I

Holding up God's words and being able to explain them unabashedly does not mean you are in possession of reality; things are not as simple as you imagine. Whether you're in possession of reality is not based on what you say; rather, it is based on what you live out. Only when God's words become your life and your natural expression can you be said to have reality, and only then can you be counted as having gained true understanding and actual stature. You must be able to withstand examination over long periods of time, and you must be able to live out the likeness that is required by God. This must not be mere posturing; it must flow from you naturally. Only then will you truly possess reality and have gained life.

II

Whenever you encounter things that don't fit with your notions and that require you to put yourself aside, those things are your trials. When God is subjecting man to trials, He will never tell you the truth; this is the manner in which people are revealed. This is one way that God carries out His work, to see whether you know the God of today, as well as whether you possess any reality. Possessing reality is not something that can be faked, nor is reality something that you can attain by knowing it. It depends on your actual stature, as well as whether or not you can withstand all trials.

III

The good soldiers of the kingdom are not trained to be a group of people who can only talk about reality or boast; rather, they are trained to live out God's words at all times, and they are trained to remain unyielding no matter what setbacks they face, and to live constantly in accordance with God's words and not to return to the world. This is the reality of which God speaks; this is God's requirement of man. Mere enlightenment from the Holy Spirit does not equal the possession of reality. Such is not the stature of man—it is the grace of God, to which man contributes nothing. Each person must endure Peter's sufferings, and, even more, possess Peter's glory, which they live out after they have gained the work of God. Only this can be called reality.

from The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Only Putting the Truth Into Practice Is Possessing Reality