Fellowship From the Brother Above – August 15, 2025 (Part Six)

Question 11: When I do my duty, I am more focused on working, but I neglect seeking and practicing the truth. How can I seek and practice the truth in my duty?

Answer: If people can seek the truth when doing their duty and know how to act according to principles, this means they have understood some truths, and at this time, it will be easy for them to practice the truth. If you can act according to principles and uphold the principles, this proves that you can practice the truth. This is completely accurate. If you understand some truths but cannot practice them, what does this prove? This proves that your stature is too small, your concerns for your flesh are too great, and your corrupt disposition still holds power in your heart. If you can practice the truth in some matters but still act according to your own will in others, what is the problem? This shows that you have shortcomings in your practicing of the truth. Sometimes you can practice the truth when you understand it, and sometimes you do not. So, when necessary, God must discipline you. If you can realize that God is disciplining you, this shows that you are very sharp and meticulous in your spirit. If you have a keen feeling for everything God does on you, and you can feel that God is disciplining you, that God is speaking to you through the situations you are experiencing, and that God is guiding and leading you through all kinds of people, events, and things, then you are a person who can grasp God’s intentions, and your spiritual sensitivity is quite high. If God uses various situations to have you understand His intentions, and uses various situations to guide and lead you onto the right path, but you do not feel anything at all, then you lack spiritual understanding. What does lacking spiritual understanding refer to? It means that a person is dull-witted and numb in their spirit, and completely lacking in perception. God cannot do the work of perfection on people who lack spiritual understanding. But for people who have spiritual understanding, when God reveals them through situations, they can understand God’s intentions. If they think to themselves, “I planned to do this that way, but when this situation came about, it seemed that God’s intention wasn’t for me to do it that way. I must change my approach and do this according to God’s intention,” then they are sharp in their spirit. If they truly love the truth, and every time they discover God’s work and the things God does, they can submit and practice according to God’s intention, then they can embark upon the path of being perfected. People who lack spiritual understanding cannot embark upon the path of being perfected, because they cannot perceive God’s work at all. They rigidly adhere to regulations in everything they do. In all matters, you have to explain things to them explicitly and very clearly before they can understand and practice it. If you say one sentence less, they will feel confused and unclear, and they will not know how to carry out what they have been told to do accurately. These are people who lack spiritual understanding. People who lack spiritual understanding are also prone to misunderstanding God’s work. Many of their views are very distorted. Such people are absurd. Tell me, can absurd people gain the truth even if they believe in Almighty God? (No.) Such people’s reason is not sound, and they cannot grasp the truth.

In the past, God’s house said that the gospel should not be preached to people with severe disabilities, such as the blind or those missing limbs. It was also said that the gospel should not be preached to fools, the mentally ill, or absurd people. Why not preach to these people? Because their caliber is not up to the truth, and even if they believe, they cannot be saved. If you tell them some simple, rule-oriented practices, they can still understand, but if you fellowship with them on things involving truth principles, they cannot understand, and they even think that some of the things said are contradictory. For example, you tell them to be an honest person, but as soon as they are arrested by the CCP, they become a Judas and tell everything about the church. They even say, “Didn’t you tell me to be an honest person? So no matter who asks me what, even if Satan asks me, I have to tell the truth.” You see, they apply the practice of being an honest person to this matter. Is this not absurd of them? (It is.) This is being absurd. They apply regulations randomly. So tell me, can such people attain salvation? (No.) So you must absolutely not preach to such people. Even if they are converted, they cannot attain salvation. But some disabled people have spiritual understanding, and their comprehension of the truth is particularly good. After reading the words of Almighty God, they say, “Wow, these are all truths. Has the Lord returned? I must believe, I must investigate.” Tell me, can you preach the gospel to such people? (Yes.) Why is that? (They have comprehension ability, can come to understand the truth, and have a chance to be saved.) That’s right. So, if a person with a disability can grasp the truth, we must preach the gospel to them. If they cannot grasp the truth, we do not preach to them. What about people who are physically healthy and have well-defined facial features, but lack spiritual understanding and are absurd? Can you preach the gospel to such people? (No.) If they insist on believing, do you preach to them or not? (No.) Wrong. If they are willing to believe on their own, you should let them follow and believe. It is wrong for you not to preach to them, because they are not being forced to believe. They are willing to believe on their own. If they say, “I lack spiritual understanding, but I still want to follow and believe. I know this is the true way,” then it would be wrong of you to drive them away. Also, if a person with a disability can grasp the truth and is willing to investigate and accept, you should not reject them or rigidly adhere to regulations. These are special cases that require special treatment. This is acting according to principles. Practicing the truth means focusing on seeking principles. You must first see what principles are involved in this matter. For example, you encounter a potential gospel recipient who is disabled but has the ability to comprehend the truth; they possess this caliber. In this case, such a person should be preached to. If you still rigidly adhere to regulations, thinking that God’s house stipulates that disabled people cannot be preached to, this is wrong. God’s house stipulates that people with severe disabilities cannot be preached to, but who does the term “the truly disabled” refer to? It refers to those who lack spiritual understanding. Such people do not know God’s words and will not acknowledge that God’s words are the truth no matter what. This is true blindness. This is a spiritual disability, which is more severe than a physical disability. Therefore, those who lack spiritual understanding and cannot grasp the truth at all cannot be preached to. If you seek in this way, you will understand the truth. Do not rigidly adhere to regulations. If, after seeking, you still feel a bit conflicted and do not know how to practice, then you should find someone with spiritual understanding to fellowship with and clarify the principles by which to do things. This is also seeking the truth. If you do not seek, you will not know how to practice in a way that conforms to the truth. Like today—you ask these questions for me to answer—is this not seeking the truth? This is seeking the truth. I fellowship with you, and you will understand how to practice. So, whatever you encounter that you do not understand or cannot figure out by pondering, you must proactively seek. You can seek from those who understand the truth. After they fellowship with you, your heart will be clear, you will have found the truth principles, and you should quickly go and practice them. This is seeking the truth and practicing the truth. There are two ways to seek the truth: The first is to seek from God, and through prayer, gain the enlightenment and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes God will give you reminders through situations, and sometimes God will arrange for a leader or worker to fellowship with you, and your problem will be solved. The second way is to directly ask a leader or worker, ask someone who understands the truth, or seek from God’s house. These are the two ways to seek the truth. If you can train and practice in this way, you can achieve the result of understanding the truth and solving problems.

Question 12: How should one accept and submit to being pruned?

Answer: Tell me, why does God’s work in the last days include the work method of pruning? Why was this not done in the Age of Grace? Is this not a matter that requires seeking the truth? The work method of pruning is likely to cause people to lose face. People all have self-esteem, so pruning will cause them to suffer some pain. Therefore, some people have notions about pruning. If you prune them, they will say you have no love, that you are arrogant and conceited, that you are trying to assert your status and lecture people, and that you arbitrarily judge and condemn people. So why does God’s house use this method of work? What is pruning based on? What is its significance? Pruning consists of directly exposing people’s wrong practices, transgressions, and evil deeds to their face. Some people do things that tear down, disrupt, and disturb the work of God’s house, and even after being fellowshipped with and helped, they still do not accept the truth at all. In this situation, is it useful to fellowship with them further? It is not. Such people must be pruned. It is in this type of context that God’s house adopts the work method of pruning. Just like when a child says or does something wrong, their parents must educate them. If the child can listen, then there is no need to discipline them. But if the child doesn’t listen no matter how their parents try to educate them, then their parents must reprimand and discipline them. Parents have principles in disciplining their children. When a child is still naive, their parents will not discipline them for making mistakes. If a child is sensible, their parents will generally first exhort and teach them. Only if the child refuses to accept what their parents tell them no matter what, will their parents discipline them. Do parents not discipline their children based on this principle? (Yes.) Is this reasonable? (Yes.) When discipline is necessary, it must be administered to achieve results. God’s work of pruning in the last days is also done according to this principle. So tell me, how is pruning related to judgment and chastisement? Pruning is a way to judge and chastise a person. It is the judgment and chastisement of facts befalling people. So, how many ways of judgment and chastisement are there? There are at least three. The first is fellowshipping on the truth with a person, exhorting and warning them. This is the judgment and chastisement of words. The second is pruning, exposing and dissecting, and disciplining and chastening. This is the judgment and chastisement of facts befalling people. The third is trials and refinement revealing people, making them feel ashamed and reflect on themselves. This is also the judgment and chastisement of facts befalling people. These are the main specific ways of judgment and chastisement. So if you say that you are willing to accept judgment and chastisement, but you only accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words and not the judgment and chastisement of facts befalling you, is this truly accepting judgment and chastisement? Is this truly experiencing God’s work? (No.) Is this truly submitting to God? (No.) If such people refuse to accept pruning no matter what, the step the church should take is to dismiss them and to isolate them for self-reflection. On God’s part, this is preparing to use facts to discipline and punish them. If they still do not turn back or repent, they will be cleared out, expelled, and eliminated. Therefore, we must have a clear understanding of pruning and come to approach it correctly. This matter is very important. If you see through it and can correctly experience pruning, after you have experienced it, you will have some life entry, you will know how to submit to God’s work and how to live before God, you will not act arbitrarily and willfully, and your disposition will have changed somewhat. Is this not the benefit that pruning brings to people? (It is.) The benefit that pruning brings to people is the greatest, and the result it achieves is even better than that of people experiencing the judgment and chastisement of God’s words. Why do I say it is better? If you watch the movie Reflections on Salvation, you’ll see that the main character reveals an arrogant disposition and vies for status with others. Later, he is arrested, and the police torture and humiliate him. He gains knowledge of himself and feels remorse. Later, he understands some truths, and his life grows quite a bit. Therefore, pruning is most beneficial to people, and it is also a crucial part of God’s work. If you cannot experience this part of God’s work, you are very likely to be revealed and eliminated. Generally, people are not willing to be pruned or to suffer this hardship. In one respect, it is because they lose face, and in another, it is because people all think highly of themselves, especially leaders and workers who have put themselves on a pedestal. When they are suddenly exposed as being nothing and are about to be dismissed, they cannot overcome this matter in their hearts and so it is not easy for them to accept being pruned. Some people who do not love the truth even say, “Believing in God is right, but the pruning of God’s house is too severe. I cannot experience it anymore. I will not be a leader. I will just be an ordinary person among God’s chosen people and do some duty.” Such people cannot be perfected. People who seek to be perfected cannot be without pruning. I myself have gone through this kind of experience. I used to be just as arrogant as you, but after experiencing God’s long-term judgment, chastisement, and pruning, I understood some truths, I finally cast off my arrogant disposition somewhat, and I came to have some submission to God. Therefore, to be perfected, it is not enough to rely only on one’s conscience. One must experience pruning.

Some people say, “I can accept the exposure and judgment of God’s words. No matter how God’s words expose me, I will submit. I can gain light and truth from God’s words.” But will the judgment of God’s words cause you to lose face? (No.) So you can accept the judgment of God’s words because you’re not losing face too much. If you were really pruned, you might not be able to overcome it. What does this prove? The suffering and pressure of accepting pruning are much greater than those of accepting the judgment and chastisement of God’s words. When some people are pruned, they even feel that they have been greatly humiliated, as if they are naked in front of everyone, and so they cannot overcome it. You see, after being arrested, some people are forced by the police to take off all their clothes for inspection and squat. If they don’t, the police will beat them. This humiliation is not easy for ordinary people to accept. If you were born in China, you might have to suffer this kind of hardship. Those devils of the CCP are capable of any bad and wicked thing. So can you bear these hardships? Perhaps some people will say, “I can’t bear that hardship. If I had to suffer that, I would have stopped believing then and there.” So if you stop believing, who suffers the loss? (We ourselves.) You cannot even bear such a little humiliation. This shows that your stature is truly small! The Lord Jesus was crucified and suffered such great hardship; how did He endure it? But you suffer such a little humiliation and say, “Oh God, I cannot experience this anymore. My stature is too small. I will not believe anymore.” If you withdraw and stop believing, it is as if you are declaring failure in your belief in God. Did you not swear that you would take up the cross and follow God? You have not taken up the cross. To follow God, you must have the resolve to suffer. Like God’s chosen people in China, living in this country under dictatorial rule, they do not know what persecution they will face each day. They could very well die on any given day. When the CCP catches those who believe in God, they beat them to death without anything coming of it. Many people have been beaten until they are disabled or dead, and many others have been humiliated. The CCP uses all kinds of tricks to humiliate people. There is an experiential testimony video from God’s house that talks about how the CCP’s police forces humiliated and persecuted a young brother. Not only did they burn him with cigarette butts, but they also poured boiling water on him and scalded his privates. Tell me, can ordinary people bear this kind of hardship? (No.) Some people cannot bear the hardship and stop believing. Then they cannot gain the truth or eternal life. If you want to gain the truth and eternal life, you must be able to bear any hardship. Many people choose to quit their jobs to expend themselves for God. If you do your duty full-time in God’s house, God’s house will be responsible for your food, clothing, and shelter, but you will not have luxurious feasts, and you will not have brand-name clothes. If you say, “I can’t bear this hardship. I will not expend myself for God,” then you will not receive blessings, and you will not be qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven. Is this not the case? (It is.) To gain the truth, you must be able to bear any hardship, and in the end, you must be able to offer up your life. This is what it means to be up to standard. If you stop believing just because you suffer a little humiliation, because you are a little poor, because you have no meat to eat, or because you have to go a few days without showering, can you gain the truth? (No.) Without the resolve to suffer, you cannot follow God and you will withdraw before you reach the end of the road.

Question 13: When we encounter major trials and refinements in life, such as contracting a serious illness or facing other family misfortunes, how should we experience such situations?

Answer: The best path to take when encountering these things is to pray. Besides praying, the best option is to read God’s words, and in God’s words, to grasp God’s intentions and seek how to understand these matters. Tell me, if a person gets cancer, what thoughts will they have in their heart? Shouldn’t they be pondering, “Cancer is a fatal disease. Now that I have cancer, will God heal me? If I am really going to die, can God save me? If God does not save me, how should I face this? Can I submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements? Can I thank God?” At this time, how a person prays to God and seeks from God is crucial. You see, before John the Baptist was arrested and imprisoned, he could still testify that the Lord Jesus was the One who came after him, and he even said, “whose shoe’s lace I am not worthy to unloose.” These words were quite right, and he had put himself in the right position. But when he was arrested and put in prison, what did he think then? He thought, “I am Elijah. I am the one who paves the way for Jesus. If Jesus is truly the Messiah, He should save me.” So he prayed for God to save him from prison. But no matter how he prayed, God did not save him, so he began to doubt the Lord Jesus, saying, “Is Jesus really the Messiah? If Jesus is the Messiah, why does He not save me?” Tell me, when this happens, is such a matter not revealing a person? (It is.) Could it be that the Lord Jesus is only the Messiah if He saves you, and if He doesn’t, He is not the Messiah? Your logic of determining whether He is the Messiah based on whether the Lord Jesus saves you is wrong. It proves that you do not have a true knowledge of the Lord Jesus and that you have not truly accepted Him as the Messiah and your Savior. So being arrested and imprisoned revealed John, and it became apparent that he didn’t truly believe in the Lord, and that he was a disbeliever. It is clear that how people experience trials is truly important. So if you get cancer and face death, how should you experience this matter? You must first pray to God and seek His intention. The first question to seek in prayer is: If death really comes one day, what attitude should I have toward it? Should I submit, or should I try to find a way to escape it? This attitude really reveals a person. By praying to God and seeking the truth, if you can finally submit and see through the matter of death, you will pray, “Oh God, if You have preordained that I die at this time, I will submit to You without complaint. I thank You for arranging things this way.” If you do not pray or seek the truth in this matter, you will not be able to have the correct attitude, and you will not be able to submit to God. So besides praying and reading God’s words, are there any other paths that can enable you to submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements? (No.) Therefore, when encountering these things, there is only one path, which is to pray, to seek the truth from God’s words, and then to express your stance on whether you can submit or not. If, in the end, you can submit, and you say, “Oh God, even if You let me die, I will submit. I have no complaints. I thank You for saving me, for bringing me into Your house, for gracing me for so many years, for allowing me to understand so many truths, and for letting me see through many things in life. Even if I die now, it will all have been worth it,” then for you to have this attitude is correct. You see, by praying and seeking the truth, people develop the correct attitude toward the issue of death, they can correctly face death, and they become able to submit to God absolutely. So tell me, is experiencing the trial of this illness a blessing and a perfection for a person? (It is.) If people do not experience such things, can they develop the correct mentality? Can they have the reality of submitting to God’s orchestrations and arrangements? They cannot. Therefore, people’s entry into the truth reality is all achieved by experiencing God’s trials and the various situations orchestrated by God. Have you seen through to this matter? (Yes.) If you have, then you must experience God’s work more in your daily life, and in this way, your life will grow quickly. However, our personal experiences are very limited, and it is impossible to experience everything so comprehensively. But the work God does on all of His people is abundant and rich. As of now, there are all kinds of experiential testimony videos on the website of God’s house. These experiential testimonies are the results achieved by God’s work on people. Every aspect of experiential testimony can benefit people greatly and allow them to understand some truths from it. Therefore, we should watch more of the experiential testimonies of God’s chosen people. This is truly beneficial for people to learn how to experience God’s work and achieve growth in their lives.