Fellowship From the Brother Above – September 15, 2025 (Part Two)

Many people now see that the great catastrophes have begun. What does it mean to say that the great catastrophes have begun? It means that the great catastrophes of the last three and a half years, prophesied in the Book of Revelation to destroy humanity, are about to begin. Once the great catastrophes of the last three and a half years begin, how many years will we have to pursue the truth? (Not many.) I don’t know exactly how many years we have left, but in any case, there isn’t much time. We don’t study the prophecies of the Bible. Studying these is a waste of effort. Even if you were to study the Bible your whole life and came to understand the Book of Revelation, could you be saved? (No.) If you thoroughly understand the Book of Revelation, can you enter the kingdom of heaven? (No.) If not, is there any value in spending so much time and energy studying the Bible? (No.) Doing so is utterly worthless! Is this not utter foolishness? (It is.) Therefore, people who are always studying biblical knowledge, the Book of Revelation, and God’s day are just bringing trouble upon themselves for nothing. They are the most foolish of fools! Is this not the case? (It is.) Tell me, do I study these things? I never study the Bible, and I never study the Book of Revelation. I like to read God’s words, to read God’s current words and ponder God’s intentions, to ponder how I can serve in accordance with God’s intentions, and how I can guide God’s chosen people into the truth reality. If believers can ponder these things until they understand them, and then practice and enter into them, they will be able to gain God’s approval. This is the most realistic and practical approach. Can you see this clearly? (Yes.) If people can see this clearly, they can avoid taking the wrong path. Remember! Pursuing the truth and pursuing life are the most important things. Studying biblical knowledge is bringing trouble upon oneself for nothing. The days for pursuing the truth and pursuing life are numbered. So, what is the fastest way to pursue the truth and pursue life? Is there a shortcut? Those who know to take a shortcut into the kingdom are the wise. Those who are always studying the Bible and doctrines are the most foolish people. Theirs is a false cleverness. They are arrogant, self-righteous, and unreasonable. So how exactly should one pursue the truth to gain life? First, let’s talk about what life entry is built upon. Life entry is built on the foundation of understanding the truth and knowing oneself. Understanding the truth and knowing oneself is the foundation of foundations. It can be said that understanding the truth and knowing oneself is the shortcut to life entry. Those who pay no attention at all to knowing themselves will all perish in the end. If people cannot see this clearly, then they are utterly foolish. Some people just can’t see this clearly. They don’t consider knowing oneself to be very important, and they don’t seek to know themselves. Then, their life entry is sure to be very slow, and the transformation in their disposition is also sure to be very slow. What do I mean by “very slow” here? Someone who seeks to know themselves will have some transformation in their disposition after a year of pursuit. If you don’t seek to know yourself, you might only change a little after three or five years. Is this not slow entry? (It is.) Therefore, life entry is built on the foundation of knowing oneself. The more you seek to know yourself, the faster your life entry will be. So, on what foundation is knowing oneself built? (On the foundation of reading God’s words, accepting the judgment and chastisement of His words, and thereby coming to understand the truth.) Knowing oneself is built on the foundation of understanding the truth. What does understanding the truth mean? It means knowing God. To be specific, knowing God means that in your belief in God, you must understand God’s requirements and intentions. Once you understand these two aspects, you will come to know God. God’s requirements for people are something that people must achieve. If you live out God’s requirements, God will approve of you as a righteous person, a kind person, and as a person who accords with His intentions. If you cannot meet God’s requirements, you will not gain God’s approval. In that case, are you not the greatest of failures? Those who believe in God but cannot gain His approval are the greatest failures in their faith. Is this not the case? (It is.) What does it mean to understand God’s intentions? The most practical aspect is that you must have knowledge of the work God does. In the last days, God is to do the work of judgment. You ought to understand why God does the work of judgment and what His intentions are. Once you see the corrupt essence of humanity clearly, you will know why God does the work of judgment. The work of judgment and chastisement is the most difficult thing for religious people to accept. They think, “We have expended ourselves for God and suffered so much, enduring the humiliation, judgment, condemnation, and rejection of nonbelievers. We did all this just to wait for the Lord to come so we could enter the kingdom of heaven. But as it turns out, God has come to perform a stage of judgment work, and we still have to accept judgment and be cleansed to be qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven. We don’t understand.” Therefore, they do not accept God’s work of the last days. They believe that because they can suffer and expend themselves for God, they are holy and the best people in the world. They simply don’t understand why they still need to accept judgment and chastisement. Is this not a failure to understand God’s intentions? They stubbornly refuse to understand or accept God’s work of judgment in the last days. This is what it means to not understand God’s intentions. Accepting judgment and chastisement is what is most in line with God’s intentions. This requires people to understand one question: Why must we accept judgment and chastisement? Most people feel, “I conduct myself quite well! I’m a good person. I don’t smoke or drink, and I don’t do anything bad. I even expend myself for the Lord and have endured much ridicule and slander from nonbelievers. I have also been arrested and persecuted by the ruling party. I’ve suffered so much and paid such a great price, so why do I still have to accept judgment and chastisement?” This requires understanding God’s intentions, which is to say, understanding how God sees the corrupt human race, rather than seeing ourselves based on human viewpoints. People say, “I am very honest,” but what does God say? God says, “You are not honest. In fact, you are quite deceitful and slippery.” People say, “I can suffer and expend myself for God, and I can toil and work for Him. I am holy,” but God says, “Your corrupt disposition has not been cleansed. You are not holy. You are filthy.” People say, “I preach, cast out demons, and perform many miracles in the Lord’s name. I submit to God,” but God says, “You do not follow My will. You rebel against and resist Me.” People say, “I understand a great deal of biblical knowledge and theological theory. I know God,” but God says, “You do not know Me. You resist Me.” People say, “I am the kindest of good people,” but God says, “You are full of satanic dispositions. You are precisely the kind of person who resists Me, and you are unscrupulous in your resistance. You are a chief sinner, and a perpetrator of the most heinous sins.” People say, “I can accept the truth, and I can be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven,” but God says, “You have not accepted judgment and chastisement. You do not accept the truth. You reject and deny the truth. You cannot be saved. You are to be eliminated.” You see, aren’t people’s assessments of themselves and God’s assessment of them worlds apart? Why is this? (Because people don’t assess themselves based on God’s words.) Without experiencing judgment and chastisement, people will never see through to the truth of their own corruption, and they will never know what their essence is. As such, they will never be able to truly know themselves. Tell me, is knowing oneself not the hardest thing? (It is.) The hardest thing to achieve in believing in God is knowing oneself. It can be said that among all of corrupt humanity, there is not one person who truly knows themselves. Would you acknowledge that? Some people wouldn’t. They think, “In the religious world, those who believe in the Lord come right out and confess their sins and admit what sins they’ve committed. Is this not truly knowing oneself?” Is this truly knowing oneself? (No.) Why not? (Religious people only recognize their sinful behaviors, but they haven’t come to know the root of their sinning.) They only admit to the act of their having sinned, but they don’t know the corrupt disposition revealed through their sinning, nor the root of their sinning or their sinful nature. So, after they confess, are they still capable of committing the same sins again? (Yes.) The sinful nature within them has not been resolved, and so as soon as an opportunity arises and the circumstances permit, they keep committing the same sins again and again. So, is it true that no one among all of humanity truly knows themselves? (It is.) Tell me, do scientists know themselves? (No.) Do writers or sociologists know themselves? Writers and sociologists do nothing but study others. They’re always exposing mankind and the truth and ugliness of society, but they never expose themselves or lay bare their own ugliness. They do not know themselves in the slightest. What about theologians or those who specialize in studying the Bible? Do they know themselves? (Even less so.) Theologians are people who live within the world of biblical knowledge and theological theories. Without the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit as they read God’s words, how could they possibly come to know themselves? Do the leaders of Judaism know themselves? (No.) If they truly knew themselves, they wouldn’t have nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross. And do the leaders of Christianity and Catholicism know themselves? (No, they don’t. They are just like the leaders of Judaism. When God appears and works, not only do they not accept it, but they resist, condemn, and persecute Him instead. This is tantamount to crucifying God again.) So we can draw a conclusion: No one among corrupt humanity truly knows themselves. Can we say that? (Yes.) This conclusion is logical. Is it difficult to come to know oneself in one’s faith? (Yes.) In believing in God, knowing oneself, knowing God, and achieving true submission to and love for God are the most difficult things to achieve. Even being an honest person is not easily achieved, and it’s impossible without several years of work. Is this not the case? (It is.)

We absolutely must recognize the results that knowing oneself can achieve, the benefits it has for our life entry, and the benefits it has for our embarking upon the path of pursuing the truth. What is it that makes people thirst for the truth? It is their attainment of true knowledge of themselves. When people see the truth of their corruption, the very first thing they feel is, “Accepting God’s judgment and chastisement is absolutely necessary. Thankfully, I accepted it, and only then did I come to know the truth of my corruption. God’s words saved my life. If I hadn’t accepted the judgment and chastisement of God’s words, I’d never have seen the truth of my corruption, I’d never have come to know my own true measure, and I’d still be as arrogant and self-righteous as ever. I’d even be boundlessly arrogant, so arrogant that I’d feel I could fly to the heavens!” Is this not the case? (It is.) This is what it means to have true knowledge. So, what does it mean to truly know oneself? Knowledge of oneself deepens in step with one’s understanding of the truth. As your understanding of the truth deepens, so too does your knowledge of yourself. When you finally come to know the truth of your corruption, you will know what the corrupt human race truly is in God’s heart and how God sees the corrupt human race, and you will know your true worth before God. At that point, will you not have become more reasonable before God? Will you still dare to act presumptuously? Will you still dare to make demands of God, saying, “Oh God, when can I enter the kingdom of heaven? Can I sit at Your left hand or Your right?” Would you still dare to say such things? (No, we wouldn’t.) When people truly see the truth of their corruption, is it easy for them to submit to God? (Yes.) For example, one day you fall ill and are on the verge of death. What would you think at that moment? “Am I being punished? If I just closed my eyes and died, would I go to heaven or to hell? What if I end up going to hell?” You would start turning these things over in your mind. If you truly knew yourself, and God were to say you were going to hell, that you are unworthy of eternal life and of entering the kingdom of heaven, how would you react? (I would feel that I am indeed unworthy of entering the kingdom of heaven, that it would be right for God to destroy me, and that this would be God’s righteousness.) When people truly know themselves, they are able to submit to God, and no matter how God treats them, they can submit unconditionally. You see, after accepting the judgment, chastisement, and pruning of God’s words for so many years, I came to realize that I am unworthy of God’s salvation. How could God lift me up and use me? First, I have no knowledge, and second, I don’t look particularly striking. I am just an ordinary person. I never dreamed that I could be used by God. This is God lifting the needy from the dunghill. Back then, I didn’t understand the truth, and I just preached the gospel and did church work out of enthusiasm. Later, after being disciplined by God somewhat, I gained some knowledge of myself. When God began to appear, work, and speak, I was fully able to accept and submit. Sometimes, when God’s work was not in line with human notions and imaginings, I had my own thoughts, but I would absolutely never do anything to disrupt God’s work. After experiencing some of the judgment, chastisement, and pruning of God’s words, not only did I come to know myself, but I also began to act with humility, and I became willing to do my utmost to cooperate with God and complete the commission He gave me. This was entirely achieved by the work of the Holy Spirit. Tell me, what happens when a person is used by the Holy Spirit? You might not be able to imagine it, so let me tell you about my own experience. When a person comes to be used by the Holy Spirit, the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit are constant, and it’s easy to understand and see all matters clearly. When it comes time to preach, with the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit, I always have a clear line of thought and endless things to say. I could even speak for days and nights on end and not run out of things to say. Tell me, what consequences would arise if a person who has not been judged and cleansed were to receive so much enlightenment and illumination? First, everyone would see that your preaching has reality and that you have so much light from the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment. They would feel they gain so much from your sermons, and so they would look up to you, worship you, and idolize you, and ask you about everything. Second, you would look at yourself and think, “Wow, I can preach so much that I could go on and on in gatherings every day. I can also see clearly the states of all kinds of people and discern the manifestations of false leaders and antichrists. Solving problems is effortless, and everyone is fully convinced by me. I’m so much better than I used to be.” You would start to think highly of yourself and you’d become even more arrogant and self-righteous. You see, many people do quite well in their work before they become leaders or workers. But once they become leaders or workers, especially if they can preach words and doctrines, they become so arrogant that they lose all reason and no longer know their own true measure. If you could speak with ease and at length for days on end, would brothers and sisters not worship you? They would think, “When we want to fellowship on some of our understanding, we run out of things to say after just a short while. But you can speak for days on end and still have more to say. You truly understand the truth!” You see, they would worship you. So, when others worship you, what thoughts would arise in your heart? Would you not become proud? You would feel that you possess the truth reality, and that you are superior to everyone else, and so you would start to look down on others. Is this not dangerous? (It is.) Therefore, if the Holy Spirit is to use you, the Holy Spirit’s discipline will accompany you. The Holy Spirit will enlighten and illuminate you to make you understand the truth and know yourself. Once you know yourself, you will have reason. This is how the Holy Spirit has worked on me. That is why, over twenty years ago, I would often say in gatherings, “Some of the sermons I give are the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, but they do not reflect what I am. They are not what I have put into practice.” I always used to say this, so everyone was able to view me correctly. Thanks to the judgment and also the discipline of the Holy Spirit that accompanied me, I gained this bit of reason and was able to say some objective and rational things. But Paul was capable of speaking blasphemous words. Paul’s teacher was Gamaliel, a scholar in Israel who studied the Scriptures, and Paul studied under him. Tell me, wasn’t Paul the person who understood the Bible best? Every single one of Paul’s speeches was full of biblical knowledge. The entire religious world admired, approved of, and worshiped him. They treated him as an idol in their hearts. Being praised and flattered like this, Paul puffed up and said things like “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me” and “For to me to live is christ, and to die is gain.” What kind of problem did his saying such things show? Was this not the manifestation of an antichrist? He wanted to replace the Lord Jesus. The nature of this is incredibly serious; this showed his true colors as an antichrist. Therefore, many people now want to obtain the work of the Holy Spirit and be used by the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit does not work on them. Why is that? It is because they are too arrogant and self-righteous, so arrogant that they lose all reason and can’t control themselves. If the Holy Spirit were to keep working on them, they would become boundlessly arrogant, and this would bring ruin upon them. If you have received the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, but you can still assess yourself objectively, saying, “What I preach does not reflect what I am. It is all the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit. I have not yet put it into practice. You must treat me correctly. Don’t think that everything I preach is something I have achieved. I don’t have that stature. You’d be wrong to think of me that way,” it shows you have reason. But do you dare to say such a thing? If you don’t, then you’re in trouble, and you’re walking the path of Paul. So, what must a person possess to receive the work of the Holy Spirit? They must possess the conscience and reason of normal humanity, and they must be able to worship and submit to God while standing in the place of a created being. If you do not have this sense of reason, you will become arrogant as soon as the Holy Spirit works on you. You will become an antichrist, try to establish an independent kingdom, and oppose God. At that point, the Holy Spirit will see that you are unworthy of receiving His work and will no longer work on you. So how can people obtain the work of the Holy Spirit? By accepting the shepherding of the Holy Spirit, the judgment and chastisement of God’s words, and the shepherding and pruning of the man used by the Holy Spirit. Only when you possess the sense of reason of a normal human can the Holy Spirit work on you. Otherwise, as soon as the Holy Spirit works on you, you will become arrogant and be capable of doing evil and resisting God, and this will bring ruin upon you. Is this not the case? (It is.) When the Holy Spirit uses a person, working on and guiding them, the results achieved are truly remarkable. The person feels they can see many things clearly, that they can solve any problem with no trouble at all, and that there are no problems that cannot be solved. That’s exactly how I feel. I’m not afraid of you asking questions. Do you have this kind of courage? (No.) The Holy Spirit has not done such work on you, so you do not have such courage. With the work of the Holy Spirit, everything you see will be simple, and no matter what difficulties there are in the church, they are easy to resolve. How could any person have such stature on their own? Having experienced this myself, I realize that this has all been achieved by the work of the Holy Spirit. Ordinary people get stumped by some problem they encounter and don’t know how to resolve it. But for me, any problem is easy to solve, and I can do so with ease and joy, effortlessly. Is this not achieved by the work of the Holy Spirit? If people want to be used by God, they should focus on pursuing the truth. Once people gain the truth, they are no longer arrogant and self-righteous, and they are able to stand in their proper place. Once people gain the truth, they have conscience and reason, they are grounded and steadfast in their duties, and they are devoted. Once people have gained the truth, they are able to truly submit to and fear God. The reality of all these positive things—believing in God, submitting to God, serving God, bearing witness to God, worshiping God, and loving God—must be achieved by understanding the truth. These are all results achieved by pursuing the truth.