Relevant Words of God:

The source of man’s opposition and rebelliousness against God is his corruption by Satan. Because of Satan’s corruption, man’s conscience has grown numb; he is immoral, his thoughts are degenerate, and he has a backward mental outlook. Before he was corrupted by Satan, man naturally followed God and obeyed His words after hearing them. He was naturally of sound sense and conscience, and of normal humanity. After being corrupted by Satan, man’s original sense, conscience, and humanity grew dull and were impaired by Satan. Thus, he has lost his obedience and love toward God. Man’s sense has become aberrant, his disposition has become the same as that of an animal, and his rebelliousness toward God is ever more frequent and grievous. Yet man still neither knows nor recognizes this, and merely opposes and rebels blindly. Man’s disposition is revealed in expressions of his sense, insight, and conscience; because his sense and insight are unsound, and his conscience has grown supremely dull, thus his disposition is rebellious against God. If man’s sense and insight cannot change, then changes in his disposition are out of the question, as is conforming to God’s will. If man’s sense is unsound, then he cannot serve God and is unfit for use by God. “Normal sense” refers to obeying and being faithful to God, to yearning for God, to being absolute toward God, and to having a conscience toward God. It refers to being of one heart and mind toward God, and not deliberately opposing God. Having an aberrant sense is not like this. Since man was corrupted by Satan, he has come up with notions about God, and he has had no loyalty to God or yearning for Him, to say nothing of a conscience toward God. Man deliberately opposes God and passes judgments on Him, and, furthermore, hurls invective at Him behind His back. Man passes judgment on God behind His back, with clear knowledge that He is God; man has no intention of obeying God, and merely makes blind demands and requests of Him. Such people—people who have aberrant sense—are incapable of knowing their own despicable behavior or of regretting their rebelliousness. If people are capable of knowing themselves, then they have regained a little of their sense; the more rebellious against God people who cannot yet know themselves are, the less are they sound of sense.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Have an Unchanged Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God

After several thousand years of corruption, man is numb and dull-witted; he has become a demon that opposes God, to the extent that man’s rebelliousness toward God has been documented in the books of history, and even man himself is incapable of giving a full account of his rebellious behavior—for man has been profoundly corrupted by Satan, and has been led astray by Satan such that he knows not where to turn. Even today, man still betrays God: When man sees God, he betrays Him, and when he cannot see God, so too does he betray Him. There are even those who, having witnessed God’s curses and God’s wrath, still betray Him. And so I say that man’s sense has lost its original function, and that man’s conscience, too, has lost its original function. The man that I look upon is a beast in human attire, he is a venomous snake, and no matter how pitiable he tries to appear before My eyes, I will never be merciful toward him, for man has no grasp of the difference between black and white, of the difference between truth and non-truth. Man’s sense is so benumbed, yet still he wishes to gain blessings; his humanity is so ignoble yet still he wishes to possess the sovereignty of a king. Who could he be the king of, with sense such as that? How could he with such a humanity sit atop a throne? Man truly has no shame! He is a conceited wretch! For those of you who wish to gain blessings, I suggest you first find a mirror and look at your own ugly reflection—do you have what it takes to be a king? Do you have the face of one who could gain blessings? There has not been the slightest change in your disposition and you have not put any of the truth into practice, yet still you wish for a wonderful tomorrow. You are deluding yourself! Born into such a filthy land, man has been severely blighted by society, he has been influenced by feudal ethics, and he has been taught at “institutes of higher learning.” The backward thinking, corrupt morality, mean view on life, despicable philosophy for living, utterly worthless existence, and depraved lifestyle and customs—all of these things have severely intruded upon man’s heart, and severely undermined and attacked his conscience. As a result, man is ever more distant from God, and ever more opposed to Him. Man’s disposition becomes more vicious by the day, and there is not a single person who will willingly give up anything for God, not a single person who will willingly obey God, nor, moreover, a single person who will willingly seek the appearance of God. Instead, under the domain of Satan, man does nothing but pursue pleasure, giving himself over to the corruption of the flesh in the land of mud. Even when they hear the truth, those who live in darkness give no thought to putting it into practice, nor are they inclined to seek out God even if they have beheld His appearance. How could a mankind so depraved have any chance of salvation? How could a mankind so decadent live in the light?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Have an Unchanged Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God

The revelation of man’s corrupt disposition has its source in nothing more than man’s dulled conscience, his malicious nature, and his unsound sense; if man’s conscience and sense are able to become normal again, then he will become someone fit for use before God. It is simply because man’s conscience has always been numb, and because man’s sense, which has never been sound, is growing ever duller that man is increasingly rebellious toward God, such that he even nailed Jesus to the cross and refuses God’s incarnation in the last days entry into his home, and condemns God’s flesh, and sees God’s flesh as lowly. If man had but a little humanity, he would not be so cruel in his treatment of God’s incarnate flesh; if he had but a little sense, he would not be so vicious in his treatment of the flesh of God incarnate; if he had but a little conscience, he would not “give thanks” to God incarnate in this way. Man lives in the era of God become flesh, yet he is incapable of thanking God for giving him such a good opportunity, and instead curses the coming of God, or completely ignores the fact of God’s incarnation, and is seemingly against it and weary of it. Regardless of how man treats the coming of God, God, in short, has always carried on patiently with His work—even though man has not been the slightest bit welcoming toward Him, and blindly makes requests of Him. Man’s disposition has become supremely vicious, his sense has grown supremely dull, and his conscience has been completely trampled by the evil one and long ago ceased to be the original conscience of man. Man is not only ungrateful to God incarnate for bestowing so much life and grace upon mankind, but has even become resentful toward God for giving him the truth; it is because man has not the slightest interest in the truth that he has grown resentful toward God. Not only is man unable to lay down his life for God incarnate, but he also tries to extract favors from Him, and claims an interest that is dozens of times greater than what man has given to God. People of such conscience and sense think this is no great matter, and still believe that they have expended so much of themselves for God, and that God has given them too little. There are people who, having given Me a bowl of water, hold out their hands and demand I pay them for two bowls of milk, or, having given Me a room for one night, demand I pay rent for several. With such a humanity and such a conscience, how could you still wish to gain life? What contemptible wretches you are!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Have an Unchanged Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to 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 become foam. 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!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. All People Who Do Not Know God Are People Who Oppose God

Know that you oppose God’s work, or use your own notions to measure the work of today, because you do not know the principles of God’s work, and because of your rash treatment of the work of the Holy Spirit. Your opposition to God and obstruction of the work of the Holy Spirit is caused by your notions and inherent arrogance. It is not because God’s work is wrong, but because you are naturally too disobedient. After finding their belief in God, some people cannot even say with certainty where man came from, yet they dare to make public speeches appraising the rights and wrongs of the Holy Spirit’s work. They even lecture the apostles who have the Holy Spirit’s new work, passing comment and speaking out of turn; their humanity is too low, and there is not the slightest sense in them. Will the day not come when such people are rejected by the work of the Holy Spirit, and burned by the fires of hell? They do not know the work of God, but instead criticize His work, and also try to instruct God how to work. How can such unreasonable people know God? Man comes to know God during the process of seeking and experiencing; it is not through criticizing at whim that man comes to know God through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. The more accurate people’s knowledge of God becomes, the less they oppose Him. In contrast, the less people know of God, the more likely they are to oppose Him. Your notions, your old nature, and your humanity, character and moral outlook are the capital with which you resist God, and the more corrupted your morals, odious your qualities, and low your humanity, the more you are the enemy of God. Those who are possessed of strong notions and who have a self-righteous disposition are even more in enmity of God incarnate; such people are the antichrists. If your notions are not rectified, then they will always be against God; you will never be compatible with God, and will always be apart from Him.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God

If you are unable to accept the new light from God, and cannot understand all that God does today and you do not seek it, or else you doubt it, pass judgment on it, or scrutinize and analyze it, then you have no mind to obey God. If, when the light of the here and now appears, you still treasure the light of yesterday and oppose God’s new work, then you are nothing more than an absurd one—you are one of those who deliberately oppose God. The key to obeying God is appreciating the new light, and being able to accept it and put it into practice. This alone is true obedience. Those who lack the will to yearn for God are incapable of intentionally submitting to Him, and can only oppose God as a result of their satisfaction with the status quo. That man cannot obey God is because he is possessed by what came before. The things that came before have given people all manner of notions and imaginings about God, and these have become the image of God in their minds. Thus, what they believe in are their own notions, and the standards of their own imagination. If you measure the God who does actual work today against the God of your own imagination, then your faith comes from Satan, and is tainted by your own preferences—God does not want this kind of faith. Regardless of how lofty their credentials, and regardless of their dedication—even if they have devoted a lifetime of efforts to His work, and have martyred themselves—God does not approve of anyone with faith such as this. He merely bestows upon them a little grace and allows them to enjoy it for a time. People such as this are incapable of putting the truth into practice. The Holy Spirit does not work within them, and God will eliminate each of them in turn. Young and old alike, those who do not obey God in their faith and have the wrong intentions are those who oppose and interrupt, and such people will unquestionably be eliminated by God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. In Your Faith in God You Should Obey God

Although Job did not know God back then, he still treated Him like God and regarded Him as the Master of the heavens and earth and all things. Job did not consider God to be an enemy; rather, he worshiped Him as the Creator of all things. Why is it that people nowadays resist God so much? Why are they unable to revere Him? One reason is that they have been deeply corrupted by Satan, and with such a deeply-ingrained satanic nature, they have become enemies of God. Thus, even though they believe in God and acknowledge God, they are still able to resist Him and place themselves in opposition to Him. This is determined by human nature. The other reason is that despite their belief in God, people simply do not treat Him as God. Instead, they consider Him to be opposed to humanity, regarding Him as their enemy, and feel that they are irreconcilable with God. It is just that simple. … You might possess a bit of knowledge of God, but just what does this knowledge entail? Is this not what everyone is talking about? Is it not what God told you? You are only familiar with the theoretical and doctrinal aspects of it—but have you ever appreciated the true face of God? Do you have subjective knowledge? Do you have practical knowledge and experience? If God had not told you, could you know? Your theoretical knowledge does not represent real knowledge. In short, no matter how much you know or how you came to know it, until you attain a real understanding of God, He will be your enemy, and until you actually begin to treat God as God, He will oppose you, for you are an embodiment of Satan.

When you are together with Christ, perhaps you can serve Him three meals a day, or perhaps serve Him tea and attend to His life’s needs; you will seem to have treated Christ as God. Whenever something happens, people’s viewpoints always run contrary to God’s; people always fail to understand and accept God’s point of view. Though people might get along with God on the surface, this does not mean that they are compatible with Him. As soon as something happens, the truth of humanity’s disobedience emerges, thus confirming the hostility that exists between humans and God. This hostility is not one of God’s opposing humans or of God’s wanting to be hostile to them, nor is it that He places them in opposition to Himself and then treats them as such. Rather, it is a case of this contrary essence toward God that lurks in humans’ subjective will and in their subconscious minds. Since people regard all that which comes from God as objects for their research, their response toward what comes from God and toward everything involving God is, above all, to guess, to doubt, and then to quickly adopt an attitude that conflicts with and opposes God. Soon thereafter, they carry a negative mood into disputes or contests with God, going so far as to doubt even whether such a God is worth following. Despite the fact that their rationality tells them that they should not proceed in this manner, they will still choose to do so in spite of themselves, such that they will continue without hesitation to the very end. For example, what is the first reaction some people have when they hear rumors or slanderous talk about God? Their first reaction is to wonder whether these rumors are true or not and whether these rumors exist or not, and then to adopt a wait-and-see attitude. Then they start to think, “There’s no way to verify this. Did that really happen? Is this rumor true or not?” Though people like this do not show it on the surface, in their hearts they have already begun to doubt, and already started to deny God. What is the essence of this kind of attitude and of such a viewpoint? Is it not betrayal? Until they are faced with this matter, you cannot see what these people’s viewpoints are; it seems like they are not in conflict with God, and as though they do not regard Him as an enemy. However, as soon as they are faced with a problem, they immediately stand with Satan and oppose God. What does this suggest? It suggests that humans and God are opposed! It is not that God regards humanity as the enemy, but that the very essence of humanity itself is hostile toward God. No matter how long someone has followed Him or how big a price they have paid, and regardless of how they praise God, how they might keep themselves from resisting Him, and even how strenuously they urge themselves to love God, they can never manage to treat God as God. Is this not determined by people’s essence?

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. How to Know God’s Disposition and the Results His Work Shall Achieve

You always wish to see Christ, but I urge you not to hold yourselves in such high esteem; anyone may see Christ, but I say no one is fit to see Christ. Because the nature of man brims with evil, arrogance, and rebelliousness, at the moment you see Christ, your nature will destroy you and condemn you to death. Your association with a brother (or a sister) may not show much about you, but it is not so simple when you associate with Christ. At any time, your notions may take root, your arrogance begin to sprout, and your rebelliousness bear figs. How can you with such humanity be fit to associate with Christ? Are you truly able to treat Him as God every moment of every day? Will you truly have the reality of submission to God? You worship the lofty God within your hearts as Jehovah while regarding the visible Christ as a man. Your sense is too inferior and your humanity too debased! You are incapable of always looking upon Christ as God; only occasionally, when it takes your fancy, do you grab hold of Him and worship Him as God. This is why I say you are not believers of God, but a posse of accomplices who fight against Christ. Even men who show kindness to others are repaid, and yet Christ, who has done such work among you, has received neither man’s love nor his recompense and submission. Is this not something heartrending?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Are Incompatible With Christ Are Surely Opponents of God

The group of people whom God incarnate wants to gain today are those who conform to His will. They need only submit to His work, and stop constantly concerning themselves with the ideas of God in heaven, living in vagueness, and making things difficult for God in the flesh. Those who are able to obey Him are those who absolutely listen to His words and submit to His arrangements. Such people pay no mind at all to what God in heaven might really be like or what kind of work God in heaven might currently be doing among mankind; they fully give their hearts to God on earth and they place their entire beings before Him. They never give any consideration to their own safety, nor do they ever make a fuss over the normality and practicality of God in the flesh. Those who submit to God in the flesh can be perfected by Him. Those who believe in God in heaven will gain nothing. This is because it is not God in heaven, but God on earth, who bestows promises and blessings upon people. People should not always magnify God in heaven while seeing God on earth as a mere average person; this is unfair. God in heaven is great and wonderful with marvelous wisdom, yet this does not exist at all; God on earth is very average and insignificant, and is also very normal. He does not have an extraordinary mind or perform earth-shattering acts; He simply works and speaks in a very normal and practical manner. While He does not speak through thunder or summon the wind and the rain, He truly is the incarnation of God in heaven, and He really is the God living amongst humans. People must not magnify the one whom they are able to understand and who corresponds to their own imaginations as God, while seeing the one they cannot accept and absolutely cannot imagine as being lowly. All of this comes from people’s rebelliousness; it is all the source of mankind’s resistance to God.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Truly Love God Are Those Who Can Submit Absolutely to His Practicality