Question 7: You say Paul did not exalt or bear witness to the Lord Jesus. I don’t accept what you’re saying. Brother Paul wrote so many letters. Weren’t they all testimonies to the Lord Jesus?

Answer: Even though Paul wrote all those letters, he never exalted or testified about the Lord Jesus. Even when he mentioned the Lord Jesus, he was only using Jesus Christ’s name to testify about himself. For example, in his letters, he often said, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.” What Paul meant was he was serving as the Lord Jesus’ apostle by God’s will, not by the Lord Jesus’ will. Did God up in heaven call him? No! 

Question 7: Only God’s words are the truth and can be man’s life. This is certain. But I am not very clear on the meaning of God’s words being man’s life and the results it can achieve. Please fellowship about this to us in more detail.

Answer: Only God’s words can be man’s life, change man, and perfect man. No matter how much they conform with the truth, man’s words are not the truth and cannot change or perfect man. This is a fact nobody can deny!

2. How Should You Differentiate Between the Work of the Holy Spirit and That of Evil Spirits?

Relevant Words of God:

God does not repeat His work, He does not do work that is not realistic, He does not make excessive requirements of man, and He does not do work that is beyond the sense of man. All the work He does is within the scope of man’s normal sense, and does not exceed the sense of normal humanity, and His work is according to man’s normal requirements. If it is the work of the Holy Spirit, man becomes ever more normal, and his humanity becomes ever more normal. Man has an increasing knowledge of his satanic corrupt disposition, and of the essence of man, and he has an ever greater longing for the truth. That is to say, the life of man grows and grows, and the corrupt disposition of man becomes capable of more and more changes—all of which is the meaning of God becoming the life of man. If a way is incapable of revealing those things that are the essence of man, is incapable of changing the disposition of man, and, moreover, is incapable of bringing him before God or giving him a true understanding of God, and even causes his humanity to become ever more lowly and his sense ever more abnormal, then this way must not be the true way, and it may be the work of an evil spirit, or the old way. In short, it cannot be the present work of the Holy Spirit.

from “Only Those Who Know God and His Work Can Satisfy God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

5. How Must You Believe in God in Order to Be Saved and Made Perfect?

Relevant Words of God:

To summarize taking the path of Peter in believing in God, 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 path of Peter will one be going the path of being perfected by God. One must be clear on specifically how to take the path 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 the Lord 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 the Lord 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. Even though at that time God did not speak as much as He does today, fruit was borne in Peter in these aspects. This was a rare and precious thing. Peter went through hundreds of trials but did not suffer in vain. 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, he was able to carve them into his heart to ponder them often and comprehend them. After hearing the words of the Lord 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.

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

47. The True Face of a So-called Good Person

By Kemu, Henan Province

In my own mind, I’ve always thought of myself as possessing good humanity. I’ve thought this because my neighbors often complimented me in front of my parents for being sensible and showing concern for our family, saying I was the apple of my parents’ eyes. After getting married, my in-laws praised me in front of the neighbors for being kind and filial to them. In my work unit, my leader praised me for being honest and competent. And since accepting God’s work of the last days, I’ve been obedient with whatever the church asks me to do. I never contradict the leader even if I’m rebuked for not doing a good job, and I often help brothers and sisters who are in need. As such, I believe myself to be a reasonable, compassionate, and kindhearted person with humanity. I’ve never thought of myself in terms of the words in which God reveals that man lacks humanity or has poor humanity. When having fellowship on God’s words with brothers and sisters, even though I know I need to be aware of my own nature, and that only by really knowing myself and clearly seeing the truth, the ugly face of my corruption by Satan can I truly develop hatred for myself. Only then can I pursue the truth, put God’s words into practice and experience them, and then gradually achieve a change in disposition and be saved by God. But I still maintain my own views. I feel it’s true that I’ve been corrupted by Satan, but even if I’m not someone with the best humanity, I’m also not the worst; my humanity is still a bit better than others’ by comparison. In other words, regardless of what God’s word says or what brothers and sisters say, I am not willing to disassociate myself from the idea of being a person of good humanity.