I have said so many times that God’s work of the last days is done in order to alter each person’s spirit, to change each person’s soul, such that their heart, which has suffered great trauma, is reformed, thus rescuing their soul, which has been so profoundly harmed by sin; it is in order to awaken people’s spirits, to thaw their cold hearts, and allow them to be rejuvenated. This is God’s greatest intention. Put aside talk of how lofty or profound man’s life and experiences are; when people’s hearts have been awakened, when they have been roused from their dreams and know full well the harm wrought by the great red dragon, the work of God’s ministry will have been completed. The day that God’s work is finished is also the day when man officially starts on the correct path of belief in God. At this time, God’s ministry will have come to an end: The work of God become flesh will have completely finished, and man will officially begin to perform the duty that he ought to perform—he will perform his ministry. These are the steps of God’s work. Thus, you should grope for your path to entry upon the foundation of knowing these things. All of this is what you should understand. Man’s entry will only improve when changes have occurred deep within his heart, for God’s work is the complete salvation of man—man who has been redeemed, who still lives under the forces of darkness, and who has never roused himself—from this gathering place of demons; it is so that man may be freed of millennia of sin, and be beloved of God, completely striking down the great red dragon, establishing God’s kingdom, and bringing rest to God’s heart sooner; it is to give vent, without reservation, to the hate that swells your breast, to eradicate those moldy germs, to allow you to leave this life that is no different from that of an ox or horse, to no longer be a slave, to no longer be freely trampled upon or ordered about by the great red dragon; you will no longer be of this failed nation, will no longer belong to the heinous great red dragon, and you will no longer be enslaved by it. The demons’ nest will surely be torn to pieces by God, and you will stand beside God—you belong to God, and do not belong to this empire of slaves. God has long since loathed this dark society to His very bones. He gnashes His teeth, eager to plant His feet upon this evil, heinous old serpent, so that it may never rise again, and will never again abuse man; He will not excuse its actions in the past, He will not tolerate its deceit of man, and He will settle the score for every one of its sins throughout the ages. Not in the slightest will God let this ringleader of all evil^[1] off the hook, He will utterly destroy it.

For thousands of years this has been the land of filth. It is unbearably dirty, misery abounds, ghosts run rampant everywhere, tricking and deceiving, making groundless accusations,^[2] being ruthless and vicious, trampling this ghost town and leaving it littered with dead bodies; the stench of decay covers the land and pervades the air, and it is heavily guarded.^[3] Who can see the world beyond the skies? The devil tightly trusses all of man’s body, it veils both his eyes, and seals his lips firmly shut. The king of devils has rampaged for several thousand years, right up until today, when it still keeps a close watch on the ghost town, as if it were an impenetrable palace of demons; this pack of watchdogs, meanwhile, stare with glaring eyes, deeply fearful that God will catch them unawares and wipe them all out, leaving them without a place of peace and happiness. How could the people of a ghost town such as this ever have seen God? Have they ever enjoyed the dearness and loveliness of God? What appreciation have they of the matters of the human world? Who of them can understand God’s eager intentions? Small wonder, then, that God incarnate remains completely hidden: In a dark society such as this, where the demons are merciless and inhumane, how could the king of devils, who kills people without batting an eye, tolerate the existence of a God who is lovely, kind, and also holy? How could it applaud and cheer the arrival of God? These lackeys! They repay kindness with hate, they began treating God as an enemy long ago, they abuse God, they are savage in the extreme, they have not the slightest regard for God, they plunder and pillage, they have lost all conscience, they go against all conscience, and they tempt the innocent into senselessness. Forefathers of the ancient? Beloved leaders? They all oppose God! Their meddling has left all beneath heaven in a state of darkness and chaos! Religious freedom? The legitimate rights and interests of citizens? They are all tricks for covering up sin! Who has embraced the work of God? Who has laid down their life or shed blood for the work of God? Humans, who have been enslaved for generations, in an unbroken line from parents to children, have unceremoniously enslaved God—how could this not incite fury? Thousands of years of hate are concentrated in the heart, millennia of sinfulness are inscribed upon the heart—how could this not inspire loathing? Avenge God, completely snuff out His enemy, do not allow it to run rampant any longer, and do not permit it to rule as a tyrant! Now is the time: Man has long since gathered all his strength, he has devoted all his efforts and paid every price for this, to tear off the hideous face of this devil and allow people, who have been blinded, and who have endured every manner of suffering and hardship, to rise up from their pain and rebel against this evil old devil. Why put up such an impenetrable obstacle to the work of God? Why employ various tricks to deceive God’s folk? Where is the true freedom and the legitimate rights and interests? Where is the fairness? Where is the comfort? Where is the warmth? Why use deceitful schemes to trick God’s people? Why use force to suppress the coming of God? Why not allow God to freely roam upon the earth that He created? Why hound God until He has nowhere to rest His head? Where is the warmth among men? Where is the welcome among people? Why cause such desperate yearning in God? Why make God call out again and again? Why force God to worry for His beloved Son? In this dark society, why do its sorry guard dogs not allow God to freely come and go among the world which He created? Why does man not understand, man who lives amid pain and suffering? For your sakes, God has endured great torment, with great pain He has bestowed His beloved Son, His flesh and blood, to you—so why do you still turn a blind eye? In full view of everyone, you reject the arrival of God, and refuse God’s friendship. Why are you so unconscionable? Are you willing to endure the injustices in a dark society such as this? Why, instead of filling your bellies with millennia of enmity, do you stuff yourselves with the king of devils’ “shit”?

How great are the obstacles to God’s work? Has anyone ever known? With people encaged by deep-seated superstitious colorings, who is capable of knowing God’s true face? With this backward cultural knowledge so shallow and absurd, how could they fully comprehend the words spoken by God? Even when they are spoken to face to face, and nourished mouth to mouth, how could they understand? Sometimes it is as if God’s words have fallen on deaf ears: People have not the slightest reaction, they wag their heads and understand nothing. How could this not be worrisome? This “distant,^[4] ancient cultural history and cultural knowledge” has nurtured such a worthless group of people. This ancient culture—precious heritage—is a pile of junk! It became an everlasting shame long ago, and is not worth mentioning! It has taught people the tricks and techniques of opposing God, and the “ordered, gentle guidance”^[5] of the national education has made people even more rebellious against God. Each part of God’s work is extremely difficult, and every step of His work upon earth has been distressing to God. How hard His work on earth is! The steps of God’s work on earth involve great hardship: For man’s weakness, deficiencies, childishness, ignorance, and everything of man, God makes meticulous plans and thoughtful considerations. Man is like a paper tiger that one dare not bait or provoke; at the merest touch he bites back, or else falls down and loses his way, and it is as if, at the slightest loss of concentration, he relapses, or else ignores God, or runs to his pigs and dogs of parents to indulge in the impure things of their bodies. What a great hindrance! At practically every step of His work, God is subjected to a test, and at almost every step God risks great danger. His words are sincere and honest, and without malice, yet who is willing to accept them? Who is willing to fully surrender? It breaks God’s heart. He toils day and night for man, He is beset by anxiety for man’s life, and He sympathizes with man’s weakness. He has endured many twists and turns in each step of His work, for every word that He speaks; He is ever between a rock and a hard place, and thinks of man’s weakness, rebelliousness, childishness, and vulnerability … around the clock over and over again. Who has ever known this? Who can He confide in? Who would be able to understand? Ever does He loathe the sins of man, and the lack of backbone, the spinelessness of man, and ever does He worry for the vulnerability of man, and contemplate the path that lies ahead of man. Always, as He observes the words and deeds of man, is He filled with mercy, and anger, and always does the sight of these things bring pain to His heart. The innocent, after all, have grown numb; why must God always make things difficult for them? Feeble man is utterly bereft of perseverance; why should God always have such unabating anger toward him? Weak and powerless man no longer has the slightest vitality; why should God always chide him for his rebelliousness? Who can withstand the threats of God in heaven? Man, after all, is fragile, and in desperate straits, God has pushed His anger deep into His heart, so that man may slowly reflect upon himself. Yet man, who is in grave trouble, has not the slightest appreciation of God’s intentions; man has been trampled underfoot by the old king of devils, yet he is completely unaware, he always sets himself against God, or else he is neither hot nor cold toward God. God has spoken so many words, yet who has ever taken them seriously? Man does not understand God’s words, yet he remains unperturbed, and without yearning, and has never truly known the essence of the old devil. People live in Hades, in hell, but believe they live in the palace of the seabed; they are persecuted by the great red dragon, yet think themselves to be “favored”^[6] by the country; they are ridiculed by the devil yet think they enjoy the superlative artistry of the flesh. What a bunch of dirty, lowly wretches they are! Man has met with misfortune, but he does not know it, and in this dark society he suffers mishap after mishap,^[7] yet never has he woken up to this. When will he rid himself of his self-kindness and slavish disposition? Why is he so uncaring of God’s heart? Does he quietly condone this oppression and hardship? Does he not wish for the day when he can change darkness into light? Does he not wish to once more remedy the grievances toward justice and truth? Is he willing to watch and do nothing as people forsake the truth and twist the facts? Is he happy to keep enduring this maltreatment? Is he willing to be a slave? Is he willing to perish at the hands of God together with the slaves of this failed state? Where is your resolve? Where is your ambition? Where is your dignity? Where is your integrity? Where is your freedom? Are you willing to lay down your entire life^[8] for the great red dragon, the king of devils? Are you happy to let it torture you to death? The face of the deep is chaotic and dark, while the common folk, suffering such affliction, cry to Heaven and complain to earth. When will man be able to hold his head up high? Man is scrawny and emaciated, how could he contend with this cruel and tyrannical devil? Why does he not give his life to God as soon as he can? Why does he still waver? When can he finish God’s work? Thus aimlessly bullied and oppressed, his whole life will ultimately have been spent in vain; why is he in such a hurry to arrive, and such a rush to depart? Why does he not keep something precious to give to God? Has he forgotten the millennia of hate?

Perhaps, many people loathe some of God’s words, or perhaps they neither loathe them nor have any interest in them. Regardless, the facts cannot become absurd reasoning; no one may speak words that contravene the facts. God has become flesh this time to do such work, to conclude the work that He has yet to complete, to bring this age to a close, to judge this age, to save the deeply sinful from the world of the sea of suffering and utterly transform them. The Jews nailed God to the cross, thus ending God’s travels in Judea. Not long after, God personally came among man once more, quietly arriving into the country of the great red dragon. In fact, the religious community of the Jewish state had long since hung the image of Jesus on their walls, and from their mouths people cried “Lord Jesus Christ.” Little did they know that Jesus had long since accepted His Father’s order to return among man to finish the second stage of His work that had yet to be completed. As a result, people were caught by surprise when they looked upon Him: He had been born amid a world in which many eras had passed, and He appeared among man with the look of one who is supremely ordinary. In fact, as the ages have passed, His clothing and entire appearance have changed, as if He had been reborn. How could people know that He is the very same Lord Jesus Christ who came down from the cross and was resurrected? He is without the slightest trace of injury, just as Jesus bore no resemblance to Jehovah. The Jesus of today has long since been without the bearing of times gone by. How could people know Him? The duplicitous “Thomas” always doubts that He is Jesus resurrected, and always wants to see the scars from the nails on Jesus’ hands before he can put his mind at rest; without having seen them, he would always stand upon a cloud of suspicion, and is incapable of placing his feet on the solid ground and following Jesus. Poor “Thomas”—how could he know that Jesus has come to do the work commissioned by God the Father? Why does Jesus need to bear the scars of the crucifixion? Are the scars of the crucifixion the mark of Jesus? He has come to work for the will of His Father; why would He come clothed and adorned as a Jew from several thousand years ago? Could the form that God takes in the flesh hinder the work of God? Whose theory is this? Why, when God works, must it be in accordance with man’s imagination? The only thing that God focuses on in His work is for it to have an effect. He does not abide by the law, and there are no rules to His work—how could man fathom it? How could man thoroughly penetrate through to the work of God by relying on his notions and imaginings? So you had best settle down properly: Do not fuss over trifles, and do not make a big deal out of things that are new to you—this will stop you making a joke of yourself and people laughing at you. You have believed in God for all these years and yet still you do not know God. Ultimately, you are plunged into chastisement; you, who are placed “top of the class,”^[9] are ascribed to the ranks of the chastised. You had best not use clever means to show off your petty tricks. Can your short-sightedness truly perceive God, who sees through from eternity to eternity? Can your superficial experiences allow you to fully see through to the intentions of God? Do not be conceited. God, after all, is not of the world—so how could His work be as you expected?

Footnotes:

1. “Ringleader of all evil” refers to the old devil. This phrase expresses extreme dislike.

2. “Making groundless accusations” refers to the methods by which the devil harms people.

3. “Heavily guarded” indicates that the methods by which the devil afflicts people are especially vicious, and control people so much that they have no room to move.

4. “Distant” is used mockingly.

5. “Ordered, gentle guidance” is used mockingly.

6. “Favored” is used to mock people who seem wooden and have no self-awareness.

7. “Suffers mishap after mishap” indicates that the people were born in the land of the great red dragon, and they are unable to hold their heads up high.

8. “Lay down your entire life” is meant in a derogatory sense.

9. “Top of the class” is used to mock those who fervently pursue God.