You always wish to see Christ, but I exhort you not to exalt yourselves so; everyone may see Christ, but I say none are fit to see Christ. Because the nature of man is filled with evil, arrogance, and rebellion, when you see Christ, your nature will ruin you and condemn you to death. Your association with a brother (or a sister) may not show much about you, but it is not so simple when you associate with Christ. At any time, your conceptions may take root, your arrogance bud, and your rebellion bear figs. How can you with such humanity be fit to associate with Christ? Are you truly able to treat Him as God every moment of every day? Will you truly have the reality of obedience to God? You worship the lofty God within your hearts as Jehovah but regard the visible Christ as a man. Your sense is too inferior and your humanity too lowly! You are unable to forever regard Christ as God; rather, you simply pull Him over and worship Him as God when it strikes your fancy. This is why I say you are not believers of God, but accomplices to those who fight against Christ. Even men who show kindness to others are repaid, yet Christ, who does such work among you, is not loved or repaid by man, nor does He receive man’s obedience. Is this not a most saddening thing?

It may be that in all your years of faith in God, you have never cursed anyone nor committed a bad deed, yet in your association with Christ, you cannot speak the truth, act truthfully, or obey the word of Christ; then I say that you are the most devious and sinister in the world. If you are especially cordial and loyal to your relatives, friends, wife (or husband), sons and daughters, and parents, and never take advantage of others, yet you cannot be compatible and at peace with Christ, then even if you send your all in relief to your neighbors or have taken good care of your father, mother, and household, I still say that you are wicked, and cunning, too. Do not think that you are compatible with Christ if you are compatible with man or perform some good deeds. Do you believe that your kindness can purloin the blessing of Heaven? Do you think that good deeds are a substitute for your obedience? None of you can accept dealing and pruning, and all find it difficult to accept the normal humanity of Christ. Yet you always claim obedience to God. Such faith as yours will bring upon a fitting retribution. Stop indulging in fanciful illusions and wishing to see Christ, for you are too little in stature, such that you are not even worthy to see Him. When you have completely cast away your rebellion and can be at peace with Christ, then God will naturally appear to you. If you go to see God without having undergone pruning or judgment, then you shall definitely become an opponent of God and be set for destruction. The nature of man inherently is hostile to God, for all men have been thoroughly corrupted by Satan. Nothing good can come of a corrupt man associating with God. All actions and words of man will surely expose his corruption; and when he associates with God, his rebelliousness will be revealed in all aspects. Man then unknowingly opposes Christ, deceives Christ, and rejects Christ; then will man be in an even more dangerous state. Should it continue, he will become subject to punishment.

Some may believe that if association with God is so dangerous, then it would be wise to give God a wide berth. What, then, can such people receive? Can they be loyal to God? Indeed, association with God is very difficult, but that is entirely because man is corrupted and not because God cannot associate with man. It would be best for you to devote more effort on the truth of knowing the self. Why have you not found favor with God? Why is your disposition abominable to Him? Why are your words loathsome to Him? You praise yourselves for your little loyalty and want reward for your small sacrifice; you look down upon others when you show a bit obedience, and become contemptuous of God upon performing some petty work. You wish for riches and gifts and compliments for receiving God. Your hearts ache when you give a coin or two; when you give ten, you wish for blessings and to be distinguished from others. A humanity such as yours is really offensive to speak of or hear. What is praiseworthy of your words and actions? Those who perform their duty and those who do not; those who lead and those who follow; those who receive God and those who do not; those who give and those who do not; those who preach and those who receive the word, and so on; all such men praise themselves. Do you not find this laughable? Surely you know that you believe in God, yet you cannot be compatible with God. Surely you know that you are unworthy, yet you remain boastful. Do you not feel that your sense has become such that you no longer have self-control? How can you with such sense be fit for association with God? Now are you not afraid for yourselves? Your disposition has already become such that you cannot be compatible with God. Is your faith not preposterous? Is your faith not absurd? How will you deal with your future? How will you choose the path to travel down?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Are Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God