Words of Almighty God of the Last Days

Since you believe in God, you must put faith in all of the words of God and in all of His work. Which is to say, since you believe in God, you must submit to Him. If you are unable to do this, then it does not matter whether you believe in God or not. If you have believed in God for many years, and yet have never submitted to Him, and do not accept the entirety of His words, and instead ask that God submit to you and act according to your notions, then you are the most rebellious of all, you are a disbeliever. How could such people be able to submit to the work and words of God that do not conform to the notions of man?

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Submit to God With a True Heart Shall Surely Be Gained by God

Those who truly believe in God are those who have true faith in God. They have feelings driven by their consciences and reason; they believe in their hearts that God’s words are the truth; they believe that everything God does is right, and is for the purpose of saving and purifying people. Regardless of whether it is in line with people’s notions and imaginings, it is of benefit to them. Those who do not truly believe in God do not have consciences and do not have reason, nor do they care about having consciences or reason. They always have an attitude of half belief and half disbelief toward God’s words; their hearts cannot feel that God’s words are the truth. So what is their view on the existence of God? In their hearts, they think, “If God exists, then where is He? I don’t see Him. I don’t know if God really exists. If you believe He exists, then He does; if you don’t, then He doesn’t.” This is their view. Yet they mull it over, thinking, “So many people believe in God and have testified to Him. Maybe there really is a God. I hope there is, because then I can take advantage of the situation and gain blessings. I will have lucked out.” They use a mentality of luck and gambling and just want to participate for a bit of fun; they think that even if they are not blessed, it is no loss, because they have not invested anything. Their view and attitude toward the existence of God is, “Does God actually exist? I can’t tell either way. Where is God? I’m not exactly sure. Are all these people who testified for real? Or are they lying? I’m not sure either.” Their heart places a question mark over all these issues; they cannot figure it out, and so they constantly doubt it. Their belief in God is tainted with an attitude of doubt and mistaken views. When God speaks and expresses the truth, what is their attitude toward His words? (Doubt and disbelief.) This is not their main view; you do not see this matter clearly. Do they take God’s word as the truth? (No.) What do they think? “So many people like to read God’s words, so why don’t I find it interesting? What can be gained by reading God’s words and understanding the truth? What is the benefit? Can you really get into the kingdom of heaven? People can’t see the kingdom of heaven. The way I see it, there has to be some actual benefit to believing in God; there has to be some real advantage.” They worry that if they do not understand the truth they will be eliminated, so they occasionally listen to sermons. But then they ruminate, thinking, “They say God’s words have authority and power, so why don’t I hear or feel it? They say God’s words can change people, so why haven’t His words changed me? I still lust after the comforts of the flesh as much as I used to; I like food and clothes; my temper is just as bad as it’s always been; I’m still afraid when the great red dragon persecutes me. Why do I still not have faith? God asks people to be honest; He asks them to be people of truth and humanity. Aren’t honest people fools? God requires people to fear God and shun evil, but how many people can actually accomplish this? Human nature is selfish. If you follow your human nature, you must think how to gain blessings for yourself. You must scheme to bring benefit to yourself. Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost. You must take your destiny into your own hands; you must make your own happiness. This is the most realistic. If people do not fight and take things for themselves, and if they do not live for fame, gain, and benefit, they will get nothing. No one will take it upon themselves to drop these things on your doorstep. Manna never actually falls from the heavens!” These are their thoughts and views, their philosophies for worldly dealings, and the logic and rules by which they survive. Are people who possess these thoughts and views disbelievers? This is exactly the attitude disbelievers have toward the truth. Their minds do not know what truth is, do not know where the authority and power of God’s words is manifested, and do not know how God arranges for people’s outcome. They just worship power and seek the benefits that are right in front of them. They think that if they believe in God they should be blessed; and that only if God bestows good fortune on people, fills their life with wealth and abundance, and gives them a happy life, is it the true way. They do not believe that God’s words are truth, and do not believe that God has sovereignty over all things, let alone that God’s words can change a person’s disposition or fate. Therefore, they have never pursued the truth while believing in God. In short, because they do not accept God’s words as their life and the goal of their life, their faith in God is increasingly weak; they have no interest in reading God’s words, nor in listening to sermons; they even fall asleep while the truth is being fellowshipped on. On top of this, they feel that performing their duty is an extra burden and that they are working for nothing. Their hearts yearn for the time when God’s work will be complete, when God will give them a statement of resolution, and they can see whether they will actually gain blessings. If they figure out that by believing in God this way they will never gain blessings, that they will definitely be eliminated, and that they will still die in a disaster, then they can withdraw right now. Although they say they believe in God, their hearts doubt Him. They say God’s words are the truth, but their hearts do not believe in the truth. They have never read God’s words, nor have they ever truly listened to a sermon. They have never fellowshipped on the truth, and they have never sought the truth while performing their duty; they just use their own efforts. This is a typical disbeliever. They are no different than the nonbelievers.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. To Perform One’s Duty Well, One Must at Least Be Possessed of a Conscience and Reason

There are some people whose faith has never been acknowledged within God’s heart. In other words, God does not recognize that they are His followers, because He does not praise their beliefs. For these people, regardless of how many years they have followed God, their ideas and views have never changed; they are like the nonbelievers, adhering to the nonbelievers’ principles and methods for interacting with people, and to the nonbelievers’ laws of survival and faith. They have never accepted the word of God as their life, never believed that God’s word is truth, never intended on accepting God’s salvation, and never recognized God as their God. They see believing in God as some kind of amateur hobby, treating Him as mere spiritual sustenance; as such, they do not think it is worth it to try and understand God’s disposition or essence. It can be said that all that corresponds to the true God has nothing to do with these people; they are not interested, nor can they be bothered to pay heed. This is because deep in their hearts, there is an intense voice that is always telling them, “God is invisible and untouchable, and does not exist.” They believe that trying to understand this sort of God would not be worth their efforts, and that in doing so they would be fooling themselves. They believe that by merely acknowledging God with words without taking any real stand or investing themselves in any real actions, they are being pretty clever. How does God look upon such people? He views them as nonbelievers. Some people ask, “Can nonbelievers read God’s words? Can they perform their duties? Can they say the words, ‘I’ll live for God’?” What humans often see are the displays people exhibit on the surface; they do not see people’s essences. However, God does not look at these superficial displays; He only sees their inner essences. Thus, this is the kind of attitude and definition God has toward these people.

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

Someone who does not accept the words of God as their life in the slightest is not a genuine believer in God. They are a disbeliever, and no matter how many years they believe in God, it is of no use. If a believer in God merely engages in religious rituals but does not practice the truth, then they are not a believer in God, and God does not acknowledge them. What do you need to possess, if God is to acknowledge you as His follower? Do you know the standards by which God measures a person? God evaluates whether you do everything according to His requirements, and whether you practice and submit to the truth based on His words. This is the standard by which God measures a person. God’s measurement isn’t based on how many years you have believed in Him, how far you have traveled, how many good behaviors you have, or how many words and doctrines you understand. He measures you based on whether you pursue the truth and what path you choose. Many people verbally believe in God and praise Him, but in their hearts, they do not love the words God says. They are not interested in the truth. They always believe that living according to the philosophies of Satan or various worldly theories is what normal people do, that this is how one can protect themselves, and that this is how to live with value in the world. Are these people who believe in God and follow Him? No, they are not. The words of great and renowned people sound particularly sagacious and can easily mislead others. You may hold onto their words as truths or mottos to abide by. But if, when it comes to the words of God, to an ordinary requirement He has for people, such as being an honest person, or amenably and scrupulously keeping one’s place, performing their duty as a created being and having a steady and honest comportment, you cannot put these words into practice and do not regard them as truths, then you are not a follower of God. You claim to be practicing the truth, but if God asks you, “Are the ‘truths’ you’re practicing God’s words? Are the principles you uphold based on God’s words?”—how would you account for yourself? If your basis isn’t God’s words, then it’s Satan’s words. You’re living out Satan’s words and yet you claim to be practicing the truth and satisfying God. Isn’t that blaspheming against God? God instructs people to be honest, for example, yet some people do not ponder over what being an honest person really entails, how to practice being an honest person, what things they live out and reveal are dishonest, nor what things they live out and reveal are honest. Instead of pondering the essence of the truth in God’s words, they turn to the books of nonbelievers. They think, “The sayings of nonbelievers are pretty good, too—they also teach people to be good! For example, ‘The good have peaceful lives,’ ‘Guileless people ever prevail,’ ‘Forgiving others is not foolish, it brings benefits afterward.’ These statements are right, too, and align with the truth!” So, they adhere to these words. What kind of person can they live as by abiding by these adages of nonbelievers? Can they live out the truth reality? (No, they cannot.) Aren’t there many people like this? They acquire some knowledge; they’ve read a few books and a few famous works; they’ve gained some perspective, and heard a few famous sayings and folk proverbs, then they take these as the truth, acting and performing their duty according to these words, applying them to their lives as believers in God and thinking they are satisfying God’s heart. Isn’t this substituting falsehood for the truth? Isn’t this dealing in deception? To God, this is blasphemy! These things manifest in every person, in no small number. For someone who treats the pleasing words and correct doctrines from among the people as truths to uphold, while putting God’s words to one side and disregarding them, failing to internalize them no matter how many times they are read, or to consider God’s words as the truth, are they a believer in God? Are they a follower of God? (No.) Such people believe in religion; they are still following Satan! They believe that the words spoken by Satan are philosophical, that they are greatly profound and classic. They consider them to be famous sayings of utmost truth. No matter what else they give up, they cannot let go of those words. To abandon those words would be like losing their life’s foundation, like hollowing out their heart. What kind of people are these? They are followers of Satan, and that is why they accept Satan’s famous sayings as the truth.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. One Cannot Be Saved by Believing in Religion or Engaging in Religious Ceremony

In their belief in God, if people do not have a God-fearing heart, if they do not have a heart of submission to God, then not only will they be unable to do any work for Him, but on the contrary will become those who disturb His work and who defy Him. Believing in God but not submitting to or fearing Him, and instead resisting Him, is the greatest disgrace for a believer. If believers are just as casual and unrestrained in their speech and conduct as nonbelievers are, then they are even more wicked than nonbelievers; they are archetypal demons.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. A Warning to Those Who Do Not Practice the Truth

How should we discern the type of disbelievers who, as opportunists, believe in God only to be blessed, and have no wish to gain the truth? No matter how many sermons they hear, no matter how the truth is fellowshipped to them, their thoughts and views on people and things, their outlook on life and values never change. Why is this? Because they never ponder God’s words seriously and are utterly unaccepting of the truths expressed by God or what God says about various issues. They just cling to their own views and the philosophies of Satan. In their hearts, they still believe that the philosophies and logic of Satan are right and correct. For example, “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost,” “Officials do not make things difficult for those who bear gifts,” or “The good have peaceful lives.” There are even those who say, “When people believe in God, they must be good, which means never taking a life; to take a life is a sin, and is unforgivable to God.” What kind of view is this? It is a Buddhist view. Though the Buddhist view may fit with people’s notions and imaginings, it is devoid of any truth. Faith in God must be based on God’s words; only the words of God are the truth. In their faith in God, some people even accept the absurd views of the nonbelievers and the mistaken theories of the religious world as the truth, they hold them dear and cling to them. Are these people who accept the truth? They can’t differentiate between the words of man and the words of God, or between the devil and Satan and the one true God, the Creator. They do not pray to God or seek the truth, nor do they accept any of the truths expressed by God. Their thoughts and views on people, the outside world, and all other matters never change. They cling only to the views they have always held, which come from traditional culture. No matter how ridiculous those views are, they cannot perceive this, and they still hold fast to these mistaken views and do not let them go. This is one manifestation of a disbeliever. What is another? It is that their zeal, sentiments, and faith change as the church increases in scale and as its status in society continually grows. For example, when the church’s work expanded abroad and increased in scale, when the work of the gospel fully expanded, they saw this and felt immediately invigorated. They felt that the church was becoming more and more influential and would no longer suffer the oppression and persecution of the government. They believed that there was hope for their faith in God, that they could hold their heads high; they felt that they had made the right bet, that their gamble was finally going to pay off. They felt that their chances of gaining blessings were growing greater and greater and they finally started to cheer up. During previous years, they used to feel oppressed, pained, and anguished because they often saw the great red dragon’s arrests and suppression of Christians. Why did they feel anguish? Because the church was in such dire straits, and they were concerned about whether they had made the right choice in believing in God, and more than that, they were troubled and worried by whether they should stay or leave the church. During those years, no matter what adverse circumstances the church was facing, it would have an impact on their emotions; whatever work the church was doing and however the church’s reputation and status within society fluctuated, it would affect their emotions and mood. The question of whether they should stay or go was always lingering in their minds. Such people are disbelievers, are they not? When the church is condemned and suppressed by the national government, or when believers are arrested or judged, condemned, slandered, and rejected by the religious community, they deeply feel disgraced and even great shame and humiliation about having joined the church; their hearts waver and they regret believing in God and joining the church. They never have any intention of sharing in the joys and hardships of the church, or to suffer alongside Christ. Instead, when the church is flourishing, they appear brimming with faith, but when the church is persecuted, excluded, suppressed, and condemned, they want to run away, to leave. When they cannot see any hope of receiving blessings, or any hope of the kingdom gospel expanding, they want to leave even more. When they do not see the words of God fulfilled, and do not know when the great catastrophe will descend and when it will end, or when the kingdom of Christ will be realized, they waver uncertainly and are incapable of doing their duty with peace of mind. Whenever this happens, they want to leave God, to leave the church, and to find a way out. Such people are disbelievers, are they not? Their every move is for their own fleshly interests. Their thoughts and views will never gradually change through their experience of God’s work, or by reading His words, fellowshipping the truth, and living the church life. When something happens to them, they never seek the truth, or search for what God’s words say about it, what God’s intentions are, how God guides people, or what He asks of people. Their only aim in joining the church is to wait for the day when the church can “hold its head high,” so they can make a grab for the benefits they have always desired. Of course, they joined the church also because they saw that God’s words are the truth—but they are totally unaccepting of the truth, and they do not believe that all the words of God will be fulfilled. So what do you say, are such people disbelievers? (Yes.) No matter what happens in the church or the outside world, they gauge how much their interests will be affected, and how great an impact it will have on the goals they pursue. At even the slightest sign of trouble, they will immediately think of their own prospects, interests, and whether they should stay or leave the church with great acuity. There are even people who keep asking, “Last year it was said that God’s work would end—so why is it still going on? What year exactly will God’s work end? Am I not entitled to know? I have endured long enough, my time is precious, my youth is precious—surely you can’t keep me hanging on like this?” They are especially sensitive to whether God’s words have been fulfilled, the situation of the church, and its status and reputation. They don’t care about whether they are capable of gaining the truth or if they can be saved, but are very sensitive to whether they will be able to survive, and whether they can obtain benefits and blessings by staying in God’s house. Such people are opportunistic in their desire to be blessed. Even if they believe to the very end, they will still not understand the truth, and they will have no experiential testimony to speak of. Have you met people like this? Actually, people like that exist in every church. You must take care to discern them. Such individuals are all disbelievers, they are a scourge in the house of God, they will bring great harm and no benefits to the church, and they must be cleared out from it.

—The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (23)

There is another kind of people who cannot be considered as either good or bad, and who are believers in name only. If you ask them to do something occasionally, they can do it, but they won’t proactively do their duty if you don’t arrange it for them. Whenever they are free they attend gatherings, but in their own private time, it’s not known whether they eat and drink God’s words, learn hymns, or pray. However, they are relatively friendly toward God’s house and the church. What does relatively friendly mean? It means that if the brothers and sisters ask them to do something, they will agree to it; for the sake of being fellow believers, they can help get a few things done, within the extent of their abilities. However, if they are asked to expend great effort or to pay some sort of price, they absolutely will not do it. If a brother or sister is in some difficulty and needs them to lend a hand, such as by occasionally helping to look after the house, cook a meal, or occasionally helping out with a few minor chores—or the person knows a foreign language and can help the brothers and sisters to read letters—they are able to lend a hand with this sort of thing and are relatively friendly. They usually get along pretty well with others and don’t keep scores with people, but they don’t attend gatherings regularly and don’t ask to do a duty, let alone undertake any important or even dangerous work. If you ask them to do a dangerous task, they will definitely turn you down, saying, “I believe in god for the sake of seeking peace, so how could I do dangerous tasks? Wouldn’t that be seeking trouble for myself? I absolutely cannot do it!” But if the brothers and sisters or the church ask them to do something minor, they can help and make a token effort, just like a friend. This form of exerting oneself and helping cannot be called doing a duty, nor can it be called acting in accordance with the truth principles, and much less can it be called practicing the truth; it is just a case of them having a favorable impression of believers in God and being fairly friendly toward them, and being able to lend a helping hand if someone needs assistance. What is the name for this kind of people? God’s house calls them friends of the church. How should the kind of people who are friends of the church be treated? If they possess caliber and some strengths and can help the church to handle some external matters, then they also count as service-doers and are friends of the church. It is because people of this kind don’t count as believers in God, and God’s house does not recognize them. And if they are not recognized by God’s house, can God recognize them as believers? (No.) Therefore, never, ever ask this kind of people to join the ranks of those who perform a duty full-time. There are those who say: “Some people, when they first start believing, have little faith and just want to be friends of the church. They don’t understand many things about believing in God, so how can they be willing to do a duty? How can they be willing to wholeheartedly expend themselves?” We are not talking about people who have believed in God for three to five months or up to a year, but people who have nominally believed in God for over three years, or even for five or ten years. No matter how much people like this acknowledge with their mouths that God is the only true God and that the Church of Almighty God is the true church, it does not prove that they are true believers. Based on the various manifestations of this kind of people and their mode of faith, we call them friends of the church. Don’t treat them as brothers or sisters—they are not brothers or sisters. Don’t let such people join the full-time church, and don’t let them join the ranks of those who perform a duty full-time; God’s house does not make use of such people. Some may say: “Are you prejudiced against this kind of people? Although they may appear lukewarm on the outside, they are actually very fervent on the inside.” It would be impossible for sincere believers to have believed in God for five or ten years and still be lukewarm; the behavior of this kind of people already fully reveals that they are disbelievers, people on the outside of God’s words, and nonbelievers. If you still call them brothers and sisters, and still say they are being treated unfairly, then that is your notions and your feelings talking.

—The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (6)

The essence of those who do not accept the truth at all is that of a disbeliever. What are the hallmarks of disbelievers? Their belief in God is a sort of opportunism, it is a way for them to live off the church, to avoid disaster, to find support and a steady meal ticket. Some of them even have political aspirations, wanting to establish connections with the government through certain matters to gain favor and land an official appointment. Such people are disbelievers, every last one of them. They carry these motives and intents in their belief in God, and in their hearts they do not believe with complete certainty that there is a God. Even if they acknowledge Him, they do so doubtfully, because the views they cling to are atheistic. They only believe in things they can see in the material world. Why do we say they don’t believe there is a God? Because they do not believe or acknowledge the facts that God created the heavens and earth and all things, and that after creating mankind God has been leading and holding sovereignty over them. Thus, they cannot possibly believe in the fact that God can become flesh. If they do not believe that God can become flesh, are they capable of believing and acknowledging all the truths expressed by God? (They are not.) If they do not believe the truths expressed by God, then do they believe that God can save humankind and in His management plan for saving humankind? (They do not.) They do not believe any of this. What is the root of their disbelief? It is that they do not believe God exists. They are atheists and materialists. They believe that only things you can see in the material world are real. They believe fame, gain, and status can only be achieved through schemes and untoward means. They believe that the only way to prosper and live a happy life is to live by satanic philosophies. They believe that their fate is only in their own hands, and that they must rely on themselves to create and secure a happy life. They do not believe in God’s sovereignty or in His almightiness. They think that if they rely on God they will have nothing. Ultimately, they do not believe that God’s words can accomplish everything, and they do not believe in God’s almightiness. That is why the motives and purposes, such as opportunism, living off the church, avoiding disaster, finding backers, making friends with the opposite sex, and achieving political aspirations—securing an official position and a steady meal ticket for themselves—arise in their belief in God. It is precisely because these people do not believe that God reigns sovereign over all that they are able to audaciously and unscrupulously infiltrate the church with their own intents and aims. They wish to put their talents to use or realize their aspirations in the church. This means that they are infiltrating the church in order to satisfy their intention and desire to gain blessings; they want to obtain fame, gain, and status in the church, and by doing so get their steady meal ticket. One can see from their behavior, as well as their nature essence, that their goals, motives, and intents for believing in God are not legitimate. None of them accept the truth, none of them truly believe in God; and even if they do infiltrate the church, they are just filling up seats, playing no positive role whatsoever. Therefore, the church should not accept such people. Although these people have infiltrated the church, they are not God’s chosen people, but rather were brought in out of good intentions by others. “They are not God’s chosen people”—how should this be interpreted? It means that God did not predestine and choose them; He does not view them as recipients of His work; nor has He predestined them as human beings whom He will save. Once these people have infiltrated the church, we naturally cannot treat them as brothers and sisters, because they are not the ones who genuinely accept the truth or submit to God’s work. Some may ask, “Since they aren’t brothers and sisters who truly believe in God, why doesn’t the church clear them out or expel them?” God’s intention is that His chosen people may learn discernment from these disbelievers and thereby see through Satan’s schemes and reject Satan. Once God’s chosen people have discernment, these disbelievers should be cleansed away. The goal of discernment is to expose all the disbelievers who have infiltrated God’s house with their ambitions and desires and clear them out of the church, because these people are not true believers in God, and even less are they people who accept and pursue the truth. Nothing good will come from them remaining in the church—but great harm will. First of all, after infiltrating the church, these disbelievers never eat or drink God’s words and do not accept the slightest bit of the truth. They always discuss things other than God’s words and the truth, disturbing others’ hearts. They will only disrupt and disturb the work of the church, to the detriment of the life entry of God’s chosen people. Secondly, if they remain in the church, they will run riot committing misdeeds, just like nonbelievers, disrupting and disturbing the work of the church, and subjecting the church to many hidden dangers. Thirdly, even if they remain in the church, they will not willingly act as service-doers, and though they may do a bit of service, it will only be in order to gain blessings. Should the day come when they learn they cannot gain blessings, they will fly into a rage, disturbing and impairing the work of the church. It is better to clear them out of the church before it’s too late. Fourthly, these disbelievers are liable to form factions, and to support and follow antichrists, thereby creating an evil force within the church that poses a great threat to its work. In light of these four considerations, it is necessary to discern and expose disbelievers who infiltrate God’s house, and then to clear them out. This is the only way to maintain normal progress in the church’s work, and effectively safeguard that God’s chosen people can eat and drink God’s words and live church life normally, and therefore enter the right track of belief in God. This is because the infiltration of these disbelievers into the church is of great detriment to the life entry of God’s chosen people. There are many people who cannot discern them, but instead treat them as brothers and sisters. Some people, seeing that they have a few gifts or strengths, choose them to serve as leaders and workers. This is how false leaders and antichrists arise in the church. Looking at their essence, one can see that none of them believe that God exists, or that His words are the truth, or that He rules sovereign over all. They are nonbelievers in the sight of God. He pays them no heed, and the Holy Spirit will not work on them. So, based on their essence, they are not recipients of God’s salvation, and they are certainly not predestined or chosen by Him. God could not possibly save them. No matter how one looks at it, none of these disbelievers are God’s chosen people. They should be promptly and precisely discerned, and then cleared out. They must not be allowed to hang about in the church disturbing others.

—The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (24)

Some people worship famous and eminent people. They always have doubts about whether God’s words really can save people, and they always believe that only the words of famous and eminent people have weight and charisma. They are always thinking to themselves, “Look how impressive the head of our state is! Look at the pomp, the spectacle, the grandeur of our national assemblies! Can God’s house compare with that at all?” That you could say such a thing shows that you are a nonbeliever. You cannot clearly see the evil of politics, or the darkness of a nation, or the corruption of humanity. You cannot see that the truth reigns in God’s house, and you cannot see or understand what the experiential testimonies of God’s chosen people demonstrate. God’s house has the truth and so many testimonies, and all God’s chosen people are waking up and changing, all of them beginning to experience God’s work and enter the truth reality. Can you see the sight to come of God’s people submitting to Him and worshiping Him? It is beyond your imagination. All that God’s house has is a hundred times, a thousand times, better than the world, and in the future, all that God’s house has can only continue getting better, and more regular, and more perfect. All these things are achieved gradually, and they are what God’s word will accomplish. God’s chosen people are all selected by Him and preordained by Him, so certainly, they are much better than the people of the world. If someone cannot see these facts, are they not blind? Some people always feel the world is great, and deep down they worship the famous and eminent people of the world. Are they not worshiping devils and Satans? Do these famous and eminent people believe in God? Are they people who submit to God? Do they have God-fearing hearts? Do they accept the truth? They are all demons that resist God—can you really not see that? Why do you believe in God, seeing as you worship the famous and eminent people of the world? How do you really view all the words that God expresses? How do you view God’s sovereignty over all? Some people do not just have no fear of God—they do not even have the least respect for Him. Are they not disbelievers? Should such people not be asked to leave at once? (They should.) And if they do not leave, what is to be done? Rush to drive them out, clear them out. Disbelievers are like foul flies, too disgusting to behold. God’s house is reigned over by the truth and by His words, and acts are taken according to the truth principles. Such people should be cleared out. They say with their words that they believe in God, but at heart, they look down on God’s house and despise God. Are you willing to have such disbelievers mingling among you? (No.) That is why they must be cleared out at once. No matter how educated or capable they are, they must be cleared out. Some people ask, “Is that not unloving?” No, it is acting according to the principles. What do I mean by this? That no matter how large your stature, no matter how great your will to pursue the truth or whether you have faith in God, one thing is certain: Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. This is forever unchanging. This should be your rock, the most solid foundation of your belief in God; you should be certain and doubtless about this in your heart. If you doubt even this, you are unfit to remain in God’s house. Some people say, “Our nation is a great one, and our race is a noble one; our customs and culture are noble beyond compare. We don’t need to accept the truth.” Is that not the voice of disbelievers? It is the voice of disbelievers, and such disbelievers must be cleared out. Some people often reveal a corrupt disposition, and at times, their disposition is wanton and unrestrained, yet their faith in God is true, and they can accept the truth. If they undergo a measure of pruning, they are able to repent. Such people should be given a chance. People are a bit foolish, or they cannot see things clearly, or they are misled, or, in a foolish moment, they may say something confused or behave in a confused way because they do not understand the truth. This is caused by a corrupt disposition; it is caused by foolishness, ignorance, and a lack of understanding of the truth. Such people, however, are not of an ilk with disbelievers. What is needed here is to draw on fellowship about the truth to resolve these problems. Some people who have believed in God for several years do not accept the truth at all and have not changed a bit. They are disbelievers. They are not people of God’s house, and God does not acknowledge them.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only One Who Performs Their Duty Well With All Their Heart, Mind, and Soul Is One Who Loves God

If you say you believe in God yet are often in a daze at heart, neither knowing how God works to save man nor how it is that man ought to pursue the truth, nor whether you love the truth, nor which events should occasion your prayer to God; if you are in a muddle each day, unserious in everything, merely adhering to regulations; if your heart is incapable of being at peace before God, and you do not pray or seek the truth whenever something happens to you; if you often act according to your own will, live according to your satanic disposition, and reveal your arrogant disposition; and if you do not accept God’s scrutiny or discipline, and do not have a submissive heart, then deep down, you will always live before Satan, and be controlled by Satan and by your corrupt disposition. Such people are without the slightest fear of God. They are simply incapable of shunning evil, and even if they do not do evil things, everything they think is still evil, and is both unconnected to the truth and runs against it. Do such people, then, fundamentally have no connection to God? Though they are ruled by Him, their hearts have never come before Him, nor have they ever truly prayed to Him; they have never treated God as God, they have never treated Him as the Creator who holds sovereignty over them, they have never acknowledged that He is their God and their Lord, and they have never considered worshiping Him in earnest. Such people do not understand what it means to fear God, and they think it is their right to commit evil. They say in their hearts, “I’ll do what I want. I’ll take care of my own business, it’s not up to anyone else!” They treat faith in God as a kind of mantra, a form of ceremony. Does this not make them disbelievers? They are disbelievers! In God’s mind, these people are all evildoers. All day long, everything they think is evil. They are the degenerates of the house of God, and He does not acknowledge such people as members of His house.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only With Fear of God Can One Tread Upon the Path of Salvation

When some people encounter an unfavorable situation, they’ll start complaining and blaming other people. They never consider that they might have brought it upon themselves, and instead always push the responsibility onto someone else. Then, they feel content and at ease, and they think, “Problem solved. Believing in God this way is so pleasant and easy!” What do you think of this method of solving problems? Can one gain the truth by practicing in this way? Does it show an attitude of submission to God? With what perspective, and by what means, do such people believe in God? Have they applied the words “God holds sovereignty over the destiny of mankind, all events and all things are in His hands” to their everyday lives? When they analyze the problem using the mind of man, when they address the matter using human means, are they believing in God’s sovereignty? Are they submitting to God’s sovereignty over and arrangement of people, events, and things? Obviously not. Firstly, they do not submit; this is already a mistake. Secondly, they are unable to accept from God the situation, people, events, and things He arranges for them; they do not look beyond the surface. They look only at how the situation appears from the outside, then analyze it using their human mind and try to resolve it with human methods. Is this not another mistake? Is it a big mistake? (It is.) How is it so? They do not believe that God holds sovereignty over everything. They think everything happens randomly. In their eyes, not a single thing is ruled by God, and most things happen because of the actions of men. Is this believing in God? Do they have true faith? (No.) Why not? They do not believe that God holds sovereignty over everything. They do not believe that God holds sovereignty over all matters and all objects—that God holds sovereignty over every situation. If something does not go as they imagined, they are unable to accept it from God. They do not believe that God can orchestrate these situations. Because they cannot see God, they think these situations happen randomly as a result of the actions of men, rather than being orchestrated by God. They do not believe in God’s sovereignty. Then what is the essence of their belief? (They are disbelievers.) That is right, they are disbelievers! Disbelievers do not accept anything from God. Instead, they rack their brains trying to deal with things using human perspectives, minds and methods. This is the behavior of disbelievers. When you run into this kind of person in the future, you should develop some discernment regarding them. Disbelievers are good at engaging their brains and coming up with ideas when issues arise; they constantly study the matter at hand, and try to resolve it using human methods. They always view people and things using human reasoning and satanic philosophies, or based on the law, not believing that God’s word is the truth or that God’s sovereignty encompasses everything. Everything that happens is allowed by God, but disbelievers are not able to accept these things from God, and they always view things based on human notions and imaginings. Though disbelievers usually say they believe that a person’s fate is in God’s hands, and that they are willing to submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangement, when things actually befall them, they are unable to accept those things from God and they develop notions about God. This is the behavior of disbelievers.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. A Corrupt Disposition Can Only Be Resolved by Accepting the Truth

Is it not vile that some people like to split hairs and go down blind alleys whenever something happens to them? This is a big problem. Clear-minded people will not make this mistake, but this is what absurd people are like. They always imagine that others are making things difficult for them, that others are deliberately giving them a hard time, so they always antagonize other people. Is this not a deviation? They do not put in effort when it comes to the truth, they prefer to quibble about unimportant things when something happens to them, demanding explanations, trying to save face, and they always use human solutions to approach these matters. This is the greatest obstacle to life entry. If you believe in God this way, or practice this way, you will never attain the truth because you never come before God. You never come before God to receive all that God has set out for you, nor do you use the truth to approach all this, instead you use human solutions to approach things. Therefore, in the eyes of God, you have strayed too far from Him. Not only has your heart strayed from Him, your entire being does not live in His presence. This is how God views those who always over-analyze things and split hairs. There are those who are glib, smooth-talkers, whose minds are quick and shrewd, who think, “I’m well-spoken. Other people all really admire and esteem me, and hold me in high regard. People usually listen to me.” Is this useful? You have built up your prestige among people, but the way that you behave before God does not please Him. God says that you are a disbeliever, and that you are hostile to the truth. Among people, you may be sophisticated and smooth, you might handle things very well, and get along with anyone; you may always be able to find a way to handle and take care of things no matter what the situation, but you do not come before God and seek the truth to resolve problems. People like this are very troublesome. God has only one thing to say in assessment of people like you: “You are a disbeliever, you are trying to take advantage of this opportunity to gain blessings under the guise of believing in God. You are not a person who accepts the truth.” What do you think of this kind of assessment? Is it what you want? It definitely is not. It is possible that some people do not care, and say, “It doesn’t matter how God sees us, we can’t see God anyway. Our most immediate problem is to first get on good terms with the people around us. Once we have established a firm foothold for ourselves, we can then win over the leaders and workers, so that everyone admires us.” What sort of person is this? Are they someone who believes in God? They certainly are not; they are a disbeliever.

—The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only by Often Living Before God Can One Have a Normal Relationship With Him

A lot of people don’t understand the truth or pursue the truth. What do they treat performing a duty like? They treat it like a kind of job, a kind of hobby, or an investment of their interest. They don’t treat it like a mission or a task given by God, or a responsibility which they should fulfill. Even less do they seek to understand the truth or God’s intentions in the course of performing their duties, so that they may perform their duties well and complete God’s commission. Therefore, in the process of performing their duties, some people become unwilling as soon as they endure a bit of hardship and want to escape. When they encounter some difficulties or suffer some setbacks, they back down, and want to escape again. They do not seek the truth; they just think about escaping. Like turtles, if anything goes wrong, they just hide in their shells, then wait until the problem has passed before they emerge again. There are a lot of people like this. In particular, there are some people who, when asked to take responsibility for certain work, don’t consider how they can offer their loyalty, or how to perform this duty and do this work well. Rather, they consider how to shirk responsibility, how to avoid being pruned, how to avoid shouldering any responsibility, and how to emerge unscathed when problems or mistakes occur. They first consider their own escape route and how to satisfy their own preferences and interests, not how to perform their duties well and offer their loyalty. Can people like this gain the truth? They do not put in effort with regard to the truth, and they do not put the truth into practice when it comes to performing their duties. To them, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Today they want to do this, tomorrow they want to do that, and they think that everyone else’s duties are better and easier than their own. And yet, they do not put in effort with regard to the truth. They do not think about what problems there are with these ideas of theirs, and they do not seek the truth to solve problems. Their minds are always focused on when their own dreams will be realized, who is in the limelight, who is getting recognition from the Above, who does work without being pruned and gets promoted. Their minds are filled with these things. Can people who are always thinking about these things perform their duties adequately? They can never accomplish this. So, what kind of people perform their duties in this way? Are they people who pursue the truth? Firstly, one thing is certain: People like this do not pursue the truth. They seek to enjoy a few blessings, become famous, and step into the spotlight in God’s house, just like when they were getting by in society. In terms of essence, what kind of people are they? They are disbelievers. Disbelievers perform their duties in God’s house as they would do work in the outside world. They care about who is getting promoted, who is becoming a team leader, who is becoming a church leader, who is being praised by everyone for their work, who is exalted and mentioned. They care about these things. It is just like in a company: Who is getting promoted, who is getting a raise, who is receiving the praise of the leader, and who is becoming familiar with the leader—people care about these things. If they also seek these things in God’s house, and are preoccupied with these things all day, aren’t they the same as the nonbelievers? In essence, they are nonbelievers; they are typical disbelievers. Whatever duty they perform, they will just be laboring and acting in a perfunctory way. Whatever sermons they hear, they still won’t accept the truth, and even less will they put the truth into practice. They have believed in God for many years without undergoing any change, and no matter how many years they perform their duties for, they will not be able to offer their loyalty. They do not have true faith in God, they do not have loyalty, they are disbelievers.

—The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Eight: They Would Have Others Submit Only to Them, Not the Truth or God (Part One)

Some people do not rejoice in the truth, much less judgment. Instead, they rejoice in power and riches; such people are called power seekers. They search only for those denominations in the world with influence, and they search only for pastors and teachers that come from seminaries. Though they have accepted the way of truth, they are only half-believing; they are incapable of giving all of their hearts and minds, their mouths speak words of expending themselves for God, but their eyes are focused on the great pastors and teachers, and they do not spare Christ a second glance. Their hearts are fixated upon fame, fortune, and glory. They think it out of the question that such a meager person could be capable of conquering so many, that one so unremarkable could perfect man. They think it out of the question that these nobodies among the dust and dunghills are the people chosen by God. They believe that if such people were the objects of God’s salvation, then heaven and earth would be turned upside down, and all people would laugh themselves silly. They believe that if God chose such nobodies to be perfected, then those great men would become God Himself. Their perspectives are tainted with unbelief; more than not believing, they are simply preposterous beasts. For they value only status, prestige, and power, and they esteem only large groups and denominations. They have not the slightest regard for those led by Christ; they are simply betrayers who have turned their backs on Christ, on truth, and on life.

What you admire is not the humility of Christ, but those false shepherds of prominent standing. You do not adore the loveliness or wisdom of Christ, but those libertines who wallow in the filth of the world. You laugh at the pain of Christ who has no place to lay His head, but you admire those corpses that hunt for offerings and live in debauchery. You are not willing to suffer alongside Christ, but you gladly throw yourself into the arms of those reckless antichrists, though they only supply you with flesh, words, and control. Even now, your heart still turns toward them, toward their reputation, toward their status, toward their influence. And yet you continue to hold an attitude whereby you find the work of Christ hard to swallow and you are unwilling to accept it. This is why I say that you lack the faith to acknowledge Christ. The reason you have followed Him to this day is only because you had no other option. A series of lofty images are forever towering in your heart; you cannot forget their every word and deed, nor their influential words and hands. They are, in your heart, forever supreme and forever heroes. But this is not so for the Christ of today. He is forever insignificant in your heart, and forever undeserving of fear. For He is far too ordinary, has far too little influence, and is far from lofty.

In any case, I say that all those who do not value the truth are disbelievers and betrayers of the truth. Such men shall never receive the approval of Christ. Have you now identified how much unbelief is within you, and how much betrayal of Christ you have? I exhort you thus: Since you have chosen the way of truth, then you should devote yourself wholeheartedly; do not be ambivalent or half-hearted. You should understand that God does not belong to the world nor any one person, but to all those who truly believe in Him, all those who worship Him, and all those who are devoted and faithful to Him.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Are You a True Believer in God?

Related Hymns

To Believe in God but Not Accept the Truth Is to Be a Disbeliever

Man Has No True Faith in Christ