To grasp the purpose of God’s work, the effect His work achieves in man, and what exactly is His will for man: this is what every person who follows God should attain to. Nowadays knowledge of God’s work is just what all people are lacking. The deeds that God has worked upon people, the entirety of the work of God, and what exactly is God’s will for man, from the creation of the world to the present time—these are things that man neither knows nor comprehends. Not only is this inadequacy seen throughout the religious world, but also in all those who believe in God. When the day comes that you truly behold God, when you really appreciate His wisdom, when you behold all the deeds that God has worked, when you recognize what God is and has—when you have seen His bounty, wisdom, wonder, and all that He has worked upon people—it is then you will have achieved success in your faith in God. When God is said to be all-encompassing and all-bountiful, in what way exactly is He all-encompassing, and in what way is He all-bountiful? If you do not understand this, then you cannot be deemed to believe in God. Why do I say that those in the religious world are not believers in God but are evildoers, of the same ilk as the devil? When I say they are evildoers, it is because they do not understand the will of God and are unable to see His wisdom. God at no time reveals His work to them. They are blind; they cannot see the deeds of God, they have been forsaken by God, and they completely lack the care and protection of God, not to mention the work of the Holy Spirit. Those without the work of God are all evildoers and opponents of God. The opposition to God of which I speak refers to those who do not know God, those who acknowledge God with their lips and yet do not know Him, those who follow God and yet do not obey Him, and those who revel in the grace of God and yet are unable to stand witness to Him. Without an understanding of the purpose of God’s work or an understanding of the work that God does in man, he cannot be in accord with the will of God, nor can he stand witness to God. The reason why man opposes God stems, on the one hand, from his corrupt disposition, and on the other hand, from ignorance of God and lack of understanding of the principles by which God works and of His will for man. These two aspects, taken together, constitute a history of man’s resistance to God. Novices in the faith oppose God because such opposition lies within their nature, while the opposition to God of those with many years in the faith results from their ignorance of Him, in addition to their corrupt disposition. In the time before God became flesh, the measure of whether a man opposed God was based on whether he kept the decrees set forth by God in heaven. For instance, in the Age of Law, whoever did not keep the laws of Jehovah was regarded as one who opposed God; whoever stole the offerings to Jehovah, or whoever stood against those favored by Jehovah, was regarded as one who opposed God and would be stoned to death; whoever did not respect his father and mother, and whoever struck or cursed another, was regarded as one who did not keep the laws. And all who did not keep the laws of Jehovah were regarded as standing against Him. This was no longer so in the Age of Grace, when whoever stood against Jesus was regarded as one who stood against God, and whoever did not obey the words uttered by Jesus was regarded as one who stood against God. At this time, the way in which opposition to God was defined became both more accurate and more practical. In the time when God had not yet become flesh, the measure of whether man opposed God was based on whether man worshiped and looked up to the invisible God in heaven. The way in which opposition to God was defined at that time was not all that practical, for man could not see God, nor did he know what the image of God was like, or how He worked and spoke. Man had no notions about God whatsoever, and he believed in God vaguely, because God had not yet appeared to man. Therefore, no matter how man believed in God in his imagination, God did not condemn man or make too many demands of him, because man was completely unable to see God. When God becomes flesh and comes to work among men, all behold Him and hear His words, and all see the deeds that God works from within His body of flesh. At that moment, all man’s notions evaporate. As for those who have seen God appearing in the flesh, they shall not be condemned if they willingly obey Him, whereas those who purposefully stand against Him shall be deemed an opponent of God. Such people are antichrists, enemies who willfully stand against God. Those who harbor notions regarding God but are still ready and willing to obey Him will not be condemned. God condemns man on the basis of man’s intentions and actions, never for his thoughts and ideas. If He were to condemn man on the basis of his thoughts and ideas, then not a single person would be able to escape from the wrathful hands of God. Those who willfully stand against the incarnate God shall be punished for their disobedience. With regard to these people that willfully stand against God, their opposition stems from the fact that they harbor notions about God, which leads them in turn into actions that disrupt God’s work. These people intentionally resist and destroy the work of God. They do not merely have notions about God, but they also engage in activities that disrupt His work, and for this reason people of this kind shall be condemned. Those who do not willfully disrupt God’s work shall not be condemned as sinners, because they are able to willingly obey and not engage in activities that cause disruption and disturbance. People like this shall not be condemned. However, when people have experienced God’s work for many years, if they continue to harbor notions about God and remain unable to know the work of the incarnate God, and if, no matter how many years they have experienced His work, they continue to be filled with notions about God and are still unable to come to know Him, then even if they do not engage in disruptive activities, their hearts are nevertheless filled with many notions about God, and even if these notions do not become apparent, people like this are of no help whatsoever to the work of God. They are unable to spread the gospel for God or stand witness to Him. People like this are good-for-nothings and imbeciles. Because they do not know God and are moreover wholly incapable of casting away their notions about Him, they are therefore condemned. It can be said like this: It is normal for novices in the faith to hold notions about God or to know nothing of Him, but for one who has believed in God for many years and experienced a good deal of His work, it would not be normal for such a person to continue to hold notions, and it would be even less normal for someone like this to have no knowledge of God. It is because this is not a normal state that they are condemned. These abnormal people are all garbage; they are the ones who oppose God the most and who have enjoyed the grace of God for nothing. All such people shall be eliminated in the end!
Anyone who does not understand the purpose of God’s work is one who opposes Him, and one who has come to understand the purpose of God’s work but still does not seek to satisfy God is even more to be deemed an opponent of God. There are those who read the Bible in grand churches and recite it all day long, yet not one among them understands the purpose of God’s work. Not one among them is able to know God; still less can any one among them accord with God’s will. They are all worthless, vile people, each standing on high to lecture God. They willfully oppose God even as they carry His banner. Claiming faith in God, still they eat the flesh and drink the blood of man. All such people are devils that devour the soul of man, demons that deliberately get in the way of those trying to step onto the right path, and stumbling blocks impeding those who seek God. They may appear of “sound constitution,” but how are their followers to know that they are none other than antichrists who lead people to stand against God? How are their followers to know that they are living devils dedicated to the devouring of human souls? Those who hold themselves in high esteem in God’s presence are the most abject of men, while those who humble themselves are the most honored. And those who think they know the work of God and who are, moreover, capable of proclaiming the work of God to others with great fanfare even as they look directly at Him—these are the most ignorant of men. Such people are without the testimony of God, arrogant and full of conceit. Those who believe that they have too little knowledge of God, despite having actual experience and practical knowledge of Him, are those most beloved by Him. Only such people truly have testimony and are truly capable of being perfected by God. Those who do not understand the will of God are opponents of God; those who understand the will of God and yet do not practice the truth are opponents of God; those who eat and drink the words of God, and yet go against the substance of God’s words, are opponents of God; those who have notions about the incarnate God, and moreover have a mind to engage in rebellion, are opponents of God; those who pass judgment on God are opponents of God; and whoever is unable to know God or to bear witness to Him is an opponent of God. So I urge you: If you really have faith that you can walk this path, then keep on following it. But if you are unable to refrain from opposing God, then you had best walk away before it is too late. Otherwise, the chances of things turning out badly for you run extremely high, because your nature is simply too corrupt. Of loyalty or obedience, or a heart that thirsts for righteousness and truth, or love for God, you have not one jot or iota. It may be said that your situation before God is an utter shambles. You cannot abide by what you ought to abide by, and are unable to say what ought to be said. What you ought to put into practice, you have failed to put into practice; and the function that you ought to fulfill, you have been unable to fulfill. You do not have the loyalty, conscience, obedience, or resolution that you ought. You have not endured the suffering that it behooves you to endure, and you do not have the faith that you ought. Quite simply, you are completely devoid of any merit: Are you not ashamed to go on living? Let Me persuade you that you would be better off closing your eyes in eternal rest, thereby sparing God from worrying on your account and suffering for your sake. You believe in God and yet do not know His will; you eat and drink the words of God and yet are unable to keep to what God demands of man. You believe in God and yet do not know Him, and you stay alive without a goal to strive for, without any values, without any meaning. You live as a human being and yet have no conscience, integrity, or credibility in the slightest degree—can you still call yourselves human beings? You believe in God and yet deceive Him; what is more, you take God’s money and eat up the offerings that are made to Him. And yet, in the end you still fail to show the slightest consideration for God’s feelings or the faintest conscience toward Him. Not even the most trivial of God’s demands can you meet. Can you still call yourselves human beings? Eating the food God provides you and breathing the oxygen He gives you, enjoying His grace, yet, in the end, you do not have the slightest knowledge of God. On the contrary, you have become good-for-nothings that oppose God. Does that not make you a beast even lower than a dog? Among animals, are there any that are more malicious than you?
Those pastors and elders who stand in the high pulpit teaching others are opponents of God and allies of Satan; would not those of you who do not stand in the high pulpit teaching others be even greater opponents of God? Are you not, even more than they, in cahoots with Satan? Those who do not understand the purpose of God’s work do not know how to accord with the will of God. Surely, it cannot be that those who do understand the purpose of His work would not know how to accord with God’s will. The work of God is never in error; rather, it is man’s pursuit that is flawed. Are not those degenerates who willfully oppose God even more sinister and malevolent than those pastors and elders? Many are those who oppose God, but among them there are also many different ways in which they oppose God. As there are all manner of believers, so too are there all manner of those who oppose God, each unlike the other. Not a single one of those who fail to recognize clearly the purpose of God’s work can be saved. Regardless of how man may have opposed God in the past, when man comes to understand the purpose of God’s work and dedicates his efforts to satisfying God, God will wipe clean all of his former sins. As long as man seeks the truth and practices the truth, God will not keep in mind what he has done. Moreover, it is on the basis of man’s practice of the truth that God justifies him. This is the righteousness of God. Before man has seen God or experienced His work, regardless of how man acts toward God, He does not keep it in mind. However, once man has seen God and experienced His work, all the deeds and actions of man will be entered by God into the “annals,” for man has seen God and lived amid His work.
When man has truly seen what God has and is, when he has seen His supremacy, and when he has truly come to know the work of God, and furthermore, when the old disposition of man is changed, then man will have completely cast away his rebellious disposition that opposes God. It can be said that everyone has at some time opposed God and everyone has at some time rebelled against God. However, if you willingly obey the incarnate God, and from this point satisfy God’s heart with your loyalty, practice the truth that you ought, perform your duty as you ought, and keep the regulations that you ought, then you are one who is willing to cast away your rebelliousness to satisfy God and one who can be perfected by God. Should you stubbornly refuse to see your errors and have no intention of repenting yourself, should you persist in your rebellious conduct without the least intention of cooperating with God and satisfying Him, then such an obstinate and incorrigible person as you will certainly be punished and will certainly never be one to be perfected by God. This being so, you are the enemy of God today and tomorrow you will also be the enemy of God, and so too will you remain the enemy of God the day after; you will forever be an opponent of God and the enemy of God. In that case, how could God possibly let you off? It is in the nature of man to oppose God, but man must not seek out on purpose the “secret” of opposing God just because changing his nature is an insurmountable task. If that were the case, then you had better walk away before it were too late, lest your chastisement in the future become more severe, and lest your brutish nature erupt and become ungovernable, until your fleshly body were terminated by God in the end. You believe in God to receive blessings; but if in the end only misfortune befell you, would not that be a shame? I urge you, you had better make another plan. Anything that you can do would be better than believing in God: Surely it cannot be that there is just this one path. Would you not go on surviving if you did not seek the truth? Why must you be at odds with God in this way?
Source from: The Word Appears in the Flesh
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