Fellowship From the Brother Above – October 15, 2025 (Part One)

Many people are constantly worried that they cannot attain salvation. They always feel they don’t understand much truth, have very little of the truth reality, and find doing their duty to be a real struggle. Consequently, they worry that when the great catastrophes arrive, they won’t be able to attain salvation and survive. Are there people like this? (Yes.) Do you feel this kind of pressure? (We do.) Quite a few people feel this pressure, so we must fellowship on this issue. Whether a person can attain salvation in their belief in God is a practical matter, and it is also the most crucial one in a person’s belief in God. Why do I say it is the most crucial matter? Because the greatest hope people have in believing in God is to attain salvation and enter the kingdom of heaven. If they do not achieve this goal, then their belief in God will have been a failure; it will mean they have believed in vain. Is that not the case? (It is.) Therefore, it is necessary to fellowship on this issue. However, discussing this topic in detail would take a long time, so today, let’s just fellowship on it briefly. Whether you can attain salvation in your belief in God depends first on whether you truly understand the truth. Those who truly understand the truth have met the standard for attaining salvation. Many people today can spout some words and doctrines or have gained some enlightenment on the truth, and they therefore think they understand the truth. Is this thought correct? (No.) Understanding some words and doctrines falls short of understanding the truth. But if a person truly has some enlightenment and illumination from the Holy Spirit, can that be considered understanding the truth? (It cannot.) So why is it that even having some enlightenment and illumination from the Holy Spirit does not amount to understanding the truth? (Because when a person receives some enlightenment from the Holy Spirit, they have only understood some doctrines, and it has not yet become their reality.) This is something that must be seen clearly; it’s a crucial issue. So what proves that a person truly understands the truth? Is it proven by what they say, or by their ability to spout doctrines? (Neither.) Then what is it proven by? This is also a crucial issue. You have to think this issue through. Once you do, you’ll know whether you understand the truth and be able to see the matter accurately, instead of misjudging it or relying on false impressions. So, what proves that you understand the truth? First, can you practice the truth? If you can, it proves you truly understand the truth. If you can’t, it proves that what you understand is merely words and doctrines, and that you haven’t yet entered into the truth reality. Second, do you act with principles? If you do, it proves you understand the truth and have entered into the truth reality. If you don’t, then there’s no way to prove that you understand the truth. Third, is your duty performance up to standard? If you truly understand the truth, then your performance in your duty will certainly be up to standard, because the greatest reality of someone who understands the truth is doing their duty in a way that is up to standard. Is that not so? (It is.) When a person can practice in accordance with God’s requirements and the truth principles while doing the duty of a created being, and so do it very well and effectively, this earns God’s approval; their duty performance is thus up to standard. The first manifestation of your performance of duty being up to standard is achieving the results that should be achieved and doing your duty very well. The second manifestation is bearing true testimony. Possessing these two manifestations proves that your duty performance is up to standard and that you are an up-to-standard created being. An up-to-standard created being is someone who possesses the truth reality. Once you have gained the truth, you become an up-to-standard created being. And how do you become an up-to-standard created being? By understanding many truths. The direct result of understanding the truth is that you come to know and cast off your corrupt dispositions. Then, you become able to practice the truth, act according to the truth principles, and submit to and bear testimony to God. If you have achieved all these results, then haven’t you gained the truth and attained salvation? People like this have attained salvation. From this, we can see that understanding the truth achieves at least two results. First, it resolves our corrupt dispositions. Second, it gives us principles of practice for how we conduct ourselves and act, enabling us to live to do the duty of a created being, and to pursue satisfying God and bearing testimony for Him. To put it simply, it means being able to live by the truth, with the truth becoming our lives. These are the two main effects of understanding the truth: on the one hand, knowing yourself and casting off your corrupt dispositions, and on the other, having principles of practice for how to conduct yourself and act, and having the truth as your life and being able to live by it. This is the significance of gaining the truth. Many people still do not understand the significance of gaining the truth. They ask, “Why should we pursue the truth? What’s the point of it?” What I was just fellowshipping on is the answer to this very question. What is the significance of pursuing the truth? It can enable you to attain salvation. If you are able to attain salvation, it will be because you have pursued the truth and ultimately gained it. So, what results can be achieved by gaining the truth? On one hand, gaining the truth allows you to cast off your corrupt dispositions; on the other hand, from a positive perspective, when you have the truth as your life, you have principles, a direction, and goals for how to conduct yourself. You can fulfill the duty of a created being, complete God’s commission, and fulfill your life’s mission. Isn’t this the most meaningful thing in life? (It is.) Then tell me, what is the greatest significance of pursuing the truth? How would you put it in the most practical, everyday language? The greatest significance of pursuing the truth is saving yourself from death! Is that not so? (It is.) What does surviving the great catastrophes depend on? (It depends on pursuing and gaining the truth.) It depends on the truth. Only by understanding and gaining the truth can you survive the great catastrophes. If you do not gain the truth and still live by your satanic dispositions, by philosophies for worldly dealings, and by knowledge, then you are still living under Satan’s power, and you will inevitably die in the catastrophes. Have you seen this clearly? (We have.) Then do you want to gain eternal life? (We do.) No one wants to die. Everyone wants to gain eternal life, and there is only one path to doing so: seeking to gain the truth.

So how can we gain the truth? And where can we gain it from? (God is the truth, and we can gain the truth from God’s words.) Almighty God is the truth, the way, and the life. If you want to gain the truth, you must eat and drink more of Almighty God’s words, because the truth is found only in His words. Almighty God has expressed all the truths required to save and perfect people in the last days. The little scroll prophesied in Revelation has been opened—it is The Word Appears in the Flesh, expressed by Almighty God. The way of eternal life and the everlasting life that God has bestowed upon mankind are all within the words of Almighty God. Can you see this clearly? (We can.) Then tell me, is the way of eternal life in the Bible? (No.) The way of eternal life is not in the Bible; this is certain. As the Lord Jesus said: “Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me. And you will not come to Me, that you might have life” (John 5:39–40). Some people might ask, “The Bible also contains truths expressed by God, so why doesn’t it contain the way of eternal life?” The truths in the Bible are very limited and shallow. They only get people to abide by some laws and commandments, receive forgiveness for their sins, confess and repent, and do some good things. But they cannot achieve the results of saving and perfecting people. They cannot cleanse people’s corruption or change their dispositions, nor can they enable people to truly submit to, know, and love God. They cannot achieve any of these results. Only the truths expressed by Almighty God can achieve these results. Only these truths can cleanse, save, and perfect people, making them people who are of one heart and mind with God, who can submit to God and follow His will. These results are all achieved by the words of Almighty God. The words spoken by the Lord Jesus and Jehovah God cannot achieve these results. Those words are the shallowest of truths, merely the things mankind should have understood at the very beginning. Compared to the truths expressed by Almighty God now, they are far too shallow. If those truths could allow people to obtain eternal life, there would be no need for Almighty God to come and express the truth. Is that not so? (It is.) Then tell me, how can you gain the truth? Can you gain the truth by studying and understanding the Bible? (No.) Can you achieve a change in your disposition by studying and understanding the Bible? (No.) So what is the outcome for those who only study the Bible but do not pursue the truth? (Destruction.) Such people cannot gain the truth, and they will all be destroyed. This is because God determines a person’s outcome based on whether they possess the truth, and those who do not gain the truth cannot attain salvation. Look, the Lord Jesus said: “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and in Your name have cast out devils, and in Your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from Me, you that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22–23). What exactly do these words mean? No one in the religious world can interpret or understand them. No pastor, elder, doctor of theology, or biblical scholar in the religious world can understand these words. Of course, this isn’t to say they don’t understand the literal meaning, but rather that they don’t understand who these words are spoken to, or how broad a group of people it includes. They interpret these words to mean that there are a few people who, on the one hand, prophesy, cast out devils, and do many wonderful works in the Lord’s name, yet on the other hand, do many evil things, and that it was to these people that the Lord Jesus spoke these words. Is their interpretation correct? (No.) So when the Lord spoke of workers of “iniquity,” what specific manifestations did He refer to? Does it refer to the bad things people do in secret, such as stealing offerings, being jealous, engaging in disputes, and vying for power and status? It doesn’t refer to these things. So what exactly does it refer to? It refers to the corrupt dispositions hidden behind the acts of prophesying, casting out devils, and doing many wonderful works in the Lord’s name. Behind these acts, you cannot see that they have any truth, or any knowledge of God. Although they have done a lot of work, it is merely prophesying, casting out devils, and doing many wonderful works in the Lord’s name. Like Paul’s actions, these are all external practices, not service that is in accordance with God’s intentions. So why did the Lord Jesus say that such people are workers of iniquity? Can evil people prophesy, cast out devils, and do many wonderful works in the Lord’s name? Those who do things in the Lord’s name are all very zealous people in the religious world. They are all people who can expend themselves for God and who can suffer and pay a price. But the Lord calls them workers of iniquity. Why is this? The Lord Jesus didn’t list the facts of their evildoing in His words, so why did He call them workers of iniquity? You can’t see this clearly, can you? Tell me, can people understand the Bible if they have no experience and do not understand the truth? (No.) Those religious scholars and experts have not experienced being made perfect by God. They do not understand the truth, much less possess the truth reality, so how can they interpret the Bible? Their interpretations are certainly incorrect. Is that not so? (It is.) Then who exactly was the Lord Jesus referring to when He said, “you that work iniquity”? He was referring to all the leaders and workers, pastors, and elders who have preached and worked in the Lord’s name in the Age of Grace, not to a few individuals who have done evil. Is this understanding correct? (It is.) Why do we say this is correct? Because Almighty God says: “I determine the destination of each person not on the basis of age, seniority, or amount of suffering, much less on how pitiable they are, but according to whether they possess the truth. There is no other choice but this” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Prepare Sufficient Good Deeds for Your Destination). God determines a person’s outcome based on whether they possess the truth, and since the pastors and elders who have preached and worked in the Lord’s name in the Age of Grace haven’t gained the truth, God says they are all workers of iniquity. Is this statement accurate? (It is.) Then some people ask, “Among those who believe in the Lord and can prophesy, cast out devils, and do many wonderful works in His name, there are many good people. Are these people also workers of iniquity?” Tell me, are there good people among them? (No.) Wrong—we can’t say there are no good people among them. From a human perspective, some of these people have relatively good humanity and are good people. But these good people have not gained the truth, so in God’s eyes, are they not still workers of iniquity? (They are.) Then why do those who appear good in the eyes of man also become workers of iniquity? What is going on here? (Whether a person is a worker of iniquity is mainly determined by whether they possess the truth. Those who do not practice the truth are evil people.) (Because people have a sinful nature, if they do not gain the truth, their corrupt dispositions will not change, and if their dispositions do not change, they will be hostile to God.) That gets to the heart of the matter. That is exactly what I wanted to get across. Have you seen this clearly? Can a person be a truly good person if they do not accept and gain the truth? (No.) If people do not accept and gain the truth, they cannot cast off their satanic disposition. In that case, no matter how many good things they do, they will still sin anytime and anywhere. They will judge, condemn, and resist God, and even stand against God as His equal. Look at the Pharisees back then. They were very pious on the outside, but for the sake of their status and livelihood, they were still capable of frantically condemning the truth and denying and resisting the incarnate Lord Jesus, even nailing Him to the cross. Therefore, all who do not accept and gain the truth, no matter how many good things they do, are people who live in sin, who resist God, and who are not truly good people. In particular, those who can condemn the truth and the Son of man are people who are averse to the truth: They are all evil people, antichrists, and enemies of God. This is beyond a shadow of a doubt. In the First Epistle of John in the Bible, who is characterized as an antichrist? (“And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist” (1 John 4:3).) All who do not acknowledge that God comes in the flesh are antichrists. So, are those of Judaism antichrists? (They are.) Are all those in the Age of Grace who have not accepted Almighty God antichrists? (They are.) Are all those who say that Almighty God is just an ordinary person antichrists? (They are.) Then what about all those who, after accepting Almighty God, still constantly hold notions about Him, who always think, “Isn’t He just an ordinary person? Have I believed in the wrong way?” and who are always doubting and scrutinizing God? Do such people have the disposition of an antichrist? (They do.) It can be said that those who believe in God but are always doubting and scrutinizing Him are antichrists.