Perhaps
your journey of faith
in God has been more than one or two years, and perhaps in
your life over these years you have endured much hardship; or perhaps
you have not been subjected to hardship and instead have received
much grace. It may also be that you have experienced neither hardship
nor grace, but instead have lived a life most ordinary. Regardless,
you are still a follower of God, so let us fellowship about the
subject of following Him. However, I must remind all who read these
words that the word
of God is directed toward all those who acknowledge God and
all those who follow God, not toward all people at large, including
those that do not acknowledge God. If you believe that God is
speaking to the multitude, to all people in the world, then the word
of God will have no effect upon you. So, you should keep all the
words close to your heart, and do not place yourself outside the
scope of them. In any case, let us speak of what is happening in our
house.
You
should all now understand the true meaning of believing in God. The
meaning of faith in God that I previously spoke about is related to
your positive entry. This is not so today. Today I would like to
analyze the essence of your faith in God. Of course, this is guiding
you from the negative; if I do not do so, then you will never know
your true countenance and will forever boast of your devoutness and
faithfulness. In other words, if I do not unearth the ugliness deep
within your hearts, then each of you will place a crown upon your
head and give all glory to yourself. Your haughty and arrogant nature
drives you to betray your own conscience, to rebel against and
resist Christ,
and to reveal your ugliness, thereby exposing to the light your
intentions, notions, excessive desires, and eyes full of greed. And
yet you continue to profess that you will dedicate your life to the
work of Christ, and you repeat again and again the truths that were
spoken by Christ long ago. This is your “faith.” This is your
“faith without impurity.” I have held man to a very strict
standard all along. If your loyalty comes with intentions and
conditions, then I would rather not have any of your so-called
loyalty, for I abhor those who deceive Me through their intentions
and extort Me with conditions. I only wish for man to be loyal to
none other than Me, and to do all things for the sake of and to prove
that one word: faith. I despise your use of sweetened words to make
Me rejoice. For I always treat you with complete sincerity and so I
wish for you to also act toward Me with a true faith. When it comes
to faith, many may think that they follow God because they have
faith, otherwise they would not bear such suffering. Then I ask you
this: Why is it that you never revere God though you believe in His
existence? Why, then, do you have no fear of God in your heart if you
believe in His existence? You accept that Christ is the incarnation
of God, so why do you hold such contempt and act so irreverently
toward Him? Why do you openly judge Him? Why do you always watch His
movements? Why do you not submit to His arrangements? Why do you not
act in accordance with His word? Why do you extort and rob Him of His
offerings? Why do you speak in the place of Christ? Why do you judge
whether or not His work and His word are correct? Why do you dare
blaspheme Him behind His back? Are these and others what constitute
your faith?
Every
part of your speech and behavior reveals the elements of unbelief in
Christ that you carry within. Your motives and goals for what you do
are pervaded by unbelief; even the look in your eyes and the breath
you exhale are tainted with such elements. In other words, each of
you, during every minute of the day, carry with you elements of
unbelief. This means that, at every moment, you are in danger of
betraying Christ, for the blood that runs through your body is
infused with unbelief in the incarnate God. Therefore, I say that the
footprints you leave upon the path of belief in God are not
substantial. Your journey along the path of belief in God is not well
grounded, and you are instead simply going through the motions. You
are always skeptical of the word of Christ and cannot immediately put
it into practice. This is the reason that you do not have faith in
Christ, and always having notions about Him is another reason that
you do not believe in Christ. Always retaining skepticism about the
work of Christ, letting the word of Christ fall on deaf ears, having
an opinion on whatever work is done by Christ and not being able to
properly understand it, having difficulty putting down notions no
matter the explanation you receive, and so on; these are all elements
of unbelief mixed in your hearts. Though you follow the work of
Christ and never fall behind, there is too much rebellion mixed in
your hearts. This rebellion is an impurity in your belief in God.
Perhaps you do not agree, but if you cannot recognize your own
intentions from it, then you shall surely be one who will perish. For
God perfects only those who truly believe in Him, not those who are
skeptical of Him, and least of all those who follow Him despite never
having believed that He is God.
Some
people do not rejoice in the truth, much less judgment. Rather, they
rejoice in power and riches; such people are deemed to be snobs. They
exclusively seek out those sects in the world with influence and
those pastors and teachers coming from seminaries. Despite having
accepted the way of truth, they remain skeptical and are unable to
devote themselves fully. They speak of sacrificing for God, but their
eyes are focused on the great pastors and teachers, and Christ is
brushed aside. Their hearts are filled with fame, fortune, and glory.
They do not believe at all that such a meager man is capable of
conquering so many, that one so unremarkable is capable of perfecting
people. They do not believe at all that these nobodies among the dust
and dunghills are the people chosen by God. They believe that if such
people were the objects of God’s salvation, then heaven and earth
would be turned upside down and all men would laugh their heads off.
They believe that if God chose such nobodies to be perfected, then
those great men would become God
Himself. Their perspectives are tainted with unbelief; indeed,
far from unbelief, they are preposterous beasts. For they only value
position, prestige, and power; what they hold in high regard are
large groups and sects. They have no regard at all for those led by
Christ; they are simply traitors who have turned their backs on
Christ, on truth, and on life.
What
you admire is not the humility of Christ, but those false shepherds
of prominent standing. You do not love the loveliness or wisdom of
Christ, but those wantons who associate with the vile world. You
laugh at the pain of Christ who has no place to lay His head, but
admire those corpses that seize offerings and live in debauchery. You
are not willing to suffer alongside Christ, but gladly go into the
arms of those reckless antichrists though they supply to you only
flesh, only letters, and only control. Even now your heart still
turns toward them, their reputation, their standing in the hearts of
all the Satans, their influence, and their authority, yet you
continue to have an attitude of resistance and refusal to accept the
work of Christ. This is why I say that you do not have the faith of
acknowledging Christ. The reason you have followed Him to this day is
entirely because you were forced. In your heart forever tower many
lofty images; you cannot forget their every word and deed, nor their
influential words and hands. They are, in your heart, forever supreme
and forever heroes. But this is not so for the Christ of today. He is
forever insignificant in your heart and forever undeserving of
reverence. For He is far too ordinary, has far too little influence,
and is far from lofty.
In
any case, I say that all those who do not esteem the truth are all
unbelievers and traitors of the truth. Such men shall never receive
the approval of Christ. Have you now identified how much unbelief is
within you? And how much betrayal of Christ? I exhort you thusly:
Since you have chosen the way of truth, then you should devote
yourself wholeheartedly; do not be ambivalent or half-hearted. You
should understand that God does not belong to the world or any one
person, but to all those who truly believe in Him, all those who
worship Him, and all those who are devoted and faithful to Him.
Presently,
there is still much unbelief within you. Try looking diligently
within yourselves and you will surely find your answer. When you find
the real answer, then you will admit that you are not a believer of
God, but rather one who deceives, blasphemes, and betrays Him, and
one disloyal to Him. Then you will realize that Christ is no man, but
God. When that day comes, then you will revere, fear, and truly love
Christ. Presently, your faith is only thirty percent of your heart,
while seventy percent is possessed by doubt. Any deed done and any
sentence spoken by Christ can cause you to form notions and opinions
about Him. These notions and these opinions stem from your complete
unbelief in Him. You admire and fear only the unseen God in heaven
and have no regard for the living Christ on earth. Is this not also
your unbelief? You yearn only for the God who did work in the past
but do not face up to the Christ of today. These are always the
“faith” mingled in your hearts that does not believe in the
Christ of today. I do not underestimate you, for there is too much
unbelief within you, too much of you that is impure and must be
dissected. These impurities are a sign that you have no faith at all;
they are a mark of your renouncement of Christ and brand you as a
betrayer of Christ. They are a veil covering your knowledge of
Christ, a barrier to your being gained by Christ, an obstacle
preventing your being compatible with Christ, and a proof that Christ
does not approve of you. Now is the time to examine all parts of your
life! Doing so will profit you in every way imaginable!
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