I have carried out a vast amount of work on the earth, and I have walked among mankind for so many years, yet people rarely have knowledge of My image and My disposition, and few people can thoroughly explain the work that I do. There are so many things that people lack, always they lack understanding of what I do, and always their hearts are on guard as if they deeply fear I will put them in another situation and then pay no more mind to them. Thus, people’s attitudes toward Me are always lukewarm together with a strong dose of caution. This is because people have come to the present without understanding the work that I do, and in particular, they are baffled by the words that I speak to them. They hold My words in their hands, not knowing if they should commit themselves to unswerving belief in them or if they should opt for indecision and forget them. They do not know whether they should put them into practice, or wait and see, whether they should cast aside everything and bravely follow, or continue to hold out friendship to the world as before. People’s internal worlds are so complicated, and they are so cunning. Because people cannot clearly or fully see My words, many of them have a hard time practicing them and have difficulty laying their hearts before Me. I deeply understand your difficulties. Many weaknesses are unavoidable when living in the flesh, and many objective factors create difficulties for you. You feed your family, spend your days working hard, and the months and years pass in hardship. There are many difficulties in living in the flesh—I do not deny this, and of course My requirements of you are made in accordance with your difficulties. The requirements in the work I do are all based on your actual stature. Perhaps in the past, the requirements people made of you in their work were mixed with elements of excessiveness, but you should know that I have never had excessive requirements of you in what I say and do. All requirements are based on people’s nature, flesh, and what they need. You should know, and I can very clearly tell you, that I do not oppose certain reasonable ways of thinking that people have, and I do not oppose mankind’s inherent nature. It is only because people do not understand what the standards I have set them actually are, nor do they understand the original meaning of My words, that people have been dubious of My words until now, and even less than half of people believe My words. The remainder are disbelievers, and even more are those who like to hear Me “tell stories.” Moreover, there are many who enjoy the spectacle. I caution you: Many of My words have already been opened to those who believe in Me, and those who enjoy the beautiful view of the kingdom but are locked outside of its gate have already been eliminated by Me. Are you not just tares spurned by Me? How could you watch Me leave and then joyfully welcome My return? I tell you, after the people of Nineveh heard Jehovah’s angry words, they immediately repented in sackcloth and ashes. It was because they believed His words that they were full of terror and dread and thus repented in sackcloth and ashes. As for the people of today, although you also believe My words and even more than that, believe that Jehovah has once again come among you today, your attitude is nothing but irreverent, as if you were just observing the Jesus who was born in Judea thousands of years ago and has now descended into your midst. I deeply understand the deceitfulness that exists within your hearts; most of you follow Me out of curiosity and have come to seek Me out of emptiness. When your third wish is shattered—your wish for a peaceful and happy life—then your curiosity also dissipates. The deceitfulness that exists within each of your hearts is exposed through your words and deeds. To speak frankly, you are just curious about Me, but not afraid of Me; you do not mind your tongues, and even less do you exercise restraint in your behavior. Then what kind of faith do you have, really? Is it genuine? You just use My words to dispel your worries and alleviate your boredom, to fill up the remaining empty spaces in your lives. Who among you has put My words into practice? Who has genuine faith? You keep shouting that God is a God who sees deep into people’s hearts, but how is the God that you shout about in your hearts compatible with Me? Since you are shouting like this, then why do you act that way? Could it be that this is the love you want to repay Me with? There is no small amount of dedication on your lips, but where are your sacrifices, and your good deeds? If it weren’t for your words reaching My ears, how could I hate you so much? If you truly believed in Me, how could you fall into such a state of distress? You have depressed looks on your faces as if you were in Hades standing trial. You have not even a shred of vitality, and you feebly talk about your inner voice; you are even full of complaints and curses. You long ago lost faith in what I do and even your original faith has disappeared, so how can you possibly follow until the end? Since this is so, then how can you be saved?

Although My work is very helpful for you, yet My words are always lost on you and come to nothing in you. It is difficult to find objects to be perfected by Me, and today I have nearly lost hope in you. I have searched among you for several years, but it is hard to find someone who can be My confidant. I feel as if I have no confidence to continue to work in you, and no love with which to continue to love you. This is because I have long ago become disgusted by your “accomplishments,” minuscule and pathetic as they are; it seems as if I had never spoken among you and had never worked in you. Your achievements are so nauseating. You always bring ruin and shame upon yourselves, and you have almost no value. I can hardly find the likeness of a human in you, nor smell the trace of a human. Where is your fresh scent? Where is the price you have paid over many years, and where are the results? Have you never found any? My work now has a new beginning, a new start. I am going to carry out grand plans and I want to accomplish even greater work, yet you are still wallowing in the mud as before, living in the filthy waters of the past, and have practically failed to free yourselves from your original predicament. Therefore, you still have not gained anything from My words. You still have not freed yourselves from your original place of mud and filthy water, and you only know My words, but in fact you have not entered into the realm of freedom of My words, so My words have never been opened up to you; they are like a book of prophecy that has been sealed for thousands of years. I appear to you in your lives, but you are always unaware of it. You do not even recognize Me. Nearly half of the words I say are in judgment of you, and they only achieve half of the effect that they should, which is to instill deep fear within you. The remaining half consists of words to teach you about life and how to conduct yourselves. However, it would seem that as far as you are concerned these words do not even exist, or as if you were listening to the words of children, words to which you always give a veiled smile, but never act upon. You have never been concerned about these things; it has always primarily been in the name of curiosity that you have observed My actions, with the result that now you have fallen into darkness and cannot see the light, and so you cry piteously in the dark. What I want is your submission, your unconditional submission, and even more, I require that you be completely certain of everything I say. You should not adopt an attitude of neglect and in particular you should not treat the things I say selectively, nor be indifferent toward My words and My work, as is your wont. My work is done in your midst and I have bestowed a great many of My words upon you, but if you treat Me in this way, I can only give away to Gentile families that which you have neither gained nor put into practice. Who among all of the created beings is not held by Me in My hands? Most of those among you are of a “ripe old age,” and you do not have the energy to accept this kind of work that I have. You are like a Hanhao bird,^[a] just barely getting by, and you have never treated My words seriously. The young people are extremely vain and overindulgent and pay even less mind to My work. They have no interest in feasting on the delicacies of My banquet; they are like a little bird that has flown out of its cage to venture far away into the distance. How can these kinds of young and old people be useful to Me? Those of an advanced age are ready to use My words as a pension until they are in their graves, so that after they are dead their souls can go up to heaven; for them, this is enough. These old people now always harbor “great ambitions” and “unwavering confidence.” Although they have great patience for My work and possess that quality old people have of being upright and unyielding, refusing to be dragged away or defeated by anyone or anything—indeed, they are like an impregnable fortress—but is not the faith of these people not enshrouded in a veil of superstitious morbidity? Where is their path? For them, is their path not too long, too remote? How could they know My intentions? Even if their confidence is commendable, how many of these elders are not following in a confused way, but are actually pursuing life? How many truly understand the real significance of My work? Whose purpose is not to follow Me in this world today so that in the near future they will not descend into Hades but will be brought to another realm by Me? Do you think your destination is such a simple matter? Although you young people are all like youthful lions, you rarely have the true way in your hearts. Your youth does not entitle you to more of My work; on the contrary, you always provoke My disgust toward you. Although you are young, you either lack vitality or ambition, and you are always noncommittal about your future; it is as if you are indifferent and brooding. It could be said that the vitality, aspirations, and stance taken that should be found in young people, absolutely cannot be found in you; you, this kind of young person, are without a stance and have no ability to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, beauty and ugliness. It is impossible to find any elements of you that are fresh. You are almost entirely old-fashioned, and you, this kind of young person, have also learned to follow the crowd, to be irrational. You can never clearly distinguish right from wrong, cannot differentiate between true and false, never strive for excellence, and nor can you tell what is right and what is wrong, what is truth and what is hypocrisy. There is a heavier and more severe stench of religion about you than there is with old people. You are even arrogant and unreasonable, you are competitive, and your fondness for aggression is very strong—how could this kind of young person possess the truth? How can someone who cannot take a stance stand witness? How can someone who does not have the ability to differentiate between right and wrong be called a young person? How can someone who does not have the vitality, vigor, freshness, calmness, and steadiness of a young person be called My follower? How can someone who has no truth, no sense of justice, but who loves to play and fight, be worthy of being My witness? Eyes that are full of deceit and prejudice toward others are not things that young people should have, and young people should not carry out destructive, abominable acts. They should not be without aspirations, drive, and an enthusiastic desire to better themselves; they should not be disheartened about their prospects, and nor should they lose hope in life or confidence in the future; they should have the perseverance to continue along the way of truth that they have now chosen—to realize their wish to expend their entire lives for Me. They should not be without the truth, nor should they harbor hypocrisy and unrighteousness—they should stand firm in the proper stance. They should not just drift along, but should have the spirit to dare to make sacrifices and to struggle for justice and truth. Young people should have the bravery to not succumb to oppression by the forces of darkness and to transform the significance of their existence. Young people should not resign themselves to adversity, but should be open and frank, with a spirit of forgiveness for their brothers and sisters. Of course, these are My requirements of everyone, and My advice to everyone. But even more, these are My soothing words for all young people. You should practice according to My words. In particular, young people should not be without the resolve to exercise discernment in issues and to seek justice and the truth. You should pursue all things beautiful and good, and you should obtain the reality of all positive things. You should be responsible toward your life, and you must not take it lightly. People come to the earth and it is rare to encounter Me, and it is also rare to have the opportunity to seek and to gain the truth. Why would you not prize this beautiful time as the right path to pursue in this life? And why are you always so dismissive toward the truth and justice? Why are you always trampling on and ruining yourselves for that unrighteousness and filth that toys with people? And why do you act like those old people who engage in what the unrighteous do? Why do you imitate the old ways of old things? Your lives should be full of justice, truth, and holiness; your lives should not be so depraved at such a young age, leading you to fall into Hades. Do you not feel that this would be a terrible misfortune? Do you not feel that this would be terribly unjust?

All of you should do the utterly perfect work of yours and sacrifice it upon My altar, making of it the ultimate, unique sacrifice, that you render unto Me. You should all stand firm in your own stance and not be blown about with every passing breeze like clouds in the sky. You work hard for half your life, so why would you not seek the destination you should have? You toil for half a lifetime, yet you let the pig- and dog-like parents of yours drag the truth and the significance of your personal existence into the tomb. Do you not think this is a great injustice against you? Do you not feel that living life in this way is utterly meaningless? Seeking the truth and the right path in this way will end up causing problems so that the neighbors are uneasy and the entire family is unhappy, and it will lead to deadly disasters. If you live this way, does it not amount to a most meaningless life? Whose life could be more fortunate than yours, and whose life could be more ridiculous than yours? Do you not seek after Me in order to gain My joy and words of comfort for you? But after you have run around for half a lifetime, you provoke Me until I am full of anger and pay no mind to you or praise you—does this not mean that your entire life has been in vain? How could you have the face to go see the souls of those saints throughout the ages who have been released from purgatory? You are indifferent toward Me and in the end you provoke a fatal disaster—it would be better to take advantage of this opportunity and have a joyful trip across the vast ocean and then obey My “assignment.” I told you long ago that you today, as indifferent as you are yet unwilling to depart, would in the end be subsumed and swallowed up by the waves created by Me. Can you really protect yourselves? Are you really confident that your current method of pursuit will ensure that you are perfected? Is your heart not very hard? This kind of following, this kind of pursuit, this kind of life, and this kind of character—how could it gain My praise?

Footnotes:

a. The story of the Hanhao bird is very similar to Aesop’s fable of the ant and the grasshopper. The Hanhao bird prefers to sleep instead of building a nest while the weather is warm, despite repeated warnings from his neighbor, a magpie. When winter arrives, the bird freezes to death.