Fellowship From the Brother Above – January 21, 2025 (Part Six)

How is one to pursue the truth? “Pursuing the truth”—these three words mean to strive toward the truth, to exert all one’s effort to understand all the truths expressed by God and then put them into practice, and through experiencing, practicing, and living them out, ultimately gain the truth. This is what it means to succeed in pursuing the truth. Why must we who believe in God pursue and gain the truth? Some people say, “Is it not enough for me to believe in God and not sin? If I believe in God and do not resist Him, and I am not condemned by God, have I not satisfied God?” To say this is to speak as a layman. If you do not know God and you do not understand the truth, then you may not even know when you have resisted God. If I say you are a person who resists God, will you admit it? You will not. You will say, “How have I resisted God? I have not done evil, nor have I sinned. On what basis do you say I resist God?” You will say such things to rebut me. Therefore, for a person to truly recognize that they resist God is not something they can achieve on their own, and it can only be achieved through pursuing and coming to understand the truth. If you do not understand the truth, you will only speak foolish words and do foolish things. Some people say, “I have believed in the Lord my whole life and I have been a pastor for over thirty years. How can I be a person who resists God?” If you have not gained the truth, even if you believe your whole life, it is a muddled belief, and you are still resisting God and a hypocrite. Some people say, “You say I resist God, but what evidence do you have of this? I refuse to accept it!” Why do they refuse to accept this? Such people do not know God and do not understand the truth. Leaving aside the fact that they do not accept judgment and chastisement, they will not even accept being pruned in just a few words. Such a person, having behaved well in some ways, says they are qualified to be caught up into the kingdom of heaven. Tell me, is this not absurd? (It is.) It is utterly absurd. They are pastors and elders, people with knowledge, and these are the words spoken by these people who have believed in the Lord for many years. Then, most people who believe in the Lord still have blind faith in pastors and elders. What is the problem here? They are people who worship knowledge. If people do not pursue the truth, even if they spend their whole lives believing in the Lord, they will not gain the truth, and their belief will be in vain. There was a high-level intellectual in China, whom most Chinese people greatly worshiped. In his later years, when he was near death, someone asked him, “Have you not gained a lot in your life? What is the greatest thing you have gained?” He said, “I have learned many things in my life, and I do not know how many hundreds of books I have read. What is the greatest thing I have gained? To you I say these eight words: ‘Nothing I have gained, and nothing I am.’ I have gained nothing, and I am nothing.” People didn’t understand what he meant by this. Such a learned person said he had gained nothing and was nothing? What was going on? If a person who understands the truth comments on this matter, it is easy to understand. He truly was nothing and had gained nothing. He was nothing. Is that easy to understand? (Now we understand.) Was he right? (Yes. Without the truth, he was nothing and had gained nothing.) Without the truth, even if you master all the learning in the world, you are still just the same old Satan as ever. Just like Moses, after he had learned all the knowledge of the Egyptians, God could not use him. God said that he was truly impetuous, and in his indignation for the Israelites, Moses killed an Egyptian. You see, people who do not have the truth cannot see through things! So God arranged for Moses to tend sheep in the wilderness for forty years. After forty years, he admitted that he was nothing and became able to rely on God. He gained faith in God and came to submit somewhat, and only then did God begin to use him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. God could only use him once he admitted that he was nothing. If Moses felt that he was very rich, learned, and capable, God could not use him. Therefore, God says He hopes that mankind will pursue the truth and survive. If you do not gain the truth, you are nothing, no matter how much you learn. If you gain the truth, then you have truly gained eternal life, and are of the utmost wisdom. Only thus will God approve of you and make great use of you. Gaining the truth is the most precious thing. Apart from the truth, no matter how much knowledge you gain, it is useless. God does not approve of it. The more knowledge you have, the less God will use you. In the beginning, when the Holy Spirit testified of me, I said I had no knowledge, nor had I studied theology, so how could God use me? For a long time, I did not understand and could not see through this matter. It was not until more than twenty years later that I finally understood that the more knowledge a person has, the less God will use them, because they are not easy to use. A person with too much knowledge does not believe in the moving of the Holy Spirit or in the revelation of the Holy Spirit. With too much knowledge, people can reject all the work of the Holy Spirit. It is very difficult for them to submit to God. They are unable to even obey and submit. Therefore, the more knowledge a person has, the more difficult they are to use, and God does not use such people. At this time, I understood why God used me. I wrote a song with the lyric, “Who could be more fortunate than us, we who have been raised up from the dunghill by God?” I said that I was the one from the dunghill, full of corruption and filth, with little education and no prominent family background. That God could use me was God making an exception to elevate me. What revelation should be gained from this? It is that only by gaining the truth can one attain God’s approval, and only by gaining the truth can one be qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven and attain a wonderful destination. Therefore, God hopes that mankind will pursue the truth and survive. If you do not gain the truth, you cannot survive. If you fill your heart with all the learning of the world, the learning of the Egyptians, the learning of the East, and the learning of the West, then you will be in trouble. You will not be able to gain the truth, and you will be doomed. If you want to gain the truth, you must abandon, discard, and completely deny all these things. Only accept the truth and let the truth become your life, and in this way, you will be able to survive. Look closely at the lyrics of the song “God Wishes Mankind Will Pursue the Truth and Survive,” from the first line to the last, and see what God’s intentions are. God just wants people to gain the truth. It does not matter how many years you have believed in God, what your religious background is, what ethnicity you are of, or how much knowledge you have. God does not want these things. The kingdom of heaven only wants people who have the truth in their hearts, who can worship and submit to God. So, the Lord Jesus said: “Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). What is meant by the likeness of a child? It means that a person does not have those worthless pieces of knowledge inside them, but only the truth and a simple heart that loves and submits to God. They only know how to submit to God, how to worship God, and how to testify to God. They are as simple as a child, speak simply and openly, and do things truthfully and sincerely. That is enough. When I measure myself by this statement, I see that I do not have that much knowledge, and I speak relatively simply and directly. No wonder God uses me. If I had a lot of knowledge, and I spoke to you today in a literary style, and everything I said was filled with theoretical knowledge, would you feel that what I said to you was practical? Would it be easy to understand? You see that I do not have much knowledge, and the language I use is everyday language, and all my words are truthful and from the heart. In this way, it is easy to achieve results when doing the work entrusted by God and doing my duty as a human, is it not? (It is.) Therefore, if you want to gain the truth, do not worship knowledge. The more you worship and pursue knowledge, the more it will hinder you, thereby keeping you from understanding the truth and gaining the truth. If you do not gain the truth, can you gain eternal life?

What is the relationship between the truth and the life? When the Lord Jesus came to work, He said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” In the last days, Almighty God has come and also said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Both incarnations of God testify of Themselves in this way when They work. Why does God always say: “I am the way, the truth, and the life”? This is spoken according to the needs of corrupt mankind. What does corrupt mankind need most? First is the truth, second is to walk the true path of life, and third is the life. If you do not have the truth and do not follow God, can you walk the true path of life? You cannot. And if you cannot do this, how can you gain eternal life? The truth, the way, and the life—these are the three key things that corrupt mankind lacks most. These are the three fundamentals of conducting oneself. The Lord Jesus also said: “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life” (John 3:36). What does “believes on the Son” refer to? It means to believe in the incarnate God, that is, to believe in Christ. Christ is the Messiah, and when Christ comes, it is actually the Messiah who has come. The Messiah is Christ. Then is Christ a spiritual body? (He is not.) Christ is the Son of man, born of man. The Son of man is Christ, and a spiritual body is not Christ. Then why can one gain eternal life by believing in the incarnate God? Because the incarnate God can have contact with people, live with people, speak directly to mankind, and work to lead mankind. If you follow such a Son of man, who expresses all truths, you will have the opportunity to experience these truths and ultimately gain them. If you gain, enter into, and live out these truths, then you will have gained eternal life. What does it mean to gain eternal life? It means you will never die. Those who have gained eternal life will never die. Some people say, “When the flesh reaches a certain age, does it not have to die?” The flesh is just a piece of clothing a person wears. When it reaches a certain age, it will die, but that person’s spirit will never die. Some people say, “Is it not true that the spirits of nonbelievers also never die?” That is not right. Some spirits are destroyed, such as the spirits and souls of the people of Sodom. Their spirits, souls and bodies were completely destroyed thousands of years ago, and the spirits, souls and bodies of the great red dragon will also be completely destroyed, as will the spirits, souls and bodies of all those who resist God—this wicked mankind, the leaders of the religious world, and the Pharisees. What sin did these people commit? They nailed God to the cross. This is the sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, and it will not be forgiven in this world or in the world to come. When it is said that it will not be forgiven in this world or in the world to come, it means that the spirit, soul and body will be completely destroyed. The destruction of the body means that the body is gone, and that it is dead, but how are the spirit and soul destroyed? Only God can do this. God has a way to destroy them. What kind of fire was the fire that destroyed Sodom? It was a fire of brimstone. The fire of brimstone does not just burn man’s body. It also destroys, burns, and ruins the spirit and soul. Everything in the world has a cause, and major events in particular are under the sovereignty and arrangements of God’s hands. Those who resist God will surely suffer retribution! Tell me, if people do not pursue the truth, can they avoid sinning? (They cannot. People have a sinful nature, and they cannot help but sin.) The truth is what God has and is, the truth is God’s expression, and God’s words represent God’s authority. What does this mean? It means that no one can change the truth, that no one can violate the truth, and that no one can overthrow the truth. The truth reigns forever. Therefore, all the words that God utters are the truth. God’s words carry authority, and no one can deny or overthrow them. They will ultimately be accomplished. This is the value and significance of the truth. The truth is forever the truth, and no one can overthrow it. Whoever violates or resists the truth will meet with only one outcome—destruction! At the very least, this means death, and at the worst, the destruction of all their spirit, soul and body. Therefore, the truths expressed by God in any age are forever established. Remember this! The truth will never become outdated. For example, God says: “I like honest people, and you should be honest people.” Then what is the significance of being an honest person? God likes honest people, so we must be honest people. Is it okay if we are not? What is the consequence of not being an honest person? It is destruction. If you are not an honest person, you will die. If you are an honest person, you will have God’s blessings, you will be able to survive, and you will have a good testimony. If you can cast off your corrupt disposition, truly submit to God, and submit to Him absolutely, you will never die. This is the authority of God’s words, and no one can overthrow or change this. Some people, after practicing the truth, say, “Why have I not seen God’s blessings after practicing the truth? Why have I not received any benefits?” Although you cannot see any material benefits or gains, if one day when the great catastrophes arrive, the people around you all die but you are spared and survive, is this not the result of practicing the truth? If you truly practice the truth and live out the truth, the blessings you receive will be infinite. If you do not live by the truth, by God’s words, then your outcome will be the same as that of nonbelievers, and you will still die. You say, “Why have I not yet seen God’s blessings after practicing the truth?” What do true blessings refer to? Is being rewarded with a million dollars a blessing? Tell me, which is the true blessing: not dying in the great catastrophes or being rewarded with a million dollars? (Not dying in the great catastrophes.) The true blessing is a good destination, which is gaining eternal life, never dying. Gaining a reward of a million dollars is God’s grace. Material blessings have no value, and once they are spent, they are gone. Those who believe in the Lord all like to enjoy God’s grace, saying, “It is so good that we believe in the Lord Jesus. If we encounter difficulties that we cannot solve, our ultimate support is the Lord Jesus. We pray to the Lord.” You see, what do they believe in the Lord for? It is for material benefits, for healing from sickness, for a successful career, and for fame, gain, and status. Such people only want to enjoy God’s grace, but they cannot receive God’s blessings. God does not like such people. It is already good enough that He gives you some grace. Because you have labored, and because you have proclaimed the name of the Lord Jesus, God gives you some grace, but it is impossible for God to bless you. You must submit to the will of the heavenly Father to receive blessings. So what does it mean to submit to God’s will? In the last days, accepting Almighty God’s judgment and chastisement and being cleansed is God’s will. If you want to truly repent, but you do not accept Almighty God’s judgment and chastisement, and you do not accept the truth, then your repentance will forever be nothing more than empty words, hypocrisy, and deception. Truly understanding the truth can lead to true repentance. The truth is like a mirror that exposes that which is corrupt. The more you understand the truth, the more you see your own corruption. The deeper you understand the truth, the deeper you can know your own corruption. The deeper you know yourself, the deeper you can repent. When you have seen through to your own nature essence, you can accept the truth, transform completely, and start afresh as a new person. What is the relationship between knowing oneself and true repentance? It is a direct relationship. If you do not understand the truth, can you know yourself? (No.) A few years ago, I always asked some brothers and sisters, “Do God’s chosen people in various countries talk about knowing themselves?” Some people said, “They do not. They acknowledge that God has become incarnate, and they acknowledge that this is the true way, but it seems they do not acknowledge that they have corrupt dispositions. They only acknowledge that they have done some things badly, thinking that as long as they confess their sins to God, this is enough. They do not know themselves, and they still claim to love the Lord most. They do not have life entry.” I said that if they do not have life entry, it is hard to say whether they can survive. At this New Year’s variety performance showcase, I saw some brothers and sisters from various countries talk a little about their experiential testimonies. They had some knowledge of themselves, they acknowledged that they had corrupt dispositions, and they acknowledged that they were arrogant. Although they could not practice the truth, they said they would strive upward. I saw that these people had made progress, that they had begun to have life entry, and that they had laid a foundation. This is a good thing. In addition, these people are also energetic in preaching the gospel and in the work of spreading the gospel. They all expressed their determination to spread the gospel of Almighty God throughout their own countries, so that more of God’s sheep can return to God. These people are enthusiastic in preaching the gospel, and this is a result achieved by God’s words. These people have already laid a foundation, and God is also very happy to see these experiential testimonies. I wanted to find an opportunity to chat and fellowship with brothers and sisters from various countries, and today I have found this opportunity.