Fellowship From the Brother Above – September 1, 2025 (Part One)

Today, let’s fellowship on a verse from the Book of Revelation: “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defiles, neither whatever works abomination, or makes a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27). How should this verse be understood? This question is very important. Can the names of all who believe in God be written in the book of life? (No.) That is certain. So whose names can be written in the book of life? What is this measured by? Is it based on the number of years one has believed in God, or on how much hardship one has suffered and how much work one has done for God? (It is not based on these.) So what is it based on? It is based on whether one has gained the truth; this is the most crucial thing. The names of those who have gained the truth are written in the book of life, and only such people are qualified to inherit the blessings of the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whether one’s name can be recorded in the book of life is absolutely crucial. This requires people to pursue the truth and walk the path of pursuing the truth and being perfected. Specifically, it requires people to experience God’s judgment and chastisement to achieve the cleansing and transformation of their corrupt dispositions, and finally to be able to bear a resounding testimony for God. This is what it means to do one’s duty in a way that is up to standard. To do one’s duty in a way that is up to standard means that in doing their duty, they are always practicing the truth and always submitting to God. They have testimony of a change in their life disposition, and can truly submit to and worship God. In this way, their names are recorded in the book of life. From this, it can be seen that those whose names are recorded in the book of life are all people with true life experience, who have been cleansed by experiencing judgment and chastisement, and who have borne a beautiful and resounding testimony to God in doing their duty. The names of these people are recorded in the book of life. In human terms, they have a share in the kingdom of heaven. You see, now there are many of God’s chosen people who can write testimony articles about life experience. Is this not very precious? (Yes.) The result achieved by writing articles of experiential testimony is that one gains more and more knowledge of God’s work, understands more and more of the truths in various aspects expressed by God, and becomes clearer and clearer on the principles for practicing the truth. In this way, whether in speech or in action, one basically achieves alignment with the truth. When a person’s words and actions conform to the truth, this meets God’s standard for approving of people; that is, they can be approved of by God. Many people speak quite correctly in the church, but when they are at home and interact with their families and nonbelievers, their speech does not align with the truth. Their revelations and what they live out are even the same as those of nonbelievers. What is the problem here? (The truth has not become their life.) This is the consequence of their life disposition not having changed. So do people whose life disposition has not changed live by God’s words? (No.) They are not people who practice the truth, and are not people who live by God’s words. So are they not people outside of God’s words? (Yes.) Does God acknowledge them as believers in God? (No.) They have believed in God for many years but have never understood the truth in God’s words, and have never lived in God’s words. Nothing of what they do is based on God’s words. Such people are nonbelievers in God’s eyes. If a believer in God is seen by God as a nonbeliever, can they still have a share in the kingdom of heaven? (No.) Then their greatest hope in believing in God—entering the kingdom of heaven—will come to nothing. Therefore, now, in believing in God, one must quickly pursue the truth and enter into reality. This is absolutely crucial. Why do I say it is absolutely crucial? Because the great catastrophes are now growing ever greater, and the time for people to experience God’s work is getting shorter and shorter. Each day that passes is one day less. Who knows on which day the catastrophes will become so great that there will be no opportunity to have gatherings online, and no opportunity to spread the gospel, and people will not even know if they will live or die. Do not think that all who believe in Almighty God will definitely be spared. In addition to believing in Almighty God, you must also enter into the truth reality to guarantee that you will not die. If you have not entered into the truth reality, it is hard to say whether you can survive. Recently, in the church, there have been a few individuals who, while doing their duty, suddenly died of a strange illness. What is going on here? (They have been eliminated.) Well, they believed in Almighty God and were doing their duty, so why did they die? (They did not focus on practicing the truth, and they were eliminated for not having entered into the truth reality.) During the period of saving people, God gives everyone many opportunities. God will give people one, two, three, or five years to enter into the truth. During this period, God will also enlighten and lead people. But if people never accept the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and do not accept or practice the truth at all, then God will give up on them. What does it mean once God gives up on a person? God hands this person over to Satan and lets Satan do whatever it wants. Then it is hard to say whether this person will live or die; they can be tormented to death by Satan at any time and in any place. Therefore, it is too dangerous to believe in God without pursuing the truth! Have you seen this matter clearly? (Yes.) You must remember this. So what is the most important thing in believing in God? Understanding the truth is the most important, and practicing the truth is even more important. Only those who practice the truth can have a change in their life disposition; only those who practice the truth are people who truly submit to God; and only those who practice the truth can become people who follow God’s will. So what is God’s promise to those who follow God’s will? It is to let them have a share in the kingdom of heaven, just as the Lord Jesus said: “He that follows the will of My Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). People must see this matter clearly, otherwise your belief in God will be somewhat muddled, and in the end, you will gain nothing. If you see this matter clearly, you will understand what it means to believe in God, and what kind of people can gain God’s approval and enter the kingdom of heaven. You will know what kind of people God saves and perfects, and then you will naturally be able to embark on the path of pursuing the truth. If, in the end, you can live out some truth reality and bear some true experiential testimonies, then your name will naturally be recorded in the book of life. Do you know what the book of life refers to? It is that God records the names of all those with life experience in a book, and this book is the book of life. All who bear true experiential testimonies are people who have gained life, and their names are written in the book of life. So when the great catastrophe comes, will these people still die? (No.) They have gained life, so they will not die. But some people have believed in Almighty God without having any life experience at all. Can they survive? They have no life experience, do not know how to practice the truth, and have not entered into the truth reality. Such people have no share in the book of life and will surely not survive. So why do people who do not know how to practice the truth have no share in the book of life? Because they have not gained the truth. If people truly gain the truth expressed by Christ, then they have gained the life of Christ. If people have not gained the truth, how can they have life? If people have not gained life, then they are the same as nonbelievers. What kind of people are nonbelievers? In God’s eyes, nonbelievers are beasts. No matter how high their level of education is, as long as they do not accept the truth at all, they are beasts. If they can also resist God, then they are devils. There are just these two categories of nonbelievers: Those who do not resist God but often pursue fame, gain, status, and indulge in pleasures are beasts, and those who deny and resist God are devils. So who will be destroyed in the great catastrophe of the last days? Those who are of devils and beasts are all targets for destruction. Some people say, “Look at those with power, wealth, and status. They are living quite comfortably now. Will they really die in the disasters?” These nonbelievers are living quite comfortably now, but who knows what disaster will befall them and cause them to die. Now the disasters are growing ever greater, and all kinds of plagues, wars, and famines have come. No matter what disaster comes, some people will die. No matter what kind of person you are, no matter how much power, wealth, or status you have, as long as you do not accept the truth, you can die at any time and in any place. So tell me, what is the final outcome of people pursuing fame, gain, status, and fleshly enjoyment? They may perish at any time. God saves those who pursue the truth. All who do not pursue the truth and in the end have not gained any truth at all will die in the great catastrophes; no one can escape.

Some people say, “The great catastrophes have already begun. If we only start pursuing the truth now, can we still gain it?” This depends on how you pursue it. Pursuing the truth requires being able to suffer hardship and pay a price; without suffering and paying a price, it is absolutely impossible. So, do you now have the resolve to suffer hardship and pay a price for the sake of pursuing the truth? Can you forsake things and expend yourself for God? Can you live not for the interests of the flesh? If you can live not for your own flesh, fame, gain, status, or reputation, but only to gain the truth, and to be saved and satisfy God, then you can practice the truth and forsake everything. This is bearing true testimony, and such a person is precious in God’s eyes. What about those who live for the flesh and do not expend themselves for God at all? They do not practice the truth, so they bear no testimony. Some people say, “I do not expend myself for God because I have many difficulties.” It is true that you have many difficulties, but if you cannot expend yourself for God, and cannot practice the truth and submit to God, is your belief in God sincere? (No.) Such a person does not sincerely believe in God. If you are always considerate of the flesh, covet worldly things, covet the pleasures of the flesh, and covet fame, gain, and status, and you do not live by God’s words, much less meet God’s requirements, then where is your sincerity in believing in God? If you have sincerity, you can understand the truth, you can expend yourself for God, and you can forsake all you have for God. This is bearing true testimony. Even if you cannot manage to completely forsake everything now, you should at least be able to forsake a part of it and do some duty, right? If you cannot forsake anything at all and cannot do any duty at all, then you have no testimony. Therefore, because your present stature is small, you should first forsake a part. Then, by pursuing and understanding the truth, you will slowly go from being able to forsake only a part to forsaking more and more, and in the end, you will be able to forsake everything and expend yourself for God. Is this not bearing testimony? (Yes.) People’s life entry must go through this process. When you understand a little truth, you will forsake a little. When you understand more truth, you will forsake more. When you completely understand the truth, you will be able to forsake everything. This is your life growing. As your life continuously grows and matures, your forsaking will become more and more thorough, and you will bear true testimony. This proves that you bear testimony to practicing the truth and submitting to God, that you have the truth as your life, and that you have a share in the book of life. You see, when people bear such a beautiful and resounding testimony, their names are recorded in the book of life. So tell me, are such people not blessed? (Yes.) But how do nonbelievers view such people? They will judge them, saying, “You people do not live a good life, you do not earn money, you only know how to forsake and expend yourselves for God. You are fools, you are dim-witted!” So, now some people, in order to focus on expending themselves for God, have given up their jobs and marriages, and are called fools and madmen by their relatives and friends. But in God’s eyes, they are wise people, people whom God loves and approves of. The more they are judged, slandered, and condemned by nonbelievers, the more they are approved of and blessed by God, and in the end, these people will have a share in the kingdom of heaven. People who lack spiritual understanding and do not understand the truth cannot see this matter clearly. They think, “We must not be called madmen and fools by nonbelievers. That would be too foolish. We must be clever people in the eyes of nonbelievers; this is being a wise person.” Are people with this viewpoint truly wise? (No.) They do not understand God’s intentions, and just follow the trends of the world. These are the most foolish people. For the sake of pursuing the truth, a person suffers some hardship and is judged, slandered, condemned, and rejected by nonbelievers, but such a person is the best person in God’s eyes, a person who is saved, a person whom God approves of. In believing in God, we should pursue being people whom God approves of. We do not need the flattery of nonbelievers, nor do we need their understanding. Let the nonbelievers condemn us however they want; their condemnation cannot determine our outcome. We do not need to pay them any attention. You must know that this world is dark and evil, and nonbelievers do not have normal humanity. They are beasts, they are devils. If you pursue the truth, you will naturally be condemned by nonbelievers and rejected by the world. This is a matter of suffering, and ordinary people cannot bear it. Some people even often pray in tears, “Oh God, my family, my relatives, and my friends all dislike me, they all judge, condemn, and reject me. What should I do? I don’t know how to believe in You anymore; I don’t know how to follow You anymore. I have no strength.” Do people like this understand the truth? (No.) They cannot see through this little matter befalling them and have no faith to follow God. Tell me, is their stature not too small? (Yes.) Such people’s stature is too small, so we must help and support them with a loving heart. It is normal for people to have small stature and not be able to see through this matter when they first believe in God. Does not everyone’s stature gradually grow from small to great? When you have believed in God for many years and have experienced much of God’s work, your stature will grow, and you will see through these things. No matter how nonbelievers condemn and reject you, you will no longer feel you are suffering. Instead, you will feel, “Nonbelievers are devils; they are what God hates. I will not listen to them. I am walking a different path from them; I must draw a clear line between me and them!” The names of such people will be recorded in the book of life, and they will be blessed people. If people want to receive this blessing, they must suffer much hardship. You must correctly face all these things and strive to pursue the truth and stand firm in your testimony.

Now, some people can pursue and practice the truth, but when they practice, there are always deviations. They either deviate to the left or deviate to the right, and they can never grasp the principles. How should such people be treated? (Fellowship more on the truth to support and help them.) That’s right. Treat them with a loving heart and help them with a loving heart. This principle must not be forgotten. If some people have some deviations or are occasionally a little distorted in practicing the truth, should they be condemned, attacked, or excluded? (No.) Why not? (Because people do not have the truth, and in the process of practice, there will surely be deviations and flaws. This is very normal; no one can avoid it.) So if someone labels them, saying, “They lack spiritual understanding, they are absurd, they should be eliminated,” is this right? (No.) This is a serious violation of principles, and it shows no love for these people. If such a person is a leader or worker, they can harm and ruin their brothers and sisters. Therefore, when our brothers and sisters have some deviations now and again or are occasionally a little distorted in practicing the truth, we must absolutely treat it correctly. We must not judge or condemn them, and we must not make a mountain out of a molehill, and especially not label them as lacking spiritual understanding or being absurd, or condemn them as being targets for elimination by God. If you treat people this way, the consequences will be very serious, and you might even ruin them. We must be responsible for our brothers and sisters; we must not harm or ruin people in our actions. Now, some people have done such things, so I must point it out so that they can learn a lesson. It is rare for brothers and sisters to be able to accept Almighty God and to be able to forsake and expend themselves for God. Such people have some sincerity in God’s eyes. Even if they have some deviations in doing their duty, we should not judge them, but should earnestly help and support them. Everyone has done many wrong things in their life. In particular, when people first start believing in God and do not yet have a clear understanding of the truth, it is easy for there to be deviations and even transgressions in their actions. Is this not a fact? (Yes.) So you must absolutely not casually condemn people. If their actions violate the principles, the best way, the way that is in accordance with God’s intentions, is to water, support, and provide for them with a loving heart. If we point out where they have violated the truth principles and fellowship the truth principles thoroughly, and they understand and are willing to repent, then they can accept the truth, and we should help and support them more with a loving heart. If, no matter how we fellowship on the truth and help them, they understand but do not accept it and continue to act in that way, and even bring disruptions and disturbances to the work, then we must treat them seriously. We can bring their manifestations to the church and fellowship on them with God’s chosen people and let everyone measure how to handle them according to the principles. We will deal with them however everyone says we should. This is how to treat people in accordance with the principles. You must absolutely not characterize or deal with people just because their attitude is not good for a while or because they hold to their own viewpoints. We must give them some time, let them experience for a month or two, and see how their performance is, whether they can make some changes, and then decide the correct way to handle them. This is because some people are not really unwilling to accept the truth. At first, they are just verbally stubborn and do not admit their mistakes. In fact, their hearts will slowly soften in the process of experiencing, and they will reflect on themselves. After a period of time, they will be able to recognize that the viewpoints they held were indeed wrong, that what they revealed was all a corrupt disposition, and that they really must repent and change. You see, if you do not give such people time, are you not letting them miss their opportunity to be saved? Is this not equivalent to harming and ruining them? It is not easy for people to gain the opportunity to be saved. If we ruin this opportunity for them, that is doing evil, and we will be left with eternal guilt. In all the years I have been working, I have often examined myself, thinking, “Have I ever cleared out or expelled a person by mistake? Could it be that because of something I did not say clearly in the work arrangements I issued, the people below applied the regulations rigidly and cleared out or expelled someone by mistake?” In serving God, I always examine myself in this way. I must ensure that in the process of serving God and doing my duty, I do not harm anyone, and do not ruin anyone’s opportunity to be saved. In addition, from a positive perspective, I must also strive to water all of God’s chosen people well, so that everyone can understand the truth and know how to treat and handle people. I must do my utmost to ensure that there are no people who have been cleared out or expelled from the church by mistake. Only in this way can my conscience be without guilt, and can I feel peace and joy in my heart. Therefore, every three to five years, I issue a work arrangement to the churches in mainland China, saying, “Are there any among those who were previously cleared out or expelled by the church who have truly repented? If some people really show manifestations of repentance, then they should be accepted back. There are also some who signed the Three Statements. If they were sincere in doing their duty in the past and their humanity is quite good, and it was only because of a temporary weakness of the flesh that they could not overcome the torture and signed the Three Statements, and after signing, they were in great pain and remorse, even to the point of wishing they were dead, but after that, they still persisted in believing in God and reading God’s words, and could also preach the gospel and gain some people, then such people can also be accepted back and given another chance.” Have I not done this over these years? (Yes.) Why do I do this? It’s because people have suffered much hardship in their lives, and it is not easy to gain the opportunity to believe in God and be saved. If they are sincere believers in God, and we clear them out or expel them just because they have revealed too much corruption or have some transgressions, is that not unfair to them? If these people have truly repented and we do not accept them back, will we not be letting God down? (Yes.) We cannot let people down, and more importantly, we cannot let God down. God’s intention is for all to be saved, and He is not willing for anyone to suffer perdition. So when God sees a sincere believer in God being cleared out or expelled, what does God feel in His heart? Will God be pleased? Will God not be pained? These are things that everyone should reflect on.