Classic Words of Almighty God on the Gospel of the Kingdom (Selections)

V. What Is Gaining Purification and Holiness?

13. The 6,000 years of work of God’s management are divided into three stages: the Age of Law, the Age of Grace, and the Age of Kingdom. These three stages of work are all for the sake of mankind’s salvation, which is to say, they are for the salvation of a mankind that has been severely corrupted by Satan. At the same time, however, they are also so that God may do battle with Satan. Thus, just as the work of salvation is divided into three stages, so the battle with Satan is also divided into three stages, and these two aspects of God’s work are conducted simultaneously. The battle with Satan is actually for the sake of mankind’s salvation, and because the work of mankind’s salvation is not something that can be successfully completed in a single stage, the battle with Satan is also divided into phases and periods, and war is waged upon Satan in accordance with the needs of man and the extent of Satan’s corruption of him.

Classic Words of Almighty God on the Gospel of the Kingdom (Selections)

V. What Is Gaining Purification and Holiness?

1. The people that God obtains are those who submit to Him completely, those who have been corrupted by Satan but have been saved and conquered by His work now, who have endured tribulations and in the end have been obtained completely by God and no longer live under Satan’s domain and have broken free from unrighteousness, who are willing to live out holiness—these are the holiest people; they are the holy ones.

from “You Should Know How the Whole of Humanity Has Developed to the Present Day” in The Word Appears in the Fles

Classic Words of Almighty God on the Gospel of the Kingdom (Selections)

III. On the Truth of the Incarnation

36. The significance of incarnation is that an ordinary, normal man performs the work of God Himself; that is, that God performs His divine work in humanity and thereby vanquishes Satan. Incarnation means that God’s Spirit becomes a flesh, that is, God becomes flesh; the work that He does in the flesh is the work of the Spirit, which is realized in the flesh, expressed by the flesh. No one except God’s flesh can fulfill the ministry of the incarnate God; that is, only God’s incarnate flesh, this normal humanity—and no one else—can express the divine work. If, during His first coming, God had not had the normal humanity before the age of twenty-nine—if as soon as He was born He could work miracles, if as soon as He learned to speak He could speak the language of heaven, if the moment He first set foot upon the earth He could apprehend all worldly matters, discern every person’s thoughts and intentions—then He could not have been called a normal man, and His flesh could not have been called human flesh. If this had been the case with Christ, then the meaning and the essence of God’s incarnation would have been lost. That He possessed normal humanity proves that He was God incarnated in the flesh; the fact that He underwent a normal human growth process further demonstrates that He was a normal flesh; and moreover, His work is sufficient proof that He was God’s Word, God’s Spirit, becoming flesh. God becomes flesh because of the needs of the work; in other words, this stage of work needs to be done in the flesh, done in normal humanity. This is the prerequisite for “the Word becoming flesh,” for “the Word appearing in the flesh,” and is the true story behind God’s two incarnations.

from “The Essence of the Flesh Inhabited by God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Classic Words of Almighty God on the Gospel of the Kingdom (Selections)

III. On the Truth of the Incarnation

32. There are some who are possessed by evil spirits and cry out vociferously, “I am God!” Yet, in the end, they are unable to stand fast, for they are wrong in what they represent. They represent Satan, and the Holy Spirit pays them no heed. However highly you exalt yourself or however strongly you cry out, you are still a created being and one that belongs to Satan. I never cry out, “I am God, I am the beloved Son of God!” But the work I do is God’s work. Need I shout? There is no need for exaltation. God does His own work Himself and does not need man to accord Him a status or give Him an honorific title: His work is sufficient to represent His identity and status … You are unable to bring forth new paths or to represent the Spirit. You cannot express the work of the Spirit or the words that He speaks.

Classic Words of Almighty God on the Gospel of the Kingdom (Selections)

III. On the Truth of the Incarnation

23. God becomes flesh not with the intention of allowing man to know His flesh, or to allow man to distinguish the differences between the flesh of God incarnate and that of man; nor does God become flesh to train man’s ability of discernment, and still less does He do so with the intention of allowing man to worship the incarnate flesh of God, thereby winning great glorification. None of these things is the original intention of God in becoming flesh. Nor does God become flesh in order to condemn man, nor deliberately to reveal man, nor to make things difficult for him. None of these things is the original intention of God. Every time God becomes flesh, it is a form of work that is unavoidable. It is for the sake of His greater work and His greater management that He acts as He does, and not for the reasons that man imagines. God comes unto earth only as His work requires, and only as necessary. He does not come unto earth with the intention of wandering around on earth, but to carry out the work that He ought to do. Why else would He assume such a heavy burden and take such great risks to carry out this work? God becomes flesh only when He has to, and always with unique significance. If it were only for the sake of allowing men to have a look at Him and to open up their horizons, then He would, with absolute certainty, never come among men so lightly. He comes unto earth for the sake of His management and His greater work, and in order that He might obtain more men. He comes to represent the age, He comes to defeat Satan, and in order to defeat Satan He puts on the flesh. Even more, He comes in order to guide the entire human race in living their lives. All of this concerns His management, and it concerns the work of the whole universe. If God became flesh merely to allow men to come to know His flesh and to open up men’s eyes, then why would He not travel to every nation? Is this not a matter of exceeding ease? But He did not do so, instead choosing a suitable place in which to settle and begin the work that He ought to do. Just this flesh alone is of considerable significance. He represents an entire age, and also carries out the work of an entire age; He both brings the former age to an end and ushers in the new. All of this is an important matter that concerns God’s management, and it is the significance of one stage of work that God comes to earth to carry out.

from “The Mystery of the Incarnation (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Classic Words of Almighty God on the Gospel of the Kingdom (Selections)

III. On the Truth of the Incarnation

11. And it is as a complete flesh that the second incarnate God performs the conquering work and defeats Satan. Only a flesh that is completely normal and real can perform the conquering work in its entirety and make a forceful testimony. That is to say, the work of conquering man is made effective through the reality and normality of God in the flesh, not through supernatural miracles and revelations. The ministry of this incarnate God is to speak, and thereby to conquer and perfect man; in other words, the work of the Spirit realized in the flesh, the flesh’s duty, is to speak and thereby conquer, reveal, perfect, and eliminate man completely.

from “The Essence of the Flesh Inhabited by God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Classic Words of Almighty God on the Gospel of the Kingdom (Selections)

III. On the Truth of the Incarnation

1. God’s saving of man is not done directly using the method of the Spirit and the identity of the Spirit, for His Spirit can neither be touched nor seen by man, neither can man draw near. If He tried to save man directly using the perspective of the Spirit, man would be unable to receive His salvation. If God did not put on the outward form of a created man, there would be no way for man to receive this salvation. For man has no way of approaching Him, much as no one was able to go near the cloud of Jehovah. Only by becoming a created human being, that is, only by putting His word into the body of flesh that He is about to become, can He personally work the word into all who follow Him. Only then can man personally see and hear His word, and moreover enter into possession of His word, and by this means come to be fully saved. If God did not become flesh, no man of flesh and blood would be able to receive such great salvation, nor would a single man be saved. If the Spirit of God worked directly in the midst of mankind, all humanity would be struck down, or else, with no way of coming into touch with God, they would be completely carried away captive by Satan.

from “The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Classic Words of Almighty God on the Gospel of the Kingdom (Selections)

II. On the Truth of God’s Name

11. God’s wisdom, God’s wondrousness, God’s righteousness, and God’s majesty shall never change. His essence and what He has and is shall never change. As for His work, however, it is always progressing in a forward direction, always going deeper, for He is always new and never old. In every age God assumes a new name, in every age He does new work, and in every age He allows His creatures to see His new will and new disposition. If, in a new age, people fail to see the expression of God’s new disposition, would they not nail Him to the cross forever? And by doing so, would they not define God?

from “The Vision of God’s Work (3)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Classic Words of Almighty God on the Gospel of the Kingdom (Selections)

II. On the Truth of God’s Name

1. Some say that the name of God does not change, so why then did the name of Jehovah become Jesus? It was prophesied of the coming of the Messiah, so why then did a man by the name of Jesus come? Why did the name of God change? Was not such work carried out long ago? Cannot God this day do a new work? The work of yesterday can be altered, and the work of Jesus can follow on from that of Jehovah. Cannot then the work of Jesus be succeeded by another work? If the name of Jehovah can be changed to Jesus, then cannot the name of Jesus also be changed? This is not unusual, and people think so only due to their simple-mindedness. God will always be God. Regardless of the changes to His work and His name, His disposition and wisdom remain forever unchanged. If you believe that God can only be called by the name of Jesus, then you know too little. Do you dare assert that Jesus is forever the name of God, that God will forever and always go by the name of Jesus, and that this will never change? Dare you assert with certainty it is the name of Jesus that concluded the Age of Law and also concludes the final age? Who can say that the grace of Jesus can conclude the age?

from “How Can Man Who Has Defined God in His Conceptions Receive the Revelations of God?” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

I. Which Is Greater: God, or the Bible? On the Relationship Between God and the Bible

23. Since there is a higher way, why study that low, outdated way? Since there are newer utterances, and newer work, why live amid old historical records? The new utterances can provide for you, which proves that this is the new work; the old records can’t sate you, or satisfy your current needs, which proves that they are history, and not the work of the here and now. The highest way is the newest work, and with the new work, no matter how high the way of the past, it is still the history of people’s reflections, and no matter its value as reference, it is still the old way. Even though it is recorded in the “holy book,” the old way is history; even though there is no record of it in the “holy book,” the new way is of the here and now. This way can save you, and this way can change you, for this is the work of the Holy Spirit.

from “Concerning the Bible (1)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Classic Words of Almighty God on the Gospel of the Kingdom (Selections)

7. Every day they seek traces of Me in the Bible, and find “suitable” passages at random that they read endlessly, and which they recite as scriptures. They do not know how to be compatible with Me, do not know what it means to be in enmity of Me, and merely read scriptures blindly. They constrain within the Bible a vague God that they have never seen, and are incapable of seeing, and take it out to look at during their spare time. They believe in My existence only within the scope of the Bible. For them, I am the same as the Bible; without the Bible there is no Me, and without Me there is no Bible. They pay no heed to My existence or actions, but instead devote extreme and special attention to each and every word of Scripture, and many of them even believe that I should not do anything I wish to do unless it is foretold by Scripture. They attach too much importance to Scripture. It can be said that they see words and expressions as too important, to the extent that they use verses from the Bible to measure every word I say, and to condemn Me. What they seek is not the way of compatibility with Me, or the way of compatibility with the truth, but the way of compatibility with the words of the Bible, and they believe that anything that does not conform to the Bible is, without exception, not My work. Are such people not the dutiful descendants of the Pharisees?

from “You Should Seek the Way of Compatibility With Christ” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

(Mat 18:12-14) How think you? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not leave the ninety and nine, and goes into the mountains, and seeks that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, truly I say to you, he rejoices more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

Committing God’s Word to Memory—Reflection on Proverbs 7:1

Proverbs 7:1

My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with you.

The Experiences of Peter: His Knowledge of Chastisement and Judgment

When he was being chastised by God, Peter prayed, “O God! My flesh is disobedient, and You chastise me and judge me. I rejoice in Your chastisement and judgment, and even if You do not want me, in Your judgment I behold Your holy and righteous disposition. When You judge me, so that others may behold Your righteous disposition in Your judgment, I feel content. If it can show forth Your disposition, and allow Your righteous disposition to be seen by all creatures, and if it can make my love of You purer, so that I can attain the image of one who is righteous, then Your judgment is good, for such is Your gracious will.

Why God Worked in the Flesh in the Age of Grace

If God does not become flesh, He remains the Spirit both invisible and intangible to man. Man is a creature of flesh, and man and God belong to two different worlds and are different in nature. The Spirit of God is incompatible with man of flesh, and no relations can be established between them; moreover, man cannot become a spirit. As such, the Spirit of God must become one of the creatures and do His original work. God can both ascend to the highest place and humble Himself by becoming a man of creation, doing work and living among man, but man cannot ascend to the highest place and become a spirit and much less can he descend to the lowest place. Therefore, God must become flesh to carry out His work. … Only the flesh of God incarnate could redeem man through His crucifixion, whereas it was not possible for the Spirit of God to be crucified as a sin offering for man. God could directly become flesh to serve as a sin offering for man, but man could not directly ascend to heaven to take the sin offering that God had prepared for them. As such, God must journey to and fro between heaven and earth, rather than letting man ascend to heaven to take this salvation, for man had fallen and could not ascend to heaven, much less obtain the sin offering. Therefore, it was necessary for Jesus to come among men and personally do the work that simply could not be accomplished by man.

from “The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Where do rumors come from and how are they created?

Bible Verses for Reference:

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said to the woman, Yes, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die: For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil (Gen 3:1-5).

Why do you not understand my speech? even because you cannot hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and stayed not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it (Jhn 8:43-44).

Relevant Words of God:

When the earth did not yet exist, the archangel was the greatest of heaven’s angels. It had jurisdiction over all the angels in heaven; this was the authority that God granted it. With the exception of God, it was the greatest of heaven’s angels. When God later created humanity, the archangel carried out a greater betrayal toward God upon the earth. I say it betrayed God because it wanted to manage humanity and to surpass God’s authority. It was the archangel that tempted Eve into sin; it did so because it wished to establish its kingdom upon earth and to make humanity betray God and obey it instead. It saw that there were many things that obeyed it; the angels obeyed it, as did the people upon the earth. The birds and beasts, trees, forests, mountains, rivers and all things upon the earth were under the care of man—that is, Adam and Eve—while Adam and Eve obeyed it. The archangel thus desired to surpass God’s authority and to betray God. Later on it led many angels to betray God, which then became various unclean spirits. Has not humanity’s development to this day been caused by the archangel’s corruption? Humanity is only the way it is today because the archangel betrayed God and corrupted humanity.

from “You Should Know How the Whole of Humanity Has Developed to the Present Day” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

First God created Adam and Eve, and He also created a snake. Among all things, the snake was the most poisonous; its body contained venom, and Satan used this venom to utilize it. It was the snake that tempted Eve to sin. Adam sinned after Eve did, and the two of them were then able to distinguish between good and evil.

from “You Should Know How the Whole of Humanity Has Developed to the Present Day” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Because of the existence of Satan and demons, people resist Him and are filled to the brim with rebellious disposition….

from “You Should Know How the Whole of Humanity Has Developed to the Present Day” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

All that disobeys God comes from Satan; Satan is the source of all ugliness and wickedness. The reason that man has qualities alike those of Satan is because man has been corrupted and worked on by Satan.

from “The Substance of Christ Is Obedience to the Will of the Heavenly Father” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

… Man’s corrupt nature entirely originates from Satan and man’s nature has been processed and corrupted by Satan. That is, man survives under the influence of its evil and ugliness. Man does not grow up in a world of truth or a holy environment, and moreover does not live in the light. Therefore, it is not possible for the truth to be innately possessed within each person’s nature, and moreover they cannot be born with a God-fearing, God-obeying essence. On the contrary, they are possessed of a nature that resists God, disobeys God, and has no love for the truth. …

… Mankind’s souls are all within Satan’s grasp. As such, it goes without saying that man’s flesh has also been occupied by Satan. How could flesh such as this and humans such as this not resist God and be innately compatible with Him? The reason Satan was cast down by Me into the air is because it betrayed Me, so how could humans extricate themselves from the repercussions of this? This is the reason that human nature is betrayal.

from “A Very Serious Problem: Betrayal (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Satan corrupts people through the education and influence of the national governments and the famous and great. Their lies and nonsense have become man’s life and nature. “Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost” is a well-known satanic saying that has been instilled into everyone and become the human life. There are some other words of life philosophy that are also like this. Satan educates people through each nation’s fine traditional culture and causes humanity to fall into and be engulfed in an expansive abyss of destruction, and in the end people are destroyed by God because they serve Satan and resist God.

from “How to Know Man’s Nature” in Records of Christ’s Talks

Little does man know that, though the wings of the fly are beautiful and enchanting, it is after all no more than a minuscule fly that is full of filth and covered with germs. On the strength of their pigs and dogs of parents, they run amok across the land (this refers to the religious officials who persecute God on the basis of strong support from the country betraying the true God and the truth) with overwhelming ferocity. It is as if the ghosts of the Jewish Pharisees have returned along with God to the nation of the great red dragon, back to their old nest. They have again begun their work of persecution, continuing their work spanning several thousand years. This group of degenerates is sure to perish on earth in the end! It appears that, after several millennia, the unclean spirits have become even more crafty and sly. They constantly think of ways to secretly undermine the work of God. They are wily and cunning and wish to replay in their homeland the tragedy of several thousand years ago. This almost goads God into giving out a loud cry, and He can hardly keep Himself from returning to the third heaven to annihilate them.

from “Work and Entry (7)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The Man’s Fellowship:

Now let’s think back to when Satan first corrupted mankind. What did the snake say? What was it that God said in the beginning? He told people: If you eat the fruit from that tree, you will certainly die. And what did Satan say? It said: God didn’t mean that you’ll definitely die from eating the fruit from that tree. See, first it counteracted God’s words, and after doing that it added some other things to confuse people. As a result, people became corrupted by Satan. The way that Satan confused Eve is the same way that Satan and every kind of evil spirit confuse and corrupt mankind. Satan confused Eve by means of the snake, and it spoke through the body of the snake. In fact, the snake was being controlled by the evil spirit of Satan, so it’s not that all of mankind has been corrupted by just that one snake—there have been many evil spirits who have worked through all kinds of people and all kinds of animals, or they have directly spoken from within people. No one knows how many people among mankind have been subject to the direct corruption of evil spirits, and who have directly encountered the words, the voices of the evil spirit of Satan. That’s why we must realize that all of mankind’s corruption has not been carried down from Adam and Eve. It’s more the case that during the thousands of years over the following ages, Satan and all kinds of evil spirits have been working on corrupted mankind. Don’t you see that those who are currently possessed by demons, who are controlled by evil spirits—aren’t those evil spirits always speaking to them? There’s no way to count how many people receive the words of evil spirits! There are just too many who receive the words of evil spirits. It certainly has not been Eve alone. Currently many believers, after being possessed by Satan or evil spirits, are dispatched to the house of God to disrupt His work and confuse His chosen people. We can see that there are a number of people in the church who have the work of evil spirits. What does someone like that say? He says: “I was praying yesterday, and God spoke to me…. I was praying yesterday, and this is how the Spirit enlightened me, this is what He said to me.” He prays whenever he encounters an issue, and as soon as he does so, evil spirits start to work in him, and they speak to him. Isn’t this Satan corrupting people? What’s the difference between this method and Eve being corrupted by Satan? There’s no difference at all. They are entirely the same. Eve was corrupted by Satan just once, and its toxins got inside. She started to deny the words of God and always maintained an attitude of suspicion toward His words. There are many people who have been possessed by demons who have been corrupted by Satan many times. It’s not an issue of whether it’s dozens of times or hundreds of times—it’s that Satan or evil spirits are permanently residing within them, until death! When there are evil spirits residing within a person, he takes in so much of what Satan says, and he’s corrupted by Satan to such an extent, so when he prays, it’s always evil spirits pointing out this or that to him. On the outside, he, when communicating with brothers and sisters, conveys the words of God, but after that he gives his own explanation, his own views and his understanding. Aren’t his views the same strategy as the snake confusing Eve? So when someone who has been possessed by Satan or by demons has fellowship with brothers and sisters, that is the fellowship of Satan counteracting God’s words. It is the fellowship of Satan confusing mankind. Anyone who has frequent contact with someone who has an evil spirit is disrupted by their words. When you hear them speak, you feel unsettled in your heart and you develop doubts toward God’s words, and you lose hold of your correct understanding. That is how evil spirits corrupt people. They don’t just use all sorts of books, education, and theories to poison people, but even more, many evil spirits reside within people and confuse them. They control them in order to confuse people, and they use people to confuse other people. In the last days, Satan’s methods of corrupting mankind are a multitude, and they are all too common. So if you do not have the truth, you will have no way to discern this.

from “How One Should Seek the Truth” in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (I)

What exactly is the great red dragon? What is the connection between the great red dragon and Satan? When Satan first corrupted mankind, it did so by means of an ancient serpent to test and speak with mankind. The ancient serpent was an animal, so how could it speak with people? It was Satan, an evil spirit, that attached itself to the serpent’s body so that it could corrupt mankind, and therefore the serpent was just like an incarnation of Satan. What sort of connection do we see between Satan and the ancient serpent from this incident where Satan attached itself to the serpent’s body to corrupt mankind? In the spiritual world, it is called Satan and it is an evil spirit. However, in the human world, Satan attached itself to an animal’s body in order to corrupt mankind, and so it is called the ancient serpent. In the spiritual world, Satan is an evil spirit, but in the human world, Satan attaches itself to a gang of demons, and that is the great red dragon. The great red dragon is the incarnation of Satan; they are one and the same. So when the evil spirit came into the bodies of this gang of demons, it became the great red dragon, but when it leaves their bodies, it becomes Satan again. In the spiritual world, it is Satan, and in the material world and when it is among humanity, it is the great red dragon; this is the connection between Satan and the great red dragon. More precisely, the great red dragon is the incarnation of Satan, this evil spirit, and the great red dragon is the true image of Satan. All that the great red dragon does is to resist and betray God and commit heinous sins; such are the conduct and deeds of Satan. Satan is the chief among numerous evil spirits and all of the evil spirits that follow it constitute Satan’s system. In this sinister system, the great red dragon is the head and it far surpasses evil spirits. It is the chief among countless evils and it is the source of all sins. This evil spirit has travelled to Europe, where it gave rise to the evil theories of the communism that brought disaster to dozens of countries throughout the world, as well as cruelly corrupted mankind over a century. This has resulted in mankind denying, resisting, and betraying God: the very apex of sin. The great red dragon is the primary culprit behind corrupting mankind; it is the main source that gives power to all other evils.

from “How to Know and Distinguish the Nature and Poisons of the Great Red Dragon” in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life (III)

The great red dragon is the most dangerous evil force in this world today, and it is also the poisonous root of all evil forces. Whichever place the great red dragon is in power, that place is engulfed in war, it is engulfed in class struggle, it is engulfed in killings and persecutions, it is engulfed in lies and deception, and it is engulfed in plagues and all kinds of natural and man-made disasters. Whichever place the black hand of the great red dragon appears, evil forces run amok and all kinds of disaster are right around the corner. The great red dragon is the root of all darkness and evil. The great red dragon is guilty of the most heinous crimes, and all that it has ever said and done is to mislead, deceive, corrupt, ruin, and slaughter people. All that the great red dragon preaches and promotes is all heresies and fallacies, garbage that misleads and corrupts people. … all the negative things engendered by the great red dragon are all tools used by Satan to deceive, corrupt, and bind people. All those things which the great red dragon promotes and advocates and requires people to follow are negative things. The entire corrupt mankind has been deceived and bound by these negative things, to the point that it can no longer distinguish between truths and fallacies, between light and darkness, and is stuck inside evil and unable to extricate itself.

from “Results That Can Be Achieved by a Genuine Understanding of the Truth” in Collection of Sermons—Supply for Life

We can clearly see that it is the Devil Satan corrupting mankind through the heads of demons, the princes of devils. They brutally persecute and swallow up people’s souls, and it is these princes of devils that are gaining power and are on a despotic rampage on the earth. They are using the influence they possess to expropriate people’s freedom, only requiring that people follow and serve them and that they sacrifice themselves for their illusions. They do not allow any pursuit of the truth or pursuit of light in life at all, and they especially do not allow people to believe in, follow, or serve God. This is a patently clear fact. These heads of demons, the princes of devils, are the embodiment of the great red dragon. They are the representatives of the great red dragon.

from The Fellowship From the Above

The Age of Kingdom Is the Age of Word

In the Age of Kingdom, God uses the word to usher in a new age, to change the means of His work, and to do the work for the entire age. This is the principle by which God works in the Age of Word. He became flesh to speak from different perspectives, enabling man to truly see God, who is the Word appearing in the flesh, and His wisdom and wonder. Such work is done to better achieve the goals of conquering man, perfecting man, and eliminating man. This is the true meaning of using the word to work in the Age of Word. Through the word, man comes to know the work of God, the disposition of God, the essence of man, and what man ought to enter into. Through the word, all the work God wishes to do in the Age of Word is accomplished. Through the word, man is revealed, eliminated, and tried. Man has seen the word, heard the word, and become aware of the existence of the word. As a result, man believes in the existence of God; man believes the almightiness and wisdom of God, as well as God’s heart of love for man and His desire to save man. Though the word “word” is simple and ordinary, the word from the mouth of God become flesh shakes the entire universe; His word transforms the heart of man, the notions and the old disposition of man, and the old appearance of the entire world. Through the ages, only the God of this day works in such a manner, and only He speaks and saves man thus. Thereafter, man lives under the guidance of the word, shepherded and supplied by the word; they live in the world of the word, live within the curses and blessings of God’s word, and even more live under the judgment and chastisement of the word. These words and this work are all for the sake of man’s salvation, achieving God’s will, and changing the original appearance of the world of old creation. God created the world with the word, leads men throughout the universe with the word, conquers and saves them with the word. Finally, He shall use the word to bring the entire world of old to an end. Only then is the management plan wholly complete. Throughout the Age of Kingdom, God uses the word to do His work and achieve the results of His work; He does not work wonders or perform miracles; He merely does His work through the word. Because of the word, man is nourished and supplied; because of the word, man gains knowledge and true experience. Man in the Age of Word has truly received exceptional blessings. Man suffers no pain of the flesh and simply enjoys the bountiful supply of the word of God; they need not seek or journey forth, and at ease they see the appearance of God, hear Him speak personally, receive His supply, and see Him personally do His work. Man in ages past was unable to enjoy such things, and these are blessings that they could never receive.

Religious pastors and elders have a strong knowledge of the Bible, frequently expounding the Bible to people and making them hold to the Bible, so is expounding and elevating the Bible really bearing witness to and exalting the Lord? Why is it said that religious pastors and elders are hypocritical Pharisees? We still can’t figure this out, so please can you answer this for us?

January 11, 2018

Answer:

To people, explaining the Bible should not be wrong, but at the same time as explaining the Bible, what they actually do are acts that resist God. What kind of people are these? Aren’t they hypocritical Pharisees? Aren’t they God-resisting antichrists? Why is the pastors and elders’ explanation of the Bible resisting God? Why is it condemning God? There are still people who don’t understand and still think that explaining the Bible is exalting and bearing witness to God. The Jewish chief priests, scribes and Pharisees back then were all scripture scholars and experts who often explained the scriptures to people. If explaining the Bible is exalting and bearing witness to God, then why is it that when the Lord Jesus came to preach and work, they instead furiously resisted and condemned the Lord Jesus, and in the end colluded with the government to nail the Lord Jesus to the cross? Modern religious pastors and elders are all people who are familiar with the Bible and have explained the Bible for many years. If explaining the Bible is exalting and bearing witness to God, then why is it that when Almighty God has come to express truths and perform His judgment work, they not only fail to seek and investigate, but instead furiously resist and condemn? What’s the problem here? Isn’t this a serious problem that all believers should reflect on? Furthermore, if religious leaders explaining the Bible is the same as exalting and bearing witness to God, then in the Age of Grace, why is it that the Lord Jesus did not work in the temple when He came? Why is it that Almighty God of the last days doesn’t work in the religious church when He has come? It’s because religious leaders don’t exalt and bear witness to God at all and are all hypocritical, arrogant Pharisees. They are all antichrists who control religion and oppose God! How could they possibly allow God to exist or allow the religious world to have voices that bear witness to God?! If the incarnate Christ came into religion and worked and preached in the religious church, then He would surely be arrested and handed over to the ruling party and crucified. If people went to religious churches to bear witness to God, then they would surely be arrested and persecuted. As the Lord Jesus said, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the middle of wolves” (Mat 10:16). Can we still not see this fact clearly? Based on the fact of religious Pharisees’ resisting and condemning God, we should be able to see clearly whether or not exalting the Bible is bearing witness to God. Can people who truly exalt and bear witness to God resist God? Can they see God as their enemy? Additionally, we should all know that the Bible does not contain only God’s words but also many words of man. Therefore, exalting the Bible and exalting God are not the same thing. Upholding the Bible and upholding the Lord’s commandments are not the same thing. When religious Pharisees explain the Bible, they only focus on explaining man’s words in the Bible, explaining Bible knowledge and theological theory, and preaching and bearing witness to man’s words, but do not focus on spreading and bearing witness to God’s words and the truth expressed by God in the Bible. Can this still be said to exalt and bear witness to God? Is this not resisting and betraying God? Therefore, all those who think explaining the Bible is exalting and bearing witness to God don’t understand spiritual matters and cannot see through the essence of the problem. They are all confused people, people who worship and blindly believe in and follow religious leaders. Is this not a fact?

Back then, those Jewish Pharisees only focused on explaining Bible knowledge and doctrines, as well as engaging in religious rituals and observing religious rules and human traditions, but instead abandoned God’s commandments and veered off God’s way, such that when the Lord Jesus came, they furiously resisted, condemned the Lord Jesus and nailed Him to the cross. As a result, they were cursed and punished by God. Although today’s religious pastors and elders often explain the Bible and bear witness to the Bible to people, they do not pay attention to spreading and bearing witness to God’s word, or pay attention to preaching the Lord Jesus’ will and His requirements of man, and also rarely bear witness to the Lord Jesus’ divine substance and loveliness. They don’t guide people to practice and experience the Lord’s word, and moreover do not pay attention to communing how to uphold the Lord’s commandments and follow God’s will. They only focus on explaining and exalting the words of man in the Bible, making others treat man’s words in the Bible as God’s words and as the truth to practice and uphold. When they resolve problems it is also mostly based on man’s words in the Bible instead of God’s words in the Bible. They use man’s words in the Bible to reject and resist God’s words. On the issue of entry into the kingdom of heaven, for instance, the Lord Jesus clearly told people: “Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Mat 7:21). But pastors and elders instead put the words of the Lord Jesus aside and treat man’s words in the Bible as the truth and as the standard for man’s entry into the kingdom of heaven, teaching people that they only need to toil and work for the Lord to enter the kingdom of heaven. They use man’s words to replace God’s words and reject God’s words, and as a result lead people astray. This is the most treacherous, malicious aspect of religious pastors’ and elders’ resistance of God! They interpret the Bible out of context, using man’s words in the Bible to resist and condemn Almighty God, and stopping at nothing to deceive, bind, and control believers, and block them from investigating and accepting Almighty God’s work of the last days, putting them all firmly under their own control. It’s just as Almighty God says, “Look at the leaders of every denomination and sect. They are all arrogant and self-right, and they interpret the Bible out of context and according to their own imagination. They all rely on gifts and erudition to do their work. If they were incapable of preaching anything, would those people follow them? They do, after all, possess some learning, and can speak a little of doctrine, or know how to win over others and how to use some artifices, through which they have brought people before themselves and have deceived them. Nominally, those people believe in God—but in reality they follow their leaders. If they encounter those who preach the true way, some of them would say, ‘We have to consult him about our belief in God.’ See how they require someone’s consent to believe in God; is that not a problem? What have those leaders become, then? Have they not become Pharisees, false shepherds, antichrists, and stumbling blocks to people’s acceptance of the true way?” (“Only the Pursuit of the Truth Is the True Belief in God” in Records of Christ’s Talks). Based on these facts, how can we say that religious pastors and elders explaining the Bible is exalting and bearing witness to God? Are they not taking advantage of the opportunity of explaining the Bible to misinterpret the Bible and take things out of context to resist God? They have long become obstacles and stumbling blocks to people accepting the true way and returning to God, and are precisely the antichrists exposed by the work of Almighty God in the last days. Can we still not see this fact clearly?

According to people’s conceptions, explaining the Bible is the same as exalting and bearing witness to God, but from the Pharisees’ and religious leaders’ explaining of the Bible, we can see that this is not really the case. What religious Pharisees are exalting and bearing witness to is the Bible and not God. Their preaching is mainly explaining man’s words in the Bible and not God’s words. They use man’s words in the Bible to replace and resist God’s words, and take the words of man in the Bible out of context to resist and draw conclusions about God. The purpose of their explaining of the Bible is not to exalt and bear witness to God, but to deceive and control people and achieve their despicable purposes. Such explaining of the Bible is resisting God and doing evil! That is why, when God comes to work, they use the Bible to keep a tight grip on people, making them blindly believe in the Bible and hold on to the Bible, taking them all on the road to resisting God. This shows that Pharisees’ and religious leaders’ explaining of the Bible is a means of resisting God. They are completely taking the words of man in the Bible out of context to resist and oppose God, to set up their own independent kingdom. Then how should one explain the Bible to be exalting and bearing witness to God? What the Bible records is God’s work and testimonies of God. Explaining the Bible means to exalt and bear witness to God in accordance with God’s words in the Bible and the truths in the Bible. It is to spread and bear witness to God’s words in the Bible. It is to communicate God’s intentions in accordance with God’s requirements and based on God’s words and communicate the truth in God’s words. It is to testify about God’s work and His disposition to people, and to bear witness to God’s essence and His loveliness. It is to lead people to practice and experience God’s words, thus allowing them to achieve entry into the reality of God’s words. It is to exalt the Lord Jesus and bear witness to Him in all things. Only by explaining the Bible in such ways is one exalting and bearing witness to God, being after God’s heart, and genuinely serving God. The words of man in the Bible can only be used as reference and supplement, and can never be compared to God’s words. Yet religious pastors and elders only care about explaining the words of man in the Bible. They treat the words of man in the Bible as God’s words, as the truth, using it as a guideline for their conduct and behavior, as the basis of the way they handle problems. But they rarely mention God’s words, and they use the words of man to replace God’s words and leave God’s words behind. Is explaining the Bible like that bearing witness to God? Isn’t this just exalting and bearing witness to man? Additionally, when they explain the Bible they only focus on explaining theological theory, explaining characters, locations, and historical backgrounds in the Bible to show off. Isn’t this just deceiving and trapping people? Isn’t this making people worship and follow them? Back then, those hypocritical Pharisees took advantage of their opportunity of explaining the Scriptures to misinterpret the Scriptures in order to deceive and control people, and in the end they took believers on the road to following man and resisting God, and turned Judaism into a God-opposing independent kingdom. In the last days, religious pastors and elders are also taking advantage of explaining the Bible to make people blindly believe in and worship the Bible, and are using the Bible to replace God’s place in people’s hearts, unwittingly taking believers on the road to betraying the Lord’s word and resisting God, also turning the religious world into a God-opposing independent kingdom, a staunch bastion of resistance to God’s work. Isn’t explaining the Bible like they do resisting and blaspheming God? Isn’t this precisely the deception of the antichrist Pharisees in opposing God and setting up their own independent kingdom? How could it be said to be exalting and bearing witness to God? The cunningness of religious Pharisees in resisting God lies in using their opportunity to explain the Bible to misinterpret the Bible in order to deceive and control people. The Bible was originally a testimony of God; in our conceptions, one is always bearing witness to God no matter how they explain the Bible. However, the hypocritical Pharisees take advantage of this conception of ours and do their utmost in exalting and bearing witness to the Bible. They use the Bible to replace God and to resist God and deceive us. This makes us all blindly believe in and worship the Bible, and makes us worship and follow Bible scholars like them and thus betray God. This is Satan’s most treacherous, cunning deception to resist God and deceive people, and the aspect that is most difficult for us to see through and the easiest for us to be deceived with.

Let’s take a look at Almighty God’s words: “Those who read the Bible in grand churches recite the Bible every day, yet not one understands the purpose of God’s work. Not one is able to know God; moreover, not one is in accord with the heart of God. They are all worthless, vile men, each standing on high to teach God. Though they brandish the name of God, they willfully oppose Him. Though they label themselves believers of God, they are ones who eat the flesh and drink the blood of man. All such men are devils who devour the soul of man, demons who purposefully disturb those who try to step onto the right path, and stumbling blocks that impede the path of those who seek God. Though they are of ‘robust flesh,’ how are their followers to know that they are antichrists who lead man in opposition to God? How are they to know that they are living devils who specially seek souls to devour?” (“All Who Do Not Know God Are Those Who Oppose God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“The most rebellious person is one who intentionally defies and resists God. He is the enemy of God and the antichrist. Such a person constantly bears a hostile attitude toward the new work of God, has never shown the smallest intention of submitting, and has never gladly shown submission or humbled himself. He exalts himself before others and never shows submission to anyone. Before God, he considers himself the most proficient in preaching the word and the most skillful in working on others. He never discards the treasures already in his possession, but treats them as family heirlooms for worship, for preaching about to others, and uses them to lecture those fools who idolize him. There are indeed a certain number of people like this in the church. It can be said that they are “indomitable heroes,” generation after generation sojourning in the house of God. They take preaching the word (doctrine) to be their highest duty. Year after year and generation by generation, they go about vigorously enforcing their “sacred and inviolable” duty. None dare touch them and not a single person dares openly reproach them. They become “kings” in the house of God, running rampant as they tyrannize over others from age to age. This pack of demons seeks to join hands and demolish My work; how can I allow these living devils to exist before My eyes?” (“Those Who Obey God With a True Heart Shall Surely Be Gained by God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Evidently, even though religious pastors and elders often explain the Bible, they are not people who understand the truth and know God. They are precisely the hypocritical Pharisees. They are false shepherds and workers who deceive, control, bind and harm people. They lead people to deny Christ, condemn Christ, to the extent of resisting God and being hostile to Him, making them all into Satan’s accomplices and puppets. Isn’t this an obvious fact?

from Classic Questions and Answers on the Gospel of the Kingdom

Both the Pharisees and the pastors and elders interpret and exalt the Bible. However, how can they still resist and condemn God incarnate? Are they bearing witness to and exalting the Lord? We must understand yet another truth: The Bible is only testimony of God; it is a record of God’s work during the Age of Law and the Age of Grace. God expresses some truths during each stage of His work. In His words, people find His disposition and all that He has and is. Therefore, each time people experience a stage of God’s work, they understand some truths and know more about God. During the three stages of work in His management plan, God gradually reveals His essence and disposition, all that He has and all that He is; during the Age of Kingdom, God fully reveals His inherent righteous disposition, almightiness and wisdom, authority and glory. We should be clear about this. If we only know God from His work and words from the Age of Law and the Age of Grace, then that would be a very limited understanding of God. Plus, we have an arrogant satanic nature, so it is easy for us to define God and resist God. This is just like what the early Jewish chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees did when they defined God by the work He did in the Age of Law. They felt that God only proclaimed the laws so that people would follow the laws of God. They also felt that God could not do His work beyond the law. The result was that when God became flesh to do His work of redemption, which exceeded their notions and imaginations, they furiously resisted and condemned the Lord Jesus and they crucified Him. In the last days, the pastors and leaders of the religious community have defined God by the work He did in the Age of Grace. They believe that God is the God of the crucifixion, that He is the loving and merciful God, and that He is the God of eternal forgiveness for mankind’s sins. The result has been that when Almighty God becomes flesh, and He expresses His truths and carries out the judgment work of the last days, which doesn’t fit in with the notions and imaginations held by religious pastors and leaders, so they have fiercely resisted, condemned, and once again sought to crucify Him. These facts have allowed us to see that if our knowledge of God is only based on His work in the Age of Law and the Age of Grace, then that is a very one-sided knowledge of God; we will have an incomplete understanding of God’s disposition and all that He is and we will not be able to achieve the standard of truly knowing God. When someone does not know God, it is very easy for them to define and resist God as they explain the Bible!

At that time, the Lord Jesus critically exposed and cursed the hypocritical Pharisees. In the last days, Almighty God has exposed, judged and condemned the pastors and elders who have the antichrist essence of misleading others with their interpretations of the Bible and resisting God. Let’s read some passages from Almighty God’s word, “Those who read the Bible in grand churches recite the Bible every day, yet not one understands the purpose of God’s work. Not one is able to know God; moreover, not one is in accord with the heart of God. They are all worthless, vile men, each standing on high to teach God. Though they brandish the name of God, they willfully oppose Him. Though they label themselves believers of God, they are ones who eat the flesh and drink the blood of man. All such men are devils who devour the soul of man, demons who purposefully disturb those who try to step onto the right path, and stumbling blocks that impede the path of those who seek God. Though they are of ‘robust flesh,’ how are their followers to know that they are antichrists who lead man in opposition to God? How are they to know that they are living devils who specially seek souls to devour?” (“All Who Do Not Know God Are Those Who Oppose God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“Such a person constantly bears a hostile attitude toward the new work of God, has never shown the smallest intention of submitting, and has never gladly shown submission or humbled himself. He exalts himself before others and never shows submission to anyone. Before God, he considers himself the most proficient in preaching the word and the most skillful in working on others. He never discards the treasures already in his possession, but treats them as family heirlooms for worship, for preaching about to others, and uses them to lecture those fools who idolize him. … They take preaching the word (doctrine) to be their highest duty. Year after year and generation by generation, they go about vigorously enforcing their “sacred and inviolable” duty. None dare touch them and not a single person dares openly reproach them. They become “kings” in the house of God, running rampant as they tyrannize over others from age to age. This pack of demons seeks to join hands and demolish My work; how can I allow these living devils to exist before My eyes?” (“Those Who Obey God With a True Heart Shall Surely Be Gained by God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh).

“Look at the leaders of every denomination and sect. They are all arrogant and self-right, and they interpret the Bible out of context and according to their own imagination. They all rely on gifts and erudition to do their work. If they were incapable of preaching anything, would those people follow them? They do, after all, possess some learning, and can speak a little of doctrine, or know how to win over others and how to use some artifices, through which they have brought people before themselves and have deceived them. Nominally, those people believe in God—but in reality they follow their leaders. If they encounter those who preach the true way, some of them would say, ‘We have to consult him about our belief in God.’ See how they require someone’s consent to believe in God; is that not a problem? What have those leaders become, then? Have they not become Pharisees, false shepherds, antichrists, and stumbling blocks to people’s acceptance of the true way?” (“Only the Pursuit of the Truth Is the True Belief in God” in Records of Christ’s Talks).

The word of Almighty God has thoroughly exposed the hypocritical substance of the pastors and elders of the religious world. They have spared no effort in condemning and resisting Almighty God incarnate and they have become enemies of Christ of the last days, and they have fulfilled the predictions of the Bible: “And as you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time” (1Jn 2:18). “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist” (2Jn 1:7). The pastors and elders of the religious community are obstinate in refusing to acknowledge Christ incarnate and they fundamentally do not believe that God has become flesh, so how are they any different from the early Jewish chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees? Why did the Lord Jesus repeatedly curse them, saying: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” It is because the leaders of the religious community deny Christ and become enemies of Christ; they have made every effort to fight over God’s chosen people, by using the pretext of explaining the Bible to resist and condemn Christ in an attempt to gain control over all of God’s chosen people, with the ultimately depraved aim of creating their own independent kingdom. In this way the religious communities created their own antichrist kingdoms to compete with Christ. Couldn’t we all agree that the antichrists are worthy of being cursed? How could any intelligent person be unclear on these facts?

Since the pastors and elders’ explaining and exalting the Bible is not the same as exalting and bearing witness to the Lord, then what is truly exalting and bearing witness to the Lord? Truly witnessing the Lord and exalting Him isn’t about how we interpret the Bible. The key is whether or not we can practice God’s words, experience His work, and obtain true knowledge of God. If people love and pursue the truth, they will obtain the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and true experience and knowledge of God’s words. This knowledge is created by practicing and experiencing God’s words. It is true knowledge of God. Communicating these real experiences and testimonies is what it means to truly exalt God and bear witness to Him. What those who exalt and bear witness to God speak of does not come from their own conceptions, imaginings or logic; it definitely does not come from their literal interpretation of God’s words or empty theological theories. They focus on communicating God’s words as stated in the Bible, communicating God’s will, His demands toward people, His disposition, and all that He has and is, allowing us to understand God’s will and disposition and truly know God. It allows us to obey God, fear God and shun evil. These kinds of biblical interpretations and communications about God’s words are how they can truly exalt God and bear witness to God. However, when the pastors and elders interpret the Bible, can they really communicate the reality of the truth of God’s words? Can they communicate God’s will? Can they bear witness to God’s disposition? Can they make us know, obey or revere God? The facts have shown us that most of the pastors and elders in the religious community hate the truth and resist God; that is their true nature. They do not practice God’s words or experience His work. They do not understand His will or demands at all, and they certainly do not understand His disposition, all that He has, or all that He is. Therefore, they cannot communicate any true knowledge of God, and they cannot bear witness to the Lord Jesus’ divine substance or lovable qualities. They just interpret dead words in the Bible and theological theories, or some of the stories about biblical characters and their historical backgrounds, to make people admire and look up to them. They’re not exalting or bearing witness to the Lord at all.

Not only that, but most of the time the religious pastors and elders are interpreting man’s words, like Paul’s words in the Bible. According to Paul, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2Ti 3:16), they take all the words of the Bible as if they were God’s words. This has caused the entire religious community to take the words of the apostles as the words of God and tell believers to practice and observe them. They’re quoting the words of the apostles more and more frequently when they give sermons, fellowship, or bear witness. However, they’re quoting the words of God and the Lord Jesus less and less. Isn’t this the case? Do you know what result this brings? The end result is that God and the Lord Jesus’ words in the Bible have all been replaced and nullified by the words of human beings. The Lord Jesus’ place in our hearts is continually diminishing, while the status of Paul and other men in our hearts continues to grow bigger. This has allowed Paul’s and the other men’s words in the Bible to occupy our hearts. We believe in the Lord Jesus in name, but in reality we’re just proceeding according to the writings of some men in the Bible, like Paul’s. We are traveling along our own path of faith in God, with men’s words, especially Paul’s words, replacing the Lord Jesus’ words. If we believe in God this way won’t we stray from the Lord’s way? How can this type of service be in accordance with God’s will? For instance, the Lord Jesus once said this regarding entering the kingdom of heaven: “but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Mat 7:21). However, the pastors and elders always prefer to use Paul’s words, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness” (2Ti 4:7-8). They teach us that as long as we labor for the Lord like Paul did, we can enter the heavenly kingdom. This is a complete betrayal of the Lord Jesus’ words. The result is that most of us believers do not know how to follow God’s will. We’re even less clear of what kind of people can enter the kingdom of heaven. We use Paul’s words as our maxims. The pastors and elders substitute the words of men for the words of the Lord. In doing so, they exclude the words of the Lord. The result is that they lead people astray. When they interpret the Bible this way, are they helping us understand the Lord’s words? Are they exalting or bearing witness to the Lord? Are they guiding us to enter the reality of God’s words? I think they are in direct opposition to God, and this problem is very serious! The religious pastors and elders often substitute men’s words in the Bible for God’s words. We should now be clear about the consequences of this, right? How can so many people believe in the Lord for years and still not know Him? Why do they never really experience the Lord’s words? How can people that believe in the Lord this way ever obtain the truth or life? Isn’t this because the pastors and elders continually interpret the words of men from the Bible and urge us to stick to their interpretations?

Almighty God’s work in the last days exposed these pastors and elders, these antichrist demons in the religious community. Otherwise, no one would be able to see that their exaltations and interpretations of the Bible are actually their insidious ways to deceive and control people, nor would anyone be able to see the truth: They are enemies of God bent on establishing their own independent kingdom. As is known to all, in the Lord Jesus’ time the Pharisees exalted and bore witness to the Bible; they tried to keep God within their scriptures. They never sought the truth or searched for God’s footsteps, and wantonly condemned and opposed the Lord Jesus because of the fact that the Lord Jesus’ words and work went beyond the Bible. The pastors and elders in the last days are just like those Pharisees: They exalt and bear witness to the Bible; they define God as being the God in the Bible. They also disseminate lies, saying, “None of God’s words and work exist outside of the Bible,” “To believe in the Bible is to believe in God. If someone strays from the Bible, they no longer believe in God.” They say this to mislead us into blindly believing in and worshiping the Bible. The pastors and elders are using these secret, underhanded methods to steal us from God, and make us kneel before the Bible. This causes us to subconsciously lose our relationship with God. We who once believed in God now only believe in the Bible. The Bible has become the Lord in our hearts, God in our hearts. God’s place in believers’ hearts is unknowingly diminishing, and so their blind belief in and worshiping of the Bible causes them to worship and follow the biblical scholars, the pastors and elders. Is the religious pastors and leaders’ exalting and bearing witness to the Bible any different from that of the Jewish chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees? No, not at all. The pastors and elders use the Bible as a tool to control the religious community and achieve their own ambitions. They exalt the Bible and interpret it out of context to deceive and control us. They subconsciously lead us down the path of following and worshiping men and being enemies of God. They mislead many people into thinking that worshiping the Bible and adhering to the Bible is the same as believing in God and having the presence of God. Therefore, these people do not seek or study God’s work in the last days, and miss their chance of meeting the Lord’s return and being raptured into the kingdom of heaven. This really is Satan’s most insidious and cunning plan. Therefore, we can see that the pastors and elders in the religious community are a group of genuine conmen and Pharisees! They are false shepherds and antichrists that mislead and control God’s chosen people! The religious community is controlled by a group of Pharisees and antichrist demons that resist God. It ceased to be a community where God could do His work long ago. It has become a satanic camp that takes God as its enemy. It became the great city Babylon long ago! How can the religious Babylon not fall under God’s wrath?

from Classic Questions and Answers on the Gospel of the Kingdom

What is the nature of the problem of man not knowing the significance of God’s name and not accepting God’s new name?

Relevant Words of God:

In each period of time, God will begin new work, and in each period, there will be a new beginning among man. If man only abides by the truths that “Jehovah is God” and “Jesus is Christ,” which are truths that only apply to a single age, then man will never keep up with the work of the Holy Spirit, and will forever be incapable of gaining the work of the Holy Spirit. Regardless of how God works, man follows without the slightest doubt, and he follows closely. In this way, how could man be eliminated by the Holy Spirit? Regardless of what God does, as long as man is certain that it is the work of the Holy Spirit, and cooperates in the work of the Holy Spirit without any misgivings, and tries to meet the requirements of God, then how could he be punished? The work of God has never ceased, His footsteps have never halted, and prior to the completion of His work of management, He has always been busy, and never stops. But man is different: Having gained but a modicum of the Holy Spirit’s work, he treats it as if it will never change; having gained a little knowledge, he does not go forth to follow the footsteps of God’s newer work; having seen but a bit of God’s work, he immediately prescribes God as a particular wooden figure, and believes that God will always remain in this form that he sees before him, that it was like this in the past and will always be thus in the future; having gained but a superficial knowledge, man is so proud that he forgets himself and begins to wantonly proclaim the disposition and being of God that simply do not exist; and having fastened upon one stage of the Holy Spirit’s work, no matter what kind of person it is that proclaims the new work of God, man does not accept it. These are people who cannot accept the new work of the Holy Spirit; they are too conservative, and incapable of accepting new things. Such people are those who believe in God but also reject God. Man believes that the Israelites were wrong to “only believe in Jehovah and not believe in Jesus,” yet the majority of people act out a role in which they “only believe in Jehovah and reject Jesus” and “long for the return of the Messiah, but oppose the Messiah who is called Jesus.” No wonder, then, that people still live under the domain of Satan after accepting one stage of the work of the Holy Spirit, and still do not receive God’s blessings. 

God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself I

God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself I

Today we are communicating an important topic. This is a topic that has been discussed since the commencement of God’s work until now, and is of vital significance to every single person. In other words, this is an issue that everyone will come into contact with throughout the process of their belief in God and an issue that must be touched upon. It’s a crucial, unavoidable issue mankind cannot separate itself from. Speaking of importance, what is the most important thing for every believer in God? Some people think the most important thing is understanding God’s will; some believe it is most important to eat and drink more of God’s words; some feel the most important thing is to know themselves; others are of the opinion that the most important thing is knowing how to find salvation through God, how to follow God, and how to fulfill God’s will. We will put all of these issues aside for today. So what are we discussing then? We are discussing a topic about God. Is this the most important topic to every person? What is the content of a topic about God? Of course, this topic certainly cannot be separated from God’s disposition, God’s essence, and God’s work. So today, let’s discuss “God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself.”