(1) Look to whether one has love for God’s word the truth; whether they read God’s words often; and whether, when faced with a problem, they can seek the truth and accept it;

(2) Look to whether one truly communes with God and prays to Him; whether they have a heart of reverence for Him; and whether they have the enlightenment, illumination, and guidance of the Holy Spirit;

(3) Look to whether one, having believed in God for several years, can genuinely understand the truth and put it into practice, and whether they can accept being pruned and dealt with and submit to the work arrangements of God’s house;

(4) Look to whether one truly performs their duty; whether they truly expend themselves for God; whether they have, in fact, done good deeds; and whether they have true faith in God.

Bible Verses for Reference:

“In the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather you together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn” (Mat 13:30).

“The harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mat 13:39–43).

Relevant Words of God:

In His final work of concluding the age, God’s disposition is one of chastisement and judgment, in which He reveals all that is unrighteous, in order to publicly judge all peoples, and to perfect those who love Him with a sincere heart. Only a disposition such as this can bring the age to an end. The last days have already arrived. All things in creation will be separated according to their kind, and divided into different categories based on their nature. This is the moment when God reveals humanity’s outcome and their destination. If people do not undergo chastisement and judgment, then there will be no way of exposing their disobedience and unrighteousness. Only through chastisement and judgment can the outcome of all creation be revealed. Man only shows his true colors when he is chastised and judged. Evil shall be put with evil, good with good, and all humanity shall be separated according to their kind. Through chastisement and judgment, the outcome of all creation will be revealed, so that the evil may be punished and the good rewarded, and all people become subject to the dominion of God. All this work must be achieved through righteous chastisement and judgment. Because man’s corruption has reached its peak and his disobedience become exceedingly severe, only God’s righteous disposition, one that is principally compounded of chastisement and judgment and is revealed during the last days, can fully transform and complete man. Only this disposition can expose evil and thus severely punish all the unrighteous.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Vision of God’s Work (3)

Man will be fully made complete in the Age of Kingdom. After the work of conquest, man will be subjected to refinement and tribulation. Those who can overcome and stand testimony during this tribulation are the ones who will ultimately be made complete; they are the overcomers. During this tribulation, man is required to accept this refinement, and this refinement is the last instance of God’s work. It is the last time that man will be refined prior to the conclusion of all the work of God’s management, and all those who follow God must accept this final test, and they must accept this last refinement. Those who are beset by tribulation are without the work of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of God, but those who have been truly conquered and who truly seek after God will ultimately stand fast; they are the ones who are possessed of humanity, and who truly love God. No matter what God does, these victorious ones will not be bereft of the visions and will still put the truth into practice without failing in their testimony. They are the ones who will finally emerge from the great tribulation. Even though those who fish in troubled waters can still freeload today, no one is able to escape the final tribulation, and no one can escape the final test. For those who overcome, such tribulation is a tremendous refinement; but for those who fish in troubled waters, it is the work of complete elimination. No matter how they are tried, the allegiance of those who have God in their heart remains unchanged; but for those who do not have God in their heart, once the work of God is not advantageous to their flesh, they change their view of God, and even depart from God. Such are those who will not stand fast in the end, who only seek God’s blessings and have no desire to expend themselves for God and dedicate themselves to Him. Such base people will all be expelled when God’s work comes to an end, and they are unworthy of any sympathy. Those without humanity are incapable of truly loving God. When the environment is safe and secure, or there are profits to be made, they are totally obedient toward God, but once that which they desire is compromised or finally refuted, they immediately revolt. Even in the space of just one night, they may go from a smiling, “kind-hearted” person to an ugly-looking and ferocious killer, suddenly treating their benefactor of yesterday as their mortal enemy, without rhyme or reason. If these demons are not cast out, these demons that would kill without blinking an eye, will they not become a hidden danger? The work of saving man is not achieved following the completion of the work of conquest. Although the work of conquest has come to an end, the work of purifying man has not; such work will only be finished once man has been wholly purified, once those who truly submit to God have been made complete, and once those disguisers who are without God in their heart have been purged. Those who do not satisfy God in the final stage of His work will be completely eliminated, and those who are eliminated are of the devil. As they are incapable of satisfying God, they are rebellious against God, and even though these people follow God today, this does not prove that they are those who will finally remain. In the words that “those who follow God to the end will receive salvation,” the meaning of “follow” is to stand firm in the midst of tribulation. Today, many believe that following God is easy, but when God’s work is about to end, you will know the true meaning of “follow.” Just because you are still able to follow God today after being conquered, this does not prove that you are one of those who will be made perfect. Those who are unable to endure the trials, who are incapable of being victorious amid tribulation will, ultimately, be incapable of standing fast, and so will be unable to follow God to the very end. Those who truly follow God are able to withstand the test of their work, whereas those who do not truly follow God are incapable of withstanding any of God’s trials. Sooner or later they will be expelled, while the overcomers will remain in the kingdom. Whether or not man truly seeks God is determined by the test of his work, that is, by God’s trials, and has nothing to do with the decision by man himself. God does not reject any person on a whim; all that He does can utterly convince man. He does not do anything that is invisible to man, or any work that cannot convince man. Whether man’s belief is true or not is proved by the facts and cannot be decided by man. That “wheat cannot be made into tares, and tares cannot be made into wheat” is without doubt. All those who truly love God will ultimately remain in the kingdom, and God will not mistreat anyone who truly loves Him.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Work and Man’s Practice

Now do you truly know why you believe in Me? Do you truly know the purpose and significance of My work? Do you truly know your duty? Do you truly know My testimony? If you merely believe in Me, yet there is no sign of My glory or testimony in you, then I have long ago eliminated you. As for those who know it all, they are even more thorns in My eye, and in My house, they are nothing more than obstacles in My way, they are tares to be completely winnowed out in My work, they have no use, they are worthless, and I have long abhorred them. Often does My wrath befall all who are bereft of testimony, and never does My rod stray from them. I have long since turned them over to the hands of the evil one; they are bereft of My blessings. When the day comes, their chastisement will be more grievous even than that of foolish women. Today, I do only the work that is My duty to do; I will bind all the wheat into bundles, together along with those tares. This is My work today. Those tares shall all be winnowed out in the time of My winnowing, then the grains of wheat shall be gathered into the storehouse, and those tares that have been winnowed out shall be placed in the fire to be burned to dust. My work now is merely to bind all men into bundles; that is, to utterly conquer them. Then shall I begin winnowing to reveal the end of all men. And so you ought to know how you should satisfy Me now, and how you ought to set upon the right track in your faith in Me.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. What Do You Know of Faith?

As I have said, Satan has sent those who do service for Me for the purpose of interrupting My management. These service-doers are tares, yet the word “wheat” does not refer to the firstborn sons, but to all the sons and people who are not the firstborn sons. “Wheat will always be wheat, tares will always be tares”; this means the nature of those who are of Satan can never change. So, in short, they remain Satan. “Wheat” refers to the sons and the people, because I instilled My quality into these people before the creation of the world. I have already said that man’s nature does not change, and that is why wheat will always be wheat.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 113

Since you are called My people, you should be able to glorify My name; that is, stand testimony in the midst of trial. If anyone attempts to wheedle Me and conceal the truth from Me, or engage in disreputable dealings behind My back, such people will, without exception, be chased out and removed from My house to wait for Me to deal with them. Those who have been unfaithful and unfilial to Me in the past, and who rise up again today to judge Me openly—they, too, will be chased out of My house. Those who are My people must constantly show consideration for My burdens as well as seek to know My words. Only people like this will I enlighten, and they will surely live under My guidance and enlightenment, never meeting with chastisement. Those who, failing to show consideration for My burdens, concentrate on planning for their own futures—that is, those who do not aim with their actions to satisfy My heart, but rather who look for handouts—these beggar-like creatures I absolutely refuse to use, because from the time they were born, they have known nothing of what it means to show consideration for My burdens. They are people who lack normal sense; such people are suffering from “malnutrition” of the brain, and need to go home for some “nourishment.” I have no use for such people. Among My people, everyone will be required to regard knowing Me as an obligatory duty to be seen through to the end, like eating, dressing, and sleeping, something that one never forgets about for a moment, so that in the end, knowing Me will become as familiar as eating—something you do effortlessly, with a practiced hand. As for the words I speak, every single one must be taken with the utmost faith and fully assimilated; there can be no perfunctory half-measures. Anyone who does not pay attention to My words will be regarded as directly resisting Me; anyone who does not eat of My words, or does not seek to know them, will be regarded as not paying attention to Me, and will directly be swept out the door of My house. This is because, as I have said in the past, what I want is not a great number of people, but excellence. Out of a hundred people, if only one is able to know Me through My words, then I will willingly throw away all the others to focus on enlightening and illuminating this single one. From this you can see that it is not necessarily true that greater numbers alone can manifest Me and live Me out. What I want is wheat (even though the kernels may not be full) and not tares (even when the kernels are full enough to be admired). As for those who give no regard to seeking, but who instead behave in a slack manner, they should leave of their own accord; I do not wish to see them anymore, lest they continue to bring disgrace to My name.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 5

Maybe you have suffered a good deal in your time, but you still understand nothing; you are ignorant of everything about life. Even though you have been chastised and judged, you have not changed at all, and deep within, you have not gained life. When the time comes to test your work, you will experience a trial as fierce as fire and even greater tribulation. This fire will turn your entire being into ashes. As someone who does not possess life, someone without an ounce of pure gold inside, someone still stuck with the old corrupt disposition, and someone who cannot even do a good job at being a foil, how could you not be eliminated? Can a person worth less than a penny, and who does not possess life, be of any use for the work of conquest? When that time comes, your days will be harder than those of Noah and Sodom! Your prayers will do you no good then. How can you come back later and start to repent anew, when the work of salvation has already ended? Once all the work of salvation has been done, there will be no more; what there will be is the start of the work of punishing those who are evil. You resist, you rebel, and you do things that you know are evil. Are you not the target of severe punishment? I am spelling this out for you today. If you choose not to listen, then when disaster befalls you later, will it not be too late if you only then start to feel regret and start to believe? I am giving you a chance to repent today, but you are unwilling to do so. How long do you want to wait? Until the day of chastisement? I do not remember your past transgressions today; I forgive you again and again, turning away from your negative side to look only at your positive side, because all My present words and work are meant to save you and I have no ill intention toward you. Yet you refuse to enter; you cannot tell good from bad and do not know how to appreciate kindness. Do such people not merely await the arrival of punishment and righteous retribution?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Inside Truth of the Work of Conquest (1)

Nowadays, those who seek and those who do not are two entirely different types of people, whose destinations are also very different. Those who pursue knowledge of the truth and practice the truth are the ones to whom God will bring salvation. Those who do not know the true way are demons and enemies; they are the descendants of the archangel and will be objects of destruction. Even those who are pious believers of a vague God—are they not also demons? People who possess good consciences but do not accept the true way are demons; their essence is one of resistance to God. Those who do not accept the true way are those who resist God, and even if such people endure many hardships, they will still be destroyed. All those who are unwilling to relinquish the world, who cannot bear to part with their parents, and who cannot bear to rid themselves of their own enjoyments of the flesh are disobedient to God, and all will be objects of destruction. Anyone who does not believe in God incarnate is demonic and, moreover, will be destroyed. Those who have faith but do not practice the truth, those who do not believe in God incarnate, and those who do not at all believe in God’s existence will also be objects of destruction. All those who will be allowed to remain are people who have undergone the suffering of refinement and stood firm; these are people who have truly endured trials. Anyone who does not recognize God is an enemy; that is, anyone who does not recognize God incarnate—whether or not they are inside or outside this stream—is an antichrist! Who is Satan, who are demons, and who are God’s enemies if not resisters who do not believe in God? Are they not those people who are disobedient to God? Are they not those who claim to have faith, yet who lack truth? Are they not those who merely seek to obtain blessings while being unable to bear witness for God? You still mingle with those demons today and bear conscience and love toward them, but in this case are you not extending good intentions toward Satan? Are you not associating with demons? If people these days are still unable to distinguish between good and evil, and continue to blindly be loving and merciful without any intention of seeking God’s will or being able in any way to harbor God’s intentions as their own, then their endings will be all the more wretched. Anyone who does not believe in the God in the flesh is an enemy of God. If you can bear conscience and love toward an enemy, do you not lack a sense of righteousness? If you are compatible with those which I detest and with which I disagree, and still bear love or personal feelings toward them, then are you not disobedient? Are you not intentionally resisting God? Does such a person possess truth? If people bear conscience toward enemies, love for demons, and mercy for Satan, then are they not intentionally disrupting God’s work? Those people who believe only in Jesus and do not believe in God incarnate during the last days, as well as those who verbally claim to believe in God incarnate but do evil, are all antichrists, without even mentioning those who do not even believe in God. All these people will be objects of destruction. The standard by which humans judge other humans is based on their behavior; those whose conduct is good are righteous, while those whose conduct is abominable are wicked. The standard by which God judges humans is based on whether their essence submits to Him or not; one who submits to God is a righteous person, while one who does not is an enemy and a wicked person, regardless of whether this person’s behavior is good or bad and regardless of whether their speech is correct or incorrect. Some people wish to use good deeds to obtain a good destination in the future, and some people wish to use fine words to acquire a good destination. Everyone mistakenly believes that God determines people’s outcomes after watching their behavior or after listening to their speech; many people therefore wish to take advantage of this to deceive God into granting them a momentary favor. In the future, the people who will survive in a state of rest will all have endured the day of tribulation and will also have borne witness for God; they will all be people who have fulfilled their duties and who have deliberately submitted to God. Those who merely wish to use the opportunity to do service with the intention of avoiding practicing the truth will not be allowed to remain. God has appropriate standards for the arrangement of the outcome of every individual; He does not simply make these decisions according to one’s words and conduct, nor does He make them based on how one acts during a single period of time. He will absolutely not be lenient with regard to one’s wicked conduct due to their past service for Him, nor will He spare one from death because of any one-time expense for God. No one can evade retribution for their wickedness, and no one can cover up their evil behavior and thereby evade the torments of destruction. If people can truly fulfill their own duty, it means that they are eternally faithful to God and not seeking rewards, regardless of whether they receive blessings or suffer misfortune. If people are faithful to God when they see blessings, but lose their faithfulness when they cannot see any blessings, and if, in the end, they are still unable to bear witness for God or fulfill the duties incumbent upon them, then they will still be objects of destruction despite their having once previously rendered faithful service to God. In short, wicked people cannot survive through eternity, nor can they enter into rest; only the righteous are the masters of rest. Once humanity is on the right track, people will have normal human lives. They will all do their own respective duties and be absolutely faithful to God. They will utterly shed their disobedience and their corrupt dispositions, and they will live for God and because of God, devoid of both disobedience and resistance. They will all be able to completely submit to God. This will be the life of God and humanity; it will be the life of the kingdom, and it will be a life of rest.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God and Man Will Enter Into Rest Together