11. To study the true way, only listen to the voice of God; absolutely do not believe the rumors of Satan.
Bible Verses for Reference:
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (Jhn 10:27).
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom 10:17).
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hos 4:6).
Fools die for want of wisdom (Pro 10:21).
Relevant Words of God:
Since we are searching for the footprints of God, we must search for God’s will, for the words of God, for the utterances of God—for where there are the new words of God, there is the voice of God, and where there are the footsteps of God, there are the deeds of God. Where there is the expression of God, there is the appearance of God, and where there is the appearance of God, there exists the truth, the way, and the life. While seeking the footprints of God, you ignored the words that “God is the truth, the way, and the life.” So when many people receive the truth, they do not believe that they have found the footprints of God and much less acknowledge the appearance of God. What a serious error that is!
from “The Appearance of God Has Brought a New Age” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
To study such a thing is not difficult, but requires each of us to know this truth: He who is God’s incarnation shall hold the substance of God, and He who is God’s incarnation shall hold the expression of God. Since God becomes flesh, He shall bring forth the work He must do, and since God becomes flesh, He shall express what He is, and shall be able to bring the truth to man, bestow life upon man, and show man the way. Flesh that does not contain the substance of God is surely not the incarnate God; of this there is no doubt. To investigate whether it is God’s incarnate flesh, man must determine this from the disposition He expresses and the words He speaks. Which is to say, whether or not it is God’s incarnate flesh, and whether or not it is the true way, must be judged from His substance. And so, in determining[a]
a. The original text reads “as for.”
whether it is the flesh of God incarnate, the key is to pay attention to His substance (His work, His words, His disposition, and many more), rather than external appearance.
from “Preface” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
Those who do not understand the truth always follow others: If people say that this is the work of the Holy Spirit, then you, too, say it is the work of the Holy Spirit; if people say it is the work of an evil spirit, then you, too, become doubtful, or also say it is the work of an evil spirit. You always parrot the words of others, and are incapable of distinguishing anything by yourself, nor are you able to think for yourself. This is someone without a position, who is unable to differentiate—such a person is a worthless wretch! Such people always repeat the words of others: Today it is said that this is the work of the Holy Spirit, but chances are one day someone will say it isn’t the work of the Holy Spirit, and nothing but the deeds of man—yet you can’t see through this, and when you witness it said by others, you say the same thing. It is actually the work of the Holy Spirit, but you say it is the work of man; have you not become one of those who blaspheme against the work of the Holy Spirit? In this, have you not opposed God because you cannot differentiate? Who knows, maybe one day some nitwit will appear who says that “this is the work of an evil spirit,” and when you hear these words you’ll be at a loss, and once again bound up by the words of others. Every time someone stirs up disturbance you’re incapable of standing by your position, and this is all because you do not possess the truth. Believing in God and pursuing the knowledge of God is no simple matter. They cannot be achieved simply by gathering together and listening to preaching, and you cannot be perfected by passion alone. You must experience, and know, and be principled in your actions, and gain the work of the Holy Spirit. When you have undergone experiences, you will be able to differentiate many things—you will be able to distinguish between good and evil, between righteousness and wickedness, between what is of flesh and blood and what is of the truth. You should be able to distinguish between all these things, and in so doing, no matter the circumstances, you will never be lost. Only this is your real stature. Knowing the work of God is no simple matter: You should have standards and an objective in your pursuit, you should know how to seek the true way, and how to measure whether or not it is the true way, and whether or not it is the work of God. What is the most basic principle in seeking the true way? You have to look at whether or not there is the work of the Holy Spirit, whether or not these words are the expression of the truth, who is testified to, and what it can bring you. Distinguishing between the true way and the false way requires several aspects of basic knowledge, the most fundamental of which is to tell whether or not there is the work of the Holy Spirit. For the substance of man’s belief in God is the belief in the Spirit of God, and even his belief in God incarnate is because this flesh is the embodiment of the Spirit of God, which means that such belief is still the belief in the Spirit. There are differences between the Spirit and the flesh, but because this flesh comes from the Spirit, and is the Word become flesh, thus what man believes in is still the inherent substance of God. And so, in distinguishing whether or not it is the true way, above all you must look at whether or not there is the work of the Holy Spirit, after which you must look at whether or not there is the truth in this way. This truth is the life disposition of normal humanity, which is to say, that which was required of man when God created him in the beginning, namely, all of normal humanity (including human sense, insight, wisdom, and the basic knowledge of being man). That is, you need to look at whether or not this way takes man into a life of normal humanity, whether or not the truth that is spoken of is required according to the reality of normal humanity, whether or not this truth is practical and real, and whether or not it is most timely. If there is truth, then it is able to take man into normal and real experiences; man, furthermore, becomes ever more normal, man’s human sense becomes ever more complete, man’s life in the flesh and the spiritual life become ever more orderly, and man’s emotions become ever more normal. This is the second principle. There is one other principle, which is whether or not man has an increasing knowledge of God, whether or not experiencing such work and truth can inspire a love of God in him, and bring him ever closer to God. In this can be measured whether or not it is the true way. Most fundamental is whether this way is realistic rather than supernatural, and whether or not it is able to provide the life of man. If it conforms to these principles, the conclusion can be drawn that this way is the true way. I say these words not to make you accept other ways in your future experiences, nor as a prediction that there will be the work of another new age in the future. I say them so that you may be certain that the way of today is the true way, so that you will not only be half-sure in your belief toward the work of today and unable to gain insight into it. There are even many who, despite being certain, still follow in confusion; such certainty has no principle to it, and they must be eliminated sooner or later. Even those who are especially ardent in their following are three parts sure and five parts unsure, which shows that they have no foundation. Because your caliber is too poor and your foundation is too shallow, you have no understanding of differentiation. God does not repeat His work, He does not do work that is not realistic, He does not make excessive requirements of man, and He does not do work that is beyond the sense of man. All the work He does is within the scope of man’s normal sense, and does not exceed the sense of normal humanity, and His work is according to man’s normal requirements. If it is the work of the Holy Spirit, man becomes ever more normal, and his humanity becomes ever more normal. Man has an increasing knowledge of his disposition, which has been corrupted by Satan, and of the essence of man, and he has an ever greater longing for the truth. That is to say, the life of man grows and grows, and the corrupt disposition of man becomes capable of more and more changes—all of which is the meaning of God becoming the life of man. If a way is incapable of revealing those things that are the essence of man, is incapable of changing the disposition of man, and, moreover, is incapable of bringing him before God or giving him a true understanding of God, and even causes his humanity to become ever more lowly and his sense ever more abnormal, then this way must not be the true way, and it may be the work of an evil spirit, or the old way. In short, it cannot be the present work of the Holy Spirit. You have believed in God for all these years, yet you have no inkling of the principles for differentiating between the true way and the false way or for seeking the true way. Most people aren’t even interested in these matters; they merely go where the majority go, and repeat what the majority say. How is this someone who seeks the true way? And how can such people find the true way? If you grasp these several key principles, then whatever happens you will not be deceived.
from “Only Those Who Know God and His Work Can Satisfy God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh
Footnotes:
a. The original text reads “as for.”
The Man’s Fellowship:
To examine the true way, one must read the words of Almighty God. After reading the words of Almighty God, then you will know whether Almighty God expresses the truth, whether it is the voice of God. If it is confirmed that it is the truth and the voice of God, then you can be certain it is God’s appearance and work. If you are certain about it, when Satan says more negative words and denying words, can you still believe them? Who do you really believe? Do you believe that the word of God or the word of Satan is the truth? This is the challenge that man faces. If a person really has rationality, how should he choose? The word of God is the truth. Can the great red dragon express the truth? It can only talk nonsense, create rumors, and tell lies. It can only confuse you and keep you away from the true way. Why do you believe in it? When man wants to choose, he should first select the truth. Whoever has the truth, I will accept him. Whoever can express the truth to save me, cleanse me and perfect me, I will accept him. If you cannot express the truth to cleanse me, cannot save me, then everything you say is nonsense. I won’t believe a word of it. It is useless listening to you. Isn’t this what it is about? Some people are accustomed to listening to Satan’s words. What happens when they listen to Satan? When the true God comes, you miss Him. When the true God comes, you do not accept. What is the consequence for not accepting? The consequence of not believing in God is annihilation and death!
from Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life, Volume 142
Should we say that the information which the Chinese Communist Party spreads is hearsay? Some people, in accordance with such hearsay, say: “The way you preach is not true. Look at the leader. He is hunted by the police. He took the churches money and ran away. Isn’t he just the same as a non-believer? How can this way be true?” On hearing the rumors wouldn’t some people think this way? But such people do not believe in God because of hearing God’s voice. They just analyze the situation with the church, the leader, the man. “If this person is approved of by the government, is famous, perhaps internationally famous, if he makes a name for himself and is not accused of crimes by the government or condemned by the religious community, then we’ll accept him. If such a person is accused by the government and by the religious community, well then, he must be a villain. So, no matter how good the message is I will not listen.” Is this an analysis of the true way? This is the logic of one who is confused. It is Satan’s logic. If you research the true way, then you must seek out whether the words spoken by God incarnate really are the voice of God, whether they are the truth and whether or not they are the work of God. This is what you should be investigating. If these words are truth, if they are the voice of God, and they are God’s work for the last days, then despite what Satan may tell us, we will believe in God; because God is truth, and Satan’s mouth is filled with lies. Is there a government in this world which does not lie and deceive? Is there a government whose words are not all fallacious, are not all lies? Look at God’s words. They are the truth. His words are His work. God is righteous and holy. So, God’s work is absolutely correct. Any person can be wrong, but God can never be wrong. Any person can lie, they can be deceitful to trick others. But God does not lie, God is holy and righteous, God is the truth. Some people do not analyze God’s words, they merely look at how the religious community critique the Church of Almighty God and how they critique the leader of the Church. But does this represent God’s words? If you do not believe a person, that’s fine, but you must believe God. If such a person does not read God’s words and they always listen to what Satan has to say, then is it not Satan whom they trust? Then do they believe that it is Satan’s words which are truth? This person’s belief has problems; they actively believe Satan’s words. There are some who, when looking into the true way, look specifically to adverse information on the internet. They say, “Those words are accurate!” But, really, what are those websites? They are still of this world. Aren’t those words written by corrupt humanity? Are they not part of Satan’s evil power? Do they have truth? They do not have truth. They do not serve God, they certainly do not revere God and they are not groups which are witnessed by God. Why do you believe them? They are a pack of lies. They spread falsehoods. Whichever rumors or lies Satan’s governments create, they spread them. Therefore, are they not organizations which spread lies? Whichever rumors the Chinese Communist Party creates, or whichever ways they try to discredit the Church of Almighty God, they will write them. So, aren’t they tools for Satan to spread its lies? Aren’t they tools for Satan to deceive man? But when researching the true way why do people believe them? Do these people have something wrong with them? Do these people believe that the world is righteous and fair? If the government or religious community makes comments and claims as to which is the true way, which is the true God, then these people believe in this way, in this God. If the government or religious community says something isn’t the true way, or says that some God is not real, then these people will not believe in this way or in this God. Who do these people believe? They believe in the government, they believe in the words of the religious community and the words of religious pastors and elders. So, is this kind of person really one who believes in God? They do not believe in God. They do not trust in God, they do not believe that God is real and they do not admit that God is the truth, for they do not recognize the truth. Therefore, if such a person tries to analyze the true way, on hearing Satan’s lies and rumors, they become paralyzed by them. Is this person an intelligent person? No, they are not. They are confused! There is one principle for my belief in God. If someone is God, if He can express the truth and save humanity, then I believe in Him. My belief for Him is unmoving. And don’t we believe in God in order to receive the truth? To obtain the truth is to obtain God. If you do not obtain the truth then your faith is a failure, it is useless. Only when you obtain the truth can you obtain God. Without obtaining the truth, you cannot obtain God.
Whatever God does, you are not qualified to condemn Him, correct? Amongst the religious community and the non-believers there are those who say that the Lord Jesus had a wife and children. There are also those who do not believe the conception by the Holy Spirit was real. They do not believe in the testimony of Mary. They do not believe the Lord Jesus’ words and that He came from God. Instead, they believe in the words of the devil and science. What is the result of all this? They joined the tide of people in the religious community who condemned and resisted the Lord Jesus; they even nailed Him to the cross. Then let us say again, we do not care whether or not the Lord Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. If He expressed the truth, then I will follow Him. If He gave testament that He came from God, then I will believe in Him. I will not listen to the words of others for they should be ignored. The words of corrupt humanity are the words of Satan; they are lies. If they are not truth, then they are lies, regardless of whether they are correct. Sometimes reality is a lie, it is not truth and it does not represent truth. If the Lord Jesus really had a wife and children, would you still believe in Him? Some say they would. If He had a wife and children, why do you still believe in Him? Why? Some say, “If Jesus had a wife and children then He is not the Lord, I won’t believe in Him. If He did not have a wife and children, then I believe He is the Lord, is Christ. But if He really had a wife and children then I will not believe in Him.” This is the opinion held by some. But what is your view? Speak it. Some say the Lord Jesus is God and He could redeem humanity of their sins. Is there anything else? Is there only this one sentence to say about Him? The Lord Jesus is God incarnate, He had normal humanity. If He had a wife He is still Christ. If He did not have a wife, then He is still Christ. Whether or not He had a wife or child does not contradict His substance as Christ our Lord. His substance as Christ does not change. So, if you hear someone saying that the lord Jesus had a wife and children, will you still believe in Him? Some will continue to believe and some will not. Then, why do those who do not believe do so? Because they have conceptions about God. They start to question whether the Lord Jesus’ substance as Christ is real or false, because they think that Christ cannot have a wife or child, for if He had a wife or child then His substance as Christ would change, or become false. Can you see how such a person makes assertions about the substance of Christ? Then tell me what has Christ’s substance got to do with Him having a wife and children? It has nothing to do with it. So, on hearing rumors or negative information saying this and that, one who truly knows the Lord Jesus will not be influenced by it. Their faith in Him will be unmoving. They will obey Him and follow Him. Those who do not understand the substance of the Lord Jesus will develop their own conceptions about Him. It will be easy for them to back away or even betray Him.
............
Now, see how hard it is for people to believe in God. The rumors, the slander, this is what people believe when they hear it. God has spoken so many words, expressed so much truth, but they don’t believe a word of it. But Satan’s rumors, these are what they can accept and what they believe in their hearts. And these rumors stay with them for many years. So, what is the problem? A preference for believing in Satan’s rumors over God’s expression of the truth, is this not the essence of corrupt humanity? An essence of hatred for the truth? It goes without saying that these rumors are false. If they were true, would anyone still believe in God? If we say such things are true, if I tell you they are true, then to keep believing in God would not be so simple. If all these things were true and you still believed in God, what kind of faith would that be? If all those rumors were true, some people would still believe. When other people heard rumors which were clearly false they wondered whether they were true, but such a person said, “Regardless if they are true, I still believe.” What kind of faith would this be? Is this not true faith? This is true faith, is it not? This kind of faith represents a person is truly obedient and truly follows God. “I don’t care what God does. If, before my very eyes, He does something which does not adhere to my conceptions, then I will forget my conceptions, for He is God. These things which God does that do not adhere to my conceptions are still truth, they still have meaning.” Isn’t this level of acceptance impressive? To achieve this level of acceptance what kind of faith must you have? “If all the rumors are true, I will still believe in Him. Do not speak of those things. If God were to do something that is most incompatible with man’s conceptions, I would still believe He is God.” To speak of why you should still believe, you say, “Because God is the truth and because corrupt humanity cannot fathom anything. Whatever God does, I will not question it. I do not trust my own feelings, my own conceptions. I simply admit that He is God, whatever He does, He is God.” Isn’t this true faith? One who has truly achieved this type of faith, I dare say, is one who is nearly perfected. They have already received truth. They know God. They do not believe in their own personal conceptions and feelings about Him.
Tell me, what fruit will be borne by those who pursue the truth? Some say it is to understand God and to have no conceptions about Him. Then, how does one show that they understand God? To have no conceptions about God, no matter what He does. If God said, “I will kill someone in front of you,” they would have no conceptions about this; if God said, “I will have a relationship with someone before your very eyes,” they would have no conceptions; if God said, “I will get married and have a child,” they would have no conceptions; if He said, “I will curse in front of you, I will curse Satan,” they would have no conceptions. If God then asked, “Do you still believe?” they would answer, “I believe! You are God, God is, forever, God.” This level of belief is good. They adhere to God’s will and do not resist Him in the slightest; they will not resist Him again, they have grasped who He is. Can this type of person still have conceptions about God? They cannot. If a new member of the faith produces some negative material saying, “Look, is what this says correct?” Such a person will respond, “Oh, this material is great. If all this information were correct, were the truth, I would still believe in God! God is to be adored, He is the One to be trusted, He is the true God. If it wasn’t for this information, I would question whether or not He is God. If corrupt humanity, with all its evil, was not resisting God and condemning Him, something would be wrong, it wouldn’t be right! When the Lord Jesus came into this world via the conception by the Holy Spirit, many people stood up to condemn Him. The entire Jewish faith stood up and condemned the Lord Jesus, they sullied His name. Now, in the last days, when corrupt humanity’s evil has reached its peak, if no one condemned God’s appearance, if no one spread negativity about Him, this would not be normal! So, when God of the last days appears, rumors, lies and falsehoods must surely abound. Amongst the endless flood of lies, I found God’s voice and I seized it with all my might. I believe in Him and I follow Him. I recognize Him, and recognize that He is my Savior.” Who is ready to believe in this way? Some are ready. They do not have conceptions about God. They say, “Whether You married or not, You are still God. Whether You had a wife or not, had children or didn’t, You are still Christ. However many disasters You rain down, You are still God. If You destroy the world, I would praise You, for this would allow me to see Your righteousness.” If God arrives and corrupt humanity did not condemn Him, if there were no rumors about Him, then it would be strange, would it not? … So, if those who study the true way are not principled and do not have truth, then they will always read the negative propaganda. They will not see how God’s work saves man, and they will not see God’s expression of the truth. They will merely research whether or not the lies of man, the falsehoods and the rumors are true. Were such lies true, then what of it? If they are untrue, then what of it? Is this how one should search for the true way? Is this the road toward the study of the true way? What use is it to always look for meaning in people’s lies? Will the truth fall from the mouths of people? Will living water flow from them? Isn’t all that spurts forth from people’s mouths lies? But what are lies? The falsehood which people speak, the dishonesty, the deception, these are all lies. So why do you believe the lies which people speak? Why don’t you believe the truth God has expressed? You are biased and unjust, are you not? If you could see that such are the words expressed by God incarnate, that it is the work of God in the last days, the truth, then why would you still believe the lies of corrupt man? As for corrupt humanity, from the governments to local organizations, to the thinkers, philosophers and politicians, do any of them have even a modicum of truth? Aren’t they all just part of corrupt humanity? All that they say is merely the words of man. In more straight terms what they say is all lies, not a word of it adheres to the truth. Man’s words do not hold even a modicum of the reality of truth, so are they not then lies? They are all lies. Aside from everyday conversations, that which involves politics or criticism, especially that which is critical of God’s work and His Church, is all lies! Corrupt humanity criticizing the work of God? Are they qualified to do so? They are demons, what qualifies them to criticize the work of God?! They are inviting death. They will cry only when death is staring them in the face.
from Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life, Volume 138
So the best way to fight back against Satan’s tricks is to understand the truth and to know God. Other moves besides this can only provide temporary comfort. Even if you get through and do not fall down, it does not count as standing firm to bear witness. You have to understand the truth and know God. In addition, you also have to have a God-fearing heart. We will not judge that which we cannot understand. Look and see where these words come from. Nothing good comes from Satan’s mouth. What is Satan’s mouth? It is the door to the nether worlds and the door to hell. Any evil ugly things can come out of it. Do not accept or believe anything that comes from Satan’s mouth. It is all false, deceitful, lies and deception. There are no true words, no truth and no facts in Satan’s mouth. It is all false. Remember this; it cannot be wrong. Satan will distort the truth and even if there is such a thing, after Satan distorts it, its flavor will change. Take a positive thing as an example. With God it is positive and something that God commends, but once it reaches Satan’s mouth, it will normally change into a negative and ugly thing as soon as it is processed. There are many positive things which are guaranteed to become negative, ugly things as soon as they are taken to Satan. Satan knows how to process; it can make black look white and white look black and twist the truth. This is how Satan’s things can deceive people. All that comes from God and is uttered by God are positive things. But through Satan’s processing and poisoning, they become negative things. When people hear them again they will find them different. This is a fact. So Satan’s things can confuse people so much. Satan processes and disseminates those negative things and they become positive things again. Tell me, is the twenty-five thousand li long march a positive thing or a negative thing? That is a negative thing. It is that group of reactionary forces being hunted by the National Revolutionary Army so much so that they were all in a fluster and had thrown away their helmets and coats of mail, so that they had no choice but to go on the twenty-five thousand li long march. As a result, as soon as they disseminated this, it became a positive thing. Afterward there were many angry young students who stood up, holding banners to continue the long march. Isn’t this fooling around? So the history of the great red dragon is all negative. It is all the reactionary things that oppose the people and just causes; through their processing, they all become revolutionary matters. So everything that they disseminate is fabrications, lies, distortions and deception. Those matters have been distorted and poisoned by the Communist Party. No one can tell the truth from the false. Tell me, can the great red dragon distort facts? All their history is a mess and full of lies and deceit. There is not one thing which is true. There is not one thing which has not been processed. Tell me, can they spit out true words from their mouths? What are the mouths of the great red dragon and the religious world? They are the doorways to hell and the nether worlds. All kinds of lies come from them. It is all a distortion of the truth. As soon as any positive, beautiful things reach them, they turn them into negative, dirty things. These people really are crooked. Positive things will later become glorious legends, but when they are taken to them, they are turned into negative things. These things are so crooked. They are obviously positive things but when they reach them, they are turned into negative things. Obviously much of what they do is negative, and via their dissemination, it is disguised as something positive. These are Satan’s means. If people cannot see through them they will be duped by Satan and will have to be entrapped and ruined by Satan. Do you now believe in God or in Satan? To believe in God is right. All that comes from God is classed as positive and that which comes from Satan is negative. When Satan speaks of positive it is all negative and when they speak of negative it is all positive. Do you understand? The more they resist and condemn something, the more we must support and praise it. The more they praise and support something, the more we must oppose and condemn it. This is right. To specifically go against them ensures that it will be correct and not wrong. With regard to believing in God, the more they define something as a cult ensures that it is an orthodox belief. What they define as an orthodox church is guaranteed to be a cult. This is the proper way to view it. You must have this knowledge of Satan. This will not be wrong.
from “Only People Who Stand Witness Have the Reality of the Truth” in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (IX)
Recommendation: Eastern Lightning
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