61. The Principles of Pursuing the Truth

61. The Principles of Pursuing the Truth

1. You must take obtaining the work of the Holy Spirit on the foundation of obeying God’s work as your principle, and only in this way will your pursuit of the truth be effective;

2. You must establish a normal relationship with God, obtain the perfection of the work of the Holy Spirit, and obey and closely follow the leadership and shepherding of the man used by the Holy Spirit;

3. You must dedicate your life to God. You must suffer and pay the price for the sake of fulfilling your duty to your utmost ability and upholding God’s work, so that God’s will may be carried out;

4. You must walk the path of Peter, do your utmost to pursue the truth and seek to love God, go by God’s words in all things and never follow false leaders or antichrists.

Relevant Words of God:

Since you believe in God, then you must put faith in all of the words of God and in all of His work. That is to say, since you believe in God, you must obey Him. If you are unable to do this, then it does not matter whether you believe in God. If you have believed in God for many years, and yet have never obeyed Him or accepted all of His words, but instead asked God to submit to you and act in accord with your notions, then you are the most rebellious of persons, and you are an unbeliever. How is one such as this able to obey the work and the words of God that do not conform to the notions of man? …

Not all those who experience the work of the Holy Spirit can gain life, and not all the people in this stream can gain life. Life is not a common property shared by all humanity, and the transformation of disposition is not something that is easily achieved by all. Submission to the work of God must be tangible and must be lived out. Submission on a superficial level cannot receive the approval of God, and merely to obey the superficial aspects of God’s word, without seeking a transformation of one’s disposition, will not be able to please God’s heart. Obedience to God and submission to the work of God are one and the same. Those who submit only to God but not to His work cannot be deemed obedient, even less can those who do not truly submit but are outwardly sycophantic. Those who truly submit to God are all able to gain from the work and achieve understanding of the disposition and work of God. Only such men truly submit to God. Such men are able to gain new knowledge from new work and experience new changes from the same. Only such men have the approval of God; only this kind of man is one who is perfected, one who has undergone a transformation of his disposition.

from “Those Who Obey God With a True Heart Shall Surely Be Gained by God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The work of the Holy Spirit changes from day to day, rising higher with each step; the revelation of tomorrow is even higher than today’s, step by step climbing ever higher. Such is the work by which God perfects man. If man cannot keep pace, then he may be left behind at any time. If man does not have an obedient heart, then he cannot follow to the end. The former age has passed; this is a new age. And in a new age, new work must be done. Particularly in the final age in which man will be perfected, God will perform new work ever more quickly. Therefore, without obedience in his heart, man will find it difficult to follow the footsteps of God. God does not abide by any rules, nor does He treat any stage of His work as unchanging. Rather, the work He does is ever newer and ever higher. His work becomes more and more practical with each step, more and more in line with the actual needs of man. Only after man experiences this kind of work can he attain the final transformation of his disposition. Man’s knowledge of life reaches ever higher levels, and so likewise the work of God reaches ever higher levels. Only in this way can man be made perfect and become fit for God’s use. God works in this way on the one hand to counter and reverse the notions of man, and on the other to lead man into a higher and more realistic state, into the highest realm of belief in God, so that in the end, the will of God can be done. All those of a disobedient nature who willfully oppose shall be left behind by this stage of God’s swift and furiously advancing work; only those who willingly obey and who gladly humble themselves can progress to the end of the road. In this kind of work, all of you should learn how to submit and how to put aside your notions. You should be cautious in every step you take. If you are careless, you will surely become one who is spurned by the Holy Spirit, one who disrupts God in His work. … The work done by God differs from period to period. If you show great obedience in one phase, yet in the next phase show less or none at all, then God shall desert you. If you keep pace with God as He ascends this step, then you must continue to keep pace when He ascends the next. Only then are you one who is obedient to the Holy Spirit. Since you believe in God, you must remain constant in your obedience. You cannot simply obey when you please and disobey when you do not. This kind of obedience does not meet with God’s approval. If you cannot keep pace with the new work I fellowship and continue to hold on to the former sayings, then how can there be progress in your life? God’s work is to supply you through His words. When you obey and accept His words, then the Holy Spirit shall surely work in you. The Holy Spirit works exactly in the way I speak. Do as I have said, and the Holy Spirit will promptly work in you. I release a new light for you to see and bring you into the light of the present time. When you walk into this light, the Holy Spirit will immediately work in you. There are some who may be recalcitrant, saying, “I simply will not carry out what you say.” Then I tell you that you have now come to the end of the road, you are dried up, and have no more life. Therefore, in experiencing the transformation of your disposition, it is most crucial to keep pace with the present light.

from “Those Who Obey God With a True Heart Shall Surely Be Gained by God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

If your heart can be poured into God and keep quiet before Him, then you will have the opportunity and the qualifications to be used by the Holy Spirit, to receive the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit, and even more, you will have the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to make up for your shortcomings. When you give your heart to God, you can enter more deeply into the positive aspect and be on a higher plane of insight; in the negative aspect, you will have more understanding of your own faults and shortcomings, you will be more eager to seek to satisfy God’s will, and you will not be passive, and will actively enter in. This will mean that you are a correct person. On the premise that your heart is calm before God, the key to whether or not you receive praise from the Holy Spirit and whether or not you please God is whether you can actively enter in. …

It can be seen from experience that one of the most important issues is quieting one’s heart before God. It is an issue that concerns people’s spiritual life, and the growth of their life. Only if your heart is at peace before God will your pursuit of the truth and of changes in your disposition bear fruit. Because you come burdened before God and you always feel that you are lacking too much, that there are many truths that you need to know, much reality that you need to experience, and that you should give every care to God’s will—these things are always on your mind, and it is as if they are pressing down on you so hard that you can’t breathe, and thus you feel heavy of heart (but not in a negative state). Only people such as this are qualified to accept the enlightenment of God’s words and be moved by the Spirit of God. It is because of their burden, because they are heavy of heart, and, it can be said, because of the price they have paid and the torment they have suffered before God that they receive His enlightenment and illumination, for God does not give anyone special treatment. He is always fair in His treatment of people, but He is also not arbitrary in His provision to people, and does not give to them unconditionally. This is one aspect of His righteous disposition.

from “Establishing a Proper Relationship With God Is Very Important” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

May all brothers and sisters do everything in their power to offer their whole beings to God’s heavenly will, become holy servants in the house of God, and enjoy the infinite promises bestowed by God, so that God the Father’s heart can soon enjoy peaceful rest. “Accomplish God the Father’s will” should be the motto of all who love God. These words should serve as man’s guide for entry and the compass directing his actions. This is the resolve that man should have. To thoroughly finish God’s work on earth and cooperate with God’s work in the flesh—this is man’s duty. One day, when God’s work is done, man will bid Him farewell on an early return to the Father in heaven. Is this not the responsibility that man should fulfill?

from “Work and Entry (6)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

To summarize taking the path of Peter, it is to take the path of pursuing the truth, which is also the path of truly knowing oneself and changing one’s disposition. Only by going the way of Peter will one be going the way of being perfected by God. One must be clear on specifically how to take the way of Peter and how to put it into practice. First, one must put aside his own intentions, improper pursuits, and even his family and all things of his own flesh. He must be wholeheartedly devoted, that is, completely devote himself to the word of God, focus on eating and drinking the word of God, focus on the search for the truth, the search for God’s intention in His words, and try to grasp the will of God in everything. This is the most fundamental and the most critical method of practice. This is what Peter did after seeing Jesus, and it is only by practicing in this way that one obtains the best results. Wholehearted devotion to the words of God mainly means seeking the truth, seeking God’s intention within His words, focusing on grasping the will of God, and understanding and obtaining more truth from the words of God. When reading His words, Peter was not focused on understanding doctrines and he was even less focused on obtaining theological knowledge; instead, he was focused on understanding the truth and grasping God’s will, and achieving an understanding of His disposition and His loveliness. He also tried to understand the various corrupt states of man from God’s words, and understand the corrupt nature of man and man’s true shortcomings, achieving all aspects of the demands God makes of man in order to satisfy Him. He had so many correct practices within the words of God; this is most in line with God’s will, and it is man’s best cooperation in his experience of the work of God. When experiencing the hundreds of trials from God, he examined himself strictly against every word of God’s judgment of man, every word of God’s revelation of man, and every word of His demands of man, and tried to reach for the meaning of God’s words. He tried in earnest to ponder and memorize every word that Jesus said to him, and achieved very good results. Through this way of practicing he was able to achieve an understanding of himself from God’s words, and he not only came to understand the various corrupt states of man, but he also came to understand man’s essence, man’s nature, and the various types of shortcomings that man has—this is a true understanding of oneself. From God’s words, he not only achieved a true understanding of himself, but from the things expressed in God’s word—God’s righteous disposition, what He has and is, God’s will for His work, His demands of mankind—from these words he came to know God completely. He came to know God’s disposition, and His essence; he came to know and understand what God has and is, God’s loveliness and God’s demands for man. … He not only came to understand himself from the words and the work of God, but he also came to know God. He also particularly focused on God’s requirements of mankind within His words, and in what aspects man should satisfy God to be in line with God’s will. He put forth great effort in this aspect and achieved full clarity; this was very beneficial for his own entry. No matter what God spoke of, as long as those words could become his life and they belonged to the truth, he was able to carve them into his heart to ponder them often and comprehend them. After hearing the words of Jesus he was able to take them to heart, which shows that he was especially focused on God’s words, and he truly achieved results in the end. That is, he was able to freely put the words of God into practice, accurately practice the truth and be in line with God’s will, act entirely in accordance with God’s intention, and give up his own personal opinions and imaginations. In this way he entered into the reality of God’s words. Peter’s service was in line with God’s will primarily because he did this. If one can truly enter into the reality of God’s words from the matters and the words required by Him, then he will be a person perfected by God. It can be said that the work and the words of God are completely effective for this person, that God’s words become his life, he obtains truth, and he can live according to God’s words. After this the nature of his flesh, that is, the foundation of his original existence, will shake and collapse. After one has the words of God as his life he becomes a new person. The words of God become his life; the vision of God’s work, His requirements of man, His revelation of man, and the standards for a true life that God requires man to achieve become his life—he lives according to these words and these truths, and this person becomes perfected by the words of God. He experiences rebirth and becomes a new man through His words. This is the path by which Peter pursued the truth; it was the path of being perfected….

from “How to Take the Path of Peter” in Records of Christ’s Talks

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 our leader 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? …

No matter whether you followed someone else or you didn’t satisfy the will of God when you previously believed in God, you must come before God during this stage of work of the last days. If you continue to follow someone on the basis of experiencing this stage of work, then you will be considered unforgivable, and will end up just like Paul. From the start, I used Paul and Peter as examples. Why? These are two distinct paths. If someone in their belief in God doesn’t walk the path of Peter, then they walk the path of Paul. These are the only two paths. No matter whether you are a follower below or a leader, it is all the same. If you don’t embark on Peter’s path, then you are walking Paul’s path. It is unavoidable, and there is no third path to walk. If people do not understand the will of God, do not know God, do not seek to understand the truth and cannot obey God absolutely, then in the end they must end up the same as Paul. If you do not seek to know God, do not seek to understand God’s will, but only seek to speak and equip yourself with doctrines, then you can only defy and betray God, because the nature of man is to defy God.

from “Only the Pursuit of the Truth Is the True Belief in God” in Records of Christ’s Talks

The Man’s Fellowship:

A brief fellowship of the ten principles of the pursuit of the truth is as follows:

1. The most important principle is that the pursuit of the truth must be established on obeying God’s judgment and chastisement, pruning and dealing and trials and refining.

The main thing for experiencing God’s work is to accept God’s judgment and chastisement, pruning and dealing and trials and refining. God utters the truth in His judgment of corrupt mankind. If people do not experience God’s judgment and chastisement, they cannot understand the truth and get the truth to achieve an understanding of God. If people do not accept God’s pruning and dealing, they cannot achieve a real understanding of themselves and of the truth either. If people do not experience trials and refining, they are even less able to see the true face of their own corruption and the essence of their own nature. It can be seen that pruning and dealing and trials and refining are therefore more realistic and more effective judgment and chastisement. So one must pursue the truth based on obeying God’s judgment and chastisement, pruning and dealing and trials and refining. If people’s pursuit of the truth is out of touch with God’s work, then it is all empty talk and not at all realistic. This is just like people in religious circles pursuing an understanding of the knowledge of the Bible, which has no significance with regards to understanding God and achieving changes to life disposition. People’s life entry mainly refers to the practice and entering of God’s words and the truth. Specifically speaking, it is the experience and entry in the judgment and chastisement of God’s words. The more people experience God’s judgment and chastisement, the clearer and more thoroughly they shall see the truth of their own corruption and the essence of their nature. What follows is an understanding of oneself, a hatred of oneself and a greater hatred of satanic evil spirits and demonic antichrists. In this way, real repentance can develop and people can focus more on the pursuit of the truth and changes to disposition. This is the result of experiencing God’s judgment and chastisement. … The pursuit of the truth is based precisely on God’s judgment and chastisement, pruning and dealing and trials and refining. Only by honestly accepting and obeying God’s judgment and chastisement can people achieve salvation and be perfected. This determines the basis and the approach for the pursuit of the truth.

2. The requirement for the pursuit of the truth is that one must obtain the perfection of the work of the Holy Spirit. This is fundamental. Those who do not have the Holy Spirit’s work are nonbelievers.

People can only obtain the work of the Holy Spirit by loving and pursuing the truth. The truth does not show favoritism to people and God does not show favoritism to people. To have the Holy Spirit’s work, people just need to pursue the truth. This is absolutely the case. Whether or not people love the truth is too important. Only people who love the truth can pursue the truth. People who neither love the truth nor pursue the truth will never be able to obtain the work of the Holy Spirit and without the work of the Holy Spirit, they will never be able to truly understand the truth, much less achieve an understanding of God. People’s enlightenment and understanding of God’s words and the truth is all a result of the Holy Spirit’s work. No matter how people are watered and supplied, if it is not down to the Holy Spirit’s work, then it is all empty talk. So the work of the Holy Spirit plays a decisive role in people understanding and gaining the truth. How people use their hearts to get close to God, pray to God and commune with God is critical for whether or not people obtain the Holy Spirit’s work. Because God looks down upon everything, He is fully aware of people’s intentions, disposition and attitude toward God in their communion with Him. People approach God in the same way in which they approach the truth. People who whole-heartedly love the truth can seek and accept the truth and if they have enlightenment and illumination from the Holy Spirit and can understand the truth then they can practice it. This is what people who are truly in pursuit of the truth are like. Only people who truly love and pursue the truth hunger and thirst for righteousness. Such people definitely have the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit in eating, drinking and practicing God’s words. All those who love and pursue the truth frequently seek and practice the truth whilst doing their duty. Especially whilst evangelizing, people need to seek the truth, practice exalting God and bearing witness to God even more. This is the easiest way to gain the Holy Spirit’s work and achieve an understanding of the truth and knowledge of God. In fact, if evangelists are in pursuit of the truth, they understand the truth the fastest. Because they often face challenges and encounter many difficulties in doing their duty, they are encouraged to seek and understand the truth. This is the advantage of doing one’s duty evangelizing. It is extremely beneficial to obtaining the Holy Spirit’s work and achieving an understanding of the truth and knowledge of God. … We all see people in pursuit of the truth who, despite sometimes practicing the truth, are sometimes capable of violating the truth and doing things based on the fondness of the flesh. At such times, one needs to see whether people accept and obey or not when they are faced with pruning and dealing, strikes and discipline. This best shows whether or not people truly love and pursue the truth. If people are able to accept pruning, dealing and discipline, then they are capable of truly repenting and amending their ways, despising themselves, cursing themselves and forsaking the flesh. Such people are without a doubt in pursuit of the truth. The main way to tell whether or not people are truly in pursuit of the truth is to see whether or not they practice the truth, whether or not they are able to truly accept and obey the truths communicated by leaders and workers and whether or not they can accept pruning and dealing and truly repent and amend their ways when they have transgressions or reveal their corruption. This is the standard for measuring whether or not people are truly in pursuit of the truth. Only those who can accept pruning and dealing, practice the truth and obey God are truly in pursuit of the truth. People who are still capable of resisting and who do not reflect on and understand themselves when they face pruning, dealing, discipline, strikes or punishment are certainly not in pursuit of the truth. …

3. The scope of the pursuit of the truth must be in all God’s words of His last days’ work, must be completely in accordance with God’s words and must not run counter to God’s words.

The scope of the pursuit of the truth is of course within all God’s words of His last days’ work. The core part of God’s last days’ work is all His words since God started to do His ministry and made utterances to the whole universe. This section of God’s words is the reality of truth that God’s chosen people must understand and enter. To be cleansed, saved and perfected, God’s chosen people must mainly rely on these words. These words contain many truths, which are sufficient to let God’s chosen people achieve salvation and be perfected. It can be said that the scope of the pursuit of the truth is mainly within these words. All of God’s words are the basis of people’s pursuit of the truth. People can only truly achieve an understanding of God’s work, God’s almightiness and wisdom and God’s disposition and essence from all the words of God’s last days’ work. …

People must base the pursuit of the truth on an understanding of God’s words. In order to produce a true understanding, they must accept and obey every sentence of God’s words and then experience and practice them. An understanding based on people’s literal understanding of God’s words, as well as their conception and imagination is not a true understanding. This is produced by people’s brains and not from people’s experience. Only understanding gotten from the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment and illumination in experiencing and practicing God’s words is an understanding of the truth and real knowledge of God. If people do not experience God’s judgment and chastisement and do not accept and obey every one of God’s words, then they are not able to understand and get the truth. This is a fact that the life experience of countless God’s chosen people has proved. One must first accept and obey the judgment and chastisement of God’s words to truly understand every sentence of God’s words and every truth. No matter whether or not God’s words conform to people’s conceptions, imagination and preferences, one must accept and obey and then experience and practice them in order to achieve an understanding of the truth and God. Only people who practice and experience God’s words in this way are truly in pursuit of the truth. To pursue the truth, one must act according to God’s words, must not deviate from the words of God, much less go against God’s words. Anything that goes against God’s words is not the truth. All that which is the truth is within God’s words. The truth comes from God’s utterances and comes from God, so people must pursue the truth in God’s words to be able to get the truth, understand all the mysteries of life and get true life. If people’s experience and practice deviates from God’s words, then it is divorced from the true way and has no truth at all. This is an important principle for the pursuit of the truth.

4. What cannot be overlooked in the pursuit of the truth is that we must follow closely and obey the leadership and shepherding of the man the Holy Spirit uses, otherwise we turn to our own way.

It is significant that God has established the man whom the Holy Spirit uses to lead God’s chosen people. If people cannot follow closely and obey the leadership and shepherding of the man that the Holy Spirit uses, then they will not be able to obtain the perfection of the work of the Holy Spirit and will be even less able to enter onto the right track of believing in God. Because people do not have the organ to directly understand the truth and are unable to, by relying on their own brains, free themselves of the satanic nature and the delusion, disruption and control of all kinds of satanic forces, they must obtain the Holy Spirit’s work to be able to achieve an understanding of the truth and enter the right track of believing in God. If one wants to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work, one must possess two important qualifications. The most important one is that one must closely follow and obey the leadership and shepherding of the man whom the Holy Spirit uses. This is a prerequisite for obtaining the work of the Holy Spirit. In addition, it is also an important condition that one must personally pursue the truth. If you are unable to obey the leadership and shepherding of the man used by the Holy Spirit, then it is very difficult for you to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work because you have offended God’s administrative decrees, and if you are able to obey the leadership and shepherding of the man whom the Holy Spirit uses but are unable to pursue the truth yourself, then you will be unable to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work and achieve salvation.

People in pursuit of the truth need to understand a minimum amount of elementary knowledge, that is, they must absolutely not follow antichrists, the wicked and evil spirits because that is the road to destruction. If people believe in God but cannot possess the four differentiations, then they will certainly be in danger of betraying God at any time. So it is very necessary to accept and obey the leadership and shepherding of the man whom the Holy Spirit uses, which is completely in line with God’s intentions. This is related to the question of whether or not people who believe in God are able to achieve salvation and be perfected. …

5. The real effect of the pursuit of the truth is to gradually achieve an understanding of God and changes to disposition. This is the standard by which to test whether or not people are in pursuit of the truth.

The ultimate goal for people pursuing the truth is to know God and to achieve changes to life disposition. People who are truly in pursuit of the truth all have real goals and objectives. If you do not have a goal and objective in pursuing the truth, then you are not truly pursuing the truth because the goal and objective of pursuing the truth is to achieve an understanding of the truth and knowledge of God and to achieve salvation and to be perfected. All people who pursue the truth acknowledge that only by knowing God can they change everything about themselves, resolve all their real problems and difficulties and understand all the mysteries of life. So people can carry on their pursuit of the truth as usual, advance bravely, not lose heart despite repeated failures and never give up. It really is like this. When people truly understand the truth and know God, all the problems and difficulties of life are resolved and people can also thoroughly understand all of life’s mysteries. …

The outcomes of achieving knowledge of God and changes to life disposition through the pursuit of the truth are established on a foundation of knowing God’s work. So the pursuit of knowing God must start with knowing God’s work because God’s disposition, wonderful deeds and wisdom and almightiness are all expressed and shown in God’s work. By better knowing God’s work of the last days, one will naturally gradually develop a true knowledge of God’s righteous disposition, wisdom and almightiness, wonderful acts, God’s all-seeing and all-dominating, God’s holiness and righteousness and God’s substance. These are not the outcomes of just understanding doctrines and even less so of echoing the views of others but based on experiencing God’s work and accepting God’s judgment and chastisement and trials and refining. Of course these are also the outcomes of the trials of much suffering and even death. At this time, people’s viewpoints, outlook on life and values will gradually go through great changes along with deepening of people’s knowledge of God and in this way, it will bring about changes to life disposition. One can see that if people truly understand the truth to achieve knowledge of God, it will naturally bring about changes to life disposition. This is the ultimate outcome and the ultimate achievement of the pursuit of the truth. If people believe in God for many years and always think that they are in pursuit of the truth, yet see virtually no outcomes such as knowing God and changes to disposition, then this is enough to prove that people’s own conceited pursuit of the truth is false and a fake and shoddy product. Such people are nonbelievers. With regards to whether or not people are truly in pursuit of the truth, one just needs to see whether or not they have experienced outcomes of knowing God and experienced changes to disposition to know whether it is true or false. This is the standard and principle by which to test whether or not people are in pursuit of the truth.

6. The objective of the pursuit of the truth is to achieve salvation and being perfected and to live out a true life. This is the true meaning of the pursuit of the truth.

Believing in God is so as to achieve salvation and perfection and to live out a true life. This is a universally accepted principle. The pursuit of the truth is to achieve salvation, to cast off Satan’s influence and truly return to God and be gotten by God and the basic standard for salvation is to be able to competently do one’s duty well as a created being and live out the likeness of a true person. If people do not achieve salvation, they will not be able to competently do their duty as a created being well. This is because corrupt mankind is too adulterated and ineffective in doing their duty and unable to live out the likeness of a true person and so does not deserve to be called human. Only when people truly do the duty of created beings well and are able to meet God’s demands and obtain God’s praise can they live out the likeness of a real person and be saved. Corrupt mankind simply has no conscience, no reason and no humanity. They have never had the principles of being human and have never felt mankind’s responsibilities and obligations. They only live for the flesh and are selfish and despicable profit-driven dregs. If people are truly in pursuit of the truth, then they can do their duty as created beings well and can pursue the truth and achieve salvation. Such people are genuine mankind. Genuine mankind all love the truth and are able to pursue the truth. They all have their minds set on pursuing salvation and being perfected. …

7. The principle that one must do one’s duty well, suffer hardships and pay the price in the pursuit of the truth must be upheld. People will not get the truth if they are not able to suffer hardships.

Because mankind has been too deeply corrupted by Satan and has been full of Satan’s disposition and become descendants of Satan since long ago, it is very difficult to practice the truth and to obey God. This has meant that people are destined to suffer many hardships and pay the price in order to do their duty well and get the truth. Doing one’s duty as a created being well is established on a foundation of understanding and practicing the truth. If people cannot understand and practice the truth, they will definitely not do their duty well. So whether or not people understand and practice the truth is related to whether or not they do their duty well and whether or not they can competently do their duty well is the standard for judging whether or not people have achieved salvation. This is undeniable. So in order to do one’s duty well, practice and get the truth, one must suffer many hardships and pay the price. This is determined by corrupt mankind’s satanic nature. People must suffer the following five kinds of hardship to pursue the truth and achieve salvation, otherwise they shall not be able to understand the truth and get life.

1. In the evil dark place controlled by the great red dragon, one must suffer the hardship of persecution and tribulation.

2. In experiencing God’s work, deeply corrupt mankind must suffer the hardship of judgment and chastisement.

3. To be able to practice the truth and satisfy God in doing one’s duty well, one must suffer the hardship of much pruning and dealing.

4. To truly know oneself and attain changes in life disposition, one must suffer the hardship of trials and refining.

5. To do one’s duty as a created being well, one must suffer the hardship of abandoning and separating oneself from the happiness of the family and the pleasures of the flesh.

…………

8. The objective of the pursuit of the truth is to know God and bear witness well. To know God, one must understand the seven aspects of the truth of knowing God.

The pursuit of the truth is entirely in order to know God and to be able to bear a good witness for God because knowing God is so significant. Knowing God can resolve all of people’s problems with corruption and can make people understand all the mysteries of life and live a life that is truly valuable and meaningful. This is the significance of the pursuit of the truth. If people understand the significance of knowing God, they would naturally know the value of the pursuit of the truth. All of people’s problems with corruption and all of life’s difficulties can only be completely resolved by means of the pursuit of the truth. The more people understand the truth, the less problems and difficulties they will experience. When people truly know God, the problems and difficulties of life will no longer exist. So pursuing the truth is the way and the bridge to real life. Only those who pursue the truth can have a bright future, be blessed by God and gain God’s praise. If people pursue the truth but do not have the right goals, then they will not achieve any outcomes from their pursuit of the truth. Because one must pay a price and suffer many hardships in the pursuit of the truth and corrupt mankind has too many difficulties that they are unable to free themselves of, especially their satanic nature, which is deeply rooted and they are unable to transcend, if they do not understand the meaning of the pursuit of the truth, then it will be very difficult for them to truly pursue the truth. So one must honestly obey all of God’s judgment and chastisement. In doing so, people will naturally be able to understand the truth and know God. When people truly understand some truths, they will think that getting the truth is not too difficult and will confidently pursue knowledge of God. People achieve an understanding of the truth and enter reality whilst experiencing God’s work. The more they accept God’s judgment and chastisement, the more they will understand the truth and the more they will gain knowledge of God. Then they will be able to see that all those who truly obey God’s judgments and chastisements attend God’s feast, enjoy the riches of God’s life and experience the outcomes of knowing God and changes to disposition. The most important link in experiencing God’s work is accepting God’s judgment and chastisement. This must not be overlooked. If people believe in God but are busy for a few years and lack the experience of obeying God’s judgment and chastisement, it is all futile and will come to naught.

If people truly experience God’s judgment and chastisement, pruning and dealing and trials and refining, they will be able to achieve an understanding of the seven aspects of the truth of knowing God:

1. To recognize that God is the Lord of creation, that God is the one true God who created all things in the universe and is the Master of all things.

2. To recognize God’s three stages of work and God’s almightiness and wisdom.

3. To recognize God’s righteous disposition and holiness and the symbolic significance of God’s pleasure, anger, sorrow and joy.

4. To know that God is the truth, the way and the life and that the authority of God’s words is greater than all.

5. To know that God looks upon everything and offense of God’s disposition is not allowed.

6. To know the significance of God’s work of the last days and the appearance of the words in the flesh through incarnation.

7. To recognize that God is the source of all life and that everything belonging to people comes from God.

To pursue knowledge of God, one must achieve an understanding of the essence of the seven aspects of the truth of knowing God and thereby truly know God. Just saying empty theories is of no use. There are many people who just give doctrines and learn words like a parrot, just echoing the views of others, but this is not true knowledge of God. When they face disaster or trials, they deny God and deny that God is the truth and righteous. They even complain about God and judge God. People who do not have a real knowledge of God are pitiful like this. Those who have a true knowledge of God have gained it from the experience of obeying God’s judgment and chastisement, pruning and dealing and trials and refining; it was not learned and does not come from what they have heard. It is the result of seeing God’s righteous disposition whilst experiencing and obeying God’s work and the knowledge confirmed by all aspects of the truth after understanding God’s words. So achieving a true understanding of God is not a simple matter at all. For example, from which events should we gain knowledge of God’s righteous disposition? From which events should we gain knowledge of God’s almightiness and wisdom? People who truly know God can commune a lot of knowledge of experience and testimony regarding God’s disposition, God’s essence, God’s almightiness and wisdom and all that God has and is, which convinces people. Such people have a true knowledge of God. Achieving a true knowledge of God does not come from what one learns but from experience. It comes from the perfection of the Holy Spirit’s work even more. God’s chosen people must be clear about this.

9. The responsibility of the pursuit of the truth is to uphold God’s work by the principle of carrying out the will of God. To not uphold God’s work is to resist God.

People who pursue the truth know God’s work. Those who truly obey God’s work will naturally be able to uphold God’s work, be considerate of God’s intentions and work in harmony with God’s work, expend themselves in doing their duty for God and do everything they can to uphold God’s work. Those who do their duty in church and are able to uphold God’s work certainly have a God-revering, God-obeying, God-loving heart. Of course such people have the best humanity, so these people are quite honest, upright and pursue the truth. This is a fact. The more people uphold God’s work, the more they have the enlightenment, illumination and guidance of the Holy Spirit and the more normal their relationship with God. If people can frequently uphold God’s work in this way, then they will naturally be loving and loyal toward God. When people truly understand and get the truth, they can dedicate their lives to carrying out the will of God and will ultimately be perfected by God and carry out God’s will. This fully proves that all good men will be blessed by God as long as they pursue the truth, that all those wicked people must be punished.

The main way to measure whether or not people have humanity and whether or not they have entered the reality of truth is to see whether or not people truly do their duty and whether or not they are able to uphold God’s work. Only people who are able to uphold God’s work throughout doing their duty truly practice the truth and obey God and truly love God. Such people are the most conscientious, the most rational and the most able to practice the truth. They certainly have the best humanity. If they can do their utmost to pursue the truth, then they will certainly be perfected and used by God. Let us look again at those false leaders and antichrists. They have never pursued the truth and have never upheld God’s work and are also capable of doing all kinds of evil and disturbing and interrupting God’s work everywhere, resulting in them eventually being revealed and eliminated. It can be said that those who frequently uphold God’s work are truly in pursuit of the truth and all those who do not uphold God’s work are certainly wicked people who hate the truth, resist God and have no humanity. This is for certain. Whether or not people can frequently uphold God’s work and uphold the life entry of God’s chosen people everywhere is the most obvious indicator of whether or not people have humanity, whether or not people can practice the truth and do their duty well and whether or not people are truly in pursuit of the truth. This is not wrong at all.

10. The road that is taken in the pursuit of the truth must be Peter’s and not Paul’s. One must at least not follow false leaders and the antichrist.

If people who pursue the truth achieve an understanding of the truth and knowledge of God’s work, then they will naturally take Peter’s road of being perfected. The more people understand the truth and have a true knowledge of their own corrupt nature and the truth of their corruption, the more they will aspire to pursue perfection, and the more people know God, the more they will be willing to expend for God and dedicate their lives to carrying out God’s will. So whether people take Peter’s or Paul’s road is completely determined by whether or not people are able to pursue the truth. People who truly pursue the truth can be considerate of God’s intentions and choose their own road to love and satisfy God. Those people who are antichrist types and do not love the truth just choose the road on which they will gain reward and blessing and are not willing to satisfy and comfort the heart of God. People who do not love God are selfish, despicable people, who are not considerate of God’s intentions. Only people who love God can forsake the flesh and themselves and choose Peter’s road according to God’s request. Therefore, we can be sure that all those who take Peter’s road are truly in pursuit of the truth and all those who take Paul’s road are surely in pursuit of blessing and crowns. People who truly pursue the truth can only take Peter’s road and will absolutely not take Paul’s road. How one chooses the road is so critical! Which road a person takes determines their destiny. If one wants to pursue the truth and achieve salvation and be perfected, one must choose Peter’s road and at the very least not follow false leaders and antichrists. These who follow false leaders and antichrists in stirring up trouble are the servants of Satan. They are all unreasonable and absurd people. To put it in a not so pleasant way, they are all scoundrels. This is absolutely correct. They try to disturb and disrupt the work of God, indulge in all sorts of evildoings and do not accept expulsion as decided by God’s family. These really are Satan’s people, obstinate and unrepentant to the end. All antichrists and wicked people have no conscience and reason. They are all spirit-less beasts. They cannot be compared with Paul at all. Those who take Paul’s road are not in pursuit of the truth and do not love God, because they just attach importance to getting rewards and being crowned and are not able to be considerate of God’s intentions. These are selfish and despicable people. But Paul is able to evangelize and loyally do service for God until death. This shows that Paul has some conscience and reason. Compared with those antichrists and wicked people who have been expelled by God’s family, he is much better. All those antichrists and wicked people who have been expelled for trying to disturb and interrupt God’s last days’ work and are up to all kinds of evil have no conscience or reason. They have never been willing to do service for God and they make deals with God everywhere. They try to disturb and interrupt God’s work and are capable of committing all sorts of wicked acts yet still want reward and crowns. This really is a case of “leading the life of a whore and expecting a monument to one’s chastity.” It is much worse than Paul. No one can compete with the hardships that Paul suffered and the price he paid when evangelizing and witnessing God. This fact is obvious to all, just as God’s words say: “Today, many people don’t even have the rationality or self-awareness of Paul….” How can those demonic antichrists be mentioned in the same breath as Paul? Can they do the service that Paul did? Paul evangelized and converted so many people. How many did they convert? They are not worthy of comparison with Paul at all.

The above are the ten principles of the pursuit of the truth, which are extremely important for God’s chosen people in their pursuit of the truth. If God’s chosen people understand the importance of the pursuit of the truth, then they will naturally know how to pursue the truth. If people in pursuit of the truth can understand the ten principles of the pursuit of the truth and practice their pursuit of the truth in accordance with them, then it is easy to understand the truth and get the truth. The ten principles of the pursuit of the truth smooth the way for God’s chosen people to pursue the truth. As long as they can understand the principles of the pursuit of the truth and obey God’s work in accordance with them, then it is easy to take the road of the pursuit of the truth and being perfected. … When people live out the image of the truth, that is the likeness of a true person, then they will completely understand the significance of God creating man, completely see God’s love and salvation of mankind and be able to see God’s beautiful appearance from the image of the truth lived out according to God’s words by created beings. It will not be difficult to see God’s righteous, holy and good essence and they will be able to obey, praise and worship the Lord of creation, the only true God, from their hearts. Only this kind of mankind is after God’s intentions. This is the final outcome that God’s judgment and chastisement of corrupt mankind can achieve. This is the true meaning of the pursuit of the truth. Without God’s judgment and chastisement, it is very difficult for people to see God’s appearance and even more difficult to achieve true knowledge of God. So the pursuit of the truth is built on this foundation of obeying God’s judgment and chastisement, trials and refining. This is absolutely correct and will never be wrong.

from “Only People Who Really Accept and Obey God’s Judgment and Chastisement Are Truly Pursuing the Truth” in Collection of Sermons—Supply for Life

from :Practice and Exercises for Principled Behavior

Recommended:"The Eastern Lightning" has testified that the Lord Jesus has already returned, expressed the truth, and made complete a group of overcomers. Does this fulfill the prophecies from the Bible?