitting to God? (There are.) Submitting to status and to power is not a truth principle; submitting to the truth and what comes from God—this is the principle. So, do you have this principle in your submission? If you do not, you are not someone who submits to God. Now, everyone, reflect on yourselves: Are you truly someone who submits to God? If you are not, then you are in danger; it is hard to say whether you will ultimately attain salvation. If, in your duty, you submit to status and power and not the truth, you will not gain God’s approval. If God does not approve of you, what use is there in submitting to status and power? If you are someone who submits to status and power—you listen to whoever has status and power, and you don’t listen to those who don’t, even if what they say is in line with God’s words and the truth—you are not someone who submits to God, but rather someone who resists God. The Pharisees were people of this kind. They submitted to status and power but not to the truth. They did not listen to the truths expressed by the Lord Jesus, yet they listened to whatever the chief priests and scribes said. They listened to words that violated the truth—even words that judged Jesus. So were these people not submitting to devils and Satans? (They were.) Once someone submits to status and power instead of the truth, it is equivalent to them being a person who submits to devils and Satans. They are not a person who submits to God. What do you think of this way of dissecting the essence of this problem? (It’s good.)

Question 20: Although some gospel preachers have been training to testify for a year or two, their professional skills have remained stagnant—they haven’t improved at all. When testifying, they just read from a script or speak mechanically, which sounds dull and unengaging. How can we cultivate gospel preachers so that they focus on improving their professional skills?

Answer: Can someone do their duty well if they do not pursue the truth? (No.) Are they doing their duty if they are just reading from a script or spouting words and doctrines when testifying? (No, they are laboring.) Can a laborer be approved of by God for doing their duty in this way? (No.) They will certainly be eliminated. A person like this does not pursue the truth. It is very dangerous for them to do their duty in this way, for they are prone to being eliminated by God. If they do not turn things around, they will be in trouble. So, how can the problem of spouting words and doctrines be resolved? It must be resolved through pursuing the truth. And how do you pursue the truth? You must train more. If, when preaching the gospel and testifying to God, you never put things in your own words and merely follow a script, or you just read out or recite a passage of words to people, that will not do. You must have a practical understanding of what you are speaking about. Everything fellowshipped on in a sermon script is the truth. When you take a script and read it, are you just mechanically reading it, or are you focusing on understanding the truth within it? If you focus on understanding the truth discussed in the script, can you not then use your own words to fellowship on it? Don’t you have your own thoughts? You should contemplate God’s words until you understand them and then express them in your own words, using everyday language. This is how you should train yourself. If you train well and can express yourself in your own words, no longer reading from a script or spouting words and doctrines, and you fellowship on that aspect of the truth in your own everyday language, then your fellowship will be practical, and people will find it pleasant to listen to and easy to understand. If you are always reading from a script, people will find it stilted and won’t want to listen, because they can tell that it doesn’t come from your heart and isn’t practical. Therefore, if you do not understand the truth, you must first equip yourself with the truth before you testify, so that you can speak in your own words. Look at the protagonist in the movie Meeting the Lord During the Catastrophes—when he is preaching the gospel to Elder Wang, what does Elder Wang say? He says, “You don’t need to say anything else. Just explain clearly why the Lord had to become incarnate for His return, and I’ll believe in God with you!” You see, is spouting words and doctrines of any use? People won’t listen to any doctrine you preach; they just want you to explain why God became incarnate. So, what should you say? How should you express the truth of the incarnation in your own everyday language? You should say, “God becomes incarnate based on the needs of His work. Why did the Lord Jesus have to become incarnate in the past? It was because the stage of work God was going to do was that of redemption, and the work of redemption required Him to be crucified as a sin offering. Only if God clothed Himself in flesh to perform this work could He redeem mankind’s sins, because the incarnate God was conceived of the Holy Spirit and was without sin. God used His sinless flesh to redeem corrupt mankind’s sins—was this not His love?” If they acknowledge that it was God’s love, then you should continue, “Was the Lord Jesus’ incarnation not a requirement of the work? If He had not become incarnate, He could not have been a sin offering, and He could not have completed the work of redeeming mankind. In the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus became incarnate because of the needs of the work. Why, then, must God become incarnate to perform the work of judgment and chastisement in the last days? What are the intended results of God’s work of judgment? It intends to achieve the results of saving corrupt mankind from Satan’s influence and helping them cast off their corrupt dispositions so that they may truly submit to God. Therefore, to perform this stage of work, God must live with people, eating, living, and gathering with them, and fellowshipping and speaking with them every day. This work takes a long time. From God’s perspective, becoming incarnate is like entering a tiger’s den to save people. By becoming incarnate in the country of the great red dragon, God has entered a tiger’s den to save a group of the descendants of the great red dragon. God predestined that He would save this group of people, and so He had to become incarnate to perform this work. People have the opportunity to gain the truth and life because the incarnate God expresses the truth. By eating and drinking God’s words to understand the truth, people gradually come to know the practical God. God uses His incarnate flesh to express the truth to conquer mankind. And what results are to be achieved by conquering mankind? To enable people to accept God’s words, to understand the truth, and finally to know this incarnate God and be of one mind with Him and follow His will. Through this, God also gains a group of people who truly submit to and worship Him; by this means, He shames and defeats Satan. God can only achieve this result by working in the flesh. If He appeared and worked in the form of a spiritual body, it would not be easy for Him to say so many words, and it would not be easy to achieve the result of conquering and saving mankind. Therefore, the work of judgment in the last days must be performed by the incarnate God Himself. Furthermore, many people do not accept the incarnate God’s work because His flesh is ordinary and normal. No matter how many truths this flesh expresses, they do not accept them, and this directly reveals and eliminates them. In this way, all those who do not love the truth are eliminated. On the other hand, those who love the truth can accept the incarnate Almighty God upon hearing the truths expressed by the Son of man, and under God’s personal shepherding and watering, these people cast off their corrupt dispositions, achieving the results of knowing, submitting to, and worshiping God. This is how God has made a group of overcomers on earth. Therefore, God chose to become incarnate to perform this stage of work in the last days, which is a requirement of the work. God had to become incarnate to complete this stage of work.” Once you have fellowshipped in this way, it will be easy for them to understand and easy for them to accept God’s work of the last days. No matter what aspect of the truth you’re fellowshipping on, you cannot just fellowship on theory; you must express your own understanding and knowledge of that truth in your everyday language. That way, when potential gospel recipients hear this, it will be easy for them to understand and accept. So, you must practice and train in this way, and gradually, you will achieve results when you testify.

Let’s end our fellowship here for today. Goodbye! (Goodbye, brother!)