People have long believed in God, yet most of them have no understanding of what the word “God” means, and merely follow in bewilderment. They have no clue as to why exactly man should believe in God, or what God is. If people know only to believe in and follow God, but not what God is, and if they also do not know God, then is this not just a great big joke? Even though, having come this far, people have witnessed many heavenly mysteries, and have heard much profound knowledge never before understood by man, they are ignorant of many of the most elementary truths never before contemplated by man. Some might say, “We have believed in God for many years. How could we not know what God is? Does this question not belittle us?” In reality, however, though people follow Me today, they know nothing of any of the work of today, and fail to grasp even the most obvious and easiest of questions, let alone such highly complex ones as those about God. Know that the questions that you have no concern for, that you have not identified, are the ones that are most important for you to understand, for you know only to follow the crowd, paying no attention and giving no care to what you should be equipping yourself with. Do you truly know why you should have faith in God? Do you really know what God is? Do you truly know what man is? As a person who has faith in God, if you fail to understand these things, do you not lose the dignity of a believer of God? My work today is this: to have people understand their essence, understand all that I do, and know the true face of God. This is the closing act of My management plan, the last stage of My work. That is why I am telling you all of life’s mysteries in advance, so that you can accept them from Me. As this is the work of the final age, I must tell you all the truths of life that you have never been receptive to before, even though you are incapable of understanding or bearing it due to being simply too deficient and too ill-equipped. I shall conclude My work; I shall complete the work I am supposed to do, and shall tell you of all I have commissioned of you, lest you again stray and fall for the evil one’s schemes when darkness descends. There are many ways that you do not understand, many matters of which you have no knowledge. You are so ignorant; I know full well your stature and your shortcomings. Therefore, though there are many words you are incapable of understanding, I am still willing to tell you all these truths that you have never been receptive to before, because I keep worrying whether, in your current stature, you are able to stand firm in your testimony to Me. It is not that I think little of you; you are all beasts that have yet to undergo My formal training, and I absolutely cannot see how much glory is within you. Though I have expended much energy working on you, the positive elements in you seem practically nonexistent, and the negative elements can be counted on one’s fingers and serve only as testimonies that bring shame on Satan. Just about everything else in you is Satan’s poison. You look to Me like you are beyond salvation. As matters stand, I look at your various expressions and demeanors, and finally, I know your true stature. This is why I am always fretting over you: Left to live life on their own, would humans really be better off than or comparable to how they are today? Does your infantile stature not make you anxious? Can you truly be like the chosen people of Israel—loyal to Me, and to Me alone, at all times? What is revealed in you is not the mischievousness of children who have strayed from their parents, but the beastliness that bursts forth from animals that are out of reach of their masters’ whips. You should know your nature, which is also the weakness that you all share; it is an ailment common to you all. Thus, My only exhortation to you today is to stand firm in your testimony to Me. Do not, under any circumstances, allow the old ailment to flare up again. Bearing testimony is what’s most important—it is the heart of My work. You should accept My words just as Mary accepted Jehovah’s revelation that came to her in a dream: by believing, and then obeying. Only this qualifies as being chaste. For you are the ones who hear My words the most, the ones most blessed by Me. I have given you all My valuable possessions, I have bestowed everything upon you, yet you are of such vastly different status to the people of Israel; you are simply worlds apart. But compared to them, you have received so much more; while they desperately await My appearance, you pass pleasant days with Me, sharing My bounty. Given this difference, what gives you the right to squawk and squabble with Me and demand your share of My possessions? Have you not gained much? I give you so much, but what you give Me in return is just heartrending sadness and anxiety, irrepressible resentment and discontent. You are so repugnant—yet you are also pitiable, so I have no choice but to swallow all My resentment and voice My objections to you again and again. Over thousands of years of work, I have never remonstrated with mankind because I have discovered that, throughout humanity’s development, it is only the “hoaxes” among you that have become the most renowned, like precious inheritances left to you by famous ancestors of ancient times. How I hate those subhuman swine and dogs. You are too lacking in conscience! You are of too base a character! Your hearts are too hardened! If I had taken such words and work to the Israelites, I would have gained glory long ago. But among you this is unattainable; among you, there is only cruel neglect, your cold shoulder, and your excuses. You are too unfeeling, and utterly worthless!

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. What Is Your Understanding of God?