Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word “Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth” (III)
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“The work of the last days is to separate all according to their kind, to conclude the management plan of God, for the time is near and the day of God has come. God brings all who have entered His kingdom, that is, all those who have been loyal to Him to the end, into the age of God Himself. However, before the coming of the age of God Himself, the work that God desires to do is not to observe the deeds of man or to inquire about the lives of man, but to judge his rebellion, for God shall purify all those who come before His throne. All those who have followed the footsteps of God to this day are those who have come before the throne of God, hence all who accept the last of God’s work are those to be purified by God. In other words, all those who accept the last of God’s work are those who will be judged by God.
As previously spoken of, judgment would begin with the house of God. This ‘judgment’ refers to the judgment God does today on those who come before His throne in the last days. Perhaps there are those who believe in such supernatural imaginings as that when the last days have arrived, God will erect a big table in the heavens, upon which a white tablecloth will be spread, then God will sit upon a great throne and all men will kneel on the ground. God shall then reveal all sins laid against each man to determine whether he shall ascend to heaven or be sent down to the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. No matter what the imaginings of man, the substance of God’s work cannot be altered. The imaginings of man are nothing but the constructs of man’s thoughts and come from the brain of man, summed up and pieced together from what man has seen and heard. Therefore I say, however brilliant the images conceived, they are still no more than a drawing and no substitute for the plan of God’s work. After all, man has been corrupted by Satan, so how can he then fathom the thoughts of God? Man conceives the work of judgment by God to be particularly fantastic. Man believes that since it is God Himself doing the work of judgment, then it must be of the most tremendous scale and incomprehensible to mortals; it must resound through the heavens and shake the earth, otherwise how can it be the work of judgment by God? Man believes that as this is the work of judgment, then God must be particularly imposing and majestic as He works, and those being judged must be howling with tears and on their knees begging for mercy. The scene must be a grand sight and very rousing…. Every man conceives God’s work of judgment to be legendary. Do you know, however, that long after God has begun the work of judgment among men, you are still nestled in sleep? Do you know, at the time that you believe God’s work of judgment has officially begun, it shall already be the time when God changes heaven and earth? At that time, perhaps you will have only just understood the meaning of life, but the merciless work of punishment of God shall bring you, still slumbering, into hell. Only then will you suddenly realize that God’s work of judgment has already concluded.
Let us not waste precious time and talk no more of these abhorrent and detestable topics. Let us speak instead of what constitutes judgment. When it comes to the word “judgment,” you will think of the words that Jehovah spoke to all the places and the words of rebuke that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees. Though these words are stern, they are not God’s judgment of man; these words are only those spoken by God within different environments, that is, different settings, and they are unlike the words spoken by Christ as He judges man in the last days. In the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, reveal the essence of man, and dissect his words and deeds. These words comprise various truths, such as man’s duty, how man should obey God, how man should be loyal to God, how man ought to live out the normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and disposition of God, and so on. These words are all focused on the essence of man and his corrupt disposition. In particular, those words that reveal how man spurns God are spoken in regard to how man is an embodiment of Satan and an enemy force against God. When God does the work of judgment, He does not simply make clear the nature of man with just a few words, but carries out revelation, dealing, and pruning over the long term. Such manner of revelation, dealing, and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words but with the truth that man does not possess at all. Only such manner of work is deemed judgment; only through such judgment can man be persuaded, be thoroughly convinced into submission to God, and gain true knowledge of God. What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of God and the truth about his rebelliousness. The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the will of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that could not be understood by man. It also allows man to recognize and know his corrupt substance and the roots of his corruption, as well as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by the work of judgment, for the substance of such work is actually the work of opening up the truth, way, and life of God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God. If you do not regard these truths with importance and constantly think of avoiding them or of a new way out apart from them, then I say you are a grievous sinner. If you have faith in God, yet seek not the truth or the will of God, nor do you love the way that brings you closer to God, then I say that you are one who is trying to evade judgment. You are a puppet and traitor who flees from the great white throne, and God will not spare any of the rebellious that escape from under His eyes. Such men shall receive even more severe punishment. Those who come before God to be judged and have been purified shall forever live in the kingdom of God. Of course, this is in the future.
The work of judgment is God’s own work, so it must naturally be done by God Himself; it cannot be done by man in His stead. Because judgment is the conquering of man through the truth, it is unquestionable that God still appears as the incarnate image to do this work among men. That is to say, in the last days, Christ shall use the truth to teach men around the earth and to make all truths known to them. This is God’s work of judgment. Many have a sour taste in their mouths about the second incarnation of God, for man finds it difficult to believe that God shall do the work of judgment as an incarnation. But I must tell you that often the work of God greatly exceeds man’s expectations and is difficult for the minds of men to accept. For men are merely maggots upon the earth, while God is the supreme One that fills the universe; the mind of man is akin to a pit of foul water that gives rise only to maggots, whereas each stage of the work directed by the thoughts of God is the fruit of God’s wisdom. Man constantly wishes to contend with God; then I say it is self-evident who stands to lose in the end. I exhort you all not to regard yourselves with more importance than gold. If others can accept the judgment of God, then why can you not? How much higher do you stand above others? If others can bow their heads before the truth, why can you not also do so? The great trend of God’s work is unstoppable. He will not repeat the work of judgment again for the sake of your “merits,” and you will sorely regret losing such a good opportunity. If you do not believe My words, then just wait for that great white throne in the sky to pass judgment upon you! You must know that all of the Israelites spurned and denied Jesus, yet the fact of Jesus’ redemption of mankind still spread to the ends of the universe. Is this not the fact that God has long ago fulfilled? If you are still awaiting Jesus to take you up to heaven, then I say that you are an obstinate piece of deadwood.[a] Jesus will not acknowledge a false believer such as you who is disloyal to the truth and seeks only blessings. On the contrary, He will show no mercy in casting you into the lake of fire to burn for tens of thousands of years.
Do you understand now what is judgment and what is truth? If you now understand, then I exhort you to submit to judgment, otherwise you shall never have the opportunity to be commended by God or to be taken by God into His kingdom. Those who only accept judgment but can never be purified, that is, those who flee in the midst of the work of judgment, shall forever be detested and rejected by God. Their sins are much more, and more grievous, than those of the Pharisees, for they have betrayed God and are rebels against God. Such men who are not worthy even to do service shall receive more severe, everlasting punishment. God shall not spare any traitor who once claimed loyalty with words yet then betrayed Him. Such men shall see retribution through punishment of the spirit, soul, and body. Does this not reveal the righteous disposition of God? Is this not exactly the purpose of God’s judgment and revelation of man? God shall place all those who perform all kinds of wicked deeds during the time of judgment in the place where evil spirits live for their fleshly bodies to be destroyed at the will of the spirits. Their bodies shall give off the odor of a corpse, and such is their fitting retribution. God writes down in their record books each and every one of the sins of those disloyal false believers, false apostles, and false workers, then when the time is right, He casts them amidst the unclean spirits so their entire bodies may be defiled by the spirits at will and, as a result, they will never be reincarnated and shall never again see the light. Those hypocrites who did service at one time but are unable to remain loyal to the end shall be numbered by God among the wicked so that they walk in the counsel of the wicked, becoming part of the disorderly multitude. In the end, God shall destroy them. God casts aside and takes no notice of those who have never been loyal to Christ or dedicated any effort, and shall destroy them all in the change of ages. They shall no longer exist on earth, much less gain passage into the kingdom of God. Those who have never been true to God but are forced into dealing with God shall be numbered among those who do service for His people. Only a small number of such men can survive, while the majority shall perish along with those who are not qualified even to do service. Finally, God shall bring into His kingdom all those who are of the same mind as God, the people and sons of God as well as those predestined by God to be priests. Such is the fruit begotten by God through His work. As for those who can belong to none of the categories set by God, they shall be numbered among the unbelievers. And you can surely imagine what their outcome shall be. I have already said to you all that I should say; the road that you choose shall be your decision to make. What you should understand is this: The work of God never waits for any that cannot keep pace with God, and the righteous disposition of God shows no mercy to any man.”
Footnotes:
a. A piece of deadwood: a Chinese idiom, meaning “beyond help.”
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Let’s start communicating about God’s word. This time, shouldn’t we fellowship about the last section? Let’s read God’s word. “Do you understand now what is judgment and what is truth? If you now understand, then I exhort you to submit to judgment, otherwise you shall never have the opportunity to be commended by God or to be taken by God into His kingdom.” How many questions does this passage of God’s words mention? The first sentence is one of those questions, “Do you understand now what is judgment and what is truth?” After we finished reading this piece of God’s word, do you have an understanding of what judgment is? Just what is judgment? Can you use your own words to express it? This is an important question and it is also the most important truth that someone who believes in God and who accepts God’s work in the last days must understand and acknowledge. Understanding “what is judgment” is very important. If you are asked to choose words to answer this question, you can find the answer within God’s words. However, if you are asked to use your own words to express this and talk about your understanding, and you are unable to do so, what kind of problem is this? If you cannot talk clearly about this using your own words, is this equivalent to having an understanding of God’s judgment in the last days? This is definitely not equivalent. You must use your own words. The best thing to do is to use your own words of experience and words of understanding to answer this question. The understanding that you acquire regarding God’s judgment of the last days after you experience it is real understanding. If you use words of doctrine to answer, this is not understanding. Religious people are specialists in speaking words and doctrines of the Bible, but do they have experience? Is what they say derived from experience? It is all summarized, it is not real understanding gained from experience. Listening to pastors preach and learning empty theories and words, this is not real understanding. Here, God’s words are as follows, “Do you understand now what is judgment and what is truth?” This question is very important, everyone must try and figure it out. If you do not understand this, then, from eating and drinking this piece of God’s words, have you achieved the desired result? Of course not.
Below, God says, “I exhort you to submit to judgment.” This “I exhort you,” who is “I” referring to? It refers to God. God exhorts man. What does He exhort man to do? “… submit to judgment.” God exhorts man to submit to judgment, but man does not understand and says, “Why must I submit to judgment?” Man must ask why. Right now, there are many people who are unable to submit to judgment. Because of this reason, because all men, the entire human race has this kind of condition—unwilling to receive God’s judgment, now God exhorts man. What does He exhort man to do? “… I exhort you to submit to judgment.” What kind of attitude do you have toward God’s exhortation? Do you understand God’s intentions? If you do not understand, then this is very frustrating. Someone said, “Why?” They persistently ask, “Why?” “Why do You judge me and why do You require me to submit to Your judgment? I cannot accept it. I am a good person. I am a person that believes in the Lord. I am a person that believes in God. Why do You require me to accept Your judgment? These words did not exist during the Age of Grace. All that was needed was that we confess our sins and repent to God. As long as we confessed our sins to God, we would be forgiven. Since we have been forgiven, why do You still judge us and require that we submit to judgment? What is the meaning of this?” Aren’t these the thoughts that all men have in their hearts? All men have these thoughts in their hearts. I am not saying that only a few people think this way, everyone thinks like this in their hearts. Isn’t what I am saying the truth? Everyone acknowledges that this is true. Now, why is it that people have this kind of psychology? Why does man not understand and accept God’s exhortation and requirement that man submit to judgment? What kind of problem is this? Is this not the human race’s rebelliousness? The human race’s conception of God’s judgment work is too deep, their rebelliousness is too great. They think that this is too incongruent with man’s conceptions, it is not acceptable! Right now, the heart of the human race is rebelling against God. It is easy for the human race to believe in God, but man’s heart is thinking, “God, what will You do for me? What will You give me? If You provide me with grace and blessings, I will believe in You. If You do not bless me and if You do not give me grace, then I will not believe in You. If You judge me, then it will be even harder for me to accept.” Isn’t this man’s mentality? You all say that it is. Now, what kind of mentality is this? Is this a correct mentality or is it an incorrect mentality? It is an incorrect mentality. It is a rebellious mentality. Now, if man has this kind of mentality, what kind of problem is this? What does this indicate? Does this indicate that mankind does not obey God? Mankind does not have a normal relation with God. They are unfamiliar with God, and sometimes are even hostile to Him. Isn’t there this kind of situation? Man is incompatible and very unfamiliar with God. Man is very far away from God. That is why once judgment is mentioned, especially when God exhorts man to submit to judgment, man finds this inconceivable, “Why must You exhort me to submit to judgment? If You provide us with grace and blessings, then we can easily accept and we will not have any thoughts about it. We will accept it straightforwardly.” Here, once God says, “I exhort you to submit to judgment,” the rebelliousness of the entire human race is revealed here, isn’t this a fact? This is a fact. In the beginning, I also thought like this, I was the same as you, I was not an exception because I am also an ordinary created man. However, after I experienced this many years of judgment and chastisement and gained some understanding of judgment, I am no longer rebellious to these words. I think it is quite good. This exhortation from God is benevolent, positive and you can also say that it is a blessing and it is profound love. You would not say this if you do not have a solid understanding and experience of the work of judgment. Now, someone may want to ask me, “Why do you say this? God advises man to submit to judgment, how is this profound love? Is this a blessing? What is the basis for this?” Let’s look below at God’s words.
“… then I exhort you to submit to judgment, otherwise you shall never have the opportunity to be commended by God or to be taken by God into His kingdom.” What do you think of this sentence? What kind of feelings do you have when you finish listening to it? Some people ask, “Is it really like this? If it is really like this, then God’s exhortation must be grace, a blessing and a promise. If it is not like this, then God’s exhortation toward us does not have any meaning.” Would God do things that have no meaning? Would God say useless things? Everything that God says to humanity has profound and long-lasting meaning! This is because He is God and He is the Creator. There are some people who may not quite understand these words, “otherwise you shall never have the opportunity to be commended by God or to be taken by God into His kingdom.” This is an opportunity to obtain God’s commendation. The judgment of the last days is the sole opportunity! If man does not honestly submit to judgment, then he “shall never have the opportunity to be commended by God or to be taken by God into His kingdom.” In order to enter God’s kingdom, in order to achieve this goal, you must experience judgment. Only then will God allow you to enter His kingdom. If you do not experience God’s judgment, then you will never have the opportunity to be taken by God into His kingdom. It seems that experiencing judgment is the only requirement for entering God’s kingdom. After you experience judgment, you will have the opportunity to obtain God’s commendation. What is the reward for obtaining God’s commendation? The reward is that you will be able to enter God’s kingdom. If you are unable to obtain God’s commendation, then you will not be allowed to enter God’s kingdom. What does “obtaining God’s commendation” mean? It means that you have passed God’s test. God says that your faith is adequate. God has given you His stamp of approval. If God says that you are a person that obeys God, then you can enter God’s kingdom. That is why, this time, if you experience God’s judgment, you will have the opportunity to obtain God’s commendation. If you do not experience God’s judgment, you will not have another opportunity to obtain God’s commendation. Someone said, “Now, after I die, will I be able to be reincarnated?” There is no chance for this! Once you are dead, you are dead forever. In the past, after you died, there was a chance that you could be reincarnated. Now, there is no chance. This time, God’s judgment in the last days is the only opportunity where the destiny and outcome of humanity can be determined. I do not say these things blindly, I am basing this on God’s words. This judgment in the last days is humanity’s only opportunity to obtain God’s commendation. What does “obtain God’s commendation” mean? It means that you, as a human being, are a qualified creation. You can enter God’s kingdom because you obey God’s judgment and chastisement and because God commends and acknowledges you. You will have a beautiful destination, this is what the situation is like. This judgment in the last days is the only chance for any member of the human race, all of created humanity, to obtain God’s commendation. Another way to say this is that the judgment of the last days determines each person’s destination and ending. If you experience God’s judgment in the last days and get purified, you will be able to obtain God’s commendation. What is the result of obtaining God’s commendation? You will enter into the kingdom of God. What does “enter into the kingdom of God” mean? You will not die in the midst of the great disaster. Plainly speaking, you will be able to survive. The next kingdom—the Millennial Kingdom, once it arrives, you will be in the kingdom. Isn’t this the case? In reality, this is the case. It does not matter if you speak plainly or if you use spiritual theories, it is the same situation. Is the judgment of the last days important to man’s destination and ending? We all acknowledge that it is important. Now, do you want to obtain God’s blessing and commendation? Do you want to be led by God into His kingdom? You all want to. Now, how can this be put into practice? All you can do is sincerely submit to judgment and in the end, you will be purified and perfected. Then, your “want,” that is, your desire and dream, will become reality. Many people who believe in the Lord also want the Lord to come and rapture them into the heavenly kingdom. If you accept God’s judgment in the last days, your dream will become reality. This is the way it is.
Someone said, “Now, what you mean is that if we submit to judgment, in the end we will have a good ending, right?” Right, this is God’s promise. This is not something that someone else said. This is what God said. Now, someone also said, “I believe in Almighty God, I accept Him. This means I will definitely enter the kingdom.” Here, God says, “I exhort you to submit to judgment.” The key point is whether or not you obey God’s judgment and chastisement! If you truly obey and, according to God’s words you experience God’s judgment and chastisement, accept trials and refinement, dealing and pruning, God’s discipline and all the truth that God expresses, then you will be cleansed and perfected. Only in this way will you be able to enter the kingdom. Someone said, “Why must I submit to as well as accept God’s judgment and chastisement? Is it okay if I do not submit? In any case, when you read God’s words, I listen. Whoever communicates the truth, I listen to them. I have not resisted. When I read God’s words, I also do not deny them. God’s words are correct, they are the truth and I acknowledge them. Afterward, I properly fulfill my duties as a created being. Isn’t this enough?” Are you able to enter the kingdom like this? Are you able to obtain God’s commendation? Some people say you cannot. Why can you not? There are some people who accept Almighty God, they get cancer and then they die. There are some people who accept Almighty God, but their evil deeds are many and varied, they interrupt and disturb the work of God’s family and they are expelled by the church. These people also accept and believe. Why is it that they cannot enter the kingdom? What is this situation? How do you see these circumstances? You only acknowledge God’s word is correct, but are you able to see through things when you encounter concrete situations? If you are unable to see through situations, it means that you do not have an understanding of God’s word. If you can see through some situations, then you have some understanding of God’s word. How do we look at these things? After believing in Almighty God for a few years, some people get expelled. Haven’t they accepted? They have accepted, but why did they get expelled? Some religious people say, “We believe in God. Who has the power to expel us?” What kind of problem is this? Can you distinguish this? These practical problems need to be distinguished. If someone cannot distinguish these problems, this signifies that he does not understand the truth. He only acknowledges God’s word, “It is the truth. It is God’s words and it is God’s voice.” What use is this? You must know God’s word, you must understand the truth and you must be able to see through some practical problems. This is what it means to understand the truth. If you cannot even see or distinguish one situation, if someone speaks some words of doctrine and you say it is correct, and if you do not understand after listening to someone talk about some practical understanding, aren’t you a muddled person?
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Further below, God says, “Those who only accept judgment but can never be purified, that is, those who flee in the midst of the work of judgment, shall forever be detested and rejected by God.” Do you understand these words? What kind of person will be eternally detested and rejected by God? “Those who only accept judgment but can never be purified.” What is the meaning of these words? What does “can never be purified” mean? What are the factors that cause someone to accept judgment but not be purified? The main factor is that they only accept judgment externally. If they accept judgment but are unable to get purified, this means that in the process of judgment and chastisement, they do not seek the truth. The words of judgment that God expresses are all that God is. They represent God’s disposition. Such a person does not accept or acknowledge at all; their acceptance of judgment is an external acceptance. This person does not submit to judgment. This person does not truly obey and seek the truth in order to resolve his or her own corruption during the process of judgment and chastisement. That is why, this kind of person externally accepts judgment and experiences God’s work but his or her satanic disposition does not get purified. This person is still arrogant and conceited, still crooked and treacherous, still speaks lies and deception, still practices fraud and is still a hypocrite. He or she only suffers and makes an effort externally. This person does not have the reality of the truth and has not experienced a change in his or her life disposition. God said, “only accept judgment but can never be purified.” Isn’t this the circumstance? Now what kind of people are these people? In the church, people often say these words “accepts God’s work but does not seek the truth at all.” Doesn’t this refer to these people? After you discipline them, they say, “I am wrong, I acknowledge it, I repent.” Afterward, they do not accept the truth, they do not absorb the lesson and they still do not put the truth into practice. They are the same as before. What kind of problem is this? Their obedience is external. Is it an obedience that truly accepts the truth? It is not. How is an obedience that accepts the truth produced? If someone does not accept the truth, will they have true obedience? Externally, they are sincere and they do not resist, but this does not mean that they truly obey. Only those that accept the truth, acknowledge the truth and can obey the truth will manifest genuine obedience. If your heart does not even acknowledge the truth, then your obedience is just being honest externally and not daring to resist. This is Satan’s philosophy, this is resigning oneself to adversity. You resign yourself to adversity, pursue Satan’s philosophy, and try to never offend anyone. If you know full well that Satan’s demons are pressuring and persecuting, yet you do not resist, declare your position or try to discern this, and you just play along, allowing Satan to direct or control you as it pleases, is this true obedience? This kind of person does not have the truth. He is not a person that accepts the truth. That is why he cannot see through Satan’s regime or the darkness and evil of the world. If he cannot see through this, what can he carry out? He will carry out Satan’s philosophy to protect himself and become someone who tries to never offend anyone. This kind of person simply applies this kind of attitude in God’s family, “Wherever I go, I will obey. Wherever I go, I will listen. It can’t be wrong. This is the principle of a human being. Whatever God says, I will nod my head and say it is correct. I will not rebel, have my own conceptions, judge or resist.” Does this person have a genuine obedience for God? Even if externally, he doesn’t commit any evil, however, inside his heart, he has not accepted the truth. If his heart does not accept the truth, can he feel true remorse? Can he truly know himself? Can he have genuine repentance? Definitely he cannot achieve these results. If these results cannot be achieved, can his so-called “acceptance of judgment” bring him purification? It definitely cannot. Now, the meaning of “only accept judgment but can never be purified” should be clear, right? There are some people who have externally accepted Almighty God for 3, 5 or 10 years, yet I can see that they have not thrown off much of their satanic disposition; they are still arrogant and conceited, and when they encounter situations, they still do not seek the truth. They deal with situations like someone who tries to never offend anyone. Externally, they look like a good person; however, they do not have the truth. Externally this kind of person has not done any evil and they seem like a good person. However, when God looks at them, God sees their inner heart. God will say this person hasn’t been purified. Now you know the reason! The people that God approves are not only externally good.
In the religious world, there are many devout people, they say, “We have changed due to our faith in the Lord Jesus. Look, we are able to make an effort for the Lord, do work for the Lord, endure prison for the Lord, and we do not deny His name in front of others. We are able to do many virtuous things, give to charity, donate and help the poor. These are big changes! We have changed, that is why we are qualified to wait for the Lord to bring us into the kingdom of heaven.” What do you think about these words? Do you have any discernment when it comes to these words? It is only through encountering real situations that a person can be revealed as to whether or not they have the truth and discernment. For example, can you discern the theories that a religious pastor talks about? Can you discern the opinions of the religious world? Can you discern the perspectives of the religious world? If you cannot discern these things clearly, how can you have an understanding of God? How can you have the reality of the truth? What does it mean to be cleansed? Do you think that if your behavior has changed and you do good deeds then you have been cleansed? Are these words correct? It is very clear that they are not correct. Someone says, “I have cast aside everything. I even cast aside my job in the world, my family and the desires of the flesh in order to make an effort for God. Is this the equivalent of getting cleansed?” Even if you have done all this, this is not solid evidence that you have been cleansed. So, what is the key point? In which aspect can you obtain cleansing that can be considered real cleansing? Who can tell me? I want to hear your understanding. If you talk about some external theories, it is useless. In which aspect can you obtain cleansing that can be considered real cleansing? Some people say real cleansing is the cleansing of the satanic disposition that resists God. Now, what are the manifestations of satanic disposition that resists God? What is the most obvious manifestation? A person’s arrogance, conceit, self-righteousness and self-pride, as well as his crookedness, treachery, telling lies, deception and hypocrisy. When these things are no longer part of someone, then they have been truly cleansed. We have previously talked about man’s satanic disposition in a sermon. There are 12 key manifestations. Let’s take a look at each one of these 12 manifestations: considering oneself to be the most honorable; going along with those who submit to you and going against those who resist you; thinking only God is superior to you, submitting to no one else, having no regard for others; creating an independent kingdom once you have power; wanting to be the sole wielder of power and the master of all things and to decide things all by yourself. All of these manifestations are satanic dispositions. These satanic dispositions must be cleansed before someone experiences a change in his life disposition. A change in one’s life disposition is a rebirth because his essence has changed. Before, when he was given power, he was able to create his own independent kingdom. Now, when he is given power, he serves God, bears witness for God and becomes a servant for the chosen people of God. Isn’t this a genuine change? Before, he showed off himself in all situations and wanted other people to think highly of him and worship him. Now, he bears witness for God everywhere, he is no longer focused on himself, and he thinks, “No matter how people treat me, it is fine. No matter how people comment about me, it is fine. I do not care. I only want to lift up God, bear witness for God, help others gain an understanding of God, and help others obey in the presence of God.” Isn’t this a change in life disposition? “I will treat the brothers and sisters with love. I will fulfill my duties. In all matters, I will provide benefit for others. I will be compassionate of others in all situations. I will help others obtain the truth and understand the truth. In all matters, I will not think about myself, I will only think about others. I will help others advance their lives and fulfill my own responsibilities.” This is what it means to love people, to love others as yourself! When it comes to Satan, you can discern it, have principles, draw a demarcation line with it and thoroughly reveal the evils of Satan so that God’s chosen people will be spared from its harm. This is protecting God’s chosen people, and this is even more loving others as yourself. Additionally, you should love what God loves and hate what God hates. What does God hate then? He hates antichrists, evil spirits and wicked people. That means we also have to hate antichrists, evil spirits and wicked people. We must stand on God’s side. We cannot compromise with them. Who does God love? God loves those who He wants to save and bless. For these people, we must be responsible, treat them with love, help, lead, provide and support them. Isn’t this a change in one’s life disposition? Additionally, when you have committed some transgressions or mistakes, or neglected the principles in doing something, you can accept the brothers and sisters’ criticism, blame, discipline, dealing and pruning; you can receive all of these things as if they were from God, accept it with tolerance, harbor no hatred, and seek the truth to resolve your own corruption. Isn’t this a change in your life disposition? These are all real manifestations of a change in one’s life disposition. What is the difference between a change in life disposition and a change in behavior? Externally, some people are able to cast aside their possessions and endure suffering but there is no change to their life disposition. There are some people who have had a change in their life disposition; externally, they are the same as everyone else and they can also cast aside their possessions. These two kinds of people can both cast aside their possessions and externally, they are the same. However, not both of them have had a change in their life disposition.
Can the change in behavior that is talked about in the religious world represent a change in life disposition? Some people say it cannot. Why is it that a change in one’s behavior cannot represent a change in his life disposition? The main reason is because he still resists God. You can see that externally, the Pharisees were very devout, they prayed, they explained the scripture and they followed the regulations of the law very well. It could be said that externally, they were beyond reproach. People were unable to pick out any faults. However, why were they still able to resist and condemn Christ? What does this indicate? They did not have the truth and they did not know God. Externally, they were very good, yet they did not have the truth, that is why they were able to resist God. If externally, they were so good, why does this not count as a change in life disposition? It is because they were still arrogant, conceited and especially self-righteous. They believed in their own knowledge, theories and understanding of the scriptures. They believed that they understood everything and that they were better than other people. This is why they resisted and condemned the Lord Jesus when He was preaching and doing His work. That is why when the religious world heard that Christ of the last days has expressed all of the truth, they condemned Him even though they knew it is the truth. What kind of error did they commit? Externally, they went through such a big change, how was it that they were still able to resist God? How was it that they were still able to be crazily hostile toward Christ? What kind of issue is this? Can a person that opposes and resists Christ enter the kingdom of heaven? Can God bring people who are the enemies of Christ into the kingdom? God would not do this sort of thing. Why did the Lord Jesus curse the Pharisees? It was because the Pharisees resisted Christ and were enemies of Christ. Their mortal weakness was that they vied with Christ over God’s chosen people. They controlled the people that Christ came to obtain. The Pharisees confused these people and they controlled them in the palms of their hands. They did not give God’s chosen people to God, the incarnate God. Isn’t this vying over God’s chosen people with God? This is like a mother entrusting her own children to her sister, “Help me take care of them. After a few years, I will return.” After a few years, she returns and her children do not recognize their own mother. What does this stepmother say? “She is not your mother, I am your real mother.” Don’t the antichrists do this sort of thing? They are there as the pastor of a church, as the overseer or leader of a religious sect. In the end, God incarnate arrives and wants to lead God’s chosen people back before God so that they can accept God’s work. These antichrists try to block this, they control and baffle God’s chosen people. They do not let them inspect the truth. Aren’t these people antichrists? Now, shouldn’t these people be cursed? Of these people’s sins, which one is the greatest sin? It is vying with God over God’s chosen people, understood? This is like the stepmother fighting with the real mother over the children. Now, would you say that this stepmother should be hated? The real mother entrusted her children with the stepmother, and she said, “Help me take care of them for a few years. After I come back, hand my children back to me.” “OK, definitely, the children are yours!” In the end, the real mother came back, but the stepmother did not acknowledge her and even told the children, “She is not your real mother. She is pretending. I am your real mother.” She took these children away from their real mother. Now, what kind of battle would you say is this battle between the real mother and the stepmother? Isn’t this a battle of life and death? The battle between Christ and antichrists is a battle of life and death! That is why the Lord Jesus cursed the Pharisees. What the Lord Jesus’ frame of mind was like back then, you should now know, right? He did work and preached in Judea for at least three years. In the end, he was not able to win over Judaism. Of the entire population of Israelites, only a few believed in the Lord Jesus. Now, who is responsible for this sin? It is the chief priests and scribes of Judaism, also known as the Pharisees. This religious group, they disparaged the Lord Jesus’ name, they said, “Jesus was not conceived by the Holy Spirit and moreover, He is not God incarnate or the Messiah. Do not believe in Him.” After the Lord Jesus was resurrected, the chief priests of Judaism gave some soldiers some money and told them, “Do not say that He was raised from the dead. Just say that someone moved Jesus’ body.” Did they not spread this rumor? Look, this is what the antichrists in religion did to Christ. 2,000 years ago, the first time when God became flesh, the religious world’s leaders treated Jesus Christ in this way. Today, 2,000 years later, in the last days, the leaders of the religious world, the pastors and elders also treat Almighty God like this. Nothing has changed. They have created many rumors about Almighty God. The Communist Party of China has created rumors about Almighty God and the religious world has created rumors about Him. They post these rumors on negative websites. During the times of Jesus Christ, there were no websites. However, at that time, there was some negative public opinion. Now, under the control and pressure of that kind of public opinion, how many followers of Judaism were able to accept the Lord Jesus? People did not have the truth and they did not seek or investigate it. They only heard one side of the story. That is why, today, those who are in the early stage of believing in Almighty God have to go through a rough battle where they swing from one side to the other. These people are like grass swaying back and forth in the wind. One moment, when they hear something positive, they say, “Right!” Another moment, when they hear something negative, they say, “Oh, that is incorrect.” After they finished listening to the negative, someone comes to communicate the positive, and they say, “Oh, that is correct!” Just like this, they bounce back and forth between truth and falsehood. Some people go through 7 or 8 cycles of this. In the end, the positive people communicate the truth clearly and tell them, “Do not listen to the negative. At the time when the Lord Jesus came to do His work, there was a lot of negative public opinion. Stand firm and bear witness. On what basis do you acknowledge Almighty God? You should read His words. These words are the foundation. The rumors are not the foundation. Look at who says these things. Are these God’s words? If they are God’s words, then He is God. Since He is God, then those rumors are the negative propaganda of man. Do not listen to man’s words. Man’s mind is a smelly gutter, the only thing that is born of that are maggots. That is why the things that man says are not the truth. Do not listen to it. Once you listen to man’s words, you will be fooled. Listening to the words of God is correct, do you understand?” When it is communicated like this, some people say, “These words are correct. Now, I will read God’s words.” The more they read God’s words, the more they are certain about God. “This time, my faith is solid. I will not be shaken again.” This is the battle. That is why I say that humanity is like this. When corrupt humanity listens to God, His words cannot enter. Even if God says 10,000 words, they will not listen. Satan says one word, and it enters their hearts and controls them. It is not easy for people to listen to the positive and accept it. You can communicate 100 sentences of the truth, but the results that would be achieved are limited. Negative people spread one rumor, and it enters the heart, it gets stored in the heart. What kind of problem is this? The corrupt human race is pitiable. It is tragic that the human race does not know how to tell right from wrong. It’s a pity. It is also the sorrow of the corrupt human race. They do not have even one bit of truth, they cannot distinguish. They cannot even recognize God’s voice.
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What is the result if you do not experience God’s judgment and chastisement in the last days? God said you “shall never have the opportunity to be commended by God.” That is to say, you would never be able to enter God’s kingdom. These circumstances have been determined. Each and every person that receives God’s work in the last days but does not get cleansed, what kind of people are they? They are the people that flee during God’s work of judgment. You can flee, God will not force you. The Holy Spirit’s work does not involve forcing man. If you want to flee, you can flee. However, you yourself will bear the outcome, the ending. You yourself will bear the consequences of fleeing. You will pay for your actions. Below, God continues to speak, “Their sins are much more, and more grievous, than those of the Pharisees, for they have betrayed God and are rebels against God. Such men who are not worthy even to do service shall receive more severe, everlasting punishment.” “Those who flee in the midst of the work of judgment” are those who accept judgment in a muddled way, but all along do not seek the truth. They will receive an even harsher judgment and punishment. Furthermore, they will receive everlasting punishment. How can this “everlasting punishment” be explained? Is it eternal? Can it be explained as eternal punishment? Some people say it can. This is wrong. When God speaks, everything that He says is correct. It is easy for man to use the incorrect words when writing literature, but God will not make a mistake. Everlasting, is not eternal. What does everlasting mean? It means that the time is extremely long, but it is not the same as eternal. Well, how long is extremely long? Let’s speak simply, in God’s management plan, one group of people will enter God’s kingdom and another group will accept punishment. What does accepting punishment refer to? Does it refer to unbelievers or believers? This is not the same. This punishment is directed at believers, those that believe yet betray God. What is the scope of the people that believe in God yet betray God? First, those in religion who believe in the Lord, who believe in God but do not accept God’s work in the last days. They belong to the group of people that betray God. Second, those that receive God’s work in the last days but do not seek the truth at all. They flee during the midst of God’s work of judgment. They are also people that have betrayed God. For the people that betray God, God gives them punishment that is everlasting but is not eternal. This is everlasting, it means an extremely long time. Everlasting is not the same as eternal. Now, about this “not eternal,” there is an interpretation. What is the interpretation? These people will not be eternally dead, understand? Unbelievers will be eternally dead. God has different ways for dealing with people that will be eternally dead versus people who will experience everlasting punishment. There is a difference. Remember, when you are reading God’s word, do not carelessly interpret even one word. The words that God uses are carefully selected and they are absolutely correct. There are no errors to the words that God uses. The literature that man writes frequently has errors. Everything that God says is accurate. This is because God’s words are the truth and there is nothing higher than God’s wisdom. No wisdom of created humanity can compare with God’s wisdom because He is the Creator. He cannot make mistakes, that is why the words that He uses and says are the most accurate and precise. There is a difference between everlasting punishment and eternal death. As to how big a difference, I cannot explain. I do not know the end result of everlasting punishment, I do not understand. God has not given me a detailed explanation about these matters, I cannot explain it.
Below, we will continue to explain the second type of people. God said, “God shall not spare any traitor who once claimed loyalty with words yet then betrayed Him.” “Traitor who once claimed loyalty with words yet then betrayed Him,” means that one pays empty lip service, only speaks words of doctrine, and swears fake oaths to God, but actually they do not accept the truth at all and betray God. This kind of person is an antichrist, a non-believer. In God’s heart, what kind of attitude does He treat such people with? Is there hate here? There is hate here. God hates these people. All those whom God curses and has determined to punish are the ones God hates the most. God does not say things the way man says things. When people get angry, they say, “I hate you, I curse you!” God does not say these things. God gives people an outcome and lets them know. That is it. Here, God says, “God shall not spare any traitor who once claimed loyalty with words yet then betrayed Him. Such men shall see retribution through punishment of the spirit, soul, and body.” “Punishment of the spirit, soul, and body” is not only punishment of the flesh. In the end, the soul is also punished; when such a person dies, things are not over yet for them. Some people’s ending involves dying and nothing more. Their soul does not receive any punishment. However, it says here that those who believe in God yet betray God, will receive retribution through punishment of their soul, spirit and body. This retribution is not insignificant. That is, while they are living, they suffer and receive punishment. After they die, their souls still receive punishment. Both in the world of the living and in the world of the dead, they receive punishment. Do you understand? “Punishment of the spirit, soul, and body,” indicates that the act of offending God is very serious. Antichrists will encounter this kind of retribution! Below, God says, “Does this not reveal the righteous disposition of God?” God reveals His righteous disposition, so there is no doubt that this kind of person has offended God’s disposition. This is disastrous. When you offend people, it is not disastrous, but when you offend God, it is extremely disastrous. At the time you offend God, nothing will happen, but afterward, you will experience “punishment of the spirit, soul, and body.” This kind of person is really in trouble now. You can see that right now, the pastors and elders of the religious world are in trouble. They are still very proud of themselves. When it comes to God’s work in the last days, they think, “We will not accept it. We condemn it!” So, they condemn it now, but one day, they will cry. Days of weeping and gnashing of teeth will follow. The pastors and elders of the religious world and people that resist Almighty God do not shed tears until death stares them right in the face! Below, God says, “Is this not exactly the purpose of God’s judgment and revelation of man?” Look, this is brought up here, “the purpose of God’s judgment and revelation of man.” There are two aspects to the results of judging man. One aspect is cleansing and perfecting those that love the truth. The other aspect is exposing and punishing those that are evil. The goals of both aspects are achieved.
Below, we will talk about the third kind of people. God says, “God shall place all those who perform all kinds of wicked deeds during the time of judgment in the place where evil spirits live for their fleshly bodies to be destroyed at the will of the spirits. Their bodies shall give off the odor of a corpse, and such is their fitting retribution.” “All those who perform all kinds of wicked deeds during the time of judgment,” what is this referring to? Disturbing the work of God’s family, disseminating all kinds of fallacies, disseminating death, disseminating conceptions of God, disturbing church life, preventing people from peacefully eating and drinking the word of God and communicating the truth. They always talk rubbish. They blindly use the reasoning of words and letters. These are things that are considered all kinds of wicked deeds. Ultimately, those who are expelled and purged by the church for doing all kinds of wicked deeds, these people will receive retribution. What kind of retribution? God will place these doers of wicked deeds in the place where evil spirits live. He will hand these people over to evil spirits. What is the end for these people once they have been handed over to evil spirits? The evil spirits will corrupt their fleshly body at will. There may be quite a few evil spirits that enter a person’s body; at the most, seven demons will enter one person. Is this kind of situation recorded in the Bible? Just one demon entering someone is more than enough suffering, right? Haven’t we seen someone possessed by demons in a real-life environment? Someone who is possessed by demons, accurately speaking, they are receiving retribution, they have been handed over to evil spirits. Once God hands them over to evil spirits, those evil spirits will flow into them and enter their flesh to corrupt them. Once an evil spirit corrupts someone, generally that person will become psychologically abnormal. They will strip off their clothes and reveal their bare body. They start babbling nonsense. Also, they will eat everything. Some people will even eat metal and dirt. This is what it means to be psychologically abnormal and handed over to evil spirits. “… for their fleshly bodies to be destroyed at the will of the spirits.” This kind of person has been handed over to evil spirits. How do the evil spirits destroy this person’s body? At will. “Their bodies shall give off the odor of a corpse, and such is their fitting retribution.” You can see that in God’s work, if someone does all kinds of wicked deeds, in the end God will punish them. How does God punish such people? He hands them over to evil spirits and allows the evil spirits to destroy their fleshly bodies at will. Is this a very serious punishment? For human beings, this is the most severe punishment. Look at what happens with normal people. All that happens to them is that they get sick and thus suffer. This is their retribution. That is it. It is different for those that are handed over to evil spirits. Once they are handed over to evil spirits, it is very miserable, it is much more painful than whatever disease they could get. Right now, in the church, many of those that perform various wicked deeds have been expelled, some have been purged. Even after they have been expelled or purged, the situation is not over. Watch what happens afterward. Eventually, demons will possess them. After demons possess them, they are no longer completely human. This is retribution. If you want to cause disruption and disturbance, do not disrupt God’s work of judgment. It is okay if you disrupt the work of the great red dragon or of man. If you disrupt God’s work, aren’t you blind? This is courting disaster, you will get what you deserve and you will meet with misfortune! You can disrupt anyone else’s work, but do not disrupt God’s work. Disrupting God’s work is disastrous. You do not know how you would die. If you believe there is no God, then you are wrong. If there were no God, then who is able to do such great work? Who can say these kinds of things? Even if the entire world’s religious pastors cooperated together, they would not be able to speak one sentence of what God spoke. Isn’t this the case?
Let’s continue communicating and let’s talk about the fourth kind of people. God says, “God writes down in their record books each and every one of the sins of those disloyal false believers, false apostles, and false workers, then when the time is right, He casts them amidst the unclean spirits so their entire bodies may be defiled by the spirits at will and, as a result, they will never be reincarnated and shall never again see the light.” This punishment is also very severe and it is eternal. God “writes down in their record books each and every one of the sins of those disloyal false believers, false apostles, and false workers….” God has a record for each and every person. From these words, we can see this. Each person has a record book, God has a record for everybody. Now, do you know what God’s record book is like? Is it the same as the big notebooks that people use? Does He use a pen to write down the things that everybody does? No. Now, what is the meaning of these words? How can they be explained? The literary style of this sentence is personification. It is like when someone creates a record for somebody else, this is the type of language that is used. This type of expression indicates the degree to which God understands and grasps each person. It is in God’s heart that God has a record of each person because God is all-knowing. He has an all-encompassing wisdom. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. This is why God understands everyone very clearly. He has an account, a record for everyone. However, we are not talking about an actual record book. When we say record book, it is an actual book, and when we say write down in the book, that means we are using a pen to write. For God, this is not the case. God is all-powerful. He records everything that everybody does, and when the time comes God will decide this person’s ending based on everything that He recorded about him or her. This is what it means. Everything that each of us does, God remembers in His heart. There, it is very clear to God. It is similar to how man makes records in a record book, or notes in a file. There is no mistake at all. For the kinds of people like false believers, false apostles and false workers, God says, “when the time is right, He casts them amidst the unclean spirits….” Here, He casts them amidst the unclean spirits. It was mentioned previously that those who have done various wicked deeds, will be placed in the place where the evil spirits dwell. Notice how there are some places in the spiritual world where evil spirits congregate. These evil spirits specifically wait together for God to hand these kinds of people to them and then they possess them. There are also places which unclean spirits occupy. Look, “casts them amidst the unclean spirits….” There are some evil spirits that can be considered unclean spirits. If unclean spirits possess you, it is very terrible. They will make you do filthy, licentious things. This is extremely disgusting. “… when the time is right, He casts them amidst the unclean spirits….” Externally, you cannot see God directly throwing someone into that place. It is not like this. Instead, that person will be possessed by unclean spirits one day. Afterward, that person will no longer know any shame and he or she will start to do filthy things. This means that God has already handed them to the unclean spirits. “… their entire bodies may be defiled by the spirits at will….” What is the end result? “… they will never be reincarnated….” They won’t ever be reincarnated, they will not be able to become a human being again. “Shall never again see the light,” means that it is completely over. What kind of people are these people? Fake believers, fake apostles and fake workers. We often say that the antichrists should be expelled and the false leaders eliminated. These fake apostles and false workers belong to the same category as these false leaders. These false believers belong to the category of non-believers. Look, will these false leaders and false workers receive punishment? The punishment is severe. Now, how come God’s family does not expel false leaders? Why are only the antichrists expelled? Do you know the reason why? False leaders mainly only speak words of doctrine; they do not have the Holy Spirit’s work. We should give them another chance because they have not done evil. If they have done various wicked deeds, then they will also be named as antichrists and expelled. Since they have not done various wicked deeds, and some of these people’s humanity is good or the time they have believed in God is still very short and their experience is shallow, they should be given another chance. If in the very end, they are still determined to be false leaders and false apostles, this is very troublesome. Even if the church does not expel them, God will definitely punish them, understand?
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Next we will talk about the fifth type of people. “Those hypocrites who did service at one time but are unable to remain loyal to the end shall be numbered by God among the wicked.” This kind of person looks good on the outside. God’s chosen people see them and think, “That is an honest person, not a wicked person.” However, after doing service for some time, they are revealed to be unfaithful. They are unable to stay loyal until the end. They toil for some time, then run away. They may go find a job, or they may go home, get married and live their lives. God groups these people in with the wicked. They don’t look evil from the outside, but God puts them in with the wicked people and punishes them as other wicked people are punished. That’s exactly what this passage means. It says that these people will “be numbered by God among the wicked so that they walk in the counsel of the wicked, becoming part of the disorderly multitude. In the end, God shall destroy them.” All wicked people will be destroyed. Therefore, God treats these people the same way He treats the other wicked people, destroying them in the end.
Let’s continue and talk about the sixth kind of people. “God casts aside and takes no notice of those who have never been loyal to Christ or dedicated any effort.” “Those who have never been loyal to Christ or dedicated any effort,” what kind of people are these? They are people who accept the work of Almighty God in the last days, but fail to do any duty or contribute any of their own strength. These people are believers in name only or they only attend meetings occasionally. How does God deal with these people? He “casts aside and takes no notice of” them. The Holy Spirit does not do His work on them. God “shall destroy them all in the change of ages. They shall no longer exist on earth, much less gain passage into the kingdom of God.” This passage talks about dealing with what kind of people? Nominal believers. These people are nominal believers. When someone asks them, “Do you believe in God?” they’ll answer, “Yes, I believe in Almighty God.” “Well, do you go to church?” “Sometimes.” However, they are not loyal to God at all, nor do they contribute any of their own strength or do any duty. This is what it means to be a nominal believer. What kind of person are they in the eyes of God? You can also say they are not believers; they are non-believers. They do not disturb others or do evil. In any case, they are just nominal believers who occasionally go to church. That’s it. What does their “belief” mean? “I believe! I go to church sometimes!” they say, “When the time comes for blessings, don’t leave me out.” In the eyes of God, this kind of person is not a true believer; they are a non-believer because they have not entered the truth at all; they do not practice any truth. All those who do not do any duty are also those who do not practice any truth. Those who do not do their duty cannot practice the truth. The most important part of practicing the truth is doing your duty. You must be an honest person and obey God! Are there many people who do not do their duty or exert any effort? At least 1/5 or 1/3 of the people in God’s family are like this. Just now we’ve talked about the final outcome for these people. God’s words are very clear. If you do not read His words, this means you do not take His words to heart. When the time comes, every sentence of His words will be fulfilled; every sentence will come true. At that time, it will be of no use saying “I never heard about this,” or “I don’t know.” This refers to those nominal believers who do not do any duty or exert any effort, especially those that are capable and have high caliber. God’s house lacks people like that, but these people are not willing to dedicate themselves to Him. They say, “I’m not capable. I’m not of that stature.” “No, I’m too busy at work.” “My family is far from rich. I can’t leave my family!” Even if you can’t leave your family, you can still do your part! They are unwilling to do whatever they can. This means they have never been faithful to Christ. This is a nominal believer, a false believer, a non-believer through and through. How does God deal with such people? “God casts aside and takes no notice of those who have never been loyal to Christ or dedicated any effort, and shall destroy them all in the change of ages.” When is the change of ages? What is “the change of ages?” Before, the change of ages often brought disaster, war and finally, the dawning of a new age and the end of an old one. In the final days, after the great disaster passes, the Millennial Kingdom will emerge. This is the change of ages. The change of ages, specifically, occurs when the great disaster begins. What will the great disaster solve? The change of ages. Why is the great disaster used to change the ages? Without the disaster, these people who ought to be destroyed, how can they be destroyed? The great disaster will destroy this world and humanity; the survivors will enter a new era. Is this not the change of ages? When the world is finally destroyed and the new age arrives, that is to say, when the Millennial Kingdom arrives, how will the age be changed? By seven years of catastrophe, the catastrophe predicted in Revelation. Now that the four blood moons have appeared, the great disaster is not far off. Someone asked, “The four blood moons have appeared. How long will it be before the great disaster arrives? One year, two years or three years?” I don’t know, but it’s pretty short, only a few years’ time. Why don’t I know? If God didn’t say it, then I don’t know. God has never told me, never enlightened me. I just don’t know. In any case, according to the prophecies, the two events will occur one after the other. Jewish biblical scholars also say that the great disaster will arrive after the four blood moons appear. According to the prophet, Joel, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come” (Joel 2:31). Before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives, all these things must first come to pass. The great and terrible day of the Lord refers to the great disaster. He “shall destroy them all in the change of ages. They shall no longer exist on earth, much less gain passage into the kingdom of God.” If you can survive the change of ages, then you will be able to enter the kingdom of God; those who do not survive the change of ages cannot enter the kingdom of God. Therefore, after the great disaster arrives, if some people do not die, if they still exist on this earth, what is that called? Those who do not die during the great disaster shall be blessed. This is different from when the non-believers say, “Those who do not die during the great disaster are bound for good fortune.” When we talk about people who do not die in the great disaster, we mean those who survive all the disasters. If you don’t die in one great disaster, that doesn’t mean you won’t die in the next one. Isn’t that right? One of the non-believers got cancer, but was finally cured. He says, “Those who do not die in the great disaster are bound for good fortune.” However, don’t forget that the great disaster has not yet arrived. When the great disaster comes, it will be one disaster after another: earthquakes, pestilence, famine and war, etc. Some people may survive the war but starve to death in the famine; some people may survive the famine but die from the plague; some people may survive the plague but die in the earthquake. You see, what is this? Those who are doomed cannot escape calamity. Therefore, when we say that those who do not die in the great disaster will be blessed, we’re talking about those who survive all the great disasters: earthquakes, plagues, famine and war, etc. This is the real meaning of “those who survive the great disaster will be blessed.” You see, just now we were talking about the nominal believers. God “shall destroy them all in the change of ages. They shall no longer exist on earth.” Those who die in the great disaster will not “gain passage into the kingdom of God.” After the disaster, if someone survives it means that they have a place in God’s kingdom. If they no longer live on the earth, then they have no way to enter the kingdom of God.
Let’s continue to read God’s words. The seventh type of people: “Those who have never been true to God but are forced into dealing with God shall be numbered among those who do service for His people. Only a small number of such men can survive….” Only a small number of service-doers survive, “while the majority shall perish along with those who are not qualified even to do service.” The majority of people are unqualified to do service. All those who are unqualified to do service will be destroyed. They will all be destroyed. God calls those who are qualified to do service, “loyal service-doers.” Loyal service-doers will survive, but they are only a small group. What advantage do these survivors have? They are loyal to the end; they do service to the end; they persevere to the end. That is a loyal service-doer. Those who give up halfway are not loyal service-doers. God also talks about a person who is “forced into dealing with God.” What does that refer to? Who is forcing these people into doing service? No one else forces them, nor do they do it of their own volition. They see that the great disaster is coming and that God really is doing His work. Then, in order to be blessed and survive, they have no choice but to do service. They don’t do it in order to pursue the truth or to obey God. They are afraid of death. They are forced into contributing for fear of being destroyed. That is not a real contribution. They are unwilling to sacrifice for God, but they have no choice. They think, “If this wasn’t the real God, the true way, if I wasn’t trying to enter the kingdom of God, I wouldn’t be doing this!” These kinds of people are forced to deal with God; they are not willing to sacrifice for God. They do not truly sacrifice for God. These kinds of people are grouped in with the service-doers. There are a small group among the service-doers that God does bless. Who are these people that receive God’s grace? Those that do service to the end and persist to the end; those that can become loyal service-doers. God protects them from all the disasters. These people will be able to survive. Therefore, only a small portion of people in God’s kingdom are service-doers, loyal service-doers. These people are the lowest grade; they are at the lowest level of God’s kingdom. Do you understand?
What was it that some of you were saying earlier? “When will God’s day arrive?” What they meant is, if God’s day is coming within a year, I’ll fight it out for a year; I won’t earn money or work. I’ll sacrifice for God instead. I’ll persist in doing my duty and sacrificing for God. If God’s day is ten years away, well then I still have to make a living. I’ll need to find a way to earn money. I’ll need to find a way to buy a nice house and have kids. Are these people truly willing to sacrifice for God? Are they willing to sacrifice for God without receiving something in return? They are trying to do a deal with God. These problems must be dealt with and resolved quickly! If you intend to make a deal, then you are a service-doer. You have to reach a place where you’re not doing a deal with God. You have to say, “I will sacrifice for God until the death. I will do service for Him until death. I have no complaints. After I finish my service, if God destroys me in hell, then that means I have not been cleansed, I have rebelled, I haven’t obtained the reality of truth. According to God’s righteousness, I should be judged and punished! I will have no complaints for God.” If, while sacrificing for God and doing your duty, you still want to do a deal in order to receive a blessing—if your corrupt disposition has still not been purified, is this not the biggest flaw you can have? Isn’t this a huge pity? What are the consequences of such a defect? First, you are a service-doer, not one of God’s people. Second, you are not loyal to God; you cannot truly sacrifice for God. That is an eternal regret. Even if you can enter God’s kingdom you will still regret it; you will feel indebted to God. Enjoying so many graces but being unable to repay them—do you have a conscience? Are you fit to live before God? Shouldn’t these things be purified? You must pursue the truth and purify this disposition. It must be solved so that you can do service until the end and truly sacrifice for God. Or, if by knowing many truths you know God, you will think God is all too lovely and can thus love God in your heart. As soon as you love God and obey Him, being loyal to Him to the end and doing your duty properly becomes light and pleasant, without difficulty. As you love God more and obey Him more, you become willing to die for Him. In that case, obeying God and practicing the truth to satisfy Him are altogether too easy, no? When a person loves another person, they are able to suffer any hardship for them. As soon as people love God, they accept any suffering for God without complaint or transaction. They don’t do it to gain anything; they do it for love. How pure that love is. Therefore, when people first start to do their duty, they may be forced to do it, are somewhat reluctant and unwilling, but as they experience judgment, their corrupt disposition becomes cleansed. This is due to their pursuit of the truth. Their life disposition is changed; they can obey God to the death and love Him to the fullest. Is this not what it means to be made perfect? This is what it means to be made perfect. In this case, their portions of blessings are different; they will inherit the promises of God. That’s quite a blessing indeed.
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How many kinds of people did we just discuss? Seven kinds of people. These seven types of people all will be destroyed. Let’s continue to read God’s words. “Finally, God shall bring into His kingdom all those who are of the same mind as God, the people and sons of God as well as those predestined by God to be priests. Such is the fruit begotten by God through His work.” Who will be brought into His kingdom? All those who are of the same mind as God. You see, “the people and sons of God as well as those predestined by God to be priests,” what are these people collectively referred to as? All those who are of the same mind as God. “God shall bring into His kingdom all those who are of the same mind as God, the people and sons of God as well as those predestined by God to be priests.” These people will finally enter God’s kingdom. Why can these people enter the kingdom of God? Because they are the fruit begotten by God through His work; they are the fruit of God’s work in the last days. That is to say, they are the ones who will be saved and made perfect through God’s work in the last days. These people will be obtained by God. What does it mean to be obtained by God? These people will never betray God. They are the people that God truly intends to obtain. In His management plan, these people are those that God plans to make complete in the last days. God manages this humanity, and in the end He will obtain these people. Once these people are made complete and obtained by God, God will destroy the entire world and the rest of humanity. He will end this old age and start a new one. Do you understand? It says here, “God shall bring into His kingdom all those who are of the same mind as God.” Who does that include? First, God’s people; second, the sons of God; third, those predestined by God to be priests. It includes these three types of people. There are many of God’s people in China. The sons of God do not refer to Chinese people alone, they also include some Israelis; “as well as those predestined by God to be priests,” those who will be priests are all predestined by God and will be made perfect in the last days. In the end, God will bring these three types of people into His kingdom. That is, the three types of people will survive the great disaster and they will be protected by God. For example, a person at the site of an earthquake has not died but others have, or a person in the middle of a plague outbreak doesn’t die among the multitude: These people have God’s protection. When the critical time arrives, the moment that determines life or death, such people will see miraculous signs and an angel will come to their rescue. They will be protected and survived. I have experienced many tribulations but haven’t died. At that time, I thought that it was over. I thought that the great red dragon would definitely catch me. However, I wasn’t caught; God protected me. Many brothers and sisters faced disasters where their next-door neighbors’ houses were washed away by floods and the people inside drowned, but they survived. Some brothers and sisters received God’s miraculous protection during other disasters. For instance, they had something else to do that day and weren’t at the disaster site. These cases are all testimonies of survivors who were protected by God in disasters. This is not to say that these people will not experience the great disasters. They will also be in the disasters, but they will be protected by God and will survive. This is a wonderful deed of God. You understand, right?
“God shall bring into His kingdom all those who are of the same mind as God.” Then, what is the standard by which we judge whether someone has been made complete or obtained by God? Being of the same mind as God. Tell me, what kind of people does God want to make complete and obtain? What relationship do they have with God? How do they treat God? The answer is as follows, “all those who are of the same mind as God.” People that believe in God can eventually become of the same mind as God. This is what it means to be obtained by God, which is also what we mean when we say someone “belongs to God.” If you believe in God for many years, but ultimately do not belong to God, that is to say, God does not accept you, then that is a tragedy. The ultimate result of believing in God is that “you really belong to God, not to Satan, not to the world, not to anyone else, only to God.” Is this not what it means to have been obtained by God? This is the way we should interpret the phrase, “those who are of the same mind as God.” They only have God in their hearts; they will sacrifice for God their entire lives, not for fame, not for status, not for the flesh, and certainly not for Satan. They will not do service for Satan; they will sacrifice for God. They only belong to God. Then, have these people attained changes in their life dispositions? Do their lives count as vibrant testimony? Their entire lives are vibrant and beautiful testimony. Peter’s life stands as bright and resounding testimony. In the end, he was crucified on the cross for God. Job has given testimony; Abraham has given testimony. Being of the same mind as God—that is the sign that you truly belong to God. If you do not know about being obtained by God, gaining God’s blessing or praise, or what kinds of people can enter God’s kingdom, we can put it in one word that they are “those who are of the same mind as God.” This is the only standard you need. If God thinks you are of the same mind as Him, then you will gain His praise; you will be the most blessed of all, and you will be entitled to receive God’s promises. You will be able to enter God’s kingdom. In that kingdom, you will live eternally, and all your dreams will come true. Is accepting God’s work in the last days equivalent to being raised up into the kingdom of heaven? That is the path you must take on your journey, but whether or not you can achieve your dream depends on your own individual pursuit. If you accept Almighty God’s work in the last days, your path is correct; you’ve selected the right door. The next step is that “after the master shows you the door, you must practice the way yourself.” This is the saying of unbelievers, but it is applicable here. “Practicing” is up to you. When you can start to do your duty, pursue the truth, have knowledge of your satanic corrupt disposition, and free yourself from it, all this is determined by your pursuit. Suppose you say, “I want to be a believer in name only. If there’s a gathering, I’ll go; if there isn’t, I won’t. I don’t want to share in performing any duty. That’s how I’ll be a believer, OK?” This is called being a nominal believer. Can you be raised into the kingdom of heaven by being a nominal believer? You have been raised up before the face of God, but you won’t enter the kingdom of heaven. You will be thrown away en route and forsaken. Experiencing the rapture doesn’t mean you’ll enter the kingdom of heaven. After the rapture, you should go to the feast. If you don’t eat and drink your fill, you will not be cleansed! Look at all these words of truth. If you do not eat and drink them, if they do not become your life, you will be forsaken in the end; you’ll be in trouble. Religious people are not allowed in the door to go to the feast; the door is closed on them. Wise virgins are allowed in, while foolish ones are shut outside the door. They can’t even get in the door; If you accept the work of Almighty God in the last days, you’ll have gotten in the door and arrived at the feast, but if during the feast, you are forsaken, that would be even more pitiful and tragic.
God says, “Finally, God shall bring into His kingdom all those who are of the same mind as God, the people and sons of God as well as those predestined by God to be priests.” In the end, when God finishes His work, your fate will be decided. It will be determined by your performance whether you are one of the people of God, a son of God or one of those predestined to be a priest. If you meet the standard to be one of His people, His sons or the priests, then you are of the same mind as God. If you are not one of those three types of people, then you are not of the same mind as God. See, when something happens, some people that understand the truth uphold God’s work; they uphold God’s house regardless of what happens. They are always thinking about what is in the best interests of God’s house and how to do things that are favorable to His house. They always speak for the work and benefit of God’s house. These kinds of people are correct; their hearts are correct. If these people pursue the truth, they can become those of the same mind as God. When something happens, some people do not uphold the work of God’s house. They are constantly interrupting and disturbing God’s house. People that do not uphold the work of God’s house, are they correct people? They are not correct people. Those that are not correct people definitely do not pursue the truth. Those that do not pursue the truth will not be of the same mind as God in the end. Definitely not. You see, many people are correct people with correct hearts. If these people pursue the truth, they will be made perfect. After they are made perfect, what kind of people will they become? They will become those who are of the same mind as God. Becoming one of those who are of the same mind as God is the greatest honor, is it not? Those that speak for God, work for God and uphold the work and interests of God’s house no matter what, they are the most blessed of all. These are right people with right hearts. God’s house will specifically promote these people to be leaders and workers. God’s chosen people should elect those that uphold the work of God’s house to be leaders or the people in charge of various tasks. After hearing all this, tell me, what is the true life? What should you pursue to live out a meaningful life? It is to become one of those who are of the same mind as God. Those people will have lived out the most meaningful life and will be the most honored and dignified. Some despicable people live selfishly, are they dignified? They are not dignified at all. They are selfish, mean, shameless people. If you are of the same mind as God and you uphold the work of God’s house, His name, and His glory no matter what, then you are really a person of the same mind as God. All those who are of the same mind as God are always considerate of God’s will. No matter what they are doing, they will always think of God’s glory first—whether His name will be besmirched, whether He will be glorified, whether He will be satisfied, whether He will be hurt, whether it will incur His wrath. They will consider these things first. God has a place in their hearts. These people fear God and shun evil. Here, the pursuit of the truth is all too important, isn’t it?
For many people, when they first start to believe in God, they have impurities. This is a common problem, not just limited to a few individuals. When I first started to believe, I was the same way; I had impurities. Who doesn’t want to receive blessings and gain eternal life? These wishes are created by a satanic disposition, but they can be slowly cleansed through God’s judgment and chastisement. People will start to think they are shameless, selfish, despicable, undignified, and devoid of conscience to pursue those aims. They will want to live according to the truth and be a dignified, decent, truly good person. That is what it means to have the truth and humanity. In the end, these people will be able to serve God, bear witness to God and become of the same mind as God. They’ll say, “Oh! This is truly what it is to live in the highest realm! The true value and meaning of life, here it is!” In this world, working in some industry or another and becoming famous, building up a reputation, it’s useless! It’s hollow. When the great disaster arrives, aren’t you still going to die? How long will you live? You’ll be gone in the blink of an eye. To dust you shall return. Only those who accept God’s judgment and get cleansed can eventually understand the truth and know God and become those who fear God and shun evil. Their ability to obey and love God will allow them to become those of the same mind as God. In so doing, they will live out dignified, glorified human lives. Isn’t this so? As soon as I come in contact with the unbelievers, I can see they don’t understand anything. They only know how to pursue money, status and fame and how to succeed at business and they think this shows their ability. They’re short-sighted. Then, when I think about myself, I say, “Indeed! This is really God’s mercy and blessing that I have accepted the work of God. I have experienced for so many years and finally understood some truth; with the exceptional exaltation of God, I am able to serve God. I have not wasted my life; I understand many things and have gained much! My life has not been a waste!” It is the exceptional exaltation of God that we can experience His work in the last days and enjoy the feast of the Lamb; this is what it means to be exceptionally exalted by God! Why is that? Our identity, status, academic qualifications, etc. cannot compare with those of the unbelievers, but they have not obtained this blessing and we have. What does that show? This has all been predestined by God; it doesn’t mean we’re better than them or smarter than them. It was planned by God. We are the luckiest ones! Therefore, in experiencing the judgment before Christ’s seat, if we pursue the truth, sacrifice everything we can for Christ and finally are able to obtain the truth and change our disposition, how great a blessing would that be? God calls people like us “those of His own mind.” Doesn’t this mean that He is exceptionally exalting us? According to our previous corruption and our identity, are we worthy of this? We’re not worthy at all! God raises us up to heaven, saying we’re those of His own mind. Who is worthy of that title? In the end, He takes us into His kingdom where we will have eternal life and our dreams will come true. This is quite a surprise! Tell me, is this not the special grace of God? All of this is God’s exceptional exaltation.
Let’s continue reading God’s words, “As for those who can belong to none of the categories set by God, they shall be numbered among the unbelievers.” Some people say, “There are other categories beyond the aforementioned categories. There are still some categories of people for which we do not know the outcome.” Here’s the explanation, “As for those who can belong to none of the categories set by God, they shall be numbered among the unbelievers.” They shall be dealt with as unbelievers. What does it mean to be an unbeliever? They are those who do not accept God’s work. What is the outcome for them? They will all be destroyed. The great disaster will destroy them all! Therefore, when we talk about unbelievers, we are talking about those who will be destroyed. “… they shall be numbered among the unbelievers. And you can surely imagine what their outcome shall be.” Needless to say, they will be destroyed.
Next, God says, “I have already said to you all that I should say; the road that you choose shall be your decision to make.” The road that you choose will be your decision. You can choose as you please; God will not intervene or compel you to choose one option. Now in this passage, God first says, “I exhort you to submit to judgment.” Can you accept this? Can you make such a choice? “Submit to judgment,” this is the only path; it is also the blessed path. It has God’s deep love and blessings. You have no notions about it, right? Some people may feel awkward when they first hear these words. They’ll say, “‘I exhort you to submit to judgment,’ this sounds like God will hand me over to the court to be judged at trial, then convicted.” That’s what they think. Is this the same as a court trial on earth? This is purification; it is enjoying the feast of the Lamb. Many people do not understand, “What does it mean to experience God’s judgment?” Now do you understand? Good. You all understand now.
138-A-7
Let’s look at the last sentence of God’s words, “What you should understand is this: The work of God never waits for any that cannot keep pace with God, and the righteous disposition of God shows no mercy to any man.” People value emotions and tend to consider the feelings of others. But God is not like that. Human flesh has emotions. God does not have emotions. “What you should understand is this: The work of God never waits for any that cannot keep pace with God….” Some people ask, what does “never waits” mean? God works in three stages to save humanity. No matter which stage it is, He works in the same way: When it’s time for Him to start work, He starts work. When He’s done and it’s time for Him to finish work, He finishes His work; He doesn’t wait for anyone. Is this not the truth? The Lord Jesus performed His redemptive work among the Jews, but Judaism as a whole did not accept Him. Did God wait for them? God did not wait for them. The Holy Spirit did not work among them. If you do not pursue and investigate it, God will not do His work on you. In the end, God’s words were fulfilled, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14). During the Age of Grace, the gospel of the Lord Jesus spread to the ends of the earth; Christianity spread to all the nations of the world and then the last days arrived. The last days are when God’s work of judgment begins. Even now, there are not many Jews that believe in the Lord Jesus; only a few accept Him. However, God does not wait for them. When the last days arrive, God still does His work. In the last days, God does not work among the Jews. God does His judgment work in China, a place the Jews do not even dare to think that God would work in. They don’t even dare to think that God would become flesh in China in the last days. This is also the reason why it is hard for many Westerners to accept God’s work of the last days. They say, “God has appeared in China? God has become flesh in China? That’s impossible! That can’t be!” God’s work will fight back against human notions. The more people say something is impossible, the more God will make it possible. Of course, this is also something that God has planned in advance. Look at how all of Isaiah’s prophecies mention the East. The Lord Jesus’ prophecies also mention the East, “For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:27). The East means China. China is the eastern place in the world. “For as the lightning comes out of the East and shines even to the West….” What does this sentence refer to? “… so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” The coming of the Son of man is like lightning—it comes out of the East and shines even to the West. When God does His work of judgment in the last days, does He wait for religious communities? No. God persistently expresses His words and does His work until today. More than twenty years have passed; the gospel has spread to many countries. Most importantly, while God’s chosen people are experiencing God’s work, the testimonies of a group of overcomers have emerged. Testimony about God’s judgment in the last days has emerged. If you go to the websites of the Church of Almighty God, you’ll see many witnesses to God. You’ll see movies, testimonies of experiences, books, and all types of videos. There is a multitude of evidence there! People of any religious sect, as long as they truly believe in God, will be convinced by this evidence. As soon as they look, they will see the results of God’s work. No religious sects or leaders can do this kind of work. Is this not the truth? In what religious sect can you find so many witnesses? What religious sect could make so many good movies? They don’t even have good hymns of experience, not to mention movies. They cannot communicate the truth of the Bible; they do not have good hymns, evidence, videos or articles. Look at the house of God, where all kinds of sermons are being preached, there are various testimonies of life experiences and a plethora of different versions of God’s word abound. What does this illustrate? These are the results of God’s work. If it were not for God, no one else could do this work. The fact that His work has been carried out to such an extent means it is drawing to a close; the great disaster will soon arrive. Before the great disaster arrives, God will return to Zion and change form. God will not experience the great disaster on the earth. Humans will experience the great disaster on the earth. As soon as God leaves the earth, the disaster will fall upon the earth. You see, the Lord Jesus was resurrected and reappeared, then ascended into heaven forty days later. As soon as He ascended into heaven, the Jews realized things weren’t good. “The Lord Jesus has ascended into heaven. After He arrives in heaven, we can’t be sure what will happen.” A few years later, Rome sent troops to destroy Israel. Not even one stone was left from the temple. It was destroyed, completely destroyed! You see, the Jews were scattered among different countries around the world. They traveled to different countries, begging for food, living like beggars. That is certainly not an easy life to sustain. Finally, the evil leader Hitler killed millions of Jews; young Jewish girls had their white skin picked off to make lamps. The fact that God allowed such cruelty, what does it demonstrate? That God hates Judaism that much! The greater the disaster, the greater the destruction to humanity. This shows that these corrupt humans who resist God and have committed the most heinous crimes are cursed by Him. These corrupt humans that offend God have incurred His almighty wrath. It can only demonstrate this. It shows that God hates them that much. Isn’t this the truth? God does not make mistakes. God is righteous and holy. If people blindly blame God, then they have confused right and wrong; they do not understand God’s heart! Would you not hate someone who bore your eyes out? Would you not curse them? You know what it is to hate someone, so if someone offended God, wouldn’t He be angry as well? You’re allowed to be angry, but God isn’t? Do you have any humanity? Therefore, God’s work in the last days waits for no one. God does not wait for any religious sect. When His time comes, all those who do not accept Him will be destroyed. Now the great disaster is almost here. When it arrives and the door of grace closes, accepting God will do nothing; it won’t work. If you come join the feast after it’s over and the dishes have been put away, you won’t eat anything. That’s just the way it is. You see, today I can preach to you in the congregation, and there are leaders at different levels who will lead congregations to eat and drink the words of God. This is the time to enjoy the feast. If the great disaster arrives and the feast ends, there wouldn’t be large congregations, and I wouldn’t be gathering you here, nor would I be able to do so. Who knows if there would even be Internet access. You are all in your different homes and would have no choice but to pray and eat and drink the words of God yourselves in the disaster. Now I can chat with you once a week. Each time we chat, you’ll get something from it. In the future, we won’t even have the chance to chat, not to mention any chance to meet each other. What does this demonstrate? “The work of God never waits for any that cannot keep pace with God, and the righteous disposition of God shows no mercy to any man.” God does not have emotions and is no respecter of people. There is no back door into God’s kingdom. There is no way to leverage relationships to get in, and bribery is useless. Therefore, how should we practice experiencing God’s work? We must pursue the truth, search for the truth in God’s words, gain self-awareness from God’s words and gain awareness of the truth and God’s disposition from God’s words. In so doing, you will achieve all the different results you should achieve through God’s words. This is what it means to truly experience God’s judgment and chastisement. In the end, you will be purified and made perfect! If you do not understand the truth in God’s words, or use His words to reflect on your own actions or gain self-awareness, if you do not use His words to understand God’s disposition and what He has and is, then you have obtained nothing from His words. If you do not understand the truth in God’s words and do not know God or even yourself, then you have obtained nothing. In this case, there’s no point in reading God’s words; you are not experiencing His work. In your experience of every sentence of God’s words, you must obtain and achieve all these three kinds of results. This is called honestly and faithfully submitting to His judgment. Do you understand? When you finish reading a passage from God’s words, do you obtain anything from it? Do you know about God’s disposition? Can you find the truth in God’s words? Can you recognize your own situation, behavior in God’s words of judgment? What is the essence of your corruption and the root of your problems? If you don’t ponder over these things thoroughly, you will harvest nothing. You will have the feast in vain and obtain nothing.
If a person who believes in God has achieved purification, changed in his life disposition, known God and become of the same mind as God, it means he has obtained the life and the truth. Then what is the outcome for this person? He has a place in the kingdom of God. How is Christ’s kingdom formed? It is the result of God’s work of judgment in the last days. God’s work of judgment in the last days will purify a group of people; it will make them perfect. These people will reign supreme in Christ’s kingdom. There is a sentence in God’s words that says, “The people of ‘Sinim’ are all kings.” Didn’t God say that? What country does the “Sinim” refer to? China. The Israelites refer to China as “Sinim.” The “people of Sinim” are a group of overcomers God makes in China. These overcomers will reign supreme in God’s Millennial Kingdom. Although God’s words do not say this per se, that’s what He means. Some people may ask, “Are you saying that in the last days, God only does His work in China? God’s work will end before people in other countries have accepted it? Then, people in other countries will not survive, I guess.” It’s not like that. The work of making a group of people complete in China is the work of judgment beginning with the house of God. They are the overcomers made through this stage of work, the kings of the next era. As for God’s people from other countries, the people of the Millennial Kingdom, they will be made perfect and return to God in the disaster. The people that experience God’s judgment work in China will reign as kings. They will reign in accordance with God’s will. The people that accept God during the great disaster are different; they have a different status and position. They may just be the ordinary people of the kingdom. Therefore, the people that accept this stage of God’s work in China, especially those who have been persecuted by the great red dragon but stay loyal to God until the end, they will be the overcomers. They will reign in God’s kingdom during the Age of Kingdom. In the next age, the Chinese people will reign as kings over the kingdom. That is for certain, because they are the first to accept Christ and are made perfect before the disaster. They are more qualified than the people of other countries. In addition, all those who have been predestined and chosen by God in the last days were born in China; they are the first to accept this stage of work. Therefore, the Chinese people who accept Almighty God’s work in the last days, especially the ones who have been persecuted by the great dragon but can follow until the end, will be the most blessed. Foreigners who accept God will not have these blessings, because they have not endured as much suffering. This has been ordained by God. Christ’s kingdom will be created because of a group of people who are made complete by God’s judgment work during the last days. How is Christ’s kingdom created? How is it established? It is created from God’s work in the last days. It is what is achieved from God’s work in the last days. The crystallization of God’s work in the last days is the creation of Christ’s kingdom. If you do not accept Christ’s judgment in the last days, you will not have a place in His kingdom. It’s that simple. That’s just how it is. Look at what has been recorded in the Book of Revelation: A group of overcomers will emerge from the great tribulation after having been judged. Then Christ’s kingdom will come to exist, and 1,000 years after its creation, the new heaven and new earth shall emerge. God’s tabernacle will be erected among humanity. All these words will be fulfilled. Christ’s kingdom will be created from a group of overcomers made through God’s work in the last days. The people of God, the people of the kingdom, are made perfect through the great disaster. Without those who reign as kings, can the kingdom exist? Where will they come from? The ones who are made perfect before the disaster. These people have experienced the great red dragon’s brutal persecution and will receive the most blessings in the end. This has been ordained by God. This is all according to God’s words!
138-A-8
Questions & Answers
Question 1: I don’t quite understand what is judging God and judging the man used by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, I don’t quite comprehend some of God’s words or the brother’s sermons, yet I do not dare speak out because if I do, I’m afraid that it would be considered judgment. Brother, please fellowship about this matter.
Answer: Judging God means having all kinds of notions about God’s work, God’s flesh or passing judgment on these things intentionally. This is called judging God. Judging the man used by the Holy Spirit, this judgment is focused on the man. What are some of the key manifestations of judgment that is focused on the man? One is, “This is all the work of man, I do not see any signs that it is the Holy Spirit’s work, I do not see any signs that it is from God.” This is the most severe judgment. There are also people that find fault with me, “This person is not very special, he is not much better than us.” This is also a kind of judgment. There is also another kind of judgment, it is the most revealing judgment, “God said, man has impurities, so the man used by the Holy Spirit also definitely has impurities. That is why we cannot obey the man, we can only obey God.” This is a clear example, we don’t need to talk about the unclear examples, you can investigate this yourself. Judging God means that you have all sorts of notions about God and His work, and because of this you produce a certain kind of viewpoint; this is called judging God. Judging the man means having all kinds of suspicions about this man or picking him up on something, passing judgment on it and refusing to obey. Some of this judgment is due to being unconvinced by this man, or out of jealousy. “How come you have become a person that the Holy Spirit uses, why can’t I become this kind of person? Why does God use you? We are the same as you. Why does God use you? Why does He not use me?” The 250 leaders that judged Moses were the same. What did they say when they judged Moses? “Has God spoken only to Moses and not to us? Moses is not the same as us? Why does God use Moses but He does not use us?” This is what they meant. Jealousy rots your moral character, you must not be jealous. Isn’t corrupt humanity full of jealousy? Jealousy is terrible. If you have even a bit of jealousy, do not judge. Take your time and seek the truth; once your corrupt disposition has been cleansed, you will no longer be jealous. Whoever is good, we will admire, praise and learn from. How great is this! Legitimacy sets the heart free. Man has a corrupt disposition. If he has not experienced judgment, when his jealous heart grows and he becomes jealous of someone, this is not good. The jealousy of man is not good. Some people have not come in contact with me before. They have their suspicions, “Why should I obey you? Have you been to some kind of prestigious university? Do you come from a noble family? Did you graduate from an elite school? Do you have an illustrious background? Is your physical appearance notable? If you are any of these things, then I would obey. If you are none of these things, then you are too ordinary and I will not obey!” Are these words correct? They are incorrect, this is jealousy. What does ordinary mean? Now, the past generations of people that God used, the majority of them came from ordinary families, many of them, right? God prearranged this, God had selected them. He arranged their family background, all of it was arranged by God. Look at the place where the Lord Jesus was born, that was even more pitiful. What kind of place was He born in? He was born in a manger. Wouldn’t you say this is pitiful? From man’s perspective, this is extremely pitiful. How can You be king if You were born in such a place? How could You be the Savior? This is where God’s work does not accord with man’s conception! That is why when God became flesh, when people see what family, address, environment and background He originated from, they say, “How wretched! How ordinary!” They have their notions, they do not acknowledge this. “What kind of king is this? Is this the Savior?” However, in reality, this is how God did things, this is what God chose. That is why when God did these great things, it is extremely incongruent with man’s notions. It was specifically counterintuitive to man’s notions. If you have all sorts of misunderstandings about God, or if you rely on your imagination when it comes to God, in the end, you will be put to shame.
Question 2: I have trouble distinguishing between discernment of other people and being overly-critical of others. When I see that the brothers and sisters that are working with me have a corrupt disposition, it makes me not want to come close to them. When I say something, I need to pay attention to whether or not I am respecting the other party. When I coordinate with them, it is very easy to be constrained by the other party. It is especially stifling to live with these kinds of people. It makes me unwilling to obey God’s arrangements, I want to escape. I do not know how to experience God’s judgment and chastisement in this kind of environment. I do not know how to truly understand myself and enter into the truth.
Answer: This kind of question is very practical. The majority of people will encounter this. It’s great that you brought this up. Presently, when we serve God in coordination, sometimes, we will encounter these kinds of people. What kind of lessons can we learn when encountering these kinds of people? It is not correct if we do not respect the other party and it is even more incorrect if we look down on them. If we despise them this is also a corrupt disposition. Or, if we are restrained by the other party and adapt to their dispositions, this is not in accordance with our principles. When you work together with someone, if the other party does not conform to your intentions and you can’t coordinate, isn’t there something here that needs to be learned? What should be learned? One thing is to understand yourself. When you do things, are you principled? When you deal with the other party, do you show them love and respect? Another thing is to gain discernment. Does the other party do things according to the truth? Can this person fulfill his or her duties properly? Is this a correct person? If this person is correct, then we should learn lessons from them, learn how to respect them and it is fine. If they are not a correct person, if they delay the work and cause you to be unable to coordinate with them, and when you do things according to principle you still cannot successfully coordinate with them, then this issue should be put forward. If you are afraid that work might be delayed, then you need to mention this to a leader, “This person will not do, when they do work, they do not accept the truth.” One aspect is to solve your own problems; another aspect is seeing whether or not the other party is a correct person. If they are an incorrect person and they are disrupting or disturbing, then this needs to be resolved, reported and brought to light. Is this kind of implementation good? How to understand yourself and how to properly enter, this doesn’t need to be discussed in detail, right? For example, if you do not treat the opposite party with respect, a loving heart, tolerance or forbearance, let’s not mention the other party’s shortcomings, now, from this perspective, do you have deficiencies? If you have these deficiencies, do you know how to equip the truth and enter? Do you know how to follow principles when dealing with other people? You should seek the truth. Once you have sought out an understanding of the truth in this aspect and you know how to do things according to principles, then you should deal with other people according to principles. You must have a pathway to enter. On the one hand, you should understand yourself and have true repentance. On the other hand, if the other party is not a good person, then you need to bring this to light and report it. If the other party only has some corruption that is revealed, then you need to learn how to be tolerant and patient. Additionally, it is best to have a positive attitude of providing assistance and supply, helping your brother or sister cast aside corruption. Isn’t this a win-win situation?
Question 3: What is the difference between releasing negativity and pointing out blind and impractical plans? Here is an example. There is some work that requires three days to complete. Everybody enthusiastically says, “With the Holy Spirit working with us, everybody can actively cooperate and finish it in one day.” At this time, if there is someone who says, “Let’s be practical. Based on our regular pace of work, if we can finish this on time, then this is already considered fast.” The person who says this encounters this response, “You are releasing dead negativity!” I’m not sure how releasing negativity should be weighed. Please, communicate about this.
Answer: The things that people who do not have the reality of the truth say are not accurate. When it comes to work that takes three days to complete, they say, “With the Holy Spirit’s work, we can actively cooperate and finish in one day.” What are you basing these words on? If you are making a prediction, that is fine, you think it can be done in a day. If you are not making a prediction, then you should say something that is practical, “If we actively cooperate together, perhaps we can finish ahead of schedule.” That’s fine. But you say, “We can finish in one day.” What if you do not finish in one day? Objectively, it takes two days to finish. How would you explain this? That is why, if you say this, it is not accurate. If at this time someone says, “Let’s be practical. Based on our regular pace of work, if we can finish on time, then this is already considered fast.” These words are more realistic! Someone says something that is realistic, and in the end, what kind of response do they get? “You are releasing dead negativity!” This is releasing dead negativity? This is called objective and realistic. This is not releasing dead negativity. So, what is releasing dead negativity? Disseminating misconceptions, with the result that people lose faith, or disseminating words that confuse people and baffle their heart, preventing people from putting the truth into practice or obeying the truth, these things can be labelled as releasing dead negativity. Additionally, if someone speaks of the most negative words, words of complaint about God, and words of disbelief about God, and once everyone hears these words, it is as if the air has been sucked out of the room. Everyone’s spirit gets dampened. This is called disseminating dead negativity. Whether or not it is disseminating dead negativity is determined based on the results that can be achieved? The work that evil spirits do and the words that evil people speak, cause people to stray further and further from God and make their spirit more and more negative and depressed. When a person with the work of the Holy Spirit speaks, it is practical and objective. When people hear it, they have a path, feel it is real, and they are filled with energy. That is why when it comes to this topic, it is based on the result. Consider these words, “With the Holy Spirit working with us, everybody can actively cooperate and finish it in one day.” Saying so seemed to make people have energy. However, someone with experience said, “This cannot be done in a day. It will be good enough if it takes two days.” This is objective and realistic. When the person said that it could be done in a day, is this a prediction or an understanding from experience? Has he done this task many times so that he is confident that he can complete it in a day? If this was actually the case, if he said this, it is not big talk. If he did the task and it took two or three days to finish, then those words he said are not objective or realistic. They are words of bragging and lies, even though externally, it seems like he was encouraging people to be enthusiastic. Externally, it did not cause people to experience dead negativity. Now, talking big, is this correct? Is this kind of person realistic? He is not realistic and he told a lie, he spoke empty words. This kind of person is not like those who disseminate dead negativity. With one sentence, they cause others to become negative and lose their strength and energy. With one sentence, they cause others to completely lose faith, collapse and stop working. Even though the results are not the same, but still, it is not appropriate. If you disseminate dead negativity, you are disturbing others. If you talk big and in the end the result is not achieved, others will sneer at and ridicule you; this is also not something that is positive, right? These two kinds of people both do not have the reality of the truth. One kind of person is enthusiastic and passionate. He blindly brags and tells lies. The other kind of person does not have faith, is deceptive and lazy. Once someone else speaks dead words or disseminates fallacies, then they are negative and have no more energy. Both of these circumstances are extreme situations, they are wrong and they are unacceptable. Now, you can see here that with the enthusiastic person, when someone said something accurate and objective, he criticized them, “You are releasing dead negativity!” Is his criticism correct? If he said, “If I said it only takes a day then it only takes a day to complete. This time, someone delayed us. Before, this task only took a day to complete.” If this is truly the case, is what he said correct? If this is truly the case, then it is correct. If this prediction is not accurate, if the task takes more than one day to complete and he still has to say these things, then this is saying things based on enthusiasm and imagination, it has no basis. The result is that it is still a lie and it cannot be actualized. This kind of person’s character is not mature. If there was someone at his side who was a little more mature, and had more of an understanding when it came to that particular type of work, if they said something that is objective and realistic, should he criticize them, saying, “This is releasing dead negativity”? This criticism is incorrect. That person is not pouring cold water on the situation, they are being objective and realistic. For example, someone who spreads the gospel said, “We must all cooperate urgently and make every effort to obtain 1,000 people in one month. Let the Holy Spirit work!” The result is, in one month, they were not even able to obtain 100 people. What kind of problem is this? Isn’t this blindly bragging and telling lies? Someone with experience would say, “If we can obtain 100 people in 1 month, that would not be bad.” These words are realistic. “Since at most we can get 80-90 people in 1 month, obtaining 100 people is already not bad.” Are these words realistic? However, what kind of criticism does the person who brags apply to the person who is realistic? “Releasing negativity.” Now, exactly who is detestable? The person who says arrogant and false things and when someone does not agree with his points, he criticizes them: “Disseminating dead negativity.” This kind of person is very detestable, judgmental, arrogant and unreasonable. Now, do you find it easier to distinguish? It should be easier to distinguish.
Question 4: It is said in the work arrangements that the work of exposing and dismissing false leaders, expelling antichrists and evil people never stops. However, it is unclear to me the difference between exposing and pointing out the deficiencies of leaders and workers in normal circumstances and attacking leaders and workers. Brother, can you please fellowship about this?
Answer: When you expose workers and leaders, if someone reveals some corruption and you expose them, this is not correct. Which person does not have corruption to reveal? You must do things with principles. If someone truly is doing things that disrupt and disturb work, or if he is a false leader who does not have the Holy Spirit’s work, or if he is a person who is not right, exposing him is fine. If, in normal circumstances, some of what he says and does is correct and is in accordance with the truth, and occasionally he reveals corruption, in this case, you should not expose him like he is a false leader, nobody is perfect. So under what circumstances can you expose someone? If someone is disrupting and disturbing the work of God’s family and betraying principles, you should expose it. Let’s say, he does not have the Holy Spirit’s work. If he leads the church for long, he will delay the church, then you should expose it. If someone does not have humanity, he does not do good things, he is a very corrupt influence and the other leaders cover up his behavior, you should expose it. When you expose someone, it must be of benefit to the work of God’s family. If you are nitpicky about finding faults and pick out someone’s insignificant faults when they are revealing their corruption, is that meaningful? You must do things according to principles. What does doing things according to principles mean? If someone is doing work well, why are you picking at them? Who does not have some faults? Let’s say someone solves ten problems. Is it normal that one of the problems is not solved completely? You must be fair when you treat and evaluate a person, right? What does it mean to judge and attack someone? When someone is doing something very well, you find a little weakness, you seize that weakness and criticize that person. You treat that person like a false leader and you deal with him and dismiss him as such. Do you have principles? Are you doing things in accordance with God’s intentions? What is exposure referring to? Someone is unable to do his work. This is a false leader. This person does not love the truth and only does outward things. This person does not treat others fairly. He does things based on emotion. That is, he has a significant and clear problem. Once this problem is exposed, it is worth it to dismiss and replace him, it is worth it to think it over. If other people do not know this kind of thing but you know, you need to expose it. For example, one leader or worker secretly has an affair with someone else. Should this be exposed? Or, a leader or worker suppresses and convicts a good person. Should this be exposed? Another example is this person cultivates and promotes an evil person. Should this be exposed? Or, in meetings, this person does not communicate the truth or talk about practical experiences. He always uses theoretical reasoning to confuse people. Should this be exposed? When it comes to these significant problems, it is a good thing if you expose it. When it comes to trivial matters, such as when someone speaks and it is not in accordance with the truth, when someone makes a few incorrect arguments or if what someone says is not accurate, this is normal! Before someone has been perfected, they will make a lot of these kinds of mistakes! If you want to find fault with my words, you can also find it. Sometimes, I will make some small mistakes. Sometimes, I want to say something like this, but the result is my mouth just runs off and I end up saying something else. Sometimes, when I say something, it is not totally in accordance with what you understand. Perhaps the things in my heart that I want to communicate to you have not been communicated completely so the result is that you do not understand. So, when we speak, are there times when there are misunderstandings? Is this a shortcoming? Is this a revelation of corruption? This is not a revelation of corruption. This is a normal person’s flaw. Now, what is a revelation of corruption? Contamination of human will, relying on man’s notions and imagination to work, deliberately quoting some words in order to change the focus and achieve one’s own goal, having one’s own intentions when doing something or speaking for a certain person with the intention of promoting this person, these are revelations of corruption. Disrupting God’s work, betraying the truth and principles, these are also revelations of corruption. A specific revelation of a contamination of human will, betraying truth and principles, these are revelations of corruption. Sometimes the slightest contamination of human will is having good intentions. If good intentions do not bring any negative results, it is okay, and it does not need to be included in the category of revealed corruption. Sometimes, when people communicate about God’s work, they completely rely on their notions and imagination and it is not in accordance with the actual facts. This misleads people and causes people to misunderstand God. This is resisting. Can you distinguish these kinds of situations? If you do not know how to distinguish these people, then you do not know how to deal with leaders and workers. In some situations, people do not reveal corruption, in others they do. However, when it comes to revelations of corruption, there are different characteristics, there are differences. There are a few kinds of revelations of corruption. Additionally, revelations of corruption and manifestations of evil people are not the same. Serious transgressions and the actual doing of evil are different. These situations also need to be distinguished, they need to be divided up. You cannot groundlessly criticize, understood?
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